Gustavus Town Kirby
{{short description|American lawyer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name =Gustavus Town Kirby
| image =Gustavus Town Kirby, President of the American Olympic Committee.jpg
| alt =
| caption =Kirby circa 1914
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1874|1|22}}
| birth_place =Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| parents=| spouse=Wilhelmine Stewart Claflin (1884-1941)
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|2|28|1874|1|22}}
| death_place =Bedford Hills, New York
| death_cause =
| education =Columbia University
Columbia University Law School
| order =
| office =President of the Amateur Athletic Union
| term_start =1911
| term_end =1912
| predecessor =George Franklin Pawling
| successor =Alfred John Lill, Jr.
| office2 =President of the United States Olympic Committee
| term_start2 =1920
| term_end2 =1924
| predecessor2 =Robert Means Thompson
| successor2 = Robert Means Thompson
}}
Gustavus Town Kirby (January 22, 1874 - February 28, 1956) was the president of the Amateur Athletic Union from 1911 to 1913.{{cite news |title=G.T. Kirby Elected President Of A.A.U. Columbia University Man Defeats George W. Pawling for Athletic Office |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/11/21/104843554.pdf |newspaper=New York Times |date=November 21, 1911 |access-date=2013-12-30 }} He was on every United States Olympic Committee from 1896 to 1956. He was chairman of the advisory committee for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America from 1896 to 1928.{{cite web |url= http://sports.nyhistory.org/gustavus-kirby/ |title= Gustavus Town Kirby |access-date=2013-12-30 |author=Bill Shannon |publisher=New-York Historical Society }}
Biography
He was born on January 22, 1874, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He attended Columbia University, where he was on the track team from 1893 to 1895. While in college he organized a committee to send athletes to the 1896 Summer Olympics. He then attended Columbia University Law School. In 1896 he won the Intercollegiate Fencing Association championship.
Around 1912 he married Wilhelmine Stewart Dunn-Claflin (1885–1941).
He was president of the United States Olympic Committee for the 1920 Summer Olympics and the chairman for the 1924 Summer Olympics.
He became a widower in 1941 when his wife died at the LeRoy Sanitarium in New York City.{{cite news |title=Mrs. Gustavus Kirby, Sport Leader's Wife. Daughter Of John Claflin Was Member Of Colony Club |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/12/24/archives/mrs-gustavus-k1rby-sport-leaders-wife-daughter-of-john-claflin-was.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=December 24, 1941 |access-date=2013-12-30 }}
He died in Bedford Hills, New York, on February 28, 1956.{{cite news |title=Gustavus Kirby, Leader In Sports. 'Elder Statesman' of Amateur Athletes Dead. Served on Olympic, A.A.U. Groups. Familiar Figure at Events. Found Time to Compete. Raised Fund in Ten Days |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/02/29/archives/gustavus-kirby-leader-in-sports-elderstatesman-of-amateur-athletes.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=February 29, 1956 |access-date=2021-01-25 }} He was buried in Saint Matthew's Episcopal Churchyard in Bedford, New York.
Footnotes
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline}}
- {{Find a Grave|86553722}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Presidents of the United States Olympic Committee}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Gustavus Town}}
Category:United States Olympic Committee
Category:Columbia Law School alumni
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:Lawyers from Philadelphia
Category:People from Bedford Hills, New York
Category:19th-century American Episcopalians