THE
LIFE OF
EUGEN SANDOW
Continued from Home Page
Ziegfeld
eventually produced a major variety show entitled "Sandow's
Trocadero Vaudevilles" for major theatres across the United
States with Sandow as the main attraction.
Sandow built his musculature to the same proportions as classical
Greek and Roman sculpture...even imitating their poses. At the
Chicago World's Fair he even stood inside a black velvet-lined
booth, posing with white powder covering his body, so that he
would appear as a marble statue, a living work of art. He was
highly educated, articulate, a fine businessman, and a gentleman.
Though born in Prussia and speaking the German language, he
lived in England most of his life, but also lived in New York
and toured the world over.
Sandow
was quite strong, even for a man of today. In one of his acts,
he would walk across the stage carrying a pony (about 350 lbs.)
overhead with one arm (and supporting the rest of the animal
on his neck and shoulders). He could raise a 269 lb. barbell
overhead with one arm in a movement he called "The Bent
Press". He Sandow could also do a standing back somersault
while holding a pair of 56 lb. dumbells. His physique was what
truly set him apart from other strongmen, of course. It was
to see Sandow's muscles in his "Muscle Display Performances"
that made him one of the most famous men of his day. He became
the personal fitness instructor to His Majesty King George V.
With the King as his friend, Sandow spoke out as one of the
first to advocate a government Ministry of Health, sanitary
inspections in food establishments, family allowances, free
meals for underprivileged children, compulsory physical education
in schools, and pre-natal examinations for pregnant women...
extraordinary concepts for the time.
He married a beautiful woman whos name was Blanche
Brookes Sandow, and had 2 daughters, but his married
life soon became inpleasant. Sandow travelled a great deal,
and was looked upon by many women and men as the most perfect
physical specimen of manhood. It is easy to understand how Mrs.
Sandow became jealous, and furthermore wished her husband to
be more of a typical husband and father. Things became even
more complicated due to Sandow developing a deep relationship
with a close male friend named Martinus
Sieveking. He spoke of Sieveking as his "great and inseparable
friend", and they became long-time companions. They travelled
and even lived as a pair for a while in New York City. Sieveking
was a popular composer and concert pianist at the time. The
handsome Sieveking became quite a a muscle champion on his own
due to Sandows influence.
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Years
went by and Sandow did not enjoy growing older. Sadly, Sandow
passed away in 1925 while in London. It was said he died as
a result of a burst blood vessel in his brain, brought on from
lifting an automobile from a ditch after an accident, however
the painful complications, of syphilis may have more likely
been the cause. Still married to Blanche after all those years,
and still resentful of Sandow's infidelity, she had him buried
in an unmarked grave, which remains without a stone to this
day.
Whatever
the reason of his death, one must remember Sandow inspired and
motivated millions of people in his day towards better health
and increaed physical activity. The positive things that Sandow
represented and advocated were admired by millions of people
during the turn of the last century, and Sandow made it fashionable
for a man to have a muscular physique at a time when men were
typically in poor physical condition, either painfully thin
or overweight and sluggish. Sandow also showed that there is
no reason a 2000 year old statue should be any more magnificent
than a living man. He proved it, and man and women alike gazed
at his physique as though it were a work of art.... and indeed
it was... and remains in the images that may be seen on this
website.
Today
the Mr. Olympia contest, the ultimate prize in bodybuilding,
presents a bronze statue of Sandow as it's trophy, a fitting
tribute to the first modern bodybuilder.
It
is to the memory of Eugen Sandow, world famous in his day, that
this website of Victorian bodybuilding photography is fondly
dedicated.
-
R. Christian Anderson, Ph.D.
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