Ansermet was born in Vevey, Switzerland. He started his career as a professor of mathematics at the University of Lausanne. He soon became more interested in conducting. He spent a year in Berlin to learn something from Arthur Nikisch and Felix Weingartner. In 1912 he began conducting at the Casino in Montreux. From 1915 to 1923 was the conductor for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. He travelled with them to France where he met Debussy and Ravel. He talked to them about how they wanted their works to be played. During World War I, he met Stravinsky, who was exiled in Switzerland. This made him very interested in Russian music.