Kabos, Endre

Sport:
fencing

Country Represented:
Hungary

Years Competed:
1932, 1936

Medals Received:
gold, bronze

Olympic Info:
Kabos competed in two Olympiads for the Hungarian fencing team in the 1930s. A sabre specialist, he was one of the best in the world at this time and won four medals (three gold) during his Olympic career. At the 1932 Los Angeles Games, he won a gold medal in the team competition; Hungary defeated the United States (13-3), Italy (9-2), and Poland (9-1) in the finals. Kabos also medaled in the individual competition, winning five of nine matches to the take the bronze (he tied with Erwin Casmir of Germany for third place, but Kabos was awarded the medal because he received fewer touches in the finals).

Kabos returned to the Olympics four years later at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and dominated the competition. He won gold medals in both the team and individual events, winning 24 of 25 matches in the individual competition, while Hungary as a team went undefeated.

Career Highlights:
Endre began fencing after receiving a fencing outfit as a birthday present. Although he hid the outfit in his wardrobe, a friend found it and teased him. The following day, he enrolled in a fencing club just to spite his friend and went on to become one of the world's greatest fencers in the 1930s. Kabos won the individual sabre at the 1933 and 1934 World Championships, and was a member of the Hungary's world champion sabre team five times (1930-31, 1933-35). Among his teammates were Attila Petschauer and Sandor Gombos.

Kabos was also very successful in European competition and he won either the individual or team sabre championship (or both) six times between 1931-1935 (he was a runner-up once). Briefly held in a labor camp during World War II, Endre was tragically killed on Margit Bridge during the war. As he was driving across the bridge in a truck loaded with explosives, a pipe bomb exploded, and the truck, with Kabos inside, sank into the Danube River. He was one day shy of his 38th birthday. Kabos is a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Nov. 5, 1906 - d. Nov. 4, 1944

Origin:
Nagyvarad, Hungary

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