The Curious Story of Greek Strongman Gust Lessis

Greek strongman Gust Lessis wowed American crowds with his superior displays of strength. Credit: RyanKemmers. CC BY 2.0/flickr

Greek strongman Gust Lessis archetypal recovered fame aft moving to the US successful 1919. There, helium performed feats of unthinkable spot earlier audiences astatine Brighton Beach and was soon discovered by 2 New York photographers. Unfortunately, Lessis met a bittersweet end.

Lessis’ fame and popularity grew from past on, and adjacent prompted past ultra-famous strongman Sandow the Magnificent to archer a radical of reporters that the young Greek volition “surpass others successful his spot erstwhile helium reaches the property of thirty,” arsenic per “The Courier-News” of Bridgewater connected April 29, 1926.

Eugen Sandow, “Sandow the Magnificent.” Credit: whatsthatpicture. CC BY 1.0/flickr

Lessis, the Greek strongman’s emergence successful fame

The Greek strongman astonished Americans successful the aboriginal 1900s close done World War II, and via surviving photographs and newsreels of the 1920s and 1930s, helium adjacent sparked a caller procreation of admirers.

Most sources constituent to Lessis arsenic having been calved successful Livadia, Greece sometime astir 1891 to William Lessis and Panagian Lessis. The young strongman arrived successful the US astir the twelvemonth 1919 and moved successful with his 2 uncles past surviving successful Omaha, Nebraska.

Not agelong aft this, Lessis started moving successful the Pittsburgh Bethlehem Steel Works portion trying to found himself arsenic a nonrecreational strongman but breaking into the realm of nationalist beingness proved a hard feat. He was yet discovered astatine Brighton Beach by Jack Sussman and Bill McGrath, 2 New York photographers who pictured Lessis easy wrapping a one-inch barroom astir his wrist. “The sensational caller strongman, whose feats person astounded each who person seen him, is but 22 years aged and weighs lone 185 pounds,” work a “New-York Tribune” nonfiction successful 1922.

Lessis gains the attraction of the media

This performance, which caught the attraction of the media, firmly established the young Greek’s aboriginal vocation arsenic a strongman.

“On a caller day successful a quiescent country of Brighton Beach Park, helium held a one-ton boulder connected his thorax portion a workman pounded it to pieces with a elephantine sledgehammer. Lessis supported himself connected the crushed with his hands and feet (like a table) arsenic 10 workmen enactment the chromatic connected him. He didn’t quiver arsenic the immense hammer pounded with terrific blows, sending sparks and fragments into his look and eyes. It took astir 10 minutes to shatter the stone, but Lessis stood nether the terrific value without a motion of exhaustion. Furthermore, determination was thing betwixt Lessis’ skin, which is unnaturally tough, and the sharp, jagged rock,” reported “The Evening World” of New York successful September 1922.

From that infinitesimal on, and erstwhile Lessis had been dubbed the “Human Anvil,” photographs of the breaking of ample pavement stones crossed his chest, on with different feats of strength, began appearing connected beforehand pages and successful the amusement sections of newspapers each crossed the nation.

The young Greek’s abilities tin beryllium viewed by searching for YouTube footage titled “Strongmen, costauds, fakirs 1922-1931.”

Lessis’ breakthrough

However, things didn’t truly prime up until “after weeks during which helium astir starved, Gust attracted the attraction of theatrical promoters. At 1 clip helium was giving exhibitions successful Greek restaurants successful New York. He further demonstrated his spot by lifting an bureau harmless bodily from the floor. In the end, helium signed a vaudeville declaration to look for $600 a week,” reported the Pittsburgh “Daily Post” connected July 18, 1923.

Following his breakthrough show astatine Brighton Beach, Lessis started to grounds his feats of spot successful theaters, circuses, and different nationalist venues.

What is little wide astir Lessis astatine this clip is his evident attempts to besides found himself arsenic some a nonrecreational wrestler and boxer. In his theatre shows, helium was celebrated for his quality to “break a railroad spike with his teeth.”

Another objection of Greek Lessis’ large powerfulness was his quality to agelong a rubber outpouring to 1,200 pounds. Another was his placement of a several-feet-long, inch-and-a-half robust barroom successful his rima portion 3 individuals connected each broadside bent the barroom arsenic helium stood connected a rock.

The October 1923 contented of “Popular Science Monthly” shows a photograph of Lessis bending and breaking a heavy robust spike with his teeth, with the spike embedded 8 inches into a woody beam.

At his galore performances, Greek strongman Lessis would connection $5,000 to anyone who was capable to duplicate his feats of strength, but according to nationalist records, cipher ever did. helium toured the state “winning galore medals for his fantastic feats of strength,” according to “Central New Jersey Home News.”

The Greek strongman’s idiosyncratic life

In 1921, Lessis met and fell successful emotion with an 18-year-old American pistillate from Rawlings, Wyoming. Most quality accounts mention this young lady’s sanction arsenic Lola, and immoderate different sources authorities her surname was Gottschalk.

In 1922, erstwhile the newlywed mates arrived successful New York City, “the beardown antheral saw that his woman could not defy the lure of the agleam lights. He liked the elemental life; she wanted ever to beryllium ‘on the go,’ it is said. He wanted children; she disliked them. At magnitude Lessis saw that, though helium loved Lola, they could ne'er get on together,” reported the “Pittsburgh Daily Post” connected July 18, 1923.

Sadly, by 1923, the aforesaid paper reported that Lessis had “filed suit for divorce. Lola, his wife, hasn’t been existent to him…Lola won’t enactment astatine home, it is said. She near him 4 times, but ever came back. He was gladsome to spot her and ever made her welcome, nary substance however agelong she had been away. Even present that his suit is filed Lessis says possibly he’ll springiness her different chance—if she volition committedness to beryllium bully and enactment with him. But helium fears it wouldn’t bash overmuch good.” The mates was officially divorced successful 1923.

Although his emotion beingness suffered, the Greek strongman’s nonrecreational beingness continued to flourish. For the adjacent 10 years, Lessis made his mode backmost and distant crossed show types. As a wrestler, boxer, and circus strongman, Lessis’ fame grew and grew. Even today, websites devoted to wrestling and bodybuilding person rediscovered Lessis.

The execution of Greek strongman Gust Lessis

A paper clipping from “The Tampa Times” connected May 7, 1932 discusses how, wrong a fewer hours aft the Pinellas County expansive jury’s indictment of Tom Kappas, a Tampa musician, for first-degree execution successful the decease of Gust Lessis, a antheral by the sanction of Tony Kappas was arrested astatine Pensacola and held arsenic the “slayer of Lessis.”

“The antheral arrested astatine Pensacola denied immoderate transportation with the crime, however,” it was reported. “Officers determination said helium answered the statement of the antheral wanted and besides said helium lived astatine Tarpon Springs (where Lessis lived astatine this point) and knew Tom Kappas.”