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the 24th March 1821 Élisa Rachel Félix was born in the Soleil d'Or, principal inn of the small village of Munf, in the canton of Aarau, Switzerland.

The only record still existing of the event is an entry made by the burgomaster of Aarau, to the effect that the wife of a pedlar (la femme d'un homme qui colportait) had been confined of a female child in the village of Munf. The entry bears no mention of family or nationality, and is not recorded in any civil or religious register.

The Félix family came originally from Germany, but Rachel's father, born in Metz, had been naturalised a Frenchman. Abraham Félix was superior in intellect to his station, and had studied in his youth with the intention of becoming a rabbi; subsequently, urged by the necessity of earning a livelihood, he forsook the Church and became a travelling commission agent and merchant. Business affairs did not prosper with him, however, and he gradually sank into a position not much better than that of a travelling pedlar. Accom-