Russia
Neuchâtel emigrants to Russia
Lise Matile (b. Le Locle, 5 February 1817) and her sister, Cécile (b. Le Locle, 8 January 1821) received a passport for Moscow dated 15 June 1836. They carried a certificate from the mayor of La Chaux-de-Fonds, but we have no idea of what happened to them in Russia. Their brothers, Frédéric-Alexandre (b. Les Ponts-de-Martel, 19 November 1814) and Paul (b. Les Ponts-de-Martel, 4 October 1822) also apparently emigrated to Russia, as their place of residence was given as Moscow when the banns for their marriages were read in their natal village in 1852 and 1849 respectively. The family’s direct line can be traced back to Petit-Blaise Matile who lived in the early 1500’s. The Matile family of La Sagne takes its name from Matthilde, widow of Perrod Vuille, who lived in this village in the middle of the 15th century. The Matiles are therefore an offshoot of the Vuille family and one of the comparatively rare families which owes its name to a woman.
Louise-Caroline Huguenin (-Elie) (b. Le Landeron, 19 February 1851) was another young woman who received a passport for Russia on 19 November 1869. She was the daughter of Alfred Huguenin-Elie and Louise Laubscher and her Huguenin-Elie line goes back to the earliest known Huguenin.
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