Scott Dudley Breckinridge (May 23, 1882 – August 1, 1941) was an American fencer and

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

. He competed in the individual

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 ...

and team

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

events at the

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 ...

Early life

Breckinridge was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on May 23, 1882. He was the son of Louise Ludlow (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Dudley) and Joseph Cabell Breckinridge Sr.Brown, Alexander
The Cabells and Their Kin: A Memorial Volume of History, Biography, and Genealogy
' (1895). Among his many siblings was older brother was Joseph Cabell Breckinridge Jr., an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

who died while serving on the torpedo boat USS ''Cushing''. His younger brother,

Henry Skillman Breckinridge Henry Skillman Breckinridge (May 25, 1886 – May 2, 1960) was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the prominent Breckinridge family and served as the United States Assistant Secretary of War from 1913 to 1916. During the Lind ...

, served as the

United States Assistant Secretary of War The United States assistant secretary of war was the second–ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. According to thMilitary Laws of the United States "The act of Augus ...

under President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. Unlike his father's cousin, John Cabell Breckinridge, a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

major general and former

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

, his father Joseph was a Union Army officer from Kentucky during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

who served as Inspector General of the Army and was a major general of volunteers in the

. His paternal grandfather was

Robert Jefferson Breckinridge Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (March 8, 1800 – December 27, 1871) was a politician and Presbyterian minister. He was a member of the Breckinridge family of Kentucky, the son of Senator John Breckinridge. A restless youth, Breckinridge ...

, a Presbyterian minister, politician, public office holder and abolitionist. His maternal grandfather was Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley, a prominent physician in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

Career

Breckinridge attended the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

where he excelled at fencing. He became a member of the United States fencing team at the 1912 Summer Olympics held in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, competing in the épée and foil. He later coached the fencing team at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

. Breckinridge left West Point without graduating in 1904 to attend the

Georgetown University School of Medicine Georgetown University School of Medicine, a medical school opened in 1851, is one of Georgetown University's five graduate schools, and is the most applied-to medical school in the nation with a matriculation rate of 1.40%. It is located on Res ...

where he graduated with a degree in medicine in 1907 and then interned at

Providence Hospital Providence Hospital may refer to: *Providence Hospital (Columbia, South Carolina) *USA Health Providence Hospital in Mobile, Alabama * Providence Hospital (Southfield), Michigan *Providence Hospital (Washington, D.C.) in Washington, D.C. *Providence ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and Columbia University Hospital in New York City. 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 in the Army Medical Corps and was promoted to Colonel.

Personal life

In 1911, Breckinridge was married to Gertrude Ashby Bayne (1883–1981). Together, they were the parents of two sons and a daughter, including: *

John Bayne Breckinridge John Bayne Breckinridge (November 29, 1913 – July 29, 1979) was an American politician, a Democrat who served as Attorney General of Kentucky twice and also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky. Ear ...

(1913–1979), who became a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from Kentucky. * Scott Dudley Breckinridge Jr. (1917–2000), who became the Deputy Inspector General of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. * Gertrude Bayne "Trudy" Breckinridge (1922–2014), who married Compton Sargent in 1944. She later married Francis Bradley Peyton III in 1948. Breckinridge died at his home in Lexington, Kentucky on August 1, 1941.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breckinridge, Scott 1882 births 1941 deaths Breckinridge family American male épée fencers Fencers from San Francisco American male foil fencers United States Military Academy alumni Georgetown University School of Medicine alumni 20th-century American physicians American gynecologists Olympic fencers for the United States Fencers at the 1912 Summer Olympics United States Army personnel of World War I American military doctors United States Army colonels