Le Boucher is a fighter. "A man of great strength and stupidity"

Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny

Fact number 1. Revenge of Ivan Poddubny

At the dawn of the 20th century, Ivan Poddubny showed the whole world that the most powerful people live in Russia. His physical appearance, character, unheard-of victories among people from all over the world were associated with the country where he was born. Russia is heard in the very name of the invincible wrestler.

In 1903, the famous Russian athlete Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny went to the world championship in French wrestling, which was held in Paris. 130 athletes from all over the world arrived at the tournament. Despite the fact that this was the first world championship for Poddubny, he had a good chance of winning.

The beginning of the tournament was successful for the Russian, he confidently won eleven victories in a row. In the twelfth fight, he was to meet with the French wrestler Raul Musson, nicknamed "le Boucher" (The Butcher).

The twenty-year-old athlete was a favorite of Parisian wrestlers. My sports career he started at the age of thirteen and quickly gained popularity in the wrestling world. Raul quit his job at the butcher shop and became a professional wrestler. The Frenchman was 12 years younger than his rival, with a height of 188 centimeters and a weight of 120 kilograms, he possessed huge force while being quick and agile. But Poddubny was clearly not going to give in to the young Frenchman.

A few minutes after the start of the fight, Ivan's hands suddenly began to slide over the body of Raoul le Boucher. The Parisian easily escaped from the mighty captures of Podubny. Ivan Maksimovich addressed the judges, saying that his opponent was oiled. The arbitrators examined the French wrestler and recognized that his body was indeed covered with oily sweat. It turned out that Le Boucher had smeared himself with olive oil. Surprisingly, the fight continued. The arbitrators made a truly “Solomonic” decision: to stop the fight every 5 minutes and wipe the French wrestler dry. But the oil came out again with the sweat. So the "slippery" Raul le Boucher managed to survive until the end of the fight. As strange as it may seem, it was he who was recognized as the winner "for beautiful departures from receptions."

Poddubny was shocked not even by the fact that he was undeservedly, brazenly withdrawn from further competitions. Speaking for the first time, he realized that even at such a representative authoritative forum in the face of many hundreds of spectators watching the fight, the triumph of the blackest lies and human dishonesty is possible. This lesson will forever make Poddubny an implacable, uncompromising enemy of "dirty sports".

Petersburg knew about the Paris incident, but, not wanting to major scandal, by telegraph, they suggested that the panel of judges repeat the fight between Poddubny and Raul, promising the latter, if he won, a prize of 10,000 francs. But the French naturally refused.

However, Paris was only Starting point further clarifications on the carpet of the "Russian bear" and the favorite of the French. Fate kept bringing them together - people who, according to their convictions, personified the light and dark sides of the sport.

Raul le Boucher - a strong, technical wrestler - was able to fairly evaluate Poddubny. It was clear that in open combat he could not cope with him. I did not want to lose the title of the idol of the public, the star of French sports. And when a year later Raul arrived in St. Petersburg for the International Championship, he offered Poddubny a bribe of 20 thousand francs.

Revenge was cruel. This proposal, which the strange Russian considered offensive, cost the "star" twenty minutes of standing on all fours to the whistle of the hall. "This is cheating for you! This is for the olive oil!” - said Poddubny. He released Raul only at the insistence of the judges ...

The life of Raoul le Boucher ended tragically. During Ivan Maksimovich's tour in Italy, de Boucher "ordered" Poddubny to local bandits. This conspiracy was overheard by another French wrestler, Emble de la Calmette, and was killed on the spot. But Poddubny simply scattered the bandits. And, although the “work” remained unfulfilled, the bandits began to demand payment from the customer. He refused to pay, for which he received a fatal blow to the head with a rubber stick. It was announced to the public that Raoul de Boucher had died of meningitis. He was barely 24 years old. Poddubny told this story, referring to a letter in which the bandits set out in detail their version of how and for what they killed Raul de Boucher.

Fact number 2. Gifts to the "leader" for the 70th anniversary

In December 1949, all advanced mankind, as it was customary then to say, celebrated the 70th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin. On this occasion, on December 21 Bolshoi Theater a solemn meeting took place.

Until now, no one can say exactly how many gifts were presented to the "leader of the peoples", but in the Museum of the Revolution, as many as 17 rooms were allocated for their demonstration. And lists of gifts were published in the Pravda newspaper until Stalin's death, that is, more than three years.

Here are just a few of the many gifts:

♦ December 20, 1949 issued a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council on awarding I.V. Stalin with the Order of Lenin.

♦ In Czechoslovakia, the highest Carpathian peak Slovak Shtit was renamed Stalin's Shtit.

♦ In addition, the leader received 3 cars from the Czechoslovak people as a gift: Skoda 1101, Minor and Tatraplan. The country also issued two coins of 100 and 50 crowns dedicated to the hero of the day.

