Fyodor Makhnov - the tallest man on the planet at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, (8 photos). The tallest man in the Russian Empire - Fyodor Makhnov The giant of Russia has died

135 years ago, in an ordinary Belarusian village, the most big man On the Earth.

The 1905 calendar wrote: “To have an idea of ​​​​the extraordinary growth of this giant, it is enough to say that boots with tops that barely reach his knees reach the waist of an ordinary mortal, and a 12-year-old boy can fit in them completely freely with his head. A silver ruble passes through the ring that the giant wears on his index finger,” writes the “Historical Truth” website. (Total 10 photos)

This is about Fyodor Andreevich Makhnov - the greatest man on planet Earth, who was born in the small village of Kostyuki, near Vitebsk. It happened on June 18, 1878.

Fedya was the first-born at a young age peasant family. The boy was born very large. His mother died during childbirth. The orphan was taken in by his grandparents. At first, Fedya grew up as an ordinary child and did not stand out among his peers in anything special. But around the age of 8, Fedya began to grow quickly and gain strength. During this period, the boy slept for days on end.

At the age of 10, Fyodor’s father took him to help with the housework. By this time he had married again. From the second marriage, two half-brothers and a sister grew up, who were of normal height. Peasant work strengthened Fedor. On a dare, he could easily lift an adult man or pull a peasant cart with hay up a mountain.

Local residents often called him to help lift logs during the construction of houses, and the landowner Korzhenevsky hired the young strongman to clear the Zaronovka River of boulders that were interfering with the work of the water mill. The river is notable for its icy spring water. Long work up to the waist cold water made itself felt by various ailments throughout her life.

Like a true hero, Fedor was cheerful and good-natured. He often enjoyed playing with local children and playing the harmonica during gatherings. Among local residents, tales are passed down from mouth to mouth about how children hid in the giant’s felt boots, and the cheerful big man took off the hats of the “offenders” and shoved them under the logs of bathhouses and sheds or hung them on the ridge of the roof.

By the age of 14, the young man had grown to 2 meters, and his father had to raise the roof of the house by several heights. A custom bed was ordered from a local blacksmith. Throughout the summer, the blacksmith forged the bed in fits and starts. Upon completion of the work, it turned out that over the summer Fyodor had already outgrown this bed. Clothes and shoes for the tall boy were also made to special order. Everything required money to the detriment of other family members.

Therefore, when in Vitebsk an unusual teenager, towering like a tower above the Polotsk Bazaar, was noticed by the owner of a German circus, Otto Bilinder, he quickly persuaded Fyodor’s father to let his son go with the circus to Germany. The German promised to shoe and dress the giant. In addition, he assured that the young man with his height and strength would earn a lot of money and would then be able to help his family.

So, or something like this, the “Belarusian Gulliver” at the age of 14 left to surprise and conquer Europe with his unusual natural abilities.

Otto Bilinder treated Fedor very well. Since the boy had only a three-year education, the German hired teachers to teach him literacy and the German language, and he himself taught the teenager the basics of circus art. Only when the young man turned 16 years old, the first contract in his life was concluded, and Fedor began performing in the circus.

During the performance, our giant easily bent horseshoes with one hand, twisted iron rods into a spiral, and then straightened them. He smashed the bricks with a blow from the edge of his palm. Lying on his back, without much difficulty, Fedor lifted the wooden platform on which a three-piece orchestra was playing.

Makhnov performed in the circus and as a wrestler. His rivals were the most famous, because not everyone dared to fight the giant. Only the most technical and dexterous wrestlers entered the duel with the hero, so Makhnov did not achieve any great success on the mat. However, his mere appearance in the arena delighted the public.

Over nine years of working in the circus, Fyodor Makhnov became a wealthy man.

At the beginning of the 20th century he returned to his native places. First of all, Makhnov buys land and a house from the landowner Pavel Konstantinovich Korzhenevsky, who left for France. He rebuilds his home according to his height.

Otto Bilinder sent him building materials and furniture from Germany. Then the giant decided to bring his wife into the house. Although Fyodor was kind by nature and a rich groom, the matchmakers had difficulty finding him a bride. She turned out to be the village teacher Efrosinya Lebedeva. She was taller than average, but still shorter than her husband by almost a meter.

Soon after the wedding, a daughter, Maria, was born into the family, and a year later, a son, Nikolai.

