[1][2] Georges de Saint-Clair was born in Geneva on 16 February 1845, to a French father and a Scottish mother, being educated there in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, thus developing a deep interest in sport.

[1] During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he enlisted for France and distinguished himself by his courage at Beaune-la-Rolande, Orléans, and Villersexel, before being attached as an orderly official, and standard-bearer of General Gaston de Galliffet.

[3] After the signing of peace, he settled permanently in his father's homeland to devote himself fully to the development of sport in France and introduce a taste for physical exercise in said country.

[1] Saint-Clair was its first president, among a team of young leaders who were on average twenty years younger than him, such as Frantz Reichel, Jules Marcadet, Charles Brennus, and Pierre de Coubertin,[5] with the latter describing him as "his most devoted and intelligent collaborator".

[8] Saint-Clair died in Paris on 12 February 1910, at the age of 64,[2][3] the victim of a long illness, and his funeral took place in Versailles, where he was buried in the Saint-Louis cemetery, after a ceremony at the Temple des Batignolles.