Lycée Janson-de-Sailly is a ''

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

'' located in the

16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (; ) is the westernmost of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. Located on the city's Right Bank, it is adjacent to the 17th and 8th arrondissements to the northeast, as well as to the ...

, France. The ''lycéens'' of Janson are called ''les jansoniens'' and they usually refer to their high school as Janson, or JdS. It is the biggest academic institution in the region: 3,200 boys and girls from 11 to 20 attend classes ranging from junior high school to '' Classes Préparatoires''.

History

Alexandre-Emmanuel-François Janson de Sailly (1782-1829) was a wealthy Parisian lawyer, who found out that his wife Marie-Jeanne Joséphine Berryer had a lover. Therefore, he decided to disinherit her and to bequeath all of his fortune to the State, under the condition that it be used to establish a modern high school that would offer an excellent education and in which no women would be allowed. After his death, his widow attempted to quash his will until her death in 1876, without any success. The ''lycée'' was built in the 1880s: the first stone being put on October 16, 1881 by

Jules Ferry Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans, Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 18 ...

, who spoke about the "lycée of the new times."

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

who lived nearby made a speech for the inauguration, on October 13, 1884. The ''lycée'' Janson-de-Sailly was the first Republican ''lycée'' of France (the others started as royal or imperial establishments); it aimed at training the future French scientific, literary, military, industrial, diplomatic and political male ''élites'' of the young Third Republic. It gained a national reputation, and attracted students from around the country. It also became one of the ''lycées'' of Parisian high society. The motto of the ''lycée'' was ''Pour la Patrie, par le livre et par l'épée'' (For the Homeland, by the book and by the sword). Many alumni joined the military, and participated in the conquest of the

French Colonial Empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas Colony, colonies, protectorates, and League of Nations mandate, mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "Firs ...

, especially in Africa. In 1944, a few hundred Jansonians managed to leave the ''lycée'' and joined the French Free Forces (the 1st Army of

Jean de Lattre de Tassigny Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (2 February 1889 – 11 January 1952) was a French ''général d'armée'' during World War II and the First Indochina War. He was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1952. ...

): they founded ''le 2ème Bataillon de Choc'', also known as ''Bataillon Janson-de-Sailly'' and the ''bataillons des bacheliers''. They faced the German divisions in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

(especially in the battles of Masevaux and

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

) during the counter-attack of

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

, and entered Germany with General Patton's forces in 1945. The first female pupils would be admitted in 1959. Commemorative plaques near the entrances of several classrooms and halls in the school buildings honor the memories of its alumni - including the war hero Roland Garros.

Teaching

Nowadays, the 3,200 students are equally divided into the three traditional formations of the French Education System : '' collège'' (30 classes with ''collégiens'' from 11 to 14), ''

'' (30 classes with ''lycéens'' from 14 to 18) and Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes écoles or ''prépas'' (30 classes with students from 18 to 20). In France, students must study two foreign or regional languages. The first choice at Janson is English or German. The second choice foreign language is: English, German, Spanish,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Chinese or Russian. In classes préparatoires, there is even more choice with German, English, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Russian as first language and all the aforementioned languages plus Japanese and Chinese as a second language. A student in Classes préparatoires can also take another second language not amongst those above. But those languages are available only through a partnership (the "Langues Inter-établissement") with other lycées with a wilder range of languages. The student would then study at Janson but go to another lycée to attend its foreign language class. For instance, the lycée Montaigne provides Portuguese and Polish and the lycée Buffon offers Hebrew and Swedish. The Lycée offers an AbiBac section, with German history classes taught by a native speaker. The students taking part in the section will take the Abitur and the Baccalauréat exams at the end of 12th grade.

Ranking

Due to its geographical location, and to the number of its important alumni, Janson de Sailly has a high reputation. Its scholastic ranking puts it at or above the median for area schools.''France Examen''
"Analyse des résultats En 2015, les candidats du lycée Janson De Sailly qui se sont présentés au bac ES (série économique et sociale) ont été 98,6 % à décrocher leur diplôme et 59,7 % à se voir décerner une mention. Comparés aux résultats du département (taux de réussite de 95,8% et taux de mention de 65,8 %), les résultats du lycée Janson De Sailly sont en dessous de la moyenne pour le bac ES. Son taux de mention étant inférieur à 60%, le lycée Janson De Sailly n'obtient pas de distinction dans le palmarès du bac ES." According to the sociologists Michel Pinçon and Monique Pinçon-Charlot the school is predominantly attended by children from the upper class or from the aristocracy because of its location (the wealthy 16th arrondissement of Paris).

Notable alumni

Politics and government

* Jacques Attali (born 1943), political adviser * Robert Badinter (born 1928), French Minister of Justice * Jean-Louis Bianco (born 1943), French Minister of Transport * Édouard Bonnefous (1907-2007), French Minister of Commerce *

Jean-Louis Borloo Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...

