Leopolds Lēvenšteins

Leopolds Lēvenšteins was born into a Jewish family in Rīga. At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm he failed to qualify for the second round in the 100 metres. One year later, he placed fourth at the Russian Championships. With his wife Eva, he had one daughter.

As a law student Lēvenšteins saved the fortune of Alfred Nobel’s nephew from the Communists. Subsequently, he was fostered by the Nobel family and made a career as a legal and financial expert. The family lived in Paris and Berlin, where he worked as an advisor for the German UFA film studios and met many greats of the silver screen. In the second half of the 1930s, the family returned to Rīga. During the German occupation in World War II, as Jews they had to move into the local ghetto. He was killed at the beginning of 1943 while trying to escape from the ghetto. The only member of the family to survive the war was daughter Valentina who managed to escape and was hidden by friends. As Valentina Freimane (1922-2018) she became a famous film historian.

Personal Best: 100 – 11.2 (1912).