Henri Martin (lion tamer)
Henri Martin | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Raden Saleh | |
| Born | Pierre Henri Martin January 10, 1793 Marseille, France |
| Died | April 8, 1882 (aged 89) Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Occupation |
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| Known for | Lion taming |
Henri Martin (January 10, 1793 – April 8, 1882) was a French showman and lion tamer who became the first director of the Rotterdam Zoo.
Early life
Pierre Henri Martin was born in Marseille, France, in 1793.[1]
Career
During his time working with a circus, Henri Martin honed his natural ability to control animals by mastering the art of horse training, teaching his horses the complete range of professional tricks. After establishing himself as a horse trainer, he advanced to taming wild animals.[2]
Henri Martin established his menagerie in 1829 at the Porte Saint-Denis.[3] The menagerie Martin established at Rue Basse-St Denis contained two lions, a Bengal tiger, a hyena, and a llama.[4] The training of his royal tiger took eight months of work, and he taught the hyena the trick of retrieving his gloves.[2]
Between 1829 and 1831, the French animal trainer made appearances in Paris.[5] He starred in Les Lions de Mysore at the Cirque Olympique on April 21, 1831, marking the first time wild animals were presented at a circus venue.[3]
He visited London and the other provinces of England from 1831 to 1832.[1] He performed at the Drury Lane theatre in 1831.[6]
Before long, he began touring Holland with his show The Lions of Mysore.[7]
Around 1836, he met the Indonesian painter Raden Saleh in The Hague. Saleh painted Martin's portrait, a gesture that secured him permission to sketch Martin's circus animals.[8]
Henri Martin retired in 1840.[1]
Martin's zoological studies earned him a reputation that extended to professional naturalists.[6] He became the first director of the Rotterdam Zoo, serving from 1857 to 1866.[9]
Death
Henri Martin died in April 1882, in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[1]
Legacy
Henri Martin was one of the first famous lion tamers.
Gallery
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Mr. Martin, the lion Nero and the tiger Atir, (c. 1800–1850)
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Henri Martin, tamer, with his tiger Atir (c. 1820s)
References
- ^ a b c d "Modern English Biography: Containing Many Thousand Concise Memoirs of Persons who Have Died Since the Year 1850, with an Index of the Most Interesting Matter". books.google.ca. Netherton and Worth. 1897. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
- ^ a b "Wallace's Monthly". books.google.ca. Benjamin Singerly. 1882. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
- ^ a b "The Great Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown". books.google.ca. Yale University Press. 2004. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
- ^ "Wild beasts". cirque-cnac.bnf.fr. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
- ^ "Untamed : the art of Antoine-Louis Barye". books.google.ca. Walters Art Museum. 2006. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
- ^ a b Tait, Peta (2016). Fighting Nature: Travelling Menageries, Animal Acts and War Shows (PDF). Sydney University Press. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
- ^ "Eye of the Beholder: Reception, Audience, and Practice of Modern Asian Art". books.google.ca. Wild Peony. 2006. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
- ^ "The wild animals of Raden Saleh". thejakartapost.com. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
- ^ "Circus and Allied Arts: A World Bibliography". books.google.ca. Harpur & Sons (Derby) Limited. 1971. Retrieved 2025-10-18.