Jeanne Vical

Born in Paris in 1908 Jeanne Vical moved to the United States with her mother in 1914 while her father fought in World War I. Vical’s father was a noted fencing master who trained her, with her winning the West Coast Women’s Fencing Championship in the early 1930s. This performance earned her a place on the French team for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics where she competed in the individual foil tournament. Along with her father the pair worked in Hollywood as fencing instructors to the stars, including Douglas Fairbanks, Gary Cooper, and Erroll Flynn.

In 1934 Vical married her husband Hugh Miller, with the couple moving to the East Coast. After a brief spell living in Denton, Texas, they settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico, spending almost 40 years there. She continued to fence until she was 70-years-old, with her then becoming a masters swimmer, winning several events at the national championships in the 1990s.