François Laurent
Belgian administrator, scholar, and historian
François Laurent (born July 8, 1810, Luxembourg—died Feb. 11, 1887, Ghent, Belg.) was a Belgian administrator, legal scholar, and historian noted as the author of a monumental universal history and a series of comprehensive works on civil law. After gaining his degree in law in 1832, he served as the head of a division at the Belgian Ministry of Justice and in 1836 was appointed professor of civil law at the University of Ghent. His...