From time to time, to replenish the family budget, Fyodor Makhnov left his Velikanov farm “to earn money.” He attended wrestling tournaments and demonstrated his natural abilities in circuses and museums in the capital and other cities of the Russian Empire. During such trips in popular Russian newspapers details of the life of “Vitebsk Gulliver” were published.

In them, in particular, it was written that the giant’s weight reaches 182 kg, and his height decreases slightly in weekdays, but increases after Sunday rest. The reader was also impressed by Makhnov’s anthropological details: the ears were 15 cm long, the lips were 10 cm wide, the length of the foot and palm were 51 cm and 32 cm, respectively.

In 1905, Fyodor Makhnov went abroad again. But now he went to Europe just to travel with his family. Fedor visited England, France, Belgium, and Holland. In Italy he was received by the Pope himself. Family legend says that “during the audience, the Pope, having admired his beautiful daughter Maria, took off his cross and gave the girl a gold cross on a chain.”

Having previously converted the ship's cabin to his needs, Makhnov crossed the Atlantic Ocean in June 1906. In America, he was received by then-President Theodore Roosevelt.

From the archives of the Berlin Central Historical Museum you can learn some details of our fellow countryman’s trip abroad: “In Paris, Makhnov quarreled with several townspeople, and they tried to cool his ardor behind bars, but they could not find a cell that matched his height, so they made do with conversation...

During receptions in the palaces, the giant amused himself by lighting the candles on the upper tiers and thereby extinguishing them...

When visiting the German Chancellor during lunch, a huge tea set was placed in front of Makhnov. Fyodor did not appreciate the “joke” and asked to replace the “bucket” with a human mug...

The giant ate four times a day, like ordinary people, but the volume of food was many times greater than the diet of an average person. Every morning he ate 20 eggs, 8 round loaves of white bread with butter, and drank 2 liters of tea. Lunch consisted of 2.5 kg of meat, 1 kg of potatoes, 3 liters of beer. In the evening, the giant ate a bowl of fruit, 2.5 kg of meat, 3 loaves of bread and drank 2 liters of tea. And before going to bed, he was given 15 eggs, a loaf of bread, 1 liter of milk or tea...”

Despite the warm welcome high level, it was still difficult for Fyodor Makhnov to travel: transport, hotels, and restaurants were not adapted to his growth. In addition, scientists increasingly began to offer the giant to enter into a contract with them so that after his death they would get the skeleton for study. Fearing that he might be killed or poisoned, Makhnov urgently returned to his farm.

The hardships of nomadic life and Gulliver's everyday problems in the land of Lilliputians did not improve his health. Diseases acquired in the icy waters of the Zaronovka River have worsened. With increasing difficulty he had to move his huge legs.

To make the giant's movement easier, Otto Bilinder from Germany sent a heavyweight horse as a gift. Fedor became very attached to the horse, but it did not solve the problem of movement, since when riding, his legs dragged along the ground. When he traveled long distances, he preferred a troika as a means of transportation.

Fyodor Makhnov was a strong owner. He was one of the first in the area to use agricultural machines, which Bilinder kindly sent him. At one time the giant tried to breed horses.

At this time, the composition of Fyodor’s family also changes. In 1911, his daughter Masha was born, and a year later the twins Rodion (Radimir) and Gabriel (Galyun) were born.

In 1912, 6 months after the babies were born, the most A tall man planet died. The cause of death has not been established for certain. According to some sources, he died from tuberculosis, according to others - from chronic pneumonia.

An obituary appeared in the Russian Sport magazine, announcing the death of the famous giant wrestler.

Fyodor Makhnov was buried in the cemetery in the village of Kostyuki.

The master made the coffin and fence for the giant of coffin work as for an ordinary person, considering that an error had crept into the order. The coffin had to be urgently remade, and the fencing was temporarily left as it had been brought.

On the stone tombstone you can still read: “Fedor Andreevich Makhnov born - June 6, 1878 died. August 28, 1912 at the age of 36 The Biggest Man in the World was 3 arshins 9 vershoks in height.”

In fact, the giant lived a full 34 years, i.e. died at the age of 35, and the height of 3 arshins 9 vershoks (254 cm) is almost 30 cm less than the actual one, was taken from the first contract of a 16-year-old growing boy.

The giant's wife subsequently wanted to correct the mistakes on the tombstone and redo the fence, but the outbreak of the First World War and the subsequent revolutionary events prevented her from doing this.

