The Most Famous

FENCERS from Hungary

This page contains a list of the greatest Hungarian Fencers. The pantheon dataset contains 349 Fencers, 35 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 55.88, Ilona Elek is the most famous Hungarian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 28 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 51.96, Pál Kovács is the 2nd most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 24 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. Rudolf Kárpáti (1920 - 1999)

With an HPI of 50.31, Rudolf Kárpáti is the 3rd most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 24 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.

4. János Garay (1889 - 1945)

With an HPI of 50.10, János Garay is the 4th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

János Garay (23 February 1889 – 21 April 1945) was a Jewish Hungarian fencer, and one of the best sabre fencers in the world in the 1920s. Gaining international recognition in Olympic sabre competition, he distinguished himself winning a gold medal in 1928 in Amsterdam, and a silver and bronze medal in 1924 in Paris.

5. Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő (b. 1937)

With an HPI of 49.28, Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő is the 5th most famous Hungarian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Ildikó Rejtő (also known as Györgyné Sági, formerly Jenőné Újlaky; born 11 May 1937) is a retired Hungarian two-time Olympic and five-time World Champion foil fencer. She was born in Budapest, Hungary, and is Jewish. She was born deaf. She had had scoliosis since she was a teenager, which caused her father to enroll her in fencing lessons, in order to help straighten her back. Because she was deaf, when she started fencing at age 15 she learned by reading written instructions from her coaches. She won the junior girls world foil championship in 1956–57, and was the Hungarian women's foil champion in 1958. She was the Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year in 1963 and 1964. She represented Hungary in every Olympics from 1960 to 1976 and won seven Olympic medals, two gold (one each in foil individual and foil team), three silver (three foil team), and two bronze (one each in foil individual and foil team). At the 1960 Olympics in Rome at the age of 23, she won a team silver medal in women's foil. At the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo at the age of 27, she won both an individual and a team gold medal in women's foil. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City at the age of 31, she won an individual bronze medal and a team silver medal in women's foil. At the 1972 Olympics in Munich at the age of 35, she won a team silver medal in women's foil. At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal at the age of 39, she won a team bronze medal in women's foil. She won the 1963 individual foil World Fencing Championships title, and the 1962, 1967, and 1973 team foil World Championships titles. As a senior, she won the women's foil competition at the World Veterans Championships in 1999. Rejtő was inducted as a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. List of select Jewish fencers List of multiple Olympic medalists in one event Deaf people in the Olympics Ildiko Rejto-Ujlaki at Olympics.com Jewish Sports Jews in Sports bio Fencing olympic history bio at the Wayback Machine (archived 15 December 2004) JDCC bio at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 October 2006)

6. Oszkár Gerde (1883 - 1944)

With an HPI of 48.99, Oszkár Gerde is the 6th most famous Hungarian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 18 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. Attila Petschauer (1904 - 1943)

With an HPI of 48.84, Attila Petschauer is the 7th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

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

8. Győző Kulcsár (1940 - 2018)

With an HPI of 48.58, Győző Kulcsár is the 8th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Győző Kulcsár (18 October 1940 – 19 September 2018) was a Hungarian fencer. He competed in the individual and team épée events at the 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics and won four gold (one individual and three team) and two individual bronze medals. He also won three world titles with the Hungarian team, in 1970, 1971 and 1978. After retiring from competitions Kulcsár worked as a fencing coach, in Hungary (c. 1980–1988 and after 2001) and Italy (c. 1988–2000). His trainees include Tímea Nagy, Emese Szász and his nephew Krisztián Kulcsár. He died on 19 September 2018 at the age of 77. Gyozo Kulcsar at Olympics.com Győző Kulcsár at the Magyar Olimpiai Bizottság (in Hungarian) (English translation)

9. Lajos Werkner (1883 - 1943)

With an HPI of 48.19, Lajos Werkner is the 9th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

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

10. György Piller (1899 - 1960)

With an HPI of 47.83, György Piller is the 10th most famous Hungarian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 17 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.

People

Pantheon has 47 people classified as Hungarian fencers born between 1880 and 2001. Of these 47, 27 (57.45%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Hungarian fencers include Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő, Tibor Pézsa, and Péter Bakonyi. The most famous deceased Hungarian fencers include Ilona Elek, Pál Kovács, and Rudolf Kárpáti. As of April 2024, 12 new Hungarian fencers have been added to Pantheon including Lajos Maszlay, István Lichteneckert, and Péter Bakonyi.