♦ From the French proletariat, Stalin was presented with a silver "Dove of Peace" with an engraving: "French workers will never fight with the workers of the USSR."

♦ The Bulgarian city of Varna was renamed Stalin, however, in October 1956 the former name was returned to the city.

♦ In the aviation workshops of the Polish city of Lodz, workers made an original telephone set: it had the shape of a globe, the tube was made in the form of a hammer, and the lever was a sickle.

♦ A small silver chest and five keys to it were delivered from friendly Mongolia to Moscow. The hint is transparent: the five keys symbolized the five continents.

♦ Chinese rice growers presented a small but tasteful gift: a grain of rice with a portrait of Iosif Vissarionovich.

♦ From the inhabitants of Stalingrad, Stalin received a model of the T-54 tractor, and from the miners of the Suchansk basin - an album in the form of a coal block with a report on his achievements. A saber made of the famous Zlatoust steel was delivered from Zlatoust for the anniversary. The checker shows a panorama Battle of Stalingrad.

♦ In his youth, Stalin was fond of poetry and even published some of his poems in Georgian newspapers. Getting ready for the anniversary poetry collection Joseph Vissarionovich, but he personally ordered to stop work. Why remains unknown.

♦ One more interesting fact: On November 30 of the same 1949, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill turned 75 years old. Iosif Vissarionovich sent him 75 bottles of cognac as a gift. Churchill liked the gift so much that he said: "It's a pity that I'm not 100 years old!"

♦ One of the most controversial gifts is a poem by the poetess Anna Akhmatova dedicated to Stalin on his birthday:

Let the world remember this day forever
May this hour be bequeathed to eternity.
The legend speaks of a wise man
What each of us from terrible death saved.

The whole country rejoices in the rays of the amber dawn,
And the purest joy has no barriers, -
And ancient Samarkand, and polar Murmansk,
And Leningrad saved twice by Stalin

On the day of the new year of the teacher and friend
A song of bright gratitude is sung, -
Let the blizzard rage around
Or mountain violets bloom.

And they echo the cities of the Soviet Union
All friendly republics of the city
And those workers who are strangled by bonds,
But whose speech is free and whose soul is proud.

And freely their thoughts fly to the capital of glory,
To the high Kremlin - a fighter for eternal light,
From where at midnight the majestic anthem rushes
And the whole world sounds like help and hello.
December 21, 1949

Fact number 3. Schmenkel Fritz Paul - German soldier and hero of the USSR

Hero of the Great Patriotic War. Legendary person. An ardent communist who fled to the front and killed 150 Germans. A fortune was promised for his head. Meet Fritz Hans Werner Schmenkel - purebred anti-fascist Aryan.

Fritz Hans Werner Schmenkel, known in Soviet historiography as Fritz Paul (Paulevich) Schmenkel, was born in the German Empire on February 14, 1916. His father, Paul Krause, worked in a brick factory and was an ardent communist. Because of his views, he died in 1923 at the hands of a Nazi. In the early 1930s, young Fritz decided to follow in his father's footsteps by joining the Communist Youth International of Germany.

In 1938, Fritz Schmenkel was drafted into the army of the Third Reich. But Fritz did not stay long in the ranks of the Wehrmacht. Taking part in the hostilities in Poland in 1939, he constantly conducted anti-fascist propaganda, for which he was expelled from the unit and imprisoned. After a long two years, after the so-called "repentance" for his deed, he was early reinstated in the ranks of the army Nazi Germany and got on Eastern front where he rushed with all his might. Even then, Fritz Schmenkel decided to radically change his fate!

Fritz deserted from the Wehrmacht at the end of November 1941 with one goal - to get into the ranks of the Red Army. For several weeks he hid in the Smolensk region, knocked on the houses of local residents and spoke only three words that he knew in Russian: "Lenin, Stalin, Telman." And the doors opened... For food and lodging, Fritz helped the villagers in the household.

One day, a fugitive anti-fascist was captured by the SS. However, partisans from the Kalinin detachment "Death to fascism" came to the village and destroyed the Nazi garrison. Fritz was threatened with an imminent and imminent execution. But the villagers told the partisans about the fate of the anti-fascist and saved him from death. For a long time, the partisans did not trust Fritz, kept him under constant surveillance, and did not give him weapons.

At the end of the winter of 1942, the Germans attacked the partisan detachment. Fritz was unarmed and at the beginning of the battle could not provide support to the partisans. But, picking up the rifle of one of the dead, he killed a German with one accurate shot, leading aimed fire from cover. So Fritz Schmenkel became a full-fledged fighter of the partisan detachment "Death to Fascism", where he was named Ivan Ivanych for conspiracy.

