Robert Blum (November 24, 1928 – November 27, 2022) was an American Olympic fencer.

Early and personal life

Blum was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

, and was Jewish."Blum, Bob".
Jews In Sports. He attended

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked ...

, and practiced law for 50 years. His wife was Barbara Blum, who became a high-ranking social services official."Barbara Blum, Who Rescued Abused Willowbrook Residents, Dies at 82,"
''The New York Times''. Blum became an aide to

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...

, first in Congress and then at

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in New York City, and later was one of New York Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...

’s NYS Assistant Attorneys General."Blum, Robert,"
Museum Of American Fencing. Blum died on November 27, 2022, at the age of 94.

Fencing career

Blum attended and fenced first as an

All American The designation All American often refers to the hyphenated term All-American, a noun or adjective denoting players selected for an All-America sports team. Of an individual, all-American may mean that the person (often male) expresses the qualiti ...

for Trinity College, and then for

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. He also fenced for Salle Santelli and the

Fencers Club The Fencers Club in Midtown, Manhattan, New York City, is the oldest fencing club in the Western Hemisphere. It is a member of the Metropolitan Division of the U.S. Fencing Association. Established in Manhattan in 1883, it has evolved into a 501( ...

in New York, winning the US Saber Team title 10 times with the two clubs, combined. He was a member of the U.S. sabre team that won the gold medal at the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan Ame ...

. Blum was the first American to make the World Championship individual saber finals, when he did that at the 1958 World Fencing Championships. Blum competed on behalf of the United States in the team

sabre A sabre (French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as the ...

events at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

in Mexico City. He was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2010.">"Thanks and Credits",
Museum Of American Fencing.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blum, Robert 1928 births 2022 deaths American male sabre fencers Olympic fencers of the United States Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Columbia Law School alumni New York Law School alumni Jewish American sportspeople Jewish male sabre fencers Fencers at the 1959 Pan American Games 21st-century American Jews Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games