Sorbonne

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The Sorbonne, Paris

La Sorbonne is the name of the former University of Paris, in Paris, France, one among the most ancient in Europe; it was founded in 1257. It is also the name of its main campus in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, which now houses several universities (heirs to the former University of Paris) as well as the Paris rectorate.

It was originally created for the use of 20 theology students in 1257 as Collège de Sorbonne by Robert de Sorbon (1201-1274), a chaplain and confessor to King Louis IX of France. It quickly built a prodigious reputation as a center for learning, and by the 13th century there were as many as twenty thousand foreign students resident in the city, making Paris the capital of knowledge of the Western world. Today, foreign students still make up a significant part of its campus.

On June 23, 1894, Pierre de Coubertin organized an international congress at the Sorbonne, which led to the creation of the International Olympic Committee.

In 1968 it was the starting point of the cultural revolution commonly known as "the French May" (see also situationism), resulting in the closing of the university for the second time in history (the first being the invasion by the German army of 1940).

The University of Paris has since been reorganized into several autonomous universities and schools, some of which still carry the Sorbonne name. The historical campus, located in the Quartier Latin, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, featuring mural paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, was split for use between several of the universities of Paris and the Rector's services.

Persons of note who attended the University include:

Past and present faculty includes:

External link

The official website: http://www.sorbonne.fr/

Sorbonne

See also

External link