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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation%20%28mathematics%29
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Rotation (mathematics)
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Rotation in mathematics is a concept originating in geometry. Any rotation is a motion of a certain space that preserves at least one point. It can describe, for example, the motion of a rigid body around a fixed point. Rotation can have a sign (as in the sign of an angle): a clockwise rotation is a negative magnitude so a counterclockwise turn has a positive magnitude.
A rotation is different from other types of motions: translations, which have no fixed points, and (hyperplane) reflections, each of them having an entire -dimensional flat of fixed points in a -dimensional space.
Mathematically, a rotation is a map. All rotations about a fixed point form a group under composition called the rotation group (of a particular space). But in mechanics and, more generally, in physics, this concept is frequently understood as a coordinate transformation (importantly, a transformation of an orthonormal basis), because for any motion of a body there is an inverse transformation which if applied to the frame of reference results in the body being at the same coordinates. For example, in two dimensions rotating a body clockwise about a point keeping the axes fixed is equivalent to rotating the axes counterclockwise about the same point while the body is kept fixed. These two types of rotation are called active and passive transformations.
Related definitions and terminology
The rotation group is a Lie group of rotations about a fixed point. This (common) fixed point or center is called the center of rotation and is usually identified with the origin. The rotation group is a point stabilizer in a broader group of (orientation-preserving) motions.
For a particular rotation:
The axis of rotation is a line of its fixed points. They exist only in .
The plane of rotation is a plane that is invariant under the rotation. Unlike the axis, its points are not fixed themselves. The axis (where present) and the plane of a rotation are orthogonal.
A representation of rotations is a particular formalism, either algebraic or geometric, used to parametrize a rotation map. This meaning is somehow inverse to the meaning in the group theory.
Rotations of (affine) spaces of points and of respective vector spaces are not always clearly distinguished. The former are sometimes referred to as affine rotations (although the term is misleading), whereas the latter are vector rotations. See the article below for details.
Definitions and representations
In Euclidean geometry
A motion of a Euclidean space is the same as its isometry: it leaves the distance between any two points unchanged after the transformation. But a (proper) rotation also has to preserve the orientation structure. The "improper rotation" term refers to isometries that reverse (flip) the orientation. In the language of group theory the distinction is expressed as direct vs indirect isometries in the Euclidean group, where the former comprise the identity component. Any direct Euclidean motion can be represented as a composition of a rotation about the fixed point and a translation.
In one-dimensional space, there are only trivial rotations. In two dimensions, only a single angle is needed to specify a rotation about the origin – the angle of rotation that specifies an element of the circle group (also known as ). The rotation is acting to rotate an object counterclockwise through an angle about the origin; see below for details. Composition of rotations sums their angles modulo 1 turn, which implies that all two-dimensional rotations about the same point commute. Rotations about different points, in general, do not commute. Any two-dimensional direct motion is either a translation or a rotation; see Euclidean plane isometry for details.
Rotations in three-dimensional space differ from those in two dimensions in a number of important ways. Rotations in three dimensions are generally not commutative, so the order in which rotations are applied is important even about the same point. Also, unlike the two-dimensional case, a three-dimensional direct motion, in general position, is not a rotation but a screw operation. Rotations about the origin have three degrees of freedom (see rotation formalisms in three dimensions for details), the same as the number of dimensions.
A three-dimensional rotation can be specified in a number of ways. The most usual methods are:
Euler angles (pictured at the left). Any rotation about the origin can be represented as the composition of three rotations defined as the motion obtained by changing one of the Euler angles while leaving the other two constant. They constitute a mixed axes of rotation system because angles are measured with respect to a mix of different reference frames, rather than a single frame that is purely external or purely intrinsic. Specifically, the first angle moves the line of nodes around the external axis z, the second rotates around the line of nodes and the third is an intrinsic rotation (a spin) around an axis fixed in the body that moves. Euler angles are typically denoted as α, β, γ, or φ, θ, ψ. This presentation is convenient only for rotations about a fixed point.
Axis–angle representation (pictured at the right) specifies an angle with the axis about which the rotation takes place. It can be easily visualised. There are two variants to represent it:
as a pair consisting of the angle and a unit vector for the axis, or
as a Euclidean vector obtained by multiplying the angle with this unit vector, called the rotation vector (although, strictly speaking, it is a pseudovector).
Matrices, versors (quaternions), and other algebraic things: see the section Linear and Multilinear Algebra Formalism for details.
A general rotation in four dimensions has only one fixed point, the centre of rotation, and no axis of rotation; see rotations in 4-dimensional Euclidean space for details. Instead the rotation has two mutually orthogonal planes of rotation, each of which is fixed in the sense that points in each plane stay within the planes. The rotation has two angles of rotation, one for each plane of rotation, through which points in the planes rotate. If these are and then all points not in the planes rotate through an angle between and . Rotations in four dimensions about a fixed point have six degrees of freedom. A four-dimensional direct motion in general position is a rotation about certain point (as in all even Euclidean dimensions), but screw operations exist also.
Linear and multilinear algebra formalism
When one considers motions of the Euclidean space that preserve the origin, the distinction between points and vectors, important in pure mathematics, can be erased because there is a canonical one-to-one correspondence between points and position vectors. The same is true for geometries other than Euclidean, but whose space is an affine space with a supplementary structure; see an example below. Alternatively, the vector description of rotations can be understood as a parametrization of geometric rotations up to their composition with translations. In other words, one vector rotation presents many equivalent rotations about all points in the space.
A motion that preserves the origin is the same as a linear operator on vectors that preserves the same geometric structure but expressed in terms of vectors. For Euclidean vectors, this expression is their magnitude (Euclidean norm). In components, such operator is expressed with orthogonal matrix that is multiplied to column vectors.
As it was already stated, a (proper) rotation is different from an arbitrary fixed-point motion in its preservation of the orientation of the vector space. Thus, the determinant of a rotation orthogonal matrix must be 1. The only other possibility for the determinant of an orthogonal matrix is , and this result means the transformation is a hyperplane reflection, a point reflection (for odd ), or another kind of improper rotation. Matrices of all proper rotations form the special orthogonal group.
Two dimensions
In two dimensions, to carry out a rotation using a matrix, the point to be rotated counterclockwise is written as a column vector, then multiplied by a rotation matrix calculated from the angle :
.
The coordinates of the point after rotation are , and the formulae for and are
The vectors and have the same magnitude and are separated by an angle as expected.
Points on the plane can be also presented as complex numbers: the point in the plane is represented by the complex number
This can be rotated through an angle by multiplying it by , then expanding the product using Euler's formula as follows:
and equating real and imaginary parts gives the same result as a two-dimensional matrix:
Since complex numbers form a commutative ring, vector rotations in two dimensions are commutative, unlike in higher dimensions. They have only one degree of freedom, as such rotations are entirely determined by the angle of rotation.
Three dimensions
As in two dimensions, a matrix can be used to rotate a point to a point . The matrix used is a matrix,
This is multiplied by a vector representing the point to give the result
The set of all appropriate matrices together with the operation of matrix multiplication is the rotation group SO(3). The matrix is a member of the three-dimensional special orthogonal group, , that is it is an orthogonal matrix with determinant 1. That it is an orthogonal matrix means that its rows are a set of orthogonal unit vectors (so they are an orthonormal basis) as are its columns, making it simple to spot and check if a matrix is a valid rotation matrix.
Above-mentioned Euler angles and axis–angle representations can be easily converted to a rotation matrix.
Another possibility to represent a rotation of three-dimensional Euclidean vectors are quaternions described below.
Quaternions
Unit quaternions, or versors, are in some ways the least intuitive representation of three-dimensional rotations. They are not the three-dimensional instance of a general approach. They are more compact than matrices and easier to work with than all other methods, so are often preferred in real-world applications.
A versor (also called a rotation quaternion) consists of four real numbers, constrained so the norm of the quaternion is 1. This constraint limits the degrees of freedom of the quaternion to three, as required. Unlike matrices and complex numbers two multiplications are needed:
where is the versor, is its inverse, and is the vector treated as a quaternion with zero scalar part. The quaternion can be related to the rotation vector form of the axis angle rotation by the exponential map over the quaternions,
where is the rotation vector treated as a quaternion.
A single multiplication by a versor, either left or right, is itself a rotation, but in four dimensions. Any four-dimensional rotation about the origin can be represented with two quaternion multiplications: one left and one right, by two different unit quaternions.
Further notes
More generally, coordinate rotations in any dimension are represented by orthogonal matrices. The set of all orthogonal matrices in dimensions which describe proper rotations (determinant = +1), together with the operation of matrix multiplication, forms the special orthogonal group .
Matrices are often used for doing transformations, especially when a large number of points are being transformed, as they are a direct representation of the linear operator. Rotations represented in other ways are often converted to matrices before being used. They can be extended to represent rotations and transformations at the same time using homogeneous coordinates. Projective transformations are represented by matrices. They are not rotation matrices, but a transformation that represents a Euclidean rotation has a rotation matrix in the upper left corner.
The main disadvantage of matrices is that they are more expensive to calculate and do calculations with. Also in calculations where numerical instability is a concern matrices can be more prone to it, so calculations to restore orthonormality, which are expensive to do for matrices, need to be done more often.
More alternatives to the matrix formalism
As was demonstrated above, there exist three multilinear algebra rotation formalisms: one with U(1), or complex numbers, for two dimensions, and two others with versors, or quaternions, for three and four dimensions.
In general (even for vectors equipped with a non-Euclidean Minkowski quadratic form) the rotation of a vector space can be expressed as a bivector. This formalism is used in geometric algebra and, more generally, in the Clifford algebra representation of Lie groups.
In the case of a positive-definite Euclidean quadratic form, the double covering group of the isometry group is known as the Spin group, . It can be conveniently described in terms of a Clifford algebra. Unit quaternions give the group .
In non-Euclidean geometries
In spherical geometry, a direct motion of the -sphere (an example of the elliptic geometry) is the same as a rotation of -dimensional Euclidean space about the origin (). For odd , most of these motions do not have fixed points on the -sphere and, strictly speaking, are not rotations of the sphere; such motions are sometimes referred to as Clifford translations. Rotations about a fixed point in elliptic and hyperbolic geometries are not different from Euclidean ones.
Affine geometry and projective geometry have not a distinct notion of rotation.
In relativity
A generalization of a rotation applies in special relativity, where it can be considered to operate on a four-dimensional space, spacetime, spanned by three space dimensions and one of time. In special relativity, this space is called Minkowski space, and the four-dimensional rotations, called Lorentz transformations, have a physical interpretation. These transformations preserve a quadratic form called the spacetime interval.
If a rotation of Minkowski space is in a space-like plane, then this rotation is the same as a spatial rotation in Euclidean space. By contrast, a rotation in a plane spanned by a space-like dimension and a time-like dimension is a hyperbolic rotation, and if this plane contains the time axis of the reference frame, is called a "Lorentz boost". These transformations demonstrate the pseudo-Euclidean nature of the Minkowski space. Hyperbolic rotations are sometimes described as squeeze mappings and frequently appear on Minkowski diagrams that visualize (1 + 1)-dimensional pseudo-Euclidean geometry on planar drawings. The study of relativity is deals with the Lorentz group generated by the space rotations and hyperbolic rotations.
Whereas rotations, in physics and astronomy, correspond to rotations of celestial sphere as a 2-sphere in the Euclidean 3-space, Lorentz transformations from induce conformal transformations of the celestial sphere. It is a broader class of the sphere transformations known as Möbius transformations.
Discrete rotations
Importance
Rotations define important classes of symmetry: rotational symmetry is an invariance with respect to a particular rotation. The circular symmetry is an invariance with respect to all rotation about the fixed axis.
As was stated above, Euclidean rotations are applied to rigid body dynamics. Moreover, most of mathematical formalism in physics (such as the vector calculus) is rotation-invariant; see rotation for more physical aspects. Euclidean rotations and, more generally, Lorentz symmetry described above are thought to be symmetry laws of nature. In contrast, the reflectional symmetry is not a precise symmetry law of nature.
Generalizations
The complex-valued matrices analogous to real orthogonal matrices are the unitary matrices , which represent rotations in complex space. The set of all unitary matrices in a given dimension forms a unitary group of degree ; and its subgroup representing proper rotations (those that preserve the orientation of space) is the special unitary group of degree . These complex rotations are important in the context of spinors. The elements of are used to parametrize three-dimensional Euclidean rotations (see above), as well as respective transformations of the spin (see representation theory of SU(2)).
See also
Aircraft principal axes
Charts on SO(3)
Rotations and reflections in two dimensions
CORDIC
Squeeze mapping
Infinitesimal rotation matrix
Irrational rotation
Orientation (geometry)
Rodrigues' rotation formula
Rotation of axes
Vortex
Footnotes
References
Euclidean symmetries
Rotational symmetry
Linear operators
Unitary operators
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All%20India%20Anna%20Dravida%20Munnetra%20Kazhagam
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All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
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The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) at Madurai on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. The party is adhering to the policy of socialism and secularism based on the principles of C. N. Annadurai (Anna) collectively coined as Annaism by M.G.R. The party has won a seven-time majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. It is currently the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2016, the AIADMK was led by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa (Amma) as general secretary of the party. She was admired as the Mother of the party by her cadre and was highly popular among the Tamil populace until her death in 2016. From 21 August 2017 to 23 June 2022, the party was led under the dual leadership of the former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami as coordinator and joint coordinator respectively.
From 11 July 2022, the AIADMK is led by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami (E.P.S.) as general secretary of the party.
The headquarters of the party is called Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai, which is located at V.P. Raman Salai, Royapettah, Chennai. The building was donated to the party in 1986 by M.G.R.'s wife and the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu V. N. Janaki Ramachandran.
Ideology and policies
The AIADMK sought to depoliticize the education policy of the government by not insisting that education be in the Tamil language. Policies of the AIADMK were targeted at the poorer segments of Tamil society—the poor, rickshaw pullers, and destitute women—and centralising the massive noon meal scheme for children. There was ambivalence toward the reservation policy and the interests of farmers. The party functions on the principles of its predecessors and the former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu C. N. Annadurai, M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa.
The AIADMK posted an array of welfare schemes targeting the human development index of the state. The AIADMK has schemes listed in the election manifestos covering segments of the population, including fishermen, farmers, and schoolchildren. Until the 2000s, the parties had welfare programmes such as maternity leave, subsidies for public transportation, and educational grants. After the 2000s, the parties started competing at an increasing level for the distribution of consumer goods. The AIADMK government distributed free bicycles to class 11 and 12 students during its tenure of 2001–06. In its manifesto for the 2006 assembly elections, the DMK promised free colour televisions in competition with other parties. The competition continued during the 2011 assembly elections, when both parties announced free laptops for school students and mixers, fans, and blenders for the public.
Culture
The party remains firm in its support for the "two language policy," in opposition to center-left demands to have Hindi as the sole lingua franca language, where Tamil and English are the two main languages of Tamil Nadu.
The party provided ₹1 lakh for temples of local deities in 2016.
Economy
In 2012, the AIADMK Government announced the Vision 2023 document, which embodied a strategic plan for infrastructure development that included raising the per capita income of residents to $10 thousand per annum, matching the Human Development Index to that of developed countries by 2023, providing high-quality infrastructure all over the state, and making Tamil Nadu the knowledge capital and innovation hub of India. This project had three components: the overall vision document, the compilation of the project profile, and the road map.
In the spring of 2019, the party lauded the economic policies of the Narendra Modi-led central government, stating that the centre had ushered in economic stability and made the country a "decisive player" in regional economics, and voiced support for the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which had been opposed by their rival the DMK.
During the AIADMK regime, Tamil Nadu was the best-performing big state overall from 2018 to 2021. With a gross state domestic product of $290 billion, or ₹21.6 lakh crore, Tamil Nadu became India's second-largest economy.
Social justice
In 1980, the AIADMK under M. G. Ramachandran reversed his decision on economic criteria after the AIADMK faced a close defeat in the Indian general election in Tamil Nadu. He further raised the quota for the backward classes from 31 percent to 50 percent, bringing the total reservation to 68 percent.
In 1993, the AIADMK government under J. Jayalalithaa passed the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes Bill, 1993, in the Assembly (Act 45 of 1994). The bill was sent to the president for approval. The government led a cross-party committee of Tamil Nadu politicians to Delhi to meet with the central government. She also demanded that the Tamil Nadu government's act be placed in the ninth schedule of the Indian Constitution, ensuring that the law cannot be challenged in any court. Later, the president's assent was received on 19 July 1994, and it confirmed the 69 percent reservation for Tamil Nadu.
On 20 February 2016, the J. Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK government passed the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2016 and the Tamil Nadu Panchayats (Amendment) Act, 2016 in the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, enhancing the reservation for women from 33 percent to 50 percent in local bodies such as municipal corporations, municipalities, town panchayats, and village panchayats of the state.
State water policy
In 2006, the AIADMK initiated a case in the Supreme Court to uphold the state's rights on the Mullaperiyar Dam issue. As a result, in May 2014, a Supreme Court verdict allowed the Tamil Nadu State to increase the storage level in the Mullaperiyar Dam to 142 feet from 136 feet and struck down the unconstitutional law enacted by the Government of Kerala in 2006 restricting the storage level to 136 feet. This Supreme Court decision ensured the farmers' and people's livelihoods in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
In February 2013, the Government of India notified the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on the directions of the Supreme Court. After 22 years of legal battle, then-Chief Minister Jayalalithaa called it a "tremendous achievement" of her government that the state had received due justice. Then Jayalalithaa said that it was the happiest day of her life and the happiest day for the farmers in Tamil Nadu; she recalled her famous fast-unto-death at Marina Beach in 1993.
Environment and nature
The AIADMK was one of two parties, along with the BJP, to not voice opposition against a ban on cattle slaughter through the national Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. However, it has sought an exemption in the Act regarding traditional bull fighting; the party supports popular opinion in Tamil Nadu that traditional bull fighting, known as Jallikattu, should not be banned by the centre due to an APEX court ruling against animal cruelty. During the controversy, the party called for animal-rights organisation PETA to be banned.
In May 2018, the AIADMK government has ordered the closure of the Sterlite Copper factory in Thoothukkudi in the interest of the people, knowing that the air and water in the city are being heavily polluted by the factory, which has been at the center of violent protests by locals to protect and improve the environment.
In February 2020, the AIADMK government declared the Cauvery Delta region a protected special agriculture zone. This announcement was widely hailed by political parties and farmer organizations.
The AIADMK opposes the building of the Mekedatu Dam, which could reduce water flows into Tamil Nadu and negatively affect quality of life for residents and agriculture.
History
M. G. Ramachandran era (17 October 1972 – 24 December 1987)
The party was founded on 17 October 1972, as Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) by M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.), a veteran Tamil film star and popular politician. It was set up as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after its president M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. M.G.R., who wanted to start a new political party, then incorporated into Anakaputhur Ramalingam's party, which had registered under the name ADMK. He then quoted, "I joined the party started by an ordinary volunteer" and gave the post of Member of Legislative Council (MLC) to Ramalingam. Later, M.G.R. prefixed the All India (AI) tag to the party's name to protect the party during the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). Since its inception, the relationship between the AIADMK and DMK has been marked by mutual contempt. M.G.R. used his fan club to build the party cadre; he claims his party recruited more than a million members in the first two months. C. N. Annadurai's ideologue and movie producer turned politician R. M. Veerappan was the key architect in unifying M.G.R. fan clubs and further consolidating the party structure in the 1970s. Other key leaders, such as Nanjil K. Manoharan and S. D. Somasundaram played major roles in consolidation. Pavalar M. Muthusamy was elected the first presidium chairman of the party. The party's first victories were the wins of Maya Thevar in the Dindigul parliamentary bye-election in May 1973 and of C. Aranganayagam in the Coimbatore West assembly bye-election a year later. On 2 April 1973, the AIADMK emerged as the third-largest political party in Tamil Nadu, represented by 11 MLAs in the assembly. By January 1976, the AIADMK had emerged as the second-largest political party in Tamil Nadu, with 16 MLAs in the assembly. By supporting the National Emergency between 1975 and 1977, the AIADMK grew close to the Indian National Congress party.
The DMK-led government was dismissed by a central government on corruption charges in 1976. The AIADMK swept to power, defeating the DMK in the 1977 assembly election. M.G.R. was sworn in as the third chief minister of Tamil Nadu on 30 June 1977. In the 1977 general election, the party won 18 seats. In 1979, the AIADMK became the first Dravidian and regional party to join the Union Cabinet. Sathiavani Muthu and Aravinda Bala Pajanor were the members of parliament who joined the short-lived Union Ministry led by then-prime minister Charan Singh.
The relationship between the AIADMK and the INC slowly became strained. In the 1980 general election, the INC aligned with the DMK, and the alliance won 37 out of the 39 state parliamentary seats. The AIADMK won just two seats. After returning to power, Indira Gandhi dismissed a number of state governments belonging to the opposition parties, including the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu.
In the 1980 assembly election, with the opposition DMK continuing the electoral alliance with the INC, In a massive reversal of fortunes following the Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK won a comfortable majority in the state assembly with 129 of 234 seats. M.G.R. was sworn in as chief minister for the second time on 9 June 1980.
In the 1984 general election, the party again aligned with the INC, and the alliance won 37 out of the 39 state parliamentary seats. In the 1984 assembly election, even with M.G.R.'s failing health and hospitalization, the party won the election. M.G.R. returned to Tamil Nadu on 4 February 1985 following his recovery. He was sworn in as chief minister for the third time on 10 February 1985. Many political historians consider M.G.R.'s persona and charisma at this point in time to be "infallible" and a logical continuation of his on-screen "good lad" image, strengthened by his "mythical status" in the minds of the masses. M.G.R. continued to enjoy popular support in his third term until his death. He died on 24 December 1987, and became the second chief minister in Tamil Nadu to die in office after Anna.
Succession conflict between the Janaki and Jayalalithaa factions
Following M.G.R.'s death, his wife, actress-turned-politician V. N. Janaki Ramachandran, rose to the party's leadership with the support of R. M. Veerappan and 98 MLAs. On 1 January 1988, Jayalalithaa was elected general secretary of the AIADMK by the prominent members of her faction, and it was ratified by the party general council convened by her the next day. Janaki served as the state's first female chief minister for 23 days, from 7 January 1988 until the state assembly was dissolved on 30 January 1988 and President's Rule was imposed. The party began to crumble due to infighting and broke into two factions, one under Janaki Ramachandran and the other under J. Jayalalithaa, an associate of M.G.R. and another film actress-turned-politician who had starred with M.G.R. The Election Commission of India froze the "Two Leaves" symbol on 17 December 1988. The 1989 assembly election saw the DMK regain power after 13 years, with M. Karunanidhi returning as chief minister for the third time. Due to its split, the AIADMK suffered heavily in the election, with the Janaki and Jayalalithaa factions winning only 2 and 27 seats, respectively. Following the AIADMK's rout in the election, the factions led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki merged under Jayalalithaa's leadership on 7 February 1989, as Janaki decided to quit politics as it was not her forte. On 8 February 1989, then Chief Election Commissioner R. V. S. Peri Sastri granted the Two Leaves symbol to the united AIADMK led by Jayalalithaa.
J. Jayalalithaa era (9 February 1989 – 5 December 2016)
On 9 February 1989, the AIADMK, led by J. Jayalalithaa, became the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, and she became the first female leader of the opposition in the assembly. In the 1989 general election, the party allied with the Indian National Congress, and the alliance won 39 out of 40 constituencies it contested in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The DMK government was dismissed in 1991 by the central government headed by then-prime minister Chandra Shekhar, an ally of the AIADMK at that time, on charges that the constitutional machinery in the state had broken down. The party allied with the Indian National Congress (INC) and swept to power in the 1991 assembly election under her leadership, and she became the second female and fifth chief minister of the state. Political observers have ascribed the landslide victory to the anti-incumbent wave arising out of the assassination of the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by suspected Tamil separatists fighting for a homeland in neighbouring Sri Lanka. The ensuing government was accused of large-scale corruption, but Jayalalithaa held on to power for a full term of five years.
In the 1996 assembly election, the AIADMK continued its alliance with the INC but suffered a massive rout, winning only 4 out of the 234 assembly seats, with even the party's general secretary Jayalalithaa losing in the Bargur constituency. The party lost the 1996 general election by losing all the constituencies it contested.
During the 1998 general election, the AIADMK revived its electoral fortunes when it formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), and the alliance won 30 seats out of 39 in Tamil Nadu. In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government between 1998 and 1999, the AIADMK shared power with the BJP but withdrew its support of 18 Lok Sabha MPs in early 1999, causing the BJP government to fall. Following this, the AIADMK once again allied with the INC in the 1999 general election, and the alliance won 13 seats out of 39 in Tamil Nadu.
In the 2001 assembly election, the AIADMK-led alliance, consisting of the Indian National Congress, the Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (TMC(M)), the Left Front, and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), regained power, winning 197 seats to the AIADMK's 132. Due to the proceedings in a disproportionate asset case that occurred during her previous tenure, Jayalalithaa was prevented from holding office. On 21 September 2001, O. Panneerselvam, a close confidant of Jayalalithaa, was appointed as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time. Once the Supreme Court of India overturned Jayalalithaa's conviction and sentence in the case, O. Panneerselvam resigned on 2 March 2002, and Jayalalithaa was again sworn in as chief minister for the third time.
Her second term was not marred by corruption scandals. She took many popular decisions, such as banning lottery tickets, restricting the liquor and sand quarrying businesses to government agencies, and banning tobacco product sales near schools and colleges. She encouraged women to join the state police force by setting up all women's police stations and commissioning 150 women into the elite level police commandos in 2003, a first in India. The women had the same training as men, which included handling weapons, detection and disposal of bombs, driving, horseback riding, and adventure sports. She dispatched a special task force to the Sathyamangalam forests in October 2004 to track down notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. The operation was successful, as he was killed by the task force on 18 October 2004.
However, despite the popular measures taken by the government, in the 2004 general election, the party, in alliance with the BJP again, was humiliated, winning none of the 39 Lok Sabha seats from the state. The Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), a DMK-led alliance consisting of all the major opposition parties in the state, swept the election.
Later, in the 2006 assembly election, in spite of media speculations of a hung assembly, the AIADMK, contesting with only the support of the MDMK and a few other smaller parties, won 61 seats compared to the DMK's 96 and was pushed out of power by the DMK-led congressional alliance of the PMK and the Left Front. The AIADMK's electoral reversals continued in the 2009 general election. However, the party's performance was better than its debacle in 2004, and the AIADMK-led alliance managed to win 12 seats, with the AIADMK winning 9 seats.
Following widespread corruption, a price rise, a power cut, and allegations of nepotism against the DMK government, in the 2011 assembly election, the party, in alliance with parties like the left and actor-turned-politician Vijayakant's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), swept the polls, winning 203 seats, with the AIADMK winning 150. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the fourth time.
In the union territory of Puducherry, the AIADMK allied with N. Rangasamy's All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) and won the 2011 assembly election, which was held in parallel with the Tamil Nadu assembly election. Rangasamy, on the other hand, formed the government without consulting the AIADMK and refused to share power with the pre-election alliance partner. So Jayalalithaa accused him of betraying the coalition.
On 9 February 2014, the 13-kg gold armor was donated by the general secretary of the AIADMK and the chief minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa for adorning the 3.5-foot-tall statue of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar at Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district. The gold armor is estimated to be worth ₹4 crore. The armor is kept in a nationalized bank locker in Madurai. After the AIADMK party treasurer and the trustee of the memorial signing in the bank, the golden armor would be taken out and handed over to the incharge of the memorial every year between October 28 and 30 for Guru Pooja and Thevar Jayanthi, which is observed on October 30 of every year.
The AIADMK's good electoral performance continued in the 2014 general election as well. It opted not to join any alliance and contested all seats in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry on its own. The party won an unprecedented 37 out of the 40 parliamentary constituencies it contested and emerged as the third largest party in the 16th Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament. It was a massive victory that no other regional political party had ever achieved in the history of general elections.
On 29 August 2014, J. Jayalalithaa was elected as the general secretary of the party for the 7th consecutive term, making her the longest-serving general secretary of the party to date. Earlier, she was elected as general secretary on 1 January 1988; 9 February 1989; 23 June 1993; 23 September 1998; 10 September 2003, and 10 September 2008. During her longest tenure as general secretary, V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, K. Kalimuthu, Pulamaipithan, C. Ponnaiyan, and E. Madhusudhanan served as the presidium chairmen of the party.
On 27 September 2014, Jayalalithaa was convicted in the disproportionate assets case by a Special Court along with her associates V. K. Sasikala, Ilavarasi, and V. N. Sudhakaran and sentenced to four years' simple imprisonment. Jayalalithaa was also fined 100 crore, and her associates were fined 10 crore each. The case had political implications as it was the first time a ruling chief minister had to step down on account of a court sentence.
Due to her resignation, O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as chief minister on 29 September 2014. Jayalalithaa was denied bail by the High Court and moved the Supreme Court for bail. The Supreme Court granted bail on 17 October 2014. On 11 May 2015, the High Court of Karnataka said she was acquitted from that case and was again sworn in as chief minister for the fifth time.
In the 2016 assembly election, running without allies, she swept the polls, winning 135 out of 234 seats. It was the most audacious decision made by her for the spectacular victory that no other political leader had ever made in the history of Tamil Nadu. On 23 May 2016, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the sixth time.
On 22 September 2016, she was admitted to Apollo Hospital, Chennai, due to fever and dehydration. After a prolonged illness, she died on 5 December 2016, and became the third chief minister in Tamil Nadu to die in office after Anna and her mentor M.G.R.
Expansion beyond Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
Under J. Jayalalithaa's regime, the party spread beyond Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It established state units in some other Indian states and union territories like Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, the National Capital Territory of Delhi, and Telangana. The party also has functionaries in other countries where Tamil people are present.
In Karnataka, the party had members in the state assembly from 1983 to 2004 and has influence in the Tamil-speaking areas of Bengaluru and Kolar.
In Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Maharashtra, the party contested some legislative assembly elections but did not win a single seat in any of the elections.
V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran era (31 December 2016 – 17 February 2017)
After Jayalalithaa's death on 5 December 2016, her close aide V. K. Sasikala was selected unanimously as the Acting General Secretary of the party on 31 December 2016. On 5 February 2017, she was selected as the leader of the legislative assembly as chief minister. O. Panneerselvam rebelled against Sasikala and reported that he had been compelled to resign as Chief Minister, bringing in a new twist to Tamil Nadu politics. Due to a conviction in the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa, Sasikala was sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment in the Bengaluru Central Prison. Before that, she appointed Edappadi K. Palaniswami as legislative party leader (Chief Minister).
She also appointed her nephew and former treasurer of the party, T. T. V. Dhinakaran, as the deputy general secretary of the AIADMK party. With the support of 123 MLAs, Palaniswami became chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
On 23 March 2017, the Election Commission of India (ECI) gave separate party symbols to the two factions: O. Panneerselvam's faction, known as AIADMK (PURATCHI THALAIVI AMMA), and Edappadi K. Palaniswami's faction, known as AIADMK (AMMA).
By-polls were announced in the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency, which was vacated due to Jayalalithaa's death. But the election commission cancelled the by-polls after evidence of large-scale bribery by the ruling AIADMK (AMMA) surfaced. On 17 April 2017, Delhi police registered a case against Dhinakaran, who was also the candidate for AIADMK (AMMA) for the by-election at Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, regarding an allegation of attempting to bribe the Election Commission of India for the AIADMK's election symbol. However, the Central District Tis Hazari Courts granted him bail on the grounds that the police had failed to identify the allegedly bribed public official.
T. T. V. Dhinakaran started his party work on 5 August 2017. However, the chief minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, had a fallout with Dhinakaran and announced that the appointment of Dinakaran as deputy general secretary was invalid. So he claims, "We are the real AIADMK, and 95% of its cadres are with us."
Expulsion of V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran
On 12 September 2017, the AIADMK general council, which had earlier appointed her, cancelled V. K. Sasikala's appointment as general secretary and officially expelled her from the party as a primary member.
Earlier on 10 August 2017, T. T. V. Dhinakaran was sacked as deputy general secretary at the meeting headed by Edappadi K. Palaniswami at Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai in Chennai.
After completing her imprisonment at Bengaluru Central Prison, Sasikala filed a case in the City Civil Court IV of Chennai in February 2021, but it upheld her dismissal as the AIADMK general secretary in April 2022.
O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami era (21 August 2017 – 23 June 2022)
On 21 August 2017, both O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami factions of the AIADMK merged, and O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu with the portfolio of Finance and the coordinator of the AIADMK. He also holds portfolios for housing, rural housing, housing development, the slum clearance board, accommodation control, town planning, urban development, and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. On 4 January 2018, O. Panneerselvam was elected Leader of the House in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
On 12 September 2017, the AIADMK general council decided to cancel V. K. Sasikala's appointment as acting general secretary and officially expel her from the party, though prominent members appointed to party posts by her were allowed to continue discharging their functions. Instead, the late J. Jayalalithaa was named the eternal general secretary of the AIADMK.
A day after the merger of two AIADMK factions, on 22 April 2017, 19 MLAs owing allegiance to ousted deputy general secretary T. T. V. Dhinakaran submitted letters to the governor, expressing lack of confidence in Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and withdrawing support from the government. 18 out of those 19 MLAs were disqualified from office by the Speaker of the legislative assembly upon recommendation from the AIADMK Chief Whip. After a prolonged legal battle, the Speaker's orders were upheld by the Madras High Court, and bye-elections were held alongside the general parliamentary elections. On 23 November 2017, the Election Commission of India granted the "two leaves" symbol to the O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami camp.
On 24 February 2018, AIADMK's new mouthpiece, Namadhu Amma, a Tamil daily newspaper, was launched, marking the 70th birth anniversary of the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and the former general secretary of AIADMK, J. Jayalalithaa, fondly known as Amma. On 14 November 2018, the AIADMK launched News J, named after the AIADMK former general secretary J. Jayalalithaa, to replace Jaya TV. News J is the 24×7 Tamil news channel operated and managed by Mantaro Network Private Limited.
Despite the popular measures taken by the government, in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the party, in alliance with the BJP again, was humiliated, winning one of the 39 Lok Sabha seats from the state. The Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), a DMK-led alliance consisting of all the major opposition parties in the state, swept the election by winning 38 seats.
Later, in the 2021 assembly election, the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance, consisting of the PMK, BJP, and a few other smaller parties, won 75 seats compared to the 159 seats won by the DMK alliance and was pushed out of power by the DMK-led secular progressive alliance. After the election, the AIADMK emerged as the main party of the opposition in the assembly by winning 66 seats. On 11 May 2021, party joint coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami was recognized as the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, and on 14 June 2021, party coordinator O. Panneerselvam was recognized as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by M. Appavu, Speaker of the Assembly.
Legal fight for the party by V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran
After that, V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran had appealed to the Delhi High Court, which rejected their appeal and said that O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami were the original AIADMK.
Following that, T. T. V. Dhinakaran filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of India on March 15, and the bench of the Chief Justice of India dismissed his appeal against the Delhi High Court's decision in favor of the O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami camp.
Following this, the General Council passed a resolution removing V. K. Sasikala from the post of General Secretary. V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran jointly filed a suit in the High Court challenging the decision of the General Council. Since it was a civil case, the case was transferred to the City Civil Court. During the hearing on 9 April 2021, Dinakaran told the court that he would withdraw from the case as he had started a party called Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam. At the same time, Sasikala told the court that she wanted to continue the case. The court dismissed her plea following an interlocutory application from AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam and Joint Coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
Tensions with BJP
In June 2022, the AIADMK and BJP were at odds publicly. AIADMK organisation secretary C. Ponnaiyan accused the BJP-led Central government of stealing Tamil Nadu's revenue, as well as blaming AIADMK for election losses, the loss of minority community support, and "anti-Tamil" policies, particularly those affecting students. He also called the alliance an "electoral adjustment," claiming that the BJP was attempting to expand at the cost of the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and that its ideology is diametrically opposite that of the AIADMK. The event reportedly had party cadres reiterating these sentiments, albeit in a lighter tone, and agreeing that the BJP was attempting to wrest control of the state's opposition from the AIADMK.
Leadership tussle between O.P.S. and E.P.S.
On 14 June 2022, citing the party's troubles in the polls, AIADMK district secretaries and other senior party members spoke out to shun the "dual leadership" system and came out publicly in favor of a strong unitary leader to strengthen the organisation.
Supporters of Edappadi K. Palaniswami pushed for the change in the party's leadership structure by staging a political coup against AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam, who had become weak within the party. According to many sources, of the AIADMK's 75 district secretaries, hardly 10 supported him. Of the party's 66 MLAs, only three were reportedly on O. Panneerselvam's side, and less than 20 percent of the party's general council members were behind him ahead of the crucial general council meeting on 23 June 2022, which was expected to elect the single leadership to the party.
On 23 June 2022, A. Tamil Magan Hussain was unanimously elected as the Presidium Chairman of the party at a general council meeting held at the Shrivaaru Venkataachalapathy Palace in Vanagaram, Chennai. On the same day, Presidium Chairman Tamil Magan Hussain announced that the next general council meeting of the party would be held on 11 July 2022.
On 30 June 2022, Edappadi K. Palaniswami wrote a letter to O. Panneerselvam asserting the latter ceased to be the party coordinator as the amendments made to the party's bylaw in the December 2020 executive committee meeting were not recognised in the general council meeting held on 23 June 2022.
Edappadi K. Palaniswami era (11 July 2022 – Present)
On 11 July 2022, an AIADMK general council meeting was held at the Shrivaaru Venkataachalapathy Palace in Vanagaram following the dismissal of a petition by O. Panneerselvam in the Madras High Court. The party general council abolished the dual leadership model, empowered Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the interim general secretary, and called for organisational elections in 4 months. Before the general council meeting, there was violence at the Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai in Royapettah, where the supporters of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam threw stones, bottles, and plastic chairs at each other and damaged several vehicles nearby. Following this, the Revenue Department of Tamil Nadu sealed the Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai. Overall, 47 people were injured in the clashes.
The general council meeting made 20 amendments to the AIADMK bylaws, including the removal of rule 20, which had described J. Jayalalithaa as the "eternal general secretary," reviving the post of general secretary, transferring all the powers of the coordinator and joint coordinator to the general secretary, and abolishing the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator. These changes effectively ended the party's dual leadership.
Expulsion of O. Panneerselvam
In the general council meeting held on 11 July 2022, the general council members passed the resolution and expelled the former coordinator O. Panneerselvam, the former deputy coordinator R. Vaithilingam, P. H. Manoj Pandian, and J. C. D. Prabhakar from their respective posts and primary membership in the party for "anti-party" activities.
On 11 July 2022, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami was unanimously elected as the interim general secretary of the party in the general council meeting held at the Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in Vanagaram, Chennai. Palaniswami appointed Dindigul C. Sreenivasan as the treasurer of the party, replacing O. Panneerselvam. On 19 July 2022, Palaniswami appointed R. B. Udhayakumar as the deputy leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, replacing Panneerselvam, who declared this in the party's legislative members meeting held on 17 July 2022.
On 20 July 2022, the Madras High Court ordered to remove the seal of Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai and hand over the keys to the interim general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami. It was previously locked and sealed on 11 July 2022. On 12 September 2022, the Supreme Court of India dismissed the petition of O. Panneerselvam challenging the Madras High Court's order to handover the keys to Palaniswami.
Legal fight for the party between Palaniswami and Panneerselvam
The Madras High Court on 17 August 2022 ruled in favor of O. Panneerselvam and declared the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022 which had abolished dual leadership as void ab initio. The court called for the restoration of the status quo as it existed on June 23 and has prevented the party from convening any meeting of the executive council or the general council of the party without joint consent from both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, thus effectively restoring dual leadership. The court cited procedural lapses to declare the general council meeting held on July 11, invalid and found that there was no data to prove Edappadi K. Palaniswami's claim that 95% of the 1.5 crore (15 million) primary party members supported unitary leadership under him.
Edappadi K. Palaniswami appealed the single-judge court order to a larger bench of judges. Following the order, O. Panneerselvam appealed for party unity, which included the splinter AMMK group. Palaniswami dismissed this appeal as a power-hungry move by Panneerselvam and held him responsible for violence at the Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai.
On 2 September 2022, a division bench of the Madras High Court upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022, and set aside the previous court order of the single judge in the appeal case of Edappadi K. Palaniswami, thus effectively restoring unitary leadership.
On 23 February 2023, the Supreme Court of India upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022, and dismissed the petition of O. Panneerselvam challenging the previous order of the division bench, thus affirming unitary leadership under Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
On 28 March 2023, the Madras High Court ruled in favor of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and dismissed the petitions of O. Panneerselvam challenging the resolutions passed at the general council meeting held on 11 July 2022. On the same day, AIADMK announced that Edappadi K. Palaniswami was elected as the general secretary of the party through a general secretary election.
On 20 April 2023, the Election Commission of India recognized Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the general secretary of the party, acknowledging the amendments to the party constitution and changes to the list of office-bearers.
On 10 July 2023, the Election Commission of India recognized the changes made in the party organization after the party's due election.
Exit from the National Democratic Alliance
On 25 September 2023, the party's secretaries advisory meeting, led by general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, was held in the Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai. At the meeting, it was decided to withdraw from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, and it was officially announced by deputy general secretary K. P. Munusamy after the meeting.
Electoral performance
Indian general elections
State legislative assembly elections
Current office bearers and prominent members
List of party leaders
Presidents
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Coordinators
Legislative leaders
List of union cabinet ministers
List of chief ministers
Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister of Puducherry
List of deputy chief ministers
Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
List of deputy speakers of the Lok Sabha
List of union ministers of state
List of speakers
Speakers of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Speakers of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
List of deputy speakers
Deputy Speakers of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
List of leaders of the opposition
Leaders of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Leaders of the Opposition in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
List of deputy leaders of the opposition
Deputy Leaders of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
See also
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List of political parties in India
References
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External links
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravida%20Munnetra%20Kazhagam
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Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
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The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry, where it is currently the main opposition.
It is also one of the two main political parties in Tamil Nadu, along with the rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Since the 2021 state election, it has been the ruling party of Tamil Nadu.
The DMK was founded on 17 September 1949 by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu C. N. Annadurai (Anna) as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by E. V. Ramasami (Periyar). DMK was headed by Annadurai as the general secretary from 1949 until his death on 4 February 1969. He also served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu from 1967 to 1969. Under Annadurai, in 1967, DMK became the first party, other than the Indian National Congress, to win the state-level elections with a clear majority on its own in any state in India. M. Karunanidhi (Kalaignar) followed Annadurai as the first president of the party from 1969 until his death on 7 August 2018. He also served as the Chief Minister for five non-consecutive terms, in two of which he was dismissed by the Union government. After Karunanidhi's death, his son and former deputy, M. K. Stalin, succeeded as the party president.
After the results of 2019 Indian general election, DMK became the third-largest party in the Lok Sabha. It currently holds 125 seats in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, and the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance holds 159.
History
Origins and foundation
The DMK traces its roots to the South Indian Liberal Federation (Justice Party) founded by Dr C. Natesa Mudaliar in 1916, in the presence of P. Theagaraya Chetty, P. T. Rajan, T. M. Nair, Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar and a few others in Victoria Public Hall Madras Presidency. The Justice Party, whose objectives included social equality and justice, came to power in the first general elections to the Madras Presidency in 1920. Communal division between Brahmins and non-Brahmin upper began in the presidency during the late-19th and early-20th century, mainly due to caste prejudices and disproportionate Brahminical representation in government jobs. The Justice Party's foundation marked the culmination of several efforts to establish an organization to represent the non-Brahmin upper castes in Madras and is seen as the start of the Dravidian movement.
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, a popular reformist leader at that time, had joined the Indian National Congress in 1919, to oppose what he considered the Brahminic leadership of the party. Periyar's participation at the Vaikom Satyagraha led him to start the Self-Respect Movement in 1926 which was rationalistic and "anti-Brahministic". He quit Congress and in 1935 he joined the Justice Party.
In the 1937 elections, the Justice Party lost and the Indian National Congress under C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) came to power in Madras Presidency. Rajaji's introduction of Hindi as a compulsory subject in schools led to the anti-Hindi agitations, led by Periyar and his associates.
In August 1944, Periyar created the 'Dravidar Kazhagam' out of the Justice Party and the Self-Respect Movement at the Salem Provincial Conference. The DK, conceived as a movement and not a political party, insisted on an independent nation for Dravidians called Dravida Nadu consisting of areas that were covered under the Madras Presidency.
The party at its inception retained the flag of the South Indian Liberal Federation, which had a picture of a traditional type of balance signifying the idea of equality. Its central theme was to remove the degraded status imposed on Dravidians. To communicate this, the party adopted a black flag with a red circle inside it, with the black signifying their degradation and the red denoting the intention of the movement to uplift Dravidians.
Over the years, many disagreements arose between Periyar and his followers. In 1949, several of his followers led by C. N. Annadurai decided to split from Dravidar Kazhagam, after Annadurai and part of the members decided to take part in electoral politics and Periyar had strong objection on it.
The Dravidian philosophy culminated both politically and socially with DMK at the helm of administration. It was the first-ever subaltern movement in the history of sub-continent politics to have political representation from former lower-castes, and it was a marked move from generations of civic administrators from the upper-caste citizenry. This had a deep societal impact which resulted in increased political participation, which aided the representation of the emergent strata, enriched civic life, and subsequently strengthened the pluralist democracy.
C. N. Annadurai era (1949–1969)
The DMK's first foray into electoral politics, in the 1957 legislative assembly elections, was mixed. While it won 15 seats, many prominent leaders such as Annadurai and V. R. Nedunchezhiyan were defeated. It fared somewhat better in 1962, winning 50 seats and becoming the main opposition.
Anti-Hindi Imposition agitations
The DMK, which split from the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1949, inherited the anti-Hindi imposition policies of its parent organization. Founder C.N. Annadurai had earlier participated in the anti-Hindi imposition agitations during 1938–40 and throughout the 1940s.
In July 1953, the DMK launched an agitation against the Union government's proposed name-change of Kallakudi to Dalmiapuram. They claimed that the town's proposed new name (after Ramkrishna Dalmia) symbolized the exploitation of South India by the North. On 15 July, M. Karunanidhi (later Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) and other DMK members removed the Hindi name from Dalmiapuram railway station's name board and protested on the tracks. In the altercation with the police that followed the protests, two DMK members lost their lives, and several others, including Karunanidhi and Kannadasan, were arrested.
The DMK continued its anti-Hindi Imposition policies throughout the 1950s, along with the secessionist demand for Dravida Nadu, in which it was originally more radical than the Dravida Kazhagam. On 28 January 1956, Annadurai, along with Periyar and Rajaji, signed a resolution passed by the Academy of Tamil Culture endorsing the continuation of English as the official language. On 21 September 1957, the DMK convened an anti-Hindi Conference to protest against the imposition of Hindi. It observed 13 October 1957 as "anti-Hindi Day".
On 31 July 1960, another open air anti-Hindi conference was held in Kodambakkam, Madras. In November 1963, DMK dropped its secessionist demand in the wake of the Sino-Indian War and the passage of the anti-secessionist 16th Amendment to the Indian Constitution. However, the anti-Hindi stance remained and hardened with the passage of Official Languages Act of 1963. The DMK's view on Hindi's eligibility for official language status were reflected in Annadurai's response to the "numerical superiority of Hindi" argument: "If we had to accept the principle of numerical superiority while selecting our national bird, the choice would have fallen not on the peacock but on the common crow."
Formation of state government
In 1967, DMK came to power in the Madras State 18 years after its formation and 10 years after it had first entered electoral politics. This began the Dravidian era in the Madras province, which later became Tamil Nadu. In 1967, the Congress lost nine states to opposition parties, but it was only in Madras that a single non-Congress Party (namely, the DMK) won a majority. The electoral victory of 1967 is also reputed to be an electoral fusion among the non-Congress parties to avoid a split in the Opposition votes. Rajagopalachari, a former senior leader of the Congress Party, had by then left the Congress and launched the right-wing Swatantra Party. He played a vital role in bringing about the electoral fusion amongst the opposition parties to align against the Congress. At that time, his cabinet was the youngest in the country.
Other achievements
Annadurai legalised self-respect marriages for the first time the country. Such marriages did not involve priests presiding over the ceremonies, and thus a Brahmin was not needed to carry out the wedding. Self-respect marriages were a brainchild of Periyar, who regarded the then conventional marriages as mere financial arrangements which often led to great debt through dowry. Self-respect marriages, according to him, encouraged inter-caste marriages and caused arranged marriages to be replaced by love marriages.
Annadurai was also the first to promise to subsidize the price of rice in order to campaign for his election. He promised one rupee a measure of rice, which he initially implemented once in government, but had to withdraw later. Subsidising rice costs are still used as an election promise in Tamil Nadu.
It was Annadurai's government that renamed Madras State to Tamil Nadu, its present-day name. The name change itself was first presented in the upper house (Rajya Sabha) of the Parliament of India by Bhupesh Gupta, a communist MP from West Bengal, but was then defeated. With Annadurai as chief minister, the state assembly succeeded in passing the bill renaming the state. Another major achievement of Annadurai's government was to introduce a two language policy over the then popular three language formula. The three language formula, which was implemented in the neighbouring states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, entitled students to study three languages: the regional language, English and Hindi.
Karunanidhi's leadership (1969–2018)
In 1969, Annadurai unexpectedly died. M. Karunanidhi was elected as his successor, defeating rival candidate V. R. Nedunchezhiyan. Karunanidhi would continue to head the DMK until his own death in 2018.
In the 1970s, M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.), a popular actor and the party treasurer, had a political feud with the party president Karunanidhi. In 1972, M.G.R. called for a boycott of the party's General Council. The crisis led to a call for a corruption probe by M.G.R. where he was a treasurer, and he was eventually suspended from the General Council by the high power committee of DMK. He then created the new party named All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Indira Gandhi dismissed the Karunanidhi government in 1976 based on charges of possible secession and corruption. The DMK government has been indicted by the Sarkaria commission for corruption in allotting tenders for the Veeranam drainage project.
The interim report of the Justice Jain Commission, which oversaw the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, indicted Karunanidhi for abetting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The interim report recommended that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the DMK party be held responsible for abetting Rajiv Gandhi's murderers. The final report contained no such allegations.
Karunanidhi's nephew, Murasoli Maran, was a Union Minister; however, it has been pointed out that he was in politics long before Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister in 1969. Many political opponents and DMK party senior leaders have been critical of the rise of M. K. Stalin in the party. He was appointed as Mayor and later as Deputy CM of TN. But some of the party men have pointed out that Stalin has come up on his own. Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi has been appointed as the Rajya Sabha MP twice in 2007 and 2013. Karunanidhi's nephew's son Dayanidhi Maran has been appointed as the central Minister. Karunanidhi's grandson, son of Stalin Udhayanidhi Stalin, has been elected as the MLA of TN assembly. Karunanidhi has been accused of helping Murasoli Maran's son Kalanithi Maran, who runs Sun TV Network, India's second largest television network. According to Forbes, Kalanidhi is among India's richest 20, with $2.9 billion. It has been pointed out that Karunanidhi has hesitated to take action against his erring family members. Karunanidhi is also accused of allowing Azhagiri to function as an extraconstitutional authority in Madurai. The Dinakaran newspaper case was handed over to the CBI. But the District and Sessions court acquitted all the 17 accused in that case.
Elections under Karunanidhi's presidency
In 1977, DMK lost the Assembly elections to M.G.R.'s AIADMK, and stayed out of power in the state till 1989. After MGR's death in December 1987, AIADMK split into two factions between Janaki (MGR's wife) and Jayalalithaa. DMK returned to power in the 1989 State assembly elections and for the 3rd time, Karunanidhi took over as the chief minister in January 1989.
The 1991 election was held with the backdrop of DMK government having dissolved within 2 years of formation due to pressure from ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi leading an alliance with Samajwadi Janata Party. In the same year Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber during the election campaign, and due to DMK's pro-Tamil stance and the dismissal of the state government mid-campaign by Rajiv, attitudes were against DMK and instead in favor of the AIADMK–Congress alliance, causing the DMK to be deprived of any seats in the Parliament.
In the 1996 state elections, DMK came to power on strength of corruption charges against J.Jayalalithaa and the alliance with Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), headed by G.K. Moopanar.
However, in 2001, the AIADMK, on strength of a strong alliance and the incumbency factor against DMK, came back to power in the state assembly elections.
In the 2004 parliamentary elections, DMK formed an alliance with Congress, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and swept a grand victory. The alliance won all 40 seats including Puducherry. This enabled DMK to hold 7 ministerial posts in the central government and gave influential power to DMK.
Two years later in 2006, the same alliance won in the state assembly elections and the DMK, for the first time, formed a minority government in the state with help from Congress. M Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister of the state for the fifth time. The DMK-Congress alliance was also successful in the 2009 parliamentary elections.
In the 2011 Assembly elections, held in the wake of the 2G case and allegations of nepotism, the DMK won only 23 seats, 127 seats less than earlier.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election DMK failed to win any seats; however, by vote percentage, it was second only to AIADMK.
The 2016 state assembly elections gave DMK 89 MLAs. This was the most number for an opposition party in the history of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly.
M. K. Stalin’s leadership (2018–present)
Karunanidhi died on 7 August 2018, leaving the party in the hands of his son, M. K. Stalin. Stalin had been appointed as the working president in January 2017 when his father's health started declining, and had previously been named heir apparent by his father. Stalin thus became the second DMK president since the party's inception. On 3 February 2020, M. K. Stalin announced that Prashant Kishor was signed up as a party strategist for the upcoming 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election.
On 25 March 2018, the DMK held a statewide conference in Erode and M. K. Stalin released five slogans at the conference. They were:
Let us keep an eye on the Kalaignar's command
Let us grow and admire Tamil
Let us crush the power pile
Let us protect humanity from extremism
Let us grow a prosperous Tamil Nadu
M.K. Stalin formed the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu and led the alliance in the 2019 general election. M.K. Stalin and his alliance in Tamil Nadu won 39 out of 40 seats in the parliament and 12 out of 21 in the Assembly with a 52% vote share. The DMK-led alliance won the 2019 Tamil Nadu local body elections under the Secular Progressive alliance.
The DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance won the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election. The alliance won 159 seats out of 234 seats with 46% vote share.
Party ideology
Dravidian nationalism
The Anti-Hindi Imposition agitations of 1965 forced the central government to abandon its efforts to use Hindi as the only official language of the country. However, Hindi usage has continued as Indian government employees are asked to write as much as 65% of the letters and memoranda in Hindi.
State autonomy
After The Emergency invoked by Indira Gandhi, more state powers like education and medical care were moved from state control to national control. At the state conference in Trichy after the death of C.N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi announced the adoption of the "state autonomy" principle to advocate for state self-governance. In April 1974, the DMK government brought in a resolution in the House urging the centre to accept the Rajamannar Committee recommendations on state autonomy and amend the Constitution of India to pave the way for a truly federal system.
Social justice
The DMK reconstituted the disabled persons welfare board to Differently Abled Persons Departments and the changed official terms for transgender individuals to more respectful terms like Thirunangai and Thirunambi.
Party symbol
The party's election symbol is the "sun rising from between two mountains", with a black and red flag often pictured. The symbol was inspired by the leader and scriptwriter M. Karunanidhi's 1950s play Udaya Suryan, and is intended to signify the "rising" spirit of the Dravidian people.
In the 1957 poll, the DMK was not recognized by the Election Commission. The party was grouped as independents and was not united by its rising sun symbol and was forced to contest under the rooster symbol.
Electoral history
Lok Sabha Elections
Legislative Assembly elections
Current office bearers and prominent members
List of party leaders
Presidents
General Secretaries
List of chief ministers
Madras State
Pondicherry
1. M. O. H. Farook: 17 March 1969 – 2 January 1974 (1752 days)
2. M. D. R. Ramachandran: 16 January 1980 – 23 June 1983; 8 March 1990 – 2 March 1991 (1613 days)
3. R. V. Janakiraman: 26 May 1996 – 21 March 2000 (1395 days)
Tamil Nadu
1. C. N. Annadurai: 14 January 1969 – 3 February 1969 (20 days)
2. V. R. Nedunchezhiyan: 3 February 1969 – 10 February 1969 (7 days)
3. M. Karunanidhi: 10 February 1969 – 31 January 1976; 27 January 1989 – 30 January 1991; 13 May 1996 – 13 May 2001; 13 May 2006 – 15 May 2011 (6863 days)
4. M. K. Stalin: 7 May 2021 – Incumbent ( days)
List of deputy chief ministers
Tamil Nadu
1. M. K. Stalin: 29 May 2009 – 15 May 2011 (716 days)
List of leaders of the opposition
Pondicherry Legislative Assembly
1. R. V. Janakiraman: 22 March 2000 – 15 May 2001; 24 May 2001 – 11 May 2006 (2232 days)
2. A. M. H. Nazeem: 29 May 2006 – 20 September 2006 (114 days)
Puducherry Legislative Assembly
1. A. M. H. Nazeem: 20 September 2006 – 14 May 2011 (1697 days)
2. R. Siva: 8 May 2021 – Incumbent ( days)
Madras State Legislative Assembly
1. V. R. Nedunchezhiyan: 29 March 1962 – 28 February 1967 (1797 days)
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
1. M. Karunanidhi: 25 July 1977 – 17 February 1980; 27 June 1980 – 18 August 1983 (2084 days)
2. K. Anbazhagan: 24 May 2001 – 14 April 2006 (1786 days)
3. M. K. Stalin: 4 June 2016 – 3 May 2021 (1794 days)
Speakers of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
List of union ministers
Splits and offshoots
There are two major parties that have been formed as a result of splits from the DMK, such as
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), founded on 17 October 1972 by the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.).
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), founded on 6 May 1994 by Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha Vaiko.
Political lineage and offsprings of DMK
Media
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party runs two newspapers, one in English and one in Tamil, namely The Rising Sun (weekly journal) and Murasoli (daily journal), respectively.
Kalaignar TV is a channel started on 15 September 2007 and managed by Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Dayalu Ammal, the daughter and wife of Karunanidhi. The sister channels of Kalaignar are Kalaignar Isai Aruvi (24×7 Tamil music channel), Kalaignar Seithigal (24×7 Tamil news channel), Kalaignar Sirippoli (24×7 Tamil comedy channel), Kalaignar Chithiram (24×7 Tamil cartoon channel), Kalaignar Murasu(24×7 Tamil movie channel) and Kalaignar Asia.
See also
2G spectrum case
Granite scam in Tamil Nadu
Controversy of arrests in Tamil Nadu about construction of flyovers
Dinakaran attack
Leelavathi murder
Kallakudi demonstration
Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi
Politics of India
List of political parties in India
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
References
Publications
External links
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam — entry at Encyclopædia Britannica
1949 establishments in India
Dravidian political parties
Tamil nationalism
Political parties established in 1949
Regionalist parties in India
Social democratic parties in Asia
State political parties in Puducherry
State political parties in Tamil Nadu
Member parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20awards%20and%20honours%20received%20by%20Nelson%20Mandela
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List of awards and honours received by Nelson Mandela
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This is a comprehensive list of awards, honours and other recognitions bestowed on Nelson Mandela. Mandela received more than 260 awards over 40 years, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
From 1994 to 1999, Mandela was President of South Africa. He was the first such African to be elected in fully representative democratic polls.
Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress and its armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. He spent 27 years in prison, much of it in a cell on Robben Island. The rest of his incarceration was in Pollsmoor Prison, on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid.
Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, his advocacy of a policy of reconciliation and negotiation helped lead the transition to multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, he was widely praised, even by former opponents.
Mandela died on 5 December 2013, a celebrated elder statesman who continued to voice his opinion on topical issues. In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an aristocratic title adopted by the elderly members of the royal clan that he belongs to. This title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.
1960s
1964 – Elected Honorary President of the Students' Union, University of Leeds Tyler Hopper
1970s
1973 – A nuclear particle discovered by scientists at the University of Leeds is named the "Mandela particle".
1975 – Honorary life membership of the Students' Union, University of London
1979 – Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Law, University of Lesotho, Maseru, 29 September
1979 – Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations New Delhi, India
1981
August – Freedom of the City of Glasgow
The first UK road named in his honor – "Mandela Close" – is unveiled in the London Borough of Brent
Bruno Kreisky Award for merit in the field of human rights, chosen by a panel of international judges, Vienna, Austria
1983
Honorary citizenship of Rome, February
Honorary citizenship of Olympia, Greece, 17 March
Honorary Doctorate of Laws, City College of New York, 22 March
Ornamental gardens in Hull, United Kingdom, named "Nelson Mandela Gardens", May
City Council of Dublin, Ireland, unveiled sculpture in Merrion Square by Elisabeth Frink dedicated to Nelson Mandela, 26 June
Award of the order Star of International Friendship in gold by the German Democratic Republic, 18 July
City Council of Harlow, United Kingdom, renamed one of its major roads in honour of Nelson Mandela, 18 July
AUEW/TASS, one of United Kingdom's major trade unions, renamed their executive committee room the "Nelson Mandela Room", 18 July
Freedom of London Borough of Greenwich, 20 July
UNESCO awards its first Simon Bolivar International Prize jointly to Nelson Mandela and King Juan Carlos of Spain at a ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Simón Bolívar, 24 July
City Council of Leeds, United Kingdom, names the Civic Hall "Nelson Mandela Gardens", 10 December
Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
The Students Unions of Warwick University, Coventry Polytechnic (now Coventry University) and South Bank Polytechnic (now London South Bank University) named rooms in honour of Nelson Mandela
New York City renamed square in front of South African mission to the United Nations 'Nelson and Winnie Mandela Plaza'
1984
Honorary Degree, Free University of Brussels, 13 January
London Borough of Camden Council, names the street where the Anti-Apartheid Movement has its headquarters as "Mandela Street".
London Borough of Hackney Council, renames a housing block after Nelson Mandela, April
Order of Playa Girón, Cuba, awarded by Fidel Castro
Honorary membership of National Association of Local Government Officers [NALGO] United Kingdom
London Borough of Haringey Council, names housing development after Nelson Mandela
Monument to Nelson Mandela unveiled in Merrion Square, Dublin
Elected Honorary Member of the Students Association, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
Freedom of the City of Wijnegem, Belgium
Awarded Star of International Friendship, German Democratic Republic, 27 August
Freedom of the City of Aberdeen conferred on both Nelson and Winnie Mandela, 29 November
School in German Democratic Republic named 'Nelson Mandela School'
Room at Edinburgh city chambers named in his honour
1985
Revenue Staff Federation, United Kingdom, names its Commonwealth trade union scholarship after Nelson Mandela
London Borough of Southwark names new road 'Mandela Way'
Nottingham City Council names a room in a sports centre
The Third World Prize, awarded annually by the London-based Third World Foundation for Social and Economic Studies, awarded jointly to Nelson and Winnie Mandela
Awarded freedom of the City of Hull, United Kingdom.
Awarded Degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, 3 July 1985
Freeman of Midlothian, Scotland (accepted during his October 1993 visit)
Awarded the Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize by Human Rights Institute of The Bar of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France, 29 March
Nigerian writers organisation, Writers and Journalists Against Apartheid (WAJAAP), confers title of Life Patron
Town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, renames its speakers' corner Nelson Mandela Corner, September
Freedom of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October
Honorary citizenship of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October
Diploma of Honour and Friendship from the University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October
Statue of Nelson Mandela erected in London by Greater London Council, unveiled by Oliver Tambo on 28 October
Senegal's President Abdou Diouf inaugurates Soweto Square and Nelson Mandela Avenue in the centre of Dakar, Senegal, 6 December
Awarded Doctor of Laws degree by Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, December
1986
Elected Honorary Life President of the National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa
Awarded the W.E.B. DuBois International Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Coventry City Council named new building after Mandela
Presented with the Alfonso Comin Foundation Peace Award in Barcelona, Spain
Freedom of the Borough of Islwyn, Wales, given to Winnie and Nelson Mandela
International Peace and Freedom Award by the Workers International Centre, Stockholm Sweden
Honorary Doctor of Literature, University of Calcutta
Awarded, with Winnie Mandela, the Third World Prize by the Strategic and International Studies Group of Malaysia, 5 May
Honorary Doctorate of Laws, University of Zimbabwe
Nelson Mandela Park in Leicester, England, named after Mandela
Honorary membership awarded to Winnie and Nelson Mandela by the National Union of Seamen, United Kingdom
St George's Place in Glasgow, Scotland, the location of the South African consulate is renamed Nelson Mandela Place.
Awarded the Cross of St. Andrew by Scotland.
Made Honorary Freeman of Newcastle
1987
First person to receive the Freedom of the City of Sydney, Australia, 9 January.
Honorary Degrees, Winnie and Nelson Mandela, United States Ross University School of Medicine in the Caribbean
Named Patron of Isipingo and District Football Association, Natal
Honorary Degree, University of Michigan, USA
Honorary Degree. University of Havana, Cuba
Honorary Citizen, City of Florence, Italy
Honorary Doctor of Laws, Trent University, Canada
Honorary Doctorate, Karl Marx University of the German Democratic Republic, Leipzig, 11 November
Archivo Disarmo Golden Doves for Peace International Award
Dutch football player Ruud Gullit dedicates his European Footballer of the Year award to Nelson Mandela
1988
Park in Montreal named "Parc Winnie-et-Nelson-Mandela" (Winnie's name removed in 1998)
Awarded Bremen Solidarity Prize, Federal Republic of Germany
Nelson and Winnie Mandela given honorary membership of the National Union of Teachers, United Kingdom
Awarded freedom of the City of Dublin, Ireland
Awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, by the European Parliament
Honorary Doctorate conferred, University of Carabobo, Venezuela, June
Awarded honorary degree from Western Michigan University from then-president Diether Haenicke, June
People of Lefkada, Greece, award the Medal of Peace, August
Honorary citizenship conferred by nine Greek municipalities Egaleo, Ellenikon, Glyfada, Ilioupolis, Daissariani, New Filadelfia, Nikaea, Preveza and Zogrofu
Honorary degree in Political Science awarded by the University of Bologna, Italy, 12 September
Honorary citizenship bestowed by the Town Council of the city of Bologna, Italy, September
Awarded the United Nations Human Rights Fourth Award, 10 December
Nelson Mandela Road named, New Delhi, India, 10 December
Bachelor of Laws degree, University of South Africa
1989
Augusto César Sandino Award bestowed by Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, Managua, 21 February
Freedom of the Municipality of Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. Award received on his behalf by Oliver Tambo
Awarded Peace Prize of the Tipperary Peace Committee, Ireland
Nuremberg Platz renamed "Nelson Mandela Platz", Nuremberg, Germany, June
Honorary Doctorate of Laws, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 16 June
Square in Clayes-sous-Bois, France, named "Nelson Mandela Square", September
1990
Made Honorary Life President of National Union of Mineworkers when he addressed its Central Committee, 21 April
Granted freedom of the City of Harare, Zimbabwe, March
"Mandela Day", a public holiday declared in Zimbabwe on 5 March
Awarded the Lenin Peace Prize for 1990, May. The last-ever recipient.
Bestowed the Dr António Agostinho Neto Order, the highest honour of the People's Republic of Angola, 12 May
Bestowed the award "Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria", Lagos, 14 May
Awarded the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights in Tripoli, Libya, 19 or 20 May
Honorary degree in political science by the Cairo University, Egypt, May
Bestowed Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, October
Doctorate, honoris causa, conferred by University of Malaya, November
Honorary Doctorate in law, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town, 28 November
Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Cape Town
1991
Honorary LL.D Degree conferred, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 6 September
Awarded Carter-Menil Human Rights Prize, 8 December
Awarded Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize by UNESCO
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Southern University in 1991.
Honorary Doctor of Laws, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica, July
1992
Installed as Chancellor of the University of the North (now called University of Limpopo), 25 April
Honorary LL.D Degree conferred by the University of Fort Hare, 9 May
Honorary Doctorate conferred at the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal, 30 June
Presented with the Freedom of Miami Beach Medallion of Honour, Johannesburg, 29 September
Pakistan conferred the Nishan-e-Pakistan, 3 October
Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, Oviedo, Spain, 31 October
Received the "Spirit of Liberty" award at the "People for the American Way" award ceremony, 8 November
Received the Isitwalandwe Medal from the ANC.
Awarded the Atatürk International Peace Prize by Turkey, but refused the award citing human rights violations committed by Turkey during that time, which was the denial of the existing of more than 20 million Kurds in Turkey
1993
Received Gleitsman Foundation International Activist Award, Johannesburg, 12 May
Received Philadelphia Liberty Medal. Presented by President of the United States Bill Clinton, Philadelphia, USA, 4 July
Honorary Degree conferred, Clark Atlanta University, 10 July
Received Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon, Taipei, Taiwan, 31 July
Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Soochow University, Taiwan, 1 August
Received Apostolic Humanitarian Award, Johannesburg, 15 September
Awarded J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, Washington, DC, 1 October
Received Honorary Degree from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, 8 October
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize Oslo, Norway, 10 December
Named Person of the Year by Time magazine, together with F. W. de Klerk, Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin.
1994
Received the New Nation/Engen Man of the Year Flame of Distinction award, 24 March
Elected Newsmaker of the Year, with Deputy President F W de Klerk, by the Johannesburg Press Club, 25 May. Prof Kader Asmal received the award on 29 September
Received the Hunger Project's 8th annual Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger, London, 19 July
Received Anne Frank medal for human rights and tolerance, Johannesburg, 15 August
Received Sheikh Yusuf Peace Award from the Muslim Women's Federation, 10 September
Received the Arthur A Houghton Star Crystal Award for Excellence from the African-American Institute, 6 October
Received Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award from Africare, 6 October
Honorary Doctorate, Howard University, 7 October
Received freedom of the town of Tongaat, KwaZulu-Natal, 21 October (initially granted in 1989)
Received the Olympic Gold Order from International Olympic Committee president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Cape Town, 16 November
Received Man of the Year Award from the Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Southern Africa, Johannesburg, 19 November 1994
Received the Grand'Croix degree of the National Order of the Legion of Honour of France, Paris, 28 December
Honorary Doctorate awarded by University of South Africa
Awarded the "Commonwealth Champion of Health" medal, received by South African athletes at the Commonwealth Games, Canada
1995
Africa Peace Award – sponsored jointly by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) – presented at a ceremony in Durban, March
Appointed an honorary member of the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II
"Nelson Mandela Road" to Katse, Lesotho, inaugurated, 13 July
Received Pretoria Press Club's 1994 Newsmaker of the Year Award, Pretoria, 20 July
Granted the Freedom of Uitenhage, 14 September
Awarded Honorary Fellowship of the College of Medicine of South Africa, Johannesburg, 17 October
Harvard Business School Statesman of the Year Award, 14 December
Human Rights Institute, with President Mandela as honorary chairman, launched in London by the International Bar Association, December 1995
The Wolf Award, presented in South Africa by Canadian aboriginal leaders Phil Fontaine and George Muswagon
1996
Awarded honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
Indira Gandhi Award for International Justice and Harmony bestowed. Award received by Justice Minister Dullah Omar in New Delhi, India, January
Received the World Citizenship Award of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
U Thant Peace Award bestowed by Sri Chinmoy, 29 January
Created Knight of the Order of the Elephant by the Danish Queen Margrethe II, Copenhagen, 18 February. By tradition of the order, the Knight's coat of arms is drawn on a plate and it is hung in the chapel of Frederiksborg Castle. If one hasn't a coat of arms (as was the case for Mandela), the Court heraldist composes one, with the Knight's cooperation. Mandela eventually chose the South African flag as his coat of arms to be used for this and other foreign orders. The elephant insignia that he received had previously been worn by Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.
Awarded the National Order of Mali (Grande Croix), Mali's highest decoration, Bamako, 3 March
Received the Freedom of the City of London, London, 10 July
Received the Degree of Doctor of Civil Law by Diploma of the University of Oxford and honorary degrees from the Universities of Cambridge (LLD), London (London School of Economics), Bristol, Nottingham, and Warwick (LLD) and from De Montfort and Glasgow Caledonian Universities in the garden of Buckingham Palace, 10 July A photograph of the event is available on the Glasgow Caledonian University Archives website
Received Honorary Doctorate from Pantheon-Sorbonne University, Paris, 15 July
Received Honorary Doctorate from Stellenbosch University, 25 October
Received the Freedom of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, 29 November
Awarded The Battle of Adwa and the Victory of Adwa Centenary Medal by the Crown Council of Ethiopia in 1996
1997
Mandela Family Museum opens in Soweto, 29 November
Awarded Honorary Degree by the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, 2 March
Created Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim, Stockholm, 3 February. By tradition of the order, the Knight's coat of arms is drawn on a plate and it is kept in the Hall of the Order of the Seraphim at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. If one hasn't a coat of arms, the Court heraldist composes one, with the Knight's cooperation. In this case, the Danish coat of arms was used as a starting point. By tradition, on the day of his funeral (15 December 2013), it was hung in Riddarholmen Church and the church bells rang constantly from 12:00 to 13:00 as a tribute.
Received Freedom of the City of Pietermaritzburg, 25 April
Received Freedom of the City of Bloemfontein, 16 May
Baker Avenue in Central Harare, Zimbabwe, Renamed Nelson Mandela Avenue, 19 May
Received Freedom of Boksburg, 26 June
Received Freedom of Oxford, United Kingdom, 11 July
Awarded Honorary Doctorate from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, 17 July
Awarded Honorary Doctorate by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Cape Town, 19 September
Received the American Public Health Association Presidential Citation, Pretoria, 14 October
Awarded the Collar of the Nile by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Cairo, 21 October
Received Freedom of City of Edinburgh, Scotland, 27 October
Received Freedom of City of Cape Town, 27 November
Received Honorary Degree from the University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 4 December
Multi-purpose room at Binghamton University renamed Nelson Mandela's Room
The National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda is named Mandela National Stadium, opened in 1997 with a concert by Lucky Dube.
1998
Received Honorary Doctoral Degree from the University of South Australia, University of Fort Hare, 23 April
Awarded Honorary Doctorate, University of Zululand, 30 May
Awarded the Freedom of the City and County of Cardiff, Cardiff, 16 June
Awarded the Chris Hani Award at the 10th National Congress of the South African Communist Party, Johannesburg, 1 July
Awarded Honorary Degree by the University of Mauritius, 11 September
Park in Montreal named again "Parc Nelson-Mandela", 14 September
Awarded Honorary Doctorate by Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 18 September
Awarded Congressional Gold Medal, Washington, 23 September
Appointed Honorary Companion of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada on behalf of the Queen of Canada, 24 September.
Nelson Mandela public school named in his honour in Toronto.
Presented with Award in Recognition of his Contribution to Democracy, Human Rights and Freedom by the Supreme Council of Sport in Africa, 19 November
Created a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav by the King of Norway.
1999
Received the Deutscher Medienpreis, Baden-Baden, Germany, 28 January
Awarded the Oneness-Peace Earth-Summit-Transcendence-Fragrance Award, Pretoria, 9 March
Received the Golden Medal of the City of Amsterdam, Netherlands, 10 March
Received honorary doctorate from Leiden University, Netherlands, 12 March
Awarded the Freedom of the City of Durban, Durban, 16 April
Received Honorary Doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 30 April
Received Ukraine's Highest Decoration, the First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, Cape Town, 5 May
Received Jesse Owens Global Award, Johannesburg, 21 September
Received insignia of Honour from the African Renaissance Institute, Johannesburg, 11 October
Received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Botswana, Gaborone, 14 October
Received the Baker Institute Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service at Rice University, Houston, 26 October
Awarded the Freedom of the City of Lydenburg, Lydenburg, 3 November
Appointed Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, Canberra, 9 June; presented with the insignia by Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Pretoria on 15 November.
Was among 18 included in Gallup's List of Widely Admired People of the 20th Century, from a poll conducted of the American people in December 1999.
Presented with Temple of Understanding Annual Award to Religious and Political Leaders for Outstanding Service to Humanity, Cape Town, 5 December
Presented with the Gandhi-King Award by the World Movement for Nonviolence at the World Parliament of Religions, Cape Town, 5 December
Listed as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine
Created Knight of the Dutch/Luxembourgian Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, Netherlands, 10 March
Created a Knight of the Collar of the Spanish Order of Isabella the Catholic by King Juan Carlos in 1999. Members of the order at the rank of knight and above enjoy personal nobility and have the privilege of adding a golden heraldic mantle to their coats of arms. Those at the rank of the Collar also receive the official style of "His or Her Most Excellent Lord".
Created Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Crown of Rwanda by King Kigeli V in 1999 (personal nobility, the official style "His Excellency").
2000
Honorary Juris Doctor degree from the Faculty of Law at Uppsala University, Sweden, 22 January
The Nelson Mandela National Museum is officially opened in Soweto, 11 February
Awarded honorary Doctorate of Laws by Trinity College Dublin, 11 April
Appointed honorary Queen's Counsel by Queen Elizabeth II, 3 May
Awarded SABS Gold Medal, Sandton, 10 June
BT Ethnic Multicultural Media Award, London
Received World Methodist Peace Award, London, 29 June
International Freedom Award, Memphis, Tennessee, 22 November
Elected an Honorary Member of the Bertrand Russell Society,
Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
Awarded Honorary Doctor of Letters from the Australian National University, 6 September
Awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Public Service by the American Philosophical Society
Honorary Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of São Paulo.
2001
International Gandhi Peace Prize, Presidential Palace, New Delhi, 16 March
Made an Honorary Freeman of Leeds, 30 April
Made an Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, 2 May
Awarded the first King Shaka Award in recognition of bravery, 25 July 2001
Park Public School renamed Mandela Park Public School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 17 November
Received honorary doctorate of law from Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 17 November
Granted Honorary Citizenship of Canada, 19 November
Awarded the LLD Honoris Cause from the University of the Free State
Awarded the D Tech Education Honoris Cause from the Technikon Free State
Human Rights Lifetime Achievement award by the SA Human Rights Commission, Johannesburg, 11 December
Made an Honorary Administrator For A Day at Binghamton University
2002
Awarded an honorary doctorate in law from University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 21 March
Awarded an honorary doctorate in law from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, 6 April
New hall of residence at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa named 'Nelson Mandela Hall'
Awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Ghana, 24 April
Awarded the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom Medal, Middelburg, The Netherlands, 8 June.
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award, by George W. Bush, Washington, USA, 9 July
Awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal from Canada.
Awarded the Order of Mapungubwe – Platinum Category by President Thabo Mbeki, Union Buildings, Pretoria, December 2002.
Construction begins on Mandela Parkway in Oakland, California, replacing the Cypress Street Viaduct portion of the Nimitz Freeway that was demolished by 1989's Loma Prieta earthquake.
2003
Awarded an honorary doctorate in law by the National University of Ireland, Galway, 20 June
Elected an Honorary Life member of the Literary and Debating Society, NUI, Galway.
Named a Hero of Freedom by the libertarian magazine Reason
Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree – Doctor of Letters (Honoris causa) by The Open University of Tanzania
British Red Cross Humanity Medal
2004
Sandton Square in Johannesburg, South Africa is renamed Nelson Mandela Square on 31 March with the unveiling of a 6-metre bronze statue.
Listed as one of the 100 most influential people of 2004 by Time magazine
Appointed Bailiff Grand Cross of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem
Africa Elephant Award by the Africa Scout Region
Zoologists Brent E. Hendrixson and Jason E. Bond named a South African species of trapdoor spider in the family Ctenizidae as Stasimopus mandelai, "honouring Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa and one of the great moral leaders of our time."
Presented with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Open University. The award was presented to him at his home in Cape Town by Professor Brenda Gourley The Open University's Vice-Chancellor (2002–2008) and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Natal.
2005
Amherst College honorary degree.
Listed as one of the 100 most influential people of 2005 by Time magazine
2006
New Statesman – Listed as the number 2 in the 50 "Heroes of our time".
Awarded Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award
Made an honorary member of Manchester United as the club toured South Africa in the winter of 2006
Conferred an honorary doctorate in government and politics by Universiti Teknologi Mara, the biggest public university in Malaysia, in recognition of his tireless efforts and triumph in struggling for the people's rights in his country and strengthening their socio-economy.
Awarded the Giuseppe Motta Medal for support for peace and democracy.
6 July 2006 Included in "Names on the Wall" monument to freedom fighters at Oriel Chambers, the home of the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull, Hull, UK
South African Red Cross Society Humanitarian Award
Conferred an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Massachusetts
Awarded The Ahimsa Award by the Institute of Jainology, for his Gandhian principles of non-violence in Independence, UK
2007
The Westminster City Council agreed to erect a statue of Mandela opposite the Houses of Parliament in London.
Honorary citizen of Belgrade, Serbia. "for his huge humanitarian past and contributions to mankind".
Received the Order of the Smile, Poland, 26 October.
2008
Michigan State University LLD honoris causa.
Order of Stara Planina First Class, awarded by Bulgaria (12 June 2008)
Received an honorary doctorate from Queen's University Belfast on 1 July 2008
Received the Freedom of the City of Tshwane on 13 May 2008.
2009
In July 2009, Mandela received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, presented by Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Accepting on his behalf were his daughter and grandson.
In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly announced that Mandela's birthday, 18 July, is to be known as "Mandela Day" marking his contribution to world freedom.
2010
Received Honorary Degree from Queen's University at Kingston in Ontario, Canada on 28 October.
Conferred an Honorary Doctorate Degree by six universities in the Laureate International Universities network.
Conferred an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree by Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
Received Orden del Águila Azteca. Presented by President of México Felipe Calderón, Johannesburg, South Africa, 11 June 2010.
2012
Received the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
Received the Robben Island Alumnus Award in recognition of being a UNISA Robben Island Alumnus who has sacrificed so much for the liberation of South Africa.
2013
On 10 December 2013, the amphitheatre of the Union Buildings in Pretoria was renamed the Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre.
On 16 December 2013, a bronze statue of Mandela was unveiled at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
2014
A plaque was dedicated in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium to commemorate his 1990 visit.
2015
Nelson Mandela was posthumously inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
2016
A quote of Mandela's from 1991, "I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom," is on a wall of the Contemplative Court, a space for reflection in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture; the museum opened in 2016.
2018
On 24 September 2018, Heads of State and Government and representatives of States and Governments, met at United Nations Headquarters in New York, at the "Nelson Mandela Peace Summit" to reflect on global peace, in honour of the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela and to collectively hold themselves accountable to the values and principles of the declaration drafted and agreed upon at the summit, to strive for a just, peaceful, prosperous, democratic, fair, equitable and inclusive world. The world leaders called upon their people to celebrate the richness of our diversity and the collective creativity and wisdom of our elders, and the well-being and survival of Mother Earth, and called upon their youth, artists, sports personalities, musicians and poets to breathe new life into the values and principles of the United Nations and recognize the period from 2019 to 2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace.
2019 to 2028
The UN Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, an intergovernmental honour.
Summary of orders received
Coat of arms
References
Mandela, Nelson
Nelson Mandela
Mandela
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410081
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbino
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Urbino
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Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: Urbìn) is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482.
The town, nestled on a high sloping hillside, retains much of its picturesque medieval aspect. It hosts the University of Urbino, founded in 1506, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Urbino. Its best-known architectural piece is the Palazzo Ducale, rebuilt by Luciano Laurana.
Geography
The city lies in a hilly region, at the foothills of the Northern Apennines and the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines. It is within the southern area of Montefeltro, an area classified as medium-high seismic risk. Nearly 65 seismic events have affected the town of Urbino between 1511 and 1998. They include 24 April 1741, when the shocks were stronger than VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale, with an epicenter in Fabriano (where it reached 6.08 on the moment magnitude scale).
History
Origins and Middle Ages
The originally modest Roman town of Urbinum Mataurense ("the little city on the river Mataurus") became an important strategic stronghold during the Gothic Wars of the 6th century. In 538, it was captured from the Ostrogoths by the Byzantine general Belisarius, and is frequently mentioned by the historian Procopius.
Pepin the Short (King of the Franks) presented Urbino to the Papacy in 754–56. Its commune later had some independence until around 1200, when it came into the possession of the House of Montefeltro. These noblemen had no direct authority over the commune; however, they could pressure it to elect them to the position of . Bonconte di Montefeltro obtained this title in 1213: Urbino's population rebelled and formed an alliance with the independent commune of Rimini (1228), finally regaining independence in 1234. Eventually, though, the Montefeltro noblemen took control once more, and held it until 1508. In the struggles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, when factions supported either the Papacy or the Holy Roman Empire respectively, the 13th and 14th century Montefeltro lords of Urbino were leaders of the Ghibellines of the Marche and in the Romagna region.
Period of Federico da Montefeltro
The most famous member of the Montefeltro family, Federico da Montefeltro, ruled as Duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482. He was a very successful condottiere, a skillful diplomat and an enthusiastic patron of art and literature. He rose to power in 1444 as the son of Guidantonio, after a conspiracy and the murder of the legitimate heir Oddantonio, hated for his "unbridled lust" and excessive taxes.
Federico began a reorganization of the state, which also included a restructuring of the city according to a modern conception - comfortable, efficient and beautiful.
At his court, Piero della Francesca wrote on the science of perspective, Francesco di Giorgio Martini wrote his Trattato di architettura (Treatise on Architecture) and Raphael's father, Giovanni Santi, wrote his poetical account of the chief artists of his time. Federico's brilliant court, according to the descriptions in Baldassare Castiglione's Il Cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528), set standards of what would characterize a modern European "gentleman" for centuries to come.
Cesare Borgia and the years of the Duchy Della Rovere
Cesare Borgia dispossessed Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and Elisabetta Gonzaga in 1502, with the complicity of his father, Pope Alexander VI. After the attempt of Pope Leo X to appoint a young Medici as duke, thwarted by the early death of Lorenzo II de Medici in 1519, Urbino was part of the Papal States, under the dynasty of the dukes Della Rovere (1508–1631). They moved the court to the city of Pesaro in 1523 and Urbino began a slow decline that would continue until the last decades of the seventeenth century.
Annexation by the Papal States
In 1626, Pope Urban VIII definitively incorporated the Duchy into the papal dominions, the gift of the last Della Rovere duke, in retirement after the assassination of his heir, to be governed by the archbishop. The state was ruled thereafter by a papal legate, generally belonging to high ecclesiastical hierarchy. Following the annexation of the duchy by the Papal States, the rich artistic heritage (including furniture) of the Ducal Palace went to form, for the most part, the dowry of the last direct descendant of the Della Rovere, Vittoria della Rovere, who married Ferdinand II de Medici. These works went on to form the core of the future Uffizi Gallery. Among the works that went to Florence is the diptych of the Dukes of Urbino by Piero della Francesca. Other works of the Ducal Palace were brought to Rome, such as the Barberini Ex Tables of Fra Carnevale and the famous library, absorbed entirely by the Vatican Library in 1657.
The Albani and the French occupation
The eighteenth century opened with the election to the papacy (1701) of Cardinal Giovan Francesco Albani Urbino, under the name of Clement XI. This was a windfall for the city, especially in terms of arts and culture, thanks to funding by Pope Albani and his family. Major renovations took place, such as Palazzo Albani, the town hall, the archbishop's palace, the Chapel Albani (inside the convent of St. Francis), Saint Joseph's Oratory, and the internal structure of the churches of San Francesco, San Domenico and San Agostino. In addition, due to the patronage of the pope and his family, the Duomo di Urbino received many improvements. From July 1717 to November 1718 Urbino hosted the court of James Stuart, the exiled pretender to the British throne, who had the strong backing of the papacy.
With the death of Clement XI in 1721, the city began a long decline that has continued to the present day. After the pope's death, the Albani family remained the main patron of the most significant works until the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1789, the collapse of the cathedral dome following a massive earthquake led to the total renovation of the church.
Between 1797 and 1800 the city was occupied by French troops, like much of northern and central Italy. Urbino and its territory lost many important works of art to the French, who moved objects to Paris or Milan, to the nascent galleries of the Louvre and Brera.
Redevelopment of the nineteenth century
The century opened with the consecration in 1809 of the new Duomo di Urbino, as designed by the architect Giuseppe Valadier. He also restored the city's Montefeltro-era buildings such as the old seminary, adjacent to the church of St. Sergius, now partly occupied by the Hotel Raffaello.
Following the construction of the New Palace of Alban (1831), designed by architect Peter Ghinelli, which gave rise to the present Piazza della Repubblica that went on to form the first part of the future Corso Garibaldi, the city experienced a number of urban improvements designed to change the face of the city. From the construction of the Sanzio theater (1845–53) came the final realization of Corso Garibaldi, with a covered walkway on the downhill side to that ensure theater-goers were sheltered from rain and snow on their walk to the Piazza della Repubblica, with construction that lasted until the early part of the twentieth century. In addition, another important change was the destruction, in 1868, of a part of the walls to create a customs barrier, called Porta Nuova or barrier Margherita (in honor of Princess Margaret of Savoy), which was necessitated by a new road that ran along a stretch of the walls and was connected to Corso Garibaldi. This resulted in a new urban layout with the large spit of land below the Doge's Palace incorporated into the city, called the Pincio.
These urban transformations brought about a change in access to the city. Instead of passing through narrow, winding streets, through the gates of the walls, now one could enter through the Porta Nuova in an easier and convenient way to arrive in the present Piazza della Repubblica and the Palazzo Ducale (the city center).
This urban renewal reflected many of the ideas of Fulvio Corboli but its design was largely done by the architect Vincenzo Ghinelli.
Unification of Italy
On 8 September 1860 the Piedmontese troops entered Urbino from Port Saint Lucia, forcing the surrender of the last resistance of the papal army under the portico of the childhood house of Raphael. But it was not until 29 September, with the capture of Ancona, that the total conquest of the Marche region was completed by the Piedmont army.
Between 4 and 5 November, the plebiscite was held for the annexation of the Marche to the Kingdom of Sardinia, which ended with 133,783 votes in favor, 260 votes against and 1,212 invalid ballots. In the province of Urbino (excluding the territory of Pesaro) the count was 21,111 for and 365 against with 29 invalid ballots. Subsequently, on 10 November, the Marche was included in the Statuto Albertino, and then, on 17 December, it was made official with the issuance of a royal decree.
The new government began the confiscation of various ecclesiastical goods, including good part of the convent of San Francisco (where a part of a botanical garden, designed by Vincenzo Ghinelli, was located), the monastery of Santa Chiara, that of San Girolamo, and many others.
First half of the twentieth century
The century began quietly. In addition to the artistic development from the Scuola del Libro, Urbino also began to grow as a university town, with the elevation to university faculty of nineteenth-century School of Pharmacy and the birth of the department of Education (approximately 1934). Due to these changes in the University, an increase in the student population led to housing shortages that highlighted the state of total unpreparedness of the city, so much that for the first time many students were housed in the homes of private citizens. The problem was partly solved with the establishment of the male boarding school "Raphael" at the beginning of the century, and the female boarding school "Laura Battiferri" in approximately 1926.
The fascist dictatorship left its mark on the city, especially from an architectural point of view, with a fascist elementary school "Giovanni Pascoli" (1932) built on the ancient Garden of Saint Lucia (part of the duke's private gardens), the restoration of the palace-Mauruzi Gherardi, then the seat of the court, as well as the Student House, to compensate for the shortage of accommodation as a result of the large increase in university population and housing for the maimed and disabled civilians.
