Gottfried von Cramm was a German tennis player. From 1931 to 1952 he represented Germany in various international tournaments.
He twice won the French Championships, and five times reached the final of a Grand Slam singles tournament. He also won the French Championship and U.S. Championships doubles in 1397, and Wimbledon’s mixed doubles in 1933. He is also known for his subtle resistance to Nazism in the late 1930s, and subsequent arrest and imprisonment for homosexuality.
He was the third son of Baron Burchard von Cramm and was raised in a castle. He began playing tennis on his family’s property at ten years old. Though he was referred to as "The Baron" on the court, Cramm preferred to distance himself from his wealthy background. Those who played against him frequently commented on his courtesy and good manners on the court.
Despite the constant pressure of the German government on sportsmen to show the superiority of the "German race", Cramm remained polite and respectful on the court, regardless if he won or lost his matches.
During the 1930s, Cramm had an affair with Jewish actor Manasse Herbst, who then blackmailed him by threatening that he’d expose their relationship. Somehow this became known to the German government, leading to Cramm’s arrest in 1938 on charges of homosexuality. He confessed to the relationship and was sentenced to a year in prison. However, Cramm’s popularity both with the German public and the tennis community worldwide would be his saving grace. Dozens of tennis players signed a petition for his freedom, which was sent to Hitler himself, and even King Gustaf V of Sweden put in a word with the German government for his friend. Cramm was released after serving 6 months.
He was conscripted into the German army following his release from prison but was later dismissed after suffering frostbite on the Eastern Front.
Though he admitted to having a sexual relationship with a man, it is most likely that Cramm was bi. He sought permission from his father to marry his first wife, Baroness Elisabeth "Lisa" von Dobeneck, who had been his childhood sweetheart and who he would later claim he "loved forever". However, the pair divorced in 1937 after six years of marriage. Cramm later remarried wealthy American socialite Barbara Woolworth Hutton, though they too divorced, as he felt he could no longer help her through her alcoholism and depression.
On November 8th, 1976, Cramm and his driver died in a car crash in Cairo, Egypt. As a mark of respect to the tennis legend, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame the following year.