ImportMaster at 20:41, 23 February 2022

2022-02-23T20:41:31Z

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{{short description|School for young women}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}


A '''finishing school''' is a school for young women that focuses on teaching [[social graces]] and [[Upper class|upper-class]] [[cultural rite]]s as a preparation for entry into society.<ref name="Perkin1995">{{cite book|author=Joan Perkin|title=Victorian Women|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YsHjViWfpdUC&pg=PA27|date=January 1, 1995|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0-8147-6625-5|pages=27–28}}</ref><ref name="tfd1">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/finishing+school |title=finishing school |encyclopedia=Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia |publisher=[[TheFreeDictionary.com]] |access-date=May 4, 2009}}</ref><ref name="mw1">{{cite web |url=http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/finishing%20school |title=finishing school |work=Online Dictionary |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]] |access-date=May 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/67Dq8NfNB?url=http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/finishing%20school |archive-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, with classes primarily on [[deportment]] and [[etiquette]], with academic subjects secondary. It may consist of an intensive course, or a one-year programme. In the United States it is sometimes called a '''charm school'''.

Graeme Donald claims that the educational ladies' salons of the late 19th century led to the formal, finishing institutions evidenced in [[Switzerland]] around that time.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Donald|first1=Graeme|title=Lies, Damned Lies and History: a Catalogue of Historical Errors and Misunderstandings|date=2009|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire|pages=48|isbn=9780752462356|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRo7AwAAQBAJ&q=finishing+school+history+victorian+swiss&pg=PA48|access-date=May 22, 2015}}</ref> At their peak, thousands of wealthy young women were sent to the dozens of finishing schools available.<ref name="Charm academy">{{cite web|last1=Simonian|first1=Haig|title=Charm academy: Switzerland's last finishing school|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/aa30ac56-cc8d-11df-a6c7-00144feab49a.html#axzz3aojsijQy|website=[[Financial Times]]|publisher=Pearson}}</ref> A primary goal was to teach students to acquire [[husband]]s.<ref name="Charm academy"/>

The 1960s marked the decline of the finishing school.<ref name="Charm academy"/> This can be attributed to the shifting conceptions of women's role in society, as well as succession issues within the typically [[Family business|family-run]] schools and sometimes commercial pressures driven by the high value of the properties the schools occupied.<ref name="Charm academy"/> The 1990s saw a revival of the finishing school, although the [[business model]] has been radically altered.<ref name="Charm academy"/>

==By country==

===Switzerland===
[[Switzerland]] was known for its private finishing schools. Most resided in the French-speaking [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]] near [[Lake Geneva]].<ref name="Charm academy"/> The country was favoured because of its reputation as a healthful environment, its [[Multilingualism|multi-lingual]] and cosmopolitan aura, and the region's political stability.<ref name="Charm academy"/>

