ESCP Business School

ESCP Business School is a French business school and grande école founded in Paris and based across Europe with campuses in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin, and Warsaw. It is known as one of the trois Parisiennes (three Parisians), together with HEC Paris and ESSEC. Established in 1819, it is considered the world's oldest business school. History The school was established in Paris on 1 December 1819 by two former Napoleonic soldiers, Germain Legret and Amédée Brodart. Germain Legret had founded two business schools in Paris in 1815 and 1818, but both closed their doors rapidly. It was modelled on the first grande école, the École Polytechnique, founded by Lazare Carnot and Gaspard Monge, but was initially more modest, in large part because it had not been supported by the state. The school had gained international exposure since the 1820s, but it was not the only business school open to international students. Its stature and importance ascended during the 19th century and it moved to its current Parisian location on the Avenue de la République in 1898. In 1828, the project to put the school under the authority of the French Ministry of Commerce and Industry failed. The school remained independent by the intervention of Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui, who took it over. Several times during the first half of the 19th century, French political developments resulted in plans to group ESCP with elite French engineering schools such as the École Polytechnique or the École Centrale Paris, but this ultimately did not happen. It is worth mentioning that at the time, engineering schools in France and in Europe taught future businessmen. From 1838, the French state began to fund scholarships meant for ESCP's students.