Zbigniew Czajkowski (5 February 1921 – 8 February 2019) was a Polish
fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
coach.
Czajkowski was dubbed "Father of the Polish School" of fencing. He coached many champions, including
Egon Franke - the first
Pole
Pole may refer to:
Astronomy
*Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets
*Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...
to earn an
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
gold medal in fencing.
During the Second World War
Czajkowski was born in
Modlin and started fencing at the age of 14, while in high school. The outbreak of the
Second World War
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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
interrupted his fencing career as, immediately after his graduation in 1939, he enlisted in the
Polish Navy to fight the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
. In September 1939, Czajkowski, along with four other Polish sailors, was captured by the
Soviet
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 nation ...
army and sent for interrogation to the city of
Kobryn
Kobryn ( be, Кобрын; russian: Кобрин; pl, Kobryń; lt, Kobrynas; uk, Кобринь, Kobryn'; yi, קאָברין) is a city in the Brest Region of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn District. The city is located in the southwest ...
. He was fortunate to avoid execution as the commissar in Kobryn was not interested in Czajkowski and sent him home. Czajkowski then made his way back to the Soviet controlled Lwów and, while waiting to be allowed to cross the
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
n border to rejoin the
Polish forces in France, continued his fencing training. In April 1940, while on his way to the border, Czajkowski was again arrested by Soviet soldiers and this time spent over a year in various Soviet prisons, being interrogated and tortured. He was then sent to the Soviet labor camp in
Vorkuta
Vorkuta (russian: Воркута́; kv, Вӧркута, ''Vörkuta''; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin ...
, beyond the polar circle where he survived extremely harsh conditions until, in September 1941, the new head of the labor camp decided to free him. During all his time as a Soviet prisoner, one of Czajkowski's main diversions was to hold a wooden spoon in his hand as though it were a
sabre
A sabre ( French: sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...
and "practice" fencing - visualizing himself engaged in his favorite activity as a distraction from the hardships of his imprisonment. After being freed from Vorkuta, Czajkowski spent weeks making his way to
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
, where he stayed for several months working on cotton and rice
plantations
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
. Before leaving, he also spent some time coaching fencing. On February 5, 1942, his birthday, Czajkowski rejoined the Polish Navy. He eventually was stationed in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
, at the Polish Naval Station in
Plymouth. Soon after
D-Day, Czajkowski received leave from the Navy and began studying medicine at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
in Scotland. He fenced for the Edinburgh University fencing club and the Scottish Fencing Club. He also began to do some amateur coaching for the Polish Students Association in Great Britain. His son was born in Edinburgh 1 December 1945.
Back in Poland
In 1949, Czajkowski returned to Poland, along with his new wife, Wendy Cochrane-Czajkowska. They lived in
Cracow, where Czajkowski finished his final year of studies at the very reputable
Jagiellonian University. Less than a year into his career as a doctor, Czajkowski decided to give it up because, as he put it, "Being a doctor is very depressing. You're always surrounded by sick people." He decided to, instead, become a full-time fencing coach.
In 1950, Czajkowski became the first post-war Polish National Champion in
foil
Foil may refer to:
Materials
* Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine
* Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal
* Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food
* Tin foil, metal foil ...
. He also represented Poland many times as a member of its national team - particularly achieving success in sabre, his favorite weapon. His best competitive result came at the 1953 World Championships in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, where Czajkowski won a bronze medal in the team sabre event.
Coaching success
In 1964 Czajkowski's student,
Egon Franke became the first Pole to ever earn an Olympic gold medal in fencing when he won the individual men's foil title. Czajkowski spent many years as Poland's top coach, creating dozens of national, European, World, and Olympic medalists in all three weapons. His international success continued into his 70s when, in 1996, his student
Magdalena Jeziorowska became European Women's
Epee Champion.
Some of Czajkowski's notable students include:
*
Bogdan Gonsior - 1963 World Championship Bronze medalist in épée
*
Egon Franke - 1964 Olympic Champion in foil
*
Elżbieta Cymerman - nine-time Polish national champion in women's foil, silver medalist at the
World University Games, gold medalist at the
Socialist Countries Championships
*
Jacek Bierkowski - 1975 World Championship Silver medalist in sabre
*
Magdalena Jeziorowska - 1996 European Champion in women's épée
Academic career
Since 1980, Czajkowski has been director of the Fencing Department at the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice where he has educated over one hundred fencing masters, including
Edward Korfanty,
Artur Wasiolka,
Pawel Mancewicz,
Michael Marx
Michael Marx (born July 7, 1958) is an American foil and epee fencer and fencing master. He is the brother of Robert Marx, who has also represented the U.S. in multiple Olympic fencing events. Michael and his brother were taught to fence by ...
and
Andrzej Gottner. Along with his medical degree, Czajkowski has a PhD in Physical Education and many honorary degrees. Czajkowski has written hundreds of published articles on fencing and its training, and thirty books including ''Understanding Fencing - The Unity of Theory and Practice'', which was published in 2005 in the United States.
References
External links
*
BiographyAcademy of Physical Education in Katowice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czajkowski, Zbigniew
1921 births
2019 deaths
Polish male fencers
Jagiellonian University alumni
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
People from Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki
Sportspeople from Masovian Voivodeship
Polish military personnel of World War II