Nasser El Sonbaty (October 15, 1965 – March 20, 2013) was an IFBB

professional bodybuilder Professional bodybuilding or pro bodybuilding can refer to bodybuilding for an income and/or possessing qualifications such as an IFBB or Wabba International Pro Card. A professional bodybuilder may be one who earns his or her primary income from ...

. He represented

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...

at competitions.

Early life

Sonbaty was born in the German city of Stuttgart to an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

father and a Yugoslav mother from

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар, lit. "New Bazaar"; ) is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2011 census, the urban area has 66,527 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 100,410 inhabit ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. Sonbaty was a graduate of the

University of Augsburg The University of Augsburg (german: Universität Augsburg) is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 8 Faculties. The University of Augsburg is a relatively you ...

with a degree in history, political science, and sociology. He had two sisters and two brothers.

Career

Sonbaty began bodybuilding in 1983. His first competition was a Junior State Championship in Germany in 1985, where he placed 6th. His first appearance in the

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually by the International Federation ...

competition was in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, where he placed 7th. In total, Sonbaty competed in 13 amateur shows and 53 IFBB Pro shows. He qualified for 10 consecutive Mr. Olympia contests and entered nine Mr. Olympia competitions. His best placing in the Mr. Olympia competition was in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, where he placed 2nd. Sonbaty was known for posing and training while wearing his trademark round spectacles; alongside his fluency in several languages, this is likely the basis for his nickname, "The Professor". Despite weighing over 300 lbs in the offseason, he could still show his full abdominal muscles. He has been featured in many international fitness and bodybuilding magazines, articles as well as being pictured on over 60 covers.

Personal life

Sonbaty split his time between

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

and Costa Mesa, California. He died in his sleep during a visit to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

on March 20, 2013.

Stats

*Height: 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) *Competition weight: between 265 lbs (120 kg) and 290 lbs (131 kg) *Off Season weight: between 300 lbs (136 kg) and 315 lbs (143 kg)

Pro contest history

*1990 Grand Prix Finland - 8th *1990 Grand Prix France - 7th *1990 Grand Prix Holland - 8th *1991 Night of Champions - Did not place *1992 Chicago Pro Invitational - 19th *1992 Night of Champions - Did not place *1993 Grand Prix France - 3rd *1993 Grand Prix Germany - 3rd *1994 Grand Prix France - 4th *1994 Grand Prix Germany - 4th *1994 Night of Champions - 2nd *

1994 Mr. Olympia The 1994 Mr. Olympia contest was an International Federation of BodyBuilders, IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held on September 10, 1994, at the Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Results The total prize mo ...

- 7th *1995 Grand Prix England - 4th *1995 Grand Prix France - 3rd *1995 Grand Prix Germany - 3rd *1995 Grand Prix Russia - 3rd *1995 Grand Prix Spain - 3rd *1995 Grand Prix Ukraine - 2nd *1995 Houston Pro Invitational - 1st *1995 Night of Champions - 1st * 1995 Mr. Olympia - 3rd *1996 Grand Prix Czech Republic - 1st *1996 Grand Prix England - 2nd *1996 Grand Prix Germany - 2nd *1996 Grand Prix Russia - Winner *1996 Grand Prix Spain - 3rd *1996 Grand Prix Switzerland - 1st * 1996 Mr. Olympia - 3rd *1997

Arnold Classic The IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, is an annual multi-sport event consisting of professional bodybuilding (''Arnold Classic''), strongman ('' Arnold Strongman Classic''), fitness, figure ...

- 2nd *1997 Grand Prix Czech Republic - 3rd *1997 Grand Prix England - 3rd *1997 Grand Prix Finland - 4th *1997 Grand Prix Germany - 2nd *1997 Grand Prix Hungary - 2nd *1997 Grand Prix Russia - 3rd *1997 Grand Prix Spain - 2nd *

1997 Mr. Olympia The 1997 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held on September 20, 1997, at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, California. Results Total prize amount awarded was $285,000. Notable events *Dorian Yates won hi ...

- 2nd *1997 San Jose Pro Invitational - 2nd *1998 Arnold Classic - 2nd *1998 Grand Prix Finland - 3rd *1998 Grand Prix Germany - 3rd *

1998 Mr. Olympia The 1998 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held on October 10, 1998, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Results The total prize money awarded was $300,000. Notable events *Dorian Yates, wh ...

- 3rd *1999 Arnold Classic - 1st *1999 Grand Prix England - 6th *

1999 Mr. Olympia The 1999 Mr. Olympia contest was an International Federation of BodyBuilders, IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held October 21–24, 1999 at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada. Results The total prize money aw ...

- 6th *1999 World Pro Championships - 6th *

2000 Mr. Olympia The 2000 Mr. Olympia contest was an International Federation of BodyBuilders, IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held October 20–22, 2000 at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada. Results The total prize money aw ...

- 5th *

2001 Mr. Olympia The 2001 Mr. Olympia contest was an International Federation of BodyBuilders, IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held October 26–28, 2001 at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada. Results The total prize money a ...

- 9th *2002 Arnold Classic - 10th *

2002 Mr. Olympia The 2002 Mr. Olympia contest was an International Federation of BodyBuilders, IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held October 16–20, 2002 at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada. Results The total prize money a ...

- 15th *2004 Night of Champions - 15th *2004 Show of Strength Pro Championship - 14th *2005 Europa Supershow - 14th

Training videos

*''Nasser On The Way - Video Part I'' - 1999 *''Nasser On The Way - Video Part II'' - 2000 *''Nasser On The Way - Video Part III'' - 2001 *''Nasser On The Way - Video Part IV'' - 2002 *''Nasser On The Way - Video Part V'' - 2003 *''Nasser On The Way - Video Part VI'' - 2004 *''Nasser On The Way - Video Part VII'' - 2005

References

External links

Gallery of Nasser El Sonbaty
(his images will be hosted here in the near future)
Nasser's Official Site
(Site taken down due to legal issues.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonbaty, Nasser 1965 births 2013 deaths German Muslims Professional bodybuilders Yugoslav bodybuilders German male bodybuilders German people of Egyptian descent German people of Serbian descent German people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent