The puliti affair and the 1924 Paris Olympics: Geo-Political issues, National pride and fencing traditions

Abstract

During the Paris Olympic Games of July 1924, there were a series of ‘incidents’ in the fencing competition that became known as the Puliti affair. At the centre of the troubles was the Italian Oreste Puliti. The ‘affair’ had to be discussed by the ‘jury d'honneur’ recently set up by the IOC. Both the IOC and the International Federation were concerned with this issue for four more years. This article uses the Puliti affair to discuss several aspects of nationalism in the mid-1920s: the growing tensions between Fascist Italy and democracies such as Hungary and France, the specific Olympic status of fencing challenged in Paris after three centuries of confrontation between the French and Italian schools of fencing, and ongoing tensions between the IOC and the international federations. Finally, the press perceptions of the incident in various countries are briefly discussed.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Carolyn Nafziger and Sarah Morgan for their translation and checking of this paper. They are also indebted to Douglas Booth for his comments during the NASSH congress 2006, where an earlier and shorter version of it was presented.

Notes

[1] Davis, Europe East and West.

[2] Arnaud and Riordan, Sport et relations internationales.

[3] Senn, Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games.

[4] The protagonists' names, especially those of Puliti and Kovacs, were frequently misspelled in the various archives that we have used. In case of quotation, we have chosen to respect the spelling of these documents, even if it was wrong.

[5] This paper is mainly based on primary sources, including the archives of the IOC collected in the file ‘Jury d'honneur: Puliti 1924–1927’, as well as both the national and international press.

[6] Mangan, Making European Masculinities.

[7] Renson, La VIIième Olympiade Anvers 1920.

[8] Initially created on 6 June 1921 to supply Coubertin during his absence, the executive commission was soon to become a counter-power within the IOC. See Boulongne, ‘Les présidences de Demetrius Vikelas et de Pierre de Coubertin’; Auger, ‘Une histoire politique du mouvement olympique’.

[9] Report on the IOC session, Rome, session of 10 April 1923, IOC archives, Lausanne.

[10] On the jury of appeal and the field jury, see Comité olympique français, Les Jeux de la VIIIe Olympiade, 78.

[11] Santelli was an Italian master, but he used to teach in Hungary and he joined the Hungarian delegates in Paris. Thus, he was considered a ‘traitor’ to his fellow countrymen.

[12] Jules de Muzsa, co-president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, to Pierre de Coubertin, [16 or 17] July 1924, file ‘jury d'honneur: Puliti 1924–1927’, IOC archives [hereafter ‘IOC jury d'honneur file’].

[13] In addition to three Hungarians, two Frenchman, a Danish, an Argentinian and a Dutchman.

[14] Comité olympique français. Les Jeux de la VIIIe Olympiade, 283.

[15] ‘Le tournoi de sabre’. L'Auto, 18 July 1924.

[16] The exact terms were not given in the Italian press nor were they in the French, British and American presses. They are never clearly presented in the numerous letters archived in the IOC. However, the Belgium journal Le Soir reported that Puliti would have said towards Kovacs: ‘We are Fascist and we will deal with him as Fascist: hitting his head with a stick’ (‘Les championnats de sabre. Le gros incident italien’, Le soir, 20 July 1924).

[17] L'escrime et le tir 43 (Aug. 1924).

[18] After this second final, the Frenchman Ducret, the Hungarian Garaï and his compatriot Posta had the same number of victories (5 on 7 assaults). The IOC decided to organize another tour, in contradiction with the FIE rules, which stipulated that the goal-average should be considered first. Under the IOC rules, Ducret was beaten by Posta and finished second in the individual foil event. Dissatisfied by the decision, the French master complained officially to the jury of appeal.

[19] Letter from Alberto Bonacossa, representative of the Italian Olympic Committee, to the Count Clary, President of the French Olympic committee, 17 July 1924, IOC jury d'honneur file. Ironically, Bonacossa became an IOC member in 1925 (until 1953) where he integrated the executive commission from 1935 to 1952. He was elected a Fascist deputy at the end of the 1920s.

[20] As we have seen before, these terms were notably different to those reported by the Belgium press.

[21] Oreste Puliti to Renato Anselmi and Marcello Garagnagi, 19 July 1924, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Letter from Georges Kovacs, n.d. [20 July 1924], double signature unreadable, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[24] Letter from Jules de Musza, 20 July 1924, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[25] According to the correspondent of The Times (London), 23 July 1924, 14.

[26] ‘Italian Violence’, The Times, 22 July 1924.

[27] The Times, 14 Nov. 1924.

[28] This point was crucial because Danubian Europe underwent at the time one of its main geopolitical crises. See for instance Bernard, Nations et nationalismes en Europe centrale, and more generally Castellan, Histoire des Balkans.

