 Felix Plater was the son of Lutheran humanist, schoolmaster and printer, Thomas Platter, and the half-brother of Thomas Platter the Younger.In 1552, and only fifteen years old, Plater travelled by pony from Basel to Montpellier to start a six-year course of study under Guillaume Rondelet.Once arrived, he lodged in the house of Laurent Catalan, the town pharmacist and a Maran or Christian Jew.