Louis Cyr
Louis Cyr, baptised
Cyprien-Noé Cyr (
October 10,
1863 –
November 10,
1912) was a famous
Canadian strongman. Cyr never backed down from a challenge and was undefeated in Canada and abroad. His fame was earned before accurate records were kept and before
weightlifting was included among
Olympic events.
Cyr was born in
St. Cyprien de Napierville in
Quebec,
Canada. From the age of twelve Cyr worked in a lumber camp during the winters and on the family's farm the rest of the year. He impressed his fellow workers with his feats of strength. The
Dictionary of Canadian Biography notes that according to one of his biographers, his mother decided "he should let his hair grow, like Samson in the Bible." She curled it regularly.
In
1878 the Cyr family immigrated to
Lowell, Massachusetts in the
United States. It was in Lowell that, Cyr changed his name from Cyprien-Noé to Louis, as it was easier to pronounce in English. Again his great strength brought him fame. At seventeen he weighed 230 pounds (104 kg). He entered his first strongman contest in Boston at age eighteen, lifting a horse off the ground.
Cyr returned to Quebec in
1882 with his family and was married. The following year he and his wife returned to Lowell, hoping to capitalize on his fame there. A tour of the
Maritimes was organized, and while it may have benefitted the organizer, Cyr made nothing from it. He then began touring Quebec with his family in a show they called "The Troupe Cyr."
From
1883 to
1885, Cyr served as a police officer in
Montreal. Following this he went on tour with a troupe that included a wrestler, a boxer and a weightlifter. He entered a strongman competition in March,
1886 at
Quebec City, against the reigning Canadian strongman, David Michaud. Cyr lifted a 218-pound (99 kg) barbell with one hand (to Michaud's 158 pounds/72 kg) and a weight of 2,371 pounds (1 076 kg) on his back, to his opponent's 2,071 pounds (940 kg) to win the title of strongest man in the country.
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"Louis Cyr ready to restrain horses", from The National Archives of Canada |
While several of Cyr's feats of strength have been exaggerated over the years, some were documented and remain impressive. These included lifting a platform on his back holding 18 men, lifting a 500-pound (227 kg) weight with his finger and pushing a freight car up an incline. Perhaps his greatest feat occurred in
1895, when he was reported to have lifted 4,337 pounds (1 969 kg) on his back. One of Cyr's most-talked about stunts occurred on
12 October 1891, in Montreal. On that occasion he restrained four horses – two pulling in each direction.
In
The Strongest Man in History,
Ben Weider says that Cyr's records remain "uncontested and incontestable." Cyr died of chronic
nephritis.
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Monument to Louis Cyr by Robert Pelletier |
A district of Montreal is named Louis-Cyr in his honour; it is located in
Saint-Henri, the area he patrolled as a police officer. Both the Parc Louis-Cyr and the Place des Hommes-Forts ("Strongmen's Square") are named after him, the latter being decorated with his image in the form of a statue.
*Weider, B. 1976.
The Strongest Man in History: Louis Cyr, "Amazing Canadian."" Translation of Louis Cyr, l'homme le plus fort du monde.'' Vancouver: Mitchell Press.
*
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online*
Heros of Yore and Lore: Canadian Heros in Fact and Fiction
