Lycée Saint-Louis
The Lycée Saint-Louis in the Paris Latin Quarter (in the 6th arrondissement ) is one of the capital's most traditional high schools . In contrast to the majority of the other grammar schools, it has only offered classes préparatoires (preparatory classes) since 1969 , namely those in which selected high school graduates are prepared for two years for the entrance exams ( concours ) of various grandes écoles with a focus on mathematics, technology, science and economics .
The Lycée Saint-Louis, as it has been called since 1820, emerged from the Collège d'Harcourt, a higher education institution with boarding school, which in turn emerged from a dormitory for underprivileged scholars at the Paris University, which was built around 1280 by the Norman nobleman and Bishop Raoul d'Harcourt († 1307) was founded. As part of this tradition, the Lycée now has dormitories for 356 of its approximately 1,300 students.
In the unofficial rankings, his preparatory classes (currently 13 in the first year and 17 in the second) are among the best that France has to offer. Correspondingly, middle- class families with a keen interest in education , including those from the provinces, try to enable their daughters or sons to attend the Lycée, in particular by sending them to well-known high schools beforehand and giving them extracurricular support.
Many well-known personalities from politics, administration, business, science and culture have visited the Lycée Saint-Louis and / or its preparatory classes.
history
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Collège d'Harcourt was a stronghold of the latently oppositional Jansenism . In 1793, at the time of the revolution, it was closed and reopened in 1812 under Emperor Napoleon as the Imperial Gymnasium. In 1820, at the time of the restoration , it was renamed after King Ludwig IX. , the saint (1214–1270). The old building was demolished in 1795, the current one completed in 1814. In the 19th century it was partially used as a prison, barracks or educational institution. It has been extensively renovated recently.
Famous students
of the Collège d'Harcourt:
- Jean Racine , writer and courtier
- Denis Diderot , writer and philosopher
- Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand , statesman
- Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier , diplomat
- Émile Zola , writer
- Louis Pasteur , biologist
- François Coppée , poet, playwright and novelist
- Yves Tanguy , surrealist painter
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , aviator and writer
- Claude Simon , writer, Nobel Prize winner
- Alain Robbe-Grillet , writer and cineast
Web links
- Homepage of the Lycée Saint-Louis (French)
Coordinates: 48 ° 50 ′ 57 ″ N , 2 ° 20 ′ 30 ″ E