Adolf Friedrich, Herzog zu Mecklenburg

Adolf Friedrich Herzog zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a cavalry officer who retired from the royal Prussian Army with the rank of a colonel. He studied anthropology at the University of Dresden, after which he led expeditions to various parts of the world, including Egypt, the Far East, Ceylon, East Africa, and Central Africa. After his trips to Africa he was made Governor of the Protectorate of Togo from 1912-14. He had numerous sporting interests and served as President of the Mecklenburg Hunting Club, the German Automobile Club, the Doberan Racing Club, the Heligendamm Golf Club, the Blau-Weiss Tennis Club, and he was on the board of the German Shooting Federation.

Herzog zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin was known for his anti-Nazi views but still was a member of the 1936 Berlin Organizing Committee. Co-opted onto the IOC in May 1926 he served as a member to Germany from 1926-49, then as a member for the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949-56, after which he was an Honorary Member. His status on the IOC was called into question at the 1951 IOC Session in Vienna, when Belgian Member Rodolphe Seeldrayers objected to him and Karl, Ritter von Halt, labelling them as former Nazis, and also noting that West Germany was a new nation, and deserved entirely new representation. But IOC President Sigfrid Edström deflected the complaints, and although Seeldrayers had support among a number of members, no vote was ever taken, and Herzog zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin and von Halt remained on the IOC.