Pierre Albrecht

Pierre Albrecht was born in New York City, the son of Jacques Pierre and Adele (de Martini) Albrecht. His father was a French-born businessman, and his mother was of Spanish extraction; both resided in Bogotá, Colombia where his father had business. Pierre Albrecht Jr. grew up in the United States with his three siblings, attending St. Paul’s School in Garden City, New York and Culver Military Academy in Indiana. He served in the United States Navy in World War II in the Pacific Theater for 2 years, receiving an honorable discharge in 1946. Upon his discharge he moved to Switzerland with his sister to attend Université de Genève.

While playing for a local team, SSU Genève, Albrecht was selected for the Swiss basketball team to compete at the 1948 Olympics in London, which eventually finished 21st in the tournament, losing all games except for their classification match against Ireland. Later returning to live in Colombia, Albrecht married Helena Araújo Ortiz, the daughter of Colombian politician and diplomat Alfonso Araújo Gaviria and had four children with her, but sadly died relatively young at the age of 45 in 1971. His wife would later become a prominent writer and international Latin American literary scholar and professor.