Théodore Beck
Théodore Beck was a French Lutheran pastor and educator from Alsace–Lorraine, and a longtime director of the École alsacienne in Paris.
Biography
Beck was born in Oberseebach, on 8 July 1839, the son of a pastor, Jean Beck, and Sophie Julie Roehrich. He studied theology in Strasbourg and Geneva, and was ordained in 1862. He became a vicar in Colmar, a pastor and administrator in Muttersholtz and in Masevaux, and was a pastor in Strasbourg until 1880, when he came in conflict with the German authorities. He left the region in 1880 to become a professor of German at the École alsacienne in Paris, founded in 1874. The Revue Alsacienne noted that his departure from Strasbourg was regretted by his parishioners, despite the insults hurled at him "by a certain German press".Beck succeeded F. Rieder as director of the École alsacienne in 1891 and worked in that position until 1922. He had been interested in educational matters for a long time; in Muttersholz, he had set up a program for adult education, and during his ministry in Strasbourg had started a boarding school for young girls. Education at the École alsacienne differed from traditional schools. There were no end-of-year awards, only "a simple public attestation as satisfactory for those who deserve it"; discipline did not involve corporal punishment. He and his educational expertise are credited with the École alsacienne's growth. He was made a Commander in the Legion of Honour in 1929. He died in Paris, on 18 July 1936.