Georg Lurich ( – 20 January 1920) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman of the early 20th century. Lurich was also the trainer of Estonian wrestlers and weightlifters Georg Hackenschmidt and Aleksander Aberg.

Early life

Born Georg Luri on 22 April 1876 in the village of

Väike-Maarja Väike-Maarja () is a Populated places in Estonia, small borough () in Lääne-Viru County, Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Väike-Maarja Parish. The population of Väike-Maarja in January 2023 was 2,155 people. Väike-Maarja Chu ...

in Viru County,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Lääne-Viru County Lääne-Viru County ( or ''Lääne-Virumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, ''lääne'' means western and ''ida'' means east or eastern. Lääne-Viru borders Id ...

), he was a second youngest of six children born to shopkeeper Jüri Luri and Julie (''née'' Rute). Although ethnically

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

, his family later altered their surname to Lurich after changing religious congregations from a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Estonian congregation to a predominantly ethnic

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

congregation. Lurich's family believed members of the German congregation had better opportunities to educate their children in town schools. Although they changed their surname, Georg suffered physical and mental persecution from his mostly Baltic German fellow schoolmates. This situation was the main reason why he began training his body. He studied information from German-language books in order to learn how to train. Lurich began participating in sporting activities at an early age. After graduating from Peter's Modern School in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

(today, Tallinn Secondary School of Science) in 1894, he travelled to St. Petersburg, Russia where he practised weightlifting and wrestling under the supervision of Polish athletics coach Dr. Władysław Krajewski. Lurich performed in St. Petersburg's summer gardens, competed with local wrestlers and made various lifting demonstrations together with fellow strongman Gustav Boesberg. His popularity convinced him to pursue a career as a professional athlete. Lurich became the first Estonian to set world weightlifting records. The Estonian public eagerly attended his matches and Lurich's popularity in his homeland soared. From 1897 to 1898, Lurich toured Estonia and his successes helped popularize athletics in Estonia; dozens of athletic clubs were established. In 1896, Lurich befriended an 18-year-old fellow countryman by the name of

George Hackenschmidt Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt (1 August 1877 – 19 February 1968) was an Estonian Strongman (strength athlete), strongman, wrestling, amateur and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, writer, and Philosophy of sport, sports philoso ...

and began to train the young man. Hackenschmidt would later go on to make a name for himself in weightlifting and wrestling. Lurich 1Nude

Travel abroad and death

Prior to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Lurich, along with friend and fellow Estonian wrestler Aleksander Aberg travelled to the United States to perform for American audiences. Lurich competed in freestyle wrestling matches in the

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between 1913 and 1917. Lurich wrestled American world wrestling champion and title holder Frank Gotch in

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in 1913, but lost what would be Gotch's final match. After returning home via Japan, China and Russia in 1917, they arrived in Estonia in the autumn. They participated in a wrestling tournament in the capital city of Tallinn that remained unfinished due to the approach of German troops. The two athletes went to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and on to southern Russia. The

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

meant an end to work in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. Conditions seemed better in the southern region, which was controlled by the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

. However, the war spread and the men had to flee further inside Russia. They became stranded in a far corner of southern Russia in the village of Armavir. Their initial aim was to leave Russia across the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

by boat. Things took a dramatic turn in Armavir at the beginning of 1920. The fighting reached them, the town changed hands several times, many civilians perished, and there were many funerals. A warm winter brought about an epidemic of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

. Due to the war, medical aid was difficult to obtain. Lurich fell ill first and died on 20 January 1920. Aberg had also become infected with typhus, but managed to overcome the illness. However, he rushed his recovery, caught

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, and died on 15 February 1920. The wrestlers were buried in one grave in the Armavir German cemetery.

Legacy

Following Georg Lurich's death on 20 January 1920 at the age of 43, many Estonians began embellishing his accomplishments with such voracity that Lurich's legend took on an almost mythological light. Folk tales abounded in rural Estonia and continue to years after Lurich's death. The following excerpt is an example of a Georg Lurich folk tale that has become popular amongst residents of Väike-Maarja, Estonia and was transcribed by Estonian author Kalle Voolaid:

"One hot and sunny summer day Lurich had been sitting on a hill slope in Väike-Maarja and when the heat was becoming too much for him, he ran down into the valley to freshen himself up with cool spring water. While running he hit his foot against a rock and fell on all fours on the stone. Then he stood up, went to the spring, put his feet and hands in the spring and washed with spring water. That is where he got the great strength, he had taken that rock against which he had hit his foot, and played with it as if it were a potato. That rock is said to be still there on the edge of Väike-Maarja memorial hill, covered with moss."

In 1912, Estonian sculptor Amandus Adamson cast a bronze statue of Lurich titled "Champion" which won the 1912 Paris Olympic artist contest. Lurich was also the inspirational model for a plaster of Paris sculpture by Adamson titled " Kalevipoeg at the Gates of Hell" (Estonian: "Kalevipoeg põrgu väravas") in 1922. Lurich remains one of the most beloved figures in Estonia to this day. Large tour groups now visit Lurich's memorial stone in Väike-Maarja on Aia Street. The international Georg Lurich Memorial in Greco-Roman wrestling is held annually in Estonia from 1956. On 22 April 2018, Lurich's statue was opened in Väike-Maarja.

Monuments and memorials

File:Georg Lurichi bareljeef.jpg, Bas-relief of Lurich at the Tallinn Secondary School of Science (Tallinna Reaalkool) File:Lurichi monument Pirital.jpg, Lurich monument by sculptor Tõnu Maarand, based on the 1912 Amandus Adamson sculpture ''Champion''. Formerly in the Tallinn district of

Pirita Pirita is one of the eight administrative districts () of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Pirita occupies a relatively large area, but compared to other districts of Tallinn its population of 17,592 (as of 1 November 2014) is relatively small. ...

. Moved to the Pirita Sports Centre in 2020 File:Lurich-Monument-2019.jpg, Lurich monument in

Championships and accomplishments

* International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame ** Class of 2023

Early life

Travel abroad and death

Legacy

Monuments and memorials

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

Further reading

External links