D’Jelmako le Blondin (Etienne Blanc 1857 – 1933), was a French Canadian Indian who toured France as a circus performer. He specialized in the high wire. A daring tight rope walker, he died while performing and is buried in the Saint Lazare cemetery, Montpellier, France.
He was also the inverter of the flying torpedo!
5 comments:
Wow! Thats another Canadian Indian who did performances in France.
I think there was an Englishman who pretended to be an Indian and married an Indian woman and spoke up re the preserving of nature.
A Lady's Life: There is a lot of coming and going between France and certain parts of Canada (the French speaking zones). Recently we've been hearing a lot about young French people who go over to Canada on a holiday/work permit and usually stay there.
Grey Owl (Archie Belaney) was the conservationist A Lady's Life was referring to. First Nations people have a high percentage of people who can withstand great heights, which is probably why Blanc was such a good performer. :-) Love this postcard, Anji.
It seems our Mercier Bridge in Montreal was built by Indians because no one else wanted to work so high up. American Indians did not fear heights.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Isobel: I can't help wondering how he felt so far from home performing in European cities.
A Lady's Life: thank you for the information. Through my postcards I've come to admire bridges from the past. Built by men who risked their lives and not machines
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