Lajos
Göncz de Gönc
Male
Hungary
1887-06-16
Kőszeg, Hungary
1974-10-14
Budapest, Hungary
Adapted slightly from Wikipedia, at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajos_G%C3%B6ncz
Lajos Göncz was born into a Roman Catholic family of noble origin in Kőszeg, in modern-day Hungary. He was the son of Árpád Göncz, Sr. (1858-1928), who was Deputy Secretary of State, and Natália Fejér de Mankóbük (c. 1870-1943). Lajos had four elder sisters: Etelka, Natália, Emma and Gabriella.
The Göncz family had its origins in Csáktornya, in Zala County (modern-day Čakovec in Croatia), where his grandfather, Lajos Göncz, Sr., was a pharmacist who later took part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Following his side’s defeat, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
In 1924, Göncz took part in the Summer Olympics in Paris. In the men’s singles event he was beaten in the second round by René Lacoste, who won 6-0, 6-0, 6-1. In the men’s doubles event Göncz and Kálmán Kirchmayr, were defeated by the Americans R. Norris Williams and Watson Washburn, who won 6-1, 6-0, 6-0.
During his amateur tennis career, Lajos Göncz was a senior official at Magyar Posta, the Hungarian Post Office. After his career as an amateur tennis player, Göncz became a coach and lecturer at the Hungarian Royal College of Physical Education. In the early 1930s, as a member of the Hungarian Tennis Association, he was head coach of Hungary’s national junior team.
Göncz married Ilona Haimann (b. 1892) in Budapest. A Unitarian, she was born in Transylvania but raised in the capital city after spending some years in an orphanage. She had Jewish and Székely roots. Their only child, a son called Árpád, was born on 10 February 1922. Lajos Göncz and Ilona Heimann divorced when Árpád was six years old. As a result Göncz subsequently had a difficult relationship with his son.
After the divorce, his ex-wife and son lived in his parents’ house, where the woman was treated as a second-class family member. Later, Árpád Göncz recalled that: “My father was a source of pain to me... There was no intimate, close and loving relationship between us.” Lajos Göncz died in Budapest in October 1974 at the age of 87.
1923 - 1926
1
10
4
1926 - Budapest Championships (Amateur)
Round 3
Paul Brick 1 *
Lajos Göncz de Gönc
6-1
6-3
Quarterfinals
Lajos Göncz de Gönc 1 *
Dr Gheorge Luppu
6-2
6-3
Semifinals
Lajos Göncz de Gönc 1 *
Hermann Wilhelm Artens
8-6
0-6
6-4
Final
Lajos Göncz de Gönc 1 *
Dr Waldemar Peter Munk
6-2
6-0
Semifinals
Kamill Fittler 1 *
Lajos Göncz de Gönc
?
Round 3
Lajos Göncz de Gönc 1 *
Dr. G. Hanel
6-1
6-3
Round 4
Umberto de Morpurgo 1 *
Lajos Göncz de Gönc
6-3
6-1
Round 2
Rene Lacoste 1 *
Lajos Göncz de Gönc
6-0
6-0
6-1
Final
Bela Von Kehrling 1 *
Lajos Göncz de Gönc
6-2
6-4
Final
Bela Von Kehrling 1 *
Lajos Göncz de Gönc
6-2
6-4