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Michel Bréal - Portrait -- © Wikipedia / gemeinfrei
Paris honours the “Father of the Marathon”: Restored tomb of Michel Bréal to be unveiled on 15 September
Michel Bréal? Who knows him? Unfortunately, only historians, really!
Yet everyone involved in running and track and field should be “on their knees” thanking him for his visionary ideas and proposals from 1894, which continue to influence international sports to this day.
Of course, runners—especially marathon runners—the organizers of races both big and small, and the vast community surrounding running events in even the smallest cities in the countryside, as well as in the world’s major metropolises, should all be “thanking him on their knees.”
Many sectors are participating in this remarkable development of running, including medicine, the economy, and even the media.
In 1894, Michel Bréal proposed a new competition—a run from Marathon to Athens—for the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens. Today, this idea has evolved into a unique mass sporting event and a festive celebration in cities and on the streets.
The Marathon Cup donated by Michel Bréal at the Niarchos Museum in Athens – Photo: Gerd Steins, Forum for Sports History Berlin – Marathoneum
Running in all its forms is now the credo of modern society—even extending to “running for the soul” and serving as a standard “means of maintaining health and preventing illness.”
Michel Bréal certainly did not intend for it to be this way back in 1894, but he deserves our deep respect and gratitude for his vision with long-term impact.
The ceremony at the Montparnasse Cemetery on September 15, 2026—the date of Bréal’s historic letter—will henceforth be celebrated worldwide as “Marathon Day.”
Berlin/Paris, August 2026. Without him there would be no marathon: Michel Bréal (1832–1915), a linguist from Landau in the Palatinate, gave the impetus for the first Olympic marathon race in 1894. On Tuesday, 15 September 2026, at 2:00 p.m., his restored tomb will be ceremonially unveiled at the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. The invitation comes from the Michel Bréal Society, the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) and ARTMARATHON.
Professor Lüger in front of the Bréal tomb – Photo: Michel Bréal Society
The date has been chosen deliberately. On 15 September 1894, Bréal wrote to Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games: “As you are going to Athens, you could try to see whether a run from Marathon to the Pnyx can be organised. That would underline the ancient character. For my part, I claim the honour of donating the ‘Marathon Cup’.” This letter marked the birth of the marathon. At the first Olympic Games of the modern era in Athens in 1896, the Greek Spyridon Louis won the race from Marathon to Athens and received the silver cup donated by Bréal. The marathon is the only discipline created exclusively for the Olympic Games. In the same year, it established itself as an independent sporting event with the first Paris Marathon. In memory of the letter, 15 September is to be celebrated worldwide every year as the “Day of the Marathon”.
The grave of Michel Bréal in 2012 at the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, restored with funds from the IAAF and AIMS – Photo: private
A Palatine in Paris – with student years in Berlin
Michel Bréal was born on 26 March 1832 in Landau in the Palatinate, which at the time belonged to the Kingdom of Bavaria. After studying at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, he spent two years in Berlin, studying comparative grammar of the Indo-European languages under Franz Bopp and Sanskrit under Albrecht Weber. From 1866 he taught as professor of comparative grammar at the renowned Collège de France. As the founder of modern semantics, he ranks among the most important linguists of his time. Bréal died in Paris on 25 November 1915 and was buried at the Montparnasse Cemetery.
From a decaying grave to a dignified memorial
The tomb had recently fallen into a sorry state. As early as 2012, AIMS and the world athletics federation IAAF (now World Athletics), together with the Michel Bréal Society, had organised the rescue of the grave and a first, most urgent restoration. During a visit to the gravesite in 2024, on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Paris, its neglected condition became apparent, and long-term improvements were therefore decided upon. Through the cooperation with ARTMARATHON, a fundamental restoration could be organised and financed thanks to the donations of AIMS and the Michel Bréal Society. A specialist workshop has been carrying out the work since July 2026, including elaborate, durable engravings. A commemorative plaque will honour the supporters, and a QR code at the grave will lead to information about Bréal’s life and work. The restoration secures the preservation of the tomb for decades to come.
Michel Bréal’s home in Landau – Photo: Prof. Hans Giessen
The programme of the unveiling ceremony
Montparnasse Cemetery (entrance Boulevard Edgar-Quinet), 15 September 2026, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.:
Welcome addresses: Paco Borao (President of AIMS), Prof. Heinz-Helmut Lüger (Chairman of the Michel Bréal Society), Sports Commissioner of the City of Paris
Tribute to Michel Bréal: Henrietta Parsons, a descendant of Bréal, with the personal dedication of an illustration of Bréal.
Lecture: “The importance of the Marathon race for modern Greece” – Alexander Kitroeff, Professor Emeritus of History, Haverford College, Pennsylvania (USA)
Lecture: “Without Bréal, no Berlin Marathon” – Horst Milde, founder of the BERLIN-MARATHON and Marathoneum coordinator, Berlin
Afterwards, from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m., a press conference with a visit to the restored tomb will take place (photo and filming opportunities for media representatives). Moderation: Benedikt Morandi (ARTMARATHON) and Hans Giessen (Michel Bréal Society).
Organisers: Michel Bréal Society (Michel-Bréal-Gesellschaft e.V.), AIMS and ARTMARATHON
Horst Milde – E-mail: horst-milde@t-online.de
Tomb of Michel Breal has been restored on the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris
