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((Short description|German-American illusionist))
((more citations needed|date=May 2011))
((Infobox person
|name =
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_name = 
|birth_date=((Birth date|1871|2|25|df=y))
|birth_place = [[Munich]], Germany
|death_date= ((Death date and age|1911|5|9|1871|2|25|df=y))
|death_place = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
|body_discovered =
|death_cause = Theatre fire
|resting_place = ((nowrap|[[Piershill#Piershill Cemetery|Piershill Cemetery]], [[Edinburgh]]))
|resting_place_coordinates=<!-- ((Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title)) -->
|nationality = 
|citizenship =
|other_names = The Great Lafayette
|known_for = 
|education =
|alma_mater =
|employer =
|occupation = [[Magic (illusion)|Illusionist]]
|years_active = 1890–1911
|networth =
|spouse =
|partner =
|children =
|parents =
|relations =
|awards =
|signature =
|website =
|footnotes =
))
'''Sigmund Neuberger''' (or Sigmund Newburger) (25&nbsp;February&nbsp;1871&nbsp;– 9&nbsp;May&nbsp;1911),<ref>((cite web |title=Beauty and Lafayette |url=https://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/04/beauty-and-lafayette.html |website=The Magic Detective Blog |date=17 April 2011))</ref><ref>((cite web |title=The magician whose greatest illusion was death |url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/magician-whose-greatest-illusion-was-death-2511731 |website=The Scotsman |access-date=1 February 2022 |date=8 December 2005))</ref> who performed as an [[Magic (illusion)|illusionist]] under the [[stage name]] '''The Great Lafayette''', was the highest-paid magician of his time.

==Early life and career==
Neuberger was born in [[Munich]], and emigrated to the United States in 1884.<ref name="randi">((Cite book |last=Randi |first=James |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26162991 |title=Conjuring |date=1992 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-312-08634-2 |location=New York |oclc=26162991|author-link=James Randi))</ref>((rp|90)) At the age of 19, he began performing in [[vaudeville]]-style entertainment, and later began his career as a conjuror as an impersonator of the magician [[Ching Ling Foo]].<ref name="randi"/>((rp|90)) He adopted the name "The Great Lafayette", and made his first appearance in England in 1892.<ref name=busby>((cite book |last=Busby |first=Roy |year=1976 |title=British Music Hall: An Illustrated Who's Who from 1850 to the Present Day |location=London |publisher=Paul Elek |page= 95|isbn=0-236-40053-3))</ref>

His excellent [[List of quick-change acts|quick-change routines]], as well as dramatic [[Magic (illusion)|illusions]], such as his own "Lion's Bride" and "Dr. Kremer–Vivisectionist" illusions, made him very popular with audiences.<ref name="randi"/>((rp|90)) He became one of the highest-paid performers in vaudeville,<ref name="randi"/>((rp|90)) earning £44,000 a year (about £3.6 million in 2014 prices). By 1900, he was able to tour with a company of 40 performers, together with his magic show and a menagerie including a lion, for use in his illusions.<ref name=busby/>

==Theatre fire==
Early in 1911, he began a tour of Britain. The pampered object of the Great Lafayette's affection was his dog Beauty, a perky [[terrier]] given to him as a pup by fellow conjurer and admirer [[Harry Houdini]]. Beauty had her own suite of brocaded rooms, ate five-course meals, and wore a diamond-studded collar. Beauty died four days before the opening of a show at the [[Moss Empires|Empire Palace Theatre]] in Edinburgh. After initial resistance from [[Edinburgh City Council]], Neuberger arranged for the dog to be buried in [[Piershill#Piershill Cemetery|Piershill Cemetery]]. The Council agreed to provide a plot on the condition that Lafayette himself would be buried there upon his own death.

