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Fernand de Montigny (1885-1974): multiple Olympic champion and architect By Roland Renson Berlin. He won four Olympic medals: gold in Antwerp An elegant pose 1920, Chamonix 1924 and St. Moritz 1928, and silver in from young Lake Placid 1932. épéeist Fernand The American skier Colin Stewart (1927–2015), who de Montigny participated in the slalom at the 1948 St Moritz Winter Photo: Jean-François de Games, was awarded his degree in architecture from Montigny (JFdM) Archive Harvard in 1955, and there are probably several other Olympians like him who combined their passion for sport with architecture. On the other side of the medal, there was the Dutch architect Jan Wils (1891–1972), who had designed the Olympic Stadium of the 1928 Games in Amsterdam and who won the gold medal in architectural designs in the Olympic art competitions of these Games, but Wils never competed in any Olympic sporting discipline. The Belgian fencer, skater, ice and field hockey player Fernand de Montigny (1885–1974) was a multiple Olympic champion who won six official Olympic medals in 1908, 1912, 1920, 1924 and one non­official medal at the 1906 “Intercalated” Games. He was also the architect of the Antwerp Olympic Stadium where the Games of the VII Olympiad took place in 1920. This article will therefore focus on his remarkable career, both as a sportsman and as an architect. I would like to thank sincerely Jean­François de Montigny, the son of Fernand, who provided first­ hand information, documents and pictures of his father. Moreover, he donated many of these valuable documents to the Sportimonium (Sport and Olympic Museum, Zemst, Belgium) where they now reside and Introduction: sport and architecture can be consulted. There have been many Olympic champions, who were – Athletes are born first … than made or became – professional architects, such as Alfréd Hajós (1878–1955), who won in the 100 m and 1200 m freestyle Fernand Alphonse Marie Frédéric de Montigny was born swimming during the 1896 Athens Olympics while an on 5th January 1885 in the port of Antwerp in Belgium in a architecture student in Hungary. More than that, he well­to­do family. His son Jean­François wrote: “One of won the silver medal for architecture in the 1924 art our forefathers wrote that the family was of French origin competitions at the Paris Olympic Games with his plan and that one of his ancestors had to seek refuge in Thuin for a stadium. He had devised the plan together with his (now Belgian Province of Hainaut) to escape from the compatriot Dezsö Lauber (1879–1966), who had played consequences of a duel in which he had been involved tennis at the 1908 London Olympics. in France during the reign of King Louis XIV (1643–1715), Swedish figure skater Gillis Grafström (1839–1938), who enforced strong laws against duelling. So far, there was born in Stockholm but lived from 1925 onwards in has been nothing to prove this contention” (Montigny: Potsdam, Germany, and had studied architecture in L’origine s.d.). JOH 2 | 2018 Fernand de Montigny (1885-1974): multiple Olympic champion and architect 41 JOH 2.18_[1-80]_RZ.indd 41 04.07.18 15:38 Primary schoolboys at the Notre-Dame Jesuit College of Antwerp, posing before their yearly ‘shields game’. Young Fernand de Montigny is first from left in the second row. He is looking to his left and not at the photographer. Photo: JFdM Archive Fernand de Montigny attended the Collège Notre­Dame fencing master Verbrugge himself. The Belgian Olympic of Antwerp, which was run by the Jesuits, where, after Committee was founded on 18th February of that same primary school, he studied Greek­Latin humanities. year to enable the participation of a Belgian delegation. Young Fernand was particularly enthusiastic about the The initiative was taken by Colonel Clément Lefébure so called ‘jeu du bouclier’ (shields game) which was (1861–1928), an ardent promotor of Swedish gymnastics only played on special occasions and in which teams of and Commander of the Normal School for Gymnastics young pupils would throw small, hard balls at each other and Fencing of the Belgian Army (Delheye 2003; Renson while trying to protect themselves with shields. These 2006: 35­37). balls were the ‘balles pelotes’ used in the wall games The Belgian delegation left by train from Brussels on practiced daily during recreation time. Sunday 15th April for Trieste (Italy), where they took the All secondary and higher education courses in Belgium boat to Athens on 17th April. Cyrille Verbrugge won two were at that time still only taught in the French language, gold medals in Athens in the competitions for fencing even in the Flemish part of the country, with Antwerp masters, one for épée and one for sabre. as its major city. This would only change in 1932 when These competitions