Gerardo (Gert) Budowski (10 June 1925 – 8 October 2014) was a German–Venezuelan

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

master. He was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

into a family with a love of chess. His mother drew a game with

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capabl ...

in his simultaneous exhibition in October 1925 in Berlin. His father had a friendly relationship with

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

who gave paid chess lessons to the child prodigy in Paris. The Jewish family left Nazi Germany in 1933 for France, and then - during

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

- emigrated to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, where Gert changed his name to Gerardo and became a Venezuelan citizen in the early 1950s. From 1952, he resided in Costa Rica. Dr. Budowski graduated in 1948 as an agricultural engineer from the Universidad Central in Caracas, Venezuela, then earned his master's degree at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) in Turrialba, Costa Rica. In 1962, he obtained his doctoral degree in Forestry from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. He was Director General of IUCN (

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

) from 1970 to 1976. Since 1980, Dr. Budowski was instrumental in the development of the

University for Peace The University for Peace (UPEACE) is an international university and intergovernmental organization. The university was established as a treaty organisation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1980. Each year, the University for Peace se ...

, not only did he start the Environmental programme but he also served in positions such as Interim Rector and Vice-Rector. In 2008, he was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus for his vision in the relation between peace and the environment. He won the '' Campeón Absoluto de Venezuela'' title 6-0 by beating Julio García (''Campeón Nacional de Venezuela'') in 1951. He also participated in other championships in Costa Rica in the 1950s. He won Costa Rican team championship, playing for Turrialba, in 1965. He represented Venezuela in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 an ...

at Lugano 1968. Dr. Budowski died of natural causes on October 8, 2014 in San José, Costa Rica.

References

External links

Dr. Gerardo Budowski's oral biographyGerardo Budowski at 365Chess.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Budowski, Gerardo 1925 births 2014 deaths German emigrants to France French emigrants to Venezuela Venezuelan chess players Costa Rican chess players Sportspeople from Berlin Central University of Venezuela alumni Yale University alumni Costa Rican people of German descent Venezuelan emigrants to Costa Rica People associated with the International Union for Conservation of Nature