====Notable examples====

The finishing schools that made Switzerland renowned{{Citation needed|date = June 2015}} for such institutions were [[Brillantmont International School|Brillantmont]], founded in 1882, now an international secondary school that offers a 'grade 14' or graduate year of [[cultural studies]], and Château Mont-Choisi, founded in 1885, which closed in 1995 or 1996. Both were in [[Lausanne]].
* The [[Gayatri Devi|Maharani of Jaipur]] studied at Brillantmont. In her memoir, she claimed the time to be a happy one, in which she wrote letters to her later husband and pursued skiing and other sports.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gayatri|first1=Her Highness Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur|last2=Rama Rau|first2=Santha|title=A Princess Remembers: the Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur|date=1976|publisher=Rupa & Co.|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788129121295|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9A6vtKrhzoC&q=gayatri+devi+brillantmont&pg=PT102|access-date=May 22, 2015}}</ref> Actress [[Gene Tierney]] also attended Brillantmont, speaking only French and [[Vacation|holidaying]] with fellow students in [[Norway]] and [[England]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Gene Tierney|url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/191988%7C57782/Gene-Tierney/|website=TCM|publisher=Time Warner|access-date=May 21, 2015}}</ref>
* {{ill|Château Mont-Choisi|de}} was attended by [[Carla Bruni|Carla Bruni-Sarkozy]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Vogel-Misicka|first1=Susan|title=Foreign families trust Swiss boarding schools|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/foreign-families-trust-swiss-boarding-schools/30669302|website=Swissinfo.ch|publisher=Swiss Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=May 25, 2015|date=July 30, 2011}}</ref> as well as [[Princess Elena of Romania]], [[Monique Lhuillier]], actress [[Kitty Carlisle]], Saudi scholar [[Mai Yamani]] and New York socialite [[Fabiola Beracasa-Beckman]]. It was one of the first Swiss finishing schools in the 19th century and in its early years a pioneer in secondary education. It was owned by an Italian family for five years prior to its closure due to financial reasons after over 100 years of educating women. Like many of its peers it adopted a serious secondary education program in the early 20th century.
* [[Institut Alpin Videmanette]] in [[Rougemont, Switzerland|Rougemont]] was attended by [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], [[Tiggy Legge-Bourke]] and [[Tamara Mellon]]. Diana was sent to Alpin Videmanette by her father after failing all her [[GCE Ordinary Level|O-Levels]]. She had met the [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince of Wales]] that year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Princess Diana Biography|url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/diana-spencer.html|website=Bio|publisher=A&E Networks|access-date=May 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511104302/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/diana-spencer.html|archive-date=May 11, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Mon Fertile]], in [[Tolochenaz]], educated [[Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/the-duchess-of-cornwall/biography/childhood-and-education |title=Childhood and Education |access-date=October 13, 2017 |quote=attended Mon Fertile school in Switzerland}}</ref> and [[Ingrid Detter de Lupis Frankopan]].
* [[Queen Anne-Marie of Greece]] attended Institut Le Mesnil after completing her high school education at the nearby Le Chatelard School, also in Montreux. Le Mesnil, owned by the Navarro family, closed in 2004. Le Chatelard today offers education in the American model of junior high and high school up to the age of 17. They today include Savoir Vivre and Cordon Bleu courses along the lines of the traditional Finishing Schools but these are in supplement not in replacement of academic subjects.
* [[Institut Château Beau-Cedre]] was founded in 1953 in Clarens and was housed in a castle that had paintings on the walls. The school had flourished through the 1990s but closed in 2003 as a full-time ladies college. It had educated young women in the UK and US school programs from 14–18 years allowing many to secure places at universities around the world and also offered post graduate 'finishing' style course for 16-23 year olds. Queen Elizabeth briefly entertained the thought of sending Princess Anne to Château Beau-Cedre in the late 1960s, but elected not to. After the college head retired in 2003 the school continued to host business courses on an ad hoc basis. The school will re-open as an international business school in 2020 admitting male and female students studying business in a gap year before university or as a post graduate.
* [[Vieux Chalet]] in Château-d'Œx was a finishing school run by the parents of the current owner. Vieux Chalet is now a hotel and was for several years a cookery school after closing as a finishing school with a broader curriculum.
* [[Le Manoir (finishing school)|Le Manoir]], in Lausanne, educated British secret agent [[Vera Atkins]] and a sister of the [[Zog I of Albania|first King of the Albanians]]. It had a private beach and students were taken skiing in [[St Moritz]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Helm|first1=Sarah|title=A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE|date=June 4, 2009|publisher=Hachette UK|isbn=9780748112302|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TB9REgM0n2MC&q=le+manoir+finishing+school+-quat&pg=PT159|access-date=May 27, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Pinçon|first1=Michel|last2=Pinõcon-Charlot|first2=Monique|title=Grand Fortunes: Dynasties of Wealth in France|date=1999|publisher=Algora Publishing|location=New York|pages=85|isbn=9781892941183|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=inCvU-XVxjsC&q=le+manoir+finishing+school+-quat&pg=PA84|access-date=May 27, 2015}}</ref>
* The last remaining traditional Swiss finishing school that does not teach academic subjects is [[Institut Villa Pierrefeu]], in [[Glion]], which was founded in 1954. This now offers courses of 1 to 6 weeks in length on a variety of cultural subjects.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Adams|first1=William Lee|title=Mind Your Manners: The Secrets of Switzerland's Last Traditional Finishing School|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2097304,00.html|access-date=May 21, 2015|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=October 31, 2011}}</ref>
* The Institute Surval Mont Fleuri that became [[Surval Montreux]] in 2012 was founded in the mid-20th century as a finishing school admitting pupils from the age of 16 to 24. It developed an academic program following either the UK or US school systems that could be taken as a stand-alone option or precursor to the finishing program. In later years it accepted student aged 13–19 for high school and 16-24 for finishing until the early 2010s when the curriculum changed to focus on high school teaching for an international audience. A cultural enrichment course was added for students aged 16–19 years old in a modernised revival of the traditional finishing certificate concentrating on languages, literary studies and business skills.
*The Swiss Institute of Etiquette and Protocol (SIEP) was founded in 2021 to bring the fine tradition of the Swiss finishing school to today's business world, family and society. It offers private finishing courses to adults on a varied curriculum of subjects which may be delivered to individuals or groups. Courses take place at SIEP's premises on the shores of [[Lake Geneva]] or at clients' homes, in Switzerland and internationally. SIEP also delivers a Corporate Programme and a unique and innovative Children and Youth Programme.

