Alexander Herrmann

Alexander Herrmann
Born	February 10, 1844
Died	December 17, 1896 (age 52)
Nationality	French

Alexander Herrmann was a French magician, better known as "The Great Herrmann" and "Herrman the Great" and was part of the Herrmann family name which has been called "first-family of magic".

Alexander was born in Paris to Samuel and Anna Sarah Herrmann, a physician who occasionally performed throughout Europe as a conjuror. Alexander's brother Compars Herrmann left medical school at an early age to pursue a career as a magician and served as a role model and inspiration for Alexander.

Alexander joined his brother's stage show at the age of eight and the brothers toured the world together. Eventually they would go their separate ways, Compars returning to Europe and Alexander to America where he became a naturalized citizen in July 1876 in Boston. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, Alexander and his wife Adelaide Herrmann performed together in elaborate stage shows. The pair adapted Robert Houdin's Aerial Suspension routine and performed their own version of the bullet catch.

After his death, his nephew Leon Herrmann moved to the U.S. to continue the act with his Aunt Adelaide.

Herrmann was one of the few magicians that actually produced a rabbit from a hat.

References

• Cover Linking Ring, Vol. 9, no. 7, September 1929.
• Cover Genii 1958 August

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