Hugo Zacchini (20 October 1898 – 20 October 1975), one of the Zacchini Brothers, was the first human cannonball to use a compressed-air cannon. His father Ildebrando Zacchini invented the compressed-air cannon used to propel humans in circus acts. He was known for being a daredevil and a painter.

Biography

He was born on October 20, 1898, in Santa Ana,

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

to Maddelen and Ildebrando Zacchini. He held two engineering degrees from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

. The Zacchini family was originally from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and has performed in various circuses for several generations. Ildebrando Zacchini's circus was touring Peru at the time of Hugo's birth. Hugo grew up in his father's circus, where he learned to perform juggling, trapeze and other circus acts. The famous Zacchini cannon was designed in 1922 by Hugo's father Ildebrando, with the help of Hugo and his brothers Edmondo and Bruno. The cannon act was first performed publicly on the Zacchini Circus while performing in Egypt. In 1928 while Hugo was performing his cannon act in

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øres ...

, he was discovered by circus owner

John Ringling John Nicholas Ringling (May 31, 1866 – December 2, 1936) was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Brothers Circus, Ringling Br ...

, who offered Zacchini a contract with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Zacchini was involved with a lawsuit that made it before the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

, ''

Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. ''Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.'', 433 U.S. 562 (1977), was an important Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court case concerning Personality rights#United States, rights of publicity. The Court held that the First Ame ...

'', a case which he ultimately won in 1977. Zacchini sued

Scripps-Howard The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by E. W. Scripps, Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a ...

, the owner of an Ohio television station, when it filmed, and then broadcast Zacchini's entire act of being shot out of a cannon at the Geauga County Fair in

Burton, Ohio Burton is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Geauga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,407 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Burton is the location of Century Vil ...

. The United States Supreme Court sided with Zacchini, ruling 5 to 4 that his

personality rights Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. They are generally considered as p ...

overrode the First Amendment rights in this case where the entire act was shown on television in violation of his

common law copyright Common law copyright is the legal doctrine that grants copyright protection based on common law of various jurisdictions, rather than through protection of statutory law. In part, it is based on the contention that copyright is a natural right, ...

. Although best known as the "human cannonball", Zacchini was also an accomplished artist. He studied art at the Rome Arts Academy in Italy and received a Master's in Art degree from Jamestown Academy in

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...

. Hugo Zacchini died on October 20, 1975, his 77th birthday, in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zacchini, Hugo 1898 births 1975 deaths Italian circus performers University of Florida alumni Burials at Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles 20th-century circus performers