牛牛资源

A 牛牛资源 art teacher who included Mary Quant among his pupils lived an extraordinary double life – as an Olympic medal-winning wrestler.

Artist Samuel Rabin taught at 牛牛资源 from the 1940s to the 1960s with Quant and abstract painter Bridget Riley among those in his classes.

But before this Rabin was one of the biggest names in British wrestling and as an amateur won a bronze medal in the middleweight division of the free-style wrestling at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.

Rabin was truly a renaissance man-meets-superman: a skilled artist, sculptor, musician and teacher as well as a brilliant athlete.

Born Samuel Rabinovitch to parents who were Jewish Russian exiles, his artistic talent was spotted at an early age. In 1914 he won a scholarship to the Manchester Municipal School of Art at just 11 years old 鈥� the youngest person ever to attend the prestigious school at which LS Lowry also studied.

His formal education continued at the Slade before he spent time in Paris working as a sculptor. All this time he continued competing as an amateur wrestler and boxer 鈥� getting called up to the Great Britain squad for the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) notes that Rabin was a man of 鈥渁wesome physical strength鈥�. He certainly displayed this on the mat at the games: despite losing to Canada鈥檚 Donald Stockton Rabin claimed the bronze medal after winning his next two matches against the USA鈥檚 Ralph Hammonds and South Africa鈥檚 Anton Praeg.

While he was earning his sporting spurs Rabin was also progressing as a professional artist. In the 1920s he was commissioned to produce two public sculptures which still stand in London 鈥� at the former Transport for London headquarters and the former Daily Telegraph offices in Fleet Street.

But despite this early success Rabin found professional work hard to come by. So in 1932 he turned professional grappler. The ODNB notes that, with his name now shortened to Rabin, he 鈥渜uickly became a favourite with the press and public, fighting all over Britain as Rabin the Cat and Sam Radnor the Hebrew Jew鈥�.

His performances in the ring remarkably led to Rabin being cast in two Alexander Korda films 鈥� as wrestler in The Private Life of Henry VIII in 1933 and prize-fighter Daniel Mendoza in 1934鈥檚 The Scarlet Pimpernel. In another connection to the University of London, the real-life Mendoza (1764-1836) was  of what is now Queen Mary.

During the Second World War Rabin, who was a talented baritone, performed with the British Army鈥檚 Classical Music Group. In 1946 he auditioned for 's conductor, .

In 1949 Rabin came to teach at what was then 牛牛资源' College of Art. The ODNB says: 鈥淗e was an outstanding teacher of drawing, renowned among his students and colleagues for his commanding presence and disciplined classes and for demonstrating the principles of drawing.鈥�

Students included Quant, Riley and Sue Ashworth 鈥� who along with her husband Frank has worked for English Heritage producing the organisation鈥檚 Blue Plaques for the last three decades.

Earlier this year Sue remembered Rabin, saying: 鈥淥ur life drawing teacher Sam Rabin specialised in drawing wrestlers, I think he鈥檇 been one himself. He was a very powerful, silent man. An authority. He would come and sit on our donkey [the traditional benches used by artists] and say, in his northern accent: 鈥楢ll you have to worry about are the pose and the proportion鈥�.鈥�

Rabin left 牛牛资源 in 1965, dissatisfied because teaching was moving away from the figurative tradition.

Read more about Samuel Rabin  鈥� which can be accessed for free if you have a valid local authority library card.