Aldo Nadi
Aldo Nadi (
April 29,
1899-
November 10,
1965) is considered among the greatest
fencers of all time. Aldo was born into a fencing family in
Livorno,
Italy, and both Aldo and his brother
Nedo Nadi were fencers from a very young age. They were both taught in the classical Italian school of fencing by their father,
Beppe Nadi, and both were already winning competitions by their teenage years. Though Nedo won more
gold medals (six to Aldo's three), Aldo is generally considered the better of the two. His opponents include the famous
French fencer,
Lucien Gaudin. He died in
Los Angeles,
California.
Famous quote: "I am the greatest fencer to ever live."
It is unlikely that Aldo Nadi was quoted as above. I took more than 400 lessons from the Maestro from 1960 until his death. He said at times that one could not compare the fencers of different centuries because of the wide differences in fencing rules and techniques from one century to the next. He did allow that he was the best fencer of the 20th century.