In 1938, the city was designated as the headquarters for the fledgling Soprintendenza alle Gallerie e alle Opere d'Arte delle Marche, roughly translated as the Organization of Galleries and Works of Art of the Marche.
With the outbreak of World War II the city suffered no bombing, thanks to the large red cross painted on the roof of the Ducal Palace and an agreement between the Germans and the Allies. Only towards the end of the war did the retreating German troops try to destroy all the ramparts of the walls, but luckily the mines were tampered with by the workers the Germans had hired from Urbino. During the Second World War, the then Superintendent of the Galleries and Works of Art in Urbino in the Marche Pasquale Rotondi secretly placed around 10,000 priceless works (including those of Giorgione, Piero della Francesca, Paolo Uccello, Titian, Mantegna, Raphael and many more, from all the major museums in Italy) that were being stolen by the Nazis into the Rock of Sassocorvaro. His actions gained worldwide recognition and to this day the Rock of Sassocorvaro is known as the "Ark of Art".
Urbino was liberated from the Nazi occupation on 28 August 1944, thanks to the British V Corps, Polish troops, and the heroic actions of partisan groups in the area. Some of the members of these partisan groups were captured by the Nazis and executed on the current Punto Panoramica, where memorials are now placed celebrating their sacrifice.
Urbino and De Carlo
The second half of the twentieth century was characterized in Urbino by the cooperation with the major public institutions (the University and the City) by the architect Giancarlo De Carlo. This relationship began in 1956 when Carlo Bo, former rector of the University, commissioned from De Carlo the internal renovation project of Montefeltro- Bonaventure building, headquarters of the University. Immediately after that, the Genoese architect was commissioned by the City to prepare the General Plan (1958–64) aimed at the recovery of the historical center, which had been in poor condition and was in danger of losing several neighborhoods including the Palazzo Ducale to the land subsidence below. This problem was solved thanks to state funding derived from two special laws enacted for the city (in 1968 and in 1982 ).
Subsequently, De Carlo realized several projects for the university including the college's dormitories, near the Capuchin church outside the city center, an interesting example of how architecture can merge with the surrounding landscape. He also completed projects like the construction of the department of Magisterium (1968–76), the restructuring of the department of Law ( 1966–68 ) and the Battiferri building (1986–99) for the department of Economics. They are three significant examples of the inclusion of a contemporary architecture in an ancient surrounding, and are still studied today.
The seventies were marked by a collaboration with the Municipality for a project called Operation Mercatale (1969–72), which included the construction of a multi-story underground car park under Torricini's famous Ducal Palace and the restoration of the helical ramp under the theater by Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1971–75), in collaboration with the City. They also developed the project of renovation of the Sanzio theater (1977–82) and the renovation project, much discussed, of the ancient Ducal Stables. In addition, thanks to the close relationship with De Carlo, the city has hosted twice (1976–81, and 1992–93) the laboratories of the ILAUD, founded and directed by the Genoese architect.
One of the last of De Carlo actions was the preparation, between 1989 and 1994, of the New General Plan.
Maiolica
The clay earth of Urbino, which still supports industrial brickworks, supplied a cluster of earthenware manufactories (botteghe) making the tin-glazed pottery known as maiolica. Simple local wares were being made in the 15th century at Urbino, but after 1520 the Della Rovere dukes, Francesco Maria I della Rovere and his successor Guidobaldo II, encouraged the industry, which exported wares throughout Italy, first in a manner called istoriato using engravings after Mannerist painters, then in a style of light arabesques and grottesche after the manner of Raphael's stanze at the Vatican. Other centers of 16th century wares in the Duchy of Urbino were at Gubbio and Castel Durante. The great name in Urbino majolica was that of Nicolo Pillipario's son Guido Fontana.
Main attractions
Palaces and public buildings
The main attraction of Urbino is the Palazzo Ducale, begun in the second half of the 15th century by Federico II da Montefeltro. It houses the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, one of the most important collections of Renaissance paintings in the world.
Other buildings include Palazzo Albani (17th century), Palazzo Odasi and Palazzo Passionei.
The Albornoz Fortress (known locally as La Fortezza), built by the eponymous Papal legate in the 14th century. In 1507-1511, when the Della Rovere added a new series of walls to the city, the rock was enclosed in them. It is now a public park.
Raphael's house and monument (1897).
Churches
Duomo: the Cathedral of Urbino was founded in 1021 atop a 6th-century religious edifice. Federico II commissioned the design from the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini, who also designed the Ducal Palace. Finished in 1604, the Duomo had a simple plan with a nave and two aisles, and was destroyed by an earthquake in 1789. The church was rebuilt in Neoclassic style by the architect Giuseppe Valadier, with work completed in 1801. The new church has a soaring dome, and houses a St Sebastian (1557), an Assumption (1701) by Maratta, and a famous Last Supper (1603–1608) by Federico Barocci.
Sant'Agostino: the church was built in 13th-century Romanesque style, but largely modified in following centuries. The façade has a late-14th century almond portal in Gothic-Romanesque style, while the interior is greatly decorated. It houses a carved choir from the 16th century, created for the marriage of Costanzo Sforza and Camilla of Aragona. The bell tower is from the 15th century.
San Francesco: This 14th-century church was originally a Gothic-Romanesque edifice, but an 18th-century restoration has left only the portico and the bell tower. The interior has a nave and two aisles, and houses the Pardon of St Francis, a 15th-century work by Barocci.
Oratory of San Giovanni Battista: the oratory has 15th-century frescoes by Lorenzo Salimbeni
Oratory of San Giuseppe (early 16th century), composed of two chapels: one of which contains a 16th-century stucco presepio or Nativity scene by Federico Brandani with highly naturalistic, life-size figures.
San Bernardino: church outside the city center, housing the tombs of the Dukes of Urbino.
Other points of interest
Orto Botanico "Pierina Scaramella", a botanical garden.
University of Urbino, housed in various old and new buildings within the city centre.
Notable people
Battista Malatesta (1384–1448), Renaissance poet
Bernardino Baldi, mathematician and writer
Clorinda Corradi, opera singer (1804–77)
Crispino Agostinucci, bishop of Montefeltro
Donato Bramante. He was born nearby, and witnessed Laurana's work going up while he was a youth.
Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino (1471–1526)
Federico Barocci, painter
Federico III da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, medieval condottiere and patron of the arts
Federico Zuccari and Taddeo Zuccari, painters. They were born nearby.
Fernando Aiuti (1935–2019), immunologist
Francesco Puccinotti (1794–1872), pathologist
Giovanni Francesco Albani, Pope Clement XI
Giovanni Pelingotto (1240–1304), Catholic, Secular Franciscan Order member
Giovanni Santi, painter and poet, father of Raphael. He was born nearby.
Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. He commissioned the Venus of Urbino painting.
Marica Branchesi, astrophysicist
Muzio Oddi (1569–1639), mathematician, architect, military engineer and writer
Ottaviano Petrucci, inventor of the music print with movable type. He was born nearby.
Paolo Volponi (1924–94), writer and poet
Polydore Vergil or Virgil, chronicler in England
Raffaello Carboni, writer
Raphael Gualazzi, jazz pianist and singer, runner-up in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest
Raphael, painter. His family's house is a museum-shrine.
Stefano Sensi, association football player
Umberto Piersanti, poet and writer
Valentino Rossi, multiple MotoGP World Champion
See also
Archdiocese of Urbino-Urbania-Sant'Angelo in Vado
Dukes of Urbino
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
Official website of Urbino
Urbino e Provincia
A short illustrated history of Urbino (with aerial photos shot from a kite)
Capitals of former nations
Cities and towns in the Marche
Hilltowns in the Marche
Renaissance architecture in le Marche
World Heritage Sites in Italy
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410112
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buz%C4%83u
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Buzău
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The city of Buzău (formerly spelled Buzeu or Buzĕu; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain.
Buzău is a railway hub in south-eastern Romania, where railways that link Bucharest to Moldavia and Transylvania to the Black Sea coast meet. DN2, a segment of European route E85 crosses the city. Buzău's proximity to trade routes helped it develop its role as a commerce hub in older days, and as an industrial centre during the 20th century.
During the Middle Ages, Buzău was a market town and Eastern Orthodox episcopal see in Wallachia. It faced a period of repeated destruction during the 17th and 18th centuries, nowadays symbolized on the city seal by the Phoenix bird. In the 19th century, after the end of that era, the city began to recover. The economy underwent industrialization, Buzău became a railway hub, and public education became available. At this time, the Communal Palace, the city's landmark building, and Crâng Park, the main recreational area, were built. The communist regime after World War II brought forced industrialization and the tripling of the city's population. Some of the factories open at the time are still functioning within the framework of market economy.
There are no universities based in Buzău, and only a few universities from other cities have remote learning facilities here. The main educational institutions here are B.P. Hasdeu high-school (where Nobel laureate George Emil Palade studied) and Mihai Eminescu high-school. The city has a number of other secondary schools, in addition to elementary schools. The Vasile Voiculescu County Library and Buzău County Museum are based in the city. The latter also manages an ethnography exhibit in the city, as well as the Vasile Voiculescu memorial house in Pârscov and the amber exhibit at Colți.
Etymology
The city is named after the nearby river. In turn, the river is mentioned under the name (Mouseos) in a document written in Greek and dated 376 AD, recounting the martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth. Historian Vasile Pârvan thought that this name is a Greek misspelling of the Thracian word Bouzeos (by losing a π from the Μπ group, which is pronounced like a Latin B). He suggested that the name comes from the Thracian root Buzes, with the addition of the -eu suffix, a form of the Greek-Latin suffix -aios.
History
The written history of the city begins with that of Wallachia. It was certified as a market town and customs point during the reign of Dan II. Archeological sites belonging to Gumelnița and Monteoru cultures prove the presence of human inhabitants before the Christian era. During the Middle Ages, there was also a fortress of Buzău, but only a few passing mentions in foreign documents are kept. The market that was already flourishing in 1431, has also become an Orthodox episcopal see in the early 16th century.
In the 17th century, an era of war and foreign invasions began, that affected the town and its surroundings. They began with Michael the Brave's participation in the Long Turkish War and ended with the Wallachian uprising of 1821. Natural disasters (epidemics, earthquakes) also took their toll, leading to destruction and depopulation of Buzău. However, the inhabitants always returned and rebuilt the city, which led early 18th century local authorities to use the Phoenix bird on the city seal, as a symbol of rebirth.
The 19th century brought a time of cultural and economical development. The Communal Palace, the city's main landmark, was built at the time, after the city developed its industry and became a railway hub in the 1870s. Schools were open, such as the Theological Seminary în 1836, and the B. P. Hasdeu high school in 1867, and theatre plays were produced (starting 1852): the "Moldavia" theatre house was built in 1898 and used throughout the first half of the 20th century as the main concert and theatre hall, where artists such as George Enescu, C. I. Nottara and Nicolae Leonard performed. For short periods of time, Ion Luca Caragiale and Constantin Brâncuși have lived and worked here.
During World War I, Buzău came under German occupation after mid-December 1916, and many inhabitants took refuge in the nearby villages or in Western Moldavia. The city resumed its development after the war. The interbellum brought about the first sport matches (association football and boxing) and the "Metalurgica" factory, a private business that was to be later confiscated by the communists, and continues to this day as part of a joined venture.
After World War II, the industrialization of Buzău was forcefully accelerated, and its population tripled in less than 50 years; new inhabitants were brought to work in newly built factories mainly in the south of the city. Buzău has profoundly changed its appearance, working class quarters being built instead of the old commercial streets, some historical buildings, such as the Moldavia Theatre, were demolished. Their cultural role was taken over by the Labor Unions' Cultural Center and then by "Dacia" Cinema.
In 2021, there was a project, known as "Buzău Mare 2021" ("Greater Buzău 2021"), that aimed to unite Buzău with the commune of Țintești. On 26 September 2021, a referendum was done to decide this, but as only 10.03% of the population of Buzău voted, which is below the legal threshold requiring a voter turnout of 30%, the results were considered null and Țintești and Buzău were left separate.
Historical buildings
Eight historical monuments classified as having national importance exist in Buzău: the church of the Birth of Christ (1649, also known colloquially as the "Greeks' church" or the "Merchants' church") along with its belfry; the courthouse (20th century); the church of the Annunciation from the former Banu monastery (16th century); the church of the Dormition in Broșteni district, (1709, along with the belfry erected in 1914); the headquarters of the orthodox bishopric with the church of the Dormition (1649), the chapel (1841), the episcopal palace (17th century), the old seminary (1838), the chancellery (19th century), gate belfry and the compound wall (18th century); the Vergu-Mănăilă mansion (18th century, which currently hosts the ethnography exhibit of the County Museum); Vasile Voiculescu County Library (1914); and the Communal Palace (city hall, 1899–1903).
One public forum monument and twelve memorial monuments are included in the list of historical monuments in Buzău County with local importance, including the urban area of Cuza Vodă street (19th century) in the old town, Crâng park, the Albatros Villa (that used to belong to Alexandru Marghiloman) and the park, the Jewish temple, the buildings of B.P. Hasdeu and Mihai Eminescu high-schools, a house where Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu lived for a few years, and some of the tombs in Dumbrava cemetery, such as one that was originally decorated with the statue "Prayer" by Constantin Brâncuși (nowadays replaced by a replica).
Geography
The city is located in the center of the county, 100 km north-east of Bucharest, in the south-east of Romania, taking up a total area of 81,3 km2, at the outermost curvature of the Subcarpathian foothills, at the crossroads of the three main Romanian historical provinces: Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia. It is entirely placed on the right bank of Buzău river, which forms its northern limit. The shape of the city is oblong, longer along the river and shorter across. It reaches altitudes of 101 meters in the north-west, near the foothills, going down to 88 meters on the riverbank, while the average altitude of 95 meters is the same as the altitude of Dacia square, in the city center. Thus, Buzău is placed in a flat area, with a height difference of just 10 meters along a 4-kilometer line.
Waterways
Buzău river is the northern limit of the city. This river has created an underground basin that it permanently fuels with water. These underground waters are a main source of drinking water, and their excess overflows to a marshy wetland south of the city, in the neighboring communes Costești, Stâlpu, and Țintești, with small but steady springs, that ultimately form the Călmățui river.
Climate
Annual rainfall is circa 500 mm and in winter the snow cover can be as high as 30 cm. Buzău river has a fluctuating flow. Especially in spring, when it collects melted snow from the mountain area, its level rises. The city was, however, built away from its deep and wide valley, so the river never floods the city. Even at the major floods of 2005, the waters caused no problem in the city proper, but it seriously damaged both bridges across it located in the city, which is also protected by levees, and by the small Cândești dam, north-west of Buzău. The local authorities consider, however, that their strategy of defense against flood does not adequately cover the city's belt road, part of DN2, which follows the river for a short stretch.
The climate is humid continental, with an average 92 freezing days a year (16 with temperatures below −10 °C), but also with 92 days of hot summer. Local winds include the Crivăț, a cold north-easterly and sometimes easterly wind in winter, and the Austru, a south-westerly wind that brings dry air in summer and leads to warmer days in winter.
Flora and fauna
The flora of Buzău is more diverse in the western forest of Crâng, 189 ha of oak forest, a remainder of the ancient Codrii Vlăsiei. The Crâng park itself takes up 10 hectares of this forest and makes up the main green area of Buzău. It is not designated as a protected area itself, but a few species of plants are protected inside it, such as the fritillaria meleagris and iris brandzae. In the neighboring communes of Țintești and Costești there are other remainders of Codrii Vlăsiei Frasinu and Spătaru forests, respectively. In the yard of the building at the intersection of Crizantemelor and Tudor Vladimirescu streets, across the street from the park in front of B. P. Hasdeu high school and the Banu church, there is a century-old oak, locally protected as a monument of nature. 6% of the Lunca Buzăului protected area, a Natura 2000 site managed by the Ecological University of Bucharest, lies within city limits, in the north and east.
Most of the streets in Buzău have trees planted alongside, chestnut on Nicolae Bălcescu boulevard and linden on Unirii boulevard. In their gardens, the locals grow roses, hyacinths, tulips, local peonies, and petunia, as well as grapevines and Virginia creepers for shade. The wild fauna in Buzău is made up of city-dwelling species. The house sparrow and the collared dove are ubiquitous, and the most present small mammals are the wild polecat and the brown rat. Lakes are populated with small fish, such as bitterlings and eel, as well as snails and green lizards.
During the migration season, a parliament of short-eared owls has made a habit of spending a few days in some tall fir trees located in the yard of the Forestry Inspector's Office in the city center. Experimental crops from the city's Research and Development Station for Olericulture sometimes attract wild boars from the riverside forests.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, the city has inhabitants, a decrease from the previous census, in 2002, when had been recorded. Most inhabitants are Romanians (88.43%), with a Roma minority (4.73%). Ethnic affiliation is unknown for 6.69% of the population. Most inhabitants practice Orthodox Christianity (91.98%). Religious affiliation is unknown for 6.75% of the population.
Ethnic communities
The main ethnic minority in the city are the Roma. Throughout history, other communities have existed in Buzău, but nowadays they are nearly extinct. Those that left their mark the most on the city were the Jewish people and the Bulgarians.
Roma
Settled after the 16th century by the Orthodox bishopric on its estate located north-west of the market town of Buzău, in Simileasca and Iorguleasca villages, Roma people have lived as slaves who worked on the bishopric's land. After they were freed in the 19th century and, with the union between Wallachia and Moldavia, the new country got a new territorial division, Simileasca became a commune. In 1968, this commune was dissolved and integrated with Buzău. The Roma community is still located mostly in this part of the city, and it preserves its identity, although its leaders believe that Roma people in other parts of the city, who no longer speak their people's language, accept assimilation by the majority Romanians, and declare themselves Romanian at the census. The community is faced with endemic poverty, high illiteracy, lack of professional qualifications and high school dropout rates, which all expose it to permanently being manipulated by politicians for elections. Many Roma people went abroad, especially in the countries of Northern Europe. The municipality also runs programs to improve theirs status, and School no. 14, located in Simileasca, is the main focus of these actions. Pupils of this school publish a bilingual school newspaper, in Romani and Romanian, which promotes Roma integration into society.
Jews
Although mentioned in documents as early as the 16th century, the Jews of Buzău became an especially important community starting with the cultural and economical development period of the 19th century. A large proportion of them were merchants and craftsmen. The Jewish cemetery appeared in 1853 and a temple dates from 1885. Between the two World Wars, 10% of the population of Buzău was Jewish, a large percentage compared to other cities in Wallachia, but significantly smaller than those in Moldavia, which saved the community from the brunt of the repression by Antonescu's government. Still, during World War II, the Jews had to endure some persecutions: obligated to do compulsory work (authorities abused of the law, and extended the age of the people who had to do this work, as well as the body of the work itself), and to pay 15 million lei (four times the tax) for "The Reunification Loan"; certain types of objects were confiscated from them and special restrictions were imposed. The community had to host orphans whose parents were murdered in the Holocaust, before they were deported to Transnistria. During these persecutions, the Jewish community was defended by captains Stroie and Ionescu, by the Scânteie and Stahu families, and by Anghel Anuțoiu from Vrancea, a man who informed members of the community of upcoming Nazi raids, saving many lives, including that of Rabbi Simon Bercovich, whom he aided to leave the city and go into hiding. After the war, most Jews of the city moved to Israel, and left behind a Jewish community of only a few tens of people. Some of the personalities of the Jewish community in Buzău were painter Margareta Sterian and philosopher Ludwig Grunberg.
Bulgarians ("Serbs")
In the 18th century, to avoid Ottoman repression against Christians in the Balkans, groups of Bulgarians settled in Wallachia where they enjoyed freedom to practice Christianity; some of these groups came to Buzău. The locals called them "Serbs" as a generic term for South-Slavs. The new immigrants soon started developing vegetable gardens as their houses were in the vicinity of the river that provided them with plenty of water, while local farmers were focusing more on raising livestock and growing cereals. Although the Bulgarian community was in time assimilated by the Romanians, to this day locals use the word "Serb" as a synonym to "one who grows vegetables".
Government
Buzău is administered by a mayor and a local council consisting of 23 councillors. The mayor, Constantin Toma, of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), has been in office since 2016. After the 2020 local elections, the local council has the following political makeup:
Buzău is not subdivided into any lower units, but local authorities guide their projects and strategies according to an informal division by districts. In Strategia 2014–2020, a strategical document of the mayor's office, the following districts of Buzău were identified: Center, Micro 12/Indepenedenței, Marghiloman, Dorobanți, Nicolae Bălcescu, Simileasca, Micro 14, Poștă, Mihai Viteazul, Pod Horticolei, Luceafărul, Broșteni and the Industrial Zone.
Buzău takes on the administrative role of capital of Buzău County, therefore almost all county-level public services are headquartered there. Additionally, at national level, Buzău is the headquarters of the 2nd Infantry Division (Getica; former 2nd Romanian Army), one of the three divisions that make up the Romanian Land Forces, as well as three battalions under its command one of engineers, one of signals, and one of logistics. Near the city, in the village of Boboc, there is a military aviation school.
The highest court functioning in the city is the Buzău Tribunal, with authority over the entire county. The jurisdiction of the Tribunal covers all the four local courts (judecătorii) in the county, of which Buzău Local Court is in the city and takes cases related to Buzău and 34 surrounding communes, the largest jurisdiction of the four. The higher court to all these is the Court of Appeals in Ploiești.
In the Romanian Parliament, Buzău elects deputies on the lists associated with Buzău County. Of the seven deputies elected in 2016 on these lists, six (social democrats Marcel Ciolacu, Ionela Viorela Dobrică, Sorin Lazăr, Dănuț Păle, Nicolaie-Sebastian-Valentin Radu; and Adrian Mocanu from the People's Movement Party) have their office in Buzău, while only the liberal Cristinel Romanescu has his in Râmnicu Sărat.
In the late 19th century, local statesman Alexandru Marghiloman, owner of a large estate and a mansion near the city, became prominent. Germanofile, Marghiloman was prime minister around the end of World War I, when Romania was compelled to sign the Treaty of Bucharest of 1918 and began the process of integrating Bessarabia, which had proclaimed its union with Romania in mid-April of that year. Another known contemporary politician from Buzău is Cătălin Predoiu; initially, an independent Minister of Justice in the government of Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, Predoiu became a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), after which he quit in 2008 to continue as minister, and in 2013 has attempted to obtain the presidential nomination of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) for the next year's election; eventually, that party merged with the PNL, who nominated Klaus Iohannis, and Predoiu became shadow prime-minister.
Economy
Economic history
During the Middle Ages, Buzău's economy was based on trade, as the market town began as a customs and exchange point, and developed due to its position at the curvature of the Carpathians, in a place where roads that connected Wallachia to Moldavia and Transylvania met. The old market town tradition is still preserved in the Drăgaica fair, held every June around Midsummer, bringing together small producers and merchants from diverse regions of Romania.
The agricultural reform during Alexandru Ioan Cuza led some of the Bulgarian gardeners to rent in 1897 și 1898 some land acquired by the state from the bishopric. The developed a distribution network for their produce both in Buzău, and in other nearby cities such as Brașov, Ploiești, or Râmnicu Sărat. Their activity became even more lucrative after the land reform of 1921.
After the period of repeated invasions and destruction ended in the 19th century, the economy began to industrialize as well. Towards the end of that century, the development of a Romanian railway network made Buzău one of its important hubs and pushed the small craftsmen's shops to evolve into industrial installations. The first such facility was the Garoflid mill, open in 1883, that worked also as a cloth factory. În 1894, an oil refinery of the Saturn society was built; this refinery was to function for 50 years.
After a dramatic nationwide decrease caused by the First World War (the 1919 output was a quarter of the one in 1913), the industrial development picked up steam during the interbellum. One of the main components of the local industry was milling. The first industrial mill in the city, Garoflid, renamed Zangopol after its new owner, had reached a capital of 5 million lei in 1928 and, 30 de million in 1938, while the company that operated it had around 100 employees. Another business started at this time was Metalurgica și Turnătorie – S.A. (Metallurgy and Foundry), founded in 1928 with a capital of over 9 million lei. Although it had an initially difficult period, as it was closed during the Great Depression, it was reopened in 1933, only to be closed again in 1940 and 1944, during World War II.
After World War II, on 11 June 1948 all factories were requisitioned by the Communist government, who also began a program of forced industrialization, even though some of the industries that were being developed were unfit to the region. In 1965, the 318 ha Buzău South industrial platform began to be built around the old location of the Saturn refinery, blown up during the war. It was the location of the city's most important factories that were developed at the time: the Steel Wire and Steel Wire Products Enterprise (after 1990, Ductil), the Railway Machinery Enterprise (after 1990, Apcarom), Metalurgica (the one founded in 1928), the Glass and Windows Factory (after 1991, Gerom S.A.).
Other facilities were located in other parts of the city, such as the Contactors Enterprise, in the north-east, and the Plastic Works (after 1990, Romcarbon S.A.) in the north.
Despite the forced industrialization, Buzău was spared from becoming dependent on a single industry, and there was no single point of failure for the city's economy. According to the new law of commerce of 1990, that came after the fall of Communism, these factories were organised as state-owned companies, and were privatised. Most of them survived the transition to a market economy, as many of them thus became viable.
Present economy
Currently, the largest Buzău-based company is Romet, a holding company made up of multiple firms that produse isolation materials for water and gas pipes, water filters, fire extinguishers and other related products. It was successful in the 1990s, with the Aquator home water purifier. In 1999, it also acquired Aromet S.A., the company that operated the 1928 Metalurgica factory.
Other Buzău-based companies were privatised by programs supervised by the World Bank. Apcarom S.A., the only Romanian producer of railway equipments, was acquired by the Austrian company VAE, and in 2008 had a capital of 7.38 million lei. Ductil S.A., one of the largest companies in the city, was privatised in 1999 and divided subsequently, during 1999–2000 by the new majority shareholder, FRO Spa, who only kept the electrodes and welding equipment facilities, and sold out the others. The steel wire, welded metal net, concrete and iron works became Ductil Steel S.A. and passed to the Italian company Sidersipe. The iron powder works became Ductil Iron Powder. In 2007, FRO Spa sold Ductil S.A. to the Russian company Mechel, for 90 million euro. Zahărul S.A., the town's sugar producer, was acquired by Agrana România, an Austrian-based group that also owned other sugar factories in Roman, a starch factory in Țăndărei and a juice facility in Vaslui.
Milling is still present on the local market: the largest local producer is Boromir Prod, controlled by businessman Constantin Boromiz, owner of the Boromir group, who also owns Boromir Ind Vâlcea, Panmed Mediaș and Comcereal Sibiu.
The economy is still more oriented towards industry rather than services, which, according to a 2016 survey of the World Bank, made it more attractive to the labor force of lower qualification (at best with a high school degree). The same survey showed that most of the labor force in the city came from within the county, as Buzău is the center of a highly rural, compact and densely populated area. The city was found to be in competition with larger cities for the labor force from other counties, a feature it shares with Alexandria. The proximity of Bucharest makes Buzău itself a source of internal migration, thus orbiting the capital city. Buzău is the second city (closely after Ploiești, a city with almost double the population), by the number of employees in Bucharest coming from other cities between 1991 and 2011; the survey points out that this has been a disadvantage, but might become an opportunity in the future.
Transport
Rail
Buzău is one of the main hubs of Romanian Railways, as it connects Bucharest and Ploiești with Focșani, Galați and Constanța. The city railway station was open in 1872, along with the Bucharest-Galați railway.
A branch of this railway, from Buzău to Mărășești was opened a few years later, on 13 June 1881, and it was the first railway designed by Romanian engineers.
The Buzău-Nehoiașu line, open in 1908, connects Buzău to the smaller towns and villages along the Buzău River valley, including Nehoiu and Pătârlagele.
Road
Buzău is crossed by national road DN2 (part of European route E85), which connects the city to Bucharest to the south and to Râmnicu Sărat and the main cities of Western Moldavia to the north. National road DN1B (European Route E577) branches out of DN2 in Buzău. This road connects the city to Ploiești. In the north of the city, DN10 also branches from DN2. It crosses the Carpathians at their south-eastern curvature through Buzău Pass towards Brașov. The south of Buzău is also crossed by national road DN2B, which branches from DN2 în the neighboring commune of Costești, leading eastward to Galați and Brăila. In Buzău, county road DJ203D branches from DN2B. It leads south to Țintești and Smeeni, where it ends in DN2C, a road along which it helps connect Buzău to Slobozia.
In the Buzău city area, the only functional road bridge over Buzău River is the one crossing with DN2 to Mărăcineni. There is another road bridge, connecting the city to Vadu Pașii, near the railway bridge. It was however closed after it was destroyed by a flash flood in 2005, and repairs kept being postponed, which had an impact on the economy of the neighboring communes in the north-east of the city, as it remains used only by pedestrians and cyclists. Works began in the fall of 2017.
Two main bust stations, one in the north and one in the south next to the railway station, as well a few other secondary bus stops, are used by private transportation companies that operate services to other cities or nearby villages.
Air
Buzău has no civil airport. The only air transport infrastructure present in the city is the military airport and heliport south-west of the city, but it is used only by emergency sanitary flights. Civil air traffic for Buzău is performed through Henri Coandă International Airport in Otopeni, 110 km away, the main air hub for Wallachia.
Public transportation
10 bus lines connect residential areas to industrial areas (including Buzău South industrial platform), the city center and the railway station. There are a few taxi companies licensed by the city also operating in the surrounding villages.
Education and culture
The first school in Buzău was the school for church and icon painters, opened by Chesarie Căpățână, the bishop of Buzău. The school functioned at the bishopric of Buzău, and was managed by Nicolae Teodorescu. Gheorghe Tattarescu started learning painting here.
The city's most important educational landmark is the Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College, attended by the Nobel prize winner George Emil Palade in his youth. The Hasdeu high school was inaugurated in 1867.
The city's public library was opened in 1893, under the name of Carol I Public Library. Later it took the name of Vasile Voiculescu, Buzău's most prominent author, writer, and poet.
The George Ciprian stage theatre was created in 1996. It does not have an acting crew of its own, relying on contracts. Its first manager was playwright Paul Ioachim.
The first university in the city was the Economic University College, inaugurated in 1992, a branch of the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest.
The main museum in Buzău is the Buzău County Museum, which exhibits items related to the region's history. The same museum oversees the ethnography exhibition at the Vergu-Mănăilă House, as well as the Amber Museum in Colți and the Vasile Voiculescu Memorial House in Pârscov.
People from Buzău
Gabriel Andreescu, human rights activist and political scientist
Ion Băieșu, playwright
Constantin Budeanu, electrical engineer
Vasile Cârlova, poet
Marcel Ciolacu, politician
George Ciprian, actor, playwright
Constantin C. Giurescu, historian
Ștefan Gușă, Romanian Army general
Paul Ioachim, actor, playwright
Mico Kaufman, sculptor
Alexandru Marghiloman, statesman, Prime Minister of Romania
Mihaela Runceanu, pop singer
Radu G. Vlădescu, professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest, member of the Romanian Academy and correspondent member of the French Academy
Vasile Voiculescu, poet, writer, playwright
Prominent mayors
Nicu Constantinescu
Twin towns – sister cities
Buzău is twinned with:
Oudenaarde, Belgium, since 1999
Agios Dimitrios, Greece, since 2006
Soroca, Moldova, since 2012
Ialoveni, Moldova, since 2022
Strășeni, Moldova, since 2022
Notes
References
Populated places in Buzău County
Cities in Romania
Capitals of Romanian counties
Localities in Muntenia
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark%20Udall
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Mark Udall
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Mark Emery Udall ( ; born July 18, 1950) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing . Prior to being elected to Congress, he represented parts of Boulder, Colorado in the Colorado House of Representatives.
Throughout his career he has proposed legislation to support renewable energy, expand national parks and protect natural resources. Born in Tucson, Arizona, he is the son of former U.S. Representative Mo Udall and the nephew of former U.S. Representative Stewart Udall. A member of the Udall family, a western American political family, his relatives include New Mexico's Tom Udall and Utah's Mike Lee. Udall ran for reelection in 2014 to a second term in the U.S. Senate, but was narrowly defeated by Republican challenger Cory Gardner.
Early life and education
Mark Udall was born in Tucson, Arizona, to Patricia J. (née Emery) and Morris "Mo" Udall, the U.S. representative for from 1961 to 1991, and candidate for the 1976 Democratic nomination for President. Udall attended and graduated from Canyon del Oro High School in 1968, where he was elected student body president. Udall won the Arizona State Golf Championship Boy's division in 1968.
Udall later graduated from Williams College in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts in American civilization. In 1976 Udall worked as a field coordinator for his father's campaign to win the Democratic nomination against Jimmy Carter.
After college, Udall moved to Colorado and began his career with Outward Bound, a non-profit outdoor education organization. For ten years Udall worked as a course instructor, in which he would bring patrons on outdoor expeditions. During his career in Outdoor Adventure Education he also was an instructor at DoDDS's Project Bold, located at the Hinterbrand Lodge in Berchtesgaden, Germany. Afterward, Udall served as Outward Bound's Executive Director for ten years, after which Udall decided to retire, completing his twenty-year career with Outward Bound.
Colorado House of Representatives
In 1996, Udall was encouraged to run for the Colorado House of Representatives by Peggy Lamm of the 13th district, who had decided to retire. After running a grassroots campaign in the swing district, Udall narrowly defeated Republican Drew Bolin to represent the Longmont and Boulder district. During his two years in office, Udall served on the Judiciary and Agriculture Livestock & Natural Resources Committees.
While in the Colorado House, Udall proposed legislation titled "Renewable Electricity Standard." It would have required at least 10% of energy consumed in Colorado to be provided by renewable sources rather than fossil fuels. The bill died in committee. Udall chose not to run for re-election, instead decided to run for the United States Congress. He was succeeded by fellow Democrat, Tom Plant.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
After one term in the Colorado House of Representatives, Udall opted to run for Colorado's 2nd congressional district, which was being vacated by incumbent David Skaggs. In the primary, Udall had four opponents: Gene Nichol, Paul Weissmann, and Dave Thomas. He won with 44% of the vote, defeating his closest opponent Nichol by 7 percentage points. He faced the Republican nominee, Boulder, Colorado Mayor Bob Greenlee in the general election. The race was unexpectedly close, with Udall narrowly winning, 49-47%. Udall was consecutively elected to five terms in the House, without major opposition. He was eventually succeeded by Jared Polis, after he decided to run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Wayne Allard.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2004
In 2004, Udall announced his candidacy for the Senate seat which was being vacated by Ben Nighthorse Campbell. However, the following day, Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar announced his candidacy as well. Udall bowed out of the race and endorsed Salazar.
2008
On January 15, 2007, incumbent Senator Wayne Allard announced he would not run for a third term. In April 2007, Udall announced his campaign for the Senate. Udall became the Democratic nominee for the race after running unopposed in the primary. In the general election, Udall faced former U.S. Representative Republican Bob Schaffer. By August 28, 2008, over $10 million had been spent on attack ads against Udall by political parties and political action committees, an amount higher than in any other Senate race that year.
The race was especially competitive, with Democrats wanting to expand their majority as much as possible due to that year's presidential election. While both CQ Politics and The Rothenberg Political Report estimated Udall would win, and The Cook Political Report considered it a 'Toss Up,' Udall maintained a steady lead in the polls, but with neither candidate usually topping 50%. Udall described the race as "the toughest climb I've ever taken." On November 4, Udall won the election with 52% of the vote.
2014
On January 7, 2013, Udall announced he was running for re-election. Udall was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and faced Republican U.S. Representative Cory Gardner in the general election. Although Udall was heavily favored in early polls, around September, Gardner gained and held a steady lead thereafter.
Udall's re-election campaign focused on reproductive and women's rights. Throughout, Udall attacked Gardner for his former support of a fetal personhood initiative, and claimed in ads that Gardner "championed an eight-year crusade to outlaw birth control here in Colorado." PolitiFact.com rated his claim "half-true," saying that it "leaves out important details." On MSNBC's The Last Word, Alex Wagner attributed Udall's trailing poll numbers to his "focus on reproductive rights." Due to his campaign's emphasis on these issues, Udall was ridiculed as "Mark Uterus." In an October 2014 Denver Post endorsement of his opponent, the editorial board stated that "Udall's campaign has devoted a shocking amount of energy and money trying to convince voters that Gardner seeks to outlaw birth control despite the congressman's call for over-the-counter sales of contraceptives. Udall is trying to frighten voters rather than inspire them with a hopeful vision."
Towards the end of his campaign, Udall was accompanied by Second Lady of the United States Jill Biden, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In July 2014, President Barack Obama headlined a fundraiser for Udall's campaign.
Senate tenure
Less than one month after Udall took office in the Senate, newly elected President Obama nominated senior Colorado Senator Ken Salazar to serve as his Secretary of the Interior. After his confirmation, Udall became the Senate's most junior senior Senator.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces (chairman)
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee on National Parks (chairman)
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
Select Committee on Intelligence
Political positions
Abortion
NARAL Pro-Choice America gives Udall a 100% rating for abortion rights, while his opponent in 2014, Cory Gardner, earned a 0% rating.
Agriculture
In February 2014, Udall voted for the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, a $1 trillion bill that ended direct payments to farmers but expanded crop insurance by $7 billion over the next decade, created new subsidies for rice and peanut growers that will kick in if or when prices drop, and cut food stamp subsidies for 1.7 million people in 15 states.
In 2011, Maine Senator Susan Collins and Udall successfully introduced an amendment to the Senate's agriculture appropriations bill. The amendment to the appropriations bill removed a limit placed on potatoes in the USDA new school nutrition guidelines.
Campaign finance reform
Udall is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One, a bipartisan organization dedicated to reducing the influence of money in politics.
Cannabis
Although Senator to the first state to legalize the recreational sale of marijuana, Udall took no official stance on Colorado Amendment 64 during its campaign. After Amendment 64 and Washington state's similar initiative passed in 2012, Udall and the Senate delegations from Washington addressed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, imploring them to "let this experiment unfold," as Udall characterized it.
Domestic security
Udall has been an opponent of the National Security Agency's (NSA) mass surveillance programs. Following the revelation of the NSA's mass surveillance of Americans, Udall has been an advocate for reform. Udall, along with Senators Ron Wyden and Rand Paul, published an Op-ed in the Los Angeles Times expressing their collective desire to "end the dragnet — and to affirm that we can keep our nation secure without trampling on and abandoning Americans' constitutional rights." Udall expressed his support for Edward Snowden to return to America to "make his case." After reports that the Central Intelligence Agency improperly spied on U.S. Senators, Udall called for the resignation of Agency Director John O. Brennan.
After the September 11 attacks, the one-term Representative Udall was one of 66 House members to vote against the Patriot Act. In 2011, Udall voted against reauthorizing the Patriot Act. In July 2014, Udall voted against the CISPA bill, a proposed law which would allow for the sharing of Internet traffic information between the U.S. government and technology and manufacturing companies, voicing his concerns that it "lacks adequate protections for the privacy rights."
During the 2011 debate over the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA), Udall introduced an amendment to end the practice of military detention of American citizens indefinitely and without trial. In response to the amendment's introduction, the Obama administration threatened to veto the bill. The amendment was rejected by a vote of 60–38 (with 2 abstaining). Udall subsequently voted for the Act in the joint session of Congress that passed it, and though he remained "extremely troubled" by the detainee provisions, he promised to "push Congress to conduct the maximum amount of oversight possible".
Udall has supported PRISM, a clandestine anti-terrorism mass electronic surveillance data mining program launched in 2007 by the National Security Agency (NSA); however, he has also expressed support for introduction of measures to reform and limit the scope of the Patriot Act; 'The Patriot Act should be reformed so Americans' phone records do not get indiscriminately swept up in a federal government database.'
Economy
Udall voted for the Employee Free Choice Act in 2007, which would have eliminated secret ballot in voting to unionize businesses, and said that he supported the measure because the National Labor Relations Board would be the best forum to deal with concerns raised by the bill's opponents.
On February 13, 2009, Udall voted to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (commonly referred to as The Stimulus or The Recovery Act).
In December 2010, Udall was one of seven Democrats to vote against a deal to extend the Bush tax cuts for two years as well as fund unemployment benefits for an additional 13 months, having stated, "Days after the most substantive national conversation we've had about addressing the debt, the debate suddenly has turned to extending tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires that — alone — will cost $700 billion over the next decade."
Energy and environment
Udall has supported tax breaks for renewable energy and the expansion of national parks. Udall has a lifetime rating of 97% from the League of Conservation Voters.
In 2004, Udall helped lead a statewide ballot initiative (Amendment 37) to adopt the Renewable Electricity Standard, a standard he originally introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives. Working with the Republican Colorado House Speaker, the measure mandating 10% of energy consumed be from renewable sources, passed by a close margin 52% to 48%.
Throughout his career Udall has introduced the "Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act," which was passed in 2011. The act allows ski resorts to offer activities in the summer. In 2009, Udall introduced legislation to address the environmental damage caused by the pine beetle infestation in Colorado's forests, in what Udall described as one of the "biggest natural disasters."
In July 2014, Udall came out in opposition of two Colorado ballot initiative that would have limited hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", and created an "Environmental Bill of Rights." While his opposition to the initiative aligned him Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, it put him at odds with the main proponent of the bills and his House district successor, Jared Polis. Udall has repeatedly voted against the Keystone XL pipeline, having said that he wants to wait until a technical review of the project by the State Department is complete.
Gun policy
One week after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Colorado Senators Udall and Michael Bennet came out in support of a Federal Assault Weapons Ban. On the issue, Udall commented "if we can save one child in the future from being killed in such a way, I'm ready to push those kinds of policies." On April 17, 2013, Udall supported a failed amendment to expand background checks for gun purchases.
In 2009, Udall upset gun control advocates for supporting an amendment that would have allowed concealed weapons to be transported across state lines. The National Rifle Association of America gave an "F" grade during his time in the House of Representatives. While during his tenure in the Senate, they have given him a "C".
Health policy
In December 2009, Udall voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Udall has also stated his support for a public option about which he stated, "[t]he reason I support a public option, if it's done in a fiscally responsible way, is it would create competition. Competition drives down cost and what we want to do is make insurance affordable for all Americans."
In November 2013, Udall was critical of the Colorado Division of Insurance concerning the Division's estimates of the number of Colorado residents whose medical insurance was cancelled in response to the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Udall's office wanted the Division to lower the number from 250,000 because it believed the majority of individuals counted had received renewal options. The Division refused to change the numbers. Administrators at the Colorado Division of Insurance said they felt pressured by members of Udall's staff to change their estimates of policy cancellations. A panel which investigated the matter concluded Udall's office behaved appropriately, however the investigation was criticized because the chair was appointed by Democratic governor John Hickenlooper; all other members of the panel were selected by the chair, who refused to name the other members of the panel, and left no written records of its investigation.
Personal life
Udall is married to Maggie Fox, an environmental lawyer who previously served as CEO of The Climate Reality Project. The two met while working at Outward Bound, and were married in 1982. They have two children, Jedediah and Tess. A golfer, Udall was referred to as one of Congress' better players.
Udall has said "there isn't a Coloradan out there who doesn't cycle, hunt, hike... We're an outdoor state. It fits our worldview, and it's how we define ourselves." An experienced mountaineer, Udall has climbed many peaks during his work as an Outward Bound instructor, and in his personal life. Udall has climbed Colorado's 100 tallest peaks, known as "The Colorado Centennials," as well as Kangchenjunga in the Himalayas and Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America. He has also attempted Mount Everest multiple times.
In 1986, Udall and his wife went on a group trek of Mount Garmo. During the climb, Maggie broke her leg, and their fellow climber, Steve Monfredo, died on the mountainside. Udall's 61-year-old brother, Randy Udall, went missing on June 26, 2013, after going on a solo hike in Wyoming's Wind River Range. On July 3, 2013, a body, later identified as that of Randy Udall, was found approximately 80 miles southeast of Grand Teton National Park.
Electoral history
See also
Udall family
Lee-Hamblin family
Kennedy family
References
Further reading
Make It Fuller: A Conversation with Congressman Mark Udall Elephant, summer 2005 interview
External links
Senator Mark Udall official U.S. Senate website (archived)
Mark Udall for Colorado
Udall Family of Arizona at the Political Graveyard
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1950 births
21st-century American politicians
American mountain climbers
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Colorado
Democratic Party United States senators from Colorado
Living people
Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives
Politicians from Denver
Politicians from Tucson, Arizona
Udall family
Williams College alumni
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%20Tancredo
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Tom Tancredo
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Thomas Gerard Tancredo (; born December 20, 1945) is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009 as a Republican. He ran for President of the United States during the 2008 election, and was the Constitution Party's unsuccessful nominee for Governor of Colorado in 2010.
Tancredo was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1976 and served two terms. After working in the United States Department of Education during the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, he was elected to the United States Congress, and served five terms. He decided to not seek re-election in 2008, instead running a presidential campaign, centered on the issues of illegal immigration and terrorism. He dropped out of the race in December 2007 to assist former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in his campaign for the nomination.
Tancredo announced on July 26, 2010, that he planned to change parties and run for Governor of Colorado on the American Constitution Party ticket. He received 617,030 votes (36.7%), coming in second place, well ahead of the Republican Party nominee Dan Maes, who got about 11% of the vote.
Tancredo ran for governor in 2014, this time as a Republican, because of his opposition to Colorado governor John Hickenlooper's refusal to execute convicted murderer Nathan Dunlap, and because of Hickenlooper's attempts to pass gun control legislation. Tancredo competed for the Republican Party's nomination with Bob Beauprez, Steve House, Greg Brophy, Mike Kopp, and Scott Gessler. Tancredo lost the primary to Beauprez. He once again left the Republican Party in 2015, becoming an independent. Tancredo again ran as a Republican for governor in 2018, but withdrew from the race.
Early life, education and career
Tancredo was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Adeline (née Lombardi) and Gerald Tancredo. All four of his grandparents emigrated from Italy. He grew up in the then-predominantly Italian neighborhood of North Denver, and attended St. Catherine's Elementary School and Holy Family High School. He graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in political science. Tancredo was active with the College Republicans and a conservative organization, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF).
As a Republican student activist Tancredo spoke in support of the Vietnam War. After graduating from the University of Northern Colorado he became eligible to serve in Vietnam in June 1969. Tancredo has said he went for his physical, telling doctors he had been treated for depression, and eventually got a "1-Y" deferment.
In 1976, while teaching history at Drake Junior High School in Arvada, he ran for and won a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives. He served two terms (1977–1981) and was one of the leaders of a vocal group of conservative legislators opposing the policies of Colorado Governor Dick Lamm. During the 1970s, Tancredo pioneered opposition to bilingual education, an issue that would remain a feature of his political orientation.
Tancredo was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be the regional representative in Denver for the Department of Education in 1981. He stayed on through President George H. W. Bush's administration in 1992, and pared the office's staff from 225 to 60 employees. He became president of the Independence Institute in 1993, a conservative think tank based in Golden, Colorado, serving there until his election to Congress. He was a leader in the Colorado term limits movement.
U.S. House of Representatives
After Dan Schaefer decided not to run for a seventh full term in the 6th Congressional District in 1998, Tancredo narrowly won the five-way Republican primary, and the election in November. He was only the second person to represent the 6th District since its creation in 1983 (former astronaut Jack Swigert was elected as the district's first congressman in 1982, but died before taking office). Despite his promise to serve only three terms in Congress, he decided to run for a fourth term and won re-election.
Committee assignments
Foreign Affairs Committee
Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade
Natural Resources Committee
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
Significant legislation
Tancredo sponsored the Sudan Peace Act. The Sudan Peace Act says "A viable, comprehensive, and internationally sponsored peace process, protected from manipulation, presents the best chance for a permanent resolution of the war, protection of human rights, and a self-sustaining Sudan." The Act passed the House of Representatives with a 359–8 vote, was passed unanimously in the Senate without amendment seven days later, and was signed into law on November 21, 2002.
Tancredo introduced the Mass Immigration Reduction Act. The act would have imposed an indefinite moratorium on immigration to the United States. Under the act, only spouses and children of American citizens would be allowed to immigrate, which Tancredo estimated would amount to 300,000 immigrants annually. The moratorium would last for at least the first five years of the act and, after that, until such time as there were fewer than 10,000 illegal immigrants entering per year. When those conditions were met, immigration would only have been allowed at whatever level the president and both houses of Congress agreed would have no adverse impact on wages, housing, the environment, or schools. When last introduced in 2003, the bill had 11 cosponsors. Organizations that have endorsed Tancredo's bill include: NumbersUSA, Population-Environment Balance, Carrying Capacity Network, Federation for American Immigration Reform, Negative Population Growth, and the American Patrol. Tancredo introduced the bill in 2001 (H. R. 2712) and 2003 (H. R. 946). Tancredo did not re-introduce the bill in 2005. In 2007, he proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to "establish English as the official language of the United States", (H.R. 19).
In 2005, Tancredo introduced a resolution calling on the president to recognize the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and to abandon the One-China policy. He has been critical of the People's Republic of China. This has since been modified and reintroduced as H. Con. Res. 73.
2008 presidential campaign
In February 2005, Tancredo announced he would seek the Republican nomination for president if all other candidates failed to address the illegal immigration problem.
On February 9, 2006, Tancredo addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the annual conference of the American Conservative Union. He scored 5% of the vote in the 2008 CPAC straw poll.
On January 16, 2007, Tancredo announced that he formed an exploratory committee on seeking the presidential nomination of the Republican Party. He said that the Republican Party needs someone who can offer America a "common sense agenda".
A spokesman for Tancredo's exploratory committee has confirmed that he would not run on a third party platform, and that "they've had no intention to run as a third-party candidate, ever, and we'll never consider that because he's a Republican, period."
On February 13, the American Conservative Union issued ratings for potential presidential candidates. Tancredo took first with a lifetime ranking of 99 out of 100. The website ConservativesBetrayed.com polled 525 people who attended CPAC 2007, and 88.1% believed that Tancredo would govern as a conservative. Newt Gingrich polled next at 87.9%.
At the 2007 CPAC conference, held March 1–3, Tancredo was ranked sixth in the CPAC straw poll, with 9%, when first and second choices were combined.
On April 2, 2007, Tancredo announced that he would run for president in the 2008 election. This announcement was made on 1040 WHO Talk Radio in Iowa. He denounced other Republican candidates for their lack of consistency on the illegal immigration issue, the issue on which Tancredo will run. In early April, he also participated in what was billed as the first online presidential debate, against fellow Republican and presidential candidate Duncan Hunter.
In his speech in 2007 to CPAC, Tancredo said:
If you want to call me a single-issue candidate, that's fine, just so long as you know that my single issue is the survival and the success of the conservative movement in America.
In a May 3, 2007, debate among the ten candidates for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, Tancredo was one of three who raised their hands when asked if anyone did not believe in the theory of evolution.
On August 10, 2007, Rep. Tom Tancredo's presidential campaign reportedly was the victim of an e-mail hoax on the eve of the Republican Party straw poll in Ames, Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that a hoax e-mail sent on Friday to almost 500 Tancredo supporters told them—falsely—that chartered buses to ferry them to the daylong events had either been cancelled or delayed.
On September 5, 2007, during a visit to Concord, New Hampshire, Tancredo made it clear that he supports strictly enforcing immigration laws and deporting all illegal immigrants. He believes so-called sanctuary policies provide safe havens for criminals. Tancredo also mentioned his support of the building of a fence between Mexico and the United States, and that mayors and city council members who adopt sanctuary city policies should face criminal charges. He urged New Hampshire Governor John Lynch to veto an upcoming immigration bill and demanded the ouster of the bill's sponsors.
On November 13, 2007, the Tancredo campaign released an ad called "Tough on Terror" in which a hypothetical terrorist attack occurs in a shopping mall. The ad blames inept border security for the attack and flashes images of an injured child and a wrecked train. A voiceover comments, "There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs... the price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill."
On his 62nd birthday December 20, 2007, Tancredo ended his candidacy for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, and endorsed Mitt Romney.
Individual contributions made up the most of the campaign cash that Tancredo had received, being about 97% of his total pocketbook. He granted himself $200 for his campaign and received no federal funding. $88,457 of his money came from interest from the campaign's bank accounts and loans from outside sources. The majority of Tancredo's funds were not disclosed.
Gubernatorial campaigns
2010
After he ended his run for president, Tancredo decided against running for reelection. Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez said he spoke to Tancredo about possible runs for governor or Senate in 2010.
Tancredo spoke at the Constitution Party's national committee meeting on October 23, 2009.
In July 2010, Tancredo warned the two Republican candidates for governor, Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, that he would launch a third-party bid as candidate of the Constitution Party's Colorado branch if the Republican primary winner was behind in general election polling and did not drop out. Tancredo felt that McInnis was unelectable because his plagiarism scandal had exposed him as "basically a fraud," while Maes' campaign finance violations likewise made him unelectable. Tancredo subsequently announced that he was going ahead with plans to run as a Constitution Party candidate.
Tancredo selected Pat Miller as his running mate.
Tancredo placed second in the election with 36.5 percent of the vote, well ahead of Maes, the Republican Party candidate.
In January 2011 Tancredo re-registered as a Republican, saying it is the "only game in town".
2014
Tancredo announced he would run for governor again in 2014. He was angry at Colorado governor John Hickenlooper because Hickenlooper had passed gun restrictions, and because Hickenlooper had granted a stay of execution for Nathan Dunlap, the man responsible for the 1993 Aurora, Colorado shooting that killed 4. He lost the Republican primary to Bob Beauprez, who went on to lose the general election to Hickenlooper.
2018
On October 31, 2017, Tancredo announced he would run for Governor of Colorado a third time. His bid was fueled in part by Republican politicians' reluctance to criticize the cancellation of an April 2018 VDARE event where Tancredo was scheduled to speak. A central theme of his campaign is strong opposition to illegal immigration, and he vowed to defund the city of Denver due to its status as a sanctuary city.
On January 30, 2018, Tancredo announced he was withdrawing from the race.
Political action committees
Team America PAC
Tancredo founded the Team America political action committee in 2004 in order to raise contributions for congressional candidates who opposed illegal immigration. Campaign laws forced Tancredo to resign from Team America PAC. The PAC was noted for targeting incumbent Congressman Chris Cannon in the 2006 Republican primary. In 2009, reporters discovered that Marcus Epstein, the executive director of Team America, had assaulted an African American woman in 2007, and had used a racial epithet. Tancredo kept Epstein on his staff despite the guilty plea.
American Legacy Alliance
In June 2011 Tancredo founded a Super PAC called the American Legacy Alliance to support candidates for federal office who oppose illegal immigration.
Political positions
Tancredo traces his interest in politics to the eighth grade, when he played Fidel Castro in a class assignment. Tancredo urges America to reject "the siren song of multiculturalism" and depicts Islam as "a civilization bent on destroying ours". In July 2005, Tancredo proposed that America respond to any future terrorist attack by bombing Mecca and other holy sites. In September 2006, when Pope Benedict XVI gave a speech quoting a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who said the prophet Mohammed had brought "things only evil and inhuman", sparking Muslim anger throughout the world, Tancredo urged him not to apologize.
Abortion
Tancredo has said that abortion "compromises the sanctity of life" and "attacks the most vulnerable among us: unborn boys and girls". He does not support the granting of federal funds to "any organization that promotes abortion". He voted in favor of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, and in favor of legislation requiring parental notification when a minor seeks an abortion. He received an "A" on the National Right to Life Committee report card, indicating that he votes in Congress on the anti-abortion side of this issue.
In the first Republican debate held on May 3, 2007, Tancredo agreed that the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, adding that it would be "the greatest day in this country's history".
Tancredo was criticized by anti-abortion forces for accepting over $20,000 in donations from John Tanton, founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform and a founder of a Planned Parenthood chapter.
Immigration
Tom Tancredo is perhaps best known for his opposition to immigration. Tancredo founded the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus in May 1999. He served as its chairman until January 2007, when he turned the chairmanship over to Brian Bilbray.
Tancredo has called for halting illegal immigration, and a three-year moratorium on all legal immigration to allow those immigrants already in the country to be assimilated. Tancredo called for the deportation of the family of Jesus Apodaca, an undocumented immigrant child in a Denver high school.
Tancredo criticized the Denver Public Library system for purchasing reading materials written in Spanish and for offering space for classes to be held for these library users, on the grounds that putting Spanish-speakers in a 'linguistic ghetto' would delay their integration into American society.
Tancredo sponsored legislation to eliminate H-1B visas for temporary workers in 2005.
Tancredo was the sponsor of a successful, bi-partisan amendment to a Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that would withhold federal emergency services funds from 'sanctuary cities'.
On July 30, 2007, Tancredo "criticized Congressional Democrats for eliminating a requirement that anyone applying for Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) services provide proof of U.S. citizenship". According to Tancredo, "[t]he new Democrat plan would raise taxes and make it easier for illegal aliens to obtain taxpayer-funded medical benefits."
Tancredo has made it a point in all of his public speeches to differentiate between those who enter the United States legally and those who come illegally. He frequently attends naturalization ceremonies to support new citizens for "doing it the right way".
In 2006, Tancredo published In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security through Joseph Farah's WND Books in Nashville, Tennessee. The volume focuses on American cultural identity and his proposals to remedy what he contends to be major flaws in the immigration system.
Tancredo's has staunchly supported tightening immigration requirements from Islamic countries. On September 18, 2008, Tancredo introduced H.R. 6975, the Jihad Prevention Act, which would require aliens to attest that they will not advocate installing a Sharia law system in the United States as a condition for admission, and for other purposes. Aliens failing to make such an attestation would be ineligible for admission. Further, the visa of any alien advocating the installation of a Sharia law system in the United States would be subject to revocation.
In May 2011, Tancredo represented the affirmative with Kris Kobach in a radio-broadcast debate of the motion "Don't give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." The two debated Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio and Tamar Jacoby of ImmigrationWorks USA. Tancredo and Kobach were declared the victors based on before and after polling of the live in-attendance audience mostly by convincing much of the self-identified undecided audience members of the strength of the motion.
Pre-Debate Poll Results: 16% For | 54% Against | 30% undecided
Post Debate Poll Results: 35% For | 52% Against | 13% undecided
Tancredo's anti-illegal immigration stance became a campaign issue during the 2011 Denver mayoral campaign, which Tancredo did not enter. The Chris Romer campaign tried to erode rival Michael Hancock's support among Hispanics by emails and robocalls claiming that Tancredo had endorsed Hancock. Tancredo, who had neither met nor endorsed Hancock, responded by appearing on a radio talk show and endorsing Romer.
Federalism
He was one of 33 congressmen to vote against the renewal of the Voting Rights Act because he asserted that its requirement of multilingual ballots would result in a costly unfunded mandate. He was one of a handful of Republicans who voted for an amendment proposed by Maurice Hinchey and Dana Rohrabacher to stop the Department of Justice from raiding medical marijuana patients and caregivers in states where medical marijuana is legal, citing states' rights concerns.
On the other hand, Tancredo supports Federal action in what he considers its proper sphere. He has suggested state legislators and 'sanctuary city' mayors should be imprisoned for passing laws contrary to federal immigration law. He also supports the Federal Marriage Amendment to ban gay marriage nationally, and defended this position by stating a constitutional amendment is the "last resort" to neutralize judicial activism that would legalize gay marriage in courts, against the wishes of voters. The amendment would also use Constitutional means to prevent voters and legislators from legalizing gay marriage in their states.
Fiscal policy
The National Taxpayers Union awarded Tancredo a grade of A for each year he has served in Congress. Tancredo was awarded a grade of A for votes he cast in 1999 to 2007 inclusively. Additionally, Tancredo received the National Taxpayers Union's "Taxpayers' Friend Award" in 1999 to 2006 inclusively as well
The award is given by the NTU to those members of Congress that are among "the strongest supporters of responsible tax and spending policies". He is also a strong supporter of the FairTax and advocates the repeal of the 16th Amendment. He is also against raising minimum wage.
Foreign policy
Tancredo's position on Iraq is, "America's noble sacrifice has purchased Iraqis a precious opportunity for democratic change; it is now up to them to ensure success. Setting the President's 'November benchmark for shifting control' as an actual timetable for disengagement will let regional powers and Iraqi factions cooperate to forge a new balance of power." Fellow Republican State Treasurer Mike Coffman refused to share the stage with Tancredo at a pro-war rally for the Iraq war in 2003 because of Tancredo's failure to serve in the Vietnam War. In 1970 Tancredo appealed his 1-A draft status, which would have put him at the top of the list for draft eligibility during the Vietnam War. Tancredo said he was diagnosed with depression when he was 16 or 17 and received medication for five years for panic attacks and bouts of anxiety and depression.
During a 2005 radio interview on Orlando talk-radio station WFLA AM 540, Tancredo responded to a questioner asking about the hypothetical U.S. response to a nuclear attack on U.S. cities by al-Qaeda, by saying that one possible response would be to retaliate by "taking out" Muslim holy sites (specifically, Mecca) if it were clearly proven that Islamic terrorists were behind such an attack. Several days later, in an interview on CNN together with James Zogby, Tancredo said that the attack was mentioned merely as a hypothetical response and insisted that there was nothing for which he should apologize.
During the Republican Presidential Debate broadcast on Fox on May 15, 2007, Tancredo made a statement in passing that the root cause of Islamic terrorism is "a dictate of their religion". In September 2007 Tancredo defended his remarks: "I still believe it is something we must consider as a possible deterrent because at the present time there are no negative consequences that would accrue to the people who commit a crime such as a nuclear, chemical or biological attack."
During a July 31, 2007 townhall meeting in Iowa, Tancredo said that a threat to bomb Mecca and Medina was "the only thing I can think of" that could deter a nuclear terrorist attack. This statement drew substantial criticism from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, as well as State Department spokesman Tom Casey, who stated that "To somehow suggest that an appropriate response to terrorism would be to attack sites that are holy and sacred to more than a billion people throughout the world is just absolutely crazy."
Sonia Sotomayor nomination
Tancredo became one of the outspoken conservative opponents to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. On May 28, 2009, he made an appearance on CNN to voice his opposition and claimed that Sotomayor was a racist. When CNN's Rick Sanchez asked him if Sotomayor was a racist, Tancredo replied "certainly her words would indicate that that is the truth." He then compared the Hispanic-American advocacy group La Raza to the Ku Klux Klan by saying "it's a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses."
Voting rights
On February 4, 2010, Tancredo spoke at the National Convention for the Tea Party movement where he told attendees that Barack Obama won because of "people who could not even spell the word 'vote' or say it in English". He then proposed "a civics literacy test" as a prerequisite to voting. These remarks were criticized by the Democratic Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll and the Southern Poverty Law Center's research director Heidi Beirich. Tancredo has denied the charge that his remarks were aimed at a specific group.
On April 14, 2009, a speech by Tancredo at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was disrupted by students protesting his views on immigration in which he called for a civics literacy test before voting.
Marijuana legalization
Tancredo has declared himself in favor of the legalization of marijuana. He said that his reasons to legalize marijuana include "The issue of violence that surrounds it—not just on the border—and the crimes all over the place. The number of people in prison and the amount we spend to keep them there. The broken families." While in Congress, Tancredo voted each year to attach an amendment, which never passed, that would have prevented the US Justice Department from spending any money to "enforce any drug laws in contradiction to state law."
Federal Marriage Amendment
Said Tancredo in September 2007, "You have to remember that we are always just one kooky judge away from actually having homosexual marriage forced on all the rest of us, because of the [full faith and credit] clause in the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, we need, we absolutely have to have, a constitutional amendment that defines marriage." He is in full support of the Federal Marriage Amendment. Due to his numerous stances opposing the gay rights movement, he has received ratings of 7% from the American Civil Liberties Union, 0% from the Human Rights Campaign, and 19% from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.. As of 2007, however, Tancredo boasted a 97.8% rating from the American Conservative Union.
Barack Obama
In a speech given at a campaign event for Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck on July 8, 2010, Tancredo said of President Barack Obama, "... the greatest threat to the United States today, the greatest threat to our liberty, the greatest threat to the Constitution of the United States, the greatest threat to our way of life; everything we believe in. The greatest threat to the country that our founding fathers put together is the man that's sitting in the White House today."
In April 2010, while not addressing directly widespread "birther" sentiment in the Republican Party, Tancredo said at a South Carolina Tea Party rally about the president: "If his wife says Kenya is his homeland, why don't we just send him back?"
On July 22, 2010, in an editorial in The Washington Times, Tancredo said that Congress should bring impeachment charges against President Obama.
In February 2012, Tancredo said on Hardball with Chris Matthews, in a discussion of candidate Mitt Romney's economic policy alternatives to the president: "Hell, my dog's better at it than Obama!"
Controversy
Conflict with party leadership
Tancredo's outspoken advocacy for immigration reform, and particularly his criticism of President George W. Bush's border security controls, reportedly made him persona non grata in the Bush White House. According to Tancredo, he and Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove, got into a "screaming match" after Tancredo claimed that "if the nation suffered another attack at the hands of terrorists able to skirt immigration laws, the blood of the people killed" would be on Bush's and Congress' hands. Rove responded by calling Tancredo "a traitor to the party" and "a traitor to the president," and warned him to never "darken the doorstep of the White House."
In an interview, Tancredo said his falling out with the White House has lasted. "One reason I am persona non grata at the White House is not just because of immigration... but because I refuse to support him on his trade policy, his education policy, Medicare and prescription drugs initiatives.... Here was a Republican Congress increasing government to an extent larger than it had been increased since Medicare had come into existence." Tancredo reported that his career in Congress was threatened by the leadership because of his stances. "I was called into Tom DeLay's office because I was supporting Republican challengers to Republican incumbents. I had a group called Team America that went out and did that. He called me and said to me, 'You're jeopardizing your career in this place by doing these things.' And I said, 'Tom, out of all the things you can threaten with me that is the least effective because I do not look at this place as a career.'"
Illegal employees of contractor
In 2002, The Denver Post reported that two illegal immigrants were among the crew hired to remodel his basement. Tancredo said he could not have known their immigration status—they were subcontractors hired by the contractors he hired.
The contractor, Denver Audio Design, denied hiring illegal immigrants and the Denver Post refused to identify the two they said came to them with the claim that they worked on Tancredo's basement remodeling.
Americans Have Had Enough Coalition speech
On September 11, 2006, in Columbia, South Carolina, Tancredo spoke to a gathering of the "Americans Have Had Enough Coalition", which he had helped found. The League of the South also invited its own members to attend the event. The room at the South Carolina State Museum in which Tancredo spoke had a prominent picture of Robert E. Lee and was draped with Confederate battle flags. At the closing of the event, men dressed in Confederate military uniforms reportedly began to sing "Dixie". Several days later, Tancredo came under heavy criticism from a group of Denver ministers for attending the function. In his defense, Tancredo said, "I gave it [the same speech] in probably five or six different venues, this was just one, all of them were open to the public. I don't check people at the door for their private thoughts."
City of Miami
In a November 19, 2006 interview with WorldNetDaily, Tancredo referred to the city of Miami, Florida, as a "Third World country." His comments drew strong criticism from numerous political leaders and organizations, including Florida Governor Jeb Bush who, in a letter to the congressman, called Tancredo's remarks "naive." Tancredo replied in a letter, "I certainly understand and appreciate your need and desire to try and create the illusion of Miami as a multiethnic 'All American' city," he said. "I can also appreciate ... that the cultural and ethnic diversity of the city offers many advantages to its residents. However, it is neither naïve nor insulting to call attention to a real problem that cannot be easily dismissed through politically correct happy talk."
On December 12, 2006, Tancredo was announced by the Rotary Club of Miami as its guest speaker. The next day, the event was canceled by the restaurant. News reports said, "The manager of the restaurant where Tancredo was to speak, the Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne, said Wednesday that the owners didn't want him to appear on Thursday in order to keep up the integrity and reputation of the business. The manager also said staff members objected to working the party where his immigration talk was supposed to be held, some customers threatened to boycott the restaurant, and the restaurant had received bomb threats." Tancredo spokesman Carlos Espinosa said "What is more 'Third World country' than threatening to bomb the place?" Tancredo referred to Miami as having been taken over by "thugs" and "separatists" and declared that "I knew speaking your mind could be dangerous in Havana—I guess it's equally dangerous to do so in Miami. Apparently, there isn't much of a difference between the two anymore."
Michigan State University speech
In another incident, student protests against a Tancredo speech scheduled to be given at the Michigan State University College of Law on November 30, 2006, turned violent. Protesters tried to block Tancredo's speech and police were called when protesters pulled a fire alarm prior to the speech on immigration policy. Michigan State University College Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom sponsored the event. According to Tancredo, one of the student backers of the speech "was spit on, one was kicked, and one was punched". Protesters interrupted the speech with loud shouting. Tancredo said protesters organized on the Internet social networking site Facebook and "declared ahead of time on Facebook that they would not allow me to speak".
Catholic Church
On April 17, 2008, Tancredo alleged that Pope Benedict XVI was encouraging illegal immigration to the US to boost membership in the Catholic Church. In response to a statement by the Pope at a Mass in Washington, Tancredo stated, "I suspect the Pope's immigration comments may have less to do with spreading the gospel than they do about recruiting new members of the church." While Tancredo was raised a Catholic, he now attends Cherry Hills Community Church, a congregation in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran
Tancredo has stated that he would like to see the United States give more support to the Iranian exile organization People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI). The PMOI was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States State Department from 1997 to 2012. Tancredo states that this was done "for political reasons" by the Clinton administration. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton removed the designation of "terrorist organization" when no proof of terrorist activity or intent could be produced.
Private life
A former Catholic, Tancredo now attends Cherry Hills Community Church. Tancredo is married to Jackie Tancredo. They met at Drake Junior High School as teachers, and married in 1977. They have two children and five grandchildren.
On February 3, 2009, The Denver Post revealed that Tancredo had probably lost a significant amount of money invested in hedge funds with Agile Group, a Boulder-based investment company with substantial investments in Bernie Madoff's investment firm.
Books
In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security. WND Books, 2006. ()
References
External links
Tancredo for Governor official campaign site
Profile at SourceWatch
Tom Tancredo at Vote 2008 at PBS NewsHour
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister%20without%20portfolio
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Minister without portfolio
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A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authority wherein a minister without portfolio, while they may not head any particular office or ministry, may still receive a ministerial salary and has the right to cast a vote in cabinet decisions.
Albania
In Albania, "Minister without portfolio" are considered members of the government who generally are not in charge of a special department, do not have headquarters or offices and usually do not have administration or staff. This post was first introduced in 1918 during the Përmeti II government, otherwise known as the Government of Durrës. The members of this cabinet were referred to as Delegatë pa portofol (delegate without portfolio). The name "minister" was used two years later, during the government of Sulejman Delvina. In the 1990s it was common the usage of the name Sekretar Shteti (Secretary of State) to refer to such a position. Mostly these roles were given to smaller allies by the leading parties. Nowadays the name Ministër i Shtetit (State Minister or Minister of State) is used.
Australia
Willie Kelly was given the title in the Cook Ministry from June 1913 to September 1914.
Stanley Bruce was given the title of minister without portfolio when he took up his position in 1932 as the Commonwealth Minister in London. He was given the title by Lyons' Cabinet so that he could better represent the PM and his colleagues free from the limitations of a portfolio. In this case the title was a promotion and carried considerable responsibilities.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh appoints ministers without portfolio during cabinet reshuffles or fresh appointments. Ministers are not usually appointed without portfolio as a coalition negotiation – all long run ministers end up with a portfolio. Suranjit Sengupta was a minister without portfolio in Sheikh Hasina's second government.
Bulgaria
Bozhidar Dimitrov (2009–2011)
Brazil
The Constitution determines that the Ministries (and also other bodies headed by a Minister of State) are provided for by law, so the Federal Government has less freedom to create and reformulate portfolios as it happens in other cabinets.
Extraordinary minister
During the brief parliamentary experience, the position of "Extraordinary Minister" was instituted to provide for political and administrative affairs within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, it was equivalent in prerogatives, advantages and salaries to a Minister of State. There were no nominations after the return to presidentialism, but a 1964 law created an "Extraordinary Ministry" to coordinate some related bodies that would be equivalent to a ministry of the interior. The reorganization of federal public administration in 1967 provided for the appointment of up to four Extraordinary Ministers to perform temporary duties of a relevant nature.
Currently, the legislation requires that the Coordinator of the Government Transition Cabinet (the team of the candidate elected to the office of President of the Republic) be appointed as an Extraordinary Minister if the nominee is a Senator or a Federal Deputy. In 2018, then President Michel Temer issued a provisional measure creating an "Extraordinary Ministry of Public Security", it became a common ministry after National Congress converted the provisional measure into law.
Canada
While the minister without portfolio is seen by some as a mere sinecure appointment, it has been a role that numerous political notables have played over time, including future Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, who filled the role in a Pearson cabinet in the 1960s; John Turner also "kept a seat warm" in a Pearson cabinet. Notable Conservatives who filled the role include R. B. Bennett, and Arthur Meighen; however, Meighen served this role after he had been prime minister.
The title of minister without portfolio has been used off and on; in recent times, though, the title has fallen out of favour, and the penultimate minister without portfolio, Gilles Lamontagne, was promoted to postmaster general in 1978. The practice has continued primarily under the guise of ministers of state without responsibilities in the ministers' titles.
The position has also been filled on the federal or provincial level by experienced politicians near the end of their careers as a way of allowing them to counsel the government and take on projects without the burdens associated with administering a government department.
In January 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Jim Carr as a minister without portfolio, in addition to his role as special representative to the Prairies. Carr had previously served as a cabinet minister until November 2019, leaving as a consequence of his diagnosis with multiple myeloma.
Croatia
Dragutin Kalogjera (1990)
Zvonimir Medvedović (1990)
Gojko Šušak (1990–1991)
Zdravko Mršić (1990–1991)
Dražen Budiša (1991–1992)
Ivan Cesar (1991–1992)
Ivica Crnić (1992)
Darko Čargonja (1992)
Živko Juzbašić (1991–1992)
Mladen Vedriš (1992)
Vladimir Veselica (1991)
Muhamed Zulić (1991–1992)
Zvonimir Baletić (1991–1992)
Slavko Degoricija (1991)
Stjepan Zdunić (1991)
Čedomir Pavlović (1992–1993)
Smiljko Sokol (1992–1993)
Zlatko Mateša (1993–1995) – Prime Minister (1995–2000)
Juraj Njavro (1993–1997)
Ivan Majdak (1993–1995)
Marijan Petrović (1995)
Adalbert Rebić (1995)
Davor Štern (1995)
Branko Močibob (1995–1997)
Gordana Sobol (2002–2003)
Bianca Matković (2009–2011)
Goran Marić (2016)
Deputy Prime Ministers without portfolio
Bernardo Jurlina (1990–1991)
Mate Babić (1990)
Milan Ramljak (1990–1992)
Franjo Gregurić (1990–1991) – Prime Minister (1991–1992)
Mate Granić (1991–1993) – Minister of Foreign Affairs (1993–2000)
Jurica Pavelić (1991–1992)
Zdravko Tomac (1991–1992)
Ivan Milas (1992–1993)
Vladimir Šeks (1992–1994)
Mladen Vedriš (1992–1993)
Ivica Kostović (1993–1995)
Bosiljko Mišetić (1995)
Borislav Škegro (1993–1997)
Ljerka Mintas Hodak (1995–1998)
Željka Antunović (2000–2002)
Slavko Linić (2000–2003)
Goran Granić (2000–2002)
Ante Simonić (2002–2003)
Damir Polančec (2005–2008)
Đurđa Adlešić (2008–2010)
Slobodan Uzelac (2008–2011)
Domagoj Ivan Milošević (2010–2011)
Tomislav Karamarko (2016)
Božo Petrov (2016) – Speaker of Parliament (2016–2017)
Boris Milošević (2020–2022)
Anja Šimpraga (2022–present)
Denmark
Three "control ministers" served as ministers without portfolio during World War I.
After the Liberation of Denmark in May 1945, the first Danish cabinet included four ministers without portfolio. Among these were Danish ambassador to the U.S. Henrik Kauffmann, who had conducted his own foreign policy throughout the war and refused to follow orders from Copenhagen as long as Denmark remained occupied by a foreign power. Kauffmann served in this capacity from 12 May to 7 November 1945. The three other holders of this title had joined the cabinet a few days before – Aksel Larsen (Communist Party of Denmark), Kr. Juul Christensen (Danish Unity) and Frode Jakobsen (Social Democrats).
Lise Østergaard held a position as minister without portfolio with special attention to foreign policy issues in Anker Jørgensen's cabinet from 26 February 1977 to 28 February 1980.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen appointed Bertel Haarder as minister without portfolio, but effectively Minister for European Affairs. Haarder served in this capacity from 27 November 2001 to 18 February 2005. The reason for appointing a minister without a ministry was the Danish European Union Presidency of 2002. Haarder was considered the most experienced Danish politician on European affairs.
Estonia
Jaan Tõnisson (1918) (provisional government)
Karl Ast (1924–1925)
Juhan Kaarlimäe (1944)
Johannes Sikkar (1952–1953) (in exile)
Artur Terras (1952–1953) (in exile)
Aksel Mark (1956–1962) (in exile)
Arvo Horm (1956–1964) (in exile)
Peeter Panksep (1956–1964) (in exile)
Eduard Leetmaa (1959–1962) (in exile; appointed, but did not enter office)
Ivar Grünthal (1962–1964) (in exile)
Renate Kaasik (1971–1990) (in exile)
Verner Hans Puurand (1973–1977) (in exile)
Jaan Timusk (1973–1990) (in exile)
Ants Pallop (1973–1992) (in exile)
Arvo Horm (1977–1992) (in exile)
Ivar Paljak (1985–1990) (in exile)
Olev Olesk (1986–1990) (in exile)
Endel Lippmaa (1990–1991) (interim government)
Artur Kuznetsov (1990–1991) (interim government)
Klara Hallik (1992) (interim government)
Arvo Niitenberg (1992) (interim government)
Jüri Luik (1992–1993)
Peeter Olesk (1993–1994)
Eiki Nestor (1994–1995)
Arvo Niitenberg (1994–1995)
Ants Leemets (1995)
Jaak Allik (1995–1996)
Endel Lippmaa (1995–1996)
Tiit Kubri (1995–1997)
Riivo Sinijärv (1996)
Andra Veidemann (1996–1999)
Peep Aru (1997–1999)
Katrin Saks (1999–2003)
Toivo Asmer (1999–2003)
Eldar Efendijev (2002–2003)
Paul-Eerik Rummo (2003–2007)
Jaan Õunapuu (2003–2007)
Urve Palo (2007–2009)
Urmas Kruuse (2014)
Anne Sulling (2014)
Finland
Minister without portfolio is not a common type of cabinet position, and the last minister without portfolio served in 1949. The most famous one was Juho Kusti Paasikivi, who was a part of the "Triumvirate" of Prime Minister Risto Ryti, Minister of Foreign Affairs Väinö Tanner and Paasikivi during the Winter War and the year 1940.
Mikko Luopajärvi (Agrarian Union) 17.4.1919 – 15.8.1919(Kaarlo Castren Cabinet), 15.8.1919 – 5.1.1920 (Vennola I Cabinet)
Kalle Aukusti Lohi (Agrarian Union) 31.3.1925 – 31.12.1925 (Tulenheimo Cabinet)
Matti Paasivuori (Social Democratic Party) 13.12.1926 – 15.11.1927 (Tanner Cabinet)
Kalle Jutila (Agrarian Union) 17.12.1927 – 16.10.1928 (Sunila I Cabinet)
Juhani Leppälä (Agrarian Union) 16.8.1929 – 27.8.1929 (Kallio III Cabinet)
Eljas Erkko (Progressive Party) 20.10.1932 – 25.11.1932 (Sunila II Cabinet)
Ernst von Born (Swedish People's Party) 13.10.1939 – 1.12.1939 (Cajander III Cabinet)
Juho Kusti Paasikivi (Unaffiliated/No party) 1.12.1939 – 27.3.1940 (Ryti I Cabinet)
Mauno Pekkala (Social Democratic Party) 17.11.1944 – 24.11.1944 (Paasikivi II Cabinet)
Hertta Kuusinen (Finnish People's Democratic Party) 26.5.1948 – 4.6.1948 (Pekkala Cabinet)
Aleksi Aaltonen (Social Democratic Party) 29.7.1948 – 30.7.1948 (Fagerholm I Cabinet)
Unto Varjonen (Social Democratic Party) 29.7.1949 – 19.8.1949 (Fagerholm I Cabinet)
Germany
Hermann Göring (1933)
Ernst Röhm (1933)
Rudolf Hess (1933–1941)
Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1939–1945)
Hjalmar Schacht (1939–1943)
Martin Bormann (1941–1945)
Since 1949, a Federal Minister for Special Affairs (Bundesminister für besondere Aufgaben) is a member of the Federal Government that does not have charge of a Federal Ministry, although the ministry is now commonly assigned to the Heads of the German Chancellery to give this important government functionary cabinet-rank. The ministry was first created in October 1953 to give a ministry level position to Franz Josef Strauss, but has been used almost exclusively for the Head of the Federal Chancellery since the 1960s. A notable exception occurred in the course of German reunification when four members of East Germany's last government were made "Minister for Special Affairs" from October 3, 1990, to January 1991.
Greece
The position of a Minister without portfolio was first created in 1918, with Emmanouil Repoulis being the first Minister without portfolio. Previously, the term had been used to describe Prime Ministers who had not undertaken any secondary Ministerial position (e.g. Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Prominent politicians like Georgios Papandreou, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Napoleon Zervas and Spyros Markezinis served as Ministers without portfolio during their career, while novelist Nikos Kazantzakis had a brief, 46-day-long tenure as Minister without portfolio in Sofoulis' 1945 cabinet.
In 1991, the position was renamed to Minister of State; the last person to be designated Minister without portfolio and simultaneously the first Minister of State, is Mikis Theodorakis.
Hungary
Zsolt Semjén (2010–present)
Tamás Fellegi (2011–2012)
India
C. Rajagopalachari , N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar and V.K. Krishna Menon – 1st Nehru government
T.T. Krishnamachari and Lal Bahadur Shastri - 2nd Nehru Government
Mamata Banerjee and Murasoli Maran – 3rd Vajpayee government
K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Natwar Singh – 1st Manmohan Singh government
Indonesia
Since the inception of the state, Indonesia had ministers without portfolio, usually given the title Menteri Negara ('State Minister'). The number was not fixed, entirely depended on the behest of the President. Although not explicitly forbidden, Law No. 39/2008 on State Ministries mandated that a ministry must have specific function and responsibilities and also must have minimum number of directorates and other ministerial apparatuses, thus formation of minister without portfolio is currently unlikely in post-Reformation Indonesia.
Below is the list of ministers without portfolio that ever existed in Indonesian history.
Presidential Cabinet (19 August – 14 November 1945)
Mohammad Amir
Sartono
Alexander Andries Maramis
Oto Iskandar di Nata
First Sjahrir Cabinet (11 November 1945 – 28 February 1946)
Rasjidi (on religious affairs)
Third Sjahrir Cabinet (5 October 1946 – 27 July 1947)
Hamengkubuwono IX
Wahid Hasyim
Wikana (on youth affairs)
Soedarsono
Tan Po Gwan
Danoedirdja Setiaboedi
Sixth Development Cabinet (6 June – 1 October 1997)
The cabinet was unique, with President Suharto moved the Minister of Information Harmoko to the office of State Minister of Special Affairs () on 6 June 1997. The Ministry of Special Affairs was dissolved on 1 October 1997, following the inauguration of next-term's parliament and the appointment of Harmoko as its speaker.
Ireland
The Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1939 allows a Minister to be a member of the Government of Ireland who does not have charge of a Department of State, such a person to be known as a "Minister without portfolio". Such a minister may be given a specific style or title. The only substantive minister without portfolio has been Frank Aiken, the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures during World War II. By the Emergency Powers Act 1939 then in force, the Minister for Defence was able to delegate some competences to him.
On a number of occasions a minister has been appointed to an incoming government with the title of a new Department of State. Between the date of appointment and the date of creation of the department, such a minister is formally a minister without portfolio.
When Helen McEntee took six months' maternity leave on 28 April 2021, her portfolio as Minister for Justice was reassigned to Heather Humphreys, in addition to Humphreys's existing portfolio as Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development. McEntee remained a member of the coalition government as minister without portfolio, and was reassigned to the Department of Justice on 1 November 2021. On 25 November 2022, Heather Humphreys was again appointed as Minister for Justice to facilitate a second period of six months' maternity leave from December.
Israel
It is common practice in Israel to appoint ministers without portfolio as part of the coalition negotiations, as it allows small coalition partners a seat at the cabinet table. All cabinets in recent years have had at least some such appointment. The Governance Law passed in 2013 forbade ministers without portfolio effectively ending the practice, however in spite of some objections, after the 2015 elections this issue was revisited in the Knesset and it was allowed for the practice to resume. The full alphabetical list of ministers without portfolio since 1949 is:
Ofir Akunis (2015)
Yosef Almogi (1961–62)
Shulamit Aloni (1974, 1993)
Yehuda Amital (1995–96)
Shaul Amor (1999)
Zalman Aran (1954–55)
Moshe Arens (1984–86, 1987–88)
Eli Avidar (2021-)
Ruhama Avraham (2007–08)
Ami Ayalon (2007–08)
Yisrael Barzilai (1969–70)
Benny Begin (2009–13, 2015)
Menachem Begin (1967–70)
Mordechai Ben-Porat (1982–84)
Yosef Burg (1984)
Eitan Cabel (2006–07)
Ra'anan Cohen (2001–02)
Yitzhak Cohen (2006–08)
Aryeh Deri (1993)
Aryeh Dolchin (1969–70)
Sarah Doron (1983–84)
Abba Eban (1959–60)
Rafael Edri (1988–90)
Yaakov Edri (2006–07)
Effi Eitam (2002)
Yisrael Galili (1966–67, 1969–77)
Akiva Govrin (1963–64)
Mordechai Gur (1988–90)
Gideon Hausner (1974–77)
Tzachi Hanegbi (2016, 2020)
Yigal Hurvitz (1984–88)
Haim Landau (1978–79)
Pinhas Lavon (1952–54)
David Levy (2002)
Yitzhak Levy (2002)
Tzipi Livni (2001–02)
David Magen (1990)
Raleb Majadele (2007)
Dan Meridor (2001–03)
Yitzhak Moda'i (1981–82, 1986–88)
Shaul Mofaz (2012)
Peretz Naftali (1951–52, 1955–59)
Meshulam Nahari (2006–13)
Dan Naveh (2001–03)
Moshe Nissim (1978–80, 1988–90)
Ehud Olmert (1988–90)
Yossi Peled (2009)
Shimon Peres (1969)
Yitzhak Peretz (1984, 1987–88)
Haim Ramon (2005)
Pinchas Sapir (1968–69)
Yosef Sapir (1967–69)
Avner Shaki (1988–90)
Yosef Shapira (1984–88)
Ariel Sharon (1983–84)
Victor Shem-Tov (1969–70)
Salah Tarif (2001–02)
Ezer Weizman (1984–88)
Dov Yosef (1952–53)
Rehavam Ze'evi (1991–92)
Italy
Kenya
In Kenya, ministers without portfolio are not common. However three individuals have held the position in the country's history. They are:
Chunilal Madan (1956–1957) He was the first Kenyan minister with Asian descent and also country's first minister without portfolio. He was appointed to oversee Kenya's Colonial government operations prior to being appointed as a judge in the country's Supreme court in 1957.
Raphael Tuju (2018–2022). He was appointed by Uhuru Kenyatta to oversee government operations in his second term of presidency.
Cleophas Wakhungu Malala (2023-to date). He was appointed as the secretary general of the ruling party UDA to oversee the operations of the ruling party and push the hustler agenda for the next five years.
North Macedonia
As of 2017, ministers without portfolio (министер без ресор) are:
Ramiz Merko
Edmond Ademi
Robert Popovski
Zoran Sapurik
Zorica Apostolovska
Adnan Kahil
Samka Ibraimovski
Malta
Carmelo Abela (2020–)
Joe Mizzi (1996–1998)
Konrad Mizzi (2016–2017) On April 28, 2016, following the appearance of his name in the Panama Papers leaks, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced in a press conference at the Auberge de Castille that Konrad Mizzi was to be removed from the position of Health and Energy Minister. Mizzi would however retain the title of minister without portfolio, working within the Office of the Prime Minister.
Nepal
Ram Sharan Mahat.
Netherlands
A minister without portfolio in the Netherlands is a minister that does not head a specific ministry, but assumes the same power and responsibilities as a minister that does. The minister is responsible for a specific part of another minister's policy field. In that sense, a minister without portfolio is comparable to a staatssecretaris (state secretary or junior minister) in Dutch politics, who also falls under another ministry and is responsible for a specific part of that minister's policy field. However, one distinct difference is that a minister without portfolio is a member of the council of ministers and can vote in it, whereas a state secretary is not. The minister for development cooperation has always been a minister without portfolio.
In the second Balkenende cabinet there were three ministers without portfolio: Agnes van Ardenne (Development Cooperation), Rita Verdonk (Integration and Immigration) and Alexander Pechtold (Government Reform and Kingdom Relations).
In the fourth Balkenende cabinet there were three ministers without portfolio: Eberhard van der Laan (Housing, Neighbourhoods and Integration), Bert Koenders (Development Cooperation) and André Rouvoet, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Youth and Family.
The second Rutte cabinet had two ministers without portfolio: Stef Blok (Housing and the Central Government Sector) and Lilianne Ploumen (Development Cooperation).
The third Rutte cabinet has four ministers without portfolio: Sigrid Kaag (Development Cooperation), Sander Dekker (Legal Protection), Martin van Rijn (Medical Care), and Arie Slob (Primary and Secondary Education and Media).
The fourth Rutte cabinet has eight ministers without portfolio: Carola Schouten (Poverty, Participation and Pensions), Liesje Schreinemacher (Development Cooperation), Rob Jetten (Climate and Energy), Conny Helder (Long-Term Healthcare and Sport), Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen reduction), Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection), Hugo de Jonge (Housing and Urban Development), and Dennis Wiersma (Primary and Secondary Education and Media).
New Zealand
In the First Labour Government from 1935 Mark Fagan was a "minister without portfolio" from 1935 to 1939, as was David Wilson from 1939 to 1949. They were appointed to the upper house and made a "minister without portfolio" to add them to the cabinet although neither were elected to a seat in Parliament.
In the Third National Government, Keith Holyoake was made a Minister of State 1975–77 after he had retired as party leader, and in the Fourth National Government Robin Gray was made a Minister of State 1993–96 after he was replaced as Speaker (though he was also Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs). Both appointments were considered sinecures to avoid their return as 'backbenchers'.
The following were appointed to the Executive Council as ministers without portfolio.
Key
†: Died in office
Norway
From 2009 to 2013 Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen (Labour) was a Minister without Portfolio and Chief of Staff in the Prime Ministers Office, where his job was to co-ordinate within government.
Philippines
During the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, then-Senate President Manuel Roxas was appointed minister without portfolio by the Japanese Government.
