Theodor Schmidt

Theodor Schmidt studied law at the University of Innsbruck and then spent a year at Oxford University. He then served in World War I in the Dragoons, but after the war joined the family business. Schmidt was Austria’s attaché at the 1928 Winter Olympics, and in 1932 accompanied the small Austrian team to the Los Angeles Olympics. He was co-opted into the IOC in July 1928 and in 1933 organized the IOC Session in Wien (Vienna). President of the Austrian General Association for Physical Sports since 1929, in 1935 this was renamed the Austrian Olympic Committee and Schmidt remained President.

When German troops took over Austria in March 1938, Schmidt was at the IOC Session in Cairo. As a Jew, he realized the dangers and made his way to Rome, remaining there until 1940, after which he went to the United States where he was a lecturer at the University of Chicago. He eventually returned to Austria in 1955 where he lived until his death.

Schmidt’s resignation from the IOC is unclear. Once Austria was annexed and no longer existed as a nation, he was technically no longer eligible to be an IOC Member. However, exceptions had been made in the past. In April 1938, the Germans published their version of Olympic Review (Olympische Rundschau), and his name was not listed among the IOC Members, although this appears to have been an arbitrary decision made by the Germans and not by the IOC, nor President Baillet-Latour.