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Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt (August 2, 1878 in Tartu, Estonia - February 19, 1968 in London, England) was an early 20th-century strongman and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Russian Lion", Hackenschmidt was actually an Estonian born to German and Estonian-Swedish parents.
Hackenschmidt became a professional wrestler in September 1896, being trained by fellow countryman - the notable wrestler Georg Lurich and went undefeated for over 3000 matches. He was the first widely-recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion after his 1905 win over Tom Jenkins. Hackenschmidt held the title and remained undefeated until his 1908 match with Frank Gotch at Chicago's Dexter Park Pavilion, in which he lost after 2 hours and 3 minutes. A rematch on September 4, 1911 at the newly opened Comiskey Park resulted in another win for Gotch.
Georg Hackenschmidt is widely considered the creator of what is now called the bear hug, a professional wrestling hold which looks like it sounds. The attacker wraps their arms around the torso of the opponent and basically just squeezes the air right out of them.
Hackenschmidt was also a pioneer in the field of weight lifting. He invented the exercise known as the hack squat, whose name is a reference to his own, and he helped to popularize many other types of lifts common within the modern training regimen, such as the bench press. During his career, he held numerous weight lifting records, all of which have since been broken.
Hackenschmidt retired from professional wrestling in 1911 due to recurring injuries, and went on to write several books, including Fitness and Your Self (1937), Consciousness and Character: True Definitions of Entity, Individuality, Personality, Nonentity (1937), The Way To Live In Health and Physical Fitness (1941), and The Three Memories and Forgetfulness: What They Are and What Their True Significance is in Human Life. He died in London in 1968 at the age of 89.
Profile
- Weight: 230 lb
- Height: 6'
- From: Dorpat, Estonia
- Born: 20 July 1878
- Died: 19 February 1968
- Debut: September 1896
- Trained by: Georg Lurich
- Finishing move: Modified Bearhug
- Nicknames: The Russian Lion
Championships
External links
- http://www.sandowmuseum.com/page28.html
- http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Hackenschmidt/hack-biog.htm
- University of Texas Private Papers of Georg Hackenschmidt
1878 births | 1968 deaths | Estonian professional wrestlers | Strongmen
"Georg Hackenschmidt"