Lycée Janson-de-Sailly

Secondary school in Paris, France

Lycée Janson de Sailly is a lycée located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 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.

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, who spoke about the "lycée of the new times." Victor Hugo 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, 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): 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 (especially in the battles of Masevaux and Colmar) during the counter attack of Ardennes, and entered Germany with General Patton's forces in 1945. The first female pupils would be admitted in 1959.

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. 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).