Mary Meijer-van der Sluis (11 July 1917 – 31 January 1994) was a Dutch fencer and singer. She competed in the women's individual foil event at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. Born Mary van der Sluis to a Jewish family in Rotterdam, she married Mozes Meijer in 1940 there three months after the German bombing of that city. Though before the war she had fenced competitively, becoming Dutch champion foil fencing in 1937, she primarily focused on performing and teaching singing until at least the 1950s. Nevertheless, in 1948, when competitions were restarted, she again became Dutch champion in foil and was selected for the Olympic Games. It was considered remarkable that a Jewish woman could compete at the Olympics so soon after the war. Mary participated in the

1957 Maccabiah Games Twenty-one countries sent 980 athletes to compete in the 1957 5th Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish athletics competition similar to the Olympics. The opening ceremony on September 15, 1957, was held in Ramat Gan Stadium, with athletes parad ...

, the

1969 Maccabiah Games At the 8th Maccabiah Games from July 29 to August 7, 1969, 1,450 athletes from 27 countries competed in 22 sports in Israel. The final gold medal count was the United States in first place (64), Israel second (48; though it won the greatest numbe ...

, and the

1973 Maccabiah Games The 9th Maccabiah Games, which were held from July 9 to 19, 1973, were opened in Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel. Spain and Costa Rica made their debuts in the Games. A total of 1,800 athletes competed on behalf of 27 countries in 20 branches of sport, i ...

. In

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

she won a gold medal, and in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

she was, at the age of 56 the oldest participant. In 1969, the youngest of her three children, Sophia Meijer, also became Dutch champion fencing.Biography
at Joods ERfgoed Rotterdam (in Dutch)

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* 1917 births 1994 deaths Dutch female foil fencers Dutch Jews Fencers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for the Netherlands Jewish Dutch sportspeople Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the Netherlands Competitors at the 1957 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1969 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1973 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games medalists in fencing Sportspeople from Rotterdam Jewish foil fencers {{Netherlands-fencing-bio-stub