Russ Chauvenet
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Louis Russell "Russ" Chauvenet (February 12, 1920 – June 24, 2003) was one of the founders of science fiction fandom, as an early member of Boston's Stranger Club. He coined the word fanzine in the October 1940 issue of his fanzine Detours and was for many years a member of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA). He also coined "prozine," a term for professionally published magazines containing science fiction stories.
Chauvenet, a dedicated chess player, reached the level of Expert, a rating better than nine out of 10 chess players involved in tournament play. He was the U.S. Amateur Champion in 1959, and received the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (World Chess Federation) International Master title in the 1990s. He also wrote columns for Chess Life.
In 1991, Chauvenet won the fourth National Deaf Championship, in Austin, Texas. In 1992, at Edinburgh, Scotland, the International Committee of Silent Chess awarded him its Grandmaster title. He also won three National Tournaments of the Deaf, at Chicago in 1980, Washington, D.C. in 1983 and Rochester in 1987.
Chauvenet was also an enthusiastic sailor who built his own Windmill class sailboat and participated in regattas.
He become completely deaf in 1930 at age 10, after suffering cerebro-spinal meningitis. He attended Central Institute for the Deaf and Wright Oral School, and went on to Harvard, Boston College and the University of Virginia, receiving a bachelor of science in biology and a master of science in chemistry from Virginia.
Professionally, Chauvenet worked with computers as a civilian employee of the U.S. Department of Defense from 1948 until his retirement.
