Lycée français de New York

The Lycée Français de New York (LFNY) is a French language school based in Manhattan, New York City which follows the French curriculum of study and allows students to study for the French general Baccalauréat, the international option of the French Baccalaureate, and the American High School Diploma. It fosters over 1200 students from many different nationalities from pre-nursery all the way through high school.

In the late 1930's "the LFNY was the brainchild of the then French Consul General in New York, Count Charles de Ferry de Fontnouvelle. He enlisted the help of Forsythe Wicks, a lawyer and businessman who was the president of the Alliance Française and Paul Windels, Sr.the attorney general of the City of New York.... Others who were involved in the founding of the LFNY.....include: Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, the President of Columbia University, Mr. Hesse Strauss, the American Ambassador to France, and Mr. Jean Marx, the Director of Cultural Affairs at the Quai d'Orsay.......The School granted its first baccalaureate degree in 1938. During the late 1930's and 1940's world events helped shape the School as it continued to expand to accommodate the many students who came here from Europe and elsewhere during WWII. Eight graduates of LFNY died in combat during the war........Since 1935 over 36,000 students have studied at the Lycée. More than 150 nationalities have been represented throughout the School's history." [LFNY website, [http://www.lfny2.org/index.php?action=display&art=1&lang=en&rub=5 -The Lycée, History-] ]

Mr. Maurice Galy (deceased 1993) was the school's President starting in 1957 "a post he held until he retired in 1989.....The school originally occupied a residential building on East 95th Street near Fifth Avenue and Mr. Galy arranged for the acquisition of three more landmark mansions, two on East 72d Street and one on East 93d Street." [New York Times obituaries, June 24, 1993 [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE6DC1F3AF937A15755C0A965958260] ]

The school was located for many years in three locations on the upper East Side of Manhattan: Kindergarten to 5th grade at 72nd between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, 6th to 10th grades at 95th between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, and 11th and 12th grade at 93rd between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue. The school is now located in new locales at 505 East 75th Street.

Famous alumni

* Authors Danielle Steel, Dalia Sofer, Ted Morgan, Amélie Nothomb, Jonathan Littell (son of spy-novel author Robert Littell), Joanna Rogers Macy and playwright Michel Vinaver
* [http://www.lfnyalumni.org/en/news/no.25/68/1007 Other alumni who are published authors]
* Literary critic George Steiner (1929-)
* Actresses Delphine Seyrig (1932-1990) and Olga Georges-Picot (1944-1997), and actor Xavier Gélin (deceased 1999, son of French actress Danièle Delorme and actor Daniel Gélin)
* Ballerina Tanaquil LeClerq-Balanchine (1929-2000)
* Soprano [http://www.stephaniefriede.com/ Stephanie Friede] and mezzosoprano Anna Steiger (daughter of actor Rod Steiger and of actress Claire Bloom)
* Investment banker Michel David-Weill, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman , and Colt's Manufacturing Company owner Donald Zilkha
* Bass guitar|bassist Nikolai Fraiture of The Strokes; and Nada Surf members Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca
* Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Maria Teresa Mestre
* Winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Baruj Benacerraf (1920-)
* Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Philippe de Montebello (1936-)
* Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, and Jean-Christophe Mitterand (son of former French President François Mitterrand)
* Journalists Nina Bernstein (NY Times) and [http://www.donatellalorch.com/ Donatella Lorch] (Newsweek)
* Political analysts Bill Kristol and David Rieff (son of author Susan Sontag)
* French composer Betsy Jolas
* Animator Jacques Rouxel (1931-2004)
* Painter and photographer Gilles Larrain
* University of Chicago, Professor of Law and Criminology Bernard Harcourt
* Fashion muse and designer Loulou de la Falaise
* Former professors include noted French historian [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Kaspi André Kaspi] , former French "Ministre de l'Économie" Thierry Breton, and French author [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierrette_Fleutiaux Pierrette Fleutiaux] .

References

ee also

* Lycée Français
* Lycée Français de Los Angeles
* French Immersion School of Washington
* International School of Arizona

External links

* [http://www.lfny.org Lycée Français de New York website]
* [http://www.lfnyalumni.org/ Alumni Association of the Lycée Français de New York ("Fondée en 1964 par les Anciens, pour les Anciens")]
* [http://www.lfny.org/main.php?rub=aalfny&sub=alumni&lang=fr/ LFNY Alumni Board, run under the auspices of the LFNY]