Žarko Dolinar

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Žarko Dolinar
Žarko Dolinar 1955.jpg
Žarko Dolinar at the 1955 World Championships
Personal information
Nationality Yugoslavia
Born3 July 1920
Koprivnica, Yugoslavia
Died9 March 2003 (aged 82)
Basel, Switzerland
Medal record

Žarko Dolinar (3 July 1920 – 9 March 2003), Ph.D., was a biologist and table tennis player who won eight medals at the World Table Tennis Championships.[1]

He was born in a family of Slovene economic immigrants to Croatia.[2] In 1939, at the age of 18 he became the national champion of Yugoslavia.[3] Dolinar was champion of the Independent State of Croatia multiple times, and also competed for its national team on nine occasions.[4]

He also won three English Open titles.

Dolinar is the only world sporting champion with a Ph.D. degree.[5] He graduated from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 1949, and received a doctorate in 1959.[6] He was world doubles champion with his partner, Vilim Harangozo. Dolinar was also head of the Sports Science Committee for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

A university professor in both Zagreb and Basel, Dolinar and his brother Boris were honored as the Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jews during World War II. On a number of occasions, the Dolinar brothers provided Jews with forged identity documents and travel permits, used their connections to have them released from imprisonment, and helped them travel to safety.[7]

In 2016, Dolinar was inducted into the European Table Tennis Hall of Fame.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "DOLINAR Zarko (YUG) " Archived 16 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. ITTF Database
  2. ^ Vera Krzisnik Bukic (2006). "Znameniti Slovenci na Hrvaškem skozi zgodovino". CEEOL Migration and Ethnic Themes. 22 (4): 421–445.
  3. ^ Povijest hrvatskog stolnog tenisa (History of Croatian Table Tennis). hsts.hr
  4. ^ "ŽARKO DOLINAR. 1920 – 2003" (PDF). Društvene obavijesti. 93/94: 11. 2003.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Zarko Dolinar". European Table Tennis Hall of Fame. European Table Tennis Union. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  6. ^ "U 83. godini umro Žarko Dolinar, slavni stolnotenisač i znanstvenik". index.hr
  7. ^ "Boris and Žarko Dolinar". yadvashem.org. Yad Vashem. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

External links[]

Awards
Preceded by
Perica Vlašić
Yugoslav Sportsman of the Year
1954
Succeeded by
Bernard Vukas
Retrieved from ""