- Sidney Merlin
Sidney Louis Walter Merlin ( _el. Σίδνεϋ Μέρλιν,
April 26 ,1856 - 1952) was a Britishbotanist and sports shooter. He competed at the1896 Summer Olympics and the 1906 Intercalated Games inAthens .Life
His family had lived in Greece since the 1830s, where his father, Charles William Louis Merlin, was director of the Ionian Bank. Sidney was born in
Piraeus , and married Zaira Theotokis, the daughter of the Corfiot Prime MinisterGeorgios Theotokis .In the 1896 Olympics, Merlin competed in four of the five events. In the military rifle, he placed tenth with 1,156 points. His first (of four) string of 10 shots resulted in a score of 477. His score and place in the free rifle are unknown, but he did not win a medal. After two out of the five strings of 6 shots in the military pistol event, Merlin quit the competition. Similarly, he did not finish the rapid fire pistol event. He also participated in the men's trap shooting at the 1900 Paris Games, where he came joint seventh with five other athletes. At the 1906 Games, he participated in all shooting ecents, coming first and third in the men's trap, double shot and single shot.
In Greece, Sidney Merlin is best known for two botanological achievements. In ca. 1925, he introduced the "Washington Navel" orange variety to his estate in Corfu. To this day, it is known in Greece as "Merlin". He also introduced the
kumquat tree, which is used in Corfu to make the kumquat sweet, one of the specialties of Corfiot cuisine.Sources
* [http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/me/sidney-merlin-1.html Sidney Merlin at "Sportsreference.com"]
* [http://www.e-city.gr/corfu/home/view/2306.php Merlin Estate]
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