Question: What nationality was the man in whose shops Henri Maillardet spent a period of time?
Context: African immigrants to Switzerland include Swiss residents, both Swiss citizens and foreign nationals, who have migrated to Switzerland from Africa.  The number has quintupled over the period of 1980 to 2007, with an average growth rate of 6% per annum (doubling time 12 years).  According to official Swiss population statistics, 73,553 foreigners with African nationality lived in Switzerland as of 2009 (0.9% of total population, or 4.3% of resident foreigners — this data excludes immigrants with African ancestry coming from other parts of the world: Dominican Republic, Brazil, United States, Cuba etc.).  Since the census records nationality, not ethnic origin, there is no official estimate of the number of naturalized Swiss citizens from Africa. The Dutch artist Otto van Rees (1884-1957), son of a family of academics, started his career in Paris, where he moved in 1904.  By intermediation of Picasso, whom Van Rees met in the café Le Lapin Agile, Van Rees put up at an atelier in the Bateau Lavoir.  At the Académie Carrière he became friends with George Braque.  The Bateau Lavoir was a lively place where his contact with other artists, painters, (Picasso, Léger, Gris, Van Dongen) as well as writers (Max Jacob, Blaise Cendrars, Apollinaire) deepened.  His wife and fellow artist, Adya van Rees-Dutilh joint him soon after.  Paris would be their winter residence on and off for over 30 years.  Some of his fellow artists became dear friends over many years: Severini, Segal, Freundlich, Mondriaan, Arp, Zadkine.  The summers were spent at Fleury-en-Bière, a little town next to Barbizon.  Kees van Dongen spent the summer of 1905 there, together with Otto and Adya van Rees in the farmhouse Van Rees rented.  They painted together in the fields around the village.  Picasso was also a visitor, as well as other artists: Otto Freundlich, Marc Chagall and Blaise Cendrars to mention a few.  After a stay in Italy his first grand exposition of 48 luministic paintings was held in 1908 in Rotterdam at the Oldenzeel gallery, gallery famous for its exhibitions (1892-1904) of works by Vincent van Gogh.  In Paris, during the early years, Otto van Rees exhibited his work at the gallery of Berthe Weil and Clovis Sagot and at the yearly Salon des Artistes Indépendants.  He also had part in the Sonderbund, Cöln in 1912 and the famous exhibition of Der Sturm in 1913.  In 1912-1916 the art of Van Rees went through changes, pointillism and luminism lost his interest.  His work evolved from physic cubism, as Apollinaire described it, to analytic cubism.  One of the first collectors of his art then was Arthur Jerôme Eddy.  During the first world war Van Rees changed his French summer residence for Ascona, little town at the Lago Maggiore.  The artistic and anarchistic colony there was inspiring.  With Arp, who later spent Christmastime 1915 at the Van Rees, Otto and Adya held the famous exposition of November 1915 at the gallery Tanner in Zürich.  This exposition is now seen as the beginning of Dada-Zürich.  The art dealer Henri Kahnweiler named Van Rees as an artist that brought the collage technique from Paris to Zürich as the start of Dada Art.  Ascona would keep Van Rees’ preference.  In 1928 Otto van Rees constructed a house on the hills there.  The house had a ground plan of a circle and a square, announcing the famous 1930 collective art show of Cercle et Carré.  After the tragic death of their oldest daughter, killed in a train accident in France, Otto van Rees spent more and more time in Holland.  He moved there in 1934.  In Holland the young painters called him their Nestor, who taught them the profound values on art.  Many public buildings in Holland: churches, railway station, courthouse, ministry, theatres were embellished by his mural paintings . Henri Maillardet (1745–1830, born Jean Henri Nicholas Maillardet), was a Swiss mechanician of the 18th century who worked in London producing clocks and other mechanisms.  He spent a period of time in the shops of Pierre Jaquet-Droz, who was in the business of producing watches, clocks, and automata. Amélie van Assche (born 1804 - ?)  was a Belgian painter.  She was born in 1804, and was the daughter of Henri Jean van Assche.  Her sister, Isabelle Catherine van Assche, a landscape painter, was a pupil of her uncle, Henri Van Assche.  Her first teachers were Miss F. Lagarenine and D'Antissier.  She later went to Paris, where she spent some time as a pupil of Millet.  At the opening of the 19th century, the "Art of the Miniature" was cultivated—as expressed at the time—by Hortense van Baerlen, Marie-Josèphe Dargent, and Assche.  She made her debut at Ghent in 1820, and in Brussels in 1821, with watercolors and pastels, and some of her miniatures figured in the various exhibitions at Brussels between 1830 and 1848, and in Ghent between 1835 and 1838.  