Abstract

Pierre de Coubertin was the fourth and last child of a family of the middle aristocracy who, instead of living in the family’s castle in Ile de France, near Versailles, lived in castle of Mirville in Normandy most of the year. His parents were cultivated, open-minded and liked sport. Even as a young boy Coubertin was interested in the local life, exploring the countryside of his own and looking for contact with the population,
In 1902, he founded a local magazine giving information about the life in the region of Caux, trying to interest his lectures in what happened in other regions, countries and continents in order to enlarge their horizon. After having married, he spent a lot of his time in Mirville before moving to Lausanne where he had transferred the seat of the CIO in the twenties. The author reports that Coubertin was deeply coined by Mirville and the normand region and during his stays there, he elaborated his educational projects and set up the bases for Olympism. Verf.-Referat