1911 Belgium–Netherlands women's fencing meeting
| 1911 Belgium–Netherlands women's fencing meeting | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Verbrugge Fencing Academy |
| Location | Malines 83, Antwerp, Belgium |
| Dates | 10 December 1911 |
| Competitors | 17 from 2 nations |
| Teams | 2 |
The 1911 Netherlands–Belgium women's fencing meeting was an international fencing gala assaut organized by the Ladies Fencing Club at the Verbrugge Fencing Academy in Antwerp, Belgium. It took place on 10 December 1911 with Dutch women's fencers of Salle De Vos from the Hague competing against fencers of Ladies Fencing Club from Antwerp.
It was a return event of the two nations, after the 1911 Netherlands–Belgium women's fencing meeting earlier the year.
The event contributed to the progress of international women's fencing and according to reports women's fencing was showing that it was closing the gap with men's fencing.
Background
[change | change source]While fencing was already practiced by women during the 19th century,[1] fencing was in this era a male-dominated sport.[2] After pogress of women's fencing during the 1910s, it was introduced in 1924 at the Summer Olympics.[2] This fencing competition was one of the earliest international fencing competition in the history of women's fencing; after the 1910 England–Belgium women's fencing competition and 1911 England–Holland women's fencing competitions.
Organization
[change | change source]As the M. Cnoops, president of the Cercle de l'epée, couldn't attend the meeting; the event was chaired by colonel Georges Lecrecq. However, Cnoops sent a bunch of flowers to all the participants.[3]
A selection of the key people of facilitating and organizing this event were:[4]
- Albin Lambotte, president of the Ladies Fencing Club
- M. M. van den Bergh, Dutch diplomat
- Mrs and Miss van den Bergh
- M. Pritsch, German diplomat
- Mrs. von Mallinckrodt
- M. C. Grisar
- Mr. and Mrs. de Brockdorff
- doctor and Mrs. Preetorius
- Mr. and Mrs. Roggen
- Mr. Pungs
- Mrs. de Duve
Event
[change | change source]The meeting took started at 2:30pm (local time).[5] A total of twelve bouts were contested during the event.
| Bout | Fencer 1 | Fencer 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  N. Fraenkel (NED) |
 Yvonne De Deken (BEL)
|
| 2 | B. Luden (NED) |
E. Illner (BEL)
|
| 3 | Julia Beelaerts van Blokland (NED) |
Leni Preetorius (BEL)
|
| 4 | T. van den Bergh (NED) |
Marthe Pungs (BEL)
|
| 5 | Van Lennep (NED) |
A. Pungs (BEL)
|
| 6 | H. van den Bergh (NED) |
Jula Preetorius (BEL)
|
| 7 | T./J. van den Bergh (NED) |
Adrienne Machiels (BEL)
|
| 8 | Van Lennep (NED) |
E./R. van Leckwijck (BEL)
|
| 9 | H. van den Bergh (NED) |
R. Maercre (BEL)
|
| 10 | Julia Beelaerts van Blokland (NED) |
N. Fraenkel (BEL)
|
| 11 | Van Leckwijck (NED) |
Leni Preetorius (BEL)
|
| 12 | B. Luden (NED) |
Marthe Pungs (BEL)
|
In the evening the participants had a gala banquet at Paon Royal. After that the Dutch team returned home.[4][6][3]
Response
[change | change source]The Belgian media wrote very positively about the meeting. Le Matin used phrases as a "very nice fencing session" and a "beautiful fencing demonstration".[4] L'Indépendance Belge praised the beauty of the matches and reported about the progress of women's fencing with closing the gap with men's fencing.[3]
This meeting eloquently proved the enormous progress made in this sport, so healthy and so charming, that is women's fencing; and I bet that the young fencers, both from the Ladies Fencing Club and from Salle de Vos, who were so applauded, will soon be able to measure themselves successfully against the fine blades of the stronger sex.[3]
The event was also reported positively in the Dutch media. Newspaper De Avondpost wrote about "very nice matches" and a "successful assault".[6]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Bergès, Alexandre (1896). Désirée Benoist (ed.). L'Escrime et la femme (in French). Paris – via Bibliothèque nationale de France.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Terret, Thierry; Ottogalli-Mazzacavallo, Cécile (7 March 2012). "Women in Weapon Land: The Rise of International Women's Fencing". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 29 (2: Sport and the Emancipation of European Women: the Struggle for Self-fulfilment): 286–301.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Anvers". L'Indépendance Belge (in French). 6 January 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via BelgicaPress.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Escrime". Le Matin (in French). 11 December 1911. p. 4. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via BelgicaPress.
- ↑ Lenoir, Fernand (9 December 1911). "Escrime". Le Matin (in French). p. 4. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via BelgicaPress.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Schermen". De Avondpost (in Dutch). 12 December 1911. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via Delpher.