Alex Treves

Alessandro Treves was born in Torino, Italy, but his family was Jewish and so he, his parents, an uncle, and his brother, Edoardo, left Italy in May of 1940 on a ship headed for New York City. They were denied entry into the United States but were allowed to continue on to Cuba where they lived until they finally got permission to enter the United States in December.

The two brothers adopted the more American names of Alexander and Edward, attended public schools, were accepted at Rutgers University, and fenced for Salle Santelli. Their father, Angelo Treves, had fenced for Italy, finishing second in team sabre at the 1934 World Championships. Both brothers fenced for Rutgers’ 1948 NCAA team with Edward fencing foil and Alex fencing sabre but both were eliminated in the preliminary round. Alex went on to also make Rutgers’ 1949 and 1950 NCAA teams, winning the individual sabre championship both years, which helped Rutgers win the team title in 1949 and place second in 1950.

Treves competed in team sabre at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He won three team sabre titles at the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) Championships in 1952 and 1955-56. In 1953 he won the World Military Sabre Championship, followed in 1954 by winning the Italian university sabre title. Treves was elected to the Rutgers Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. He seems to have retired from fencing after 1956 and later settled in Monaco.