| Eugen Sandow | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Friedrich Wilhelm Müller |
|
Born |
April 2, 1867 |
|
Died |
October 14, 1925 |
Origin[]
Eugen Sandow was a German bodybuilder and showman from Prussia using the Bulgarian last name Sandow as a pseudonym. Born in Königsberg, Sandow became interested in bodybuilding at the age of ten during a visit to Italy.
After a spell in the circus, Sandow studied under strongman Ludwig Durlacher in the late 1880s. On Durlacher's recommendation, he began entering strongman competitions, performing in matches against leading figures in the sport such as Charles Sampson, Frank Bienkowski, and Henry McCann. In 1901 he organised what is believed to be the world's first major bodybuilding competition. Set in London's Royal Albert Hall, Sandow judged the event alongside author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and athlete/sculptor Charles Lawes-Wittewronge. Sandow is known as the "father of modern bodybuilding".
Sandow was befriended by King George V, Thomas Edison, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and classical pianist Martinus Sieveking.
Public Domain Literary Works[]
- How to Preserve Health and Attain Strength - Cosmopolitan, vol. XVII, no. 2, June 1894, pp. 169-176.
- Sandow's System of Physical Training (1894)
- Sandow on Physical Training (1894)
- Strength and how to Obtain It (1897)
- Sandow's Magazine of Physical Culture (1898–1907)
- Body-Building
- Strength and Health
- The Construction and Reconstruction of the Human Body (1907) (with a foreword by Arthur Conan Doyle)
- Life is Movement (1919)
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Hit Comics #39 - In the story titled Runaway River Boat, Kid Eternity summoned Sandow, Stephen Decatur, John W. Cannon, Mark Twain, Fate Marable and his Levee Serenaders, The Cherry Sisters, Lillian Russell, Harry Houdini, and Lew Dockstader and his Minstrels to assist him.
Notes[]
- Sandow appears in the eleventh episode of Season 3 of The Venture Bros., in which he is voiced by Paul Boocock and appears alongside other contemporary entertainers.