About the Author

Leonardo M. Antaris (née Awschalom) was born in Rochester, New York on 23 December 1953. He grew up in Princeton Jct., N.J. then a rural community strongly influenced by the academic presence of Princeton University. The importance of education was constantly stressed by his father who was then working as a physicist for the Princeton-Pennsylvania Accelerator.

As Antaris' interest in the shooting sports grew, his academic background led him to explore the history and mechanics of firearms. This study became a passion even as schooling led him into medicine. In 1971 he entered Northwestern University's six year Honors Program in Medical Education followed by an internship at the University of Wisconsin and an Ophthalmology residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Even as Antaris began to practice general Ophthalmology, his interest in firearms allowed him to publish Astra Automatic Pistols in 1988. Over the next few years Antaris authored a number of articles covering a variety of pistols and became a regular contributor to the Blue Book of Gun Values. Later acknowledgements appeared in Axis Pistols, The Belgian Browning Pistols, The Broomhandle Pistol 1896-1936, Imperial Lugers and their Accessories, J.P. Sauer & Sohn, Suhl, Les Pistolets Astra, Luger: The Multinational Pistol, and U.S. Military Automatic Pistols 1894-1920.

In 1988 Antaris set aside general Ophthalmology to pursue a vitreoretinal fellowship at West Virginia University. He subsequently relocated to Iowa and set up Quad Cities Retina Consultants. In addition to the rigors of maintaining a sole proprietorship practice, his continued interest in Spanish firearms prompted a twelve year effort that finally culminated in Star Firearms.

Antaris's e-mail address is antaris@firac.us.

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