Miguel de Béistegui was a career diplomat who served as First Secretary at the Mexican delegation in Bruxelles and was posted to London in 1908. He first met Pierre de Coubertin during his appointment in Bruxelles and de Coubertin hoped he could establish Olympism in Latin America but there was little chance of this because of de Béistegui’s status as a permanent resident in Europe. De Béistegui was co-opted onto the IOC in May 1901 and remained a member until his death in 1931. He was known as an elegant fencer and acted as a referee at the 1900 Olympic fencing tournament.
De Béistegui was dismissed during the Mexican Revolution after the overthrow of President Huerta in 1914. Like most dismissed officials, he decided not to return to Mexico. He had not lived in the country since 1885 and, by now, his life was anchored in Europe: he had married a Belgian woman and had close relatives in France and Spain. The end of his diplomatic service posed no economic problem for him since he had a large private fortune and took up residence in Brussels. He did not re-enter the foreign service under the successive revolutionary regimes and retired in 1921.
Mexico