(born 1951), French Minister of Ecology *

Élisabeth Borne Élisabeth Borne (; born 18 April 1961) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from May 2022 to January 2024. A member of President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance (French political party), Renaissance, she is the secon ...

(born 1961), Prime Minister of France *

Pierre Brossolette Pierre Brossolette (; 25 June 1903 – 22 March 1944) was a French journalist, politician and major hero of the French Resistance in World War II. Brossolette ran a Resistance intelligence hub from a Parisian bookshop on the Rue de la Pompe, be ...

(1903-1944), member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

* Olivier Dassault (born 1951), French MP * Bernard Debré (born 1944), French Minister of Development *

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. Fabius was 37 years old when he was a ...

(born 1946), Prime Minister of France * Edgar Faure (1908-1988), Prime Minister of France *

Olivier Giscard d'Estaing Olivier Giscard d'Estaing (30 December 1927 – 13 September 2021) was chairman of the Committee for a World Parliament. The brother of French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1926–2020), he was the founding dean and director general of ...

(born 1927), French MP *

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

(born 1926), President of France * Bruno Gollnisch (born 1950), MEP * Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark (1908-1980) * Jean-Marcel Jeanneney (1910-2010), French Minister of Justice *

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and th ...

(born 1937), Prime Minister of France * Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (born 1945), President of

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

* Patrick Leclercq (born 1938), Minister of State of

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

* Philippe Malaud (1925-2007), French Minister of Information * Martin Malvy (born 1936), French Minister of Budget *

Lennart Meri Lennart Georg Meri (; 29 March 1929 – 14 March 2006) was an Estonian writer, film director, and statesman. He was the country's foreign minister from 1990 to 1992 and President of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Early life Meri was born in Tallin ...

(1929-2001), President of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

* Frédéric Mitterrand (born 1947), French Minister of Culture *

Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor (France), mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 202 ...

(born 1970), Prime Minister of France * Jean Sainteny (1907-1978), French Minister of Veteran Affairs *

Maurice Schumann Maurice Schumann (; 10 April 1911 – 9 February 1998) was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (France), Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou from 22 J ...

(1911-1998), French Minister of Foreign Affairs * Jean-Jacques Servan Schreiber (1924-2006), French Minister of Reform * Mohammed Zahir Shah (1914-2007), King of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Military

* François d'Astier de la Vigerie (1886–1956), French General * Henri Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves (1901-1941), member of the

* Pierre Marie Gallois (1911-2010), French General * Roland Garros (1888-1918), military aviator * Jacques Lanxade (born 1934), French admiral

Science

Élie Cartan Élie Joseph Cartan (; 9 April 1869 – 6 May 1951) was an influential French mathematician who did fundamental work in the theory of Lie groups, differential systems (coordinate-free geometric formulation of PDEs), and differential geometry. He ...

(1869-1951), mathematician * Jean Favard (1902-1965), mathematician *

Jean Baptiste Perrin Jean Baptiste Perrin (; 30 September 1870 – 17 April 1942) was a French atomic physicist who, in his studies of the Brownian motion of minute particles suspended in liquids (sedimentation equilibrium), verified Albert Einstein's explanation o ...

(1870-1942), physicist,

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

laureate * Laurent Schwartz (1915-2002), mathematician,

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

ist * Jean-Claude Sikorav (born 1957), mathematician * Hervé This (born 1955), chemist

Humanities

Philippe Ariès Philippe Ariès (; 21 July 1914 – 8 February 1984) was a French medievalist and historian of the family and childhood, in the style of Georges Duby. He wrote many books on the common daily life. His most prominent works regarded the change in ...

(1914-1984), historian * Pierre Assouline (born 1953), essayist * Claude Aveline (1901-1992), essayist *

Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-born American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, ...

(1907-2012), historian * Alain Bernheim (1931–2022), essayist * Pierre Bertaux (1907-1986), scholar * Laurent-Emmanuel Calvet (born 1969), economist * Jean Daujat (1906-1998), philosopher * Régis Debray (born 1940), philosopher * Alain Decaux (1925-2016), historian *

Charles Du Bos Charles Du Bos (27 October 1882 – 5 August 1939) was a French essayist and critic, known for works including ''Approximations'' (1922–37), a seven-volume collection of essays and letters, and for his ''Journal'', an autobiographical work publ ...

(1882-1939), essayist * Émile Faguet (1947-1916), essayist *

François Furet François Furet (; 27 March 1927 – 12 July 1997) was a French historian and president of the Saint-Simon Foundation, best known for his books on the French Revolution. From 1985 to 1997, Furet was a professor of French history at the University ...

(1927-1997), historian * Bertrand Gille (1920-1980), historian * Paul Guth (1910-1997), essayist * Henri Lepage (born 1941), economist *

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss ( ; ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...

(1908-2009), anthropologist *

Maurice Merleau-Ponty Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty. ( ; ; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interes ...

