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Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Bodybuilders - Part 33a

Deriaz Brothers, part 1

The Deriaz brothers were a family of seven brothers born in Switzerland in the late 1800s who moved to France and made names for themselves as strongmen and wrestlers.

Adrien Deriaz, seen above on the cover of La Culture Physique magazine, 1906, was not the most famous of the brothers, but he seems to have posed for the most nude photos.

Here he is in a 1905 issue of the same magazine.

Adrien won the Wrestling Championship of France in 1906.  In the one-armed clean and jerk (a weightlifting event) he could lift 223 pounds.

I don't know who took this photo of Adrien in 1899, but the result is very pleasing.

Adrien Deriaz in a photo by Joseph Rosmond, Paris, c. 1915.

The photographer here is identified only as M.F., Paris.

Paul Richer, who took the photos in my series of athletes in the 1900 Olympics, also took several photos of Adrien Deriaz.  This one is called "Adrian Deriaz as the Barberini Faun", with Adrien copying the languid pose of that ancient sculpture.

Richer also took some photos of Adrien, at right above, with his brothers.  The brother at left was not named, but it might be Maurice.

More photos of Maurice and the other Deriaz brothers tomorrow.

8 comments:

Benito said...

💘😉😍🤩🤗
Me encantan todas y cada una de estas postales

Big Dude said...

What a magnificent group of males! Thanks for publishing it.

Anonymous said...

Amazing photos. Quite stunning for the time period, when full suits and stiff collars were the norm for men.

Anonymous said...

Les frères Deriaz de l’âge d’or
1890-1914 : L’apogée de la culture physique et la persona de l’homme fort, avant le déluge de la Première Guerre mondiale.
Après la guerre, en France, en Angleterre et en Allemagne, on a assisté à un regain d’intérêt pour la culture physique, pas au niveau d’avant la guerre. En revanche, au milieu des bouleversements en Russie, il n’y en avait pas.
-Beau Mec à Deauville

SickoRicko said...

Is it just my eyes, or is Adrien circumcised?

Unashamed Male said...

@SickoRicko - I wondered the same thing. From the few frontal photos, it looks like it.

Gerald said...

Very interesting. Of course, my favorite photos were of them naked with their penises in full view. I really like the attitude of the photographer, and of them agreeing to model that way.

Anonymous said...

It's an art!