Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin: Map

Categories: People from County Galway > Irish film producers > International Olympic Committee members > Irish journalists > King's Royal Rifle Corps officers > British Army personnel of World War II > Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom > Members of the Order of the British Empire > University of Paris alumni > Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge > Old Etonians > 1914 births > 1999 deaths > Presidents of the International Olympic Committee > Recipients of the Territorial Decoration > Irish soldiers in the British Army

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Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, MBE, TD (30 July 1914 – 25 April 1999), known as Lord Killanin, was an Irish journalist, author,, , sports official, the sixth president of the International Olympic Committee

(IOC). He succeeded his uncle as Baron Killanin in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1927, which allowed him to sit in the House of Lords

as Lord Killanin upon turning 21.

Morris was born in London

, son of Lieut-Col. the Hon. George Morris and Dora Wesley Hall. His father was killed in action near Villers-Cotterêts

, France, on 1 September 1914 whilst commanding the Irish Guards. He was a member of one of the fourteen families making up the Tribes of Galway. He was educated at Eton College

, the Sorbonne

in Paris and then Magdalene College, Cambridge

where he was President of renowned Footlights dramatic club. In the mid 1930s, he began his career as a journalist, working for the Daily Express the Daily Sketch and subsequently the Daily Mail. In 1937-1938, he was war correspondent during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

In November 1938, Morris was commissioned into the Queen's Westminsters a territorial unit of the British Army, where he was responsible for recruiting fellow journalists and friends who were musicians and actors. He reached the rank of Major and took part in the planning of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy

in 1944, acting as Brigade Major for the 30th Armoured Brigade, part of the 79th Armoured Division, receiving by the course of operations the Order of the British Empire. After being demobilized, he returned to Ireland

. He resigned his TA commission in 1951.

In 1950, Morris became the head of the Olympic Council of Ireland, and became his country's representative in the IOC in 1952. He climbed up to senior vice-president in 1968, and succeeded Avery Brundage to the presidency of the IOC, being elected at the 73rd IOC Session in Munich, held prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics - between August 21st and August 24, 1972.

During his presidency, the Olympic movement experienced a difficult period, dealing with the financial flop of the 1976 Montréal Olympics and the boycotts of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Seen from IOC's point of interest, worse decisions were taken. The cities of Lake Placid, New York

and Los Angeles

were 'chosen' for 1980 winter and 1984 summer games without any competing cities, resulting in a demanding position of the IOC - instead of a claiming one. He resigned after the Moscow Olympics in 1980, and his position was taken over by Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Morris was also a director of many companies and dabbled in the film industry, collaborating with his lifelong friend, John Ford, on "The Quiet Man". He also produced films, including The Playboy of the Western World and The Rising of the Moon.

He served as Honorary Consul-General of Monaco