Wolf Messing
{{Short description|Russian telepathist, hypnotist, occultist (1899–1974)}}
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{{Infobox person
| name = Wolf Messing
{{lang|ru|Во́льф Ме́ссинг}} {{in lang|ru}}
{{Lang|pl|Wolf Messing}} {{in lang|pl}}
{{Script/Hebrew|וולף מסינג}} {{in lang|he}}
| image = WolfMessing123.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Wolf Grigoryevich Messing
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1899|09|10}}
| birth_place = Góra Kalwaria, Warsaw Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1974|11|08|1899|09|10}}
| death_place = Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
| nationality = Polish and Soviet
| other_names =
| known_for = Supernatural experiments
| occupation = Clairvoyant{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}, Telepathist{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}, Hypnotist
}}
Wolf Grigoryevich (Gershkovich) Messing ({{langx|ru|Во́льф Григо́рьевич (Ге́ршикович) Ме́ссинг}}, {{langx|pl|Wolf Grigoriewicz Messing}}, {{langx|he|וולף מסינג}}{{ltr}}) (10 September 1899 – 8 November 1974) was a self-proclaimed psychic, telepath and stage hypnotist.
Early life
Messing was born in the village of Góra Kalwaria, 25 km southeast of Warsaw. He claimed that his psychic abilities developed in his early life.{{cite encyclopedia | title = Messing, Wolf Gregorievich [1899-1974] | encyclopedia = The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World | volume = 1 | pages = 448 | publisher = Harper Collins | year = 2006 }}
Career
By the time he was a teenager, he was performing for the public as a psychic entertainer.
In the interview with P. Oreshkin, Messing said:{{blockquote|... It's not mind-reading, it's like the "reading of muscles"... When a human thinks hard about something, the brain cells transmit impulses to all muscles of the body. Their movements, invisible to the eye, I can easily feel... Often I'm performing mental tasks without direct contact with the inductor. The pointer to me here is the breathing frequency of inductor, the beating of his heart, voice timbre, his walking nature etc.Oreshkin P. «Reading the muscles», not the thoughts. // Technics of Youth. — Moscow, 1961. — № 1. — p. 32.}}
Death
Messing died in a hospital, on 8 November 1974, two months after his 75th birthday. He had successfully undergone surgery on the Femoral and External Iliac arteries, but afterward, for some unknown reason, developed kidney failure and pulmonary edema. He was buried at the Vostryakovskoje Jewish cemetery in Moscow.
His life story is depicted in the Russian television miniseries Wolf Messing: Who Saw through Time (2009).
Appearances in fiction
Wolf Messing is a major character in Steve Englehart's series of Max August novels, beginning with The Point Man in 1980, and continuing through The Long Man and The Plain Man.
In the hit video strategy game, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 as well as its expansion, Yuri's Revenge, the main character of Yuri was heavily influenced in the likeness of Wolf Messing.
Further reading
- Topsy Küppers: Wolf Messing – Hellseher und Magier. Langen/Müller, München 2002. {{ISBN|3-7844-2880-0}} {{in lang|de}}
- Nagel, Alexandra: Een mysterieuze ontmoeting...: Sai Baba en mentalist Wolf Messing/A mysterious meeting...: Sai Baba and mentalist Wolf Messing, published in Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie/Journal for parapsychology 368, vol. 72 nr 4, Dec. 2005, pp. 14–17 {{in lang|nl}}
- English language article by the same author with more or less the same contents [https://archive.today/20130629100033/http://77.170.120.22/ex-baba/engels/articles/paperwolfmessing.html Wolf Messing, an enigmatic 'psychic entertainer' whom Sathya Sai Baba claims to have encountered]
References
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