Imre Zichy


Count Imre Zichy de Zich et Vásonkeő was a Hungarian left-handed amateur tennis player, count and inventor. He was related to the Hungarian Asian explorer Jenő Zichy. During the Second World War he emigrated to Spain where he died at the age of 90. He was a member of the Hungary Davis Cup team between 1933–34 and was mainly a doubles and mixed doubles player winning several titles during his career. He was also a three-times national doubles champion.

Biography

Count Zichy was born in the family property at Sárszentmihály, being the fifth son of Count Raphael Zichy and wife, née Margravine Edina Pallavicini, and lived in Hungary until 1943, when he moved to Madrid and stay there for the rest of his life. On 29 August 1947, he married in Enschede Dutch divorcée Edith Marie Ledeboer, formerly Mrs. Oswald, and had a single child:
In 1957 he invented the reversing light for cars and its operating system. Imre Zichy died on 28 September 1999 in Madrid. His funeral was held at the San Agustín del Guadalix Church on 26 October 1999.

Tennis career

Count Zichy started his tennis career by competing in the Hungarian Junior Championships where he was a runner-up for the doubles and third in singles in 1929. Later he won the Hungarian National Tennis Championships in doubles and in mixed doubles. He also won the Hungarian International Tennis Championships in doubles in 1931 and 1932. He kept playing tennis in Spain.

Doubles

Titles

Runner-up

Mixed

Titles

Runner-up

Davis Cup

Friendly/Exhibition matches

OutcomeDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Draw1931Cluj-NapocaN/A Michael Cantacuzène6–6

Ancestry