For the founder of the University of California, see Henry Durant

Henry Durant

Henry Durant was the founding president of the University of California.-Biography:Graduate of Yale College...

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Henry Fowle Durant (originally Henry Welles Smith) (February 22, 1822 – October 3, 1881) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer and philanthropist. Durant was born in Hanover, New Hampshire

Hanover, New Hampshire

Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....

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He graduated from Harvard in 1841, studied law, and subsequently practiced in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. He underwent a religious conversion and became a lay preacher in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, practicing from 1864 to 1875.

Henry Fowle Durant contributed between one and two million dollars to found Wellesley College, in Wellesley, Massachusetts

Wellesley, Massachusetts

Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College...

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Durant died from Bright's Disease

Bright's disease

Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....

at the age of 59.