Ely Culbertson(1891-1955)

Ely Culbertson was a bridge player who became the leader of contract bridge method (an alternative to the former one, auction bridge, derived from whist). At heart he was in fact an adventurer, who had gone through numerous ups and downs since his childhood. Born in Romania in 1891 of an American mining engineer father and a Russian mother (daughter of a Cossack), during his youth he briefly studied at Yale, Cornell, the Sorbonne and Geneva, yet basically learned from reading books he himself chose. He had a gift for languages and spoke several. He lived for a while in Russia and was involved in the 1907 Revolution, and in Mexican and Spanish uprisings where he probably put his Psychology, Politics and Economics studies to practice. He was fond of cards and played bridge, canasta, poker and chess. Back to the States he won a reputation as a bridge player. In 1923 he married Josephine Murphy Dillon, bridge teacher and feminine champion. During the 1930s they were probably the most famous bridge team, and their travels and activities received wide press coverage. They played at international tournaments partnering together. She later divorced him. Culbertson started a bridge magazine, lectured the club circuit, assembled a team worthy of a political campaign and produced books and devices (scoring pencils, card shufflers, etcetera) on bridge and the new contract method. When in 1931 he beat auction method rival Sidney Lenz, the balance definitively turned towards contract bridge. Culbertson also starred in a series of 6 short films (compiled as My Bridge Experiences (1933), to finally turn to politics advocating for world's peace.