Moritz Schmidt was born on August 3, 1872, in Neuleiningen, Palatinate. He became a citizen of St. Ingbert by 1900 and had run a toy and kitchenware shop there since 1897, called "Zur billigen Quelle." In November 1934, he began liquidating the business, and the family emigrated to Switzerland, where he died in 1943 in Baden, near Zurich.
His wife, Therese Meyer, was born on February 15, 1873, in Bremgarten, near Zurich. She married Moritz in 1900. After fleeing to Switzerland in late 1934, she regained Swiss citizenship in December 1943 and died in Lengnau on November 24, 1953.
