Often ranked as one of the best cities for student life, Clermont-Ferrand has long been a centre of higher learning. Today, it boasts several prestigious schools, including the Clermont School of Business (formerly the ESC School of Business), and the University of Clermont Auvergne (UCA). UCA is — more or less — descended from several Clermont-based institutions, including the old College of Medicine (chartered in 1681) and the Faculty of Arts and Letters (established in 1808). The earliest traditions of collegiate intellectualism in Clermont, however, can be traced back to its medieval colleges of theology, which were run by local clergy.
Yet in this grand history of Clermont schools, one has been overlooked. Until now, almost nothing has been said about the very peculiar Lepaytre School of Sorcery. In the 1890s, it quietly materialised on the streets of Clermont, as if by magic. Located, many will be surprised to hear, on what is now the Place de la Résistance (a side street leading from the Place de Jaude), the school had one instructor; a certain Monsieur Lepaytre, “professor of occultism.”
Lepaytre was not your typical tight-lipped, self-effacing magus. He taught it all: alchemy, telepathy, magic — even hypnotism. His lessons were open to both private seekers and groups, and his students also had special access to his library, in which they could find works by ancient and modern thinkers. While it’s hard to imagine Lepaytre’s curriculum not having a certain appeal, evidence from a 1900 advertisement suggests that he moved his school off-campus to an alternate venue in the nearby Blatin Quarter.
In the 1900 ad, Lepaytre is described — even more aggrandisingly — as a “professor of divination and high magic” who teaches in accordance with the “ancient methods and traditions of the seers of Auvergne”. The ad also reveals that Lepaytre grew up in the neighbouring town of Pont-du-Château, but received training in the magical arts from “fakirs, yogis, dervishes” and other masters across India, North Africa, and the Middle East.
By 1906, it seems Lepaytre, ever the itinerant, had abandoned Clermont-Ferrand entirely and taken up residence in Algiers, Algeria. An ad in La Dépêche algérienne indicates that by at least 14 January of that year he was hawking his magical services near rue de Bab-el-Oued. What happened to him after this date remains a mystery; of yet, nothing else has turned up in the historical record.
Although details of Lepaytre’s clientele or course plans have yet to emerge, I did come across a curious mention, which if confirmed as a direct reference, would indicate that Lepaytre was a sorcerer worth his salt. In an article published in The New York Herald on 8 September 1898, a writer named Betty Warren claimed that she knew of a “wizard” in Clermont-Ferrand who had “extraordinary” powers of clairvoyance. This man, whose abilities were “nothing short of marvellous”, lived in a “miserable little apartment on a back street”. Could this have been the mysterious Lepaytre? Possibly. The reality, however, is that he was not the only fortune teller working in Clermont-Ferrand at the time, so it is hard to say.
In the words of the American folklorist Charles G. Leland: “Minor local legends sink more deeply into the soul than greater histories.” To learn more about Clermont-Ferrand’s seemingly endless secrets, sign up for our newsletter below.
