Henri Didon

Youth

At nine years, it is with the small seminar of the Rondo (with Grenoble). It is a brilliant pupil, doubled of a sportsman. In 1855, it gains three titles at the time of the “Olympic Games of the Rondo” which are held during 120 years, every four years, since 1832.

During a voyage to the monastery of Large Chartreuse, close to Grenoble, the religious faith of Henri Didon wakes up. In September 1856, it takes the dress. It will be Dominicain. Speaker of talent, the Didon brother supplements his formation with Rome

Two years later, it is ordered priest with Aix-en-Provence, it is 22 years old.

Preacher

Become doctor in Theology, it is devoted principalent with the sermons. He preached with London and Liege in particular, where he adressae mainly with the public ones of elite. Of return to Paris, Le Figaro title: “The Didon father is a star which rises. ” Didon becomes military chaplain during the Guerre of 1870. It is taken with the trap with the French Army in Metz. It falls ill and finds refuge with Geneva after the capitulation of Metz. It defends the national unit then and is clearly opposed to the abandonment of the Alsace-Moselle. The completed war, it finds a pulpit with Marseilles where it preaches for a “regeneration of France”.

Didon leaves then Marseilles to take again its sermons with Paris. It benefits from it to follow the courses of Claude Bernard to the Collège de France in order to look further into its knowledge on the applied sciences. He also attends Flaubert and Maupassant, the Vallery-Radot families and Pasteur (it is him which Marie Rene Vallery-Radot with the girl of Louis Pasteur). The pope Leon XIII receives it in audience deprived while exclaiming: “Ah, the Didon father! It has already a famous name in the world! ” and to entrust to him: “Continue Didon, continue”. Extremely of this support, Didon can from now on be allowed to pass in addition to the opinions of the bishop of Paris, which advises to him to moderate these remarks. It exceeds the terminals one Sunday morning at the time of a sermon with Notre-Dame by publicly justifying her refusal to obey its hierarchy. The latter reacts immediately by putting a term at its career of preacher and by exiling it in Corsica, with the convent of Corbara (1880).

Pedagog

He devotes himself mainly to the writing of a work on the life of Jesus. For this research, it obtains the authorization to accomplish a study trip in Germany where it is initiated in Kant and Hegel. It publishes a work entitled the Germans shortly after his return of Germany which still causes some frictions with its hierarchy. It completes the drafting of its Vie of Jesus-Christ to the Albert-the-Large Dominican College (Arcueil). It is named headmaster and prior in Arcueil in 1890 and its book is published. It receives an excellent reception in France like abroad, as confirms it criticisms eulogistic of the Times of London, of the NewYork Times or Osservatore Romano, in particular. The royalty solids whom Didon perceives will be used to finance of work to Albert-the-Large or the school voyages. The first of these school voyages takes place from March 29th to April 12th, 1891 by a displacement in Rome where it takes along 75 people. It obtains even an audience with the pope and this last gives to each one a medal. When the turn of Didon arrives, the pope slips to him: “Has you, father Didon, one would need another medal”. Another voyage to place with Rome 1892, then the Caravan of Arcueil moves with Constantinople in 1893 (while passing by Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Sofia) and in 1894 (while passing by the Greece).

In Arcueil, it is accommodated as hero, so much his fame is large. It is however its first experiment as a chief of school. It founds there the sporting plays which it practiced child with Rondeau and takes share with the sporting movement then. He then attends the sporting principal leaders of the time like Georges de Saint-Clearly or Pierre de Coubertin. The first meeting between Coubertin and Didon dates from the January 2nd 1891. Coubertin came to ask for the support of Didon to help it to convince the religious schools to accept the sporting meetings vis-a-vis the laic establishments. A few days after the interview, Didon created within its establishment an official sports association and Albert-the-Large participle with a first laic sporting test the January 13rd 1891 before organizing its first competition on March 7th. Coubertin is the director of the race. With this occasion, he invents and makes embroider the currency “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (more quickly, higher, more extremely), on the flag of the school. This currency will become that of the Olympic Games in 1894 at the time of the first congress Olympic. It was also to decline in the form of song by the pupils of Arcueil his form of an anthem of Albert-the-Large.

Didon and Coubertin are again joined together in 1896, in Athens for the Olympic Games, where one asks the Dominican father to celebrate the mass. Didon did not come only to Athens. It organized a great school voyage for its pupils of Albert-the-Large: the Caravan from Arcueil to Athens.

Of return of Athens, it continues its reforms with school Arcueil and its voyages (in Egypt and Palestine, in particular) while insisting particularly the values of the sport. I estimate that the winners of football have many chances to be the prizes winner of tomorrow in the contests of intellectuals. This word was taken again by Jean Giraudoux his Eloge of football . Didon does not forget that the sport has very solid opponents, in Paris particularly. It classifies the latter in three categories: the passive ones, the emotional ones and intellectuals. All are entitled to the title of “eternal reactionaries”. Besides it uses these words at the time of its speech in front of the Olympic Congress of 1897 which is held in Le Havre.

At this period, Didon had Sacha Guitry as raises in Arcueil. This last did not attend less than twelve different schools because of its indiscipline, but Didon stabilized it during nearly two years to Albert-the-Large. The Guitry young person however tried very to be made exclude. He puts himself one day at knees in front of Didon and declared to him: “My father, I do not believe any more in a God! ” Instead of excluding it, Didon made him serve the mass the every day for three months… Cynical Guitry kept all its life a respectful tenderness for Didon.

In 1898 - 1899, it accomplishes a study trip in Great Britain to observe the English education system there. It is received in Cambridge and Oxford with the honors and even requires of him to hold of the conferences. He visits the most prestigious establishments, of Eton with Harrow, Winchester with Saint-Paul while passing by Rugby. One month after its return of England, it is invited to communicate to the French government its conclusions. In spite of the protests of the Jesuits, it is received by the commission of teaching where it exposes its teaching orientations.

He dies the March 13rd 1900 with Toulouse at the time of a voyage to Rome where it was in particular charged to give to the pope a message of Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau in order to level the conflict between Eglise and State.

Sources

Alain Arvin-Bérod, children of Olympie , Paris, STAG, 1996

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