History
BFIS’s history started in 1985. A group of parents from different nationalities living in Barcelona, who were passionate about education, had come to realize that the school they wanted for their children did not yet exist, so they put their thoughts together and the idea of founding a new school began to take shape.
Benjamin Franklin International School
Having given great thought to their school’s name, they agreed on Benjamin Franklin International School, recognizing Benjamin Franklin‘s enormous contributions to American education, his innovative ideas, and inventions. Franklin was a man ahead of his time and considered by many to be “the wisest American”. He was a great statesman, diplomat, writer, philosopher, publicist, the first US ambassador to France, and one of the most loved civil servants in United States history. His was a legacy of prudence, common sense, and honesty – qualities everyone sought for the BFIS community.
Benjamin Franklin International School opened its doors in Barcelona in September 1986 with 120 students and 23 teachers.
Why Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was a man ahead of his time and considered by many to be “the wisest man of America”. He was a great statesman, diplomat, scientist, inventor, writer, philosopher, publisher, the first US Ambassador to France, and one of the most loved civil servants in United States history.
He was a legacy of prudence, common sense, and honesty, qualities everyone sought for the BFIS community.
BFIS and George Orwell
English author, George Orwell, stayed in our main building (now called the Orwell Building) during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 after being shot in the throat by a sniper while at the front of Aragon. At that time the Orwell Building was a hospital called Sanatorio Maurin. His adoptive son, Mr. Richard Blair, and members of the Orwell Society in London visit the school and tour the Orwell Building biennially.
