Aldo Nadi (29 April 1899 – 10 November 1965) was one of the greatest Italian fencers of all time.

Biography

Aldo was born into a fencing family in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and both Aldo and his brother

Nedo Nadi Nedo Nadi (9 June 1894 – 29 January 1940) was one of the best Italian fencers of all time. He is the only fencer to win a gold medal in each of the three weapons at a single Olympic Games and won the most fencing gold medals ever at a single ...

were fencers from a very young age. They were both taught foil and sabre in the classical

Italian school of swordsmanship The term Italian school of swordsmanship is used to describe the Italian style of fencing and edged-weapon combat from the time of the first extant Italian swordsmanship treatise (1409) to the days of Classical Fencing (up to 1900). Although the ...

by their father, Beppe Nadi, who believed the épée to be an "undisciplined" weapon and refused to teach it. The brothers therefore practiced épée by themselves. In 1920, at the age of 21, Nadi won gold medals at

the Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

in team foil, team épée, and team sabre. He also won a silver medal in individual sabre, second only to his brother

. Nadi emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1935. He taught fencing in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from 1935 to 1943, and in 1943 published a book ''On Fencing''. Also in 1943, he relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he continued to teach fencing in his own school, in addition to occasionally coaching actors for fencing scenes in films. He even made a film appearance himself, as a bodyguard in ''

To Have and Have Not ''To Have and Have Not'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1937 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The book follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain out of Key West, Florida. ''To Have and Have Not'' was Hemingway's second novel set in th ...

'' (1944), starring

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

.Aldo Nadi
IMDb In 1955, Nadi wrote his autobiography (''The Living Sword: A Fencer's Autobiography''), which was published 30 years after his death. Nadi died in his sleep, at his home in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, on 10 November 1965. Nadi was known for his real-life duels. At the 1920 Olympics, he fought Italian weightlifter

Filippo Bottino Filippo Bottino (9 December 1888 – 18 October 1969) was an Italian heavyweight weightlifter who won a gold medal at the 1920 Olympics. In 1922 he became the first Italian weightlifter to break a world record, in the press Press may refer to: ...

with a riding whip, while Bottino used a wooden beam. The duel ended very quickly as Nadi struck Bottino's hand, causing him to drop the weapon. Later Nadi fought and severely injured a journalist who had mocked him. He also challenged a fellow fencing champion

Edoardo Mangiarotti Edoardo Mangiarotti (; 7 April 1919 – 25 May 2012) was an Italian fencer. He won a total of 39 Olympic titles and World championships, more than any other fencer in the history of the sport. His Olympic medals include one individual go ...

because he felt that Mangiarotti was favored to him by the Italian Olympic Committee. Nadi proposed to use pistols, which Mangiarotti declined.

Filmography

Bibliography

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nadi, Aldo Italian male épée fencers 1899 births 1965 deaths Olympic fencers of Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Fencers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in fencing Sportspeople from Livorno Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Italian male foil fencers Italian male sabre fencers