Portugal
Following the Carnation Revolution, several politicians were made ministers without portfolio:
Álvaro Cunhal (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th provisional government)
Ernesto Melo Antunes (2nd, 3rd provisional government)
Francisco Pereira de Moura (1st, 4th provisional government)
Francisco Sá Carneiro (1st provisional government)
Joaquim Magalhães Mota (2nd, 3rd, 4th provisional government)
Jorge Campinos (1st constitutional government)
Mário Soares (4th provisional government)
Vítor Alves (2nd, 3rd provisional government)
After the 1st Constitutional Government (1976–1978), there haven't been any appointments of ministers without portfolio.
A similar but not sinecural cabinet position, that of Minister Adjunct (ministro adjunto), who does not head a particular ministry but is instead tasked with the general interministerial measures found in the government programme, has been created in some Portuguese governments.
Serbia
From 2007 to 2008, Dragan Đilas was a "minister without portfolio" in charge of the National Investment Plan.
Milan Krkobabić (2016)
Slavica Đukić Dejanović (2017)
Nenad Popović (2017)
Singapore
In Singapore, the appointment holder is known as a 'Minister in the Prime Minister's Office'.
Spain
In Spain, in addition to the Ministers in charge of a Department, there may be Ministers without a portfolio, who will be responsible for certain government functions. In the event that there are Ministers without a portfolio, the scope of their powers, the administrative structure, as well as the material and personal resources attached to it will be determined by Royal Decree.
Sweden
Dag Hammarskjöld (1951–1953).
Olof Palme (1963–1965).
Taiwan
In the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China, there are several ministers without portfolio at once. Currently, they are:
Chang Ching-sen
Huang Chih-ta
John Deng
Kung Ming-hsin, also serving as Minister of National Development Council
Lo Ping-cheng
Lin Wan-i
Wu Tze-cheng, also serving as Minister of Public Construction Commission
Tanzania
President Jakaya Kikwete appointed Professor Mark Mwandosya as a minister without portfolio in 2012.
Uganda
Since 2015, the cabinet list has included a minister without portfolio:
Abraham Byandala – 2015 until 2016
Abdul Nadduli – 2016 to 2019
Kirunda Kivejinja – 2019 to 2021
United Kingdom
United States
The Vice President of the United States is a member of the Cabinet but heads no department. As such, the Vice President may be assigned to policy areas of the President's choosing such as foreign diplomacy (Richard Nixon), space programs (Lyndon B. Johnson) or public health (Mike Pence). Prior to the mid-19th century, the Vice President's position as President of the Senate caused the office to be seen as primarily legislative in nature, and as such they were not assigned to deal with public policy.
Cabinet-level officials are president-designated additional members of the Cabinet, which can vary under each president. Most of them head no department, and some of them are not officers of the United States. For example, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget is the head of the Office of Management and Budget, which is an office within a department, namely the Executive Office of the President of the United States headed by the White House Chief of Staff. Similar situations apply (or applied) for the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Trade Representative, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Security Advisor, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
An individual who has great influence on government affairs without holding formal office might be described as a "minister without portfolio". Such an appellation is completely unofficial (possibly intended jokingly or disparagingly) and merely serves to underscore the extent of the individual's already-existing influence; it does not grant any new influence or power. Examples include Bernard Baruch, Arthur Burns, and Ivanka Trump.
During his tenure as Secretary of Commerce of the United States the later President Herbert Hoover was sometimes referred to as "Secretary of Commerce and Under-Secretary of all other departments" due to his propensity to get involved in federal government policy outside his department and taking charge when other ministers and/or the President wouldn't or couldn't, such as with his administration of federal relief efforts in the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
Vietnam
In the first government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam founded by Hồ Chí Minh after the August Revolution in September 1945, Cù Huy Cận and Nguyễn Văn Xuân were assigned the "Minister without Porfolio" positions. In January 1946, the "Provisional Coalition Government" was installed, and Nguyen Van Xuan retained the post of Minister without Portfolio while Cu Huy Can was elevated to the Ministry of Agriculture. From November 1946 to early 1955, the Viet Minh (and later the Worker's Party)-led "New Government" fought against the return of France to Indochina and the post Ministers without Portfolio was held by Nguyễn Văn Tố, Đặng Văn Hướng and Bồ Xuân Luật. Since the 1954 Geneva Convention, the position has been vacant, except briefly during the 1960-1964 cabinet elected by the 2nd National Assembly, where Lê Văn Hiến occupied the post "Minister without Porfolio and Deputy Chair of the State Planning Commission."
In 2014, Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng tasked the Cabinet Office to examine the possibility of re-introducing the post "Minister without Porfolio." There have been no further developments since.
References
External links
List of Canadian Ministers Without Portfolio and Ministers of State (Parliament of Canada Website)
Taiwanese Ministers Without Portfolio
Without portfolio
Without portfolio
Canadian ministers
Portfolio, Minister without
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410187
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris%20Shays
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Chris Shays
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Christopher Hunter Shays (born October 18, 1945) is an American politician. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives as representative of the 4th District of Connecticut. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Shays was the only Republican congressman from New England elected to the 110th United States Congress in the 2006 midterm elections. His loss to Jim Himes in the 2008 election made New England's House delegation entirely Democratic in the 111th Congress. He was the most senior member of the House of Representatives to be defeated in the 2008 election.
In 2009, Shays was appointed to co-chair the Commission on Wartime Contracting. The commission is an independent, bipartisan legislative commission established to study wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Created in Section 841 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, this eight-member commission is mandated by Congress to study federal agency contracting for the reconstruction, logistical support of coalition forces, and the performance of security functions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He co-chaired the government watchdog commission that identified and raised alarm over $60 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse in wartime contingency contracting and presented to Congress reforms to address this wasteful spending.
Shays was a candidate for the 2012 Republican U.S. Senate nomination to replace retiring Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman.
However, he lost the August 14 primary to Linda McMahon. To date, he is the last Republican to have represented Connecticut in Congress.
Background
Shays was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of Margaret "Peggy" (née Oliver) and Thurston Crane Shays. His maternal grandmother was born in Scotland. He grew up in Darien, and graduated from Darien High School in 1964. He attended the Christian Science Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, and received both a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Public Administration from New York University. He lives in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Shays has always remained a Christian Scientist—a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible—throughout his life.
Shays married Betsi DeRaismes in 1968. They served together in the Peace Corps in Fiji from 1968 to 1970. They have one daughter.
Connecticut General Assembly
At the age of 29, Shays was first elected to the Connecticut House where he served from 1975 to 1987. He served simultaneously as the ranking member of both the Appropriations Committee and the Committee on Finance, Revenue, and Bonding. He also served as a member of the Judiciary Committee. He served six days in jail on a contempt charge when he was a member of the Connecticut Legislature protesting judicial corruption.
Member of the United States Congress
In 1987, Shays won a special election to fill the vacant seat of the late Congressman Stewart McKinney. He represented the 4th congressional district (southwestern Connecticut) until losing to Jim Himes in 2008.
During his 21 years in Congress, Christopher served on the Government Reform, Financial Services, Budget and Homeland Security committees and was the first congressman to enter Iraq after the war.
Police incident
In 2007, during an incident at the Capitol, a staff member under Shays' supervision attempted to bring a family through a restricted-access door. When a United States Capitol Police officer intervened and prevented their entry, Shays engaged in a heated exchange with the officer. He raised his voice, using profanities, and attempted to inspect the officer's badge for identification. Following the incident, Shays publicly acknowledged his regret for his behavior and accepted full responsibility for his actions.
Voting record
Shays is a moderate Republican. From 1990 onward, Shays voted with the Republican majority 76.8% of the time, voted with the Democratic majority 57.9% of the time and missed 2.5% of the votes. A U.S. News & World Report analysis of Shays' voting record found that he is a moderate, having voted historically more often with liberals than with conservatives, although it noted he voted with Congressional Republicans 80% of the time in 2002.
Shays is labeled by his supporters as a "maverick" and "independent thinker", while conservative detractors regard him as a RINO ("Republican In Name Only"). He and Marty Meehan were the lead sponsors of the House version of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2002. Shays is pro-choice on abortion but voted for the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Shays was endorsed by the Brady Campaign for his support for gun control and was one of only six Republicans to vote against banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers and distributors in 2005. Despite having voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, Shays voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in both 2004 and 2006 that would constitutionally ban same-sex marriage, and co-sponsored a bill to overturn the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prohibited LGBT troops from serving openly. He was one of the few Republicans to oppose amending the Constitution to ban flag-burning. In 1999 he was one of 20 Republicans to vote against an ultimately failed bill to ban physician-assisted suicide. Shays has long been known for environmental regulations, and was endorsed in the past by the League of Conservation Voters. He also advocates humane treatment of animals and ending discrimination in the workplace. Shays was also one of only four Republicans to vote against all four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
In April 2005, he broke with most of his party over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's alleged ethics violations. January 2011, DeLay was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to three years in prison but was freed on bail while appealing his conviction. His comments in 2005 made Shays the first Republican to say DeLay should step down from the Majority Leader post. He fought to maintain the Republican Party rule that requires an indicted leader to step down — the rule that ultimately resulted in Tom DeLay's resignation. Shays stated that he should resign, saying, "Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election."
Shays is a member of or supported by the Republican Main Street Partnership, The Republican Majority for Choice, Republicans for Environmental Protection, It's My Party Too, and the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus.
Views on Iraq
Shays voted in favor of the 2003 congressional resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq. In 2003, he was the first U.S. Congressman to visit Iraq after the outbreak of war and he has traveled to Iraq 21 times overall, more than any other U.S. legislator.
From 2003 until August 24, 2006, Shays was a "stalwart supporter" of the War in Iraq, and of a continued U.S. military presence there. Shays has faced a continued political challenge to his views in a district where recent polls show a solid majority of voters disapprove of the 2003 US decision to invade Iraq.
On April 10, 2003, Shays told the Connecticut Post that "'The successes to date are extraordinary. The war plan has been nearly flawless. Now we need to make sure the peace plan rises to the same level,' Shays said. 'If we are able to help them form a government quickly, we will be viewed as liberators. If we are there too long, we will be viewed basically as conquerors.'" On August 19, 2004, Shays told reporters, "We're on the right track now." On June 24, 2005, Shays said "We've seen amazing progress [in Iraq]." On July 27, 2005, Shays said on a local radio program that he was optimistic about the future of Iraq, and that he opposed any timetable for troop withdrawal. On June 11, 2006 Shays told the Hartford Courant that his position on the war was a matter of principle and he was not going to stop talking about it.
On October 11, 2006, at a debate Shays sparked outrage from critics with comments about the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. "Now I've seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture. It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from [Maryland] who were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked, and they did other things that were just outrageous. But it wasn't torture."
Upon returning from an August 2006 Iraq trip, Shays became the first Congressional Republican to call for a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Shays said he was still a supporter of the war, but supported a timetable in order to "encourage some political will on the part of Iraqis".
Shays has staunchly disputed media claims that he has flip-flopped his position on Iraq. "I am not distancing myself from the President," he told the Los Angeles Times on August 25, 2006. That same day, he told other reporters, "I totally support the war," and Shays supported the President's decision to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq on February 17, 2007, when he voted in favor of the surge.
On February 16, 2007, Shays voted against H. Con. Res. 63 (which disapproved of increasing troop levels in Iraq), claiming that "The resolution sends the wrong message to the President, to our troops, and to our enemies"
On July 13, 2007 Shays called on Congress to approve withdrawing virtually all American troops from Iraq by December 2008. "I believe we need a timeline. I believe the president's wrong," said Shays. Shays' latest plan marks the first time he has specified dates. On April 13, 2008, Shays defended President Bush's Iraq policy to a town meeting in his home district, telling them, "I support the President on Iraq."
Elections
Shays served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1975 to 1987, representing part of Stamford (he has since moved to Bridgeport). Just a few months after starting his seventh term in the state house, Shays entered a special election for the 4th District after 16-year incumbent Stewart McKinney died of AIDS, and won with 57 percent of the vote. He won the seat in his own right in 1988 and was reelected nine times.
From 1988 to 2002, Shays was reelected fairly handily, never dropping below 57 percent of the vote even as the 4th turned more Democratic at the national level. The district, once a classic "Yankee Republican" district, swung heavily Democratic along with the rest of Connecticut from the early 1990s onward; the last Republican presidential candidate to carry it was George H. W. Bush in 1988. However, in 2004, Westport First Selectwoman Diane Farrell held him to only 52 percent of the vote, his closest contest in two decades.
2006 election
In 2006, Shays was in "the fight of his political life", facing a rematch with Farrell. According to U.S. News & World Report, "With money pouring in from the district and from national groups (Farrell expects to raise close to $3 million, Shays a bit less) and unregulated political interest groups targeting Shays with automated calls and negative telemarketing designed as polls, this one already has the odor of ugly." According to the U.S. News report, Farrell says that, in 2002, Shays voted in support of Bush's post-9/11 agenda 80% of the time, but other analyses of his voting record revealed that historically he voted more often with liberals.
Despite the strong challenge from Farrell, Shays was re-elected to Congress in the 2006 election by a slim margin of 6,645 votes (3%). Shays lost Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk, Westport, and Weston to Farrell, but her margin in those communities was insufficient to overcome Shays' lead in the more Republican towns in the district.
After the defeats of Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons, Shays was the only Republican member of the Connecticut congressional delegation, and the only Republican House member from New England.
2008 election
In the 2008 election, Shays faced Democratic nominee Jim Himes, an affordable housing executive and businessman; Libertarian nominee M.A. Carrano, an experimental philosopher, systems consultant and author; and Green Party nominee Richard Duffee. Shays was defeated by Himes 51% to 48%. Himes was likely assisted by Barack Obama's landslide victory in the 4th; Obama carried the district with 60% of the vote, one of the largest margins for a Republican-held district. Shays' defeat resulted in there being no Republicans representing New England in the House for the first time since the GOP's inception in the 1850s.
Shays carried 14 of the 17 towns in his district. However, Himes took the three largest towns—Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford. Ultimately, Shays could not overcome a landslide loss in Bridgeport, the largest city in the district, where he won only 19% of the vote.
2012 U.S. Senate candidacy
Shays officially entered the 2012 U.S. Senate race on August 22, 2011, to replace retiring senator Joe Lieberman. At the Connecticut State Republican Convention, Linda McMahon earned the endorsement of the state Republican Party by a delegate vote of 658 to 351 over Shays. The two were the only candidates to qualify for the primary, which would take place on August 14, 2012.
A series of independent polls had shown Shays defeating or in dead heat with the top Democratic contenders in the general election, while those same polls show McMahon losing handily to each of the top Democratic contenders. The Shays campaign asserted the former Congressman showed more electability than McMahon, due to her loss in an open Senate seat contest in 2010 by a large margin despite spending $50 million of her own money, also citing her high unfavorable numbers among state voters, and the weak fundraising numbers of the McMahon campaign.
Despite support among Independents and even some Democrats, Shays faced a significant obstacles in the primary trailing in both campaign funds and poll results. Outspent by more than $60 million, Shays was defeated by a three-to-one margin in the primary. She faced Democratic Representative Chris Murphy in the general election and lost, marking her second consecutive defeat in two years.
Subsequent career
In 2013, Shays was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case. He was mentioned as a potential candidate for Governor of Connecticut in 2014, but ultimately did not enter that race.
In the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Shays originally endorsed Ohio Governor John Kasich. After Donald Trump won the Republican primary, he announced in August 2016 that he would vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the general election.
He served as a Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics in Spring 2017.
He endorsed Joe Biden, for President of the United States of America in the 2020 United States elections.
In 2020, Shays, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."
Former committee assignments
Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on Domestic Policy
Financial Services Committee
Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity
Homeland Security Committee
Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment
Co-founded the Congressional National Service Caucus
Co-Chair of the Congressional Arts Caucus
Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus
Co-Chair of the Nonproliferation Task Force
See also
Factions in the Republican Party (United States)
Notes
External links
Chris Shays for U.S. Senate official campaign site
Peace Corps Online – Special Report: Fiji RPCV Congressman Chris Shays news clips
15 things about Christopher Shays 2006 candidate profile, Biographical bullet-points
"The Voice of a Lone Moderate" Christopher Shay's positions on issues
Iraq and Terrorism February 23, 2003 public forum, Westport, CT, one hour excerpt
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1945 births
21st-century American politicians
American Christian Scientists
American conscientious objectors
Living people
Republican Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service alumni
Politicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut
People from Darien, Connecticut
Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut
Principia College alumni
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut
New York University Stern School of Business alumni
Darien High School alumni
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers%27%20Party%20%28Singapore%29
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Workers' Party (Singapore)
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The Workers' Party (abbreviation: WP) is a major centre-left political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP). It is currently the largest opposition party in Parliament. It is also one of the two oldest parties active in the country, having contested every parliamentary election since 1959, the other being the PAP. The WP has been the only political party other than the PAP with elected Members of Parliament (MPs) since the 1991 general election.
The WP was founded in 1957 by David Marshall, having previously led the left-wing Labour Front (LF) to victory in the 1955 general election, forming a minority government and becoming the first Chief Minister of Singapore. After his delegation to London to negotiate for complete home rule and eventual independence was initially rejected by the British, he resigned as leader of the LF and from his seat in 1957. After creating the WP, Marshall returned as its first representative in the Legislative Assembly as a Member for Anson in 1961, before resigning in 1963 after a disagreement with some members of the party.
The party would thereafter decline in prominence during the 1960s and 1970s before its re-emergence in 1981, when then party leader J. B. Jeyaretnam became the first opposition MP to be elected since Singapore's independence in 1965, having surprisingly defeated the candidate of the governing PAP at a by-election in Marshall's former constituency of Anson. He was re-elected at the 1984 general election, but subsequently lost his seat in Parliament in 1986 following a conviction for falsely accounting the party's funds, a conviction Jeyaretnam claimed was politically motivated. Prominent former members of the WP also include former Law Society President Francis Seow as well as socialist activist Lee Siew Choh.
Since the 1991 general election, the party's safe seat has been the constituency of Hougang, which was represented by Low Thia Khiang for two decades. The popularity of the party in Hougang has been attributed to the area's Teochew heritage and Low's personal affability. Low moved to the constituency of Aljunied for the 2011 general election, where he led the first team from an opposition party to win a group representation constituency (GRC), with the WP becoming the first political party other than the PAP to win two adjacent constituencies and to elect the first female non-PAP MP. In 2012, then-Speaker of Parliament and incumbent PAP MP for Punggol East SMC, Michael Palmer, had resigned from his seat due to an extra-marital affair, triggering a by-election. The WP candidate, Lee Li Lian, who stood in the same constituency in 2011, was chosen to represent the party once again and was subsequently elected to become the first woman in Singapore's history to win a by-election. In the 2020 general election, the WP become the first opposition party to win multiple GRCs in a single general election. Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan became the youngest MP and the first female minority opposition candidate elected into Parliament.
Positioning itself as a "check and balance" in Parliament while being on the centre-left of Singapore politics, the WP is ideologically social democratic. It supports a progressive approach to civic nationalism, reducing the voting age from 21 to 18 in line with most other established democracies, expanding the minimum wage policies to cover all sectors as well as providing more flexibility in regards to the Central Provident Fund (CPF). In recent years, members of the WP have worn light blue uniforms during political campaigning to represent the party's links to blue-collar workers.
History
1956: Foundation of the Workers' Party
In 1956, Singapore's first Chief Minister, David Saul Marshall, resigned his leadership post for Labour Front (the largest party in the assembly at the time) following the failure of the Merdeka Talks that had sought self-governance for Singapore. Marshall remained as the party's backbencher in the Legislative Assembly until his resignation in 1957. On 3 November that year, Marshall went on to found Workers' Party.
1957–1965: City Council and Legislative Assembly elections
Following the adoption of the Rendel and McNeice Commission recommendations, the six wards in the city area consisting of 18 elected seats was carved into 32. In 1957, the pro-communists backed two new entrants, the Workers' Party and the People's Action Party, which later went on to become the long-running governing party in Singapore. Their electoral debut was mostly a success as the party elected four members (out of the five contested) to the City Council; however, in 1958, Kallang ward incumbent Chang Yuen Tong resigned, and subsequently lost their seat to PAP as a result of their by-election defeat.
The party's first Legislative election in 1959 did not see success unlike the 1957 City Election, as Marshall failed to retake his seat from 1955 to 1957, Cairnhill constituency; it was won by former Chief Minister and Singapore People's Alliance leader Lim Yew Hock, and the WP did not win any of the three contested seats. That same election also saw PAP became the majority party for the very first time.
In May 1961, a by-election was precipitated due to the passing of Anson constituency's incumbent MP Baharuddin Mohammed Ariff. Marshall then went to declare his candidacy with the statement:
"... effective, vigorous and constructive opposition and to protect them against the arrogant dictatorship of unchallenged power. Marshall was also eager to assist the workers to prevent the political enslavement of trade unions and to revive the struggle against colonialism in seeking complete independence preferably within and, if necessary, without the Federation."
On 15 July, Marshall won the by-election and subsequently returned to the Legislative Assembly.
David Marshall, as Chairman of the party, made his views known on merger at public rallies and radio talks. Marshall's stand on merger was that:
"... Singapore should seek equal privileges and rights for its citizens in the new federation but surrender autonomy in education and labour, since different policies in these crucial areas would undermine the stability of Malaysia in the long run. He further maintained that if Singapore could not negotiate for a complete merger, she should seek independence on her own, a proposition which drew gales of laughter from the Legislative Chamber at that time. Marshall's strongest objection to the White Paper merger terms was on the point of citizenship and the implications of citizenship in the new federation. He saw the provisions as denying the Singapore citizen who was a federal national, the right of political participation in terms of being allowed to organise or contest in an election in the other states of the Federation. Singaporeans would in his view, be no more than favoured foreigners in the Federation, permitted to live and work there without visas, but also without the important constitutional guarantees that immigration barriers would not be raised against them."
The party concerned Marshall's issue of common citizenship and the rights of Singapore citizens when they joined the Federation. Marshall later stated on 20 August 1962:
"... issued a statement to advise his Executive Council and party members to accept the White Paper proposals for merger, but continued to oppose the Government on the referendum urging the people to cast blank votes on the grounds that it was undemocratically conducted."
1965–1986: Post independence, first opposition MP
On 9 August 1965, Singapore was declared as an independent sovereign state, and the Legislative was reformed as Parliament of Singapore. 1968 was the first post-independence election, which saw PAP winning every one of 58 contested seats (51 by a walkover, and the other seven on polling day), due to the election boycotting of the main opposition party at the time, the Barisan Sosialis, leading to the mass arrests of most of its leadership since 1963.
Having become a small and fairly insignificant party by the late-1960s, the party saw a rejuvenation by recruiting a group of lawyers, including J.B. Jeyaretnam, who became the party's Secretary-General. Despite fielding a large slate of candidates in succeeding elections, the ruling PAP still managed to retain the monopoly by winning every contested seats for the next three general elections (including by-elections) until 1981.
On 13 October 1981, Devan Nair vacated his Anson seat to assume his role as the nation's third President, and precipitated the by-election; on 31 October, the party's victory was noted as historic as candidate Jeyaretnam became the first opposition MP-elect to be elected in Parliament with 51.9% (7,012) of the valid votes cast, beating PAP's Pang Kim Hin's 47.1% (6,359) and UPF's Harbans Singh's 1.0% (131), marking the first time since 1961 the Anson electorate voted the WP into the assembly. Jeyaretnam then went on to hold the constituency in the 1984 elections with an increased margin of 56.8%.
However, two months later, Jeyaretnam was charged with falsely accounting the party's funds. In 1986, Senior District Judge Michael Khoo found Jeyaretnam innocent of all charges but one. The prosecution later appealed a retrial to be held in a different district court, which saw Jeyaretnam found guilty on all charges and resulted in his disqualification, though he subsequently remained as the party's Secretary-General, he was also barred from standing in elections until 1991.
1987–1991: Re-entry into Parliament
In 1987, some members were among a group of 22 people arrested by Singapore's Internal Security Department as part of Operation Spectrum, accused of being Marxists. They were released on condition that they kept out of politics.
Prior to the 1988 general elections, the party merged Barisan Sosialis and the Singapore United Front. The party did not win any constituency but came very close to winning the Eunos Group Representation Constituency (which was then a three-member constituency), in which the party's team, consisting of Francis Seow (a former head of the Bar Society who had become a thorn in the government's side and had briefly been detained under the Internal Security Act prior to the general election), Lee Siew Choh (a former chairman of the Barisan Sosialis and former PAP Assemblyman from 1959 to 1961) and Mohd Khalit bin Mohd Baboo, scored 49.1%; only one opposition MP was returned to Parliament (Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Party), and since the team garnered the highest percentage of the vote secured by losing opposition candidates at the election, the party was eligible to nominate two members of its team become Non-constituency MPs. The party had refused to nominate NCMPs in the past, but this time they nominated Lee and Seow to become NCMPs. While Lee took his post and became the first NCMP, Seow did not accept the offer after he was accused of espionage and fled to the United States shortly after the election. In Parliament, Lee took up several issues, including the Internal Security Act, living costs and welfare.
Jeyaretnam was sued for slander by the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew for comments he made at an election rally in 1988, and lost; Jeyaretnam was ordered to pay Lee damages of S$260,000 including costs.
1991–1997: Victory in Hougang
At the 1991 general election, Low Thia Khiang, who was then the party's Organising Secretary, and a previously-contested candidate under the Tiong Bahru GRC in his debut in 1988, was elected as the MP for Hougang SMC; defeating PAP's incumbent Tang Guan Seng by 10,621 votes (52.8%) to 9,487 (47.2%). The party had since held on Hougang SMC after the election.
During the election campaign, one of the WP's candidates in Eunos GRC, Jufrie Mahmood, drew particular fire from the PAP and then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, accusing him of being a Malay chauvinist, an accusation Jufrie strongly denied. The party also polled strongly in Eunos GRC, but lost to the PAP's team with 47.6% of the votes to 52.4%; unlike the last election, no NCMPs were offered as the opposition (including Low) elected a combined four seats in parliament. Low became the Assistant Secretary-General following the election; during his tenure, Low was praised by the parliament on his assertiveness, good analytical ability and his willingness to be constructive rather than oppose for the sake of opposing.
A by-election in the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency in 1992 was expected to mark the return of Jeyaretnam to electoral politics after his Parliamentary ban had expired; however, the team ultimately did not participate due to one of the candidates turned up late on the nomination day. In 1993, Jeyaretnam and another candidate, Tan Soo Phuan (now a member of Democratic Progressive Party), attempted to seek candidacy in the first-ever presidential election, but both candidates were denied from granting the Certificate of Eligibility, an item presidential candidates was required to complete their nominations.
In 1996, Jeyaretnam was sued and paid damages of S$465,000 and S$250,000 in court costs for an article he wrote in an issue of the party's newspaper, The Hammer, calling the PAP's Indian leaders a bunch of stooges. That same year, Lee Siew Choh resigned from the party, citing differences with Jeyaretnam.
1997–2006: Leadership transition from Jeyaretnam to Low
In the 1997 elections, Low was re-elected as Hougang MP at the 1997 general election. Besides Low, only one other opposition MP was elected (Chiam See Tong, who left SDP to join the Singapore People's Party); one NCMP was offered to the WP team for Cheng San Group Representation Constituency, who polled better than any other opposition losing candidates, with 45.2%; the party selected secretary-general (and candidate) Jeyaretnam as the NCMP, marking his return to the Parliament after 11 years.
During the election campaign, another candidate part of the WP's team in Cheng San, lawyer Tang Liang Hong, drew particular attention from the PAP, who accused him of being an anti-Christian and anti-Muslim Chinese chauvinist. Tang, who insisted all he was trying to do was to "better represent the Chinese community and ask questions on their behalf", vigorously denied this charge and accused the PAP of trying to win votes by sowing fear into the electorate. Tang also attacked the PAP on the issue of the Hotel Properties Ltd case (which started when the Stock Exchange of Singapore criticised Hotel Properties Ltd for its "tardiness" in disclosing details of sales of its condominium units to directors and their family members). Lee who had purchased one of the units, claimed that Tang was trying to milk this issue for political capital; the PAP sued Tang for both defamation and branding the PAP leadership as a bunch of liars, for a total of S$13.6 million of damages, and Tang shortly fled to Australia after the election.
Prior to the 2001 election, Jeyaretnam was discharged from his NCMP seat due to an undischarged bankruptcy (failing to keep up with payments of S$120,000 worth of damages owed from a libel suit brought by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and other PAP leaders following comments he had made at an election rally in 1997, but since fulfilled and discharged from bankruptcy in May 2007); Jeyaretnam relinquished his Secretary-General post to Low, which saw the party in bitter acrimony as Jeyaretnam later accused Low of not doing enough to help him pay the damages from the libel suit. In response, Low claimed that he had always looked upon Jeyaretnam as an elder and had done everything possible to help him. Following the renewal, a few members (including Jeyaretnam) left the party, and went to form Reform Party in 2008, which would be Jeyaretnam's final involvement in politics until his death three months after the founding.
Many observers speculated that with Low at the helm, WP would tone down its more hard-line stance and take on a more centrist outlook at the 2001 election. After Low assumed leadership, Low recruited a series of young members to the party, which include James Gomez, Yaw Shin Leong and Sylvia Lim (who would become the party's long-serving (and current) chairperson). Although Low was re-elected as Hougang MP at the 2001 general election, the party's fortunes reached a low as it only contested in two seats, in Hougang and Nee Soon East SMCs and had its entire Aljunied GRC team disqualified on Nomination Day.
2006–2011: Party renewal and electoral breakthrough
WP launched an updated manifesto in January 2006 entitled "You Have a Choice". The 52-page booklet outlined the party's stand on issues and policies, covering areas from economic and judicial policies to media and sports and recreation. The manifesto, which had last been updated in 1994, took one year to work on according to Low. PAP then panned the party's manifesto citing "time-bombs", in which the party quipped that its manifesto contained only time bombs which threatened the PAP's power.
At the 2006 general election, Low was elected as Hougang MP for the fourth time by an increased margin of 62.7%. The party also polled strongly in the Aljunied GRC, losing to the PAP's team with 43.9% of the vote to 56.1%, allowing the party to elect an NCMP seat by-virtue for their team being best-performing opposition losers, and the party's Chairman Lim was selected to become its first female NCMP. Another team of young first-time candidates, led by Yaw Shin Leong in Ang Mo Kio GRC helmed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, garnered a respectable 33.4% or one-third of the votes, slightly higher than the opposition's national average. Combining from all the votes received from the seven constituencies contested by 20 candidates, their popular vote was 38.4%; as compared to the second opposition party, the Singapore Democratic Alliance (the party also fielded the same number of candidates contesting the same number of constituencies), where the party got 32.5%, the party then became the largest opposition for the election, and leader Low succeeded Chiam as the new leader of the opposition.
The manifesto for the General Election 2011 was titled "Towards a First World Parliament", which also became their campaign slogan. One key proposal was for more affordable public housing such that Housing Development Board (HDB) lessees should be able to pay off their mortgage loans within 20 years rather than 30 years. Prior to nomination day (27 April 2011), Low announced that he would vacate his Hougang seat to former Ang Mo Kio GRC candidate Yaw Shin Long, and would contest in Aljunied GRC in the forthcoming election along with Lim and three of his "A-List" candidates (Taiwanese-born corporate lawyer Chen Show Mao, law postgraduate and former SAF major Pritam Singh, and freelance councillor Muhamad Faisal Manap). The party fielded a total of 23 candidates contesting in eight constituencies, the largest slate since 1988 (WP had the second-largest opposition slate, second only to another opposition party, National Solidarity Party (NSP), which fielded 24 candidates in eight constituencies).
On 7 May, the team in Aljunied GRC achieved another breakthrough for the party, with the first-ever GRC victory for any opposition party in history, with a score of 54.71% to unseat the PAP team led by then-Foreign Minister George Yeo and Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua. The Hougang ward was also retained by Yaw with its best performance for the party at 64.80% of the votes (second only to Chiam's score of 69.6% back in 1991), resulting in six seats elected in Parliament. Their party's overall vote was its best performance in history, with 46.58% of the votes combined from the eight constituencies contested (second only to SDP's popular vote of 48.6% in 1991). Additionally, the election of chairwoman Lim and Manap, became the first female and former NCMP and Malay opposition MP, respectively, to be elected into Parliament.
Due to an increase of minimum opposition seats from three to nine, the party also won two of the three NCMP seats, which they elect Gerald Giam and Yee Jenn Jong (who contested East Coast Group Representation Constituency and Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency, respectively), bringing a total representation of eight seats, the most for any opposition party in Singapore since independence. Following the elections on 12 June, the party launched its grassroots arm for Aljunied GRC, called the Aljunied Constituency Committee. It also combined the Hougang and Aljunied town councils to form the Aljunied–Hougang Town Council.
2012–2013: Hougang and Punggol East by-elections
On 15 February 2012, the party expelled Hougang SMC MP Yaw Shin Leong, for failing to account for allegations made against him. Prior to his expulsion, Yaw was accused of several indiscretions in his private life, as well as party misconduct surfaced earlier that year; Yaw had up to 24 February to appeal against his expulsion, but declined, eventually precipitated the by-election which was due to be held on 26 May. The seat was retained by former East Coast GRC candidate Png Eng Huat with a majority of 62.08%. Shortly after the elections, Poh Lee Guan was also expelled from the party after Poh attempt to contest the by-election as a "backup candidate" without consulting the party's CEC, and the CEC condemned Poh's reason as unacceptable.
On 12 December, another by-election was called due to the vacation of Punggol East SMC's MP and former speaker Michael Palmer for indiscretions with a People's Association staff; the party announced the candidacy shortly after the announcement.
Prior to nomination day, the party announced plans to purchase its own premises as its current rented premises at Syed Alwi Road was too small for its operations. Sufficient funds were eventually raised and the new HQ was opened in 2017, coinciding the party's 60th anniversary.
On 16 January 2013, the party fielded Lee Li Lian, a candidate previously contested the same ward on the 2011 election. On 26 January, Lee was elected to the parliament with 54.52% of the votes (her PAP rival Koh Poh Koon got 43.71%, and two other smaller parties 1.77%), marking their second by-election since 1981 the party won another parliamentary seat from the PAP.
2015–2016: Leadership renewal
Ahead from the 2015 elections, coinciding the nation's golden jubilee, the party announced that it would contest 28 seats (from the ten constituencies), slightly under a third of the 89 parliamentary seats. They revealed their slogan for the election entitled "Empower Your Future". In August 2015, chairwoman Lim confirmed the first batch of candidates, consist of all seven elected MPs, would defend their respective constituencies. By the end of the month, the party's line-up were unveiled and finalised.
On 11 September, the team for Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC were re-elected for another term in Parliament, but by a reduced winning margin of 50.95% and 57.69%, respectively, while Punggol East SMC's candidate Lee was defeated in her re-election bid to PAP's candidate and Deputy Speaker Charles Chong by a vote count of 51.76%–48.24%. Their party's overall vote (based on the ten constituencies contested, all of them were higher than the opposition's national average of 30.14%) fell from 46.58% down to 39.75% as well.
Consequently, the party became the only opposition party to represent in the Parliament for the first time since 1981–84, as the party won all the three NCMPs and formed an opposition of nine. Lee was the first of the three NCMPs but declined the offer; Fengshan SMC's candidate Dennis Tan was next in line for the second NCMP seat, while the party's East Coast GRC team nominated Leon Perera for the third seat. Following Lee's decline of offer, the party announced that they would nominate Daniel Goh as the third NCMP should the Parliament allow another appointment for NCMP. The appointment was approved by the PAP legislature on 29 January 2016, allowing Goh to be elected NCMP on an announcement from the Election Department on 4 February.
On 29 May 2016, leader Low successfully fended off an unprecedented challenge for his Secretary-General post by Chen for the first time in the party's history. Chen was re-appointed by Low in his previous position as Treasurer for another three months from 7 June 2016 until 9 September 2016, as he had already served two terms in the post. On 7 June, the party appointed Pritam Singh as Assistant Secretary-General.
2017–2018: AHTC lawsuits and election of new Secretary-General
On 26 July 2017, the Aljunied–Hougang Town Council, which had appointed an independent panel of three lawyers at the behest of MND and HDB, was suing town council chairman Singh, vice-chairman Lim, party's leader Low, and three others including the town council's former managing agent, for improper payments made to the MA.
On 29 September, the party's headquarters were relocated from Syed Alwi Road to the Teambuild Centre, located at Geylang Road.
On 3 November, an anniversary dinner was held on Harbourfront Centre, marking a milestone of 60 years since the founding of the party on 3 November 1957. On the same night, Low announced on his speech that he would step down from his role of Secretary-General and would not seek candidacy for the next CEC's election the following year. A commemorative biographical book for the party, Walking With Singapore, was launched at bookstores the following day.
Singh was elected to the post of Secretary-General unopposed on 8 April 2018 after Low decided to step down for leadership renewal.
On 26 July, the Party was among the nine opposition parties invited for a gathering led by former PAP member and Presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock, but the party did not attend. WP later revealed that the party was "going through a leadership transition and is focused on organisation building to better serve Singaporeans".
On 3 October, a $33.7 million trial between Aljunied–Hougang Town Council and former leader Low, Chair Lim, secretary-general Singh as well as two other town councillors was initiated. The trial went on until 25 October, where the three politicians launched an appeal to fund their legal fees, citing that they had depleted their personal resources after paying their lawyers close to S$600,000 for work done before the trial. Three days later, they closed their fundraising appeal after raising more than S$1 million for legal fees, while thanking the public for their support.
2020–present: Further gains and inroads, member exits
Ahead of the elections on 10 July 2020, the party introduced their slogan, "Make Your Vote Count" along with the 12 faces from the party, which included ex-NSP candidate Nicole Seah. During nominations, they fielded a total of 21 candidates to contest in six constituencies, including the newly formed Sengkang GRC (a constituency formed from the Punggol East SMC and Sengkang West SMC and fractions from Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), as well as Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC.
Ex-secretary general Low Thia Khiang, along with two incumbents Chen Show Mao and Png Eng Huat, were not contesting the election, with Low not running elections for the first time after a 32-year career; Low was earlier hospitalised on 30 April due to a head injury he sustained and was on rehabilitation. They were respectively replaced by NCMPs Gerald Giam, Leon Perera and Dennis Tan to complete the team line-up. Two other candidates previously elected in parliament, namely former NCMP Daniel Goh and former Punggol East MP Lee Li Lian, did not stand for the election.
During campaigning, Sengkang GRC candidate Jamus Lim received critical acclaim during the live debate which was held on 1 July for his debating skills and charisma. On 5 July, two separate police reports were lodged against Raeesah Khan (another Sengkang GRC candidate) both for alleged comments relating to discrimination of race and religion, in which she explained to the media to promote awareness while also expressing remorse on posting insensitive comments. Raeesah was eventually warned by the Singapore Police Force on 17 September 2020.
On 10 July, the Workers' Party surpassed their best performance from the 2011 election having won a total of 10 seats and garnered 50.49% of votes in constituencies they contested, making it the best-performing opposition party to date that surpasses the previous record held by SDP in 1991, which got 48.6%; the party increased their margins in Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC with 59.95% and 61.21% respectively, while also capturing the new Sengkang GRC with a 52.12% vote, making it the second GRC to be captured by any opposition party. Unlike the past three elections, the party was not offered NCMPs seats as their result for the best performing losing constituency of East Coast GRC (46.61%) was not enough to be awarded a seat, falling behind West Coast GRC (led by the Progress Singapore Party) which garnered 48.32%.
Following the election, Hougang SMC became the first constituency to be elected by the opposition for seven terms, while Singh was appointed as the official Leader of the Opposition by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, with the role previously being unofficial in the past.
On 27 December, five months after the elections, another CEC election was held at Clarke Quay, with Lim and Singh re-elected as Chair and Secretary-General respectively. All four Sengkang GRC members, as well as Nicole Seah and Kenneth Foo were elected into the CEC, while former MPs Chen, Goh and Lee, as well as Firuz Khan, John Yam and Terence Tan, stepped down.
On 30 November 2021, Sengkang MP Raeesah Khan resigned from Workers' Party and as a Member of Parliament after investigations into lying during parliamentary speeches on women's empowerment, which happened three months earlier. Two days later, the Workers' Party Central Executive Committee said they knew about the lies the week after her speech, but they decided to let her set the record straight after knowing her circumstances. Furthermore, the Party leaders voted overwhelmingly to ask Raeesah to resign even before she did so, with expulsion if she did not resign. Instead, Raeesah informed Pritam she would resign, before the Central Executive Committee met on the matter. In addition, the MPs of Sengkang GRC will not step down for a by-election, with the responsibilities of Compassvale divided accordingly. Workers' Party Vice-Chair and Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap will also act as an advisor to the Sengkang MPs. Former NCMP Daniel Goh then publicly questioned Khan's resignation on Facebook in several posts and also requested the party leadership to take some responsibility for "allowing the transgression to persist". Goh was subsequently expelled from the party in 2023.
On 17 July 2023, a video of MP Leon Perera and the party's youth wing president Nicole Seah behaving intimately in a restaurant surfaced online. Perera's former personal driver collaborated on the alleged relationship in a press interview. While he had approach the party leaders about this between 2020 and 2021, they deferred to the pair's denials. Seah and Perera resigned on 18 July and 19 July 2023 respectively, acknowledging the extramarital affair had happened and "stopped sometime ago". Both members had since denied any accusations. The responsibilities of Perera were subsequently divided among the remaining MPs of Aljunied GRC. On 11 September, Perera revealed that his Facebook account has been hacked with posts dating after 17 June 2021 have been deleted, and had since reported to Meta on his issue.
On 24 July 2023, Faisal Manap, the party's vice-chairman and a MP for Aljunied GRC, was hospitalised for a cardiac condition.
On 7 July 2023, the Supreme Court of Singapore find both Lim and Low, and not Singh, liable for control failures in regards on payment processes in Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, leading to a risk of overpayment. The court ruled them guilty over breaching their fiduciary duties in 2019, but a subsequent appeal in 2022 revealed that its party councillors and the town employees did not owe fiduciary duties. On 22 August, Ministry of National Development brought considerations for regulatory action pending clarification from AHTC, under witness of its three party leaders, as well as town councillors Chua Zhi Hon, Kenneth Foo, How Weng Fan and Danny Loh, to ensure the safekeeping of the money totaling S$33.7 million in improper payments.
Ideology
The Workers' Party brands itself as a credible, constructive and rational opposition party in Parliament that does not simply "oppose for the sake of opposing". It wishes to hold the government into account for any issues concerning Singaporeans and where Singaporeans are able to exercise their rights in political participation.
For starters, when policies presented in Parliament benefit Singaporeans on both sides of the political spectrum, it pledges to support it. However, if such policies are insufficient and does not benefit or put Singaporeans at a disadvantage, it will voice out on behalf of Singaporeans in parliamentary debates to seek a compromise. The party has also promised that its MPs will ask "hard questions" that the governing PAP MPs will not mention in Parliament, such as the 2017 corruption scandal in Brazil of the Keppel Offshore & Marine branch of Keppel Corporation, a government-linked corporation conglomerate which was founded by Temasek Holdings.
Historically influenced by Keynesian economics, the party favours government intervention in the economy and some redistribution of wealth. Taxation was seen as a means to achieve a "major redistribution of wealth and income" in previous manifestos. The party also desires increased rights for Singaporean workers and a welfare state, such as allocating greater expenditures towards the country's public healthcare system.
In general, the Workers’ Party's core ideology is centre-left, with some more leftist factions. The Workers' Party pledged in its manifesto to support the middle, working and other lower classes. Whereas the party leans left in general, it has also advocated for a more centrist calibrated approach in regards to immigration. It has, for instance, proposed that the overall number of foreign workers should be capped if Singapore can achieve a 1% annual growth rate in the local workforce.
Leadership
List of chairpersons
List of secretaries-general
Central Executive Committee
As of 15 November 2022, the Central Executive Committee comprises the following members:
Former elected members
Former Members of City Council of Singapore (1957–1959)
Former Members of Legislative Assembly of Singapore (1955–1965)
Former Members of Parliament of Singapore (1965–present)
Current Members of Parliament
Single Member Constituency
4 Member Group Constituency
Raeesah Khan resigned from the WP and as Member of Parliament on 30 November 2021 after admitting to making unsubstantiated allegations in Parliament on three occasions.
5 Member Group Constituency
Leon Perera resigned from the WP and as Member of Parliament on 19 July 2023 due to an extramarital affair with party member Nicole Seah.
Electoral history
City Council
City Council by-elections
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly by-elections
Parliament
Parliament by-elections
Marshall did not contest the 1957 city elections.
Chiang did not contest in the 1968 election.
Jeyaretnam did not contest the 1988 and 1991 elections due to pressed charges.
A candidate who was offered a post in the NCMP was disqualified shortly before accepting the offer due to pressed charges.
Notes
See also
Labour movement of Singapore
List of political parties in Singapore
Politics of Singapore
Social democracy
References
Citations
Sources
Books
External links
Official website of The Workers' Party Youth Wing
1957 establishments in Singapore
Democratic socialist parties in Asia
Political parties established in 1957
Political parties in Singapore
Progressive parties
Social democratic parties in Asia
Socialist parties in Singapore
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy%20Beach
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Amy Beach
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Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (September 5, 1867December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. She was one of the first American composers to succeed without the benefit of European training, and one of the most respected and acclaimed American composers of her era. As a pianist, she was acclaimed for concerts she gave featuring her own music in the United States and in Germany.
Biography
Early years and musical education
Amy Marcy Cheney was born in Henniker, New Hampshire, on September 5, 1867 to Charles Abbott Cheney (nephew of Oren B. Cheney, who co-founded Bates College) and Clara Imogene (Marcy) Cheney. Artistic ability ran in the family: Clara was reputedly an "excellent pianist and singer," while Amy showed every sign of being a child prodigy. She was able to sing forty songs accurately by age one, she was capable of improvising counter-melody by age two, and she taught herself to read at age three. At four, she composed three waltzes for piano during one summer at her grandfather's farm in West Henniker, NH, despite the absence of a piano; instead, she composed the pieces mentally and played them when she returned home. She could also play music by ear, including four-part hymns. The family struggled to keep up with her musical interests and demands. Her mother sang and played for her, but attempted to prevent the child from playing the family piano herself, believing that to indulge the child's wishes in this respect would damage parental authority. Amy often commanded what music was played in the home, becoming enraged if it did not meet her standards.
Amy began formal piano lessons with her mother at age six, and soon gave public recitals of works by Handel, Beethoven, and Chopin, as well as her own pieces. One such recital was reviewed in arts journal The Folio, and multiple agents proposed concert tours for the young pianist, which her parents declined – a decision for which Amy was later grateful.
In 1875, the Cheney family moved to Chelsea, a suburb just across the Mystic River from Boston. They were advised there to enroll Amy in a European conservatory, but opted instead for local training, hiring Ernst Perabo and later Carl Baermann (himself a student of Franz Liszt) as piano teachers. In 1881–82, the fourteen-year-old also studied harmony and counterpoint with Junius W. Hill. This would be her only formal instruction as a composer, but "[s]he collected every book she could find on theory, composition, and orchestration ... she taught herself ... counterpoint, harmony, fugue," even translating Gevaert's and Berlioz's French treatises on orchestration, considered "most composers' bibles," into English for herself.
Early career
Amy Cheney made her concert debut at age sixteen on October 18, 1883, in a "Promenade Concert" conducted by Adolph Neuendorff at Boston's Music Hall, where she played Chopin's Rondo in E-flat and was piano soloist in Moscheles's piano concerto No. 3 in G minor, to general acclaim: as biographer Fried Block comments, "[i]t is hard to imagine a more positive critical reaction to a debut," and her audience was "enthusiastic in the extreme." The next two years of her career included performances in Chickering Hall, and she starred in the final performance of the Boston Symphony's 1884–85 season.
Amy would later recall one rehearsal for a Mendelssohn concerto in 1885, when the conductor slowed the orchestra during the last movement, attempting to go easy on the teenage soloist. When she began the piano part, however, she played at full prescribed tempo: "I did not know that he was sparing me, but I did know that the tempo dragged, and I swung the orchestra into time".
Marriage
Amy was married the same year (1885) to Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach (1843–1910)), a Boston surgeon, Harvard lecturer, and amateur singer twenty-four years her senior (she was eighteen at the time). Her name would subsequently be listed on concert programs and published compositions as "Mrs. H. H. A. Beach."
The marriage was conditioned upon her willingness "to live according to his status, that is, function as a society matron and patron of the arts. She agreed never to teach piano, an activity widely associated with women" and regarded as providing "pin money." She further agreed to limit performances to two public recitals per year, with profits donated to charity, and to devote herself more to composition than to performance (although, as she wrote, "I thought I was a pianist first and foremost.") Her self-guided education in composition was also necessitated by Dr. Beach, who disapproved of his wife studying with a tutor. Restrictions like these were typical for middle- and upper-class women of the time: as it was explained to a European counterpart, Fanny Mendelssohn, "Music will perhaps become his [Fanny's brother Felix Mendelssohn's] profession, while for you it can and must be only an ornament.".
In recollecting her married life in 1942, Beach stated, "I was happy and he was content" and "I belonged to a happy period that may never come again." Performing in Germany after Henry's death in 1910, she dropped the "Mrs. H. H. A." for "Amy", apparently because the "Mrs." mystified German audiences, but thereafter she used Mrs. H. H. A. Beach for the rest of her life.
Rise to prominence
A major compositional success came with her Mass in E-flat major, which was performed in 1892 by the Handel and Haydn Society orchestra, which since its foundation in 1815 had never performed a piece composed by a woman. Newspaper music critics responded to the Mass by declaring Beach one of America's foremost composers, comparing the piece to Masses by Cherubini and Bach.
Beach followed this up with an important milestone in music history: her Gaelic Symphony, the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. It premiered October 30, 1896, performed by the Boston Symphony "with exceptional success," although "whatever the merits or defects of the symphony were thought to be, critics went to extraordinary lengths in their attempts to relate them to the composer's sex." Composer George Whitefield Chadwick (1854–1931) wrote to Beach that he and his colleague Horatio Parker (1863–1919) had attended the Gaelic Symphony's premiere and much enjoyed it: "I always feel a thrill of pride myself whenever I hear a fine work by any of us, and as such you will have to be counted in, whether you [like it] or not – one of the boys." These "boys" were a group of composers unofficially known as the Second New England School, and included not only Chadwick and Parker but also John Knowles Paine (1839–1926), Arthur Foote (1853–1937), and Edward MacDowell (1860–1908). With the addition of Beach, they collectively became known as the Boston Six, of whom Beach was the youngest.
In 1900, the Boston Symphony premiered Beach's Piano Concerto, with the composer as soloist. It has been suggested that the piece suggests Beach's struggles against her mother and husband for control of her musical life. In all, Beach was one of the first American women who received large popularity for composing symphonies.
Widowhood, years in Europe
Beach's husband died in June 1910 (the couple had been childless) and her mother 7 months later. Her father, Charles Cheney, had died in 1895. Beach felt unable to work for a while. She went to Europe in hopes of recovering there. In Europe she changed her name to "Amy Beach". She travelled together with Marcella (Marcia) Craft, an American soprano who was "prima donna of the Berlin Royal Opera." Beach's first year in Europe "was of almost entire rest." In 1912 she gradually resumed giving concerts, Her European debut was in Dresden, October 1912, playing her violin and piano sonata with violinist "Dr. Bülau," to favorable reviews.
In Munich in January 1913, she gave a concert, again with her violin sonata, but now with three sets of songs, two of her own and one by Brahms, and solo piano music by Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Two critics were rather unfavorable, one calling Beach's songs "kitschy." She was unfazed, saying the audience was "large and very enthusiastic." Demand arose for sheet music of Beach's songs and solo piano pieces, beyond the supply that Beach's publisher Arthur P. Schmidt had available for German music stores. Later In January, still in Munich, she performed in her Piano Quintet; a critic praised her composing, which he did not like all that well, more than her playing. In a further concert in Breslau, only three of Beach's songs were on the program, fewer than in Munich.
In November–December 1913 she played the solo part in her Piano Concerto with orchestras in Leipzig, Hamburg, and Berlin. Her Gaelic Symphony was also performed in Hamburg and Leipzig. A Hamburg critic wrote "we have before us undeniably a possessor of musical gifts of the highest kind; a musical nature touched with genius." She was greeted as the first American woman "able to compose music of a European quality of excellence."
Return to America and later life
Beach returned to America in 1914, not long after the beginning of World War I. Beach and Craft made pro-German statements to the American press, but Beach said her allegiance was to "the musical, not the militaristic Germany." She gave some manuscripts of music she had written in Europe to Craft, who brought them back to the U.S. Beach delayed her own departure until September 1914 and so had a further trunkful of manuscripts confiscated at the Belgian border. Beach eventually recovered the trunk and contents in 1929.
In 1915, the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal and the city's recovery from the 1906 earthquake and fire. Amy Beach was honored often by concerts of her music and receptions during 1915, and her Panama Hymn was commissioned for the occasion. In 1915, and again in 1916, Beach visited her aunt Franc and cousin Ethel in San Francisco, who by then were her closest living relatives. About August 6, 1916, Beach, Franc, and Ethel left San Francisco together, leaving Franc's husband Lyman Clement behind, a "fifty-year-old marriage broken apart", for unknown reasons. The three women took up residence in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, where Franc and Beach's mother had been born. Lyman Clement "was settled" in a Veterans' Home in California from 1917 until his death in 1922. After 1916, "Hillsborough was Beach's official residence: there she voted in presidential elections." In 1918, her cousin Ethel "developed a terminal illness," and she spent time taking care of her, as Franc, at age 75, "could hardly" do so by herself.
Aside from concert tours and the time of Ethel's illness until her death in 1920, Beach also spent part of her time in New York City. Someone had asked her if she was the daughter of Mrs. H. H. A. Beach. She resumed using that married name, but used "Amy Beach" on bookplates and stationery. For a few summers, she composed at her cottage in Centerville, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.
While continuing to get income from her compositions published by Arthur P. Schmidt, during 1914–1921 she had new compositions published by G. Schirmer. The Centerville cottage had been built on a five-acre property Beach had bought with royalties from one song, Ecstasy, 1892, her most successful up until then.
From 1921 on she spent part of each summer as a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where she composed several works and encountered other women composers and/or musicians, including Emilie Frances Bauer, Marion Bauer, Mabel Wheeler Daniels, Fannie Charles Dillon, and Ethel Glenn Hier, who "were or became long-time friends" of Beach. But there were "generational and gender divisions" among the Fellows in music, with some feeling that Beach's music was "no longer fashionable".
In 1924 Beach sold the house in Boston she had inherited from her husband. Her aunt Franc had become "feeble" around 1920, developed dementia in 1924, and died in November 1925 in Hillsborough, after which Beach had no surviving relatives as close as Ethel and Franc had been. In the fall of 1930 Beach rented a studio apartment in New York. There she became the virtual composer-in-residence at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church. Her music had been used during the previous 20 years in services at the church, attributed to "H. H. A. Beach", with "Mrs." added only from 1931 on.
She used her status as the top female American composer to further the careers of young musicians. While she had agreed not to give private music lessons while married, Beach was able to work as a music educator during the early 20th century. She served as President of the Board of Councillors of the New England Conservatory of Music. She worked to coach and give feedback to various young composers, musicians, and students. Beach acted as a mentor for these young composers encouraging them to spend time perfecting their craft through laborious practices. Written in her document, “Music’s Ten Commandments as Given for Young Composers,” Beach suggested young musicians spare no time analyzing works from every genre, their technical progress, and to employ variety whenever possible. From 1904 to 1943, Beach published numerous articles focusing on programming, preparation, and studying techniques for serious piano players, basing many of her findings on her own practice routine. Given her status and advocacy for music education, she was in high demand as a speaker and performer for various educational institutions and clubs, such as the University of New Hampshire, where she received an honorary master's degree in 1928. She also worked to create "Beach Clubs," which helped teach and educate children in music. She served as leader of some organizations focused on music education and women, including the Society of American Women Composers as its first president.
Beach spent the winter and spring of 1928–29 in Rome. She went to concerts "almost daily" and found Respighi's Feste Romane, just written in 1928, to be "superbly brilliant," but disliked a piece by Paul Hindemith. In March 1929 she gave a concert to benefit the American Hospital in Rome, in which her song "The Year's at the Spring" was encored and a "large sum of money" was raised. Beach, like her friends in Rome, briefly became an admirer of the Italian dictator Mussolini. She returned to the United States with a two-week stopover in Leipzig, where she met her old friend, the singer Marcella Craft.
She was a member of Chapter R (New York City) of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. Late in her life, she collaborated on the "Ballad of P.E.O." with the words written by Ruth Comfort Mitchell, Chapter BZ/California. Heart disease led to Beach's retirement in 1940 and her death in New York City in 1944. Amy Beach is buried with her husband in the Forest Hills Cemetery in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
Compositions
Beach was a member of the "Second New England School" or "Boston Group"; the other members were composers John Knowles Paine, Arthur Foote, George Chadwick, Edward MacDowell, George Whiting, and Horatio Parker. Her writing is mainly in a Romantic idiom, often compared to that of Brahms or Rachmaninoff. In her later works she experimented, moving away from tonality, employing whole tone scales and more exotic harmonies and techniques.
Beach's compositions include a one-act opera, Cabildo, and a variety of other works.
Symphonic works
Beach wrote the Gaelic Symphony (1896) and the Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor. Another orchestral piece, Bal masque, has a solo piano version. Two further pieces, Eilende Wolken and Jephthah's Daughter, are for orchestra with voice.
Choral works
Beach's sacred choral works are mainly for four4 voices and organ, but a few are for voices and orchestra, two being the Mass in E-flat major (1892) and her setting of St. Francis's Canticle of the Sun (1924, 1928), first performed at St. Bartholomew's in New York. A setting of the Te Deum with organ was first performed by the choir of men and boys at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Boston. The Capitol Hill Choral Society of Washington, D.C., recorded the Canticle of the Sun, seven Communion Responses, and other pieces by Beach in 1998, led by its Musical Director Betty Buchanan, who founded the Society in 1983.
There are some tens of secular choral works, accompanied by orchestra, piano, or organ. Publisher Arthur P. Schmidt once complained to Beach that her "choral pieces had practically no sale".
Chamber music
Beach's chamber music compositions include a violin sonata (recorded on seven different labels), a romance and three further pieces for violin and piano, a piano trio, a string quartet, and a piano quintet.
Of the over 300 works by Amy Beach which were published during her lifetime and included almost every genre, the largest category is her art songs and vocal chamber music. Beyond these, she wrote many chamber works and transcriptions for piano, including Variations on Balkan Themes, Beach's "longest and most important solo" piano work, which was composed in 1904, in response to revolts in the Balkans against the then ruling Ottoman Empire. Twelve are instrumental chamber works. One notable aspect of Beach's musicianship was her role as a virtuoso pianist, in which she regularly performed both her own compositions and those of others. She toured extensively in Germany, New England, and all the way to the Pacific Coast, where she brought European-American concert music to the western states. Among two of Beach's most frequently performed instrumental works are the Sonata in A Minor for Piano and Violin, Op. 34 and the Quintet in F# minor, Op. 67, as both were programmed extensively in the United States and Germany. Another noteworthy work which illustrates Beach's skill and adherence to tradition as a composer is her String Quartet, Op. 89.
Sonata in A minor for piano and violin, Op. 34
In January 1897 Beach played with Franz Kneisel the premiere of her Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 34, which she had composed in the spring of 1896. Franz Kneisel was a leading violinist in Boston and beyond, having been hired at about age 20 by Wilhelm Gericke, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as concertmaster of the orchestra. Soon after arriving in Boston, he formed the Kneisel String Quartet with three other string players of the Boston Symphony. (The Quartet lasted until 1917. Meanwhile, Kneisel moved to New York in 1905.) In 1894 Beach had joined the quartet in performing Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44. The Sonata is written in four movements, which are interconnected musically by using the first movement's opening theme as a germinating source to be developed on in the following three. They are thoroughly crafted to follow conventions of the form while implementing each musical element in a precise and well-constructed way.
The premiere was quickly followed by several other recital performances of the piece in various New York cities, where critical reception was mixed; some reviewers described the piece as immature and lacking in substance, although they acknowledged her skillful use of contrapuntal movement and affective principal themes. The third movement, Largo con dolore, was the most controversial among critics, with some praising its beauty and passionately evocative nature, while others derided its length as being too far extended and monotonous. Audiences, however, were captivated and spellbound by the slow movement; at one performance it was reported that they broke out into enthusiastic applause in between the third and fourth movements out of an abundance of emotion. In Europe, the piece was generally well received. The composer and pianist Teresa Carreño performed the piece with violinist Carl Halir in Berlin, October 1899 and wrote to Beach:I assure you that I never had a greater pleasure in my life than the one I had in working out your beautiful sonata and having the good luck to bring it before the German public...(I)t really met with a decided success and this is said to the credit of the public.Reviewers in Berlin were fairly positive in their response to the Sonata, hailing its technical development and brilliant use of the violin and piano as individual parts. Where criticized, they noted that it was perhaps too virtuosic for chamber music, while another reviewer for the Berliner Volks-Zeitung characterized Beach's compositional style as being too derivative of Schumann and Brahms—yet allowed Beach's gender as a caveat for this supposed shortcoming (sexism was common and extreme in classical music). He wrote:In style, she is not individual; her dependence upon Schumann and Brahms is unmistakable, which is a weakness, for which the feminine character furnishes ground and excuse. The sonata is sonorous and graceful in both violin and piano parts, though the latter in the last movement somewhat oversteps the allotted bounds of chamber music.
Quintet in F-sharp minor for Piano and Strings, Op. 67
In 1900, with the Kneisel Quartet, Beach performed the Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34. Beach wrote her own three-movement Quintet for Piano and Strings in F-sharp minor, Op. 67, in 1905. The quintet came to be frequently performed during Beach's lifetime, both in concert and over the radio. These performances were often given by established string quartets accompanied by the pianist-composer, including numerous times during an extended tour with the Kneisel Quartet in 1916–17. This was the 33rd and last season for the quartet. Beach performed her quintet with them in Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Among all of Beach's chamber works, this work has been described as one of the most distinctly representative of a Brahmsian influence in her music, from the jagged chromatic melody and contrasting lyrical passages, irregularly phrase lengths, its key changes and lush texture, to its strict adherence to the sonata-allegro form. The primary theme throughout all three works, in fact, is borrowed from the last movement of the Brahms quintet, albeit adapted and reworked in a variety of ways. All three movements feature frequent distinct developments in meter, tempo, and key signature. The entire work carries an affective character of lamentation throughout, demonstrated not only by the overall emotive qualities of the work itself but also its use of the Phrygian tetrachord cadence frequently associated with mourning, which in this work outlines the notes F#-E-D-C#.
Generally speaking, the work was received quite well by audiences and reviewers as belonging to an important compositional tradition. Critics noted its aesthetically flexible imagination while adhering to traditional expectations, bringing a variety of expressive moods and tone colors to a work of substantial form. They also commented on the modernity and skill the work displayed in that it achieved a highly expressive nature and orchestral texture while maintaining the intimate, technically developed character of the chamber ensemble voicing. This work added to her reputation as a composer of serious high art music, although still deemed slightly beneath the works of similar male composers by some reviewers.
String Quartet, Op. 89
Beach's String Quartet is a single movement and deemed as one of her more mature works. It was originally labeled as Op. 79, but over the course of a decade, the work evolved, and Beach finally re-designated the piece as Op. 89 in 1929. The significance Beach bestowed this piece is unique given that it did not feature a piano part which she would perform, as she did with many of her other works. Because of the timing of the piece's composition, there is some evidence that Beach may have been inspired to write the work as part of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's chamber music competition in 1922. Numerous painstaking attempts demonstrate both Beach's devotion to the composition of this piece and her unfamiliarity with writing in this genre. The final work, completed in Rome, consists of a single movement divided into three sections, and thematically speaking, follows an arch form (A B C B1 A1). The piece uses three different Eskimo or Inuit melodies throughout the work: "Summer Song", "Playing at Ball", and "Itataujang's Song", taken from Franz Boas' book on the Alaskan Inuit tribes. Beach integrates these borrowed tunes within a framework of Austro-Germanic extended quasi-tonality and dissonance, first through more straightforward statements of the melodies and then as assimilated into a horizontal harmonic structure. Elements of the melodies are abstracted and developed into contrapuntal lines which propel the work forward in the absence of clear tonal direction. The texture and harmony is fairly stark in places, lacking the lush Romanticism of her earlier works and representing more Modernist inclinations of a developing composer.
The piece was premiered at the American Academy in April 1929, but Beach reported little on whether or not this performance was satisfactory. Nonetheless, it was followed by a number of private performances and small recitals in New York, Cincinnati, and Massachusetts. A 1937 performance arranged by Roy Harris was particularly disappointing, as the performers were ill-prepared and sight-read the work poorly. No performance of the quartet was fully satisfactory to Beach, and the work did not gain the recognition that she seemed to hope it would gather.
Because the quartet was so different from many of Beach's previous works, and given that Beach was unable to perform it herself, there is little known concerning both audience and critic response to the piece. Composer and biographer Burnet Corwin Tuthill offered praise of it, saying that while it was unusual for Beach and lacked the emotionalism usually prevalent in her music, it demonstrated remarkable technical sophistication and skill in its handling of both string writing and engagement with thematic material that was not European in origin. In fact, Beach's use of Inuit and Native American tunes became a marked feature in several of her other works, which she used as a means of bringing stylistic modernity to her sound through the appropriation and recontextualization of these melodies.
Solo piano music
Valse Caprice, Op. 4 (1889)
Ballade, Op. 6 (1894)
Sketches, Op. 15 (1892)
Bal Masque, Op. 22 (1894)
Children's Carnival Op. 25 (1894)
Three Pieces, Op. 28 (1894)
Children's Album, Op. 36 (1897)
Scottish Legend and Gavotte Fantastique, Op. 54 (1903)
Variations on Balkan Themes, Op. 60 (1904)
Four Eskimo Pieces, Op. 64 (1907)
Suite Francaise, Op. 65 (1905)
Prelude and Fugue, Op. 81 (1914)
From Blackbird Hills, Op. 83 (1922)
Fantasia Fugata, Op. 87 (1917)
Far Hills of Eire, O, Op. 91 (1923)
Hermit Thrush at Eve, at Morn, Op. 91 (1922)
From Grandmother's Garden, Op. 97 (1922)
Farewell Summer, Dancing Leaves, Op. 102 (1924)
Old Chapel by Moonlight, Op. 106 (1924)
Nocturne, Op. 107 (1924)
A Cradle Song of the Lonely Mother, Op. 108 (1914)
Tyrolean Valse Fantaisie, Op. 116 (1924)
From Six to Twelve, Op. 119 (1932)
Three Pieces, Op. 128 (1932)
Out of the Depths, Op. 130 (1932)
Five Improvisations, Op. 148 (1924–26)
A Bit of Cairo (c. 1928)
Songs
Beach was most popular for her about 150 songs. The words of about five each are her own and those of H. H. A. Beach, for the rest by other poets. "The Year's At the Spring" from Three Browning Songs, Op. 44 is perhaps Beach's best-known work. Despite the volume and popularity of the songs during her lifetime, no single-composer collection of Beach's songs exists. Some may be purchased through Hildegard Publishing Company and Masters Music Publication, Inc.
In the early 1890s, Beach started to become interested in folk songs. She shared that interest with several of her colleagues, and this interest soon came to be the first nationalist movement in American music. Beach's contributions included about thirty songs inspired by folk music, including Scottish, Irish, Balkan, African-American, and Native American origins.
Writings
Beach was a musical intellectual who wrote for journals, newspapers, and other publications. She gave advice to young musicians and composers – especially female composers. From career to piano technique advice, Beach readily provided her opinions in articles such as "To the Girl who Wants to Compose" and "Emotion Versus Intellect in Music." In 1915, she had written Music’s Ten Commandments as Given for Young Composers, which expressed many of her self-teaching principles.
Late 20th century and early 21st century revival and reception
Despite her fame and recognition during her lifetime, Beach was largely neglected after her death in 1944 until the late 20th century. Efforts to revive interest in Beach's works have been largely successful during the last few decades.
Gaelic Symphony
The symphony has received praise from modern critics, such as Andrew Achenbach of Gramophone, who in 2003 lauded the work for its "big heart, irresistible charm and confident progress." In 2016, Jonathan Blumhofer of The Arts Fuse wrote: To my ears, it is by far the finest symphony by an American composer before Ives and, by a wide margin, better than a lot that came after him. It surely is the most exciting symphony penned by an American before World War I. [...] Her command of instrumentation throughout the Symphony was consistently excellent and colorful. The manner in which she balanced content and form succeeds where her contemporaries like George Whitefield Chadwick, John Knowles Paine, and Horatio Parker so often came up short: somehow Beach’s Symphony is never daunted by the long shadows Brahms and Beethoven cast across the Atlantic. It’s a fresh, invigorating, and personal statement in a genre that has offered plenty of examples of pieces that demonstrate none of those qualities.
Piano Concerto
Beach's Piano Concerto has been praised as an overlooked masterwork by modern critics. In 1994, Phil Greenfield of The Baltimore Sun called it "a colorful, dashing work that might become extremely popular if enough people get a chance to hear it. In 2000 Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle also lauded the composition, writing:
Andrew Achenbach of Gramophone similarly declared it "ambitious" and "singularly impressive... a rewarding achievement all round, full of brilliantly idiomatic solo writing ... lent further autobiographical intrigue by its assimilation of thematic material from three early songs".
Tributes and memorials
In 1994, the Boston Women's Heritage Trail placed a bronze plaque at her Boston address, and in 1995, Beach's gravesite at Forest Hills Cemetery was dedicated. In 1999, she was put into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2000, the Boston Pops paid tribute by adding her name as the first woman joining 87 other composers on the granite wall of Boston's Hatch Shell.
In honor of Beach's 150th birthday Marty Walsh, Mayor of the City of Boston, declared September 5, 2017, to be "Amy Beach Day." Also commemorating Beach's sesquicentennial, The New York Times published an article by William Robin, "Amy Beach, a Pioneering American Composer, Turns 150".
Discography
Solo piano music
Piano Music, Vol. 1, The Early Works, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7317
Piano Music, Vol. 2, The Turn of the Century, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7329
Piano Music, Vol. 3, The Mature Years, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7351
Piano Music, Vol. 4, The Late Works, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7387
By the Still Waters, Joanne Polk, piano, Allmusic Z6693
Under the Stars, Joanne Polk, piano, Arabesque, B000005ZYW
Fire Flies, Joanne Polk, piano, Arabesque, Z6721 (1998).
Other chamber music
Amy Beach, Sonata for violin and piano in A minor, Op. 34:
Recorded on the following labels: Albany No. 150, Arabesque No. 6747, Centaur Nos. 2312, 2767, Chandos No. 10162, Koch Nos. 7223, 7281, NWW No. 80542, Summit No. 270, White Pine no. 202. More details on Chandos 10162:
Amy Beach, Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor; Quartet for Strings; Pastorale for Wind Quintet; and Sketches (4) for Piano, Dreaming. Performed by the Ambache Chamber Ensemble. Chandos Records 10162
Centaur 2312 also has the Barcarolle for violin and piano, the three pieces for violin and piano Op. 40, the Romance Op. 23, and the Invocation Op. 55, all performed by Laura Klugholz, violin/viola, and Jill Timmons, piano
Mrs. H.H.A. (Amy) Beach (1867–1944), music for two pianos. Virginia Eskin and Kathleen Supové, pianists. Koch 3-7345-2
Amy Beach, Piano Quintet in F# minor, Op. 67. Old Stoughton String Quartet. AMRC 0040. Ambache Ensemble Chandos Records 9752
Amy Beach, Songs. Sung by mezzo-soprano Katherine Kelton and accompanied by pianist Catherine Bringerud. Naxos 8559191
Chamber Music CDs: 2 Ambache Ensemble recordings on Chandos Records (9752 & 10162), both awarded rosettes in the Penguin Guide: 1) Piano Quintet, Op 67; Theme & Variations, Op 80; Piano Trio, Op 50. 2) String Quartet. Op 89; Violin Sonata, Op 34; Pastorale, Op 151; Dreaming, Op 50 No 3.
Orchestral music, possibly with chorus
Amy Beach, Canticle of the Sun, Op. 123; Invocation for the Violin, Op. 55; With Prayer and Supplicaton, Op. 8; Te Deum, from Service in A, Op. 63; Constant Christmas, Op. 95; On a Hill; Kyrie eleison, Op. 122; Sanctus, Op. 122; Agnus Dei, Op. 122; Spirit of Mercy, Op. 125; Evening Hymn, Op. 125; I Will Give Thanks, Op. 147; Peace I leave With You, Op. 8. Performed by Capitol Hill Choral Society, Betty Buchanan, music director, Albany Records, 1998, TROY295
Amy Beach, Grand Mass in E-flat major. Performed by the Stow Festival Chorus and Orchestra. Albany Records, 1995. TROY179
Amy Beach, Grand Mass in E-flat major, Performed by the Michael May Festival Chorus. Compact disc. Newport Classic, 1989, 60008
Amy Beach, Piano Concerto in C sharp minor with pianist Alan Feinberg and the Symphony in E minor ("Gaelic"). Performed by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Schermerhorn. Naxos 8559139. Note: one review of this mentions "Symphony No. 2" but Beach only wrote one symphony, the Gaelic.
Amy Beach, Piano Concerto in C sharp minor with pianist Mary Louise Boehm (the first performer to revive this work, in 1976). Performed by the Westphalian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Siegfried Landau. Turnabout QTV, 1976, 34665; reissued on Vox Turnabout CD 7196
Sources
Fried Block, Adrienne (1998), Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian, Oxford University Press, New York,
Fried Block, Adrienne (2001). "Beach [née Cheney], Amy Marcy [Mrs H.H.A. Beach]". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
References
Further reading
Amy Beach. The Sea-Fairies: Opus 59, edited by Andrew Thomas Kuster (Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 1999)
Beach, Mrs. H. H. A. and Francis, of Assisi, Saint, The Canticle of the Sun Betty Buchanan (ed.), Matthew Arnold (tr.) (Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 2006) Recent researches in American music, v. 57.
Brown, Jeanell Wise. "Amy Beach and Her Chamber Music: Biography, Documents, Style". Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1994.
Fried Block, Adrienne: "Amy Beach", Grove Music Online (subscription required) ed. L. Macy (Accessed October 1, 2006),
Fried Block, Adrienne, ed. (1994). Quartet for Strings (In One Movement), Opus 89. Music of the United States of America (MUSA) vol. 3. Madison, Wisconsin: A-R Editions.
Gates, Eugene. "Mrs. H. H. A. Beach: American Symphonist." Kapralova Society Journal 8, No. 2 (Fall 2010): 1–10.
Jenkins, Walter S. The Remarkable Mrs. Beach, American Composer: A Biographical Account Based on Her Diaries, Letters, Newspaper Clippings, and Personal Reminiscences, edited by John H. Baron. Warren, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 1994.
Jezic, Diane Peacock. "Women Composers: The Lost Tradition Found, Second Edition". New York: The Feminist Press, 1994.
Robin. "Amy Beach, a Pioneering American Composer, Turns 150". The New York Times 1 September 2017.
External links
www.amybeach.org – biography, bibliography, discography, manuscripts, photos, etc.
Amy Beach at Music of the United States of America (MUSA)
Sheet Music for "June", op. 51, no. 3, words by Erich Jansen; English text by Isidora Martinez; A.P. Schmidt Company, 1903.
The Amy Cheney Beach Collection at the Miller Nichols Library of the University of Missouri – Kansas City
The Amy Cheney Beach Collection at the University of New Hampshire Library
Mrs. H. H. A. Beach: American Symphonist by Eugene Gates, Kapralova Society Journal.
, WNCN-FM, April 1, 1983
"The Lotos Isles" on The Art Song Project
Performances of Amy Beach's piano music
Image of Marcella Craft & Amy Beach, February 14, 1913, Munich, Germany. Photographer, H. Wiedenmann
Link to Amy Marcy Beach interment entry at findagrave.com
1867 births
1944 deaths
19th-century American composers
19th-century American pianists
19th-century American women pianists
19th-century American women musicians
19th-century classical composers
19th-century classical pianists
19th-century women composers
20th-century American composers
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American women pianists
20th-century classical composers
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%20Rayburn
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Sam Rayburn
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Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time House minority leader, and a 24-term congressman, representing Texas's 4th congressional district as a Democrat from 1913 to 1961. He holds the record for the longest tenure as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving for over 17 years (among his three separate stints).
Born in Roane County, Tennessee, Rayburn moved with his family to Windom, Texas, in 1887. After a period as a school teacher, Rayburn won election to the Texas House of Representatives and graduated from the University of Texas School of Law. He won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1912 and continuously won re-election until his death in 1961, serving a total of 25 terms. Rayburn was a protégé of John Nance Garner and a mentor to Lyndon B. Johnson.
Rayburn was elected House Majority Leader in 1937 and was elevated to the position of Speaker of the House after the death of William B. Bankhead. He led the House Democrats from 1940 to 1961, and served as Speaker of the House from 1940 to 1947, 1949 to 1953, and 1955 to 1961. Rayburn also served twice as House Minority Leader (1947 to 1949 and 1953 to 1955) during periods of Republican House control. He preferred to work quietly in the background and successfully used his power of persuasion and charisma to get his bills passed due to having to navigate the post-Joseph Cannon era when each individual committee chairman had immense power in the House.
Along with Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, Rayburn refused to sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto and helped shepherd the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, the first civil rights bills passed by the U.S. Congress since the Enforcement Acts and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 during Reconstruction (1865–1877). Rayburn was also influential in the construction of U.S. Route 66. He served as Speaker until his death in 1961, and was succeeded by John W. McCormack. He is the most recent Speaker of the House to die in office.
Early life
Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, on January 6, 1882. He was the son of Martha Clementine (Waller) and William Marion Rayburn, a former Confederate cavalryman. The Rayburn family descended from Ulster Scots immigrants who emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania in 1750. In 1887, the Rayburn family moved to a 40-acre cotton farm near Windom, Texas. Rayburn grew up in poverty as he, his nine siblings, and his parents all participated in running the farm. Toiling in the fields made Rayburn determined to get a good education and help the poor and downtrodden.
Rayburn went to co-educational East Texas Normal College (now Texas A&M University–Commerce) in Commerce, Texas, in 1900 with $25 (around $750 in 2020) that his father saved up to help take care of his first few months of college expenses. To help cover tuition and room and board, Rayburn rang the school bell to signal the end of classes and swept out Commerce's public school buildings, earning $3 a month. Rayburn obtained his teaching credentials before completing his bachelor of science degree, and earned additional income by teaching in the public school of Greenwood, a small community in Hopkins County. He graduated in 1903 in a class of 13 (9 men and 4 women) and taught school for two years.
Texas State Legislature
In 1906, at the age of 24, Rayburn won by a narrow 163 vote margin an election to the 34th district of the Texas House of Representatives. While serving in the legislature, he studied at the University of Texas School of Law, and he was admitted to the bar in 1908. As a representative, Rayburn helped pass laws that made textbooks more widely available to Texas schoolchildren, established the State Board of Health alongside the Texas State Department of Health, and created the Texas Department of Agriculture. Due to his power of persuasion when he was a very young legislator for four years on January 10, 1911, at 29 years of age, Rayburn became the youngest Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives in history. He defeated Clarence E. Gilmore 70 to 63 in the speaker election. Texas speakers from the beginning of statehood until Rayburn's tenure were mostly ceremonial and powerless, similar to the president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate. Under Texas state law the office actually had immense powers but the previous speakers never exercised them due to deference to party bosses. Upon election as Speaker, Rayburn requested the appointment of a special committee to determine "the duties and rights of the speaker". This became the first ever codification of the speaker's power. He helped pass numerous legislation as Speaker such as shorter working hours for women, child labor laws, and appropriations for a Confederate widows home and a tuberculosis sanitarium. Many decades later Rayburn rated his service as Texas House Speaker as the most enjoyable period in his long political career. He said, "that job had real power—that's what a man wants—but power's no good unless you have the guts to use it."
U.S. House of Representatives
Due to a series of lucky events for Rayburn, the House district of his home county of Fannin County, the fourth district, was open for him to run. Senator Joseph Weldon Bailey was rocked by allegations of corruption and bribery involving oil companies so he announced his resignation effective January 1913. The longtime incumbent representative of the fourth district, Choice B. Randell, ran for Bailey's open senate seat in the July 1912 primary election and lost. Rayburn won election to the House of Representatives in 1912 after a bruising Democratic primary where he won by only 490 votes. He won the general election afterwards and became a Representative. He entered Congress in 1913 at the beginning of Woodrow Wilson's presidency and served in office for almost 49 years (more than 24 terms), until the beginning of John F. Kennedy's presidency.
Rayburn was a protégé of then-Representative John Nance Garner. Despite Rayburn's freshman status, in 1913, Garner helped him become a member of the powerful House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, which handled legislation pertaining to commerce, bridges, coal, oil, communication, motion pictures, securities exchanges, holding companies and the Coast Guard. Rayburn learned how to make deals and how to deal with adversity during his first two decades in the House. While he was a young representative he introduced and helped pass numerous anti-trust and railroad-related legislation such as the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 and the Esch–Cummins Transportation Act (The Railway Stock and Bond Bill that was originally introduced in 1914 was the first ever major legislation that was crafted and proposed by Rayburn. In 1920 it finally became law in the Esch-Cummins Act).
As a signal of things to come for Rayburn, after only eight years in the House he was elected to be House Democratic Caucus Chairman. He served as Chairman from 1921 to 1923. At only age 39 when he was elected Chairman he was the youngest person ever elected to that position. During the 1920s, Rayburn kept a low profile due to the Republican dominance of Congress and the Presidency under Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. Rayburn's biggest contribution in this decade was to help create the U.S. Highway System in 1926, the first major victory of his lifelong dream to make paved roads available for all Americans.
Rayburn worked as Garner's campaign manager during the 1932 presidential election and released Garner's delegates to vote for Roosevelt after a deal was made to make Garner the vice-presidential nominee.
From 1931 to 1937, Rayburn was Chairman of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. Due to his position and influence on this committee he helped pass landmark New Deal bills such as the Truth in Securities Act, the bills that established the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, the Public Utilities Holding Company Act, the Emergency Railroad Transportation Act, and the Rural Electrification Act.
Rayburn was a big supporter of projects that helped make life easier for farmers and rural Americans like dams and farm-to-market roads. His role in creating new lakes such as Lake Texoma and changing old rural dirt roads into fully paved roads ensured lifelong support from his congressional district constituents. The dams in rural America controlled rivers from flooding and also generated electricity. The Flood Control Act of 1936 combined with the Rural Electrification Act helped to bring electricity to 90% of rural America by 1959, compared to only 3% in the early 1930s. In 1943-44, Rayburn helped to establish in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Louisiana the Southwestern Power Administration, which became a "mini-Tennessee Valley Authority" in the region. The main difference from the TVA was the SWPA only involved federal dams constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He also helped pass laws that established the Soil Conservation Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps. These two agencies were primarily engaged in water and soil erosion control due to the negative effects of farming in America that led to catastrophes like the Dust Bowl.
Speaker of the House
On September 16, 1940, at the age of 58, and while serving as House Majority Leader, Rayburn became Speaker of the House upon the sudden death of Speaker William Bankhead. Rayburn's ascension to the speakership was surprisingly rapid; that including Bankhead, the three Speakers prior to Rayburn died in office within six years. (Henry Thomas Rainey died in 1934 and Jo Byrns in 1936.)
Rayburn's first major crisis after assuming the speakership was World War II. In the decade prior to the war, the United States was isolationist and decided to not participate in the war when war broke out in 1937 in Asia and 1939 in Europe. Rayburn helped pass the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941. This act allowed the U.S. to distribute food, oil, and materiel to the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union. In August 1941, he helped pass the Service Extension Act of 1941. In 1940, a 12-month peacetime draft was instituted by the government to prepare for possible war. The isolationists in the House wanted to not get involved in the war though and wanted to let the peacetime draft expire after 12 months in 1941. After Rayburn talked to all representatives who were anti-draft and tried to persuade them to change their minds, the bill was passed by a vote of 203–202, a one-vote margin. If this bill had been defeated, the U.S. Army stood to lose about two-thirds of its strength and three-fourths of the officer corps due to the end of the draft.
In early 1944, top Roosevelt officials approached Rayburn and asked him to work discreetly with Congress to gain funding for the production of an atomic bomb. Later that year, Rayburn secured $1.6 billion to fund the Manhattan Project, the code name for the secret project that led to the creation of the atomic bomb. This secret operation was done with most of the President's own cabinet and even vice presidents as well as all members of Congress except a handful not knowing about the atomic bomb. Only Rayburn, the Senate Majority Leader, and five other congressmen were aware of this operation. Rayburn had to hide the Manhattan Project through fake names and other deceptive means in appropriation bills until the bombs were used in 1945.
In 1946, the Republicans swept the Democrats in the midterm elections, winning both the House and Senate. The Democrats lost 54 seats in the House. Rayburn felt that because he lost in such an overwhelming manner he should step down as House Democratic Leader and not be the Minority Leader in the upcoming congress (this would have likely ended in an early retirement for him before the end of the 1940s). He endorsed the northern Democrat John W. McCormack for Minority Leader, but there was a "draft Rayburn" movement initiated by President Truman, McCormack himself, and all the northern and southern Democrats. Democrats feared that, without Rayburn as their leader, the Democratic Party would have been torn apart by inter-factionalism between northern and southern Democrats and liberal and conservative Democrats. Many people in Washington were then aware of how important Speaker Rayburn was to hold the Democratic Party together. Rayburn accepted the Minority Leader position and remained the House Democratic Leader for the rest of his life. To show how much they appreciated Rayburn's decision to stay in office as House Democratic Leader, 142 House Democrats and 50 House Republicans surprised Rayburn with a special gift, a 1947 Cadillac. The House Speaker was provided a government-funded vehicle and the representatives felt bad that now Minority Leader Rayburn would have no car in Washington. Rayburn had a strict personal rule to never accept gifts more than $25 to avoid being bribed. The congressmembers circumvented this rule by combining their single $25 checks together to pay for the car. Rayburn returned all 50 Republican representatives' checks (to avoid a conflict of interest) but graciously thanked them for their gesture.
In 1947–1948, Rayburn as Minority Leader helped pass the Marshall Plan and the aid package that supported the Truman Doctrine that supported non-communist European countries and helped to stop the spread of communism. He also had to deal with the southern Democrats' (Dixiecrats') reaction to President Truman's call for very swift civil rights legislation. The committees were dominated by very powerful southern Democrats who were pro-segregation so these civil rights bills were dead on arrival. Rayburn had to be the moderate between the conservatives and liberals as well as the northern and southern Democrats so he rebuffed Truman's civil rights bills that many party members considered very fast but also rejected the southern Democrats' calls for a pro-segregation candidate to run in place of Truman in the 1948 presidential election. Rayburn was against a swift poll tax repeal and other fast-track civil rights legislation but also ordered the pro-segregation Democrats to run as a third-party due to his fears that the northern Democrats would boycott the election and help the Republicans win the election. Rayburn was a staunch supporter of Truman and was for a gradual civil rights legislation rollout that wouldn't be too fast and immediate due to the fears of the backlash by southern Democrats. In 1949, after his successful efforts to win back the House, Senate, and Truman's re-election he became Speaker again and supported a repeal of the Texas poll tax. He said that a repeal of the poll tax in Texas would aid the United States in its battle with the Soviet Union for the world's hearts and minds.
From 1949 to 1953, Rayburn was Speaker again. He supported Truman's Fair Deal but the Conservative Coalition of conservative Republicans and conservative Democrats blocked the Fair Deal legislation from being passed. During his second tenure as Speaker he focused mostly on passing anti-Soviet legislation and getting House support for Truman and the military in the Korean War. By 1952 the Korean War bogged down and Truman's popularity crashed. He chose not to run for re-election as a result and the Republicans won the House, Senate, and presidency.
Rayburn's second time as Minority Leader coincided with President Eisenhower's first two years of his presidency. McCarthyism was in full swing so both parties were trying their best to portray themselves as anti-communist. The Communist Control Act of 1954 and the continuing defense of South Korea and Taiwan and South Vietnam were supported by Rayburn and most Democrats. Rayburn and the Democrats won back the House and Senate in the 1954 elections.
Rayburn's third and final tenure as Speaker from 1955 to 1961 was one of the greatest moments of his career. His protégé Senator Lyndon B. Johnson became Majority Leader mostly thanks to Rayburn maneuvering the Senate leadership and making deals to make sure Johnson became Senate Democratic Leader. The trio of Rayburn, Eisenhower, and Johnson worked together well and passed numerous landmark bills such as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act that established the Interstate Highway System, the National Aeronautics and Space Act that established NASA, the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 that established the FAA, the National Defense Education Act, the Colorado River Storage Project Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which were the first civil rights acts passed since Reconstruction.
In 1958–1959, Rayburn helped admit Alaska and Hawaii into the United States as the 49th and 50th states. Rayburn heavily fought for Alaska after realizing that then-Democratic Alaska would counter then-Republican Hawaii in the Senate and Electoral College. In 1961, Rayburn wanted to pass more civil rights legislation along with President Kennedy but the powerful House Rules Committee was dominated by a conservative coalition of Democrats and Republicans who rejected any socially liberal legislation. Rayburn sought to end the impasse by changing House rules to add three spots (two majority and one minority) to the committee. Rayburn defended his plan in a rare speech on the House floor. "I think this House should be allowed on great measures to work its will and it cannot work its will if the Committee on Rules is so constituted as not to allow the House to pass on those things." In a 217–212 vote, Rayburn and the Democratic leadership won a narrow but significant victory.
Himself a protégé of Vice President of the United States John Nance Garner, Rayburn was a close friend and mentor of Lyndon B. Johnson and knew Johnson's father, Sam, from their days in the Texas Legislature. Rayburn was instrumental to Lyndon Johnson's ascent to power, particularly his rapid rise to the position of Minority Leader. Johnson had been in the Senate for a mere four years when he assumed the role. Johnson also owed his subsequent elevation to Majority Leader to Rayburn. Like Johnson, Rayburn did not sign the Southern Manifesto.
As Speaker of the House, Rayburn forged close friendships and partnerships with legislatures of emerging independent countries and democracies on the continent of Africa, especially Nigeria, a rising political power on that continent. Rayburn was a good friend of Jaja Wachuku, the first indigenous Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, from 1959 to 1960.
Personal integrity
Although many Texas legislators were on the payroll of public service corporations, Rayburn refused to be. As he recounted in a speech during his congressional campaign:
When I became a member of the law firm of Steger, Thurmond and Rayburn, Messrs. Thurmond and Steger were representing the Santa Fe Railroad Company, receiving pay monthly. When the first check came after I entered the firm, Mr. Thurmond brought to my desk one-third of the amount of the check, explaining what it was for. I said to him that I was a member of the Legislature, representing the people of Fannin County, and that my experience had taught me that men who represent the people should be as far removed as possible from concerns whose interests he was liable to be called on to legislate concerning, and that on that ground I would not accept a dollar of the railroad's money, though I was legally entitled to it. I never did take a dollar of it. I have been guided by the principle in all my dealings.
