Maitre Yves Auriol earned his fencing master's
degree from the Institute National du Sport in Paris. Colleen Olney urged him to move to Portland where he formed the Salle Auriol Fencing Club, and was fencing coach at Portland State University from 1975 until 1985.
Secretary of the AFLA (1972-76); 2-term president of the AFLA
(1976-80) legendary Budget Director and tireless worker for fencing.
NCAA medalist for Columbia.
Joseph Byrnes The foremost armorer and technical expert in the US. Longtime contributor on the subject to "American Fencing" magazine. Armorer, US. Olympic team (1964).
Julio M. Castello
(1881-1973) - Spanish Basque fencing master. US. Olympic coach (1924). Best known as coach of NYU (1928-1948), during which he won the IFA championship 9 times beginning in 1933 and the NIWFA championship (1929) and the NCAA championship (1947). He is the only coach to win all three major collegiate titles.
Lajos Csiszar (1903-1997) - Born in Hungary, where he was assistant coach to Italo Santelli. Best known as coach of the University of Pennsylvania., where he won two NCAA championships. Olympic team coach and creator of numerous champions.
Dr. Samuel D'Ambola Coach of Essex Catholic H.S. in Newark, NJ (1960-74). The dominant high school team in the country during the 1960's and the source of dozens of collegiate fencers and several Olympians, including Peter Westbrook.
(1928 - 2000) - was Pan American, U.S., and World
Military Sabre Champion, perhaps the last top-level three-weapon
competitor, as well as a successful coach.
Istvan Danosi Hungarian born coach of Wayne State University (1958-1975) and the Fencing Academy of Michigan. Wayne State won the men's NCAA championships in 1975, 79, 80 and 82, as well as the first women's NCAA championship in 1982.
1936 US Foil champion, Olympian and World Professional Women's Foil Champion. She was the first American woman champion not from the East Coast and first American woman to wear fencing pants.
(1906-1981) - AFLA national epee champion (1931, '44); national three-weapon champion (1933, '34, '41, '42, '47); national outdoor epee (1936, '38); national outdoor sabre (1941). Member, US. Olympic team (1932, '36, '48) and captain (1952). Member, Olympic bronze medal-winning epee team (1932) and Olympic bronze-medal winning sabre team (1948). President of the AFLA (1948-52). President of the FIE (1960-64). Charter recipient of the Olympic Order (1975). The foremost administrator of the sport in the US. Captain of NYU (1928).
My fencing career started when I attended Pomona College in Claremont, California in 1952. I fell into it quite by accident, due to the fact that I needed to satisfy a self-defense requirement of the school. The two other choices were wrestling (no weight-class distinction) – I weighed 80 lbs when I entered college – and boxing (ditto the no weight-class distinction). Rather than perish, I defaulted into the third-and-last choice, fencing.
Michael DeCicco
Coach of Notre Dame (1962- 1995), the NCAA men's champions of 1977, '78, '86 and the combined champions of '94. Four times NFCAA coach of the Year. President, NFCAA.
Irving DeKoff Coach of Columbia University (1953-1968). President of the NFCAA. NFCAA coach of the Year. He won the NCAA team championship four times (1954, '55, '63, '65) and the IFA team championship five times.
Andre Deladrier Coach of the U.S. Naval Academy (1957-90); winner of the NCAA team championship (1959, '62) and the IFA team championship (1964). The 1959 Navy team was the first to sweep the NCAA championships. NFCAA coach of the year (1959). U.S. Olympic coach (1960). NCAA sabre champion for St. John's (1942).
Clovis Deladrier (1885-1948) - Belgian born coach of the U.S. Naval Academy (1933-48), which won the IFA championships twice (1938, '43). Co-founder and first president of the NFCAA (1941).
(1892-1968) - AFLA national outdoor epee champion (1924); medalist in epee and sabre. Member, U.S. Olympic team (1920); coach, U.S. Olympic fencing team (1936); coach, U.S. Olympic modern pentathlon team (1932, '36). Best known as coach of the U.S. Military Academy (1923-48); which produced many collegiate champions and Olympians.
