A man, a Prince
Writer and philosopher Armand Lunel (1892–1977), who was born in Aix-en-Provence and died in Monaco, and was a friend of Darius Milhaud, was appointed as philosophy teacher at Monaco Lycée by a sovereign ordinance issued by Prince Albert I in 1920.
He taught at the school from 1920 to 1953. In his writings, he described the “Paradise School” and “the delightful small and sunny classroom which looked out over the Oceanographic Museum building”.
A former student at the École Normale Supérieure who passed the high-level competitive examination for teachers in philosophy, he won the first Prix Renaudot in 1926 for his novel “Nicolo-Peccavi ou l’Affaire Dreyfus à Carpentras” (Nicolo-Peccavi or the Dreyfus Affair in Carpentras). He symbolises the fate of the Monegasque Jewish community during the Second World War – suspended from his post by a decision of the Vichy authorities, he was protected by the royal family and the Prince’s Government. He rejoined the school in 1944 and was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1947. Following his retirement in 1953, he helped to promote the Principality’s cultural influence in numerous associations and institutions, including the UNESCO National Commission.
In 2020, the multipurpose hall at Lycée Albert I was renamed the Armand Lunel Hall, joining memorial sites like the Méjanes library in Aix-en-Provence. For more detail, see the article in “Annales Monégasques 2017”
