Floresca Guépin (née, Leconte; 26 March 1813 – 11 November 1889) was a French feminist and teacher. She co-founded the "Société Nantaise pour l'Enseignement Professionnel des Jeunes Filles" (The

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

Society for the

Vocational Education Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...

of Young Girls). "Médiathèque Floresca-Guépin", the media library in the Bottière-Chénaie district of

, is named in her honor. Guépin died in 1889.

Biography

Floresca Clémentine Leconte was born 26 March 1813, in

Sézanne Sézanne () is a commune in the Marne department and Grand Est region in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sézannais''. Population Notable people * Leonie Aviat, Saint * Floresca Guépin (1813–1889), feminist, teacher, ...

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

. She met Doctor Ange Marie François Guépin (1805-1873) in a

Saint-Simonian Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon (; ; 17 October 1760 – 19 May 1825), better known as Henri de Saint-Simon (), was a French political, economic and socialist theorist and businessman whose thought had a substantial influence on po ...

circle of friends in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Floresca spoke English well and was in touch with several American families, including the Lowell-Putnams of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. During the summer of 1853, Floresca, Ange Guépin, and the Lowell-Putnams traveled to

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, including Nantes, the Lowell-Putnams having an interest in the history of Nantes, in particular the period of the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

. There, they met

Jules Michelet Jules Michelet (; 21 August 1798 – 9 February 1874) was a French historian and writer. He is best known for his multivolume work ''Histoire de France'' (History of France). Michelet was influenced by Giambattista Vico; he admired Vico's emphas ...

who was then in exile. On 1 December 1854, Floresca married Ange Guépin, and became step-mother to his children, Ange Victor (b. 1831) and Marie (b. 1838). From 1858, they lived at L'Oisillière near

Savenay Savenay (; ''Savenneg'' in Breton) is a town (administratively a commune) in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France which is part of the Pays de la Loire region. It is located on the Sillon de Bretagne (a mountain range defining the ...

. Floresca Guépin, a friend of André Léo, a feminist militant and future communarde, introduced him to Grégoire Bordillon. In these years, she influenced those around her to support

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. ...

. In January 1870, with her husband and Prosper Vial, a metals trader, Guépin co-founded the "Société Nantaise pour l'Enseignement Professionnel des Jeunes Filles", which ran first two and later three secular workshop schools, modeled on the school established by their friend,

Élisa Lemonnier Élisa Lemonnier (24 March 1805 – 5 June 1865) was a French educationist considered the founder of vocational education for women in France. Early years Marie-Juliette Élisa Grimailh, known as Élisa by her family, was born in Sorèze, Tarn on ...

, in 1862, in Paris. After she was widowed in 1873, Guépin directed the workshop schools for several years. These workshop schools were behind the future Vial et Guépin technical school in Nantes.

Death and legacy

Floresca Guépin died 11 November 1889, in

. The media library of the Bottière-Chénaie district in Nantes, opened in June 2007, is named in her honor.

Biography

Death and legacy

References

Further reading