Manohar Aich

Manohar Aich was an Indian Bengali bodybuilder who lived from 17 March 1912 to 5 June 2016. Standing only 4 feet 11 inches tall, he was nicknamed Pocket Hercules. He trained in wrestling and weightlifting as a boy, recovered from a serious childhood illness through bodyweight exercises, and later joined the Royal Air Force in 1942, where a British officer introduced him to weight training and where he trained seriously during a spell in jail. He won the Mr. Hercules contest in 1950 at the age of 38, finished second at the Mr. Universe in 1951, and in 1952 won the Pro-Short division of the NABBA Universe Championships, making him the second Indian to win a Mr. Universe title after Monotosh Roy. Historians cite him as an influence on Indian physical culture. He stood unsuccessfully for election in 1991, received the Banga Bibhushan Award in 2015, and died in Kolkata aged 104.