Each country has its own national heroes, which the people are proud of. And it does not matter what the political situation is, what forces rule today: a person who brought glory to his country should be revered, and even more so, such a person as Ivan Poddubny, whose biography looks like an interesting novel with all the vicissitudes of life.
Childhood and youth
Ivan Poddubny was born on October 9, 1871. His family lived in Ukraine, in the village of Krasenivka, Poltava province. Today it is Cherkasy region, where peasants were engaged in tillage even in those days. The childhood and youth of the future champion was held in his native places, where he lived until the age of 21. It was a large family, Ivan was the eldest. But besides him there were six more children: three brothers and three sisters. Both parents and children were physically very strong and healthy. Maxim Ivanovich, the father of the family, was a healthy person and possessed tremendous physical strength. This hero, who was compared with Hercules.
Ivan Poddubny: biography, family
The eldest son, Vanya, grew as strong. He was 15 years old, and he already took part in the sash fight and was not afraid to grapple with his father. When he was 22 years old, he left home and worked in Sevastopol as a loader in the port. After working for two years, Poddubny moved to Feodosia. Here he got a job as a worker in the Livas company. In this period of his life, Ivan begins to seriously engage in physical exercises. In the morning he runs, does exercises. Constantly engaged in dumbbells, lifts weights.
The young years of Ivan Poddubny’s life are closely related to work in the circus. In 1896, the Beskorovainy circus came to Feodosia on tour. Ivan attended one performance and after that went there every evening. He was particularly interested in the performance in which the athletes performed various tricks: lifting weights and barbells, breaking horseshoes, bending bars made of thick metal. When at the end of the performance athletes offered to those who wanted to repeat their tricks for a fee, Ivan Poddubny decided to test himself and entered the arena. The first attempt was unsuccessful. But Poddubny Ivan is a belt fighter, and he managed to defeat almost all opponents. Only one did not master - the huge giant Pyotr Yankovsky.
After such a performance, an invitation was received to work as an athlete in a circus. Since then, a passion for circus art has come. In Sevastopol, the Truzzi circus worked, where Poddubny went to 1897. He was hired by a troupe of fighters led by Georg Lurich. After some period of time - work in the Nikitin circus. And already in 1903 began serious studies of the French struggle. Since that time, the life of Ivan Poddubny has changed: he became the winner of all the championships that were held in the country.
Sports achivments
In Kiev, an athletes club was created, which was laid by the doctors E. Garnich-Garnitsky and A. Kuprin. In this club, Poddubny Ivan, a vocation fighter, also conducted his training. According to the observations of the club’s doctor, the athlete’s ability is that he is able to develop such strong energy at the right moment, which is similar to an explosion. In difficult and dangerous moments of the struggle, he did not feel bewildered, did not lose courage. Poddubny was a smart and artistic athlete, which the audience liked very much.
By 1903, Poddubny Ivan Maksimovich became a professional belt wrestler, which was already known in Kiev, Odessa, Tbilisi, Kazan.
Personal life
Working in the Kiev circus, the athlete fell in love with gymnast Masha Dozmarova, who performed under the dome of the circus. She was his opposite: a short, fragile girl who was flexible and fearless. She worked on a trapeze without insurance.
Ivan watched her performance and grew cold with horror, seeing what risk she was at. He courted her, and this did not go unnoticed: Masha also fell in love with the hero.
Tragic death
They became the bride and groom. And even appointed a wedding day. The brave man Ivan was not afraid of anything in the world, he just could not look at Masha’s performances. He was so worried and feared for her that his heart ached. Another performance was taking place. Masha performed her number to music. When the worst moment came, the drum roll sounded. When there was a dull sound, Ivan jumped into the arena. Masha was lying in the arena, and she was dead.
He wanted to live without her. Experiencing a terrible event, Poddubny leaves the circus. Locked in, Ivan did not want to see anyone, to talk to anyone. He did not know what to do next: return home or go to Sevastopol and work as a loader? When the heartache subsided, Ivan received an invitation to participate in the World Cup in France.
