4.1. BIOGRAPHY AND WORK

THE COUBERTIN FAMILY
Pierre Frédy , Baron de Coubertin
- born in Paris on 1st January 1863 to a noble and wealthy family of Italian descent
- their ancestry goes back to an original Frédy who served the French king Louis XI.
- died on 2nd September 1937 in Geneva
Marie- Marcelle Gigaut de Crisenoy- Baroness Frédy de Coubertin (1823-1907)
- Pierre’s mother, granddaughter of the Marquis of  Mirville
- owner of the estate and the castle in Mirville
Charles de Frédy de Coubertin
- Pierre’s father
- famous painter
Paul (1847-1933) and Albert (1848-1913) - his two brothers
Marie (1855-1942) – his sister

PIERRE`S CHILDHOOD
- as the youngest child he got an excellent and classical education by his mother
- went to a Jesuit School in Paris
- A-levels in 1880
- several trips to Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria
- summers: in Mirville
- excellent artist: played the piano, talented musician -able to improvise, often did
  penand ink drawings

1880-1890
- Pierre de Coubertin refused the idea of an easy military career (family tradition)
- graduated in political science
- fought for an educational reform in his country
- 1882 under his influence: Law about physical education and sports
- 1883 first trip to England: discovered in Rugby the pedagogical work of Thomas    
  Arnold and Thomas Hughes
- 1885 first sports festival with foreign pupils
- 1885 ”Studies of the Laws and the Constitutions of the USA and France”
- several studies and publications about an educational reform
- 1886 ” Studies of English Colleges and Universities and the education in England”
- 1889 sent to Boston to take part in the Congress about Physical Education
- 1890 publication of ”The Transatlantic Universities”

1890-1895
- 1892 article about the organisation and importance of sports associations in French  
  schools (Lycées and Collèges)
- at the end of the 19th century most parents and teachers considered sport as a
  dangerous rival of studies and doctors a danger of health  
- 1892 speech at the Sorbonne in Paris on ”Physical exercise in the modern world”,
  announced his intention of reviving the Olympic Games
- 1894 foundation of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) by Coubertin
- 1895 married Marie Rothan – honeymoon in Athens in order to prepare the first   
   Olympic Games

1896-1900- the first Olympic Games
- 1896 first Olympiad in Athens
- Pierre de Coubertin: first secretary of the IOC

-  trips throughout Europe to study the political situation and to spread the Olympic     
    idea
- 1897 1st Olympic Congress in Le Havre (France)
- 1900 first Olympiad in Paris
- 1901 publication of the ” Chronicles of France” given (free of charge) to big
   European and American libraries in order to provide important information about
   France
- first meeting with Theodore Roosevelt, future President of the USA
- birth of his daughter Renée

1903-1910
- 1904 Olympiad in St. Louis (USA)
- several publications and essays on the physical education of young people
- 1909 ”Pages of modern history”, ”A campaign lasting 21 years” (This fundamental 
  work can be considered as the first part of his autobiography) 
- Pierre liked to go in for sports: boxing, fencing, tennis, horse-riding, rowing

1910-1914
- 1912 Olympiad in Stockholm (Two of Coubertin’s desires turned into reality:
  the inclusion of the modern pentathlon  - symbol of a complete sportsman- and the  
  opening of  the so-called Pentathlon of the Muses: competitions in architecture,
  painting, sculpture, music and literature)
  In the ancient Olympic Games there existed a symbiosis between sports competition
  and the presence at Olympia of writers, philosophers, rhetoricians, poets, sculptors
  and historians. P.C. attempted to implant this idea for the modern Olympic Games.
- 1912 gold medal for Coubertin for his ”Ode to Sport” (competing under the pseudo-
  nym G. Hohrod and M. Eschbach) – his first and only gold medal

1920-1930
- 1921 ”Lessons on sports pedagogy”
- 1922 ”Between two battles: from Olympism to the Workers’ University”
- 1924 1st Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix (France)
- 1924 the IOC proposed Coubertin for the Nobel Prize (did not get it)

1930-1937
- Coubertin did not take part in great events any longer sent messages (radio)
1934 to the young Americans
1935 from Berlin
1936 to the runners of Olympia
- lived in Switzerland until his death, which came suddenly on 2nd September 1937 
  while he was strolling in La Grange Park in Geneva
- his last will: his body should be buried in Switzerland, a country which had given
  him and his work shelter, understanding and protection. His heart was to be taken
  to the legendary shrine of Olympia, the spiritual force behind his ambitions for the 
  modern Olympic movement.