During the Great Patriotic War Fierce fighting took place in these places. The monument, as a silent witness to those events, still bears traces of bullets.

Instead of a conclusion

Officially, the tallest man in the world is American Robert Wadlow, who lived at the beginning of the last century and reached a height of 272 centimeters. But this admission is wrong. After all, Fyodor Makhnov’s height is 285 centimeters.

This was recorded during his lifetime by the Warsaw anthropologist Lushan. In addition, the record growth of our fellow countryman was noted in the magazine “Science and Life” for 1970, in the book of the French biologist J. Rostand “Life” and by the science fiction writer Alexander Belyaev in the story “The Island of Lost Ships”.

According to the Russian Book of Records, the tallest person in world history was Russian citizen Fedor Makhov! His height was 2 meters 85 centimeters (with a weight of 182 kilograms).

A correspondent for the magazine “7 Days” reports that he personally saw the grave of our hero - at the Staroye Selo railway station, near Vitebsk. Today the giant is called in newspapers either Makhnov or Makhno. However, the text on the obelisk, touched by time, read:

"Fedor Andreevich Makhnov. Born on June 6, 1878. Died on August 28, 1912. The tallest man in the world. He was 3 arshins 9 vershoks tall."

He died at the age of 35. The height indicated on the grave, corresponding to 254 centimeters by modern standards, was in his youth, but, according to numerous testimonies, he grew significantly after that. Fyodor Makhnov was born into a peasant family on a farm near the village of Kostyuki. And today local residents can point out the place where he was born, nicknamed the Giant Farm.
The amazing child’s talents showed up early. At the age of 8, the child could lift an adult; his father taught him to play the harmonica. At the age of 12, he took the “bar” at 2 meters. He could sleep for more than 24 hours straight. A shoemaker from the nearby village of Yazvino, Vasily Orlov, left evidence of the length of the giant’s foot: 51 centimeters. The palm was 31 cm. Fyodor Makhnov bent horseshoes, and once raised the roof of a hut alone. His brothers Stepan and Nikolai were slightly taller than average. He developed his strength talents in the circus, where he twisted spirals of iron rods and then straightened them, smashed a brick with a blow of his fist, and while lying down raised a wooden platform on which an orchestra played. He was also involved in wrestling. The Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore contains materials telling how Fyodor Makhnov got into the circus, and about his tours across Europe and the USA. He signed a contract with entrepreneur Robert Cook (and according to another version, the local landowner Bronislav Korzhenevsky made an offer to conquer Europe for Fyodor) and set off around the world. The magazine "Nature and People" for 1903 published the following note about him:

"The tallest man in the world"

They are now unanimously recognized as the Russian giant Theodore Makhov. Currently, he has arrived with his impresario in Berlin, where he is shown in the panopticon. In the Berlin Anthropological Museum, Makhov was carefully measured and weighed, and he was given a document with the following content: “Theodore Makhov, born in Russia, in the town of Kustyaki, Vitebsk province, has a height of 238 centimeters [typo - V.V.] and belongs to number of the tallest giants that have ever existed on globe. In many respects, he is of great interest to science." And indeed, all the giants shown so far in Europe were in most cases 12-15 centimeters shorter than Machov.
Feodor Makhov comes from ancient family, whose ancestors moved to Russia from the south, from Syria. Makhov's parents, as well as his two sisters, are of quite normal height; his grandfather was very tall, but, in any case, not a giant. Feodor Makhov is currently only 22 years old. To give at least some idea of ​​the size of his body, let's say that his boot, which barely reaches the giant's knee, reaches his chest normal person, and a 12-year-old boy could fit headlong into it. The impresario pays Makhov 5,000 rubles annually and also maintains it at his own expense. Only with such a huge amount of money was it possible for the impresario to persuade the giant to appear in panopticons, since Makhov, an intelligent man and not in need, refused such an honor for a long time.”

When the giant came on tour to St. Petersburg, reporters from the capital found out how he eats. In the morning he drank about two bottles of milk or tea, while eating one and a half dozen hard-boiled eggs and 6-8 pieces of bread. At noon he was served a kilogram of fried meat, more than a kilogram of potatoes, a kilogram of bread and a bottle of beer. For lunch I made do with a few bowls of meat soup and two bottles of beer. For dinner, Fedya ate from 10 to 15 eggs and several slices of bread.

