LOUIS JOHN RUDOLPH AGASSIZ. 



oris Agassiz, by which name he was 

 everywhere known, was born at 

 Mottier, in the canton of Frieberg, 

 on May 28, 1807. He belonged to 

 an old French Protestant family 

 who had been compelled to quit 

 their native country by the revoca- 

 tion of the Edict of Nantes, whence 

 they took refuge in the Pays de 

 Yaud. His father was a Protestant 

 pastor, and for six generations his lineal ancestors had 

 been clergymen. On the mother's as well as on the 

 father's side, Agassiz was richly endowed with a vigor- 

 ous mind and active disposition. 



The mother superintended the education of her boy 

 Louis until he reached the age of eleven, when he was 

 sent with his younger brothers to the gymnasium at 

 Biel, a small town in the canton of Bern, where 

 he was mainly occupied with the study of ancient and 

 modern languages, the acquaintance with which proved 



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