How I learned of the MacJannet Realm: Guy Benveniste (Camp 1936, 1937, 1938; Elms)

Guy Benveniste 1938 right with his mother
on Lac d'Annecy and aunt and cousins. 

I was born in Paris into a large immigrant family that had fiercely adopted French culture and language. My mother was born in New York and my father in Salonica. My parents spoke French, my father did not know English. My mother attempted to teach me some English, I even had an English nurse for a year or so. My numerous cousins, aunts and uncles, all spoke French. I managed to speak and understand a little English. In 1936, my mother's sister moved to Paris and enrolled her two children at The Elms.

Rebellious roots Donald before Charlotte… and Charlotte before Donald

 

As husband and wife for 54 years, Donald and Charlotte MacJannet jointly pursued a radical educational vision that transcended national borders. But both were well into their 30s when they met and married in 1932. Two memoirs recently discovered in the Tufts University archives — one by Donald, one by Charlotte — shed light on the forces that shaped them separately before they joined forces with such inspiring impact.

Wellington Koo family and the MacJannet School c1927

Wellington Koo family and the MacJannet School

 A recent Sunday New York Times (10/4) included a note (Bill Cunningham section) about Mrs. (Juliana) Wellington Koo.  She is 110 years old (not a typo—that is one-hundred and ten years old!).  She is the widow of Wellington Koo, whose 2 sons attended the MacJannet School in Paris. (more at  http://macjannet.org/history/macjannet-story/schoolmaster-of-kings/ ) page 61.

She attended and danced at a birthday party given by her daughter, Genevieve Young (age 85).  250 guests attended the event at the Pierre Hotel.  Juliana Koo plays mah-jongg three times a week with her friends.  She says her motto is, “Every day is a good day”  according to the NYT article.

Wellington Koo  (1888-1985) graduated from Columbia College, Columbia University in 1908.  (more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_Koo ). He later served as Prime Minister of China,

Legend of the Princess of Angon

 

 (September Morn by Paul Chabas 1915)

The story begins with a young princess of great beauty named Bernoline in the small village of Angon on Lake Annecy. She spends days and days bored in her home – the Castle Angon –  until one golden September morning, whilst bathing in the lake, she crosses paths with a knight

View of Duingt from the Side Wheel Steam Boat approaching Duingt

The Side Wheel Steam Boats of Lac Annecy

If you visited Talloires a long time ago, you would have seen this boat or one like it, making its way across the lake from Talloires, to Duingt, to Angon then Dussard and then back to Angon, Duingt, Talloires, and on across the lake several times before reaching Annecy.  This particular boat, the "Mt Blanc", was replaced by larger side wheel paddle boats: the Annecy and the "France" sometime in the 1930's.  The boat shown in color is similar to the "France" but is actually one that is currently in use on Lac Leman.

 



 

Talloires Symposium 2015 June 5 - 7

 

This year, our speakers will be presenting challenging and timely material on the theme: The Global Economy: Markets, Prospects and Structural Challenges.

Congratulations to the Trinity Voluntary Tuition Programme who have been awarded an Honorable Mention by the MacJannet Prize selection committee.

The MacJannet Foundation Encourages University Student Civic Engagement

WENKE THOMAN STERNS

Remarks delivered by Wenke Thoman Sterns to the Talloires Network conference prior to presenting the MacJannet Prize winners in Cape Town, South Africa, December 2014.

2015 MacJannet Prize recognizes outstanding student outreach program at Univ of Sciences and Technology - Pakistan

 

The NCSC Education for Empowerment program was established in 2007 at the National University of Sciences and Technology. The program focuses on community education needs and empowering the community by

How I learned of the MacJannet realm. Margaret Mathieu (Fletcher School 1983)

The MacJannet's sponsored me as an exchange student from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston to the Graduate School of International Relations in Geneva. It was 1983, and

Chance meeting in Geneva

By, Wenke Thoman Sterns, MacJannet Fellow 1968
Dear Friends,

I want to tell you about a wonderful and stirring event that occurred on Monday evening in Geneva after we left Talloires.

How I learned of the MacJannet Realm: A chance encounter at a lodge in Costa Rica and the Camp summer of 1948

By Robert Schmalz, MacJannet Camp Counselor in 1948. 
Two items which may be of interest:  At the time Donald came to Tufts, my mother was serving on the Board of Trustees.  Consequently the family had relatively frequent contact with Donald and Charlotte.  I studied French at

Chess, whales and Thoreau , From Talloires to Boston, for a memorable month

Editor’s note Dan Rottenberg: With funding from the MacJannet Foun­dation, each year Les Amis du Prieuré de Talloires provides scholarships to students living around Lake Annecy to spend four weeks attending the English summer program at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. One of the four students chosen last summer, Leo Dancette, who is 19, lives in Annemasse, near Geneva, and attends a highly selective post-baccalaure­ate course at Lycée Berthollet in Annecy. His written account follows.

How I learned of the MacJannet Realm: Jerri Husch meeting Charlotte MacJannet

Jerri Husch - tea with Charlotte MacJannet

I met Mrs. MacJannet when I was a professor of Sociology at Tufts and taught "International Drug Policy" at Talloires. I would walk up to her cottage and we would talk about the power of nature and the healing plants

Learning is a life-long joyous adventure

The MacJannets made learning a joyous adventure by modeling that excitement - taking their students to locations of astonishing beauty in order to  awaken aesthetic awareness and to historic sites that open curiosity.

Introduction - MacJannet Foundation on Social Media

Donald and Charlotte MacJannet were 20^th-Century teachers who inspired many people through a revolutionary concept: Education should be exciting.

The celebrity link - What attracted so many famous people to the MacJannets’ humble orbit?

By: Dan Rottenberg (Les Entretiens - Spring 2014)

What did Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jawarlahal Nehru, Risë Stevens and Audrey Hepburn (above) have in common?


All were world-famous figures of one sort or another. And all— not to mention dozens of other notables, including corporate executives, diplomats, generals, admirals and writers— entrusted their children to the egalitarian and frugal hands of two educational revolutionaries, Donald and Charlotte MacJannet.

See the current and back issues of our newsletter, "Les Entretiens"

Click here to access Les Entretiens

MacJannet Foundation Amis du Prieure Traveling Scholars

2009 Venez partager notre expérience à la Tufts University et partons à la découverte de l'Amérique. Each year the association "Les amis du prieuré de Talloires" gives 2 scholarships to students from Lachenal's prep school. Each scholarship