The Metropolitan Division salutes Maria Cerra Tishman, a long-time member of the Division and a cornerstone of women's fencing in the United States. She was a member of the 1948 US Olympic Fencing Team where she finished 4th in the individual event.

Above: Maria Tishman fences Gytte Minton of Great Britain before the final round at the 1948 Olympics

 

Left: Final scores at the 1948 Olympics; Maria fenced under her maiden name, Cerra (bottom row) By the rules of the time, Maria finished fourth at the Olympics due to indicators - she tied for second in victories. In our national championships, she won once (1945) and was bronze medalist four times in the individual and nine times gold medalist in the team event. Maria was also NIWFA champion for Hunter College (1938, '40).

 

And she set some important precedents for women in fencing: she was the first woman to officiate at a national final (1949) and first female member of the Olympic fencing committee (1965). Right: Maria's official Olympic team photo Maria was one of the original inductees into the USFA Hall of Fame but at the time the fencers were given no memento in recognition of this. Currently, new inductees are given a plaque. Her son, Jeff, had asked the USFA Hall of Fame committee if they could belatedly give her a plaque in recognition of her induction. The committee did not have any funds in its budget to cover even this small cost and turned to the Metropolitan Division. We're proud to be able to make this small gesture in recognition of this amazing pioneer of our sport.

Maria's entire family was (and continues to be) devoted to our sport: all three of her sons fenced, Jeff was USFA Historian, and Tom is currently chair of the NJ Division. Her late husband was once treasurer of the USFA.