Léon Fontbonne

Léon Fontbonne (1859–1940) was born in Clermont-Ferrand, in central France. At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Fontbonne's family moved to Belgium. There, after an apprenticeship as a typographer at a newspaper and after teaching himself the flute, Fontbonne began his musical studies, including composition, at the Conservatoire in Liège where he studied with Edouard Tricot. He received his Premier Prix with distinction in 1877.