Villa St. Jean International School

Villa St. Jean International School, originally named Collège Villa St. Jean, was a private Catholic school in Fribourg, Switzerland from 1903 to 1970. Prior to its closure it was the final remaining all-boys' boarding school in Switzerland. History Founded in Switzerland in 1903, during an upheaval of anti-clericalism in France, as a boarding school for the scions of the French elite, Villa St Jean International School evolved over the decades into an international school educating students from around the world. Deceased illustrious alumni include the aviator and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (who attended with his younger brother), considered by many among the greatest French writers of the 20th century, and Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, a 20th-Century claimant to both the French and Spanish thrones who served as both President of the Spanish Olympic Committee and Spanish Ambassador to Sweden. During the Second World War, the nephews of Charles de Gaulle were enrolled under pseudonyms to protect them from the Germans. Among prominent alumni living today are Juan Carlos I, the recently abdicated King of Spain, the famed soccer coach Anson Dorrance, chocolate entrepreneur, Michael Litton, Turkish historian Selim Deringil, and Indonesian photographer Rio Helmi.