This practice of refusing to accept fees from clients with interests before the legislature was "virtually unheard-of" at the time. Later, while serving in Congress, a wealthy oil man had a very expensive horse delivered to Rayburn's farm in Bonham. No one apparently knew the oil man delivered the horse except him, Rayburn, and a Rayburn staffer. Rayburn returned the horse.
H.G. Dulaney, an aide to Rayburn and later the director of the Sam Rayburn Library and Museum, said that after speaking in Texas on one occasion Rayburn learned his driver had been given an envelope with money inside from the sponsor of the speech. He said Rayburn made the driver turn around and return the money. Author Robert Caro said, "No one could buy him. Lobbyists could not buy him so much as a meal. Not even the taxpayer could buy him a meal. He refused not only fees but travel expenses for out-of-town speeches; hosts who... attempted to press checks upon him quickly realized they had made a mistake... Rayburn would say, 'I'm not for sale' - and then he would walk away without a backward glance."
Legacy
In shaping legislation, Rayburn preferred working quietly in the background to being in the public spotlight. As Speaker, he won a reputation for fairness and integrity. In his years in Congress, Rayburn always insisted on paying his own expenses, even going so far as to pay for his own travel expenses when inspecting the Panama Canal when his committee was considering legislation concerning it, rather than exercising his right to have the government pay for it. After he died his estate was valued at just under $300,000, which was mostly land he owned, and the amount of cash he had in various checking accounts was just over $26,000.
Rayburn was well known among his colleagues for his after business hours "Board of Education" meetings in hideaway offices in the House. During these off-the-record sessions, the speaker and powerful committee chairmen would gather for poker, bourbon, and a frank discussion of politics. Rayburn alone determined who received an invitation to these gatherings; to be invited to even one was a high honor. On April 12, 1945, Vice President Harry Truman, a regular attendee since his Senate days, had just arrived at the "Board of Education" when he received a phone call telling him to immediately come to the White House, where he learned that Franklin D. Roosevelt was dead and he was now President of the United States.
Rayburn coined the term "Sun Belt" while strongly supporting the construction of Route 66. It originally ran south from Chicago, through Oklahoma, and then turned westward from Texas to New Mexico and Arizona before ending at the beach in Santa Monica, California. Arguing in favor of the project, he stated famously that America absolutely must connect "the Frost Belt with the Sun Belt".
Rayburn also had a knack for dressing to suit his occasion. While in Washington, D.C., he would sport expensive suits, starched shirts, and perfectly shined shoes. However, while back in his poorer district in Texas, Rayburn would wear simple shirts, blue jeans, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats. Several politicians have imitated this pattern, including Ronald Reagan's example of clearing brush when at home in California, while wearing fine suits in Washington.
The phrase "A jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one" is attributed to Rayburn.
His home in Texas, now known as the Sam Rayburn House Museum, was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark. In 1957, Rayburn dedicated the Sam Rayburn Library and Museum in Bonham in the style of a presidential library to preserve his memory, library collection, honors, and mementos.
Personal life and death
Rayburn married once, to Metze Jones (1901–1982), sister of Texas Congressman and Rayburn friend Marvin Jones. He had corresponded with her for nine years, and at the time of the wedding Rayburn was 45 and Jones was 26. Their 1927 marriage ended after only a few months; biographers D. B. Hardeman and Donald C. Bacon guessed that Rayburn's work schedule and long bachelorhood, combined with the couple's differing views on alcohol, contributed to the rift. The court's divorce file in Bonham, Texas, has never been located, and Rayburn avoided speaking of his brief marriage. In 2014, the Associated Press reported the existence of a letter Rayburn wrote to Metze after her father died in June 1926.
In 2016, the Plano Star Courier published a story about an article in the October 2016 issue of Southwestern Historical Quarterly (a scholarly journal published by the Texas State Historical Association) profiling Sam Rayburn's "lady friend" who was a woman named Margaret Fallon (Peggy) Palmer, the widow of former U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, and her close relationship with Rayburn.
In 1956, Rayburn was baptized by Elder H. G. Ball in the Primitive Baptist Church, also known as Old Line Baptist or Hard Shell Baptist Church.
One of his greatest, most painful regrets was that he did not have a son, or as he was quoted as saying in The Path to Power, Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon B. Johnson, "a towheaded boy to take fishing".
Rayburn died of pancreatic cancer in 1961 at the age of 79 and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. His funeral in Bonham, Texas was a large spectacle attended by numerous VIPs, most notably President John F. Kennedy, former presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, and vice president (and future president) Lyndon B. Johnson. Hundreds of members of Congress and numerous other dignitaries attended the funeral. President Kennedy was an honorary pallbearer. By the time of his death, he had served as Speaker for nearly twice as long as any of his predecessors.
Sam Rayburn was close friends with the wood shop instructor Prof. Tarter of East Texas State Teachers College in Commerce, Texas (now Texas A&M University–Commerce) and had his own room in the family's house during his visits to the district. This house still stands at 1910 Monroe St., Commerce, TX.
Rayburn was a descendant of George Waller, a Revolutionary War militia officer from Henry County, Virginia, and was an honorary president of the Colonel George Waller Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Tributes
Named in his honor
Rayburn House Office Building, which contains offices of House members and is adjacent to the United States Capitol, completed in 1965.
Nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS Sam Rayburn, launched in 1963 and decommissioned in 1989.
Sam Rayburn Reservoir in East Texas, constructed beginning in 1956 and renamed after Rayburn in 1963.
Sam Rayburn, Texas, a census-designated place and unincorporated community named after the reservoir.
Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, Texas, opened in 1964.
Sam Rayburn Independent School District in Ivanhoe, Texas, established in 1964.
Sam Rayburn Memorial Student Center at Texas A&M University–Commerce, built in 1963. New Sam Rayburn Student Center replaced the old center, built in 2009.
Sam Rayburn Intermediate School in Bryan, Texas.
Sam Rayburn Middle School in San Antonio, Texas.
Sam Rayburn Freeway is a portion of U.S. Highway 75 that runs through Sherman, Texas.
Sam Rayburn Tollway is a toll road in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex that goes through Dallas, Denton, and Collin counties in northeast Texas.
Sam Rayburn Memorial Highway, roughly a forty-mile section of Texas State Highway 121 that begins at Texas State Highway 78, two miles north of Bonham, Texas, and ends at its terminus with the Sam Rayburn Tollway in McKinney, Texas.
Sam Rayburn Elementary School in McAllen, Texas.
Sam Rayburn Elementary School in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center in Bonham, Texas.
The Rayburn Room, a meeting room at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The Greenbrier contains the Bunker
Sam Rayburn Drive is a portion of Texas State Highway 56 that runs through Bonham, Texas.
The Rayburn Room, a large reception room at the United States Capitol where congressmembers can meet with press or receive constituents. It also serves as a holding room for visiting officials attending joint sessions of Congress.
Portrayals
Pat Hingle played Rayburn in the 1987 made-for-television movie LBJ: The Early Years. James Gammon played him in the 1995 HBO movie Truman.
See also
List of Freemasons
Wahrenberger House
List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–1999)
References
Further reading
Brown, D. Clayton. "Sam Rayburn and the Development of Public Power in the Southwest." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 78.2 (1974): 140-154 online.
Caro, Robert A. The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power (1982).
Champagne, Anthony. "Sam Rayburn: Achieving Party Leadership." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 90.4 (1987): 373-392. online
Champagne, Anthony. and Floyd F. Ewing, "RAYBURN, SAMUEL TALIAFERRO (1882-1961)." Handbook of Texas Online (2005) online version
Champagne, Anthony. Congressman Sam Rayburn (Rutgers University Press, 1984), a scholarly biography online
Champagne, Anthony. Sam Rayburn: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood, 1988). online
Dorough, C. Dwight Mr. Sam (1962).
Gould, Lewis L., and Nancy Beck Young, "The Speaker and the Presidents: Sam Rayburn, the White House, and the Legislative Process, 1941–1961" in Raymond W. Smock and Susan W. Hammond, eds. Masters of the House: Congressional Leadership Over Two Centuries (Routledge, 2018) pp. 181–221.
Hardeman, D. B., and Donald C. Bacon, Rayburn: A Biography (Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1987), popular biography by an aide to Rayburn.
Hairgrove, Kenneth Dewey. "Sam Rayburn, Congressional leader, 1940-1952" (PhD. Dissertation, Texas Tech University, 1974) online
Liles, Maurine Walpole. Sam and the speaker's chair: the story of Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1994) for middle schools; online
McWhorter, William, "Together They Won: Sam T. Rayburn and the Fourth Congressional District during World War II," East Texas Historical Journal 49 (Fall 2011), 82–93.
Schwarz, Jordan A. The New Dealers: Power politics in the age of Roosevelt (Vintage, 2011) pp 249–263. online
Shanks, Alexander G. "Sam Rayburn in the Wilson Administrations, 1913-1921." East Texas Historical Journal 6.1 (1968): 63-76 online.
Shanks, Alexander Graham. "Sam Rayburn: The Texas Politician as New Dealer." East Texas Historical Journal 5.1 (1967): online.
Smallwood, James. "Sam Rayburn and the Rules Committee Change of 1961." East Texas Historical Journal 11.1 (1973) online.
Steinberg, Alfred, Sam Rayburn (Hawthorn, 1975) online, popular biography.
External links
Obituary, The New York Times, November 16, 1961, "Rayburn Is Dead; Served 17 Years As House Speaker"
The leadership of Speaker Sam Rayburn published 1961, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
"Mister Speaker", Time, September 27, 1943
RAYBURN: MR. SPEAKER (A feature-length documentary about Sam Rayburn's life and career)
Sam Rayburn House Museum Website
Address Delivered by The Honorable Sam Rayburn at the Dedication of the Marker over the Graves of His Great-Great Grandfather Col. George Waller and his wife Ann Winston Carr, Oakwood Cemetery, Martinsville, Virginia, May 6, 1951
Associated Press, August 16, 2014 - Letter provides peek at personal Sam Rayburn
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communes%20of%20France
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Communes of France
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The () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, in Germany, in Italy, or in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes. are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France.
vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris, to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are ( or ), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor () and a municipal council (). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy.
Terminology
A is the smallest and oldest administrative division in France. "Commune" in English has a historical association with socialist and collectivist political movements and philosophies. This association arises in part from the rising of the Paris Commune (1871) which could have more felicitously been called, in English, "the rising of the City of Paris". There is nothing intrinsically different between "town" in English and in French.
The French word appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin , for a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin , 'things held in common'.
Number of communes
As of January 2021, there were 35,083 communes in France, of which 34,836 in metropolitan France, 129 in the overseas departments and 83 in the overseas collectivities and New Caledonia. This is a considerably higher total than that of any other European country, because French communes still largely reflect the division of France into villages or parishes at the time of the French Revolution.
The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes; even uninhabited mountains or rain forests are dependent on a commune for their administration. This is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions:
COM (collectivité d'outre-mer, i.e., overseas collectivity) of Saint-Martin (33,102 inhabitants). It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe . The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.
COM of Wallis and Futuna (14,944 inhabitants), which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms.
COM of Saint Barthélemy (6,852 inhabitants). It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.
Furthermore, two regions without permanent habitation have no communes:
TOM (territoire d'outre-mer, i.e., overseas territory) of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (no permanent population, about 200 resident scientists, soldiers and meteorologists)
Clipperton Island in the Pacific Ocean (uninhabited)
Area of a typical commune
In metropolitan France, the average area of a commune in 2004 was . The median area of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, at . The median area gives a better sense of the size of a typical mainland France commune than the average area, since the average includes some very large communes.
In Italy, the median area of communes (comuni) is ; in Belgium it is ; in Spain it is ; and in Germany, the majority of Länder have communes (Gemeinden) with a median area above . Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the only places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France.
The communes of France's overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards. They usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them. In Réunion, demographic expansion and sprawling urbanization have resulted in the administrative splitting of some communes.
Population of a typical commune
The median population of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was 380 inhabitants. Again this is a very small number, and here France stands absolutely apart in Europe, with the lowest communes' median population of all the European countries (communes in Switzerland or Rhineland-Palatinate may cover a smaller area, as mentioned above, but they are more populated). This small median population of French communes can be compared with Italy, where the median population of communes in 2001 was 2,343 inhabitants, Belgium (11,265 inhabitants), or even Spain (564 inhabitants).
The median population given here should not hide the fact that there are pronounced differences in size between French communes. As mentioned in the introduction, a commune can be a city of 2 million inhabitants such as Paris, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, or just a hamlet of 10 inhabitants. What the median population tells us is that the vast majority of the French communes only have a few hundred inhabitants; but there are also a small number of communes within much higher populations.
In metropolitan France 57 percent of the 36,683 communes have fewer than 500 inhabitants and, with 4,638,000 inhabitants, these smaller communes constitute just 7.7 percent of the total population. In other words, just 8 percent of the French population live in 57 percent of its communes, whilst 92 percent are concentrated in the remaining 43 percent.
Example: Alsace
Alsace, with an area of , and now part of the Région Grand Est, used to be the smallest of the regions of metropolitan France, and still has no fewer than 904 communes. This high number is typical of metropolitan France but is atypical when compared with other European countries. It shows the distinctive nature of the French commune as a geo-political or administrative entity.
With its 904 communes, Alsace has three times as many municipalities as Sweden, which has a much larger territory covering and yet is divided into only 290 municipalities (kommuner). Alsace has more than double the total number of municipalities of the Netherlands which, in spite of having a population nine times larger and a land area four times larger than Alsace, is divided into just 390 municipalities ().
Most of the communes in Alsace, along with those in other regions of France, have rejected the central government's calls for mergers and rationalization. By way of contrast, in the German states bordering Alsace, the geo-political and administrative areas have been subject to various re-organizations from the 1960s onward. In the state of Baden-Württemberg, the number of Gemeinden or communities was reduced from 3,378 in 1968 to 1,108 in September 2007. In comparison, the number of communes in Alsace was only reduced from 946 in 1971 (just before the Marcellin law aimed at encouraging French communes to merge with each other was passed, see Current debate section below) to 904 in January 2007. Consequently, the Alsace region—despite having a land area only one-fifth the size and a total population only one-sixth of that of its neighbor Baden-Württemberg—has almost as many municipalities. The small Alsace region has more than double the number of municipalities compared to the large and populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (396 Gemeinden in September 2007).
Status of the communes
Despite differences in population, each of the communes of the French Republic possess a mayor (maire) and a municipal council (conseil municipal), which jointly manage the commune from the municipal hall (mairie), with exactly the same powers no matter the size of the commune. This uniformity of status is a legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences of status that existed in the kingdom of France.
French law makes allowances for the vast differences in commune size in a number of areas of administrative law. The size of the municipal council, the method of electing the municipal council, the maximum allowable pay of the mayor and deputy mayors, and municipal campaign finance limits (among other features) all depend on the population echelon into which a particular commune falls.
Since the PLM Law of 1982, three French communes also have a special status in that they are further divided into municipal arrondissements: these are Paris, Marseille, and Lyon. The municipal arrondissement is the only administrative unit below the commune in the French Republic, but existing only in these three communes. These municipal arrondissements are not to be confused with the arrondissements that are subdivisions of French départements: French communes are considered legal entities, whereas municipal arrondissements, by contrast, have no official capacity and no budget of their own.
The rights and obligations of communes are governed by the Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) which replaced the Code des communes (except for personnel matters) with the passage of the law of 21 February 1996 for legislation and decree number 2000-318 of 7 April 2000 for regulations.
From 1794 to 1977 — except for a few months in 1848 and 1870-1871 — Paris had no mayor and was thus directly controlled by the departmental prefect. This meant that Paris had less autonomy than certain towns or villages. Even after Paris regained the right to elect its own mayor in 1977, the central government retained control of the Paris police. In all other French communes, the municipal police are under the mayor's supervision.
History of the French communes
French communes were created at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789–1790.
Kingdom of France
Parishes
Before the revolution, France's lowest level of administrative division was the parish (paroisse), and there were up to 60,000 of them in the kingdom. A parish was essentially a church, the houses around it (known as the village), and the cultivated land around the village. France was the most populous country in Europe at this time, with a population of approximately 25 million inhabitants in the late 18th century (England in contrast had only 6 million inhabitants), which accounts for the large number of parishes. French kings often prided themselves on ruling over a "realm of 100,000 steeples".
Parishes lacked the municipal structures of post-Revolution communes. Usually, one contained only a building committee (conseil de fabrique), made up of villagers, which managed the buildings of the parish church, the churchyard, and the other numerous church estates and properties, and sometimes also provided help for the poor, or even administered parish hospitals or schools. Since the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539 by Francis I, the priest in charge of the parish was also required to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Except for these tasks, villages were left to handle other issues as they pleased. Typically, villagers would gather to decide over a special issue regarding the community, such as agricultural land usage, but there existed no permanent municipal body. In many places, the local feudal lord (seigneur) still had a major influence in the village's affairs, collecting taxes from tenant-villagers and ordering them to work the corvée, controlling which fields were to be used and when, and how much of the harvest should be given to him.
Chartered cities
Additionally some cities had obtained charters during the Middle Ages, either from the king himself or from local counts or dukes (such as the city of Toulouse chartered by the counts of Toulouse). These cities were made up of several parishes (up to 50 parishes in the case of Paris), and they were usually enclosed by a defensive wall. They had been emancipated from the power of feudal lords in the 12th and 13th centuries, had municipal bodies which administered the city, and bore some resemblance with the communes that the French Revolution would establish except for two key points:
these municipal bodies were not democratic; they were usually in the hands of some rich bourgeois families upon whom, over time, nobility had been conferred, so they can be better labeled as oligarchies rather than municipal democracies.
there was no uniform status for these chartered cities, each one having its own status and specific organization.
In the north, cities tended to be administered by échevins (from an old Germanic word meaning judge), while in the south, cities tended to be administered by consuls (in a clear reference to Roman antiquity), but Bordeaux was administered by jurats (etymologically meaning "sworn men") and Toulouse by capitouls ("men of the chapter"). Usually, there was no mayor in the modern sense; all the échevins or consuls were on equal footing, and rendered decisions collegially. However, for certain purposes there was one échevin or consul ranking above the others, a sort of mayor, although not with the same authority and executive powers as a modern mayor. This "mayor" was called provost of the merchants (prévôt des marchands) in Paris and Lyon; maire in Marseille, Bordeaux, Rouen, Orléans, Bayonne and many other cities and towns; mayeur in Lille; premier capitoul in Toulouse; viguier in Montpellier; premier consul in many towns of southern France; prêteur royal in Strasbourg; maître échevin in Metz; maire royal in Nancy; or prévôt in Valenciennes.
French Revolution
On 14 July 1789, at the end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille, the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris City Hall. Although in the Middle Ages the provosts of the merchants symbolized the independence of Paris and even had openly rebelled against King Charles V, their office had been suppressed by the king, then reinstated but with strict control from the king, and so they had ended up being viewed by the people as yet another representative of the king, no longer the embodiment of a free municipality.
Following that event, a "commune" of Paris was immediately set up to replace the old medieval chartered city of Paris, and a municipal guard was established to protect Paris against any attempt made by King Louis XVI to quell the ongoing revolution. Several other cities of France quickly followed suit, and communes arose everywhere, each with their municipal guard. On 14 December 1789, the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) passed a law creating the commune, designed to be the lowest level of administrative division in France, thus endorsing these independently created communes, but also creating communes of its own. In this area as in many others, the work of the National Assembly was, properly speaking, revolutionary: not content with transforming all the chartered cities and towns into communes, the National Assembly also decided to turn all the village parishes into full-status communes. The Revolutionaries were inspired by Cartesian ideas as well as by the philosophy of the Enlightenment. They wanted to do away with all the peculiarities of the past and establish a perfect society, in which all and everything should be equal and set up according to reason, rather than by tradition or conservatism.
Thus, they set out to establish administrative divisions that would be uniform across the country: the whole of France would be divided into départements, themselves divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons, themselves divided into communes, no exceptions. All of these communes would have equal status, they would all have a mayor at their head, and a municipal council elected by the inhabitants of the commune. This was a real revolution for the thousands of villages that never had experienced organized municipal life before. A communal house had to be built in each of these villages, which would house the meetings of the municipal council as well as the administration of the commune. Some in the National Assembly were opposed to such a fragmentation of France into thousands of communes, but eventually Mirabeau and his ideas of one commune for each parish prevailed.
On 20 September 1792, the recording of births, marriages, and deaths also was withdrawn as a responsibility of the priests of the parishes and handed to the mayors. Civil marriages were established and started to be performed in the mairie with a ceremony not unlike the traditional one, with the mayor replacing the priest, and the name of the law replacing the name of God ("Au nom de la loi, je vous déclare unis par les liens du mariage." – "In the name of the law, I declare you united by the bonds of marriage."). Priests were forced to surrender their centuries-old baptism, marriage, and burial books, which were deposited in the mairies. These abrupt changes profoundly alienated devout Catholics, and France soon was plunged into the throes of civil war, with the fervently religious regions of western France at its center. It would take Napoleon I to re-establish peace in France, stabilize the new administrative system, and make it generally accepted by the population. Napoleon also abolished the election of the municipal councils, which now were chosen by the prefect, the local representative of the central government.
Trends after the French Revolution
Today, French communes are still very much the same in their general principles as those that were established at the beginning of the Revolution. The biggest changes occurred in 1831, when the French Parliament re-established the principle of the election of municipal councils, and in 1837 when French communes were given legal "personality", being now considered legal entities with legal capacity. The Jacobin revolutionaries were afraid of independent local powers, which they saw as conservative and opposed to the revolution, and so they favored a powerful central state. Therefore, when they created the communes, they deprived them of any legal "personality" (as they did with the départements), with only the central state having legal "personality." By 1837 that situation was judged impractical, as mayors and municipal councils could not be parties in courts. The consequence of the change, however, was that tens of thousands of villages which had never had legal "personality" (contrary to the chartered cities) suddenly became legal entities for the first time in their history. This is still the case today.
During the revolution, approximately 41,000 communes were created, on territory corresponding to the limits of modern-day France (the 41,000 figure includes the communes of the departments of Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Alpes-Maritimes which were annexed in 1795, but does not include the departments of modern-day Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine, which were part of France between 1795 and 1815). This was fewer than the 60,000 parishes that existed before the revolution (in cities and towns, parishes were merged into one single commune; in the countryside, some very small parishes were merged with bigger ones), but 41,000 was still a considerable number, without any comparison in the world at the time, except in the empire of China (but there, only county level and above had any permanent administration).
Since then, tremendous changes have affected France, as they have the rest of Europe: the Industrial Revolution, two world wars, and the rural exodus have all depopulated the countryside and increased the size of cities. French administrative divisions, however, have remained extremely rigid and unchanged. Today about 90 percent of communes and departments are exactly the same as those designed at the time of the French Revolution more than 200 years ago, with the same limits. Countless rural communes that had hundreds of inhabitants at the time of the French Revolution now have only a hundred inhabitants or fewer. On the other hand, cities and towns have grown so much that their urbanized area is now extending far beyond the limits of their commune which were set at the time of the revolution. The most extreme example of this is Paris, where the urbanized area sprawls over 396 communes.
Paris in fact was one of the very few communes of France whose limits were extended to take into account the expansion of the urbanized area. The new, larger, commune of Paris was set up under the oversight of Emperor Napoléon III in 1859, but after 1859 the limits of Paris rigidified. Unlike most other European countries, which stringently merged their communes to better reflect modern-day densities of population (such as Germany and Italy around 1970), dramatically decreasing the number of communes in the processthe Gemeinden of West Germany were decreased from 24,400 to 8,400 in the space of a few yearsFrance only carried out mergers at the margin, and those were mostly carried out during the 19th century. From 41,000 communes at the time of the French Revolution, the number decreased to 37,963 in 1921, to 36,569 in 2008 (in metropolitan France).
Thus, in Europe, only Switzerland has as high a density of communes as France, and even there an extensive merger movement has started in the last 10 years. To better grasp the staggering number of communes in France, two comparisons can be made: First, of the original 15 member states of the European Union there are approximately 75,000 communes; France alone, which comprises 16 percent of the population of the EU-15, had nearly half of its communes. Second, the United States, with a territory fourteen times larger than that of the French Republic, and nearly five times its population, had 35,937 incorporated municipalities and townships at the 2002 Census of Governments, fewer than that of the French Republic. The number of barangays in the Philippines, villages of Indonesia, and muban in Thailand also have a higher number than the French communes.
Communes nouvelles
There have long been calls in France for a massive merger of communes, including by such distinguished voices as the president of the Cour des Comptes (the central auditing administrative body in France). In 1971 the Marcellin law offered support and money from the government to entice the communes to merge freely with each other, but the law had only a limited effect (only about 1,300 communes agreed to merge with others). Many rural communes with few residents struggle to maintain and manage basic services such as running water, garbage collection, or properly paved communal roads.
Mergers, however, are not easy to achieve. One problem is that mergers reduce the number of available elected positions, and thus are not popular with local politicians. Moreover, citizens from one village may be unwilling to have their local services run by an executive located in another village, whom they may consider unaware of or inattentive to their local needs.
In December 2010 the law n° 2010-1563 regarding reform of territorial collectivities was adopted, which created the legal framework for the communes nouvelles (lit. "new communes"). A commune nouvelle can be created by merger of a number of communes at the request of the municipal councils of all the communes or at the initiative of the state representative in the department (the prefect). The municipal council of the new commune can decide to create communes déléguées (lit. "delegated communes") in the place of the former communes, which are represented by a delegated mayor and a delegated council. Between 2012 and 2021, about 820 communes nouvelles have been established, replacing about 2,550 old communes.
Intercommunality
The expression "intercommunality" (intercommunalité) denotes several forms of cooperation between communes. Such cooperation first made its appearance at the end of the 19th century in the form of a law on 22 March 1890, which provided for the establishment of single-purpose intercommunal associations. French lawmakers having long been aware of the inadequacy of the communal structure inherited from the French Revolution for dealing with a number of practical matters, the so-called Chevènement law of 12 July 1999 is the most recent and most thoroughgoing measure aimed at strengthening and simplifying this principle.
In recent years it has become increasingly common for communes to band together in intercommunal consortia for the provision of such services as refuse collection and water supply. Suburban communes often team up with the city at the core of their urban area to form a community charged with managing public transport or even administering the collection of local taxes.
The Chevènement law tidied up all these practices, abolishing some structures and creating new ones. In addition, it offered central government finance aimed at encouraging further communes to join in intercommunal structures. Unlike the only partially successful statute enacted in 1966 and enabling urban communes to form urban communities, or the more marked failure of the Marcellin law of 1971, the Chevènement law met with a large measure of success, so that a majority of French communes are now involved in intercommunal structures.
There are two types of these structures:
Those without fiscal power, the loosest form of intercommunality. Mainly in this category are the traditional syndicates of communes. Communes gather and contribute financially to the syndicate, but the syndicate cannot levy its own taxes. Communes can leave the syndicate at any time. Syndicates can be set up for a particular purpose or to deal with several simultaneous matters. These structures have been left untouched by the Chevènement law, and they are on the decline.
Structures with fiscal power. This is what the Chevènement law was concerned with, and it distinguished three structures with fiscal power:
the community of communes (), aimed primarily at rural communes;
the community of agglomeration (), aimed at towns and middle-sized cities and their suburbs;
the urban community (communauté urbaine), aimed at larger cities and their suburbs.
the metropolis (métropole), established in 2014, aimed at the largest cities and their suburbs.
These three structures are given varying levels of fiscal power, with the community of agglomeration and the urban community having most fiscal power, levying the local tax on corporations (taxe professionnelle) in their own name instead of those of the communes, and with the same level of taxation across the communes of the community. The communities must also manage some services previously performed by the communes, such as garbage collection or transport, but the law also makes it mandatory for the communities to manage other areas such as economic planning and development, housing projects, or environment protection. Communities of communes are required to manage the fewest areas, leaving the communes more autonomous, while urban communities are required to manage most matters, leaving the communes within them with less autonomy.
Allocation of government money
In exchange for the creation of a community, the government allocates money to them based on their population, thus providing an incentive for communes to team up and form communities. Communities of communes are given the least money per inhabitant, whereas urban communities are given the most money per inhabitant, thus pushing communes to form more integrated communities where they have fewer powers, which they might otherwise have been loath to do if it were not for government money.
The Chevènement law has been extremely successful in the sense that a majority of French communes now have joined the new intercommunal structures. On 1 January 2007, there were 2,573 such communities in metropolitan France (including five syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle, a category currently being phased out), made up of 33,327 communes (91.1 percent of all the communes of metropolitan France), and 52.86 million inhabitants, i.e., 86.7 percent of the population of metropolitan France.
These impressive results however may hide a murkier reality. In rural areas, many communes have entered a community of communes only to benefit from government funds. Often the local syndicate has been turned officially into a community of communes, the new community of communes in fact managing only the services previously managed by the syndicate, contrary to the spirit of the law which has established the new intercommunal structures to carry out a much broader range of activities than that undertaken by the old syndicates. Some say that, should government money transfers be stopped, many of these communities of communes would revert to their former status of syndicate, or simply completely disappear in places where there were no syndicates prior to the law.
In urban areas, the new intercommunal structures are much more a reality, being created by local decision-makers out of genuine belief in the worth of working together. However, in many places local feuds have arisen, and it was not possible to set up an intercommunal structure for the whole of the urban area: some communes refusing to take part in it, or even creating their own structure. In some urban areas like Marseille there exist four distinct intercommunal structures! In many areas, rich communes have joined with other rich communes and have refused to let in poorer communes, for fear that their citizens would be overtaxed to the benefit of poorer suburbs.
Moreover, intercommunal structures in many urban areas are still new, and fragile: Tensions exist between communes; the city at the center of the urban area often is suspected of wishing to dominate the suburban communes; communes from opposing political sides also may be suspicious of each other.
Two famous examples of this are Toulouse and Paris. In Toulouse, on top of there being six intercommunal structures, the main community of Toulouse and its suburbs is only a community of agglomeration, although Toulouse is large enough to create an Urban Community according to the law. This is because the suburban communes refused an urban community for fear of losing too much power, and opted for a community of agglomeration, despite the fact that a community of agglomeration receives less government funds than an urban community. As for Paris, no intercommunal structure has emerged there, the suburbs of Paris fearing the concept of a "Greater Paris", and so disunity still is the rule in the metropolitan area, with the suburbs of Paris creating many different intercommunal structures all without the city.
One major often raised problem with intercommunality, is the fact that the intercommunal structures are not subject to directly election by the people, so it is the representatives of each individual commune that sit in the new structure. As a consequence, civil servants and bureaucrats are the ones setting up the agenda and implementing it, with the elected representatives of the communes only endorsing key decisions.
Classification
INSEE (Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques) gives numerical indexing codes to various entities in France, notably the communes (which do not coincide with postcodes). The complete code has eight digits and three spaces within, but there is a popular simplified code with five digits and no space within:
Two digits (department) and three digits (commune) for the 96 departments of metropolitan France.
Three digits (department or collectivity) and two digits (commune) for the Overseas departments, Overseas collectivities and Overseas countries.
Administration
Each commune has a municipal council (conseil municipal) composed of municipal councilors (conseillers municipaux).
The municipal council is the legislative and deliberative organ of the commune.
The municipal councilors are elected by the inhabitants of the commune for a 6-year term.
Each commune is governed by a mayor (maire) elected for a 6-year term.
Miscellaneous facts
Most and least populous communes
Paris is the most populous commune of France with 2,187,526 residents as of 2017.
Six of the French villages destroyed in the First World War have never been rebuilt. All are found in the département of Meuse and were destroyed during the Battle of Verdun in 1916. After the war, it was decided that the land previously occupied by the destroyed villages would not be incorporated into other communes, as a testament to these villages which had "died for France", as they were declared, and to preserve their memory. The following communes are entirely unpopulated and are managed by a council of three members, appointed by the prefect of Meuse:
Beaumont-en-Verdunois
Bezonvaux
Cumières-le-Mort-Homme
Fleury-devant-Douaumont
Haumont-près-Samogneux
Louvemont-Côte-du-Poivre
Apart from the above cases, the communes with the fewest inhabitants in the French Republic are:
commune of Rochefourchat (Drôme), in southeastern France, one inhabitant as of 1999. (a 38-year-old divorced man)
commune of Leménil-Mitry (Meurthe-et-Moselle), in eastern France, three inhabitants as of 2017.
the communes of La Bâtie-des-Fonds (Drôme), Caunette-sur-Lauquet (Aude) and Majastres (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), each with four inhabitants as of 2017.
Most and least subdivided communes
Pas-de-Calais is the department in France with the most communes, with 890.
Paris is the department in France with the fewest communes, with only single commune of an arrondissement and the department itself.
Largest and smallest commune territories
The largest commune of the French Republic is Maripasoula (with 3,710 inhabitants) in the département of French Guiana: .
The smallest commune of the French Republic is Castelmoron-d'Albret (53 inhabitants) near Bordeaux: .
In metropolitan France the largest commune is the commune of Arles (50,513 inhabitants) near Marseille, the territory of which encompasses most of the Camargue (the delta of the Rhône): 8.7 times the area of the city of Paris (excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes) at .
Communes farthest away from the capital city of France
The commune of the French Republic farthest away from Paris is the commune of L'Île-des-Pins (1,840 inhabitants) in New Caledonia: 16,841 km (10,465 miles) from the center of Paris.
In continental France (i.e., European France excluding Corsica), the communes farthest away from Paris are Coustouges (93 inhabitants) and Lamanère (52 inhabitants) at the Spanish border: both at from the center of Paris as the crow flies.
Shortest and longest commune names
The commune of the French Republic with the shortest name is the commune of Y in Somme (91 inhabitants).
The two communes in the French Republic with the longest names (38 letters):
Saint-Remy-en-Bouzemont-Saint-Genest-et-Isson in Marne (517 inhabitants)
Beaujeu-Saint-Vallier-Pierrejux-et-Quitteur in Haute-Saône (937 inhabitants)
Communes with non-French names
In areas where languages other than French are or were spoken, most place-names have been translated into a French spelling and pronunciation, such as Dunkerque (Duinkerke in Dutch), Toulouse (Tolosa in Occitan), Strasbourg (Straßburg in German), Perpignan (Perpinyà in Catalan), and many place names derived from Gaulish or Latin. However, many smaller communes have retained their native name. Other examples of retained names in the languages once spoken, or still spoken, on French territory:
Alsatian: the commune of Mittelhausbergen (1,680 inhabitants)
Amerindian: the commune of Kourou (19,107 inhabitants)
Arpitan: the commune of Chamonix (9,514 inhabitants)
Austronesian: the commune of Kouaoua (1,586 inhabitants)
Basque: the commune of Ainhoa (683 inhabitants)
Breton: the commune of Brest (141,315 inhabitants)
Catalan: the commune of Banyuls-dels-Aspres (1,007 inhabitants)
Comorian: the commune of M’Tsangamouji (5,028 inhabitants)
Corsican: the commune of Calvi (5,377 inhabitants)
Dutch: the commune of Steenvoorde (4,024 inhabitants)
Italian: the commune of Bocognano (372 inhabitants)
Occitan: the commune of Alès (41,205 inhabitants)
Polynesian: the commune of Hitiaa O Te Ra (8,683 inhabitants)
See also
Lists of communes of France
Comune (Italy)
Urban areas France
References
Citations
Sources
La Documentation française Le développement de l'intercommunalité: la révolution discrète
Les villes et communes de France lescommunes.com: contacts, offices du tourisme et maire, Hall and Tourist Office, statistiques, photographies.
Maryvonne Bonnard, Les collectivités territoriales en France, 2005, La Documentation française,
External links
Complete lists of cities and municipalities in France
France 4
Communes, France
Subdivisions of France
Local government in France
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament%20of%20India
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Parliament of India
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The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President of India, in their role as head of the legislature, has full powers to summon and prorogue either house of Parliament or to dissolve the Lok Sabha, but they can exercise these powers only upon the advice of the Prime Minister and their Union Council of Ministers.
Those elected or nominated (by the president) to either house of Parliament are referred to as members of Parliament (MPs). The members of parliament of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the Indian public voting in single-member districts and the members of parliament of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the members of all state legislative assemblies by proportional representation. The Parliament has a sanctioned strength of 550 in the Lok Sabha and 250 in the Rajya Sabha including 12 nominees from the expertise of different fields of literature, art, science, and social service. The Parliament meets at Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi. The Parliament of India represents the largest democratic electorate in the world (the second is the European Parliament), with an electorate of 912 million eligible voters in 2019. On May 28, 2023, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, unveiled and inaugurated the New Parliament House, located adjacent to the previous one.
History
During British rule, the legislative branch of India was the Imperial Legislative Council, which was created in 1861 via the Indian Councils Act of 1861 and disbanded in 1947, when India gained independence. Following independence, the Constituent Assembly of India was elected to write the Constitution of India. In 1950 after the constitution came into force, the Constituent Assembly of India was disbanded, and succeeded by the Parliament of India, which is active to this day.
Parliament House
Old premises (Samvidhan Sadan)
The old Parliament House (Samvidhan Sadan) is located in New Delhi. It was designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, who were made responsible for the planning and construction of New Delhi by the British government, as the home of the Central Legislative Assembly, the Council of State, and the Chamber of Princes. The construction of the building took six years, and the opening ceremony was performed on 18 January 1927 by the viceroy and governor-general of India, Lord Irwin. The construction cost for the building was .
The building is tall, in diameter and covers an area of . The Central Hall consists of the chambers of the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha, and the Library hall. Surrounding these three chambers is the four-storeyed circular structure providing accommodations for members and houses parliamentary committees, offices and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. The center and the focus of the building is the Central Hall. It consists of chambers of the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha, and the Library Hall, and between them lie garden courts. Surrounding these three chambers is the four-storeyed circular structure providing accommodations for ministers, chairmen, parliamentary committees, party offices, important offices of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariat, and also the offices of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. The Central Hall is circular in shape and the dome is in diameter.
It is a place of historical importance. The Indian Constitution was framed in the Central Hall. The Central Hall was originally used in the library of the erstwhile Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of States. In 1946, it was converted and refurbished into the Constituent Assembly Hall. election.
New premises (Sansad Bhavan)
A new parliament building was inaugurated on May 28, 2023. The old building, an 85-year-old structure suffers from inadequacy of space to house members and their staff and is thought to suffer from structural issues. The building also needs to be protected because of its heritage tag.
The new building, with a built-up area of approximately 65,000 sq m and a distinctive triangular shape, optimally utilizes space. It houses an expanded Lok Sabha hall, accommodating up to 888 seats, and a larger Rajya Sabha hall, accommodating up to 384 seats, with the Lok Sabha capable of accommodating up to 1,272 seats for joint sessions of Parliament. The Lok Sabha hall draws inspiration from India's national bird, incorporating a peacock theme, while the Rajya Sabha hall is designed with a lotus theme, reflecting India's national flower. Additionally, a state-of-the-art Constitutional Hall symbolically and physically places Indian citizens at the heart of democracy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundations for the new Parliament building on 10 December 2020. With an estimated cost of 9.71 billion, the new building was inaugurated in 2023.
The first session in the New Parliament took place on 19 September 2023.
Composition
The Indian Parliament consists of two houses, namely, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, with the president of India acting as their head.
President of India
The president of India, the head of state, is a component of Parliament. Under Article 60 and Article 111 of the constitution, the president's responsibility is to ensure that laws passed by the Parliament are in accordance with the constitutional mandate and that the stipulated procedure is followed before indicating approval to the bills. The president of India is elected by the elected members of the Parliament of India and the state legislatures and serves for a term of five years.
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha (House of the People) or the lower house has 543 members. Members are directly elected by citizens of India on the basis of universal adult franchise representing parliamentary constituencies across the country. Between 1952 and 2020, two additional members of the Anglo-Indian community were also nominated by the president of India on the advice of the Indian government, which was abolished in January 2020 by the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019.
Every citizen of India who is over 18 years of age, irrespective of gender, caste, religion, or race and is otherwise not disqualified, is eligible to vote for members of the Lok Sabha. The constitution provides that the maximum strength of the Lower House be 550 members. It has a term of five years. To be eligible for membership in the Lok Sabha, a person must be a citizen of India and must be 25 years of age or older, mentally sound, should not be bankrupt, and should not be criminally convicted. The total elective membership is distributed among the states in such a way that the ratio between the number of seats allotted to each state and the population of the state is, so far as practicable, the same for all states. Out of 543 seats of Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for Scheduled castes and 47 seats are reserved for Scheduled tribe.
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha (Council of States) or the Upper House is a permanent body not subject to dissolution. One-third of the members retire every second year and are replaced by newly elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six years. Its members are indirectly elected by members of legislative bodies of the states. The Rajya Sabha can have a maximum of 250 members. It currently has a sanctioned strength of 250 members, of which 238 are elected from states, and union territories and 12 are nominated by the president. The number of members from a state depends on its population. The minimum age for a person to become a member of the Rajya Sabha is 30 years. There are no caste based reservations in Rajya Sabha.
Powers
As the primary institution responsible for lawmaking, the Indian Parliament possesses a wide array of powers that form the backbone of the country's democratic governance.
Legislative Powers:
Enacting Laws: The Parliament is vested with the authority to make laws on subjects enumerated in the Union List and Concurrent List under the Constitution of India. Bills can be introduced in either house, and upon approval, they become laws after receiving the President's assent
Amending the Constitution: The Parliament can amend the Constitution with the support of a special majority, allowing for modifications to accommodate changing societal needs and aspirations.
Residuary Powers: The Parliament holds exclusive authority over matters not covered by the Union or State Lists, known as residuary powers.
Financial Powers:
Formulation and Approval of the Union Budget: The Parliament plays a vital role in the development and endorsement of the Union Budget. It carefully examines the government's proposals for revenue generation and expenditure, provides suggestions for modifications if necessary, and ultimately grants or withholds financial allocations accordingly.
Taxation: Parliament has the power to levy and collect taxes, including income tax, customs and excise duties, and goods and services tax (GST).
Control over Public Expenditure: The Parliament scrutinizes government expenditure through debates and discussions on budgetary allocations, ensuring accountability and transparency.
Executive Powers:
Council of Ministers: The Parliament exercises executive powers indirectly through its control over the Council of Ministers. The government is collectively responsible to the Parliament, and its policies and actions are subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
Vote of No Confidence: The Parliament can remove the government from power through a vote of no confidence. If the government fails to enjoy the majority's support (in Lok Sbaha), it must resign.
Questions and Motions: Members of Parliament have the right to raise questions, seek clarifications, and move motions regarding the functioning of the government and its policies.
Oversight Powers:
Question Hour: Members of Parliament can ask questions of ministers during the Question Hour, seeking clarifications on matters of public interest.
Committees: The Parliament appoints various committees, such as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Estimates Committee, and the Committee on Public Undertakings, to oversee and examine government policies, programs, and their implementation.
Impeachment Power: The Parliament has the authority to initiate impeachment proceedings against the President, Vice President, and Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts for the violation of the Constitution.
Sessions
The period during which the House meets to conduct its business is called a session. The constitution empowers the president to summon each house at such intervals that there should not be more than a six-month gap between the two sessions. Hence the Parliament must meet at least twice a year. In India, the Parliament conducts three sessions each year.
Budget session: The Budget Session is arguably the most crucial session of the Indian Parliament. It typically commences in February and concludes in May. The primary objective of this session is to discuss, debate, and pass the annual Union Budget, which outlines the government's fiscal policies and priorities for the upcoming financial year. Members of Parliament scrutinize the budget proposals, propose amendments, and engage in comprehensive discussions to ensure transparency and accountability in the allocation of funds.
Monsoon session: The Monsoon Session of Parliament usually takes place between July and August. It derives its name from the occurrence of the monsoon season during this time. This session primarily focuses on enacting legislation, as it provides an opportunity for Members of Parliament to introduce bills, engage in extensive debates, and collectively decide on their passage. Apart from legislative functions, this session also involves discussions on various issues of national importance, enabling the government to address concerns raised by the opposition and seek their support.
Winter session: The Winter Session, held between November and December, serves as the last parliamentary session of the calendar year. Its main purpose is to ensure a comprehensive review of the government's policies and initiatives, allowing Members of Parliament to critically analyze their effectiveness. This session witnesses the introduction of bills, discussions on pending legislation, and the examination of the government's performance through questions, motions, and debates. The Winter Session is vital for fostering accountability and transparency in governance.
Special Sessions: In addition to the regular sessions, the Indian Parliament also holds special sessions to address urgent matters or crises that require immediate attention. These sessions are convened outside the usual schedule and are dedicated to discussing specific issues of national importance. Special sessions provide a platform for focused deliberations, enabling swift decision-making and action in response to emergencies or critical circumstances.
Functions
Legislative functions
Legislative proposals are brought before either house of the Parliament in the form of a bill. A bill is the draft of a legislative proposal, which, when passed by both houses of Parliament and assented to by the president, becomes an act of Parliament. Money bills must originate in the Lok Sabha. The Council of States can only make recommendations over the bills to the House, within a period of fourteen days.
Parliamentary committees
Parliamentary committees are formed to deliberate specific matters at length. The public is directly or indirectly associated and studies are conducted to help committees arrive at the conclusions. Parliamentary committees are of two kinds: standing committees and ad hoc committees.
Standing committees are permanent committees constituted from time to time in pursuance of the provisions of an act of Parliament or rules of procedure and conduct of business in Parliament. The work of these committees is of a continuing nature. Ad hoc committees are appointed for a specific purpose and they cease to exist when they finish the task assigned to them and submit a report.
Privileges
Parliamentary privileges play a crucial role in safeguarding the functioning of the Indian Parliament and upholding its authority as the primary legislative body in the country. These privileges grant certain rights and immunize Members of Parliament, enabling them to perform their duties effectively, express their views freely, and ensure democratic accountability.
Freedom of Speech: One of the most fundamental parliamentary privileges is the freedom of speech and expression granted to Members of Parliament. This privilege allows legislators to articulate their opinions and viewpoints without fear of legal consequences or outside interference. By protecting freedom of speech, parliamentary privileges ensure that parliamentarians can openly debate, discuss, and criticize government policies and actions, thus contributing to robust decision-making and democratic governance.
Immunity from Legal Action: Parliamentary privileges grant lawmakers immunity from civil and criminal proceedings for any statements made or actions performed within the Parliament or its committees. This immunity allows Members of Parliament to express their opinions and engage in debates without the fear of legal repercussions. By safeguarding parliamentarians from external legal actions, these privileges facilitate open and uninhibited discussions, fostering an environment conducive to the free exchange of ideas.
Access to Information: Parliamentary privileges also encompass the right to access information necessary for effective legislation and oversight. Members of Parliament have the authority to seek information from government officials, ministries, and public authorities to gather facts, scrutinize policies, and hold the government accountable. This privilege enables parliamentarians to obtain critical data, documents, and reports to make informed decisions and represent the interests of their constituents effectively.
Control over Internal Affairs: Parliamentary privileges grant the legislature the power to regulate its internal affairs, proceedings, and discipline. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha exercise these privileges to maintain decorum, ensure orderly debates, and enforce rules of procedure. This control over internal affairs allows the Indian Parliament to function independently, protect its integrity, and maintain its authority as a legislative body.
Protection from Arrest: Parliamentary privileges provide Members of Parliament with protection from arrest in civil cases during the session of Parliament, allowing them to discharge their legislative responsibilities without hindrance. This privilege ensures that lawmakers can attend parliamentary sessions, participate in debates, and fulfill their duties without the threat of detention or interference.
Code of Conduct
To uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct, the Indian Parliament focuses on some of the key behavioral aspects for parliamentarians.
To maintain transparency:
Parliamentarians should disclose their financial interests, including assets, investments, and sources of income, to ensure transparency and prevent conflicts of interest.
Detailed records of parliamentary proceedings, including debates, voting records, and committee activities, should be made readily available to the public for scrutiny and accountability.
Conflict of Interest:
Parliamentarians should avoid conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from discussions or decisions that may directly or indirectly benefit them, their family members, or their associates.
A clear definition of conflicts of interest and guidelines for disclosure and recusal are outlined to maintain the integrity of the legislative process.
Respectful Discourse:
Parliamentarians should engage in respectful and constructive debates, adhering to decorum and avoiding personal attacks or derogatory language.
Speeches and interactions should be focused on the issues at hand, fostering a culture of healthy deliberation and informed decision-making.
Attendance and Participation:
Parliamentarians should demonstrate a high level of commitment to their duties by attending sessions regularly and actively participating in debates, voting, and committee work.
Guidelines are established to ensure that absenteeism is minimal, and absence without valid reasons is addressed appropriately.
Use of Parliamentary Privileges:
Parliamentarians should exercise their parliamentary privileges responsibly, recognizing that they are not immune to legal and ethical obligations outside the Parliament.
Misuse of privileges, such as obstructing justice or engaging in corrupt practices, are strictly prohibited and subjected to legal consequences.
Accountability:
Parliamentarians are accountable to the public they represent, regularly communicating with constituents, listening to their concerns, and addressing their grievances.
A mechanism for public redressal and feedback are established to hold parliamentarians accountable for their actions and decisions.
Prohibition of Corruption:
Parliamentarians should be bound by stringent anti-corruption measures, including the declaration of assets, income, and liabilities, and strict adherence to existing anti-corruption laws.
Strong penalties and disciplinary action should be imposed for any proven instances of corruption or unethical behavior, reinforcing a culture of integrity and zero tolerance for malpractice.
In 2022, the Lok Sabha secretariat released a booklet listing out unparliamentary words and expressions before the start of the Monsoon session on 18 July 2022. The banned words if used during debates or otherwise in both the houses would be expunged from the records of the parliament.
Incidents
The Emergency was one of the significant incidents in the history of the Indian Parliament by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975. The emergency lasted for 21 months and saw a suspension of civil liberties, censorship of the press, and imprisonment of political opponents.
On 13 December 2001, Indian Parliament was attacked by an Islamic terrorist group. The perpetrators were Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists. The attack led to the deaths of five terrorists, six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Services personnel, and a gardener, which totaled 14 fatalities. The incident led to increased tensions between India and Pakistan, resulting in the India–Pakistan standoff.
Gallery
See also
Politics of India
Election Commission of India
Member of parliament, Lok Sabha
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
PRS Legislative Research
Indian Parliamentary Group
List of legislatures by country
List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha
2001 Indian Parliament attack
References
Further reading
"The Parliamentary System" by Arun Shourie, Publisher: Rupa & Co
External links
1952 establishments in India
India
India
India
Politics of India
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial%20Guard%20%28Napoleon%20I%29
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Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)
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The Imperial Guard (French: Garde Impériale) was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he was careful of its use in battle. The Guard was divided into the staff, infantry, cavalry, and artillery regiments, as well as battalions of sappers and marines. The guard itself as a whole distinguished between the experienced veterans and less experienced members by being separated into three sections: the Old Guard, Middle Guard and Young Guard.
History
The Guard had its origin in the Consular Guard (Garde des consuls), created on 28 November 1799 by the union of the Guard of the Directory (Garde du Directoire exécutif) and the Grenadiers of the Legislature (Grenadiers près de la Représentation nationale). These formations had for principal purpose the security of the executive and legislative branches of the French Republic and gathered a small number of soldiers, about a thousand. One may question their utility, as they did not oppose Napoleon's Coup of 18 Brumaire of 1799. The Consular Guard changed its name to the Imperial Guard on 18 May 1804. Its headquarters were located at the Pentemont Abbey in Paris.
Napoleon took great care of his Guard, particularly the Old Guard. The Grenadiers of the Old Guard were known to complain in the presence of the Emperor, giving them the nickname Grognards, the Grumblers. The Guard received better pay, rations, quarters, and equipment, and all guardsmen ranked one grade higher than all non-Imperial Guard soldiers. Other French soldiers even referred to Napoleon's Imperial Guard as "the Immortals".
The Guard played a major part in the climax of the Battle of Waterloo. It was thrown into the battle at the last minute to salvage a victory for Napoleon. Completely outnumbered, it faced terrible fire from the British lines, and began to retreat. For the first (and only) time in its history the Middle Guard retreated without orders. At the sight of this, Napoleon's army lost all hope of victory. The Middle Guard broke completely but the Old Guard (and some of the Young Guard) battalions held their formation and secured the retreat of the remainder of the French Army before being almost annihilated by British and Prussian artillery fire and cavalry charges.
The phrase "La Garde meurt mais ne se rend pas! ("The Guard dies but does not surrender!") is generally attributed to General Pierre Cambronne. It has been suggested that this was in fact said by another general of the Guard, Claude-Étienne Michel, during their last stand at the Battle of Waterloo. The retort to a request to surrender may have been "La Garde meurt, elle ne se rend pas! ("The Guard dies, it does not surrender!"). Letters published in The Times in June 1932 record that it may have been said by General Michel.
The Old Guard regiments were assigned to the Guard's 3rd Division, while the remainder of the Guard's foot regiments were assigned to the 1st and 2nd Divisions.
Numbers
In 1804 the Guard numbered 8,000 men. By the time of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, it had swelled to just under 100,000 men. The Guard had its own artillery, infantry and cavalry components just like a normal army corps. The Old Guard was the elite within the wider Imperial Guard.
General Staff of the Imperial Guard
Created soon after the creation of the Guard itself, the General Staff by 1806 included the four Colonel-Generals of the four divisions of the Guard, all Marshal of the Empire in field rank. It also included an Inspector of Reviews, a Commissioner of War, 24 aides-de-camp, and other specialist officers, NCOs, and privates.
Foot regiments
The Old Guard regiments served in the 3rd Division of the Guard, while the rest of the foot regiments of the Guard served in the 1st and 2nd Divisions.
Old Guard
1st Regiment of Foot Grenadiers
The 1st Regiment of Foot Grenadiers () was founded from the Consular Guard Grenadiers (), which had been formed from the Guards of the Directory. The battalion was made up of the Imperial French Army's most experienced and tallest men. One of two Imperial Guard battalions carried the Imperial Eagle into battle.
After Napoleon's failure in the Invasion of Russia, only a few troops from the initial force remained, and the army had to be rebuilt using Peninsular War veterans.
Napoleon Himself, called them "The Immortals Of France."
2nd Regiment of Foot Grenadiers
Raised in 1806 from veterans of the , the was a unit within the Middle Guard. This particular unit was disbanded in 1810 and was replaced by the so-called Dutch Grenadiers until in 1811, upon the upcoming invasion of Russia, the 2nd Regiment of Foot Grenadiers was reraised with 1,500 veteran soldiers. By 1813, the unit was designated to join the Old Guard as a reward of their long service in both Spain and Russia.
3rd Regiment of Foot Grenadiers
Originally raised as part of the Dutch Royal Guard when Louis Bonaparte, brother to Napoleon, was made King of Holland. In 1810 the unit was incorporated into the Imperial Guard within the Middle Guard as the 2nd Regiment of Foot Grenadiers (). It was disbanded 15 February 1813 after certain issues with staff and personnel, however was re-raised on 8 April 1815 to the replace the Fusilier-Grenadiers de la Garde Impériale. It was finally disbanded on 24 September 1815 after Napoleon's Second Abdication.
4th Regiment of Foot Grenadiers
The was the last grenadier guard regiment to be raised. Created on 9 May 1815, it saw action at Ligny and Waterloo. It was disbanded on 24 September 1815.
Chasseurs
1st Regiment of Foot Chasseurs
Being the second in seniority within the Imperial Guard Infantry, the was one of the most respected regiments within the ; classed as part of the Old Guard.
2nd Regiment of Foot Chasseurs
Raised in 1806, the was disbanded in 1809 and re-raised in 1811 for the Invasion of Russia. As part of the Middle Guard, they engaged in numerous battles and by 1813 they were finally raised to be part of the Old Guard.
3rd Regiment of Foot Chasseurs
The briefly existed during the 100 days campaign after Napoleon's escape from Elba.
4th Regiment of Foot Chasseurs
The was also raised during the 100 days campaign after Napoleon's escape from Elba.
Middle Guard
Fusiliers-Grenadiers
The Fusiliers-Grenadiers were the second regiment of Fusiliers created on 15 December 1806 from the 1st battalions of the Grenadier and Chasseur Vélites, forming a regiment that was to be 1,800 men strong. Conscripts and men from the Compagnies de Reserve brought the new regiment up to four battalions of four companies each, 120 men per company. They were disbanded on 12 May 1814.
Fusiliers-Chasseurs
The Fusiliers-Chasseurs were created on 19 October 1806 from the 1st battalions of the Vélites of the Grenadiers and Chasseurs of the Guard; the regiment was to be 1,200 men strong. Men of the Compagnies de Reserve were added to bring the regiment up to four battalions of four companies each, 120 men to a company. In 1813 each battalion was enlarged by two more companies. They were destroyed on 12 May 1814.
Young Guard
Tirailleurs-Grenadiers
The first regiment to become known as the Young Guard, Tirailleurs Grenadiers () were raised in 1809 from conscripts, but they had to be able to read and write. A second regiment was formed later in the same year. In 1810 both were renamed & .
Tirailleurs-Chasseurs
Two regiments of Tirailleurs-Chasseurs were formed at the same time as the Tirailleurs-Grenadiers, and were also included in the Young Guard. For the 1812 Campaign in Russia these were expanded to six regiments. Both became & in 1811.
During the 1813–14 campaigns the number of was increased to sixteen although they rarely equaled the regiments of the Young Guard of 1811.
The 7th, 8th and 9th were recruited from the 'Pupilles de la Garde', childsoldiers who were to become Napoleon's son's guard and who stayed in France during the Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
Voltigeurs of the Guard
Created from the Tirailleurs-Chasseurs in late 1810, the Regiments de Voltigeurs de la Garde Impériale became one of the largest corps in the Guard, eventually absorbing the Regiments de Conscrits-Chasseurs to number sixteen regiments by 1814. The 14e Régiment de Voltigeurs de la Garde Impériale was created from the Spanish volunteers that retreated with the French Army, and the Régiment de Voltigeurs de la Garde Royale Espagnol.
Conscripts-Grenadiers
Created in 1809, the two Conscripts-Grenadiers Regiments (Régiment de Conscrit-Grenadiers), though intended to provide a reserve for the Young Guard, were not included in the Guard, receiving line infantry pay. The regiments became 3e & 4e Régiment de Tirailleurs de la Garde Impériale in 1810.
Conscripts-Chasseurs
Created in 1809, the Conscripts Chasseurs Regiment though intended to provide a reserve for the Young Guard, was not included in the guard, receiving Line Infantry pay. After 1811, the Conscrits-Chasseurs formed the 3rd and 4th regiments of the Voltigeurs of the Guard.
National Guard Regiment of the Guard
This regiment was created from the National Guard companies of the Northern Departments of France. The regiment was organized according to the line infantry tables, and in 1813 was renamed the 7th Regiment of Voltigeurs.
Flanqueur Grenadiers and Chasseurs
In preparation for the invasion of Russia, Napoleon ordered a further creation of units for the Guard that included Régiment de Flanqueurs-Grenadiers de la Garde Impériale and Flanqueur-Chasseurs Regiment (Régiment de Flanqueurs-Chasseurs de la Garde Impériale).
Cavalry regiments
The Imperial Guard cavalry constituted a corps in itself and had its own commander, with seasoned cavalrymen like Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières and generals Frédéric Henri Walther or Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty successively at its helm. Augustin Daniel Belliard was also interim commander for a few days in 1814, before giving command to Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta, who held it for a short while, until Napoleon's abdication in April 1814. During the Hundred Days, there was no overall commander of the Guard cavalry, with command divided between Charles, comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes (light cavalry division) and Claude-Étienne Guyot (heavy cavalry division).
Horse Grenadiers
The Horse Grenadiers was the senior cavalry regiment of the Guard, and originated from the Consular Guard. Classed as heavy cavalry, the regiment did not wear a cuirass, but was known for its distinctive bearskin head-dress and black horses. It was known by the nickname of "the Gods"; also as "the Big Heels".
Chasseurs à Cheval
The Regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval (1er Régiment de Chasseurs-a-Cheval de la Garde Impériale) was also created from the Consular Guard, and ranked second in seniority, although it was a light cavalry regiment. It was the Chasseurs that usually provided personal escort to Napoleon, and he often wore the uniform of the regiment in recognition of this service. The regiment was not only known for its lavish uniform, but its combat history, as well. A second regiment (2e Régiment de Chasseurs-a-Cheval de la Garde Impériale) was created briefly from Regiment d'Eclaireurs Lanciers in 1815.
Empress' Dragoons
The dragoon regiments of the line distinguished themselves in the German Campaign of 1805, and so Napoleon decided (in a decree of 15 April 1806) to reorganize the cavalry of the Guard and create within it a regiment of dragoons (Régiment de Dragons de la Garde Impériale), made up of three squadrons, headed by 60 officers personally selected by Napoleon. The first squadron was to have 296 men, and be made up of "vélites", whilst the other two were regular squadrons of 476 horsemen. To complete this new unit, each of the 30 dragoon regiments of the line provided 12 men, each of whom had done 10 years of service, and the brigadier, chasseur, and dragoon line regiments provided the sous-officiers. This regiment quickly became known as the Régiment de dragons de l'Impératrice (the Empress' Dragoons) in tribute to their patroness, Joséphine de Beauharnais, and up until its last member died, the Regiment marked the anniversary of her death.
The unit's numbers rose to 1269 in 1807 with the addition of two new squadrons, and on 9 December 1813 it was attached to the Guard's 3rd regiment of éclaireurs. The dragoons' uniform and weaponry was the same as those of the Guard's mounted grenadiers, only in green rather than blue, and (in place of the bonnet à poil) a copper helmet with a hanging mane in the Neo-Greek Minerve style, and a red plume.
Éclaireurs
In the Russian campaign of 1812, the French Army had suffered badly from attacks by the Russian Cossack cavalry. About to fight on French soil for the first time since the French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon decided to reorganize the Imperial Guard. In Article 1 of a decree of 4 December 1813, he created three regiments of Éclaireurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale (mounted scouts of the Guard) as counterparts to the Cossacks. They were also known as Hussards Éclaireurs within the Guard.
They joined the army on 1 January 1814, just in time to participate in the Six Days Campaign, and were disbanded after Napoleon's first abdication.
The 1er Regiment d'Éclaireurs à Cheval was attached to the Grenadiers à Cheval, and was thus named the regiment of Éclaireurs-grenadiers.
The 2e Regiment d'Eclaireurs à Cheval was attached to the Dragons de L'Imperatrice (Empress' Dragoons).
The 3e Regiment d'Eclaireurs à Cheval was attached to the 1er Régiment de Chevau-Legers-Lanciers.
1st (Polish) Regiment of Lancers
The regiment called the Régiment de Chevau-Légers Polonais de la Garde was created in 1807 after the 1806 defeat of the Allies, and the French creation of the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1811, with the raising of the Dutch Lancers of the Guard, the regiment was renamed 1er Régiment de Chevau-Legers-Lanciers de la Garde Impériale.
2nd (Franco-Dutch) Regiment of Lancers
Raised in 1810 from former Dutch Army cavalry units as the 2e Régiment de chevau-légers lanciers de la Garde Impériale, the regiment became known as the Red Lancers from their uniform.
3rd (Lithuanian) Regiment of Lancers
A Light Cavalry Lancers Regiment of the Imperial Guard () was raised in Lithuania from its nobles during the invasion of Russia in 1812, but was virtually destroyed in the retreat of the same year, and the survivors incorporated into . Incorporated into the regiment was a squadron of Lithuanian Tatars as the .
Mamelukes
A squadron of Mamelukes (Escadron de Mamelukes) returned with Napoleon from the Egyptian Campaign in 1799. They were inducted into the Guard, and usually attached to the Chasseurs à Cheval. The squadron was never increased to a regiment in strength. Over the years their casualties were replaced from French cavalry regiments, or from any vaguely Middle Eastern related nationalities.
Elite Gendarmes
Although technically classed as cavalry of the Guard, Legion de Gendarmerie d'Elite troops invariably served in detachments with the General Staff of the Guard, Napoleon's personal headquarters, and the Guard field camps. The Legion included mounted and dismounted troops, the mounted component being two squadrons.
Guards of Honour
The Guards of Honour (Régiment de Garde d'Honneur) were four regiments of light cavalry which Napoleon created in 1813 for his campaigns in Germany to reinforce his Guard cavalry decimated in Russia. The regiments were dressed in the fashion of the hussars. They served alongside the other Guard cavalry, but were not technically part of the Old, Middle or Young Guard.
Artillery of the Guard
Artillery of the Guard included the Foot Artillery Regiment (Régiment d'Artillerie à Pied de la Garde Impériale) batteries, Horse Artillery Regiment (Regiment d'Artillerie à Cheval de la Garde Impériale) batteries, the Artillery Train of the Guard (Train d'Artillerie de la Garde Consulaire) and the Artillery Park of the Guard (Parc d'Artillerie de la Garde Impériale), the latter two created in 1807. Despite shortages in artillery ordnance, in 1813 Napoleon created the Régiment d'Artillerie à Pied de la Garde Impériale of the Young Guard (Jeune Garde). The Parc du materiel de la Garde Impériale was created in 1813 to supplement the meager resources of the Bataillon du Train des équipages militaires after the losses of the 1812 campaign.
Engineers of the Guard
Although not deployed in combat as a unit, the Engineers (Genie de la Garde Impériale) created in 1804 as the engineers of the Consular Guard, participated in combat more so than the combat units of the Guard which were usually held in reserve. By 1810 the Chief Engineer officer of the Guard had a company of Sapeurs de la Garde (140 sappers), all members of the Old Guard. In 1813 this was increased to two companies, and later one battalion of four companies totaling 400 sappers. The 1st and 2nd companies were classed as Old Guard, while the 3rd and 4th companies as the Young Guard.
Sailors of the Guard
Raised from sailors of the French navy who had distinguished themselves, the battalion of Marins wore a distinctive, elaborate uniform resembling that of the hussars. Their officers bore titles of rank derived from their seagoing compatriots, and the overall commander of the marines bore the rank of Capitaine de Vaisseau. Their duties including manning boats and other watercraft used by the Emperor.
See also
Imperial Guard (Napoleon III)
Voltigeurs, skirmisher infantry. Some of whom served with the Imperial Guard (at times, the Guard had 12 regiments of Voltigeurs)
94th Infantry Regiment, inheritor of the traditions of the Imperial Guard
Footnotes
External links
Infantry of Napoleon's Imperial Guard
Cavalry of Napoleon's Imperial Guard
Imperial Guard Artillery
Napoleon's Guard
Military units and formations established in 1799
Military units and formations disestablished in 1815
French military units and formations of the Napoleonic Wars
Royal guards
Army units and formations of France
1799 establishments in France
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke%20of%20Sutherland
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Duke of Sutherland
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Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made the dukes of Sutherland one of the richest landowning families in the United Kingdom. The title remained in the Leveson-Gower family until the death of the 5th Duke of Sutherland in 1963, when it passed to the 5th Earl of Ellesmere from the Egerton family.
The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Sutherland are Marquess of Stafford (created 1786), Earl Gower (1746), Earl of Ellesmere, of Ellesmere in the County of Shropshire (1846), Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the County of Stafford (1746), Viscount Brackley, of Brackley in the County of Northampton (1846), and Baron Gower, of Sittenham in the County of York (1703). The marquessate of Stafford, the earldom of Gower and the viscountcy of Trentham are in the Peerage of Great Britain, the dukedom, the earldom of Ellesmere and the viscountcy of Brackley in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and the barony of Gower in the Peerage of England. The Duke is also a Baronet, of Sittenham in the County of York, a title created in the Baronetage of England in 1620. Between 1839 and 1963 the Dukes also held the titles of Lord Strathnaver and Earl of Sutherland, both in the Peerage of Scotland. The Scottish titles came into the family through the marriage of the first Duke to Elizabeth Sutherland, 19th Countess of Sutherland.
Family history
Thomas Gower was created a baronet, of Sittenham in the County of York, by James I of England in 1620. This title was in the Baronetage of England. His son Thomas, the second Baronet, married Frances, daughter of John Leveson. Their grandson William, the fourth Baronet (who succeeded his unmarried elder brother), assumed the additional surname of Leveson. William married Lady Jane (d. 1696), daughter of John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath and sister of Grace Carteret, 1st Countess Granville (see Earl Granville). Their son John, the fifth Baronet, was raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Gower, of Sittenham in the County of York, in 1706. His son, the second Baron, served three times as Lord Privy Seal. In 1746 he was created Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the County of Stafford, and Earl Gower. Both titles are in the Peerage of Great Britain. His eldest surviving son from his first marriage, Granville, the second Earl, was also a prominent politician. In 1786 he was created Marquess of Stafford in the Peerage of Great Britain. Lord Stafford married secondly Lady Louisa Egerton, daughter of Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater. His son from his third marriage to Lady Susanna Stewart, Lord Granville Leveson-Gore, was created Earl Granville in 1833, a revival of the title created for his great-great-aunt in 1715.
Lord Stafford was succeeded by his eldest son from his second marriage, George. He married Elizabeth Sutherland, 19th Countess of Sutherland. In 1803 he succeeded to the vast estates of his maternal uncle Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. In 1833 he was created Duke of Sutherland in the Peerage of the United Kingdom for his support for the Reform Act 1832.
Clearances
The 1st Duke and Duchess of Sutherland remain controversial for their role in the Highland Clearances, when thousands of tenants were evicted and resettled in coastal villages. This allowed the vacated land to be used for extensive sheep farming, replacing the mixed farming carried out by the previous occupants. This was part of the Scottish Agricultural Revolution. The changes on the Sutherland estate were motivated by two major objectives. The first was to increase the rental income from the estate: sheep farmers could afford much higher rents. The second was to remove the population from the recurrent risks of famine. Historical opinion differs on the relevance and severity of famine years, but most do not dispute that the Highland region remained the only part of mainland Britain that was affected in this way at this time.
The future 1st Duke became the proprietor of the Sutherland Estate (which comprised much of the county of Sutherland) on his marriage to Lady Elizabeth Sutherland, the Countess of Sutherland, in 1785. Despite the conventions of the day, Lady Sutherland retained control of the management of the estate, rather than passing this responsibility to her husband.
The Sutherland Clearances did not start until the 19th century, mainly due to insufficient capital – a problem that was solved when, in 1803, George Leveson-Gower, the future 1st Duke inherited a huge fortune from the Duke of Bridgewater. The remaining delay was that many leases did not expire until 1807 or later, but plans were put together for the interior of the estate to be devoted to large sheep farms, with new settlements to be built for the displaced inhabitants. A tentative start was made to this with the letting of the first big sheep farm at Lairg in 1807, involving the removal of about 300 people. Many of these did not accept their new homes and emigrated, to the dissatisfaction of the estate management and Lady Sutherland.
Lady Sutherland was not happy with the estate factor and, in 1811, replaced him with William Young and Patrick Sellar. Young had a proven track record of agricultural improvement in Moray and Sellar was a lawyer educated at the University of Edinburgh; both were fully versed in the modern ideas of Adam Smith. They provided an extra level of ambition for the estate. New industries were added to the plans, to employ the resettled population. A coal mine was sunk at Brora, and fishing villages were built to exploit the herring shoals off the coast. Other ideas were tanning, flax, salt and brick manufacturing.
The next clearances were in Assynt in 1812, under the direction of Sellar, establishing large sheep farms and resettling the old tenants on the coast. Sellar had the assistance of the local tacksmen in this and the process was conducted without unrest – despite the unpopularity of events. But in 1813, planned clearances in the Strath of Kildonan were accompanied by riots: an angry mob drove prospective sheep farmers out of the valley when they came to view the land, and a situation of confrontation existed for more than six weeks, with Sellar failing to successfully negotiate with the protesters. Ultimately, the army was called out and the estate made concessions such as paying very favourable prices for the cattle of those being cleared. This was assisted by landlords in surrounding districts taking in some of those displaced and an organised party emigrating to Canada. The whole process was a severe shock to Lady Sutherland and her advisers, who were, in the words of historian Eric Richards, "genuinely astonished at this response to plans which they regarded as wise and benevolent".
Further clearances were scheduled in Strathnaver starting at Whitsun, 1814. These were complicated by Sellar having successfully bid for the lease of one of the new sheep farms on land that it was now his responsibility, as factor, to clear. (Overall, this clearance was part of the removal of 430 families from Strathnaver and Brora in 1814 – an estimated 2,000 people.) Sellar had also made an enemy of the local law officer, Robert Mackid, by catching him poaching on the Sutherland's land. There was some confusion among the tenants as Sellar made concessions to some of them, allowing them to stay in their properties a little longer. Some tenants moved in advance of the date in their eviction notice – others stayed until the eviction parties arrived. As was normal practice, the roof timbers of cleared houses were destroyed to prevent re-occupation after the eviction party had left. On 13 June 1814, this was done by burning in the case of Badinloskin, the house occupied by William Chisholm. Accounts vary, but it is possible that his elderly and bedridden mother-in-law was still in the house when it was set on fire. In James Hunter's understanding of events, Sellar ordered her to be immediately carried out as soon as he realised what was happening. The old lady died six days later. Eric Richards suggests that the old woman was carried to an outbuilding before the house was destroyed. Whatever the facts of the matter, Sellar was charged with culpable homicide and arson, in respect of this incident and others during this clearance. The charges were brought by Robert Mackid. As the trial approached, the Sutherland estate was reluctant to assist Sellar in his defence, distancing themselves from their employee. He was acquitted of all charges at his trial in 1816. The estate were hugely relieved, taking this as a justification of their clearance activity. (Robert Mackid became a ruined man and had to leave the county to rebuild his career elsewhere, providing Sellar with a grovelling letter of apology and confession.)
Despite the acquittal, this event, and Sellar's role in it, was fixed in the popular view of the Sutherland Clearances. James Loch, the Stafford estate commissioner was now taking a greater interest in the Northern part of his employer's holdings; he thought Young's financial management was incompetent, and Sellar's actions among the people deeply concerning. Both Sellar and William Young soon left their management posts with the Sutherland estate (though Sellar remained as a major tenant). Loch, nevertheless, also subscribed to the theory that clearance was beneficial for the tenants as much as for the estate.
Lady Sutherland's displeasure with events was added to by critical reports in a minor London newspaper, the Military Register, from April 1815. These were soon carried in larger newspapers. They originated from Alexander Sutherland, who, with his brother John Sutherland of Sciberscross, were opponents of clearance. Alexander, after serving as a captain in the army had been thwarted in his hopes to take up leases on the Sutherland estate and now worked as a journalist in London. He was therefore well placed to cause trouble for the estate.
The (effective) dismissal of Sellar placed him in the role of scapegoat, thereby preventing a proper critical analysis of the estate's policies. Clearances continued under the factorship of Frances Suther and the overall control of James Loch. Through 1816 and 1817, famine conditions affected most of the inland areas and the estate had to provide relief to those who were destitute. This altered policy on emigration: if tenants wanted to emigrate, the estate would not object, but there was still no active encouragement.
In 1818 a large (perhaps the largest) clearance program was put into effect, lasting until 1820. Loch gave emphatic instructions intended to avoid another public relations disaster: rent arrears could be excused for those who co-operated, time was to be taken and rents for the new crofts were to be set as low as possible.
The process did not start well. The Reverend David Mackenzie of Kildonan wrote to Loch on behalf of the 220 families due to be cleared from his parish. He challenged the basic premise of the clearance: that the people from an inland region could make a living on their new coastal crofts. Loch was adamant that the removals would go ahead regardless of objections. Yet, at the same time, Suther and the local ground officer of the estate were pointing out to Loch that few of the new crofts were of an acceptable quality. Some tenants were considering moving off the estate, either to Caithness or emigrating to America or the Cape of Good Hope, which Suther encouraged by writing off their rent arrears. More positively, cattle prices were high in 1818. Ultimately, that year's clearances passed without serious protest.
The next two years had much bigger clearances: 425 families (about 2,000 people) in 1819 and 522 families in 1820. Loch was anxious to move quickly, whilst cattle prices were high and there was a good demand for leases of sheep farms. There was no resistance in 1819, but Suther, despite precise instructions to the contrary, used fire to destroy cleared houses.
Estates
According to the will of the Duke of Bridgewater, the Egerton estates passed on the death of the first Duke of Sutherland to his third but second-surviving son Lord Francis Leveson-Gower, who changed his surname to Egerton by Royal licence. In 1846 he was created Viscount Brackley and Earl of Ellesmere.
The Duke was succeeded by his eldest son and namesake George, the second Duke. In 1839 he also succeeded his mother in the ancient Scottish titles of Earl of Sutherland and Lord Strathnaver. His eldest son, the third Duke, married Anne Hay-Mackenzie, who in 1864 was created Countess of Cromarty, with remainder to their younger sons (see Earl of Cromarty).
His grandson, the fifth Duke, succeeded to the title at the age of 25 in 1913. In 1914 he decided on the outbreak of the First World War that it was unwise to have so much of his riches tied up in land and property. He sold the family's Staffordshire estate except Lilleshall Hall and of gardens. He then decided he wanted to live closer to London, and sold the whole package in 1917 to John Lee. The Duke was childless; on his death in 1963, the line of the eldest son of the first Duke failed. He was succeeded in the earldom of Sutherland and lordship of Strathnaver, which could be inherited by females, by his niece Elizabeth. Elizabeth also inherited most of her uncle's wealth, but the dukedom and other titles could only be passed on to male heirs, and they were inherited by his third cousin once removed, John Sutherland Egerton, 5th Earl of Ellesmere, who became the 6th Duke of Sutherland as well. He was a great-great-grandson of the first Earl of Ellesmere, third son of the first Duke of Sutherland. He also died childless and was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, Francis Ronald Egerton, the seventh and present duke, a grandson of the Hon. Francis William George Egerton, second son of the third Earl of Ellesmere.
Today most of the duke's wealth is in the form of the art collection put together by the first duke's uncle, Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, which had been inherited by the Ellesmere line of the family. In 2003 the new Duke sold Titian's Venus Anadyomene to the National Gallery of Scotland. In 2009 he sold the two other masterpieces by Titian: Diana and Callisto and Diana and Actaeon, but he is still the owner of other masterpieces, such as a 1657 self-portrait by Rembrandt, the Bridgewater Madonna by Raphael and the Sacraments series by French master Nicolas Poussin.
Other family members
William Gower, youngest son of William the fourth Baronet, was Member of Parliament for Ludlow.
William Leveson-Gower, second son of John, first Baron Gower and grandson of the fourth Baronet, was Member of Parliament for Stafford. Thomas Leveson-Gower, third son of the first Baron, was Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme. Baptist Leveson-Gower, fourth son of the first Baron, was also Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Richard Leveson-Gower, fourth son of the first Earl, was Member of Parliament for Lichfield. John Leveson-Gower (1740–1792), sixth son of the first Earl, was an Admiral in the Royal Navy.
Frederick Neville Sutherland Leveson-Gower, son of Lord Albert Leveson-Gower, younger son of the second Duke, sat as Member of Parliament for Sutherland. Lord Ronald Gower, youngest son of the second Duke, was a politician, sculptor and writer.
Henry 'Shrimp' Leveson-Gower, was born in Titsey Place near Oxted in Surrey, the seventh of twelve sons of Granville William Gresham Leveson-Gower JP DL FSA, by his wife The Hon Sophia Leveson Gower LJStJ (née Leigh). Captain of England Cricket v South Africa in 1909–10, captained England in all three of the Test matches in South Africa. Leveson Gower became an England Test selector in 1909, and was chairman of selectors in 1924 and from 1927 to 1930.
H. D. G. Leveson Gower
Seats
The family seat was originally Lilleshall Hall and later, grander, family seats included Trentham Hall, Dunrobin Castle, and Cliveden. The traditional burial place of the Dukes of Sutherland from the Leveson-Gower family was Trentham Mausoleum, a grade I listed mausoleum in Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent.
In the 19th and early 20th century the family's London residence was Stafford House, which was rated as the most valuable private residence in London.
The duke's current seat is at Mertoun House in St. Boswells, in the Scottish Borders.
Coat of arms
When members of the Leveson-Gower family held the dukedom of Sutherland, the arms were: Quarterly, Gules a Cross Flory Sable (Gower), Azure three Laurel Leaves Or (Leveson); Gules three Mullets Or on a Bordure of the second a Double Tressure flory counterflory of the first (Sutherland); Crest: A Wolf passant Argent collared and lined Or; Supporters: a Wolf Argent plain collared and Line reflexed over the back Or.
Since the passing of the dukedom of Sutherland to the Egerton family in 1963, the 6th Duke and his successors have used the Egerton family coat of arms: Argent a Lion rampant Gules between three Pheons Sable.
Gower, later Leveson-Gower Baronets, of Stittenham (1620)
Thomas Gower, 1st Baronet (1584–c. 1665) was descended in the direct male line from a number of knights
Thomas Gower, 2nd Baronet (c. 1605–1672), son of the 1st Baronet
Edward Gower, an elder son of the 2nd Baronet, presumably predeceased his father
Thomas Gower, 3rd Baronet (c. 1666–1689), a son of Edward, died unmarried
William Leveson-Gower, 4th Baronet (c. 1647–1691), a younger son of the 2nd Baronet
John Leveson-Gower, 5th Baronet (1675–1709) (created Baron Gower in 1703)
Barons Gower (1703)
John Leveson-Gower, 1st Baron Gower (1675–1709), eldest son of the 4th Baronet
John Leveson-Gower, 2nd Baron Gower (1694–1754) (created Earl Gower in 1746)
Earls Gower (1746)
Other titles: Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the county of Stafford (1746) and Baron Gower (1703)
John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower (1694–1754), eldest son of the 1st Baron
Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Gower (1721–1803) (created Marquess of Stafford in 1786)
Marquesses of Stafford (1786)
Other titles: Earl Gower and Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the county of Stafford (1746) and Baron Gower (1703)
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford (1721–1803), third (eldest surviving) son of the 1st Earl
George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford (1758–1833) (created Duke of Sutherland in 1833)
Dukes of Sutherland (1833)
Other titles (1st Duke onwards): Marquess of Stafford (1786), Earl Gower and Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the county of Stafford (1746) and Baron Gower (1703)
George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (1758–1833), eldest son of the 1st Marquess
Other titles (2nd–5th Dukes): Earl of Sutherland and Lord Strathnaver (Sc 1235)
George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland (1786–1861), eldest son of the 1st Duke
George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland (1828–1892), eldest son of the 2nd Duke
George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower (1850–1858), eldest son of the 3rd Duke (then Lord Stafford), died in childhood
Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland (1851–1913), second son of the 3rd Duke
George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland (1888–1963), eldest son of the 4th Duke, died without issue
Other titles (6th Duke onwards): Earl of Ellesmere and Viscount Brackley, of Brackley in the county of Northamptonshire (1846)
John Sutherland Egerton, 6th Duke of Sutherland (1915–2000), already 5th Earl of Ellesmere, great-great-grandson of Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere (previously Lord Francis Leveson-Gower), third son of the 1st Duke, died without issue
Francis Ronald Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland (b. 1940), first cousin once removed of the 6th Duke and great-grandson of Francis Charles Granville Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere
Heir apparent: James Granville Egerton, Marquess of Stafford (b. 1975), eldest son of the 7th Duke. He has four daughters.
The second in line is Lord Henry Alexander Egerton (b. 1977), younger son of the 7th Duke, who has three daughters.
Line of succession
John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower (1694–1754)
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford (1721–1803)
George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (1758–1833)
Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere (1800–1857)
George Egerton, 2nd Earl of Ellesmere (1823–1862)
Francis Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere (1847–1914)
Hon. Thomas Henry Frederick Egerton (1876–1953)
Reginald Cyril Egerton (1905–1992)
Francis Ronald Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland, 8th Marquess of Stafford, 6th Earl of Ellesmere (born 1940)
(1). James Granville Egerton, Marquess of Stafford (born 1975)
(2). Lord Henry Alexander Egerton (born 1977)
Admiral Hon. Francis Egerton (1824–1895)
William Francis Egerton (1868–1949) Francis Egerton (1896–1935) Anthony Francis Egerton (1921–1985) (3). Simon Francis Cavendish Egerton (born 1949)
Michael Godolphin Egerton (1924–1979) (4). Nicholas Egerton (born 1967)
David William Egerton (1930–2012) (5). Frank Egerton (born 1959)
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville (1773–1846) Earls Granville (in succession to the Marquessate of Stafford)
Rear-Admiral Hon. John Leveson-Gower (1740–1792)
General John Leveson-Gower (1774–1816)
John Leveson-Gower (1802–1883)
Hugh Broke Boscawen Leveson-Gower (1836–1890)
Charles Cameron Leveson-Gower (1866–1951)
Harold Boscawen Leveson-Gower (1905–1973)
Charles Murrough Leveson-Gower (1933–1983)
male issue in succession to Earldom of Gower
William Leveson-Gower (1779–1851)
William Leveson-Gower (1806–1860)
Granville William Gresham Leveson-Gower (1838–1895)
Evelyn Marmaduke Gresham Leveson-Gower (1872–1938)
male-line descendants in succession to Earldom of Gower
Family Tree
See also
Earl of Sutherland
Duke of Bridgewater
Earl Granville
Earl of Bath (1661 creation)
Earl of Cromartie
Earl of Ellesmere
Highland Clearances
Sutherland
Notes
References
External links
Duke of Sutherland
Dukedoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Highland Clearances
1703 establishments in England
1620 establishments in England
1746 establishments in Great Britain
1833 establishments in the United Kingdom
Noble titles created in 1833
Sutherland
British landowners
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugoj
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Lugoj
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Lugoj (; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River divides the city into two halves, the so-called "Romanian Lugoj" that spreads on the right bank and the "German Lugoj" on the left bank. The city administers two villages, Măguri and Tapia.
Etymology
The origin of the toponym Lugoj has generated a series of controversies over time. claims that it derives from the Latin word "lucus" (grove, small forest). Iorgu Iordan, in his Romanian toponymy, accepts the origin of the name from the Slavic prefix "lug-" or "luh-" (swamp forest) and the Hungarian suffix "-os". However, linguist Simion Dănilă claims that the name of the city has its origin in the word "logos", a Banat doublet for "rogoz" (sedge, a hydrophilous plant). All these hypotheses refer to the swampy areas that once surrounded the city.
Geography
Lugoj is located in southwestern Romania, in Timiș County, in the historical region of Banat and consists of the town of Lugoj and the villages of Măguri and Tapia. Within Timiș County, Lugoj is located in its central-eastern part. According to the National Territorial Planning Scheme, Lugoj is a second-tier locality – municipality of county and zonal importance at county level, secondary pole at county level, with a balancing role in the network of localities. It is the second largest and most important city in Timiș County, being part of the Western Development Region and the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Lugoj covers an area of 98.03 km2, of which 20.35 km2 in the build-up area and 77.68 km2 outside the build-up area. It borders Boldur to the west, Darova to the southwest, Victor Vlad Delamarina to the south, Gavojdia to the southeast, Criciova and Bârna to the east and Coșteiu to the north-northwest.
Relief
The territory of Lugoj belongs to the high plain of Lugoj and the hills of Lugoj. Located in the contact area of these units, the city developed on the lower terrace of the Timiș River, on both its banks. The relief unit in which Lugoj is located is the Lugoj Plain, which penetrates deep into the piedmont hills. The average altitude of the area is 124 m.
Most of the land on which the city is located has a flat relief, with a few elevations that do not exceed 2–3 m above the surface of the terrace. In the northwest of the plain there are the Lugoj Hills, which make the transition to the Poiana Ruscă Mountains. South of the Timiș riverbed, the territory of Lugoj extends to the floodplain of Cernabora, the nearest local tributary of Timiș.
Hydrography
The hills of Lugoj have a radial hydrographic network that comes from the mountainous area and goes to the main collectors: Bega (in the north) and Timiș (in the southwest). Overall, the valleys have a consistent character and have naturally detached long peaks with the same radial orientation. The configuration of the relief north of Fârdea, in the confluence area of Miniș and Gladna, allowed the location here of the Surduc accumulation lake, which, with an area of over 320 ha, represents the largest lake area of Timiș County.
Climate
From a climatic point of view, the Lugoj area is part of the moderate temperate continental climate, with influences from the west and south of the continent, characterized by mild winters and cool summers. Sub-Mediterranean influences are felt by relatively small thermal amplitudes and the appearance of a second maximum in the precipitation regime (autumn).
Cyclonic air masses are very common here, which, coming from the Mediterranean and Adriatic regions, cause thawing and early melting of winter snow. The average annual temperature is .
Flora and fauna
Regarding the fauna and flora, among the protected fauna species that can be found in the area are European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) and sand martin (Riparia riparia), found mainly on the valley and meadow of the Timiș River. Among the protected trees can be found the 70-year-old specimen of Banat black pine (Pinus nigra ssp. banatica) in the Catholic cemetery.
History
The beginnings of the settlement can be established since the Neolithic period, the archeological excavations made on the right bank of Timiș and in the Dealul Viilor area highlighting levels of living of a population of shepherds and farmers dating back to the 4th–3rd millennia BC. The later epochs are represented archeologically by the bronze deposit discovered in the Mondial area and vestiges from the Iron Age and the Daco-Roman period signaled both in the city center and in various localities in the vicinity.
Lugoj first appears in written history in 1334, when a papal tithe record mentions a certain priest Martin of Lucas. As an administrative formation, the district of Lugoj, which also included the surrounding villages, dates from 1369, when it is mentioned as posesio Lugas. Later, in 1376, a document issued by King Sigismund of Luxembourg mentions the attribution of the fortress of Lugoj (castrum Lugas) to the count of Temes, and soon, in 1379, it appears in documents as a castle town, with Nicholas II Garai as chatelaine. Gradually, Lugoj becomes an important strategic and communication point in the medieval Banat area, due to its geographical position, in the contact area of the Tisa Plain with the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, at the intersection of the roads between Banat, Transylvania and the southwest of Wallachia, ensuring access to the Danube.
The 15th century found Lugoj under the authority of the count of Temes, but the settlement enjoyed a wide autonomy. The management of the town was entrusted to a knyaz, assisted by 12 jurors, the inhabitants having in addition to feudal obligations also military duties. Visiting Lugoj when he was count of Temes, John Hunyadi ordered the restoration and strengthening of the fortress on the right bank of Timiș, by building ramparts and palisades.
The merits of the Lugoj District in the battles with the Turks are recognized on 29 August 1457, by a diploma of privileges granted by King Ladislaus the Posthumous. A special moment during this period is the participation of the people of Lugoj, under the captainship of Count Pál Kinizsi, in the battle of Breadfield in 1479.
After the establishment of the Temeşvar Eyalet, the eastern part of Banat was organized in a separate administrative unit, Banate of Lugos and Karánsebes, dependent on the prince of Transylvania. The distinctive role of the town is confirmed on 7 May 1551, by Queen Isabella Jagiellon, who strengthens the old privileges by granting Lugoj the status of civitas regionalis, as well as heraldic signs – a wolf standing above the crown. The Banat of Lugos and Karánsebes resisted the Turkish pressures until 1658 when Ákos Barcsay, prince of Transylvania, asked the people of Lugoj and Caransebeș to accept the decision of the Diet of Sighișoara, subduing to the Turks. They soon occupied the town, bringing in a military garrison led by an agha.
