Origin and history
Michelet High School, or Michelet School City, is an establishment located in Vanves, Hauts-de-Seine. It brings together a college, a general school and preparatory classes for the major schools. Its buildings, partially listed as historical monuments, are surrounded by a park of 17 hectares. The site has a history dating back to the seventeenth century, with the castle of Vanves, probably built around 1650 for Abbé Charles Le Prevost, lord of Vanves from 1638 to 1661. In 1655 Claude Lebas de Montargis became its owner and entrusted Jules Hardouin-Mansart with the construction of a new castle, completed in 1704.
The castle was sold as a national property during the French Revolution, then bought in 1799 by the French Prytanée (now Louis-le-Grand High School) to serve as a country house for students. In 1853, the small classes of the high school were permanently installed. In 1859, the castle was enlarged, and a chapel was built. The high school became independent in 1864 under the name of Prince Imperial High School, then successively took the names of Buffon High School, Vanves High School, and finally Michelet High School in 1888. New buildings were built in the 1880s under the direction of architect Alfred-Nicolas Normand.
During the First World War, the school served as a military surgical hospital. During the Second World War, it was occupied by a rest centre in Kriegsmarine. The facades and roofs of buildings built before 1900, as well as the interior of the former gymnasium and the festive hall, were listed as historical monuments in 1986. Among its facilities are a desacralized chapel, a swimming pool, two gymnasiums, a climbing wall, and a wooded park. He also served as a filming venue for several films, including 20 years apart (2013) and Microbe and Gasoil (2015).
Today, Michelet High School is home to more than 2,250 students, divided between the college, the general high school and the preparatory classes. It offers six CPGE courses (ECS, ECT, LSH, MP, PC*, PSI) and various sports facilities, including a synthetic football field, a track of athletics, and a dojo. Its sports association, the Union athlétique du lycée Michelet (UALM), founded in 1890, is one of the oldest in France. The high school celebrated several important anniversaries, including its centenary in 1964 and its 150th anniversary in 2014.
Among the notable historical events was the partial fire of the lycée in 1871 during the Paris Commune, as well as its role as a temporary hospital in 1919 for the French military. The high school was also marked by the deportation of Jean Warin, professor of letters and resistance, who died in 1944 at the Neuengamme camp. His name was given to the Faculty Library in 1945. The historic buildings, including the brick and stone chapel, the iron-pan pool, and the gymnasium with lanterneau, bear witness to its rich architectural past.
Architects Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Louis Joseph Duc, and Alfred Normand successively contributed to the construction and expansion of the high school. The original estate included a regular garden, an orange shop, a cooler, and various agricultural buildings. Today, the high school preserves heritage elements such as the Mansart Pavilion, a rose garden, and two organic glass pyramids, reduced replicas of the Kheops pyramid, installed in 1995. These elements, combined with its educational and military history, make the Lycée Michelet an emblematic site of the Franciscan heritage.
Announcements
Please log in to post a review