Édouard Beaupré, (January 9, 1881 – July 3, 1904) was a Canadian
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...
and
freak show
A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...
giant,
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 o ...
,
strongman
In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...
, and star of
Barnum and Bailey's
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...
circus. He was one of the
tallest men in recorded history, with a reported height of .
Life
Édouard Beaupré was born in the southern
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
town of
Willow Bunch on January 9, 1881. He was the first of 20 children born to Gaspard Beaupré and Florestine Piché, a
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United State ...
. When he started school at seven, he was of average height, but at nine he was already ,
and at 12 he was over tall.
[ He stopped going to school at this time. He spoke French, English, Métchif, Cree and Sioux. He was an excellent horseman, but by the age of 17 he had reached the height of ][ and he abandoned the trade.]
His father worked as a freighter for the trader Jean-Louis Légaré, who was a cattle and horse rancher and also Beaupré's godfather. For several years he accompanied his father on his trips to Moose Jaw
Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javian ...
, Regina, and Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
.
Abandoning life on the ranch, Beaupré began touring. He displayed his strength by bending iron bars and lifting horses onto his shoulders. He toured from Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
to 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- ...
and stayed for a time in California. While in Montreal, on March 25, 1901, Beaupré wrestled Louis Cyr
Louis Cyr (; born Cyprien-Noé Cyr, October 10, 1863 - November 10, 1912) was a Canadian, Canadian strongman (strength athlete), strongman with a career spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His recorded feats, including lifting (1/4 ...
, a famous French Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
strongman
In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...
. The match was very short, with Cyr winning. Around 21-years-old, he stood and weighed .[ His neck measured 21 inches in circumference and his hands were 12 and a half inches from the wrist to finger tips.][ His ]chest
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...
measured 56 inches while his shoes had to be custom made for his size 22 feet.[ In December 1903, he measured ][
]
Death
Beaupré signed a contract on July 1, 1904, with the Barnum and Bailey circus to appear at the St. Louis World's Fair
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...
in St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
. However, just two days later on July 3, 1904, he died at age 23 of a pulmonary hemorrhage, a complication of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...
. At the time of his death, he was tall and weighed , as indicated on his death certificate.
Travels after death
At the circus' request, the undertaker embalmed Beaupré's body. However, the circus refused to pay, so they decided to preserve the body which they then put on display in St. Louis. Through an unknown connection, the body made it to the Museum of Eden in Montreal and was put on display there, but the exposition drew such a crowd that the authorities shut it down. The body was then passed on to a Montreal circus, but they quickly went bankrupt and dumped the body in a warehouse. It sat there until 1907, when two kids came across the body as they were playing in the warehouse. The Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...
claimed the body, and, after doing some research and an autopsy, mummified Beaupré's body and placed it in a glass display case in the university.
Burial
The family only discovered Beaupré's body was in Montreal in 1967, and so in 1975 began the process to try to return the body to Willow Bunch for a proper burial. The university refused and claimed rights over the body, saying that they wanted to continue to perform research and did not want the body displayed anywhere else. In 1989 the family once again tried, this time bringing the media with them as well to put some pressure on the university. This time the effort worked, and so the university decided they could cremate the remains, to prevent anyone from grave-robbing the body. It took two big urns to contain Beaupré's ashes. Finally, in 1990, the body of ''le Géant Beaupré'' or ''le Géant de Willow-Bunch'' was brought back to Willow Bunch. The family had a memorial service, and his remains now lie in front of the Willow Bunch Museum.
References
External links
The Tallest Man: Édouard Beaupré
a
Canada's Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaupre, Edouard
1881 births
1904 deaths
Canadian circus performers
People with gigantism
Fransaskois people
Sideshow performers
Tuberculosis deaths in Missouri
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Canadian male wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from Saskatchewan