(1908-1961), philosopher * Matthieu Ricard (born 1946), buddhist monk *

George Steiner Francis George Steiner, Fellow of the British Academy#Fellowship, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between ...

(born 1929), essayist * Benjamin Stora (born 1950), historian * Jean Wahl (1888-1974), philosopher

Arts

* Richard Anthony (1920-2006), singer * Gilbert Amy (born 1936), composer and conductor *

Claude Autant-Lara Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director, screenwriter, set designer and costume designer who worked in films for over 50 years. He made films characterised by bourgeois Realism (arts), realism, anti- ...

(1901-2000), film director * Christian Bérard (1902-1949), designer * Richard Berry (born 1950), actor * Sinclair (born 1970), singer * Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (born 1967), singer and model * Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980), writer * Emmanuel Carrère (born 1957), writer * Roger Chastel (1897-1981), painter * René Crevel (1900-1935), writer * Jean-Loup Dabadie (born 1938), writer * Pierre Daninos (1913-2005), writer * Michel Déon (1919-2016), writer * Jean Dutourd (1920-2011), writer * Franc-Nohain (1872-1934), writer * Jean Gabin (1904-1976), actor * José Giovanni (1923-2004), film director * Julien Green (1900-1998), writer *

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre (aesthetic), boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French ac ...

(1885-1957), film director * Georges Hugnet (1906-1974), graphic artist * Sébastien Izambard (born 1973), singer * Pierre Klossowski (1905-2001), writer * Philippe Labro (born 1936), writer * Jacques de Lacretelle (1888-1985), writer *

Georges Lautner Georges Lautner (; 24 January 1926 – 22 November 2013) was a French film director and screenwriter, known primarily for his comedies created in collaboration with screenwriter Michel Audiard. Lautner's ventures into other genres were less ...

(1926-2013), film director * Michel Leiris (1901-1990), writer * Roger Martin du Gard (1881-1958), writer,

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

laureate * Robert Merle (1908-2004), writer *

Oscar Milosz Oscar Vladislas de Lubicz Milosz (; ) (28 May 1877 or 15 May 1877 – 2 March 1939) was a French language poet, playwright, novelist, essayist and representative of Lithuania at the League of Nations.Czesław Miłosz, Cynthia L. Haven. Czesła ...

(1877-1939), writer * Henry de Montherlant (1895-1972), writer *

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student a ...

(1930-2006), actor * Germain Nouveau (1851-1920), writer *

Gérard Oury Gérard Oury (; born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. Life and career Max-Gérard Houry-Tannenbaum was the only son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist of Russian-Jewish or ...

(1919-2006), film director * Jean Piat (born 1924), actor * Charles Picart Le Doux (1881-1959), painter * Raymond Roussel (1877-1933), writer * Jean-Christophe Rufin (born 1952), writer *

Preston Sturges Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He is credited as being the first screenwriter to find success as a director. Prior to Sturges, other ...

(1898-1959), film director * Paul Vaillant-Couturier (1892-1937), writer * Ray Ventura (1908-1979), jazzman * Pierre Wiazemsky (1949 - ), press caricaturist (signing as 'Wiaz')

Business

* Bernard Attali (born 1943), CEO of

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

* François-Marie Banier (born 1947), Liliane Bettencourt's adviser * Vincent Bolloré (born 1952), billionaire, CEO of Bolloré * Cyril Bourlon de Rouvre (born 1945), businessman * Martin Bouygues (born 1952), billionaire, CEO of

Bouygues Bouygues S.A. () is a French engineering group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the ...

Serge Dassault Serge Dassault (; born Serge Paul André Bloch; 4 April 1925 – 28 May 2018) was a French engineer, businessman and politician. He was the chairman and chief executive officer of Dassault Group, and a conservative politician. According to ...

(born 1925), billionaire, CEO of

Dassault Group Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS (; also GIM Dassault or Dassault Group) is a French corporate group established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, later led by his s ...

* Arnaud Lagardère (born 1961), CEO of

Lagardère Group Lagardère S.A. () is an international group with operations in over 40 countries. Based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, the group was founded and created in 1992 by Jean-Luc Lagardère under the name Matra, Hachette & Lagardère. Headed ...

Robert Louis-Dreyfus Robert Louis-Dreyfus ( – ) was a French businessman who was chief executive officer (CEO) of Adidas (then Adidas Salomon) and Saatchi & Saatchi. He was a majority shareholder of the French football team Marseille, and during his tenure th ...

(1946-2009), owner of the

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

* Raoul Nordling (1881-1962), businessman * Ernest-Antoine Seillière (born 1930), head of the MEDEF * J. R. D. Tata (1904–1993), chairman of

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...

* Léon Zitrone (1914-1995), TV host

Sports

* Robert Abdesselam (1920-2006), tennis player * William Grover-Williams (1903-1945), racing driver

Sister schools

*Hangzhou Foreign Language School *Yeouido Girls High School

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lycee Janson de Sailly Buildings and structures in the 16th arrondissement of Paris 1880s establishments in France