 He finished high school well apart "from these poor, unhappy ones who were like tradesmen in their trade".Among the few friends he made in his adolescence were future film critic Georges Altman, and writer and precious stones specialist Armand Moss (Moschowitz), who later appeared as an extra in "Mathusalem".Painlevé had to abandon his studies aimed at entering the "École Polytechnique" because he understood practically nothing of "Mathematics".