Jules Léotard
(1838-1870)

The inventor of the trapeze act, Jules Léotard was born in Toulouse, the son of a gymnast father. Jules always claimed that as a baby his parents would hang him upside-down to stop him crying. Later the young Jules would practice his act over the pool of his father’s gymnasium. He first performed in public on 12 November 1859 at the Cirque Napoléon in Paris, where his act caused a sensation. His first British performance was at the Alhambra in May 1861, and he regularly returned to London, appearing at music halls and pleasure gardens. At the Ashburnham Hall in Cremorne he performed on five trapezes simultaneously, turning somersaults between each one.

George Leybourne wrote a popular song in celebration of Leotard’s success: 'He’d fly through the air with the greatest of ease, / A daring young man on the flying trapeze.'

He is still remembered today in the garment he gave his name to, originally an all-in-one knitted suit that allowed complete freedom of movement with nothing that could get entangled in the ropes. 

He died in Spain from an infectious disease (probably smallpox or cholera) at the age of thirty-three.