Enseigner le français en Espagne au début du XIXe siècle: les déboires de Jean-Thomas Laurès de Mayran/ Teaching French at the begining of the 19th century: the misfortunes of Jean-Thomas Laurès de Mayran

In this article we are trying to bring more information about the French teachers' poor and difficult living conditions in Spain, at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. To do so, we are focusing on the leading figure Jean-Thomas Laurès de Mayran, former soldier, who was born in Montpellier. As he settled in Madrid, he got a teaching post at the "Real Seminario de Nobles". He would lose the latter post, as he was expelled to his native country because of his being French, when the French Revolution broke out. When peace was signed, he went back to Madrid but he could not be reinstated at the "Real Seminario". Nevertheless, he managed to get in the "Real Academia de Caballeros Cadetes de Reales Guardias Españolas" as a French teacher, until he was banished again to the "Real Sitio de El Escorial", in 1808, during the independence war. When the war was over, he managed a private school and asked for a Spanish naturalization but he had to give up such a request, as he was lacking funds.