Joseph Ravel Geneva, Switzerland. Joseph Ravel was born in 1832 at Versoix. His father, Aimé, was of French descent and became naturalised Swiss. The family originated from Collonges-sous-Salève, a small village in the Haute-Savoie close to the Swiss frontier. Trained as an engineer, Joseph met and married Marie Delouart, a girl from the Basses-Pyrénées, and settled in Geneva manufacturing musical boxes. He appears to have been in business between the mid-1850s and 1860 and, in 1859, is said to have suggested the idea of providing an orchestral musical box with a reed organ having its own keyboard for the ad libitum use of the owner. The family finally left Geneva for St. Jean de Luz near Biarritz in France where, in 1875, they had a son who was to carry the name of the family beyond musical boxes – Maurice Ravel, the composer. Joseph Ravel, his wife and their son, who died in 1937, lie buried at Levallois-Perret.
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