Author, Businessman, Professional Gambler. Ely Culbertson received world-wide recognition for his accomplishments as a professional card player. Born Elie Almon Culbertson, he was the son of a Russian Cossack mother and an American mining engineer, who traveled around the world with his work. While studying in Russia as a teenager, he was captured while participating in the unsuccessful Russian Revolution of 1905, and while awaiting execution, he developed his card playing skills. Released from jail in 3 months, he used his gambling winnings to support his family, who were in exile in Paris, after his father's assets in Russia were seized by the government. As a young man, he was the organizer of the Ukrainian labor on railroad construction in Canadian Rockies, participated in a couple of revolutions in Spanish-speaking countries, and was in Paris during World War I. Although he never received a degree, he studied at several universities in Europe and the United States, developing expertise in political science, philosophy and psychology as well as mastering the languages of Russian, English, French, German, Italian, Czech and Spanish. As an American citizen, he settled in New York City in 1921 and in 1923 married a divorcee, Josephine Murphy Dillon, a tournament Auction Bridge player and instructor. Culbertson and his wife were a successful tournament team, and in the mid-1920s developed a new form of the game, Contract Bridge, which soon replaced Auction Bridge. Recognizing many commercial possibilities, in 1929 Culbertson founded a successful magazine, "The Bridge World", and also manufactured and distributed playing cards and supplies. One product, Kem cards, the first plastic playing cards, have been manufactured since 1934, and new designs are introduced each year. In the spring of 1930 in the first international bridge tournament, his team beat the English bridge team by 5,000 points, making Culbertson an international name associated with bridge. In 1933 and 1934 his teams received the Schwab Trophy. He became a syndicated Bridge a newspaper columnist. Showing the couple playing cards, he and his wife's oil-on-canvas portrait is exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Like many gamblers, his financial situation was erratic, going over and over again from what was considered rich to being in debt and penniless. Described in a 1954 edition of "Sport Illustrated" as "suave, quick-witted," he staged several "showdown" tournaments, using his flair for marketing to generate publicity that enhanced the popularity of Contract Bridge. From 1930 to 1950 while promoting card playing, Culbertson published more than 80 bestselling books and gave countless lectures on Bridge, Rummy and other card games. In June of 1937 in Budapest, he and his team failed in the final match of the first world championship tournament, and with his marriage becoming broken, this was the last time that he appeared at a tournament. After this, he published his 1940 693-page autobiography, "The Strange Lives of One Man." At the dawn of World War II, he left his card playing career and once again became political. He founded the non-profit organizations financed by donations, World Federation, Inc., and in 1946 the Citizens Committee for United Nations Reform, which advocated world peace by means of an international policing organization working with a budget of $100,000 of donations. He wrote "Total Peace" in 1943 and "Must We Fight Russia?" in 1946. To explain his position to the North Atlantic Treaty, in 1949 he was called to appear before the United State Senate's Committee of Foreign Relations. After a 1938 divorce, in January of 1947 he married Dorothy Renata Baehne and settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he died from the effects of emphysema at the age of 64. He had two children with each wife. When the Bridge Hall of Fame was created in 1964, Culbertson was its first inductee. His magazine "The Bridge World" is still published and is also available in an online edition.
Author, Businessman, Professional Gambler. Ely Culbertson received world-wide recognition for his accomplishments as a professional card player. Born Elie Almon Culbertson, he was the son of a Russian Cossack mother and an American mining engineer, who traveled around the world with his work. While studying in Russia as a teenager, he was captured while participating in the unsuccessful Russian Revolution of 1905, and while awaiting execution, he developed his card playing skills. Released from jail in 3 months, he used his gambling winnings to support his family, who were in exile in Paris, after his father's assets in Russia were seized by the government. As a young man, he was the organizer of the Ukrainian labor on railroad construction in Canadian Rockies, participated in a couple of revolutions in Spanish-speaking countries, and was in Paris during World War I. Although he never received a degree, he studied at several universities in Europe and the United States, developing expertise in political science, philosophy and psychology as well as mastering the languages of Russian, English, French, German, Italian, Czech and Spanish. As an American citizen, he settled in New York City in 1921 and in 1923 married a divorcee, Josephine Murphy Dillon, a tournament Auction Bridge player and instructor. Culbertson and his wife were a successful tournament team, and in the mid-1920s developed a new form of the game, Contract Bridge, which soon replaced Auction Bridge. Recognizing many commercial possibilities, in 1929 Culbertson founded a successful magazine, "The Bridge World", and also manufactured and distributed playing cards and supplies. One product, Kem cards, the first plastic playing cards, have been manufactured since 1934, and new designs are introduced each year. In the spring of 1930 in the first international bridge tournament, his team beat the English bridge team by 5,000 points, making Culbertson an international name associated with bridge. In 1933 and 1934 his teams received the Schwab Trophy. He became a syndicated Bridge a newspaper columnist. Showing the couple playing cards, he and his wife's oil-on-canvas portrait is exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Like many gamblers, his financial situation was erratic, going over and over again from what was considered rich to being in debt and penniless. Described in a 1954 edition of "Sport Illustrated" as "suave, quick-witted," he staged several "showdown" tournaments, using his flair for marketing to generate publicity that enhanced the popularity of Contract Bridge. From 1930 to 1950 while promoting card playing, Culbertson published more than 80 bestselling books and gave countless lectures on Bridge, Rummy and other card games. In June of 1937 in Budapest, he and his team failed in the final match of the first world championship tournament, and with his marriage becoming broken, this was the last time that he appeared at a tournament. After this, he published his 1940 693-page autobiography, "The Strange Lives of One Man." At the dawn of World War II, he left his card playing career and once again became political. He founded the non-profit organizations financed by donations, World Federation, Inc., and in 1946 the Citizens Committee for United Nations Reform, which advocated world peace by means of an international policing organization working with a budget of $100,000 of donations. He wrote "Total Peace" in 1943 and "Must We Fight Russia?" in 1946. To explain his position to the North Atlantic Treaty, in 1949 he was called to appear before the United State Senate's Committee of Foreign Relations. After a 1938 divorce, in January of 1947 he married Dorothy Renata Baehne and settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he died from the effects of emphysema at the age of 64. He had two children with each wife. When the Bridge Hall of Fame was created in 1964, Culbertson was its first inductee. His magazine "The Bridge World" is still published and is also available in an online edition.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/245/ely-culbertson: accessed
), memorial page for Ely Culbertson (22 Jul 1891–27 Dec 1955), Find a Grave Memorial ID 245, citing Meeting House Hill Cemetery, Brattleboro,
Windham County,
Vermont,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Ely Culbertson
Fulfill Photo Request for Ely Culbertson
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
This memorial already has a grave photo. Please indicate why you think it needs another.
There is no plot information for this memorial. Your photo request is more likely to be fulfilled if you contact the cemetery to get the plot information and include it with your request.
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.