Individual Swiss Private Schools: Villa Saint Jean--Classes

Figure 1.--This is the 4th class (Classe de quatrième) at the Villa Saint Jean. The photograph was taken in 1941. Of the boys who are identified, 12 are French and 4 are Swiss. The boys wear short pants and knicker suits.

A website about the school explains, "The secondary school system in France starts with the sixième (6th class) and goes until the Première (1st class). After the Première you have one more year for philosophy or mathematics. At the Villa, the youngest pupils (6th, 5th) were in Gallia, the middle (4th, 3rd,) were in Les Ormes, the big boys (2nd, 1st and philo-math) in la Sapinière." Boysin the 1st class look to be about 12 years old. The oldest boys look about 18 years old. I am not sure why the reference here is to French schools. Perhaps Swiss schools folloed the French model. Most of the teachers were French priests. Perhaps French Catholic families wanting a Catholic ducation for their boy, sent them to this school in Switzerland. As far as we call tell, the students were mostly French rather than Swiss, although there were some Swiss students and a smattering of students from other countries. Of course a factor here was that during the German occupation, some parents may have sent their children to school in Switzerland for saftey.

Created: December 1, 2003
Last updated: December 1, 2003