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class='container'> <ol class='breadcrumb'> <li> <a href='/'>Home</a> </li> <li><a href="/athletes">Athletes</a></li><li class="active">Robert de Courcy Laffan</li> </ol> <div class='athlete_header'> <div> <h1> Robert de Courcy Laffan </h1> <form action='/athlete_merges/899087/edit' class='form-inline' method='get'> </form> </div> </div> <div class='athlete_bio'> <div class='athlete_photo_bio'> <a href='https://d2a3o6pzho379u.cloudfront.net/899087.jpg' rel='lightbox' title='Photo of Robert de Courcy Laffan'> <img class='photo' src='https://d2a3o6pzho379u.cloudfront.net/899087.jpg'> </a> <div> <h2> Biographical information </h2> <table class='biodata'> <tr><th>Roles</th><td>Administrator</td></tr> <tr><th>Sex</th><td>Male</td></tr> <tr><th>Full name</th><td>Robert Stuart•de Courcy Laffan</td></tr> <tr><th>Used name</th><td>Robert•de Courcy Laffan</td></tr> <tr><th>Born</th><td>18 January 1853 in <a href="/place_names/7045">Hanover Square, England (GBR)</a></td></tr> <tr><th>Died</th><td>16 January 1927 in <a href="/place_names/620">London, England (GBR)</a></td></tr> <tr><th>NOC</th><td><img style="padding-right: 2px; vertical-align: middle" src="https://olympedia-flags.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/GBR.png" /> <a href="/countries/GBR">Great Britain</a></td></tr> </table> </div> </div> </div> <h2> Biography </h2> <div class='description'> <p>Robert de Courcy Laffan studied in France and Switzerland before matriculating at Winchester College in England. He was then in the Indian Civil Service for three years and returned to study at Oxford in Merton College, where he stroked the eight. After college de Courcy Laffan started work as a schoolmaster, first at Derby School and then as Headmaster of King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon. During that time he was ordained into the Anglican Church in 1882. In 1895 de Courcy Laffan became Principal of Cheltenham College, but left that post in 1899, then becoming rector of St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, before serving as Chaplain to the British forces in World War I. De Courcy Laffan was a founding member and the first Honorary Secretary of the British Olympic Association, serving in that post from 1905-20, and then becoming Chairman from 1920-22. He also greatly assisted Lord Desborough with the organization of the 1908 Olympic Games in London. Born as Laffan, he changed his name by using his middle name of de Courcy as part of his surname, which implied an elevated social status.</p> </div> <h2>Organization roles</h2> <table class='table table-striped'> <thead> <tr> <th>Role</th> <th>Organization</th> <th>Tenure</th> <th>NOC</th> <th>As</th> <th></th> </tr> </thead> <tr> <td>Honorary Secretary</td> <td><a href="/organizations/360">British Olympic Council, 1908</a></td> <td>—</td> <td><a href="/countries/GBR"><img style="padding-right: 2px; vertical-align: middle" src="https://olympedia-flags.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/GBR.png" />GBR</a></td> <td>Robert de Courcy Laffan</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Member</td> <td><a href="/organizations/1">International Olympic Committee</a></td> <td>1897—1927</td> <td><a href="/countries/GBR"><img style="padding-right: 2px; vertical-align: middle" src="https://olympedia-flags.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/GBR.png" />GBR</a></td> <td>Robert de Courcy Laffan</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Chairman</td> <td><a href="/organizations/137">British Olympic Association</a></td> <td>1920—1922</td> <td><a href="/countries/GBR"><img style="padding-right: 2px; vertical-align: middle" src="https://olympedia-flags.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/GBR.png" />GBR</a></td> <td>Robert de Courcy Laffan</td> <td> </td> </tr> </table> <h2>Special Notes</h2> <ul> <li> Listed in <a href="/lists/136/manual">Olympic Clerics</a> (Minister of the Anglican Church) </li> </ul> </div> </body> <footer class='footer'> <br> <div class='panel panel-info'> <div class='panel-heading'> <h3 class='panel-title'> <span class='glyphicon glyphicon-info-sign'></span> Did you know? </h3> </div> <div class='panel-body'> <p>Speed skating was conducted outdoors at the Winter Olympics until the advent of indoor ovals in the 1980s. 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