===Great Britain===
* In [[London]] there were a number of schools in the 20th century including the Cygnet's House, the Monkey Club, St James and [[Lucie Clayton]]. The latter two merged in 2005 to become St James and [[Lucie Clayton Charm Academy|Lucie Clayton College]] and were joined by a third, Queens (a [[Secretary|secretarial college]]), to become the current Quest Professional.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://questprofessional.co.uk/history.aspx|title=History of Quest Professional - Training and Recruiting for Business|website=questprofessional.co.uk|language=en-US|access-date=May 2, 2018}}</ref> It is in London's Victoria district and offers business administration courses for students aged 16–25 years old. It is coeducational.
* [[The Campana school]] in Surrey closed in the 1990s.
* [[Eggleston Hall]] was located in County Durham and taught young ladies aged 16–20 from the 1960s until the late 1980s.
* [[Evendine Court]] in Malvern began as a small school in the late 19th century teaching young ladies the duties of their families' household staff, by requiring them to complete domestic work themselves. Courses lasted typically 6 weeks. By 1900, the school had become popular. It extended to several buildings and included a working [[Dairy|dairy farm]] to teach practical farming. During the Second World War it adopted more traditional finishing school subjects for young women unable to travel to Europe. Pupil numbers remained high until the mid-1990s, with a broader curriculum covering [[Cordon bleu (dish)|Cordon Bleu]] [[Cooking|cookery]], [[Impression management|self presentation]], and [[Secretary|secretarial]] skills. It closed in 1998.
* [[Paddock Wood]] Finishing School in Lightwater, Surrey, was founded by a second world war Monegasque-French resistance leader and charity worker. It ran from the 1940s until 1982 after the founder stumbled upon a large clientele of diplomat's children who wanted to perfect their English. Despite high student numbers in the 1970s, the Iranian Revolution and political turmoil in Central and South America in the late 1970s and early 1980s saw pupil numbers fall dramatically in just a couple of years prior to its closure.
* [[Winkfield Place]] in Ascot specialised in culinary expertise and moved to a new location in Surrey around 1990 when it joined with [[Moor Park Finishing School]] before Moor Park closed in 1998/99. Winkfield Place was founded by women's educator [[Constance Spry]] as a flower arranging and domestic science school and had an international reputation. It taught girls across 3 terms of an academic year with the possibility of studying Cordon Bleu in a fourth term as with Harrow House below.
* [[Harrow House/Rannies]] was located in Eastbourne and became a specialist [[Cooking school|culinary school]].

About a decade after these schools had closed a diverse group of public relations and image consultancy firms started to appear in London offering largely 1- or 2-day finishing courses and social skills at commercial rate fees far higher that those charged by the colleges that closed mostly by the millennium (Lucie Clayton had been the exception). They appeal often to new international money and corporate clientele. Some partner with 5 star hotels to offer their courses but none are taught by a body teaching staff in a school or college environment like their predecessors. The model is more business and commercial than before.

The old finishing schools were stand-alone organisations that lasted 15–50 years and were often family run. Curricula varied between schools based on the proprietor's philosophy, much like the British private school model of the 18th and 19th centuries. Some schools offered some O-level and A-level courses or recognised arts and languages certificates. They sometimes allowed pupils to retake a course they may not have passed at secondary school level. They often taught languages and commercially applicable skills, such as cooking, secretarial and later business studies with the aim of broadening the students horizons from formal schooling education.