The partisans were famous for their raids on the territory of the Smolensk region, Belsky and Nelidovsky districts of the Kalinin region. Fritz Schmenkel was the initiator of many desperate sorties, participated in many of the most dangerous partisan operations.

During the 14 months of his stay in the partisan brigade, Schmenkel destroyed about 150 Nazis, brought three prisoners. The German command announced for his head a fantastic reward for those times - 25 thousand marks (a car in Germany cost about a thousand marks). A punitive operation called "Shooting Star" began against the "Death to Fascism" detachment.

In 1943, Schmenkel met with his comrades-in-arms in the liberated Bely the soldiers of the Kalinin Front. Later that year he was seconded to the intelligence department. Western Front, where he underwent special training and was appointed deputy commander of the Pole sabotage and reconnaissance group. For the feats accomplished in his ranks, he was presented with the Order of the Red Banner. Once Fritz was thrown deep behind enemy lines in Belarus, from where he transmitted valuable information. At the end of 1943, Fritz, along with two scouts, went missing for a long 20 years ...

The search for scouts began quite by accident - in 1961, when the case of a traitor who led a punitive detachment operating near Bely was investigated. As it turned out, this detachment was defeated by the Death to Fascism brigade and Fritz Schmenkel personally led this operation. The investigation was conducted by the head of the investigation department of the KGB in the Kalinin region, Major Ryabov. The partisans who fought together with Shmenkel in the Belsk and Nelidov forests, as well as local residents, were interviewed. More than a hundred requests were made to various organizations, foreign archival materials were studied.

After three years searches managed to find out that Fritz Schmenkel was captured by the Nazis in Belarus and shot on February 22, 1944 near Minsk. Based on these data and everything that was already known by that time about Fritz Schmenkel's personal struggle with fascism, for services to Soviet Union By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The memory of this unusual heroic fate is still alive today - a street in Nelidovo is named after Schmenkel, a memorial plaque was installed in Minsk, in 1978 the film “I Want to See You” (German Ich will euch sehen) was shot at the German film studio DEFA, in which the supporting roles were played famous actors of that time Petr Velyaminov and Yugoslav Goiko Mitic.

Fact number 4. Where did the disabled disappear after the Great Patriotic War

A few years after the end of the war, they began to disappear from the streets, which were an integral part of the picture. Everyday life Soviet cities are disabled people who beg for alms at train stations, markets, in front of cinemas and in other public places and lead an antisocial lifestyle. And there were a lot of them - according to statistics, 2,500,000 disabled people were demobilized, including 450,000 one-armed or one-legged.

From a letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR S. N. Kruglov to the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU dated February 20, 1954:

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR reports that, despite the measures taken ... such an intolerable phenomenon as begging still continues to take place ... The police in cities and on railway transport detained beggars: in the second half of 1951 - 107,766 people, in 1952 - 156,817 people, in 1953 - 182,342 people ... Organs social security and local Soviets of Working People's Deputies do not pay due attention to the work to prevent and eliminate begging, they are poorly engaged in placing the poor in homes for the disabled and the elderly ... Of the 35 homes for the disabled and boarding schools, the construction of which should be completed in 1952, only four were built by January 1, 1954 Houses…

The fight against begging is also hampered by the fact that some part of the begging invalids and the elderly refuse to send them to homes for invalids, and those who are established often leave them without permission and continue to beg.

In order to prevent crime and eliminate begging, disabled people who have not found their place in peaceful life and began to wander, get drunk and beg, the state decided to take them away from large cities to special boarding schools.

One of the most famous special sanatoriums for the disabled was located on the island of Valaam. Since 1950, everyone who, having returned from the front crippled, was thrown to the side of life, was taken there. Sometimes the number of wards reached 1000 people.

All these people were deleted from the annals " historical memory". And it is still quite difficult to find out the truth about those who spent a century in special boarding schools for war veterans. Many cripples deliberately hid their real names: they didn’t want to show their close people their ugliness, helplessness, which the war had awarded ...

Fact number 5. Turgenev's Brain Mystery

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, physiologists tried to unravel the secrets of genius by studying the brains of great people - measuring volume, weighing, counting the number of convolutions. So it turned out that among the brilliant personalities the most big brain Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev possessed: his brain weighed 2012 grams, which is almost 600 grams more than the average weight. What was different great writer from other prominent people. And why is Turgenev's brain heavier than all the great people? It is known that he was tall (192 cm), and big people the brain is usually larger. However, Mayakovsky, just as tall man(191 cm), the brain was as much as 300 grams lighter than Turgenev's. But Turgenev, unlike Mayakovsky, who died young, died 68 years old (in young people the brain is always larger and heavier, it loses weight in old age).

The mystery of Turgenev's brain has tormented researchers for many years. And only relatively recently a hypothesis has appeared that brings us closer to the solution. Maybe, big weight brain “insured” the writer against epilepsy, to which he was genetically predisposed.

