Lauréus was born in Turku to his father Alexander Laureus (b 1758) who was a Doctor of Theology, and his mother Lovisa Ulrika. His father was a widower, his first wife was Martha Catharina Frostera. His mother died in childbirth in 1794 after the seventh child was born.
His father remarried to Maria Juliana Vinqvistin.
Lauréus was 11 years old and started school in Turku Cathedral School and graduated from high school in 1800. He studied at the drawing school in Turku probably 1800-1802, when the teacher was Johan Erik Hedberg.
Also, Lauréus" father"s father"s name was also Alexander (b 1725). Lauréus had at least 14 siblings, of which he was the second-born. At that time he was interested Jean-Jacques Rousseau"s books
In 1802 Laureus Turku Province Baron Olof Vibeliuksen lead a fundraising that raised 195 krones for a scholarship for Lauréus to attend the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm to study.
Director at the time was Lorens Pasch the Younger, and was taught by among others, Johan Tobias Sergel, Louis Masreliez, Carl Frederik von Breda and Pehr Hilleström. In the period 1804-1805 he studied at the upper primary level
He collected a 50 krone Drawing Prize, which allowed him travel home to Turku, and perhaps also to the Åland Islands. He left Finland when it was annexed from Russia in 1809 and it became the Grand Duchy of Finland.
In 1817 he was awarded a three-year scholarship to travel, so he left in September with Margaret to Paris.
The trip took three months. In Paris, he studied at Pierre-Narcisse Guérin"s studio from 1817 to 1820. In 1820 they traveled to Italy and Rome.
Laureus fell ill October 9, 1823 and died on October 21st.
He became a royal court painter in 1811, and a became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki in 1812, and he worked for some time as a teacher at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm.
