Sigmund Neuberger

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The Great Lafayette

Born Sigmund Neuberger

25 February 1871

Munich, Germany

Died 9 May 1911 (aged 40)

Edinburgh, Scotland

Cause of death Theatre fire

Resting place Piershill Cemetery, Edinburgh

Occupation Illusionist

Years active 1890–1911

Sigmund Neuberger, (or Sigmund Newburger), (25 February 1871 — 9  May 1911), [1]

[2]
 otherwise known as famous illusionist the Great Lafayette, was the highest paid
magician of his time.

Contents

 1Early years
 2Performance career
 3Theatre fire
 4Legacy
 5References
 6Further reading
 7External links

Early years[edit]
Neuberger was born in Munich. In 1890, at the age of 19, he emigrated with his family
to the United States, where he began his career as an imitator of Ching Ling Foo. He
became one of the highest-paid performers in vaudeville, earning £44,000 a year (about
£3.6 million in 2014 prices). His excellent quick-change routines, as well as
dramatic illusions, such as his own "Lion's Bride" (lady to lion) illusion, made him very
popular with audiences.

Performance career[edit]
The pampered object of the Great Lafayette's affection was his dog Beauty, a
perky terrier given to him as a pup by fellow conjurer and admirer Harry Houdini. Beauty
had her own suite of brocaded rooms, ate five-course meals, and wore a diamond-
studded collar.

Theatre fire[edit]
Beauty died four days before the opening of a show at the Empire Palace Theatre in
Edinburgh. After initial resistance from Edinburgh City Council, Neuberger arranged for
the dog to be buried in Piershill Cemetery. The Council agreed to provide a plot on the
condition that Lafayette himself would be buried there upon his own death. Four days
later in a freak accident, Lafayette was performing his signature illusion "The Lion's
Bride", when a fault in a lamp[citation needed] above the performer caused a fire. The elaborate
set went up in flames within minutes.
The audience, thinking that this was all part of the illusion, did not evacuate until the
theatre manager signalled for the orchestra to play God Save the King. Many of the
company, however, were trapped on stage when the safety curtain was lowered and
jammed, leaving only a small gap at the bottom, through which a strong draught of air
fanned the flames into an inferno. Lafayette himself had ensured that the side-doors to
the stage had been secured, to exclude unwanted interlopers and prevent the lion's
escape.
Lafayette escaped but returned in a vain attempt to rescue his horse. He became
trapped in the burning building and perished. Ten of his fellow players from the
company were also killed in the fire. The theatre burned to the ground. The body of
Lafayette was apparently soon found and sent to Glasgow for cremation. Two days after
the fire, however, workers clearing the understage area found another body identically
dressed as Lafayette. It transpired that the body at the crematorium was that of the
illusionist's body double. On 14 May the urn containing the Great Lafayette's ashes was
taken through Edinburgh, witnessed by a crowd estimated to number over 250,000,
before being laid to rest in the paws of his beloved (and by then, stuffed) Beauty, at
Piershill Cemetery.

Grave of the Great Lafayette, Piershill Cemetery, Edinburgh

Legacy[edit]
In May 2011 Edinburgh Festival Theatre, built on the site of the Empire Palace, hosted
the "Great Lafayette Festival", featuring magician Paul Daniels, to commemorate the
hundredth anniversary of Neuberger's death.[3] The event included, on 9 May, a live
webcast seance held by the "Edinburgh Secret Society", led by co-founders Professor
Richard Wiseman and Dr. Peter Lamont.[4]

References[edit]
1. ^ "Beauty and Lafayette" at deancarnegie.blogspot.com
2. ^ "The magician whose greatest illusion was death" by Duane Mccleanb, 8 September 2005
at heritage.scotsman.com,
3. ^ "The Great Lafayette Festival 9 May 2011". The Edinburgh Reporter. 9 May 2011.
Retrieved 21 December 2018.
4. ^ "Next event: The Lafayette Seance". Edinburgh Secret Society. Wordpress.com.
Retrieved 21 December 2018.

Further reading[edit]
 Robertson, Ian and Rutter, Gordon (2011) The Death and Life of The Great
Lafayette, New Lands Press, ISBN 978-0-9568701-0-0
 Setterington, Arthur (1991), The Life and Times of the Great Lafayette,
(illustrated: Scott McLelland), Abracadabra Show Productions, Inc., Abraxas
Publications. ISBN 0-9686105-1-X.