29 Facts About Eugen Sandow

Eugen Sandow was born to a family of Jewish origin in Konigsberg, Prussia, on 2 April 1867.

Eugen Sandow's father was German, while his mother was of Russian descent.

Eugen Sandow left Prussia in 1885 to avoid military service and traveled throughout Europe, becoming a circus athlete and adopting Eugen Sandow as his stage name, adapting and Germanizing his Russian mother's maiden name, Sandov.

Durlacher recognized Eugen Sandow's potential, mentored him, and in 1889 encouraged him to travel to London and take part in a strongmen competition.

Eugen Sandow handily beat the reigning champion and won instant fame and recognition for his strength.

Ziegfeld found that the audience was more fascinated by Eugen Sandow's bulging muscles than by the amount of weight he was lifting, so Ziegfeld had Eugen Sandow move in poses which he dubbed "muscle display performances".

Eugen Sandow added chain-around-the-chest breaking and other colorful displays to Sandow's routine, and Sandow quickly became Ziegfeld's first star.

In 1894, Eugen Sandow was featured in a short film series by the Edison Studios.

In 1894, Eugen Sandow appeared in a short Kinetoscope film that is part of the Library of Congress.

Eugen Sandow was back on his feet, and opened the first of his Institutes of Physical Culture, where he taught methods of exercise, dietary habits and weight training.

The Eugen Sandow Institute was an early gymnasium that was open to the public for exercise.

Eugen Sandow worked hard at improving exercise equipment, and had invented various devices such as rubber strands for stretching and spring-grip dumbbells to exercise the wrists.

When Eugen Sandow did not accept his challenge Bankier called him a coward, a charlatan and a liar.

In 1901, Eugen Sandow organized the world's first major bodybuilding competition in London's Royal Albert Hall.

In 1902, Eugen Sandow was defeated by Katie Brumbach in a weightlifting contest in New York City.

Brumbach lifted a weight of 300 pounds over her head, which Eugen Sandow managed to lift only to his chest.

In 1906, Eugen Sandow was able to buy the lease of 161 Holland Park Avenue, thanks to a generous gift from an Indian businessman, Sir Dhunjibhoy Bomanji, whose health had improved dramatically after he had adopted Eugen Sandow's regime.

Eugen Sandow travelled around the world on tours to countries as varied as South Africa, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand.

Eugen Sandow was even designated special instructor in physical culture to King George V, who had followed his teachings, in 1911.

Eugen 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 predetermined dimensions.

Eugen Sandow married Blanche Brooks, daughter of the well-known photographer Warwick Brooks, of Manchester, England, in 1894.

Eugen Sandow was acclaimed on his 1905 visit to India, at which time he was already a "cultural hero" in the country at a time of strong nationalistic feeling.

The scholar Joseph Alter suggests that Eugen Sandow was the person who had the most influence on modern yoga as exercise, which absorbed a variety of exercise routines from physical culture in the early 20th century.

Eugen Sandow died at his home in Kensington, London, on 14 October 1925 of what newspapers announced as a brain hemorrhage at age 58.

Eugen Sandow was buried in an unmarked grave in Putney Vale Cemetery at the request of his wife, Blanche.

Eugen Sandow was befriended by King George V, Thomas Edison, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and classical pianist Martinus Sieveking.

Eugen Sandow was portrayed by the actor Nat Pendleton in the Academy Award-winning film The Great Ziegfeld.

In 2013, Eugen Sandow was portrayed by the Canadian bodybuilder Dave Simard in the film Louis Cyr.

Eugen Sandow appears in the eleventh episode of Season 3 of The Venture Bros.