Otlet, Paul (1868-1944)

Born in Brussels, a Doctor of Law at the UCL, Paul Otlet is above all known for his work on the subject of bibliography. In 1895 he created the International Bibliography Bureau, thought up the universal decimal classification system (CDU, or Brussels system), still in force today, and created Mundaneum with Henri La Fontaine, a project aiming to bring together at the same site all of the world's knowledge. In 1934 he published his 'Treatise on Documentation,' in which he described a prefiguring of the Internet network.