Juan Ferrero (5 April 1918 – 17 June 1958) was a Spanish bodybuilder who won the Mr. Universe Pro title in London in 1952."1952 NABBA Mr. Universe"
. Bodybuilding.com. He was born in Spain and although he became a resident of France at the age of seven, he always identified with his country of origin, which he proudly boasted of.

Early life

Juan was born as Fidel Ferrero y Colino on 5 April 1918 in the small town of Puente Almuhey, in the province of León, Spain. His father, Alfonso Ferrero, was an employee at a local

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

factory known as Felia San Pedro."De niño de pueblo al primer Mister Universo de la historia"
. Diario de León. Ferrero and his family migrated to the city of Bordeaux, France in 1925 for political reasons."El primer Míster Universo era de León"
El País. As a young child, Ferrero was weak, thin and often sick. His skin tone was very dark and tan, which contrasted with the rest of his family, to the end he doubted his true parentage. In school, his skin earned him the monicker "El Negro" (the black). Years later it was a big plus for his sport, but during

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...

it caused him many problems and conflicts. He also adopted the name of ''Juan'', the name of his grandfather for whom he had a great affection.

Bodybuilding

At the age of fifteen, he became interested in gymnastics and soon he got spectacular results in other sports: 11 seconds for the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

, in the long jump with feet together, he could also climbed the smooth rope in five seconds with legs corner. Ferrero later became dedicated to bodybuilding and in 1937 won the Best Athlete competition in Europe. In weightlifting, among other brands, he broke the world record in one arm deadlift . On the evening of 12 July 1952, at the age of 34, Ferrero won the Mister Universe Professional title that was held at the

Scala Theatre The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was kn ...

in London. The award was given by the

National Amateur Bodybuilders Association The National Amateur Body-Builders' Association, more commonly referred to as NABBA, was founded in 1950 by the Health & Strength League to promote bodybuilding. Although the original intention was to promote physique contests in the United Kin ...

(NABBA), which first held its Professional category. Despite his rise to success in sports, international admiration for his triumph was not a significant impact in

Spain under Franco Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, because Ferrero was a migrant belonging to a non-supporting family of the regime. After he retired from competitions, he opened a prestigious gym in France called "Institut Ferrero", equipped with the most modern equipment at that time. He taught in the physical education, dance and acrobatics.

Personal life

In 1939, he married fellow Spanish dancer Magdalena Isabel Martínez Cuadros in Bordeaux with whom he had two children, Rodolfo and Anita. Rodolfo followed his father's footsteps, who at the age 23, became the ''Plus Atlete de France'' in 1961. Ferrero died on 17 June 1958 at the age of 40 in a car accident in Bordeaux. He was seated next to the driver of a Renault Dauphine together with four other passengers when the car went out on a curve and overturned. Ferrero was the only dead victim of the accident, the other five were unharmed suffering only minor bruises."Juan Ferrero"
. Muscle Memory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrero, Juan 1918 births 1958 deaths People associated with physical culture People from Montaña de Riaño Sportspeople from the Province of León Professional bodybuilders Road incident deaths in France Spanish bodybuilders Spanish emigrants to France