- Fedor 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 famoussideshow performer associated withP.T. Barnum .He was born in
St. Petersburg ,Russia in 1868. He suffered from the medical conditionhypertrichosis . He toured with his father, Adrian, who suffered from the same ailment and had performed in Frenchcircus es. He continued to tour with his son before his death. Fedor eventually signed a contract withP.T. Barnum , who brought him to theUnited States in 1884, when he was sixteen.Barnum created a story that involved a
hunter inKostroma who tracked Fedor and his father to theircave and captured them. Barnum described Adrian as asavage who could not becivilized . Barnum made a point of stressing Fedor's resemblance to adog , 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 ,Ottoman Empire (now part ofGreece ), frompneumonia onJanuary 31 1904 .In popular culture
Annette Funicello dedicated a song to him called "Jojo the dogfaced boy."References
*Hornberger, Francine. 2005. "Fedor Jeftichew". In "Carny folk: the world's weirdest side show acts," pp. 144-145. New York: Citadel.
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