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[WRESTLING IN ITS EARLY PERIOD IN RUSSIA] Post card with a group photograph of Greco-Roman wrestlers.

Item #1768

[Armavir, 1900-1910s]. 8,6x13,1 cm. Very good, most people depicted are signed on rear side in ink. On face side, city and date are handwritten.

A rare source on Greco-Roman wrestling in prerevolutionary Russia.
Greco-Roman or French wrestling was widely practiced and contested in the Russian Empire. It officially emerged in the late 19th century.
Until the 1880s, only individual enthusiasts were fond of it. In 1885, on the initiative of the doctor Vladislav Kraevsky, a Weightlifting Club was formed in St. Petersburg, in which members were also engaged in wrestling. In 1897, the first national championship was held: without division into weight categories and without time limits for fights. In 1898 the first Greco-Roman wrestling European championship among fans took place in Vienna. 11 athletes from 3 countries participated: Austria, Germany and Russia. Competitions took place without division into weight categories. The wrestler from the Russian Empire, George Gakkenshmidt became the first champion of Europe. Due to rapid development of professional wrestling, the first championship of Russia among professional wrestlers was held in Petrograd in 1904. By the First World War, there were about twenty sports organizations cultivating wrestling in Russia, and the total number of amateurs was 250-300 people. In 1914, the All-Russian Weightlifting Union adopted international wrestling rules. Since then, all competitions in Russia have been held in five weight categories. Prior to this, there were no uniform rules, and even in one city, competitions could be held in different ways.
This postcard features 24 participants of a wrestling competition held before the Soviet period. A handwritten note on its face side states that this picture was taken in Armavir in 1918-1919. During the Russian Civil War, this city was seized alternately by the Reds and the Whites about 12 times from the spring of 1918 to the spring of 1920. If the competition took place during the mentioned period, it was possible to hold in 1919, the only substantial stay of White Army in the city.

Price: $450.00