between fencing masters, who Flemish became the official language in local government were later considered not to be ‘amateurs’, only took and lower and secondary education. place at the 1900 Paris Olympics (where Verbrugge French, however, was often spoken up to the 1950s ended 15th in the foil competition [Mérillon 1901: 147; by the upper echelons of society, and was thus also Mallon 2009: 116]) and during the 1906 Games. His pupil, the language of the majority of the ‘sporting class’ in Fernand de Montigny, participated in the épée and the Flanders (Renson 1998). This explains why all official foil individual competitions and won a bronze medal in correspondence and documents concerning the 1920 The Belgian épée Olympic Games (except for some local newspapers) were team, which won only in French. bronze at the Second International Fencing with style (1901–1920) Olympic Games in Athens 1906. From Fencing would become a part of the family lifestyle. left to right: Edmond Fernand started his career as a young fencer at the age of Crahay, Fernand de 16 in the private fencing hall of master Cyrille Verbrugge Montigny, Constant (1866–1929), which later became the prestigious Cercle Cloquet and Philippe de L’Epée with Charles Cnoops (1870­1928) as president. le Hardy de Beaulieu. As junior champion, he was selected to participate in the Photo: JFdM Archive 1906 “Intercalated” Games of Athens and was trained by 42 JOH 2.18_[1-80]_RZ.indd 42 04.07.18 15:38 Far left: Members of the Cercle de L’Epée d’Anvers, with president Charles Cnoops (seated left) and fencing master Cyrille Verbrugge (seated right), after they won the 1911 Belgian champion- ship in Ostend. Fernand de Montigny, second the team épée with his companions Constant Cloquet, Antwerp between 1908 and 1928. After his 12th victory, he standing from the Edmond Crahay and Philippe le Hardy de Beaulieu was allowed to keep the champion cup permanently, left. (Ameye 2006; Renson 2006: 38­39). which still is one of the family memorial pieces today. Adjacent: The cup For the 21­year­old architecture student, the voyage to awarded to the Athens was like a pilgrimage to the cradle of European High sport society: the Beerschot Athletic Club champion of the culture. Among the photographs he took, there are many and the Palais de Glace (1902–1920) Cercle de l’Epée. pictures of ancient Greek monuments and pillars, which It was won 14 times seem to have inspired him later when he designed the One year after he had become member of the Cercle de by Fernand de Antwerp Olympic Stadium of 1920. l’Epée, the 17­year­old Fernand de Montigny joined Montigny. Although Montigny sometimes handled the sabre, he the elitarian Beerschot Athletic Club. The club had been Photos: JFdM Archive was in the first instance an excellent epée and foil fencer. founded on 1st February 1900 on the initiative of Alfred He was ambidextrous but with a dominant left hand, Grisar (1881–1958), who had become inspired by the which often confused his right­handed opponents. British sporting culture when a student at Brighton Two years later, at the 1908 London Olympics, Montigny College in Sussex, England. Grisar and several of his fought in the individual and team épée competitions. friends had left ‘The great old’ Antwerp Football Club He won his first official Olympic bronze medal with his in 1899 and started the new club on the Kiel grounds teammates Paul Anspach, Désiré Beaurain, Ferdinand which Grisar’s father Ernest (who died the same year) Feyerick, François Rom, Victor Willem and Fernand had recently bought. The families Van den Abeele, Grisar, Bosmans. Havenith, Gevers and Osterrieth, the prime instigators of At the Stockholm Games of 1912, he participated in the new club, had all been members of the prestigious the foil and épée individual competitions, but he won Cercle d’Escrime d’Anvers, founded in 1887 by Frédéric the gold medal with the Belgian épée team consisting Van den Abeele. They all belonged to the ‘haute société’ of Paul Anspach, his brother Henri Anspach, Robert of the city (Montigny: Le sportif s.d.; Den Hollander 2006: Hennot, Jacques Ochs and François Rom. 146­149). Fernande d Montigny The Cercle de l’Epée won the Belgian fencing champion­ Montigny played tennis and also field hockey at the plays a tennis match ships of 1911 in Ostend. A year before the outbreak of the ‘holy grounds’ of the Beerschot AC. In 1911 the Belgian against René First World War, Montigny became Belgian foil champion field hockey team beat the French 6­2, and Montigny Havenith on the in 1913, a sporting feat he would repeat in 1921. Moreover, played for both the men’s and the mixed team, ‘hallowed grounds’ he was 14 times club champion of the Cercle de l’Epée of composed of 6 male and 5 female players.

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