As often happens, the solution was found unexpectedly ...

For almost twenty years, mice with different brain masses have been grown at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University ... As a result of many years of research, scientists have managed to establish that the role of brain weight in the level of intellectual abilities in mice is very large. Average weight mouse brain - 400-500 milligrams. To obtain offspring with a large brain mass, mice in which it turned out to be more than average were crossed with each other. Thus, it was possible to develop lines of mice whose brains were 75 milligrams heavier than usual. Interesting that animals with heavier brains found their way out of the maze much faster and were better than their relatives in solving other tasks assigned to them.

The next stage was the following - how do animals with large brains react to poisonous substances that cause convulsions, and to irritation of the brain with an electric current. And it turned out that they had seizures much less frequently than animals with normal-sized brains. And there is nothing unexpected in this. The thing is that the brain is a self-regulating system, and a more complexly organized large brain is more difficult to “confuse”.

You may ask, what's with the convulsions? After all, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev did not suffer from epilepsy, like, for example, Dostoevsky or Flaubert. However, do not forget that epilepsy is a disease in the manifestation of which a hereditary predisposition to seizures plays a huge role. Therefore, very often this disease is traced not in one, but in several generations of one family, as was the case in the family of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. However, it is known that brother The writer's father, Alexei Nikolaevich Turgenev, suffered from epilepsy. And one of the Turgenev brothers also suffered from epilepsy. And in general, epileptoid characters and patients with epilepsy are very often found in the Turgenev family.

But Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev bypassed epilepsy, and his outbursts of anger rarely happened to him (although at one reception, where everyone spoke French, he got angry and began to shout loudly: “Baba! Turnip! Spade!”, Reminding those present about the sound of their native language).

Why didn't Turgenev inherit the tendency to epilepsy, which is clearly seen in his relatives? Here it is time to remember the extraordinary mass of his brain. Maybe it's about her? If in animals a large mass of the brain prevents the development of seizures, then, undoubtedly, something similar can happen in humans! Maybe, natural selection“honed” this unique feature in the Turgenev family for more than one generation. As a result, such a brilliant person as Ivan Sergeevich appeared. It turns out that the huge mass of the brain "insured" him from the development of the disease. And all positive features epileptoid nature - perseverance, efficiency, ability to achieve the goal - he retained and was able to develop in himself more than anyone else.

Thus, an interesting hypothesis was born, shedding light on the "mystery of Turgenev's giant brain."

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In some way, Ivan proved that strength and physique are inherited. Ivan's father - Maxim - had exceptional growth, strength and an impressive constitution. Often they fought with their father for fun local residents. Like everything amazing in this world, Ivan took the first step on the path to sports from unhappy love: Alenka Vityak, the giant’s first love, they didn’t want to give for the poor, so Ivan sent his feet to work in Stavropol, where he planned to accumulate more gold and achieve her arms are a commendable thrust.

For fourteen hours a day, our hero worked in the port, easily dragging heavy bags and boxes. After that, he ended up in Feodosia, where he rented a room with two sailors, who told Ivan about the usefulness of training and exercise. And then the circus arrived. Ivan Beskorovayny circus. Except standard set from gutta-perchie girls/boys, jugglers and illusionists, the program included strong men and wrestlers with whom one could measure strength. Poddubny decided to participate and suffered his first crushing defeat. This gave the future champion such a sickly motivation: not only did our hero stop drinking and smoking, he completely changed all his habits, began to work out every day with 32-kilogram kettlebells and a 112-kilogram barbell. Started to heat up.

So Poddubny got into the circus. He became a celebrity and a dream of ladies almost immediately. He wrestled many people with sashes, and the most famous was his telegraph pole trick. The essence of the procedure was that a telegraph pole was placed on Poddubny's back, 10 people hung from both ends of the pole and pulled him down. All this ended with the fact that the pillar simply broke under the strong back of Poddubny.

But everything changed when Ivan received a telegram from St. Petersburg in which someone invited a strong man to " important conversation". As it turned out, this was an invitation from the chairman of the St. Petersburg Athletic Society, Count Ribopierre, to become a real wrestler in classical wrestling. Poddubny was given a coach and premises, training began immediately.

All this was in order to lead a Russian man to Paris for a classical wrestling competition, where 130 opponents were already waiting for Ivan. Ivan won 11 times in a row, and he had a duel with the boss - a favorite of the public, a handsome man of huge growth and broad-shouldered Raoul le Boucher. This fight was tough and epic. It turned out that Raul was smeared with some kind of greasy agent, so that Poddubny could not grab him in any way. The judges stopped the fight, but could not offer anything better than wiping Raul with a towel every five minutes. The battle lasted an hour, no one could win, but de Boucher, slippery in every possible sense, was recognized as the winner, because he perfectly escaped the attack. Of course, it's easy to dodge an attack when you're slippery! However, in the future, Raoul will take it into account. The next time he comes to St. Petersburg and the revenge takes place, the cunning Frenchman will offer Ivan a bag of money for him to refuse the fight, but Ivan will not only refuse the money, but will also make de Boucher suffer in the full sense of the word. For twenty minutes, under the hooting of the crowd, de Boucher was on his knees, crushed by Poddubny, who thus decided to punish Raoul for cheating.

