Eugen Sandow

Eugen Sandow (1867–1925) was a Prussian-born strongman and showman, often called the father of modern bodybuilding. Born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller in Königsberg, he toured Europe as a circus athlete, defeated the music-hall strongmen Sampson and Cyclops in London in 1889 and was brought to America by Florenz Ziegfeld, who exhibited him at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Settling in London, he opened institutes of physical culture, sold his own dumb-bells and developer, published Sandow's Magazine and organized in 1901 the first major bodybuilding contest, judged with Arthur Conan Doyle. His books include Strength and How to Obtain It and Life Is Movement.