Jules Lair

Jules–Auguste Lair (25 May 1836 – 16 May 1907) was a French lawyer, businessman and scholar. At the École des Chartes he studied palaeography, and was offered a position with the Archives, but he decided instead to become a lawyer. At the age of 25 he became director of a warehousing company, and over the next forty years was involved in various major enterprises including the first telephone network in France. At the same time, he always set aside time for historical work, and published many articles and books on aspects of French history from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. Provided by Wikipedia