However, the entrepreneur, profiting from him, fed him poorly, and the hardships of nomadic life annoyed him. The peasant son did not like all this, and he returned to his home station Staroye Selo. With the money he earned, he built a farm. The people called the new place of residence the Velikanov Farm. Fyodor's house has not survived to this day - it was destroyed during the war. But the villagers still call this place the Giant. Here he and his wife, teacher Efrosinya Lebedeva, who was 70 centimeters shorter than him, gave birth to five children. Everyone was tall, but no one was taller than 2 meters.

Having caught a cold while cleaning the bed of the local Zaronovka River, Fyodor Makhnov suffered from leg disease. He is believed to have died from lung disease. But they rumored that he was poisoned by his rivals on the wrestling mat. An obituary appeared in the magazine "Russian Sport" announcing this unfortunate event. One of Makhnov’s sons, Radimir, or, as he was also called, Rodion, studied in Minsk medical institute. Once at a lecture I heard a mention of his phenomenal father. I named myself. The scientists became interested and, through Radimir, conveyed an offer to the widow to sell the unique skeleton. 5 thousand rubles were offered for it, and in those years it was a substantial amount. A loaf of bread, for example, then cost 14-20 kopecks. 27 years after burial, the bones were removed from under the monument “The Biggest Man in the World,” put in a box and taken away by scientists. The coffin and monument were returned to their original place.
The grandson of the giant, Evgeniy Nikolaevich, still preserves the memory of his ancestor: postcards, photographs, newspaper clippings... It is from the words of the grandson that there is a version that Fedor, having moved to the farm, did not give up performing in the circus. He often traveled to Germany with his family.

The tallest man the world has ever seen is considered to be Fyodor Makhnov. His height was 285 centimeters and his weight was about 182 kg.

Fyodor Andreevich Makhnov was born on June 6, 1878. The largest man in the world, his height was 3 arshins 9 vershoks. 3 arshins 9 vershoks were mistakenly written on the monument. This is less than the actual one by almost 30 centimeters. This height was indicated in the first contract of the growing boy of 16 years old, when he was first invited to work at the circus. Fedor's wife wanted to correct the mistake, but the outbreak of the First World War prevented her from World War. Makhnov's actual height was recorded by the Warsaw anthropologist Lushan in 1903 - 285 cm. This was also confirmed by the French biologist J. Rostand in his book “Life” and the Russian science fiction writer Alexander Belyaev.

Fedya's parents were of ordinary height. The boy was born very large, and his mother died during childbirth. Fedya was raised by his grandfather, who loved him very much. By the age of 16, Fedor “jumped” two meters. During the period of his most active growth, he could sleep for more than 24 hours straight.


The guy was distinguished not only by his height, but also by his strength. He worked a lot in the field, helping the blacksmith. At the age of eight he could lift an adult with one hand, and sometimes harnessed himself instead of a horse. He was kind and friendly by nature. He played the harmonica well.

Once a German Otto Bilinder, the owner of a circus, saw a tall guy at the Polotsk market in Vitebsk. He persuaded his father to let Fedor go to Germany to work in the circus. Otto took care of the education of his strongman and paid him well.
In Berlin, Otto Belender settled the guest at his home, hired teachers to improve his educational level (before that he had only completed 3 grades), and taught him circus tricks. Fyodor broke bricks with the edge of his palm; unbent and bent horseshoes and thick nails; lying on his back, he lifted the platform with three musicians along with their instruments. But people came to the circus to see, first of all, the artist himself - the real Gulliver. And he grew by leaps and bounds. By the age of 25 he reached 2 m 85 cm.


Archival information about the stay of the giant Makhnov in the German capital in 1904 has been preserved. The Germans were ready to fulfill any whims of the Belarusian Gulliver. In the middle of winter, Fyodor wanted strawberries - they delivered them to him. In Holland, in Paris, he repeatedly violated the contract, once they wanted to imprison him for hooliganism, but the cells of the Parisian police did not accommodate people of such stature.

