Justinien, Comte Clary

Born Justinien Charles Xavier Bretonneau to Pierre Fidele Bretonneau, his father died when he was only 2-years-old, and when his mother married Justinien-Nicolas Clary in 1883, he was adopted and assumed the name Bretonneau-Clary, although he preferred to be called Count Clary. Count Clary was a lawyer and popular writer who founded Le Pistolet in 1894, Le Fusil de Chasse in 1897 and in 1909 he published Le braconnage et le moyen de la reprimer. He helped organize the shooting events at the 1900 Paris Exposition and placed third in clay trap shooting at the 1900 Olympics.

Count Clary was heavily involved in sports administration, serving as President of the French Olympic Committee from 1913 until his death, and he was Commissioner-General and President of the Executive Committee for the 1924 Paris Olympics. He was also President of the National Sports Committee and the St. Hubert Club. Clary led an active civic life and was founder of Franco-American Fraternity which gave assistance to war orphans, and for his public service he was made a Grand Officer of the Legion d’Honneur in 1921. Like Pierre de Coubertin, Clary was opposed to women competing in the Olympics and, at the 1924 IOC Session in Paris, spoke out against adding further women’s sports. He was a candidate in 1925 for IOC President but received only 4 votes in the first round and 1 in the second.