Background
Oscar Heidenstam was born in Cyprus on 27 February 1911.
Oscar Heidenstam was born in Cyprus on 27 February 1911.
From the age of nine, he was educated in the United Kingdom.
He is said to be "The Father of British ". He had a passion for sport from a very young age, and throughout his school years he participated in track and field athletics, gymnastics, hand balancing, swimming, diving, water polo, tennis, squash, rackets, hockey, football and rugby. During the war he was a physical training instructor with the Army Physical Training Corps (APTC), as well as being involved in action in Palestine (Israel), Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Yugoslavia and Turkey.
He continued to compete in contests for many years after the war, winning a number of them.
He wrote several fitness articles for the Daily Mirror newspaper, and joined the publishing team of Health and Strength magazine in 1953, a magazine which he became owner of in 1974. He became President of the World Amateur Body Building Association (WABBA) in 1977, President of the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association (NABBA) in 1980, and President of NABBA International in 1984.
Heidenstam was Secretary and President of NABBA when he died in 1991, aged 80.
After the war, Heidenstam continued his career as a physical training instructor and over the years that followed trained not only members of the public but famous sports people and celebrities.