Antonio Barichievich Obituary, A Croatian-Canadian Strongman, Professional Wrestler,Has Died

Antonio Barichievich Obituary, Death –The birth of Antonio Barichievich Antonio Barichievich, well known by his ring name “The Great Antonio,” was a strongman, professional wrestler, and eccentric artist based in Montreal.

He was of Croatian and Canadian descent. Barichievich was born in the city of Zagreb, which is located in what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Biographers claim that he began doing menial work by the age of six and could uproot trees by the age of twelve, but nothing else is known about his early life or his family.

During World War II, he was a displaced person and spent some of his time at the Bagnoli camp. In 1945, he fled to Canada, where he eventually settled in the city of Montreal, in the province of Quebec. Barichievich established his reputation as a strongman in the late 1940s by performing feats of strength.

In 1952, he dragged a 433-ton train 19.8 meters, an achievement that was documented in the Guinness Book of World Records. As time went on, Barichievich would go on tours and put on wrestling displays while also competing professionally. In 1960, he made his second appearance in the Guinness Book of World Records by pulling four city buses full with passengers. This achievement earned him the title of “World’s Strongest Man.”

Barichievich competed in displays of strength until the 1980s and continued to wrestle until the late 1970s. Until the year 2003, when he passed away, Barichievich was known throughout Montreal as an oddball who roamed the city selling photomontage postcards commemorating his previous escapades.

His photomontages began to garner artistic appreciation toward the end of his life, and they are now being displayed in museums throughout the world. Barichievich suffered a heart attack in a grocery shop in Montreal in 2003, when he was 77 years old. He died of his injuries.