Agassiz family

The Agassiz Family is a family of French origin, hailing from the small village of Agiez near Lake Neuchatel. The family has included a number of high-profile members, such as the scientists Louis and Alexander Agassiz, as well as the founder of the Longines watch firm, Auguste Agassiz.

The early history of the family is sketched out in A Short History of the English Branch of the Agassiz Family, by A.R.N. Agassiz and in Jules Marcou's Life, Letters, And Works of Louis Agassiz.

The family was of the Protestant faith and many of their early members were ministers in the Church. The Rev. Jean Pierre Moise Agassiz was Pastor of Lucens, Thierrens and Constantine, all of which were near Lake Neuchatel. His fourth son, Rev. Philippe Louis Agassiz was the father of the Rev. Louis Benjamin Rudolph Agassiz, who was the father of the naturalist Louis Agassiz and Auguste Agassiz. Louis's son, Alexander, was a geoleogist like his father but his interests also turned to mining operations.

Auguste Agassiz moved to the Swiss town of Saint-Imier and set up his own watch firm in 1833 in partnership with Florian Morel and Henri Raiguel. In 1847 Agassiz became the firm's sole owner and in 1852 his nephew Ernest Francillon joined the firm. In 1866 Francillon acquired two plots of land called Les Longines ('long and narrow fields') and he built a factory there, allowing all the staff to be under one roof for the first time. In 1880 he registered the Longines brand and its famous winged hourglass symbol.

The Reverend Jean Pierre Moise Agassiz had another son, David Louis Agassiz (1737–1807). He left Switzerland with his friend Jacques Necker, moving to Paris to take a job in finance. Necker went on to become minister of finance to Louis XVI, while David Louis moved to England and anglicised his name to Lewis Agassiz. He became a City magnate, amassing a fortune that would be worth many millions today. He married Mary Griesdale.

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