Robert Ferdinandovich Fulda (russian: Ро́берт Фердина́ндович Фу́льда; 18 April 1873 – 16 February 1944), was a
Russian sports and flight enthusiast who is considered as the "pioneer of Russian sport".
Life
Fulda was born into a family of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
merchants, who emigrated to Russia in the mid-19th century. Fulda graduated from the
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
as a lawyer, but was not interested in practicing his profession.
[A Pioneer of Russian Sport](_blank)
Voice of Russia, 11 July 2006. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
As an athlete, he was mostly interested in
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...
and
football. Fulda was one of the pioneers of Russian football and the founder of Sokolniki Sports Club. In 1904, he translated the rules of association football and later organized the Moscow Football League.
At the
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...
, he was the assistant coach of the
Russian Empire national football team. In 1914, Fulda became the manager of the national team and was also elected as the chairman of the
All-Russian Football Union.
Fulda was also interested in flight. He was the President of Sports Club of the Moscow Imperial Aeronautics Society and Stephan Ivanovitch Osoviecki was vice-President. In 1913 they arranged a recption for the French aeronauts, Rumpelmayer and
Marie Goldschmidt who had travelled over 2,400 km by balloon from Paris.
After the 1917
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, Fulda fled to Germany and later settled in
Switzerland.
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References
1873 births
1944 deaths
Sportspeople from Moscow
Russian people of German descent
Russian football managers
Russian emigrants to Switzerland
Russian expatriates in Germany
{{Russia-sport-bio-stub
