Euclydes Hatem
Brazilian wrestler Euclydes Hatem, known as Mestre Tatu, defeated George Gracie in 1942 and is cited as the founder of the martial art luta livre.
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Euclydes Hatem, nicknamed Mestre Tatu, was born on September 16, 1914, in Rio de Janeiro into a Brazilian family of Lebanese descent and died on September 26, 1984, at the age of 70. He received the nickname Tatu (armadillo) in childhood, when he weighed 114 kg. An English-language source names him as the founder of the martial art luta livre.
He began wrestling at 14, after rowing failed to interest him. Sources differ on who his teacher was: according to the English source it was Orlando Américo da Silva, known as Dudú, who also taught the Gracie brothers; according to the Portuguese source it was Manoel Rufino dos Santos, who had returned after six years in the United States. The Portuguese source further states that in 1930 he began practicing luta livre at the YMCA (Associação Cristã de Moços) in Rio and in 1933 joined the amateur Circuito Amador de Luta Livre.
In 1935 he won the first international wrestling championship in Brazil. In 1942 he defeated George Gracie in the second round with a rear choke; historian Elton Silva clarified that it was not a kimura, as newspaper photographs of the time suggested. He also defeated the foreign wrestlers Leon Falkenstein and Charles Ulsemer.
After ending his professional career he founded his own gym and, according to the English source, also luta livre as a martial art, although the Portuguese source mentions his training in luta livre as early as 1930. His students included the brothers Carlos and Fausto Brunocilla and Marco Ruas.