Maurice Merleau-Ponty was born on 14 May 1908 in Rochefortsur- Mer, a town on the west coast of France. His father was killed early in the First World War, whilst serving as an artillery officer. Merleau-Ponty’s mother then moved the family to Paris, where she raised him, along with his sister and brother. Merleau-Ponty attended school at the Lycée Janson-de-Sailly and the Lycée Louisle- Grand, before attending the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) from 1926 until 1930, where he obtained his Agrégation de Philosophie. Upon graduating from the ENS, he completed a year of military service, before taking up a teaching post at the Lycée de Beauvais for two years until 1933.