Eugen Sandow
Eugen Sandow born Friederich Wilhelm Mueller was a pioneering
bodybuilder of the
Victorian era and is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding".
Sandow had been a great admirer of
Greek and
Roman statues of
gladiators and mythical heroes when his father took him to
Italy as a boy. By the time he was 19, he was already performing strongman stunts in side shows. The legendary
Florenz Ziegfeld saw the young strongman and hired him for his
carnival show. He soon found that the audience was far more fascinated by Sandow's bulging muscles than by the amount of weight he was lifting, so Ziegfeld had Sandow perform poses which he dubbed "muscle display performances"...
Encyclopedia
Eugen Sandow born
Friederich Wilhelm Mueller was a pioneering
bodybuilder of the
Victorian era and is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding".
Sandow had been a great admirer of
Greek and
Roman statues of
gladiators and mythical heroes when his father took him to
Italy as a boy. By the time he was 19, he was already performing strongman stunts in side shows. The legendary
Florenz Ziegfeld saw the young strongman and hired him for his
carnival show. He soon found that the audience was far more fascinated by Sandow's bulging muscles than by the amount of weight he was lifting, so Ziegfeld had Sandow perform poses which he dubbed "muscle display performances"... and the legendary strongman added these displays in addition to performing his feats of strength with
barbells. He also added chain-around-the-chest breaking and other colorful displays to Sandow's routine. Sandow quickly became a sensation and Ziegfeld's first star.
Sandow's resemblance to the physiques found on classic Greek and Roman
sculpture was no accident. He actually measured the marble artworks in museums and helped to develop "The Grecian Ideal" as a formula for the "perfect physique". He built his physique to those exact proportions. Because of this, he is considered to be the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding", having been one of the first athletes to intentionally develop his musculature to pre-determined dimensions.
Sandow performed all over
Europe, and came to
America to perform at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago. He could be seen in a black velvet-lined box with his body covered in white powder to appear even more like a marble statue come to life. His popularity grew, due his cultured appearance, high intelligence, and well-mannered disposition. He also dressed very well and had a charming European accent, coupled with deep blue eyes and hearty laugh. He wrote several books on bodybuilding, nutrition and encouraged a "healthy" lifestyle as being as important as having a sound mind.
He was married to Blanche Brooks Sandow and had two daughters. He was constantly in the company of other women who actually paid money to feel his flexed muscles back stage after his stage performances. He also had a close relationship to a male musician and composer he hired to accompany him during his shows. The man was Martinus Sieveking, a handsome pupil of Sandow who he featured in his book
Sandow's System of Physical Training. The degree of their relationship has never been determined , but they lived together in
New York for a time. It is clear Blanche was jealous of his relationships.
Sandow authored five books:
Sandow's System of Physical Training,
Strength and How To Obtain It,
Body-Building,
Strength and Health, and
Life is Movement. He was also an erudite businessman. He owned a mail-order physical instruction and exercise equipment business and was the inventor of a unique spring-loaded
dumbbell and a weighted rubber band resistance training system. His fame was instrumental in popularising home training equipment. He also produced Sandow Cigars, Sandow's Health & Strength Cocoa and
Sandow, a magazine devoted to physical culture. He opened a
Physical Culture Studio in
London, one of the first health clubs to contrast starkly with the 'sweaty' gymnasiums that had already existed, and made exercise fashionable for all classes. Once having conquered Europe, he set out to conquer the world with his ideas of health for all through bodybuilding.
Sandow organized the first ever bodybuilding contest on September 14, 1901 called the "Great Competition" and held in the
Royal Albert Hall,
London,
UK. Judged by himself, Sir Charles Lawes, and
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the contest was a huge success and was a sell-out with hundreds of fans turned away.
He was befriended with the likes of
King George V of the United Kingdom,
Thomas Edison and
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He was portrayed by the actor Nat Pendleton in the
film The Great Ziegfeld is a 1936 [i] film....
.
At the time of his death in 1925, a "cover story" was released that Sandow died prematurely at age 58 of a stroke shortly after pushing his car out of the mud. The actual cause of death was more likely the painful complications from
syphilis. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the request of his wife, Blanche at Putney Vale Cemetery near London, until 2002, when a black marble marker was added by an admirer living nearby.
As recognition of his contribution to the sport of bodybuilding, a bronze statue of Sandow sculupted by Frederick Pomeroy has been presented to the Mr. Olympia winner since 1977. This statue is simply known as "The Sandow". A biography was written by David L. Chapman entitled:
Sandow the Magnificent - Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings of Bodybuilding.
References
- Chapman, David, "Eugen Sandow and the Birth of Bodybuilding", Hardgainer, May, 1993.
- Chapman, David, Sandow the Magnificent: Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings of Bodybuilding.
Trivia
A wrestling columnist at the website uses the name "Eugene Sandow." It is unclear whether this is the columnist's real name.
External links
