Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers
| Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM) | |
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| Motto | Docet omnes ubique (Latin) |
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Motto in English
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It teaches everyone everywhere |
| Type | Public, Grand établissement, Grande école |
| Established | 1794 |
| Chancellor | Olivier FARON (since 2013) |
| President | Gérard Mestrallet |
| Vice-Chancellor | Bernard Racimora |
| Students | 110,000 (CNAM headquarters in Paris and CNAM centres in 158 other cities in France) |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Campus | Urban (for headquarters at St Martin street in Paris) |
| Language | French, English |
| Affiliations | CGE, HeSam Université, Elles Bougent |
| Website | www.cnam.fr |
The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), or National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, is a famous and prestigious doctoral degree-granting higher education establishment (or grand établissement) and Grande école which means elites school, operated by the French government, dedicated to providing education and conducting research for the promotion of science and industry. It has a large museum of inventions accessible to the public with over 250 000 visitors per year.
It was founded on 10 October 1794, during the French Revolution. It was first proposed by Abbé Henri Grégoire as a "depository for machines, models, tools, drawings, descriptions and books in all the areas of the arts and trades". The deserted Priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs (and particularly its Gothic refectory by Pierre de Montereau) was selected as the site of collection, which formally opened in 1802.
Originally charged with the collection of inventions, it has since become an educational institution. At the present time, it is known primarily as a continuing education school for adults seeking engineering (multidisciplinary scientific program) and business degrees, proposing evening classes in a variety of topics.
The collection of inventions is now operated by the Musée des Arts et Métiers. The original Foucault pendulum was exhibited as part of the collection, but was moved to the Panthéon in 1995 during museum renovation. It was later reinstalled in the Musée des Arts et Métiers. On 6 April 2010, the cable suspending the original pendulum bob snapped causing irreparable damage to the pendulum and to the marble flooring of the museum.
The novel Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco deals greatly with this establishment, as the Foucault pendulum hung in the museum plays a great role in the storyline. The novel was published in 1989 prior to the pendulum being moved back to the Panthéon during museum reconstruction.
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Wikipedia