Angelica Rozeanu (née Adelstein) (15 October 1921 – 21 February 2006) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

origin, the most successful female table tennis player in the history of the sport, winning the women's world singles title 6 years in succession.

Table tennis career

Rozeanu started playing table tennis while recovering from

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by '' Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects chi ...

when she was eight. In 1933, at age 12, she won the Romanian Cup. She won the Romanian national championship in 1936 and remained

's female champion for the next 21 years (1936–57, excluding

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

). Her first major win was the 1938 Hungarian Open. Her career was interrupted by World War II, as from 1940 to 1944 she was barred from even entering a gymnasium in Romania and was unable to play. Rozeanu won her first World Championship in 1950, starting the winning run that would see her win the championship six years in succession, a feat yet to be matched. She was also the last non- Asian woman to win the title. In total, she won 17 world titles (and 12 silver and bronze medals at the World Championships), three world women's doubles titles, and three world mixed doubles titles. By far Romania's greatest profile in the sport, she was also the President of the Romanian Table Tennis Commission from 1950 to 1960. Rozeanu emigrated to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1960. She won the

1961 Maccabiah Games The 6th Maccabiah Games were held in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1961, with 1,100 athletes from 27 countries competing in 18 sports. The Games were officially opened in an Opening Ceremony on August 29, 1961, in Ramat Gan Stadium by Israeli President Yitz ...

Women's Table Tennis Championship, and was Israel's champion in 1960–62. She kept in touch with her native Romania, and visited it for the last time in 2005. In 2006, she died at the age of 84.

Recognition

Rozeanu was given the Romanian title of Merited Master of Sport in 1954. She has also received four Order of Work honors. In 1997 she was awarded the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (wit ...

Medal. She was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

in 2001. She was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

in 1981 and into the

ITTF Hall of Fame This page lists the members inducted in the ITTF Hall of Fame – founded in 1993 – in the order as they appear in the official hall of fame maintained by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ITTF Hall of Fame includes both table tennis ...

in 1995.The ITTF Hall of Fame
. ittf.com

References

Sources

Profile at ITTF News
* *Jacov Sobovitz
Angelica Adelstein Rozeanu
Jewish Women Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Rozeanu, Angelica 1921 births 2006 deaths Romanian Jews Sportspeople from Bucharest Jewish table tennis players Jewish Romanian sportspeople Romanian female table tennis players Romanian emigrants to Israel Romanian people of Israeli descent Israeli Jews Maccabiah Games tennis players Deaths from cirrhosis Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Israel Maccabiah Games medalists in table tennis Competitors at the 1961 Maccabiah Games

Table tennis career

Recognition

See also

References

Sources