Education
Born in Brooklyn, Chakin studied education at Cornell University, graduating in 1926.
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Alfred Chakin
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A fine athlete, he was the star of Cornell"s wrestling team and just missed being named to the 1924 United States Olympic wrestling team During the 1930s, he worked as a physical education instructor at City College of New York and coach of the college"s wrestling team He was an active participant in the College Teachers Union and Anti-Fascist Association.
In July, 1936, Chakin went to Barcelona as coach of the American team at the People"s Olympiad, an international athletic meet organized to protest the official Olympics held that summer in Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany.
On July 19, two days before the games were scheduled to begin, as Chakin and the rest of the team were preparing to leave for the stadium to train, rebel troops tried to take control of Barcelona in a military coup. The Spanish Civil War had begun.
The games were cancelled, and Chakin returned to the United States with the rest of the team In 1937, Chakin left his position at City College to join the International Brigades fighting on the side of the Spanish Republic.
He served as armorer with the mostly-Canadian Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.
He was captured by Fascist forces on March 17, 1938 near Caspe as the XV International Brigade retreated from Teruel, and was executed a few days later.