While in Germany, Fedor always wanted to return home. When he saved up enough money, he left for his native Kostyuki, despite the fact that the owner persuaded him to stay. His height did not allow him to live in his father's house. At this time, the landowner Krzhizhanovsky was just selling his estate. Makhnov bought it along with the land and rebuilt the house according to his specifications. And he decided to get married. It turned out to be a difficult question! Girls of ordinary height did not dare to marry such a thug. Where can I find something to match it? Finally, the whole world found a bride - teacher Efrosinya Lebedeva. She was tall for a girl - 1 m 85 cm. She was two years younger than Fyodor, but outlived her husband by 35 years and died in 1947. They played a wedding. In 1903, their daughter Maria was born, and in 1904, their son Nikolai. They lived together in love and harmony. Fedor was kind person, loved his children, helped the peasants. And from Germany there were invitations to return to the circus again.

Together they traveled the world. Fyodor attended a reception with the German Chancellor, an audience with the Pope, and a reception with US President Theodore Roosevelt. So that Makhnov could cross the ocean, the cabin of the ship was remodeled for him. Euphrosyne liked this life, she even wanted to stay in Germany.

But when German doctors began to persuade them to sign a contract, according to which, after death, the giant’s corpse would be left for them to scientific research, she was afraid that something might suddenly happen to Fedor, and they went home.
In Paris, almost all members of the Anthropological Society showed great interest in the extraordinary physical characteristics of the giant. They wanted to examine it more thoroughly, but Makhnov refused to undress in front of doctors all his life, allowing them to measure only the length of his feet and palms - 51 cm and almost 35, respectively.

The magazine "Nature and People" for 1903 published the following note about him:
The tallest man in the world. They are now unanimously recognized as the Russian giant Theodore Makhov. Currently, he has arrived with his impresario in Berlin, where he is shown in the panopticon. In the Berlin Anthropological Museum, Makhov was carefully measured and weighed, and he was given a document with the following content: “Theodore Makhov, born in Russia, in the town of Kustyaki, Vitebsk province, has a height of 238 centimeters [typo] and is one of the tallest giants, which have ever existed on the globe. In many respects it is of great interest to science."

And indeed, all the giants shown so far in Europe were in most cases 12-15 santa. below Makhov.
Feodor Makhov comes from an ancient family, whose ancestors moved to Russia from the south, from Syria. Makhov's parents, as well as his two sisters, are of quite normal height; his grandfather was very tall, but, in any case, not a giant. Feodor Makhov is currently only 22 years old. To give at least some idea of ​​the size of his body, let's say that his boot, barely reaching the giant's knee, reaches the chest of a normal person, and a 12-year-old boy could fit headlong into it . The impresario pays Makhov 5,000 rubles annually and also maintains it at his own expense. Only with such a huge amount of money was it possible for the impresario to persuade the giant to appear in panopticons, since Makhov, an intelligent man and not in need, refused such an honor for a long time.”

They had five children. Fedor was a strong owner. His figure was not proportional. The legs were especially long. According to the children's recollections, he often, lying on the bed, warmed his feet on the stove. German doctors believed that Makhnov died from bone tuberculosis, which many giants suffered from. In fact, he caught a cold and got pneumonia.


As anthropologists rightly noted, this resident of Belarus is “all legs.” If he had been born without legs, he would hardly have reached average height. His head, which was unusually small for such a huge body, gave him an unusually ridiculous appearance, which he tried to hide by wearing a richly decorated Cossack uniform.


His ears were 15 cm long and his lips 10 cm wide, which must have made a certain impression on his wife, a woman of normal size, when they kissed. After a few days of rest he always became taller. This was caused by the extraordinary ability of his spine to shrink and contract under heavy loads.


He ate, like everyone else, four times a day, but his breakfast could feed an average family for two days. It is known from press materials how our giant ate. In the morning he ate 20 eggs, 8 round loaves of white bread with butter, and drank 2 liters of tea. For lunch - 2.5 kg of meat, 1 kg of potatoes, 3 liters of beer. In the evening - a bowl of fruit, 2.5 kg of meat, 3 loaves of bread and 2 liters of tea. And before going to bed, he could still swallow 15 eggs and a liter of milk.

The largest giant the earth has ever carried died on August 28, 1912.

In 1935, son Rodion studied at the Minsk Medical Institute, and at one of the lectures on giantism, the professor gave the example of Fyodor Makhnov. Imagine everyone’s amazement when Rodion stood up and said that it was his father. That's when they asked him to talk to the family about selling his father's skeleton. The mother agreed to sell it for 5 thousand rubles. After her husband's death, she married a second time and gave birth to three more children. Money was needed...
Many people were present at the exhumation, including the widow and children. In 1936, Minsk professor D.M. Golub published an article about the skeleton of Acromegalic in the collection of works of the Psychoneurological Institute of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences. Acromegaly is characterized by hyperplastic changes in the skeletal system, soft parts and most internal organs. Simply put, all giants suffer from gigantism. During the Great Patriotic War, the skeleton disappeared.

