MR. LAURENT DE GIVE, consul for Belgium and owner of the Grand and Marietta street theaters of Atlanta, Ga., was born in Belgium in 1828 and there resided until thirty two years of age. He applied himself studiously in the schools of his native country and graduated from the university of Liege in 1853, with the degree of LL D, having passed with highest honors through the law department. He began the practice of law in Namur, Belgium, and continued for seven years, meeting with steady and growing success. During this period he was for four years a member of the provincial council, an elective body corresponding to the state legislature in the United States. In 1859, Mr. De Give was appointed by his government consul at the residence of Atlanta and commissioner to assist in establishing direct trade with the south. He soon discovered the great future of this country and resolved to make Georgia his permanent home. Since 1860 he has resided in Atlanta, and he has held to this day his position of consul. On arriving in Atlanta, he had in his possession a small fortune, and believing in Atlanta's future growth to a metropolis, invested largely in real estate. After the war he sold to the Masons the site of the opera house on Marietta street, their intention being to erect a magnificent Masonic temple. But their plans failed when only half realized, and Mr. De Give was compelled to purchase the half finished building, and out of it built Atlanta's first complete theater. Though popular with all classes of people, amongst whom he has lived over thirty five years, he has never held office because he is not a naturalized citizen. In 1857, while yet a resident of Belgium, Mr. De Give was united in marriage and has had seven children, three of whom died in infancy, and one, Paul, passed away in February, 1894, at the age of twenty seven years, on the very verge of manhood. He was loved and admired by all, with an intellect to grasp and solve the weighty problems that beset mankind. His death was deeply deplored. The three other children are as follows: Louise, wife of Edward Horine, of Atlanta; Henry, a graduate of the Troy, NY, Polytechnic school, who is at present a civil engineer; and Julius, a graduate of the Georgia Technological school of Atlanta and a mechanical engineer. Mr. De Give has frequently been interested in large business enterprises and has demonstrated a capacity for financering that has placed him among the moneyed men of the city. He is a Roman Catholic by faith and a member of the Elks. Mr. De Give has been continually honored by his sovereign, the king of Belgium. In 1880 the cross of the order of Leopold was bestowed on him, and lately the cross of the order of Merit-Civil was added to the first in recognition of his long and splendid service. The Grand theater, which ranks among the first in America for beauty and exquisite finish, is proudly spoken of by Atlantians and stands a monument to Mr. De Give's pluck and energy and his exalted opinion of Atlanta’s culture. He has the development of his city at heart.

Memoirs of Georgia, Vol. 1, The Southern Historical Association, 1895