Auke Hettema (Leeuwarden, 1927 - Amsterdam, 2004) studied from 1947, together with his twin brother Renze Hettema, sculpture with, among others, professor Piet Esser at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Hettema belonged to the generation of Dutch sculptors, who started their career after the Second World War with making war and resistance monuments, such as the resistance monument in the Prinsentuin in Leeuwarden. He was the winner of the Prix de Rome in 1951.