Ralph Goldstein

Goldstein was born in Malden, Massachusetts, and was Jewish.[1][3] He grew up on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, New York, and attended Brooklyn College, fencing for the college's fencing team.[1][4] He lived in Yonkers, New York, and in Waterbury, Connecticut, from 1948 on.[1][5]

He was killed in a car accident in July 1997, at the age of 83, when Goldstein had a heart attack and his car collided in a head-on collision with a propane truck outside Bennington, Vermont.[6][1][7]

Goldstein competed for the United States in the team épée events at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, and was captain of the team at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.[1][8][6]

He won Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) titles in team épée with Salle Santelli in 1947-48, 1950, 1953, and 1955, and won team 3-weapon titles in 1952-54.[2]

Goldstein also competed in many of the Maccabiah Games in Israel, the Olympic-style competition for Jewish athletes.[6][9]

He was Secretary of the Amateur Fencers League of America (now the United States Fencing Association) from 1957-60.[10] He was also Editor of American Fencing magazine from 1969-76.[6]

Goldstein was inducted into the US Fencing Hall of Fame.[11] In 1988 he was also named a Referee Emeritus, the highest honor for USA Fencing referees, awarded for multiple Olympic experience and great service to the sport of fencing in the national and international arenas, thereby retaining his USA Fencing referee rating for life.[12] The Ralph Goldstein Memorial Épée Open is held annually in his honor.[3]