Russian hero
is he really looked like a real hero: Ivan Poddubny's height was 185 cm. Chest volume - 130 cm, biceps - 45 cm. At that time, these figures were very impressive. At the invitation of G. I. Ribopier, Poddubny entered the St. Petersburg Athletic Society and began to seriously engage in the French wrestling. Under the guidance of coach Eugene de Paris, the athlete was trained for three months. And so the Russian hero goes to Paris, where the championship was held at the Casino de Paris.
Paris experience
Poddubny Ivan, a fighter from God, had already won eleven victories when it was the turn to measure his strength with Paris champion Raul de Boucher. He was a young man, but also very strong physically. The age difference was significant: the enemy was 20 years old, Poddubny was 35 years old. But he felt during the battle that he would defeat the Frenchman. After a short period of time, the opponent began to cover himself later and simply slipped out of the hands of the Russian hero. The secret was revealed: it turned out that before the start of the battle, Raul was smeared with Provencal oil. But it was forbidden by the rules of the competition. The fight was stopped at the request of Poddubny: he filed a protest to the judges.
By their decision, the French athlete was wiped with a towel every five minutes, but he was still sweating. After the battle was over, victory was awarded to Raul de Boucher. The judges substantiated their decision by the fact that the athlete very skillfully avoided capturing the opponent. Poddubny Ivan Maksimovich decided to definitely take revenge.
Moscow championship
His victorious march continued in Moscow, where the championship was held. Poddubny defeated all the participants here: Shemyakin, Lurikh, Yankovsky. For this he receives a worthy first prize. Next is a trip to the provinces where sold out in the circus: the reason is Ivan Poddubny. The weight that he was able to lift without any preparation was 120 kg. In the Ciniselli Circus in 1904, an international championship in French wrestling was held. Many famous wrestlers came to participate in it, including Raul de Boucher.
Victory in Petersburg
The international championship lasted a whole month. All the nobility of St. Petersburg was in the forefront of the circus. The Russian athlete did not have a single defeat. Finally, it was the turn of the battle with Raul. Ivan Poddubny, a strong man, this time changed his methodology and simply exhausted the Frenchman. Raul admitted defeat. Of course, the first prize went to a Russian athlete. Along with the prize, he received a cash equivalent - 55 thousand rubles.
But the victories did not cloud the athlete’s head, and he continued to train, lived according to the regime. Every morning - exercise, weights, dousing with cold water. Every day he walked with a metal cane in the fresh air. They were never possessed by bad habits such as smoking and alcohol. Ivan Poddubny, whose photos demonstrate this, retained his good health for a long time and looked beautiful.
Saturated life span
And here again Paris, and again the strongest fighters of all countries of the world. Ivan Poddubny, whose biography is full of championships and victories, goes to the capital of France in 1905. And here the strongman defeats everyone, even the famous Iron Nese at that time - the Danish champion Nese Pedersen. For the championship Poddubny receives the title of world champion and a prize of 10,000 francs. Then he will be touring in different countries of the world.
Trips took place to Nice, to Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, Germany. Everywhere Poddubny takes first places and receives first prizes. These years of Ivan Poddubny’s life are so saturated, because everywhere victory and prizes await him, he received the title “Champion of Champions”. In Vienna he was awarded the title of champion in 1907 for the fourth time.
Victory procession in Europe
All the years following this period were a real victorious procession of Poddubny. 1908 - victory in Paris at the World Cup, 1909 - sixth victory in Germany. What is the secret of success and victory? First of all, it is the uncompromising nature of the champion. He was incorruptible. I did not agree to fight according to the proposed scenario. The honor for such athletes as Ivan Poddubny, Ivan Zaikin, Nikolai Vakhturov, Ivan Shemyakin, is more important than money.
Homecoming
The time has come when Ivan Poddubny decided that it was time to quit his sports career. It happened in 1910. Saying goodbye to the circus arena, he returned home to the village of Krasenivka. Years pass, he is almost forty years old, it is time to think about the family. To begin with, the athlete decided to buy himself land. In Bogokhudovka, not far from his village, Ivan Poddubny acquired 130 hectares of land. His biography tells that he married, started a family.
He bought plots for his relatives, built a manor, two mills for himself, and bought a beautiful stroller. But the world champion and a true professional Poddubny could not become a good landowner. He was illiterate, poorly able to write, did not recognize punctuation marks. At the table he mismanaged devices. For Ivan Poddubny it was too difficult, it was much easier to win in a fair fight than to do household work. Professional conscience and honor - this is the main thing for such people, which should be remembered now.
