History
Established in 1819, ESCP Europe was founded by a group of economic scholars and businessmen including the economist Jean-Baptiste Say and the trader Vital Roux. ESCP Europe is the oldest business school in the world. and thus presents itself as "The World's First Business School (est. 1819)". It was modeled on the École Polytechnique founded by Lazare Carnot and Gaspard Monge, but was much more modest in its beginnings, mainly because it had not been supported by the state. It gradually gained in stature and importance during the 19th century and moved to its current Parisian location, avenue de la République, in 1859. The 20th century sparked a much stronger interest in business studies, and soon enough ESCP Europe saw its importance rise amongst the rest of Grandes Écoles. Its popularity meant it had to develop a rigorous selection process so by the mid-20th century -the school already being considered an elite institution- admitted its students after two years of dedicated preparatory classes through a competitive entrance exam.
ESCP Europe has been international since its start: The class of 1824 with a total of 118 students counted around 30% foreigners with 7 Spanish, 2 Havanians, 5 Brazilians, 5 Dutch, 4 Germans, 2 Greeks, 2 Portuguese, 2 Americans, 2 Chilians, 1 Savoyard, 1 Italian, 1 Swede, 1 Russian and 1 Haïtian. Language education was an essential part of its first curriculum which included, in addition to French grammar, also courses in English, German, and Spanish. In 1873, the ESCP Europe's alumni association was founded. In 1921, ESCP Europe celebrated its 100th anniversary, postponed due to the post-war crisis, in the vast auditorium of the Sorbonne.
ESCP Europe's campuses in the UK (Oxford, now London) and Germany (Düsseldorf, now Berlin) were opened in 1973. In 1988 a campus in Madrid, Spain followed and in 2004 one in Turino, Italy. The Düsseldorf campus moved to Berlin in 1984. In 2005 ESCP Europe moved from Oxford to London. The London Campus building was formerly New College – a school of the University of London and a theological college of the United Reformed Church.
In 2011, ESCP Europe became a founding partner of HESAM, a cluster of well known institutions for research and higher education in the humanities and social sciences such as the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM), or the Pantheon-Sorbonne University. It is planned that together with the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, ESCP Europe constitutes a Collegium of Government and Management.
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