Eugen Sandow

Born in German in 1867, Eugen Sandow achieved international fame as a strongman and bodybuilder. His ‘muscle display performances’ attracted huge crowds, while his books on diet and exercise proved enormously popular with an eager public on both sides of the Atlantic. He invented exercise equipment, wrote books on diet and fitness and even published a monthly magazine on physical culture. He also established a global chain of gymnasiums and organised the world’s first bodybuilding competition, which was held at the Royal Albert Hall in 1901.

Photographed by Henry Van Der Weyde of London.