Elise, Countess of Edla

Elise, Countess of Edla , was a Swissborn American actress and singer and the morganatic second wife of the former King Ferdinand II of Portugal.

Elise Friedericke Hensler was born onMay 1836 at La ChauxdeFonds, in the Neuchtel Canton, Switzerland, the daughter of Johann Friederich Conrad Hensler and his wife Louise Josephe Hechelbacher. Her family was SwissGerman. When she was twelve, her family moved to Boston in the United States, where she was given a remarkable education, with the arts and languages playing an important role. She finished her studies in Paris and as an adult could easily speak seven languages.

Source: Wikipedia