Fencing world mourns loss of Maestro

The internationally-renowned fencing coach, who spent 27 years at Penn where he is a Hall-of-Famer, passed away Thursday at the age of 93. The University of Pennsylvania and the worldwide fencing community mourn the death and celebrate the life of retired Penn fencing coach Maestro Lajos Csiszar, who died last Thursday of heart failure at the age of 93. Csiszar is survived by his wife Margit, their daughters Dora Beothy and Agnes Bakken and grandchildren. From 1948 to 1974, Csiszar, known as "Maestro," coached men's and women's fencing at Penn. The Maestro was considered the finest coach in Europe when he left Hungary to re-establish the Penn fencing program. Csiszar was the pupil of another one of the world's greatest fencing coaches, Italo Santelli. He graduated from the University of Budapest in 1932, and went on to become Europe's finest mentor. In 1947, Maestro came to the United States as an assistant professor of physical education at Penn. As the Quakers' head coach, he led the team to two NCAA team championships in 1953 and 1969. He also coached nine NCAA individual champions and 17 All-Americans. The Maestro was two-time NCAA Coach of the Year (1967 and 1973). The Maestro was the U.S. Olympic coach in 1956, coach of the U.S. World Championship team in 1970, and Pan-American coach in 1971. He also founded and coached the Salle Csiszar Club, a training and practice club and teaching center for many of the outstanding fencers in the country. Current Penn fencing coach Dave Micahnik was a pupil under the Maestro at Penn from 1955 to 1959. Micahnik earned All-Ivy honors under his tutelage, was U.S. National Champion in 1960, and went on to participate in three Olympic games. "He was much more than a coach," Micahnik said. "He was the best man at my wedding. In April, 1996, Csiszar was honored for his remarkable career with his induction into the University of Pennsylvania's Athletic Hall of Fame in its inaugural year. He was also bestowed with an honorary lifetime membership by the U.S. Fencing Association. "He was a teacher and a mentor who used fencing because that was his expertise," Micahnik said. "He took a lot of boys and made men out of them." Private funeral services will be held this Saturday. The University will hold a memorial service on campus at a later date. In addition to fencing, Maestro was an accompished soccer player.