Today, the children of Fyodor and Efrosinya Makhnov are no longer alive. Everyone lived a difficult life, but decent life. During the years of collectivization, they wanted to dispossess the Makhnov family and deport it, but the peasants interceded and left them alone. Nikolai and Gavrila were officers and went through repression. Rehabilitated. Rodion became a doctor and during the Great Patriotic War he was shot by the Nazis for his connection with the partisans. The eldest Maria worked all her life as a livestock specialist, and the youngest Masha worked as an accountant. All the children were more like their mother's height - 180 - 190 cm. Makhnov's descendants were scattered throughout the cities and villages of Belarus and Russia. On the site of the former estate, only a birch tree remained, perhaps planted by Fyodor Makhnov himself. And the names of the Giants Farm and the Giants' Forest remind local residents of the tallest man in the world who once lived in these places.

Fedor Andreevich Makhnov, who lived on turn of XIX-XX centuries, is called the tallest man in the world. His height was 285 centimeters! The size of the giant was such that a 12-year-old child could easily fit in his boot. Each meal consisted of several kilograms of food, and Makhnov could sleep for as long as 24 hours. In Europe, the giant was a real curiosity and a public favorite.

Fedor Andreevich Makhnov comes from the village of Kostyuki, Vitebsk district (former Russian Empire, now Belarus). In addition to him, two more sons grew up in the Makhnov family. Their height was above average, but Fedor “outdid” everyone. The grandfather took his grandson in to raise him, because Fyodor’s mother died during childbirth, the fetus turned out to be too large.

As they say, the boy grew by leaps and bounds. At the age of 12, his height was already 2 meters. Fedor also had the corresponding strength in his hands. He could lift a grown man with one hand, carried huge logs, harnessed instead of horses and transported carts with hay.

IN at a young age the boy was hired by a local landowner to clear the river of boulders. They interfered with the normal functioning of the mill. Working in cold water resulted in illnesses for Fedor, which manifested themselves more than once in the future.

When the young giant turned 14 years old, he began to hit his head on the ceiling, and the hut had to be rebuilt. They were supposed to make a custom bed for Fyodor, but the blacksmith delayed completing the order, and the boy managed to outgrow it.

One day, a giant teenager working part-time at the Polotsk Bazaar in Vitebsk was seen by Otto Bilinder, the owner of a nomadic circus. It is worth considering that this was the end of the 19th century, at that time the performances of miracle people were extremely popular. The German persuaded Fedor’s relatives to send him to Germany.

This is how the young giant came to Europe. First, Fedor studied German and at the same time mastered the circus craft. He learned to effectively unbend horseshoes and break bricks with his palm.

At the age of 16, Fyodor Makhnov signed a contract to work in the circus. The audience was delighted. People came to the performances not so much to watch the tricks, but simply to see with their own eyes the giant, whose height was more than 2.5 meters. Fyodor Makhnov, lying down, easily lifted the platform with a small orchestra.

By the age of 25, Fyodor Makhnov’s height was already 285 cm. Naturally, with such dimensions, the giant had proper nutrition. For breakfast, he ate an omelette of 20 eggs, 8 loaves of bread, and drank 2 liters of tea. Lunch consisted of 2.5 kg of meat, the same amount of potatoes, and a bowl of vegetables. The giant could sleep for more than 24 hours.

Fyodor Makhnov worked in the circus for 9 years, and then returned to his native village. With the money he earned, the giant bought the land and his house from the local landowner, which he rebuilt for himself. It is worth noting that Otto Bidinder always continued to help him. The circus owner and the artist remained friends.

Fyodor Makhnov married a local teacher, Efrosinya Lebedeva. Her height was more than 180 cm, but her wife still looked like a baby next to her husband. The family had five children.

When the supply of money came to an end, the giant again went to Europe, where he was met with constant success. After the performances, Fyodor Makhnov and his wife were invited to social events. Even there, Fedor managed to amuse the audience: he lit cigarettes directly from the chandeliers. Several times the police tried to arrest him for hooliganism or non-compliance with the contract. But each time Makhnov was released, because there was simply no cell in which he could fit.