Further, Poddubny had happy time victories and other joys, until 1910, then somehow there was no time for struggle, revolution, sir. Sometimes Poddubny began his performances in the cities (as he himself said) "with the whites, and ended with the reds." In 1910, perhaps the most famous anecdote with Poddubny happened. The first school of jiu-jitsu appeared in Paris, which was founded by a Japanese martial artist. The new art was surprising, because a small man easily fought people larger and stronger than him. Poddubny was put up against the Japanese. With the very first blow-cutting, the jiu-jitsu master knocked Ivan down, his quick attacks extremely surprised the straightforward Poddubny. But it ended with Ivan simply grabbing the Japanese by the kimono and breaking his thigh on his leg, as if it were just a stick. And what is he flaunting? In 1922, Poddubny returned to the ring in his sixties.

The Soviet government also respected the strong man. In 1939 he was even given the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Old age came to Poddubny in the era of occupation. The Germans who occupied Yeysk knew perfectly well what kind of strange, strong, gray-haired man he was, who easily throws Wehrmacht soldiers out of taverns when they get drunk like bags of hay. The Nazis respected Poddubny, gave him 5 kilograms of meat per month and even invited him to his homeland to become a coach, but Ivan refused in every possible way.

Poddubny's life was interesting, but in love he was not too happy. Most of the women wanted only money from him, one of the giant's lovers fell from a great height into the circus arena, the other ran away with a rich officer. A strong body and high needs also went sideways to Poddubny. After the war started severe hunger, and the ration, which was issued for a month, was with Poddubny only for a day. In addition, he broke his hip. Poddubny died in 1949.

He seemed to come out of the myths about Hercules or from the epics about Ilya Muromets. The story of his life causes skepticism among many - well, this cannot be, it is implausible.

He was born in the Russian Empire, shone in the arenas of Europe and America, survived the German occupation, and at the end of his life was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR ... How all this fit into the life of one person is incomprehensible to the mind.

But, having gone through difficult trials, having known great glory, having experienced love and betrayal, Ivan Poddubny remained the same as he was at the beginning - a hero with the innocence and naivety of a child.

Russian professional wrestler and athlete Ivan Poddubny. Photo: RIA Novosti

He was born on September 26 (October 8, according to a new style), 1871, in the village of Bogodukhovka in the Poltava region, into a Cossack family.

The Poddubny family was famous physical force and power, and Vanya went to the ancestors. But if he got strength and endurance from his father, then from his mother - thin ear for music. This subsequently amazed contemporaries - this musicality did not combine with the appearance of a strong man.

The strength of the Poddubny family did not make them rich, therefore, from an early age, Ivan joined the heavy physical labor, from the age of 12 worked as a laborer.

At twenty s small years Ivan went to seek his fortune in the city. According to legend, unhappy love was the reason for this - a rich neighbor flatly refused to marry his daughter to the "hungry man".

Strongman Poddubny easily got a job as a port loader, first in Sevastopol, and then in Feodosia, and did not think about any other career.

Thirst for the fight

As is often the case, chance changed everything. The circus came to Feodosia Ivan Beskaravayny. An integral part of circus performances turn XIX-XX centuries there were performances of strongmen and wrestling fights. Here and in the circus of Beskaravayny there were wrestlers with whom it was proposed to compete with everyone.

Ivan, confident that he would not yield to the strongmen from the circus, tried his hand and ... unconditionally lost.

It was then that he realized that wrestling is not just a rivalry between strong people from birth, but a whole science.

Ivan was overwhelmed with excitement and a desire to prove that he can become the best.

He began to systematically train, study the technique of wrestling, and soon re-entered the circus arena, where he won several victories over well-known athletes at that time.

After that, he was hired as a professional wrestler in Enrico Truzzi's circus. Thus, at the age of 27, the brilliant career of Ivan Poddubny began.

Like most wrestlers at that time, he combined several roles. Poddubny demonstrated power tricks, for example, this one: they put a telegraph pole on his shoulders, on which ten people hung on both sides and, as a result, as a rule, the pole broke. The audience gasped in delight.

But the main spectacle, of course, was the fight. All of Russia soon spoke about Poddubny, since he had no equal in the traditional Russian wrestling on sashes.

Judge - scoundrel!

