Documentary articles
Establishment of the Monaco Lycée. Did you know?
To ensure that his plans were properly prepared, the Prince, who was keen to bring together the best elements of European education systems, particularly the French and German systems, asked his personal advisor, Gaston Moch, to conduct a comparative study looking at how secondary education was organised in various countries, and how secondary schools were established. Visits were paid to France, Germany, Norway and Switzerland. Gaston Moch came up with a kind of compromise, striking a balance between German progress on infrastructure and French superiority in terms of educational content.
Cave of El Castillo. A location, a memory
Prince Albert I is known for his exploits as an explorer and for his strong involvement in oceanography. His curiosity was not limited to this field, however. His appetite for knowledge also led him to support anthropology and prehistory, fields which were then flourishing, driven by leading academics including Henri Breuil, Marcellin Boule and Hugo Obermaier.
Flore Singer
Flore Singer was an important figure in Parisian life and a loyal friend to the Prince.She was born in 1824 and died in Paris on 28 November 1915. A salon host and author, for almost half a century she hosted a salon at her Paris home on the first floor of the Hôtel de Chimay, a location which inspired Proust’s depiction of the Verdurin salon.
Objects and instruments
Prince Albert I was fascinated by inventions such as photography, cinematography and means of transport such as bicycles, motorcycles and aeronautics.
William Speirs Bruce. A man, a Prince
William Speirs Bruce, a Scottish oceanographer who specialised in polar science, was born in London on 1 August 1867 and died in Edinburgh on 28 October 1921. He took part in two of the Prince’s scientific expeditions to Spitsbergen, in 1898 and 1899.
The Azores. A location, a memory
The correspondence exchanged between the two sovereigns, Dom Carlos I of Portugal and Albert I of Monaco, highlights their efforts to bring about a major achievement: a network of meteorological observatories in the Azores.
A place, a memory
On 3 August 1894, the Prince and Princess Alice were invited for lunch at the Sintra National Palace – in the small town near Lisbon listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site – with King Dom Carlos of Portugal.
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.
Did you know ?
In April 1922, the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography presented Prince Albert I with the prestigious Vega Medal in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of geographical sciences.