Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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<div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ
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<br><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ
 
ε!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!</div><br/>
 
ε!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!</div><br/>
<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia was originally created with the support of the Big Apple Circus Ltd.''</div><div style=font-size:98%;">''and inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation]''.</div><br/>
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<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia is an independent educational website, initially created as a project of the original, non-profit [[Big Apple Circus]]''.</div><br/>
 
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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
===YURY NIKULIN===
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===THE BLUMENFELD FAMILY===
 
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[[File:5_Blumenfelds_Poster.jpg|right|300px]]The huge Blumenfeld family holds an important place in German and European circus history. One of the three major German-Jewish circus dynasties before World War II&mdash;along with the Strassburgers and the Lorches&mdash;the Blumenfelds were driven to bankruptcy and then brutally decimated by the Nazis. Before that tragedy, they had been a highly respected family of talented acrobats, aerialists, equestrians, and circus owners. Although some members of the family resurfaced after World War II, the Blumenfelds were never able to reclaim the position they had once held in the circus world.
[[File:Yury_Nikulin_Moscow.jpg|right|400px]]Yury Nikulin (1921-1997) was the Soviet Union’s (and later, Russia’s) greatest and most beloved clown, as well as a remarkable and equally beloved screen actor; his performing career covered more than three decades, from 1948 to 1981. Upon his retirement from the ring, he became Director of Moscow's "Old Circus" on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, which he had entirely rebuilt (from 1985-1989) into a modern facility by a Finnish company, thus bringing that cherished Moscow institution into the modern age, and restoring its prominence on the Russian and European circus scenes at a critical moment in Russian history.
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Yury Vladimirovich Nikulin (Юрий Владимирович Никулин) was born in a theatrical family on December 18, 1921, in Demidov, a small town in the province of Smolensk, in northwest Russia, near the Belarussian border. His father was Moscow-born Vladimir Andreyevich Nikulin (1898-1964); his mother, Lidiya Ivanovna Nikulina (1902-1979), was born Lidiya Germanova in Lievenhof (today's Līvāni) in Latvia, which was then part of the of the Russian Empire; she had moved to Demidov with relatives during the First World War to stay away from the combat zone. There, she met and married Vladimir Andreyevich.
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The Blumenfelds are allied with several other prominent Jewish families, such as the Goldkettes (Brönett), the Strassburgers, the Lorches, and the Könyots. They always married within their faith and, at times, like the Rothschilds, within their family&mdash;with perhaps the notable exceptions of Erich Blumenfeld, the youngest son of Simon Blumenfeld, who married Fanny Houcke, from the Franco-Swedish Houcke family, and his brother Alex, whose wife, Eugenie, came from an old Italian circus family, the Cardinales.
  
When Yury was born, Vladimir Nikulin had just been discharged from the Red Army and got a job at the Drama Theater in Demidov, where Lidiya also worked as an actress. Then, he organized a traveling propaganda-theater group that promoted the brand-new Soviet regime through "revolutionary humor," and acted in plays which he also directed. In 1925, the Nikulin family moved to Moscow, where Vladimir wrote sketches for circus and variety shows&mdash;which were still intensely politicized then. He also organized the theater group at the school his son, Yury, attended. Later, he became a journalist.
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Since Hirsch Blumenfeld (1788-1867), founder of the dynasty, created his circus in the mid-nineteenth century, many of his descendants have operated several different circuses under the Blumenfeld name. Hirsch had a large family that developed many branches, and it can be sometimes difficult to determine which branch a given Blumenfeld belonged to. The Blumenfeld circus owners, however, shared one defining trait: they were equestrians who served the equestrian circus tradition with distinction, even as the circus-menagerie was becoming the norm in Germany by the beginning of the twentieth century.
  
On November 18, 1939, after graduating from high school, young Yury Nikulin was drafted into the Red Army for his three-year mandatory military service. This would have a long-lasting impact on Yury Nikulin as a man: In June 1941, the USSR declared war on Germany and the Axis powers, and what will be known in Russia as "The Great Patriotic War" started. Yury Nikulin was then serving in the 115th anti-aircraft artillery regiment. During the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940), his anti-aircraft battery had guarded the air approaches to Leningrad. ([[Yury Nikulin|more...]])
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Hirsch Blumenfeld was born Hirsch Levy in 1788 in Isenburg, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, one of the many German states. His parents were Levy Wolf (1770-1828), a Jewish cantor, and his wife Rosa (Rösgen), née Cahn (?-1840). The Blumenfeld patronym came later: Under Jewish naming tradition, a son took his father’s given name as a patronym, so Hirsch, as Levy’s son, became Hirsch Levy. Hirsch didn't embrace his father's calling: He became instead a traveling entertainer, an occupation that had attracted many of his coreligionists over the centuries..... ([[The Blumenfeld Family|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
* [[Yury Nikulin]], Clown, Actor, Circus Director
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* [[The Blumenfeld Family]], circus owners, artists
* [[Serge]], Circus Chronicler and Illustrator
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* [[Émilien Bouglione/fr|Émilien Bouglione]], French version
* [[Alexandre Palisse]], Clown, Circus Owner
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* [[Kremo Family]], icarists
* [[Rico y Alex]], Clowns
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* [[The Ziratron]], Israel's first Circus
* [[Barbette]], Trapeze and Tightwire Artist
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* [[Carlos Guity]], Acrobat
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Ty_Tojo_Video_(2012)|Ty Tojo]], juggler (2012)
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* [[Fumagalli_Video_(2003)|Fumagalli & Daris]], clown entrée (2006)
* [[Sevryukov_Video_(2007)|Sevryukov Troupe]], flying act (2007)
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* [[Ariz_Bros_Video_(1983)|The Ariz Brothers]], banquine (1983)
* [[Gulyamov_Video_(2022)|Hussain Gulyamov]], juggling and hula-hoops (2022)
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* [[Les_Chicky_Video_(1983)|Les Chicky]], clown entrée (1983)
* [[Sokolov_Troupe_Amadeus_Video_(2014)|Sokolov Troupe]], ''Amadeus'', teeterboard act (2014)
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* [[The_Astoris_Video_(1975)|The Astoris]], Aerial Perch (1975)
* [[Hassak_Video_(2022)|Hassak Troupe]], balancing act (2022)
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* [[Evelyn_and_André_Interview_(2025)|Evelyn & André]] Interview by the Fővárosi Nagycirkusz (2025)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==
  
* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
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* [[Evelyn_and_André_Interview_(2025)|Evelyn & André]] Interview by the Fővárosi Nagycirkusz (2025)
* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
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* [[Bouglione_Video_(2013)|The Bouglione Family]] France 3 TV documentary (2013)
* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
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* [[Gneushev_Video_(c.1990)|Valentin Gneushev interview]] on Russian Television (c.1990)
* [[Pinito_del_Oro_RTE_Video_(1970)|Pinito del Oro's Interview]] on Spanish Television (1970)
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* [[Dominique_Jando_Video_(2025)|Dominique Jando interview]] by the Circus Historical Society (2025)
* [[Eradze_Video_(2015)|Gia Eradze]]'s Interview on SSU TV (2015)
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* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(2015)|Evelyn & André Interview]] on Blikk TV (2015)
  
 
==Circopedia Books==
 
==Circopedia Books==
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==A Message from the Founder==
 
==A Message from the Founder==
  
''CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding archive of the international circus. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly&mdash;and sometimes daily&mdash;basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow! And if you are a serious circus scholar and spot a factual or historical inaccuracy, do not hesitate to [[Circopedia:Contact|contact us]]: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.''  
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''CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding archive of the international circus, maintained by reliable circus historians and specialists. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly&mdash;and sometimes daily&mdash;basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow! And if you are a serious circus scholar and spot a factual or historical inaccuracy, do not hesitate to [[Circopedia:Contact|contact us]]: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.''  
  
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 
:Founder and Curator
 
:Founder and Curator

Latest revision as of 05:35, 6 September 2026


Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!
Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ ε!
Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!
Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!

Circopedia is an independent educational website, initially created as a project of the original, non-profit Big Apple Circus.

In The Spotlight

THE BLUMENFELD FAMILY

5 Blumenfelds Poster.jpg
The huge Blumenfeld family holds an important place in German and European circus history. One of the three major German-Jewish circus dynasties before World War II—along with the Strassburgers and the Lorches—the Blumenfelds were driven to bankruptcy and then brutally decimated by the Nazis. Before that tragedy, they had been a highly respected family of talented acrobats, aerialists, equestrians, and circus owners. Although some members of the family resurfaced after World War II, the Blumenfelds were never able to reclaim the position they had once held in the circus world.

The Blumenfelds are allied with several other prominent Jewish families, such as the Goldkettes (Brönett), the Strassburgers, the Lorches, and the Könyots. They always married within their faith and, at times, like the Rothschilds, within their family—with perhaps the notable exceptions of Erich Blumenfeld, the youngest son of Simon Blumenfeld, who married Fanny Houcke, from the Franco-Swedish Houcke family, and his brother Alex, whose wife, Eugenie, came from an old Italian circus family, the Cardinales.

Since Hirsch Blumenfeld (1788-1867), founder of the dynasty, created his circus in the mid-nineteenth century, many of his descendants have operated several different circuses under the Blumenfeld name. Hirsch had a large family that developed many branches, and it can be sometimes difficult to determine which branch a given Blumenfeld belonged to. The Blumenfeld circus owners, however, shared one defining trait: they were equestrians who served the equestrian circus tradition with distinction, even as the circus-menagerie was becoming the norm in Germany by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Hirsch Blumenfeld was born Hirsch Levy in 1788 in Isenburg, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, one of the many German states. His parents were Levy Wolf (1770-1828), a Jewish cantor, and his wife Rosa (Rösgen), née Cahn (?-1840). The Blumenfeld patronym came later: Under Jewish naming tradition, a son took his father’s given name as a patronym, so Hirsch, as Levy’s son, became Hirsch Levy. Hirsch didn't embrace his father's calling: He became instead a traveling entertainer, an occupation that had attracted many of his coreligionists over the centuries..... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • Fumagalli & Daris, clown entrée(French) Clown piece with a dramatic structure, generally in the form of a short story or scene. (2006)
  • The Ariz Brothers, banquine(French) Acrobatic presentation in which an acrobat performs various acrobatic jumps propelled from a living platform made by the crossed hands of two other acrobats (as in "sauts de banquine" &mdash; See also: Basket Acrobatics). (1983)
  • Les Chicky, clown entrée(French) Clown piece with a dramatic structure, generally in the form of a short story or scene. (1983)
  • The Astoris, Aerial Perch (1975)
  • Evelyn & André Interview by the Fővárosi Nagycirkusz (2025)

New Oral Histories

Circopedia Books

A Message from the Founder

CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding archive of the international circus, maintained by reliable circus historians and specialists. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly—and sometimes daily—basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow! And if you are a serious circus scholar and spot a factual or historical inaccuracy, do not hesitate to contact us: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.

Dominique Jando
Founder and Curator