Culbertson, Ely

Culbertson, Ely (ē`lē kŭl`bərtsən), 1891–1955, American authority on contract bridge, b. Romania. His father was an American engineer then living in Romania, and his mother was of Russian parentage. Culbertson introduced the first successful system of bidding in contract bridge, wrote numerous books on the game, edited Bridge World magazine, wrote a widely read newspaper column on bridge, and won many bridge tournaments. After World War II he wrote and lectured on world peace, setting forth his plans in the book Must We Fight Russia? (1947).

Bibliography

See his autobiography, The Strange Lives of One Man (1940), and his Contract Bridge for Everyone, ed. by V. Mollo (rev. ed. 1969).

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Culbertson, Ely (1891–1955) bridge authority; born in Romania. The son of an American mining engineer and a Russian woman, he developed contract bridge's first successful bidding system and established himself as the world's best player in a 1931–32 win. A revolutionary as a youth, he devised a 1940 peace plan including ideas later adopted by the United Nations.