Fyodor Makhnov died at the age of 34. According to one version, it was the consequences of a cold suffered in childhood. On the tombstone it is written that the giant’s height was 3 arshins 9 vershoks, i.e. 254 cm. However, this information is not correct. The figure was taken from Makhnov's contract with Bidinder, when the giant was only 16 years old. Then he grew another 31 cm. The wife wanted to correct the annoying mistake, but the outbreak of the First World War prevented her.

While Fyodor Makhnov was entertaining audiences in Europe, on the other side of the ocean in the United States, people went to see the married couple perform.

His height was 272 cm. However, Belarusians do not agree with the opinion of this reputable publication. They know for sure that a giant, worthy of the title of the tallest man in the world, lived in the Vitebsk province, and his name was Fyodor Andreevich Makhnov. His height, according to some sources, was as much as 285 cm. At the beginning of the last century, this unique person was known throughout the world, but today he has been practically forgotten.

Childhood of a giant

Fate had in store for Makhnov a short, but incredibly interesting life. Fyodor Andreevich was born back in 1878 in the village of Kostyuki, located near Vitebsk. His parents were poor peasants whose ancestors moved to the Russian Empire from Syria. Makhnov became the first giant in his family. His father, mother, brothers and sisters were above average height, and although his grandfather was considered a tall man, no one could call him a giant.

Already at birth, Fyodor Makhnov was distinguished by his unusually large stature. His mother could not stand the difficult birth and died without ever seeing the baby. early years the boy spent with his grandfather, who is his grandson. Fedya was different from his peers not only gigantic size, but also with heroic strength. At the age of 12, his height exceeded 2 meters. Young Makhnov easily lifted adults, independently dragged heavy carts and helped his neighbors in building houses, carrying logs with his bare hands. The children laughed at the giant, and in retaliation for this he took their hats and hung them on the roof ridges.

Meet Otto Bilinder

When Fedya turned 14 years old, his father had to raise the ceilings in the house, because the guy no longer fit in it. The bed for the young man was ordered according to individual measurements from a local blacksmith. Shoes and clothes for him had to be made to order. Since Fyodor’s family was poor, he had to earn money for clothes and food at the market in Vitebsk. It was there that he was once noticed by the owner of a German traveling circus, Otto Bilinder. The foreigner was impressed by the boy’s gigantic growth, and he quickly realized that he could earn good money from this. Without thinking twice, he turned to Makhnov’s father with a request to let his son go with him to Germany. Having received his consent, he took the young man into his circus troupe. From that moment on, the 14-year-old ordinary giant Fedya left his father's house and set out to conquer the sophisticated European public with his non-standard appearance.

Moving to Europe, circus life

After arriving in Germany, Makhnov settled in Bilinder’s house. The employer hired teachers for the boy German language and personally began to teach him all the intricacies of circus art. Under Bilinder's guidance, Fedor learned to break bricks with one hand, bend horseshoes, twist thick metal rods into a spiral, and lift wooden platforms with people standing on them. At the age of 16, Makhnov signed a contract with his mentor and began performing in the circus arena along with other artists. By this age, his height had reached 253 cm, and Otto Bilinder presented him to the public as the largest man on the planet. Together with the troupe, Fedor traveled to many countries and became a giant strongman known throughout Europe. In those days, giant people were a novelty, so many spectators went to Bilinder’s circus specifically to look at Makhnov.

Fedor performed in the arena for 9 years. Throughout this time, his height continued to increase and by the age of 25 he reached 285 cm. Appearance The Belarusian giant was impressive. He weighed as much as 182 kg. The length of his feet was 51 cm, his palms - 31 cm, his ears - 15 cm. Fedor Andreevich Makhnov, like most people, ate 4 times a day, but the portions that he absorbed were truly gigantic. His usual breakfast consisted of 2 liters of tea, 8 loaves of bread and butter and 20 eggs. For lunch, Makhnov easily ate 1 kg of potatoes and 2.5 kg of lamb or pork, washing it all down with three liters of beer. The giant's evening meal consisted of a huge piece of meat, 3 loaves of bread, a bowl of fruit and several liters of tea.

