Fedor Jeftichew facts for kids
Fedor Adrianovich Jeftichew (Russian: Фёдор Адрианович Евтищев, Fyodor Yevtishchev, 1868 - January 31, 1904), better known as Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy (later Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Man), was a famous Russian sideshow performer who toured Europe with his father, the ‘Wild Man from the Kostroma Forest’, in 1873 and was brought to the United States of America in 1884 by P.T. Barnum.
Biography
Born in Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia in 1868, Fedor Jeftichew suffered from the medical condition hypertrichosis. His father Adrian, also hypertrichotic, had performed in French circuses. In 1873 Adrian appeared in European exhibitions as the 'Wild Man from the Kostroma Forest', along with his son. Ten years later Fedor returned as 'Theodore Petroff', was recruited by a P. T. Barnum agent in 1884, and joined Barnum in America as 'Jo-Jo The Dog-Faced Boy' when he was sixteen.
Barnum created a story that involved a hunter in Kostroma who tracked Fedor and his father to their cave and captured them. Barnum described Adrian as a savage who could not be civilized. Barnum made a point of stressing Fedor's resemblance to a dog, and explained that when he was upset he would bark and growl. In the show, Fedor obliged by doing so.
Fedor spoke Russian, German, and English, and toured Europe and the United States extensively.
He died in Salonica, Greece, then part of the Ottoman Empire, from pneumonia on January 31, 1904.
Gallery
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Fedor with his father
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Fedor Jeftichew, c. 14 years of age.
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before 1904
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between 1888-1896
See also
In Spanish: Fiódor Yevtishchev para niños
