Honored Coach of the USSR in fencing Leonid Leitman has died

Leonid Leitman has died at the age of 95 — a silver medalist at the 1957 World Championship and founder of the «Musketeers of Setun» school. His death was announced by the Russian Fencing Federation. Condolences to his family and loved ones were expressed by the sporting community.

Otabek YusupovFirst published on tafs uz 8 November 2026 at 01:462 min read

The key facts

Leonid Leitman died at the age of 95; the cause of death was not specified
In 1957 he won silver at the World Championship in Paris in the team sabre event
The «Musketeers of Setun» school he founded trained 74 Masters of Sport of the USSR and four Masters of Sport of International Class between 1958 and 1986

The Fencing Federation announced the death of Leonid Leitman

Honored Coach of the USSR in fencing Leonid Leitman has died at the age of 95. His death was announced by the Russian Fencing Federation — in its press release and Telegram channel; the cause of death was not specified. «The memory of Leonid Grigoryevich will forever remain in the hearts of colleagues, students, and everyone who knew him and valued his work,» Life.ru quotes the organization as saying in its publication.

Sporting career and the «Musketeers of Setun» school

Leitman was born on August 2, 1931, took up fencing from an early age, competed for Moscow's Dynamo, and won Soviet youth championships. In 1954 he graduated from the Russian University of Sport «SCOLIFK» — these details are added by Gazeta.Ru. The main achievement of his career was the silver medal at the 1957 World Championship in Paris, won in the team sabre event. From 1958, Leitman moved into coaching: in the working settlement of Setun he founded the «Musketeers of Setun» school, which became one of the strongest in the Soviet Union. Between 1958 and 1986, it trained four Masters of Sport of International Class and 74 Masters of Sport of the USSR. Among his students, Gazeta.Ru names world champion Alexander Nikishin.

Methodological legacy

Leitman was also known as a researcher of fencing technique: he was among the first in the world to use film footage to analyze athletes' movements and wrote methodological manuals. The federation noted that specialists still rely on his analytical materials and manuals, and that he himself «knew how to see sport from within while simultaneously evaluating it by strict objective criteria.» For his services to domestic sport he received the titles of Honored Coach of the RSFSR and the USSR and became an international-category referee. According to Life.ru, in August of this year, Honored Coach of Russia in fencing Faina Sayevich also died at the age of 89, having trained more than 40 Masters of Sport in Saint Petersburg.