 | |
| Editor | Juven |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Maurras |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Politique |
Publication date | 1901 |
| Publication place | France |
Lettres des Jeux olympiques (Letters from the Olympic Games) is a correspondence between the French journalist and politician Charles Maurras and Gustave Janicot, editor-in-chief of La Gazette de France written between April 8 and May 3, 1896. The letters are then collected on 1901 in the book Anthinéa.
From April 6 to 15, 1896, the first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens, at the initiative of Pierre de Coubertin. [1] From April 8 to May 3, 1896, La Gazette de France commissioned the young journalist Charles Maurras to cover the event. The letters were published in the newspaper from April 15 to 22, 1896. [1]
The Lettres des Jeux olympiques contain six missives. The first is written from the Ionian Sea, the other five from Athens. [2]
After the Olympic Games had already started, Charles Maurras sent a first letter to Paris, written on the ship he boarded from Marseille. The letter, entitled “Our Sea”, is a tribute to the Mediterranean Sea, cradle of Greco-Roman civilization. [1]
Fascinated by the azure blue of the Mediterranean, his heart beats faster as he approaches the epicenter of the classical world; the wind that blew around the boat could have no other name than Zephyr. Finally, the Peloponnese stood out on the horizon: “Dear friends of France, if you only knew how fraternal this is to us! » Thus ended this first letter dated April 15.
— Wolf Lepenies
As soon as he arrived at the Games, Charles Maurras put the success of the German athletes into perspective: "It was because they had no French competitors in front of them." Maurras is not so interested in sport, which he considers "too Anglo-Saxon for his taste". [2] Maurras feared the Games would be hijacked into a "sporting cosmopolitanism" [3] but his fears fade when he notices "the enthusiasm of the Greek people for the shepherd Spiridon Louïs, winner in the marathon event, as well as the good-natured and noisy patriotism of the Yankees". [4]
Maurras returns deeply shaken by his trip to Greece, from which he draws several lessons reported in Anthinéa and Les Vergers de la mer . According to him, nothing surpasses “the harmony established in the arts by classical Greece (6th-4th century BC)” [5] which would have been reproduced during the Grand Siècle in France. However, this harmony remains fragile due to "the state of decadence into which Greece has fallen", a product of democracy. [5] Maurras extends this observation to France, which would have "continued to retreat on land and sea since the Old Regime was swept away and, with it, the balanced and sovereign foreign policy of the Capetians, which did not depend on this or that parliamentary majority to choose their allies and their wars. [5] He concludes that neighboring monarchical regimes are doing much better, including Victorian England, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the United Reich, Italy and Spain. [5] Based on these examples, he comes away convinced that the monarchical regime makes the nations that adopt it stronger. [6]
Charles Maurras published his letters in his work Anthinéa in 1901 [7] .
Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, also known as Pierre de Coubertin and Baron de Coubertin, was a French educator and historian, co-founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and its second president. He is known as the father of the modern Olympic Games. He was particularly active in promoting the introduction of sport in French schools.
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had already started on 4 May. The Games were the second to be hosted by Paris, making it the first city to host the Olympics twice.
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of Action Française, a political movement that is monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Maurras also held anti-communist, anti-Masonic, anti-Protestant, and antisemitic views, while being highly critical of Nazism, referring to it as "stupidity". His ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and integral nationalism, led by his tenet that "a true nationalist places his country above everything".
Michel Jules Alfred Bréal, French philologist, was born at Landau in Rhenish Palatinate. He is often identified as a founder of modern semantics. He was also the creator of the modern marathon race, having proposed its first running at the 1896 Olympic Games and offered what would become known as Breal's Silver Cup to the winner.
Antoine de Rivarol was a French royalist writer and translator who lived during the Revolutionary era. He was briefly married to the translator Louisa Henrietta de Rivarol.
Demetrios Vikelas was a Greek businessman and writer; he was the co-founder and first president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), from 1894 to 1896.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags, and symbols to represent and enhance the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competitions such as the flame, fanfare, and theme and those used both during and outside competition, such as the Olympic flag.
France competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. French athletes had appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, Great Britain, and Greece. France won the fourth-most gold medals with 5 and the fourth-most total medals with 11. Cycling was the sport in which the French competitors had the most success, as they completely dominated the field. The French team had 27 entries in 18 events, winning 11 medals.
Henri Louis Rémy Didon, OP was a French Dominican friar. He was also a writer, educator, and a promoter of youth sports. His outsize personality often put him in conflict with his religious hierarchy.
Frantz Funck-Brentano was a French historian and librarian. He was born in the castle of Munsbach (Luxembourg) and died at Montfermeil. He was a son of Théophile Funck-Brentano.
Patrick Besson is a French writer and journalist.
L'Année philologique is an index to scholarly work in fields related to the language, literature, history and culture of Ancient Greece and Rome. It is the standard bibliographical tool for research in classical studies. Published in print annually since 1928, with the first volume covering the years 1924–1926, it is now also available online by institutional or individual subscription. As of June 2014, the electronic version covers volume years 1924 through 2011. The editorial staff gathers each year's additions from 1,500 periodicals, with an additional 500 articles from collections.
Miguel Abensour was a French philosopher specializing in political philosophy.
Jean Rivain was a French political writer and journal editor. He was the co-founder of La Revue critique des idées et des livres.
Count Bernard de Vésins was a French soldier, essayist, practicing Catholic and right-wing Action Française militant. He was hostile to Freemasons, Jews and socialists, whom he considered to be working together in conspiracy to undermine the traditional Catholic values of France. In the 1920s he was President of the Ligue d'Action Française during a period when the Catholic Church was disassociating itself from the movement.
Éric Monnin is a French sports historian and sociologist, specializing in the International Olympic Movement. He holds a senior secondary school teaching degree in Physical Education and Sports. He graduated with a PhD in sociology and is a lecturer accredited to conduct research at the University of Franche-Comté. He is a member of the Culture, Sport, Health, Society (C3S) laboratory at the University of Franche-Comté.
Enquête sur la monarchie is a book by the French politician Charles Maurras, journalist at the Revue d'Action française then director of L'Action française, first published in 1900 in the Gazette de France. Enquête sur la monarchie is the starting point for a renewal of the royalist movement in France. A revival based on the development of a new doctrine "which replaces the old parliamentary and conservative royalism with a conception of monarchy that aims to be traditional and nationalist", and the symmetrical development of the Action française born in 1899.
The Maison du chemin de Paradis or Bastide du chemin de Paradis is a bastide located on Chemin de Paradis, in Martigues, France. It is the residence of Charles Maurras.
The Olympic Mass or Holy Mass for the Opening of the Olympic Truce is a tradition since 1896 in connection with the Olympic Games, during which the Olympic Truce is officially inaugurated by the celebration of a Catholic Mass in the city hosting the incumbent Olympic Games.
The nationalist compromise is a concept developed by Charles Maurras, referring to a tactical and situational alliance with different currents on specific issues.
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