James Margolis

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| name = James Margolis

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| fullname = James Arthur Margolis

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|7|17}}

| birth_place = New York, New York, United States

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| sport = Fencing

| event = Epee

| collegeteam = Columbia University

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James Arthur Margolis (born July 17, 1936) is an American Olympic épée fencer.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418043337/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/james-margolis-1.html "James Margolis Bio, Stats, and Results,"] Olympics at Sports-Reference.com

Early life

Margolis was born in New York, New York, and is Jewish.Bob Wechsler. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aOTWUl-9LQoC&dq=james+margolis+jewish&pg=PA123 Day by Day in Jewish Sports History]Bernard Postal, Jesse Silver, Roy Silver. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AgmDAAAAMAAJ&q=%22james+margolis%22+jewish Encyclopedia of Jews in Sports] His brother Don also fenced for Columbia University, coming in third in the NCAA nationals in épée in 1963.[http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19630415-01.2.28 15 April 1963] Columbia Daily Spectator. He later lived in Teaneck, New Jersey.[https://books.google.com/books?id=p38qAAAAMAAJ&q=%22james+margolis%22+fencer Amateur Athlete]

Fencing career

He fenced for the Columbia Lions fencing team. Margolis was the 1957 NCAA épée champion, as well as the 1957 IFA champion, fencing as a junior for Columbia University, from which he graduated in 1958.Jay V. Bavishi. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uQ2CAAAAMAAJ&q=%22james+margolis%22+fencer Ivies in Athens: the deep bond between two great sporting traditions: the Olympic Games and the Ivy League][http://www.gocolumbialions.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9600&ATCLID=211209585 "Hall of Fame Series: James Margolis '58CC & 1954 Men's Fencing - Columbia University Lions"] He was All-Ivy League in 1957 and 1958, All-American in 1957, and Eastern Champion in épée in 1957. He then joined the U.S. Navy, and became a Lieutenant.United States Olympic Committee. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MQSCAAAAMAAJ&q=%22james+margolis%22+fencer Report: Games of the Olympiad]

In 1960, Margolis placed third in epee at the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) national tournament.

Margolis also competed on behalf of the United States in the individual and team épée events at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.{{cite Sports-Reference|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/james-margolis-1.html |title=James Margolis |access-date=November 8, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104004636/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/james-margolis-1.html |archivedate=November 4, 2012 }} He was the Ivy League's first Olympian in fencing.[http://ivy50.com/womens/story.aspx?sid=1/16/2007 "Ivy Women in Sports"]

He competed in the 1960 Pan American Games. Margolis won a gold medal in team épée at the 1963 Pan American Games.Martin Harry Greenberg. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1K4UAQAAIAAJ&q=%22james+margolis%22+jewish The Jewish lists: physicists and generals, actors and writers, and hundreds of other lists of accomplished Jews]

Margolis was inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame.

After his fencing career concluded, Margolis worked in the life insurance business for 40 years, and served as manager at the Brookline Emergency Food Pantry, a food shelter for individuals, families, and seniors in need.