Cyr, Louis National Historic Person
Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, Quebec
Louis Cyr
© Bibliothèque et Archives Canada | Library and Archives Canada / C-086343
Address :
121 Rang Cyr, Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, Quebec
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1976-10-23
Life Date:
1863 to 1912
Other Name(s):
-
Louis Cyr
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Champion wrestler and weightlifter of the late 19th-century
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: 121 Rang Cyr, Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, Quebec
Louis Cyr's extraordinary physical strength earned him the reputation as the stongest man in the world in the early 1890s. Born Noé-Cyprien Cyr, in Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, and nicknamed Louis, he followed his family to Lowell, Massachusetts in 1878 where he continued to train. He pursued his career competing against the strongest men of his time, first in shows in England and then with the largest circuses of the day in North America. In 1895, he set a world record in Boston by lifting a platform holding 18 standing men, weighing a total of 1,967 kilos.