Daniel Bukantz (December 4, 1917 – July 26, 2008) was an American four-time individual United States national

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

champion,

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

individual foil champion, four-time Olympic fencer, fencing referee, and a dentist. He has been inducted into the United States Fencing Hall of Fame, the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life

Bukantz was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in New York City in the United States. He grew up in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, on the Grand Concourse, and attended the New York children's summer camp Camp Scatico in the 1930s. He was Jewish. He attended

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

('38). Bukantz then earned a D.D.S. dental degree in 1943 from the New York University College of Dentistry. Bukantz was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the Army Dental Corps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He served in the 87th Infantry Division during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

in 1944-45.

Fencing career

Bukantz was Captain of the City College Beavers fencing team his senior year, and won the 1938 Intercollegiate Fencing Association individual championship in

as a senior. He won the US national Amateur Fencers League of America individual championship in foil four times—in 1949, 1952, 1953, and 1957; since then, only Michael Marx has won as many as four US national foil championships. Bukantz was also part of nine national championship teams for the Fencers Club of New York, in the years 1949-62. Bukantz competed in foil in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

four consecutive times—in 1948 in London at 30 years of age, 1952 in Helsinki, 1956 in Melbourne, and 1960 in Rome. He fenced in team foil in each of the four Olympics, and in individual foil as well in 1952 (reaching the quarter-finals). He placed 4th in team foil at the 1948 and 1956 Olympic Games, and 5th in team foil at the 1960 Olympic Games. The entire USA Foil Fencing Team at the 1956 Olympics was Jewish, with the other Jewish fencers being Al Axelrod, Harold Goldsmith, Nathaniel Lubell, and

Byron Krieger Byron Lester Krieger (July 20, 1920 – November 8, 2015) was an American Foil (fencing), foil, sabre and épée Fencing, fencer. Krieger represented the United States in the Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki and 1956 in Melbourne, and in the 1951 Pa ...

; at the time, the only fencing clubs in New York that accepted Jewish members were the Fencers Club and Salle Santelli. He won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in foil at the 1950 Maccabiah Games in Israel, defeating teammate Allan Kwartler for the title. Bukantz also became a fencing official, judging at eight Olympics (from 1952 to 1984, except the U.S.-boycotted 1980 Games) and three World Fencing Championships (1958, 1967, and 1983). In the Olympic Games in 1952, 1956, and 1960 he was both a competitor and a referee. He was a head referee at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Halls of Fame

In 1978 Bukantz was inducted into the United States Fencing Hall of Fame in

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. In 1967 he was inducted into the City College of New York Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1975 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2008 he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 2000 he received the Pillar of Achievement Award from the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Family and personal life

On April 29, 1956, Bukantz married Alice Ellenbogen Bukantz, a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

from

Nové Zámky Nové Zámky (; ) is a town in Nové Zámky District in the Nitra Region of southwestern Slovakia. Geography The town is located on the Danubian Lowland, on the Nitra River, at an altitude of 119 metres. It is located around 100 km fr ...

, a town in a part of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

that is now

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, who had survived the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

while her parents and 87 other relatives were killed in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. They lived in

Forest Hills, Queens Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast and Flushing ...

, New York, and

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

. Their son Jeff Bukantz was captain of the 2004 and 2008 United States Olympic fencing teams, has won 13 medals (including three gold medals) at the Maccabiah Games, and is the President of the Maccabi USA organization. Jeff was third alternate on the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Fencing teams, and earned a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in foil with Team USA in the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

.Richard Kagan (February 2007)
"Have You Thought of Fencing?; An Interview with Bronze Medalist Bukantz,"
''Education Update'', Volume XII, No. 6, p. 21. Jeff also wrote a memoir entitled ''Closing the Distance: Chasing a father’s Olympic Fencing Legacy'' (Acanthus Publishing, 2006). Bukantz operated a dental practice in

, New York, for about 40 years. He provided free dental care to members of the fencing community who could not afford it. Bukantz died in 2008 from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

References

External links

"Daniel Bukantz; Olympic results
" Sports-Reference. *Shannon Campbell
"The Clash of Foils: A look into the Fencers Club of 1962,"
''New York: A Portrait in Sound'', NYPR Archives & Preservation (audio). *Daniel Bukantz (July 20, 1997)

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. *George Vecsey (December 2, 2007)
"A Righteous Recipe for Longevity,"
''The New York Times''. *Richard Goldstein (July 31, 2008)

''The New York Times''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bukantz, Daniel 1917 births 2008 deaths Sportspeople from Queens, New York Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida American male foil fencers American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army Medical Corps officers Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) City College of New York alumni CCNY Beavers fencers Jewish American sportspeople Jewish foil fencers Jews from New York (state) International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees New York University College of Dentistry alumni Fencers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Maccabiah Games medalists in fencing Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Competitors at the 1950 Maccabiah Games Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for the United States People from Forest Hills, Queens Sportspeople from the Bronx Sportspeople from Manhattan United States Army officers 20th-century American dentists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American sportsmen