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10 April 2008Ian Buchhanan (GBR) (b. 28 Jan 1932 Sheffield) died on 6April at North Walsham, Norfolk, England at the age of 76.
A most generous and big-hearted man he was one of the foremost historians of Olympic sports and athletics in particular. A co-founder of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and its President from its founding in 1991 to 2000, his proudest moment came with the presentation to him of the Olympic Order in Silver by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch in 1997.
He twice ran at half mile in the English Schools for Sussex while at Hastings Grammar School and went to the 1948 Olympics in London where his love of athletics and the Olympics blossomed. He became a member of London AC and worked with Ross and Norris McWhirter on the 1957 British Athletics Record Book and its subsequent update in 1958, a booklet which provided the first ever in depth all-time rankings for British athletes. In 1961 Stanley Paul published his Encyclopædia of British Athletics Records, which provided complete results of all Britain’s international matches to that date. He became a member of the ATFS and the NUTS.
His business career was with Mercantile and General Reinsurance Company and he was their director in Hong Kong for twenty years before he returned to England in retirement to live in Norfolk. In 1973 he produced A Handbook of Far Eastern & Asian Games Track & Field Athletics and he worked with Bill Mallon to collect data on American as well as British Olympians and their work appeared in several books, the first being in 1983 Quest for Gold: The Encyclopedia of American Olympians, which was followed in 1986 by The United States’ National Championships in Track and Field Athletics: 1876-1985, and they also produced the Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement (Scarecrow, 2001). Ian and Bill co-authored with Peter Matthews The Guinness International Who’s Who of Sport (1993) and Ian and Peter wrote the All-Time Greats of British and Irish Sport (Guinness, 1995). Ian’s best contribution to the history of Britain at the Olympics was the definitive work, British Olympians, published by Guinness in 1991. Subsequently a lifetime’s research into athletics resulted in a book of which he was especially proud, Who’s Who of UK & GB International Athletes 1896-1939, as well as The AAA Championships 1880-1939 and his co-authorship of UK Men’s Ranking Lists 1930-1939, published by the NUTS in their historical series.
In 1991, Ian sponsored a group of Olympic historians to meet at The Duke of Clarence pub in Hammersmith, London, and there the ISOH was formed with Ian Buchanan as its first President. He guided ISOH through its formative years and helped the group become internationally known and achieve official recognition by the International Olympic Committee. He served two terms as President, stepping aside at the quadrennial meeting in Sydney 2000.
Sadly he had to part with his magnificent collection of sports and reference books, including many School Rolls so useful for his biographical researches, when his eyesight began to go. He battled most courageously for many years through serious health problems and was lovingly supported by his wife Jeanne, who survives him along with their two children, James and Joanna. A Service of Thanksgiving will be held on Apr 18 (2 pm) at St Mary’s Church, Burgh next Aylsham, Norfolk.
Mel Watman and Peter Matthews - Athletics International