In 1927, Pierre de Coubertin was invited by the Greek government to Olympia, to attend the unveiling of a commemorative stele created in order to honour his actions to revive the Olympic Games. During his stay in Greece, he discussed the need for an academic cen-tre for the study of the Olympic Movement and its trends with his friend Ioannis Chrysafis, who headed the Department of Physical Education at the Universi¬ty of Athens.

Coubertin believed that the Olympic Movement should not deviate from its educational objectives and had written: “I have not been able to carry out to the end what I wanted to perfect. I believe that a cen¬tre of Olympic studies would aid the preservation and progress of my work more than anything else, and would keep it from the false paths which I fear”. Coubertin’s ideas were in accord with the aims of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, which wanted to set up an academic centre modelled after the ancient Gymnasium, to laydown the foundations for the educational value of sport by carrying out studies and organising classical games. The sudden deaths of Chrysafis (1930) and Coubertin (1937) prevented them from implementing their ideas.

One year after Coubertin’s death and following his own wish, his heart was placed inside the commemorative stele in Ancient Olympia. This rekindled the idea for the establishment of a centre for the Olympic Games in Ancient Olympia. The project was taken up be Ioannis Ketseas, a stu¬dent of Chrysafis at the National Gymnastics Club and Secretary of the Hellenic Olympic Committee and the German Carl Diem, a close associate of Coubertin devoted to the Olympic Movement and education.

Diem and Ketseas, who had worked together for the first Torch Relay from Olympia to Berlin in 1936, decided to work toward the realisation of a Centre of Olympic Studies. By 1938 they had prepared a plan for an institution named International Olympic Academy and had submitted it to the Hellenic Olympic Committee. The HOC adopted the plan, and that same year, incorporated in its Charter the establishment and operation of the IOA, as one of the Committee’s aims. At the 38th IOC Session in Cairo, the members of the IOC were informed by the HOC about the law recently adopted for the establishment of an Olympic Academy in Greece. One year later, in the 39th IOC

Session in London, the IOC decided to place this foundation which would promote the Olympic ideals through education under its auspices. Following the end of World War II, a detailed memorandum about the operation of the Academy, drafted by Ketseas and Diem, was submitted to the 41st IOC Session in Stockholm in June 1947.

On the 28th of April 1949, the 44th IOC Session in Rome unanimously approved the establishment of the IOA, and assigned its implementation and ope ration to the Hellenic Olympic Committee, under the aus-pices of the IOC. Several years later and after a long struggle, the first IOA Session was scheduled for the summer of 1961 to coincide with the opening ceremony of the ancient stadium of Olympia, which had been excavated thanks to the initiative of Carl Diem, who ensured the expenses for the project.

The International Olympic Academy was officially inaugurated on the 14th of June 1961, and the pro¬ceedings of the first Session were headed by Cleanthis Palaeologos, Director of the Physical Education Department of the University of Athens, and the German Professor Lotz. From 1962 to 1990 the academic pursuits of the Academy were coordinated by its late Dean, Otto Szymiczek, whose contribution to the development of the Academy was invaluable; along with Profes sor Palaeologos, who had been made Honorary Vice-President of the Academy, they charted the course for three decades, and were both awarded the Gold Medal of the Academy.

The contribution of N. Nissiotis, Professor of the phi losophy of religion, was also instrumental in the scientific development of the IOA. He presided over the Academy from 1977 to his death in 1986. During its first decade of operation, the activities of the IOA were limited to the International Session for Young Participants. From 1970, the IOA progressi ve ly implemented additional educational program mes devoted to the issues of the Olympic Movement.

Today, many different events take place every year on the premises in Ancient O lympia. Until 1966, par¬ticipants lived in tents, and the Sessions were held under the pine trees. The first buildings were com¬pleted in 1967, and they have gradually been added to with sports facilities and new buildings. The new conference centre was comple ted in 1994, bringing state of the art facilities to the service of the participants. In recognition of its contribution to the humanistic aim it serves and to the development of the Olympic Movement, the IOA was awarded the Bonacosa Award in 1961 and 1970, and the Olympic Cup in 1981.

The I.O.A. through time

1938
A plan for the IOA was submitted by Ioannis Ketseas and Carl Diem and adopted by the Hellenic Olympic Committee, who informed the IOC members during the 38th IOC Session in Cairo.

1939
The IOC placed the IOA under its auspices during the 39th IOC Session in London.

1947
Ketseas and Diem submitted a memorandum on the operation of the Academy to the 41st IOC Session in Stockholm.

1949
On April 28th, the 44th IOC Session in Rome approved the establishment of the IOA by the HOC, under the auspices of the IOC.

1961
On June 14th, the IOA was officially inaugurated, and the first annual International Session for Young participants was held. In addition, the IOA received the Bonacosa Award.

1967
The first permanent premises of the IOA were completed. A special IOC commission was created to coordinate the IOA's relations with the IOC, Olympic Solidarity and the Olympic Movement.

1970
The IOA received its second Bonacosa Award. Its activities increased and Sessions covering all aspects of the Olympic Movement were included in the educational programme.

1981
The IOA received the Olympic Cup, which was created by Pierre de Coubertin, and awarded every year by the IOC.

1994
New conference halls, a library and administration building are added to the IOA facilities in Ancient Olympia.

2003
The IOA becomes an autonomous legal entity of private law.

2007
(August 26) The largest part of the IOA forest and of the wider region including Kronios Hill was destroyed by a fire.

 
Those who serve the Olympic Idea share in the most beautiful cultural heritage of the people;
i.e. in classical education, born in a country to become the property of the world.
Greece wishes simply to remain its faithful servant.
Nikolaos NISSIOTIS
President of the IOA (1977-1986)

The IOA constitutes the intellectual expression of the Olympic Movement,
which represents one of the finest aspects of the universal intellectual tradition.
Lambis NIKOLAOU
Vice-President of the IOC (2005 -) President of the HOC (1985-1992, 1997-2004)