Maurice David
Maurice David (7 May 1891 – 1974) was a French educationalist and writer. He served as France’s Inspector General of Public Instruction and helped found the Maîtrise de Radio France, the country’s first lay choir school.
He was born in Tonneins, southwestern France, the son of Eugène François David and Marthe Anne (née Rabié) David. He studied at lycées in Poitiers and La Rochelle and at the Prytanée National Militaire, earning his Agrégation in literature in 1914. After serving in World War I, he began teaching in French North Africa, at the lycées in Constantine, Algiers, and Tunis. By 1929 he was the academic inspector of education for the region and Vice-Rector of the Algiers Academy.
In 1940, as Vice-Rector, he refused the Vichy order to dismiss Jewish instructors and was sent back to France to become the inspector for the Montpellier Academy. He joined the French Resistance and later wrote Monsieur Gaétan Instituteur, a novel based on his experiences.
After liberation in 1945, he became Director of Teaching Services and then France’s Inspector General of Public Instruction. He helped reform post-war education by introducing a system where students studied academic subjects for half the day and received training in sports or music for the other half. In 1946 he co-founded the Maîtrise de Radio France, France’s first lay choir school. He received the Resistance Medal (with rosette) in 1946 and, in 1953, was named a Commander of the Legion of Honour.
David died in 1974 and was buried in Soumensac beside his wife Isabelle (née Biraben), whom he married in 1920. They had two children; their son André David (1922–2007) was a composer, pianist, and physician.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:27 (CET).