Four days later, in a freak accident, Lafayette was performing his signature illusion "The Lion's Bride", when a lantern set fire to the set, which went up in flames within minutes.<ref>((cite book|title=Beastly Edinburgh|author=Barclay Price|publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]]|date=2022-03-15|isbn=9781398107311|page=90|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GONkEAAAQBAJ|access-date=2023-01-14|quote=The evening before, Lafayette was on stage performing his final illusion, ''The Lion's Bride''. Disastrously, a lantern set fire to part of the set and the blaze swiftly spread.))</ref> The audience, thinking that this was all part of the illusion, did not evacuate until the theatre manager signalled for the orchestra to play ''[[God Save the King]]''. Many of the company, however, were trapped on stage when the [[safety curtain]] was lowered and jammed, leaving only a small gap at the bottom, through which a strong draught of air fanned the flames into an inferno. Lafayette himself had ensured that the [[Flats (theatre)|side-doors]] to the stage had been secured, to exclude unwanted interlopers and prevent the lion's escape.

Lafayette escaped but returned in a vain attempt to rescue his horse. He became trapped in the burning building and perished. Ten of his fellow players from the company were also killed in the fire. The theatre burned to the ground. The body of Lafayette was apparently soon found and sent to [[Glasgow]] for cremation.<!-- is this a mistake? why was an Edinburgh crematorium not used? why was he not buried as agreed? --> Two days after the fire, however, workers clearing the understage area found another body identically dressed as Lafayette. It transpired that the body at the crematorium was that of the illusionist's [[body double]]. On 14 May the urn containing the Great Lafayette's ashes was taken through Edinburgh, witnessed by a crowd estimated to number over 250,000, before being laid to rest with his beloved (and by then, stuffed) Beauty, at Piershill Cemetery.
[[File:Grave of the Great Lafayette, Piershill Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Grave of the Great Lafayette, [[Piershill#Piershill Cemetery|Piershill Cemetery]], [[Edinburgh]]]]

==Legacy==
In May 2011 the [[Edinburgh Festival Theatre]], the current name of the renamed and substantially rebuilt Empire Palace, hosted the "Great Lafayette Festival", featuring magician [[Paul Daniels]], to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Neuberger's death.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2011/05/the-great-lafayette-festival-9-may-2011/ |title=The Great Lafayette Festival 9 May 2011 |date=9 May 2011 |work=The Edinburgh Reporter |access-date=21 December 2018))</ref> The event included, on 9 May, a live webcast [[séance]] held by the "Edinburgh Secret Society", led by co-founders [[Richard Wiseman|Professor Richard Wiseman]] and [[Peter Lamont (historian)|Dr. Peter Lamont]].<ref>((cite web |url=http://edinburghsecretsociety.wordpress.com/ |title=Next event: The Lafayette Seance |work=Edinburgh Secret Society |publisher=[[Wordpress.com]] |access-date=21 December 2018))</ref>

==References==
((Reflist|colwidth=33em))

==Further reading==
* Robertson, Ian and Rutter, Gordon (2011) ''The Death and Life of The Great Lafayette'', New Lands Press, ((ISBN|978-0-9568701-0-0))
* Setterington, Arthur (1991), ''The Life and Times of the Great Lafayette'', (illustrated: Scott McLelland), Abracadabra Show Productions, Inc., Abraxas Publications. ((ISBN|0-9686105-1-X)).

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071006013421/http://zzz.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=18368 Parting Glances: Beauty & The Great Lafayette]
* [http://ssa.nls.uk/film/1620 Funeral of the Great Lafayette at Edinburgh, May 14, 1911] Scottish Screen Archive, National Library of Scotland
* [http://ssa.nls.uk/film/1607 Aftermath of the fire at the Empire Palace Theatre, with the charred remains of Lafayette's Lion] Scottish Screen Archive, National Library of Scotland
* [http://www.capitalcollections.org.uk/index.php?a=ViewItem&i=22333&WINID=1381102788152 Images connected to the Empire Theatre Fire and The Great Lafayette's performance there] Capital Collections - Edinburgh Library

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((DEFAULTSORT:Neuberger, Sigmund))
[[Category:People from Munich]]
[[Category:German magicians]]
[[Category:American magicians]]
[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]
[[Category:Vaudeville performers]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in Scotland]]
[[Category:Deaths from fire]]
[[Category:Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States]]

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