Her portraits, which are, thought to be very good likenesses, are also admirable in color, drawing, and modelling; and her portrait of Leopold I., which she painted in 1839, won for her the appointment at court.  She was a portrait painter and court painter to Queen Louise Marie of Belgium. Pierre Jaquet-Droz (] ; 1721–1790) was a Swiss-born watchmaker of the late eighteenth century.  He lived in Paris, London, and Geneva, where he designed and built animated dolls, or automata, to help his firm sell watches and mechanical birds. James McIlroy (born 30 December 1976) is a British middle distance runner.  He initially represented Ireland before changing his nationality.  When he was 21 years old he showed great promise by finishing fourth over 800 metres in the 1998 European Athletics Championship having taken 14 seconds off his personal best in only 13 months.  Serving a 1-year ban for changing nationality McIlroy still produced the 3rd fastest British All - time 1000 metres behind Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram when finishing 4th in Rieti, (Italy).  In 2000 he won his first of five British Championships and representing Great Britain made the Sydney Olympics semi - final .  Representing Northern Ireland McIlroy managed 6th at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Final after getting badly boxed in.  From 2002 onwards McIlroy spent considerable time in South Africa training and after being injured for most of the 2003 - 4 season he again finished 4th at the European Indoor Championships in Valencia in 2005. Henri Emile Anatole Menier (July 14, 1853 – September 6, 1913) was a French businessman and adventurer and a member of the Menier family of chocolatiers. Born in Paris, he was the son of Emile-Justin Menier and grandson to Antoine Brutus Menier who founded the Menier Chocolate company.  On his father's death in 1881, Henri Menier became mayor of Noisiel, an office he held for 32 years until his death in 1913.  The beneficiary of a substantial fortune, and having a large annual income from the family business, Henri Menier spent a great deal of his time and money pursuing various leisure interests, notably yachting and auto racing.  As the eldest son, Henri Menier was the titular head of the company but the day-to-day management would mostly be left to his very capable brother Gaston. Rue de Rivoli (] ) is one of the most famous streets in Paris, a commercial street whose shops include the most fashionable names in the world.  It bears the name of Napoleon's early victory against the Austrian army, at the battle of Rivoli, fought January 14 and 15, 1797.  The rue de Rivoli marked a transitional compromise between an urbanism of prestige monuments and aristocratic squares, and the forms of modern town planning by official regulation. Maillardet's automaton (or Draughtsman-Writer, sometime also known as Maelzel's Juvenile Artist or Juvenile Artist) is an automaton built in London circa 1800 by a Swiss mechanician, Henri Maillardet.  It is currently part of the collections at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The Early Closing Association was formed in the United Kingdom in 1842 or 1843 to control the hours of labour in retail shops, and to abolish Sunday trading.  It was promoted by Samuel Carter Hall, George Dawson and John Passmore Edwards, among others.  Half-day early Closing was not finally won until 1912.  It was opposed by Asquith's Liberal Government until a bill could be passed due to Trade Union pressure.  The first socialist woman to enter parliament Margaret Bondfield, later a Labour MP, was an early advocate of early closing when a mass meeting was held in Trafalgar Square.  But it would be another decade of 72 hour working days before the week could be cut to 60 hours.  Another radical supporter was disgraced Liberal MP Sir Charles Dilke, whose involvement with Mrs Crawford damaged his reputation and chances of becoming Prime Minister.  Had he become Gladstone's natural successor early closing might have happened in 1890.  Dilke's bill to close shops at 8 pm which failed to pass was bitterly opposed by both Lords and Commons during 1903.  Home Secretary Winston Churchill was very anti-trade union regularly opposing any legislation to assist the improvements they so desired.  Other famous supporters included H.G. Wells, the author who had spent a miserable two years behind the counter.  The creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle warmly approved of the Early Closing Association.  Church leaders and friendly societies also backed a change in the law.  Without statutory control exploitative proprietors could keep shops open until midnight at the weekend.
Answer: Swiss