Marie Tranchepain

Marie Tranchepain, also known as Marie St. Augustin (c. 1680–1733), was a French woman of the Order of St. Ursula and in 1727 sailed to New Orleans where she became the first Mother Superior of the Old Ursuline Convent. At that time, New Orleans was part of French Louisiana. She established the first school for girls in what is now the United States.

Early life Marie Tranchepain was born in ca. 1680 in Paris. Her father was a wealthy merchant who supplied the royal court at Versailles with luxury goods. The Tranchepains were Protestants who were able to practice their faith in France according to the Edict of Nantes (enacted by King Henry IV in 1598). They traveled with Fathers Tartarin and Doutreleau. She documented the five-month arduous voyage in a report to her former Mother Superior in Rouen. During their extended period, Rev. Father Baubois oversaw the construction of their residence and had begun to build the convent for the Ursulines who arrived by August 7, 1727, having been assumed to be lost due to their extended delay. They arrived nine years after the town of New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.

Since the housing made available for the Ursulines was quite a distance from the military hospital, the nuns refused to work at the hospital until a convent was built next to the hospital. In the meantime, the Ursulines founded a convent on August 7, 1727 in New Orleans. They operated a school for free and enslaved African and Native American girls and women. They took in boarders and day students and taught them catechism.

In 1729, a Natchez revolt on Fort Rosalie left many children orphans, who were taken in by the Ursulines. Tranchepain died in November 1733 of an illness.

Legacy In 1734, the nuns moved into what is now called the Old Ursuline Convent. Now called the Ursuline Academy of New Orleans, it is the oldest school for girls in what is now the United States.