Michális Dórizas (; 16 April 1886 – 21 October 1957) was a Greek athlete who competed in throwing events at the

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

, 1908 and

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

. He won a silver medal in the javelin throw in 1908 and a bronze in the stone throw in 1906. In the discus throw, his best achievement was fifth place in 1908; in the shot put, he placed 11th in 1912. Dorizas was born to Greek parents in Constantinople, where he graduated from the

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

. In 1913, he moved to the United States to study at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. In the U.S., he soon became one of the best heavyweight wrestlers, winning the intercollegiate championships in 1914-1916. He also played as an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

guard for two years and continued to compete in throwing events. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served as a U.S. Army Sergeant in France, and after the war as a Greek-Turkish-English interpreter at the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the capital and largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the 30th most densely pop ...

, and as a geographer with the American Section of the International Commission on Mandates. In 1915, he received a master's degree in philosophy and began teaching geography and working on his PhD (which he received in 1924). He was voted as the most popular Penn professor for several years. In 1943, the Friars Senior Society called him "the faculty member who the greatest service to the University during the course of the year." He continued teaching at Penn until his death in 1957.

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* * * 1886 births Constantinopolitan Greeks 1957 deaths Greek male javelin throwers Olympic athletes for Greece Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Greece Robert College alumni Athletes from Istanbul Greek players of American football American football guards Penn Quakers football players Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) United States Army personnel of World War I {{Greece-athletics-bio-stub