Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) was a French educator and historian who founded the International Olympic Committee and is credited as the principal force behind the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern era. Concerned that French education neglected physical training, he studied British and American school sports programs before proposing, at a Paris congress in 1894, that the ancient Greek games be revived as an international athletic festival; the first modern Olympics followed in Athens in 1896. He served as IOC president for most of the next three decades, shaping the Games' founding principles, including amateurism, and he also designed the Olympic rings symbol. His vision expanded the Games from a small Athens gathering into the recurring global event that continues today.
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