"The blockade of the government headquarters building is in effect inviting Beijing to interfere," he wrote. "You may want to become martyrs. You need to think carefully if your act will make your companions martyrs, too," he said, suggesting there could be a bloody crackdown to come, possibly by the People's Liberation Army.

But the stand-off continued, and student leaders called off talks on political reform with officials. Law sent another email, again urging students not to block the government buildings.

"This is very likely my last email to all of you," he wrote. "By saying no to talks, the students have removed their last line of protection. Things could turn very drastic … I am begging everyone I know to leave. At least stay away from the West Gate of [the headquarters]. I believe no one in Hong Kong can stop what may happen … I beg with tears."

Law is known to be on good terms with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. And his relationship with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying goes back to their secondary school days at King's College. Some say he had insider knowledge from the top when he sent out those emails.

It is unclear whether they had any bearing on what happened next - when student activists changed their minds and agreed to meet officials to find a way to solve the impasse. That meeting again, never happened, but it was the government that called it off.

Democrat Lee Wing-tat, who was vice-chairman of the party in the early 2000s with Law, described Law's email pleas as "disappointingly stupid".

"High IQ does not necessarily make a good political leader," Lee said. "Obviously he was misled by the government to believe that there would be a military crackdown. But anyone with a sound mind would not believe that."

Law would not comment on whether he had been fed information by government officials.

He said: "I sent the emails to academics asking them to tell their students to leave and avoid danger. And at least to stay away from the area where they might be removed by force … I have said all that I can and should say."

An associate professor at the University of Hong Kong's department of social work and social administration, Law first tried his hand at politics in 1995, when he was elected to the pre-handover Legislative Council as a lawmaker in the social welfare functional constituency.

He was re-elected in 1998 in the same constituency. But he did not seek re-election in 2004, and has kept a relatively low profile in the political arena since, turning his attention instead to social welfare issues.

Law serves on a number of government advisory committees, including the Commission on Poverty and the Community Care Fund. He is also an executive committee member of the Council of Social Service.

Despite his years with the Democratic Party, Law has not been a keen supporter of the Occupy Central campaign. Unlike fellow Democrats Lee Wing-tat and Martin Lee Chu-ming, Law has not taken part in the protests.

"I have always said only that I would seriously consider taking part [in Occupy Central]. But most people seem to think I said I would," Law said. "I have also said that I do not believe [Occupy] will make Beijing change its mind, and I've said explicitly that if I participate, it will just be a case of expressing my dissatisfaction with Beijing's decision on electoral reform."

He continued: "The [Occupy] organisers say the movement has begun, but I don't see it this way.

"First, this is a student movement. And, second, nothing is as planned - it was supposed to be minimal disruption to the public and a peaceful sit-in … as I said, I don't think this sort of sit-in can force Beijing to change its mind."

Law, seen as a moderate pan-democrat, believes a more pragmatic approach is needed. He is one of 18 scholars who put forward a moderate plan for political reform. Instead of insisting on public nomination, as the Democrats are, they wanted a "public recommendation" procedure so that a chief executive candidate with enough support from the public could be put to the nominating committee to decide.

But other pan-democrats and student activists have maintained that any political reform that denied the public the right to nominate a chief executive candidate would not be acceptable.

The National People's Congress Standing Committee on August 31 ruled that only two or three candidates who have won support from half of a 1,200-member nominating committee can contest the poll.

Law was pessimistic about any agreement being reached on the 2017 chief executive election. "I don't think the pan-democrats can make a deal and I don't believe they aim to make a deal," said Law, without elaborating.

Law's scholarly reputation has at times worked against him, with some Democrats labelling him "arrogant" and "boastful". In a 2010 interview, Law conceded that his high IQ was irrelevant when it came to politics, where it was the "right" decisions, not the smart ones, that counted.

"For example, there are two policies, A and B. I can quickly tell that policy A is better than policy B. But if policy B is more politically correct than policy A … sometimes, in the world of politics, you don't need to think too much," he said in the interview.

Born in Hong Kong in 1953, Law has spent many years at university. He has a bachelor's degree in social sciences and a master's degree in social work from the University of Hong Kong.

He also has a master's of business administration from Chinese University and a doctorate in social welfare from the University of California, Los Angeles.

And Law reportedly still keeps in touch with his old secondary school classmate, Leung Chun-ying. He reminisced about Leung getting ahead of him in a recent interview: "The best I can remember is that I used to be taller than C.Y. But after the summer holiday in Form Four, he suddenly grew very tall, and was taller than me by almost six inches."

Law Chi-kwong

60

Divorced, with a son and a daughter

1973-76 - Bachelor of Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong
1979-81 - Master of Social Work, University of Hong Kong
1983-86 - Master of Business Administration, Chinese University of Hong Kong
1986-88 - Doctor of Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles

Registered social worker

Associate professor, department of social work and social administration, University of Hong Kong

Democratic Party

1995-97 Legislative councillor (social welfare)
1998-2000 Legislative councillor (social welfare)
2000-04 Legislative councillor (social welfare)

Commission on Strategic Development
Commission on Poverty
Community Care Fund
Justice of the Peace

2005 - Silver Bauhinia Star
2014 - Gold Bauhinia Star