Frans van der Lugt

Franciscus Joseph Wilhelmus "Frans" van der Lugt (10 April 1938 – 7 April 2014), also known as Peter Frans, was a Dutch psychotherapist and later Jesuit priest. He left the Netherlands for the Middle East in the 1960s where he joined the Jesuits. He studied Arabic for two years in Lebanon. In 1966, he went to Syria, where he lived for nearly fifty years. He gained international fame at the beginning of 2014 when he made a number of YouTube videos asking the international community for help for the citizens of Homs. He was born in The Hague, South Holland.

Frans van der Lugt was shot dead by extremists from Al-Nusra Front on 7 April 2014 in Homs. He was 75 years old.

Other websites

• Frans van der Lugt biography