De Pury was born in 1823 in
Neuchâtel, the fourth child of Baron Charles Auguste de Pury, the mayor of
La Côte, and Countess Sophie Marianne
de Pourtalès, a member of a
French-Swiss noble family. His great-grandfather, Abraham Bernard, was a childhood friend and relative of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In 1846, when he was twenty-three years old, de Pury moved to
Bahia, Brazil to work for a tobacco company owned by his uncle, Auguste de Meuron. He retired from business in 1879, dedicating his time to philanthropic causes and hosting
society functions. The house, known as the Villa James de Pury, now houses the
Musée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel. The entrance of the museum contains a plaque commemorating de Pury. == References ==