Lycée Lakanal is a public secondary school in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It was named after Joseph Lakanal, a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France. The school also offers a middle school and highly ranked "classes préparatoires" undergraduate training. Famous French scientists and writers have graduated from lycée Lakanal, such as Jean Giraudoux, Alain-Fournier and Frédéric Joliot-Curie. The school includes a science building, a large park, a track, and dormitories for the Pôle Espoir Rugby and the boarding students. Several teachers also live at the school along with boarding students. The main classrooms and the dormitories are in one building, and the school uses space heaters in every classroom except the science building's classrooms and the gymnasium.
As of 2016 the school has about 2,550 students in all levels, from junior high school to preparatory classes.
Jules Ferry, the Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, ordered the school built. Construction took place between 1882 and 1885.
Charles Péguy (1873–1914), writerPaul Hazard (1878–1944), historianJules Isaac (1877–1963), historianMarc Boegner (1881–1970), pastor and writerJean Giraudoux (1882–1944), writerAlain-Fournier (1886–1914), writerJacques Rivière (1886–1925), writerMaurice Genevoix (1890–1980), writerFrédéric Joliot-Curie (1900–1958), Nobel laureater in chemistry, physicianRobert Bresson (1901–1999), cinéasteKarl-Jean Longuet (1904–1981), sculptorArthur Adamov (1908–1970), writer and dramaturgistMaurice Allais (1911–2010), economist, Nobel laureate in economicsPierre Hervé (1913–1993), deputyJean-Toussaint Desanti (1914–2002), philosopher, professor at the École normale supérieure and the SorbonneJacques Chaban-Delmas (1915–2000), politicianGeorges Condominas (1921–), ethnologistJean-Jacques Pauvert (1926–), editorEmmanuel Le Roy Ladurie (1929–), historian, professeur honoraire at the Collège de FranceGérard Genette (1930–), theorician of literatureJoël Schmidt, writerDimitri Kitsikis (1935-),Geopolitician,Fellow, Royal Society of Canada, Honorary President, The Dimitri Kitsikis Public Foundation.James Austin (1940–), fine-art and architectural photographerJacques Bouveresse (1940–), philosopher, professeur at the Collège de FranceColin François Lloyd Austin (1941–2010), scholar of ancient GreekGuy Hocquenghem (1946–1988), writerJulien Clerc (1947–), singerRony Brauman (1950–), doctorLaurent Collet-Billon (1950–), general delegate for armamentGérard Leclerc (1951–), journalistPhilippe Laguérie (1952–), priestRenaud Van Ruymbeke (1952–), magistratDenis Lensel (1954–), journalist and writerSauveur Chemouni (1954–) founder of Invision Technologies, CaliforniaGilles Leroy (1958–), writer (Prix Goncourt 2007)Cédric Klapisch (1961–), directorChristophe Claro (1962–), writerLaurent Vachaud (1964–), scenaristEmmanuel Bourdieu (1965–), writer, philosopher and director, son of sociologist and Collège de France professor Pierre BourdieuMarie NDiaye (1967–), writer (Prix Goncourt 2009)Christophe Ferré, writerPierre Courtade (1915–1963), journalist and writerMuriel Barbery (1969 –), writerYann Golanski (1971–), theoretical astrophysicist, mathematician and software pioneerGuillaume Peltier (1976–), politicianGrégory Lamboley (1982–), international French rugby playerLycée Lakanal is the visual basis for the fictional Kadic Junior High School/Kadic Academy from Code Lyoko.
