11 Facts About Paul Stern

Paul Stern was an Austrian international bridge player and lawyer, who fled to London in 1938.

Paul Stern was a bidding theorist and administrator who contributed to the early growth of the game.

Paul Stern founded the Austrian Bridge Federation in 1929, and was its first president.

Paul Stern - whose "Dr " was a so inseparable part of his name that he signed the most casual post-card with the prefix - was, both in his early life and in his exile, an unforgettable figure.

Paul Stern was tall, burly, irascible, with a voice so rough, a temperament so volatile that half the people who saw him called him a dictator; but with a charm so great, a sweetness so unexpected that even those he castigated seldom bore malice for long.

Many strong players adopted the Vienna System and Paul Stern remained the leader and an important mentor.

Paul Stern was the non-playing captain when Austria recaptured the European championships in 1936 and 1937.

Paul Stern escaped to England; his wife, Martha, and two teenage children joined him shortly afterwards.

Paul Stern was a major bridge figure in London for the next decade, founding a school of bridge which taught his bidding system, running a weekly duplicate in Hampstead during World War II and playing rubber bridge regularly at the Hamilton Club and Lederer's.

Paul Stern became a naturalised British citizen in March 1948, a few months before his death.

Paul Stern did not tolerate fools gladly at the bridge table.