Syracuse

Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, was born in Paris on 1 January 1863 as the youngest of four children. He chose to study at the Law Faculty of the Political Sciences School, where his early interest in history and pedagogy had taken hold.

In 1883, influenced by the work of French philosopher and historian Hippolyte Taine, and that of the Englishman Thomas Arnold (the Head of the Rugby School), he went to England to compare the British and French education systems. Coubertin had a critical view on the very theoretically orientated French education system and was impressed by the English system, which had integrated individual and team sports into everyday school life. This inspiration became the starting point for his educational campaign, with the Olympic Games at its centre.

Convinced of the importance of including sport in the balanced education of a person, he devoted himself to spreading this idea using all means available: lectures, publications, setting up sports or educational societies, etc.. He wanted to increase access to education and sport for young people around the world, regardless of race, nationality and income. And it was these ideas – in part – which led to the establishment of the modern Olympic Games.

At the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition, he organised the world’s first Congress on Physical Education and began to build the international network of educators, politicians, aristocrats, commerce, culture and sport who would help him fulfil his Olympic dream. After a failure in 1892, he organised the International Athletics Congress in Paris, in 1894, after which the International Olympic Committee was created and the Olympic Games re-established. Coubertin’s motivations and vision were therefore much broader than “simply” recreating the Olympic Games of the Antiquity. He saw the exceptional educational potential of sport and culture and he strived to promote their virtues in society through the celebration of the Olympic Games.

“When I restored the Olympiads, I did not look to what was nearby; I looked to the far-off future. I wanted to give the world, in an enduring way, an ancient institution whose guiding principle was becoming necessary for its health.” (Olympism: selected writings / Pierre de Coubertin, IOC, Lausanne, 2000, p. 550).

Though it may seem difficult to imagine today, reinstating the Olympic Games proved to be a real struggle for Coubertin, especially in his own country. It took a lot of convincing and overcoming of obstacles in order to get the project off the ground and to eventually make it sustain, but he was not deterred because his vision of the Olympic Games was about much more than just a sporting event. He recognized the Games as being an excellent vessel and platform for disseminating the social and moral values that sport brings to individuals and society at large.

We invite you to explore our rich and unique collection of resources on Pierre de Coubertin. Whether you are interested in going deeper into Pierre de Coubertin’s vision of the Olympic Games, his idea regarding the role of sports in society, or the struggle that the creation of the modern Olympic Games really was, you will find on this page a wide range of recommended resources and reference pages on this topic.

Don’t miss:
Our Reference Document “Pierre de Coubertin -Life, vision, influences and achievements of the founder of the modern Olympic Games” with 60 short texts written by Coubertin experts from around the globe,
Our dedicated page with direct access to Pierre de Coubertin’s writings where you will find over 220 digital documents,
The recently published educational resource “Discovering Pierre de Coubertin - an educational programme based on the words of Pierre de Coubertin”, for teachers, pupils and students to conduct lessons on various themes addressed by Pierre de Coubertin (available in English, French and Spanish).

Note that the publications on this page represent only a selection of all the resources available on this topic in the Olympic World Library. For the full list, see the link at the bottom of the page, or search in the full catalogue by topic or author.