However, French wrestling, which was later called first classical and then Greco-Roman, was much more popular in the world. Poddubny switched to her, and in 1903 he received an offer to represent Russia at the world championship in Paris.

The conditions of the tournament, in which 130 wrestlers participated, were very tough - the loser of at least one fight was eliminated. The “Russian Bear” Poddubny went through 11 opponents like a hurricane until he met with the idol of the French public, Raoul le Boucher.

The fight with the French almost turned Poddubny away from the fight forever. Fights at that time could last for several hours, until one of the rivals was laid on the shoulder blades. The Frenchman, unable to take Poddubny with the first onslaught, began to frankly run away from him. In addition, it turned out that he was smeared with a fatty substance that interferes with grips - this dishonest method, by the way, is still used by wrestlers. When Poddubny drew the attention of the judges to this, they only shrugged their shoulders. And after an hour of fighting, the victory was given to Le Boucher "for beautiful and skillful avoidance of sharp tricks."

This decision angered even the French public, and Poddubny, shocked by such dishonesty, wanted to completely end his wrestling career.

Friends and colleagues hardly managed to convince the giant. But I must say that Poddubny, by virtue of his nature, was extremely inconvenient for the organizers of wrestling fights - he basically did not conduct “fixed” fights and did not take bribes. Because of this, a couple of times his opponents even tried to organize the murder of Poddubny, but, fortunately, these plans fell through.

Why was Poddubny not an Olympic champion?

Le Boucher was rewarded at the international championship in St. Petersburg, where he again met with Poddubny. Revenge was cruel - the Russian wrestler twirled the Frenchman as he wanted. For twenty minutes, he held the opponent, excuse me, in a knee-elbow position, to the whistling and hooting of the public, until the judges took pity on Le Boucher. After this defeat, the French wrestler had a real tantrum.

The tournament was won by Poddubny, who defeated another Frenchman, world champion Paul Pons, in the final in a two-hour fight.

With titles at that time, everything was quite difficult. In professional wrestling, in one city or another, the tournament was announced as the “world championship”. Poddubny won almost everywhere, but it’s quite difficult to understand exactly how many times he was the world champion.

But it is known that in the period from 1905 to 1908 he invariably won the most prestigious of the tournaments - the world championship in French wrestling in Paris.

At that time, the Olympics were already gaining popularity, the program of which included wrestling, but Poddubny was ordered to go there. The Olympics were then exclusively the lot of amateur athletes, and Poddubny was a professional.

“But with personal ... Well, only with personal - hello ...”

By 1910, the wrestler, who had won everything, earned a lot of money, was tired of the world of professional wrestling and decided to end his career. He left for his homeland, bought a house, land and began to manage the household.

However, the businessman from Poddubny was useless, moreover, his wife's requests quickly reduced his financial capital.

In general, in love affairs, the giant was disastrously unlucky. At the very beginning of his career in the circus, Poddubny fell in love with a 40-year-old Hungarian tightrope walker, an experienced and temperamental woman. Ivan was ready to marry her, but the Hungarian soon found herself a new boyfriend.

Then there was an affair with gymnast Masha Dozmarova. It was an amazing couple - a huge strong man and a fragile, almost airy girl. But on the eve of the wedding, a tragedy happened - Masha fell from under the dome of the circus and crashed to death.

The first wife of Poddubny was Antonina Kvitko-Fomenko, and it was she who squandered everything that her husband earned, and in the midst of civil war and completely ran away, taking with her part of her husband's medals.

In 1922, Poddubny married the mother of a young wrestler Ivan Mashonin, Maria Semyonovna, and in this marriage he finally found personal peace.

Monument to Ivan Poddubny in Yeysk. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Karachun

American voyage of the "Russian bear"

On the eve of the First World War, Poddubny, whose finances sang romances thanks to Antonina, returned to the circus and again began to win victory after victory.

Already at the very end of the war in Odessa, Poddubny was almost shot by the Reds - the Chekists confused him with the organizer of Jewish pogroms by the name of Poddubnov, but, fortunately, they figured it out in time.

In 1922, Ivan Poddubny began performing at the Moscow Circus. Doctors examine the 51-year-old wrestler and make a helpless gesture - there are no complaints, his health is excellent.

In 1924, Ivan Poddubny received permission to go on a long tour of Germany and the United States.

Surprisingly, the fact is that the wrestler, who was well over 50, was in no way inferior to rivals who were fit for him not only as sons, but even as grandchildren.

In the USA, where the rules of wrestling were far from European and more like a street fight. Poddubny, however, quickly got used to it and continued to win, collecting full halls in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco.

“The other day I had dinner with Poddubny, a man of great strength and the same stupidity,” this characterization of the athlete was given not by anyone, but by the famous Russian writer Alexander Kuprin. The great wrestler was really incredibly naive, which was used by those around him. When Poddubny, who missed his homeland, went home, the Americans actually deprived him of the fees he earned - they say they still remain somewhere in American bank accounts.

