The Lycée Hoche is a public secondary school located in Versailles, not very far away from the famous Palace of Versailles. Formerly, it had been a nunnery founded by French queen Marie Leszczynska. However, after the French Revolution, it became a school in 1803. In 1888, the school was named "Lycée Hoche" after the French general Lazare Hoche who was born in Versailles.
Together with Lycée Henri-IV, Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Lycée Stanislas and Lycée Sainte-Geneviève, the Lycée Hoche is one of the most prestigious schools in France for undergraduate education. Each year, scores of students coming from its preparatory classes are admitted to France's most renowned graduate schools, such as the École Polytechnique, the École Normale Supérieure, HEC Paris and ESSEC Business School.
The 200 years history of this school can be found in the recent book (June 2010) written by the French teacher Marie-Louise Mercier-Jouve: "Le lycee Hoche de Versailles , deux cents ans d'histoire" edited by Patrice Dupuy's editions, Paris.
Famous alumni
- Raymond Aron
- Alain Berton (Chemist)
- Henri Cartan (Wolf Prize recipient)
- Pierre Clostermann
- Jean-Marie Colombani
- Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin
- Louis Franchet d'Espèrey
- Louis Halphen
- Jules Antoine Lissajous
- Charles Mangin
- Philippe Morillon
- Jean-Cyril Spinetta
- alternative rock Phoenix (band)
- Louis Valtat
- Boris Vian
- Wendelin Werner (Fields medalist)
- Dr. Daniel Choukroun
See: Wikipedia -