Return to Kostyuki

Over the years of his acting career, Makhnov managed to earn a lot of money and become a quite wealthy person. At the age of 25, he decided to leave the circus troupe and return home. His gigantic growth brought the young man a lot of inconvenience while touring. It did not fit in hotel rooms and restaurants, and the transport was forced to choose only with an open top. Tired of endless travel, Makhnov at the beginning of the 20th century said a warm goodbye to Bilinder and returned to his village of Kostyuki. For the money he earned during his performances, he purchased an estate from the local landowner Korzhenevsky. Fyodor Makhnov re-equipped the house to suit his height, ordered suitable furniture for the rooms and lived happily.

Marriage to teacher Efrosinya

Soon after returning home, the giant began to think about marriage. The girls were afraid of the huge guy and avoided him. It was not easy for the strong giant to find a bride, but finally luck smiled on him. His chosen one was the village teacher Efrosinya Lebedeva. The girl was 2 meters tall, but she still looked like a child next to Fedor.

During the years of marriage, Fyodor and Euphrosyne had 5 children (all of them grew tall, but their height did not exceed two meters). The family lived in Makhnov’s estate, to which he gave the ironic name “Velikanovo”. In order to feed his wife and small children, Fedor had to remember his acting past. He did not refuse to perform in Russian circuses and took part in wrestling tournaments.

Future life

In 1905, the giant Fyodor Makhnov went on a tour of foreign countries, taking his wife and children with him. He visited England, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italy. The Belarusian giant was granted an audience with the Pope himself. Later, the Makhnov couple went by ship to the USA. For Fyodor's sake, the ship's crew had to remodel the cabin to suit his height. With his appearance, the circus performer created a sensation everywhere. In many countries he was invited to receptions high-ranking officials, where he shamelessly lit cigarettes from the candles in the chandeliers. In France, Makhnov had a serious conflict with the local population. The arriving police wanted to put the giant behind bars, but they could not find a suitable cell for him and were forced to release him.

Euphrosyne liked living abroad so much that she was thinking of staying there forever. However, an incident with German doctors forced her to change her plans. Doctors began to persuade Makhnov to sign a contract, under the terms of which, after his death, they would have the opportunity to conduct scientific experiments on his body. Euphrosyne was horrified by what she heard and, fearing that some misfortune might happen to her husband, persuaded him to return to his homeland.

First serious health problems

Due to frequent travel, Fyodor Makhnov began to complain about his health. His height of 285 centimeters did not have the best effect on his health. After returning to Velikanovo, the man’s chronic joint disease, acquired in childhood, worsened. His legs hurt so much that it was difficult for him to walk. But, despite his health problems, Makhnov tried to lead his usual life. He did not give up performing in the circus and even entered the wrestling ring.

Death of a Giant

The ordinary giant from Kostyukov was a kind man and caring husband. He lived with Euphrosyne in love and harmony, doted on his children, and did not refuse help to any of his fellow countrymen. Unfortunately, fate gave Fedor a short 34 years. He died in 1912, leaving his wife with five small children in his arms (his youngest twin sons Rodion and Gabriel were only 6 months old at the time of his death). The sudden death of the circus performer gave rise to a lot of rumors. According to one version, the cause of his death was pneumonia. German doctors believed that the giant died due to bone tuberculosis, a disease that affects most people of gigantic stature. There is also a version that Fedor was poisoned by ill-wishers.

Even after death, the height of the tallest man on the planet continued to amaze those around him. When the undertaker received an order for a coffin and a grave fence for Makhnov, he decided that the relatives of the deceased had messed up something with the measurements. He made the house and fence of standard sizes. When it turned out that Fyodor’s relatives had not mixed up anything, he had to hastily redo the coffin in order to be in time for the funeral. There was no time to make a new fence, so we had to be content with the one we had. Fyodor was buried in a cemetery near Kostyuki. In 1934, the remains of the circus performer were exhumed and sent for research to the Minsk Medical Institute. During the war they were irretrievably lost.

Historical injustice

How did it happen that another person is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest man who ever lived on the planet? Researchers believe that Makhnov’s grave is to blame. It says that the giant’s height was 3 arshins and 9 vershoks, which is equivalent to 253 centimeters. However, the data indicated on the tombstone was taken from the contract that 16-year-old Fedor signed with Otto Bilinder. After that, over the course of several years, Makhnov grew another 32 cm, but this fact was not taken into account. But this historical injustice does not prevent residents of the Vitebsk region from being proud of their fellow countryman and calling him the tallest man in the world.