Collège Municipal Français, Route Vallon
Cercle Sportif Français
Most people interested in Shanghai history know about the “Cercle Sportif Francais”, the current Okura Garden hotel on Maoming lu. The French Club as it was called in English moved to this brand new building in 1926, from its original location on Route Vallon (today’s Nanchang lu). The very large building previously used was then allocated to house the French High School or “Collège Municipal Français” in French. The garden of the Collège Municipal Français extended all the way to French Park, i.e. today’s Fuxing Park. Unfortunately the park has been separated from the building and a wall is now separating them. It would be extremely difficult to take the same picture again.
Shanghai Science Hall
up the stairs
Among others, two famous authors attended the teaching of the Collège Municipal Français, Rena Krasno and Liliane Wilens. As explained by the later when we met (see post “a date with Liliane“), students of the Collège Municipal Français were French children and other foreigners, as well Chinese from Shanghai upper class society. Located in the heart of the French Concession, the Collège Municipal Français was very near to some famous residential areas such as Rue Lafayette (today Fuxing Lu) and Avenue Pétain (today’s Heng Shan lu). Since the building was not originaly designed as a school but as an entertainment club, it became a school with a wonderful design, surely giving life long memory to the children who went to school there.
This location was also the seat of the original Alliance Francaise de Changhai, teaching French to Chinese students just like it is today on the Wusong Lu campus. This very large building is still in use without much repair and still has grand style and appearance. It is very well worth a visit if you can sneak in.
Thank you for writing about my school, the College MUNICIPAL Francais de Shanghai (sorry for inability to use accents!). The CMF was located on ROUTE Vallon.
The school had classes from kindergarten all the way to the “premiere/philosphie” for the two baccalaureats which were needed in those days to graduate.’
Yes, there was heat in the building and ceiling fans for the very warm days.
The word “Municipal” was removed by fall 1943 when the Chinese puppet government of Wang Ching-wei ruled Shanghai. Soon after, the Japanese army took over our school and all the students were transferred to morning session classes to the Ecole Remi, a school for White Russians who then attended classes in the afternoon.
By the way the guards and personnel on duty were extremely friendly when it was indicated to them that I was a former student of the school. They let us roam around freely in the building.
Several years ago I took a picture of the stained glass window which I will email to you.
Dear Liliane,
Thanks as always for your precisions. I have amended my post.
I have been many times in it, and taken pictures of the stained glass window on this beautiful day. Sometimes one can get in, but not always and surely not with a camera.
Is anything know about Wantz, one of the architects of this building? And what year did it become the College Municipal Francaise (instead of the Sports Club)? Rue Wantz, now Xingle Lu, where the CCP was founded in1921, is named after this French architect.
In my youth in Shanghai, I attended French schools.
Started at the collège municipal (CMF) in the fall of 1939.
When WW2 started, politics intervened; first, some Italian pupils (enemies of France) were asked to leave: I remember the Rubini brothers and Pierro Coudziroco. Then, when French Shanghai became tied to Vichy, it was the turn of the ‘allies’ to leave. Being Greeks (parents escaped from Vladivostok in the early 1920′s), one of my sisters, brother and I were transferred to the école Rémi in the fall of 1941(my eldest sister was allowed to stay at the CMF — go figure). In the fall of 1945 I went to the French section of the collège Ste. Jeanne D’Arc and finally ended up once again in the renamed collège français. My stay at French Aurora university was very short because the communists started to teach in Chinese.
I left Shanghai in 1952 and moved to Canada in 1953.
[...] colonial power in the city. The Cercle Sportif moved in the new building from what later became the College Municipal Francais. Construction took the best materials both for the inside and the outside. Outside architecture is [...]
Student 1930-1940 . Surrounding grounds have changed but buildings appear as they were when then Principal M.Grosbois and M. Sabatier ran the school.