père (Henri) Didon

Born in 1840, Henri Didon was a French Dominican friar known as a preacher, educator, and author. He wrote on religious subjects, including lives of Christ and other spiritual works, and built a reputation as an eloquent public speaker.

Didon also cared deeply about education and athletics. As a school leader, he encouraged sport as part of character formation, linking physical training with discipline and moral growth.

He is now especially remembered for the Latin phrase Citius, Altius, Fortius — “Faster, Higher, Stronger” — which Pierre de Coubertin later adopted for the modern Olympic movement. Didon died in 1900, but that motto helped give him a lasting place in cultural history beyond the religious world.