Marie-Elisabeth von Humboldt (December 8, 1741 – November 19, 1796) was the mother of Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, born from the union with Alexander Georg von Humboldt, her second husband.
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Family
Von Humboldt came from a family of merchants and artisans, some of whom were of huguenots origin. Her grandfather, the parisian merchant Henri Colomb (d. 1719), first emigrated to Copenhagen after the lifting of the Edict of Nantes (1685), where he became a trimmer at the royal court. Around 1711, he settled in Neustadt an der Dosse in Brandenburg-Prussia and sat on the board of directors of the royal mirror factory. This move was caused by his father-in-law, the goldsmith Jean-Henri de Moor (d. 1722) from Wageningen in the province of Gelderland, himself director of the factory from 1696 to 1711. Jean-Henri de Moor was the founder from the French colony of Neustadt. His son Jean Henri de Moor (Johann Heinrich de Moor) continued to run the company with Henri Colomb as partner.
Marie-Elisabeth's father, Johann Heinrich Colomb (1695–1759), was also director of the Neustadt mirror factory from 1733 to 1741. He then entered the Prussian civil service as director of the East Frisian Chamber. He moved to Berlin with his family as a landlord.