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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 is an independent educational website, initially created as a project of the original, non-profit [[Big Apple Circus]]''.</div><br/>
 
<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==
  
===VIRGINIE KENEBEL===
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===THE BLUMENFELD FAMILY===
[[File:Virginie_Kenebel_-_Bordeaux.jpg|right|300px]]
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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.
Virginie Kenebel (1819-1884)—whose name is sometimes spelled Kennebel—was one of the brightest stars of the equestrian circus in its "Romantic" period (roughly from 1820 to 1880). She was one of the first écuyères de panneau, who danced various movements of classical ballet on a large flat saddle (the panneau). More than the equestriennes who practiced haute-école dressage, like their male counterparts, it was these ballerinas on horseback who truly defined the equestrian circus's Romantic period.
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Marie Virginie Kenebel was born into a circus family on April 23, 1819, in La Guillotière, a neighborhood of Lyon, in France. Her father, Ludwig (Louis) Daniel Knebel (or Knoebel, according to his signature&mdash;1794-1878), whose name was francized to Kenebel (or Kénébel), has been said to be a Sinti (a subgroup of the Romani people), but there is no clear documentation to support this assertion. If ever the Knebels had been considered as "outsiders" in Germany, it could also have been because they were Jewish, as were many dynasties of German traveling entertainers: Ludwig's parents, Michel Knebel (or Knoebel) and Leonore, née Östermann, bore names that have strong Jewish connections.  
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According to Signor Saltarino (Valdemar Otto) in his ''Artisten Lexikon'' (1895), the Knebels were a "second-rate [circus] family," but they were capable and polyvalent. Principally a rope dancer but also an equestrian trick-rider, Ludwig was born in Mannheim, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on February 22, 1874. As for Virginie's mother, Françoise Sophie Avrillon (known as Sophie, 1799-1862), she was an equestrienne, also born into a circus family in Tuscany, Italy—in Prato, according to her marriage certificate, or in Florence, according to her death and other French certificates; Prato, which is very close to Florence, seems to be the right location.
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Louis and Sophie had married on March1, 1819 in Colmar, France, just in time to welcome their daughter into an established family. With three brothers and two sisters, Virginie was the first born of a large brood: she was followed by André (1820-1876), François Amédée (known as Amédée, 1825-1877), Etienne Stephan Antoine (known as Stephan, 1830-18091), Clémentine (1831-1833), and Marie-Honorine (1835-1878).
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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.
  
Except for Clémentine, who died in infancy, all followed in their parents' footsteps and embraced a circus career. Amédée created his own company and moved to England from where, in 1846, he sailed to Mauritius, along with his brother André, and then to India, where he eventually settled (he died in Calcutta). André returned to France and worked in Paris for the Franconis. Stephan married his cousin, the equestrienne Émilie Lambert (1824-1890—her mother, Anna, was an Avrillon), but it doesn't seem that his career was particularly brilliant. Marie Honorine married in 1855 the equestrian Jean-Baptiste Auriol, Jr. (1834-1857), son of the illustrious clown Jean-Baptiste Auriol (1806-1881)&mdash;a union that, sadly, was short-lived.
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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.
  
The Avrillons were a French circus family. Claude Avrillon (1766-1819), Sophie's father, was an equestrian, as was her brother, François (1801-1845), who managed his own circus company; after having tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a permanent circus in Marseille, he had moved to Spain and opened there the first Madrilene circus in 1834, becoming in effect a pioneer of Spanish circus history. (Louis Kenebel and Sophie Avrillon would also create their own circus company with which they traveled intermittently in southern Europe: In 1831, they would find themselves in competition with François Avrillon in Barcelona!)... ([[Virginie Kenebel|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==
  
* [[Virginie Kenebel]], equestrienne
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* [[The Blumenfeld Family]], circus owners, artists
* [[Chongqing_Acrobatic_Troupe|Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe]], History
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* [[Émilien Bouglione/fr|Émilien Bouglione]], French version
* [[Cirkus_Verdensteater_(Oslo)|Cirkus Verdensteater]], Oslo Circus Building
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* [[Kremo Family]], icarists
* [[Eddie Murillo]], Circus Agent and Producer
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* [[The Ziratron]], Israel's first Circus
* [[The Biasini Family]], Circus Owners, Artists
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* [[Carlos Guity]], Acrobat
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Bob_Bramson_Video_(1973)|Bob Bramson]], hoop juggling (1973)
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* [[Fumagalli_Video_(2003)|Fumagalli & Daris]], clown entrée (2006)
* [[Nomuna_Troupe_Video_(2025)|Nomuna Troupe]], teeterboard act (2025)
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* [[Ariz_Bros_Video_(1983)|The Ariz Brothers]], banquine (1983)
* [[Popov_Wolves_Video_(2025)|Irina & Sergei Popov]], trained wolves (2025)
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* [[Les_Chicky_Video_(1983)|Les Chicky]], clown entrée (1983)
* [[Addis-Abeba_Video_(2025)|Addis Abeba Troupe]], banquine (2025)
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* [[The_Astoris_Video_(1975)|The Astoris]], Aerial Perch (1975)
* [[Tchaikovskaya_Video_(2025)|Zlata Tchaikovskaya]], aerial pole (2025)
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* [[Evelyn_and_André_Interview_(2025)|Evelyn & André]] Interview by the Fővárosi Nagycirkusz (2025)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==
  
 +
* [[Evelyn_and_André_Interview_(2025)|Evelyn & André]] Interview by the Fővárosi Nagycirkusz (2025)
 +
* [[Bouglione_Video_(2013)|The Bouglione Family]] France 3 TV documentary (2013)
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* [[Gneushev_Video_(c.1990)|Valentin Gneushev interview]] on Russian Television (c.1990)
 
* [[Dominique_Jando_Video_(2025)|Dominique Jando interview]] by the Circus Historical Society (2025)
 
* [[Dominique_Jando_Video_(2025)|Dominique Jando interview]] by the Circus Historical Society (2025)
 
* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(2015)|Evelyn & André Interview]] on Blikk TV (2015)
 
* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(2015)|Evelyn & André Interview]] on Blikk TV (2015)
* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
 
* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
 
* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
 
  
 
==Circopedia Books==
 
==Circopedia Books==

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