Germinal Dandelin's father, who was an administrator, was French but his mother came from Hainaut, now in Belgium. Dandelin studied at Ghent, then in 1813 he entered the École Polytechnique in Paris. However his career was to be very much influenced by the political events of these turbulent times.
ATTENTION - Automatic na salin mula sa Tagalog na bersyon Usbong Dandelin 's ama, na isang administrator, ay French ngunit ang kanyang ina nagmula sa Hainaut, ngayon sa Belgium. Dandelin-aral sa Ghent, pagkatapos ay sa 1813 siya ipinasok ang École Polytechnique sa Paris. Subalit kanyang karera ay sa maaari tunay marami naiimpluwensyahan ng mga pampulitikang kaganapan ng mga ligalig na ligalig beses.