Pierre, Comte Baruzy

Pierre, Count de Baruzy competed at the 1924 Paris Olympics in the demonstration sport of savate, or French boxing. From 1922-35 he won 11 French Championships in the sport. In 1930 he was named President of the Académie de Boxe Française.

In World War II Baruzy joined the Resistance, serving as municipal councilor of Paris, President of the Steering Committee of Timken (France), and Chancellor of the CIOS International Academy, and received the Resistance Medal in 1944. Baruzy was arrested in 1944 for his activities, but he later received the US Medal of Freedom from President Eisenhower in 1945, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Reagan in 1984.

Baruzy’s other awards include the Croix de Guerre in World War I. He was made a Knight of the Legion d’Honneur and the Italian Republic made him a Commander of the Order of Merit.

After the war Baruzy chaired the National Committee of the French Organization (CNOF) from 1952-57. In 1965 he became the founding President of the resurrected Académie de Boxe Française, later to be renamed the Fédération Française de Boxe Française Savate et Disciplines Associées (FFBFS e DA).