The end of the 17th century finds Lugoj involved in the battles for supremacy between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans, the inhabitants supporting on 25 September 1695 the resistance of General , fortified in the swampy area southeast of the town. The battle ended with the defeat of Austrian troops by the Ottoman army led by the sultan himself, General Veterani being killed on the battlefield. The Treaty of Karlowitz, concluded in 1699 between the imperialists and the Ottomans, saw the fortress of Lugoj demolished; today, only a street called Cetatea Veche (Old Fortress) reminds of the former fortress. The plan of the fortress, made at the end of the 17th century by architect Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli, was also preserved, and the works for the construction of the University of Lugoj building revealed traces of fortifications, initially located between two arms of the Timiș. In 1661, Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi described the fortress as a "square-shaped building, built of stone, fortified with palisades and surrounded by the Zeppel stream, with a gate to the east and a bridge that can be raised". The Turkish domination, for over 150 years in Banat, has left few traces on Lugoj, as well as on other towns on the edge of the Empire, which being subjected to a more tolerant regime, feel strongly the influences and temptations of the West, as a result of policies promoted by Habsburgs.
By the Treaty of Passarowitz of 1718, Banat came under Austrian rule, being declared a crown land, under the name of Banat of Temeswar, administered by the imperial court through General Claude Florimond de Mercy. In 1778, Austria ceded Banat to Hungary, and Lugoj became the seat of Krassó County. After the revolution of 1848, for a short time, it was returned to the possession of Austria, so that through the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 it was returned to Hungary, integrating into the dualist empire thus created. Starting with 1881, Lugoj became the capital of the new Krassó-Szörény County, created by merging the Krassó and Szörény counties, and in 1889 it was declared a municipality. The new statute brought a series of defining changes in the ethnic and religious structure and in the economic and cultural evolution of the whole area. Hungarian reformism made possible access to modernity in the fields of institutions, legislation and education system, imposing emancipation from the servitudes of the medieval mentality, the penetration of new European ideas and thus the shaping of social categories capable of receiving them.
German colonization
In 1725 the first settlers from Austria, Bohemia, Bavaria and Silesia were brought to Lugoj, dealing mainly with blacksmithing, carpentry and masonry. They were settled to the left of Timiș, in a strictly delimited area, where they built their houses, laying the foundations of "German Lugoj" (). The two localities on the banks of Timiș were the property of the Chamber, but each had its own administration. According to the 1786 conscription, "Romanian Lugoj" had 1,039 houses and 5,130 inhabitants, while "German Lugoj" had 203 houses and 1,446 inhabitants. In 1795, as a result of a decision of the Chamber, the two localities were unified, the leaders being elected alternately between Romanians and Germans.
Jewish history
Jews first settled in the town in the early 18th century, working in manufacturing and in running the transport system. They eventually adhered to the Neolog movement; a Jewish school was founded in 1883. Many Jews left at the end of World War I and the beginning of Romanian rule. Zionist activity began in 1919. In 1930, there were 1,418 Jews, accounting for 6% of the population.
During World War II, the Ion Antonescu regime economically sanctioned the Jews, sending male members of the community to forced labor camps near the Olt River and to the Brașov area. Four youths aged 14–15, charged with illegal communist activity, were sent to the Transnistria Governorate, where they died. Many Jews left after the war, mainly to Palestine.
Demographics
Lugoj had a population of 40,361 inhabitants at the 2011 census, down 10% from the 2002 census. Most inhabitants are Romanians (79%), larger minorities being represented by Hungarians (6.82%), Roma (2.3%), Germans (1.85%) and Ukrainians (1.29%). For 8.33% of the population, ethnicity is unknown. By religion, most inhabitants are Orthodox (71.66%), but there are also minorities of Roman Catholics (7.62%), Pentecostals (3.64%), Reformed (3.03%), Baptists (2.5%) and Greek Catholics (1.83%). For 8.63% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.
Economy
At the end of the 18th century, Lugoj was recorded as an important viticultural center, with 90% of the population owning vineyards. During this period, the population was engaged in agriculture, viticulture, animal husbandry and crafts. An important moment in the history of Lugoj is the formation of guilds towards the end of the 18th century, marking the transition to the future industrial system. The first industrial activities present in Lugoj were: milling (Elisabeth Imperial Mill, 1722), cloth manufacturing, blanket manufacturing, silk processing and brewing.
At present, the main economic areas in Lugoj are represented by: manufacturing (57%), trade (23%), transport and storage (6%) and construction (5%). In the local economy, the largest contribution to turnover is made by the manufacturing industry, which generates more than 50% of turnover at municipal level and concentrates more than half of the local labor force. The best represented fields of activity locally are those of the manufacture of ceramic sanitary ware, the automotive industry and the manufacture of electrical equipment. Over the years, two industrial platforms have been individualized, Tapiei and Timișorii. Among the most important companies present here are: Honeywell (protection, alarm and control systems), Autoliv (car safety products), Schieffer (plastics, supplier to the automotive industry), Hella (electrical systems and electronic equipment for the automotive industry), Villeroy & Boch (sanitary items), Inter-Spitzen (fancywork), Schöller and Riva Intima (underwear), Rieker, Primos and Calzaturificio Torre (footwear), Agache (furniture), Werzalit (wood products), Gammet 2000 (metal fabrications for furniture), Lugomet and Silcom (metalworks).
Culture
Music
Lugoj has always been one of the musical centers of Banat. Lugoj is also called "City of Music". Mozart, Haydn and Schubert's masses and other sacred music works were performed here while they were still alive. The Minorite Church was the culture bearer of the city. The oldest piano school in Banat also comes from Lugoj, founded in 1760 by a monk from the Minorite Church. The monks themselves dealt with church music, piano lessons and organ building. The Ion Vidu Municipal Choir has existed since 1810; in 1852 another choral society was founded under the direction of composer – Lugoscher Gesang und Musikverein/Lugosi Dal- és Zeneegylet. The cultural life of Lugoj has been enriched over the years with the activity carried out by the Chamber Music Society (1869) and the Philharmonic Orchestra (1926).
Performing arts
The first theater performance in Lugoj took place on 10 May 1841 and was a school theater performance staged by students from the local gymnasium. In January and February 1847, the Romanian Society of Theatrical Singers, under the direction of Iosif Farcaș, made up of several professional actors, presented the first performances in Romanian on the stage of the Lugoj Theater.
The current theater in Lugoj, named after tenor Traian Grozăvescu, was built between 1899 and 1900. The initiative to build the current Traian Grozăvescu Theater was made by Imre Jakabffy, count of Krassó-Szörény, who, after managing to get the land for the new theater, mobilized the local population who donated 24,000 kroner to build the theater.
During the interwar period, in Lugoj, several amateur theater societies were active: Thalia Romanian Theater Association, Banat Academic Circle, Musical Theater Society, which carried out a fruitful activity to promote the Romanian classical repertoire. It is worth mentioning that the Thalia Romanian Theater Association also took care of editing some collections of plays in one act, printing and disseminating, within ten years, almost 300 works.
Since 1992, the municipality and the theater of Lugoj have been organizing the only non-professional theater festival-competition with international participation in Romania.
Written press
Lugoj imposed a distinct coloratura in the landscape of Banat press in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with numerous German (Lugoser Anzeiger – 1852, Lugoscher Zeitung – 1905) and Hungarian newspapers and magazines (Krassó-Szörényi Lapok – 1879) published here, as well as valuable Romanian publications (newspapers Deșteptarea and Drapelul under the editorship of ). Currently, two local weekly newspapers appear in Lugoj, Actualitatea and Redeșteptarea.
Education
The first schools in Lugoj are mentioned in the 16th–17th centuries. In the 19th century, a rich didactic activity is already recorded, in the gymnasium and high school, where the teaching was done in Romanian. The first Romanian school in western Romania was built in Lugoj in 1770.
There are currently 17 kindergartens, 10 primary schools and four high schools in Lugoj: two national colleges – Coriolan Brediceanu National College (former Roman Catholic lyceum) and Iulia Hasdeu National College, Valeriu Braniște Technical College and Aurel Vlaicu Technological High School, as well as Filaret Barbu School of Fine Arts. In Lugoj there are a School Sports Club, a Children's Club and a Popular Arts School.
In terms of higher education, Drăgan European University, a private university with economic and juridic profiles, has been functioning in Lugoj since 1992.
Architecture
Most of the buildings of historical interest are concentrated in Iosif Constantin Drăgan Square. The square is flanked by "palaces for rent" built towards the end of the 19th century. These large buildings consisted of ground floor spaces and owner's home and apartments for rent upstairs. The prevailing architectural style of this period was Wiener Secession used throughout the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, combining the functional aspects with a rich decoration, but which did not aim to mask the constructive structure. One of the important public buildings of the city was the People's Palace built in 1904 according to the plans of royal architect Armin Villanyi. Occupying one side of Iosif Constantin Drăgan Square, the building hosted the headquarters of the bank of the Greek Catholic community in the city and the editorial office of Banat newspaper. The Palace of the Reformed Community (1906) was also designed by Villanyi.
Along with the Secession style, you can often find buildings with an eclectic style combined with neoclassical and Art Nouveau elements. Thus, between 1895 and 1896, the building of the current Coriolan Brediceanu National College was built, which has obvious Austrian Baroque influences, between 1898 and 1899, the building of the current History Museum was built, the facade of which is decorated in Baroque style, and between 1899 and 1900, the theater was built in neoclassical style.
The Bejan Palace of the Athanasievici-Bejan noble family was built between 1900 and 1901 based on the project of architect Karl Hart in an eclectic and Late Baroque style, with elements of Art Nouveau architecture, being one of the representative constructions of Lugoj. The Parvy-Haberehrn Palace was built in 1897 in eclectic style and is several years older than the Bejan Palace.
The court building was built between 1901 and 1906 in an eclectic style, combining classical elements, pilasters with Doric and Corinthian capitals in the upper register. The former headquarters of the financial administration, the current City Hall, was built between 1903 and 1905 and is of neoclassical design, as it is the Muschong Palace. Muschong Palace was built in the period immediately following the union, around 1926–1927, by architect Aladar Ferenczik for industrialist Jacob Muschong's family. The building was used as the Muschong family home, and on the ground floor were the brick factory offices and several shops.
The Palace of the Prefecture (located on the former Komitatsgasse), was built between 1843 and 1859 in the current urban ensemble Iosif Constantin Drăgan Square (historical monument ensemble) and functioned as the administrative headquarters of Krassó County (1860–1880), Krassó-Szörény County (1881–1919), Caraș-Severin County (1919–1926), as well as Severin County (1926–1950). It is a massive building in area, being one of the largest administrative buildings in Lugoj. The facade is imposing, with aspects of neoclassical architecture. Bought in 2016 by an Italian company, the building was transformed into a shopping gallery.
Religious buildings
Lugoj has 16 churches, chapels and conventicles, of which six Orthodox, three Roman Catholic, one Reformed and one Lutheran. A symbol of the city that also appears on the seal from 1793 is the church with two bell towers dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God. The construction made between 1759 and 1766, from the donations of the Romanian parishioners led by obor-knez Gavril Gureanu, follows a plan similar to that of the Timișoara Dome, designed by Viennese architect Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach. The bell tower in its immediate vicinity belongs to the old church dedicated to St. Nicholas, whose beginnings are uncertain, most researchers attributing it to the ban of Severin's wife, Ecaterina Perian (1402). With the restoration of 1726 made by the obor-knez Ioan Raț of Mehadia, the tower on the west side is added to the church, with a bas-relief representing the face of St. Nicholas.
The Roman Catholic church was built between 1733 and 1735 by German settlers at the initiative of the "Convent of the Minorities" established between 1719 and 1722. Its interior ornaments and paintings are in the Baroque style, appreciated at the time throughout the Habsburg Empire.
The Greek Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit is linked to the establishment of the Greek Catholic diocese based in Lugoj. Construction began in 1843 and was completed, due to frequent work stoppages, only in 1868 when it was consecrated by Bishop Alexandru Dobra. Made in neoclassical style, the church preserves the valuable interior fresco of neo-Byzantine influence made by .
The city's current synagogue dates back to 1843, after the first Jewish place of worship was destroyed by the great fire of 1842.
From the contribution of the Roman Catholic parishioners of Hungarian origin, the St. Stephen's Chapel was built starting with 1780. Later, at the beginning of the 20th century, the building of the Reformed (Calvinist) church was erected with obvious influences of the Gothic style.
Transport
Lugoj benefits from primary connectivity to the TEN-T Core network via A1 motorway (Bucharest–Nădlac), passing through the north of the city. Also to the north, in connection with the A1 motorway, a section of about 11 km of the A6 motorway was inaugurated in 2013, which will connect Lugoj and Calafat. Lugoj is also served by a 9.6 km ring road, inaugurated in 2010. The network of streets in Lugoj totals about 99 km, of which 75 km are modernized streets. At the municipal level, 95% of Lugoj streets are paved.
Regarding the railway transport, Lugoj station is located on the CFR Line 900. With the commissioning of the Lugoj–Ilia railway, on 17 September 1898, Lugoj became a railway junction.
Public passenger transport services are provided by Meridian 22, established in 2007, on four urban lines: 1C (train station–Agricultural High School), 7 (Tirol–Banatului Street–I.C. Drăgan neighborhood), 15 (I.C. Drăgan neighborhood–Old Post–Tirol) and 17 (Tapia–Măguri–Agricultural High School).
Notable people
Konstantin Danil (1798/1802–1873), painter
(1821–1885), journalist, writer and politician
Béla Szende (1823–1882), politician
(1824–1901), publicist, historian, writer and lawyer
August Kanitz (1843–1896), botanist
Coriolan Brediceanu (1849–1909), lawyer and politician
Aurel Popovici (1863–1917), lawyer and politician
Ion Vidu (1863-1931), composer and choral conductor
Ioan Popovici-Bănățeanul (1869–1893), writer
(1872–1946), philologist
Viktor Madin (1876–1968), operatic baritone
Tiberiu Brediceanu (1877–1968), composer
Caius Brediceanu (1879–1953), politician and diplomat
(1880–1959), composer, violinist, conductor and choir director
Bela Lugosi (1882–1956), actor
(1887–1964), church musician and composer
(1889–1967), architect and construction engineer
Koloman Wallisch (1889–1934), labor leader
Traian Grozăvescu (1895–1927), operatic tenor
Petre Chirculescu (1898–1975), equestrian
Aurel Ciupe (1900–1988), painter and drawer
Sepp Helfrich (1900–1963), politician
Filaret Barbu (1903–1984), operetta composer
Georges Devereux (1908–1985), ethnologist and psychoanalist
Ion Horvath (1912–?), Greco-Roman wrestler
Iosif Slivăț (1915–?), footballer
Iosif Constantin Drăgan (1917–2008), businessman, writer and historian
György Kurtág (b. 1926), composer and pianist
Josef Posipal (1927–1997), footballer
Alexandru Șuli (1928–2000), Greco-Roman wrestler
Francisc Horvath (b. 1928), Greco-Roman wrestler
(1929–2008), composer
Gelu Barbu (1932–2016), ballet dancer and choreographer
(1933–2014), photographer
Dumitru Pârvulescu (1933–2007), Greco-Roman wrestler
Michael Redl (1936–2013), handball player and coach
Edgar Pick (b. 1938), immunologist
(1938–2006), journalist, television director and writer
(b. 1941), composer and music teacher
(b. 1945), writer
Simona Arghir (1948–1995), handballer
Alina Goreac (b. 1952), artistic gymnast
Victor Neumann (b. 1953), historian, political analyst and professor
Kurt Szilier (b. 1957), gymnast
Valentin Pîntea (b. 1962), gymnast
Aura Twarowska (b. 1967), mezzo-soprano
Lavinia Miloșovici (b. 1976), artistic gymnast
Otilia Ruicu-Eșanu (b. 1978), 400-meter runner
Florin Nanu (b. 1983), footballer
Corina Căprioriu (b. 1986), judoka
Alin Șeroni (b. 1987), footballer
Emaa (b. 1992), singer and songwriter
Twin towns and sister cities
Lugoj is twinned with:
Szekszárd (1993)
Jena (1993)
Orléans (1994)
Nisporeni (2001)
Corinth (2004)
Vršac (2005)
Monopoli (2006)
Kriva Palanka (2011)
Makó (2016)
Veliko Gradište (2016)
References
Cities in Romania
Populated places in Timiș County
Capitals of former Romanian counties
Localities in Romanian Banat
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle%20of%20Mull
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Isle of Mull
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The Isle of Mull ( ) or just Mull (; ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute.
Covering , Mull is the fourth-largest island in Scotland and Great Britain. From 2001 to 2020, the population has gradually increased: during 2020 it was estimated to be 3,000, in the 2011 census it was about 2,800, and in 2001, it was measured at 2,667 people. It has the eighth largest island population in Scotland. In the summer, these numbers are augmented by an influx of many tourists. Much of the year-round population lives in the colourful main settlement of Tobermory.
There are two distilleries on the island: the Tobermory distillery, formerly named Ledaig, produces single malt Scotch whisky and another, opened in 2019 and located in the vicinity of Tiroran, which produces Whitetail Gin. Mull is host to numerous sports competitions, notably the Highland Games competition, held annually in July. The isle is home to four castles, including the towering keep of Moy Castle. On the south coast, a stone circle is located in the settlement of Lochbuie.
Geography
Mull has a coastline of , and its climate is moderated by the Gulf Stream. The island has a mountainous core; the highest peak on the island is Ben More, which reaches . Various peninsulas, which are predominantly moorland, radiate from the centre.
The Aros peninsula to the north includes the main town of Tobermory, which was a burgh until 1973 (when burghs were abolished). Other settlements include Salen, Dervaig and Calgary. The Ross of Mull lies to the southwest and includes the villages of Bunessan, Pennyghael, Uisken, and Fionnphort. To the east lie Lochbuie, Lochdon, and Craignure.
Numerous islands lie off the west coast of Mull, including Erraid, Inch Kenneth, Iona, Gometra, and Ulva. Smaller uninhabited islands include Eorsa, Little Colonsay, the Treshnish Isles, and Staffa (of Fingal's Cave fame). Calve Island is an uninhabited island in Tobermory Bay. Two outlying rock lighthouses are also visible from the southwest of Mull: Dubh Artach and Skerryvore.
The Torran Rocks are a large shoal of reefs, islets, and skerries, approximately in extent, to the southwest, between the Ross of Mull peninsula and Dubh Artach. Frank Lockwood's Island near Lochbuie is named after Frank Lockwood, the brother-in-law of the 21st MacLean of Lochbuie and Solicitor General from 1894 to 1895.
Part of the indented west coast of Mull, and some of the offshore islands there, are part of the Loch Na Keal National Scenic Area.
Settlements
Places classified as settlements by the Ordnance Survey include:
History
Early history
The Isle of Mull has probably been inhabited since shortly after the end of the last Ice Age, around 11,000 years ago. This is evidenced by radiocarbon dating done in a mesolithic hut at Crieth Dubh on the northwest coast of the island. Later, Bronze Age and Iron Age inhabitants built brochs at Dun Nan Gall and An Sean Chaisteal, and a stone circle at Lochbuie along with numerous burial cairns. Two crannogs there have been dated to the Iron Age.
In the 6th century AD, Irish migrants invaded Mull and the surrounding coast and established the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. The kingdom was divided into a number of regions, each controlled by a different kinship group. One of these, the Cenél Loairn, controlled Mull and the adjacent mainland to the east.
Dál Riata was a springboard for the Christianisation of the mainland; the pivotal point was in AD 563, when Columba, an Irish missionary, arrived on the island of Iona – just off the southwest point of Mull – and founded a monastery there from which to start evangelising the local population.
Norse period
In the 9th century, Viking invasions led to the destruction of Dál Riata and its replacement by the Norse Kingdom of the Isles, which became part of the kingdom of Norway following Norwegian unification around 872. The Kingdom of the Isles was much more extensive than Dál Riata, encompassing also the Outer Hebrides and Skye. The island kingdom became known as the Suðreyjar, meaning southern isles in Old Norse. The former lands of Dál Riata acquired the geographic description "Argyle" (now "Argyll"): the Gaelic coast.
In the late 11th century, Magnus Barefoot, the Norwegian king, launched a military campaign which in 1098 led the king of Scotland to quitclaim to Magnus all claim of sovereign authority over the territory of the Kingdom of the Isles. However, a coup some 60 years later, led by a Norse-Gael named Somerled, detached the whole of the Suðreyjar from Norway and transformed it into an independent kingdom. After Somerled's death in 1164, nominal Norwegian authority was established, but practical control of the realm was divided between Somerled's sons and the heirs of Somerled's brother-in-law, the Crovan Dynasty. His son Dougall received the former territory of the Cenél Loairn, now known as Lorn, of which Mull formed part.
Meanwhile, the Crovan dynasty had retained the title "king of the Isles" and control of Lewis, Harris, and the Isle of Man. After a few decades, they acknowledged the English kings as their overlords, so Dougall's heirs (the MacDougalls) complained to Haakon, the Norwegian king, and in 1237 were rewarded by the kingship being split; rule of the Hebrides was transferred to the MacDougall line, and they were made the "kings of the Hebrides". They established the twin castles of Aros (in Mull) and Ardtornish (on the mainland, opposite), which together controlled the Sound of Mull.
Throughout the early 13th century, the king of Scots, Alexander II, had aggressively tried to expand his realm into the Suðreyjar, despite Edgar's earlier quitclaim. This led to hostility between Norway and Scotland, which continued under Alexander III. King Haakon IV of Norway died shortly after the indecisive Battle of Largs. In 1266, his more peaceable successor ceded his nominal authority over the Suðreyjar to Alexander III by the Treaty of Perth in return for a very large sum of money. Alexander generally acknowledged the semi-independent authority of Somerled's heirs; the former Suðreyjar had become Scottish crown dependencies rather than parts of Scotland.
Lords of the Isles
At the end of the 13th century, a violent dispute arose over the Scottish kingship between King John Balliol and Robert de Bruys. By then, Somerled's descendants had formed into three families: as well as Dougall's heirs (the MacDougalls), there were also the heirs of his nephew Donald (the MacDonalds) and those of Donald's brother (the MacRory or MacRuairi); the MacDougalls backed Balliol, while the MacDonalds and MacRory backed de Bruys. When Robert I defeated his Scots enemies, including the Comyns and MacDougalls, he declared their lands forfeit, dividing them between his friend, Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, and Christina MacRory, King Robert's kinswoman. The latter acquired Lorn and some of the smaller Isles, but Angus Og, who fought beside King Robert at Bannockburn, was given the lion's share: The Isles of Islay, Jura, Gigha, Colonsay and Mull, and the mainland territories of Duror, Glencoe, Ardnamurchan, Lochaber, Morvern and Kintyre. After Bannockburn, Alexander Macdonald, Angus Og’s eldest son, then still alive, was granted Mull and Tiree. Angus Og's younger son John of Islay, became Lord of the Isles after his father's and his elder brother's deaths. He first married Amy MacRuairi of Garmoran, the heiress of the MacRory family, thereby consolidating the remains of Somerled's realm.
In 1354, though in exile and without control of his ancestral lands, John, the MacDougall heir, quitclaimed any rights he had over Mull to the Lord of the Isles. When Robert's son David II became king, he spent some time in English captivity; after his release, in 1357, he restored MacDougall authority over Lorn, effectively cancelling Robert's grant to the MacRory. The 1354 quitclaim, which seems to have been an attempt to ensure peace in just such an eventuality, took automatic effect, splitting Mull from Lorn and making it subject to the Lordship of the Isles.
In 1437, the Lordship was substantially expanded when Alexander, the Lord of the Isles, inherited the rule of Ross maternally. The expansion led the MacDonalds to move their centre of power from Islay to the twin castles of Aros and Ardtornish.
In 1462, the most ambitious of the Lords of the Isles, John MacDonald, struck an alliance with Edward IV of England to conquer Scotland. Civil war in England prevented this from taking effect and from being discovered until 1475, when the English court voluntarily revealed its existence. Calls for forfeiture of the Lordship naturally followed, but they were calmed when John quitclaimed most of his mainland territories. However, John's nephew launched a severe raid on Ross, but it ultimately failed. Within two years of the raid, in 1493, James IV of Scotland declared the Lordship of the Isles forfeit, transforming the realm into an intrinsic part of Scotland rather than a dependency.
MacLeans
Throughout this time, the descendants of the Cenél Loairn retained their identity; they were now the MacLeans. Now that John MacDonald was exiled, James IV restored the authority of the MacLeans over Mull. An earlier chief of the MacLeans had married the daughter of the first Lord of the Isles and received Duart Castle as the dowry; this now became the stronghold of MacLean control of Mull. The cadet branch of the family constructed a tower house at Moy on the southern side of Mull, while the senior branch retained Duart Castle.
Legend has it that the wreck of a Spanish galleon, laden with gold, lies somewhere in the mud at the bottom of Tobermory Bay. By some accounts, the Florencia (or Florida or San Francisco), a ship of the defeated Spanish Armada fleeing the English fleet in 1588, anchored in Tobermory to take on provisions. After a dispute over payment, the ship caught fire and the gunpowder magazine exploded, sinking the vessel. In her hold, reputedly, was £300,000 in gold bullion. Other sources claim the vessel was the San Juan de Sicilia (or San Juan de Baptista), which carried troops, not treasure. According to that account, the island's chief, Lachlan Mor Maclean, struck a deal with the Spanish commander to re-provision and refit the ship in return for military intervention on the side of the MacLeans in their feud with enemies on nearby islands. There have been numerous searches for the wreck and its rumoured treasure from the mid-17th century to the end of the 20th century. No significant treasure has been recovered in Tobermory Bay.
Following the Scottish Reformation, the MacLeans became supporters of Protestantism. By the mid-17th century, they had become promoters of conventicles, opposed to king Charles II's repudiation of the Solemn League and Covenant and supporting acts of civil disobedience. Though personally opposed to persecution of such people, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, was specifically ordered by the Scottish privy council to suppress conventicles within his lands, which included Lorn. The atmosphere of hostility soon spread to Mull, where opponents of the conventicles felt emboldened, leading to outbreaks of violence between the two religious factions.
In 1678, Campbell was specifically instructed to seize Mull and suppress both the violence and conventicles. It took Clan Campbell until 1681 to gain possession of the whole island.
Campbell took charge of Duart Castle and ejected the MacLean leadership from Mull; they moved to Cairnburgh Castle in the Treshnish Islands off the north-west of Mull. Campbell's own position was somewhat undermined when he instigated Argyll's Rising against the reign of James VII. The loyalty of subsequent Campbell leaders ensured the Campbells retained possession of Duart (it was only after the Campbells sold it, and it had spent a century under other owners, that the MacLeans were able to recover it by purchase). Under Campbell pressure, shrieval authority was established under the sheriff of Argyll, which they controlled.
Later history
Following Jacobite insurrections, the Heritable Jurisdictions Act abolished comital authority in Mull and Campbell control of the Argyll sheriffdom; the Campbells could now only assert influence as landlords. Many castles that had been in the hands of the MacLeans (such as Moy) had been slighted by the Campbells or fallen into disrepair, but more comfortable homes were built nearby.
During the 18th century, the island was home to a Gaelic Bard, whom Father Charles MacDonald describes only as "The Mull Satirist." The Satirist is said to have been a vocal enemy of the Jacobite Bard Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair and to have attacked the latter in many poems that have survived. When the Jacobite poet converted from the Calvinist Church of Scotland to the Roman Catholic Church, the Mull Satirist accused him of doing so, not out of serious conviction, but to curry favour with the exiled House of Stuart.
In 1773 the island was visited by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell during their tour of the Western Islands. Farming, fishing, and burning seaweed for kelp ash (used in the manufacture of soap and glass) were the main economic activities on the island until the 19th century. Tobermory was built by the British Fisheries Society in 1788 as a planned settlement to support the fishing industry.
The Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries resulted in people being evicted to make space for sheep; and the Highland Potato Famine (1846–1847) encouraged mass emigration. These factors caused the population to decline from 10,000 to less than 4,000 and then to 3,000 by the 20th century; this had a serious impact on the economy. Despite this, several grand houses were built on Mull in the period, including Torosay Castle.
In 1889, counties were formally created in Scotland on shrieval boundaries by a dedicated Local Government Act; Mull became part of the newly-created County of Argyll.
The whole island became a Restricted Area during World War II. The bay at Tobermory became a naval base commanded from HMS Western Isles. The base and the Restricted Area were under Commodore (later Vice Admiral) Sir Gilbert Stephenson, whose strict discipline and ferocious temper earned him the nickname "The Terror of Tobermory". The base was used to train Escort Groups in anti-submarine warfare. 911 ships passed through the base between 1940 and 1945.
Following late 20th century reforms, Mull is now part of the wider area of Argyll and Bute.
According to a July 2020 article in Country Life, "The Benmore Estate occupies 32,000 acres of the Isle of Mull" and includes Knock House, a Victorian hunting lodge where tourists can stay. Guests can book rides on the estate boat, the Benmore Lady. Much of the lodge was built by the ninth Duke of Argyll for his wife, one of the daughters of Queen Victoria; they married in 1871. Reports indicate that the Queen stayed there, as did others including Wordsworth, Keats, JM Barrie and Sir Walter Scott.
Gaelic language
In Mull and the adjacent islands Gaelic had been the traditional language since the early Middle Ages. However the 20th century in particular saw a reduction in the number of speakers, with a significant fall (20%) in Mull after the Second World War. This was associated with strong emigration and abandonment of the language by the younger generation. In the 1951 census only 10 people said they could not speak English.
The following decades saw the beginnings of a revival. Gaelic medium education was introduced in 1996 after a long dispute with the authorities. A Gaelic-medium unit was introduced in Salen Primary School, followed by a second unit at Bunessan Primary School; the language began to be taught in the first two years of secondary school; and Gaelic playgroups were introduced. By 2006 it was found that, though only 10% of the working-age cohort spoke or understood Gaelic, language ability at school age was much higher. There was great local variation in the number of speakers, from around 25% in Craignure (Creag an Iubhair) to 4% in Aros. It has been argued, however, that in terms of language survival, there is reason for optimism in Mull.
Tourism
There is a small amount of farming, aquaculture, and fishing, and Forestry and Land Scotland has several plantations on the island. Tobermory also has one whisky distillery (Tobermory distillery) and from 2005 to 2009 had a brewery (Isle of Mull Brewing Company). Tiroran is home to the island's other distillery (Whitetail Gin) which was established as the isle's first new distillery in over 220 years in 2019.
Tourism is definitely significant. The economy began to revive when the construction of Craignure Pier in 1964 started to bring tourists. Tourism is now the mainstay of the island's economy. Ecotourism became popular from the 1990s, and the reintroduction of white-tailed eagles in 2005 became a particular ecotourist attraction. The island is one of the few places to see sea eagles; there were at least 22 pairs as of April 2020.
Isle of Mull cheese is Scottish cheddar cheese made from raw cow milk produced on the Isle of Mull.
Apart from traversing the Ross of Mull on the way to Iona, visitors typically spend time in Tobermory, visit Glengorm Castle and then enjoy one of the beaches. One report states that "the south-west holds more white beaches, famous for their pink granite skerries and stunning sunsets, that are also perfect for kayaking". Accommodations for tourists include self-catering holiday cottages, a few hotels, and some campsites.
Tourism was negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and into 2021. A September 2020 report stated that "The Highlands and Islands region has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to date, when compared to Scotland and the UK as a whole". The industry required short-term support for "business survival and recovery" and that was expected to continue as the sector was "severely impacted for as long as physical distancing and travel restrictions". A scheme called Island Equivalent was introduced by the Scottish government in early 2021 to financially assist hospitality and retail businesses "affected by Level 3 coronavirus restrictions". Previous schemes in 2020 included the Strategic Framework Business Fund and the Coronavirus Business Support Fund.
Transport
Ferries
Ferry links to Mull from the mainland include:
the most-used ferry, from Oban to Craignure (approx. 45 minutes),
Kilchoan to Tobermory (approx. 35 minutes)
Lochaline to Fishnish (approx. 15 minutes).
Advance bookings are not required for the Kilchoan or Fishnish ferries; access to those two ferry terminals on the mainland side is via single-track roads.
There are also ferry links from Fionnphort on Mull to the neighbouring island of Iona and from Oskamull to Ulva. In past years there were direct sailings to Oban (calling at Drimnin, Salen, Lochaline, and Craignure), and to Barra, Coll, and Tiree from Tobermory. During the summer there was also a sailing to Staffa and Iona from Oban that called at Tobermory.
Buses
Buses are operated by West Coast Motors Ltd. There are routes from Tobermory to Calgary via Dervaig (Service 494), Tobermory to Craignure via Salen (Service 495), and Craignure to Fionnphort via Bunessan (Service 496). Limited services operate to Lochbuie and Gruline. West Coast Motors also provide guided tours around Mull, Iona, and Staffa, including boat transfers from Oban.
A minibus service also operates seasonally from Craignure to Duart Castle.
There is also a community-run service from Calgary to Salen via Ulva Ferry.
Airstrip
There is a landing strip for private light aircraft near Salen. There was a seaplane that linked Tobermory with Glasgow and Oban. The regular scheduled service terminated in 2009. Loganair operated a scheduled service to Glasgow in the 1960s from Glenforsa airfield, a grass airstrip constructed by the Royal Engineers in 1965 near Salen. The airstrip has been operated since 2014 by Brendan and Allison Walsh, owners of the adjacent Glenforsa Hotel.
Tourist railway
The Isle of Mull Railway ran from Craignure to Torosay Castle but closed in 2011.
Schooling
There is one secondary school on the island (Tobermory High School) and six primary schools. Salen Primary School has a Gaelic medium education unit. Secondary pupils (age 11–18) from Iona, Bunessan and Fionnphort in the south-west attend Oban High School, staying in an Oban hostel from Monday to Thursday.
Communications
Mull was connected to the mainland by a submarine telegraph cable between Oban and Grass Point in 1871. There were telegraph offices at Tobermory, Dervaig, Calgary, Craignure, Pennyghael, Tiroran, Fionnphort, Bunessan, and Iona.
The Post Office built an experimental wireless telegraph station on Meall an Inbhire near Tobermory in 1892.
In 2014, fibre optic cables for support of high speed internet were laid between Kilchoan (in Ardnamurchan) and Tobermory and between Dunstaffnage (near Oban) and Torosay. In February 2015 additional cables were laid underground between Tobermory and Torosay to complete the link.
Media and the arts
AM radio, broadcast from Oban, came to the island in 1930 and television in 1954. New AM radio and UHF television transmitters were constructed on Druim Mòr, west of Torosay Castle, in 1978. Digital transmissions commenced on 15 November 1998 and analogue transmissions ceased on 27 October 2010. The digital transmitters have 22 relays on Mull, surrounding islands, and parts of the mainland, collectively the Torosay Transmitter Group.
Mull Theatre is a professional theatre company based in a 2008 theatre production centre on the outskirts of Tobermory. The company commissions plays, tours throughout Scotland and beyond, and runs an education and outreach programme. It started at the "Mull Little Theatre" at Dervaig in 1966 and was the "Smallest Professional Theatre in the World" according to the Guinness World Records. The National Theatre of Scotland were in residence at the Mull Theatre in April 2009.
An Tobar ("The Well"), based in Tobermory, is the only publicly funded multidisciplinary arts centre in Argyll. Established in 1997, it is a centre for visual arts, crafts and music. With effect from 1 April 2013, An Tobar and the Mull Theatre were brought together as Comar.
Natural history
The Isle of Mull is a popular destination for naturalists and photographers for seeing some of Britain's more elusive species.
Mull has over 800 species of vascular plant (684 native and 171 naturalised) including 33 species of fern, at least 18 species of orchid and 22 native species of tree. There are about 700 species of lichen, 571 liverworts and mosses, and 247 marine algae (seaweeds), making a total of 2,388 species of plant recorded from the island. In addition, more than 2,000 species of fungi have been recorded on Mull: Dennis and Watling write, "When one speaks of the Inner Hebridean fungi one is referring to the floras of Mull and Rhum".
The island has 261 different bird species, including the white-tailed eagle, which was reintroduced to the nearby island of Rùm and migrated to Mull, where it now has a stronghold. Basking sharks, minke whales, porpoises, and dolphins are among the sea life nearby.
The island is home to a population of otters that live in coastal habitat, hunting during the day. The Mull Otter Group was established for the conservation needs of otters on the Isle of Mull.
The island also has several birds of prey, such as hen harriers, golden eagles, and short eared owls, all difficult species to see throughout the rest of the UK. Pine martens have also recently become established on Mull; based on sighting records and from resulting modelling exercises, it is believed the species arrived in 2004 through accidental transportation on timber boats from the mainland. It is unlikely that pine martens have ever been native to the Isle of Mull.
The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust was established in 1994 and is a marine conservation charity that takes action through community based research and education. The Trust carries out long-term monitoring programmes on cetaceans in the Hebrides, by collating sightings reported by the public and running live-aboard research expeditions on their sailing yacht, Silurian. The Trust covers the west coast of Scotland, and is based in Tobermory, where it has its main office, Discovery Centre and the mooring of their research vessel.
There are also a number of invasive species on the island, including plant species such as Japanese knotweed and animals such as feral cats and American mink that are believed to be causing damage to the indigenous species populations through competition and predation.
Religion
Lochdon Free Church, built in 1852
Sport
The Tour of Mull is a road-closing rally around the island every October. It has been sponsored since 2005 by Tunnock's, the Lanarkshire teacake and biscuit manufacturer. A five-year sponsorship deal with Beatson's Building Supplies started in 2015.
There are several shipwrecks around the shores that offer scuba diving.
There is an Isle of Mull Cycling Club.
The Cross at the Castle cyclocross event is held annually at Glengorm Castle near Tobermory and features the World Santacross Championships and the Scottish Singlespeed Cylocross Championships.
Mull Runners organise a half marathon and 10K run each August between Craignure and Salen.
Rugby is played at Garmony (beside the Craignure to Salen road north of Craignure). The Mull Rugby 7s Competition takes place annually in May at The Isle of Mull R.F.C's rugby club.
There are golf courses at Tobermory (Erray Park), Craignure (beside the Craignure to Salen road north of Craignure) and on Iona.
Mull Highland Games are held each July in the grounds of Tobermory Golf Club (Erray Park). Events include Heavy Weights, Light Field, and Highland Dance.
The swimming pool at the Isle of Mull Hotel, Craignure is open to the paying public.
Tobermory has some free tennis courts.
Football is played, mainly in the south end. Bunessan F.C. play a number of games during the summer, most notably against arch rivals Iona FC, the island just off the south west end. Bunessan F.C. also hold an annual 5-a-side tournament in July.
Community initiatives
Following research and community consultation in 1996/97, a development trust was created to identify key goals for the communities of Mull and Iona. Mull & Iona Community Trust was formed in 1997 and published a "Community Regeneration Strategy" for the islands. They purchased the only butcher's shop on the island (closed February 2010), created a community-run Countryside Ranger service, instigated various recycling initiatives, and provide a fundraising and training consultancy.
Notable people connected to Mull
Martyn Bennett (1971–2005), Canadian-Scottish musician, lived on Mull, buried in Calgary Bay cemetery
Peter Bonetti, (1941–2020), English footballer (goalkeeper)
Major General Colin Gubbins, head of Special Operations Executive during World War II
Duncan Livingstone (1877–1964) Scottish Gaelic Bard, born at Torloisk, emigrated to South Africa in 1903. Continued to write Gaelic verse in Pretoria until his death.
Agnes Maxwell MacLeod (1783–1879) poet and minister's wife
Colin MacIntyre (b. 1971), Scottish musician who frequently goes under the name "Mull Historical Society"
Margaret McKellar (1861–1941), medical missionary
John McLean (1799–1890), Canadian-Scottish explorer and one of the chief traders of the Hudson's Bay Company
Norman Maclean (1902–1990), acclaimed Scottish-American author from Missoula, Montana, who explored the alcoholism and gambling addictions of his ancestors, Scottish Gaelic-speaking Presbyterians on the Isle, in the 1976 novella A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
Mary Macleod, 17th-century poet said to have been banished to Mull
Lachlan Macquarie, (1762–1824), Governor of New South Wales, born on the nearby island of Ulva
See also
List of islands of Scotland
Dòideag
List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Mull, Coll and Tiree
Great Mull Air Mystery
References
Baird, Bob (1995) Shipwrecks of the West of Scotland. Glasgow. Nekton Books.
Currie, Jo. (2001) Mull: The Island and Its People. Birlinn Ltd.
Jermy, A.C. and Crabbe, J.A. (Ed) (1978) The Island of Mull a Survey of its Flora and Environment. London. British Museum (Natural History).
Footnotes
External links
Marketing Mull and Iona Community Interest Company
Cleared places in the Inner Hebrides
Islands of Argyll and Bute
Underwater diving sites in Scotland
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed%20Ben%20Bella
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Ahmed Ben Bella
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Ahmed Ben Bella ( ; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 and then the first president of Algeria from 15 September 1963 to 19 June 1965.
Ben Bella played an important role during the Algerian war of independence against France, leading the FLN, organizing the shipment of foreign weapons and coordinating political strategy from Cairo. Despite not being present in Algeria, French authorities tried to assassinate him multiple times. Once Algeria gained independence in 1962, Ben Bella's Oujda Group seized power from Benyoucef Benkhedda's provisional government after a short crisis, and Ben Bella became prime minister of Algeria with Ferhat Abbas as acting president. Ben Bella succeeded Ferhat Abbas on 15 September 1963 after rapidly sidelining him, and was elected president after winning an election with 99.6 per cent of the votes.
Ben Bella pursued Arab socialist and Pan-Arabist policies and came to describe himself as a Nasserist. He nationalized several industries and established good relations with other anti-Zionist Arab states and left-wing states such as Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt and Fidel Castro's Cuba. He encountered political conflict during his presidency, and was faced with border clashes in the Sand War with Morocco in 1963 and a failed rebellion by the Socialist Forces Front against his regime in 1963/1964. He was ousted from power and put under house arrest after a coup d'état by his Minister of Defense Houari Boumédiéne in 1965. He was freed from house arrest in 1980 and died in 2012.
Early life
Ahmed Ben Bella was born on 25 December 1916 in the commune of Maghnia. His parents were Moroccan immigrants. His father was a farmer and small-time trader. He had four brothers and two sisters. His oldest brother died from wounds received in the First World War, during which he fought for France. Another brother died from illness and a third disappeared in France in 1940, during the mayhem of the Nazi victory.
Ben Bella began his studies in Maghnia, where he went to the French school, and continued them in the city of Tlemcen, where he first became aware of racial discrimination. Disturbed by the animus against Muslims expressed by his European teacher, he began chafing against imperialism and colonialism and criticized the domination of French cultural influence over Algeria. During this period, he joined the nationalist movement.
Service with French Army
Ben Bella first volunteered for service in the French Army in 1936. The Army was one of the few avenues of advancement for Algerians under colonial rule and voluntary enlistment was common. Posted to Marseille, he played center midfield for Olympique de Marseille in 1939–1940. His only appearance for the club was in a game against FC Antibes in the Coupe de France on 29 April 1940 in Cannes, during which he scored a goal. Club officials offered him a professional spot on the team, but he rejected the offer. He also played for IRB Maghnia.
Ben Bella enlisted again in 1940, believing that the French Army offered the best opportunity for non-discriminatory treatment of Algerians. Fighting for France during the Second World War, he was decorated twice, receiving the Croix de Guerre after manning an anti-aircraft post during the Nazi invasion in 1940. He was demobilised after the fall of France, but joined a Free French regiment of Moroccan tirailleurs (infantry) with whom he saw service throughout the Italian campaign. In Italy, he was decorated for bravery demonstrated at the Battle of Monte Cassino, during which he dragged a wounded commissioned officer to safety, assuming control of his battalion. For this, he was promoted to the rank of warrant officer and received the Médaille militaire, the highest decoration of the Free French forces, directly from Charles de Gaulle.
On 8 May 1945, while France was celebrating Germany's surrender, widespread protests erupted in the Algerian town of Sétif. The war had intensified colonial repression of the Algerians, prompting a backlash that led to the deaths of more than 100 Europeans and around 1,500 Algerians, according to official reports. Anti-colonial insurgents, however, put the number of Algerian deaths at around 10,000. The fallout from the Sétif uprising shocked Ben Bella and his Algerian companions, as they realized that France would not recognize their claim to equal treatment despite their wartime service.
Before independence
First organization for uprising against French regime in Algeria
After the Sétif and Guelma massacre in 1945, Ben Bella returned to Algeria, becoming politically active in the opposition movement against the French regime. French authorities sent assailants with the intention of assassinating him on his farm.
The attempt against his life failed, but the farm was confiscated and he went into hiding. After the nationalist parties had achieved great success in local elections in 1947, by this was followed by the fixing of the Algerian Assembly elections in 1948 by French officials, agreed to and justified by the Socialist Governor-General Marcel-Edmond Naegelen, Ben Bella became convinced that achieving democratic independence through peaceful means was illusory. Together with Messali Hadj and his party, he helped to found the Organisation Spéciale (OS), a paramilitary organization whose strategic aim was to take up arms against the French colonial regime as quickly as possible. This group became the immediate predecessor of the National Liberation Front. He was in charge of organizing the wilayas (regional military sections of the FLN) and supplying weapons to insurgents and getting financial support from friendly Arab countries.
On 4 April 1949, Ben Bella led a robbery of the central post office in Oran to gain funds for the organization, obtaining 3 million francs which he used to buy weapons. He was eventually caught in 1950 and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment in Blida jail. In captivity, he was exposed to the writings of Sultan-Galiev, which greatly influenced him in the future. He escaped soon afterwards in 1952 by cutting through his prison window bars with a knife that had been smuggled into jail in a loaf of bread, making his way to Tunisia and then to Egypt, reaching Cairo by 1952 where he was granted sanctuary by the president Gamal Abdel Nasser.
At the outbreak of the Algerian War in 1954, Ben Bella was based in Cairo, where he had become one of the nine members of the Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action that headed the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN), founded in November that year during a secret meeting of Algerian leaders in Switzerland. The FLN soon began armed insurrection against the French colonists, which became a guerilla war in Algeria.
Algerian War
Ben Bella played an important role during the war, leading the FLN, organizing the shipment of foreign weapons and coordinating political strategy. Although he was not present in Algeria, assassination attempts against him by French authorities persisted. After national independence, he was named vice president of Algeria in Benyoucef Benkhedda's cabinet.
Ben Bella and his associates were responsible for developing a system of bases and routes for providing the National Liberation Army (ALN) in Algeria with weapons, ammunition and other supplies. The ALN logistical system was focused in Egypt and Libya in the early years of the war. Once the French occupation of Tunisia and Morocco ended in 1956, Ben Bella and his associates established a system of camps in both countries for training men and sending them into Algeria.
Ben Bella felt excluded from the Soummam conference on 20 August 1956, and thus rejected it for its "secularism", the decision to integrate the European minority in independent Algeria, and the misrepresentation of delegates. According to Abane Ramdane, Ben Bella's rejection of the charter was due to the fact that it was drafted by Kabyles. Ben Bella was also accused of not providing enough money and weapons for the cause.
In 1956, he refused to receive a package delivered by taxi to his hotel in Cairo. A bomb exploded inside the taxi as it drove away, killing the driver. That same year, while in his hotel in Tripoli, a pied noir gunman with links to French intelligence called Jean David entered his room and fired, wounding but not killing him. The shooter was later killed by guards while fleeing, at the Libyan border.
In October 1956, he was arrested in Algiers by French military authorities, who hijacked the plane on which he was flying. He was kept prisoner until the Evian accords in 1962, and released on 5 July. His arrest earlier had led to the resignation of Alain Savary, who was opposed to Guy Mollet's policies; as a prisoner during the height of the FLN terror campaign, he remained relatively untarnished by his association with the organization.
At the FLN conference in Tripoli in May–June 1962, Ben Bella repealed the Soummam conference and gave priority to the implementation of a national Arab-Islamic culture and identity of Algeria.
Like many Arab revolutionaries of the time, he came to describe himself as a "Nasserist" and developed close ties to Egypt even before national independence was achieved. Nasser's material, moral and political support of the Algerian movement became a source of geopolitical trouble for Egypt, as it played a major role in France's decision to wage war against him during the 1956 Suez Crisis.
Due to Pakistan's support for the FLN, Ben Bella had been given a Pakistani diplomatic passport to make his foreign travels possible in the face of an international manhunt co-ordinated by the French and their allies. Ben Bella also traveled on a Pakistani diplomatic passport during the years of his exile from Algeria in the 1980s.
Algerian independence
Ben Bella's government
After Algeria's independence, Ben Bella quickly became a popular leader. In June 1962, he challenged the leadership of the premier, Benyoucef Benkhedda. This led to several disputes among his rivals in the FLN, which were quickly suppressed by Ben Bella's rapidly growing number of supporters, most notably within the armed forces, whose chief was Houari Boumédiènne. Boumédiènne marched his supporter troops to Algiers and Ben Bella seized power on 4 August in a coup d'état. By September 1962, Bella was in control of Algeria in all but name. He was elected premier in a one-sided election on 20 September, which was recognized by the United States on 29 September. Algeria was admitted as the 109th member of the United Nations on 8 October 1962.
As prime minister, Ben Bella arranged to legalize the seizures of autogestion spontaneously undertaken by Algerian workers. In March 1963, he drew up (with his circle of advisers) a set of decrees to nationalize all previously European-owned land. In his words, the "Tripoli program remained a dead letter, and independence and revolution made no sense, as long as Algerian soil was in hands of the big landowners".
He used his position to push for the approval of the constitution drawn up by the FLN, and alienated allies. Mohammed Khider and Ferhat Abbas resigned their political offices in 1963, dismayed by the dictatorial tendencies on display in Ben Bella's proposed constitution, which enshrined a one-party state and rejected political pluralism. Nevertheless, this action presented no problem to the Algerian people: the constitution was approved and, on 15 September 1963, Ben Bella was elected president of the country, unopposed and with an immense majority.
During his presidency, Ben Bella was confronted with the challenge of building a postcolonial state infrastructure from the ground up; the country had no independent state traditions and its senior civil servants had always been staffed by the French. Despite a predisposition toward an egalitarian way of governing and a lifestyle lacking in extravagance (he did not live in the governor's palace, and maintained an open-door policy with Algerian citizens), Ben Bella's actions in government did not always match his intentions. After stabilizing the country, he embarked on a series of initially popular but chaotically handled land reforms for the benefit of landless farmers, and increasingly turned to socialist rhetoric.
His policy of autogestion, or self-management, was adopted after Algerian peasants seized former French lands and was inspired by Marxist Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito. He also worked on the development of his country, instituting reforms, undertaking campaigns for national literacy, and nationalizing several industries and calling for socialization of the economy and Arabization.
On many occasions, however, he improvised government policy as he went, as with his National Solidarity Fund, for which he asked the Algerian people to "voluntarily" hand over jewellery and banknotes.
In international relations, he had to maintain connections with the former colonial master France, and also accepted economic aid from both the US and the Soviet Union, as each sought to move his regime into its orbit and into opposition to the other. At the same time, Ben Bella wished Algeria to become a leader of Third World liberation movements and of the Third World itself. To strengthen relations with other colonies and former colonies, Algeria joined the Non-Aligned Movement under Ben Bella's regime, and he forged links with such African leaders as Gamal Abdel Nasser, Kwame Nkrumah, Modibo Keita and Sekou Toure to aid rebel movements throughout Africa.
He also established good relations with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Cuba. After his 1962 visit, Cuba sent a health mission to Algeria, with doctors and medical help, and later sent weapons and soldiers as aid during the Sand War against Morocco. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 30 April 1964.
During his tenure, Ben Bella encountered political struggles with former leaders of the FLN, including Mohammed Khider, Ferhat Abbas, Mohammed Boudiaf and Hocine Aït Ahmed. Ahmed founded the Front des Forces Socialistes (Socialist Forces Front) (FFS) to confront Ben Bella, and the others joined after being alienated by Ben Bella's dictatorial leadership. In 1963, the FFS called for an armed revolt against the regime. However, it had force only in the Kabylia region, and by the summer of 1964 the revolt was controlled and FFS leaders were arrested.
In addition to political resistance, Ben Bella faced religious opposition. The Association of the Algerian Ulema claimed that the "state Islam" that Ben Bella wanted to achieve was not an application of true Muslim values, but rather an attempt to please the population.
His government was overthrown in June 1965 while he was planning to host an Afro-Asian international meeting, in a bloodless coup led by his defense minister Houari Boumédiène. He was held for eight months in an underground prison, then for the next 14 years lived under house arrest.
House arrest and later freedom
After being deposed in 1965, Ben Bella was detained for eight months in prison. He was then transferred to an isolated villa in Birouta, where he was placed under house arrest for 14 years. He was, however, permitted a private life there, and in 1971 he married Zohra Sellami, an Algerian journalist; their meeting was arranged by Ben Bella's mother. They became religiously observant Muslims, and adopted two girls, Mehdia and Nouria. After Boumedienne's death in 1978, restrictions on him were eased in July 1979, and he was freed on 30 October 1980. Ben Bella briefly resided in France but was then expelled in 1983. He moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, and launched the Mouvement pour la Démocratie en Algérie (MDA), a moderate Islamic opposition party, in 1984. In September 1990, he returned to Algeria, and, in 1991, led the MDA in the first round of the country's abortive parliamentary elections. The MDA was banned in 1997.
Later life
In 2003, Ben Bella was elected president of the International Campaign Against Aggression on Iraq at its Cairo Conference. He described himself numerous times in interviews as an Islamist of a "mild and peace-loving flavour". Despite his former establishment of a one-party state after Algeria gained its independence, he became a vocal advocate for democracy in Algeria in modern day. He described the militant tendency arising in the Islamic world as having developed from an incorrect and faulty interpretation of Islam. Despite controversies, he was respected for his role in the anti-colonial struggle and was seen by many Arab intellectuals as one of the last original Arab nationalists.
He was also the chairperson of the African Union Panel of the Wise, which is mandated to advise the AU Commission on issues relevant to conflict prevention, management and resolution. The other members of the panel at the time were President Miguel Trovoada (former president of São Tomé and Príncipe), Dr. Salim A. Salim (former Secretary-General of the OAU), Dr. Brigalia Bam (Chair of South Africa's Electoral Commission) and Elisabeth Pognon (former President of the Constitutional Court of Benin).
Illness, death and state funeral
In February 2012, Ben Bella was admitted to a hospital for medical checks. At the same time, a report circulated that he had died, but this was denied by his family.
Ben Bella died on 11 April 2012 at his family home in Algiers. Though the reasons of his death were unknown, he had been treated for respiratory illnesses twice at Ain Naadja. His body lay in state on 12 April before the funeral at El Alia Cemetery on 13 April. Algeria declared eight days of national mourning.
Heads of state and government present at state funeral
References
Further reading
Aussaresses, General Paul, The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria, 1955–1957. New York: Enigma Books, 2010. 978-1-929631-30-8.
External links
Ben Bella's biography from rulers.org
Profile of the ruler
BBC on 20 June 1965 – on the coup against Ben Bella.
Che Guevara, Cuba, And The Algerian Revolution by Ahmed ben Bella, The Militant, Vol. 62 / no 4, 2 February 1998
BritanicaAcademic Ahmed Ben Bella, by Robert Merle
Ahmed Ben Bella, Revolutionary Who Led Algeria After Independence, Dies at 93
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1916 births
2012 deaths
Algerian Arab nationalists
Algerian emigrants to France
Algerian emigrants to Switzerland
Algerian escapees
Algerian men's footballers
Algerian Muslims
Algerian people imprisoned abroad
Algerian people of Moroccan descent
Algerian prisoners and detainees
Algerian revolutionaries
Algerian socialists
Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union
French military personnel of World War II
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
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IRB Maghnia players
Leaders ousted by a coup
Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria)
Nasserists
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People from Maghnia
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Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
Men's association football midfielders
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC%20Schalke%2004
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FC Schalke 04
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Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The "04" in the club's name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke have been one of the most popular professional football teams in Germany, even though the club's heyday was in the 1930s and 1940s. Schalke play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following relegation from the Bundesliga in 2022–23. As of 2023, the club has 176,000 members, making it the second-largest football club in Germany and the fourth-largest club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics, basketball, handball, table tennis, winter sports and eSports.
Schalke have won seven German championships, five DFB-Pokals, one DFB Ligapokal, one DFL-Supercup and one UEFA Cup. In 1937, Schalke became the first German club to win the double. Since 2001, Schalke's stadium has been the Veltins-Arena. Schalke hold a long-standing rivalry with Ruhr neighbours Borussia Dortmund, known as the Revierderby.
History
1904–1927: Schalke's early years
The club was founded on 4 May 1904 as Westfalia Schalke by a group of high school students and first wore the colours red and yellow. The team was unable to gain admittance to the Westdeutscher Spielverband (Western German Football Association) and played in one of the "wild associations" of early German football. In 1912, after years of failed attempts to join the official league, they merged with the gymnastic club Schalker Turnverein 1877 in order to facilitate their entry. This arrangement held up until 1915, when SV Westfalia Schalke was re-established as an independent club. The separation proved short-lived and the two came together again in 1919 as Turn- und Sportverein Schalke 1877. The new club won its first honours in 1923 as champions of the Schalke Kreisliga. It was around this time that Schalke picked up the nickname Die Knappen, from an old German word for "miners" because the team drew so many of its players and supporters from the coal miners of Gelsenkirchen.
In 1924, the football team parted ways with the gymnasts again, this time taking the club chairman along with them. They took the name FC Schalke 04 and adopted the now familiar blue and white kit from which their second nickname would derive, Die Königsblauen (). The following year, the club became the dominant local side, based on a style of play that used short, sharp, man-to-man passing to move the ball. This system would later become famous as the Schalker Kreisel (). In 1927, it carried them into the top-flight Gauliga Ruhr, onto the league championship, and then into the opening rounds of the national finals.
1928–1933: Rise to dominance
The popular club built a new stadium, the Glückauf-Kampfbahn, in 1928, and acknowledged the city's support by renaming themselves FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. They won their first West German championship in 1929, but the following year were sanctioned for exceeding salary levels set by the league and, in an era that considered professionalism in sport to be anathema, found themselves banned from play for nearly half a year.
However, the ban had little impact on the team's popularity: in their first match after the ban against Fortuna Düsseldorf, in June 1931, the team drew 70,000 spectators to its home ground. The club's fortunes begun to rise from 1931 and they made a semi-final appearance in the 1932 German championship, losing 1–2 to Eintracht Frankfurt. The year after, the club went all the way to the final, where Fortuna Düsseldorf proved the better side, winning 3–0.
1933–1945: The championship years
With the re-organisation of German football in 1933 under Nazi Germany, Schalke found themselves in the Gauliga Westfalen, 1 of 16 top-flight divisions established to replace the innumerable regional and local leagues, all claiming top status. This league saw Schalke's most successful decade in their history: from 1933 to 1942, the club would appear in 14 of 18 national finals (ten in the German championship and eight in the Tschammerpokal, the predecessor of today's DFB-Pokal) and win their league in every one of its eleven seasons.
The club never lost a home match in the Gauliga Westfalen in all these 11 seasons and only lost six away matches, while remaining unbeaten in the 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1940–41 and 1942–43 seasons, a sign of the club's dominance.
Schalke's first national title came in 1934 with a 2–1 victory over favourites 1. FC Nürnberg. The next year, they successfully defended their title against VfB Stuttgart with a 6–4 win. The club missed the 1936 final, but would make appearances in the championship match in each of the next six years, coming away victorious in 1937, 1939, 1940 and 1942. Three of those national finals were against Austrian teams – Admira Wien, Rapid Wien and First Vienna – which played in Germany's Gauliga Ostmark after Austria's incorporation into the Reich through the 1938 Anschluss.
Die Königsblauen also made frequent appearances in the final of the Tschammerpokal, but enjoyed much less success there. They lost the inaugural Tschammerpokal 0–2 to 1. FC Nürnberg in 1935. They also made failed appearances in the 1936, 1941, and 1942 finals with their only victory coming in 1937 against Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Over a dozen seasons, from 1933 to 1945, Schalke won 162 of 189 Gauliga matches, drawing 21 and losing only 6. Within this period, they scored 924 goals and conceded just 145. From 1935 to 1939, they did not lose a single league match. The club's dominance throughout this period led them to be held up for propaganda purposes by the Nazi regime as an example of "new Germany".
1945–1959: Football after World War II
With Germany in chaos towards the end of World War II, Schalke played just two matches in 1945. They resumed regular play following the war and, for a time, continued to compete as a strong side. They set a record in a national championship round match with a 20–0 drubbing of SpVgg Herten, but that spoke more to the weakened condition of German football than to the ability of the team. Schalke's play fell off and the best they could manage in the new Oberliga West in 1947 was a sixth-place finish. Within two years, they slipped to 12th place.
It would take Schalke until the mid-1950s to recover their form. They finished third in a tight three-way race for the 1954 Oberliga West title, decided on the last day of the season. The following year, they appeared in the DFB-Pokal final, where they lost 2–3 to Karlsruher SC. The club's next, and to date last, German championship came in 1958 with a 3–0 victory over Hamburger SV. The strong fanbase of the club is as well documented in a local church, St. Joseph, in Gelsenkirchen. It was renovated shortly after the 1958 victory, where one of the glass windows shows Aloysius Gonzaga with a football and the dress and colors of Schalke.
1960–2000: Entry to the Bundesliga and the Euro Fighters
Schalke continued to play well, delivering a number of top four finishes in the years leading up to the 1963 formation of the Bundesliga, West Germany's new federal, professional league. Those results earned them selection as 1 of 16 clubs admitted to the top-flight league.
Their first years in the Bundesliga were difficult. In 1964–65, they escaped relegation only through the expansion of the league to 18 teams. A number of finishes at the lower end of the league table followed, before a marked improvement in 1971–72, culminating in a second-place finish to Bayern Munich and after having led the league for much of the season. In the same season, Schalke won the DFB-Pokal for the second time in its history.
Despite their improved results, the seeds of a major reversal had already been sown. A number of the team's players and officials were accused of accepting bribes as part of the widespread Bundesliga scandal of 1971. Investigation showed that Schalke had deliberately played to lose their 17 May, 28th-round match against Arminia Bielefeld, 0–1. As a result, several Schalke players were banned for life, including three – Klaus Fischer, "Stan" Libuda and Klaus Fichtel – who regularly played for the West Germany national team at the time.
Even though the penalties were later commuted to bans ranging from six months to two years, the scandal had a profound effect on what might have possibly become one of the dominant German teams of the 1970s. In 1973, the club moved to the Parkstadion, newly built for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and having a capacity of 70,000 spectators. In the wake of the scandal, the club's performance was uneven. They managed another second-place result in 1976–77, finishing just one point behind champions Borussia Mönchengladbach.
In the early 1980s, Die Knappen ran into trouble and found themselves relegated to the second division of the Bundesliga for the 1981–82 season and, after promotion, again in 1983–84. They returned to the top flight in 1984 but slipped once more to the second tier in 1988. They returned to the Bundesliga in the 1991–92 season and stayed in the top flight until 2021.
The club earned their first honours since the DFB-Pokal win of 1972 with a victory in the final of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup over Inter Milan on penalties. Coached by the Dutch coach Huub Stevens, the 1997 Schalke squad earned the nickname "Euro Fighters", which is still in use among fans. Stevens, who was widely unknown in Germany at the time, quickly earned himself a cult following among the Schalke supporters.
Stevens successfully implemented a system of rigid discipline, especially in the defence. His motto "Die Null muß stehen" (in English, "It has to read nil"), which emphasized his importance on his side not conceding any goals, has found its way into everyday language in Germany.
2000–2019: Top-table mainstay, European semi-final
The turn of the millennium has seen much stronger performances from Schalke. During the 1990s and early 2000, the club underwent a successful transformation into a modern, commercial sports organization and established itself as one of the dominant teams of the Bundesliga. Schalke captured consecutive DFB-Pokals in 2000–01 and 2001–02, and earned second-place finishes in the Bundesliga in 2000–01, 2004–05 and 2006–07. The 2000–01 season finish was heartbreaking for Schalke's supporters as it took a goal in the fourth minute of injury time by Bayern Munich away to Hamburger SV to snatch the title from Die Königsblauen.
The last few years have been more successful for Schalke, who finished in second place in 2005, a result that led to Schalke making its second appearance in the UEFA Champions League. There, Schalke finished in third place during the group stage and continuing into the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated by the eventual winners Sevilla in the semi-finals. In 2005–06, Schalke finished in fourth place in the Bundesliga and a year later they again finished as runners-up for the third time in seven seasons.
In the 2007–08 season, Schalke progressed past the Champions League group stage for the first time and advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Porto on penalties in the round of 16. They were eliminated by Barcelona in the quarter-finals, losing both home and away matches 0–1.
On 9 October 2006, Russian oil company Gazprom became the club's new sponsor. The company stated it expected to invest as much as €125 million in the club over a five-and-a-half-year period. Gazprom's sponsorship has been seen by some analysts as a politically motivated attempt to buy friendship in Germany. Within this sponsorship, Schalke 04 and Zenit Saint Petersburg signed a "partnership agreement"; both clubs intend to work closely on improving football-related issues.
On 13 April 2008, the club announced the dismissal of manager Mirko Slomka after a heavy defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen and elimination from the Champions League. Former players Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder were put in charge of the first team on an interim basis. For the 2008–09 Bundesliga season, Schalke signed a new head coach, Fred Rutten, previously of Twente. Rutten signed a contract running until June 2010. In March 2009, Rutten was sacked and, once more, Mike Büskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck took over the helm.
On 1 July 2009, Felix Magath, who had led VfL Wolfsburg to the top of the table in the Bundesliga, became head coach and general manager of the Königsblauen. The appointment of Magath as manager coincided with a multimillion-euro spending spree, allowing Schalke to acquire internationally known forwards Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Raúl. Magath's tenure at the club was initially successful, seeing the side score a glut of goals in the first few months of the season, though defensive frailties and Magath's questionable squad selection had made him unpopular with Schalke supporters by December 2010.
On 16 March 2011, Magath was sacked and replaced with Ralf Rangnick, who previously, between 2004 and 2005, had a brief spell being in charge of the team. Within just weeks of his appointment, Rangnick masterminded a 5–2 victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro during the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Schalke advanced to the semi-final where they lost 2–0 to Manchester United in the first leg and 4–1 in the second leg. However, Schalke 04 managed to win the 2010–11 DFB-Pokal after thrashing MSV Duisburg 5-0. On 1 June 2011, Schalke's captain, Manuel Neuer, made his move to Bayern Munich.
On 22 September 2011, Ralf Rangnick announced his immediate resignation as head coach of Schalke 04 due to long-term exhaustion. Assistant coach Seppo Eichkorn coached the team as interim manager until the appointment of Huub Stevens on 27 September 2011. Stevens' contract was to run until 30 June 2013.
Despite having legendary status among Schalke supporters, Stevens' return to Schalke was met with some scepticism as fans feared that Stevens, who coached Schalke to the 1997 UEFA Cup win with a rigidly defensive system, could abandon Rangnick's system of attacking play in favour of returning to his 1997 defensive antics. The doubts of the supporters proved unfounded. Although Schalke played a somewhat inconsistent season, they reached third place in the Bundesliga and therefore direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League.
Schalke had an excellent start to the 2012–13 Bundesliga season, and worked their way to second place in the league by November, just behind Bayern Munich. On 20 October, Schalke traveled to Borussia Dortmund for matchday 8, and were able to defeat the home side 2–1 to secure their first league Revierderby win since February 2010 while securing a Champions League place by finishing in fourth place. In the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, Schalke's opponents were FCSB, FC Basel and Chelsea. Schalke ultimately finished the group stage in second place, behind Chelsea, and was eliminated in the round of 16 by Real Madrid CF.
The most prominent Schalke addition was the arrival of Kevin-Prince Boateng from Milan. After a disappointing first round of the 2013–14 Bundesliga that saw Schalke in seventh place in the Bundesliga table, as well as an early exit from the 2013–14 DFB-Pokal in the first knockout round, the club played their most successful second half of the season in club history. The season was marked by a glut of injuries to key squad players, including Jefferson Farfán and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, for almost the entire season. It also led to performance related discussions about head coach Jens Keller. Partially, Schalke fielded up to ten young players with potential who played in the Schalke youth system throughout the season. Among the brightest young player discoveries of the 2013–14 season were Max Meyer and Leon Goretzka. The young Schalke squad won 11 out of 17 matches, totalling 36 points. At the end of the 2013–14 season, the club finished in third place in the Bundesliga table to qualify for their third-straight UEFA Champions League appearance, a feat Schalke had never before achieved.
On 7 October 2014, after a 1–2 defeat to 1899 Hoffenheim and after amassing just eight points from seven matches, Keller was sacked and succeeded by Roberto Di Matteo.
In the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, Schalke 04 finished second in a group with Chelsea, Sporting CP and Maribor. Later on, they played against the reigning champion Real Madrid again in the round of 16, where they lost the first leg at home 0–2, but they won 4–3 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. After finishing sixth in the 2014–15 season, the club announced the resignation of head coach Roberto Di Matteo on 26 May 2015. Schalke 04 then played in the Europa League, in the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, and were eliminated by Shakhtar Donetsk and Ajax respectively.
Starting with the 2017–18 season, Domenico Tedesco took over the managerial spot for Schalke 04. At the end of the season, he managed to lead the team to finish as runners-up to Bayern Munich. On 29 July 2018, the team's captain, Benedikt Höwedes, decided to leave after more than ten years at the club.
2019–2020: Financial crisis
In the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, Schalke 04 lost 2–10 in aggregate to Manchester City in the round of 16. Two days later, on 14 March 2019, Tedesco was relieved of his duties. Huub Stevens and Mike Büskens took over as caretaker managers. On 9 May 2019, David Wagner was appointed as head coach of Schalke 04 on a three-year contract until 30 June 2022.
Schalke was hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in April 2020 the club said that it was threatened by bankruptcy. Against the backdrop of a worsened financial situation caused by a high level of debt and a decrease in revenue related to restrictions put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the club decided to introduce a player salary cap of €2.5 million per year.
In the second half of the 2019–20 season, Schalke set a new club record of 16 league games without a win between 25 January and 27 June 2020. Despite this losing streak, Wagner remained as manager, with Clemens Tönnies stepping down from his role as the chairman of Schalke's supervisory board after 19 years in service instead.
2020–present: Relegation and Promotion
Schalke started with significant difficulties into the 2020–21 season. After 8–0 and 4–0 thrashings away at the hands of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig and a 1–3 loss at home against Werder Bremen, Schalke was last in the league table after three games, with one goal scored and fifteen conceded. After only two match days, Schalke dismissed David Wagner as head coach on 27 September in the aftermath of the loss against Bremen. At 1.08 average points per game, Wagner was then the lowest-scoring head coach in Schalke's recent history.
Three days later, Manuel Baum was nominated as Wagner's successor, with Naldo, a former Schalke player, as assistant coach. Baum, who had taken over from Wagner at a winless streak of 18 games, was unable to win a single Bundesliga game between the 3rd and 12th match days, and was dismissed ahead of the 13th match day against Arminia Bielefeld. Huub Stevens once again returned as head coach, beginning his fourth tenure. Baum's tenure had brought the winless streak up from 18 to 28 Bundesliga games, bringing Schalke to the brink of breaking the all-time record of 31 winless games, set by SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin in the 1965–66 season. Stevens did not change Schalke's fortunes in his first game, losing the home game against Arminia Bielefeld, themselves in 16th place and thus threatened by relegation, with a 0–1 scoreline.
On 27 December 2020, Schalke 04 announced that they signed a contract with Swiss manager Christian Gross to be the head coach of the club until the end of the season, making him the fourth head coach for Schalke 04 during the 2020–21 season. Under Gross, Schalke's negative streak continued with a 3–0 loss to Hertha BSC, marking the 30th consecutive winless game, a losing streak of 358 days. On 9 January 2021 Schalke finally recorded a victory over 1899 Hoffenheim, which meant they avoided matching Tasmania Berlin's record. It remained Schalke's only victory under Gross, who was sacked as head coach after just eleven matches on 28 February 2021, following losses against rival Borussia Dortmund (0–4) and VFB Stuttgart (1–5). Alongside Gross, sporting director Jochen Schneider, team coordinator Sascha Riether, assistant coach Rainer Widmayer and fitness coach Werner Leuthard were also relieved of their duties. At 0.45 average points per game, Gross was the least successful head coach at Schalke since Karl-Heinz Marotzke in 1967.
On 2 March 2021, Dimitrios Grammozis was announced as new head coach for Schalke 04. Grammozis started with a scoreless draw against Mainz 05, but his team was unable to collect any points in the two following matches, which were lost 5–0 against VfL Wolfsburg and 3–0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Schalke did not score a goal in the first three matches under Grammozis, a joined negative record for the club (Helmut Schulte in 1992–93 and Markus Weinzierl in 2016–17 also waited for the first goal until their fourth match as head coach for Schalke). Against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Schalke conceded its fifth own goal of the season, yet another negative record.
Relegation to the 2. Bundesliga was confirmed on 20 April 2021, as Schalke 04 lost 1–0 to Arminia Bielefeld, which led to riots by Schalke supporters.
On 28 February 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Schalke cancelled their contract with main sponsor Gazprom, further straining the club's financial situation. Grammozis was sacked as head coach on 6 March 2022, as promotion back to the Bundesliga appeared uncertain. He was replaced by Mike Büskens as caretaker manager until the end of the season. Schalke recovered under Büskens, winning eight of the remaining nine matches. The club secured promotion on 7 May 2022, following a 3–2 victory over FC St. Pauli that guaranteed a top-two finish in the 2. Bundesliga. Fans invaded the pitch in celebration. One week later Schalke won the 2. Bundesliga in dramatic fashion after a 88th minute winner by Simon Terodde defeating 1. FC Nürnberg 2–1.
At the end of the 2021–22 season, Büskens moved back to the position of assistant coach. On 7 June 2022, Schalke appointed Frank Kramer as head coach. As a result of the club's financial problems, most of the players who were essential for the success in the previous season, like Ko Itakura, could not be kept, and Schalke struggled to be competitive at the beginning of the 2022–23 season. Following a series of humiliating losses, including a 1–5 against Hoffenheim, Kramer was relieved of his duties on 19 October 2022. At the time, Schalke was 17th in the Bundesliga after ten matchdays. Matthias Kreutzer took over as caretaker manager. A week after Kramer's dismissal, on 26 October 2022, sporting director Rouven Schröder also announced his instant resignation.
On 27 October 2022, Thomas Reis was named as Schalke's new head coach. The first match under Reis, against SC Freiburg, was lost 0–2, marking Schalke's seventh consecutive loss. After the game, commentators like Huub Stevens praised the team for its better organization, compared to previous matches. Schalke finished the first half of the 2022–23 Bundesliga season in 18th and last position in the table, with just nine points to their name. Following a humiliating 1–6 against RB Leipzig on match day 17, the club noticeably improved, especially in the defense. Between match days 18 and 21, Schalke played 0–0 four times in a row, a new Bundesliga record. The following two matches were won, and on 4 March 2023, Schalke left the last place in the table for the first time since October 2022.
On 19 February 2023, four people were seriously injured when a group of about 100 people, assumed to be supporters of Schalke's rivals Rot-Weiss Essen and Borussia Dortmund, attacked a group of Schalke supporters with baseball bats and screwdrivers. The incident sparked fears over the upcoming derby against Dortmund. This came less than three weeks after the police had uncovered a possible plot by radical Dortmund supporters, who had tried to hide razor blades behind stickers in the stadium ahead of Dortmund's match against Mainz. In 2014, the police had warned of a similar danger ahead of the derby, after razor blades were found in the stadium hidden behind anti-Schalke stickers. On 11 March 2023, in the 100th derby between the two clubs, Schalke played 2–2 against Borussia Dortmund, who were in second place at the time. This ended Dortmund's streak of eight wins in a row. The police have called the match "extremely peaceful" and drew a positive balance. On the final matchday of the 2022–23 season, Schalke relegated to the second division after a 4–2 loss against RB Leipzig, in which they finished 17th in the league table.
Sponsors and finances
As of 2022, the headline sponsor of Schalke 04 is the China-based electronics manufacturer Hisense. The Russia-based hydrocarbon giant Gazprom was dropped in February 2022 as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additional sponsors include Dusseldorf-based insurance group ERGO Insurance Group; Munich-based automotive manufacturer BMW; and its motorcycle division BMW Motorrad; Spanish-based security insurance company Reale Seguros; China-based telecommunications company Huawei; cyber gambling and sports betting company bet-at-home.com; beverage giant Coca-Cola; North Rhine Westphalia-based brewery Veltins; and the current manufacturer of Schalke's squad kits, Germany-based Adidas.
In terms of operating income, Schalke possesses an operating income of €13 million, and 12 per cent debt as of May 2019. As of 2019, Schalke generated the 14th-highest revenue of any football club in the world at €291 million.
In May 2019, Schalke 04 were still ranked by Forbes magazine as the 14th-richest football club in the world, at €683 million, a decrease of 3 per cent from the previous year. As of 2022, the club is no longer listed among the top 20 for either revenue or value.
Schalke 04 is among the Bundesliga teams that were hit hardest by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and in April 2020 the club said it was threatened by bankruptcy.
Crest
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Reserve team
Notable former players
In the year 2000, the supporters voted for Schalker Jahrhundertelf, the "Team of the Century":
Records
Stadium
Schalke's stadium, known as the Veltins-Arena under a sponsorship agreement with Veltins brewery, was built in the summer of 2001 and has a capacity of 62,271 spectators. Schalke regularly draws sell-out crowds to what is widely regarded as one of the most modern and best multi-use facilities in Europe. The facility was previously known as the Arena AufSchalke and replaced the Parkstadion (capacity of 62,000) built in 1973. Prior to this, the club played its matches in the Glückauf-Kampfbahn, constructed in 1928 with a capacity of 35,000. The facility was used for amateur matches during its later years with a reduced capacity of 5,000.
Fan culture
The number of members of Schalke 04 grew from 10,000 in 1991 to 160,000 in 2022. This figure makes Schalke 04 the second-biggest sports club in Germany and fourth-biggest sports club in the world, behind Bayern Munich, Benfica, and CA Boca Juniors. As of 2022, Schalke is ranked as the 94th-best football club in Europe and in Continental Europe by UEFA's UEFA club rankings. A representation of the Schalke 04 membership structure in 2014 showed, among other things, a female share of 20 per cent and a share of the age group up to ten years of 14 per cent. Around 30 per cent of the members were not from North Rhine-Westphalia. Apart from Gelsenkirchen (10,197 members) and its immediate neighbouring towns, the members of Schalke 04 also come from more distant cities such as Cologne (1,117) and Berlin (932). This high growth in Schalke 04 membership is also promoted by promotions of Schalke 04, as from 2013 to further "advertise Schalke 04 brand".
On 21 August 2013, Schalke 04 played their first home match of the 2013–14 season, a UEFA Champions League qualifier at the Veltins-Arena against the Greek runners-up PAOK (led by former head coach Huub Stevens), drawing 1–1. The match and result was more than overshadowed by a controversial police operation in the "S04 Ultras Gelsenkirchen" block of the Veltins-Arena against the fans of the home team with nearly 80 of the home team's fans injured. The return match was won 3–2 by Schalke without any of their supporters allowed to attend the match.
Fan Club Association
Schalke 04 Fan Club Association (SFCV) is an umbrella organization which, according to their own statement, has an estimated 1,500 fan clubs. Of those listed by the SFCV, 860 Schalke 04 fan clubs in October 2012 were divided geographically as follows: an estimated 200 were in Ruhr, 360 in the rest of North Rhine-Westphalia and 300 in the other federal states. A member of the board of SFCV has a permanent seat on the board of FC Schalke 04 and in 2013 SFCV merged with the "Ultras Gelsenkirchen" and later the supporters' club, Schalke Fan-Initiative eV with several members of strong fan groups from the SFCV, as is clear from the merger of the SFCV with the fan section of S04 has not adequately represented the fan interests.
Friendships
The fan-base of Schalke is connected, in a friendly way, with the supporters of 1. FC Nürnberg, Dutch club Twente and Scottish club Heart of Midlothian. The friendship with Nürnberg is the oldest connection between two fan-bases in Germany. Before a match between both clubs, the official club songs are played.
Club songs
Blau und weiß, wie lieb ich Dich ("Blue and White, How I Love You") is the official club song.
Das Steigerlied, traditional German mining song, played before every match.
Blau und Weiß ein Leben lang ("Blue and white a life-long") is the goal tune.
Königsblauer S04 ("Royal Blue S04") played after every match
Popular unofficial chants are
Der Mythos vom Schalker Markt ("The Myth of the Schalke Market"),
Opa Pritschikowski ("Grandpa Pritschikowski"),
Von der Emscher bis zum Bosporus ("From the Emscher to the Bosphorus"),
Wir schlugen Roda... ("We beat Roda..."),
Die Eurofighter sind wieder da ("The Eurofighter are back again"),
Für deine Farben leben und sterben wir ("For your colours we live and die"),
Wir lieben alle nur den FC Schalke ("We all love only FC Schalke"),
Wir sind die Fans ("We are the fans"),
Hurra wir sind die Schalker Knappen ("Hurray we are the Schalke Knappen"),
Kohle unter unser'n Füßen ("Coal under our feet"), and
Steht auf, wenn ihr Schalker seid ("Stand up if you're Schalke"), sung to the melody of "Go West" by the Pet Shop Boys (itself a cover of a Village People song).
Revierderby
The Revierderby is the rivalry between local clubs Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund, both situated in the densely populated Ruhr region. Because of the small geographical distances between the clubs (roughly 30 kilometers), fans of opposing clubs often meet in everyday life. The term may be used in any match between two football clubs of the Ruhr region (such as VfL Bochum, Rot-Weiss Essen or MSV Duisburg), but the term is most commonly associated with the rivalry between Schalke and Dortmund due to the derby's popularity and prestige. To some fans, the win of the derby itself is more important than the actual performance in the Bundesliga.
In popular culture
Schalke has been subject of a feature-length film called Fußball ist unser Leben ("Football is our life"), shown in 1999. Actors Uwe Ochsenknecht and Ralf Richter, both of whom were in the award-winning film Das Boot played the main roles, while many persons associated with Schalke had cameo roles, such as manager Rudi Assauer, coaches Huub Stevens and Helmut Schulte, and player Yves Eigenrauch. Also featured were prominent fans like Manfred Breuckmann, Ulrich Potofski or DJ Hooligan. The film is a comedy about "Hans", a Schalke fanatic, and his three pals who somehow get involved in kidnapping and trying to bring back to form the team's new star player "Di Ospeo" and in the process bet Hans' house that their idol will score in the final match.
"Schalke" is mentioned in the film Das Boot when the bosun tells the crew in their ward room, "I got bad news for you men. Schalke lost 5–0, looks like we won't be in the final this year."
Honours
Role of honour
Domestic
German Championship
Winners: 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1958
DFB-Pokal/German Cup
Winners: 1937, 1971–72, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2010–11
DFB-Ligapokal/German League Cup
Winners: 2005
DFL-Supercup/German Super Cup
Winners: 2011
2. Bundesliga
Winners: 1981–82, 1990–91, 2021–22
International
UEFA Cup
Winners: 1996–97
UEFA Intertoto Cup
Winners: 2003, 2004
Cup of the Alps
Winners: 1968
UEFA club coefficient ranking
Youth
Domestic
Under 19 Bundesliga
Winners: 1976, 2006, 2012, 2015
Runners-up: 1975, 1980, 1981
Under 19 Bundesliga West
Winners: 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Under 17 Bundesliga
Winners: 1978, 2002
Runners-up: 1977, 1980
Under 17 Bundesliga West
Winners: 2013
Double
1937: Championship and Cup
Corporate structure
Notable coaches
Other departments
The basketball department played in the 1988–89 season in the National Basketball League Basketball Bundesliga and from 2004 for several seasons in the ProA, the second highest basketball league in Germany. 2009 saw Schalke 04 voluntarily withdrawal from the ProA. Currently, the team competes in ProB. The club founded a blind football department in 2015, which plays in the Blindenfußball-Bundesliga.
The women's football club was initially dissolved in the mid-1980s, but achieved some notable successes, including five-time Westphalia championships, and competed in the German championship and DFB Cup. Schalke 04 later cooperated with , a women's football club, from 2007 to 2010, and the current women's team was established in July 2020, to compete in Kreisliga B, the eighth tier of women's football, in 2021.
Other longstanding departments include the handball department, which was founded in 1926 and competed in the Gaumeister, Gauliga during Nazi Germany, and the current top division. The athletic department was founded in 1922, with the club's former players including Olympic silver medallist decathlete Frank Busemann, and 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships gold 200-metre runner, Sebastian Ernst. The table tennis department was founded in 1947, and competes in the Westphalia district league. The women's team was one of the early participants in the national league until it withdrew in 1956.
In 2016, Schalke acquired League of Legends e-sports team Elements, becoming the second professional sports team with a League of Legends division, after Beşiktaş. In early June, they debuted in the European League of Legends Championship Series, the top level of professional League of Legends competition in Europe. The club also announced former Rot-Weiss Oberhausen and Sportfreunde Siegen midfielder and SK Gaming co-founder Tim Reichert as Head of ESport.
See also
The Football Club Social Alliance
Forbes' list of the most valuable football clubs
Bibliography
Bodo Berg: More than a game: from the life of a football fan; with photos of Yves own smoke. Verlg the workshop, Göttingen 2000, .
Jenrich Burkh: Royal Blue Planet, Göttingen 2004, .
Stefan Goch / Norbert Silver Bach: Between blue and white is gray, Essen 2005, .
Hardy Green: Faith, Love, Schalke. The complete history of FC Schalke 04, The Workshop, Göttingen 2011, .
Helmut Wood: Schalke is priceless, Gelsenkirchen, 1991, .
Helmut Wood: Schalke smile. Curiosities and concrete of fans and dreamers – experienced and collected, Gelsenkirchen 1984, .
William Herbert Koch: The Royal Blues: the phenomenon Schalke 04, Düsseldorf 1973, .
Olivier Kruschinski: Blue and white for a lifetime. A season with Schalke, Herten 2005, .
Georg Röwekamp: The legend lives on. The history of FC Schalke 04, Göttingen 1996 [and newer edition], .
Schalke Fan Initiative (Eds.), The tip of the Eichbergs. Most scandals of FC Schalke 04. plain text, Essen 2005, .
Jörg Seven Eick, Thomas Spiegel, Gerd Voss (Eds.): 100 Schalke years – 100 stories Schalke. Plain text, Essen 2004, .
Matt Ford: "Bundesliga: Schalke relegated for first time in 30 years". 2021.
References
External links
FC Schalke 04 at UEFA
Association football clubs established in 1904
Football clubs in Germany
Football clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia
Mining association football clubs in Germany
1904 establishments in Germany
Multi-sport clubs in Germany
UEFA Cup winning clubs
S
Bundesliga clubs
Sport in Gelsenkirchen
2. Bundesliga clubs
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7%20%28New%20York%20City%20Subway%20service%29
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7 (New York City Subway service)
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The 7 Flushing Local and <7> Flushing Express are two rapid transit services in the A Division of the New York City Subway, providing local and express services along the full length of the IRT Flushing Line. Their route emblems, or "bullets", are colored , since they serve the Flushing Line.
7 trains operate at all times between Main Street in Flushing, Queens and 34th Street–Hudson Yards in Chelsea, Manhattan. Local service, denoted by a (7) in a circular bullet, operates at all times, while express service, denoted by a <7> in a diamond-shaped bullet, runs only during rush hours and early evenings in the peak direction and during special events.
The 7 route started running in 1915 when the Flushing Line opened. Since 1927, the 7 has held largely the same route, except for a one-stop western extension from Times Square to Hudson Yards on September 13, 2015.
Service history
Early history
On June 13, 1915, the first test train on the IRT Flushing Line ran between Grand Central and Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue, followed by the start of revenue service on June 22. The Flushing Line was extended one stop from Vernon–Jackson Avenue to Hunters Point Avenue on February 15, 1916. On November 5, 1916, the Flushing Line was extended two more stops east to the Queensboro Plaza station. The line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to Alburtis Avenue (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza) on April 21, 1917. Service to 111th Street was inaugurated on October 13, 1925, with shuttle service running between 111th Street, and the previous terminal at Alburtis Avenue on the Manhattan-bound track.
On March 22, 1926, Flushing Line service was extended one stop westward from Grand Central to Fifth Avenue, when that portion of the Flushing Line was opened. The line was extended to Times Square almost exactly a year later, on March 14, 1927. Though an eastward extension to Willets Point Boulevard opened on May 7 of the same year, service was provided by shuttle trains for the first week, until through service was inaugurated. The eastern extension to Flushing–Main Street opened on January 21, 1928.
The service on the Flushing Line east of Queensboro Plaza was shared by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) from 1912 to 1949; BMT trains were designated 9, while IRT services were designated 7 on maps only. The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The Times Square to Flushing route became known as the 7.
Introduction of express service
Express trains began running on April 24, 1939, to serve the 1939 New York World's Fair. The first train left Main Street at 6:30 a.m. IRT expresses ran every nine minutes between Main Street and Times Square, with BMT expresses having a similar frequency, running just between Main Street and Queensboro Plaza. The running time between Main Street and Queensboro Plaza was 15 minutes and the running time between Main Street and Times Square was 27 minutes. Express service to Manhattan operated in the morning rush between 6:30 and 10:43 a.m. Express service to Main Street began from Times Square for the IRT at 10:50 a.m. and the BMT from Queensboro Plaza at 11:09 a.m., continuing until 8 p.m.
On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the Flushing Line became the responsibility of the IRT. After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths, and the BMT Astoria Line platforms extended to 10 BMT car lengths. The project, to start in 1950, would cost . The platforms were only able to fit nine 51-foot-long IRT cars, or seven 60-foot-long BMT cars beforehand.
On March 12, 1953, two 9-car super express trains began operating from Flushing–Main Street to Times Square in the morning rush hour. The super expresses stopped at Willets Point before skipping all stops to Queensboro Plaza, bypassing the Woodside and Junction Boulevard express stops. The running time was cut down to 23 minutes from 25 minutes. Beginning August 12, 1955, four super expresses operated during the morning rush hour. On September 10, 1953, two express trains from Times Square were converted to super express trains in the evening rush hour. Super express service was discontinued in the morning rush and evening rush, on January 13, 1956, and December 14, 1956, respectively. Holiday and Saturday express service was discontinued on March 20, 1954.
On November 1, 1962, fifty R17s (numbers 6500–6549) were transferred from the Mainline IRT to the 7, allowing for ten-car operation. This was the first time that the IRT ran ten-car trains without a second conductor. With the 1964–1965 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in April 1964, trains were lengthened to eleven cars. The Flushing Line received 430 new R33 and R36 "World's Fair" cars for this enhanced service.
