Edgar Degas - Not the Typical Impressionist Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas was born on July 19, 1834 in Paris. His father, Auguste, was a banker from Paris and his mother, Celestine, was from New Orleans. The family changed the name from Degas in order to sound more aristocratic and Degas changed it back early in his career. Although his father wanted him to take over his banking business for him and get a law degree, Degas always knew that he wanted to be an artist. When Degas was 18 years old, he was given permission from the Lourve in Paris to copy works of the masters. At age 20, Degas was taken by a family friend to meet his Jean- Auguste-