Juan Antonio Samaranch held public office at a time when the terms of that office were themselves being contested.
The record lists Juan Antonio Samaranch as IOC president 1980–2001.
Juan Antonio Samaranch was born at Barcelona in 1920. His recorded nationality is Spain. He was educated at University of Navarre and German School of Barcelona.
Twentieth-century politics was conducted under the shadow of two world wars, decolonisation and the Cold War, and broadcast to electorates that could watch it happen.
He served as president of the International Olympic Committee (1980–2001), president of the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona (1973–1977) and President of Spain's Olympic Comitee (1966–1970).
He is described as diplomat, politician and rink hockey player.
Power is judged twice: once by contemporaries who felt it, and again by historians who did not.
Formal honours included the Order of Honour, Grand Order of King Tomislav, Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1975) and Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III (1980).
That the career was made in Spain is not incidental: the institutions available, the franchise, and the constraints of the moment all shaped what could be attempted.
Juan Antonio Samaranch died in 2010, aged 90. The assessment continues, as it does for anyone who held power - which is the ordinary fate of a political life.
Achievements
- president of the International Olympic Committee (1980–2001)
- president of the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona (1973–1977)
- President of Spain's Olympic Comitee (1966–1970)
- Spanish ambassador to the Soviet Union (1977–1980)
- Order of Honour
- Grand Order of King Tomislav
- Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic — 1975
- Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III — 1980
- Educated at University of Navarre and German School of Barcelona
