Ivan Maximovich Poddubny or Ivan Maksymovych Piddubnyy (russian: Ива́н Максимович Подду́бный, uk, Іва́н Максимович Підду́бний; – 8 August 1949) was a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and later the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Biography

Poddubniy was born on

John the Apostle John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee a ...

day in 1871 into a family of

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...

Абсолютная сила Ивана
vokrugsveta.ru
history.vn.uaNikolai Sukhomlin (16 March 2009
Богатырь Иван ПОДДУБНЫЙ: из грузчиков в чемпионы
h.ua
ote4estvo.ru. 6 July 2011 in the village of Krasenivka, in the Zolotonosha county (

uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...

) of the

Poltava Governorate The Poltava Governorate (russian: Полтавская губерния, Poltavskaya guberniya; ua, Полтавська Губернія, translit=Poltavska huberniia) or Poltavshchyna was a Governorate (Russia), gubernia (also called a provin ...

of the

(present-day

Zolotonosha Raion Zolotonosha Raion is a Raions of Ukraine, raion (district) of Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at the city of Zolotonosha. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the n ...

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast ( uk, Черка́ська о́бласть, Cherkaska oblast, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna ( uk, Черка́щина, ) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). Having a big family Poddubny senior had a difficult time to provide for them, therefore Ivan was forced to leave his father's house before turning 20. As a young man, Poddubny worked as a fitter in the ports of

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

and

Feodosiya uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe , official_name = () , settlement_type= , image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa , image_shield = Fe ...

for seven years earning a nickname of Ivan the Great. In Feodosiya, Ivan started to practice with

kettlebell In weight training, a kettlebell is a cast-iron or cast-steel ball with a handle attached to the top (resembling a cannonball with a handle). It is used to perform many types of exercises, including ballistic exercises that combine cardi ...

s and participated in some wrestling fights. Sometime around 1897-1898, he started traveling with circus tours and performed at first in Sevastopol and later in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

arenas. Sometime in 1903, Poddubny joined the Saint Petersburg Athletic Club with which he participated in World Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1905 he became the World Champion in wrestling in Paris and later toured Italy, Algeria, Belgium, Berlin, winning a championship in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. In 1906, Poddubny won two more World Cups in

and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. In 1907

Georg Hackenschmidt Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt ( – 19 February 1968) was an early 20th-century Estonian strongman, professional wrestler, author, and sports philosopher who is recognized as professional wrestling's first world heavyweight champion. Hack ...

spots four strong wrestlers: Constant Le Marin, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Ivan Poddubny and Joe Rogers. All four challenge Hackenschmidt, and he agrees to compete the strongest of them, which should determine the tournament. In England, Hackenschmidt attends a match between Zbyszko and Poddubny, which the Zbyszko wins by disqualification. Before returning to his home in Krasenivka in 1910, he also won several more world cups in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. Ivan repeatedly won

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

"World Cups" among professionals, including the most authoritative of them – in Paris (1905–08). In 1925–27 he performed in Germany and US. According to the Krasenivka museum, he did not waste his money earned during fights and upon his return home bought of land, two houses in a neighboring Bohodukhivka village, a small store, a churn shop, two mills one of which was located in Orzhytsia (today a town in

Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast ( uk, Полта́вська о́бласть, translit=Poltavska oblast; also referred to as Poltavshchyna – uk, Полта́вщина, literally 'Poltava Country') is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The administrative ...

). Around that time, he got married for the first time. Sometime in 1913, Poddubny participated in another World Cup in

where he became a runner-up. It was then that his wife left him for another taking his gold medals. While touring in

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

, Ivan meet his future second wife whom he married in 1923. In 1920s he was touring the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

staying undefeated while visiting

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. On February 2, 1926 in New York City, Poddubny lost to world heavyweight wrestling champion

Joe Stecher Joe Stecher (April 4, 1893 – March 29, 1974), sometimes spelled Joe Stetcher, was an American professional wrestler and three-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Known for his ferocity, tremendous leg strength and extensive knowledge o ...

, which is considered Poddubny's first loss in 25 years. On June 16, Stecher defeats Poddubny again at the

Olympic Auditorium The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a former sports venue in southern Downtown Los Angeles, California. The venue was built in 1924 at 1801 South Grand Avenue, now just south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium ...

in Los Angeles in front of 10,000 people. During his tour in the

he was forced to fight freestyle as his opponents. At age 56 Ivan won a beauty contest among men in the

. Being unable to take out his earned half a million dollars from the bank (required to be a citizen), he left for home. Later Ivan continued to perform in the Russian circuses retiring finally at age of 70. His last farewell performance he did in the

Tula Tula may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Tula Mountains *Tula Point India *Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar Iran * Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province Italy * Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the pr ...

city circus in 1941. After his retirement, he with his wife settled in

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

buying a two-storey house with a garden in

Yeysk Yeysk (russian: Ейск) is a port and a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the shore of the Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of Azov. The town is built primarily on the Yeysk Spit, which separates the Yeya River from the Sea of Azov. P ...

