Hans Baumann (handball)

His Excellency Hans Baumann
2nd President of International Handball Federation
In office 9 September 1950 – 7 February 1971
Preceded by	Gösta Björk
Succeeded by	Paul Högberg
Vice-President of International Handball Federation
In office 11 July 1946 – 9 September 1950 Serving with Charles Petit-Montgobert
President	Gösta Björk
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Charles Petit-Montgobert Palle Kristensen
Personal details
Born	1906 Basel (Switzerland)
Died	7 February 1971(1971-02-07) (aged 64–65) Basel (Switzerland)
Cause of death	Heart attack
Occupation	Sports Administrator
Profession	Architect

Hans Baumann (1906 – 7 February 1971), was a Swiss architect and sports administrator who was one of the founding members of the International Handball Federation. He served as the second President of the International Handball Federation (IHF) from 1950 to 1971. He currently holds the record of serving longest term as the head of the IHF (21 years).

Biography

Born in Basel, Baumann is architect by profession. He was elected as IHF President in the 3rd IHF Congress held in Vienna (Austria) on 9 September 1950 and succeeded Gösta Björk (Sweden). Then onwards, he was continuously elected unopposed as IHF President until his death. He also served as the Vice-President of IHF from 1946 to 1950 along with Charles Petit-Montgobert (France) under the presidency of Gösta Björk (Sweden). He was also a member of management committee of Swiss Handball Association since 1939.

Baumann's main aim was to see handball again on the Olympic Programme which he also completed but not able to witness it himself. He died due to heart attack in Basel (Switzerland) on 7 February 1971, one year and a half before the Olympic Handball Tournament in Munich.

After his death and seeing his great contribution to the development of handball worldwide, the IHF Council and Royal Spanish Handball Federation together created an award named Hans Baumann Trophy which would be awarded biannually during IHF Congress to the member federations for their outstanding contribution to the development of Handball in their country or through world. In 2016, the award was re-established and renamed by IHF Council as IHF President's Development Award.