(1917-1998) - AFLA national foil champion (1940, '43, '47, '48). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1948). Coach of Fairleigh Dickinson University (Rutherford) (1968-71). NIWFA foil champion for Hofstra (1939).
(1903-1965) - AFLA national foil champion (1942, '43). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1936) and captain (1948). Secretary of the AFLA (1942-48). Amateur coach of the U.S. Military Academy (1963-65).
Csaba Elthes
(1912-1995) Hungarian born coach, emigrated to the
U.S. in 1958. Coach of the N.Y. Athletic Club and N.Y. Fencers Club.
His pupils included Peter Westbrook and Alex Orban. Coach, U.S. Olympic
team (1964, '68,72, '76, '84, '88). He was inducted into the Fencing Hall of Fame in 1978.
(1906-1994) - AFLA national foil champion (1938, '40, '45). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1928, '32, '40, '48). He won the Olympic bronze medal in Men's foil team in 1932. Secretary of the AFLA (1941-45 and 1948-52); president of the AFLA (1945-48). Editor, "The Riposte" (newsletter) (1941-45). IFA foil champion for Yale (1927, 1928).
(1895-1987) - Member, U.S. Olympic team (1928, '32). Coach of the Faulkner Academy in Los Angeles. Fight choreographer and stunt double with a long association with the motion picture industry. His pupils included Janice Lee Romary, Polly Craus and Sewell Shurtz.
2-time AFLA national foil champion (1975, '80); medalist four times. Coach of Temple University for 30 years. Pan-American games medallist in 1975 [2nd indiv., 3rd team], 1979 [3rd indiv., 3rd team].
Coach of U. of Illinois (1941-72); winner of the
NCAA team championship (1956, '58). Coach of Penn State University
(1972-80). One of the principal organizers of fencing in the Midwest.
Co-founder of the NFCAA (1941). President of the NFCAA. Captain of CCNY
(1939).
A graduate of the French Military Fencing Master's School of Antibes, first and second grade, he was in charge of fencing and physical education in the French Air Force until 1963. Among his many honors, he was selected four times as a member of the French team. M. Gillet's career was already distinguished when he arrived in the United States in 1969 to serve as assistant fencing coach at Cornell University under Fencing Master Raul Sudre.
Ralph M. Goldstein
(1913-1997) - AFLA national foil medalist; national epee finalist. Member, U.S. Olympic team (1948, '56); captain (1960). Editor, "American Fencing" magazine (1969-76).
Nat Goodhartz is currently the Co-national Women's foil coach and head coach of the Rochester Fencing Club. She has also served as the Junior National Men's foil coach. Since 1977, when she mentored her first international team, she has coached numerous cadet, junior and senior World Championship teams and trained scores of junior and senior competitive champions.
Robert M. Grasson (1884-1962) - Belgian born fencing coach of Yale (1922-56); winner of the IFA team championship six times in eight years (1924). Coach, U.S. Olympic team (1936). Co-founder of the NFCAA (1941). Donor of the IFA championship trophies for epee team and sabre team in the name of the IFA fencers who attained the Olympic team.
(1885-1954) - AFLA national foil champion (1912, '17, '19, '20); national sabre champion (1915, '16, '20). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1912). The dominant U.S. fencer of the years surrounding World War I. The national championship trophy for sabre team is presented in his memory.
(1858-1944) - AAU national foil champion (1891); national epee champion (1889, '91). AFLA national epee champion (1893); national sabre champion (1893, '94). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1912). Co-founder and first president of the AFLA (1891-1925). Vice-president, American Olympic Committee (1926); and president (1926-28). Generally regarded as the father of American fencing. The national championship trophy for sabre individual is presented in his memory.