Rehabilitation service patterns
First renovation
From May 13, 1985, to August 21, 1989, the IRT Flushing Line was overhauled for improvements, including the installation of new track, repair of station structures and to improve line infrastructure. The project cost $70 million. Temporary platforms were built at local stations along the line when track work was being performed on local track in station areas to provide access to trains.
The major element was the replacement of rails on the Queens Boulevard viaduct. This was necessitated because the subway was allowed to deteriorate during the 1970s and 1980s to the point that there were widespread "Code Red" defects on the Flushing Line, and there were some pillars holding elevated structures that were so shaky that trains would not run if the wind exceeded 65 mph. <7> express service was suspended for the duration of the project; however, extra 7 service was provided for Mets games and Flushing Meadows Park events. During the project, delays of up to 10 minutes on weekdays, and 20 minutes on weekends were expected. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) had considered running express bus service to replace <7> express service, but decided against it as it would require hundreds of buses, which the NYCTA did not have. During the construction project, the NYCTA operated 25 trains per hour on the local track, three fewer than the 28 trains per hour split between the local and express beforehand. Running times on the 7 were lengthened by ten minutes during the project.
Resumption of express service
The project was completed in June 1989, six months ahead of its scheduled completion of December 1989. The NYCTA held a public hearing on June 29, 1989, concerning its proposed reinstatement of express service. The NYCTA proposed implementing express service in July 1989 to coincide with changes in regular A Division schedules. It began to plan options to reinstate express service in 1988. Options were presented to local community boards, including the service pattern in place before May 1985, the continuation of all-local service, Super Express service running nonstop between Willets Point and Queensboro Plaza and Skip-Stop Express service.
Before May 1985, express service operated to Manhattan from 6:30 to 9:45 a.m. and to Main Street from 3:15 to 7:30 p.m. Expresses ran every three minutes on average and locals ran every six minutes; due to the uneven split in service, in practice one express train would be followed two minutes later by another express train, and then an additional four minutes would elapse until the next express train arrived. This split between expresses and locals was in place due to high demand for express trains. Express trains that arrived four minutes after the previous trip had carried twice as many passengers than the expresses that arrived two minutes afterward. With the elimination of express service and the unreliable merge at 33rd Street, service reliability had increased, with on-time performance often exceeding 95%. Keeping local-only service was dismissed as it would not have saved times for the large number of riders boarding east of Junction Boulevard heading to Manhattan, because it did not provide for the most efficient use of subway cars, and because it did not provide an attractive alternative to the overcrowded Queens Boulevard Line. Super express service was dismissed as the demand for local service would require two or three locals for every express, replicating the problem of the pre-1985 service pattern. Skip-stop service was dismissed for limiting the capacity of the line to 24 trains per hour, from the line's capacity of 30 trains per hour under other service patterns for express service.
The NYCTA created a service plan with the goals of maintaining existing levels of reliability, having local service run at existing levels or higher than the pre-1985 level, and providing faster running times. The NYCTA proposed the reintroduction of express service, running to Manhattan between 6:30 and 10 a.m. (changed to 6:30 to 9:45 a.m. at the time of implementation) and to Flushing between 3:15 and 8:15 p.m.. Express service would bypass 61st Street–Woodside, allowing one express train to run for every local, with expresses and locals both running every four minutes. The operation of expresses and locals at even frequencies was expected to aid in the even spacing of trains arriving at 33rd Street. The fast express service was expected to discourage riders boarding north of Junction Boulevard to transfer to the crowded Queens Boulevard Line. The elimination of Woodside as an express stop was done in part because trains at the station would be held up by passengers transferring between the local and the express, which led to delays at the 33rd Street merge, negating the time savings. On July 28, 1989, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board approved the change by a vote of 5–3. <7> express service was restored on August 21, 1989, pushed back from July. Express service saved six minutes from Main Street to Manhattan and four minutes from Junction Boulevard. In September 1989, 200 riders and Republican Mayoral candidate Rudolph Giuliani rallied at the 61st Street station to protest the elimination of express service. Express service resumed stopping at Woodside on a six-week test basis on February 10, 1992, after pressure from community opposition.
Second renovation
In the mid-1990s, the MTA discovered that the Queens Boulevard viaduct structure was unstable, as rocks that were used to support the tracks as ballast became loose due to poor drainage, which, in turn, affected the integrity of the concrete structure overall. <7> express service was suspended again between 61st Street–Woodside and Queensboro Plaza; temporary platforms were installed to access the express track in the four intermediate stations. The work began on April 5, 1993. When the viaduct reconstruction finished on March 31, 1997, ahead of schedule, full <7> express service was reinstated. Throughout this entire period, ridership grew steadily.
Extension and CBTC
The 7 Subway Extension, which travels west and south to 34th Street and 11th Avenue, near the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Hudson Yards, was delayed five times. The 34th Street–Hudson Yards station, originally scheduled to open in December 2013, then pushed to May 2014. And then pushed again to September 13, 2015, and has been serving passengers ever since. However, the overall station construction project was not completed until early September 2018.
In 2010, New York City officials announced they were considering a further extension of the service across the Hudson River to the Secaucus Junction train station in New Jersey. Though the project was supported by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Jersey governor Chris Christie, MTA chairman Joseph Lhota announced in 2013 that the New Jersey extension would not be pursued, in favor of the Gateway Tunnel project, which entails a new tunnel to Manhattan for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains. As part of a joint effort between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the MTA, and NJ Transit, this extension was considered again in February 2018.
In 2008, the MTA started converting the 7 service to accommodate communications-based train control (CBTC). Originally expected to cost $585.9 million, the installation of CBTC was intended to allow two additional trains per hour as well as two additional trains for the 7 Subway Extension, providing a 7% increase in capacity. At the former southern terminal, Times Square, service on the 7 was limited to 27 trains per hour as a result of the bumper blocks there. The new southern terminal at 34th Street–Hudson Yards has tail tracks to store rush-hour trains and can increase the service frequency to 29 trains per hour. New CBTC-compatible cars for the A Division (the R188 contract) were delivered from 2013 to 2016. In October 2017, the CBTC system was activated from Main Street to 74th Street. On November 26, 2018, following numerous delays, CBTC was activated on the remainder of the 7 route.
From June 26, 2023, through January 2024, <7> express trains make all stops between Queensboro Plaza and 74th Street–Broadway due to renovations along the Flushing Line.
Rolling stock
The 7 operates with 11-car sets; the number of cars in a single 7 train set is more than in any other New York City Subway service. These trains, however, are not the longest in the system, since a train of 11 "A" Division cars is only long, while a standard B Division train, which consists of ten cars or eight cars, is long.
Fleet history
The 7, throughout almost all its history, has maintained a separate fleet from the rest of the IRT, starting with the Steinway Low-Vs. The Steinways were built between 1915 and 1925 specifically for use in the Steinway Tunnel. They had special gear ratios to climb the steep grades (4.5%) in the Steinway Tunnel, something standard Interborough equipment could not do.
In 1938, an order of World's Fair Lo-V cars was placed with the St. Louis Car Company. These cars broke from IRT "tradition" in that they did not have vestibules at each car end. In addition, because the IRT was bankrupt at the time, the cars were built as single ended cars, with train controls for the motorman on one side and door controls for the conductor on the other.
Starting in 1948, R12s, R14s, and R15s were delivered to the 7. On November 1, 1962, fifty R17s (6500–6549) were transferred from the Mainline IRT to the 7, allowing for ten-car operation. This was the first time that the IRT ran ten-car trains without a second conductor.
In 1964, picture window R33S and R36 cars replaced the older R12s, R14s, R15s, and R17s in time for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Early in 1965, the NYCTA placed a strip map indicating all the stations and transfer points for the line in each of the line's 430 cars, helping World's Fair visitors. This innovation was not used for other services and as they shared rolling stock with each other; it was possible for cars to have the wrong strip maps.
The 7 was the last service to run using "Redbird" cars, and the 7s fleet consisted entirely of R33S/R36 Redbird trains until February 2002. In 2001, with the arrival of the R142/R142A cars, the Transit Authority announced the retirement of all Redbird cars. From January 2002 to November 2003, Bombardier-built R62A cars from other routes gradually replaced all of the Redbird cars on the 7. The first R62As entered service on the 7 route on February 19, 2002. On November 3, 2003, the last Redbird train made its final trip on this route, making all stops between Times Square and the then-named Willets Point–Shea Stadium. Several Redbird cars running on this service were decorated with Mets logos and colors during the 2000 World Series against the New York Yankees, as the Flushing Line runs adjacent to Citi Field and the former location of Shea Stadium.
By 2008, all R62As on the 7 were upgraded with LED lighted signs to distinguish between express and local trains. These signs are located on the rollsigns that are found on the side of each car. The local is a green circle around the 7 bullet while the express is a red diamond. Previously, the rollsigns showed either a (7) (within a circle) or a <7> (within a diamond) with the word "Express" underneath it.
The R62As were displaced by the R188s from January 2014 to March 30, 2018, in preparation for the automation equipment for the Flushing Line. The displaced R62As were returned to the train, which had given much of its R142As for conversion to R188s. The first train of R188 cars began operating in passenger service on November 9, 2013. By 2016, most of the CBTC-equipped R188 train sets were on the 7, and by March 30, 2018, the last R62A trains were displaced by the R188 cars.
Nickname
The 7 is unofficially nicknamed the "International Express" and the "Orient Express", in part because it travels through several different ethnic neighborhoods populated by immigrants, especially along Roosevelt Avenue, and also because it was the principal subway route to the 1964–65 New York World's Fair. On June 26, 1999, First Lady Hillary Clinton and U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater designated the 7 route as a National Millennium Trail (under the name "International Express"), along with 15 other routes including the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the Underground Railroad.
Route
Service pattern
The following table shows the line used by the 7 and <7>, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:
<7> trains typically run express east of Queensboro Plaza. , due to structural renovations on the IRT Flushing Line, <7> trains only run express east of 74th Street–Broadway.
In addition to regular local and rush-hour express services, "Super Express" service to Manhattan is also provided after New York Mets games weeknights and weekends at Citi Field, as well as after US Open tennis matches: starting at Mets–Willets Point and operating express to Manhattan, also bypassing Junction Boulevard, Hunters Point Avenue and Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue.
Stations
The 7 and <7> run on the IRT Flushing Line in their entirety.
Stations in blue denote stops served by Super Express game specials.
In popular culture
The 2000 documentary film The #7 Train: An Immigrant Journey is based on the ethnic diversity of the people that ride the 7 train every day.
The 7 Line Army is a group of New York Mets fans whose name is derived from the 7 route.
In a 1999 Sports Illustrated interview, then–Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker controversially stated that riding the 7 train is "like you're [riding through] Beirut next to some kid with purple hair next to some queer with AIDS right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing. The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?"
In January 2020, as part of an agreement between the MTA and Comedy Central to promote actor Awkwafina's TV show Nora From Queens, the default pre-recorded announcements for the 7 train on the R188s were replaced with those from Awkwafina for one week. The announcements from Awkwafina featured jokes in addition to the standard station announcements. The agreement was the first time that the MTA has replaced train announcements as a form of advertising.
In September 2022, New York Mets television broadcast announcers Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez, and Gary Cohen, pre-recorded announcements along the 7 line.
Notes
References
External links
MTA New York City Transit – 7 Flushing Local
MTA New York City Transit – 7 Flushing Express
New York City Subway services
Railway services introduced in 1915
1915 establishments in New York City
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan%20II%20of%20Morocco
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Hassan II of Morocco
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Hassan II (; 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999.
He was a member of the 'Alawi dynasty, the eldest son of Sultan Mohammed V, and his second wife, Lalla Abla bint Tahar. He was the first commander-in-chief of the Royal Armed Forces and named crown prince in 1957.
He was enthroned as king in 1961 following his father's death. Hassan's reign was marked by the start of the Western Sahara conflict and the Sand War. He was the target of two failed coup d'états in 1971 and in 1972. Hassan's conservative approach reportedly strengthened his rule over Morocco and the Western Sahara. He was accused of authoritarian practices and human rights, civil rights abuses, particularly during the Years of Lead. A truth commission was set-up after his death, to investigate allegations of human rights violations during his reign.
Early life and education
Mawlay al-Hassan bin Mohammed bin Yusef al-Alawi was born on 9 July 1929, at the Dar al-Makhzen in Rabat during the French Protectorate of Morocco as the eldest son to Sultan Mohammed V and his 2nd wife, Lalla Abla bint Tahar, as a member of the 'Alawi dynasty.
Hassan first studied Islamic sciences at the Dar al-Makhzen in Fez, he then became a student at Royal College in Rabat, where instruction was in Arabic and French and a class was created for him, Mehdi Ben Barka was notably his mathematics teacher for four years at the Royal College.
In 1943, a 12-year-old Hassan attended the Casablanca Conference at the Anfa Hotel along with his father, where he met U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and General Charles de Gaulle.
In 1947, Prince Hassan participated in his father's speech in Tangier (then part of the Tangier International Zone). In the speech, Sultan Mohammed wished for the French Protectorate of Morocco, the Spanish protectorate of Morocco and the Tangier International Zone to be unified into one nation. The speech became a reference for Moroccan nationalists and anti-colonial movements and later led to Morocco's independence.
Hassan later claimed that he had "profound resentment" towards the protectorate and that he felt "deep humiliation" from French colonialism, despite paying hommage to Hubert Lyautey, the first resident-general of the French protectorate, he was highly critical of Lyautey's successors, noting their "stubborn stupidity" and "total insensitivity".
In June 1948, Mawlay al-Hassan obtained his baccalaureate from the College Royal. He pursued his higher education at the Rabat Institute of Higher Studies, a department of the University of Bordeaux, from where he received a law degree in 1951. In 1952, Prince Moulay Hassan earned a master's degree in public law from the University of Bordeaux before serving in the French Navy on board the Jeanne d'Arc cruiser. He was a doctoral student at the Faculty of Law of Bordeaux when in August 1953 his family's exile occurred. Having ascended the throne, on June 25, 1963, Dean Lajugie presented him with the insignia of Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Bordeaux.
He was forced into exile by French authorities on 20 August 1953, along with his family and father, they were deported to Zonza, Corsica. Their deportation caused protests and further fueled the anti-colonial movement. They moved to the city of L'Île-Rousse and were living in the Napoléon Bonaparte hotel for five months before being transferred to Antsirabe, Madagascar in January 1954. Prince Hassan acted as his father's political advisor during the exile. They later returned from exile on 16 November 1955. During the exile, Mohammed Ben Aarafa was named as the Sultan by the French government in Morocco, however, the Moroccan government does not recognize the title.
Prince Hassan participated in the February 1956 negotiations for Morocco's independence with his father. Following Morocco's independence from France, his father appointed him as the first Commander in Chief of the newly founded Royal Moroccan Armed Forces in April 1956.
The same year, he led army contingents to victory after defeating rebel militias during the Rif revolt.
It was during his tenure as Commander in Chief of the Royal Armed Forces that Hassan met General Mohamed Oufkir, who became the Minister of Defense during Hassan II's reign. Oufkir was later suspected of orchestrating a failed coup d'état to kill Hassan. After Mohammed V changed the title of the Moroccan sovereign from Sultan to King in 1957, Hassan was proclaimed Crown Prince on 9 July 1957. He was named prime minister in 1961.
Reign
On 26 February 1961, Crown Prince Hassan became the King of Morocco after his father's death from heart failure following a minor surgery. He was enthroned in the Royal Palace of Rabat on 3 March 1961. His first official foreign visit as King was when attending the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade.
Domestic reforms
In 1962, Hassan II and his aides wrote the Kingdom of Morocco's first constitution, defining the kingdom as a social and democratic constitutional monarchy, made Islam the state religion, and gave the king, whose person was defined as "inviolable and sacred", the title of Amir al-Mu'minin and "supreme representative of the nation". The constitution also reaffirmed Morocco's choice of a multi-party political system, the only one in the Maghreb at that time. The constitution provoked strong political protest from the UNFP and the Istiqlal and other leftist parties that formed the opposition at the time.
In June 1965, in the aftermath of prior riots, Hassan dissolved the Parliament and suspended the constitution of 1962, declaring a state of exception that would last more than five years, after which he would rule Morocco directly, however, he did not completely abolish the mechanisms of parliamentary democracy. An alleged report from the U.S. Secretary of State claimed that, during this period, "Hassan [appeared] obsessed with the preservation of his power rather than with its application toward the resolution of Morocco's multiplying domestic problems."
In 1990, following riots in Fez, Hassan set up the Consultative Human Rights Council to look into allegations of abuse by the State. In 1991, he pardoned 2000 prisoners, including political prisoners and people held in secret prisons including the ones in Tazmamart. In 1998, the first opposition-led government was elected by Hassan.
Attempted coup d'états
In the early 1970s, King Hassan survived two assassination attempts. The attempted coups reportedly reinforced Hassan's rule over Morocco. The first coup attempt, dubbed by the media as the Skhirat coup attempt, occurred on 10 July 1971, at 14:02 (GMT), during Hassan's forty-second birthday party at his palace in Skhirat, near Rabat. The attempted coup was carried out by up to 1,400 army cadets from the Ahermoumou military training academy led by General Mohamed Medbouh and Colonel M'hamed Ababou. Hassan was reported to have hidden in a bathroom whilst grenades were thrown and rapid shots were fired. After firing died down, Hassan ended up face-to-face with one of the rebel commanders; he reportedly intimidated the leader of the rebel troops by reciting a verse of the Quran, and the commander knelt and kissed Hassan's right hand. An estimated 400 people were killed by rebels during the attempted coup; loyal troops within the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces under the command of Hassan killed more than 150 and detained 900 people in connection with the coup. The rebels also raided the offices of the RTM, Morocco's state-owned broadcasting company, and took over broadcasting during the coup, with propaganda being broadcast claiming that the King had been murdered and that a republic had been founded. M'hamed Ababou gave orders to rebels through Radio-Maroc, ordering the execution of everyone in the palace by asking that "dinner be served to everyone by 7 pm" on air. The coup ended the same day when royalist troops took over the palace in combat against the rebels. It was subsequently claimed by the Moroccan authorities that the young cadets had been misled by senior officers into thinking that they were acting to protect the king. Hassan himself supported the thesis that the coup was supported by Libya, raising tensions between the two countries. The next day, Hassan attended the funerals of royalist soldiers killed during the attempted coup.
On 16 August 1972, at 17:05 (GMT), during a second attempt, dubbed by the media as the Airmen's coup, six F-5 military jets from the Royal Moroccan Air Force opened fire on the King's Boeing 727 while flying at 3,000 metres altitude over Tétouan on the way to Rabat from Barcelona, following a meeting with Gregorio López-Bravo, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, killing eight people on board and injuring fifty. A bullet hit the fuselage but they failed to take the plane down despite it being badly damaged. The military jets were loaded with practice ammunition rather than missiles, severely impacting the coup's effectiveness. Hassan hurried to the cockpit, took control of the radio, and reportedly shouted: "Stop firing, the tyrant is dead!"; however, conflicting reports state that he posed as a mechanic and stated that both pilots died and the king was badly injured, convincing the pilots to stop. 220 members of the Royal Moroccan Air Force were arrested for partaking in the coup plot, 177 of whom were acquitted, 32 were found guilty, and 11 people were sentenced to death by a military tribunal. After doing an emergency landing at Rabat–Salé International Airport, Hassan escaped to his palace in Shkirat in an unmarked car. Mohamed Amekrane, a colonel suspected to be a main part of the coup, attempted to flee to Gibraltar; however, his asylum application was declined and he was sent back to Morocco. He was later sentenced to death by firing squad. General Mohammed Oufkir, Morocco's defense minister at the time, was suspected to be leading the coup and was later found dead from multiple gunshot wounds, the death was officially declared a suicide. Hassan declared that he "must not place [his] trust in anyone" after what he perceived as treason from Oufkir.
Armed conflicts
On 14 October 1963, the Sand War was declared as a result of failed negotiations over borders inherited from French colonialism between Hassan II and Algeria's newly elected president Ahmed Ben Bella. The war heavily damaged both countries economy, Hassan asked citizens to not celebrate Eid al-Adha due to the economic recession caused by the war. A peace treaty and armistice ended the war in on 15 January 1969. He later claimed that the Sand War was "stupid and a real setback". Hassan sent 11,000 troops, one infantry brigade to Egypt and one armored regiment to Syria during Yom Kippur War in 1973. Six Moroccan troops were captured during the war. During Hassan II's reign, Morocco recovered the Spanish-controlled area of Ifni in 1969, and gained control of two-thirds of what was formerly Spanish Sahara through the Green March in 1975.
Foreign policy
In the Cold War era, Hassan II allied Morocco with the West generally, and with the United States in particular, after his death, The New York Times called him "a monarch oriented to the west". There were close and continuing ties between Hassan II's government and the CIA, who helped to reorganize Morocco's security forces in 1960. During Hassan's tenure as prime minister, Morocco controversially accepted Soviet military aid and made overtures towards Moscow. During an interview, Hassan stated that "as an Islamic people, [Morocco has] the right to practice bigamy. We can wed East and West and be faithful to both". In 1974, he created the Bayt Mal Al Qods Acharif Agency (BMAQ), a non-governmental organization created to "preserve the Arab-Muslim character" of Jerusalem, the agency works on the restoration of mosques and the creation of hospitals and schools in the city. BMAQ also gives out scholarship to students living in the city, as well as donating equipment to schools and kindergartens.
Hassan II was alleged to have covertly cooperated with the State of Israel and Israeli intelligence. In Operation Yachin, he allowed over 97,000 Moroccan Jews to be migrated to Israel from 1961 to 1964 in exchange for weapons and training for Morocco's security forces and intelligence agencies. In an arrangement financed by the American Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), Hassan II was paid a sum of $500,000 along with $100 for each of the first 50,000 Moroccan Jews to be migrated to Israel, and $250 for each Jewish emigrant thereafter.
Hassan served as a mediator between Arab countries and Israel. In 1977, he served as a key backchannel in peace talks between Egypt and Israel, hosting secret meetings between Israeli and Egyptian officials, these meetings led to the Egypt–Israel peace treaty.
According to Shlomo Gazit during an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, then-leader of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Hassan II invited Mossad and Shin Bet agents to bug the Casablanca hotel where the Arab League Summit of September 1965 would be held to record the conversations of the Arab leaders and helped Israel win the Six-Day War. This information was instrumental in Israel's victory in the Six-Day War. Ronen Bergman claimed in his book, Rise And Kill First, that Israeli intelligence then supplied information leading to Mehdi Ben Barka's capture and assassination in October. Bergman also alleged that the Moroccan DST and Mossad collaborated in a 1996 plot to assassinate Osama bin Laden, the plot involved a woman close to bin Laden who was an informant for the DST, however, the mission was aborted due to rising tensions between Morocco and Israel.
Relations with Algeria have deteriorated sharply due to the previous Sand War and the Western Sahara conflict, with Algeria unconditionally backing and funding the Polisario Front since its creation in 1973. Relations with Mauritania during the Western Sahara conflict were less than ideal, with Morocco recognizing Mauritania as a sovereign country in 1969, nearly a decade after Mauritania's declaration of independence. During the 20th congress of the Organization of African Unity, Hassan II went on stage and declared that Morocco's membership of the OAU was suspended as a result of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic joining the OAU. Morocco entered into a diplomatic crisis with Burkinabe President Thomas Sankara following his decision to recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Hassan II was close with Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran, even hosting him in 1979 when he was exiled.
Economy
Economically, Hassan II adopted a market-based economy, where agriculture, tourism, and phosphates mining industries played a major role. In 1967, he launched an irrigation project consisting of over 1 million hectares of land.
Hassan eventually came to develop very good relations with France, especially with parts of the French media and financial elite. In 1988, the contract for the construction of the Great Mosque of Casablanca, a considerable project in scale, financed through compulsory contributions, was awarded to Francis Bouygues, one of the most powerful businessmen in France and personal friend of the King. His image in France was tarnished however following the publication in 1990 of Gilles Perrault's Our Friend the King, in which the writer describes the conditions of detention in the Tazmamart prison, the repression of left-wing opponents and Sahrawis, political assassinations, but also the social situation and the poverty in which the majority of Moroccans live.
On 3 March 1973, Hassan II announced a "Moroccanization" policy, in which state-held assets, agricultural lands, and businesses that were more than 50 percent foreign-owned were taken over and transferred to local companies and businessmen. The "Moroccanisation" of the economy affected thousands of businesses and the proportion of industrial businesses in Morocco that were Moroccan-owned immediately increased from 18% to 55%. 2/3 of the wealth of the "Moroccanised" economy was concentrated in 36 Moroccan families. In 1988, he also adopted a privatization policy, by 1993, more than a hundred public companies were privatized.
From the 1990s onwards, a large-scale operation to privatize public companies was carried out by the king and André Azoulay, the monarchy's economic advisor. The French group Accor was thus able to acquire six hotels of the Moroccan chain Moussafir and the management of the Jamaï Palace in Fez. This privatization operation enabled Moroccan notables close to the government to control the most prominent public companies, and French companies to make a strong comeback in the country's economy. The royal family acquired the mining group Monagem.
Human rights
Hassan's reign was infamous for a poor human rights record labeled as "appalling" by the BBC. It was however, at its worst during the period from the 1960s to the late 1980s, which was labelled as the "years of lead" and saw thousands of dissidents jailed, killed, exiled or forcibly disappeared. During this time, Morocco was one of the most repressive and undemocratic nations in the world. However, Morocco has been labeled as "partly free" by Freedom House, except in 1992 and 2014 when the country was labeled "Not free" in those years respectively. The country would only become more democratic by the early 1990s amid strong international pressure and condemnation over the nation's human rights record. Due to the strong rebuke from other nations and human rights groups, and also because of the realistic threat of international isolation, Hassan II would then gradually democratize the nation over time. Since then, Morocco's human rights record has improved modestly and improved significantly following the death of Hassan II.
Hassan II imprisoned many members of the National Union of Popular Forces and sentenced some party leaders, including Mehdi Ben Barka, to death. Student protests that took place 21 March 1965 in Casablanca, and devolved into general riots the following day; their violent repression caused hundreds of deaths. In the aftermath, on 26 March, Hassan II gave a speech that he concluded with: "There is no greater danger to a country than a so-called intellectual; it would have been better if you had all been illiterate."
In October 1965, Mehdi Ben Barka, the main political opponent and fierce critic of Hassan II, was kidnapped and disappeared in Paris. In Rise and Kill First, Ronen Bergman points to cooperation between the Moroccan authorities and Mossad in locating Ben Barka.
Death
On 23 July 1999 at 16:30 (GMT), Hassan II was pronounced dead from a myocardial infarction by the CHU Ibn Sina Hospital in Rabat, having been hospitalized earlier that day for acute interstitial pneumonitis; he was 70 years old. The Moroccan government ordered forty days of mourning, while entertainment and cultural events were cancelled, and public institutions and many businesses were closed upon news of the king's death. Days of mourning were also declared in several other countries, the majority being Arab states. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Mohammed VI.
He was buried in a wooden coffin at the Mausoleum of Mohammed V on 25 July, following a national funeral service in Rabat. During Hassan's funeral, his coffin was carried by King Mohammed VI, his brother Prince Moulay Rachid and his cousin Moulay Hicham. The coffin was covered in a red cloth, in which the Shahada, an Islamic testimony of faith, is inscribed in golden writing. Mohammed VI was enthroned as the de jure King of Morocco a week after Hassan's death.
Personal life
Morocco's Royal Palace described Hassan in an official biography after his death as "well versed in the fields of architecture, medicine and technology" and that he gave his children a "strong commitment to the search for learning and a dedication to uphold the values of their country and their people". Hassan was fluent in Arabic and French and spoke "capable English".
In 1956, Hassan, who was then prince, started a relationship with French actress Etchika Choureau, who he met in Cannes in 1956. The relationship ended in 1961 after Hassan's ascension to the royal throne. On November 9, 1961, King Hassan II married Lalla Latifa Amahzoune, an ethnic Zayane during a double nuptial ceremony with his brother Moulay Abdallah. Hassan and Amahzoune had five children:
Princess Lalla Meryem (born on 26 August 1962);
King Mohammed VI (born 21 August 1963);
Princess Lalla Asma (born on 29 September 1965);
Princess Lalla Hasna (born on 19 November 1967);
Prince Moulay Rachid (born on 20 June 1970).
Honors and decorations
National orders
Grand Master of the Order of Muhammad
Grand Master of the Order of the Throne
Grand Master of the Order of the Independence
Grand Master of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite
Grand Master of the Order of Fidelity
Grand Master of the Order of Military Merit
Grand Master of the National Order of Merit
Grand Master of the National Order of Prosperity
Foreign orders
Grand Star of the Order of Merit of the Austrian Republic
Grand Collar of the Order of al-Khalifa of Bahrain
Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold of Belgium
Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia
Knight of the Order of the Elephant of Denmark
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile of Egypt
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour of France
Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer of Greece
Grand Collar of the Order of Pahlavi of Iran
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Two Rivers of Iraq
Knight Grand Cross with Collar of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Collar of the Order of al-Hussein bin Ali of Jordan
Collar of the Order of Mubarak the Great of Kuwait
Extraordinary Grade of the Order of Merit of Lebanon
Grand Cordon of the Order of Idris I of Libya
Grand Cross of the National Order of Mali of Mali
Grand Cordon of the Order of National Merit of Mauritania
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Special Class of the Order of Oman
Grand Cross of the Order of Pakistan, First Class
Grand Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword of Portugal
Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry of Portugal
Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword of Portugal
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Independence of Qatar
Order of Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia, 1st Class
Collar of Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise of Spain
Collar of the Order of Charles III of Spain
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Two Niles of Sudan
Wissam of the Order of Oumayid of Syria
Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (Sweden)
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic of Tunisia
Grand Collar of the Order of the Seventh of November of Tunisia
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Collar of the Order of Etihad (Order of the Federation)
Yugoslav Great Star
Honorary prizes
On 1 November 2022, Hassan was posthumously awarded the Pan-African Prize for his contributions to the establishment of the African Union and Pan-Africanism.
Bibliography
See also
History of Morocco
List of rulers of Morocco
Notes
References
External links
History of Morocco
1929 births
1999 deaths
20th-century Arab people
20th-century Moroccan businesspeople
'Alawi dynasty
Alumni of the Royal College (Rabat)
Grand Collars of the Order of Prince Henry
Grand Collars of the Order of Saint James of the Sword
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Kings of Morocco
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia
Moroccan Army officers
Moroccan anti-communists
Moroccan exiles in Madagascar
Moroccan Muslims
Moroccan people of Arab descent
Muslim monarchs
People from Rabat
Recipients of the Collar of Honour
Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
University of Bordeaux alumni
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timely%20Comics
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Timely Comics
|
Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics.
Founded in 1939, during the era called the Golden Age of comic books, "Timely" was the umbrella name for the comics division of pulp magazine publisher Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities all producing the same product. The company's first publication in 1939 used Timely Publications, based at his existing company in the McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City. In 1942, it moved to the 14th floor of the Empire State Building, where it remained until 1951. In 2016, Marvel announced that Timely Comics would be the name of a new imprint of low-priced reprint comics.
Creation
In 1939, with the emerging medium of comic books proving hugely popular, and the first superheroes setting the trend, pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman founded Timely Publications, basing it at his existing company in the McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City. Goodman – whose official titles were editor, managing editor, and business manager, with Abraham Goodman officially listed as publisher – contracted with the newly formed comic book packager Funnies, Inc. to supply material.
His first effort, Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), featured the first appearances of writer-artist Carl Burgos' android superhero, the Human Torch, and Paul Gustavson's costumed detective the Angel. As well, it contained the first published appearance of Bill Everett's anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner, created for the unpublished movie-theater giveaway comic Motion Picture Funnies Weekly earlier that year, with the eight-page original story now expanded by four pages.
Also included were Al Anders' Western hero the Masked Raider; the jungle lord Ka-Zar the Great, with Ben Thompson beginning a five-issue adaptation of the story "King of Fang and Claw" by Bob Byrd in Goodman's pulp magazine Ka-Zar #1 (Oct. 1936); the non-continuing-character story "Jungle Terror", featuring adventurer Ken Masters, drawn and possibly written by Art Pinajian under the quirky pseudonym "Tohm Dixon" or "Tomm Dixon" (with the published signature smudged); "Now I'll Tell One", five single-panel, black-and-white gag cartoons by Fred Schwab, on the inside front cover; and a two-page prose story by Ray Gill, "Burning Rubber", about auto racing. A painted cover by veteran science-fiction pulp artist Frank R. Paul featured the Human Torch, looking much different from the interior story.
That initial comic, cover-dated October 1939, quickly sold out 80,000 copies, prompting Goodman to produce a second printing, cover-dated November 1939. The latter is identical except for a black bar over the October date in the inside-front-cover indicia, and the November date added at the end. That sold approximately 800,000 copies. With a hit on his hands, Goodman began assembling an in-house staff, hiring Funnies, Inc. writer-artist Joe Simon as editor. Simon brought along his collaborator, artist Jack Kirby, followed by artist Syd Shores. Goodman then formed Timely Comics, Inc., beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941.
There is evidence that "Red Circle Comics" – a name that would be used for an unrelated imprint of Archie Comics in the 1970s and 1980s – may have been a term in use as Goodman prepared to publish his first comic book. Historian Les Daniels, referring to Goodman's pulp-magazine line, describes the name Red Circle as "a halfhearted attempt to establish an identity for what was usually described loosely as 'the Goodman group' [made] when a new logo was adopted: a red disk surrounded by a black ring that bore the phrase 'A Red Circle Magazine.' But it appeared only intermittently, when someone remembered to put it on [a pulp magazine's] cover. Historian Jess Nevins, conversely, writes that, "Timely Publications [was how] Goodman's group [of companies] had become known; before this, it was known as 'Red Circle' because of the logo that Goodman had put on his pulp magazines...." The Grand Comics Database identifies 23 issues of Goodman comic books from 1944 to 1959 with Red Circle, Inc. branding, and a single 1948 issue under Red Circle Magazines Corp.
Golden Age of Comic Books
Marvel Comics was rechristened Marvel Mystery Comics with issue #2 (Dec. 1939); the magazine would continue under that title through #92 (June 1949) before becoming Marvel Tales through #159 (Aug. 1957). Timely began publishing additional series, beginning with Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), Mystic Comics #1 (March 1940), Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940), The Human Torch #2 (premiering Fall 1940 with no cover date and having taken over the numbering from the unsuccessful Red Raven), and Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). Going on sale in December 1940, a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and already showing the hero punching Hitler, that first issue sold nearly one million copies.
With the hit characters Human Torch and Sub-Mariner now joined by Simon and Kirby's seminal patriotic hero Captain America, Timely had its "big three" stars of the era fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Rival publishers National Comics Publications / All-American Comics, the sister companies that would evolve into DC Comics, likewise had their own "big three": Superman and Batman plus the soon-to-debut Wonder Woman. Timely's other major competitors were Fawcett Publications (with Captain Marvel, introduced in 1940); Quality Comics (with Plastic Man and Blackhawk, both in 1941); and Lev Gleason Publications (with Daredevil, introduced in 1940 and unrelated to the 1960s Marvel hero).
Other Timely characters, many seen both in modern-day retroactive-continuity appearances and in flashbacks, include the Angel, the next-most-popular character in terms of number of appearances; the Destroyer, an early creation of future Marvel chief Stan Lee; super-speedster the Whizzer; the flying and super-strong Miss America; the original Vision, who inspired Marvel writer Roy Thomas in the 1960s to create a Silver Age version of the character; and the Blazing Skull and the Thin Man, two members of the present-day New Invaders.
Just as Captain America had his teenage sidekick Bucky and DC Comics' Batman had Robin, the Human Torch acquired a young partner, Toro, in the first issue of the Torch's own magazine. The Young Allies—one of several "kid gangs" popular in comics at the time—debuted under the rubric the Sentinels of Liberty in a text story in Captain America Comics #4 (June 1941) before making it to the comics pages themselves the following issue, and then eventually into their own title.
Seeing a natural "fire and water" theme, Timely was responsible for comic books' first major crossover, with a two-issue battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner that spanned Marvel Mystery Comics #8–9 (telling the story from the two characters' different perspectives).
After the Simon and Kirby team moved to DC late 1941, having produced Captain America Comics through issue #10 (Jan. 1942), Al Avison and Syd Shores became regular pencilers on the title, with one generally inking over the other. Stan Lee (né Stanley Lieber), a cousin of Goodman's by marriage who had been serving as an assistant since 1939, at age 16, was promoted to interim editor just shy of his 19th birthday. Showing a knack for the business, Lee stayed on for decades, eventually becoming Marvel Comics' publisher in 1972. Fellow Timely staffer Vincent Fago would substitute during Lee's World War II military service.
The staff at that time, Fago recalled, was, "Mike Sekowsky. Ed Winiarski. Gary Keller was a production assistant and letterer. Ernest Hart and Kin Platt were writers, but they worked freelance; Hart also drew. George Klein, Syd Shores, Vince Alascia, Dave Gantz, and Chris Rule were there, too".
In 1942, Goodman moved his publisher operations to the 14th floor of the Empire State Building, where it remained until 1951.
Funny animals, and people
The superheroes were the products of what Timely referred to as the "adventure" bullpen. The company also developed an "animator" bullpen creating such movie tie-in and original talking animal comics as Terrytoons Comics, Mighty Mouse, All Surprise Comics, Super Rabbit Comics, Funny Frolics, and Funny Tunes, renamed Animated Funny Comic-Tunes. Former Fleischer Studios animator Fago, who joined Timely in 1942, headed this group, which consisted through the years of such writer/artists as Hart, Gantz, Klein, Platt, Rule, Sekowsky, Frank Carin (né Carino), Bob Deschamps, Chad Grothkopf, Pauline Loth, Jim Mooney, Moss Worthman a.k.a. Moe Worth, and future Mad magazine cartoonists Dave Berg and Al Jaffee.
Features from this department include "Dinky" and "Frenchy Rabbit" in Terrytoons Comics; "Floop and Skilly Boo" in Comedy Comics; "Posty the Pelican Postman" in Krazy Komics and other titles; "Krazy Krow" in that character's eponymous comic; "Tubby an' Tack", in various comics; and the most popular of these features, Jaffee's "Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal" and Hart's "Super Rabbit", the cover stars of many different titles. Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton's best-known features, Powerhouse Pepper. The first issue, cover-dated January 1943, bore no number, and protagonist Pepper looked different from his more familiar visualization (when the series returned for four issues, May–Nov. 1948) as the bullet-headed naif in the striped turtleneck sweater.
Additionally, Timely in 1944 and 1945 initiated a sitcom selection of titles aimed at female readers: Millie the Model, Tessie the Typist and Nellie the Nurse. The company continued to pursue female readers later in the decade with such superheroines as Sun Girl; the Sub-Mariner spin-off Namora; and Venus, the Roman goddess of love, posing as a human reporter. Patsy Walker, Millie the Model, Tessie the Typist and other Timely humor titles also included Harvey Kurtzman's "Hey Look!" one-pagers in several issues.
Future Comic Book Hall of Fame artist Gene Colan, a Marvel mainstay from 1946 on, recalled that, "The atmosphere at Timely was very good, very funny. ... [I worked in] a big art room and there were about 20 artists in there, all stacked up. Syd [Shores] was in the last row on my side, and there was another row on the other side. Dan DeCarlo was there, several other people – Vince Alascia was an inker; Rudy LaPick sat right behind me," with Mike Sekowsky "in another room".
Yet after the wartime boom years – when superheroes had been new and inspirational, and comics provided cheap entertainment for millions of children, soldiers and others – the post-war era found superheroes falling out of fashion. Television and mass market paperback books now also competed for readers and leisure time. Goodman began turning to a wider variety of genres than ever, emphasizing horror, Westerns, teen humor, crime and war comics, and introducing female heroes to try to attract girls and young women to read comics. In 1946, for instance, the superhero title All Select Comics was changed to Blonde Phantom Comics, and now starred a masked secretary who fought crime in an evening gown. That same year, Kid Komics eliminated its stars and became Kid Movie Comics. All Winners Comics became All Teen Comics in January 1947. Timely eliminated virtually all its staff positions in 1948.
Time after Timely
The precise end-point of the Golden Age of comics is vague, but for Timely, at least, it appears to have ended with the cancellation of Captain America Comics at issue #75 (Feb. 1950) – by which time the series had already been Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, with the finale featuring merely anthological horror/suspense tales and no superheroes. Sub-Mariner Comics and Human Torch Comics had already ended with #32 (June 1949) and #35 (March 1949) respectively, and the company's flagship title, Marvel Mystery Comics, starring the Angel, ended that same month with #92, becoming the horror anthology Marvel Tales beginning with issue #93 (Aug. 1949). Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company, the newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated Nov. 1951.
In 2015, Marvel registered the trademark "Timely Comics". The following year, Marvel announced that Timely Comics would be the name of a new imprint of low-priced reprint comics.
Marvel branding
Publisher Martin Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of companies all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies under which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946–47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt the name in 1961.
Timely characters and creators
List of characters making multiple appearances, either in Timely Comics solely or in Timely and subsequent companies Atlas Comics and Marvel Comics.
{| class="wikitable" width=100%
!width=15%| Character
!width=25%| Debut
!width=25%| Reintroduced (Modern Age)
!width=40%| Creators
|-
|Sub-Mariner
|Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (April, 1939)
|Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962)
|Bill Everett (writer/artist)
|-
|American Ace
|Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (April, 1939)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #4 (Nov. 2011)
|Paul J. Lauretta (penciler). Writer unknown.
|-
|Angel
|Marvel Comics #1 (Nov. 1939)
|The Avengers #97 (March 1972);U.S. Agent #3 (Aug. 1993)
|Paul Gustavson (artist). Writer unknown.
|-
|Archie the Gruesome
|Comedy Comics #10 (Jun. 1942)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 (Aug. 2011)
|
|-
|Black Marvel
|Mystic Comics #5 (March 1941)
|Slingers #1 (Dec. 1998)
|Al Gabriele (penciller-inker). Writer unknown but not Stan Lee as often mis-credited.
|-
|Black Widow
|Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940)
|Marvels #1 (Jan. 1994)
|George Kapitan (writer), Harry Sahle (penciller)
|-
|Blazing Skull
|Mystic Comics #5 (March 1941)
|The Avengers #97 (March 1972); Invaders #2 (1993)
|Bob Davis (writer-penciler)
|-
|Blonde Phantom
|All Select Comics #11 (Fall 1946)
|The Sensational She-Hulk #4 (July 1989)
|Stan Lee (writer), Syd Shores (penciller)
|-
|-
|Blue Blade
|U.S.A. Comics #5 (Summer 1942)
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|Unknown writer and artist.
|-
|Blue Blaze
|Mystic Comics #1 (March 1940)
|
|Harry Douglas (writer-penciler), signed "Harry / Douglas", leading to numerous theories of two creators or other pseudonym situations which have proven incorrect.
|-
|Bucky Barnes
|Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941)
|As Winter Soldier:Captain America vol. 5, #1 (Jan. 2005)
|Joe Simon (writer), Jack Kirby (penciller)
|-
|Blue Diamond
|Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941)
|Marvel Premiere #29 (April 1976)
|Ben Thompson (penciller). Unknown writer.
|-
|Captain America
|Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941)
|The Avengers #4 (March 1964)
|Joe Simon (writer), Jack Kirby (penciller)
|-
|Captain Terror
|U.S.A. Comics #2 (Nov. 1941)
|Captain America #442 (Aug. 1995)
|Mike Suchorsky (penciller). Unknown writer.
|-
|Captain Wonder
|Kid Komics #1 (Feb. 1943)
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|Otto Binder (writer), Frank Giacoia (penciller)
|-
|Challenger
|Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941)
| Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 (Feb. 2005)
|Charles Nicholas (penciller). Unknown writer.
|-
|Citizen V
|Daring Mystery Comics #8 (Jan. 1942)
|Thunderbolts −1 (July 1997)
|Ben Thompson (penciler, as "Tom Benson"). Unknown writer.
|-
|Comet Pierce
|Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940)
|
|Jack Kirby (writer-artist)
|-
|Davey Drew (Davey and the Demon)
|Mystic Comics #7 (December 1941)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #3 (October 2011)
|Howard James
|-
|Defender
|U.S.A. Comics #1 (August 1941)
|Daredevil #66 (Dec. 2004)
|Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (writers). Penciler uncertain
|-
|Destroyer
|Mystic Comics #6 (Oct. 1941)
|Invaders #26 (March 1978)
|Stan Lee (writer), Jack Binder (penciler)
|-
|Dynamic Man
|Mystic Comics #1 (March 1940)
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
| Daniel Peters
|-
|Electro
|Marvel Mystery #4 (Feb. 1940)
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
| Steve Dahlman (writer-penciler)
|-
|Falcon
|Human Torch Comics #2 (June 1940)
|Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 (Feb. 2005)
| Carl Burgos (writer - artist)
|-
|Father Time
|Captain America Comics #6 (Sep. 1941)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2 (Sep. 2011)
| Stan Lee (writer)
|-
|Ferret
|Marvel Mystery Comics #4 (Feb. 1940)
|The Marvels Project #3 (Dec. 2009)
|
|-
|Fiery Mask
|Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|Joe Simon (writer-penciller)
|-
|Fighting Yank
|Captain America Comics #17 (Aug. 1942)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2 (Sep. 2011)
|
|-
|Fin
|Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941)
|The Avengers #97 (March 1972); Invaders #5 (March 1976)
|Bill Everett (writer-penciller)
|-
|Flash Foster
|Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Jan. 1940)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 (Aug. 2011)
|
|-
|Flexo the Rubber Man
|Mystic Comics #1 (April 1940)
|
|Jack Binder (penciller). Unknown writer
|-
|Human Torch
|Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939)
|Fantastic Four Annual #4 (Nov. 1966)
|Al Fagaly (penciller), Carl Burgos (writer-penciller)
|-
|Hurricane<ref name="makkari">In 1998, the Hurricane and Mercury were revealed in retcon to be the same character, the Eternal named Makkari.</ref>
|Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941)
|Marvel Universe #7 (Dec. 1998)
|Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (writers), Jack Kirby (penciler)
|-
|Invisible Man
|Mystic Comics #2 (Apr. 1940)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 (Aug. 2011)
|
|-
|Jack Frost
|U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
|Marvel Premiere #29 (April 1976)
||Stan Lee (writer), Charles Nicholas (penciler)
|-
|Jap Buster Johnson
|U.S.A Comics #6 (Dec. 1942)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2 (Sept. 2011)
|
|-
|Jimmy Jupiter
|Marvel Mystery Comics #28 (Feb. 1942)
|Captain America #1 (Sept. 2011)
|
|-
|John Steele
|Daring Mystery Comics #1
|The Marvels Project #1 (Oct. 2009)
|Larry Antonette (writer and, as "Dean Carr", penciler)
|-
|Laughing Mask
|Daring Mystery Comics #2
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|Will Harr (writer), Maurice Gutwirth (penciler)
|-
|Major Liberty
|U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
|
|
|-
|Marvel Boy (first)
|Daring Mystery Comics #6 (Sept. 1940)
|
||Jack Kirby (penciller), Joe Simon and Al Avison (inkers)
|-
|Marvel Boy (second)
|U.S.A. Comics #7 (Feb. 1943)
|Fantastic Four #165 (Dec. 1975)
||Bob Oksner (writer-penciller-inker)
|-
|Marvex the Super-Robot
|Daring Mystery Comics #3 (April 1940)
|All Select Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 (Sept. 2009)
|Unknown writer and penciler from the Harry "A" Chesler studio
|-
|Master Mind Excello
|Mystic Comics #2
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|
|-
|Mercury
|Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940)
|Marvel Universe #7 (Dec. 1998)
|Martin A. Bursten (writer), Jack Kirby (artist)
|-
|Merzah the Mystic
|Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 (Aug. 2011)
|
|-
|Miss America
|Marvel Mystery Comics #49 (Nov. 1943)
|Giant-Size Avengers #1 (Aug. 1974)
|Otto Binder (writer), Al Gabriele (penciller)
|-
|Miss Patriot
|Human Torch Comics #4 (Spring 1941) (as Mary Morgan); Marvel Mystery Comics #50 (Dec. 1943) (as Miss Patriot)
|Captain America: Patriot #1 (Nov. 2010)
|
|-
|Mister E
|Daring Mystery Comics #2
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|
|-
|Monako the Magician
|Daring Mystery Comics #1
|The Marvels Project #1 (Oct. 2009)
|
|-
|Moon Man
|Mystic Comics #5
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2 (Sep. 2011)
|
|-
|Namora
|Marvel Mystery Comics #82 (May 1947)
|Sub-Mariner #33 (January 1971)
|Ken Bald (writer), Syd Shores (artist)
|-
|Nellie the Nurse
|
|
|
|-
|Patriot
|Human Torch Comics #4 (Spring 1941)
|The Avengers #97 (March 1972); The Invaders #5 (March 1976)
|Ray Gill (writer), Bill Everett or George Mandel (penciler)
|-
|Patsy Walker
|Miss America Magazine #2 (Nov. 1944)
|The Avengers #144 (Feb. 1976)
|Stuart Little (writer), Ruth Atkinson (artist)
|-
|Phantom Bullet
|Daring Comics #2 (Feb. 1940)
|The Marvels Project #2 (Nov. 2009)
|
|-
|Phantom Reporter
|Daring Mystery Comics #3
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|
|-
|Red Raven
|Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940)
|X-Men #44 (May 1968)
|Joe Simon (writer), Louis Cazeneuve (penciller)
|-
|Rockman
|U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|
|-
|Silver Scorpion
|Daring Mystery Comics #7 (Jan. 1941)
|Invaders #2 (June 1993)
|Henry Sahle
|-
|Slow-Motion Jones
|U.S.A. Comics #6 (Dec. 1942)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 (Aug. 2011)
|-
|Sun Girl
|Sun Girl #1 (Aug. 1948)
|Ant-Man: Last Days #1 (Oct. 2015)
|Ken Bald
|-
|Taxi Taylor
|Mystic Comics #2 (Apr. 1940)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 (Aug. 2011)
|
|-
|Terror
|Mystic Comics #5 (March 1941)
|Sensational She-Hulk #15 (May 1990)
|Phil Sturm (writer); Syd Shores (penciler). George Klein may have added background pencils, but that would not be a creator role.
|-
|Thin Man
|Mystic Comics #4 (July 1940)
|Marvel Premiere #29 (April 1976)
|Klaus Nordling (penciller-inker)
|-
|Thunderer
|Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941)
|Marvel Premiere #29 (April 1976)
|
|-
|Toro
|Human Torch Comics #2 (Fall 1940)
|Sub-Mariner #14 (June 1969)
|Carl Burgos
|-
|Vagabond
|U.S.A. Comics #2 (Nov. 1941)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #3 (Oct. 2011)
|
|-
|Venus
|Venus #1 (Aug. 1948)
|Sub-Mariner #57 (January 1973)
|Ken Bald (first artist)
|-
|Vision
|Marvel Mystery Comics #13 (Nov. 1940)
|The Avengers #97 (March 1972)
|Jack Kirby & Joe Simon (writers); Jack Kirby (penciller-inker)
|-
|Whizzer
|U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
|Giant-Size Avengers #1 (Aug. 1974)
|Al Avison (penciller), Al Gabriele (inker). Writer unknown.
|-
|The Witness
|Mystic Comics #6 (Dec. 1941)
|The Twelve #1 (March 2008)
|Stan Lee (writer)
|-
|Young Allies
|Young Allies Comics #1 (July 1941)
|Young Allies Comics 70th Anniversary Special (August 2009)
|Jack Kirby (penciller), Syd Shores (inker)
|-
|Young Avenger|U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 (Aug. 2011)
|
|-
|Victory Boys
|Comedy Comics #10 (June 1942)
|All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 (Aug. 2011)
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Notes
References
Further reading
All in Color for a Dime by Dick Lupoff & Don Thompson
The Comic Book Makers by Joe Simon with Jim Simon
Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee by Stan Lee and George Mair
Masters of Imagination: The Comic Book Artists Hall of Fame by Mike Benton
The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide by Robert Overstreet — Edition #35
Origins of Marvel Comics by Stan Lee
The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 1 & 2, by James Steranko – Vol. 1
Thomas, Roy, The Golden Age of Marvel Comics'' (Marvel, 1997; ) Introduction, p. 3
External links
Timely at the Grand Comics Database
Nevins, Jess. A Guide to Golden Age Marvel Characters. WebCitation archive.
American companies established in 1939
American companies disestablished in 1950
Publishing companies established in 1939
Publishing companies disestablished in 1950
Marvel Comics imprints
Publishing companies based in New York City
Defunct comics and manga publishing companies
1939 establishments in New York City
1939 comics debuts
1950 comics endings
1950 disestablishments in New York (state)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles%20Rangel
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Charles Rangel
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Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York City from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the House of Representatives at the time of his retirement, having served continuously since 1971. As its most senior member, he was also the Dean of New York's congressional delegation. Rangel was the first African American Chair of the influential House Ways and Means Committee. He was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Rangel was born in Harlem in Upper Manhattan and lives there to this day. He earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, where he led a group of soldiers out of a deadly Chinese army encirclement during the Battle of Kunu-ri in 1950. Rangel graduated from New York University in 1957 and St. John's University School of Law in 1960. He worked as a private lawyer, assistant U.S. attorney, and legal counsel during the early-mid-1960s. He served two terms in the New York State Assembly from 1967 to 1971 and defeated long-time incumbent Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in a primary challenge on his way to being elected to the House of Representatives.
Rangel rose rapidly in the Democratic ranks in the House, combining solidly liberal views with a pragmatic style towards finding political and legislative compromises. His long-time concerns with battling the importation and effects of illegal drugs led to his becoming chair of the House Select Committee on Narcotics, where he helped define national policy on the issue during the 1980s. As one of Harlem's "Gang of Four", he also became a leader in New York City and State politics. He played a significant role in the creation of the 1995 Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation and the national Empowerment Zone Act, which helped change the economic face of Harlem and other inner-city areas. Rangel is known both for his genial manner, with an ability to win over fellow legislators, and for his blunt speaking; he has long been outspoken about his views and has been arrested several times as part of political demonstrations. He was a strong opponent of the George W. Bush administration and the Iraq War, and he put forth proposals to reinstate the draft during the 2000s.
Beginning in 2008, Rangel faced a series of personal legal issues focusing on ethics violations and allegations of failures to abide by tax laws. The House Ethics Committee focused on whether Rangel improperly rented multiple rent-stabilized New York apartments, improperly used his office in raising money for the Rangel Center at the City College of New York, and failed to disclose rental income from his villa in the Dominican Republic. In March 2010, Rangel stepped aside as the Ways and Means chair. In November 2010, the Ethics Committee found Rangel guilty of 11 counts of violating House ethics rules, and on December 2, 2010, the full House approved a sanction of censure against him. As his district became more Hispanic, he faced two strong primary challengers during the 2012 and 2014 elections, but he nonetheless prevailed. He did not run for re-election in 2016 and left office in January 2017.
Early life, military service, and education
Rangel was born in Harlem in New York City on June 11, 1930. His father, Ralph Rangel, was from Puerto Rico and came to New York in 1914, while his African American mother, Blanche Mary Wharton Rangel, was from New York City and had family roots in Virginia. Charles was the second of three children, with an older brother Ralph Jr. and a younger sister Frances. Ralph Rangel sometimes worked as a laborer in a garage, but he was mostly a frequently absent, unemployed man who was abusive to his wife and who left the family when Charles was six years old. Charles was raised by his mother, who worked as a maid and as a seamstress in a factory in New York's Garment District, and by his maternal grandfather. Many summers were spent in Accomac, Virginia where his maternal family had roots. Charles was brought up as a Catholic.
Rangel did well in elementary and middle school, and he began working at a neighborhood drug store at the age of eight. Rangel attended DeWitt Clinton High School, but he was often truant and was sometimes driven home by the police. His maternal grandfather, an early role model who worked in a courthouse and knew many judges and lawyers, kept him from getting into more serious trouble. Rangel dropped out at age 16 during his junior year and worked in various low-paying jobs including selling shoes.
Rangel then enlisted in the United States Army and served from 1948 to 1952. During the Korean War he was an artillery operations specialist in the all-black 503rd Field Artillery Battalion in the 2nd Infantry Division, and equipped with the 155 mm Howitzer M1. (While President Harry S. Truman had signed the order to desegregate the military in 1948, little progress in doing so had been made during peacetime, and the large majority of units initially sent to Korea were still segregated.) Rangel's unit arrived in Pusan, South Korea in August 1950 and began moving north as U.N. forces advanced deep into North Korea.
In late November 1950, after the Chinese intervention into the war his unit was caught in heavy fighting in North Korea as part of the U.N. forces retreat from the Yalu River. In the Battle of Kunu-ri, the 2nd Infantry was assigned to hold a road position near Kunu-ri while the rest of the Eighth Army retreated to Sunchon, 21 miles further south. On the night of November 29, the 2nd Infantry was attacked by gradually encircling forces of the Chinese Army, who set up a fireblock to cut off any U.S. retreat. The eerie blare of Chinese night-fighting bugle calls and communication flares piercing the freezing air led to what Rangel later described as a "waking nightmare, scene by scene, and we couldn't see any possible way out of the situation". During the day on November 30, the order came to withdraw the 2nd Infantry in phases, but the 503rd Artillery Battalion was sixth of eight in the order and could not get out in daylight when air cover was possible.
On the night of November 30, Rangel was part of a retreating vehicle column that was trapped and attacked by Chinese forces. In the subzero cold Rangel was hit in the back by shrapnel from a Chinese shell. He later wrote that the blast threw him into a ditch, causing him to pray fervently to Jesus. Up and down the line of the retreat, unit cohesion disappeared under attack and officers lost contact with their men. There was screaming and moaning around him and some U.S. soldiers were being taken prisoner, but despite feeling overwhelming fear Rangel resolved to try to escape over an imposing mountain: "From the rim of that gully it just looked like everything had to be better on the other side of that damn mountain."
Others nearby looked to Rangel, who though only a private first class had a reputation for leadership in the unit and had gained the nickname "Sarge". Rangel led some 40 men from his unit over the mountain during the night and out of the Chinese encirclement. Other groups were trying to do the same, but some men dropped from the severe conditions or got lost and were never heard from again. By midday on December 1, U.S. aircraft were dropping supplies and directions to Rangel's group and others, and had a raft ready to take them across the Taedong River; groups from the 503rd Artillery reached Sunchon that afternoon. Overall, no part of the 2nd Infantry suffered as many casualties as the artillery; it tried to save, but eventually lost, all its guns, and nearly half of the battalion was killed in the overall battle.
Rangel was treated first at a field hospital, then moved to a general hospital well behind the lines in South Korea where he recuperated. He eventually returned to regular duty, then was rotated back to the U.S. in July 1951.
Rangel was awarded a Purple Heart for his wounds, the Bronze Star with Valor for his actions in the face of death, and three battle stars. His Army unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. In 2000, Rangel reflected on the experience in a CBS News interview:
After an honorable discharge from the Army in 1952 with the rank of staff sergeant, he returned home to headlines in The New York Amsterdam News.
Rangel later viewed his time in the Army, away from the poverty of his youth, as a major turning point in his life: "When I was exposed to a different life, even if that life was just the Army, I knew damn well I couldn't get back to the same life I had left."
Rangel finished high school, completing two years of studies in one year. Benefiting from the G.I. Bill Rangel received a Bachelor of Science degree from the New York University School of Commerce in 1957, where he made the dean's list. On full scholarship, he obtained his law degree from the St. John's University School of Law in 1960.
Rangel is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He is also a member of the fraternity's World Policy Council, a think tank whose purpose is to expand Alpha Phi Alpha's involvement in politics and social and current policy to encompass international concerns.
Early career
Legal
After finishing law school Rangel passed the state bar exam and was hired by Weaver, Evans & Wingate, a prominent black law firm. Rangel made little money in private practice, but did build a positive reputation for providing legal assistance to black civil rights activists. In 1961, Rangel was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York by U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and worked under U.S. Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau. He stayed in the position for a year.
Next Rangel was legal counsel to the New York Housing and Redevelopment Board, associate counsel to the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, a law clerk to pioneering Judge James L. Watson, and general counsel to the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service (1966), a presidential commission created to revise draft laws. His interest in politics grew.
Rangel met Alma Carter, a social worker, in the mid-late-1950s while on the dance floor of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. They married on July 26, 1964. They have two children, Steven and Alicia, and three grandsons.
Political
He ran for party district leader and lost during an intense Democratic factional dispute in Harlem in 1963. In 1964, Rangel and the man who would become his political mentor, Assemblyman Percy Sutton, merged clubs as part of forming the John F. Kennedy Democratic Club in Harlem (which later became part of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Democratic Club).
Rangel participated in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, marching for four days even though he had planned only a brief appearance. He developed what The New York Times would label his irrepressible energy and joking style of self-mockery during this time.
Rangel was selected in September 1966 by Harlem Democrats to run in the 72nd District for the New York State Assembly, after the incumbent Percy Sutton had been elected by the New York City Council members from Manhattan as Manhattan Borough President to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Constance Baker Motley as a federal judge. Rangel was victorious, serving in the 177th and 178th New York State Legislatures until 1970. He emerged as a leader among the black legislators in the state and became politically friendly with Governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller, who arranged for Rangel to run on the Republican as well as Democratic ballot line during his 1968 re-election.
Rangel supported legalization of the numbers game, saying "For the average Harlemite, playing numbers... is moral and a way of life." He also opposed harsher penalties on prostitutes, on grounds of ineffectiveness. He was strongly concerned by the effects of drugs on Harlem, advocated that drug pushers be held accountable for the crimes committed by their users, and in general believed the problem was at the level of a threat to national security.
In 1969, Rangel ran for the Democratic nomination for New York City Council President. In a tumultuous race that featured sportswriter Jimmy Breslin as mayoral candidate Norman Mailer's running mate, Rangel came in last in a field of six candidates.
In 1970, Rangel ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives, challenging long-time incumbent Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., in the Democratic primary in New York's 18th congressional district. Powell had been an iconic, charismatic, and flamboyant figure who had become embroiled in an ethics controversy in 1967, lost his seat, and then regained it in 1969 due to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Powell v. McCormack. In a field with five candidates Rangel focused on criticizing Powell's frequent absences from Congress. In the June primary Rangel defeated Powell by 150 votes out of around 25,000 cast. Powell tried to take legal action to overturn the result claiming over 1,000 ballots were improper votes but was unsuccessful. Powell also failed to get on the ballot as an independent. With both Democratic and Republican backing, Rangel won the November 1970 general election–against a Liberal Party candidate and several others–with 88 percent of the vote.
U.S. House of Representatives
Districts, terms, and committees
Initially the strongest electoral challenge to Rangel came during his first re-election bid, in 1972, when he faced a Democratic primary challenge from HARYOU-ACT director Livingston Wingate, who had the backing of the old Powell organization and the Congress of Racial Equality, a black nationalist group that Rangel publicly denounced. Rangel had the backing of the other Democratic power bases, however, and won the primary by a 3–to–1 margin and the general election easily.
Rangel won re-election every two years until his retirement, usually with over 90 percent of the vote and often with more than 95 percent. In a number of elections Rangel received the backing of the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Liberal Party of New York. Rangel's consistent appeal to his constituents has been due to the perception of him as a champion for justice not just in Harlem but elsewhere in the world. He did face a mid-career primary challenge in 1994 when two-term New York City Councilman Adam Clayton Powell IV was his opponent and held Rangel to 58 percent of the vote. Rangel then faced strong primary challenges from 2010 on during and after his ethics troubles.
His district was numbered the Eighteenth District from 1971 to 1973; the Nineteenth District from 1973 to 1983; the Sixteenth District from 1983 to 1993; and the Fifteenth from 1993 to 2013. Early 1970s reapportionment led to the area Rangel represented being only 65 percent black, and by 1979 it was 50 percent black, 30 percent white, and 20 percent Puerto Rican. By 2000, only 3 in 10 district residents were black, while nearly half were Hispanic with many of the newcomers Dominican. Subsequently, numbered the Thirteenth, Rangel's area of representation showed a 2-to-1 preponderance of Hispanics over African Americans.
Rangel was an original member when the Congressional Black Caucus was formed in 1971. In 1974 he was elected its chairman and he served in that role until 1976. He remained a member of the caucus for the duration of his time in office.
Committee assignments
Committee on Ways and Means (1975–2017; Ranking member 1996–2006; Chair 2007–2010 [leave of absence for part of 2010])
Joint Committee on Taxation (Chair 2007, 2009; Vice Chair 2008, 2010 [until left Ways and Means chair])
Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control (1976–1993; Chair 1983–1993)
Select Committee on Crime (1971–1973)
Committee on the Judiciary (1971–1974)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Congressional Arts Caucus
House Democratic Caucus
International Conservation Caucus
1970s: Rapid rise
As a freshman representative Rangel focused on the issue of drugs and was a member of the House Select Committee on Crime. In February 1971, he criticized the Nixon administration for not taking stronger action against Turkey and France, the source and manufacture points for most of the heroin coming into the U.S. His proposal to halt foreign aid to countries not cooperating in the effort against international drug trafficking was unsuccessful, but led to a bill authorizing the president to reduce aid to those countries. Rangel created controversy in New York City by accusing some members of the New York Police Department of cooperating with drug pushers.
On April 14, 1972, Rangel and Louis Farrakhan interfered in the investigation of the murder of New York Police Department patrolman Philip Cardillo, who was fatally shot in a Harlem Nation of Islam mosque where Malcolm X used to preach. Before a suspect could be taken into custody, Farrakhan and Rangel arrived at the scene, saying a riot would likely occur if the suspect and others were not released. Some police department officials also limited the investigation, including deputy commissioner for public affairs Benjamin Ward, who had ordered all white officers away from the scene in acquiescing to the demands of Farrakhan and Rangel.
Despite an initial impression that Rangel was mostly concerned with the "ghetto problems" of drugs and welfare, Rangel focused on many other issues. He consistently backed Israel, including objecting to an anti-Israeli resolution adopted at the National Black Political Convention in 1972 and urging black Americans to support the civil rights of Soviet Jews in 1975. In other respects Rangel opposed foreign interventions and military spending, voting against bombing in Cambodia, and against funding for the B-1 bomber and supercarriers.
In Congress one of Rangel's first committee assignments was on the House Judiciary Committee; during the Watergate scandal he participated in the 1974 impeachment process against Richard Nixon. Rangel received both national attention and respect for his well-informed questioning style during the hearings. Rangel was also prominent in questioning Governor Rockefeller on his role in handling the Attica Prison riot during Rockefeller's vice presidential confirmation hearing.
Rangel rose rapidly in the House, due to his political skills, hard work, knowledge of legislative matters, and genial manner. In 1974, he became the first African American ever named to the House Committee on Ways and Means, a position he assumed in 1975 (and left the Judiciary Committee) and by 1979 had become the chairman of its important Subcommittee on Health. In 1976, he was named to the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. By 1979, he was a member of the influential House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. He combined his solidly liberal views–interest group ratings in 1978 indicated he was the most liberal member of the New York State congressional delegation–with a pragmatic approach towards finding political and legislative compromises. Rangel built alliances with others in Congress (collaborating for example with Michigan Republican Guy Vander Jagt on welfare reform measures), with people in governmental agencies, and with the Carter administration. In some cases Rangel was criticized for being too pragmatic, such as when he switched his position on natural gas deregulation; Rangel denied that he did so in exchange for the authorization of a new federal building in Harlem. Rangel said of himself, "I guess I'm practical, but you have to live with yourself and make sure you are not so practical that you sell out a part of yourself."
Besides his increasing influence in Washington, by the late 1970s Rangel was New York City's leading black political figure. After initially endorsing Percy Sutton in the 1977 mayoral election, he endorsed Ed Koch over Mario Cuomo in the Democratic primary run-off. He attempted to mediate between Mayor Koch and some minority groups who thought the Koch administration racially insensitive. As Koch related, "He has told some blacks angry with me: 'You say Ed Koch is nasty to you? I want you to know he's nasty to everybody.' I thought that was rather nice."
1980s: Influential figure
In 1981, Rangel became chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight giving him power in attempting to oppose the Reagan administration's cuts in social spending. By 1983 he was the third-ranking member on Ways and Means, and worked well with its powerful chairman, Dan Rostenkowski. Rangel became a protégé of Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill who made him Deputy Majority Whip later that year. In the 1984 United States presidential election, Rangel supported former Vice President Walter Mondale rather than the primary campaign of Jesse Jackson.
By that time Rangel was known as one of the "Gang of Four", who along with his old mentor Percy Sutton, city and state figure Basil Paterson, and future mayor David Dinkins were the most prominent politicians in Harlem. They broke racial barriers, attained offices once viewed as not possible for black Americans to achieve, and paved the way for many others around the nation. As power brokers they would dominate public life in Harlem for a generation.
Rangel endorsed Koch for re-election in 1981; by 1983 his relationship with the mayor had fallen apart: "I don't know anybody in politics that I dislike enough that I would recommend that he sit down with the mayor." By 1984 Rangel was the most influential black politician in New York State. His position on Ways and Means allowed him to bring federal monies to the state and city for transit projects, industrial development, Medicare needs, low-income housing, and shelters for the homeless. Rangel was one of the city's most recognizable politicians and there was speculation that he would run for mayor in 1985, but Rangel preferred to remain in the House, with the goal of eventually becoming Ways and Means chairman and in the best case even House Speaker. Indeed, Rangel never showed any interest in a different political job other than being the Congressman from Harlem.
In 1983, Rangel became chair of the Select Committee on Narcotics solidifying his position as a leading strategist on an issue perennially important to him. Rangel kept the committee going in the face of usual pressure to disband special committees. He battled against proposed cutbacks in the federal anti-drug budget, advocating for increased grants to states and cities for better shelters for the homeless. Rangel's amendments providing increased funding for state and local law enforcement and were included in the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. He traveled to countries in Central and South America and other places to inspect the sources of drugs and the law enforcement efforts against them; Ebony magazine termed Rangel "a front-line general in the war against drugs." Rangel said "We need outrage!", making reference to the slow reaction by both government and religious leaders to the epidemics of crack cocaine, heroin, PCP, and other drugs that hit American streets during the 1980s. He believed that legalizing drugs would represent "moral and political suicide". He did not refrain from criticizing those most affected by drugs, saying that Hispanic and black teenagers had no sense of self-preservation, and that drug dealers were so stupid they had to eat in fast-food places because they could not read a menu. By 1988, Rangel was saying that President Ronald Reagan had not done enough in the war on drugs, but that First Lady Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign had been quite valuable. The narcotics committee itself was termed possibly the most important select committee of its time. The Washington Post said Rangel was "in a powerful position to shape policy on an issue at the top of the nation's agenda". He would remain as chair of the committee through 1993, when it was abolished along with other House select committees.
Rangel was part of the House–Senate joint conference that worked on the Tax Reform Act of 1986, a simplifying overhaul that constituted the most sweeping reform of the U.S. tax code in 50 years. In the negotiations Rangel successfully argued for dropping more lower-income people from the tax rolls; the elimination of six million households from federal income taxation was hailed as a wise policy by both liberal and conservative groups. Rangel authored the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit portion of the bill, which increased affordable housing in the U.S. He also played a key role in preserving the deductibility of state and local income taxes. He asserted that while beneficiaries of tax reform were not well organized, business interests opposed to it were. When the conference threatened to break down,he stressed it was vital to reach an agreement.
By late 1985 Rangel was in a six-person race to become the next House Majority Whip, the third-highest ranked position in the House and for the first time up for election by the members rather than appointment by the Speaker. In October 1986 the race was heating up, with Rangel as the underdog coming close to Representative Tony Coelho from California through use of his personal skills and Rangel arguing that the Democratic leadership needed better regional balance. However, in December 1986, Coelho defeated Rangel in the vote for whip, 167–78. Rangel attributed his loss to Coelho having funded the campaigns of many House members via his role as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, later saying, "I had never been so goddamn naive. I came to Washington as an experienced politician. How did I miss Coelho's contribution to members?"
In December 1984, Rangel was arrested for participating in an anti-apartheid rally in front of the South African Consulate in New York. Rangel successfully pushed to have foreign tax credits removed for corporations doing business in that country, a 1987 act that became known as the "Rangel Amendment". A number of companies left South Africa as a result, and the amendment proved to be one of the more effective anti-apartheid sanctions. The bill won praise from Nelson Mandela and Rangel later said was one of his actions that he was most proud of.
1990s: Support and opposition
During the 1991 Gulf War, Rangel demanded that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell investigate allegations of discrimination from black members of the New York Army National Guard regarding combat training and treatment. During the Clinton administration, Rangel battled with executive branch officials over budget items almost as much as he had during Republican administrations, and always resented when Clinton negotiated directly with Republicans while bypassing congressional Democrats. In 1993, however, Rangel was a key sponsor of increases to the Earned Income Tax Credit that passed.
Rangel's dream of becoming chairman of Ways and Means took a tumble with the Republican Revolution of 1994, which took control of the House away from the Democrats for the first time in decades. He did become the ranking Democrat of the committee in 1996. Rangel was bitterly opposed to the Republican Contract With America, considering it an assault on America's poor, and strongly criticized Democrats such as President Bill Clinton and religious leaders such as John Cardinal O'Connor for perpetuating "the silence of good people" that he likened to what happened in Nazi Germany. When Rangel made a similar allusion directed at new Ways and Means chair Bill Archer in 1995, Archer refused to speak to him for several years except at public meetings. Rangel also strongly opposed the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, accusing Clinton of supporting it for political reasons and predicting its consequences would cast a million children into poverty.
Opening up economic opportunities for minorities and the poor was a focus of Rangel's during the 1990s. His 1993 legislation created "empowerment zones", which provided tax incentives for investment and job creation in inner urban areas; it would eventually account for $5 billion in federal spending across the nation's cities. Rangel played a specific role in the creation of the 1995 Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, which led to a $500 million spending of public and private monies towards changing the face of Harlem, including gentrification effects. Rangel served on the corporation's board, and the effort was credited with helping the resurgence of Harlem that took place during the 1990s.
During the late 1990s, Rangel led an outreach effort on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that sought to gain African American votes for white candidates in key swing districts. The project may have helped gain or keep several seats during the 1998 mid-term House elections.
In late 1998, when long-time Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York announced his retirement, Rangel was one of the first to advocate that First Lady Hillary Clinton move to New York and run for the seat. She did so successfully.
On March 15, 1999, the congressman was arrested along with two other prominent African American leaders (civil rights activist Al Sharpton and former Mayor David Dinkins) for protesting the fatal shooting of Amadou Diallo, a 23-year-old immigrant to the United States from Guinea, by four white and Hispanic New York City police officers. The officers involved were later acquitted by a mixed-race jury.
In October 1998, New York State Attorney General Dennis Vacco filed a lawsuit charging the directors of the foundation behind New York's Apollo Theater, including foundation chair Rangel, with failing to collect more than $4 million owed it by a company controlled by Percy Sutton that produced the television program It's Showtime at the Apollo. The suit sought the removal of Rangel; after months of indecision, Rangel stepped down as chair but remained on the board. In October 1999, new Attorney General Eliot Spitzer dismissed the lawsuit and cleared Rangel and Sutton of any wrongdoing, saying that all monies properly owed had changed hands. Rangel expressed bitterness over the year-long episode, saying "I shouldn't have had to go through this."
2000–2007: Protest and power
During the early 2000s Rangel advocated continued funding of anti-poverty efforts, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Child care and development block grant. Rangel also had an unproductive relationship with Ways and Means chairman Bill Thomas, leading to an incident in which Thomas called the United States Capitol Police on Rangel for having his members read a bill in the library, an action for which Thomas apologized.
Rangel sponsored the African Growth and Opportunity Act, passed in 2000, despite the opposition of labor unions, the textile industry, and the Congressional Black Caucus. For the first time incentives were provided for U.S. trade with sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, Rangel became known for support of free trade agreements, in contrast to many House Democrats.
Following the September 11 attacks, Rangel helped secure an extension to unemployment benefits. His intent was to help those in New York industries affected by the events.
Motivated by seeing few African American diplomats on his trips abroad, he founded the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship Program in 2002. The program is a collaboration between Howard University and the U.S. State Department that has significantly increased the number of minorities working in the U.S. Foreign Service.
In July 2004, Rangel was the first of three sitting U.S. House members to be arrested on trespassing charges, for protesting human rights abuses in Sudan in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington (Bobby Rush and Joe Hoeffel would follow). Rangel said, "When human lives are in jeopardy, there should be outrage."
Rangel was an adamant opponent of the George W. Bush administration and of the Iraq War. Feeling powerless to stop the latter in the Republican-controlled Congress, he said in 2007 that he had suffered from nightmares: "It was my lowest point ever in my 37 years in Congress ... It was a sad period where you saw lives being lost [in the war] and you couldn't do anything about it."
In April 2006, Rangel and nine other representatives joined John Conyers' action against George W. Bush and others, alleging violations of the U.S. Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Conyers v. Bush was dismissed later that year for lack of standing.
Rangel has been long been opposed to the all-volunteer army and repeatedly called for the government to bring back the draft (military conscription). In 2003, Rangel said that "A disproportionate number of the poor and members of minority groups make up the enlisted ranks of the military, while the most privileged Americans are underrepresented or absent," and that a draft would make the military more representative of the American public at large. While some observers saw the logic in what Rangel was saying, his proposals attracted little organized support from either party or from antiwar organizations. During 2006 Rangel said that no soldier would be fighting in Iraq if they had decent career possibilities and stating:
Rangel introduced versions of his Universal National Service Act in the House in 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2010. Polls showed 70 percent of Americans opposed a reinstatement of the draft. Rangel emphasized that people could fulfill their draft obligations through non-military services, such as port and airline security. The one time the act came up for a vote in the full House, in 2004, it was defeated 2–402, with Rangel voting against his own bill in protest at the procedural handling of it.
In June 2006, the House Appropriations Committee passed a $3 million earmark to establish the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York. By 2007 the amount had been reduced to $2 million, but the funding for the center, whose purpose was to bring more poor and minority students into politics, was the target of criticism from Representative John B. T. Campbell III of California and other Republicans as an abuse of the earmark process and as Rangel's "Monument to Me". City College said it was proud to house the center and Rangel said "I cannot think of anything I am more proud of."
In August 2006, Rangel said he would resign his seat if the Democrats did not take the House that November, a statement that had real intent behind it, as at age 76 Rangel was feeling "the claustrophobia" of time.
The Democrats did take control and in January 2007, Rangel's long wait to head the Ways and Means Committee was over. Not only was he the first African American to do so, but he was also the first New Yorker to chair the committee since Fernando Wood in the 1870s. As holder of one of the most powerful posts in Congress, he said the chairmanship "couldn't have come any later for me". Age was not otherwise a factor with Rangel, who worked a scheduled 16 hours a day and looked a good deal younger than he was. Ebony magazine termed Rangel's ascent to the chairmanship "a watershed moment for African-Americans, who historically have been shut out when it comes to deciding how to divvy up the trillions of dollars in the federal government's budget". Rangel was able to establish an effective working relationship with ranking member Jim McCrery.
In April 2007, Rangel published his autobiography, ... And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress, whose title reflected his experience in Korea. The New York Times gave it a favorable reviewing, saying it was "mercifully short on laundry lists [that some other political memoirs have], but long on sass and spirit".
Rangel was an early and strong supporter of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign for the Democratic nomination. His actions during 2007 included taking a shot at the marital histories of former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, then the Republican front-runner, and his wife Judith Giuliani, resulted in Rangel issuing a no-excuses apology. As events in 2008 unwound, the Democratic primaries and caucuses turned into a historic battle between Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. Although Obama had a real chance of becoming the first African American president, a development that Rangel viewed with pride, and although some racially tinged comments entered the contest and Clinton's support among African Americans plunged, Rangel stayed loyal to her, saying "There's just no question in my mind that Hillary would be in a better position than a freshman senator. This ain't no time for a beginner." (Rangel's wife Alma, on the other hand, publicly supported Obama.) Rangel did endorse Obama once he finally clinched the nomination in early June 2008.
2008–2010: Ethics issues and censure
Letterhead use and Rangel Center fundraising
In July 2008, The Washington Post reported that Rangel was soliciting donations to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York from corporations with business interests before his Ways and Means Committee, and was doing so using Congressional letterhead. The companies and individuals included AIG, Donald Trump, and Nabors Industries, and by this time Rangel's efforts had helped raise $12 million of the $30 million goal for the center. Government watchdog groups and ethics experts criticized Rangel's actions, with the dean of the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management saying Rangel "has crossed the line".
Rangel denied any wrongdoing and asked the U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly known as the House Ethics Committee, to determine if his use of Congressional letterhead while arranging meetings to solicit contributions for the center had violated any House rules. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed to Rangel's request.
Renting Harlem apartments at below-market rates
The New York Times reported in July 2008 that Rangel rents four apartments at below-market rates in the Lenox Terrace complex in Harlem. It reported that Rangel paid $3,894 monthly for all four apartments in 2007. In contrast, the landlord's going rate for similar apartments in the building was as high as $8,125 monthly. Three adjacent apartments were combined to create his home. A fourth unit is used as a campaign office, which violates city and state regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence. Rangel received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from one of the landlords, according to the paper. Rangel said his rent does not affect his representation of his constituents.
Congressional ethics experts said the difference in rent between what Rangel was paying and market rates, an estimated $30,000 per year, could be construed as a gift, exceeding the $100 House of Representatives gift limit. In late July, the House voted 254–138 to table a resolution by Republican Minority Leader John Boehner that would have censured Rangel for having "dishonored himself and brought discredit to the House", by occupying the four apartments.
House parking garage
A September 2008 New York Post article reported that Rangel had been using a House parking garage as free storage space for his Mercedes-Benz for years, in apparent violation of Congressional rules. Under Internal Revenue Service regulations, free parking (here, worth $290 a month) is considered imputed income, and must be declared on tax returns. In July 2010 the House Ethics Committee ruled that Rangel had committed no violation, since in practice the parking policy was only applied to Congressional staff and not to members themselves.
Taxes on Dominican villa rental income
Rangel was accused of failing to report income from his rental of a beachside villa he owns in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. A three-bedroom, three-bath unit, it has rented out for as much as $1,100 per night in the busiest tourist season.
Labor lawyer Theodore Kheel, a principal investor in the resort development company and frequent campaign contributor to Rangel, had encouraged him to purchase the villa. Rangel purchased it in 1988 for $82,750. He financed $53,737.50 of the purchase price for seven years at an interest rate of 10.5%, but was one of several early investors whose interest payments were waived in 1990.
In September 2008, Rangel's attorney, Lanny Davis, disclosed that Rangel had failed to report on his tax returns or in congressional disclosure forms $75,000 in income he had received for renting his Dominican villa. That month, Rangel paid $10,800 to cover his liability for the related back taxes. He had owed back taxes for at least three years. The Ways and Means Committee writes the U.S. tax code, and as such his failure to pay taxes himself led to heavy criticism.
A September 14, 2008, New York Times editorial called for Rangel to step down temporarily from his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee while his ethical problems were investigated.
On September 24, 2008, the House Ethics Committee announced that it would investigate whether Rangel had violated its code of conduct or any law or other regulation related to his performance of his duties. On November 23, 2008, The New York Post reported that Rangel took a "homestead" tax break on his Washington, DC, house for years, while simultaneously occupying multiple New York City rent-stabilized apartments, "possibly violating laws and regulations in both cases". In January 2009, Republican Representative John R. Carter introduced the Rangel Rule Act of 2009 (H.R. 735), a tongue-in-cheek proposal that would have allowed all taxpayers to not pay penalties and interest on back taxes, in reference to Rangel not yet having paid his.
Defense of tax shelter
In November 2008, following reports by The New York Times, Republican Congressmen asked the House Ethics Committee to look into Rangel's defense of a tax shelter approved by his Ways and Means Committee. One of the four companies that benefited from the loophole was Nabors Industries, which opened headquarters in Bermuda as a foreign corporation. Under the loophole Nabors received tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks. In 2004, Rangel had led opposition to the tax breaks. Nabors donated $1 million in 2006, and $100,000 later, to the City College of New York school named after Rangel.
Its CEO said the donations were unrelated to Rangel's February 2007 promise to oppose closing the loophole. He denied there was any quid pro quo, and called the article about it "malarkey". Rangel said The New York Times had ignored facts and explanations, and denied the charges. The House Ethics Committee voted in December 2008, to expand its investigation of Rangel to the matter. Eventually the Ethics Committee would not make a specific charge over this matter but did include it in the supporting documentation for the overall charge that Rangel had solicited Rangel Center donations from those with business before his committee.
Unreported assets and income
On September 15, 2008, it was disclosed that: (a) Rangel had omitted from his financial reports details regarding his sale of a Washington, DC home; (b) discrepancies existed in the values he listed for a property he owns in Sunny Isles, Florida (varying from $50,000 to $500,000); and (c) inconsistencies appeared in his investment fund reporting. He apologized, saying "I owed my colleagues and the public adherence to a higher standard of care, not only as a member of Congress, but even more as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee." Republicans called for his removal as chair. Rangel said there was no justification for that, as the mistakes were errors of omission, that would not justify loss of his position.
In August 2009, Rangel amended his 2007 financial disclosure form to report more than $500,000 in previously unreported assets and income. That doubled his reported net worth. Unreported assets included a federal credit union checking account of between $250,000 and $500,000, several investment accounts, stock in Yum! Brands and PepsiCo, and property in Glassboro, New Jersey. Rangel also had not paid property taxes on two of his New Jersey properties which he was required by law to do.
The ethics issues led by December 2008 to some loss of standing for Rangel, to Republicans trying to tie him to all Democrats, and to some Democrats privately saying it would be best if Rangel stepped down from his Ways and Means post.
In late 2008 and again in September 2009, the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Rangel one of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress. Media pieces compared Rangel's woes with those unethical former Ways and Means chairs Wilbur Mills and Dan Rostenkowski. Pelosi, a long-time friend of Rangel's, withheld any possible action against Rangel pending the House Ethics Committee report. Rangel evinced impatience with that body, saying "I don't have a complaint now, except that it's taking too goddamn long to review this thing and report back."
On September 3, 2009, The Washington Post called on Rangel to resign his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, given the ethical issues that had surfaced. Another Republican resolution was put forth to force him out of his chairmanship. However, Rangel stayed in place and mostly maintained his role in House leadership and policy discussions, including the Obama health care reform plan (opposition to which, he suggested, was partly due to racial prejudice against President Obama). Nevertheless, his influence was diminished by the questions surrounding him.
Caribbean trips
In May 2009, the non-profit National Legal and Policy Center filed an ethics complaint against Rangel and other members of Congress for trips, taken in 2007 and 2008 to Caribbean islands. The trips had been sponsored by Carib News Foundation, a New York non-profit funded by corporations with interests before Congress and the Ways and Means Committee. This combined with the duration of the trips seemed to violate House rules. The Ethics Committee agreed the following month to investigate the matter.
On February 26, 2010, the Ethics Committee issued its report. It determined that Rangel had violated House gift rules, by accepting reimbursement for his travel to the conferences. The committee found that he had not known of the contributions, but concluded that he was still responsible for them and was required to repay their cost. Five other members were cleared of having violated rules, but were also required to repay their trips. Rangel disagreed with the committee's finding, saying:
Pelosi said she would not take any action against Rangel pending further committee findings, as his staff had been more at fault and he had not broken any law. The Ethics Committee continued to investigate the charges against Rangel relating to obtaining rent-stabilized apartments, fundraising, and failure to disclose rental income from his Dominican villa.
Stepping aside as House Ways and Means Chair
After a February 2010 House Ethics Committee report criticizing him for taking sponsored Caribbean trips, the White House backed off its prior support of Rangel somewhat, and within days 14 Democratic members of Congress publicly called on Rangel to step aside as Ways and Means chair. Other Democrats were concerned that Rangel would impede Democrats' efforts to maintain their majority in the 2010 House elections, but did not say anything publicly out of respect and personal affection for Rangel.
Momentum quickly built against Rangel, with 30 or more Democrats planning to oppose his continued chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee, in a full House vote being pushed by Republicans. Democrat Paul Hodes of New Hampshire noted:
On March 3, 2010, Rangel said he would take a leave of absence as chair, pending issuance of the Ethics Committee's report. Pelosi granted his request, but whether such a leave was possible was unclear and the House Speaker pro Tempore said that a resignation had taken place and that Rangel was no longer chair. Observers opined that it was unlikely that Rangel would ever be able to regain the position. Several Democrats said they would return or donate to charity campaign contributions given to them by Rangel. Representative Sander M. Levin of Michigan took over as acting chair.
House ethics committee charges
On July 22, 2010, a bipartisan, four-member investigative subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee indicated it had "substantial reason to believe" that Rangel had violated a range of ethics rules relating to the other charges. The matter was referred to another, newly created, special subcommittee to rule on the findings. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the action indicated the "process is working as it should, while Minority Leader John Boehner called the announcement "a sad reminder" of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "most glaring broken promise: to 'drain the swamp' in Washington".
Rangel negotiated with the Ethics Committee. But participants in the talks characterized him as unwilling to admit wrongdoing in connection with several of the charges, and anxious about preserving his legacy. No settlement was reached.
On July 29, 2010, Rangel was charged by the committee with 13 counts of violating House rules and federal laws. Rangel's lawyers continued to insist that he had not intentionally violated any law or regulation, had not handed out political favors, and had not misused his office for personal financial gain. Rangel somberly only said this on the day the charges were announced:
Sixty years ago, I survived a Chinese attack in North Korea. And as a result I wrote a book that, having survived that, that I haven't had a bad day since. Today I have to reassess that.
Re-election campaign of 2010
Rangel suggested that Andrew Cuomo's primary run in the 2010 gubernatorial election against incumbent David Paterson, who was the first African American governor of New York, would undo years of work that Cuomo spent rebuilding his standing in the state Democratic Party after his bruising 2002 gubernatorial primary contest against Carl McCall. At the time McCall was the highest-ranking African American and first major party candidate for governor in the state. Rangel had been a staunch supporter of McCall against Cuomo in 2002. For the upcoming 2010 gubernatorial race, Rangel suggested that for the white Cuomo to challenge the African American incumbent would not be "the moral decision". Rangel said, "There might be an inclination for racial polarization in a primary in the state of New York. Since we have most African Americans registered as Democrats, and since you would be making an appeal for Democrats, it would be devastating in my opinion." Paterson fared poorly in polls due to several scandals and later abandoned his campaign re-election. By this point Rangel's continuing difficulties, along with the death a few months prior of Percy Sutton and the failure of Paterson (Basil Paterson's son), marked the end of the era of Harlem's "Gang of Four".
Rangel faced several Democratic primary challengers for his seat in 2010: Vincent Morgan, whose grassroots campaign bore many resemblances to Rangel's own against the scandal-plagued Adam Clayton Powell Jr., in 1970; Adam Clayton Powell IV, who had previously challenged Rangel in 1994; labor activist and past primary candidate for statewide office Jonathan Tasini; and former Obama campaign official Joyce Johnson. While Rangel's fund-raising was down from previous years, and he had paid nearly $2 million in legal fees, he still had far more cash available for the campaign than any of his challengers.
