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Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt (August 2, 1878, Tartu, Estonia (then Imperial Russia) - February 19, 1968, London, England) was an early 20th-century strongman and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Russian Lion", Hackenschmidt was actually an Estonian born to German and Estonian-Swedish parents.
Hackenschmidt became a professional wrestler around 1898 and went undefeated for over 3000 matches. He was the first widely-recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion after his 1905 win over Tom Jenkins. Hackenschmidt held the title and remained undefeated until his 1908 match with Frank Gotch at Chicago's Dexter Park Pavilion, in which he lost after 2 hours and 3 minutes. A rematch on September 4 of that same year at the newly opened Comiskey Park resulted in another loss to Gotch.
Hackenschmidt retired from professional wrestling in 1911 due to recurring injuries, and went on to write several books, including Fitness and Your Self (1937), Consciousness and Character: True Definitions of Entity, Individuality, Personality, Nonentity (1937), The Way To Live In Health and Physical Fitness (1941), and The Three Memories and Forgetfulness: What They Are and What Their True Significance is in Human Life. He died in London in 1968 at the age of 90.
Data originally published on Wikipedia
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