 Géraud (or Gerauld) de Cordemoy was born in October of 1626, the son of a University of Paris professor. He was the third of four children born to Géraud and Nicole de Cordemoy, and the only son. His father died when he was nine years old, and other than this, almost nothing is known of Cordemoy’s early years. While there is not a record of the date of his marriage (to Marie de Chazelles), the first of his five children is known to have been born on December 7, 1651, when Cordemoy was twenty-five.