page_title: François Huber
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: François Huber / Life / Early life
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Portrait de François Huber enfant par son père Jean Huber
context_page_description: François Huber, also known as Francis in English publications or Franz in German publications was a Swiss entomologist who specialized in honey bees. His pioneering work was recognized all across Europe and based on thorough observation with the help of several assistants due to his blindness.
context_section_description: François Huber was born in Geneva on July 2, 1750 in a well respected and well off family of merchants and bankers with important ties to Geneva, Lyon and Paris. The Huber family had members in the highest institutions in the local community and was linked to other prominent local families. The family made significant contributions to the scientific and theological literature. His great-aunt, Marie Huber, was known as a voluminous writer on religious and theological subjects, and as the translator and epitomizer of The Spectator (Amsterdam, 3 vols., 1753). His father Jean Huber (1721–1786) was a prominent member of the coterie at Ferney. He was a well known artist who left several portraits of Voltaire who was a close friend. He was also interested in falcons and his observations led to him writing his Observations sur le Vol des Oiseaux de Proie (Observations on the flight of birds of prey ; Geneva, 1784)
  From his early childhood, Francois was instructed in the field of literature as well as natural history, a passion he shared with his father. He attended the Collège de Saussure but his health soon deteriorated. His sight started failing at the age of fifteen. His father requested the assistance of Théodore Tronchin to treat him. He sent the young Huber to the village of Stains near Paris to recover. There, he lived the simple existence of a peasant away from the pressure of the high society. The treatment was very successful for his health and he had fond recollection of the simple life there and of the hospitality through out his life.
  However, his eyesight was considered incurable by the oculist Venzel and he was facing a total blindness. He had however already met Marie Aimée Lullin, the daughter of the syndics of the Swiss Republic. They had both been companions during dances and had grown up together. Her father refused to consent to their union because of his blindness as he did not want his fortune to end in the hands of a blind man when his daughter inherited. However, Marie refused to abandon François and decided to wait the lawful age of twenty-five when she would be able to make that decision on her own. He could still see light and interacted with others as if he could see. He later lost his sight completely but throughout his life he would say: I have seen, I have seen with my own eyes when recalling this youth and when others described things to him.
caption: Portrait of young François Huber by his father, Jean Huber
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