Uneducated and born of peasant stock, the young Slav began to grow large at age 6 and by age 9 years was 6' 6" tall. Unassuming and of a retiring nature Machnov had to be coaxed to enter show business. He toured Europe starting in 1900, eventually making his way to London in 1905 after first marrying a hometown girl and along the way fathered two children - Maria and Nikolai.
In London he was often photographed with the German midget Madame Chiquita whose role was to introduce the Russian Giant to the audience at the Hippodrome.
From there he came to the States for his first and only American tour in June of 1906 (the picture here was taken then) accompanied by European impressario Oscar Bollinger and interpreter Morris Gest. While on this tour the Giant briefly met then President Teddy Roosevelt.
The story is told that Fedor and wife were ever vigilant, fearing a kidnapping, and that they were extremely nervous at the White House prior to meeting the President as they had seen no uniformed soldiers or special ceremony heralding the arrival of the Commander-in-Chief as they were accustomed to when meeting European royalty.
Fedor Machnow stands alone among the giants of giantdom in that his managers so exagerrated his height that at one point he was proclaimed to be 9' 8"! To this day there are those who really believe his height was authenticated at 9'4". According to the people at Guiness, however, he was only (a still respectable) 7' 9.7"
I've never seen nor read a reliable report of when or where Mr. Machnow died but some say it was in1912.