[29] Document added to the Report of the IOC session, Paris, 25 June–12 July 1924, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[30] Report of the IOC session, Rome, 10 April 1923, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[31] Decision of the jury d'honneur, written document, 23 July 1924, and report of the IOC session, Paris, 25 June–12 July 1924, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[32] See for instance ‘Italian Fencer, Seeking Duel, Forever Barred From Olympics’, New York Times, 24 July 1924.

[33] Jules de Musza to Pierre de Coubertin, 24 July 1924, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[34] Pierre de Coubertin to Jules de Musza, 25 July 1924, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[35] ‘The Olympic Games. A Cause of Ill will. More evidence’. The Times, 23 July 1924, 14.

[36] René Lacroix, ‘Après les Jeux Olympiques’, L'escrime et le tir 42 (July 1924).

[37] In fact, René Lacroix was in a very powerful position within the international federation at this time. The president, André Maginot – another Frenchman – was ready to leave, but he was replaced by Captain Van Rossem only on 1 January 1925. During this phase of transition, Lacroix was quite free.

[38] René Lacroix to Pierre de Coubertin, 26 July 1924 and 31 July 1924, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[39] See Coubertin, Mémoires olympiques, and Boulongne, ‘Les présidences de Demetrius Vikelas et de Pierre de Coubertin’, 201.

[40] Maginot was the Minister of War between 1922 and 1924.

[41] Lacroix, ‘Rapport présenté le 26 juin à la Fédération internationale d'escrime’, L'escrime et le tir 42 (July 1924).

[42] S. Feschotte, secretary-general of the Fédération internationale d'escrime, to Baillet-Latour, 24 Oct. 1925, IOC jury d'honneur file. According to the changes in 1925, the executive commission was ruled by the president of the IOC. This explains why the mail was addressed to Baillet-Latour.

[43] S. Van Rossem and S. Feschotte (International Fencing Federation) to Giuseppe Mazzini, president of the Italian National Fencing Confederation, 24 Oct. 1925, IOC jury d'honneur file. See also ‘Congrès de la FIE’, L'escrime et le Tir, April 1925.

[44] Auger, ‘Une histoire politique du mouvement olympique’; Carpentier, Le Comité international olympiques en crises. During this meeting, the FIE departed from some of its decisions made during the Paris games.

[45] Milza, Mussolini, 570.

[46] Teja, ‘The Transformation of the National Olympic Committee’.

[47] Teja, ‘Le sport italien et les relations internationales’, 163. See also Pivato, Les enjeux du sport.

[48] Gori, Italian Fascism and the Female Body.

[49] Ottavio Bottecchia was the winner of the Tour de France in 1924.

[50] Romano, Histoire de l'Italie.

[51] Duroselle, Histoire diplomatique de 1919 à nos jours; Guillaume et al., L'Europe des nationalismes aux nations.

[52] Milza and Berstein, Le fascisme italien, 309.

[53] After the murder of the Italian General Tellini, sent to Greece to establish the new limits of the border with Albania, Mussolini ordered the bombardment and occupation of Corfu. The Italian leader later accepted a compromise, thanks to the actions of both the British government and the League of Nations.

[54]In January, the Treaty of Rome was signed by Italy and Yugoslavia, giving Mussolini an international image. The city of Fiume was returned to Italy and became a symbol of Italian nationalism. Mussolini recognized the USSR in February 1924, one week after the British Government. Three months later, E. Benès, president of the Czech Republic, attended Rome, where he discussed the first basis of a treaty of friendship with Italy. The good relations between Italy and Great Britain ended only in 1935. See Milza and Berstein, Le fascisme italien, 310.

[55] Pamlényi, Histoire de la Hongrie.

[56] Molnar, Histoire de la Hongrie.

[57] Castellan, Histoire des Balkans.

[58] France was in charge of the rules for the foil and the épée.

[59] In France, the weapon for duel was generally the épée.

[60] Jeanneney, Le duel; Baudot, Le duel et la république. When the offence was light, the duellists used cutting edge and protected the most sensitive parts of their body (heart etc); when the offence was more serious, the duellists were half naked and used the point and the edge of the weapon. The duels were generally organized in arms rooms, under rules that depended on the graveness of the offence. Several of the Hungarian fencers in the Paris games, Schenker for instance, had already experienced duels.

[61] At the sport level, the Italian hegemony ended precisely in 1924 when it was replaced by a Hungarian supremacy.

[62] Trombert, L'art et la pratique de l'escrime, 65.

[63] Joseph-Renaud, ‘Préparons-nous', L'escrime et le Tir, August 1923.

[64] Ducret, D'estoc et de taille.

[65] Born in Livorno the son of a fencing master, Puliti followed in his father's footsteps and those of his brother Nedo, who won a medal in Antwerp. After 1922, he became for the Italians the one who could avenge the affront of French fencers. He several times met Lucien Gaudin, the French champion, in various bouts described by the transalpine press with nationalist fervour.

[66] The Italy-Hungary team sabre final saw the most difficult and disputed assaults. Both teams finished with the same number of victories (8 on 16), but the goal-average gave an advantage to the Italians.

