Culbertson, Ely

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Ely Culbertson (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).

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