Mélanie Bonis was born into a modest Parisian family. She was in no way prepared for a career in music. Her family was opposed to her taking piano lessons, so she taught herself how to play the instrument until the age of twelve, when a close friend of the family finally convinced her parents to send her to music school. An exceptionally gifted student, she soon was introduced to Cesar Franck, who opened the doors of the Conservatoire to her in 1876. For the next five years she studied harmony, piano accompaniment and composition. In singing class, she fell under the charms of Amédée Landely Hettich, a brilliant young man who was already known in Paris as a music critic. Her parents were against the marriage and withdrew their daughter from the Conservatoire in order to separate the couple. Mel Bonis, first prize in harmony, near the top of her class in piano accompaniment, a student showing great promise in composition and progressing rapidly, had no choice but to leave the Conservatoire in 1881.