Description of the attraction
In Orenburg, opposite the circus building, there is a monument to the strongest man on earth - Alexander Ivanovich Zass. The bronze sculpture of the world famous strongman of the twentieth century was installed on December 23, 2008, on the centenary of the first performance under the dome of the Orenburg circus in 1908. The author of the idea of creating the monument was the Eurasia Charitable Foundation, and the project was implemented by People's Artist of Russia Alexander Rukavishnikov. The figure of the illustrious athlete bending a metal bar was cast in bronze in Moscow.
Alexander Zass was born in 1888, in a farm near the city of Vilna. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Saransk (Penza region), where he began to develop his own training system (later several of his books on isometric exercises will be published). For the first time, Alexander entered the arena at the Orenburg circus and performed there before the First World War. In 1914, Zass was seriously wounded and taken prisoner by the Austrians. After numerous escapes from captivity, the Russian athlete leaves Austria and already in Hungary signs a long-term contract, where for the first time the pseudonym "Samson" appears on the posters. Touring around the world and being awarded the title of "The Strongest Man on Earth" more than once, Alexander Ivanovich Zass never returned to Russia. The world famous Russian strongman, who developed the system of exercises, the author of the invention of the hand dynamometer and the "Man-Projectile" attraction, was buried in 1962 in a small town near London.
The monument to Alexander Zass in Orenburg is an international landmark and a piece of the city's history.
