Early Life
Lichtenfeld was born on May 26, 1910, to a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He grew up in Bratislava, Slovakia. His father, Samuel Lichtenfeld, was a chief inspector on the Bratislava police force and a former circus acrobat. Lichtenfeld trained at the Hercules Gymnasium, which was owned by his father, who taught self-defense. As a young man, Lichtenfeld was a successful boxer and wrestler. He competed at national and international levels and was a champion and member of the Slovakian National Wrestling Team. In 1928, he won the Slovakian Youth Wrestling Championship, and in 1929, the adult championship in the light and middleweight divisions. That year, he also won the national boxing championship and an international gymnastics championship.
Read more about this topic: Imi Lichtenfeld
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