His mother drew a game with José Raúl Capablanca in his simultaneous exhibition in October 1925 in Berlin.
His father had a friendly relationship with Alexander Alekhine who gave paid chess lessons to the child prodigy in Paris.
The Jewish family left Nazi Germany in 1933 for France, and then - during World War II - emigrated to Venezuela, where Gert changed his name to Gerardo and became a Venezuelan citizen in the early 1950s.
From 1980, Dr. Budowski was instrumental in the development of the University for Peace, not only did he start the Environmental programme but he also served in positions such as Interim Rector and Vice-Rector.
[4] Dr. Budowski died of natural causes on October 8, 2014 in San José, Costa Rica.