The collapse of a quiet life
Only three years was engaged in farming Poddubny Ivan. The family for which he tried so hard could not save everything that he gave her: the younger brother burned the mill, the second mill was sold to pay off debts. Competitors in the person of Rabinovich and Zarha in this “battle” defeated the great athlete. He returned to the carpet in 1913.
Ivan Poddubny continued to continue to show excellent results and arouse admiration of fans and spectators. He never violated his principles and fought until an honest victory. But time passed, life changed. Global changes have taken place in the world: war, revolution. All this affected the lives of many athletes and artists, culture.
Troubled years
Ivan Poddubny, whose biography is eventful, was also at risk from the activities of various types of combat groups. So, in 1919, drunk anarchists fired at the Zhytomyr Circus. I had to run away without taking any things or money, wandering around the world. In the city of Kerch a drunk officer shot him. During wanderings, he met on his way and Nestor Makhno.
There was a civil war, but Poddubny did not want to kill his compatriots, and therefore did not join anyone. He did not want to take up arms and continued to fight in the ring. Despite this, the Odessa Cheka arrested the champion. He was lucky only because many remembered and admired him. The authorities figured it out and let him go. At this time, news came from home: the wife went to another man, taking with him his medals. The athlete stopped talking and eating, experienced a terrible depression. He was like that, Poddubny Ivan: the family and wife who betrayed ceased to exist for him. Subsequently, the wife wanted to return to him, but he no longer recognized her.
Country of Soviets
Finally, a kind of order began to be established in the country, and the leadership came to the conclusion that the circus arena could serve as a great place for revolutionary agitation and propaganda. And in 1922, Ivan Poddubny continued his work at the Moscow Circus. While on tour in Rostov-on-Don, Ivan Maksimovich met Maria Semenovna, whom he married. And even got married in the church. Ivan Poddubny, whose photo flew around the whole world, even began to look younger.
But now he has problems with money. Therefore, it was necessary to tour as much as possible to participate in various championships. During the NEP, he came to Germany. Here, too, won many victories, despite the fact that he was much older than his rivals. Then he went to America - it was 1925.
America, America ...
In America, he began to study freestyle wrestling. Having trained for a month, Ivan Poddubny was completely ready for the fights. It was a real sensation in which he was even named the champion of America. But here there were some problems: he was forced to stay in this country. They acted in different ways: persuading, threatening, not paying money. But he is adamant and returns to his homeland in 1927. Here he continues to continue his performances.
His circus life continued until the outbreak of the 1941 war. He was almost 70 years old at that time. In 1939, Ivan Poddubny was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in the Kremlin. So the government appreciated his contribution to the development of sports. In addition, he became an Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
German occupation
Ivan Poddubny, whose biography, height, weight and worldwide fame inspired even the German invaders, refused to evacuate and continued to live with his wife in Yeysk. He never removed his order, even with the Germans. To somehow earn a living, he began to work in a billiard room. The athlete should get food, because he never stopped training.
When the occupation was lifted, Ivan Poddubny again went on tour. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR champion was awarded only in 1945. Despite his age, he continued to lead an active life. And two years later, at a performance in honor of the 50th anniversary of his work in the circus arena, the athlete still showed excellent results. But age still takes its toll, and this is inevitable.
Brutal reality
After a short time, Ivan Poddubny suffered a broken leg. And very soon, in 1949, he died of a heart attack. Today, a bust is set in the champion’s homeland, on which the words are carved: “Here is the Russian hero” Since 1962, international tournaments for the prize of Ivan Poddubny have been held. He was the strongest man on Earth, not only physically, but also spiritually.
But not all of the life of such a wonderful person is known to historians. Many periods when his activity was not fixed, there is confusion with dates. Some historians claim that in the post-war famine, Ivan Poddubny lacked food. For an athlete who is constantly training, a special diet is required. The lack of vitamins, proteins and minerals could adversely affect the health status of the famous hero. But the losses were no longer made up for. After all, everything should be done on time, and the real heroes of the Fatherland should be protected.