How Poddubny worked as a bouncer for the Germans

Nevertheless, in the USSR, Poddubny was greeted as a hero. Upon his return, the wrestler announced that he had completed his career and would henceforth be engaged in the popularization of wrestling.

Announced, and ... did not complete. He had his last fight on the wrestling mat in 1941, at the age of 70. History does not know another similar example of sports longevity in this sport.

He settled in small town Yeysk on the shore Sea of ​​Azov. From many years of overload, the heart began to fool around, but Poddubny did not go to the doctors, preferring folk medicine. When the war began and the Germans occupied Yeysk, the wrestler refused to evacuate anywhere, saying that he had little time left to live and there was no point in running.

Once a German patrol detained an elderly giant with a Soviet order on his chest on Yeisk Street. The Nazis were taken aback by such impudence, but they were even more taken aback when they found out who was in front of them.

The glory of Poddubny was so great that the invaders did not touch him or his award and, moreover, offered to move to Germany to train German athletes there.

If Poddubny had been more cunning, he probably would have thought before refusing, but the strong man immediately answered with a resolute “no”.

The Germans shrugged their shoulders and ... left Poddubny alone. Moreover, in order for the strong man to earn a living, they gave him a place as a marker in the billiard room.

Part-time Poddubny worked as a bouncer in a bar for the Nazi military.

This, of course, was complete surrealism: an elderly giant with a Soviet order on his chest with one hand throws out drunk soldiers of the Fuhrer into the street. And the Aryans, sober in the morning, run not to deal with the “Russian pig”, but to write a letter to their wife: “You know, dear, Ivan Poddubny himself threw me out into the street yesterday!”.

Bust of Ivan Poddubny in Yeysk. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / GennadyL

The giant was crippled by hunger

After the liberation of Yeysk, the state security agencies conducted an inspection regarding Poddubny's cooperation with the Germans and ... did not find crime, believing that the retired fighter had not betrayed his homeland in any way, and "commerce is just commerce."

Moreover, in 1945 Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. This was already the second title of Poddubny - in 1939, as a circus performer, he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

Alas, all these titles did not help Poddubny in post-war years. No, he was not persecuted for political reasons, the trouble was different - for a normal life, the giant needed much more food than ordinary person, and under the card system it was almost impossible to solve this problem.

Poddubny turned to local authorities, they helped as much as they could, but this was clearly not enough. IN last years Poddubny sold his medals to buy groceries.

Perhaps if he had lived in Moscow, everything would have turned out differently, but in little Yeysk the wrestler was left to himself.

Once, returning from the market, he fell, having received a fracture of the femoral neck. Since then, the famous hero walked only on crutches.

Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny died of a heart attack on August 8, 1949 and was buried in a city park, next to the graves of soldiers who fell in the Great Patriotic War.

Later, a large granite stone was installed on his grave, on which it is written: "Here lies the Russian hero."

Review of the film about Ivan Poddubny with Mikhail Porechenkov in leading role read >>

by Notes of the Wild Mistress

In 1903, the famous Russian athlete Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny went to the world championship in French wrestling, which was held in Paris. 130 athletes from all over the world arrived at the tournament. Despite the fact that this was the first world championship for Poddubny, he had a good chance of winning.

The beginning of the tournament was successful for the Russian, he confidently won eleven victories in a row. In the twelfth fight, he was to meet with the French wrestler Raul Musson, nicknamed "le Boucher" (The Butcher). The twenty-year-old athlete was a favorite of Parisian wrestlers. He began his sports career at the age of thirteen and quickly gained popularity in the wrestling world. Raul quit his job at the butcher shop and became a professional wrestler.

The Frenchman was 12 years younger than his rival, with a height of 188 centimeters and a weight of 120 kilograms, he had tremendous strength, while being distinguished by speed and agility. But Poddubny was clearly not going to give in to the young Frenchman.

A few minutes after the start of the fight, Ivan's hands suddenly began to slide over the body of Raoul le Boucher. The Parisian easily escaped from the mighty captures of Podubny. Ivan Maksimovich addressed the judges, saying that his opponent was oiled. The arbitrators examined the French wrestler and recognized that his body was indeed covered with oily sweat. It turned out that Le Boucher had smeared himself with olive oil.

Surprisingly, the fight continued. The arbitrators made a truly “Solomonic” decision: to stop the fight every 5 minutes and wipe the French wrestler dry. But the oil came out again with the sweat.

So the "slippery" Raul le Boucher managed to survive until the end of the fight. As strange as it may seem, it was he who was recognized as the winner "for beautiful departures from receptions."

The Russian Athletic Society sent Raul an offer to meet Poddubny again, promising a prize of 10,000 francs in case of victory. But he was able to slip away here too: he delicately refused to fight again.

