[3] The son of a farmer, Jean Claude Bouquet studied at the secondary school level in Lyon, where he obtained Bachelor of Arts and Science degrees.

[3] He remained there seven years, then obtained the class of special mathematics at the Bonaparte high school in Paris in October 1852.

In October 1858, he became professor of the special mathematics class at Lycee Louis-le-Grand, replacing Jules Vieille as inspector.

He is on leave of absence in 1867-68 (supplemented by Gaston Darboux), then is appointed lecturer of descriptive geometry and differential and integral calculus at the École normale supérieure on October 31, 1868 (replacing Victor Puiseux).

[4] Parallel to his teaching high school and the Ecole Normale Supérieure, he assumed the faculty of science during the second half of 1865.