Agnès Lassalle teacher at Saint-Thomas d’Aquin de Saint-Jean-de-Luz was stabbed to death by one of her students. Portrait of a committed and dedicated teacher for her profession.
Described by those around her as a “radiant”, “committed” and “sympathetic” teacher, Agnès Lassalle was killed by one of her students on Wednesday February 22, 2023. The one who killed her, a 16-year-old student of his class, was taken into custody. An investigation was opened for “assassination”.
Teaching Spanish at the Saint-Thomas d’Aquin private high school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Agnès Lassalle was considered a very great professional. One of his students testified to South West “that she really loved her job, always there, always on time”. She was also very invested in her work, often alone in high school after or before class. A member of staff preferring to remain anonymous told Ouest-France that she “had no life outside of high school, she spent all her energy on her students”. This colleague also said that she “finished very late in the evening and started early in the morning”, being very involved in the life of the establishment, organizing educational trips and extracurricular activities.
A valued teacher
Many testimonials from colleagues and students flock to honor the memory of Agnès Lassalle. A former student from his Spanish class gave his testimony to the Parisian. “I had this teacher for two years, she was demanding yes, but she knew where she wanted to take her students, humanly she was very nice, she was a wonderful woman. It’s completely crazy and absolutely tragic”, s’ is he moved. Another former student gave a convergent testimony to the media: “She was very friendly with her students, she taught us Spanish well, even sometimes with hindsight, she was not strict enough” he added.
Arthur, a former student of Agnès Lassalle remembered that she arrived in class “with a small wheeled bag a bit like we have in primary school”. She was “very nice and very funny too” he recalled at the microphone of RMC.
The rector of the Academy of Bordeaux, Anne Bisagni-Faure, told “moved” to West France that she had many spontaneous testimonies on [son] phone. The inspectors reported that they knew this teacher who was well established in this establishment, “beaming in her work”. The victim had been teaching in this private establishment since 1997.
The testimony of her companion: she accomplished “her mission to the end”
She lived with her companion, Stephane, without children, in a residence in Biarritz. The man who shared his life paid tribute to him on RTL this Thursday: “He was a very pretty person, a very good person, who devoted 90% of his time to his work, even on vacation”, also adding that she taught with passion. “She devoted herself to school, for school, for her students,” he confided very moved.
On France Inter, Stéphane said that the couple met thanks to their common passion, dance, fourteen years ago. His involvement in his work could sometimes “despair” him, but he “respected” his passion for teaching. The former soldier would like the image of her to remain as a person who “always tried to help others, to do things well”. For her companion, Agnès Lassalle accomplished “her mission to the end”.
On RMC, a neighbor of the couple recounted a scene from their daily life: “They often danced in the small park behind the residence. During confinement they rehearsed their choreography there, etc… We actually found them cute”. “We have a big thought for her husband because it was a really united couple,” added this resident of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. “A very, very friendly, very nice girl, I liked her very much Agnès”, adds another neighbor to TF1.