Grave - The Original Dante

photo used with permission of Kent Blackmore

Long before Harry Jansen became known as Dante, there was another Dante. In fact, this Dante had the potential to rival Howard Thurston, but tragedy struck his life.

His name was Oscar Eliason and he was born July 8th 1869 in the state of Utah. He showed an interest in magic from an early age. After seeing Herrmann The Great perform, he decided this would be his chosen profession though his father wanted him to follow in the family business.

When Anna Eva Fay came to town, Oscar decided he would put together a show that exposed her methods. He did this quite successfully and later had quite a run in with another medium by the name of Harry Waite. He and Waite attacked each other in the papers and eventually Oscar went on to expose the tricks of Waite and more.

Dante's Final Resting Place

Harry August Jansen better known as DANTE was according to some the successor to Thurston.  Dante traveled the world with his show 'Sim Sala Bim' and was a striking performer. He appeared on stages all over the globe and in the 1942 Laurel & Hardy film 'A Haunting We Will Go'.

© original artwork by Dean Carnegie

In 1955 Harry Jansen, known professionally as DANTE the Magician died at his home. Arrangements were made to have his body cremated. Apparently, his ashes and those of his wife remained in a cardboard box in the basement of the Chapel of the Pines Crematory for forty some years. I’m not sure  why or what the situation was that caused that to happen. 

There is good news though. People in the magic community raised money to get the remains moved to a proper resting place. Donations came from magicians all over the world and with the help of the Society of American Magicians they were able to have the remains of Harry Jansen and his wife Edna moved to The San Francisco Columbarium where they received a proper resting place.

Harry August Jansen was born on October 3rd, 1883 in Copenhagen Denmark. He died of a heart attack at his ranch in Northridge CA June 15, 1955.

Dante's remains are at the San Francisco Columbarium 1 Loraine Ct. San Francisco CA

This is another example of the kindness and generosity of the magic community. See also Joe Karson's Grave