Place Prosper-Goubaux

Prosper-Goubaux is named for a man who lived a life of stark contradictions. Prosper-Parfait Goubaux was simultaneously a celebrated playwright and a pioneer of modern French education. Despite his heavy influence on the schooling system, he struggled with crushing personal debts for most of his adult life, often relying on loans from moneylenders just to keep his educational institutions afloat. He did not learn to read until the age of twelve, but he eventually founded the prestigious Lycée Chaptal, which became a cornerstone of nineteenth-century academic training in Paris.