Felix Calonder - Early Life (1863 - 1891)

1891)

Calonder was born in Scuol in the Engadin valley, the son of a master builder from Trin. When Calonder was six years old, his family moved to Trin where he went to elementary school. From 1878 to 1881 Calonder visited the cantonal school in Chur. He dropped out, worked as a commercial trainée for three years, and didn't graduate with a Matura until 1885 in Zurich. He studied law in Zurich, Munich, Paris, and Bern, where he submitted his doctoral thesis on international law in 1889. He was active in the student corporation "Zofingia", and became a militia officer and judge in the Swiss Armed Forces.

After completing his studies, Calonder returned to Chur where he worked as a court secretary, and later established his own partnership in a lawyer's office. In 1892, he married Ursulina Walther with whom he had three children.