Wiljalba Frikell
(Sagan, Prussia: 27th June 1818 - Kötschenbroda: 10th October 1903)
Stage name of Friedrich Wilhelm Frickel, aka "W. Frikel" and "Wiljalba Frickell". Learned assisting a touring magician. On his own as a pro at age 16 in 1834. Pet effects: Linking Rings, changing heads of fowl, and productions.
Toured Germany, Hungary, Wallachia, Turkey, Egypt, Finland (1843-44), England (1857-58, including a record-breaking 22 weeks at the St. James's Theatre in London), Russia (1858), England (1859-60), and USA (1873). Widely but perhaps wrongly credited with having introduced the wearing of black evening clothes for magicians. Retired in 1896.
Wrote Professor Wiljalba Frikell's Lessons in Magic or, Two Hours of Illusions, without the Aid of Apparatus (London: [1858], 28pp).