The first French school in Santiago was founded on the initiative of Mrs. Courtois Bonnecourte, who wanted to keep the language alive through French language courses. Although the school could not be sustained, the idea was revived in 1932 by Mr. Remy Vuillemin, then president of the Alliance Council, who established a small French school with a capacity for 50 students in a rented house on Riquelme Street.
As the number of students doubled, the school moved to a larger building on Lord Cochrane Street and was renamed Louis Pasteur.
Due to its growing success, the school moved to a larger building on Pedro de Valdivia Street.
The Paris Alliance Council decided to build a large high school, and the project was entrusted to the Chilean-French architect Emilio Duhart. A 42,000-square-meter plot of land was purchased in the Vitacura neighborhood, and construction began.
André Malraux, Minister of State for Culture, inaugurates the school. Construction continues until 1962, marking the beginning of the Alliance Française school.
In late September, the school was visited by the President of the French Republic, General Charles de Gaulle.
The Alliance Française School has officially become the “Lycée Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.”
An agreement is signed between the Corporation and the AEFE with the aim of making the Lycée Antoine de Saint-Exupéry a truly bilingual and bicultural school.
Due to growing demand, the decision was made to build a second facility in Chamisero, in the municipality of Colina. The cornerstone of the new building was laid in May 2012.
The preschool will open its doors in February 2013. The official opening ceremony will take place that same year, attended by Marc Giacomini, French Ambassador to Chile, and Anne-Marie Descôtes, Director of the AEFE.
With the French Ambassador to Chile, Pascal Teixeira Da Silva, and the Director General of the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE), Olivier Brochet, in attendance, the Alianza Francesa de Chamisero school will be officially inaugurated on March 29, with all of its facilities now complete. This 64,000-square-meter campus is home to more than 1,100 students and their families.
In December, the Chamisero campus marks a major milestone as it bids farewell to its first graduating class.