Hilbert Van Dijk

{{short description|Australian fencer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Use Australian English|date=February 2014}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Hilbert Van Dijk

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| nationality = Australian

| birth_date = Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
{{birth date|df=yes|1918|9|24}}

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| death_date = Sydney, Australia.
{{death date and age|df=yes|2001|11|10|1918|9|24}}

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| height = 6 ft

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| sport = Olympic Fencing

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Hilbert Van Dijk (24 September 1918 – 10 November 2001) was a Dutch-born Australian fencer. He was the son of Hilbert "Arie" Van Dijk (1908–1944) of Amsterdam. He captained the team épée at the 1956 Summer Olympics.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/va/hilbert-van-dijk-1.html |title=Hilbert Van Dijk Olympic Results |accessdate=2010-10-13 |work=sports-reference.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103185349/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/va/hilbert-van-dijk-1.html |archivedate=3 November 2012 }}

Six-foot tall, and left-handed, Van Dijk was rated as among the six best épée fencers in Holland. Within a few weeks of his arrival in Australia, he joined the

Swords Club and won the New South Wales foils and épée championships. On the foundation of the Australian Fencing Association in 1949, he entered the first championships and won the first national titles in foils and épée. He won that title a second time as well as being New South Wales foils champion twice and New South Wales épée champion in five consecutive years from 1949 to 1953. In the 1950s he was a member of the All Nations Fencing Club in Sydney. He became a member of the New South Wales Olympic Council.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article189251028 |title=Naturalisations A Record |newspaper=The Biz |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=10 October 1956 |accessdate=27 August 2021 |page=27 |via=National Library of Australia}} Retrieved 27 August 2021.

In August 1953, Van Dijk married Mahdi Browning of Hunters Hill, New South Wales. A niece of the novelist Daphne du Maurier the wedding took place at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Macquarie Street, Sydney. Mahdi was a direct descendant of the English poet Robert Browning and was the daughter of Mr and Mrs Neil Browning of Hunters Hill.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18508411 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Sunday Herald (Sydney) |issue=240 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=30 August 1953 |accessdate=27 August 2021 |page=21 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Following the 1956 games Van Dijk joined Richard James Vandyke in the Real Estate company Vandyke and Vandyke at 32-34 The Boulevarde, Strathfield, New South Wales.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263255190 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Australian Jewish Times |volume=89A |issue=1 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=16 September 1982 |accessdate=3 March 2025 |page=48 |via=National Library of Australia}} He used his business partners spelling of his surname for the company rather than his own. He and his wife Mahdi had two children, Marguerite (1958–1992) and Hil, and lived for many years in Strathfield. His son Hil Van Dijk is an artist and is again based in Sydney.[https://www.manningrivertimes.com.au/story/1844155/artist-hil-van-dijk-is-a-finalist-in-this/ Artist Hil Van Dijk is a finalist in this years Blake Prize] Retrieved 27 August 2021.