The figure of Baron Pierre de Coubertin has recently stirred controversy in a France that seems to have largely turned its back on its compatriot.

Born in 1863, the founder of the IOC and the Olympic movement, and the creator of the modern Olympic Games, is criticised by many and appreciated by few, at least publicly, in a France unsettled by President Emmanuel Macron's call for early elections following the heavy defeat in the European elections.

In this context, the figure of the Baron has been relegated to the background throughout the preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will begin on French soil next month (activities begin on 24 July with football in various parts of the European country).

"The Olympic Games and the sporting model it created have stood the test of time," Bach said at a conference at the Sorbonne University in Paris to mark the 130th anniversary of the IOC, ahead of the Olympic Games' rebirth.

"For this reason, France can be proud of Coubertin and his legacy," he added in front of an audience in which neither the French Minister for Sport, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, nor the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, were present, both citing diary conflicts as an excuse for their absence.

This personality is causing divisions in a highly ideological France. For some, his speeches are sexist, misogynist and pro-colonialist, while others praise his idea of using sport as a means of promoting peace on a global scale and see him as a visionary and humanist who has left a legacy that transcends generations and ideologies.

For Thomas Bach, Pierre de Coubertin should be judged by the values that prevailed at the beginning of the 20th century. "Every man has the right to be judged only in the context of his time. I would like our visionary founder to be judged in the same way," he said.

"The Olympic Games and the sports system he created have stood the test of time," Bach said at the tribute and concert for Coubertin to mark the 130th anniversary of a university speech that marked the creation of the IOC.

Bach urged observers to judge Coubertin by the values of his time, calling him a "peace activist" who defied the rising tide of nationalism in Europe in his era.

Coubertin is rarely mentioned by Paris 2024 organisers, nor does he feature prominently in any of the official narratives surrounding the Games, which begin on 26 July.

"Paris 2024 has not done much around Pierre de Coubertin, either to show appreciation or to raise awareness," said his great-great-niece Diane de Navacelle, speaking on behalf of the family, in a recent interview with AFP.

Tony Estanguet, chief organiser of the Paris Games, praised Coubertin's "audacity and courage" in reviving the Games in his speech at the Sorbonne, where Princess Charlene of Monaco was also in the audience.

"In France, more than anywhere else, we know what we owe to Pierre de Coubertin. We are proud of it and we won't forget it," he promised.

He added that "society has changed" since the first Olympics organised by Coubertin in the 1890s and that "the road to progress and equality is a long one on which we must continue to move forward".

Coubertin's decision to praise the infamous 1936 games organised by the Nazis and exploited by Adolf Hitler is also noted by contemporary critics.

He did not attend in person and was no longer head of the IOC at the time, his family claims. "In a time marked by nationalism and tension, he was convinced that sport could bring people together and promote cooperation," Alexandra de Navacelle de Coubertin, head of the family association, said on Sunday.

IOC chief Bach also unveiled an Olympic sculpture in Paris on Sunday, a larger-than-life bronze of a black woman surrounded by chairs from six continents, which he described as a tribute to "the beauty of humanity's diversity".

LA-based artist Alison Saar said she chose a woman of African descent "to break with the standard white male that most monuments and sculptures are".