Date of Birth: 1812
Date of Death: 1852
Nationality: British
Notes: Father of Edward Welby Pugin, A.W.N. Pugin is most famous for the Gothic Court at the 1851 Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, his work as Barry's draftsman for the design of the new Houses of Parliament, and for his work with John Gregory Crace in the mid-1840s in decorating and furnishing the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament). Clive Wainwright, writing in the exhibition catalog to the 1985-86 show "The Treasure Houses of Britain," stated that Pugin was a genius and one of the most celebrated English furniture designers of all time. Pugin and Crace also achieved huge success with their work at the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace. Pugin had a mental breakdown at the end of his life and was confined to Bethlem Royal Hospital (aka Beldam) in London. Ironically, Pugin's St. George's Roman Catholic Church is across the street from the hospital (today the Imperial War Museum).