On September 14, 2010, Rangel prevailed in the primary election, gaining 51 percent of the vote against Powell's 23 percent and lesser amounts for the other contenders. He then won the November 2, 2010, general election easily, garnering 80 percent of the vote against Republican Michel Faulkner's 10 percent and smaller amounts for third-party candidates.
House ethics trial and censure
On November 15, 2010, Rangel's formal ethics trial began. He walked out of the hearing at the start, saying that he was unable to afford representation after having paid his previous lawyers over $2 million, and arguing unsuccessfully that the proceeding should be delayed until he could arrange for a legal defense fund.
On November 16, 2010, Rangel was found guilty on 11 of the 12 standing charges against him by the adjudicatory subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee. Two of the charges were focused on his actions with regards to soliciting funds and donations for the Rangel Center from those with business before the Ways and Means Committee; four were for improper use of Congressional letterhead and other House resources in those solicitations; one was for submitting incomplete and inaccurate financial disclosure statements; one was for using one of his Harlem apartments as an office when he had Congressional dealings with the landlord; one was for failing to pay taxes on his Dominican villa; and two reiterated these charges in describing general violations of House rules.
Two days later, a near-tears Rangel pleaded for "fairness and mercy" and he had support from fellow Representative John Lewis. But it was to no avail; the full Committee voted 9–1 to recommend that the full House approve a sanction of censure upon Rangel. The committee stated: "Public office is a public trust [and Rangel] violated that trust." Censure is the strongest penalty the House can impose short of outright expulsion from Congress. The committee also said that Rangel should make restitution for any unpaid taxes.
Supporters of Rangel argued that by comparison with previous cases, a reprimand would be a more fitting punishment for Rangel's trangressions than censure. Rangel repeatedly insisted, as he had all along, that nothing he had done was with the aim of enriching himself. It was to no avail. On December 2, 2010, a motion was made in the full House to censure Rangel. Ethics committee chair Zoe Lofgren emphasized that it was Rangel's "accumulation of actions" that warranted the stiffer penalty, and said that the treatment of Rangel should set a new precedent, not follow old ones. A motion to amend the resolution in favor of reprimand was voted down 267–146; most of Speaker Pelosi's allies rejected it and over 105 Democrats voted the resolution down. The House of Representatives then voted 333–79 to censure Rangel. Only two Republicans voted against censure, Peter T. King of Long Island and Don Young of Alaska. Per custom Rangel went to the well of the House to hear Speaker Pelosi solemnly read the formal measure of censure. It had been 27 years since the last such measure and Rangel was only the 23rd House member to be censured. Rangel asked to speak and said, "I know in my heart I am not going to be judged by this Congress. I'll be judged by my life in its entirety."
2011–2017: Final years in Congress
Republicans took over control of the House as the 112th Congress began in January 2011, meaning Rangel would have lost his Ways and Means chair even without his ethics issues. He was not considered for the ranking member slot either, which after a contested election among the Democratic caucus had gone to former acting chair Sander Levin. His difficulties were not completely over; the National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that he had improperly paid legal bills from a political action committee. To cover both ongoing and past legal expenses he established a legal defense fund (whose creation was approved by the House Ethics Committee).
He was the first elected politician to use the now-defunct Visible Vote mobile app to interact directly with his constituents.
During 2011 Rangel became the first member of Congress to declare support for the Occupy Wall Street movement and made several visits to their nearby demonstration site in Zuccotti Park. However the protesters themselves picketed Rangel's office, objecting to his free trade stance (in particular to agreements he supported with Panama and with South Korea that they said resulted in jobs being exported).
In early 2012, Rangel was beset by a back injury and a serious viral infection; he was away from Congress for three months. Moreover, his district had been renumbered as the 13th District following the 2010 census, and its demographics had been changed significantly. He found himself in a district that stretched from Harlem to the Bronx and was now majority-Hispanic; it was 55 percent Hispanic and 27 percent African American. As a result, Rangel faced a serious primary challenge from State Senator Adriano Espaillat. Rangel struggled with fundraising, and he began receiving contributions from fellow members of Congress whom he had helped over the years. In the June 26 primary – the real contest in what was still an overwhelmingly Democratic district – Rangel defeated Espaillat by less than a thousand votes, with a result that took two weeks to fully resolve. He won the subsequent November general election easily.
In April 2013, Rangel filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against several members and staff of the House Ethics Committee, saying that they had engaged in "numerous, flagrant, knowing and intentional violations" in their investigation against him. The suit sought to overturn the measure of censure that had been taken against him. In December 2013, Judge John D. Bates dismissed the suit, saying that there were "insurmountable separation-of-powers barriers" against the courts becoming involved in House of Representatives internal actions. Rangel appealed the dismissal, but the judge's action was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in May 2015, saying the matter fell outside the jurisdiction of the courts. In October 2015, the United States Supreme Court declined to consider the case ending Rangel's legal bid.
Rangel ran again in 2014, facing Espaillat once more in the Democratic primary as well as Reverend Michael Walrond from the First Corinthian Baptist Church. Rangel said that if he was re-elected, it would be his final term in the House. He lost some of his traditional endorsements, but retained others and campaigned hard even while turning 84 years of age. In the June 24 primary the voting was again close but Rangel prevailed over Espaillat. Rangel faced no Republican opposition in the November general election and won easily against a minor party candidate, saying as he voted on November 4, "Today was a historic day and a very emotional day [as] I cast my final vote as a candidate on the ballot..."
After being strongly opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu's March 3, 2015, speech to Congress (in which, at the invitation of House Republicans, the Israeli Prime Minister spoke in opposition to the Obama administration's efforts to secure a comprehensive agreement on Iran's nuclear program) and saying he would be one of those Democrats not attending, Rangel changed his mind and did attend, attributing his reversal to the advice of friends and constituents and saying, "Enough damage has already been done... I don't want my absence to add to what is already a shattered type of relationship."
Due to a large personal loan he made and his continuing struggles with fundraising, Rangel's 2014 re-election campaign debt stood at $140,000 as of June 2015. He engaged in various fundraising efforts during 2015 in an effort to reduce this debt, which brought about some criticism from The Center for Public Integrity that these efforts were not fully transparent. He had planned to raise money towards paying off that debt at his 85th birthday celebration to be held at the Plaza Hotel that month. Guests included Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, and Hillary Clinton, however Clinton took over Rangel's party as a "Hillary for America" event to raise money for her 2016 presidential campaign.
As he had vowed two years earlier, Rangel did not run for re-election in the 2016 election. In the June 2016 Democratic primary election to effectively pick his successor, Rangel supported State Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright expressing the hope that an African American would continue to represent the district. However Espaillat won a close victory over Wright in a large field of candidates. Underlining the demographic changes that had been taking place, after winning the general election in November Espaillat became the first non-African American to represent Harlem in the House since a series of Harlem-focused congressional districts were formed beginning in the 1940s. Rangel left office at the expiration of his term on January 3, 2017.
Later years
After his retirement, Rangel has been occasionally active in public life. He gave reflective interviews that also commented on the future course of Harlem. He endorsed Robert Jackson in his successful bid to unseat Marisol Alcantara in New York's 31st State Senate district in a 2018 race, and he endorsed Joe Biden during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.
When asked in 2019 whether he had ever witnessed any racist comments made by Donald Trump prior to his presidency, Rangel said he had not, but added: "I don't remember any remarks he ever made that was not sharing with me how much he thought about himself. It was always the same story."
Rangel served as grand marshal of Harlem's African American Day Parade in 2019. He rode in the parade again in 2022, at age 92, when it resumed following COVID-19 cancellations.
Political positions
Various advocacy groups have given Rangel scores or grades as to how well his votes align with the positions of each group. Overall as of 2003, Rangel had an average lifetime 91 percent "liberal quotient" from Americans for Democratic Action.In contrast, the American Conservative Union assessed to Rangel a lifetime rating of less than 4 percent through 2009. National Journal rates congressional votes as liberal or conservative on the political spectrum, in three policy areas: economic, social, and foreign. For 2005–2006, Rangel's averages were as follows: economic rating 91 percent liberal and 6 percent conservative, social rating 94 percent liberal and 5 percent conservative, and foreign rating 84 percent liberal and 14 percent conservative.
Project Vote Smart provides the ratings of many, many lesser known interest groups with respect to Rangel. Rangel typically had 100 ratings from NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood
and, inversely, 0 ratings or close to that from the National Right to Life Committee.
He has typically gotten very high ratings in the 90s or 100 from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The League of Conservation Voters has usually given Rangel around a 90 rating.
Taxpayers for Common Sense has given Rangel ratings in the middling 40–50 range, while
the National Taxpayers Union has typically given Rangel very low ratings or an 'F' grade.
Political image
Rangel is known as an energetic, genial, and sociable politician, one who is able to gain friendship and influence by means of charm, humor, and candor. He was called "Charlie" by everyone in Congress from the highest-ranking members to the custodial employees. Of his political skills, 1980s Ways and Means chair Dan Rostenkowski said, "Charlie has the gifted knack of getting you to change your position, and you actually enjoy doing it. Compromising isn't so unusual in Congress. Enjoying it is." The New York congressman's ability to use humor to catch others off guard before making a political point has been called "Rangeling" by lobbyists and others on Capitol Hill. Many of his closest friends and allies in Congress have not been other African Americans, but white representatives from working class or rural districts. O'Neill aide Chris Matthews said these members were "tied emotionally and culturally to the people they represent".
Rangel has been described as having a meticulous appearance. Long-time mentor Percy Sutton recalled, "In the beginning I called him Pretty Boy Rangel, to denigrate him, because he was one of those handsome types, hair pushed down and that mustache. But he had a way about him, with that great humor, an ability to influence people." Later The New York Times described him thusly: "After three decades in public life, the portly, gravel-voiced Mr. Rangel, who is very much the Old World-style gentleman yet sprinkles his sentences with mild profanity, still takes politics personally." In contrast, Rangel and his office have long been disorganized, with criticism even from supporters for taking on more things than he can keep track of. The congressman's life has been dominated by politics with no hobbies and few friendships outside of it. Loyalties to Rangel were severely tested when he was being investigated for possible ethics violations and a number of political figures bailed out on a lavish 80th birthday gala planned for Rangel at New York's Plaza Hotel.
Rangel has been known for his blunt speaking and candor. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he paraphrased Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind: , "Well, ... if I'm gone, quite frankly, I don't give a damn." In any case he has often made controversial remarks.
Some have been linked to his caustic criticism of George W. Bush's administration. Speaking at a Congressional Black Caucus town meeting in September 2005, his frustration over the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina led him to compare Bush to the Southern Democrat Bull Connor, a 1960s symbol of white opposition to the civil rights movement, saying: "George Bush is our Bull Connor." A few days later he said both figures had become focal points for American blacks to rally against. His first remark led to a public exchange with Vice President Dick Cheney who said, "I'm frankly surprised at his comments. It almost struck me — they were so out of line, it almost struck me that... Charlie was having some problem. Charlie is losing it, I guess." Rangel responded by saying, "The fact that he would make a crack at my age, he ought to be ashamed of himself... He should look so good at seventy-five."
Rangel again expressed his displeasure with the vice president in October 2006 – after Cheney had said that "Charlie doesn't understand how the economy works" – by opining that Cheney is "a real son of a bitch" who "enjoys a confrontation" and suggesting that Cheney required professional treatment for mental defects. The White House said that the vice president did not take Rangel's comments personally and had a "big hearty laugh" over them.
Rangel sometimes seems to find the other side; following the 2006 Hugo Chávez speech at the United Nations in which the Venezuelan leader implied that Bush was the devil, Rangel said, "I want President Chávez to please understand that even though many people in the United States are critical of our president that we resent the fact that he would come to the United States and criticize President Bush... you don't come into my country, you don't come into my congressional district and you don't condemn my president."
Other remarks of Rangel's have revolved around Rangel's feelings about his home state and city, such as disparaging the state of Mississippi
or suggesting that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama might be unsafe if they visited New York.
In both cases apologies from the congressman followed. In certain instances, his remarks only exacerbated his existing problems. When his ethics issues were made public, Rangel remarked that Governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was "disabled". In 2013, he compared the Tea Party movement to segregationists who opposed the Civil Rights Movement and said they could be defeated the same way: "It is the same group we faced in the South with those white crackers and the dogs and the police. They didn't care about how they looked. It was just fierce indifference to human life that caused America to say enough is enough."
Electoral history
After defeating Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in the Democratic primary in 1970, Rangel won re-election to represent New York's 18th, 19th, 16th, 15th, 13th districts at different times.
Awards and honors
In 1986, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awarded Rangel with the William L. Dawson Award.
Rangel was given the Jackie Robinson Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Washington International Trade Association.
Rangel has received a number of honorary degrees, including ones from Hofstra University (1989), Syracuse University (2001), Suffolk University Law School (2002), and Bard College (2008). In 2006 he received a Presidential Medal from Baruch College.
See also
List of African-American United States representatives
List of United States representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded
List of federal political scandals in the United States
Explanatory notes
Citations
Cited bibliography
Further reading
John C. Walker, The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones and Tammany, 1920–1970, New York: State University New York Press, 1989.
David N. Dinkins, A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic, New York, PublicAffairs Books, 2013.
David Paterson, Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2020.
External links
Charlie Rangel's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
Congressman Charles B. Rangel Archive at the City College of New York
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penile%20plethysmography
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Penile plethysmography
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Penile plethysmography (PPG) or phallometry is measurement of blood flow to the penis, typically used as a proxy for measurement of sexual arousal. The most commonly reported methods of conducting penile plethysmography involve the measurement of the circumference of the penis with a mercury-in-rubber or electromechanical strain gauge, or the volume of the penis with an airtight cylinder and inflatable cuff at the base of the penis. Corpora cavernosa nerve penile plethysmographs measure changes in response to inter-operative electric stimulation during surgery. The volumetric procedure was invented by Kurt Freund and is considered to be particularly sensitive at low arousal levels. The easier to use circumferential measures are more widely used, however, and more common in studies using erotic film stimuli. A corresponding device in women is the vaginal photoplethysmograph.
For sexual offenders it is typically used to determine the level of sexual arousal as the subject is exposed to sexually suggestive content, such as pictures, movies or audio, although some have argued that phallometry is not always appropriate for the evaluation of sexual preferences or treatment effects. A 1998 large-scale meta-analytic review of the scientific reports demonstrated that phallometric response to stimuli depicting children, though only having a .32 correlation with future sex offending (accounting for approximately 10% of the variance), had the highest accuracy among methods of identifying which sexual offenders will go on to commit new sexual crimes. (None of the methods were strong predictors with most accounting for far less than 10% of the variance).
For prostatectomy nerve-sparing surgery, the surgeon applies a mild electrical stimulation near the cavernous nerves of penis to verify their locations and avoid operative trauma. Damage to these difficult-to-see nerves can cause erectile dysfunction outcomes. At the surgery's conclusion, the electrical stimulation penile plethysmograph result is a prognosis which helps to manage the erectile function outcomes earlier than the many months required for recovery.
Types
There are two types of penile plethysmograph:
Volumetric air chamber
When this is placed over the subject's penis, as tumescence increases, the air displaced is measured.
Circumferential transducer
This uses a mercury-in-rubber or indium/gallium-in-rubber ring or electromechanical strain gauge and is placed around the shaft of the subject's penis to measure changes in circumference.
The circumferential type is more common, but the volumetric method is believed to be more accurate at low arousal levels.
Significant suppliers of PPG machines include Behavioral Technology Inc. and Medical Monitoring Systems. The device is known to be used in Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Norway, Slovak Republic, Spain, and the United States.
The surgical machine is supplied as CaverMap by Blue Torch Medical Technology, Inc.
A roughly equivalent procedure for women, vaginal photoplethysmography, measures blood through the walls of the vagina, which researchers claim increases during sexual arousal.
Methodology
Exact procedures can vary, but in one study a seventeen-year-old male sex offender was, at the start of each daily session, privately fitted with a Parks Medical Electronics mercury strain gauge attached to his penis and worn under trousers and underwear. The device had previously been calibrated with measurements from his penis in its flaccid state and at full erection as achieved through masturbation. This device was connected to a microprocessor, a battery pack, and a strain gauge amplifier, all of which were kept discreetly in a fanny pack. He was then driven daily to a college campus for multiple sessions to assess his sexual attraction to women and men, who were about 30–100 feet away from him. While remaining in a parked car, he was instructed to focus on either a specific woman or a specific man in the setting, imagine himself having sex with them, and allow himself to become sexually aroused if he was so inclined. The device then measured the percentage of full erection that he achieved. This was repeated over a period of 24 days, with the results showing a significantly greater level of attraction to women, especially when research staff were discreetly absent.
History
The original volumetric was developed during the 1950s by Kurt Freund in then-Czechoslovakia. Freund later wrote, "In the early fifties homosexual interaction was still an indictable offense in Czechoslovakia. I was of course opposed to this measure, but I still thought, as did my colleagues at the psychiatric university hospital in Prague where I was working, that homosexuality was an experientially acquired neurosis". He then developed phallometry to replace psychoanalytic methods of assessment because "[P]sychoanalysis had turned out to be a failure, virtually unusable as an instrument for individual diagnosis or research....When phallometry began to look promising as a test of erotic sex and age preferences, we started using it mainly as a test of pedophilia, that is determining who has an erotic preference for children over adults".
In post–World War II Czechoslovakia, Freund was assigned by the communist government the task of identifying among military conscripts men who were falsely declaring themselves to be gay to avoid the draft. "Freund (1957) developed the first device, which measured penile volume changes... to distinguish heterosexual and homosexual males for the Czechoslovakian army." When he escaped Europe for Canada, Freund was able to pursue his research using phallometry for the assessment of sexual offenders. At that time, attempts to develop methods of changing homosexual men into heterosexual men were being made by many sexologists, including John Bancroft, Albert Ellis, and William Masters of the Masters and Johnson Institute. Because phallometry showed that such methods were failures, Freund was among the first sexologists to declare that such attempts were unethical. Based primarily on Freund's studies, decriminalization of homosexuality took place in Czechoslovakia in 1961. (See also LGBT rights in the Czech Republic.)
Reliability and validity
In 1994, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) of the American Psychiatric Association stated that penile plethysmography has been used in research settings to assess various paraphilias by measuring an individual's sexual arousal in response to visual and auditory stimuli. The reliability and validity of this procedure in clinical assessment have not been well established, and clinical experience suggests that subjects can simulate response by manipulating mental images." In contrast, a 2017 recent meta-analysis provides support for the validity of phallometric testing as a measure of sexual interests in children across 37 samples and 6,785 individuals.
In 1998, Hanson and Bussière published a comprehensive meta-analysis of 61 scientific reports on the prediction of sexual offenses spanning more than 40,000 individual cases. They ascertained that of all the methods attempted and reported, penile phethysmographic responses to imagery depicting children was the single most accurate predictor of sexual re-offense across 7 studies reporting data from phallometric testing. Another meta-analysis in 2005 of 13 studies and 2,180 individual cases repeated the finding that phallometric responses to children was a strong predictor of sexual re-offense.
A 2017 meta-analysis that included 16 samples and 2,709 sexual offenders replicated and extended the previous findings that phallometric responding to children is a predictor of sexual re-offence. This meta-analysis extended previous meta-analytic research by showing phallometric responding to both male and female pedophilic and hebephilic stimuli predict sexual re-offence. Further, this meta-analysis showed that phallometric testing predicts sexual re-offence in distinct subgroups of sexual offenders against children.
Critique of methodological problems
There are criticisms of the methodology used to determine the reliability and specificity of penile plethysmography. One such criticism is that while penile plethysmography is said to be important for being more objective than a test subject's subjective reports on sexual arousal, the argument for penile plethysmography being a more reliable gauge of sexual arousal than vaginal plethysmography is still that there is a higher correspondence on average between what the test subjects report and what the instruments observe in male subjects than in female subjects. There is a criticism of this discrepancy for lacking consistency in the standards of whether or not subjective reports are useful. There is also criticism regarding the possibility of sampling bias being greater in male subjects of penile plethysmography than in female subjects of vaginal plethysmography, males being generally more aware of their physical sexual responses than females in most cultures may cause the male volunteers to be almost exclusively individuals who have category specific erections due to those with nonspecific erections fearing erection in taboo contexts and therefore not signing up for the studies. This effect may explain apparent male specificity as a result of methodological bias. The difference between tests of volunteers and tests of convicted or suspected sex offenders in penile plethysmography results may be caused by the sex offender group often effectively lacking the choice not to volunteer, without difference in erection patterns from the average population. One criticism of reoffending studies is that cultural attitudes that assume that men are sexually attracted to what they phallometrically respond to may cause men with no actual sexual interest in children to identify as pedophiles due to knowing that they phallometrically respond to them, making them more likely to be convicted again.
Utility
Erectile dysfunction
The penile plethysmograph has value in screening organic versus psychogenic erectile dysfunction in urological polysomnography centres. Lack of sexual response during REM sleep may indicate that further evaluation by a urologist is required.
When applied during nerve-sparing surgery, electrical stimulation penile plethysmograph is an erectile dysfunction prognostic. The patient is provided with objective information on his specific outcome which aids in planning for further erectile function therapies.
Pedophilia, hebephilia, pedohebephilia, and ephebophilia
Studies examining the efficiency of using penile plethysmograph to distinguish pedophilic men from non-pedophilic men, including hebephiles, show that a majority can be correctly assigned to the proper category. Sensitivity of a phallometric test is defined as the accuracy of the test to identify pedophilic (or hebephilic) individuals as having these sexual interests. Specificity of these tests is defined as the accuracy of the test to identify non-pedophilic (or non-hebephilic) individuals as such. Meta-analytic research has shown that sexual offenders against children show greater responding on phallometric tests for pedophilia and hebephilia than controls.
Volumetric penile plethysmography
In one study, 21% of the subjects were excluded for various reasons, including "the subject's erotic age-preference was uncertain and his phallometrically diagnosed sex-preference was the same as his verbal claim" and attempts to influence the outcome of the test. This study found the sensitivity for identifying pedohebephilia in sexual offenders against children admitting to this interest to be 100%. In addition, the sensitivity for this phallometric test in partially admitting sexual offenders against children was found to be 77% and for denying sexual offenders against children to be 58%. The specificity of this volumetric phallometric test for pedohebephilia was estimated to be 95%.
Further studies by Freund have estimated the sensitivity of a volumetric test for pedohebephilia to be 35% for sexual offenders against children with a single female victim, 70% for those with two or more female victims, 77% for those offenders with one male victim, and 84% for those with two or more male victims. In this study, the specificity of the test was estimated to be 81% in community males and 97% in sexual offenders against adults. In a similar study, the sensitivity of a volumetric test for pedophilia to be 62% for sexual offenders against children with a single female victim, 90% for those with two or more female victims, 76% for those offenders with one male victim, and 95% for those with two or more male victims.
In a separate study, sensitivity of the method to distinguish between pedohebephilic men from non-pedohebephilic men was estimated between 29% and 61% depending on subgroup. Specifically, sensitivity was estimated to be 61% for sexual offenders against children with three or more victims and 34% in incest offenders. The specificity of the test using a sample of sexual offenders against adults was 96% and the area under the curve for the test was estimated to be .86. Further research by this group found the specificity of this test to be 83% in a sample of non-offenders. More recent research has found volumetric phallometry to have a sensitivity of 72% for pedophilia, 70% for hebephilia, and 75% for pedohebephilia and a specificity of 95%, 91%, and 91% for these paraphilias, respectively.
Circumferential penile plethysmography
Other studies have examined the sensitivity and specificity of circumferential phallometry to identify different sexual interests in children. Sensitivity for a circumferential phallometric test for pedophilia has been estimated to be 63% in sexual offenders against children, 65% in extrafamilial offenders against children and 68.4% in incest offenders. Additional research has found different circumferential phallometric tests to have a sensitivity of 93%, 96%, 35%, 78%, and 50% in sexual offenders against children. In incest offenders, the sensitivity of circumferential phallometric tests has been estimated as 19% and 60% in extrafamilial offenders against children. In terms of specificity of these tests for pedophilia, research has estimated the specificity as 92%, 82%, 76%, and 92% in samples of community males and 80% and 92% in sexual offenders against adults.
A single study has examined the accuracy of a circumferential phallometric test for hebephilia. This study found the sensitivity of the hebephilia test to be 70% in extrafamilial offenders against children and 52% in incest offenders. In addition, the specificity for this phallometric test was 68% in a sample of community males.
Other studies have found different phallometric tests for pedohebephilia to have a sensitivity of 75% in incest offenders, 67% in extrafamilial offenders against children, and 64%, 64%, 44%, and 53%, in sexual offenders against children.
In addition, Abel and colleagues found ephebophilic stimuli to have a sensitivity of 50%.
Another study examined the possibility that juvenile sex offenders might be able to suppress arousal deemed deviant. Of the juveniles who exhibited sexual arousal, categorization was made into two age appropriate categories—Adult and Peer responders—and three age inappropriate categories—Child, Child/Adult, and Nondiscriminating responders—based on whether they had the greatest sexual arousal in response to adult female, peer female, or younger child female stimuli. Sexual arousal in response to older adult women or peers was deemed age appropriate; sexual arousal in response to significantly younger females was deemed inappropriate. Many of the juveniles who denied responsibility for their offenses showed no sexual arousal at all—however about one-third still showed age inappropriate arousal despite denying responsibility for their offenses.
Biastophilia
There is some evidence that phallometry can distinguish groups of men with biastophilia (a paraphilia involving rape) from groups of men without it.
Legal admissibility
In general, phallometric test results are employed as part of the sentencing and rehabilitation phase of forensic systems, but not for determining whether a specific defendant is guilty of any specific offense against any specific person.
United States
Use as trial evidence
In the United States, a scientific technique could not be used as evidence in court unless the technique was "generally accepted" as reliable in the relevant scientific community. This was known as the Frye standard, adopted in 1923. In 1993, the doctrine was rejected by the Supreme Court of the United States in favor of a more comprehensive "reliable foundation" test in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. In the Daubert standard, the "generally accepted" test was no longer determinative. Several other factors could now be considered, including whether the technique had been published and peer-reviewed. Myers notes, "Courts that have considered penile plethysmography generally rule that the technique is not sufficiently reliable for use in court."
In United States v. Powers the court excluded the penile plethysmograph test because it failed to qualify under Daubert's scientific validity prong for two reasons: the scientific literature does not regard the test as a valid diagnostic tool, and "a vast majority of incest offenders who do not admit their guilt, such as Powers, show a normal reaction to the test. The Government argues that such false negatives render the test unreliable."
According to Barker and Howell, penile plethysmography (PPG) does not meet the legal threshold for the guilt phase for the following reasons:
No standardization
Test results are not sufficiently accurate
Results are subject to faking and voluntary control by test subjects
High incidence of false negatives and false positives
Results are open to interpretation
They concluded, "Until a way can be devised to detect and/or control false negatives and false positives, the validity of the test data will be questionable." Responding to Barker and Howell, Simon and Schouten noted, "Our own analysis suggests that the standardization and faking issues, as well as other problems not addressed in the Barker and Howell paper, warrant much more guarded conclusions about the use of the plethysmograph in legal and clinical settings." Prentky noted "the increased likelihood in forensic settings that dissimulation may compromise the validity of the assessment." Hall and Crowther noted penile plethysmography "may be even more problematic than other [methods] in assessing susceptibility of the test to faking."
In State of North Carolina v. Spencer, the court reviewed the literature and case law and concluded that penile plethysmography was scientifically unreliable: "Despite the sophistication of the current equipment technology, a question remains whether the information emitted is a valid and reliable means of assessing sexual preference."
More recently, a substantial amount of research data has been gathered and reviewed, and significant steps have been taken toward standardization. According to Launay (1999), "[T]he validity of the technique for research and clinical assessment is now established;" it is only the use in guilt-determination proceedings that is inappropriate. Fedoroff and Moran called it an "experimental procedure" and noted, "Virtually every expert who has written about phallometry has cautioned that it is insufficiently sensitive or specific to be used to determine the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a sex crime."
Post-conviction use
Phallometry is widely considered appropriate for treatment and supervision of convicted sex offenders: "Courts have permitted plethysmographic testing for monitoring compliance by convicted sex offenders with the conditions of their community placement as part of crime-related treatment for sexual deviancy." Its use for the treatment and management of sexual offenders is recommended by the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. Becker notes it "should never be used exclusively in forensic decision making." The sexual assault trial of basketball player Kobe Bryant in Colorado brought this device and its use to public attention before the case was dropped in 2004, because Colorado law would have required evaluation with this device following conviction. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently addressed the procedures required before a federal supervised release program could include penile plethysmograph testing. The device is routinely used at civil commitment facilities, but "some clinicians and offenders say it is easy, particularly in a laboratory, to stifle arousal and thus cheat on a plethysmograph test." This has been reported to occur in 16% of cases.
During the Catholic sex abuse cases, the reliability of the test was questioned by some officials in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Later, these officials chose to seek therapy at an institution where the plethysmograph was not used.
Canada
Courts in Canada came to a similar conclusion as those in the United States. The Supreme Court of Canada adopted the Daubert doctrine in R. v . J.-L.J. [2000] 2 S.C.R. 600, which upheld a lower court's decision to exclude testimony by a psychiatrist who had administered several tests on the accused, including a penile plethysmograph:
As of 2010, all youth in sex offender treatment programs administered by the Youth Forensic Psychiatric Service of British Columbia were offered a voluntary penile plethysmograph test to predict whether they can properly control their deviant arousal, or whether they will require medication or other forms of treatment. According to sceptics, however, the test does not reliably predict recurrent violations.
Ethics and legality of use
Robert Todd Carroll writes, "More objectionable than the questionable scientific validity of the device, however, are the moral and legal questions its use raises." Carroll and others cite the legality of the depictions of minors, as well as the constitutionality of requiring PPG for admission to jobs or the military, or in custody cases. In Harrington v. Almy the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that a PPG ordered to be administered by William O'Donohue as a precondition of employment was a violation of plaintiff's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In a 2009 report led by Robert Clift on use of the device on adolescent offenders, the authors acknowledge in their conclusions that PPG tests "are problematic ethically and should be used only after therapists have carefully weighed the benefits versus the negatives." The Minister of Children and Family Development closed the program examined in Clift's report in 2010 following complaints by civil rights groups. The principal manufacturer of the device stopped making them in the 1990s.
The EU's leading human rights agency, the Fundamental Rights Agency, has criticised the use of phallometric tests by the Czech Republic to determine whether asylum seekers presenting themselves as homosexual were in fact gay. According to the Agency, the Czech Republic was in 2010 the only EU country to employ a sexual arousal test, which the Agency said could violate the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2011 the EU commission issued a statement calling the Czech practice illegal, saying "The practice of phallometric tests constitutes a strong interference with the person's private life and human dignity. This kind of degrading treatment should not be accepted in the European Union, nor elsewhere." The Czech Interior Ministry replied that the testing was conducted only after written consent has been obtained, and when it was not possible to use a different method of verification. According to the Ministry, all those who had passed the test had been granted asylum.
See also
Clitoral photoplethysmograph
Labial thermistor clip
Polygraph
Sexual concordance
Sexological testing
Vaginal photoplethysmograph
References
Further reading
Flow meters
Medical testing equipment
Male genital procedures
Human penis
Sexology
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahadur%20Shah%20I
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Bahadur Shah I
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Mirza Muhammad Mu'azzam (14 October 1643 – 27 February 1712), also known as Bahadur Shah I and Shah Alam I, was the eighth Mughal emperor from 1707 to 1712. He was the second son of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who he conspired to overthrow in his youth. He was also governor of Agra, Kabul and Lahore and had to face revolts of Rajputs and Sikhs.
After Aurangzeb's death, Muhammad Azam Shah, his third son by his chief consort declared himself successor, but was shortly defeated in one of the largest battles of India, the Battle of Jajau and overthrown by Bahadur Shah. During the reign of Bahadur Shah, the Rajput states of Jodhpur and Amber were annexed again after they had declared independence a few years prior.
Bahadur Shah also sparked an Islamic controversy in the khutba by inserting the declaration of Ali as wali. His reign was disturbed by several rebellions, the Sikhs under the leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur, Rajputs under Durgadas Rathore and fellow Mughal Kam Bakhsh but all of them except for the rebellion by Banda Singh Bahadur were successfully quelled.
Early life
Bahadur Shah was born as Mu'azzam on 14 October 1643 in Burhanpur. He was the eldest son of prince Muhi al-Din Muhammad, later Mughal emperor Aurganzeb, by his Pothwari wife Nawab Bai, who belonged to the Jarral tribe.
Shah Jahan's reign
During his grandfather's reign, Shah Jahan, Mu'azzam was appointed vizer of Lahore from 1653 to 1659. In 1663, he replaced Shaista Khan as the governor of Deccan in 1663. Shivaji raided the outskirts of Mughal Deccan's capital Aurangabad while the indolent Mu'azzam did little to prevent it. Enraged at this, Aurangzeb sent his most able commander Raja Jai Singh to defeat Shivaji and here the historic Treaty of Purandar was signed.
Aurangzeb's reign
After Raja Jai Singh I defeated Shivaji at Purandar, Mu'azzam was given charge of the Deccan in May 1667 and was assisted by Maharaja Jaswant Singh.
In 1670, Mu'azzam organised an insurgency to overthrow Aurangzeb and proclaim himself the Mughal emperor. This plan may have been hatched at the instigation of the Marathas, and Mu'azzam's own inclinations and sincerity are difficult to gauge. Aurangzeb learned of the plot and sent Mu'azzam's mother, Begum Nawab Bai, to dissuade him from rebellion. Mu'azzam returned to the Mughal court, where he spent the next several years under Aurangzeb's supervision. However, Mu'azzam again nearly revolted in 1680 over Aurangzeb's scorched earth policy during his suppression of Rajput rebellions. Once again, Aurangzeb dissuaded Mu'azzam with gentleness and watched him with greater vigilance.
For the next seven years, from 1681 to 1687, historian Munis Faruqui describes Mu'azzam as a "grudgingly obedient son".
Rebellion against Aurangzeb
In 1681, Mu'azzam was sent back by Aurangzeb to the Deccan to cut off the retreat of his rebellious half-brother Sultan Muhammad Akbar. According to Faruqui, Mu'azzam deliberately failed in his mission. In 1683, after being ordered by Aurangzeb to march to the Konkan region to prevent the still rebellious Muhammad Akbar from fleeing the country, but again Mu'azzam failed to achieve the assigned goal. In 1687, Aurangzeb ordered Mu'azzam to march against the sultanate of Golconda. Within weeks, the emperor's spies intercepted treasonous messages exchanged between Mu'azzam and Abul Hasan, the ruler of Golconda. This was something which could not be mistaken for incompetence; it was clearly treason. Aurangzeb imprisoned Mu'azzam and his sons, executed his closest followers, ordered his harem "shipped off to faraway Delhi", and dispersed his staff. Aurangzeb forbade Mu'azzam to cut his nails or hair for six months, gave orders depriving him of "good food, or cold water." He was not to meet anybody without his father's prior consent.
Rehabilitation
Around 1694, Aurangzeb rehabilitated Mu'azzam and allowed him "to rebuild his household", rehiring some of his officials. Aurangzeb continued to spy on his son, appointing his men to Mu'azzam's household, sending informants to his harem and choosing his representatives at the imperial court. Mu'azzam and his sons were transferred from the Deccan to north India, and were forbidden to lead military expeditions in the Deccan for the rest of Aurangzeb's reign. In 1695, Aurangzeb sent Mu'azzam to the Punjab to fight the chieftains and subdue a rebellion by the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh. Although the commander imposed "heavy taxation" on the rajas, he thought it necessary to leave the Sikhs undisturbed in their fortified city of Anandpur and refused to wage war against them out of "genuine respect" for their religion. That year Mu'azzam was appointed governor of Akbarabad, and in 1696 he was transferred to Lahore. After the death of Amin Khan, the governor of Kabul he assumed that position in 1699, holding it until his father's death in 1707.
Emperorship
War of succession
Aurangzeb died in 1707, without appointing a crown prince or a designated successor. Mu'azzam was governor of Kabul and his younger half-brothers Muhammad Kam Bakhsh and Muhammad Azam Shah were the governors of the Deccan and Gujarat respectively. All three sons intended to win the crown, and Kam Bakhsh began minting coins in his name. Mu'azzam defeated Azam Shah at the Battle of Jajau in June 1707. Azam Shah and his son Ali Tabar would be killed in the battle. Mu'azzam ascended the Mughal throne at age 64 on 19 June 1707, with the title of Bahadur Shah I. He then marched to the Deccan and defeated and killed Kam Bakhsh in a battle near Hyderabad in January 1708.
Kam Bakhsh's uprising
Muhammad Kam Bakhsh, marched with his soldiers to Bijapur in March 1707. On the news of Aurangzeb's death spread through the city, the city's governor, Sayyid Niyaz Khan surrendered the Bijapur Fort to him without a fight. Ascending the throne of Bijapur, Kam Bakhsh made Ahsan Khan, who served in the army as the bakshi (general of the armed forces), and made his advisor Taqarrub Khan as chief minister and gave himself the title of Padshah Kam Bakhsh-i-Dinpanah (Emperor Kam Bakhsh, Protector of Faith). He then conquered Kulbarga and Wakinkhera.A rivalry soon broke out between Taqarrub Khan and Ahsan Khan. Ahsan Khan had developed a marketplace in Bijapur where, without permission from Kam Bakhsh, he did not tax the shops. Taqarrub Khan reported it to Kam Bakhsh, who ordered the practise stopped. In May 1707, Kam Bakhsh sent Ahsan Khan to conquer the states of Golkonda and Hyderabad. Although the king of Golconda refused to surrender, Subahdar of Hyderabad, Rustam Dil Khan did so.
Taqarrub Khan made a conspiracy to eliminate Ahsan Khan, alleging that meetings of Ahsan Khan, Saif Khan (Kam Bakhsh's archery teacher), Arsan Khan, Ahmad Khan, Nasir Khan and Rustam Dil Khan (all of them Kam Bakhsh's former teachers and members of the then court) to discuss public business were a conspiracy to assassinate Kam Bakhsh "while on his way to the Friday prayer at the great mosque". After informing Kam Bakhsh of the matter, he invited Rustam Dil Khan for dinner; arrested him en route. Rustam Dil Khan was killed by being crushed under the feet of an elephant. Saif Khan's hands were amputated, and Arshad Khan's tongue was cut off. Ahsan Khan ignored warnings by close friends that Kam Bakhsh would arrest him, and would be imprisoned and his properties seized. In April 1708, Bahadur Shah sent an envoy Maktabar Khan to Kam Bakhsh's court. When Taqarrub Khan told Kam Bakhsh that Maktabar Khan intended to dethrone him, Kam Bakhsh invited the envoy and his entourage to a feast and executed them.
March to the Deccan
In May 1708, Bahadur Shah wrote a letter to Kam Bakhsh in which he warned his brother against proclaiming himself an independent sovereign and began a journey to the Tomb of Aurangzeb to pay his respects to his father. Kam Bakhsh thanked him in a letter, "without either explaining or justifying [his actions]".
Bahadur Shah reached Hyderabad on 28 June 1708, where he learned that Kam Bakhsh had attacked Machhlibandar to seize over three million rupees' worth of treasure hidden in its fort. The subahdar of the province, Jan Sipar Khan, refused to hand over the money. Enraged, Kam Bakhsh confiscated his properties and ordered the recruitment of four thousand soldiers for the attack. In July, the garrison at the Kulbarga Fort declared their independence and garrison leader Daler Khan Bijapuri "reported his desertion from Kam Bakhsh". On 5 November 1708 Bahadur Shah's camp reached Bidar, north of Hyderabad. Historian William Irvine wrote that as his "camp drew nearer desertions from Kam Bakhsh became more and more frequent". On 1 November, Kam Bakhsh captured Pam Naik's (zamindar, the landlord of Wakinkhera) holdings after Naik abandoned his army.
According to Irvine, more soldiers Kam Bakhsh deserted as the emperor's group neared. When Kam Bakhsh's general told him that his failure to pay his soldiers was the reason for their desertion, he replied: "What need have I of enlisting them? My trust is in God, and whatever is best will happen."
Thinking that Kam Bakhsh might flee to Persia, Bahadur Shah ordered his prime minister Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung to negotiate with Thomas Pitt, the governor of the Madras Presidency, to pay him 200,000 rupees for Kam Bakhsh's capture. On 20 December, Kam Bakhsh was reported to have a cavalry of 2,500 and an infantry of 5,000.
Defeat and death of Kam Bakhsh
On 20 December 1708, Bahadur Shah marched towards Talab-i-Mir Jumla, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, with "three hundred camels, [and] twenty thousand rockets" for war with Kam Baksh. His son Jahandar Shah, was made the commander of the advance guard, but later replaced Khan Zaman. Bahadur Shah reached Hyderabad on 12 January 1709, and prepared his troops. Although Kam Bakhsh had little money and few soldiers left, the royal astrologer had predicted that he would "miraculously" win the battle.
At sunrise the following day, the Mughal army charged towards Kam Bakhsh. His 15,000 troops were divided into two bodies: one led by Mumin Khan, assisted by Rafi-ush-Shan and Jahan Shah, and the second under Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung. Two hours later Kam Bakhsh's camp was surrounded, and Zulfiqar Khan impatiently attacked him with his "small force".
With his soldiers outnumbered and unable to resist the attack, Kam Bakhsh joined the battle and shot two quivers of arrows at his opponents. According to Irvine, when he was "weakened by loss of blood", Bahadur Shah took him and his son Bariqullah prisoner. A dispute arose between Mumin Khan and Zulfikar Khan Nusrat Jung over who had captured them, with Rafi-us-Shan ruling in favour of the latter. Kam Bakhsh was brought by palanquin to the emperor's camp, where he died the next morning.
Annexations
Amber
After ascending the throne, Bahadur Shah made plans to annex Rajput kingdoms who declared independence after Aurangzeb's death. On 10 November, he began his march to Kingdom of Amber in Rajputana. He visited the Tomb of Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri on 21 November. In the meantime, Bahadur Shah's aide Mihrab Khan was ordered to take possession of Jodhpur. Bahadur Shah reached Amber on 20 January 1708. Though the monarch of the kingdom was Sawai Jai Singh, his brother Bijai Singh resented his rule. Bahadur Shah ruled that because of the dispute, the region would become part of the Mughal empire and the city was renamed as Islamabad. Jai Singh's goods and properties were confiscated on the pretext that he supported Bahadur Shah's brother Azam Shah during the succession war. Bijai Singh was made the governor of Amber on 30 April 1708. Bahadur Shah gave him the title of Mirza Rajah, and he received gifts valued at 100,000 rupees. Amber passed into Mughal hands without a war.
Jodhpur
Jaswant Singh, the leader of the Rathore dynasty, was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Marwar during Aurangzeb's reign. During the war of succession after Shah Jahan, he had backed Aurangzeb's older brother Dara Shikoh. After Dara Shikoh's defeat and execution by Aurangzeb, Jaswant Singh was pardoned and appointed the governor of Kabul. He died on 18 December 1678, with no male children but two pregnant wives.
After the birth of Ajit Singh to Rani Jadav Jaskumvar, Aurangzeb ordered he be brought to Delhi along with Jaswant Singh's widows. Aurangzeb intended to directly annex Marwar into the Mughal empire. The Rajput general Durgadas Rathore, who had ambitions of retaking Jodhpur from the Mughals, fought a war to prevent Aurangzeb getting hold of Ajit Singh; he tore through Delhi with his men and successfully escorted the Prince and the widows to Jodhpur. After Aurangzeb's death, during Azam Shah's brief reign, Ajit Singh marched to Jodhpur and took it from Mughal rule.
In Amber, Bahadur Shah announced his intention to march to Jodhpur when Mihrab Khan defeated Ajit Singh at Mairtha, and he reached the town on 21 February 1708. His men were sent to bring Ajit Singh to the city for an interview, where Ajit Singh received "special robes of honour" and a jewelled scarf. Bahadur Shah then headed towards Ajmer and reached the city on 24 March, where he visited the Dargah Sharif.
Udaipur
The Kingdom of Mewar, under Maharana Amar Singh I, had submitted to Mughal rule in 1615, during Jahangir's reign. However, the Sisodias declared their independence after Aurangzeb's death in 1707.
While in Jodhpur, Bahadur Shah got the news that the Maharana Amar Singh II had fled Udaipur to hide in the hills. His messengers gave him the message that Amar Singh got "afraid" by the happenings in Amber and Jodhpur and thought that his kingdom would also be annexed by the Mughals once again. According to the Bahadur Shah Nama chronicle, because of this incident the emperor called Amar Singh an "unbeliever". Bahadur Shah waged war against the king until Muhammad Kam Bakhsh's insurgency diverted him southward.
Rajput Rebellion
While the emperor was on his way to Deccan to punish Muhammad Kam Bakhsh, the three Rajput Raja's of Amber, Udaipur and Jodhpur made a joint resistance to the Mughals. The Rajputs first expelled the Mughal commandants of Jodhpur and Hindaun-Bayana and recovered Amber by a night attack. They next killed Sayyid Hussain Khan Barha, the commandant of Mewat and many other officers (September, 1708). The emperor, then in the Deccan had to patch up a truce by restoring Ajit Singh and Jai Singh to the Mughal service.
Sikh rebellion
Bahadur Shah, upon hearing of the uprising led by Banda Bahadur in Punjab only a year after Guru Gobind Singh's death, left the Deccan for the north. The Sikhs started moving cautiously towards Delhi and entered the sarkar in Khanda where they started preparation for a military campaign. They stormed Sonipat and Samana in November 1709 and defeated the faujdar in the Battle of Sonipat and Battle of Samana whilst sacking the town. Before taking Sirhind in the Battle of Chappar Chiri, Banda Bahadur captured Shahabad, Sadhaura and Banur. Before Bahadur Shah's arrival in December, Banda Bahadur had captured the sarkar of Sirhind, several parganas of the sarkar of Hissar, and had invaded the sarkar of Saharanpur.
After the victory at Sirhind, the Sikhs turned towards the Gangetic Doab. With trouble arising in a pargana of Deoband and Sikh converts complaining of imprisonment and persecution by the faujdar Jalal Khan, Banda Bahadur marched on Saharanpur on the way to Jalalabad. The faujdar of Saharanpur, Ali Hamid Khan, fled to Delhi while the Sikhs defeated the defenders and reduced the town. They next attacked Behat whose Pirzadas were notorious for anti-Hindu acts, especially slaughtering cows. The town was sacked and the Pirzadas killed. The Sikhs then marched to Jalalabad and Banda asked Jalal Khan to surrender and release the Sikh prisoners, but the faujdar refused. They came to Nanauta on 21 July 1710 and defeated the local Sheikhzadas, who had put up a gallant defence but ultimately submitted to Banda Bahadur's superior forces. The Sikhs then besieged Jalalabad but withdrew to Jalandhar Doab due to the flooding in the Krishna River.
The Sikhs tried to oust the Mughals from the regions of Jalandhar and Amritsar. They called on Shamas Khan, the Faujdar of Jalandhar, to effect reforms and hand over the treasury. Shamas Khan pretended submission and later started attacking them. He appealed to Muslims in name of religion and declared a jihad against the Sikhs. The Sikhs, being outnumbered, withdrew to Rahon and captured its fort after defeating the Mughals in the Battle of Rahon on 12 October 1710. At Amritsar, about 8,000 Sikhs assembled and captured Majha and Riarki of central Punjab. They also attacked Lahore, where the mullahs declared a jihad against them with the governor not confronting the Sikhs. The ghazis were defeated by the Sikhs.
Sikhs used their newly established power to remove Mughal officials and replace them with Sikhs. Banda made his capital at Lohgarh, where he established a mint. He abolished the mughal Zamindari system and gave the cultivators proprietorship of their own land.
Efforts at suppression
Bahadur Shah signed peace treaties with Ajit Singh of Jodhpur, and Man Singh of Amber before turning to fight Banda Bahadur. He also ordered the Nawab of Awadh Asaf-ud-Daula, provincial governor Khan-i-Durrani, Moradabad faujdar Muhammad Amin Khan Chin, Delhi subahdar Asad Khan and Jammu faujdar Wazid Khan to accompany him into battle.
Bahadur Shah left Ajmer for the Punjab on 17 June 1710, mobilising groups opposed to Banda Bahadur on the way. When he learned about Bahadur Shah's plans, Banda Bahadur unsuccessfully appealed to Ajit Singh and Man Singh for help. In the meantime, Bahadur Shah had reoccupied Sonipat, Kaithal and Panipat en route. In October, his commander Khanzada Nawab Feroz Khan wrote to him that he had "chopped three hundred heads of rebels"; Khan sent them to the emperor, who displayed them mounted on spears.
On 1 November 1710 the emperor reached the city of Karnal, where Mughal cartographer Rustam Dil Khan gave him a map of Thanesar and Sirhind. Six days later, a small group of Sikhs were defeated at Mewati and Banswal. The city of Sirhind fell to the Mughals on 7 December; its besieger, general Muhammad Amin Khan Turani, gave the emperor a golden key ring commemorating the victory. After failing to recapture Sadaura, Bahadur Shah marched towards Lohgarh, where Banda Bahadur was hiding. On 30 November he attacked the Lohgarh fort, capturing three guns, matchlocks and three trenches from the rebels. With little ammunition left, Banda Bahadur and a "few hundred of his followers fled". His follower, Gulab Singh (who was "dressed like" Bahadur), entered the fight and was killed. The emperor issued orders to the rulers of Kumaon and Srinagar that if Bahadur tried to enter their province, he should be "sent to the Emperor".
Suspecting that Banda Bahadur was allied with Bhup Prakash, the king of Nahan, the emperor had Bhup Prakash imprisoned in January 1711; his mother begged in vain for his release. After she sent him captured followers of Bahadur, he ordered that "ornaments worth 100,000 rupees should be manufactured" for her, and Prakash was released a month later. Shukan Khan Bahadur and Himmet Diler Khan were sent to Lahore to end Banda Bahadur's rebellion, and their unsuccessful attempt was reinforced by a garrison of five thousand soldiers. Bahadur Shah also pressed Rustam Dil Khan and Muhammad Amin Khan to join them.
Banda Bahadur was hiding in Alhalab, from Lahore. When Mughal workers came to repair a bridge in the village, his followers disinformed them that he was preparing to attack Delhi via Ajmer. Banda Bahadur received soldiers from village ruler Ram Chand for his march against the Mughals, and besieged Fatehabad in April 1711. After learning from messenger Rustan Jung that he had crossed the Ravi River, the emperor attacked with artillery led by Isa Khan. In the July battle, Banda Bahadur was defeated and fled to the Jammu hills. Forces led by Isa Khan Main and Muhammad Amin Khan followed but failed to capture him. The emperor issued an edict to the zamindars (landlord) of Jammu to take the Sikh captive if possible.
Banda Bahadur was attacked by Muhammad Amin Khan at the river Satluj, escaping to the Garhwal hills. Finding him "invincible", the emperor went to Ajit Singh and Jai Singh for help. In October 1711, a joint Mughal-Rajput force marched towards Sadaura. Bahadur escaped the ensuing siege, this time taking refuge at Kulu in present-day Himachal Pradesh.
Khutba controversy
After ascending the throne, emperor Bahadur Shah converted to Shia Islam and altered the public prayer (or khutba) for the monarch said every Friday by giving the title wali to Ali, the fourth caliph and the first Shi'a Imam. Because of this, the citizens of Lahore resented reciting the khutba.
To solve the problem, Bahadur Shah went to Lahore in September 1711 and had discussions with Haji Yar Muhammad, Muhammad Murad and "other well-known men". At their meeting, he read "books of authority" to justify using the word wasi. He had a heated argument with Yar Muhammad, saying that martyrdom by a king was the only thing he wanted. Yar Muhammad (supported by the emperor's son, Azim-ush-Shan) recruited troops against Shah, but no war was fought. He held the khatib (chief reciter) at the Badshahi Mosque responsible for the matter, and had him arrested. On 2 October, although the army was deployed at the mosque the old khutba (which did not call Ali "wasi") was read.
Death
According to historian William Irvine, the emperor was in Lahore in January 1712 when his "health failed". On 24 February he made his final public appearance, and died during the night of 27–28 February; according to Mughal noble Kamwar Khan, of "enlargement of the spleen". On 11 April, his body was sent to Delhi under the supervision of his widow Mihr-Parwar and Chin Qilich Khan. He was buried on 15 May in the courtyard of the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) in Mehrauli, which he built near the dargah of Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki.
He was succeeded by his son Jahandar Shah who ruled until 1713.
Coins
Emperor Bahadur Shah issued gold, silver and copper coins, although his predecessors' coins were also used to pay government officials and in commerce. Copper coins from Aurangzeb's reign were re-minted with his name. Unlike the other Mughal emperors, his coins did not use his name in a couplet; poet Danishmand Khan composed two lines for the coins, but they were not approved.
Personal life
Name, title and lineage
His full name, including his titles, was "Abul-nasr Sayyid Qutb-ud-din Muhammad Shah Alam Bahadur Shah Badshah". After his death, contemporary historians began calling him "Khuld-Manzil" (Departed to Paradise). He was the only Mughal emperor to have the title Sayyid, used by descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to William Irvine, his maternal grandfather was Sayyid Shah Mir (whose daughter, Nawab Bai Ji, married Aurangzeb).
Children
Source: Irvine, pp. 143–144
Depictions
Ancestry
Notes
References
Mughal emperors
1643 births
1712 deaths
People from Agra
People from Burhanpur
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House%20of%20Wisdom
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House of Wisdom
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The House of Wisdom (), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, was a major Abbasid public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad and one of the world's largest public libraries during the Islamic Golden Age. The House of Wisdom was founded either as a library for the collections of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid in the late 8th century or was a private collection created by al-Mansur (r. 754–775) to house rare books and collections of poetry in Arabic. During the reign of the Caliph al-Ma'mun, it was turned into a public academy and a library.
The House of Wisdom and its contents were destroyed in the Siege of Baghdad in 1258, leaving relatively limited archaeological evidence, such that most knowledge about it is derived from the works of contemporary scholars of the era such as al-Tabari and Ibn al-Nadim.
Background
The House of Wisdom existed as a part of the major Translation Movement taking place during the Abbasid Era, translating works from Greek and Syriac to Arabic, but it is unlikely that the House of Wisdom existed as the sole center of such work, as major translation efforts arose in Cairo and Damascus even earlier than the proposed establishment of the House of Wisdom. This translation movement lent momentum to a great deal of original research occurring in the Islamic world, which had access to texts from Greek, Persian and Indian sources. The early existence of Muslims throughout time has always had a connection with the institution of libraries that came to not only be a mechanism of pursuit, but relatively a storehouse of intelligence and mental heritage for all humanity. The rise of advanced searches in mathematics, organized studies, astronomy, philosophy, and medicine began the pursuit for Arab science. This scientific leap established a demand for more and updated translations.
The House of Wisdom was made possible by the consistent flow of Arab, Persian, and other scholars of the Islamic world to Baghdad, owing to the city's position as capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. This is evidenced by the large number of scholars known to have studied in Baghdad between the 8th and 13th centuries, such as al-Jahiz, al-Kindi, and al-Ghazali among others, all of whom would have contributed to a vibrant academic community in Baghdad, producing a great number of notable works, regardless of the existence of a formal academy. The fields to which scholars associated with the House of Wisdom contributed include, but are not limited to, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, and optics. The early name of the library, Khizanat al-Hikma (literally, "Storehouse of Wisdom"), derives from its function as a place for the preservation of rare books and poetry, a primary function of the House of Wisdom until its destruction. Inside the House of Wisdom, there was a culmination of writers, translators, authors, scientists, scribes, and others would meet every day for translation, writing, conversation, reading, and dialogue. Numerous books and documents in several scientific concepts, philosophical subjects, and proposals in different languages were translated in this house.
History
Foundation and origins
Throughout the 4th to 7th centuries, scholarly work in the Arabic languages was either newly initiated or carried on from the Hellenistic period. Centers of learning and of transmission of classical wisdom included colleges such as the School of Nisibis and later the School of Edessa, and the renowned hospital and medical Academy of Gondishapur; libraries included the Library of Alexandria and the Imperial Library of Constantinople; and other centers of translation and learning functioned at Merv, Salonika, Nishapur and Ctesiphon, situated just south of what was later to become Baghdad.
During the Umayyad era, Muawiyah I started to gather a collection of books in Damascus. He then formed a library that was referred to as "Bayt al-Hikma". Books written in Greek, Latin, and Persian in the fields of medicine, alchemy, physics, mathematics, astrology and other disciplines were also collected and translated by Muslim scholars at that time. The Umayyads also appropriated paper-making techniques from the Chinese and joined many ancient intellectual centers under their rule, and employed Christian and Persian scholars to both translate works into Arabic and to develop new knowledge. These were fundamental elements that contributed directly to the flourishing of scholarship in the Arab world.
In 750, the Abbasid dynasty replaced the Umayyad as the ruling dynasty of the Islamic Empire, and, in 762, the Caliph al-Mansur (r. 754–775) built Baghdad and made it his capital instead of Damascus. Baghdad's location and cosmopolitan population made the perfect location for a stable commercial and intellectual center. The Abbasid dynasty had a strong Persian bent, and adopted many practices from the Sasanian Empire—among those, that of translating foreign works, except that now texts were translated into Arabic. For this purpose, al-Mansur founded a palace library modeled after the Sasanian Imperial Library, and provided economic and political support to the intellectuals working there. He also invited delegations of scholars from India and other places to share their knowledge of mathematics and astronomy with the new Abbasid court.
In the Abbasid Empire, many foreign works were translated into Arabic from Greek, Chinese, Sanskrit, Persian and Syriac. The Translation Movement gained great momentum during the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, who, like his predecessor, was personally interested in scholarship and poetry. Originally the texts concerned mainly medicine, mathematics and astronomy; but other disciplines, especially philosophy, soon followed. Al-Rashid's library, the direct predecessor to the House of Wisdom, was also known as Bayt al-Hikma or, as the historian al-Qifti called it, Khizanat Kutub al-Hikma (Arabic for "Storehouse of the Books of Wisdom").
Al-Ma'mun
Under the sponsorship of Caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833), economic support of the House of Wisdom and scholarship in general was greatly increased. Al-Ma'mun, under the tutelage of his father, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, memorized the Koran word for word under the eyes of leading religious scholar of the court. Al-Ma'mun's mistakes were instantly corrected. It was a common trait amongst Muslim poets, scientists, and authors to memorize their original texts for public lectures, which were typically done inside a mosque. This practice appeared to be ingrained inside al-Ma'mun's intellectual capabilities.
His love for science was so great that it was said that he preferred scientific texts as the spoils of war. Furthermore, Abbasid society itself came to understand and appreciate the value of knowledge, and support also came from merchants and the military. It was easy for scholars and translators to make a living, and an academic life was indicative of high status in society; scientific knowledge was considered so valuable that books and ancient texts were sometimes preferred as war booty rather than riches. Indeed, Ptolemy's Almagest was claimed as a condition for peace by al-Ma'mun after a war between the Abbasids and the Eastern Roman Empire.
The House of Wisdom was much more than an academic center removed from the broader society. Its experts served several functions in Baghdad. Scholars from the Bayt al-Hikma usually doubled as engineers and architects in major construction projects, kept accurate official calendars, and were public servants. They were also frequently medics and consultants.
Al-Ma'mun was personally involved in the daily life of the House of Wisdom, regularly visiting its scholars and inquiring about their activities. He would also participate in and arbitrate academic debates. One of the reasons that al-Ma'mun loved the pursuit of knowledge was said to be from a dream that he once had. In the dream, he was said to have been visited by Aristotle, where they had a discussion on what was good. Inspired by Aristotle, al-Ma'mun regularly initiated discussion sessions and seminars among experts in Kalām; Kalām being an art of philosophical debate, which al-Ma'mun carried on from his Persian tutor, Ja’far. During such debates, scholars would discuss their fundamental Islamic beliefs and doctrines in an open, intellectual atmosphere. He would often organize groups of sages, from the Bayt al-Hikma, into major research projects to satisfy his own intellectual curiosities. For example, he commissioned the mapping of the world, the confirmation of data from the Almagest and the deduction of the real size of the Earth (see section on the main activities of the House). He also promoted Egyptology and personally participated in excavations at the pyramids of Giza. Al-Ma’mun built the first astronomical observatories in Baghdad, and he was also the first ruler to fund and monitor, the progress of major research projects involving teams of scholars and scientists. His greatest legacy to science is that he was the first ruler to fund "big science".
Following his predecessors, al-Ma'mun would send expeditions of scholars from the House of Wisdom to collect texts from foreign lands. In fact, one of the directors of the House was sent to Constantinople with this purpose. During this time, Sahl ibn Harun, a Persian poet and astrologer, was the chief librarian of the Bayt al-Hikma. Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873), an Arab Nestorian Christian physician and scientist, was the most productive translator, producing 116 works for the Arabs. The patron of this foundation was under Caliph al-Ma'mun. Al-Ma'mun established the House of Wisdom, putting Hunayn ibn Ishaq in charge, who then became the most celebrated translator of Greek texts. As "Sheikh of the translators," he was placed in charge of the translation work by the caliph. Hunayn ibn Ishaq translated the entire collection of Greek medical books, including famous pieces by Galen and Hippocrates. The Sabian Thābit ibn Qurra (826–901) also translated great works by Apollonius, Archimedes, Euclid and Ptolemy. Translations of this era were superior to earlier ones, since the new Abbasid scientific tradition required better and better translations, and the emphasis was many times put on incorporating new ideas to the ancient works being translated. By the second half of the ninth century, al-Ma'mun's Bayt al-Hikma was the greatest repository of books in the world and had become one of the greatest hubs of intellectual activity during the Medieval era, attracting the most brilliant Arab and Persian minds. The House of Wisdom eventually acquired a reputation as a center of learning, although universities as they are modernly known did not yet exist at this time—knowledge was transmitted directly from teacher to student without any institutional surrounding. Maktabs soon began to develop in the city from the 9th century on and, in the 11th century, Nizam al-Mulk founded the Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad, one of the first institutions of higher education in Iraq.
Al-Mutawakkil
The House of Wisdom flourished under al-Ma'mun's successors al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842) and his son al-Wathiq (r. 842–847), but considerably declined under the reign of al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861). Although al-Ma'mun, al-Mu'tasim, and al-Wathiq followed the sect of Mu'tazili, which supported broad-mindedness and scientific inquiry, al-Mutawakkil endorsed a more literal interpretation of the Qur'an and Hadith. The caliph was not interested in science and moved away from rationalism, seeing the spread of Greek philosophy as anti-Islamic.
Destruction by the Mongols
On February 13, 1258, the Mongols entered the city of the caliphs, starting a full week of pillage and destruction.
Along with all other libraries in Baghdad, the House of Wisdom was destroyed by Hulagu's army during the Siege of Baghdad. The books from Baghdad's libraries were thrown into the Tigris River in such quantities that the river was said to have run black with the ink from their pages. According to the writings of an eyewitness to the Siege, "So many books were thrown into the Tigris River that they formed a bridge that would support a man on horseback." Nasir al-Din al-Tusi rescued about 400,000 manuscripts, which he took to Maragheh before the siege.
Many of the books were also torn apart by pillagers so that the leather covers could be made into sandals.
Main activities
The House of Wisdom included a society of scientists and academics, a translation department, and a library that preserved the knowledge acquired by the Abbasids over the centuries. Research and study of alchemy, which was later used to form the structure of modern chemistry, was also conducted there. Further, it was also linked to astronomical observations and other major experimental endeavors.
Institutionalized by al-Ma'mun, the academy encouraged the transcription of Greek philosophical and scientific efforts. Additionally, he imported manuscripts of important texts that were not accessible to the Islamic countries from Byzantium to the library.
The House of Wisdom was much more than a library, and a considerable amount of original scientific and philosophical work was produced by scholars and intellectuals in relation to it. This allowed Muslim scholars to verify astronomical information that was handed down from past scholars.
Translations
The Translation Movement lasted for two centuries and was a large contributing factor to the growth of scientific knowledge during the golden age of Arabic science. Ideas and wisdom from other cultures around the world, Greece, India, and Persia, were translated into Arabic contributing to further advances in the Islamic Empire. An important goal during this time was to create a comprehensive library that contained all of the knowledge gained throughout this movement. Advances were made in areas like mathematics, physics, astronomy, medicine, chemistry, philosophy, and engineering. The influential achievement of translation revealed to scholars in the empire to the limitless body of early knowledge in the prehistoric Greek tradition, developing the birth of primary scholarship beyond philosophy and scholarship. The engagement across arts and sciences assorts and stretches intelligence realms and brings growth to new methods of understanding. This was accomplished through academic knowledge and creative rehearsal. The House of Wisdom was known for being a space for scholarly growth and contribution which during the time greatly contributed to the Translation Movement.
The Translation Movement started in this House of Wisdom and lasted for over two centuries. Over a century and a half, primarily Middle Eastern Oriental Syriac Christian scholars translated all scientific and philosophic Greek texts into Arabic language in the House of Wisdom. The translation movement at the House of Wisdom was inaugurated with the translation of Aristotle's Topics. By the time of al-Ma'mun, translators had moved beyond Greek astrological texts, and Greek works were already in their third translations. Authors translated include: Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Euclid, Plotinus, Galen, Sushruta, Charaka, Aryabhata and Brahmagupta. Many important texts were translated during this movement including a book about the composition of medicinal drugs, a book on this mixing and the properties of simple drugs, and a book on medical matters by Pedanius Dioscorides. These, and many more translations, helped with the advancements in medicine, agriculture, finance, and engineering.
Furthermore, new discoveries motivated revised translations and commentary correcting or adding to the work of ancient authors. In most cases names and terminology were changed; a prime example of this is the title of Ptolemy's Almagest, which is an Arabic modification of the original name of the work: Megale Syntaxis.
Original contributions
Besides their translations of earlier works and their commentaries on them, scholars at the Bayt al-Ḥikma produced important original research. For example, the noted mathematician al-Khwarizmi worked in al-Maʾmun’s House of Wisdom and is famous for his contributions to the development of algebra.
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥaq al-Kindī was also another historical figure that worked at the House of Wisdom. He studied cryptanalysis but he was also a great mathematician. Al-Kindī is the most famous for being the first person to introduce Aristotle's philosophy to the Arabic people. He fused Aristotle's philosophy with Islamic theology, which created an intellectual platform for philosophers and theologians to debate over 400 years. A fellow expert on Aristotle was Abū ʿUthmān al-Jāḥiẓ, who was born in Basra around 776 but he spent most of his life in Baghdad. Al-Ma’mun employed al-Jāḥiẓ as a personal tutor for his children, but he had to dismiss him because al-Jāḥiẓ was "Goggled-Eyed", i.e., he had wide, staring eyes which made him frightening to look at. Al-Jāḥiẓ was one of the few Muslim scholars who was deeply concerned with biology. He wrote Book of Animals, which discusses the way animals adapt to their surroundings, similarly to Aristotle's History of Animals. In his book, al-Jāḥiẓ argued that animals like dogs, foxes, and wolves must have descended from a common ancestor because they shared similar characteristics and features such as four legs, fur, tail, and so on.
Mūsā ibn Shākir was an astrologer and a friend of Caliph Harun al-Rashid's son, al-Ma'mun. His sons, collectively known as the Banū Mūsā (Sons of Moses), also contributed with their extensive knowledge of mathematics and astrology. When their father died, al-Ma'mun became their guardian. Between 813 and 833, the three brothers were successful in their works in science, engineering, and patronage. Abū Jaʿfar, Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (before 803 – February 873), Abū al‐Qāsim, Aḥmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (d. 9th century) and al-Ḥasan ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (d. 9th century) are widely known for their Book of Ingenious Devices, which describes about one hundred devices and how to use them. Among these was "The Instrument that Plays by Itself", the earliest example of a programmable machine, as well as the Book on Measurement of Plane and Spherical Figures. Mohammad Musa and his brothers Ahmad and Hasan contributed to Baghdad's astronomical observatories under the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun, in addition to House of Wisdom research. Having shown much potential, the brothers were enrolled in the library and translation center of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. They began translating ancient Greek into Arabic after quickly mastering the language, as well as paying large sums to obtain manuscripts from the Byzantine Empire for translation. They also made many original contributions to astronomy and physics. Mohammad Musa might have been the first person in history to point to the universality of the laws of physics. In the 10th century, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) performed several physical experiments, mainly in optics, achievements still celebrated today.
In medicine, Hunayn wrote an important treatise on ophthalmology. Other scholars also wrote on smallpox, infections and surgery. Note that these works would later become standard textbooks of medicine during the European Renaissance.
Under al-Ma'mun's leadership science saw for the first time wide-ranging research projects involving large groups of scholars. In order to check Ptolemy's observations, the caliph ordered the construction of the first astronomical observatory in Baghdad (see Observatories section below). The data provided by Ptolemy was meticulously checked and revised by a highly capable group of geographers, mathematicians and astronomers. Al-Ma'mun also organized research on the circumference of the Earth and commissioned a geographic project that would result in one of the most detailed world-maps of the time. Some consider these efforts the first examples of large state-funded research projects.
Observatories
The creation of the first astronomical observatory in the Islamic world was ordered by Caliph al-Ma'mun in 828 in Baghdad. The construction was directed by scholars from the House of Wisdom: senior astronomer Yahya ibn abi Mansur and the younger Sanad ibn Ali al-Alyahudi. It was located in al-Shammasiyya and was called Maumtahan Observatory. After the first round of observations of Sun, Moon and the planets, a second observatory on Mount Qasioun, near Damascus, was constructed. The results of this endeavor were compiled in a work known as al-Zij al-Mumtahan, which translates as "The Verified Tables".
Dispute theory of Gutas
Yale University Arabist Dimitri Gutas disputes the existence of the House of Wisdom as is its form and function. He posits in his 1998 book that "House of Wisdom" is a translation error from Khizanat al-Hikma, which he asserts simply means a storehouse, and that there are few sources from the era during the Abbasid Era that mention the House of Wisdom by the name Bayt al-Hikma. Gutas asserts that, without consistent naming conventions, a physical ruin, or corroborating texts, the phrase "House of Wisdom" may just as well have been a metaphor for the larger Academic community in Baghdad rather than a physical academy specializing in translation work. Gutas mentions that in all of the Graeco-Arabic translations none of them mention the House of Wisdom, including the notable Hunayn ibn Ishaq. There is also no proof that the Sultan ever held open debates among scholars in the library since that would not have been socially acceptable. This theory is debatable, owing to the destruction of the Round city of Baghdad and conflicting sources in both academic texts and poetry. It is likely, given the Abbasid caliphs' patronage of the arts and sciences, that an extensive library existed in Baghdad, and that scholars could have access to such texts, judging by the volume of work produced by scholars centered in Baghdad. There is a strong chance that the library was only used to preserve history from the Sassanian Dynasty and the translations that were done there were only done to achieve that goal. Once the Abbasids took over they most likely continued this tradition with the added goal of pursuing both astrology and astronomy.
Notable people
This is a list of notable people related to the House of Wisdom.
Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (786–886)—leading Persian astrologist in the Abbasid court who translated the works of Aristotle
Averroes (1126–1198)—born in Islamic Iberia (modern day Spain), he was a Muslim philosopher who was famous for his commentary on Aristotle
Avicenna (980–1037)—Persian philosopher and physician famous for writing The Canon of Medicine, the prevailing medical text in the Islamic World and Europe until the 19th century
Al-Ghazali (1058–1111)—Persian theologian who was the author of The Incoherence of the Philosophers, which challenged the philosophers who favored Aristotelianism
Muhammad al-Idrisi (1099–1169)—Arab geographer who worked under Roger II of Sicily and contributed to the Map of the World
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (d. 850)—Persian polymath head of the House of Wisdom
Al-Kindi (d. 873)—considered to be among the first Arab philosophers, he combined the ideology of Aristotle and Plato
Maslama al-Majriti (950–1007)—Arab mathematician and astronomer who translated Greek texts
Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873)—Arab (Nestorian Christian) scholar and philosopher who was placed in charge of the House of Wisdom. In his lifetime he translated over 116 writings by many of the most significant scholars in history.
The Banu Musa brothers—remarkable engineers and mathematicians of Persian descent
Sahl ibn Harun (d. 830)—philosopher and polymath
Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar (786–833)—Sabian mathematician and a translator who was known for his translation of Euclid's works
Thābit ibn Qurra (826–901)—Sabian mathematician, astronomer and translator who reformed Ptolemaic system. Considered as the founding father of statics.
Yusuf al-Khuri (d. 912)— mathematician and astronomer who was hired as a translator by Banu Musa brothers
Qusta ibn Luqa (820–912)—mathematician and physician who translated Greek texts into Arabic
Abu Bishr Matta ibn Yunus (870–940)— Christian physician, scientist and translator
Yahya ibn al-Batriq (796–806)— Assyrian Christian astronomer and translator
Yahya ibn Adi (893–974)— Syriac Jacobite Christian philosopher, theologian and translator
Sind ibn Ali (d. 864)—astronomer who translated and reworked Zij al-Sindhind
Al-Jahiz (781–861)—author and biologist known for Kitāb al-Hayawān and numerous literary works
Ismail al-Jazari (1136–1206)—physicist and engineer who is best known for his work in writing The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices in 1206
Omar Khayyam (1048–1131)—Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer most famous for his solution of cubic equations
Other Houses of Wisdom
A major contribution from the House of Wisdom in Baghdad is the influence it had on other libraries in the Islamic world. It has been recognised as a factor that connected many different people and empires because of its educational and research components. The House of Wisdom has been accredited and respected throughout Islamic history and was the model for many libraries during and following its time of function. A large number of libraries emerged during and after this time and it was evident that these libraries were based on the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. These libraries had the intention of reproducing the advantageous and beneficial characteristics that are known throughout the world because of the House of Wisdom.
Some other places have also been called House of Wisdom, which should not be confused with Baghdad's Bayt al-Hikma:
In Cairo, Dar al-Hikmah, the "House of Wisdom", was another name of the House of Knowledge, founded by the Fatimid Caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in 1004. Included in this House of Knowledge was a library that had a collection so vast, it was known as a "Wonder of the World". The beginning of the foundation of Cairo's House of Wisdom was by Fatimid al-Aziz billah who was a lover of books and collected a vast amount of them. He was determined to collect every book that was authored or translated in the Baghdad House of Wisdom. The actual founder al-Hākim bi-Amr Allah, assembled a group of scholars to work in the library by authoring books and contributing to the scientific knowledge acquired in this place. He provided a large amount of supplies like ink, paper, and anything else that the scholars may have needed in order to make their contributions.
The Aghlabids House of Wisdom founded in Raqqada by Amir Ibrahim Ibn Mohammad al-Aghlabī. Ibrahim was enticed by the acquisition of knowledge and knew the positive qualities that education, scholarship, and innovative ideas brought to societies around the world. A multitude of scholarly manuscripts, scientific journals, and books were found here with the intent to create a library with an equivalent reputation to the Baghdad House of Wisdom. A group of scholars would journey to Baghdad annually to retrieve important literary works and other writings and bring them back to the library which helped contribute to the unique and rare material found in the Aghlabids House of Wisdom.
The Andalusian House of Wisdom founded in Andalusia by an Umayyad caliph, al-Hakam al-Mustansir, who was known as a master of scholar for his knowledge in many different scientific categories. He started one of the largest collections of manuscripts, writings, and books that consisted of a multitude of genres and scientific categories. The Andalusian House of Wisdom was constructed based on the Baghdad House of Wisdom and was used to store the vast amount of knowledge acquired by al-Mustansir. During this period scientific development, art, architecture, and much more grew and prospered.
There is a research institute in Baghdad called Bayt Al-Hikma after the Abbasid-era research center. While the complex includes a 13th-century madrasa (), it is not the same building as the medieval Bayt al-Hikma. It was damaged during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The House of Wisdom was similar to that of the present day British Library in London or the National Library in Paris.
Beït al-Hikma (House of Wisdom), Tunis, Tunisia, established in 1983.
The main library at Hamdard University in Karachi, Pakistan, is called 'Bait al Hikmah'.
La Maison de Sagesse (House of Wisdom), an international NGO based in France.
The House of Wisdom دارالحکمة س, Tehran, Iran, established in 2017 by Alireza Mohammadi.
The House of Wisdom, Fez, Morocco, established in 2018 by Cardinal Barbarin and Khal Torabully.
The Royal Library of Alexandria is located in Alexandria, Egypt. In the ancient world, it was once known as not only the most significant library but also the largest. The library was created by Ptolemy I Soter and its construction was done in the 3rd century BC and the library was dedicated to Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts. After many years of accumulating scrolls adding up to anywhere from 40,000 to 400,000 the library was burned down. This caused the loss of many important scrolls and cultural knowledge.
Located in the Byzantine Empire and founded by Constantius II, The Imperial Library of Constantinople was famously known as last of the great ancient libraries. It housed a lot of knowledge of the Greek and Roman people. This library also experienced fires throughout its lifetime ending with the final destruction during the conquering by the Ottoman Empire. Most of the classical Greek work that is known today is originally from this library.
The School of Nisibis was founded in 350 and was located in what is known as present-day Turkey. This was a spiritual center that had three primary departments, theology, philosophy, and medicine.
See also
Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world
Brethren of Purity
House of Knowledge
Islamic Golden Age
Round city of Baghdad
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
in
McKensen, Ruth Stellhorn 1932. “Four Great Libraries of Medieval Baghdad.” Library Quarterly 2 (January): 279–99.
George Saliba (2007), Islamic science and the making of the European Renaissance, MIT Press
Further reading
Gutas, D. (2012). Greek Thought, Arabic Culture. The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early 'Abbasaid Society (2nd–4th/8th–10th centuries). Routledge.
9th-century establishments in the Abbasid Caliphate
Buildings and structures in Baghdad
Defunct libraries
Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate
Educational institutions established in the 8th century
Science in the medieval Islamic world
Arabic architecture
Libraries in Iraq
Demolished buildings and structures in Iraq
Harun al-Rashid
Translation organizations
History of translation
9th century in the Abbasid Caliphate
Ancient universities
Abbasid literature
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leontyne%20Price
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Leontyne Price
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Mary Violet Leontyne Price ( ; born February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first African American to be a leading performer. She regularly appeared at the world's major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Scala; at La Scala, she was also the first African American to sing a leading role. She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Verdi's Aida.
Born in Laurel, Mississippi, Price attended Central State University and then Juilliard (graduating cum laude), where she had her operatic debut as Mistress Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff. Having heard the performance, Virgil Thomson engaged her in Four Saints in Three Acts, prior to embarking on her debut tour; she also starred (alongside her husband William Warfield) in a successful revival of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Numerous concert performances followed, including a recital at the Library of Congress with composer Samuel Barber, on piano. Her 1955 televised performance of Puccini’s Tosca, plus appearances at the San Francisco Opera as Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and Aida, brought her to international attention. She went on to sing at many of the world's major opera houses with Aida, before her successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in 1961, as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore. Continuing her career there, she starred in a multitude of operas for 20 years, securing her place among the leading performers of the century. One of these works was Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, which she starred in for its world premiere. She made her farewell opera performance at the Met in 1985 in Aida.
A lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed lyric") soprano, her musical interpretations were subtle but often overshadowed her acting. She was noted for her roles in operas by Mozart and Puccini, as well as playing Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare and Poppea in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. However, the "middle period" operas of Giuseppe Verdi remain her greatest triumph; Aida, the Leonoras of Il trovatore and La forza del destino, as well as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera. Her performances in these works, as well as Mozart and Puccini's operas, survive in her many recordings.
After her retirement from opera, Price continued to appear in recitals and orchestral concerts until 1997. After that, she would come out of retirement to sing at special events, including a memorial concert for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at Carnegie Hall, in 2001. Among her many honors and awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964, in addition to her 13 Grammy Awards.
Life and career
Youth and schooling
Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi on February 10, 1927. Her father James Anthony worked as a carpenter and her mother Katherine Baker Price was a midwife. A deeply religious family, both of her parents were children of Methodist ministers; her mother sang as a soloist in the church choir and her father played a tuba in the church band. Her brother and only sibling, George, was born two years later. She showed a natural affinity for music at an early age and began piano lessons at the age of three and a half with the local pianist Hattie McInnis. Initially, she played on a toy piano, but by the time she was five, her parents traded in the family phonograph as the down payment on an upright piano. Meanwhile, at age eight, she had begun visiting the home of Alexander and Elizabeth Chisholm, a wealthy white family for whom Leontyne's aunt worked as a laundress. Leontyne and George became good friends with the Chisholms' older daughters, Jean and Peggy, and Mrs. Chisholm encouraged Leontyne's piano-playing and singing, often inviting her to sing at house parties. Aged 9, she was taken on a school trip to hear Marian Anderson sing a recital in Jackson. The experience was her first significant exposure to classical music, and she later recalled that "The whole aura of the occasion had a tremendous effect on me, particularly the singer's dignity and, of course, her voice". Multiple commentators asserted that this event galvanized Price's interest in a musical career. In her teen years, Price attended Oak Park Vocational High School, where she was a cheerleader and salutatorian. She earned extra money by singing for funerals and civic functions.
Mississippi was highly segregated at the time, and subject to Jim Crow laws. As such, as a black woman, the only evident musical career path was as a teacher. She began her study in music education at Central State University, a historically black school in Wilberforce, Ohio. However, on the advice of the university president and after frequent singing in a glee club she changed her major to voice in her third year. She also participated in master classes, including one in 1948 with the renowned bass Paul Robeson at Antioch College. Robeson was impressed by Price's voice, and—knowing she was aiming to enroll at Juilliard—worked with the Central State administrators to host a benefit concert to help raise money for her tuition. The Chisholms also remained supportive of Price, and gifted the bulk of the money needed for Juilliard.
She entered the studio of Florence Page Kimball in the fall of 1948. She lived in the Harlem YWCA while studying at the Juilliard that year, which was safe and affordable accommodation open to black women. In her second year, she heard Ljuba Welitsch sing Salome from the standing-room section at the Met and became fascinated by opera. In fall 1950, Price joined Juilliard's Opera Workshop and sang small roles in workshop performances of Mozart's Magic Flute (First Lady) and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (Aunt Nella). In the summer of 1951, she enrolled in the opera program at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood and sang Ariadne in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos (second cast).
Early career
In early 1952, Price performed as Mistress Ford in a Juilliard production of Verdi's Falstaff. Virgil Thomson heard a performance and cast her in a revival of his all-black opera, Four Saints in Three Acts. After two weeks on Broadway, the production of Saints went to Paris. Meanwhile, Price had been signed to sing Bess in a new production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at the Ziegfeld Theatre, directed by Robert Breen.
Fresh off the plane from Paris, she sang the opening performance of Porgy and Bess at the State Fair of Texas on June 9, 1952, receiving rave reviews. The production played in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and then toured Vienna, Berlin, London, and Paris, under the auspices of the U.S. State Department.
On the eve of the European tour, Price married William Warfield, her Porgy and a noted bass-baritone concert singer. The ceremony took place at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, with many in the cast in attendance.
Although many black newspapers criticized the export of Porgy and Bess as presenting a false and demeaning picture of black life, the Breen production showed off a new generation of highly trained black singers, and affirmed that Americans could revive a musical masterpiece while recognizing its outdated stereotypes. Many East Berliners crossed to West Berlin to see the show, to the degree that the State Department ordered that East German currency be accepted at face value instead of the present exchange rate.
When Porgy and Bess returned to the States in 1953, Warfield was unable to adjust a busy recital and concert schedule and was dropped from the cast, while Price sang Bess for another year, on Broadway and a second US tour. Warfield said the episode put a strain on their young marriage. The couple was legally separated in 1967, and divorced in 1973. They had no children.
Price and Warfield both dreamt of careers in opera, but racism limited opportunities for black singers. The New York City Center Opera under Laszlo Halasz had hired the first black singers in leading roles in the mid-1940s, starting with Camilla Williams and Todd Duncan. In 1949, the new general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Rudolf Bing, had said publicly he would cast Negro singers "for the right part".
The Metropolitan Opera recognized Price's potential by inviting her to sing "Summertime" at a "Met Jamboree" fund-raiser on April 6, 1953, at the Ritz Theater on Broadway. Price was thus the first African American to sing with and for the Met, if not at the Met as a member of the company. That distinction went to Marian Anderson, who sang Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera on January 7, 1955. Price and Warfield were in the audience.
While awaiting a chance to sing in opera, Price sang duo concerts with Warfield, and, after leaving Porgy and Bess, began a concert career for Columbia Artists. In 1953, she sang a recital at the Library of Congress, with composer Samuel Barber at the piano. The program included the world premiere of Barber's Hermit Songs. In November 1954, Price made her formal recital debut at New York's Town Hall.
Emergence
The door to opera opened through the young medium of television and the NBC Opera Theatre, with music director Peter Herman Adler. In January 1955, Price sang the title role in Puccini's Tosca, the first appearance by an African American in a leading role in televised opera. (Another black soprano, Veronica Tyler, had sung in the NBC Opera chorus for several seasons.) Price went on to star in three other NBC Opera broadcasts, as Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute in 1956, as Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites the following years, and as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni in 1960. Tosca was not controversial. Price's appearance had not been widely advertised by NBC, which had a policy of "integration without identification," and the Jackson, Mississippi, NBC affiliate carried the broadcast signal to her home town of Laurel. However, Jet magazine noted that her appearance with tenor David Poleri, the Cavaradossi, marked a first TV broadcast with a mixed-racial couple, and her later NBC Opera broadcasts were boycotted by several NBC affiliates, most of them in the South, because of her race.
In March 1955, Price was taken by her agent to audition at Carnegie Hall for the young Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, who was touring with the Berlin Philharmonic. Impressed with her singing of "Pace, pace, mio Dio" from Verdi's La forza del destino, Karajan reportedly leapt to the stage to accompany Price himself. Declaring her "an artist of the future", he asked to direct her future European operatic career.
After a successful Town Hall recital debut in November 1954, Price began touring the U.S. and Canada in recitals on the Columbia Artists roster, at first with the composer John La Montaine as her accompanist and then with David Garvey, who remained her pianistic partner until his death. In 1956, she and Garvey toured India and then, the next year, Australia, giving concerts and recitals for the U.S. State Department. On May 3, 1957, she performed Verdi's Aida in a concert performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the May Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, her first public performance of what became her signature role.
Her first performance at a major opera house was at the San Francisco Opera on September 20, 1957, as Madame Lidoine in the U.S. premiere of Dialogues of the Carmelites. A few weeks later, she appeared as Aida on stage, substituting at the last minute for Antonietta Stella, who had suffered an appendicitis. Price's European opera debut came in May 1958, again as Aida, at the Vienna State Opera with Karajan conducting. This was followed by performances of the role at the Royal Opera House in London (replacing Anita Cerquetti), and at the Arena di Verona.
The next fall, she appeared as Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore in San Francisco, with the Swedish tenor Jussi Björling. Then, returning to Vienna, she sang Aida and her first onstage Pamina. She gave a BBC television recital of American songs with Gerald Moore, and a concert of operatic scenes by Richard Strauss for BBC Radio, conducted by Adler. In Vienna, she made her first full opera recording for RCA, singing Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni, conductd by Erich Leinsdorf.
That summer, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in Beethoven's Missa solemnis, conducted by Karajan; recorded a second full opera, Il Trovatore, for RCA in Rome; then returned to Verona to sing Il Trovatore with tenor Franco Corelli. Rudolf Bing was at one of the performances, and went backstage to invite Price and Corelli to make their Met debuts in the 1960–61 season.
That fall, Price made her Chicago Lyric Opera debut as Liu in Puccini's Turandot with Birgit Nilsson in the title role, and sang Massenet's Thaïs. Her Liu was well received while her Thaïs was considered stiff and mannered. On May 21, 1960, she sang for the first time at La Scala in Milan, again as Aida. The reception was tumultuous, and a Milanese critic wrote that "our great Verdi would have found her the ideal Aida". She was the first African American to sing a prima donna role in Italy's greatest opera house. (The African American soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs had sung there two years earlier, in the seconda role of Elvira in Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri.) In Salzburg that summer, Price sang her first Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, again with Karajan. She then returned to Vienna to appear first as Cio-Cio-San, Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
Metropolitan Opera
When Bing had invited Price in 1958 to sing Aida at the Metropolitan Opera, she turned him down on the advice of Adler and others, who argued that she should wait until she had more repertoire under her belt. Adler warned against arriving in the racially stereotypical role of Aida, an Ethiopian slave. In his autobiography, Warfield quotes Adler as saying, "Leontyne is to be a great artist. When she makes her debut at the Met, she must do it as a lady, not a slave." Eventually, the Metropolitan booked her for five roles in early 1961, Leonora in Il Trovatore for her debut, Aida, Donna Anna, Liu, and Butterfly.
On January 27, 1961, Price and Corelli made a triumphant joint debut in Il Trovatore. The performance ended with an ovation that lasted at least 35 minutes, one of the longest in Met history. (Price said friends had timed it at 42 minutes, and that was the figure she used in her publicity.) In his review, New York Times critic Harold C. Schonberg wrote that Price's "voice, warm and luscious, has enough volume to fill the house with ease, and she has a good technique to back up the voice itself. She even took the trills as written, and nothing in the part as Verdi wrote it gave her the least bit of trouble. She moves well and is a competent actress. But no soprano makes a career of acting. Voice is what counts, and voice is what Miss Price has."
Reviewers were less enthusiastic about Corelli, who was disappointed and told Bing the next day he would never sing with Price again. The outburst was soon forgotten, and Price and Corelli sang together often, at the Met, the Vienna State Opera, in Salzburg, and (once, for Karajan's version of Bizet's Carmen) in the recording studio. In recognition of her extraordinary first season at the Metropolitan Opera, Time magazine put her on its cover, and ran a profile under the headline, "A voice like a banner flying".
Price had achieved an eminence no other African American had reached in opera. After Anderson, three black artists had preceded Price in leading roles at the Met: baritone Robert McFerrin (1955), soprano Gloria Davy (1956), and soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs (1958). However, Price was the first prima donna and box office star, and the first to open a season. The opening almost didn't happen. In September 1961, a musicians' strike threatened to abort the season, and Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg was asked to mediate a settlement. Price received enthusiastic reviews for the opening performance, but during the second performance, she confronted her first vocal crisis. In the middle of the second act, her voice slowly vanished until she was shouting the words at end of the scene. The standby, soprano Dorothy Kirsten, finished the performance. The newspapers said that Price was suffering a viral infection, but stress and the unsuitable weight of the role played their parts.
After several weeks off, Price repeated Puccini's La fanciulla del West and then, after a Butterfly in December, which she ended in tears, took a respite in Rome. The official word was that she had never fully recovered from the earlier virus. However, Price later said she was suffering from nervous exhaustion. In April, she returned to New York for her first Tosca and then joined the spring tour for the first time in Tosca, Butterfly, and Fanciulla. Recognizing that Price's talent was so extraordinary she would have to be included on the tour, creating problems in the segregated South, Bing had declared that the Met would no longer perform to segregated houses, starting in 1962. Price gave the first performance by an African American in a leading role with the company in the South, singing Fanciulla in Dallas. Two years later, she sang Donna Anna in Atlanta, a first leading role for an African American on tour in the Deep South. Both performances occurred without incident.
