“A closed world”: Pierre de Coubertin as a possible guest in the Proustian Salons in Paris
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[1] Independent sports and art historian
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- Localización: Diagoras: International Academic Journal on Olympic Studies, ISSN-e 2565-196X, Nº. 5, 2021, págs. 7-17
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
In 1893, the writer Marcel Proust (1871-1922) stated in an article for Le Gaulois that “it was thesalons that made reputations […] very few great men succeeded without first passing through asalon”. The “closed world” of the salons with its rules and codes was suitable for establishing anddeveloping networks (Weber 2018; Martin-Fugier, 2003). Interestingly, in his Mémoires de jeunesse(Clastres, 2008), Pierre de Coubertin demonstrated a fascination for the salons stating that the most“chic” salons were obviously the ones kept the closest”. Assuming that the successful restoration ofthe Olympic games would not have been possible for Pierre de Coubertin without a network offriends and persons who helped him to make it a reality, the question arises where his place wasin the salon context. A current research project concentrating on Coubertin´s correspondencewith women of his time, some of whom have been salon hostesses, and sheds light on his salonactivities.This paper presents preliminary research findings concerning the Comtesse de Grefullhe (1860-1952) who was the personification of the salons in Paris and whom Proust immortalised in thenovel A la recherche du temps perdu.
