The International Pierre de Coubertin Committee is proud to announce that our President of Honour, Jean Durry, the author of Coubertin “Autographe”, was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal during a ceremony at Olympic House organised on the occasion of Olympic Day 2023.

French historian Jean Durry is the founder and honorary director of the National Sport Museum in France. An expert on Pierre de Coubertin, he is the author of Coubertin autographe – Tome I (1889-1915), a commentary on the texts and writings of Pierre de Coubertin. Now, some 20 years later, he has produced Tome II (1915-1937). This latest collection of letters and manuscripts by Pierre de Coubertin reveals new information and sheds light on the last two decades of his life: the IOC’s move to Lausanne on 10 April 1915, the Great War, his farewell to the Olympic Movement, and his final years right up until his death on 2 September 1937. This new edition, with a detailed index, has been produced as a digital publication, allowing present-day scholars to navigate the different chapters with great ease.

Congratulating Durry on his labour of love and rigorous research, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Nearly 130 years after his call to revive the Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin would be delighted to know that his work continues and that his writings remain a source of inspiration.”

Awarding him the Pierre de Coubertin Medal, IOC President Thomas Bach said, “You share [with Coubertin] a passion for sport and culture… You have shared and transmitted this passion for the values of sport, Olympism, and Coubertin through numerous published works. Over and above the simple reproduction of letters and writings, you have studied in depth the man, the person, behind the founder of the IOC and modern Olympism. You have decoded the soul of this visionary, whose work and actions are yet to be discovered by future generations.”

Durry had previously received the Olympic Order in 2003 for Coubertin autographe – Tome I (1889-1915).