Torfs, Jan Josef

(1753-1825)

   A politician and lawyer, Jan Josef Torfs was born in Brussels. He was a promoter of the secret democratic (Vonckist) society Pro Aris et Focis. During the Brabant Revolution he was sent to Paris by the Breda Committee (Van der Noo-tists) to secure recognition of the Belgian republic, but he failed. Torfs worked to secure a democratization of the Estates after the Austrian restoration and to create an independent Belgian republic following the arrival of the French in 1794, but he again failed. From 1811 until his death he worked as a lawyer in Brussels.