Viktor Barna

Viktor Győző Barna[1] (Braun) (24 August 1911, in Budapest, Austria-Hungary – 27 February 1972) was a Hungarian and British champion table tennis player as well as a record five times singles World Champion.

Viktor Barna
Full nameBARNA Victor
Nationality Hungary  England
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  England
World Championships
1954 Wembley Doubles
1954 Wembley Mixed Doubles
1953 Bucharest Doubles
1952 Bombay Doubles
1952 Bombay Mixed Doubles
1949 Stockholm Men's Team
1948 Wembley Doubles
1947 Paris Doubles
1947 Paris Mixed Doubles
1939 Cairo Doubles
Representing  Hungary
World Championships
1938 Wembley Singles
1938 Wembley Doubles
1938 Wembley Men's Team
1937 Baden Men's Team
1936 Prague Men's Team
1935 Wembley Singles
1935 Wembley Doubles
1935 Wembley Mixed Doubles
1935 Wembley Men's Team
1934 Paris Singles
1934 Paris Doubles
1934 Paris Mixed Doubles
1934 Paris Men's Team
1933 Baden Singles
1933 Baden Doubles
1933 Baden Mixed Doubles
1933 Baden Men's Team
1932 Prague Singles
1932 Prague Doubles
1932 Prague Mixed Doubles
1932 Prague Men's Team
1931 Budapest Singles
1931 Budapest Doubles
1931 Budapest Mixed Doubles
1931 Budapest Men's Team
1930 Berlin Singles
1930 Berlin Doubles
1930 Berlin Mixed Doubles
1930 Berlin Men's Team
1929 Budapest Doubles
1929 Budapest Men's Team

He won 41 World Championship medals and also won 20 English Open titles.

Personal life

Barna's birth name was Győző Braun, but, because of anti-Semitism in Hungary at the time, he changed his name to a Hungarian-sounding name. In September 1939, during the outbreak of the Second World War, he and his wife were in America. Barna returned to Europe, in order to fight against the Nazis. He joined the British army as a parachutist, and fought in Yugoslavia. After the British withdrew from Yugoslavia, Barna remained in England. After the war he settled with his wife in London. He became a British national in 1952. Later he became a representative for the Dunlop Sports Company and continued traveling the world in this capacity. It was during one of these tours in 1972 that he succumbed to a heart attack in Lima, Peru.

His brother Tibor Barna was the 1940 Hungarian table tennis national champion.[2]

Writing

In 1962 he published the book Table Tennis Today (London: Arthur Barker) and in 1971 Your Book of Table Tennis ISBN 978-0-571-09345-8. In 1957 he published the book "How to win at Table Tennis" (London: Pitman) ISBN 978-0-273-41699-9[3]

Hall of fame

Barna, who was Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.

Barna was inducted into the International Table Tennis Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993.[4]

See also

References
  1. Table Tennis. Time Magazine. 4 February 1935
  2. "The History of Sport and Physical Education among the Jewish People in Hungary in the Last 120 Years". ISOH.
  3. Amazon
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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