{{Short description|American circus animal trainer (1877–1936)}} {{Infobox person | name = Lucia Zora | image = Lucia Zora, 1912.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Lucia Zora Card | birth_date = {{birth date|1877|5|28}} | birth_place = Cazenovia, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1936|11|11|1877|5|28}} | death_place = Fort Pierce, Florida, U.S. | resting_place = Riverview Memorial Park | other_names = "The Bravest Woman In The World" | occupation = {{hlist|Animal trainer|performer}} | years_active = 1903–1917 | employer = Sells-Floto Circus | known_for = Animal training | notable_works = | awards = Circus Hall of Fame (1962)<ref name="International Circus Hall of Fame"/> | father = Milton E. Card | relatives = | spouse = }} '''Lucia Zora''' (born '''Lucia Zora Card'''; May 28, 1877{{snd}}November 11, 1936) was an American animal trainer and circus performer. She was inducted into the Circus Hall of Fame in 1962.
==Early life and education== Lucia Zora Card was born on May 28, 1877, in Cazenovia, New York.<ref name="CraigDailyPress">{{cite web|url=https://www.craigdailypress.com/news/history-in-focus-the-bravest-woman-in-the-world/|title=History in Focus: The Bravest Woman in the World|author=James Neton|date=September 14, 2023|website=craigdailypress.com|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref>
She entered the world as the only child of Milton and Myra Card.<ref name="TCP">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/columnists/anthony-westbury/2017/04/25/anthony-westbury-circus-stars-unmarked-grave-discovered/100757780/|title=Circus star's unmarked grave discovered|author=Anthony Westbury|date=April 25, 2017|website=tcpalm.com|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> Lucia Zora received her name from a tramp steamer her father saw in Boston Harbor.<ref name="Fort Pierce Tribune. (1936)">{{cite news|title=Death Ends Career Of Mrs. Alispaw|newspaper=Fort Pierce Tribune|date=November 11, 1936|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/885129804/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> As Lucia studied at the Cazenovia Seminary, her parents moved south in 1882 to Fort Pierce, Florida, and established a pineapple plantation along the Indian River.<ref name="CraigDailyPress"/> Her father became a prominent pineapple grower.<ref name="TCP"/>
==Career== Her upbringing and education, guided by her parents, focused on preparing her for the opera.<ref name="Fort Pierce Tribune. (1936)"/> While traveling north, Lucia Zora visited Jacksonville with her mother, where she auditioned for the Wilbur Opera Company and remained with it until 1902.<ref name="Indian River Magazine">{{cite web|url=https://indianrivermagazine.com/zora/|title=Zora|author1=Anthony Westbury|author2=Catherine Enns Grigas|website=indianrivermagazine.com|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref>
In 1903, at age 19, she left opera behind and joined a circus that later folded in 1904.<ref name="Tampa Bay Times. (1962)">{{cite news|title=4 'Greats' Enter Circus Hall Of Fame|newspaper=Tampa Bay Times|date=January 8, 1962|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/318067544/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> To support herself, she flipped flapjacks in a restaurant window until she could rejoin another circus.<ref name="The Kansas City Star. (1928)">{{cite news|title=A Woman's Feats In the Circus and On a Homestead|newspaper=The Kansas City Star |date=April 28, 1928|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/655123350/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref>
==Circus life== In 1904, she was hired by Sells Floto Circus, based in Denver, Colorado. She performed in the ballet, rode in the grand entrée, appeared as a background performer, and managed the lesson horses, with hopes of advancing to animal handling.<ref name="Tampa Bay Times. (1962)"/>
thumb|left|Lucia Zora and a trained elephant, {{c.}} 1917 After a year with Sells Floto Circus, Lucia Zora received her long-deferred opportunity to handle wild animals through the circus's newly appointed menagerie superintendent, Fred Alispaw (Alispach).<ref name="The Kansas City Star. (1928)"/> Fred was an elephant trainer from the Hagenbeck gardens in Europe.<ref name="The Indianapolis Star. (1917)"/> Her interest in animals sparked a friendship between her and Fred.<ref name="The Daily Herald. (1964)"/> Afterward, she married him and began her training in animal handling.<ref name="The Indianapolis Star. (1917)">{{cite news|title=Head of Circus Animal Department "Married" Job as Elephant Trainer|newspaper=The Indianapolis Star |date=May 14, 1917|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1046995900/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> The menagerie superintendent personally trained Lucia and incorporated her into the dangerous elephant act.<ref name="Tampa Bay Times. (1962)"/> Performing in a forty-foot ring, she directed a small herd of large elephants through dancing lessons.<ref name="The Sacramento Bee. (1913)">{{cite news|title=Big Beasts Fear Little Woman|newspaper=The Sacramento Bee|date=April 7, 1912|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/616736571/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> The Sells Floto Circus claimed to have the world's most extraordinary collection of trained elephants. She was noted in 1912 for her ability "to handle the big beasts as well as Carl Hagenbeck or any of the famous trainers of the other sex."<ref name="The San Francisco Call and Post. (1912)">{{cite news|title=Sells-Floto Circus Owns Marvelous Elephant Herd|newspaper=The San Francisco Call and Post|date=April 7, 1912|page=64|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/80833025/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref>
