Sorbonne University

Sorbonne, or La Sorbonne, is commonly referred to as the University of Paris or Sorbonne University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Europe, with its origins dating back to the 12th Century. Since 1970, Sorbonne was reorganised into thirteen autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII), four of which are located in the Sorbonne building, and three bear the name ‘Sorbonne’.

Four colleges actually began the university, with only twenty students attending lectures, but the 13th Century saw more colleges with more than 20,000 students, including the Collège d'Harcourt in 1280 and the Collège de Sorbonne in 1257, which French theologian Robert de Sorbon established for theology students, later to become the University of Paris. During the last years of the fourteenth century, the buildings of the Sorbonnewere used for the Faculties of Sciences and Letters (the former University of Paris).

The president of Sorbonne, Cardinal Richelieu, decided to rebuild the university in 1622, and in 1635 the Sorbonne Church began, housing Richelieu's tomb and Girardon's sculpture of the cardinal. The chapel is the only building still standing from this time. The use of Sorbonne for the Faculty of Theology is noted in the Encyclopedia Britannica, eleventh edition (1910–11), as well as in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. A significant date in the history of the University of Sorbonne in Paris was when Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in 1894.

Sorbonne was the inheritor of the former University of Paris’Arts and Sciences Faculties. University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne was also part of the University of Paris which was later split into several universities. The University of Paris I is in the centre of international relations between five continents and plays a significant role in the training of researchers, academics, lawyers, judges, senior managers and French civil servants. It also offers research and teaching in the fields of European studies and management, as well as international relations and communications. The University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle, with sites in various locations in Paris, offers courses in a wide range of Arts and Humanities and has one central and five specialised libraries.

In 1970, Sorbonne split into thirteen different universities, the most famous of which are the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne Paris), University of Paris I (Panthéon Sorbonne) and the University of Paris III (Sorbonne-Nouvelle). The first woman professor here was the Polish chemist Marie Curie.