Godefroy Jean Henri Louis de

Blonay Blonay () is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District, Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. On 1 January 2022 the former municipalities o ...

(25 July 1869, Niederschöntal,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

– 14 February 1937,

Biskra Biskra ( ar, بسكرة ; ; Latin Vescera) is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987. Biskra is located in northeastern Algeria, about 248 miles (400 km) from Algiers, 71 miles (115&nbs ...

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

) was an important early member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Career

From 1899 he was the first Swiss member on the

(IOC). He was to be on the committee for 38 years until his death in 1937, being the 24th on the roll of members since 1884;

Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; ...

is number one. In 1912 de Blonay was one of the founders of the

Swiss Olympic Association Swiss Olympic (also known as german: Schweizerischer Olympischer Verband, french: Association Olympique Suisse, it, Associazione Olimpica Svizzera, rm, Assiociaziun Olimpica Svizra) is the National Olympic Committee and the umbrella organisati ...

and from 1912 to 1915 he was its first president. Baron de Blonay was for a time one of the closest confidants of the IOC's second president

Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; ...

. When de Coubertin joined the French army in 1916 de Blonay became acting president of the IOC. Earlier, when de Coubertin nearly ran out of money and took a back seat, de Blonay had been appointed to run an International Olympic executive committee, in lieu of the president. However, it has been suggested that he upset de Coubertin by over-stretching the powers of this committee and it was this that may have caused him not to have been chosen to succeed as the third IOC

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

in 1925.

Wife and family

In Neuchâtel on 24 September 1901 he married Elisabeth Sophie de Salis (

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...

, 21 May 1880 - 30 March 1967). She was the only surviving child of Count Peter de Salis (second son of

Peter, 5th Count de Salis-Soglio Peter John Fane de Salis, (5th) Count de Salis-Soglio, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, DL, JP, G.C.J.J., K.R.E. (26 February 1799 – 24 December 1870) was a mercenary soldier and landowner in Middlesex and the Irish counties Limerick and Arm ...

) by his second wife Agnes Louisa La Trobe (d. 5 May 1916, ''ebendort''), daughter of Governor

Charles Joseph La Trobe Charles la Trobe, CB (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Australi ...

, CB, by his wife Sophie de Montmollin. They had four children and lived at the château de

Grandson Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

, near Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland.

References

*''The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC: Athens to Beijing, 1894–2008'', by David Miller, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blonay, Godefroy de 1869 births 1937 deaths Swiss International Olympic Committee members Swiss nobility Presidents of the International Olympic Committee People from Basel-Landschaft