Raphaël-Louis’ father, Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim, was born in Mainz in 1800 and as an early orphan, he had to leave high school to work at the bank of Hayum Salomon Goldschmidt.

Unfortunately, the municipalities proved unreceptive to the proposal of the banker, and Bischoffsheim, who had already had problems with money loaned to the city for improving the Via Romana, decided to move his center of interests back to France.

His passion for astronomy had already driven him to invest in the observatories of Paris, of Montsouris and of the Pic du Midi.

When Bordighera did not accept his proposal for an observatory, Bischoffsheim built one in Nice on Mont-Gros, providing it with all the latest equipment and making it a center of excellence.

In 1881, he was chosen to represent the district of Nice in the Chamber of Deputies, but not wanting to join any party, he was not re-elected in 1885.