23 Facts About Norman Armitage

Norman Armitage was an American patent lawyer, and chemical engineer who became an accomplished textile executive.

Norman Armitage was an exceptional saber fencer who competed in six Olympics from 1928 to 1956 and won a bronze Team medal in Sabre in the 1948 London Olympics.

Norman Armitage later was affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Remarkably, Armitage had never fenced before he became a member of the Columbia Lions fencing team while a student at Columbia University.

Norman Armitage later attended New York University Law School, where in 1937 he earned a law degree, and in 1939 earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in patent law.

Mrs Norman Armitage later served on a number of government councils.

Norman Armitage served as a professor of art history at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, for 29 years, after moving there in 1960.

Norman Armitage was, for half that time, Wofford's fencing coach for both men and women in saber, epee, and foil.

Norman Armitage first learned fencing while a student at the University of California, Berkeley, later completing a Masters in Arabic and English Literature and a PHd in Art History.

Mrs Norman Armitage competed in national fencing contests, ranking as high as sixth place, and represented the United States in team world championships.

Norman Armitage won 10 times in 25 appearances at the National Sabre Championships: in 1930, from 1934 to 1936, from 1939 to 1943, and in 1945.

Norman Armitage holds 17 national championship titles, more than any other US sabre fencer.

Norman Armitage remained in the New York area until 1960.

Norman Armitage competed for America in 1928,1932,1936,1948,1952, and 1956.

Norman Armitage competed as both an individual and team competitor from 1928 to 1936, but only as a team competitor from 1948 to 1956.

The American team was eliminated in the first round, and Norman Armitage reached the semifinals in individual sabre.

Norman Armitage competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in spite of severe chemical burns on his right hand suffered in January of that year.

Norman Armitage won his only medal, a bronze, at the 1948 Summer Olympics, in the team sabre event.

At the 1952 Summer Olympics, Norman Armitage competed in the team sabre event but not the individual sabre.

Norman Armitage died on March 14,1972, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, after being admitted two days earlier.

Norman Armitage was buried at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in Spartanburg.

Norman Armitage was survived by a wife, daughter and son.

Norman Armitage was the first person to be inducted into the USFA Hall of Fame, in 1963 and was inducted to the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.