École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr
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| Motto | "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory". |
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| Type | Military college |
| Established | 1 May 1802 |
| Commandant | Major General Éric Bonnemaison |
| Undergraduates | none (undergraduate degree in a military or civilian preparatory college is a prerequisite) |
| Postgraduates | equivalent of a master's degree |
| Location | Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany, France |
| Campus | rural |
| Colours | Red, white and blue |
| Nickname | Saint-cyrien, cyrard |
| Website | www.st-cyr.terre.defense.gouv.fr/ |
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is the foremost French military academy. It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ siʁ]). Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory". French cadet officers are called "saint-cyriens", or "cyrards". The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan department, Brittany, France.
French students who enter the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr as cadets are about 21 years old, and undergo three years of training. All ESM cadets graduate with a master of arts or a master of science and are commissioned officers.
The academy was founded in Fontainebleau in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte near Paris in the buildings of the Maison Royale de Saint-Louis, a school founded in 1685 by Louis XIV for impoverished daughters of noblemen who had died for France. The cadets moved several times more, eventually settling in Saint-Cyr, west of Paris, in 1808.
The École Spéciale Militaire was created by order of Napoleon Bonaparte on May 1, 1802 (the Law of 11 Floréal an X according to the then-official revolutionary calendar), to replace the École Royale Militaire then located in Fontainebleau. Renamed the École Spéciale Impériale Militaire after Bonaparte was proclaimed emperor, it moved in 1808 to Saint-Cyr-l'École (Yvelines) in the castle of the former Maison royale de Saint-Louis, a school for girls of the French nobility disbanded at the time of the Revolution.
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