Great Antonio

Antonio Barichievich
Antonio at 21 years old (c. 1946)
Born	Anton Baričević (1925-10-10)October 10, 1925 Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Died	September 7, 2003(2003-09-07) (aged 77) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupation(s)	Strongman, professional wrestler
Years active	Late 1940s – 2003
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

Antonio Barichievich (October 10, 1925 – September 7, 2003), born Anton Barichevich and better known as The Great Antonio, was a Croatian-Canadian strongman, professional wrestler, and a Montreal eccentric artist. Barichievich was born in Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Nothing is known about his early life and family aside that according to biographers he started to do menial work by the age of six and could uproot trees by age 12. During World War II, he spent time at the Bagnoli displaced persons camp. He arrived as refugee in Canada in 1945, and established himself in Montreal, Quebec. In the late 1940s, Barichievich made a name for himself with demonstrations of strength, and in 1952 he pulled a 433-tonne train 19.8 metres a feat featured in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Moving forward Barichievich would tour making demonstrations of strength and wrestled professionally. In 1960, he appeared for the second time in Guinness Book of World Records by pulling four city buses loaded with passengers. Barichievich wrestled until the late 1970s and demonstrations of strength until the 1980s.

Until his death in 2003, Barichievich became a Montreal eccentric roaming the streets selling photomontage postcards of his past exploits. At the end of his life, his photomontages started to gain artistic recognition and are currently featured in museum exhibits.^[1]