Brief Biography-August Matthias Hagen was born in the Latvian side of Valga; called Valka, a border town split with Estonia, now considered part of Estonia. He was partially blind in one eye due to a childhood accident, but it never deterred him from pursuing his profession. August trained under Karl August Senff, a professor of drawing at the University of Tartu. From 1820 he went on a four-year tour of Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy before returning to Tartu. After several years of teaching, August visited Finland and went to Saint Petersburg, where the Imperial Academy of Arts accepted him. After his return to Tartu, he followed August Senff as a Professor of Drawing at the University. In 1851 he retired due to failing eyesight and took up photography. His daughter Julie Wilhelmine Hagen-Schwarz was also a successful artist.