 The letters were not left with academician Georges Grente (1872–1959), superior of the Saint-Paul Institute, and Ernest Psichari (1883–1914), soldier and writer, whose garrison stay in Cherbourg in 1914 with the 2nd colonial artillery regiment inspires "L'Appel des armes".With Caen, Cherbourg-Octeville is the main cultural centre of Lower Normandy.The city is the seat of several learned societies, including the founded in 1755, formed in 1851, and the Artistic and Industrial society of Cherbourg, incorporated in 1871.