Johann (John) Nicholas RINGLING

http://www.theledger.com/top50/pages/ringling.html He wasadashing showman with an international business connection,theperfect ingredients to bring art and culture to theSarasotaarea in the earl y 1900s. Born in 1866 in MacGregor,Iowa,Johann Nicholas Rungling -- whose family Americanized hisnameto John Ringling -- was the best known of the fiveRinglingbrothers. Together, the brothers fo unded the mostsuccessfulcircus in the world in 1884. John took full controlof thecircus after his brother Charles died in 1926, but hehadhelped in the management and financing of the company longbefore. The Ringling brothers bought Barnum and BaileyCircusin London in 1907, after it completed a European tour.John hadalready traveled throughout Europe searching for newacts anddevelopin g tastes for European art and culture.Hisinternational show business connection and travels inEuropeenlarged Ringling's appetite for everything cultural. Hewasamong the first to bring art and cu lture to the Sarasotaarea,and he did it in such grand, circus style that he set thepacefor the artistic and cultural development that came afterhim.After spending winters in Sarasota since 1909, R inglingstartedconstruction on an Italian renaissance home in 1924. In1927,the year he first brought the circus to winter quartersinSarasota, he began building a museum to hold his personalartcol lection. Ringling used his business acumen to invest inagrowing America in the early 1900s. He was listed as one oftherichest men in the world in 1925 until the stock marketcrashof 1929 almost w iped him out. But he still had wealth intheform of his art. John and his first wife, Mable, hadamassedthe largest private collection of paintings by PeterPaulRubens in the world and had many oth er Baroque paintingsfromthe 16th and 17th centuries. With his forcefulpersonality,honed by years of circus bookings and hyping,Ringling was amaster in pushing art projects. On his death at70 i n 1936 inNew York City, he bequeathed his museum, its artcollection andhis home to the state of Florida. Control of thecircuseventually passed to his nephew, John Ringling North.Today,thousand s visit the Ringling home and the Museum of theCircus,which was added later. Baroque art is displayed andstudied atThe John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Affluentearlyretirees continue to sup port art and cultural programs atthemuseum with their money and volunteer hours, multiplyingtheinvestments Ringling made so many years ago. -- BillRuftyRecommended reading: "Ringling: The Florid a Years,1911-1936" byDavid Chapin Weeks (University of Florida Press,1993) "GreatPaintings from the John and Mable Ringling Museumof Art" byAnthony Jason (Harry N. Abrams Publishing, 1986)"Unli kelyLegacy, the Story of John Ringling, the Circus andSarasota" byKenneth Matthews (Aaron Publishing, 1980). ID:I100545 Name:John Nicholas RINGLING Sex: M Birth: 31 MAY 1866in MacGregor,IA Dea th: 2 DEC 1936 in New York, NY Event: Fact1884 Foundedthe Ringling Brothers Circus Event: Pic AncestryHints forJohn Nicholas RINGLING 8 possible matches found onAncestry.comFather: August RIN GLING b: 24 NOV 1826 in Hanover,GermanyMother: Marie Salomé JULIAR b: 25 JUL 1833 in Ostheim,FranceMarriage 1 Armilda E. BURTON b: 14 MAR 1875 in Moons,PerryTwp., Fayette Co., OH Married: 29 DEC 1 905 in Hoboken,NJMarriage 2 Emily Hoag BUCK Married: 19 DEC 1930 in JerseyCity,NJ

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