Born Today, Two Unique “Fighting Men”: Arthur Cravan and The Great Gama

Very much ahead of his time was Arthur Cravan (Fabian Avenarius Lloyd; 1887-1918) a hoaxer, boxer, Dada artist, critic performer, poet, adventurer and nephew of Oscar Wilde. And thanks to the Mad Marchioness for putting me onto him!

One reads about Cravan’s doings with awe, for the combination of elements in his make-up is like some kind of mixture of Andy Kaufman,Alfred Jarry, Jack London, Ambrose Bierce,Sadakichi Hartmann, Muhammad Ali, and a few others I am sure I am missing. Born and raised in Switzerland, he was thrown out of a fancy British miliary school for attacking a teacher, some believe. From 1911 to 1914 he was part of the Paris art scene, palling around with the likes of Andre Breton and Marcel Duchamp, turning out an avant-garde publication called Maintenant! (“Now!”), and staging public exhibitions, stunts, lectures, poetry readings, and boxing matches. It is said that he fought a duel with Apollinaire, in the wake of an ungentlemanly review of paintings by Marie Laurencin in his magazine. In 1913 he wrote an article in Maintenant claiming that his uncle Oscar Wilde was still alive and had visited him in Paris, which of course was not true. He also produced several forged documents and works of literature purported to be by his uncle. Despite this chicanery, Cravan was legitimately Wilde’s nephew: his father was the brother of Wilde’s wife.

When World War One broke, Cravan fled Europe and made his way to the Americas. Stopping in the Canary Islands, he staged a boxing bout with Jack Johnson, advertising himself as the “European Champion”, a title he did not hold. The American champ k.o.’d him after six rounds. On the ship to New York in 1916, he made the acquaintance of LeonTrotsky, who crossed the Atlantic with him on the same steamship. In 1917, he met and had a romance with British writer and artist Mina Loy (1882-1966), five years his senior. The pair married about a year later. Late in 1918, Cravan vanished when the boat he was sailing in disappeared during a storm. She gave birth to their son a few months later. Accounts of her short time with Cravan form a part of her memoirs.

Cravan’s older brother Otho Lloyd (1885-1979) was a painted and photographer, married Surrealist and outsider artist Olga Sacharoff (1889-1967). The pair became Spanish citizens later in life.

Also born of a May 22: Indian pehlwani wrestler and strongman The Great Gama (Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt, 1878-1960, sometimes known as Rustam-e-Hind). A Muslim born and raised in British India, he settled in Pakistan after the partition. Today he is considered one of the founders of professional wrestling.

For more on the history of variety entertainment, including avant-garde cabaret, please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.