Eugenio Brunetta d'Usseaux (14 December 1857 – 8 January 1919) was an Italian nobleman and member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

Early life

Eugenio Brunetta d'Usseaux was born on the 14 December 1857, in

Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC. ...

, and was educated in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

.{{sfn, De Luna, 2005, pp=19-20 His father, the count Carlo Augusto Brunetta of Usseaux was a high-ranking official of the

Royal Sardinian Army The Royal Sardinian Army (also the Sardinian Army, the Royal Sardo-Piedmontese Army, the Savoyard Army, or the Piedmontese Army) was the army of the Duchy of Savoy and then of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was active from 1416 until it became t ...

, headquartered in the same city.{{sfn, De Luna, 2005, p=15 His mother, Carolyne Mattone of Benevello, also came from an Italian noble family, and was related to the family Valperga since seven centuries before. At the end of his studies in the exclusive Nobles College located in the modern Academy of Science of Turin, Brunetta married Caterine di Zeyffat, a landowner of enormous plots in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, whose family had close ties to the

Imperial family A royal family is the immediate family of monarch, monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or emperor, empress, and the term papal family describes the family of ...

. The couple lived in Torino and in Paris.{{sfn, Olympedia

Sports

After the early death of his wife began devoting himself to sports organizing.{{sfn, Olympedia Himself an active rower and rider, the count was very interested in sports, and was in Paris that he met with Baron

Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; 1 January 1863 – 2 September 1937), also known as Pierre de Coubertin and Baron de Coubertin, was a French educator and historian, co-founder of the International Olympic ...

interested to him, for the reinstatement of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. His engagement for the sports (ideals) was so very close to him, that in 1897 Brunetta d'Usseaux become member of the

(IOC), which he remained until his death, as

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

since 1908. Till the 21st century, he was the only Italian person recovering this charge. He succeeded in bringing the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

to Rome, but Italy had to forfeit the organization of the Olympics in 1906, due to financial and organisational problems. The 1908 Games were held in London instead. That same year, Brunetta d'Usseaux was appointed secretary of the IOC. In this position, he tried to get winter sports on the Olympic programme, and suggested to have a separate winter sports week attached to the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

in Stockholm. This was opposed by the Swedish organizers, but Brunetta d'Usseaux managed to get a winter sports week scheduled for 1916. Due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, these Olympics were never organized.

Death

The count died, under unclear circumstances,{{sfn, Bonini, Verratti, 2011, p=16 in France in 1919, and would not live to see the first

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...

in 1924, maybe in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. He was appointed as Bailiff of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

References

Citation

{{reflist, 20em

Biography

{{Refbegin, 35em * {{cite journal , last1=Bonini , first1=Francesco , last2=Verratti , first2=Veruska , title=The loc of Pierre de Coubertin: circulation of elites, international relations and institutional production , journal=Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali , date=2011 , volume=78 , issue=1 (309) , pages=9–23 , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42740992 , issn=0035-6611 * {{cite book , last1=De Luna , first1=Giovanni , title=At the Roots of Italian Olympism Count Eugenio Brunetta d 'Usseaux (1857- 1919) , date=2005 , publisher=Organising Committee for the XX Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006 , url=https://library.olympics.com/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/44983/at-the-roots-of-italian-olympism-count-eugenio-brunetta-d-usseaux-1857-1919-by-giovanni-de-luna?_lg=en-GB , access-date=13 November 2024 *{{cite web , title=Eugenio, Conte Brunetta d'Usseaux , url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/899048 , access-date=13 November 2024 , work=Olympedia, ref = {{harvid, Olympedia {{Refend {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunetta Dusseaux, Eugenio 1857 births 1919 deaths People from Vercelli