. In November 1939, he was given the title of

Honored Artist of the RSFSR Honored Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Zasluzhenny artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achievements in the ...

, and in 1945 that of Honored Master of Sports. During the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

German occupation, he refused to leave the

to train German wrestlers. And the last battle is held at the age of 70. After the end of his career, he moved to the Sea of Azov and lived until his death - 77 years. Poddubny maintained a lifelong professional rivalry with wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko. He died undefeated on 8 August 1949, in the town of

, in the

region in

Southern Russia Southern Russia or the South of Russia (russian: Юг России, ''Yug Rossii'') is a colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia generally covering the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasian Federal ...

from a heart attack.Nikitenko, T.
Bogatyr from Krasenivka
'.

Ukrayina Moloda ''Ukrayina Moloda'' ( uk, Україна молода, ''Young Ukraine'') is a daily Ukrainian-language newspaper based in Kyiv with a circulation of 99,000. It is published by State Company "Presa Ukrayiny". In the beginning of 2018 the editorial ...

. 7 October 2011 Ivan was buried in Yeysk in a park outside of the city. At his burial site was installed an obelisk that used to say "Here lies the Russian bogatyr".

Personal life

His first wife, Antonina, cheated on him and ran away with another, stealing his gold medals. Antonina later regretted her actions and attempted to return, but Ivan would not forgive her. According to the director of the Krasenivka museum, Ivan had three sisters (Motrona, Maryna, and Yevdokiya) and three brothers (Omelyan, Mykyta, and Mytrofan). The fate of Omelyan and Mykyta is unknown, while Mytrofan continued to live in Krasenivka where he died in 1966. The last relative of Ivan Poddubny who lived in Krasenivka was his granddaughter Hanna Zakharivna who died sometime before 2011. It is also known that both Motrona and Maryna had three children each, yet the most close relations Ivan kept with his youngest sister Yevdokiya and was as godfather of her daughter Mariya. Eventually, Yevdokiya moved to the neighboring village of Bohodukhivka and later to

Zolotonosha Zolotonosha ( uk, Золотоноша , yi, זאלאטאנאשא) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Located at around , the city serves as the administrative center of Zolotonosha Raion (district). It hosts th ...

. Ivan's father name was Maksym Ivanovych Piddubny. According to the Krasenivka museum, Ivan Piddubny's height was , his weight was , his biceps girth was , and his neck was thick. Among Poddubny's friends was

Dmytro Yavornytsky Dmytro Ivanovych Yavornytsky ( uk, Дмитро́ Іва́нович Яворни́цький), or Dmitry Ivanovich Yavornitsky (also known as ''Dmitry Evarnitsky'', russian: Дмитрий Иванович Яворницкий; November 6, 1855, ...

who lived in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

(Yekaterinoslav). Stamp of Ukraine s124

Championships, accomplishments and awards

* Six-time consecutive champion in

in 1905–1909, the first one to do so. *

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(1911) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

(1939) *

Honoured Artist of the RSFSR Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

(1939) * Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR (1945)

Legacy

There is a monument dedicated to Poddubny in his home village of Krasenivka. There is also the Ivan Piddubny Fund headed by Petro Dusheiko (former governor of

Chornobai Raion Chornobai Raion ( uk, Чорнобаївський район) was a ''raion'' (district—adminsistrative region) of eastern Cherkasy Oblast, in central Ukraine. Its administrative center was located in the urban-type settlement of Chornobai. Th ...

). The Fund sponsors the annual festival of

bogatyr A bogatyr ( rus, богатырь, p=bəɡɐˈtɨrʲ, a=Ru-богатырь.ogg) or vityaz ( rus, витязь, p=ˈvʲitʲɪsʲ) is a stock character in medieval East Slavic legends, akin to a Western European knight-errant. Bogatyrs appear ma ...

strength which is conducted since 1998. The festival which gathers up to 10,000 people was visited once by a grandson and great grandson of Ivan Poddubny who arrived from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. *

Piddubny Olympic College Piddubny Olympic College ( uk, Олімпійський коледж імені Івана Піддубного, translit=Olimpiyskyi koledzh imeni Ivana Piddubnoho) is a sports school in Kyiv that provides sports reserve for Olympic sports. The c ...

, a former Republican Higher School of Physical Culture (in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

) renamed in 2015

References

External links

Иван Максимович Поддубный / Ivan Poddubny: Гамбургский счет Ивана Поддубного
at peoples.ru
Ivan Poddubny's biography

Ivan Piddubny's biography''Ivan Piddubny: the Ukrainian Hercules, a powerful athlete and staunch patriot''
in

The Ukrainian Weekly ''The Ukrainian Weekly'' is the oldest English-language newspaper of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, and North America. Founded by the Ukrainian National Association, and published continuously since October 6, 1933, archived copies ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poddubny, Ivan 1871 births 1949 deaths People associated with physical culture People from Poltava Governorate Russian strength athletes Ukrainian strength athletes Soviet strength athletes Russian male sport wrestlers Ukrainian male sport wrestlers Soviet male sport wrestlers Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Honored Artists of the RSFSR Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Sportspeople from Cherkasy Oblast