Georges de la Nézière

Georges de La Nézière (18 July 1878 in Paris – 9 October 1914 near Arras) was a French athlete, who competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, and was killed in action during World War I.[1][2]

Georges de la Nézière
Personal information
Born(1878-07-31)31 July 1878
Paris, France
Died9 October 1914(1914-10-09) (aged 36)
Pas-de-Calais, France
Sport
Country France
SportTrack and field

Nézière was born in 1878, and had two older brothers who would be painters and illustrators, Joseph de La Nézière and Raymond de La Nézière, he went to boarding school where he excelled in athletics, and was Paris schools cross country champion.[3] In 1896 he was delegated to travel to Athens to participate in the 1896 Summer Olympics, he competed in the 800 metres, and even though he was still just 17 years old he managed to finish third in his heat, but unfortunately only the first two in each heat qualified for the final.[4]

Near the turn of the century Nézière had a big interest in automobiles, and when he was enlisted for his years national service in 1899 he had to assist in building a car that could carry a Maxim gun for large scale manoeuvres, later on he would try to build his own airplane which caused him serious financial difficulties before working for a large private telephone company.[3]

At the outbreak of World War I, he was recalled to serve his country and joined 11 Company as a corporal which was part of 84 Division, sadly he was killed by machine gun fire on 9 October 1914 in the forest of Mouchy, ten miles from Arras,[5] leaving behind a wife and two children.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Georges de la Nézière". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  2. "Georges de la Nézière". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  3. "Georges de la Nézière". delaneziere.free.fr. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  4. "Athletics at the 1896 Athina Summer Games: Men's 800 metres Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  5. McCrery, Nigel (2016). The Extinguished Flame: Olympians Killed in The Great War. Pen and Sword. p. 24. ISBN 9781473878006. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
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