The
first official historian of the Olympic Games, Dr. Ferenc
Mezo-
Grunfeld was awarded a gold medal for
Literature in the 1928 Paris Olympics Art Competitions for
his book The
Olympic Games in Antiquity.
Mezo-Grunfeld became enthralled
by the Olympic Games as a child and at
an early age decided to devote his life
to them. He wrote more than 70 works
on the Olympics, his first published in
1911.
The historian collected documents
and relics related to sports history, and
by the early 1920s his library was one of
the most extensive in the world. Upon
his death in 1961, the Mezo Collection
was deposited in the Museum for Sport
and Physical Education in Budapest. It
includes more than 5,500 books, innumerable
original documents, photographs,
medals, coins, countless relics,
prizes, and charters.
Mezo was a founding co-president
of the Hungarian Olympic Society and
was the Hungarian member of the International
Olympic Committee from
1948 until his death in 1961. |