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The Most Famous

FENCERS from Italy

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This page contains a list of the greatest Italian Fencers. The pantheon dataset contains 174 Fencers, 41 of which were born in Italy. This makes Italy the birth place of the 2nd most number of Fencers.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Italian Fencers of all time. This list of famous Italian 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 Italian Fencers.

Photo of Nedo Nadi

1. Nedo Nadi (1894 - 1940)

With an HPI of 53.91, Nedo Nadi is the most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.

Nedo Nadi (9 June 1894 – 29 January 1940) was one of the best Italian fencers of all time. He is the only fencer to win a gold medal in each of the three weapons at a single Olympic Games and won the most fencing gold medals ever at a single Games—five. Nadi won six Olympic gold medals in total.

Photo of Edoardo Mangiarotti

2. Edoardo Mangiarotti (1919 - 2012)

With an HPI of 53.66, Edoardo Mangiarotti is the 2nd most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Edoardo Mangiarotti (Italian pronunciation: [edoˈardo mandʒaˈrɔtti]; 7 April 1919 – 25 May 2012) was an Italian fencer. He won a total of 39 Olympic titles and World championships, more than any other fencer in the history of the sport. His Olympic medals include one individual gold, five team golds, five silver, and two bronze medals from 1936 to 1960.

Photo of Gianluigi Saccaro

3. Gianluigi Saccaro (1938 - 2021)

With an HPI of 52.10, Gianluigi Saccaro is the 3rd most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Gianluigi Saccaro (29 December 1938 – 17 February 2021) was an Italian fencer. Saccaro won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, a silver at the 1964 Games and a bronze at the 1968 Games. He also competed at the 1972 Olympics, both individually and with the Italian team, but failed to reach the finals.

Photo of Aldo Nadi

4. Aldo Nadi (1899 - 1965)

With an HPI of 48.65, Aldo Nadi is the 4th most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Aldo Nadi (29 April 1899 – 10 November 1965) was one of the greatest Italian fencers of all time.

Photo of Virgilio Mantegazza

5. Virgilio Mantegazza (1889 - 1927)

With an HPI of 46.55, Virgilio Mantegazza is the 5th most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Virgilio Mantegazza (30 January 1889 – 3 July 1928) was an Italian fencer. He won a bronze medal in the team épée at the 1924 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Italo Santelli

6. Italo Santelli (1866 - 1945)

With an HPI of 46.39, Italo Santelli is the 6th most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Italo Santelli (15 August 1866 – 8 February 1945) was an Italian fencer who is considered to be the "father of modern sabre fencing".

Photo of Franco Riccardi

7. Franco Riccardi (1905 - 1968)

With an HPI of 45.91, Franco Riccardi is the 7th most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Franco Riccardi (13 June 1905 – 24 May 1968) was one of the greatest Italian fencer and Olympic champion in épée competition.

Photo of Dario Mangiarotti

8. Dario Mangiarotti (1915 - 2010)

With an HPI of 45.29, Dario Mangiarotti is the 8th most famous Italian Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Dario Mangiarotti (18 December 1915 – 9 April 2010) was an Italian fencer who competed at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics and medaled in seven World Championships. He was born in Milan, the son of Giuseppe Mangiarotti, a fencer at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He was also the brother of Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italy's most successful Olympian and the winner of more Olympic and World titles than any fencer in history, and Mario Mangiarotti, who was also a fencer.

Photo of Pierluigi Chicca

9. Pierluigi Chicca (1937 - 2017)

With an HPI of 44.81, Pierluigi Chicca is the 9th most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Pierluigi Chicca (22 December 1937 – 18 June 2017) was an Italian fencer. He competed at the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympics in the individual and team sabre events and won a team bronze medal in 1960 and team silver medals in 1964 and 1968.

Photo of Luigi Cantone

10. Luigi Cantone (1917 - 1997)

With an HPI of 43.41, Luigi Cantone is the 10th most famous Italian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Luigi Cantone (July 21, 1917 – November 6, 1997) was an Italian fencer and Olympic champion in épée competition. He received a gold medal in épée individual at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. He received a silver medal in épée team.

Pantheon has 41 people classified as fencers born between 1866 and 1992. Of these 41, 28 (68.29%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living fencers include Valentina Vezzali, Aldo Montano, and Fabio Dal Zotto. The most famous deceased fencers include Nedo Nadi, Edoardo Mangiarotti, and Gianluigi Saccaro. As of April 2022, 15 new fencers have been added to Pantheon including Virgilio Mantegazza, Pierluigi Chicca, and Luigi Cantone.

Living Fencers

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Deceased Fencers

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Newly Added Fencers (2022)

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Which Fencers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 13 most globally memorable Fencers since 1700.