Praise for Improvisational Success in Travel

1890 January 25 — La Revue Athletique

“The important thing was to reach Rouen, and in the end, you reached the Norman metropolis, not without having also used your modest talents as a musician and orator; this last circumstance strongly highlights your merit and places you in the category of the débrouillards.”

Context:

• Coubertin praises not just the arrival at Rouen, but the resourceful and self reliant methods employed during the journey.

• He elevates adaptive ingenuity, with skills such as music and oration, as legitimate signs of merit rather than opportunistic shortcuts.

• The term débrouillards is used admiringly, marking one of the earliest formulations of the débrouillard as a virtuous and aspirational type.

Thematic Implications:
This passage places débrouillardise firmly in the moral and educational realm:

• Ingenuity under constraint

• Social fluency and improvisational courage

• Achieving objectives without complaint or excuse

Already in 1890, Coubertin portrayed the débrouillard not as a mere trait but as a categorical identity, recognizing versatile agency as a cornerstone of character and leadership.

Key Insight:
This early example shows that Coubertin already regarded adaptability and practical ingenuity as higher measures of success than conventional forms of achievement. The débrouillard appears here not only as someone capable of reaching a goal, but as a figure embodying moral and civic virtue through initiative and self-reliance. Even before formalizing his larger educational system, Coubertin identified versatile agency as a defining trait of leadership and character.