===United States===
{{See also|Women's college}}
Through much of their history, United States finishing schools emphasised social graces and de-emphasised [[Scholarly method|scholarship]]: society encouraged a polished young lady to hide her intellectual prowess for fear of frightening away suitors.<ref>In 1900 the president of Stamford University, David Starr Jordan, asserted "a college education did not, by itself, disqualify a woman for matrimony."{{cite book |author=Richard Norton Smith |title=The Colonel, The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick |year=1997 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Co |isbn=0-395-53379-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/colonellifelegen00smit/page/72 72] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/colonellifelegen00smit/page/72 }}; see also {{cite book|author=Burlington Howard Ball|title=Hugo L. Black : Cold Steel Warrior|url=https://archive.org/details/hugolblackcoldst00ball|url-access=registration|date=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA| isbn=978-0-19-536018-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hugolblackcoldst00ball/page/20 20]–}} "[Hugo Black was] a traditional southern, sexist male who believed ... that women should not go out of their way to read the classics. Instead, they should go to finishing school and prepare themselves for the rewarding, nurturing role of wife and mother ... [H]e wanted [his daughter Jo Jo] to go to Sweet Briar College because, according to him, scholarship should never play too big a role in a woman's life".</ref> For instance, [[Miss Porter's School]] in 1843 advertised itself as Miss Porter's Finishing School for Young Ladies—even though its founder was a noted scholar offering a rigorous curriculum that educated the illustrious [[Classicism|classicist]] [[Edith Hamilton]].<ref name="MyUser_Newenglandhistoricalsociety.com_March_31_2015c">{{cite web |url=http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/flashback-photo-miss-porters-school-finishes-socialites-scholars-first-lady/ |title=Flashback Photo: Miss Porter's School Finishes Socialites, Scholars and a First Lady|newspaper=New England Historical Society |date= February 15, 2015 |access-date= March 31, 2015}}</ref>

Today, with a new cultural climate and a different attitude to the role of women, the situation has reversed: Miss Porter's School downplays its origins as a finishing school, and emphasises the rigour of its academics.<ref name="MyUser_Vanityfair.com_April_23_2015c">{{cite web |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2009/07/miss-porters-school200907 |title=The Code of Miss Porter's School |newspaper=Vanityfair.com |date=July 2009 |author=Evgenia Peretz |access-date= April 23, 2015}}</ref> Likewise, [[Finch College]] on Manhattan's [[Upper East Side]] was "one of the most famed of U.S. girls' finishing schools", but its last president chose to describe it as a liberal arts college, offering academics as rigorous as [[Barnard College|Barnard]] or [[Bryn Mawr College|Bryn Mawr]].<ref name=Timemagazine>{{cite magazine|title=Finch & Current Events|magazine=Time|date=March 30, 1942}}(describing Finch as a finishing school)</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Arenson |first=Karen W. |date=January 26, 1997 |title=Rodney O. Felder Dies at 69; Finch College's Last President |quote=Finch was founded in 1900 as a two-year finishing school for women. Dr. Felder and others at the school maintained, however, that it had become as academically demanding as Barnard, Bryn Mawr and other colleges. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/26/nyregion/rodney-o-felder-dies-at-69-finch-college-s-last-president.html |access-date=March 1, 2014}}</ref> It closed in 1976.

The term ''finishing school'' is occasionally used, or misused, in American parlance to refer to certain small [[women's college]]s, primarily on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]], that were once known for preparing their female students for marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/fashion/the-independent-women-of-sweet-briar.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0 |title=The Independent Women of Sweet Briar |newspaper=The New York Times |date= April 23, 2015 |author=Penelope Green |quote= [The 20th century was] an era marked by conflicting cultures: one that was still defined by hostess houses, white gloves and the 'ring before spring' doctrine that cast women's colleges as mere finishing schools, and one with a commitment to educating women for roles far from the home. |access-date= April 23, 2015}}</ref> Since the 1960s, many of these schools have closed as a result of financial difficulties. These stemmed from changing societal norms, which made it easier for women to pursue academic and professional paths.<ref>Increased opportunities for women reduce need for single sex schools
*{{cite web |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0304/Sweet-Briar-College-to-close-Are-women-s-colleges-still-relevant-video |title=Sweet Briar College to close: Are women's colleges still relevant?|newspaper=Christian Science Monitor |date=March 4, 2015 |author=Christina Mazza |access-date= March 16, 2015}}
*{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=20010601&id=mqNJAAAAIBAJ&pg=1131,549228 |title=US Women's Colleges Hit Hard |newspaper=[[Bangor Daily News]] |date=June 1, 2001 |author=Darlene Superville |access-date= March 16, 2015}}</ref>

==In literature==

''[[The Finishing School (Spark novel)|The Finishing School]]'', a 2004 novel by [[Scottish people|Scottish]] author [[Muriel Spark]], concerns 'College Sunrise', a present-day finishing school in [[Ouchy]] on the banks of [[Lake Geneva]] near [[Lausanne]] in [[Switzerland]]. Unlike the traditional finishing schools, the one in this novel is [[Mixed-sex education|mixed-sex]].

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Female education}}

[[Category:School types]]
[[Category:Women and education]]
[[Category:Finishing schools| ]]

Finishing school - Revision history

ImportMaster at 20:41, 23 February 2022