Archives – Where are they now?
Les Thompson (Fortian 1965) visited Fort Street in July from his home in Paris. He believes that his life has been shaped by the opportunities provided by his education at Fort Street High School and is a proud supporter of public education.
SHORT AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF LES THOMPSON (FORT ST 1961-1965)
I was raised in a one-income, working class family in Burwood, where I attended the local Public School and from where I was selected to attend Fort Street Boys’ High. I worked my way up from 1C to 5A over the ensuing years, graduating in 1965 with Firsts in French and German, As in English and Latin, and a B in Maths. I represented the school in Hume-Barbour debating and captained First Grade tennis. A Commonwealth scholarship sent me to Sydney University where I majored in French (Honours) and German. I moved out of home just prior to my 18th birthday and lived in a boarding house and rooms in Glebe throughout my student years. I supported myself coaching HSC students, doing casual labouring jobs, working once as an escort on a cash-in-transit armoured van, and on another occasion as a cook.
At Sydney University I became president of the French Society and performed in French and German plays. As the Vietnam war intensified, like many of my contemporaries I grew in political and social awareness and was certainly not alone in refusing the call-up and being branded, by some, as unpatriotic. On graduation, I taught in an experimental private senior secondary school run by the Metropolitan Business College. I was then awarded a scholarship by the French government to pursue postgraduate studies and flew out of Mascot airport in early October 1970 en route for the city of Rouen in Normandy, famous for Monet’s paintings of its magnificent cathedral. I made two short stopovers in India and Israël on the way to Europe. These were unforgettable travel experiences for a young man who had only twice crossed the borders of NSW.
I gained an MA in French literature from Rouen University for which I wrote a dissertation on Louis Ferdinand Céline, the internationally acclaimed author of « Journey to the End of the Night » (1932), who was later infamous for his virulent anti-semitism. I lived a few months in Rouen before moving to Paris where I found myself in a vibrant, post-May 1968 environment, still bubbling over with revolutionary political fervour. Paris was where I wanted to be and have lived and worked for 48 years. I graduated from the Sorbonne in 1980 with a PhD thesis comparing coverage by The Timesand Le Mondeof two major coalminers’ strikes: 1972 in Britain, and 1963 in France. During those early years in Paris I got involved in radical political activism. In later years I was to play an active role in the university trade union.
My academic career in France began in late 1973 – the year I found casual tutoring work in ESP (English for Special Purposes) at the Sorbonne School of Economics. I undertook a teaching fellowship at the University of Orléans from 1974 to 1984, after which I was appointed senior lecturer in EAP (English for Academic Purposes) at the Sorbonne. During my 31 years of service at the Sorbonne, I chaired the Department of Applied Languages for ten years and served as second vice-president of the University Senate from 1991 to 1993. I published several EAP textbooks for students of Economics and Law, an English-French lexicon, articles on ESP and Australian film, and translated economics research papers from French into English. I retired in 2016 after 43 years of service in French higher education.
I have returned to Sydney about every four years to see friends and family as well as to visit some of the amazing sites of a country I’d had little opportunity of discovering before moving to France. Indeed, most of my travelling over the years has been in Europe. My 23-year-old daughter Camille was fortunate enough to spend a term in year 2 at Burnside Public School (Oatlands) during my sabbatical leave in 2002. She is a Law Graduate (Paris), holds an MA in Translation from Swansea University (Wales) and is currently doing a traineeship at the European Commission in Brussels. My wife, Florence, formerly a German teacher, now teaches French to migrant children in a junior secondary school.
By way of conclusion
The person I am today was shaped by public education. I believe that it is through public education that society can be transformed for the better.
The following words from André Gide’s novel, « The Counterfeiters » (1926) were an early influence on me:
« It is right to follow your inclinations as long as they lead you upwards »
I can only wish that each and every citizen ‘moves upwards’ to play their part in building a global society of social justice, solidarity and compassion.
Les Thompson, Paris, October 2018