Iosif Davidovich Vitebskiy (russian: Иосиф Давидович Витебский; born January 9, 1938 in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

) is a former

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Olympic medalist and world champion épée fencer, and current US fencing coach.

Early life

Vitebskiy was born in

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and is Jewish. He attended

Kiev State University Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

, where he studied

physical culture Physical culture, also known as Body culture, is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, the UK and the US. Origins The physical culture movement in the United States during the 19th century ...

and sport.

Fencing career

During his fencing career, Vitebskiy trained at

Dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

in Kiev. He was a member of the

and

national teams, and won 19 medals in national championships (10 gold, 6 silver, and three bronze).">"Fencing coaches trace ties to '68 Games" , ''The Daily Pennsylvanian''
/ref>"Iosif Viteskiy; 12th season; Kiev St. University,"
Media Guide. He won several tournaments in Europe and the Soviet Union, and won in the team event at the

World Fencing Championships The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE; ''International Fencing Federation'' in English). Contestants may participate in Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and S ...

in 1967, 1968, and 1969. He also won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in team épée at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

in Mexico City at the age of 30. Vitebskiy won the Veteran 60 Men’s Épée category at the Summer US National Championships in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

in 1999.

Coaching

He was head coach of the Ukraine Republic National Team for 13 years, and then served for 10 years (1988–98) as the Director of the school for high sport achievements at the State University of Ukraine. He served for a dozen years as an assistant coach at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

of the University of Pennsylvania Quakers fencing team.

Personal life

Vitebskiy and his wife, Emma have two sons, Dmitriy and Alex, and lived in Philadelphia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitebskiy, Iosif 1938 births Living people Soviet male épée fencers Ukrainian male épée fencers Jewish Ukrainian sportspeople Jewish male épée fencers Olympic fencers of the Soviet Union Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in fencing Dynamo sports society athletes Sportspeople from Kyiv Fencers from Philadelphia Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Early life

Fencing career

Coaching

Personal life

See also

References