Vera Hagemann

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexFemale
Full nameVera Maria•Hagemann (-Binkert)
Used nameVera•Hagemann
Born7 April 1927 in Basel, Basel-Stadt (SUI)
Died24 December 2012 in Aarau, Aargau (SUI)
AffiliationsFechtgesellschaft Basel, Basel (SUI)
NOC Switzerland

Biography

Vera Hagemann was born and raised in Basel. She began fencing as a teenager as a member of Fechtgesellschaft Basel, and saw success early in her career when she finished as the runner-up to Yvonne Bornand in the Women’s National Foil Championships in 1944 at the age of 16. She gained more experience in 1946 when she competed in two international tournaments against teams from Italy and France, and won the Swiss women’s foil title in 1947, finishing ahead of clubmate Anita Klüpfel. In 1948, Hagemann was chosen for the Swiss national team delegation to compete in the Women’s World Championships in Den Haag, alongside Bornand, Klüpfel, Hedwig Rieder, Susy Mäder and Denise Rebmann. She also competed at the Olympics Games in London that same year alongside her Basel clubmates Rieder and Klüpfel in the women’s foil tournament, but did not advance past the preliminary pool. Hagemann was one of the youngest female fencing competitors at the London Olympics.

Following the Olympics, Hagemann briefly moved to Luzern and became the first female member of Fechtgesellschaft Luzern in 1950. She moved back to Basel by 1951 and continued to compete until 1953, when she married Leo H. Binkert (1921–2009) and moved east to Laufenburg, Aargau, where her husband later served as mayor and on the municipal council. They eventually further moved south to Aarau where she remained until her death on Christmas Eve 2012 at the age of 85. She and her husband were later proponents of housing projects for the elderly in the Fricktal region, founding the LHB Foundation.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1948 Summer Olympics Fencing SUI Vera Hagemann
Foil, Individual, Women (Olympic) 6 p5 r1/4