Jules Léotard was born in Toulouse in 1938. On November 12, 1859, in Paris at the Cirque Napoléon, which became the Cirque d'hiver Bouglione, when he was only 21 years old, he presented "Les Merveilles Gymnastiques" or "La Course aux Trapèzes", a high-flying show.
From trapeze to trapeze, with aerial somersaults, he performed a feat that did not go unnoticed. Very quickly, the whole Paris jostles to see him.
Napoleon III and his wife, the Empress Eugenie, attended the penultimate performance in person.
Saluted by the Parisian newspapers, which were very enthusiastic, he was compared in the Journal de Toulouse to a flying man by Théophile Gautier.
He quickly became very rich and imposed his wishes? He refused to wear the traditional costume of the squires, the uniform of the artists of the circus which, in his opinion, did not emphasize his impressive musculature enough.
He then adopted a black silk leotard whose indentations highlighted the protrusions of his chest.
The pictures of this Apollo of the Trapeze taken by the photographer Paul-Emile Pesme showing him bare-chested, in a dancer's or wrestler's position, were a great success with the ladies. However, judged indecent, they will be confiscated by the Justice.
His fortune, estimated at 20,000 pounds, was managed by his father Jean Léotard, who owned two gymnasiums that were very popular in Toulouse, the first one on rue du rempart Saint-Etienne, the second one at the corner of boulevard Napoléon and chemin de la Poudrière, today boulevard de Strasbourg and rue de la Concorde.
Jules Léotard left the Cirque Napoléon and performed in European capitals, in turn captivating the court of Prince Frederick of Prussia in Berlin, Tsar Alexander II in St. Petersburg, King Victor Emmanuel in Rome.
In London, he was hired at the Royal Cremone Gardens in Chelsea where he worked for the first time with five trapezes. During this show, Charles Dickens admits to being amazed...
At the Alhambra Palace, his performances attracted nearly 6,000 spectators each night.
In 1862, in love with a young Italian dramatic actress Sylvia Bernini, he married her without the consent of her parents.
At the height of his fame, in England, he is the hero of many songs composed in his honor. In 1867, "The daring young man on the flying trapeze" by Geoge Leybourne became a great popular success.
He also performed in the United States.
Between two tours he rested in the family property of Vernet in Ariege.
It was there that he took up the velocipede and in March 1870 won the Villefranche-du-Lauragais - Toulouse - Villefranche race.
He died a few months later, at the age of 32, victim of black pox.
A plaque was inaugurated in Toulouse in December 2010 by Anne Crayssac, a Toulouse elected official. This plaque bears the inscription "Jules Léotard, born in Toulouse in 1838, died in Toulouse in 1870, inventor of the flying trapeze".
The street where this plaque is located is behind the Courrèges gendarmerie barracks, not far from avenue Jean-Rieux. It connects the rue Jean-Martin Charcot to the impasse Blancou.
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(free version)
