The New International Encyclopædia/Labori, Fernand Gustave Gaston

LABORI, lȧ′bō̇′rē̇′, Fernand Gustave Gaston (1860—). A French lawyer. He was born at Rheims, studied law at Paris, in England, and in Germany. He was called to the bar of the Court of Appeal in 1881, and in 1887-88 was secretary of the Conference of Advocates. He conducted several notable cases, among them the defense of the assassins Duval and Chevallereau, the anarchist Pini, and the dynamiter Vaillant. He was advocate for Gabriel Compayré in his famous libel action against Numa Gilly, and defended Alfred Dreyfus (q.v.). On August 14, 1899, during the final trial of Dreyfus at Rennes, a cowardly attempt was made to kill Labori. He was shot in the back while on his way to the court, and was dangerously wounded, but recovered sufficiently to resume his defense of Dreyfus. He has had charge of several literary cases, notably those of La Plume and the Théâtre réaliste. His defense of M. Zola, who was charged with libeling the President and the army, was the occasion for a display of marked ability. In conjunction with others, M. Labori has undertaken the publication of the Répertoire encyclopédique de droit français.