A 42-year-old lesbian headmistress who jumped off a cliff to her death after a campaign of homophobic abuse made a tragic confession just days before taking her own life.
The body of Caroline Grandjean was found by French police near Anglards-de-Salers in Cantal where she lived on September 1 – the first day of the new school term.
The woman had abandoned her role at the nursery school where she taught in Moussages a year prior due to months of harassment by an anonymous culprit.
In a Facebook group for school principals, the former headmistress wrote on August 28, four days before her death: ‘Monday, I assure you, will be much more difficult for me at home than for you in your schools.’
And on April 15, five months before she took her own life, Grandjean made a foreboding prediction to her friend. ‘It’s a never-ending story that will end badly,’ the woman wrote in a private message, reported Le Parisien.
Grandjean had contacted France‘s suicide helpline hours before she jumped 30 metres off a cliff on Monday.
Even though she was never public about her sexuality, it is understood that someone in the small, 300-person village discovered that she was married to a woman and began the hateful campaign.
The first incident occurred in December 2023 when she discovered the words ‘dirty d**e’ on the wall of the school where she was principal.
Grandjean had contacted France ‘s suicide helpline hours before she jumped 30 metres off a cliff near Anglards-de-Salers in Cantal
She filed a complaint, but the homophobic graffiti only continued, with slogans such as ‘D**e = pedophile’ and ‘Get out of here D**e’ appearing around the village and the school. At one point, she even received a death threat: ‘Go die, you dirty D**e.’
Overall, she filed five complaints to the authorities and the police opened an investigation, but the harassment still continued and the vandal was never identified.
She did not feel supported by the nursery school, who apparently asked her to change institution, before encouraging her to switch position – offers she initially refused.
But the bullying got so severe that Grandjean did not return to teach at the nursery for the new school year in 2024.
‘The start of the school year is always a very difficult time for me,’ she confessed in a forum with other school principals in January this year.
‘In concrete terms, the investigation isn’t moving forward. Since I’m no longer at the school, there’s obviously no more homophobic tagging. They’ve won over there. They have a replacement [at the school], and she’s fully committed.
‘I think the hierarchy has also won since there’s no longer a problem.’
The death of Grandjean came just a few days before the anniversary of the suicide of another headmistress in France.
The body of Caroline Grandjean’s was found by French police near Anglards-de-Salers in Cantal where she lived on September 1 – the first day of the new school term
In September 2019, 58-year-old headmistress Christine Renon took her own life in the lobby of her school after complaining in a letter about her workload leaving her ‘exhausted’. Her death in north-east Paris caused thousands of French teachers to protest in solidarity with their colleague.
Now, following the death of Grandjean, the Department of Education agreed to open an administrative inquiry following pressure from furious school unions such as FSU-SNUipp and S2DEs.
In a forum of school principals a few days before Grandjean’s suicide, someone asked: ‘What has changed since Christine Renon’s death?’
‘Nothing,’ Grandjean responded, reported Le Parisien.
At one point during the homophobic campaign – despite alleged reservations from the town hall – a desperate Grandjean sent local residents a statement co-signed by parents and the village mayor, denouncing the harassment.
It is understood that Grandjean attempted suicide in recent months before taking her own life on September 1.
Now, following her death, police officers are reportedly stationed outside the school’s gates in the village of Moussages.
‘The fact that she was a lesbian, we didn’t care,’ one local father told French outlet Liberation.
‘The parents of the students also gave her their support. People here are neither fascists nor homophobic,’ he added.
‘People knew she was living with a woman, but it didn’t make a difference,’ two parents, Julien and Estelle, told the publication, in response to reports that the local community did not do enough to support the headmistress.
‘There’s another gay couple in the village, so what? All of us – parents, the town hall, and the education system – acted together to condemn these actions and support this woman. We met with the inspector several times, we worked with the authorities.’
Her experience suffering abuse was documented by French comic book author Remedium (real name Christophe Tardieux) in a short work called ‘Cas d’école’ in January 2025.
Following the news of her death, the grieving author told Le Parisien: ‘I am in shock. Her wife contacted me at the end of the day to tell me the terrible news. It’s a waste and I have the impression that nothing was done to prevent it.
‘Recently, there has been an accumulation of several events that have reinforced her feeling of injustice.
‘First, the dismissal of her complaint, and then the promotion of the national education inspector who, according to her, had not really supported her throughout this affair.
‘There is a message in the fact that she chose this date at the start of the school year to take her own life.’
