Collège Saint-Michel

Collège Saint-Michel (German: Kollegium St. Michael) is a Gymnasium school located in Fribourg, Switzerland. It was established in 1582 by the Jesuit order as a boys' school.

It is a public and secular secondary school preparing for university studies. It is located in the heart of the city of Friborg on Belzé hill. It is a mixed and bilingual high school (French, German) which has around 1,300 students. Alongside the gymnasium classes, the school also houses the Passerelle, an adult training course offered to holders of a professional or specialized maturity. The reputation of Collège St-Michel, founded in 1582, extends well beyond the canton of Friborg and many personalities were trained there.

Rectors

 * Pierre Michel (1582–1888)
 * Jean-Baptiste Jaccoud (1888–1924)
 * Hubert Savoy (1924–1939)
 * Romain Pittet (1939–1952)
 * Mgr Edouard Cantin (1952–1971)
 * Abbé André Bise (1971–1983)
 * Michel Corpataux (1983–1989)
 * Jean Baeriswyl (1989–1996)
 * Nicolas Renevey (1996–2004)
 * Jacques de Coulon (2004–2008)
 * Matthias Wider (since 2008)

Notable teachers

 * Jean-Pierre Dorand
 * Fabrice Hadjadj
 * Félicien Morel
 * Claude Schorderet
 * Denis Clerc
 * Michel Bugnon-Mordant
 * Laurent Bardy
 * Caroline Julen

Notable alumni

 * Erich von Däniken, ancient astronaut theorist
 * Patrick Aebischer (1954– ), president of the EPFL
 * Abbé Joseph Bovet (1879–1951), composer
 * Dominique de Buman (1956– ), national councilor
 * Jacques Chessex (1934–2009), writer
 * Michel Dénériaz (1928–1999), radio host and game show
 * Joseph Deiss (1946– ), former federal councilor
 * Antoine Dousse (1924–2006), bookseller, teacher and writer
 * Claude Frochaux (1935), writer, publisher
 * Emile Gardaz (1931–2007), poet and writer
 * Félix Glutz, vaudois politician
 * François Gross (1931–2015), journalist
 * Pierre Hemmer (1950–2013), one of the Internet pioneers in Switzerland
 * Armin Jordan (1932–2006) orchestra conductor
 * Cardinal Charles Journet (1891–1974)
 * Anthony Kohlmann (1771–1836), Jesuit educator
 * Mgr Pierre Mamie (1920–2008), bishop
 * Jules Marmier (1874–1975), Swiss composer, cellist, organist and choirmaster
 * Georges Python, conseiller d'État, principal founder in 1891 of the University of Fribourg
 * Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon (1817–1854), adventurer, conqueror of the desert of Sonora (Mexico)
 * Count Gonzague de Reynold (1880–1970), historian and writer
 * Léon Savary (1895–1968), writer and journalist
 * Peter Scholl-Latour (1924–2014), journalist
 * Vladimir Serbinenko, Switzerland's first gold medallist at the International Mathematical Olympiad
 * Father Joseph-Marie Timon-David (1835–1842), founder of Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
 * Ernst Wilczek (1862–1948), botanist