Snippet: Prince Ali Raji - the African Magician

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Snippet: In this short post, we explore a snippet of a war-related story about an African magician, Prince Ali Raji.
  
Before becoming a magician, George Bondinei served as a lieutenant in the German military, presumably the army.
 
Pre-World War One, he was likely living in one of Germany’s African colonies, such as Togoland, Kamerun (Cameroon), German Southwest Africa (modern-day Namibia) and German East Africa (comprising present-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi). The Germans recruited soldiers from their colonies to fight the Allies there, while some also served on the Western Front.   
 
After the war ended, Bondinei appears to have made his way to America, where he studied conjuring, briefly, with William Davis Le Roy (or Leroy). Le Roy ran a shop and “School of Magic” in Boston, Massachusetts from 1893 through to his death in 1919.
 
Post-war, Bondinei toured theatres as Prince Ali Raji–the African magician. He likely started off on America’s vaudeville circuit before moving to the UK’s variety theatres and possibly touring continental Europe, too.
 
 
Prince Ali Raji poster
(Source: Potter and Potter Auctions)
 
London magic dealer and author, Will Goldston published this poster of George Bondinei as Prince Ali Raji in the 1920s.
 
It shows scenes from Bondinei’s act, with tricks including the production of flags, flowers, and the mutilated parasol.
 
Later, Bondinei settled in northern Africa. We don’t know what happened to him during World War Two.
 
If you know more about George Bondinei’s life, comment below!


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