INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

Seminary in Grenoble following the advice from le Touvet's priest. He
was to be entrusted to the caring, devoted seminary masters several
kilometres from the house where he was born. This was a delicate
decision to make for his parents, especially for his mother who gave
him unsparing attention and tenderness. Anyone then would willingly
admit: Henri was her living portrait.
Imaginative and devilishly playful, the boy loved to command his
playmates and displayed his boldness. Like other children his age, he
would also continually question adults with a solemn tone on the
origins of the world and things. Persistent, sometimes until
stubbornness, he would never compromise his convictions and
opinions. Too many promising elements were reflected in this
adolescent's personality to not seek out the means to develop them. He
was of a frail nature and his mother, to whom he vowed his profound
affection and admiration; left him with sorrow.... He then parted for
the Rondeau Little Seminary. He wrote about le Touvet to his atheist
lawyer friend, M. Carraby, later on saying... "I remember that little
place on this earth that holds, along with my mother’s tomb, my best
memories... “(June 4, 1885).
When he entered the Rondeau Little Seminary, Henri wasn't even
nine years old: the date was October 1, 1848.
As an excellent pupil straight from the beginning, his scholastic
marks in the 7th grade allowed him to be awarded a prize for:
excellence, diligence, translation and spelling. Louis-Henri Didon was
in fact the best student in all subjects. During his schooling, he would
be particularly outstanding in French. His talents for narrating and
speech skills brought him much success. He was also however an
inspiring athlete, and a tenacious opponent. Henri Didon reminisced
about this scholastic period with Flaubert's niece, Caroline
Commanville, in these words:
"This is where I spent seven years of my life, from the age of 9 to 16,
my lovely and tender adolescence...I adored that place along the Drac
river, that turbulent stream, at the foothills of Villard de-Lans, across
from the great snow-capped Alps".
Starting in 1832, after the Little Seminary decided to take advantage
of its relocation in the country, the school organized Olympic Games
every four years! Where could such an idea stem from?.. from the
children themselves who were studying ancient Greek classics at the
- 109 -