Our Founder
St. John Baptist de La Salle — priest, educator, and founder of a mission that still shapes classrooms 340 years later.
A Priest Who Became a Teacher
Born in Reims, France in 1651 to a noble family, John Baptist de La Salle was ordained a priest and could easily have lived a comfortable, private life. Instead, drawn into the struggles of a group of poorly trained teachers running charity schools for poor boys, he gave up his family wealth and status to live and work alongside them.
An Educational Innovator
De La Salle broke with the norms of his time: he taught in French rather than Latin so ordinary children could actually understand their lessons, trained teachers systematically instead of leaving it to chance, and grouped students by ability rather than teaching one child at a time. In 1680, he founded the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools to carry this work forward as a community, not a collection of individuals.
A Legacy That Endures
By the time of his death in 1719, De La Salle had founded schools and teacher-training colleges across France. He was canonised a saint in 1900, and in 1950 was declared Patron of Teachers by Pope Pius XII. Today, his approach to education — practical, communal, and centred on the dignity of every learner — continues in Lasallian schools in 80 countries, including the six nations of the Lwanga District.
Learn more about how this mission is carried out today across the Lwanga District.
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