Jules Marcadet
Jules Marcadet (10 March 1866 – 15 August 1959) was a French sports administrator and founding figure of Stade Français.
Career
Orphaned at age 15 and originally from the Sarthe region, Marcadet founded Stade Français at the Café Procope in Saint-Germain-des-Prés on 13 December 1883. In the same year he secured a scholarship to HEC Paris, graduating in 1885.[1]
As secretary general of Stade Français, on 27 June 1884 he obtained permission to use the Tuileries terraces and the Orangerie each Sunday morning and Thursday afternoon for athletic training, recruiting members from all social classes. Under his administration, the club won the French rugby championship in 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1898. Cycling and tennis were also popular disciplines. Marcadet retired in 1899 and was named life honorary president.[2]
On 20 November 1887, the founders of Racing Club de France and Stade Français established the Union of French Footrunning Societies, which on 31 January 1889 became the Union of French Athletic Sports Societies (USFSA). Georges de Saint-Clair served as president with Marcadet as secretary general; in 1890 the secretary general role passed to Pierre de Coubertin.[3]
After leaving sport administration, Marcadet served as a senior official in the French Ministry of Finance. In 1926 he was appointed treasurer general of the Ain department and later of Yonne, retiring in 1931. He received the Youth and Sports Merit Medal and was appointed an officer of both the Order of Agricultural Merit and the Legion of Honor. In 2002 he was inducted into the French Gloire du sport hall of fame.
Bibliography
- Pierre Arnaud, Le corps en mouvement, Dunod (digital reprint FeniXX), 1981, ISBN 9791037601957.
- Philip Dine, French Rugby Football, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2001, ISBN 1847880320.
- Jean Le Floc'hmoan, La genèse des sports, FeniXX (digital reprint), 1962, ISBN 2402300906.
- Jean Toussaint Fieschi, Histoire du sport français, FeniXX (digital reprint), 1983, ISBN 2307137122.