For the cricketer, see George Jowett.

George Fuisdale Jowett
BornDecember 23, 1891
England
DiedJuly 11, 1969
Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)Strongman, weightlifter, magazine editor, author
SpouseBessie Jowett
Children1 daughter

George Fuisdale Jowett (December 23, 1891 – July 11, 1969) was an English-born Canadian strongman, weightlifter, magazine editor and author. He was a co-founder of the American Continental Weightlifting Association, the editor of Strength magazine, and the president of the Jowett Institute. He became known as "The Father of American Weightlifting."

Life

Jowett was born on December 23, 1891, in England.[1][2] He emigrated to Canada in 1911,[2] and served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I.[3]

Jowett moved to Pennsylvania in 1923,[2] where he became a strongman and a weightlifter. He competed against other strongmen at a police meet in Pittsburgh in September 1923.[4][5] By 1927, he was billing himself as the "world's strongest man" in The Morning Call.[6][7] Jowett was the editor of Strength magazine from 1924 to 1927,[8] and he authored several books about strength training.

Jowett co-founded the American Continental Weightlifting Association (ACWLA) with Ottley Russell Coulter and David P. Willoughby in the early 1920s, and he served as its president.[9] He subsequently served as the director of the Breitbart Institute of Physical Culture in New York City, and he founded the Jowett Institute in 1927.[8] He later founded the Body Sculpture Club in England.[2] By 1955, he was described in Muscle Builder magazine as "The Father of American Weightlifting."[8]

Jowett joined the staff of Strength magazine in the early 1920s.[3] Bob Hoffman recruited Jowett to work on his new weightlifting magazine, Strength & Health, in 1932, and he took responsibility for most of the editorial work.[10] He left the magazine in 1934, upset at Hoffman's support of the competing Amateur Athletic Union over Jowett's ACWLA.[3]

With his wife Bessie, Jowett has a daughter, Phyllis.[11] They resided in Riverside Heights, Ontario, Canada.[11] Jowett died in 1969 in Winchester, Ontario, Canada.[1][11]

Selected works

References

  1. ^ a b "George F. Jowett". LibraryThing. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Finding Aid: The George Fiusdale Jowett Papers" (PDF). The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture & Sports. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Woycke, James (2016). Esprit de Corps: A History of North American Bodybuilding.
  4. ^ "Strong Man Exhibits At Police Meet". Pittsburgh Daily Post. 27 September 1923. p. 10. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Snaps at Forbes Field During the Fifth Annual Field Meet of Pittsburgh Police Department". Pittsburgh Daily Post. 30 September 1923. p. 24. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "World's Strongest Man Is Coming Here. Milo Strength Club Will Present George F. Jowett in Y.M.C.A.". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. 6 November 1927. p. 5. Retrieved 4 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Strong Men Will Be At Y.M.C.A. Tonight. World's Champion and Other Muscular Marvels to Show Wares". The Morning Call. 19 November 1927. p. 16. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c Fair, John D. (December 1994). "Father-Figure or Phony? George Jowett, ACWLA and Milo Barbell Company" (PDF). Iron Game History. 3 (5): 13–25. Retrieved 4 January 2019 – via H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports.
  9. ^ Todd, Jan; Murphy, Michael (2001). "Portrait of a Strongman: The Circus Career of Ottley Russell Coulter: 1912-1916". Iron Game History. 7 (1): 4–21.
  10. ^ Todd, Jan; Roark, Joe; Todd, Terry (1991). "A Briefly Annotated Bibliography of English Language Serial Publications in the Field of Physical Culture" (PDF). Iron Game History.
  11. ^ a b c "Jowett, George F.". The Ottawa Journal. 12 July 1969. p. 25. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Physical culture
Authority control databases
Categories