Αrrival from Marseille- Coutalianos in Constantinople through the Turkish press ( In the realm of censorship )

Attempts to save a legend

The road with the square stones
Αrrival from Marseille- Coutalianos in Constantinople through the Turkish press ( In the realm of censorship )

Attempts to save a legend

The road with the square stones
Panagis Coutalianos


The Man
As the strongest athlete of his time, Panagis Coutalianos (1847-1916) is deserving of far more fame than he ever received. Exploiting his profession as sailor, he traveled most of the world, seeking out would-be competitors for public tests of strength in every port. Impossible to defeat in the ring, he overcame dozens of famous strongmen. He shouldered weights that would defeat any modern weightlifter.
Coutalianos was more vulnerable outside the ring, however. Famous athletes shrank from his challenge, avoiding the risk of defeat while maligning or minimizing him in the local press. Panagis grew up in the second half of the 19th century as a Greek in the Ottoman Empire. Nationalism was the dominant ideology of that time, with new nations embracing warfare as the path to successful statehood. Weightlifters and wrestlers became "flag bearers" of their ethnic groups, symbolizing the power of their nation. An athlete who appeared on stage lifting huge weights or winning wrestling matches evoked national pride in his compatriots, and ideally awe in his country’s rivals.
Greece, Coutalianos’s chosen homeland, drew glory and greatness from the distant historical past, but it was a newborn country, small and poor, with a national diaspora then politically insignificant. Greece’s relative obscurity is a key reason Panagis Coutalianos's achievements never earned him the leading place his name deserves in the world sports bibliography. So this blog, by gradually marshalling the historical data that modern digital technology makes accessible, aspires to restore a famous Greek athlete to where he belongs, on the podium of world champion.
The autobiography of Coutalianos, as it was published by his sons in the USA and edited by the scholar G. Kastritsis.
Coutalianos
Introductory statements
Some intresting details “Ι wonder how, without knowing me, you described me so accurately.” Th. Valtinos, Three portraits, ed. Kastaniotis,

Introductory statements
Some intresting details “Ι wonder how, without knowing me, you described me so accurately.” Th. Valtinos, Three portraits, ed. Kastaniotis,

Introductory statements
Some intresting details “Ι wonder how, without knowing me, you described me so accurately.” Th. Valtinos, Three portraits, ed. Kastaniotis,
Latest News
A show that concerns us
Itinerant wrestlers and weightlifters like Coutalianos and the weight of history they carry “…With the wild beasts of my soul set free I will paint one more time, upon you with a black seashell the

Ironies and pranks
Underrated versions and reported defeats. “This life is where you make it. No matter what, you’ re going to mess

1872- 1873. In Argentina and Uruguay
The beginning of a glory “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” W.P. Kinsella Coutalianos

1874-1883. USA – South America
A reputation without limits “He handed out newspapers to their parents, some less recent and some more newly released. There

1891-1895. Touring the Russian Empire
A deferred invitation from the Tsar “One more story, just one more and then my history’s completed, all my chronicles

1871/ 1902. Arriving in the UK
Coutalianos in the kingdom of the Great Victoria “We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not

1900- 1901. Returning to the US with claims
Opponents hidden like mice “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but
A show that concerns us
Itinerant wrestlers and weightlifters like Coutalianos and the weight of history they carry “…With the

A show that concerns us
Itinerant wrestlers and weightlifters like Coutalianos and the weight of history they carry “…With the

Ironies and pranks
Underrated versions and reported defeats. “This life is where you make it. No matter what, you’ re going to mess

1872- 1873. In Argentina and Uruguay
The beginning of a glory “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” W.P. Kinsella Coutalianos

1874-1883. USA – South America
A reputation without limits “He handed out newspapers to their parents, some less recent and some more newly released. There

1891-1895. Touring the Russian Empire
A deferred invitation from the Tsar “One more story, just one more and then my history’s completed, all my chronicles

1871/ 1902. Arriving in the UK
Coutalianos in the kingdom of the Great Victoria “We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not

1900- 1901. Returning to the US with claims
Opponents hidden like mice “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but
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A song that became a hit.
Coutalianos “Jim the tiger” I made a big mistake. I never believed that in the
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Τhe novel entitled “Coutalianos” by the author Edmond Laniel.