The Most Famous

FENCERS from Romania

This page contains a list of the greatest Romanian Fencers. The pantheon dataset contains 349 Fencers, 11 of which were born in Romania. This makes Romania the birth place of the 7th most number of Fencers behind South Korea, and United States.

Top 10

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

1. Endre Kabos (1906 - 1944)

With an HPI of 53.40, Endre Kabos is the most famous Romanian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

Endre Kabos (5 November 1906 – 4 November 1944) was a Hungarian sabre fencer. He competed individually and with the team at the 1932 and 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics and won three gold and one bronze medals. In the fall of 1935, the Nazi regime in Germany had passed the anti-Semitic Nuremberg laws which stripped German Jews of citizenship, opportunities to receive a public education, and access to many professions and public facilities including municipal hospitals. Jewish businesses had been boycotted and Jews could not serve in the legal profession, the civil service, teach in secondary schools or universities or vote or hold public office. Kabos was noticed internationally after winning the Slovakian Championships in 1928. He then collected six gold and one silver medals in sabre at the European Championships in 1930–1935. Kabos was Jewish. During World War II he was interned for five months in a forced labor camp in Vax. He was called up in June 1944 to work at labour camps for Jews at the village of Felsöhangony, where he was teaching army officers the use of sabre fencing. Later he was transferred to Budapest and was given two horses and a cart to transport food and provisions for others in camp. On 4 November, the day before his 38th birthday, he was driving on Margaret Bridge while German soldiers were preparing explosives to blow up the bridge prior to it being used by the advancing Red Army which at that time was about 150 kilometers to the East of Budapest. Kabos died with many others and only some non-identifiable skeleton parts were found in 2011, when the bridge was being extended. Kabos was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

2. Olga Szabó-Orbán (1938 - 2022)

With an HPI of 52.20, Olga Szabó-Orbán is the 2nd most famous Romanian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Olga Szabó-Orbán (née Orbán, 9 October 1938 – 5 January 2022) was a Romanian foil fencer, world champion in 1962, and team world champion in 1969. A five-time Olympian, she won an individual silver medal in 1956 and team bronze medals in 1968 and 1972.

3. Maria Vicol (1935 - 2015)

With an HPI of 48.28, Maria Vicol is the 3rd most famous Romanian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Maria Vicol (née Taitiș, 17 October 1935 – 13 March 2015) was a Romanian foil fencer, Olympic bronze medalist in 1960 and an Olympic team bronze medalist in 1968.

4. Zoltán Ozoray Schenker (1880 - 1966)

With an HPI of 46.63, Zoltán Ozoray Schenker is the 4th most famous Romanian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Zoltán Ozoray Schenker (13 October 1880 – 25 August 1966) was a Hungarian Olympic sabre and foil fencer, who won three Olympic medals.

5. Ana Derșidan-Ene-Pascu (1944 - 2022)

With an HPI of 45.76, Ana Derșidan-Ene-Pascu is the 5th most famous Romanian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Ana Derșidan-Ene-Pascu (22 September 1944 – 6 April 2022) was a Romanian fencer and sport leader. She won a bronze medal in the women's team foil events at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics.

6. Ecaterina Stahl-Iencic (1946 - 2009)

With an HPI of 45.04, Ecaterina Stahl-Iencic is the 6th most famous Romanian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Ecaterina Stahl-Iencic (31 July 1946 – 26 November 2009) was a Romanian foil fencer, world champion in 1975. She competed at five Olympics from 1964 to 1980, winning team bronze medals in 1968 and 1972.

7. Ernő Nagy (1898 - 1977)

With an HPI of 42.75, Ernő Nagy is the 7th most famous Romanian Fencer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ernő Nagy (2 August 1898 – 8 December 1977) was a Hungarian fencer. He won a gold medal in the team sabre event at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Other members of the team included Aladár Gerevich, Gyula Glykais, Endre Kabos, Attila Petschauer, and György Piller. He retired from competition in 1938, at which point he became head of the fencing section of the Hungarian Athletics Club.

8. Loredana Dinu (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 41.67, Loredana Dinu is the 8th most famous Romanian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Loredana Dinu (born Iordăchioiu; born 2 April 1984) is a retired Romanian épée fencer, twice World champion and twice European champion with Romania.

9. Reka Zsofia Lazăr-Szabo (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 36.35, Reka Zsofia Lazăr-Szabo is the 9th most famous Romanian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Reka Zsofia Lazăr-Szabo (Hungarian: Lázár-Szabó Réka Zsófia, born 11 March 1967) is a Romanian foil fencer, bronze medallist in the 1992 Summer Olympics, World champion in 1994, and silver medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

10. Laura Badea-Cârlescu (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 35.72, Laura Badea-Cârlescu is the 10th most famous Romanian Fencer. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Laura Gabriela Badea-Cârlescu (née Badea on 28 March 1970) is a retired Romanian foil fencer, world champion in 1995, olympic champion in 1996 and european champion in 1996,1997, 2004. After her retirement (23-year career at top-level fencing, winning 23 medals at the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships and Universiade) she became a fencing coach, then a sport administrator with numerous roles. She served as President of the Athletes Commission (2001-2005) for the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Member of the Rules Commission of the International Fencing Federation, Director of Olympic Education of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (2005-2012), Director of Romanian Olympic Academy(2011-2017), Romanian Ambassador for Sports, Tolerance and Fair-Play at the Council of Europe (2004-2011), Member of the Science and Sports Council in Romania (2006-2009), Member of the Romanian Anti-Doping Agency, Vice-President of the Romanian Fencing Federation (2005-2011), President of the Romanian Fencing Federation (2017-2018), Member of the Culture and Olympic Heritage Commission at the European Olympic Committee, Member of the Executive Committee at the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee.

People

Pantheon has 21 people classified as Romanian fencers born between 1880 and 1996. Of these 21, 13 (61.90%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Romanian fencers include Loredana Dinu, Reka Zsofia Lazăr-Szabo, and Laura Badea-Cârlescu. The most famous deceased Romanian fencers include Endre Kabos, Olga Szabó-Orbán, and Maria Vicol. As of April 2024, 10 new Romanian fencers have been added to Pantheon including Maria Vicol, Ana Derșidan-Ene-Pascu, and Ecaterina Stahl-Iencic.