A peasant from the Staroselskaya volost of the Vitebsk District in the Vitebsk Province of the Russian Empire (located in what is now modern-day Belarus), Feodor Machnow was born on June 6, 1878, near the village of Kostyuki and died on August 28, 1912, in the same place. He has been said to have been taller than everyone else who has ever lived on Earth. According to several reports, Feodor Machnow measured in at 9 feet 4 inches (285 cm), making him 5 inches (13 cm) taller than Robert Wadlow, who at 8 feet 11 inches (272 cm) is the officially acknowledged tallest person in history. However, some reports put Feodor’s height at 7 feet 10 inches (239 cm).
Who was Feodor Machnow?
Birth
Feodor Andreevich Machnow was born into a poor peasant family. He was raised on a farm outside of the town of Kostyuki. His birth was so arduous that his mother ultimately died of her wounds. Because, as a newborn, he was too large. His grandparents took responsibility for raising Feodor.
Childhood
Until he started rapidly maturing at age eight, Feodor hardly stood out from his classmates. During this time, he spent the majority of each day sleeping. When he was 10, his father brought him to work by his side.
Feodor became stronger and more independent while assisting his father with various chores. Despite his young age, he had enough strength to drag a hay wagon up a hill or fight an adult. A lot of his neighbors relied on him to assist them in moving logs while they were building their homes.
The landowner Korzhenevsky hired this young strongman to clear the river Zaronovka of boulders that were causing problems for the water mill. Working in the cold water for a long time hurt Feodor’s health, leading to a joint disease that haunted him for the rest of his life.
By the age of 14, Feodor had grown so tall that his father had to extend the walls of their house. Despite ordering a custom bed, Feodor outgrew it, and there are still tales about his extraordinary growth told in Kostyuki. He was known for allowing children to hide in his felt boots and dealing with his bullies by placing their hats inside log cabins or on rooftops.
His family had two tall brothers (Stepan and Nikolai) and two tall sisters (Yardena and Shulamit). However, their height was just above ordinary. Feodor, on the other hand, reached around 8 feet 2.4 inches tall (2.5 m) and had a 20-inch foot (51 cm) and a 12.2-inch hand span (31 cm). He was a muscular 401-pound (182-kg) man with incredible strength.
Now a Circus Giant
Dressing and shoeing this extremely tall young man was challenging due to his height, requiring custom-made clothing. To earn money for his wardrobe, he had to work at the Polotsk bazaar in Vitebsk. In August 1898, he came to sell apples at the bazaar once again. That day, a German circus owner named Otto Bilinder noticed this remarkably tall teenager and saw potential in him.
He convinced the young man’s father to let him join the circus, promising to cover all his expenses and help support his family. He quickly agreed, and under Otto’s care, Feodor learned German and the art of the circus over nearly two years. At 16, he signed a contract and began his career as a circus performer.
He toured in Western Europe and the USA. In 1905, he visited the German Empire (Berlin) and the United Kingdom (London), where he visited the hippodrome with his wife and child. In 1906, he continued to tour the United States, where he met with President Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909).
After spending nine years performing with a touring circus around the globe, Feodor headed back home as a prosperous man. Around this time, he was not able to walk properly due to the joint disease, and the large horse sent by Otto was still not big enough for him to ride on it.
Other giants like Édouard Beaupré and Gabriel Monjane are also known to perform in circuses.
He gained fame for his impressive feats of strength, including bending iron horseshoes, breaking bricks, and lifting multiple musicians on a wooden platform placed on his back, even though he didn’t achieve greatness in wrestling due to formidable opponents and a chronic back condition.
His presence in the arena always delighted the crowd, alongside renowned wrestlers like Ivan Zaikin and Ivan Poddubny. It’s not known if he ever wrestled with Louis Cyr, the strongest man of the 19th century.
His homestead with his teaching wife, Efrosinja Lebedeva, became known as “The Giant’s Farm” among the villagers. Previously known as Gorbachi, this location is currently located in the Chirino District of the Vitebsk Region in Belarus.
Feodor’s Sudden Death
At the age of 34, Feodor Machnow died suddenly in 1912, perhaps from a lung condition. There was speculation that the giant had been poisoned by enemies or jealous rivals, but no proof was offered. He was laid to rest at the Gorbachi village cemetery.
In the 1930s, a certain Radomir was studying to be a doctor in Minsk, and Machnow’s widowed wife sold her husband’s skeleton to the Belarusian Medical Institute for the Department of Anatomy for 5,000 rubles.
In 1939, the remains of Machnow were unearthed for scientific research at the Belarusian Academy of Sciences. But the coffin and the monument (gravestone) were left in the same state in the dirt yard outside the village of Gorbachi (Vitebsk district).
His gravestone remains in good condition, and the details regarding his height can be read from it:
“Feodor Machnow. Born 6 June 1878. Died 28 August 1912. Tallest man in the world. His height was 3 arshins 9 vershoks tall“)
This height information was obtained from a circus contract Feodor signed when he was 16 years old: Three arshins plus nine vershoks equal 8 ft 4 in (254 cm). At age 16, there is still a long window of growth for a person with a gigantism condition like Feodor. Therefore, he is said to have attained a height of 9 ft 4 in (285 cm) after the age of 16. However, this figure is disputed. If true, it would make him 5 inches taller than the tallest person in recorded history.
The onset of World War I and the following Russian Revolution hampered Efrosinja, Feodor’s wife, in her attempts to ‘correct’ the height figure stated on the gravestone. There are no documents verifying Machnow’s extraordinary height. However, some have speculated that his height on posters was stated as 9 ft 4 in (285 cm) because of the Cossack hat and high-heeled boots he often wore on stage.
Photographs taken of him during his lifetime are the only evidence we have of Machnow’s true height. His height at the time these pictures were taken likely did not surpass 7 ft 10.5 in (240 cm), as determined by comparing him to other items of known height in the pictures.
Because Feodor went on commercial tours, his stature was probably inflated to impress potential audiences. This was a common practice at the time, as seen in the case of Louis Cyr, one of the strongest men in history.
The Legacy of Feodor Machnow
In honor of Feodor Machnow, the Vitebsk City Executive Committee and the local newspaper “Vitbichi” held an open contest to determine the city’s tallest resident on June 26, 2010. The winner was dubbed the “Vitebsk Giant.” Alexey Andreyanov, who was 6 ft 10 in tall (208 cm), won the men’s competition. On the other hand, Natalia Rusanova, at 6 ft 5.7 in (197.5 cm), was the tallest woman.
As of 2012, in the middle school of the village of Staroye Syalo (Vitebsk District), there was a children’s bed with a length of 104 inches (265 cm) and a width of 47 inches (120 cm), which became too small for him as he continued to grow.
On June 20, 2018, a statue of Feodor Machnow was unveiled at the intersection of Mayakovsky and Suvorov Streets in Vitebsk.
In Vitebsk, at the Vitebsk District Historical and Local History Museum, there is an exhibit named “The Giant’s Village,” which compiles artifacts from Feodor Machnow’s life.
F. A. Machnow was buried on his Velikanovo estate, where he has a memorial. The structure is a red granite stela. A pre-reform Russian writing is used on its surface, which reads:
“Feodor / Andreevich / Machnow / born on June 6, 1878 / passed away on August 28, 1912 / at the age of 36. / The Tallest / person in the World / His Height / was 3 arshins and 9 vershoks.“