Hungarian-born, Hamori was a member of Hungary's World Champion (1955) and Olympic Gold Medal (1956) Sabre teams. In the US, he was Sabre Champion in 1961 and 1964 as well as 3-Weapon Team Champion in 1961, Sabre Team champion in 1964, and Epee Team Champion in 1965, all for Salle Csiszar of Philadelphia. He represented the US at the 1964 Olympics, won the Japanese National Championship in 1963, and competed at the 1971 Pan American Games. In 1972, he established the New Orleans Fencing Club, whose sabre team was medaled in the US Nationals.
Colonel Heiss is one of the most successful
epee fencers in the US history by winning 6 US national championships
in men's epee (representing the NY Fencers' Club). He went on to fence
in the 1932 Olympics and win the Olympic Bronze medal in men's epee
team, and competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, where the Americans
finished 5th.
(1905-1979) - AFLA national sabre champion (1931, '32, '33, '37, '38); national three-weapon champion (1931, '32, '35, '36, '37, '38, '40); national foil medalist. Member, U.S. Olympic team (1928, '32, '36). Finalist in Olympic sabre individual (1932) - tied for third, finished sixth. President of the AFLA (1940-43). Co-founder, NCAA championships. IFA sabre medalist for Yale.
Gay was the 1974 and 1978 US Foil Champion, a member of two Pan Am teams (1975 and 1979) and two Olympic teams (1976 and 1980). She was also a 1-rated Referee. Known for her beautiful technique, Gay is a member of the US Fencing Hall of Fame.
(1905-1969) - AFLA national outdoor epee champion (1930); national epee medalist four times. Member, U.S. Olympic team (1932, '36). Member, bronze medal-winning epee team (1932). Foreign secretary of the AFLA. First American named to an Olympic directoire technique (1948). IFA epee champion for Princeton (1928).
Julia Jones-Pugliese (1908-1993) - NIWFA co-founder and first champion (1929) for NYU. Coach of the NIWFA championship team at NYU (1933, '38) and Hunter (1970). NIWFA coach of the year (1970, '92). Devoted herself extensively to the development of women's collegiate fencing; bringing the NIWFA from four teams in 1929 to 79 teams in 1980.
Anthony J. Keane
AFLA national sabre champion (1968). Pan-American sabre champion (1968). U.S. Olympic team (1968, '72); captain (1976, '84). Promoter of fencing through the Martini-Rossi competition at the New York Athletic Club (1961-1977)
Aladar Kogler attended the Hungarian College of Higher Physical Education where he earned a Masters Degree in Fencing, and 2 Czechoslovakian institutions, Komensky University in Bratislava and Carl University in Prague, which awarded him a Ph.D. in Sports Psychology. While coaching the Czechoslovakian National Fencing Team, Kogler was a huge success as 8 of his students were World Championship finalists, 2 were Olympic finalists leading the Czech government to award him the highest coaching and teaching awards possible in 1972 and 1977. He has published 10 books and more than 25 scientific papers and is the Director of the US Olympic Committee-funded Sports Psychological Research Laboratory at Columbia University.
Neil Lazar Currently the coach at SUNY Binghamton, Neil Lazar has been involved in fencing since 1937. He coached at Salle Santelli, in Westchester high schools, and at CCNY. Among his former students, were Tom Ciccarone, Craig Cummings, and Uriah Jones.
AFLA national foil champion (1929, '32, '33, '35, '37, '54); national outdoor foil champion (1929, '33); national three-weapon champion (1929). Member, U.S. Olympic team, (1928, '32,'36) captain (1936). Individual Olympic silver medalist in foil (1932); regarded as the finest accomplishment ever by an American fencer. Member, bronze medal-winning foil team (1932). Vice-president of the AFLA. His victory in the 1954 nationals after a 17-year layoff from competition is considered the greatest comeback in the history of American fencing. IFA foil champion for MIT (1926).
