Manguère with children: Exclusive insight into "Educating for Peace: 100 Years of Ecolint"
Published on May 27, 2025
Gertrude Gareis, a refugee from Nazism, recruited in Barcelona in 1933 by Else Hartoch to join her in Ecolint’s Primary School, was the first teacher who earned from her young pupils (whom she thought of as her own children) a nickname that came to characterise her: Manguère. This proximity and emotional trust that she fostered with them is vividly captured by these two photos, taken in 1949.
Famously, when asked to explain what methodology for inculcating literacy she implemented, Manguère flummoxed an educational inspector from the Etat de Genève by answering “None” – but she then proceeded to demonstrate that all the children under her care were developing successful reading skills. This reflected Marie-Thérèse Maurette’s conviction that the best pedagogical approach was the one developed and applied with conviction and mastery by an inspired, charismatic and committed teacher, however personal and idiosyncratic it might seem in the light of more rigid and formulaic, conventional techniques.
(Photo credit: Ecolint Archives)
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