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The Most Famous

FENCERS from Hungary

This page contains a list of the greatest Hungarian Fencers. The pantheon dataset contains 174 Fencers, 33 of which were born in Hungary. This makes Hungary the birth place of the 3rd most number of Fencers behind France and Italy.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Hungarian Fencers of all time. This list of famous Hungarian Fencers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Hungarian Fencers.

1. Ilona Elek (1907 - 1988)

With an HPI of 55.68, Ilona Elek is the most famous Hungarian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages on wikipedia.

Ilona Elek, known also as Ilona Elek-Schacherer (née “Elek"; May 17, 1907 – July 24, 1988) was a Hungarian Olympic fencer. Elek won more international fencing titles than any other woman.

2. Pál Kovács (1912 - 1995)

With an HPI of 50.28, Pál Kovács is the 2nd most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Pál Kovács (17 July 1912 – 8 July 1995) was a Hungarian athlete, who began as a hurdler, but eventually switched to fencing. By the time Kovács won his first fencing gold, in 1936, he had already been a member of the winning Hungarian team at the 1933 World Championships. The Hungarians won team sabre gold in five successive Olympics, lasting from 1936 until 1960. The same team won gold eight back-to-back world championships (including the two Olympics, which double as world championships in their respective years). Kovács also won individual gold in 1952, as well as individual bronze in 1948. In 1980, he became vice-president of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime. He died in Budapest in July 1995.

3. Attila Petschauer (1904 - 1943)

With an HPI of 49.51, Attila Petschauer is the 3rd most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Attila Petschauer (December 14, 1904 – January 30, 1943) was a Hungarian Olympic champion sabre fencer of Jewish heritage.

4. János Garay (1889 - 1945)

With an HPI of 48.71, János Garay is the 4th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

János Garay (23 February 1889 – 21 April 1945) was a Hungarian fencer, and one of the best sabre fencers in the world in the 1920s.

5. Rudolf Kárpáti (1920 - 1999)

With an HPI of 47.63, Rudolf Kárpáti is the 5th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Rudolf Kárpáti (17 July 1920 – 1 February 1999) was a fencer from Hungary, who won six gold medals in sabre at four Olympic Games (1948–1960). He also won seven gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the world championships. For his achievements he was named Hungarian Sportsman of the year in 1959 and 1960. Kárpáti graduated from the National Conservatory majoring in the history of music; he was also an accomplished violinist and the artistic director of the People’s Army Central Artistic Ensemble (1961–1986). Besides fencing and music, he was an employee at the Hungarian State Credit Bank and an officer with the Hungarian Army – he retired as Colonel, and later in 1990 was promoted to Major General.Kárpáti was a member of the Hungarian Fencing Federation from 1961 to 1991. After retiring from competitions, in 1977 he became president of the Budapest Fencing Federation and an administrator with the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime.

6. Oszkár Gerde (1883 - 1944)

With an HPI of 46.80, Oszkár Gerde is the 6th most famous Hungarian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Dr. Oszkár Gerde (8 July 1883 – 8 October 1944) was a Hungarian sabre fencer who won team gold medals at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics. After finishing his active career he judged international fencing competitions and worked as a lawyer. Being a Jew, he was deported from Hungary in 1944, and killed in the same year at the Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp in Austria. In 1989 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

7. Lajos Werkner (1883 - 1943)

With an HPI of 46.47, Lajos Werkner is the 7th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Lajos Werkner (23 October 1883 – 12 November 1943) was a Hungarian Olympic champion sabre fencer.

8. György Piller (1899 - 1960)

With an HPI of 46.45, György Piller is the 8th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

George Piller (born György Jekelfalussy-Piller) (June 19, 1899 – September 6, 1960) was an Olympic and world champion fencer from Hungary in the 1920s and 1930s who became an internationally respected world-class fencing master in Hungary and the United States in the 1950s.

Pantheon has 33 people classified as fencers born between 1880 and 1997. Of these 33, 16 (48.48%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living fencers include Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő, Tibor Pézsa, and Imre Bujdosó. The most famous deceased fencers include Ilona Elek, Pál Kovács, and Attila Petschauer. As of April 2022, 13 new fencers have been added to Pantheon including Péter Tóth, István Kausz, and Tibor Pézsa.