- trips throughout Europe to study the political situation and to spread the Olympic     
  idea
- 1897 1st Olympic Congress in Le Havre (France)
- 1900 first Olympiad in Paris
- 1901 publication of the ” Chronicles of France” given (free of charge) to big
  European and American libraries in order to provide important information about
  France
- first meeting with Theodore Roosevelt, future President of the USA
- birth of his daughter Renée

1903-1910
- 1904 Olympiad in St. Louis (USA)
- several publications and essays on the physical education of young people
- 1909 ”Pages of modern history”, ”A campaign lasting 21 years” (This fundamental 
  work can be considered as the first part of his autobiography) 
- Pierre liked to go in for sports: boxing, fencing, tennis, horse-riding, rowing

1910-1914
- 1912 Olympiad in Stockholm (Two of Coubertin’s desires turned into reality:
  the inclusion of the modern pentathlon  - symbol of a complete sportsman- and the  
  opening of  the so-called Pentathlon of the Muses: competitions in architecture,
  painting, sculpture, music and literature)
  In the ancient Olympic Games there existed a symbiosis between sports competition
  and the presence at Olympia of writers, philosophers, rhetoricians, poets, sculptors
  and historians. P.C. attempted to implant this idea for the modern Olympic Games.
- 1912 gold medal for Coubertin for his ”Ode to Sport” (competing under the pseudo-
  nym G. Hohrod and M. Eschbach) – his first and only gold medal

1920-1930
- 1921 ”Lessons on sports pedagogy”
- 1922 ”Between two battles: from Olympism to the Workers’ University”
- 1924 1st Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix (France)
- 1924 the IOC proposed Coubertin for the Nobel Prize (did not get it)

1930-1937
- Coubertin did not take part in great events any longer sent messages (radio)
1934 to the young Americans
1935 from Berlin
1936 to the runners of Olympia
- lived in Switzerland until his death, which came suddenly on 2nd September 1937 
  while he was strolling in La Grange Park in Geneva
- his last will: his body should be buried in Switzerland, a country which had given
  him and his work shelter, understanding and protection. His heart was to be taken
  to the legendary shrine of Olympia, the spiritual force behind his ambitions for the 
  modern Olympic movement.

4.2. RELEVANCE OF COUBERTINS`S IDEAS TODAY

A) THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS WORK
Founder of the Modern Olympic Games
-  we owe the whole organisation of the Olympic Games to him which have benefited from his
   methodical precise mind and his wide understanding of the aspirations and needs of young people
-  the Charter, the Olympic Protocol and the athletes´ oath belong to his work as well as the opening
   and closing ceremony
   until 1925 he personally presided the IOC
-  he proposed the inclusion of the Pentathlon of the Muses (first turned into reality in 1912 in Stockholm)
-  the Olympic flag was designed by him in 1913 and flew for the first time at the Olympic Stadium in
   Antwerp in 1920
1,150 publications (60,000 pages)
-  important articles on sports psychology, physical education and sports techniques
-  policzical, sociological and historical studies
famous pedagogue
-  valued sport as a basic element in the formation of an individual
-  saw sport as a right for everybody
artist (played the piano, gold medal for his "Ode to Sport"
sociologist (wanted to create Worker´s Universities)
politican, visionary, precursor and humanist

B) THE RELEVANCE OF HIS WORK TODAY
-  we still celebrate the Olympic Games
-  validity of the Charter first introduced by Coubertin, great opening and closing ceremony
-  close relation between the Olympic idea and arts and sciences nowadays
-  Coubertin provided a large range of solutions devoted to questions concerning techniques and
    teaching of sport as well as teaching programmes
-  in 1919 Coubertin, with his visionary mind, set the bases of sports for all, a still very modern devise
-  support of school sports associations and international competitions of the youth (e.g. 2nd Olympic Youth
   Forum in Much Wenlock)

C) COUBERTIN'S MAIN IDEAS - STILL RELEVANT TODAY
-  sport for all (s.a.)
            "sport is not a luxury activity, or an activity for the idle, or even a physical compensation fo cerebral work.
             It is on the contrary, a possible cource for inner improvement for everyone. Sport is part of every man and
             woman's heritage and its absence can never be compensated for."

-  Coubertin considered the Olympic Games as a festival of joie de vivre, peaceful competition and a means of
    international understanding and fair play between sportsmen of different nations
-  symbiosis between the Olympic Movement, arts and sciences

THE OLYMPIC FLAG –
COUBERTIN ENTHUSIASTICALLY EXPLAINED HIS CONCEPTION OF THE IDEA:
”These five rings - blue, yellow, black, green and red - represent the five parts of the world, henceforth completely embracing Olympism and ready to accept its healthy spirit of competition. Moreover, the six colours (including the white back ground) combined in this way, reproduce the colours of every nation with out exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the tricolours of France, England, America, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Hungary, and the yellow and red of Spain mingle with Brazil’s and Australia’s innovative creations, and with old Japan and young China. A truly international emblem.”

THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES (OLYMPIADS)

   * can not take place, because of the 1st and 2nd World Wars

Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) 98 Enzyklopädie. © 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

PIERRE DE COUBERTIN

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