AFLA national foil champion (1939); national epee champion (1948, '49, '50). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1948), captain (1968). Finalist, Olympic epee individual (1948) - ninth place. President of the AFLA (1965-68) - during his administration many innovations were introduced that nearly tripled membership. IFA foil champion (1935, '36, '37) and epee champion (1937) for NYU.
Michael Lofton is a three-time Olympian, (1984, '88, 92); two-time Pan-American Games Team Member in Sabre Team Silver 1987, '91: Fourth Place Individual Sabre '91; two-time National Individual Men's Sabre Champion (1991, '92), and ten-time National Team Sabre Champion 1984,'85, '86, '87, '88, '90, '91, '92, '94, '95. As a collegiate fencer, he won an unequalled four consecutive individual sabre championships for NYU (1984, '85, '86, 87) He now coaches with the Peter Westbrook Foundation.
Note: Michael Lofton has since changed his name to Mika'il Sankofa.
(1914-1984) - Coach of CCNY (1954-74). NFCAA Coach of the Year (1964). Coach of Salle Lucia, which won the AFLA national women's foil team championship (1958, '60)
AFLA/USFA national foil champion (1977, '79, '82, '85, '86, '87, '90, '93) He was second in the World University Games foil individual. Vice-president of the USFA.
Epee World Cups: Heidenheim 1971, 3rd; Montreal 1987 6th, Sydney 1997, 3rd. Pan American Champion, team epee. National Champion, Individual epee, 1971; 12 times National Team Champion. Ranked among top 10 US epeeists in five decades, 1960's - 200's. NCAA champion, 1967. Member of the USFA Board of Directors since 1970. Assistant Competition Manager at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Sponsor of innovations including the point system and the Divisions II and III Nationals.
(1910-1953) - Olympic foil champion for Germany (1928). Emigrated to the U.S. in 1933 and began to fence in the AFLA nationals (then open to foreign entries). AFLA national foil champion (1934, '35, '37, '38, '39, '41, '42, '46); national outdoor foil champion (1933). Generally considered the greatest woman fencer in history.
Raymond J. Miller Coach of William Paterson College (1950-1990); winner of the NIWFA team championship nine times. One of the principal armorers and organizers of the New Jersey Division.
James Montague (1883-1965) - Born in England. Coach of CCNY (1938-1953). The first coach to win the IFA and NCAA team championships in the same year. Coach of Daniel Bukantz, Harold Goldsmith, James Strauch, and Albert Axelrod.
(1892-1965) - Born in Hungary. AFLA national sabre champion (1927, '28). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1928, '32). Known as the "photographer of the famous" - he was the outstanding portraitist of the 1920's and '30's.
(1871-1957) - Concurrently coach of Columbia (1898-1948) and the New York AC (1891-1954) (where he was also boxing coach). Produced numerous intercollegiate and national champions and Olympians. He was probably the first American to travel to Europe to study to become a fencing master and then make a career of it.
Odon Niederkirchner (1904-1987) - Born in Hungary. Fencing master of the New York Fencers Club (1949-58) and the N.Y. Athletic Club (1949-86). Among his pupils were Ed Richards, Silvio Giolito, Abe Cohen, George Masin, and Dr. Tibor Nyilas
(1893-1974) - Born in Italy. The all-time national champion, winner of 18 individual AFLA titles, despite his only being able to fence every other year owing to business commitments in Europe. AFLA national foil champion (1924); national epee champion (1917, '22, '24, '26, '28, '32); national sabre champion (1922, '26, '29); national three-weapon champion (1921, '22, '26, '28, '30); national outdoor epee champion (1921, '25); national outdoor sabre champion (1928). Vice-president of the AFLA (1933-35). National Junior Olympic chairman during the 1950's. He was a silent patron of scholarships for promising young fencers at New York clubs. The national Under-19 epee trophy is presented in his memory.
