Complex sentence: Born in Mulhouse ("Mülhausen") in Alsace, Dreyfus was the youngest of nine children born to Raphael and Jeannette Dreyfus (née Libmann), a prosperous, self-made, Jewish textile manufacturer who had started as a peddler.
Split into simpler sentences: Born in Mulhouse ("Mülhausen") in Alsace, Dreyfus was the youngest of nine children born to Raphael and Jeannette Dreyfus (née Libmann). Raphael Dreyfus was a prosperous, self-made, Jewish textile manufacturer who had started as a peddler.