Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy
"One of the most rewarding periods of my life was my Junior Year in Paris with the Smith group. I found that the knowledge of a foreign language, acquired by any student who is fortunate enough to study abroad, has an immeasurable and lasting effect on his life." (Letter, JYA, November, 1961)
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, about whom Alice Kaplan provides interesting information, was a student in the Smith Junior Year Program, headed by Jeanne Saleil. She traveled to France on August 29, 1949 on the ocean liner SS De Grasse with Hedda Hopper and other students from Smith College and signed the Reid Hall student register on September 3, 1949. Bouvier returned to the U.S. on September 1950 on the ship SS Liberté, together with Hubert Beuve-Mery (who founded Le Monde), Jacques Fath (fashion designer), and Sadruddin Aga Khan. Her year in Paris "[...] cemented her passion [for France], allowing her to absorb the country’s language and culture — and she would seek inspiration and intellectual refuge in these outlets for the rest of her life" (Mah).
During her stay in Paris, she resided with the De Renty family on Avenue Mozart (16th arrdt) and became good friends with their daughter Claude, who later went to study in the U.S.
Mme de Renty, who was part of the resistance Réseau Alliance, was sent to Ravensbruck and survived. However, the father, M. de Renty, was sent to and died in Dora. Jackie visited the camps near Munich, Germany, notably Dachau.
During her stay in Paris, she studied at Sciences Po. (with André Siegfried, Raymond Aaron, and J.J. Chevalier). She also studied at the Sorbonne and the Ecole du Louvre. She participated in several field trips organized by the program to, for example: The Gorges du Tarnes, the Pays Basque, Azay le Rideau, and other relevant sites in France. She also attended numerous theatre productions and lectures held at Reid Hall, and came to know the young Giscard D'Estaing, who attended a ball held at Reid Hall.
Sources
Kaplan, Alice. "French Lessons: How Paris Changed Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag, and Angela Davis." The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 1, 2012. chronicle.com/article/french-lessons-how-paris-changed-jacqueline-bouvier-kennedy-susan-sontag-and-angela-davis/
Mah, Ann. "A Year in Paris That Transformed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis." The New York Times," June 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/travel/paris-jacqueline-bouvier-kennedy-onassis-college.html A print version appeared in the The New York Time, June 30, 2919, section TR, p. 1 with the headline: "After She Had Seen Paris."