Alexander Ivanovich Zass (6 March 1888 – 26 September 1962) was a Russian

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 ...

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 ...

, and animal trainer. He was better known by his stage names, The Amazing Samson, Iron Samson, or simply Samson, Zass has been credited as the "first Russian champion in weightlifting in the pre-Revolutionary era".

Biography

Zass was born on 6 March 1888 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, then part of 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. ...

. While a young man, Zass' strength training included "bending green branches". During

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Zass served in the Russian army, fighting against the Austrians. He was taken as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

four times, but managed to escape each time. As a prisoner, he pushed and pulled his cell bars as part of strength training, which was cited as an example of the effectiveness of isometrics. At least one of his escapes involved him 'breaking chains and bending bars'. He went on to promote the use of

isometric exercise An isometric exercise is a form of exercise involving the static contraction of a muscle without any visible movement in the angle of the joint. The term "isometric" combines the Greek words ''isos'' (equal) and ''-metria'' (measuring), meaning ...

s. Following the war, Zass joined a circus to perform feats of strength, touring internationally. It has been claimed that Zass was a spy and secret agent working for Russian military intelligence, using his circus travelling as cover. In 1926, his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''The Amazing Samson: as Told by Himself'', was published. His first wife, Blanche M M Zass, died on 22 August 1928 in Forest Hill Kent aged 19. He was still performing as a strongman in the 1930s. From the 1930s until his death, Zass lived in

Hockley Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 189 ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, staying in a

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

along with other former circus acts. He died in 1962; after a dawn funeral (a circus tradition), he was buried in the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St Peter & St Paul in Hockley,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The inscription on the grave is: hree lines of Cyrillic script, translated as: Dear Shura [pet name for AlexanderYou are always with us Sister Nadya Zass, nephew Yura] / ALEXANDER ZASS (Samson) / The worlds strongest man / died 26th Sept 1962 aged 74. His estate was valued at £2263 2s. He was honoured with a statue in a museum in Orenburg, Russia.

Strength feats

Zass has been credited with various feats of strength: *Carrying his injured horse in wartime *Carrying on his shoulders two lions as part of his circus act *Carrying on his shoulders simultaneously a

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, a pianist and a dancer. *Catching a woman fired from a cannon *Suspending a piano from his teeth *Bending with his bare hands an iron bar 5 inches long and 0.625 inches square into a U-shape *Being able to "pound a 5-inch spike through a 2 inch thick plank using only the palm of his bare hand"

References

External links

Gallery of strength feats by Alexander Zass

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zass, Alexander 1888 births 1962 deaths Burials in Essex Circus strongmen and strongwomen People associated with physical culture People from Rochford District People from Vilnius Russian male professional wrestlers Strength training writers Russian military personnel of World War I Russian prisoners of war World War I prisoners of war held by Austria-Hungary