Ladislav Hecht (August 31, 1909 – May 27, 2004) was a Jewish professional tennis player, well known for representing Czechoslovakia in the Davis Cup during the 1930s.
He was born in Zsolna, Upper Hungary (now Žilina, Slovakia) in 1909, and developed a successful tennis career, some considering him to be the best tennis player in Europe immediately before the Second World War. He then fled to the United States before Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939, working in a munitions factory during World War II.
After the war he continued his tennis career, becoming a #1 ranked player in the eastern United States. He continued on starting toy and paintbrush businesses, and later in life was honored by the city of Bratislava, having a new multisport stadium named after him in 1966.
Famous quotes containing the word hecht:
“Samuel Sewall, in a world of wigs,
Flouted opinion in his personal hair;
For foppery he gave not any figs,
But in his right and honor took the air.”
—Anthony Hecht (b. 1923)