Discussion
Ask a question about 'Henri de Baillet-Latour' Start a new discussion about 'Henri de Baillet-Latour' Answer questions from other users |
Count Henri de Baillet-Latour (in French:
Henri, comte de Baillet-Latour; March 1, 1876 – January 6, 1942) was a
BelgianBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
aristocrat and the third president of the
International Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
.
De Baillet-Latour became a member of the IOC in 1903 and later co-founded the
Belgian Olympic CommitteeThe Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee , abbreviated to COIB or BOIC, is the National Olympic Committee for Belgium. It was founded in 1906 and the administrative seat is located in Brussels.-List of presidents:...
. He was one of the organisers of the
1920 Summer OlympicsThe 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
in
Antwerp, awarded the previous year. Despite the short notice and Belgium's condition following the recently-ended
First World WarWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Games were considered a success.
De Baillet-Latour was elected IOC President after the founder of the modern Olympic Movement,
Pierre de CoubertinPierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin was a French educationalist and historian, founder of the International Olympic Committee, and is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games...
, became Honorary President in 1925. He led the IOC until his death in 1942, when he was succeeded by Vice-President
Sigfrid EdströmJohannes Sigfrid Edström was a Swedish industrialist, chairman of the Sweden-America Foundation, and an official with the International Olympic Committee.-Early life:...
.
In June 1939 he arrived at an unanimous vote of the IOC in favour of Germany organising the 1940 Winter Games, replacing Japan that had returned the right to organise the 1940 Games. He argued that the decision in favour of Nazi Germany that had occupied the Czech rump state three monts before showed the OIC's independence of political influences.