Answer 1

In my opinion, you are absolutely right!
It makes sense, to start with the basics, which are almost perfectly reflected in c...
When you are familiar with c, it is quite easy to switch to other languages, as you know how things work in background (more or less)..
When you start with Python, I think it is much harder to start learning c, as you will then have to learn a lot of basic stuff, which you never had to care about in python... And you will miss all the comforts, that python gives you...
It is like moving from a 1000 square meters villa to a 10 square meters mud hut, which definitely is harder, than the other way round...

I personally started with (8051) assembler, which is the most basic... this made it very comfortable to start with c.
then I learned c++, python (...). In this order I had a pretty good understanding of how things work.. things are just getting more intuitive, I think..

Answer 2

This is open ended. Why don't you recommend C to those beginners? Every user can give their own answers on any question.