Two years into her circus career, Lucia Zora rose to stardom for her fearless handling of various wild animals.<ref name="The South Bend Tribune. (1928)">{{cite news|title=Sawdust and Solitude|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|date=March 18, 1928|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/514506285/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> She stepped up to tame a mix of lions and other big cats when owner Harry Heye Tammen decided to add a lion and tiger act. During her debut, Zora was enclosed in a 12-foot ring with tigers, equipped only with a chair, whip, and a blank-loaded .32 revolver. Fred had guards with pitchforks on standby. Despite sustaining several wounds, she took charge by the end of two hours. After testing her approach with lions, she succeeded in keeping both rival species caged together.<ref name="The Daily Herald. (1964)"/> She was billed the "Bravest woman in the world".<ref name="Indian River Magazine"/>
When the Sells Floto Circus merged with Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1915, Lucia Zora remained an active elephant trainer and lion tamer. She trained lions and tigers and handled three herds of elephants in the same ring as one of the main attractions.<ref name="St. Joseph News-Press. (1915)">{{cite news|title=Wears Farm On Fingers|newspaper=St. Joseph News-Press|date=June 26, 1915|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/559022102/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> One of the biggest elephants in captivity, Snyder, balanced her on his tusks and learned to stand on his hind legs. She also taught him to walk the length of the Big Top while balancing her.<ref name="The Kansas City Post. (1915)">{{cite news|title=Largest 'Tusker' In World Will Be In K. C. K. Friday|newspaper=The Kansas City Post|date=September 14, 1915|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1024288312/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> Snyder became unmanageable following the Alispaws' retirement and was ultimately put down.<ref name="Chatter from Around the White Tops. (1941)">{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Chatter_from_Around_the_White_Tops/wDSED7uypwsC?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Lucia%20Zora|title=Chatter from Around the White Tops - Volumes 15-19|date=1941|publisher=Circus Fans Association|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref>
By 1917, she had become the circus's leading animal trainer.<ref name="The Atlanta Journal. (1917)">{{cite news|title=Lucia Zora, Foremost Animal Trainer, Talks Of Foibles of Women|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal|date=September 21, 1917|page=5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/970897764/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> At the height of her popularity in December 1917, the circus couple decided to retire from the circus industry.<ref name="CraigDailyPress"/> She spent time pioneering in the snow-capped mountains along the Great Divide in northwestern Colorado.<ref name="Fort Pierce Tribune. (1936)"/> Later, she and Fred settled in Fort Pierce, Florida in 1926 to care for her sick mother.<ref name="TCP"/>
==Personal life== Her husband was Fred Alispaw (Alispach) of Payson, Utah, who was a circus elephant trainer.<ref name="The Daily Herald. (1964)">{{cite news|title=Payson Animal Trainer and His Wife Gained Fame Under 'Big Top'|newspaper=The Daily Herald|date=May 14, 1964|page=17|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/467967481/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref>
Following her retirement, she settled in a home a few miles south of Fort Pierce.<ref name="Fort Pierce Tribune. (1936)"/>
==Death== Lucia Zora Alispaw died in Fort Pierce, on November 10, 1936, aged 59.<ref name="Fort Pierce Tribune. (1936)"/>
Buried alongside her parents in the Card family plots, Lucia Zora's was interred at Riverview Memorial Park in Fort Pierce. Her grave was unmarked from her death in 1936 until a new marker was unveiled on April 24, 2017.<ref name="TCP"/>
==Legacy== Her daring animal performances entertained hundreds of thousands of people.<ref name="Fort Pierce Tribune. (1927)">{{cite news|title="Bravest Woman in the World," Lucia Zora, Trainer of Wild Animals, Visiting Her Parents in This City|newspaper=Fort Pierce Tribune|date=September 16, 1927|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/885006127/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref>
She became known as the only female elephant trainer in the world.<ref name="The Indianapolis Star. (1916)">{{cite news|title=World's Only Woman Elephant Trainer Gives Secret of Work|newspaper=The Indianapolis Star|date=May 23, 1916|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1046982771/?match=1&terms=lucia%20zora|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref> The big-cat trainer was considered the first to combine lions and Bengal tigers together in one cage.<ref name="TCP"/> Lucia Zora received congratulatory letters from Carl Hagenbeck for her work with wild animals and was regarded by 1917 as an authority on pachyderms in America. She trained elephants without ever resorting to a bull hook, a rare approach at the time.<ref name="The Indianapolis Star. (1917)"/>
She released ''Sawdust and Solitude'', her autobiography edited by Courtney Ryley Cooper, in 1928.<ref name="The South Bend Tribune. (1928)"/>
Lucia Zora was inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame in 1962.<ref name="International Circus Hall of Fame">{{cite web|url=https://circushalloffame.com/circus-hall-of-fame-inductees/|title=Circus Hall of Fame Inductees|website=circushalloffame.com|access-date=2025-06-24}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zora, Lucia}} Category:1877 births Category:1936 deaths Category:People from Cazenovia, New York Category:Animal trainers Category:Elephant trainers Category:Lion tamers Category:American circus performers Category:18th-century circus performers Category:19th-century circus performers