Table of Contents
Introduction
Pierre, Baron de Coubertin: Father of the Modern Olympics
As a republican born to the French aristocracy, a patriot with an internationalist’s outlook, and a child of the French defeats of 1871 yet a committed progressive and optimist, Coubertin struggled in his 20s to find a satisfying vocation. Inspired by study tours of British public schools and American colleges, he resolved to “attach his name to a great educational reform,” embarking upon lifelong campaigns for secondary-school improvement, workers’ universities, and the popular study of world political history. These efforts attained little success and are largely forgotten today. As Le Rénovateur (“The Reviver”) of the Olympic Games, however, Coubertin managed ...(100 of 457 words)