John Madigan

John Adalbert Madigan (12 August 1850 – 23 August 1897) was an American circus performer and ringmaster, during the later years of his life he worked in Scandinavia. He was raised in an American circus family of Irish background. He is known for his work in U.S. circus scenes between 1866 and 1869, but from 1872 he worked at Cirkus Myers in Central Europe. To this circus, the Swedish-Norwegian circus artist Eleonora Olsen, later known as Laura Madigan (mother of Elvira Madigan) came to work in 1875, the two became a couple.

Johan Madigan at this time performed as a rider in vaultage, his specialty was a double somersault from the horseback, but exactly how the routine was made is not known today. In 1887 Madigan along with his brother James Madigan, founded yet another circus, this time in Denmark. In the following year, Sixten Sparre visited Cirkus Madigan in Kristianstad, where he fell in love with Elvira, he persuaded her to leave the family, which she did in the end of May 1889. Less than two months later Elvira was murdered by Sparre who would then commit suicide. He was buried in Gävle. Laura later had the gravestone (but not the casket) moved to their family plot in Lund. Laura ran the circus for a few more years on her own, but in 1902 she sold the business to a circus performer named Henning Orlando, and the circus was renamed Cirkus Orlando.