[67] Fabrizio, Sport e Fascismo; Frasca, E il Duce le volle sportive.

[68] Fabrizio, Storia dello sport in Italia; Gori, L'atleta e la nazione. Saggi di storia dello sport.

[69] Passerini, Mussolini immaginario.

[70] See Teja, ‘Le sport italien et les relations internationales’; Ferretti, Il fascismo e l'educazione sportiva; Teja and Impiglia, ‘Italy’.

[71] Giuseppe Mazzini (president of the Italian National Fencing Confederation) to Van Rossem, president of the International Fencing Federation, 6/04/1927, archives IOC, file ‘Jury d'honneur: Puliti 1924–1927’.

[72] Van Rossem to Baillet-Latour, 12 April 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[73] Baillet-Latour to Van Rossem, 26 April 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[74] Van Rossem to Baillet-Latour, 18 June 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[75] The analysis of the conflicts between the IOC and these three federations is made by Carpentier, Le Comité international olympique en crises, 257–315.

[76] Léon Delevoye, ‘Les prochains jeux olympiques’, L'escrime et le tir 42 (July 1924); Ordre du jour du congrès de la FIE des 26 et 27 juillet 1928, June 1928, file ‘FIE 1921–1963’, IOC archives.

[77] Montu to Baillet-Latour, 29 June 1927 and Ferretti to Baillet-Latour, 4 July 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[78] Van Rossem to Baillet-Latour, 10 Sept. 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[79] Minutes of the jury d'honneur, 30 Oct. 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[80] Baillet-Latour to Lando Ferretti, Van Rossem and Bonacossa, 1 Nov. 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[81] With no fencing world championships at this time, the status of European champion is, alongside that of Olympic champion, the most prestigious.

[82] It was of course not possible to analyse systematically the press of all these countries. Rather we explore some of the newspapers of the countries that were particularly active in the Paris games or concerned by the Puliti affair. However, it was not possible to consult the Hungarian press.

[83] Cannistraro, La fabrica del consenso; Grazia, Consenso e cultura di massa; Milza and Berstein, Le fascisme italien.

[84] ‘Il cimento italo-ungherese al torneo di sciabola; La giuria di appello esclude Oreste Puliti dalla gara e tutti gli sciabolatori italiani si ritirano per protesta’, Gazzetta dello Sport, 18 July 1924. We thank Karen Bretin for her help on this part of the study.

[85] ‘Tutti gli incontri di Puliti avevano mostrato anche ai ciechi che egli è di tale classe da non tenere avversari nel torneo’, Gazzetta dello Sport, 18/071924.

[86] Gazzetta dello Sport, 18 July 1924.

[87] Ibid.

[88] ‘Alla ottava Olimpiade continua la sfilata dei campioni di tutte le Nazioni; Il torneo individuale di sciabola, il pensiero di Gaudin sull'incidente italo-ungherese’, Gazzetta dello Sport, 19 July 1924.

[89] ‘La scherma olimpionica con giurie di appello e batoste senza appello’, Gazzetta dello Sport, 22 July 1924.

[90] Jean Joseph-Renaud, ‘De loin’, L'escrime et le tir 42 (July 1924).

[91] ‘Le tournoi de sabre’, L'Auto, 18 July 1924.

[92] This contrasts with the general attitude of the French press towards Italy. See Milza, Le fascisme italien et la presse française.

[93] René Lacroix, ‘Escrime. Après les Jeux Olympiques. Mise au point’, Le Miroir des sports, July 1924.

[94] Frantz-Reichel, ‘La requalification de Puliti’, Le Figaro, 6 Nov. 1927.

[95] Baillet-Latour to Frantz-Reichel, 8 Nov. 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[96] Lucien Gaudin enjoyed this special status from 1919. Captain of the French team, he was the uncontested leader of the sport and a national hero. See Bollée, Lucien Gaudin.

[97] ‘Un beau match de fleuret franco-italien à organiser: Lucien Gaudin contre Puliti’, L'Auto, Aug. 1927, IOC jury d'honneur file.

[98] ‘London Sees End of Olympic Games’, New York Times, 23 July 1924; ‘Value of Olympics Doubted by French’, New York Times, 23 July 1924. Recall that, in 1924, Italy and Great-Britain were on very good terms at the diplomatic level.

[99] ‘Italian Violence’, The Times, 22 July 1924; ‘The Olympic Games. A Cause of Ill Will. More Evidence’, The Times, 23 July 1924.

[100] ‘No More Olympic Games’ and ‘Olympic Games Doomed. Failure of the Ideal. Disgraceful Scenes’, both The Times, 22 July 1924. See also ‘Olympic Games Trouble’, Sporting Life, 23 July 1924.

[101] The official report of the games (p. 264) evoked the weight of the two French and Italian fencing schools in Paris. The text was written by René Lacroix.

[102] Mangan, Making European Masculinities.