Lycée Saint-Joseph, Istanbul


Lycée Saint-Joseph is a private high school located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is a French school founded in 1870. Classes are taught in Turkish, French, and English.

History

This school was founded by Fran Society. Fran Society was established by Saint Jean-Baptiste when it first came to Turkey in 1841.
Pensionnat Saint-Joseph, a school for boys, was first established in Pera in 1857. Its successor Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes was established in 1860. At one time it moved to a rental property in Moda, Kadıköy but in 1864 it returned to Pera as it could no longer occupy the building, as the owner had sold it to someone else. Sultan Abdulaziz gave permission for the school to build its own building in 1864, but he had to issue another declaration doing the same in 1870 as the original declaration disappeared. 16 August 1870 was the start of construction. It established a campus in Pera. Accordingly 1870 is listed as the founding year of the school.
The society has since opened schools in Izmir and Istanbul. Currently, Fran Society has 7,225 members, 60,000 teachers, and 785,127 students. They have 1,800 schools in 84 different countries.
The school has celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1921, 100th in 1971 and 125th in 1996. The school began admitting girls in 1987.

Notable former students