Benevol Troupe

Benevol (1865-1939), an Italian by birth, was billed as a Mexican when performing in France.

He joined his family's show, in his teens, as an acrobat and musician. In 1894, anti-Italian sentiment among the French (because of the assassinating of their President) led Benevolo to assume a French form of his name and character of a Mexican, to explain his accent.

Benevol's signature piece was a medieval beheading.