Institut Alpin Videmanette
The Institut Alpin Videmanette was a finishing school in the municipality of Rougemont, Switzerland. It was an all-girl school where the lessons were skiing, cooking, dressmaking[1] and French.[1][2]
In 1973, the school was headed by Monsieur and Madame C. L. Yersin.[3] In 1981, it was reported to have an age range between sixteen and twenty and to teach language and commercial programmes through the medium of the French language.[4]
The main facilities were in Château d'Œx.[5][6]
Tamara Mellon was at the school in the mid-1980s, when it had some sixty girls and was still headed by Madame Yersin. She later wrote of it that "The assumption was that you were a dunce and that the only hope for you was to attach yourself to what was known as a good provider." In her day there was a smoking room and in the winter months there were skiing lessons every afternoon. Girls would often meet boys from Le Rosey at a nightclub in Gstaad. The winter campus of Le Rosey was nearby.[7]
The school closed in 1991.[8]
Alumnae
[edit]- Diana, Princess of Wales: 1977 to 1978.[8][1][2]
- Hayley Mills[9]
- Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
- Alexandra "Tiggy" Legge-Bourke[8]
- Tamara Mellon[10][11]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Morton, Andrew (1992). Diana: Her True Story. London: Michael O'Mara Books. ISBN 9780329629830. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ a b Brown, Tina (2007). The Diana Chronicles. USA: Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-7679-2309-5. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "Institut Alpin Videmanette" in Schools 1973 (London: Truman & Knightley Educational Trust, 1973), p. 799
- ^ "Institut Alpin Videmanette" in Karlene N. Dickey, Switzerland, a Study of the Educational System of Switzerland and a Guide to the Academic Placement of Students from Switzerland in Educational Institutions of the United States (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, 1981), p. 118
- ^ Courtney, Nicholas (1982). Diana, Princess of Wales. UK: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. ISBN 9780030632297. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
Lady Diana went to the Institut Alpin Videmanette at the Chateau d'Oex near Gstaad.
- ^ Thornhill, Emily (2 June 2017). "The history-breaking reason that made Princess Diana different from all other royal brides". Harper's Bazaar UK. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
Prior to her engagement, Diana worked as a teacher at Young England School in Pimlico. The charitable princess took on the role after returning to London from the exclusive Chateau D'Oex finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland in 1978.
- ^ Tamara Mellon, In My Shoes (London: Penguin, 2013), pp. 38–41
- ^ a b c "Lessons from the Last Swiss Finishing School The New Yorker". The New Yorker. 2018-10-02. Archived from the original on 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
- ^ Mills, Hayley (2021). Forever Young: A Memoir (First ed.). Grand Central Publishing. p. 171. ISBN 9781538704196.
- ^ "Tamara Mellon on Twitter: "Me sneaking out of Institut Alpin Videmane…". 2020-11-28. Archived from the original on 2020-11-28. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
- ^ Chang, Bee-Shyuan (26 October 2012). "Tamara Mellon's Next Step". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
After completing her O levels, roughly equivalent to graduating from high school, she picked up passable French while enrolled at the Institut Alpin Videmanette, a Swiss finishing school, now defunct, famous for educating another notable pupil, Diana Spencer, on etiquette and manners.
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