Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin

Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin (1976)

Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin , MBE , mostly "Lord Killanin" (born July 30, 1914 in London , †  April 25, 1999 in Dublin ) was an Anglo-Irish journalist and sports official. He was the sixth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Killanin was a member of one of the 14 families that made up the tribes of Galway . His father died when he was one month old in the early days of World War I as the commander of the Irish Guards . Morris first attended school in Eton and then studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge . In 1927, after the death of his uncle, he inherited the title of Baron Killanin . He began a career as a journalist in the late 1930s. However, he interrupted this activity and volunteered with the British Army for World War II . Morris rose to major and was involved in the planning and preparation of Operation Overlord .

In 1950 Morris took over the chairmanship of the Olympic Committee of Ireland and was elected to the IOC in 1952. In 1968 he rose to Vice President and following the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich he was elected President of the IOC.

During his presidency, the Olympic movement went through difficult times. The games of 1976 and 1980 were boycotted for the first time on a broad front for political reasons. Lord Killanin, who practiced a democratic style of leadership towards Brundage, looked like a weak president who could not resist the pressure, but he and the Olympic movement proved to be stable. The 1980 Winter Olympics and 1984 Summer Olympics were awarded to Lake Placid and Los Angeles, respectively, with no opposing candidates.

In 1980, Morris resigned following the Olympic Games. His position was taken over by Juan Antonio Samaranch .

In addition to his positions in sports, Morris was also a director of several companies. Among other things, he was active in the film industry and produced the film The Quiet Man in 1952 together with his long-time friend John Ford .

Morris died in his Dublin home in April 1999 at the age of 84. After a funeral service in Spiddal ( County Galway ) he has been in the family vault in the New Cemetery of Galway buried. His title fell to his son Red Morris , a well-known film producer.

Web links

• Literature by and about Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Arnd Krüger : The Unfinished Symphony. A History of the Olympic Games from Coubertin to Sameranch. In: James Riordan , Arnd Krüger (Ed.): The International Politics of Sport in the Twentieth Century. E. & FN Spon, London 1999, pp. 21ff. - ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ For the background from his point of view cf. Lord Killanin: My Olympic years . Secker and Warburg, London 1983, ISBN 0-436-23340-1 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Martin Morris	Baron Killanin 1927-1999	Red Morris