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Eugen Sandow
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Eugen Sandow (April 2 1867 – October 14 1925), born Friederich Wilhelm Müller, was a pioneering bodybuilder of the Victorian era and is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding".
ow was born as Friedrich Wilhelm Muller in Königsberg, Prussia in 1867, in what is today Kaliningrad, Russia. Later research show that his origins may be in the "remote borderlands of Poland".
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Encyclopedia
Eugen Sandow (April 2 1867 – October 14 1925), born Friederich Wilhelm Müller, was a pioneering bodybuilder of the Victorian era and is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding".
Early life
Sandow was born as Friedrich Wilhelm Muller in Königsberg, Prussia in 1867, in what is today Kaliningrad, Russia. Later research show that his origins may be in the "remote borderlands of Poland". He left Prussia in 1895 to avoid military service and in 1889 he made his first appearance on the London stage.
Sandow married Blanche Brooks and he had two daughters.
Florenz Ziegfeld knew that Maurice Grau had Sandow under a contract. Ziegfeld wanted to display Sandow at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Grau wanted $1,000 a week. Ziegfeld could not guarantee $1,000 a week but agreed to paying 10 per cent of the gross receipts.
Ziegfeld found that the audience was 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 Ziegfeld's first star.
In 1894, Sandow featured in a short film by the Edison Studios. The film was of only part of the show and features him flexing his muscles rather than performing any feats of physical strength. While the content of the film reflects the audience attention being primarily focused on his appearance it also made use of the unique capacities of the new medium. Film theorists have attributed the appeal being the striking image of a detailed image moving in synchrony, much like the example of the Lumičre brothers' Repas de bébé where audiences were reportedly more impressed by the movement of trees swaying in the background than the events taking place in the foreground. In 1894, he appeared in a short Kinetoscope film that was part of the first commercial motion picture exhibition in history.
He created the Institute of Physical Culture, an early gymnasium for body builders in 1897.
He held the first major body-building contest at the Royal Albert Hall on September 14, 1901. It was called the "Great Competition". It was judged by himself, Sir Charles Lawes, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Death
He died in London on October 14 1925 of a stroke.
He was buried in an unmarked grave in Putney Vale Cemetery at the request of his wife, Blanche. In 2002, a gravestone and black marble plaque was added by Sandow admirer and author Thomas Manly. The inscription (in gold letters) read 'Eugen Sandow, 1867-1925 the Father of bodybuilding'. In 2008 the grave was bought by Chris Davies who is Sandow's Great Great Grandson. The gravestone placed there by Thomas Manly has been removed and replaced with another one.
Legacy
He was befriended by 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 (1936). Sandow was also a close friend to Martinus Sieveking, featuring him in his book Sandow's System of Physical Training.
As recognition of his contribution to the sport of bodybuilding, a bronze statue of Sandow sculpted by Frederick Pomeroy has been presented to the Mr Olympia winner since 1977. This statue is simply known as "The Sandow".
A biography Sandow the Magnificent - Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings of Bodybuilding was written by David L. Chapman in 1994. In 2002 a novel For The Love Of Eugen was published by author Thomas Manly which is a ghost story featuring Sandow as the leading character.
Thomas Manly's items have been removed from the grave by Sandow's great grandson, Mr. Chris Davies, on the anniversary of Eugen Sandow's birth on April 2, 2008. A new one and one half tonne natural pink sandstone is in place. Simply inscribed SANDOW in the vertical as in ancient Greek funerary ornaments, called "Stele".
The Grecian Ideal
Sandow's resemblance to the physiques found on classic Greek and Roman sculpture was no accident, as he measured the statues in museums and helped to develop "The Grecian Ideal" as a formula for the "perfect physique." Sandow built his physique to the exact proportions of his Grecian Ideal, and is considered the father of modern bodybuilding as one of the first athletes to intentionally develop his musculature to pre-determined dimensions. In his books and , Sandow laid out specific proscriptions of weights and repetitions in order to achieve his ideal proportions.
Publications
- Sandow's System of Physical Training*Body-Building
- Strength and Health
- Life is Movement
- The Construction and Reconstruction of the Human Body
Trivia
- Sandow is featured in episode 37 of the Venture Brothers as Colonel Lloyd Venture's bodyguard and confidante.
See also
Further reading
- Chapman, David, "Eugen Sandow and the Birth of Bodybuilding", Hardgainer (May 1993)
- Chapman, David, Sandow the Magnificent: Eugen Sandow and the Beginnings of Bodybuilding (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1994)
External links
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