Pierre de Coubertin
The initiator of the Olympic Games’ renewal Pierre de Coubertin was born on the 1st of January in 1863, in Paris. His father, a painter by profession came from the ancient family clan of Baron Charles Louis Fredy de Coubertin. Pierre de Coubertin’s mother, Agathe-Gabrielle de Mirville, was a highly-educated woman from an aristocratic family.
Since his early childhood Pierre de Coubertin was an all-rounder. He studied fine arts, science and law. He also went in for sport and was very good at riding, fencing and rowing. At the age of 12 he read the book “The School Years of Tom Brown” which encouraged him to study the basis of physical education. Having left the lycée in Paris he entered the Parisian University and after its graduation became the Bachelor of Arts, Science and Law. Pierre de Coubertin respected greatly his instructor and close friend Father Caron, professor of humanistic sciences and rhetoric who taught him the Greek language and the history of the Roman Empire and who told him a lot about the ancient Olympic Games.
The Franco-Prussian war and its unfortunate outcome stimulated de Coubertin’s patriotism and he devoted himself to the study of different physical education theories. In 1886-1887 he published several articles on these problems. Pierre de Coubertin travelled a lot and his travels around Europe and the United States of America showed him that the interest in the physical education was gaining ground in quite a lot of countries: England, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands …. Pierre de Coubertin often spoke about the necessity of physical education and insisted on the establishment of the Physical Education League. Later on and due to his efforts physical education became an integral part in the theory of young people’s upbringing in France, his motherland.
The first attempts of Pierre de Coubertin to revive the Olympic Games began on the 30th of August, in 1887 after the publication of one of his articles on the subject.
Since that time he published a lot of other articles and books about the importance of physical education considering it the greatest value in the intellectual development of people and took part in different conferences where he persuaded people to revive the Olympic Games. And as a result he got success. Thanks to Pierre de Coubertin the International Olympic Committee was set up and de Coubertin was its president till his death. He died on the 2nd of September in 1937 in Geneva and was buried in Lausanne. His heart was buried in another place – in the monument near the ruins of ancient Olympia.
Pierre de Coubertin made a great contribution to the development of physical culture in the world. People of all nationalities will remember him as a strong-willed, purposeful and highly-educated man, and of course as a man who did all the best to revive the Olympic Games which serve the cause of peace on the Earth and unify people of the whole world today.
4. Answer the following questions:
1. Who is Pierre de Coubertin?
2. When and where was he born?
3. Who were his father and mother?
4. Pierre de Coubertin was an all-rounder, wasn’t he? Prove it.
5. What encouraged him to study the basis of physical education?
6. What university did Pierre de Coubertin graduate from?
7. Who was his close friend and instructor? Why did Pierre de Coubertin respect him?
8. What countries did Pierre de Coubertin visit? What was the purpose of his travels in your opinion?
9. When did the first Pierre de Coubertin’s attempts to revive the Olympic Games begin? What was the result of those attempts?
10. When did Pierre de Coubertin die?
11. Where was his heart buried? Why, do you think, his heart was buried separately from his body?
12. What kind of contribution did Pierre de Coubertin make? Prove your idea.
5. Try your hand in the following translation:
Пьер де Кубертен родился в Париже первого января 1863 года. У Пьера были высокообразованные родители. С детства Пьер де Кубертен был весьма разносторонним человеком: он изучал изобразительное искусство, науку и право, занимался спортом, в частности, верховой ездой, греблей и фехтованием. Пьер де Кубертен окончил лицей в Париже, а затем университет и стал бакалавром искусства, науки и права. После прочтения книги «Школьные годы Томаса Брауна» Пьер де Кубертен начал изучать теорию физического воспитания. Его близкий друг и наставник помогал ему в этом. После окончания Франко-Прусской войны Пьер опубликовал множество книг и статей о важности физического воспитания в интеллектуальном развитии людей. Пьер много путешествовал и обращал внимание на то, как физическая культура и спорт развиваются в разных странах. Благодаря его стараниям, возобновились Олимпийские Игры. Это и было основной целью всей его жизни. Пьер де Кубертен умер второго сентября 1937 года в Женеве и был похоронен в Лозанне. Его сердце было захоронено в памятнике около руин древней Олимпии. Люди всего мира запомнят, какой великий вклад он внес в развитие физического воспитания во всем мире.
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