Elise Caroline Bommer

[2] In Elisa's youth her father was employed at the Royal Castle of Laeken (the official residence of Belgian King), giving her the opportunity to explore the large grounds and park.

[3] A palace governess tutored her but when ten years old she was sent to a boarding school at nearby Vilvoorde,[3] where she rued her loss of freedom, but finally adjusted to the new discipline and developed her talent for music.

Her music was set aside in favour of a commercial career when she was twenty years old and her health soon suffered as a result of long hours spent at unfulfilling work.

Jean-Edouard Bommer suggested the two friends study the local fungi, virtually untouched except for the work of Marie-Anne Libert (1782–1865), Gérard Daniel Westendorp (1813–1869) and Jean Kickx (1803–1864).

In her final years physical disability severely limited her activities, but never stopped her piano-playing, and embarked on botanical painting, including fungi and flowering plants.