Albert Wolff (fencer)
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | French; American |
Born | Barr, Bas-Rhin, France | July 13, 1906
Died | June 14, 1989 Scottsdale, Arizona, United States | (aged 82)
Sport | |
Country | USA |
Sport | Fencing |
Club | Louisville Fencers |
Albert Wolff (July 13, 1906 – June 14, 1989) was a French-born American Olympic fencer.
Early and personal life
Wolff was born in Barr, Bas-Rhin, France, and was Jewish.[1][2][3] He later lived in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States.[4][5]
Fencing career and World War II combat
Wolff qualified for the French Olympic Team but boycotted the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, withdrawing from France's national team on principle because he was a Jew.[6][7][8] He said: "I cannot participate in anything sponsored by Adolph Hitler, even for France."[9]
He fought in the French Army during World War II, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre by France for bravery during fierce fighting on the Maginot Line.[10][11] The Germans captured him and put him in a Jewish war camp.[10] Wolff escaped, and made it to Portugal, and then to the United States in 1941.[10][12] He joined the US Army, and returned to Europe, fighting the Germans.[10]
After the war was over, he petitioned the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) to allow him to fence in the US National Fencing Championships.[13] He was AFLA individual national epee champion in 1946.[10]
He competed for the United States at the age of 42 in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in individual and team epee, and at the age of 46 in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki in team epee.[14][10][15] His fencing club was the Louisville Fencers.[10]
In 1948, he was Athlete of the Year in Kentucky.[16] He won a gold medal in team foil, and a silver medal in team epee, at the 1951 Pan American Games.[10]
Wolff died at the age of 82 in Scottsdale, Arizona.[10]
References
[[[Category:American army personnel of World War II]]
- 1906 births
- 1989 deaths
- People from Barr, Bas-Rhin
- People from Louisville, Kentucky
- People from Alsace-Lorraine
- American male fencers
- Olympic fencers of the United States
- 1936 Summer Olympics
- Fencers at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Pan American Games medalists in fencing
- Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
- Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States
- Fencers at the 1951 Pan American Games
- French Army soldiers
- Recipients of the Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (France)
- American fencing biography stubs