However, the wrestlers met a year later at the next World Championship in St. Petersburg. Revenge was cruel - the Russian wrestler kept his opponent for 42 minutes, in a knee-elbow position, to the whistle and hooting of the public, until the judges took pity on Le Boucher.

The life of Raoul le Boucher ended tragically. During Ivan Maksimovich's tour in Italy, de Boucher "ordered" Poddubny to local bandits. This conspiracy was overheard by another French wrestler, Emble de la Calmette, and was killed on the spot. But Poddubny simply scattered the bandits. And, although the “work” remained unfulfilled, the bandits began to demand payment from the customer. He refused to pay, for which he received a fatal blow to the head with a rubber stick. It was announced to the public that Raoul de Boucher had died of meningitis. He was barely 24 years old.

Perhaps some will be surprised, but La Bouche is a German band, like many other bands. Although there is nothing strange in this, since Germany in the 80s-90s was the undisputed leader in the production of dance music, and the names of various projects were mostly not in German. And in general, probably even more surprising is the fact that Mo-Do is an Italian team, not a German one, although many songs are performed in German...

La Bouche appeared in the early 90s, in fact, the name of this group is tightly connected with their first performers Melanie Thornton and D. Lane McCray Jr. and although this group performed not only dance music, but also pop and R&B. but the name of this group is inextricably linked with the dance culture of the 90s. and 2 of their biggest hits: ""Sweet Dreams"" and ""Be My Lover"" don't let you forget about it..

Both Melanie and Lane were Americans by origin, whose fate, for various reasons, led them to Germany, for example, Lane was generally born in Alaska, in Anchorage and ended up in Germany serving in the US Air Force, which has many bases in Germany. After staying in Germany he started his musical career as a natural rapper (Cold Cut) and became relatively popular in the country.

Melanie was born in Charleston, pc. South Carolina (the name should be familiar at least from the novel "Gone With the Wind"), she began to sing from the age of 6, learned to use it and dreamed of musical career. Having left for Europe, Melanie began to conquer her with her charming voice and charm, performing at concerts as a jazz and blues singer.

Eventually they were both brought in by the FMP Studios team as it was their voices and appearance best suited to the concept of a new project called La Bouche. And on May 9, 1994, a bomb comes out - the single "Sweet Dreams" "which immediately hits the charts of most European countries, and then the USA and begins to break into the first places, capturing which does not leave them for a very long time! The most surprising thing is that under the blow of Melanie Thornton, such a recalcitrant top for many European dance teams as the USA falls, which mostly boil in their own juice and rarely let non-American performers into the first places. On March 6, 1995, their second single was released (the American version came out a little later) ""Be My Lover"" and again it breaks into the world charts, taking first place ... both singles become gold, and now, after a massive attack on radio and television in In July 1995, La Bouche's first album "Sweet Dreams" was released, first in Europe and a little later in the USA, immediately hitting the top of the list of best-selling albums. The success has been amazing and again especially in the US, which as I wrote above was a very difficult market for most Europeans. dance projects. At the end of the same super-successful year, their remix album ""All Mixed Up"" was released. Then there is some silence, during which only the single "Bolingo (Love Is In The Air)" was released, and in October 1997 they were released. new single""You Won" t Forget Me "", and on November 17 of the same year new album""A Moment of Love"" which included 9 new songs, 3 remixes of old ones, and of course 2 songs from previous singles.

Most of the tracks on the album are energetic, fast dance tunes!

In February 1999, the single ""S.O.S."" was released in Germany, which went 3rd in the album 1.5 years ago! In 2000, Melanie Thornton parted ways with La Bouche and began her solo career. The vocalist Natascha Wright was invited to the group and in April 2000 the single "All I Want" was released...

Melanie had a good start at that time. Solo career, in November 2000 she released the single "Love How You Love Me", and on March 18, 2001 the single "Heartbeat"". April 30 it comes out debut album"Ready To Fly". Then it goes on the rise, on September 3rd her 3rd single ""Makin" Ooh Ohh (Talking About Love)"" is released and her new single ""Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)"" is expected to be released on November 26, and then the release was being prepared new edition album ""Ready To Fly"" with new songs....

And then this day came: - (November 24, 2001, the news reports about a crash in the mountains of Switzerland, during a flight to Zurich, of another plane, business class .. and then they report that the famous singer Melanie Thornton died in a plane crash. ... In her last interview, she said "" I know we don "t have any guarantee that we" re gonna live tomorrow. That "s why I live everyday as it was my last." " her words turned out to be prophetic (if translated , then in general it turns out the following "" I know we have no guarantees that we will be alive tomorrow. That's why I live every day, as if it were the last "") And the name of her album is "" Ready To Fly "" says she's ready to fly...