Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Prytanée National Militaire
The Prytanée National Militaire is a French school managed by
the military, offering regular high-school education as well as
special preparatory school classes, equivalent in level to the
first years of university, for students who wish to enter French
military academies. The school is located in western France in
the city of La Flèche . René Descartes was one of the first and
most illustrious students of the school from 1607 to 1615, and
introduced the school in his Discourse on Method under the
phrase "I was in one of the most famous schools of Europe". In
1808, Napoléon renamed the school "Prytanée Militaire", in a
classic reference to the Greek prytaneis (literally
"Presidents"), an executive body acting as the religious and
political heart of ancient Greek cities. Today the Prytanée
starts from the high school level, and has "Classes
préparatoires ", that is, preparatory classes to the entrance
examinations of the French elite Grandes Écoles,