LAC, STANISLAS du. - Jesuit, organizer of social works, b. in Paris on 21 Nov. 1835, d. there on 30 Aug. 1909. He was first rector of the College at Le Mans (1870–71), where during the Franco-Prussian War he set up a military hospital through which, to the spiritual benefit of many, 22,000 soldiers passed; then
of the School of St. Genevieve in Paris (1871–81), where in ten years he directed the preparation of 1,371 students for the examinations of the military academy of St-Cyr, the Polytechnic School, and the École Centrale, with splendid success.
After the religious orders were expelled from France, for nine years he directed the French College of St. Mary’s near Canterbury (1881–90). Later he returned to Paris, where he devoted himself to spiritual ministries, but above all to the providential creation of the “Syndicat de l’Aiguille,” a protective association for women workers and apprentices (milliners, clerks, seamstresses), which spread throughout France. In Paris alone it counted more than 2,000 members, 200 patronesses, and two large houses to shelter young women seeking work and lodging.
He wrote: France (Paris 1888), a collection of reminiscences for former pupils of St. Mary’s College, and Jésuites (ibid. 1901), in defense of the Order against the calumnies spread on all sides.