Martin Didon

Biographical information

RolesOther
SexMale
Full nameHenri Louis Rémy "Martin"•Didon
Used nameMartin•Didon
Born17 March 1840 in Le Touvet, Isère (FRA)
Died13 March 1900 in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne (FRA)
NOC France

Biography

A former Dominican monk, Henri Didon took the name Father Martin. He is credited with devising the Olympic motto: Citius, altius, fortius for an athletic meeting for students in 1891. His good friend Pierre de Coubertin adopted the motto at the first congress of the IOC in 1894.

An eminent writer and preacher, Didon studied at the Grenoble Seminary before joining the Dominicans at the age of 18. Four years later, he took his vows and completed his studies at Minerva College in Roma. Didon returned to Paris when his public sermons made him, and his Order, friends of the city’s ‘ordinary’ people, and after becoming Prior of the Dominicans in Paris, his sermons drew large crowds to their chapel. At times, his sermons were controversial and the Archbishop told him to change his subjects or stop preaching. He chose the former course of action, and was banished to Corsica by the head of the Order, and was also refused an audience by the Pope. However, after 18 months banishment, he was allowed to go to study at Germany Universities. Didon returned to Paris in 1887 and for three years worked on his best known book, The Life of Christ, which was translated into several languages.

Other participations

Games Role NOC As
Other FRA Martin Didon