Albertson Van Zo Post (July 28, 1866 – January 23, 1938) was an American fencer and writer. He earned two gold medals in the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...

as well as a silver and two bronze medals, and also competed in 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 ...

. Post was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, to Caroline Burnet, a daughter of General Nathaniel McLean, and Henry A. V. Post, an engineer and sharpshooter during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Albertson, known as Van Zo, was the eldest of seven children; his brother Edwin married the etiquette writer

Emily Post Emily Post ( Price; October 27, 1872 – September 25, 1960) was an American author, novelist, and socialite, famous for writing about etiquette. Early life Post was born Emily Bruce Price in Baltimore, Maryland, possibly in October 1872. Th ...

. He studied civil engineering at the

Columbia College School of Mines The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (popularly known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering; previously known as Columbia School of Mines) is the engineering and applied science school of Columbia University. It was founded as th ...

, graduating in 1889. Shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Van Zo entered the 12th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, serving from May 2 to December 22, 1898 and achieving the rank of

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

. In the

in St. Louis, Post won the gold medal in the

singlestick Singlestick is a martial art that uses a wooden stick as its weapon. It began as a way of training soldiers in the use of backswords (such as the sabre or the cutlass). Canne de combat, a French form of stick fighting, is similar to singlestick p ...

and team foil competition, silver in individual foil and bronze in individual épée and individual sabre. Although from the United States, Van Zo Post was listed as representing Cuba in the Olympics. The majority (81%) of Olympic athletes at the 1904 games were from the United States, but were listed as representing various countries. Eight years later in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

he reached to the quarterfinals in individual foil, individual épée and individual sabre and did not advance from first round in the team épée competition. He was also an author, penning the novels ''Retz'' (1908) and ''Diana Ardway'' (1913), the latter of which was adapted into the 1919 silent comedy ''

Satan Junior ''Satan Junior'' is a 1919 American silent comedy film, directed by Herbert Blaché and John H. Collins. It was Collins' final involvement in film. Collins began directing the film, production of which had to be suspended due to the flu epidem ...

.'' In 1933, at the age of 65, Post married the educator Meta Louise Anderson. Post died in New York City in 1938, and his widow died in 1942.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Post, Albertson Van Zo 1866 births 1938 deaths Sportspeople from Cincinnati American male épée fencers Fencers at the 1904 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in fencing Olympic silver medalists for the United States in fencing Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in fencing Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics Post family American male foil fencers American male sabre fencers Olympic fencers for Cuba