Gaston Mullegg (24 August 1890 – 3 August 1958), also known as Mühlegg, was a Swiss sports official. He was the president of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron (FISA), the

International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...

, from 1949 or 1950 (sources differ) until his death. Mullegg was born in 1890 in

Murten Murten (German language, German) or Morat (French language, French, ; frp, Morât ) is a bilingual Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and a city in the See (district of Fribourg), See district of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fr ...

, Switzerland. He had an interest for many sports but his passion was for

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

. As a rowing official, he was involved in organising the Olympic rowing competitions in Amsterdam (1928), Los Angeles (1932), Berlin (1936), London (1948), Helsinki (1952), and Melbourne (1956). He became president of FISA when he succeeded

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in 1949 or 1950. Aged 64, Mullegg obtained a

pilot's license Pilot licensing or certification refers to permits for operating aircraft. Flight crew licences are regulated by ICAO Annex 1 and issued by the civil aviation authority of each country. CAA’s have to establish that the holder has met a specifi ...

. He was piloting a plane near the

Parc de Mon Repos The Parc de Mon Repos is a public park of the city of Lausanne, Switzerland. The villa located in the centre of the park hosted the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee from 1922 to 1967.Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

when the engine lost power. Mullegg was killed in the crash and his two passengers, French rowers Jean Méry and Louis Patricot, suffered serious injuries. He was survived by his wife and succeeded by

Thomas Keller Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Founda ...

as president of FISA. Mullegg is credited with conceiving the idea of having

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...

. The first world championships had been planned for 1958 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

but at the FISA congress in 1957, the Americans withdrew from organising the event. Work on contingency plans stopped when Mullegg died. At the FISA congress in November 1958, it was agreed that world championships would proceed and the inaugural World Rowing Championships were held in 1962 in Lucerne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullegg, Gaston 1890 births 1958 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents People from Murten Rowing officials Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Switzerland Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1958