Paul Pastur (7 February 1866 – 8 June 1938) was a Belgian lawyer and politician from Hainaut. He obtained a law degree of the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

, and started working at the bar of

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

in 1893.

Biography

Pastur was born on 7 February 1866 in

Marcinelle Marcinelle (; ) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. Until 1977, it was a municipality of its own. The town of Marcinelle is renowned as the home ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Impressed by the riots of 1886, he became involved in defending the 27 workmen supposedly implied in the

Great Plot Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

. In 1892, together with Jules Destrée, he founded the Democratic Federation. He devoted himself to more egalitarian education and in 1903 he founded the Université du Travail in Charleroi. In 1927, he introduced

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

in Belgium, based on the American example. Paul Pastur was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

."Paul Pastur"
. Accessed 21 August 2008.

Death

Paul Pastur died on 8 June 1938 in

Gallery

Charleroi - monument Paul Pastur - 06.jpg, Paul Pastur, statue near the ''Université du Travail'' in

References

External links

Université du Travail
* 1866 births 1938 deaths Politicians from Charleroi Belgian socialists University of Liège alumni Walloon movement activists 20th-century Belgian lawyers {{Wallonia-politician-stub