A school that opened Wednesday in Laxmikantapur, India, was built with money raised through the auction of Audrey Hepburn's little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Dominique Lapierre, the French author of City of Joy about the slums of Calcutta, opened the school in the village, about 50 kilometres south of Calcutta.

French novelist Dominique Lapierre, with his wife, Dominique, offers a red rose to a portrait of actress Audrey Hepburn during the inauguration of a village primary school in Laxmikantapur, India.
(Bikas Das/Associated Press)

"I am very happy that my efforts are fructifying. Things are changing with more and more children going to school," Lapierre said to cheers from some of the 200 students who will attend the school.

Lapierre received Hepburn's dress, worn when she played Manhattan socialite Holly Golightly, as a gift from from designer Hubert de Givenchy.

He sold it for £410,000 ($923,000 Cdn) at Christie's auction house in London in December to raise money for the City of Joy Foundation.

The money will cover the cost of building 15 schools in West Bengal state.

Lapierre, who also wrote Is Paris Burning? and Freedom at Midnight, about India's independence from Britain, gives a share of his royalties to the City of Joy Foundation.