Rezső Bartha

Rezső Bartha was born into a military family. His father, Károly Bartha, was Hungary’s Minister of Defense between 1938 and 1942. Rezsö Bartha graduated from the Ludovika Military Academy in 1934. He was active in the colors of the Ludovika Akadémia SE and then the Honvéd Tiszti Vívóklub. He competed in show jumping, sport shooting, and épée fencing, and was one of the first pioneers of modern pentathlon in Hungary. In 1936 he won the Olympic qualifying competition, so he started not only in épée, but also in modern pentathlon at the Berlin Games. Due to time constraints, he was unable to take part in the team épée event.

At the end of World War II, Bartha left Hungary, first living in Belgium from 1946 and in Venezuela from 1948. In 1955, he formed the Venezuelan branch of the Fellowship of Hungarian Warriors, of which he was first secretary and then leader from 1980. Bartha was also a fencing master at the Caracas Military Academy and Central University and founded the Venezuelan Fencing Federation. The largest and most modern fencing hall in the country was named “Captain Rudolfo Bartha”.