Person1863 – 1937

Pierre de Coubertin

Also called: Baron de Coubertin, Pierre de Frédy

French educator who founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894 to revive the Olympic Games and served as its president from 1896 to 1925

Born into an aristocratic Paris family, he grew up in the shadow of France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and believed French youth should be strengthened through physical education. Inspired by sport in English public schools and the excavations at Olympia, he founded the International Olympic Committee at the Sorbonne congress in Paris in 1894. As its president from 1896 to 1925 he created Olympic symbols and rituals such as the five-ring flag and the athletes’ oath, and at the 1912 art competitions his “Ode to Sport”, entered under a pseudonym, won a gold medal. He died in Geneva in 1937, and at his wish his heart was buried at Olympia.

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5 related events

1
1894Founding of the International Olympic Committeekey figure
An international congress at the Sorbonne in Paris, called at Coubertin’s urging, resolved to revive the Olympic Games and founded the International Olympic Committee, choosing Athens for the first Games in 1896.
2
18961896 Athens Olympicskey figure
The first modern Olympic Games were held at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. 241 male athletes from 14 nations competed in nine sports, and the marathon was won by the Greek runner Spyridon Louis.
3
19001900 Paris Olympicsrelated figure
The second Olympics were held as a sideshow of the Paris World’s Fair, spread over more than five months. Women competed for the first time, and the British tennis player Charlotte Cooper became the first female Olympic champion.
4
19121912 Stockholm Olympicsrelated figure
With 28 nations taking part, the Stockholm Games introduced electronic timing and photo-finish judging and gave the modern Olympics their shape. Japan competed for the first time. The next Games, Berlin 1916, were cancelled by the First World War.
5
19241924 Paris Olympicskey figure
The last Games Coubertin presided over as IOC president. Forty-four nations took part and an Olympic Village was provided for the first time. Finland’s Paavo Nurmi won five gold medals.

People who appear alongside

Spyridon Louis1873 – 1940
Greek runner who won the first Olympic marathon at the 1896 Athens Games and became a national hero

Themes this person appears in

Summer Olympics776 BC – 2024
From the ancient festival at Olympia to Paris 2024 — how the modern Games revived by Coubertin came through wars, boycotts and division