The Lycée Pierre-Corneille (also known as the Lycée Corneille) is a state secondary school located in the city of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

, France. Originally founded by the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

in 1593, the school was secularized following the

1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and State (French: ) was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on 9 December 1905. Enacted during the Third Republic, it established state secularism in France. France was then governed by the '' ...

, and is today

non-religious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

and ruled by the

French Ministry of Education French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Fran ...

. The school adopted the name of the playwright ''

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patron ...

'' in 1873, and was classified as a

national heritage site A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage registe ...

in December 1985.

Origins

The

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

of the 16th century led the

Archbishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Arch ...

, Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, to protect the influence of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

by creating a school to educate the children of the

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

and

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. Th ...

''in accordance with the purest doctrinal principles of

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

''. The school started teaching in 1593 run by the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

and known initially as the ''Collège de Bourbon''.Lycée Pierre Corneille de Rouen – History
/ref> From 1595 to 1604 teaching ceased because of Jesuit expulsions. Between 1614 and 1631 the gatehouse and chapel were built. By 1662, the lycée had taught two thousand pupils. The chapel was opened in 1631 although foundation stone had been laid in 1614 by

Marie de Médicis Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

, the widow of King

Henri IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

. The chapel blends both late gothic and classical architectural styles in its fifty-two metre nave. It became a listed building in 1908. In 1762 the school became known as the ''Collège Royal'' after the Jesuits had been expelled from France. After the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

it became associated with the 'Ecole Centrale' following the ideas of the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

, and reducing study of

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

in favour of a broader-based curriculum. After 1803 it became known as the 'Lycée Impérial' and taught humanities and mathematics following the principles and discipline of the Napoleonic code. Successful students were awarded the ''

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' and subjects increased to include languages and Natural Sciences. The school then developed a two-year 'post baccalaureate' curriculum that enabled entry to the

Grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: *Agustín Muñoz Grandes Agustín Muñoz Grandes (27 January 1896 – 11 July 1970) was a Spanish general, and politician, vice-president of the Spanish Government and minister with Francisco Franco several times; also know ...

. In 1873, the Lycée was renamed ' Lycée Pierre-Corneille' in honour of the alumnus, the 17th century writer and academic,

. At this time the ''petit lycée'' was added for younger pupils. In 1890 the sports club ''Les Francs Joueurs'' was founded. Since 1918 the school has run a Norwegian 'college' that houses typically twenty-four boys for three years each. This was developed as an international peace-building initiative after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 2018,

Queen Sonja of Norway Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relatio ...

visited the school to mark the centenary of the scheme, with

Brigitte Macron Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron (; née Brigitte Trogneux , previously Auzière ; born 13 April 1953) is a French former educator. She is the wife and former teacher of Emmanuel Macron, who is the current President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra ...

and

Rolf Einar Fife Rolf Einar Fife (born 18 October 1961) is a Norwegian diplomat. He is a law graduate by education and started working for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986. He served as head of department from 1997 and deputy under-secretary of ...

. During

it served as a military hospital. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it was commandeered by the German army, and was then bombed in September 1942 and on April 19, 1944. Today it educates students in preparation for university and

.Lycée Pierre-Corneille de Rouen
/ref>

People

Alumni

* Jules Adeline, engraver * Louis Anquetin,

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

* Jean-Jacques Antier, journalist and writer * , painter * , businessman *

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (also called Bernardin de St. Pierre) (19 January 1737, in Le Havre – 21 January 1814, in Éragny, Val-d'Oise) was a French writer and botanist. He is best known for his 1788 novel '' Paul et Virginie'', ...

* Antoine Blondin, writer * , scientist * Pierre Bourguignon *

Armand Carrel Armand Carrel (8 May 1800 – 25 July 1836) was a French journalist and political writer. Early life Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Armand Carrel was born at Rouen. His father was a wealthy merchant, and he received a liberal education at the '' Lyc� ...

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, ...

Claude Chappe Claude Chappe (; 25 December 1763 – 23 January 1805) was a French inventor who in 1792 demonstrated a practical semaphore system that eventually spanned all of France. His system consisted of a series of towers, each within line of sight of ...

Patrick Chesnais Patrick Chesnais (born 18 March 1947) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. Life and career Patrick Chesnais was born in La Garenne-Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine. He was educated at the '' Lycée Pierre Corneille'' in Rouen. In 1989 ...

, actor and director * , biologist *

, writer and academic * Thomas Corneille, writer and academic *

Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; July 16, 1796 – February 22, 1875), or simply Camille Corot, is a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. He is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast o ...

* * * Patrick Dehornoy, mathematician *

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

, painter * * scientist * * , journalist *

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

* Édouard Dujardin, writer * Pierre-Louis Dulong scientist * Pierre Dumont *

Marcel Dupré Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré () (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré was titular o ...

