Laura Freeman Laura Freeman

The daring young man who gave his name to the leotard

Jules Léotard in about 1865 
issue 04 September 2021

Jules Léotard was blessed in his name. It might have been quite different had he been called, say, Jules Droupé. As it was, his family name was lithe, elongated, taut. It was a name with stretch.

Léotard was born in Toulouse in 1838, the son of a gymnastics teacher. The young Jules might have become a lawyer.

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