Lodewijck Huygens

Lodewijck Huygens (13 March 1631 – 1 July 1699) was a Dutch diplomat. Life Huyghens was the third son of the diplomat Constantijn Huygens and Suzanna van Baerle. His two older brothers were Constantijn Huygens, Jr. and the scientist Christiaan Huygens. He was admitted to the Orange College of Breda in 1649, but in 1651 got into trouble for fighting a duel. Soon after this he was sent on a diplomatic mission to England. Starting in 1669, Huygens and his brother Christiaan did some of the earliest work on life expectancy based on death statistics in London published by John Graunt. In 1672 the newly appointed Stadtholder William III of Orange, later King William III of England and Ireland and William II of Scotland, appointed Huygens as sheriff of Gorinchem. His actions as sheriff eventually resulted in considerable strife between local factions, whereby Huygens was faced with a formidable opponent, Jacob van der Ulft.