Édouard Laboulaye (1811 - 1883)

Édouard René Lefèbvre de Laboulaye (January 18, 1811 in Paris - May 25, 1883 in Paris) was a French jurist, poet, author and anti-slavery activist. He is remembered as the intellectual creator of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, proposing the idea for a monument in 1865 paid by the citizens of France, and the lesser known Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France.