Background
Von Zedtwitz was born in Berlin, Germany. His mother was from Kentucky and his father was of the minor nobility of Saxony.
Von Zedtwitz was born in Berlin, Germany. His mother was from Kentucky and his father was of the minor nobility of Saxony.
He was educated at Berlin and Bern, and later served in the German cavalry during World War I. He became a naturalized American citizen.
He was a lexicographer and linguist. von Zedtwitz was a keen backgammon player, winning a major tournament at age 82. He lived for 47 years in New York City before relocating to Hawaii in 1977. He died in Hawaii in 1984.
Von Zedtwitz was 1932 president of the American Bridge League, one of the organizations whose merger established the American Contract Bridge League in 1937.
The ACBL credits him with saving it by his emergency service as president in 1948 and 1949. Von Zedtwitz was named to its hall of fame by The Bridge World in 1966, which brought the number of members to nine.
Honors Wins Runners-up North American Bridge Championships von Zedtwitz Master Pairs (2) 1933, 1939 Wernher Open Pairs (2) 1938, 1953 Fall National Open Pairs (3) 1933, 1942, 1955 Vanderbilt (6) 1937, 1938, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1960 Spingold (1) 1933 Masters Team of 4 (1) 1936 Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1952 Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (3) 1933, 1935, 1956 Reisinger (7) 1930, 1933, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1964 Spingold (5) 1940, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1963.
ACBL Hall of Fame, 1966 North American Bridge Championships (20) Master Individual (1) 1936 von Zedtwitz Master Pairs (1) 1930 Wernher Open Pairs (1) 1946 Fall National Open Pairs (2) 1928, 1937 Vanderbilt (3) 1930, 1932, 1940 Barclay Trophy (1) 1948 Spingold (1) 1930 Masters Team of 4 (1) 1937 Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (4) 1940, 1942, 1945, 1965 Reisinger (2) 1932, 1945 Spingold (3) 1941, 1947, 1953.
They were made founding members of the ACBL Hall of Fame in 1995.
