Biography

Esther Velkiers was born in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. She was nearly blind from an accident with an oven when she was a baby, and was taught letters by her father using wooden blocks. She learned Latin, German, Italian and French, and then studied philosophy, mathematics, theology and science. She also studied music and became a singer and harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

ist. She was noted as a composer, but none of her compositions survive. Velkiers was known as a musician, but also for her philosophy, language, science and theology.