Georg Baumann

Georg Baumann was one of the most gifted Estonian amateur wrestlers of his era, but unfortunately his career and life were short. Baumann was born in St. Petersburg, Russia to an Estonian family and started his wrestling career there. Baumann was selected for the Russian 1912 Olympic team in wrestling’s lightweight class along with two other Estonians, August Kippasto and Oskar Kaplur. In Stockholm Baumann was not very successful - he lost his first match to a later gold medalist Finn Emil Wäre in the 37th minute. His second opponent was also a Finn, Alfred Salonen, to whom he lost after four minutes.

The peak of Baumann’s wrestling career came in 1913, when he defeated all of his opponents at the World Championships in Breslau in the lightweight class and won the gold medal. In the same year he won gold in the Russian Olympiad and was awarded the title of Best Amateur Wrestler of the Baltic States.

Baumann served on the front during World War I. He graduated from Gatchina Flight School and was a pilot in the Russian Military. In 1922 he settled first in Harbin, China and later Shanghai, where he performed in the circus and gave wrestling exhibitions. He presumably died in Shanghai, as he was buried there and a memorial service was announced in February 1934, although his precise date of death is not known.