Parisian zinc rooftops at blue hour, the city of letters at dusk

Paris 15e · Scarsdale, New York

Evelyne B. Otten

Une vie en lettres.  A life in letters — French & Latin, literature & music, and the institutions a community is built from.

Lire la suite

Ouverture

Born in Paris and schooled at the Lycée Jean de La Fontaine, Evelyne carried the French canon across the Atlantic and spent a lifetime giving it away — to students in classrooms from the Sorbonne to Scarsdale, and to readers, listeners, and neighbors through the clubs and orchestras she helped found.

— E. B. Otten

I · Formation

The education of a reader

Five institutions, two countries, one language of thought. A baccalauréat in philosophy, then philology and literature on both sides of the Atlantic.

  1. 1955—62

    Lycée Jean de La Fontaine

    Baccalauréat, secondary education in Philosophy. Paris.

  2. 1962—65

    Sorbonne · Université de Paris

    Certificates in English, German Philology, and Études Pratiques.

  3. 1964

    Columbia University

    Summer study in American Literature. New York.

  4. 1965—67

    Boston College

    Master of Arts in French Literature, and Teaching Fellow.

  5. 1983—91

    Pace University

    Education certification coursework completed. Westchester, NY.

Antique leather-bound French literature, gold-embossed spines beside a brass lamp

II · Lettres

Forty years of French & Latin

From a teaching fellowship in Boston to the public and independent schools of Westchester, Evelyne taught the languages she loved — and proctored, substituted, and mentored wherever a class needed one of her.

  • 1991—2003 Scarsdale Schools — French, High & Middle School
  • 1995—2001 Ethical Culture Fieldston — Half-time French
  • 1991—2010 Scarsdale · New Rochelle · Edgemont — French & Latin
  • 1968—69 École Internationale, Washington D.C. — French Literature
  • 1965—67 Boston College — Teaching Fellow, French Literature
  • 1962—65 Lycées de Sèvres, La Fontaine & Molière — Proctor, Paris
A fountain pen and sepia ink over elegant French cursive

“To teach a language is to hand someone a second way of being in the world.”

III · Fondations

What she founded, others kept

The truest measure of a life is what outlasts it. Evelyne did not only join institutions — she started them, chaired them, and balanced their books.

A violin and sheet music on dark red velvet in an empty concert hall

Founder & Board · 1983—1999

Westchester Philharmonic

A founding member of the orchestra that still fills concert halls across the county — proof that a community can will an institution into being.

Founder · 1977—present

Les Bookinistes

The Scarsdale French-American book club she founded — still meeting, nearly fifty years on.

President · 1987—88

Scarsdale Village Club

Led and managed its merger with the Town Club — reconstituted today as the Scarsdale Forum.

Treasurer · 1982—95

American Field Service

Steward of the AFS Scarsdale chapter, the foreign-exchange program that sends students abroad.

Treasurer & Board · 1992—2015

S.T.E.P.

Student Transfer Education Plan — treasurer, then a board member for over two decades.

Treasurer & Chair · 1985—95

Scarsdale PT Council

Treasurer and committee chair across the district's parent-teacher associations.

Consultant · 1991—98

KL Travel

Part-time consultant — because a Parisian always knows the way back.

IV · Deux villes

Between two cities

A rainy evening street in the 15th arrondissement of Paris

Paris · 15e

44 rue Ginoux

Where the reading began, and where she returns.

An autumn afternoon by a stone library in Scarsdale, New York

Scarsdale · New York

37 Stonehouse Road

Where the institutions took root.

Envoi

Toujours entre les livres, la musique, et les amis.

evelyne.otten@gmail.com

Scarsdale +1 914 725 1141

Paris +33 (0)1 45 75 90 13