Alfred Proksch (December 11, 1908 – January 3, 2011) was an Austrian Olympic athlete and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

. The son of one of the co-founders of the

Wiener Sport-Club The Wiener Sport-Club, sometimes abbreviated as WSC, was established in 1883 in Vienna, Austria and is one of the country's oldest athletics clubs. Their traditional home is in the Dornbach quarter of the city ( 17th district). History At vari ...

, Proksch took an active interest in both athletics and graphic design from an early age. By the age of 19 he had started his own design company and would later become a founder, then president, of the Confederation of Austrian Graphic Designers. He was also a key figure in the founding of

Icograda The International Council of Design (ICoD; formerly known as ico-D, International Council of Communication Design or Icograda, which was formerly an initialism for International Council of Graphic Design Associations) is an international organisa ...

. By the age of 17, Proksch was a champion

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er and competed internationally, most notably placing 6th in the event at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. He broke the Austrian record for the event on eight separate occasions. Even after turning 100, he continued to compete at the World's Masters Championships, often unopposed in his age bracket. Having won 14 gold medals at the games after 1994, he was considered the world's oldest active athlete. He was one of the last two known surviving track and field competitors from the 1936 Olympic Games to still be competing (the other being Ljubica Gabric-Calvesi).

Early life

Proksch was born on December 11, 1908, in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to Ignaz Proksch and Henriette Gaugusch. His father was a secretary to the

House of Schwarzenberg The House of Schwarzenberg is a German ( Franconian) and Czech ( Bohemian) aristocratic family, and it was one of the most prominent European noble houses. The Schwarzenbergs are members of the German nobility and Czech nobility and they held the ...

and, although his family was initially poor, they became better off financially after World War I. He attended boarding school with his four brothers and, by the age of 15, was already earning money as an illustrator under the pseudonym ''Fedor Broskow''. He worked at various jobs designing posters until 1926, when he entered the

University of Applied Arts Vienna The University of Applied Arts Vienna (german: Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, or informally just ''Die Angewandte'') is an arts university and institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had university sta ...

. He later took courses at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

.Kern, Anita. ''Grafiker eines Jahrhunderts – Alfred Proksch''. In: ''Österreichisches Grafikdesign im 20. Jahrhundert.'' Design AustriaKoschatzky-Elias, Gabriela. ''100 Jahre Alfred Proksch. Das grafische Werk.''Amalthea Signum Verlag

Professional career and Olympics

In 1927, at the age of 19, Proksch started his own design company and was one of the original 10 founders of the Confederation of Austrian Graphic Designers (now Design Austria). He was for a time in the 1960s President of the Confederation of Austrian Graphic Designers. He encountered hardships, however, with the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and experienced difficulties in finding work. In 1933 he married Ida Moser, a fashion designer and model, and had four children with her. Proksch's father was one of the co-founders of the

and encouraged his son to participate in athletic activities. At the age of 17 he was the Vienna Youth Champion and over the course of his career he set the Austrian record in the

eight times. At the

in Berlin he placed 6th in the Men's Pole Vault competition with a height of 4.00m. He set his personal best at this event on August 2, 1937, in London with a height of 4.115.

Later life and World's Masters Championships

Proksch served during World War II in Russia, France and

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. At the end of the war he hid in

Waldviertel The (Forest Quarter; Central Bavarian: ) is the northwestern region of the northeast Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and the north by the Czech Repu ...

and

Spitz Spitz (derived from the German word ''spitz'' 'pointed') is a type of domestic dog characterized by long, thick, and often white fur, and pointed ears and muzzles. The tail often curls over the dog's back or droops. While all of the breeds rese ...

, working low-key jobs as a graphic designer, before settling in Eichgraben in 1947. In 1963 he was present at the meeting that helped found what has become the world body for professional communication design and visual communication,

. Awarded the title of "Professor" in 1967, he retired from graphic design at the age of 70. His son Peter Proksch is also a painter and graphic designer. From 1955 to 2005 he was President of the

Vienna Cricket and Football-Club Vienna Cricket and Football-Club is a sports club based on Döbling district, Vienna. Established on 23 August 1894, it is the second oldest team after their rivals First Vienna FC 1894. It is familiarly known to Austrians by the English name ''C ...

. Through 2009, Proksch continued to compete in athletics tournaments and lived on his own, his wife having died in the 1980s. Between 1994 and 2009 he won 14 gold medals, as well as one silver, in the World's Masters Championships, in the discus,

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

events. In 2009 he had

cardiac surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

after a heart attack, as well as knee surgery, but nevertheless continued to participate in shot put events, winning gold medals in discus and shot put (with a distance of 2.8m) at the 2009 World's Masters Championships in

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

as the only competitor in the 100+ age bracket. He was the Austrian Athletics Association's oldest athlete and was considered the world's oldest active athlete. Proksch was also a painter, and his works were displayed from December 9 to 23, 2008, and from January 13 to 31, 2009, in a gallery in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in honour of his

100th birthday A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living cent ...

. He was made honorary president for life of Design Austria. He died on January 3, 2011, at the age of 102.

References

External links

Peter Proksch's art website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proksch, Alfred 1908 births 2011 deaths Austrian centenarians Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Austria Austrian graphic designers Athletes from Vienna Austrian male discus throwers Austrian male shot putters Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Austrian masters athletes Men centenarians Austrian military personnel of World War II

Early life

Professional career and Olympics

Later life and World's Masters Championships

See also

References

External links