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Eugen Sandow, has been honoured with a ‘blue plaque’ |
Victorian ‘Adonis’ honoured with Heritage plaque
‘Father of body building’ died mysteriously in 1925
MEN'S Health magazine, David Beckham in Speedos and the satellite-TV-stalking “Abdominator” advert have all at one time or another stood on trial for the rise and rise of male vanity.
But this week, those who choose a prescription of protein shakes and permatans have a new six-packed Svengali ancestor to worship, in the shape of the original Victorian Adonis, Eugen Sandow.
The so-called “of body building”, who founded the first strongman contest at the Royal Albert Hall and marketed his own brand of fitness products, was honoured with a blue plaque outside the Bayswater house where he lived for most of his life.
Born in Prussia in 1867, Sandow moved to London after becoming an overnight sensation for defeating his mentor and rival, Charles Sampson, in a trial of strength that included chain-breaking, iron-pipe bending, and even lion-wrestling.
He cemented his fame with a show-stopping finale called the “Tomb of Hercules”, in which he balanced a board upon his shoulders, not only carrying weights but also his manager.
Nude studio portraits, a fashionable gymnasium in St James’s and a mail-order business selling previously unheard of “home gym” equipment, brought Sandow to the attention of George V, who was one of a number of celebrity
friends including Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle and Thomas Edison.
Despite widespread anti-German sentiment in the lead-up to the First World War, Sandow was given the honour of Professor of Scientific Physical Culture, training thousands of recruits for the frontline.
He lived at the address at 161 Holland Park Avenue with his wife and two daughters until his mysterious death on October 14, 1925.
Press reports from the time attribute his death, caused by a burst blood vessel in the brain, to a “pathological health craze”.
It was claimed that the damage was done by lifting a car single-handedly out of a ditch some years before.
Speaking at Monday’s unveiling, Mr Sandow’s great-grandson, Chris Davies said: “I began my personal search for Eugen Sandow in 2003 by visiting all places in Europe called ‘Sandow’.
“It’s 100 years on and we’re still talking about the state of the nation’s health. That was what my great-granddad was into. It was before supplements came along and before people started getting an unhealthy obsession with body building. He was a role model for the soldiers before the war too. There were lots of strongmen but none of them travelled or became famous like him.”
As well as the plaque, Sandow’s legacy lives on by way of the Sandow trophy, which is awarded at the annual Mr Olympia world body-building contest. |
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