Modeste Cuypers

Modeste Cuypers was a member of the Belgian military, serving in the first regiment of the chasseurs à pied in the early 1920s. Joining the air component (aéronautique militaire) by the mid-1920s, Lieutenant Cuypers was very successful in military fencing tournaments, winning the Belgian officers’ foil title in 1927. He was selected alongside four other military men, Jules Stordeur, Jules Kesteloot, Édouard Yves, and Gerard Kaanen to represent Belgium at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games in the team foil event. There, they were eliminated after finishing last in their pool in the semi-final round. Cuypers continued to serve in the military and was killed during World War II by the Gestapo; a street in his hometown of Zichem is named in his honour.