Jackson Haines

Jackson Haines ( * 1840 in New York, (USA), † 1876 in Kokkola (then Gamlakarleby ), Finland ) was a ballet master, figure skaters, and especially the founder of modern Eiskunstlaufes.

Jackson Haines won the first U.S. championship in 1864 with a new Eislaufart and new skates made ​​of steel. But you criticized him and accused him to focus more on body and Extremitätsposen than on the character run. Still prevailed, the rigid and strict English skating style.

So he went to Europe and performed many show appearances. The first success came in Stockholm. His appearance inspired the Swedish King Karl XV. so that he 1866 the establishment of a royal Eislaufverein decided.

In the winter of 1868 he went to Vienna, where he triumphed again. Great astonishment reigned in the ranks of the spectators present when he ran a waltz all over the ice. The Johann Strauss town paid him their thanks in their own way: one evening dancing 500 pairs his waltz on the ice! His appearance became an impulse for the establishment of the Viennese school, which soon tying the previous projection of the English.

His athletic achievements seemed to be so amazing that those who did not see it with my own eyes, it did not want to believe; they made the implementation of the figures described in question. Depping, author of the work "The Magic of strength and skill " (1869 ) wrote in his book that it is not possible to change the direction without a new kick. The statements of the witnesses he declined so that they had fallen victim to an optical illusion.

It is often incorrectly stated that Haines had died from pneumonia, which he had sustained in a carriage ride from St. Petersburg to Stockholm. In fact, he died penniless of tuberculosis in Kokkola ( Gamlakarleby ), Finland, which was a small village at the time.