, organist * Charles Féré, Doctor of medicine *

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

, writer * Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle, writer and academic * Henri Gadeau de Kerville, naturalist * , politician * Pierre Giffard, journalist, editor * , writer *

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...

, writer * Jean Lecanuet, politician * , artist painter *

André Marie André Marie (3 December 1897 – 12 June 1974) was a French Radical politician who served as Prime Minister during the Fourth Republic in 1948. Biography Born at Honfleur, Calvados, the young André Marie studied at primary and second ...

, politician *

Émile Masqueray Émile Masqueray (20 March 1843 – 19 August 1894) was a 19th-century French anthropologist, linguist, and writer. He was an expert on the Berber–Tuareg peoples of North Africa. He graduated from the Lycée Pierre-Corneille and the École No ...

, anthropologist and ethnologist *

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

, writer *

André Maurois André Maurois (; born Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog; 26 July 1885 – 9 October 1967) was a French author. Biography Maurois was born on 26 July 1885 in Elbeuf and educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen, both in Normandy. A member of ...

, writer *

Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône from 2017 to 2022. He led the ''La France Insoumise'' group in the Nation ...

, politician * , army officer *

Théodore Monod Théodore André Monod (9 April 1902 – 22 November 2000) was a French naturalist, humanist, scholar and explorer. Exploration Early in his career, Monod was made professor at the '' Muséum national d'histoire naturelle'' and founded the '' Ins ...

* , journalist and writer *

Charles Nicolle Charles Jules Henri Nicolle (21 September 1866 – 28 February 1936) was a French bacteriologist who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his identification of lice as the transmitter of epidemic typhus. Family Nicolle was born to Aline L ...

, doctor physician * * ,

Film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

* Thomas Pesquet, astronaut 2009 *

Robert Antoine Pinchon Robert Antoine Pinchon (, 1 July 1886 in Rouen – 9 January 1943 in Bois-Guillaume) was a French Post-Impressionist landscape painter of the Rouen School (''l'École de Rouen'') who was born and spent most of his life in France. He was consi ...

, artist-painter *

Jean Prévost Jean Prévost (13 June 1901 – 1 August 1944) was a French writer, journalist, and Resistance fighter. Biography Born in Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, Prévost was educated (from 1907 to 1911) at the primary school in Montivilliers. near ...

* , President of

UNEF UNEF may refer to: * United Nations Emergency Force, a UN force deployed in the Middle East in 1956 * UNEF, a designation for Extra-Fine thread series of Standard Unified Screw Threads (ANSI B1.1) * Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (Natio ...

Torstein Raaby Torstein Pettersen Raaby (6 October 1918 – 23 March 1964) was a Norwegian telegrapher, resistance fighter and explorer. He is known as a crew member on the Kon-Tiki expedition. Biography Raaby was born in the village of Dverberg on the island ...

, Norwegian telegrapher, resistance fighter and explorer. * *

Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'amour f ...

, Director *

Jean Rochefort Jean Raoul Robert Rochefort (; 29 April 1930 – 9 October 2017) was a French actor. He received many accolades during his career, including an Honorary César in 1999. Life and career Rochefort was born on 29 April 1930 in Paris, France, to ...

, actor *

Bertrand Serlet Bertrand Serlet (; born 1960) is a French software engineer and businessman; he worked first at the ''Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique'' (INRIA) before leaving France for the United States in 1985. He was the Seni ...

, engineer * , archeologist *

Karin Viard Karin Viard (; born 24 January 1966) is a multi-award-winning French actress. She made her film debut in ''Tatie Danielle'' in 1990. She has appeared in films such as ''Delicatessen'', '' L'Emploi du temps'', ''Adultère, mode d'emploi'' and ''L ...

, actress * Jacques Villon, artist * *

Étienne Wolff Étienne Wolff (Auxerre, 12 February 1904 – Paris, 18 November 1996) was a French biologist, specialising in experimental and teratological embryology. He led the Société zoologique de France from 1958 and was elected to the French Academy o ...

* Rachid Yazami *

Teachers

Théodore Bachelet Jean-Louis-Théodore Bachelet (15 January 1820 – 26 September 1879) was a 19th-century French historian and musicologist. Biography Aftr studying at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen and the Lycée Hoche in Versailles, he entered the Éco ...

(1847–1873) * Léon Brunschvicg (1895–1900) * (1878–1959) * (1934–1936) * (1937–?) *

Émile Chartier Émile-Auguste Chartier (; 3 March 1868 – 2 June 1951), commonly known as Alain (), was a French philosopher, journalist, and pacifist. He adopted his pseudonym in homage to the 15th-century Norman poet Alain Chartier. Early life Alain was bo ...

* * * (1964–1988) * Mongo Beti (1966–1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lycee Pierre-Corneille Education in Rouen Pierre-Corneille Pierre-Corneille Pierre-Corneille 1593 establishments in France

Origins

People

Alumni

Teachers

See also

References