Fedor Jeftichew

"Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy" redirects here. For Anette Funicello song, see Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy (song).
A portrait of Jeftichew

Fedor Jeftichew (Russian: Фёдор Евтищев, Fyodor Yevtishchev, 1868 - January 31, 1904), better known as Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy (later Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Man), was a famous Russian sideshow performer who was brought to the United States of America by P.T. Barnum.

Biography

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1868, Fedor Jeftichew suffered from the medical condition hypertrichosis. He toured with his father, Adrian, who developed the same ailment and had performed in French circuses. He continued to tour with his son before his death. Fedor eventually signed a contract with P.T. Barnum, who brought him to the United States in 1884, when he was sixteen.

Barnum created a story that involved a hunter in Kostroma who tracked Fedor and his father to their cave and captured them. Barnum described Adrian as a savage who could not be civilized. Barnum made a point of stressing Fedor's resemblance to a dog, and explained that when he was upset he would bark and growl. In the show, Fedor obliged by doing so.

Fedor spoke Russian, German, and English, and toured Europe and the United States extensively.

He died in Salonica, Greece, then part of the Ottoman Empire, from pneumonia on January 31, 1904.

In popular culture

Gallery

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fedor Jeftichew.

References