Hugo Grotius

Hugo Grotius, also known as Hugo de Groot or Huig de Groot, was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft and studied at Leiden University. He was imprisoned in Loevestein Castle for his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of the Dutch Republic, but escaped hidden in a chest of books that was transported to Gorinchem. Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile in France.

10 April 1583

Born on the same birth day (10 April): Andrew Dost • Anna-Leena Härkönen • Clare Buckfield • Daniel Mangeas • Doris Leuthard • Jake Warren • Lee Jung-seob • Margaret Clapp • Theodosius II • William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen