| Žarko Dolinar | |
| Birth Date: | 3 July 1920 |
| Birth Place: | Koprivnica, Yugoslavia |
| Death Date: | 9 March 2003 (aged 82) |
| Death Place: | Basel, Switzerland |
| Medaltemplates: | |
Žarko Dolinar (3 July 1920 – 9 March 2003) was a Croatian biologist and table tennis player who won eight medals at the World Table Tennis Championships.[1]
He was born in a family of Slovene economic immigrants to Croatia.[2] In 1939, at the age of 18 he became the national champion of Yugoslavia.[3] Dolinar was champion of the Independent State of Croatia multiple times, and also competed for its national team on nine occasions.[4]
He also won three English Open titles.
Dolinar is one of few world sporting champions with a Ph.D. degree. He graduated from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 1949, and received a doctorate in 1959.[5] He was world doubles champion with his partner, Vilim Harangozo. Dolinar was also head of the Sports Science Committee for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
A university professor in both Zagreb and Basel, Dolinar and his brother Boris were honored as the Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jews during World War II. On a number of occasions, the Dolinar brothers provided Jews with forged identity documents and travel permits, used their connections to have them released from imprisonment, and helped them travel to safety.[6]
In 2016, Dolinar was inducted into the European Table Tennis Hall of Fame.[7]