Kızılcıklı Mahmut Pehlivan (b. 1878 or 1880 in Kızılcık village near Silistra, Principality of Bulgaria (a

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

under the suzerainty of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

) – d. February 3, 1931 in

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

) was a Turkish

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

foremost known for his victory over Tom Jenkins in 1908 and loss to

Frank Gotch Frank Alvin Gotch (April 27, 1877 – December 17, 1917) was an American professional wrestler. Gotch was the first American professional wrestler to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and he is credited for popularizing professi ...

in 1909 during a North American tour. Given

Yusuf İsmail Yusuf İsmail (1857 – July 4, 1898), also known as Youssouf Ishmaelo, was a Turkish professional wrestler who competed in Europe and the United States as Yusuf Ismail the Terrible Turk during the 1890s. During his lifetime, native Turks knew h ...

's fame, American

professional wrestling 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 ...

promoters chose to launch Mahmut with the ring name ''Youssouf Mahmout'' as the son of Yusuf İsmail and further, "the Terrible Turk", a moniker originally carried by Yusuf İsmail.Kızılcıklı Mahmut Pehlivan
/ref> A main street in

, the

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

n city he later settled is named after him.

References

External links

A photograph of the athlete (in PDF format) and caption from a Nov. 27, 1908
edition of La Patrie, a now-defunct French-language daily newspaper in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. (Translated into English, the headline reads: "A Wrestling Champion" and the caption reads: "Youssouf Mahmout, victor over Tom Jenkins in a match last night at Madison Square Garden.") He is described in a story on the same page as "the Terrible Turk." 19th-century births 1931 deaths Turkish professional wrestlers People from Silistra Province Bulgarian emigrants to Turkey {{Turkey-martialart-bio-stub

References

Further reading

External links