Louis Dollo was born in Lille, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, a scion of an old Breton family. He studied at the École Centrale de Lille, with the geologist Jules Gosselet and the zoologist Alfred Giard, both of whom influenced the young Dollo.[1] In 1877, he graduated with a degree in engineering. After his graduation he worked in the mining industry for five years, but simultaneously developed a passion for paleontology.