Henri La Fontaine

Henri La Fontaine (1854 to 1943) was a Belgian international lawyer, senator and peace campaigner who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1913. Born in Brussels, he studied law at the Free University of Brussels, was admitted to the bar in 1877 and became known as an authority on international law, which he taught at the university from 1893. With his sister Léonie he founded the Belgian League for the Rights of Women in 1890, and from 1895 he sat in the Belgian Senate for the Socialist Party, serving as its vice chairman from 1919 to 1932. He presided over the International Peace Bureau from 1907 until his death, worked to bring about the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907, and with Paul Otlet founded the Union of International Associations. His legal writings included handbooks and a documentary history of international arbitration.