Fred Oberlander

Wikipedia

Fred Oberlander
Personal information
NationalityAustrian, British, Canadian
Born(1911-05-23)23 May 1911
Vienna, Austria
Died6 July 1996(1996-07-06) (aged 85)
Montreal, Canada
Sport
SportAmateur wrestling
Event
Heavyweight
Medal record
Wrestling
Representing  Canada
Maccabiah Games
Gold medal – first place1953 IsraelHeavyweight

Fred B. Oberlander (23 May 1911 – 6 July 1996)[1] was an Austrian born wrestler who represented Great Britain and Canada. He competed at 1948 Summer Olympics.[2]

Biography

Oberlander was born in Vienna, Austria. After winning the World Championships in 1935, Oberlander was offered a chance to compete for Austria at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany, but declined.[3]

Living in England at the time, he fought in Cornish wrestling tournaments in the 1940s[4] and represented Great Britain as the wrestling team captain at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. He was an eight-times winner of the British Wrestling Championships at heavyweight from 1939 to 1945 and 1948.[5]

Oberlander later emigrated to Canada, where he founded the Canadian Maccabi Association. He won a silver medal in wrestling at the 1950 Maccabiah Games, and the heavyweight wrestling title at the 1953 Maccabiah Games and was named Outstanding Jewish World Athlete.[3]

Oberlander was named to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.[3]

Family

His son Ron served as president and CEO of Abitibi Consolidated. His son Philip followed in his father's footsteps, wrestling as a welterweight in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but did not win a medal.

See also

References

  1. "Oberlander, Fred B." Montreal Gazette. Postmedia Network. 8 July 1996. p. 7. Retrieved 13 January 2019 via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  2. "Biographical information". Olympedia. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 "Fred Oberlander". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  4. Cornish young wrestlers, Cornish Guardian, 5 September 1946, p5.
  5. "List of British Senior Champions from 1904 to 2001" (PDF). British Wrestling. Retrieved 31 December 2025.