Denise O'Connor
A two-time Olympian, (1964, 1976), she fenced in
five World Championships (1965, '66, '69, '70, '75), as well as the Pan
American Games of 1975 (Bronze Medal). She was the winner of the 1971
Terre des Hommes in Montreal. For nearly two decades, she was a
nationally ranked women's foilist (1959-1976). She captained the Salle
Santelli Women's Foil Team to five national titles. She was also a
3-time chair of the New Jersey Division, coach of Brooklyn College for
over a decade at Brooklyn College before becoming Assistant Director of
Athletics.. In 1975 and '76, she was NIWFA College Coach of the Year..
Her students have become champions and successful coaches in their own
right.
William Scott
O’Connor, one of the Founding Fathers of the Amateur Fencers’ League of
America (AFLA/USFA), was the UNITED STATES FIRST A.F.L.A. NATIONAL FOIL
CHAMPION in l892 and was the 1905 National Epee (then called ‘dueling
sword’) champion. He was a member of the l904 U.S. Olympic Team in the
Games in St. Louis and won the Olympic Silver Medal in the Single
Sticks event. Dedicated to help the League grow, he volunteered as the
Secretary Treasurer of the Amateur Fencers’ League of America for 34
years -stepped down w/ President Graeme Hammond.
Heizaburo Okawa
The Japanese national Champion in all 3 weapons and
3-time Olympian, Mr. Okawa place 9th in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A
world-reknowned referee, Heizaburo was the 1967 and 1968 US National
foil champion. His coaching career includes UCLA, the Mori Fencing
Academy (Salle Mori), and he has just completed his 26th year at Cal
State Fullerton.
Born in Hungary. AFLA national sabre champion (1965,
'69, '70, '71, '72). Member, U.S. Olympic team 1968, '72, '76). He is
the only U.S. sabreur to win an international 'A' tournament, in Lodz,
Poland (1968).
Joseph Brooks Bloodgood Parker
(1889-1951) - AFLA national sabre
medalist twice. Member, national championship sabre team (1920).
Member, U.S. Olympic team (1920, '24). Unsuccessful candidate for AFLA
president (1936). Member, International Olympic Committee. Captain of
the University of Pennsylvania (1911). A generous patron and
contributor to the sport for decades.
AFLA national epee champion (1964, '66, '67, '68, '83).
Member, U.S. Olympic fencing team (1964, '68, '76); member, U.S.
Olympic modern pentathlon team (1964, '68). Olympic silver medalist,
Pentathlon team 1964, World Team Bronze 1962, '63. IFA epee champion
(1964) and NCAA epee champion (1964, '65) for Rutgers.
Rene Pinchart
(1891-1970) - Belgian Olympian in fencing and
gymnastics (1920). Emigrated to the U.S. to become fencing master of
the New York Fencers Club. Coach of the U.S. Olympic team (1928, '32,
'48, '52). Among his pupils were Lt. George Calnan, Joseph Levis, Maria
Cerra Tishman, Daniel Bukantz, Nat Lubell, Helena M. Dow, and many
other national champions and Olympians. The national Under-19 men's
foil trophy is presented in his memory (1971).
Albertson Van Zo Post
(1865-1938) - AFLA national foil champion
(1895); national epee champion (1896,1912); national sabre champion
(1901, '02, '03). He won five medals, including two championships, in
the very limited competition that constituted the 1904 Olympic Games.
Ed Richards was an Olympian in 1964 and a three-time participant in the Pan-American Games (1959, '63, and '67). He was twice National Men's Foil Champion (1962, '63) and medaled in foil in 1961 and in epee in 1952 (the year of his foil championship.) He has been a member of the National Coaching Staff since its inception in 1985 and a four-time coach of the Junior World Team. Ed coaches at the Westside Fencing Center in Los Angeles. He began refereeing toward the end of his coaching career, is now one of our most d istinguished referees, and is the recipient of this year's Fencing Officials' Commission Award for Service.
Frank S. Righeimer
(1909-1998) - AFLA national epee champion
(1929); national outdoor epee champion (1929, '33); national foil
medalist three times. U.S. Olympic team (1932, '36). Member, Olympic
bronze medal-winning foil team (1932) and Olympic bronze medal-winning
epee team (1932). IFA foil and epee champion for Yale (1929). He was
the first fencer to win the intercollegiate and national championships
in the same year.
(d. 1922) - An early patron of the sport at the YMCA's. The national epee team trophy is presented in his memory. Although only a recreational fencer, he was frequent donor to fencing events in and around New York and was inducted into the US Fencing Hall of Fame.
Maj. General Thomas J. Sands
(1903-1984) - AFLA national epee
champion (1935, '37). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1936). At the 1937
World Championships in Paris, Sands attained the individual epee final
and finished fifth. IFA epee champion for Army (1927).
(1897-1985) - Born in Hungary, his father was
Italo Santelli, the great Italian master. A member of the Italian sabre
team that won the 1920 Olympic championship, he emigrated to the U.S.
in 1925, and taught at the University FC, New York Athletic Club,
Fencers Club , eventually opening his own club, Salle Santelli, the
most successful personal salle in American fencing history. His pupils
included Norman Armitage, John R. Huffman, Tibor Nyilas, George Worth,
Albert Axelrod, Ed Ballinger, and Marty Lang. He opened his club - and
the sport - to the masses and minorities. One of the foremost public
figures in the sport for 60 years.
The NY Times called, "Sauer the only successful
invader to NY." All of the other westerners were slaughtered by New
York's elite. Born in WURTZBERG, GERMANY, young Alfred was 11 when the
family moved to south Chicago before the city had electricity. Alfred
Ernest Sauer learned to fence at the Chicago Turngemeinde when he was
16.
Charles R. Schmitter
Coach of Michigan State. Co-founder of the NFCAA (1941). He was the
first recipient of the coach of the year award (1957). He was one of
those responsible for the growth of fencing in the Midwest.
C. Lee Shelley
Dominant men's epee fencer of the 80's. Fourth place
team, World Championships (1983). Gold Medal Pan American Team (1979),
Silver Medal Team (1987). In addition, he was a two-time Olympian
(1984, '88) and a seven-time member of the World Championship Team
(1977, '78, 82, '83, '85, '86, '87.) He is a three-time US Individual
Epee Champion (1981, '83, '86) and a two time team champion with Salle
Santelli (1985 and '93), while he won individual medals in epee in
1978, '84, and '85. In 1986, He was the overall NAC winner in 1982. In
1986, he was the USOC Fencer of the Year.
Stanley Sieja
(1912-1982) - Coach of Princeton University
(1945-1982). His team won the NCAA team championship (1964) and the IFA
team championship (1969, '79). Manager of the U.S. Olympic team (1952)
and armorer (1972). He was among the leading armorers and generous with
his time in promoting the sport in New Jersey. He was coach of the year
four times.
Joseph Smith
Concurrently coach of the women's team at Hunter
(1935-47) and the men's and women's teams at Brooklyn College
(1930-63). His teams won the NIWFA team championship ten times.
Mr. Sobel has led a distinguished life in fencing.
A former President of the USFA, League Counsel, and past Vice President of
the US Olympic Committee, Steve began his fencing achievements as the
1954 NCAA Saber champion for Columbia. He served as Chief of Mission
for the US Pan American Games team and USOC Delegate to the Pan
American Sports Organization.
Novera Herbert Spector
Founder of USFA divisions, Herb has been the
winner of Veteran saber age category 22 times and 3 times saber winner
of the "super-senior" over 40 championship. While qualifying for the US
National championships for 61 years, Herb has won over 60 medals in
Senior and Veteran events and has been a divisional or state champion
40 times between 1941 and 1998.
Harold Van Buskirk
(1893-1980) - AFLA national epee champion
(1927); national sabre medalist three times. Member, U.S. Olympic team
(1924, '28, '32). President of the AFLA (1936-39; 1944). One of the
leading officials of the sport for many years. He moved to the Houston
area and was responsible for the organization of the
The Roll of Honor