Consistently a box office sell-out in the early years, Price was soon earning a top fee. By 1964, she was paid was $2,750 per performance, on a par with Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, and Renata Tebaldi, according to the Met archives. Birgit Nilsson, who was unique in singing both Italian and Wagnerian roles, earned a little more, at $3,000 a performance.
Price remained active in Vienna, Milan, and Salzburg. She sang a famous Il Trovatore in Salzburg, and Tosca and Donna Anna in Vienna, all with Karajan. She was also the soprano soloist in many of Karajan's performances of Verdi's Requiem.
After the first season, Price added seven roles to her repertoire there over the next five years: Elvira in Verdi's Ernani, Pamina, Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Cleopatra in Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, and Leonora in La forza del destino.
Antony and Cleopatra
The probably biggest and certainly most troubled milestone in her career was the opening night of the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center on September 16, 1966, when she sang Cleopatra in Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, a new opera commissioned for the occasion. The composer had written the role especially for Price, often visiting her at home with new pages of the score.
In reviews of the premiere, Price's singing was highly praised. However, the opera was considered a failure by many critics, who found the sequence confusing, the Shakespearean text unintelligible, and director Franco Zeffirelli's production suffocatingly elaborate. Zeffirelli buried Barber's essentially intimate score under giant scenery, innumerable supernumeraries, and two camels. Bing had overreached, too, by scheduling three new productions in the first week in the new house, placing a burden on tech crews who had not yet mastered the equipment and lighting. The chaos of the final rehearsals, along with excerpts of Price's beautiful singing, were captured by cinema verite director Robert Drew in a Bell Telephone Hour documentary, titled "The New Met: Countdown to Curtain". Price later said the experience soured her feelings toward the Met. She began to appear there less often.
Antony and Cleopatra was never revived at the house. Barber prepared a concert suite of Cleopatra's arias, which was premiered by Price in Washington, DC, in 1968, and recorded for RCA.
Late opera career
In the late 1960s, Price cut back her operatic performances and devoted more of her career to recitals and concerts. She said she was tired, stressed by the racial tensions in the country and her role as a token of racial progress, and frustrated with the number and quality of new productions at the Met. Her recitals and concerts (generally programs of arias with orchestra) were highly successful, and, for the next two decades, she was a mainstay in the major orchestral and concert series in the big American cities and universities.
She knew to keep a presence in opera and returned to the Met and the San Francisco Opera, her favorite house, for short runs of three to five performances, sometimes a year or more apart. However, she undertook only three new roles after 1970: Giorgetta in Puccini's Il tabarro in San Francisco; Puccini's Manon Lescaut, in San Francisco and New York; and the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos, also in San Francisco and New York. Of these, only Ariadne was considered as superlative as her established repertoire.
In October 1973, she returned to the Met to sing Madama Butterfly for the first time in a decade. In 1976, she was given a long-promised new production of Aida, with James McCracken as Radames and Marilyn Horne as Amneris, directed by John Dexter. The following season, she renewed her partnership with Karajan in a performance of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. She appeared more rarely in Europe. In the early 1970s, she sang Aida and a single Forza in Hamburg and returned to London's Covent Garden in Trovatore and Aida. She sang more often in recitals, in Hamburg, Vienna, Paris, and at the Salzburg Festival. At the latter she became a special favorite, appearing there in 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1984.
In the U.S., she had become an iconic figure and was regularly asked to sing on important national occasions. In January 1973, she sang "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" and "Onward, Christian Soldiers" at the state funeral of President Lyndon B. Johnson. (She had sung at his inauguration in 1965.) President Jimmy Carter invited her to sing at the White House for the visit of Pope John Paul II and at the state dinner after the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords. In 1978, Carter invited her to sing a nationally televised recital from the East Room of the White House. In 1982, she sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" before a Joint Meeting of Congress on the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Franklin Roosevelt. In fall 1986, Price sang the national anthem backed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Orange County Performing Arts Center's opening. Price also sang for Presidents Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Clinton.
In 1977, she made nostalgic returns to Vienna and Salzburg in Il trovatore, in the famous production from 1962, once again under Karajan. The Vienna performances were the first for both at the State Opera since 1964, when Karajan had resigned as its director.
That fall, Price sang her last new role, and her first Strauss heroine: Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos The premiere in San Francisco was considered a great success. When she sang the role at the Met in 1979, she was suffering from a viral infection and had to cancel all but the first and last of eight scheduled performances. Reviewing the first performance, the New York Times critic John Rockwell was not complimentary.
In the fall of 1981, she had a late triumph in San Francisco when she stepped in for an ailing Margaret Price as Aida, a role she had not sung since 1976. The Radames was Luciano Pavarotti, in his first assumption of the role. Herbert Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Price had insisted on being paid $1 more than the tenor. That would have made her, for the moment, the highest-paid opera singer in the world. The opera house denied the arrangement.
In 1982, Price returned to the Met as Leonora in Il Trovatore, a role she hadn't sung in the house since 1969. She also sang a televised concert of duets and arias with Marilyn Horne and conductor James Levine, later released on record by RCA. In 1983, she hosted two televised performances of "In Performance from the White House," with President Ronald and Nancy Reagan, and sang the Ballo duet with Pavarotti in the 100th anniversary concert of the Metropolitan Opera.
She had considered her 1982 Met appearances her unannounced final opera performances, but the Met persuaded her to return for several Forza in 1984 and a series of "Aida" in 1984–1985. Performances of both operas were broadcast in the "Live from the Met" TV series on PBS, her first and only appearances in the series and important documents of two of her greatest roles. Shortly before the last Aida, on January 3, 1985, word leaked to the press that it was to be her operatic farewell. The performance ended with 25 minutes of applause and the singer's photograph on the front page of the New York Times. The paper's critic Donal Henahan wrote that the "57-year-old soprano took an act or two to warm to her work, but what she delivered in the Nile Scene turned out to be well worth the wait." In 2007, PBS viewers voted her singing of the Act III aria, "O patria mia", as the No. 1 "Great Moment" in 30 years of "Live from the Met" telecasts. One critic described Price's voice as "vibrant," "soaring" and "a Price beyond pearls". Time magazine called her voice "Rich, supple and shining, it was in its prime capable of effortless soaring from a smoky mezzo to the pure soprano gold of a perfectly spun high C."
In 21 seasons with the Met, Price sang 201 performances, in 16 roles, in the house and on tour. After her debut in 1961, she was absent for three seasons—1970–71, 1977–78, and 1980–81; and sang only in galas in 1972–73, 1979–80, and 1982–83.
Post-operatic career
For the next dozen years, Price continued to perform concerts and recitals in the U.S. Her recital programs, arranged by her longtime accompanist David Garvey, usually combined Handel arias or arie antiche, Lieder by Schumann and Joseph Marx, an operatic aria or two, followed by French melodies, a group of American art songs by Barber, Ned Rorem, and Lee Hoiby, and spirituals. She liked to end her encores with "This Little Light of Mine", which she said was her mother's favorite spiritual.
Over time, Price's voice became darker and heavier, but the upper register held up extraordinarily well and her conviction and sheer delight in singing always spilled over the footlights. On November 19, 1997, she sang a recital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that was her unannounced last.
In her later years, Price gave master classes at Juilliard and other schools. In 1997, at the suggestion of RCA Victor, she wrote a children's book version of Aida, which became the basis for the hit Broadway musical by Elton John and Tim Rice in 2000.
Price avoided the term African American, preferring to call herself an American, even a "chauvinistic American". She summed up her philosophy thus: "If you are going to think black, think positive about it. Don't think down on it, or think it is something in your way. And this way, when you really do want to stretch out, and express how beautiful black is, everybody will hear you."
On September 30, 2001, at the age of 74, Price was asked to come out of retirement to sing in a memorial concert at Carnegie Hall for the victims of the September 11 attacks. With Levine at the piano, she sang a favorite spiritual, "This Little Light of Mine", followed by an unaccompanied "God Bless America", ending it with a bright, easy high B-flat.
In 2017, the age of 90, Price appeared in Susan Froemke's The Opera House, a documentary about the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center in 1966.
Awards
Among her many honors and awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), the Spingarn Medal (1965), the Kennedy Center Honors (1980), the National Medal of Arts (1985), the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1986), numerous honorary degrees, and 13 Grammy Awards for operatic and song recitals and full operas, and a Lifetime Achievement Award, more than any other classical singer. In October 2008, she was among the first recipients of the Opera Honors by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2019, Leontyne Price was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Recordings
Most of Price's many commercial recordings were made by RCA Victor Red Seal and include three complete recordings of Verdi's Il trovatore (the final one for EMI), two of La forza del destino, two of Aida, two of Verdi's Requiem, two of Puccini's Tosca, and one each of Verdi's Ernani and Un ballo in maschera, Bizet's Carmen, Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Il tabarro, Mozart's Cosí fan tutte and Don Giovanni (as Donna Elvira), and R. Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, her final complete opera recording. She also recorded a disc of highlights from Porgy and Bess, with William Warfield as Porgy, conducted by Skitch Henderson, with Price singing the music all three female leads.
Her most popular aria collection is her first, titled Leontyne Price, a selection of Verdi and Puccini arias released by RCA Victor in 1961 and often referred to as the "Blue Album" for its light blue cover. It has been continuously in print, and is available on CD and SACD. Equally enduring is an album of Christmas music she recorded in 1961 with Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic.
Her five "Prima Donna" albums, recorded from 1965 to 1979, are an exceptional survey of operatic arias for soprano, mostly from roles Price never performed on stage. They are available in a boxed set of her complete RCA recital albums. She also recorded two albums of Richard Strauss arias, an album of French and German art songs, a Schumann song album, two albums of Spirituals, a single crossover disc, "Right as the Rain," with André Previn, and an album of patriotic songs, "God Bless America." Her recordings of Barber's Hermit Songs, scenes from Antony and Cleopatra, and Knoxville: Summer of 1915, were brought together on a CD, Leontyne Price Sings Barber.
Late in her career, she recorded an album of Schubert and Strauss lieder for EMI, and, for Decca/London, an album of Verdi arias with the Israel Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta.
In 1996, RCA issued a limited-edition 11-CD boxed collection of Price's recordings, with an accompanying book, titled The Essential Leontyne Price.
Meanwhile, archival recordings of several important live performances have been released on CD. Deutsche Grammophon has issued Salzburg performances of "Missa Solemnis" (1959) and Il trovatore (1962), both conducted by Karajan. In 2002, RCA released a long-shelved tape of her 1965 Carnegie Hall recital debut in its "Rediscoveries" series. It includes a rare performance of Brahms' Zigeunerlieder. In 2005, the complete Library of Congress recital with Samuel Barber was released, on Bridge, and includes her only recorded performance of Henri Sauguet's La Voyante, as well as songs by Poulenc and the world premiere of Barber's Hermit Songs. A 1952 broadcast of a Berlin performance of Porgy and Bess with Price and Warfield was discovered in the German radio archives and released on CD.
In 2011, Sony launched its series of historic live broadcasts from the Met with Il trovatore (1961) and Tosca (1962), both with Price and Corelli, and, the next year, added an Ernani (1962) with Price and Carlo Bergonzi. In 2017, a broadcast Aida (1967), with Bergonzi and Bumbry, was released separately and in a boxed set of live performances from the company's first season at Lincoln Center. The set includes the opening night performance of Antony and Cleopatra.
The major roles in Price's repertoire that were never recorded in complete sets are Liu in Puccini'sTurandot and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. For these, live performances are available. Price's Salzburg performances of Don Giovanni in 1960 and 1961, and a 1963 Vienna performance (with Fritz Wunderlich), all three under Karajan, are available on CD. Her Liu can be heard in a live Turandot from Vienna from 1961, on CD.
During the 1970s, RCA cut back on recording operas and recitals and much of Price's recital repertoire went unrecorded, including songs by Rachmaninoff, Poulenc, Respighi, Barber, Lee Hoiby, and Ned Rorem. A broadcast tape of the 1956 premiere of John La Montaine's cycle of songs, Songs of the Rose of Sharon, written for soprano and orchestra, has been found and posted on YouTube.
Among recent discoveries are a 1952 Juilliard performance of Falstaff, a Juilliard recital from 1951, and another recital given at Juilliard in 1955, Price's first year on the concert circuit. (The 1951 recital includes her only recording of Ravel's Scheherezade, with piano accompaniment.) All three were available on YouTube. Kinescopes of NBC Opera Theatre performances are locked in NBC vaults and have never been released on disc or videotape.
Discography
Right As Rain (RCA – LSC-2983, 1967)
A Salute to American Music (Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala XVI, 1991)
Videography
The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala, Deutsche Grammophon DVD, 00440-073-4538, 2009
Reception
In The Grand Tradition, a 1974 history of operatic recording, the British critic J.B. Steane writes that "one might conclude from recordings that [Price] is the best interpreter of Verdi of the century." The Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya remembered a 1963 Price performance of Tosca at the Vienna State Opera "left me with the strongest impression I have ever gotten from opera." In his 1983 autobiography, Plácido Domingo writes, "The power and sensuousness of Leontyne's voice were phenomenal—the most beautiful Verdi soprano I have ever heard."
The sopranos Renée Fleming, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jessye Norman, Leona Mitchell, Barbara Bonney, Sondra Radvanovsky, the mezzo-sopranos Janet Baker and Denyce Graves, bass-baritone José van Dam, and the countertenor David Daniels, spoke of Price as an inspiration.
Jazz musicians were impressed too. Miles Davis, in Miles: The Autobiography, writes: "Man, I love her as an artist. I love the way she sings Tosca. I wore out her recording of that, wore out two sets. Now, I might not do Tosca, but I loved the way Leontyne did it. I used to wonder how she would have sounded if she had sung jazz. She should be an inspiration for every musician, black or white. I know she is to me."
She has also had her critics. In his book The American Opera Singer, Peter G. Davis writes that Price had "a fabulous vocal gift that went largely unfulfilled," criticizing her reluctance to try new roles, her Tosca for its lack of a "working chest register", and her late Aidas for a "swooping" vocal line. Others criticized her lack of flexibility in coloratura, and her occasional mannerisms, including scooping or swooping up to high notes, gospel-style. Karajan took her to task for these during rehearsals for the 1977 Il trovatore, as Price herself related in an interview in Diva, by Helena Matheopoulos. In later recordings and appearances, she sang with a cleaner line.
Her acting, too, drew different responses over a long career. As Bess, she was praised for her dramatic fire and sensuality, and tapes of the early NBC Opera appearances demonstrate an appealing presence on camera. In her early years at the Met, she was often praised for her stage presence as well as her vocal skill.
In March 2007, on BBC Music Magazines list of the "20 All-time Best Sopranos" based on a poll of 21 British music critics and BBC presenters, Leontyne Price was ranked fourth, after Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, and Victoria de los Ángeles.
References
Cited sources
Books
News and encyclopedia articles
Further reading
Books
Sir Rudolf Bing, 5,000 Nights at the Opera: The Memoirs of Sir Rudolf Bing (Doubleday, 1972).
Peter G. Davis, The American Opera Singer: The Lives and Adventures of America's Great Singers in Opera and Concert from 1825 to the Present (Anchor, 1999).
Plácido Domingo, My First Forty Years (Alfred A. Knopf, 1983).
Peter G. Davis, The American Opera Singer (Doubleday, 1997).
Barbara B. Heyman, Samuel Barber, The Composer and His Music (Oxford University Press, 1992).
Helena Matheopolous, Diva: Sopranos and Mezzo-sopranos Discuss Their Art (Northeastern University Press, 1992).
Luciano Pavarotti with William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story (Doubleday, 1981),
Stephen Rubin, The New Met (MacMillan, 1974).
Winthrop Sargeant, Divas (Coward, McCann, Geohegan, 1973).
J. B. Steane, The Grand Tradition: Seventy Years of Singing on Record (Timber Press, 1993).
Robert Vaughan, Herbert von Karajan (W.W. Norton & Company, 1986).
Galina Vishnevskaya, Galina, A Russian Story (Harvest/HBJ Book, 1985).
William Warfield, with Alton Miller, William Warfield: My Music and My Life (Sagamore Publishing, 1991).
Articles
External links
Metropolitan Opera Archives Database
1927 births
Living people
20th-century African-American women singers
20th-century American women opera singers
African-American women opera singers
American operatic sopranos
Central State University alumni
Delta Sigma Theta members
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Juilliard School alumni
Musicians from Greenwich Village
People from Laurel, Mississippi
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
RCA Victor artists
Singers from Mississippi
Classical musicians from Mississippi
Spingarn Medal winners
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
21st-century American women
American Methodists
Kennedy Center honorees
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward%20Seaga
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Edward Seaga
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Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005. He served as leader of the opposition from 1974 to 1980, and again from 1989 until January 2005.
His retirement from political life marked the end of Jamaica's founding generation in active politics. He was the last serving politician to have entered public life before independence in 1962, as he was appointed to the Legislative Council (now the Senate) in 1959. Seaga is credited with having built the financial and planning infrastructure of the country after independence, as well as having developed its arts and crafts, and awareness of national heritage.
As a record producer and record company owner of West Indies Records Limited, Seaga also played a major role in the development of the Jamaican music industry. Seaga died on 28 May 2019, on his eighty-ninth birthday.
Early life
Edward Philip George Seaga was born on 28 May 1930, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States to Philip George Seaga, who was of Lebanese Jamaican descent, and Erna (née Maxwell), who was Jamaican of African, Scottish and Indian descent. Erna was the daughter of Elizabeth Campbell (maiden name), daughter of John Zungaroo Campbell. Phillip Seaga had moved to the US seeking to take advantage of the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties, but the Wall Street Crash of 1929 scotched those dreams. Three months after Edward's birth in Boston, the Seagas returned to Jamaica. He was baptised in Kingston's Anglican Parish Church on 5 December 1930.
The young Seaga was educated at Wolmer's Boys', one of the Wolmer's Schools in Jamaica. He went to the United States for higher education, graduating from Harvard University in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts (Harvard AB) degree in the Social Sciences. Before embarking on his political career, Seaga was a music producer and promoter. He subsequently took a research post at the University of the West Indies.
Music industry career
Seaga's research led to an interest in popular Jamaican music. In 1955, he supervised the recording of an album of ethnic Jamaican music. He continued to produce recordings by other artists and in the late 1950s set up West Indies Records Limited, releasing early recordings by artists such as Higgs and Wilson and Byron Lee & the Dragonaires. Beginning in 1961, Seaga lived in West Kingston. He became deeply involved in its music scene and recorded some of its artists.
West Indies Records Limited became the most successful record company in the West Indies. After being elected in 1962 as a Member of Parliament, representing the Jamaica Labour Party, he sold the company to Byron Lee. It was renamed Dynamic Sounds.
Over 16 years, Seaga worked on compiling a collection of Jamaican music covering the period from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. This anthology, Reggae Golden Jubilee Origins of Jamaican Music, was released on 6 November 2012 in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Jamaican independence.
Early political career
Seaga's political career began in 1959 when Alexander Bustamante, founder of the JLP, nominated him to serve in the Upper House of the Jamaican Parliament, the Legislative Council (later the Senate). His appointment at the age of 29 made him the youngest member ever appointed to the Legislative Council. While he was in the Senate, Seaga made his well-reported speech about the "haves" and the "have nots".
As one of the founding fathers in the framing of the Jamaican Constitution in 1961, Seaga spearheaded far-reaching constitutional reforms. He initiated a re-write of the human rights section of the Constitution, to provide for a Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms; creation of the post of Public Defender; and curtailment of some of the powers of the Prime Minister to provide a better balance of power between the executive and the parliament in the Jamaican system of governance.
In April 1962, Seaga was elected Member of Parliament for West Kingston, the waterfront area in the capital city. Historically, it has been the oldest settlement in Kingston for poor, working-class residents, many of whom are unemployed. Employment is largely petty trading with some semi-skilled craftsmen. He held that seat for 43 consecutive years, until he retired, making him the longest-serving Member of Parliament in the history of Jamaica and the Caribbean region. He is the only person to have been elected as Member of Parliament for West Kingston for more than one term, and won 10 consecutive terms.
Immediately after winning his seat in 1962, Seaga was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of Development and Welfare, with responsibility for all areas of planning, social development and culture. He initiated the redevelopment of Back O'Wall, a notorious large slum in West Kingston, and its replacement by housing, schools and community amenities, which was named Tivoli Gardens.
Seaga also used his position to continue to promote Jamaican music.
Following the 1967 Jamaican general election, Seaga was appointed Minister of Finance and Planning. In 1964, Seaga championed the cause calling for the return of the remains of Marcus Garvey to Jamaica. However, four years later, Seaga was a part of the Cabinet of prime minister Hugh Shearer that banned Walter Rodney from Jamaica for allegedly stirring up racial hatred.
In the 1972 Jamaican general election, the PNP led by Michael Manley won 37 seats to the JLP's 16, and Shearer and Seaga were swept out of power. In 1974 he became Leader of the JLP, a post he held for 30 years; he was also Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition in various periods. In the 1976 Jamaican general election, the PNP won another landslide, winning 47 seats to the JLP's 13. The turnout was a very high 85 percent.
There was a lot of political violence in the 1970s. This allegedly started in 1975, after Henry Kissinger failed in his attempts to get Manley to stop his support for Cuba and Angola, and their fight against the armies of apartheid South Africa. According to former CIA agent turned Marxist Philip Agee, the CIA supplied arms to supporters of the JLP, and there was a significant upturn in political violence; Seaga repeatedly denied the accusation. The 1980 Jamaican general election featured considerable violence including running gun-battles, and would be won by the JLP in a landslide.
Prime Minister
Edward P.G. Seaga became Prime Minister of Jamaica following 30 October 1980 general election, when the JLP won a landslide victory over the incumbent PNP, with the largest mandate until 1993, when the PNP surpassed that total. Out of 60 seats contested in 1980, the JLP won 51 seats to the PNP's nine.
The mandate of Seaga and the JLP was renewed in the uncontested 1983 General Elections. He continued as Prime Minister until February 1989.
Widely regarded as the most influential Jamaican Prime Minister, Seaga was a controversial figure. His supporters claim that he 'saved' Jamaica from communism, while others assert that he 'mash up' Jamaica. Columnist and attorney-at-law Daniel Thwaites said that while these diametrically opposed sentiments run to the extremes, both are surprisingly prevalent. "It is a barometer of the lasting contentiousness and potential divisiveness of any appraisal of Papa Eddie", Thwaites said, arguing that the only other figure in Jamaican political history who could possibly be as controversial as Seaga would be his nemesis, the late former Prime Minister Michael Manley. Thwaites said, "because of their titanic decades-long confrontation, they will be forever – and, perhaps ironically – inextricably linked".
In terms of foreign policy, the Caribbean has long been seen as an unofficial "backyard" of the United States of America. In a region with such a complicated, intertwined history meshed with various world superpowers, the act of making decisions that can irrevocably effect the country is handled with care. Understanding the threat associated with communism, Seaga reversed the hands of friendship extended by Manley to Cuba and Grenada, two countries that had adopted strong anti-American stances during the Russo-American political standoff of the 70s and 80s. In an attempt to steer his country into the clear, he was forced into adopting an alliance with world leaders such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Seaga cut ties with Cuba shortly after winning the 1980 election, and he, as the representative of the strongest Caribbean nation, indirectly acknowledged the Caribbean's support for the US invasion of Grenada in 1983. In doing so, Seaga is credited with preventing the eradication of Jamaica economically and saving the country from a path leading to shackling sanctions like Cuba or a foreign invasion to eliminate communism as seen in Grenada.
In the 1980s, the Seaga administration became embroiled in accusations of a dark circle of narco-banking involving the contras of Nicaragua, the CIA and the Israeli money-launderer Eli Tisona. Seaga's Agro 21 programme was accused of involvement in cocaine trafficking from Colombia, and its Spring Plains project employed Shower Posse's Lester Coke, a.k.a. Jim Brown, as Head of Security. However, these allegations went unproven, with all investigations coming up blank.
Leader of the Opposition
Seaga served as Leader of Opposition from 1974 to 1980. The JLP was defeated in a landslide by Manley's PNP in the 1989 Jamaican general election, by a margin of 45 seats to 15, and Seaga returned to a long spell as Leader of Opposition.
Seaga went on to lead the JLP to defeat in a number of subsequent elections against a PNP led by P.J. Patterson. In the 1993 Jamaican general election, the PNP won 52 seats to the JLP's eight seats, while in the 1997 Jamaican general election, the PNP won 50 of the 60 seats available. Patterson's third consecutive victory came in the 2002 Jamaican general election, when the PNP retained power, but with a reduced seat majority of 34 seats to 26. Patterson stepped down on 26 February 2006, and was replaced by Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica's first female Prime Minister.
During this period of time, he suffered leadership challenges from a number of his colleagues, such as the "Gang of Five" of Errol Anderson, Edmund Bartlett, Karl Samuda, Douglas Vaz, and Pearnel Charles. In 1995, Bruce Golding left the JLP to form a new party, the National Democratic Movement (NDM).
In 2002, Golding rejoined the JLP and in November 2003 was again elected chairman of the party. He was elected leader of the JLP, and also the leader of the opposition, on 20 February 2005, succeeding Seaga.
Contributions to independent Jamaica
Economic and financial development
Seaga established many of the financial institutions required in newly independent Jamaica to build a financial market for successful economic investment and growth, including the following:
1967, first Jamaican majority-owned commercial bank - Jamaica Citizens Bank (JCB)
1968, Jamaica Stock Exchange
1969, decimalization of the Jamaican currency
1969, nationalization of financial institutions - banks and insurance companies
1969, Introduction of merchant banking
1971, Jamaica Unit Trust
1972 Jamaica Mortgage Bank
1981 National Development Bank (NDB)
1981 Agricultural Credit Bank (ACB)
1982 Agro 21
1982, Divestment Programme, commencing with lease of government-owned hotels
1984, Self-Start Fund
1985, Comprehensive Tax Reforms including a flat income tax rate for all
1985, Solidarity Programme for micro-businesses
1986, Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank)
1986, De-regulation of economy, commencing with removal of import licensing; later price controls
1986, Privatization of financial institutions - NCB
1987, JAMPRO (formerly JNIP)
1988, Digiport - first satellite telecommunications data processing operation - Montego Bay
1988, One Million Trees Programme
Planning and development
Rural and urban planning and the environment have been prime areas of development in Seaga's career. He has focused on waterfront development in the main coastal towns and cities, rural and urban township development programmes, and the development of parks and markets. They included the following:
1963, 5-Year Development Plan
1966, Redevelopment of Kingston Waterfront
1967, Comprehensively planned urban communities - runs out the rasta from the Back-o-Wall community claiming to redevelop as Tivoli Garden, a modern, fully planned urban development; Hellshire Hills development; Torrington Park
1967, Reclamation and development of Ocho Rios Waterfront (Turtle Beach)
1968 Urban Development Corporation
1969 Comprehensive development plan for infrastructure of many rural towns (later CRDTDP)
1971 20-Year Physical Development Plan
1983 National Conference Centre - headquarters of the International Seabed Authority
1983 National Committee for Drug Abuse
1985 MPM - Beautification and Public Cleansing
1988 Reclamation of Montego Bay Waterfront
1988 Negril development (Bloody Bay)
1988 Social Well-being Plan
Various Times Land Bank - purchase of 50,000 acres of prime properties for future development (Negril, Orange Bay, Auchindown, Mt. Edgecombe, Seville, Laughing Water, Belmont (Dunns River), Winifred Rest Home property, Caymanas).
Various Times Development of several hotels - Kingston Waterfront, Ocho Rios, Negril.
Social programmes
Seaga was the architect of a wide range of social programmes which expanded training in human resources, aided small enterprises and protected the poor and vulnerable.
1963 Construction of the National Arena
1963 Things Jamaican - craft development
1963 Launching of the Drug Abuse Committee (later Council)
1964 100 Village Community Development Programme
1965 Community sports development on a structured islandwide basis
1965 The Golden Age Movement
1965 The National Volunteers
1970 Student Revolving Loan Fund for Higher Education
1971 National School Feeding Programme
1972 Establishment of Jamaica Racing Commission and Jockey School
1974 Institute of Mass Communication; later renamed Caribbean Institute of Media & Communication (CARIMAC)
1982 H.E.A.R.T. (Human Employment & Resource Training)
1984 Food Stamp Programme for elderly poor and lactating mothers
1984 ARP - Administrative Reform Programme for fundamental Civil Service reforms
1985 Golden Age Home for the elderly poor
1986 L.E.A.P. (Learning for Earning Activity Programme) for street children
1988 P.A.C.E. (Programme for Advancement of Early Childhood Education)
1988 Residential Halls for UWI, UTECH and Cultural Training Centre
Cultural programmes
Seaga established in independent Jamaica most of the institutions to build cultural awareness and national identity, as well as develop arts, crafts and national heritage.
1963 Jamaica Festival
1964 Promotion to launch Jamaican music (ska) abroad
1964 Return and interment of Marcus Garvey's body at Jamaica
1964 Order of National Heroes - Garvey first named hero
1964 National Heroes Park
1965–69 - development of several museums: Arawak, Port Royal
1967 Jamaica Journal publication (Institute of Jamaica)
1967 Research and recording of folk culture
1967 Devon House
1968 National Heritage Week
1971 Design of the Cultural Training Centre (Arts, Drama, Music, Painting & Sculpture)
1972 Jamaica Racing Commission and Jockey School
1986 Establishment of the Creative Production and Training Centre (CPTC)
1988 Planned development of heritage sites (Port Royal, Spanish Town, Seville)
1988 Media Divestment Programme, to establish several small private radio stations and church television
Institutional, parliamentary, political and constitutional reforms
Seaga is recognized as the initiator of some of the most important political, parliamentary and constitutional reforms which affect governance of the country.
1961 Member of the Parliamentary Commission which drafted the Constitution for independent Jamaica
1979 Electoral reforms: structure of EAC
1986 Establishment of Contractor General proposed in 1979
1986 Media Commission
1992 Constitutional Reform: Advocate General (renamed Public Defender)
1993 Constitutional Reform: Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
1994 Several Parliamentary reforms:
to strengthen the independence of Parliament
to allow non-Parliamentarians to address Parliament on issues
1994 Money Bills tabled in Parliament to regulate money supply by law
International programmes
Jamaica is recognized for initiating several far-reaching international programmes within the Caribbean region and worldwide, due to Seaga's proposals to create new international agreements.
1974 UNESCO International Fund for the Promotion of Culture (Culture Bank)
1982 Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI)
1986 UNDP - United Nations International Short Term Advisory Resources - UNISTAR (Manpower Bank)
1986 Caribbean Democrat Union (CDU)
1986 CARIBCAN (Canada)
Publications
Parent Teacher Relationships, University of the West Indies, 1954
"Faith Healing in Jamaica", International Parapsychology, 1955
"Revival Spirit Cults", Jamaica Journal, Institute of Jamaica
The Origins of Jamaican Popular Music
Grenada Intervention: The Inside Story, 2009
Revelations: Beyond Political Boundaries, Lectures 2005–2009
Edward Seaga: My Life and Leadership: Clash of Ideologies, Volume 1, 2009
Edward Seaga: Shaping History: Hard Road to Travel, Volume 2, 2010
Recordings
Folk Music of Jamaica (album recorded by Ethnic Folkways Library), 1978
Reggae Golden Jubilee - Origins of Jamaican Music, released on 6 November 2012
Personal life
On 22 August 1965, Seaga married Marie Elizabeth "Mitsy" Constantine, Miss Jamaica 1965. They had two sons, Christopher and Andrew, and a daughter Anabella. This marriage was dissolved in 1995.
On 14 June 1996, he married Carla Frances Vendryes. Their daughter Gabrielle was born 16 September 2002. With a Masters in Public Administration, Vendryes Seaga has a special interest in sociological research and the development of Jamaican handicraft. She founded the Solidarity project to assist the poor in small entrepreneurial enterprises. She founded an organization to assist victims of violence.
Seaga was deeply involved in cultural activities, particularly folk music and all aspects of things Jamaican. A keen gardener and amateur landscaper, he used his love for plants and flowers to develop the Enchanted Garden resort, an attraction in Jamaica.
As an athlete, Seaga played on several college and school teams: field hockey, cricket, football, rifle, tennis and swimming (diving). He participated as a member of various hunting clubs and the Jamaica Skeet Club.
Civic activities
In West Kingston, he became the president of the Tivoli Gardens Football, Basketball and Netball clubs. He then became Chairman of the Premier League Football Association and the Professional Football Association of Jamaica, with responsibility for the 12 Premier League teams and the staging of the Premier League.
Later years and death
On 20 January 2005, Edward Seaga retired as Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, a position he had held for 30 years. He retired as a Member of Parliament after serving for 43 years in the House of Representatives, in addition to two years in the Senate. He has the longest period of continuous service of any elected representative in the Caribbean region.
With appointments to academia at the University of the West Indies, the Institute of Jamaica and the University of Technology, he became engaged in research and writing, as well as teaching and leadership.
On 28 May 2019, his 89th birthday, Seaga died in Miami, Florida, where he had been receiving treatment for cancer.
Honours and awards
1980, Fortune Magazine named him as a "Man of the Year", the first and only such accolade to anyone in this region
In 1981, Seaga was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as a member of Her Majesty's Privy Council.
In 2002, the Government of Jamaica awarded him the Order of the Nation, the second highest honour
In 2005, the University of the West Indies awarded him the honorary title of Distinguished Fellow for Life.
He was also installed as a Fellow of the Institute of Jamaica, devoted to the arts and sciences.
That year, he was appointed as Chancellor of the University of Technology
Seaga was also honoured by several other countries:
1981, Republic of Venezuela – Grand Collar de Libertador
Republic of Venezuela – Gold Mercury International Award; and
Republic of Korea – Grand Gwangwa Medal, Order of Diplomatic Service
1982, Federal Republic of Germany – Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
1987, Mexico – Order of the Aztec Eagle
He received several prestigious international awards:
Gleaner Honour Awards: Man of the Year, 1980, 1981
Avenue of the Americas Association, N.Y. – Gold Key Award (1981)
American Friendship Medal bestowed by the Freedom Foundation, 1982
Pan American Development Foundation Inter-American Man of the Year Development Award (1983)
Dr. Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award (1984)
United Nations Environment Programme – the Environmental Leadership Award (1987)
Seaga was appointed as a Distinguished Fellow by the University of the West Indies, Fellow of the Institute of Jamaica, and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Technology
Honorary Degrees:
University of Miami, LL.D. (1981)
Tampa University, LL.D. (1982)
University of South Carolina, LL.D. (1983)
Boston University, LL.D. (1983)
University of Hartford, LL.D. (1987)
References
External links
Government of Jamaica Information Service Biography Page
1930 births
2019 deaths
Prime Ministers of Jamaica
Finance ministers of Jamaica
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Jamaican members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
American emigrants to Jamaica
Harvard College alumni
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Indian descent
American people of Lebanese descent
American people of Jamaican descent
Jamaican people of Indian descent
Jamaican people of Scottish descent
Jamaican people of Lebanese descent
Academic staff of the University of the West Indies
Jamaica Labour Party politicians
Recipients of the Order of the Nation
Politicians from Boston
Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Deaths from cancer in Florida
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil%20Constitution%20of%20the%20Clergy
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Civil Constitution of the Clergy
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The Civil Constitution of the Clergy () was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that caused the immediate subordination of most of the Catholic Church in France to the French government. As such, a schism was created, resulting in a French Catholic Church loyal to the Papacy, and a "constitutional church" subject to the French state. The schism was not fully resolved until 1801. King Louis XVI ultimately yielded to the measure after originally opposing it.
Earlier legislation had already arranged the confiscation of the Catholic Church's French land holdings and banned monastic vows. This new law completed the destruction of the monastic orders, outlawing "all regular and secular chapters for either sex, abbacies and priorships, both regular and in commendam, for either sex". It also sought to settle the chaos caused by the earlier confiscation of Church lands and the abolition of the tithe. Additionally, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy regulated the current dioceses so that they could become more uniform and aligned with the administrative districts that had recently been created. It emphasised that officials of the church could not provide commitment to anything outside France, specifically the papacy (due to the great power and influence it wielded). Lastly, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy made bishops and priests elected. By having members of the clergy elected, the church lost much of the authority it had to govern itself and was now subject to the people, since they would vote on the priest and bishops as opposed to these individuals being appointed by the church and the hierarchy within.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was passed and some of the support for this came from figures that were within the Church, such as the priest and parliamentarian Pierre Claude François Daunou, and, above all, the revolutionary priest Henri Grégoire, who was the first French Catholic priest to take the Obligatory Oath. However, almost all bishops opposed the law and refused to take the loyalty oath it required. Over half of lower clergy also refused.
The law was extremely divisive and proved to be a turning point in the French Revolution. Historian Hilaire Belloc described it as a failure that "lit the civil war" that would occur in the following years.
Document outline
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy has four titles with different articles.
The document begins with an introduction on why the document was written.
Title I focuses on the dioceses and how they were to be administered.
Title II focuses on the administration of the dioceses and how elections were to take place.
Title III focuses on payment because the Clergy was a salaried employee of the State.
Title IV focuses on the living requirements for bishops, parish priests, and the curates.
Status of the Church in France before the Civil Constitution
Even before the Revolution and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the Catholic Church in France (the Gallican Church) had a status that tended to subordinate the Church to the State. Under the Declaration of the Clergy of France (1682) privileges of the French monarch included the right to assemble church councils in their dominions and to make laws and regulations touching ecclesiastical matters of the Church or to have recourse to the "appeal as from an abuse" ("appel comme d'abus") against acts of the ecclesiastical power.
Even prior to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy:
On 11 August 1789 tithes were abolished.
On 2 November 1789, Catholic Church property that was held for purposes of church revenue was nationalized, and was used as the backing for the assignats.
On 13 February 1790, monastic vows were forbidden and all ecclesiastical orders and congregations were dissolved, excepting those devoted to teaching children and nursing the sick.
On 19 April 1790, administration of all remaining church property was transferred to the State.
Motivation of the Civil Constitution
The following interlinked factors appear to have been the causes of agitation for the confiscation of church lands and for the adoption of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy:
The French government in 1790 was nearly bankrupt; this fiscal crisis had been the original reason for the king's calling the Estates General in 1789.
The Church owned about six percent of the land in France. In addition the Church collected tithes.
The Church used the six percent of the land they owned for a multitude of purposes which included churches, monasteries, convents, schools, hospitals, and other establishments which served the people of France.
Owing, in part, to abuses of this system (especially for patronage), there was enormous resentment of the Church, taking the various forms of atheism, anticlericalism, and anti-Catholicism.
Many of the revolutionaries viewed the Catholic Church as a retrograde force.
At the same time, there was enough support for a basically Catholic form of Christianity that some means had to be found to fund the Church in France.
Debate over the Civil Constitution
On 6 February 1790, one week before banning monastic vows, the National Constituent Assembly asked its ecclesiastical committee to prepare the reorganization of the clergy. No doubt, those who hoped to reach a solution amenable to the papacy were discouraged by the consistorial address of March 22 in which Pius VI spoke out against measures already passed by the Assembly; also, the election of the Protestant Jean-Paul Rabaut Saint-Étienne to the presidency of the Assembly brought about "commotions" at Toulouse and Nîmes, suggesting that at least some Catholics would accept nothing less than a return to the ancien régime practice under which only Catholics could hold office.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy came before the Assembly on 29 May 1790. François de Bonal, Bishop of Clermont, and some members of the Right requested that the project should be submitted to a national council or to the Pope, but did not carry the day. Joining them in their opposition to the legislation was Abbé Sieyès, one of the chief political theorists of the French Revolution and author of the 1789 pamphlet "What Is the Third Estate?"
Conversely, the Jansenist theologian Armand-Gaston Camus argued that the plan was in perfect harmony with the New Testament and the councils of the fourth century.
The Assembly passed the Civil Constitution on 12 July 1790, two days before the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. On that anniversary, the Fête de la Fédération, Talleyrand and three hundred priests officiated at the "altar of the nation" erected on the Champ de Mars, wearing tricolor waistbands over their priestly vestments and calling down God's blessing upon the Revolution.
In 1793, the War in the Vendée was influenced by the Constitution passing due to the devout population toward the Church among other social factors.
Legal status of the Church in France under the Civil Constitution
As noted above, even prior to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, church property was nationalized and monastic vows were forbidden. Under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy:
There were 83 bishops, one per department, rather than the previous 135 bishops.
Bishops (known as constitutional bishops) and priests were elected locally; electors had to sign a loyalty oath to the constitution. There was no requirement that the electors be Catholics, creating the ironic situation that Protestants and even Jews could help elect the Catholic priests and bishops. Their proportion in the French population was however very small.
Authority of the Pope over the appointment of clergy was reduced to the right to be informed of election results.
The tone of the Civil Constitution can be gleaned from Title II, Article XXI:
Before the ceremony of consecration begins, the bishop elect shall take a solemn oath, in the presence of the municipal officers, of the people, and of the clergy, to guard with care the faithful of his diocese who are confided to him, to be loyal to the nation, the law, and the king, and to support with all his power the constitution decreed by the National Assembly and accepted by the king.
In short, new bishops were required to swear loyalty to the State in far stronger terms than to any religious doctrine. Even in this revolutionary legislation, there are strong remnants of Gallican royalism.
The law also included some reforms supported even by many within the Church. For example, Title IV, Article I states, "The law requiring the residence of ecclesiastics in the districts under their charge shall be strictly observed. All vested with an ecclesiastical office or function shall be subject to this, without distinction or exception." In effect, this banned the practice by which younger sons of noble families would be appointed to a bishopric or other high church position and live off its revenues without ever moving to the region in question and taking up the duties of the office. The abuse of bishoprics by the nobility was further reduced in Title II, Article XI: "Bishoprics and cures shall be looked upon as vacant until those elected to fill them shall have taken
the oath above mentioned." This unified state control over both the nobility and the Church through the use of elected bishops and the oath of loyalty.
Delay in implementation
For some time, Louis XVI delayed signing the Civil Constitution, saying that he needed "official word from Rome" before doing so. Pope Pius VI broke the logjam on 9 July 1790, writing a letter to Louis rejecting the arrangement. On 28 July, 6 September, and 16 December 1790, Louis XVI wrote letters to Pius VI, complaining that the National Assembly was forcing him to publicly accept the Civil Constitution, and suggesting that Pius VI appease them by accepting a few selected articles too. On 10 July, Pius VI wrote to Louis XVI, indicating to the king that the Church could not accept any of the provisions of the Constitution. The Constitution attempted to change the internal government of the Church, and no political regime had the right to unilaterally change the internal structure of the Church. On 17 August, Pius VI wrote to Louis XVI of his intent to consult with the cardinals about this, but on 10 October Cardinal Rochefoucauld, the Archbishop of Aix, and 30 of France's 131 bishops sent their negative evaluation of the main points of the Civil Constitution to the Pope. Only four bishops actively dissented. On 30 October, the same 30 bishops restated their view to the public, signing a document known as the Exposition of Principles ("Exposition des principes sur la constitution civile du clergé"), written by Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin
On 27 November 1790, still lacking the king's signature on the law of the Civil Constitution, the National Assembly voted to require the clergy to sign an oath of loyalty to the Constitution. During the debate on that matter, on 25 November, Cardinal de Lomenie wrote a letter claiming that the clergy could be excused from taking the Oath if they lacked mental assent; that stance was to be rejected by the Pope on 23 February 1791. On 26 December 1790, Louis XVI finally granted his public assent to the Civil Constitution, allowing the process of administering the oaths to proceed in January and February 1791.
Pope Pius VI's 23 February rejection of Cardinal de Lomenie's position of withholding "mental assent" guaranteed that this would become a schism. The Pope's subsequent condemnation of the revolutionary regime and repudiation of all clergy who had complied with the oath completed the schism.
Obligatory oath
Within the Civil Constitution of the Clergy there was a clause that required the Clergy to take an oath stating the individual's allegiance to France. The oath was basically an oath of fidelity and it required every single priest in France to make a public choice on whether or not they believed the nation of France had authority over all religious matters. This oath was very controversial because many Clergy believed that they could not put their loyalty towards France before their loyalty towards God. If a clergyman were to refuse to take this oath of allegiance then they were challenging the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and challenging the validity of the assembly which had established the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. On 16 January 1791 approximately 50% of the individuals required to take the oath went ahead and took it and the other half decided to wait for Pope Pius VI to provide instruction, since he was indecisive on what the Oath signified and how the Clergy should respond to it. It is important to note that only seven bishops in all of France took the oath. In March 1791 Pope Pius VI finally decided that the oath was against the beliefs of the Church. By deciding that it was against the beliefs two groups were formed "jurors" and "non-jurors" ("refractory priests") and that was based on whether or not they had decided to take the oath. The Pope condemned those who took the oath and went as far as saying that they were absolutely separated from the church. Additionally, the Pope expressed disapproval and chastised King Louis XVI for signing the document that required the oath to be taken. Since the Pope expressed disapproval those who did not take it stayed unwilling to take it and as a result were replaced by those who had taken it. In addition to not receiving support from approximately 50% of the Clergy the oath was also disliked by a part of France's population. The individuals in France who were opposed to it claimed that the Revolution was destroying their "true" faith and this was also seen in the two groups of individuals that were formed because of the oath. Those who believed that the Revolution was causing their "true" faith to be destroyed sided with the "non-jurors" and those who believed that the French government should have a say in religion sided with the "jurors."
American Scholar Timothy Tackett believes that the oath that was required determined which individuals would let the revolution cause change and allow revolutionary reform and those who did not would remain true to their beliefs for many years to come. Apart from Tackett's beliefs, it can be said that the obligatory oath marked a key historical point in the French Revolution since it was the first piece of legislation in the revolution that received massive drawback and resistance.
Jurors and non-jurors
As noted above, the government required all clergy to swear an oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Only seven bishops and about half of the clergy agreed while the rest refused; the latter became known as "non-jurors" or "refractory priests." In areas where a majority had taken the oath, such as Paris, the refractory minority could be victimized by society at large: nuns from the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, for example, were subjected to humiliating public spankings.
While there was a higher rate of rejection in urban areas, most of these refractory priests (like most of the population) lived in the countryside, and the Civil Constitution generated considerable resentment among religious peasants. Meanwhile, the Pope repudiated the "jurors" who had signed the oath, especially bishops who had ordained new, elected clergy, and above all Bishop Louis-Alexandre Expilly de la Poipe. In May 1791, France recalled its ambassador to the Vatican and the Papal Nuncio was recalled from Paris. On June 9, the Assembly forbade the publication of Papal Bulls or Decrees, unless they had been approved by the Assembly as well.
The Constituent Assembly went back and forth on the exact status of non-juring priests. On 5 February 1791, non-juring priests were banned from preaching in public. By not allowing the clergy to preach the National Assembly was trying to silence the Clergy. This punishment that was imposed by the assembly signified that all refractory priest could no longer practice marriages and baptisms which were public ceremonies. By not allowing refractory clergy to practice these large public ceremonies they were silenced. However, non-juring clergy continued to celebrate the Mass and attract crowds because the Assembly feared that stripping them of all of their powers would create chaos and that would be ineffective towards silencing them. Although the Assembly allowed them to continue working in ceremonies that were not public they stated that they could only do so until they had been replaced by a clergyman who had taken the oath (juring). A large percentage of the refractory priests were not replaced until 10 August 1792, which was more than a year after the original 50% had taken the oath; by the time they began to be replaced the Assembly had made some changes and it was not as significant that they were practicing Mass.
At the beginning, when the Assembly was stripping the clergy of their titles they tried to ignore how the extreme anti-clerical elements were responding with violence against those who attended these Masses and against nuns who would not renounce their vocation. Ultimately the Assembly had to recognize the schism that was occurring because it was extremely evident, even while the replacement was occurring juror priests often faced a hostile and violent reception in their old parishes. On 7 May 1791, the Assembly reversed itself, deciding that the non-juring priests, referred to as prêtres habitués ("habitual priests") could say Mass and conduct services in other churches on condition that they would respect the laws and not stir up revolt against the Civil Constitution. The assembly had to allow this change to control the schism and in part because "Constitutional Clergy" (those who had taken the oath) were unable to properly conduct their service. The constitutional clergy often required the assistance of the National Guard due to the mayhem that would occur.
The division in France was at an all-time high when even families had different views on juring and non-juring priest. The difference in families was primarily seen when the women would attend Masses that were held by those who had defied the oath and men attended Mass that was provided by clergy members who had taken the oath. It is important to note that even though priests who had not taken the Oath had the right to use the churches many were not allowed to use the buildings (this was done by priest who had sworn their allegiance) this furthermore demonstrated the division in the state. On 29 November 1791, the Legislative Assembly, which had replaced the National Constituent Assembly, decreed that refractory priests could only exacerbate factionalism and aggravate extremists in the constituent assembly. The November 29th decree declared that no refractory priest could invoke the rights in the Constitution of the Clergy and that all such priests were suspect and so to be arrested. Louis XVI vetoed this decree (as he also did with another text concerning the creation of an army of 20,000 men on the orders of the Assembly, precipitating the monarchy's fall), which was toughened and re-issued a year later.
The Holy September Martyrs, or Blessed Martyrs of Carmes (Bienheureux Martyrs des Carmes) are 191 Roman Catholics summarily killed at the Carmes Prison in the September Massacres of 1792, consisting of three bishops, 127 secular priests, 56 monks and nuns, and five lay people, overwhelmingly non-jurors. They were beatified by pope Pius XI in October 1926.
Persecution of Roman Catholics by the State would intensify into de-Christianization and propagation of the Cult of Reason and the Cult of the Supreme Being in 1793–1794. During this time countless non-juring priests were interned in chains on prison ships in French harbors where most died within a few months from the unhealthy conditions.
The juring priests weren't spared either. Although the Constitutional Church had been permitted to continue its work, the National Convention considered Catholicism in any form suspicious. Eight Constitutional bishops were executed on the guillotine, three of whom were men who had played important roles in the early stages of the Revolution: Fauchet, Lamourette, and Gobel. In 1793 Fauchet, disgusted by the Jacobin excesses, attached himself to the moderate party. He voted in the Convention with the Girondins, exerted himself to oppose the condemnation of Louis XVI, prohibited in his diocese the marriage of the clergy and expressed deep sorrow for the errors and scandals both of his political and ecclesiastical career. After the insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793, Fauchet was consigned to the Conciergerie. With the Girondin deputies he was brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal on 30 October, and was guillotined on the following day, after having administered the absolution to his friend Sillery.
Adrian Lamourette, Constitutional bishop of Lyon, had in like manner recoiled before the crimes of the revolutionaries. He protested with indignation against the September Massacres, and supported to the utmost of his power the revolt of Lyon against the National Convention. The subsequent triumph of the Jacobins was fatal to him. After the fall of the city, Joseph Fouché arrested Lamourette, personally stripped him of his vestments and rode him through town on a donkey with a mitre on its head and a Bible and crucifix tied to its tail, so the mob could spit at and kick him. At the end of this blasphemous procession the crucifix and the Bible were publicly burned, and the donkey was given to drink out of the sacred chalice. Lamourette was then sent to Paris to be tried. Three days afterwards he was summoned before the Revolutionary Tribunal and sentenced to death. Thereupon he humbly made the sign of the cross, retracted his oath to the Civil Constitution, and declared that he had been the author of all the speeches upon ecclesiastical affairs which Mirabeau had delivered in his own name in the Constituent Assembly. He was guillotined on January 10, 1794.
On 7 November 1793, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel, Constitutional bishop of Paris, was forced to abjure in front of a large audience at the National Convention. Three days later, on 10 November, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame was rededicated to the Cult of Reason. Despite his acceptance of the principles of the Revolution, Gobel was executed together with Chaumette, Grammont, and many others as a "conspirator against the Republic", on April 13, 1794.
A similar fate befell Louis-Alexandre Expilly, Constitutional bishop of Finistère, who had distinguished himself in the early stages of the Revolution. Having joined the so-called "federalists", he was condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal of Brest, and executed, with other magistrates of that place, on June 21, 1794, only one month before the fall of Robespierre. He was the last person executed that day as he had been giving absolution to his fellows waiting at the scaffold. There would be no Bishop of Quimper/Cornouaille for the next four years.
Another prominent victim of the Revolution was the former Constitutional Bishop of the Yonne department Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne. On 15 November 1793, he had renounced the priesthood, but his past as a cardinal and bishop made him an object of suspicion to the then prominent revolutionaries. He was arrested at Sens on 18 February 1794, and that same night died in prison, whether from a stroke or by poison, some said by suicide.
Repeal of the Civil Constitution
After the Thermidorian Reaction, the Convention repealed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy; however, the schism between the civilly constituted French Church and the Papacy was only resolved when the Concordat of 1801 was agreed on. The Concordat was reached on July 15, 1801, and it was made widely known the following year, on Easter. It was an agreement executed by Napoleon Bonaparte and clerical and papal representatives from Rome and Paris, and determined the role and status of the Roman Catholic Church in France; moreover, it concluded the confiscations and church reforms that had been implemented over the course of the revolution. The agreement also gave the first consul (Napoleon) the authority and right to nominate bishops, redistribute the current parishes and bishoprics, and allowed for seminaries to be established. In an effort to please Pius VII it was agreed upon that suitable salaries would be provided for bishops and curés and he would condone the acquisition of church lands.
References
Sources
External links
Civil Constitution of the Clergy, complete text in English
Response of Pope Pius VI to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 13 April 1791.
France in Division Lists of those condemning the oath and its partisans, pp.104-6 of The press in the French Revolution: a selection of documents taken from the press of the Revolution for the years 1789-1794, [edited] by J. Gilchrist and W.J. Murray, Melbourne, Cheshire and London, Ginn, 1971. At Internet Archive. Described as a satirical attack on p. 110 of Voices of the French Revolution [edited] by Richard Cobb and Colin Jones, Topsfield, Mass., Salem House Publishers, 1988. At internet Archive
1790 in Christianity
1790 in law
1790 events of the French Revolution
History of Catholicism in France
Anti-Catholicism in France
Persecution of Catholics
Religion and the French Revolution
Church and state law
Religious oaths
Schisms from the Catholic Church
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watershed%20%28broadcasting%29
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Watershed (broadcasting)
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In broadcasting, the watershed is the time of day after which programming with content deemed suitable only for mature or adult audiences is permitted.
In the same way that a geological watershed divides two drainage basins, a broadcasting watershed serves as a dividing line in a schedule between family-oriented content, and content deemed suitable only for a more mature audience, such as programs containing objectionable content; this can include graphic violence, strong language, and sexual content, or strong references to those themes, even if they are not shown explicitly. The transition to more adult material must not be unduly abrupt and the strongest material should appear later in the evening.
In some countries, watersheds are enforced by broadcasting laws. Cultural differences around the world allow those watershed times to vary. For instance, in Australia, the watershed time is 19:30 (7:30 p.m.), and in Italy it is 22:30 (10:30 p.m.). In some countries, the schedule is divided into periods with progressively fewer restrictions. In addition, some countries are more lenient towards subscription television and radio or pay-per-view channels than towards free-to-air channels.
By country
Argentina
In Argentina, any programmes broadcast between 06:00 or 07:00 and 22:00 or 22:30 must be suitable for all ages. There are also three other ratings, SAM 13, SAM 16, and SAM 18, which may be broadcast only during the broadcast time that is not covered by any programme suitable for family viewing.
Starting in September 2010, it is compulsory for broadcasters to show the notices "Comienza el horario apto para todo público" () and "Finaliza el horario apto para todo público" () at 6:00 a.m. or 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. respectively. In addition, the notice "Atención: Contenido no apto para niños, niñas y adolescentes" () are shown before news broadcasts.
Australia
On Australian television, programmes are restricted to certain times based on their rating. Since December 2015, PG-rated programmes can be shown at any time of day, M-rated programmes from 19:30, and MA15+ programmes from 20:30. M-rated programmes can also be shown from 12:00 to 15:00 on school days.
Complications with Australian time zones allow that to vary slightly in some areas. For example, when daylight saving time is in effect in New South Wales, NSW-based stations broadcasting to the Gold Coast, Queensland, would effectively push the broadcast watersheds an hour earlier, as Queensland does not observe DST; however, complaints by Gold Coast residents have forced those stations to delay prime-time programming by one hour to compensate.
With the exception of subscription narrowcast channels, anything rated R18+ must not be shown on Australian television at any time, and must be edited to fit within MA15+ guidelines. Even on subscription narrowcast channels, the owner of the channel must ensure that its content is restricted to access by those with appropriate disabling devices.
Austria
There is no legally binding watershed in Austria. However, according to its regulations, the public service broadcaster's channels do not air content that might harm the physical, mental or moral development of minors before 8:15 p.m. and when fictional programmes "not suitable for children" or "only for adults" are aired an X or O, respectively, is added to the digital on-screen graphic.
Brazil
In Brazil, the concept of watershed was officially abolished on August 31, 2016, after a controversial decision made by the Supreme Federal Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal). Despite the online activism organized by some opposing parents and critics, such as Helena Martins, a journalist and representative of the National Program of Human Rights (Programa Nacional de Direitos Humanos), who created a petition on the Internet trying to prevent the decision, the Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit made by the Brazilian Labor Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro), a nationally known political party who received the support (during the lawsuit) of the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Associação Brasileira de Emissoras de Rádio e Televisão), composed of a group of several radio and television broadcasters spread throughout the country. Both organizations advocated for the national abolition of the watershed, claiming that the watershed was a kind of restriction that caused problems related to the "lack of programming freedom" on the Brazilian television.
Starting in 1990, when the Advisory Rating Coordination (Coordenação de Classificação Indicativa) of the Department of Justice Politics (Departamento de Políticas de Justiça) was established, until the August 31, 2016 Supreme Court ruling, the Brazilian advisory rating system determined not only the content rating of a program, but also imposed a watershed system, who was created in line with the Child and Adolescent Statute (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente), a series of regulations who determine what are the children's rights in Brazil. The watershed was composed by the following rules:
Programs rated (Free for All Audiences - Livre para Todos os Públicos) and (Not recommended for minors under 10 - Não recomendado para menores de 10 anos) could be broadcast at anytime;
Programs rated (Not recommended for minors under 12 - Não recomendado para menores de 12 anos) could be broadcast only between 8:00 PM (20:00) and 6:00 AM;
Programs rated (Not recommended for minors under 14 - Não recomendado para menores de 14 anos) could be broadcast only between 9:00 PM (21:00) and 6:00 AM;
Programs rated (Not recommended for minors under 16 - Não recomendado para menores de 16 anos) could be broadcast only between 10:00 PM (22:00) and 6:00 AM;
Programs rated (Not recommended for minors under 18 - Não recomendado para menores de 18 anos) could be broadcast only between 11:00 PM (23:00) and 6:00 AM.
The watershed was enforced only for free-to-air television channels (both VHF and UHF); pay television channels were not required to follow the watershed, and indeed, could broadcast any program anytime.
Before 1990, during the military dictatorship and in the early New Republic, the regulator entity for the watershed was the Public Diversions Censorship Division (Divisão de Censura de Diversões Públicas) of the Federal Police of Brazil (Polícia Federal do Brasil). More known simply as the "Federal Censorship" (Censura Federal), it was this division who determined if a pre-recorded television program was eligible to be transmitted on a determined time (the Censorship Division also decided what was the content rating of these programs, and had the power to impede the broadcast of unauthorized programs, meaning that all television programs that were not broadcast live had to be previously sent to the "Federal Censorship" through videotapes to receive the authorization of transmission before they could be aired).
Canada
The Code of Ethics and the Violence Code of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (which does not include the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and provincial public broadcasters such as TVOntario and Tele-Quebec, which are directly overseen by the CRTC) specify that broadcasters may not air programming that contains sexually explicit material or coarse or offensive language intended for adult audiences outside of the "late viewing period," which is defined as programming beginning at 9:00 p.m., and ending at 5:30 a.m. Programs that begin before 9:00 p.m. are considered pre-watershed even if they run into this time period. In regards to time zones, the watershed is based on the time zone from which the signal originates. 11:00 p.m. is the watershed for radio broadcasting; before then and after 4:00 a.m., radio stations are forbidden from broadcasting content that glorifies violence, undue coarse language, or undue sexually explicit material.
The Violence Code does provide some leniency for scheduling programs pre-watershed in order to exercise a terrestrial broadcaster's simsub rights (noting that viewers would have access to content advisories also mandated by the code). However, in any case, no broadcaster may air material that contains "gratuitous violence in any form or which sanctions, promotes or glamourizes violence."
Czech Republic
In the Czech Republic, only programmes that "can be watched by children" can be aired until 22:00. After 22:00, adult-oriented programmes may be aired. They have to be marked with star on either corner of image. Notably Jednicka (CT1) and Dvojka (CT2).
Finland
In Finland, all the major television companies (Yle, MTV Media, Nelonen Media, SBS Finland and Fox International) have agreed not to show 16-rated content before 21:00 and 18-rated content before 23:00. Television channels use their own discretion to decide the ratings. Before airing a programme, the channel must provide the related rating information to the governmental bureau Finnish Centre for Media Education and Audiovisual Media, which replaced the now-defunct Finnish Board of Film Classification in that capacity in early 2012.
France
In France, -12 rated programmes/films are not allowed before 22:00, and -16/-18 rated programmes/films are not allowed before 22:30 and 00:00
respectively. -18 rated programmes/films may air only via satellite and cable. The period in which programmes with any ratings are permitted finishes at 06:00 except for -18 programmes, which may not be issued after 05:00.
There is also one additional rating that is not used in films: -10. -10 rated programmes signifies content less intense than -12 rated programmes. All programmes and films must display the respective icon on-screen for the duration of the programme. Before December 2012, -10 rated programmes had to display the respective icon on-screen at the start and in regular intervals.
Germany
In Germany, content suitable for ages 16 and older is permitted between 22:00 and 06:00 and content suitable for adults (18 and older)
is permitted between 23:00 and 06:00. Programmes marked "Keine Jugendfreigabe" (not approved for minors) by the ratings organization FSK may thus be shown only after 23:00. Blacklisted movies may not be aired at any time. Some content rated 12 and older is permitted between 20:00 and 06:00, but there is no general watershed for such content.
If a commercial broadcaster wants to air a programme not rated by the FSK, the programme's watershed is rated by the FSF (Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Fernsehen: Voluntary Self Regulation for TV) instead. A programme with neither rating is not usually aired by commercial broadcasters since the KJM (Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz: Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media) may charge a fine if it finds the content inappropriate. To avoid the original watershed for a programme or to air a blacklisted movie, commercial broadcasters may ask the FSF to tell them how to cut the movie for another rating.
Greece
Greece uses a triple-tier watershed, along with a five-tier dual-tone decal scheme, displayed at the beginning and at regular intervals during all broadcasts except for news bulletins.
A black square containing a white circle and the letter "K" (Κατάλληλο, Suitable) in black, indicates unrestricted programming.
A black square containing a white circle and the number "8", indicates programming that is suitable for persons aged 8 and older. TV programming using this symbol is precluded from being broadcast during special children TV programming, as well as at least thirty minutes before or after that special programming.
A black square containing a white circle and the number "12", indicates programming that is suitable for persons aged 12 and older. and is only allowed only between 21:00 and 06:00, Monday through Thursday, and 22:00 and 06:00, Friday through Sunday as well as during school holidays.
A black square containing a white circle and the number "16", indicates programming that that is suitable for persons aged 16 and older and is allowed only between 22:00 and 06:00.
A black square containing a white circle and the number "18", indicates programming that is suitable for adults (persons aged 18 and older), and is allowed only between 00:00 and 06:00. Programmes with foul language and commercials with sexual oriented nudity typically fall into this category. Broadcasting content with this rating before midnight is punishable by fine except when used in the context of a suitably labelled film, theatrical play or other media.
Furthermore, for media rated "12" and above, a special identification regarding the content of the media, is required to be broadcast at the beginning of the programme. These verbal descriptors are:
Βία (Violence) - This programme contains depictions of violence.
Σεξ (Sex) - This programme contains depictions of sexual or sexualised acts.
Χρήση Ουσιών (Use of Substances) - This programme contains depictions of drug use, or of other addicting substances.
Ακατάλληλη Φρασεολογία (Improper Speech) - This programme contains use of improper or vulgar speech.
These ratings are mandatorily displayed and verbally announced at the beginning of each broadcast. The provisions are enforced by the National Radio and Television Council (ESR), an independent authority, whose executive members are appointed by the leaders of all parliamentary parties, preferably by unanimous consent and in extremis by an 80% supermajority.
Hungary
Hungary uses a two-tier watershed.
Programmes rated for over 16-year-olds are allowed only between 21:00 and 05:00.
Programmes rated for over 18-year-olds are allowed only between 22:00 and 05:00.
Hungarian television prime time ends about 23:30.
For more information about the two ratings' meaning, see .
India
India does not have a watershed. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is responsible for regulating television programming. The law permits only material rated with a U (Universal) certificate to be broadcast on television, but the law is regularly disobeyed. The government has, at times, ordered individual programmes and films to be broadcast between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. There have been several proposals in the past to introduce an 11 p.m. watershed, permitting programming rated 'A' (Adults Only) from then until 5 a.m., but all have been rejected by the government.
As many Indian households have only one television, nearly the entire broadcast day is positioned by broadcasters as being suitable for family viewing. Self-censorship of foreign series (particularly from the U.S.) is common in order to meet more conservative content standards, and 11 p.m. is typically treated as a de facto watershed, with adult content offered until 5 a.m. (and some channels, such as Zee Café, openly promoting programming blocks within the hours featuring "uncut" programming with fewer edits).
Ireland
In Ireland, there is no statutory requirement for a watershed. The Code of Programme Standards of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) requires television and radio broadcasters to use at least one of three methods to advise viewers of content, namely: an explicit watershed for adult-oriented programmes; prior warnings before potentially offensive programming; and/or a descriptive classification system. A 2005 survey for the drafters of the Code found that 83% of viewers thought a watershed was a good idea, and only 39% knew the pre-existing watershed was 21:00; 52% felt it should be 22:00 or 23:00. The 2007 Code specifies that broadcasters using a watershed must regularly promote it, and its start and end times, for viewers' awareness.
RTÉ Television implements a watershed of 21:00, as well as an onscreen classification system. Programmes with the MA ("mature audience") classification are shown only after the watershed. Programmes running through the watershed are treated as pre-watershed. RTÉ's guidelines state, "A cornerstone of our contract with television viewers is the watershed and the understanding that prior to 21.00 material broadcast should be suitable for a family audience. ... The immediately post 21.00 broadcast period should be regarded as a graduation period towards more adult material and due allowance must be made for the potential presence of children in the audience". More nuanced limits may also be applied; for example, RTÉ cleared a trailer for horror film Paranormal Activity for broadcast after 19:00, except during the Saturday evening film which many children watch. Virgin Media One operates what it calls "the internationally accepted watershed" of 21:00. Radio broadcasting does not apply a watershed.
In 2005, all television broadcasters operated a main watershed starting at 21:00. In the case of RTÉ, it ended at 06:30, while for Virgin Media One and TG4, which then had shorter broadcast hours, it ended at nighttime closedown. RTÉ Radio did not use a watershed. TG4 claimed it had "a number of different watersheds coming into effect throughout the day", while all stations had a second, less formal watershed at 22:00 for "material which is decidedly over 18". Quinn notes that the period from 18:00 to 21:00 attracts most viewer complaints, as "audience expectations of what should be shown often differ greatly".
The BAI's code regarding advertising and children states, "In general terms, programmes broadcast after 9 p.m. are not regarded as children's programmes. After this time, the primary responsibility for what a child is watching is seen to lie with the parents/guardians. The Code recognises, however, that children's viewing does not end abruptly at 9 p.m. and so the Code will offer some protection in the hour between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m."
Italy
According to Codice TV e minori (Code for Children and Television, 2002), all the channels must broadcast "general audience" programmes from 07:00 to 22:30. After 22:30, +14 programmes can be aired, while +18 programmes are prohibited from television altogether except for satellite, cable, and OTT premium adult channels, along with Cielo.
Mexico
Department of Radio, Television and Film (Mexico) regulates television programming in Mexico. Any programs shown on Mexican television must be classified A (suitable for all ages) for broadcast between 05:00 to 20:00. Broadcast for programs classified as B, B-15, C and/or D can be broadcast at certain times only.
Programs rated B may be broadcast only from 16:00 to 05:59.
Programs rated B-15 may be broadcast only from 19:00 to 05:59.
Programs rated C may be broadcast only from 21:00 to 05:59.
Programs rated D can be broadcast only from 00:00 to 05:00.
The Netherlands
Programmes that are rated "All ages", "6" or "9" can be broadcast all day.
Programmes that are rated "12" can be broadcast from 20.00 to 06.00
Programmes that are rated "16" can be broadcast from 22.00 to 06.00
The number in the age rating indicates the lowest age for which it is suitable.
New Zealand
On 1 May 2020, the new classification rating system for television (both free-to-air and subscription) was implemented, bringing it more in line with film classifications as per the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993.
G and PG rated programmes can be shown at any time on both free-to-air and subscription television.
M rated programmes can be shown any time only on subscription television. On free-to-air television, M rated programmes can be shown between the hours of 9.00am and 3.00pm on weekdays (school term time only) and from 7.30pm until 5.00am on a daily basis (including weekends, school holidays and public holidays).
16 rated programmes can be shown any time only on subscription television, but must be blocked if viewers under 16 are present. On free-to-air television, 16 rated programmes can only be shown from 8.30pm to 5.00am. 16 rated programmes may contain stronger content that may be considered unsuitable for children under the age of 16.
18 rated programmes can be shown on subscription television between 9.00am and 3.00pm on weekdays (school term time only) and from 8.00pm until 6.00am on a daily basis (including weekends, school holidays and public holidays). On free-to-air television, 18 rated programmes can only be shown between 9.30pm and 5.00am. 18 rated programmes may contain more explicit but challenging content such as very frequent coarse language, very strong or graphic violence, very strong or explicit sex scenes, nudity or material that may be considered either too distressing or offensive to some adult viewers.
News and current affairs programmes and sporting events are exempt from the system altogether but still carry warnings before certain stories with graphic content or objectionable material.
Previous system
The previous system for free-to-air television, introduced in 1989, used the following system based on the one formerly used in Australia:
G (General), which could air at any time,
PGR (Parental Guidance Recommended), which could not air between 6am and 9am or between 4pm and 7pm, and
AO (Adults Only), which could only air between noon and 3pm on school days, and between 8:30pm and 5am
Subscription television has always used the current system.
Peru
Peru has adult time from 22:00 to 6:00. During the rest of the time, nevertheless, some +14 programming signs may be posted on the screen. As of 2015, there have been complaints that adult time is not enforced (either from the TV channels or the authorities) since some programs such as Combate, Esto es Guerra, Amor Amor Amor and Al fondo hay sitio have broadcast violence, or sexually suggestive material, during "unrestricted" time.
Poland
In Poland, the Czas chroniony ("Protected time") rules specify that programmes with a "12" rating or higher are not allowed to be aired during scheduling blocks intended for children, programmes with a "16" rating are not allowed to be aired before 20:00 on mainstream channels, and programmes with an "18" rating may not be aired before 23:00 on mainstream channels.
Portugal
Open channel terrestrial television stations (RTP, SIC and TVI) can broadcast programmes and films rated 16 only between 22:30 and 06:00 with a permanent visual identification and red circle in right top on the tv screen. There are no legal restrictions on pay television, but those channels usually follow the same rules as open television, for example, the red circle on the top right (or top left ). Pornography may be aired only on encrypted channels.
Serbia
In 2015, the Serbian broadcasting regulator, the REM (Regulatory body for Electronic Media) introduced a two-tier watershed. The watershed is based on the new TV rating system.
Programmes marked "16" are allowed to be shown only between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and may contain coarse language and mild references to gambling, drugs and sex.
Programmes marked "18" are allowed to be shown only between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. and may contain extensive scenes of drugs and sex.
Slovakia
Slovak law defines a two-tier watershed and TV stations are obliged to show JSO's rating symbols through the entire program and also in promos.
Programmes given ratings of 15 or Educational 15+ can broadcast only from 8pm to 6am. Programmes given an 18 rating are permitted to be shown only from 10pm to 6am.
Slovenia
The national public broadcaster RTV Slovenija uses three watersheds. Between 8 PM and 5 AM content rated 12+ can be shown, programmes rated 15+ are allowed between 10 PM and 5 AM programmes and 18+ rated content can be screened between midnight and 5 AM. Cartoons and children's programmes have to be screened until 7 PM, when the main evening newscast begins. Many broadcasters (for example local or regional channels) also take this approach in a similar way.
A warning, which has to be shown for at least 10 seconds, has to be broadcast before airing a programme with an age restriction. It consists of showing an enlarged age rating symbol accompanied by a voiceover. The warning says: "Opozorilo! Predvajana programska vsebina vključuje prizore, ki so lahko neprimerni za mlajše otroke, zato je zanje priporočljiv ogled z vodstvom staršev ali skrbnikov ..." (The following programme contains scenes potentially inappropriate for younger children. Parental guidance is advised.) for programmes, rated VS (Vodstvo staršev - Parental guidance). Programmes, rated 12+, 15+ and 18+ are equipped with a similar kind of warning (Predvajana programska vsebina vključuje prizore, ki niso primerni za otroke do 12./15. leta starosti/otroke in mladoletnike do 18. leta starosti (The following programme contains scenes potentially inappropriate for children, younger than 12/15 / children and minors, younger than 18). Unrated programmes or programmes, meant for all audiences are exempt from the system. Examples of programmes, equipped with rating symbols include pornographic and violent content, some documentaries, newscasts, if they are shown in the timeslot, meant for children's programming and satirical shows.
The used age ratings and their respective symbols are:
VS (vodstvo staršev): Parental guidance recommended for viewers under the age of 12. A white rhombus, containing parent and child stick figures is shown.
12+: Not allowed under the age of 12. A white rhombus, containing the number 12 is shown.
15+: Not allowed under the age of 15. A white rhombus, containing the number 15 is shown.
18+: Not allowed under the age of 18. A white rhombus, containing the number 18 is shown.
Explicit sexual content: White rhombus, containing the number 18 and one plus sign
Pornographic content/programme with severe violence scenes: White rhombus with number 18 and two plus signs
Programmes with 18+ or 18++ icons must not be broadcast free-to-air and are allowed on scrambled pay-TV channels only.
The original content rating icons (used before 2014) were a red triangle with a stylised eye for content rated +15, while adult-only content used a red circle with a stylised eye.
Additional content type rating symbols (not shown on-screen):
Nasilje (Violence): White rhombus, containing two stick figures; one is laying on the floor while being beaten up by the other, which is holding a baseball bat
Strašljive vsebine (Scary content): White rhombus, containing a stylised grey ghost figure
Spolnost (Sexuality): White rhombus, containing conjoined male and female sex symbols (circle with a cross, pointing downwards and a circle with an arrow, pointing upwards)
Nevarno vedenje (Dangerous behaviour): White rhombus, containing a crouching stick figure, trying to jump over a fence and an open fire.
Diskriminacija (Discrimination): White rhombus, containing three stick figures, of which the middle one is white, while the other two are black.
Zloraba drog in/ali alkohola (Drug and/or alcohol abuse): White rhombus, containing a bottle, defaced with a stylised face.
Neprimeren jezik (Inappropriate language use): White rhombus, containing a speech bubble with a hash sign, ampersand ("and" sign) and an exclamation mark.
The respective rating symbol has to be shown for the duration of the programme.
South Africa
South Africa takes a very hands-on approach when it comes to what children are allowed to see on television, and the parents or guardians of the child may be fined if they are caught not following the rules. The ratings used are:
All: Suitable for all ages. The respective icon is required to be displayed on-screen for 30 seconds at the start of the programme.
PG: Suitable for all ages, but very young children must be accompanied at all times. The respective icon is required to be displayed on-screen for one minute at the start of the programme.
13: Prohibited to children under the age of 13. The respective icon is required to be displayed on-screen for two minutes at the start of the programme and after every commercial break.
16: Prohibited to children under the age of 16. Programmes with this rating are not allowed before 21:00. The respective icon is required to be displayed on-screen for five minutes at the start of the programme and after every commercial break.
18: Prohibited to children and young people under the age of 18. Programmes with this rating are not allowed before 23:00. The respective icon is required to be displayed on-screen for the duration of the programme. The content in programmes that have an "18" rating is not restricted as long as it does not have pornography, which is prohibited altogether.
Spain
In Spain, the watershed is simpler than in a lot of other countries since there is only one watershed time, but there is a quadruple-tier age rating system that is used alongside it. The ratings used in Spain are "All", "7", "12", "16" and "18". However, only 18-rated programmes are restricted. 18-rated programmes are allowed only between 22:00 and 06:00 and must broadcast a warning sound before it is shown.
Switzerland
Switzerland has no watershed. However, broadcasters are required by law to avoid any confrontation of minors with unsuitable programming through the choice of transmission time.
United Kingdom
According to Ofcom, the watershed for free-to-air television in the UK is at 21:00 (9:00 p.m.), and "material unsuitable for children" should not, in general be shown before 21:00 or after 05:30 (5:30 a.m.). For premium or pay-per-view services, the watershed is at 20:00 (8:00 p.m.). Until 1 October 2011, the period ended at 05:30 for premium channels as it still does for the free-to-air channels. On 1 October 2011, the rules for the premium channels were relaxed, with the adult-content period now ending at 06:00. Programmes that are rated 15 cannot be shown outside that period. However, some 12-rated shows can be shown before 21:00, such as The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, Doctor Who, Atlantis, Only Fools and Horses, One Foot in the Grave and Futurama. There is no watershed on PIN-protected channels (such as Sky Cinema). On that type of channel, trying to view adult material before 20:00 requires a PIN.
In November the yearly Children in Need charity event, which is usually shown on a Friday night, has the watershed delayed until 23:30, to encourage parents to be comfortable with their children staying up after 21:00. This causes more shows to have to be censored, especially if they are part of the event. Comic Relief and Sport Relief, on the other hand, will only delay it until 22:00.
There should be a gentle transition to adult material, and 18-rated content must not air until 22:00 (10:00pm) on most channels that are without PIN protection. However, channels that are dedicated to airing adult content such as Horror Channel may be allowed to start 18-rated content at 21:00 without PIN protection.
Advertisements also have to comply with the same set of rules, and can be restricted when shown before the watershed (such as those for junk food, bingo, alcohol and condoms). Advertisements that may have an adult-related context, such as bingo, are less likely to be allowed on child-oriented channels. Some advertisements, often those for 18-rated films and video games, are not allowed before the watershed at all.
Although ratings do not have to be displayed on-screen, the channel is legally required to broadcast a verbal advisory before shows that may be unsuitable for children. Failure to do so may result in the broadcaster being given a fine. However, this rule generally does not apply to pay TV channels, so as a result, some pay TV channels, such as Comedy Central, have no verbal advisory at all. Some channels, such as That's TV Gold, have no verbal advisory but instead displays them on-screen.
United States
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the right to regulate the broadcast of "indecent" material on free-to-air terrestrial television and radio, because it is broadcast on publicly-owned airwaves that are licensed to broadcasters. It presently enforces a 10:00 p.m. watershed, permitting adult content between then and 6:00 a.m. The FCC's jurisdiction in regards to content applies only to "over-the-air" television. Cable channels may be more permissive in their content, depending on their target audience and the standards of their advertisers, while premium channels and over-the-top streaming services are often the most permissive because they are funded primarily by their subscribers, and not commercial advertising.
In the 1975–1976 television season, the FCC attempted to enforce a "Family Viewing Hour" policy, in which the Big Three television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) agreed to devote the first hour of primetime to family-friendly programming. In 1976, the rule was overturned as unconstitutional following a lawsuit by the Writers Guild of America.
In 1978, the Supreme Court case FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (dealing with a broadcast of the George Carlin routine "Filthy Words" by WBAI radio) upheld the ability for the FCC to regulate the broadcast of "indecent" material on free-to-air radio and television, citing the "uniquely pervasive presence" of broadcasting in society, and the likelihood that children could be exposed to such content by chance. From then on, the FCC enforced a safe harbor on the broadcast of indecent material between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
In 1987, the FCC introduced a stricter definition of indecency, defined as "language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs". The FCC also removed the previous 10:00 p.m. watershed and stated that the prohibition would apply during any time that there "is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience". In 1988, as directed by the United States Congress, the FCC announced that it would ban the broadcast of indecent material entirely, with no safe harbor. In 1991, the FCC's proposed 24-hour ban was struck down by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals as unconstitutional. The Telecommunications Act of 1992 re-established a safe harbor period for indecent content between midnight and 6:00 a.m. The period was lengthened back to 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. following further D.C. Circuit rulings.
Some American television scenes famous for "pushing the envelope" (such as limited nudity on NYPD Blue) were aired in the 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. hour; however, the broadcasts were before the safe harbor in the Central and Mountain time zones, where programming scheduled for 10:00 p.m. Eastern would typically be broadcast starting at 9:00 p.m. (using a one-hour delay in Mountain Time broadcast areas). Because each U.S. time zone enters safe harbor separately (at 10:00 p.m. local time), it is possible for not all network affiliates that air an "indecent" program at the same moment to face the same penalties. Such was the case with CBS, whose affiliates faced a proposed fine of US$3.63 million for a repeat of the episode "Our Sons and Daughters" of Without a Trace in December 2004. The program was flagged for depicting an orgy involving teenagers. It was televised at 10:00 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time zones (within the safe harbor), but at 9:00 p.m. in Central and Mountain times (outside the safe harbor). The FCC split its fine among the 111 CBS affiliates covering those time zones. After a court settlement, the network agreed to pay US$300,000 in fines.
Even though the watershed occurs at the prime time hour of 10:00 p.m., broadcast networks have since avoided indecent content to avoid reprimands from their affiliates and advertisers, and because of the constant fluctuation of indecency standards to account for changes in acceptance and FCC enforcement. In 2011 and 2012, courts overturned fines regarding a brief scene featuring nudity in a 2003 NYPD Blue episode, as well as fines over fleeting expletives in a live awards show broadcast in 2002 by Fox, ruling that the FCC's basis for the fines was too vague.
Venezuela
In Venezuela, the watershed is at 23:00. The period between the watershed and 05:00 is called "Adult time" according to Article 7 of the Law on Social Responsibility on Radio, Television and Electronic Media. During that block, adult-oriented programs may be transmitted as long as they do not contain hardcore pornography, political or religious intolerance, racism or xenophobia.
Notes
References
Citations
General sources
External links
The Ofcom Broadcasting Code – Section 1
Canadian Broadcast Standards Council – What is the Watershed?
Broadcast law
Television terminology
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard%20Hammond
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Richard Hammond
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Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer. He is best known for co-hosting the BBC Two motoring programme Top Gear from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James May. Since 2016, the trio have presented Amazon Studios' The Grand Tour.
Hammond has also notably presented entertainment documentary series Brainiac: Science Abuse (2003–2008), the game show Total Wipeout (2009–2012) and nature documentary series Planet Earth Live (2012). In 2016, again with Clarkson and May, Hammond launched the automotive social media website DriveTribe, where he regularly provides content on his tribe "Hammond's Fob Jockeys".
Early life
Hammond was born the oldest of three boys on 19 December 1969 in Solihull, England, and is the grandson of workers in the Birmingham car industry. In the mid-1980s Hammond moved with his family (mother Eileen (née Dunsby), father Alan, and younger brothers Andrew, writer of the 'Crypt' series, and Nicholas to the North Yorkshire cathedral city of Ripon located 10 miles south of the market town of Bedale, and 8 miles south of the historic village of Thornton Watlass where his father ran a probate business in the market square. He attended Blossomfield Infant School in Solihull's Sharmans Cross district from the age of 3–7. Originally a pupil of Solihull School, a fee-paying boys' independent school, he moved to Ripon Grammar School, and from 1986 to 1988 attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology. According to an episode of Top Gear (Season 16, Episode 5), Richard's first job was shovelling grit into a water filtration plant.
Career
After graduation, Hammond worked for several BBC radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds and Radio Newcastle.
Presenting the afternoon programme at Radio Lancashire, his regular guests included motoring journalist Zog Zieglar, who would review a car of the week by being interviewed by Hammond over the phone. The two became good friends, and it was Zieglar who encouraged Hammond to enter into motoring reviews on television. After starting out on satellite TV, he auditioned for Top Gear.
Top Gear
Hammond became a presenter on Top Gear in 2002, when the show began in its revamped format. He is sometimes referred to as "The Hamster" by fans and his co-presenters due to his name and relatively small stature compared to May and Clarkson. His nickname was further reinforced when on three occasions in series 7, he ate cardboard, mimicking hamster-like behaviour.
Following a high-speed dragster crash while filming in September 2006 near York, Hammond returned in the first episode of series 9 (broadcast on 28 January 2007) to a hero's welcome, complete with dancing girls, aeroplane-style stairs and fireworks. The show also contained images of the crash, which had made international headlines, with Hammond talking through the events of the day after which the audience broke into spontaneous applause. Hammond then requested that the crash never be mentioned on the show again, though all three Top Gear presenters have since referred to it in jokes during the news segment of the programme. He told his colleagues, "The only difference between me now and before the crash is that I like celery now and I didn't before".
Following the BBC's decision not to renew Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March 2015, Hammond's contract expired on 31 March. In April, he ruled out the possibility of continuing to present Top Gear, commenting via Twitter that "amidst all this talk of us 'quitting' or not: there's nothing for me to 'quit' not about to quit my mates anyway". On 12 June 2015, the BBC confirmed that Top Gear would return with a 75-minute special, combining two unseen challenges featuring all three presenters from series 22, with studio links from Hammond and May. It aired in the UK on BBC Two on 28 June at 8 p.m, and in the United States on BBC America on 13 July at 9 p.m.
Vampire dragster crash
During filming of a Top Gear segment at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York on 20 September 2006, Hammond was injured in the crash of the jet-powered car he was piloting. He was travelling at at the time of the crash.
His vehicle, a dragster called Vampire, was theoretically capable of travelling at speeds of up to . The vehicle was the same car that in 2000, piloted by Colin Fallows, set the British land speed record at . The Vampire was powered by a single Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus afterburning turbojet engine producing of thrust.
Some accounts suggested that the accident occurred during an attempt to break the British land speed record, but the Health and Safety Executive report on the crash found that a proposal to try to officially break the record was vetoed in advance by Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman, due to the risks and complexities of such a venture. The report stated: "Runs were to be carried out in only one direction along a pre-set course on the Elvington runway. Vampire's speed was to be recorded using GPS satellite telemetry. The intention was to record the maximum speed, not to measure an average speed over a measured course, and for (Hammond) to describe how it felt."
Hammond was completing a seventh and final run to collect extra footage for the programme when his front-right tyre failed, and, according to witness and paramedic Dave Ogden, "one of the parachutes had deployed but it (the car) went on to the grass and spun over and over before coming to a rest about 100 yards from us." The emergency crew quickly arrived at the car, finding it inverted and partially embedded in the grass. During the roll, Hammond's helmet had embedded itself into the ground, flipping the visor up and forcing soil into his mouth and damaging his left eye. Rescuers felt a pulse and heard the unconscious Hammond breathing before the car was turned upright. Hammond was cut free with hydraulic shears, and placed on a backboard. "He was regaining consciousness at that point and said he had some lower back pain". He was then transported by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to the neurological unit of the Leeds General Infirmary. Hammond's family visited him at the hospital along with Top Gear co-presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson wished Hammond well, saying "Both James and I are looking forward to getting our 'Hamster' back", referring to Hammond by his nickname. For five weeks while Hammond was recovering in hospital, Clarkson sent a funny message to Mindy, Hammond's wife, every day to try to keep her going. Hammond thought if everyone found out, Clarkson would "die of shame" "cos it makes him look soppy".
The Health & Safety Executive report stated that "Hammond's instantaneous reaction to the tyre blow-out seems to have been that of a competent high performance car driver, namely to brake the car and to try to steer into the skid. Immediately afterwards he also seems to have followed his training and to have pulled back on the main parachute release lever, thus shutting down the jet engine and also closing the jet and afterburner fuel levers. The main parachute did not have time to deploy before the car ran off the runway." The HSE notes that, based on the findings of the North Yorkshire Police (who investigated the crash), "the accident may not have been recoverable", even if Hammond's efforts to react were as fast as "humanly possible".
Hammond made his first TV appearance since the crash on the BBC chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 22 December, just three months after the incident, where he revealed he was in a medically induced coma for two weeks and afterwards suffered from post-traumatic amnesia and a five-second memory. Despite saying he was "absolutely fixed" on the Jonathan Ross episode, in 2011, while talking to the Daily Mirror, Hammond admitted he had no memory of the interview, saying: "I lost a year. I don't remember doing the interview with Jonathan Ross or doing Top Gear Live in South Africa" showing the full impact of his brain injury 5 years before.
The crash was shown on an episode of Top Gear on 28 January 2007 (Season 9, Episode 1); this was the first episode of the new series, which had been postponed pending Hammond's recovery. Hammond requested at the end of the episode that his fellow presenters never mention the crash again, a request which has been generally observed, although occasional oblique references have been made by all three presenters. On The Edge: My Story, which contains first-hand accounts from both Hammond and his wife about the crash, immediate aftermath, and his recovery, was published later that year.
In February 2008, Hammond gave an interview to The Sunday Times newspaper in which he described the effects of his brain injuries and the progression of his recovery. He reported suffering loss of memory, depression and difficulties with emotional experiences, for which he was consulting a psychiatrist. He also talked about his recovery in a 2010 television programme where he interviewed Sir Stirling Moss and they discussed the brain injuries they had both received as a result of car crashes.
Brainiac: Science Abuse
In 2003, Hammond became the first presenter of Brainiac: Science Abuse; he was joined by Jon Tickle and Charlotte Hudson in series 2. After the fourth series it was announced that Hammond was no longer going to present the Sky1 show after he signed an exclusive deal with the BBC. Vic Reeves took his place as main presenter.
Other television work
Early in his career, as well as his radio work, Hammond presented a number of daytime lifestyle shows and motoring programmes such as Motor Week on Men & Motors.
He presented the Crufts dog show in 2005, the 2004 and 2005 British Parking Awards, and has appeared on School's Out, a quiz show on BBC One where celebrities answer questions about things they learned at school. He has also presented The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend. Along with his work on Top Gear, he presented Should I Worry About...? on BBC One, Time Commanders on BBC Two and the first four series of Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1. He was also a team captain on the BBC Two quiz show, Petrolheads, in which a memorable part was one where Hammond was tricked into bumping his classic Ferrari while trying to parallel park blindfolded in another car.
In 2006, Hammond fronted the Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show with his co-presenter Mel Giedroyc. The programme, which discussed a wide range of topics, was shown every weekday on ITV between 17:00 and 18:00.
In July 2005, Hammond was voted one of the top 10 British TV talents.
He presented Richard Hammond and the Holy Grail in 2006. During the special, he travelled to various locations around the world, including the Vatican Secret Archives, exploring the history of the Holy Grail.
As part of Red Nose Day 2007, Hammond stood for nomination via a public telephone vote, along with Andy Hamilton and Kelvin MacKenzie, to be a one-off co-presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 16 March 2007. However, he was defeated by Andy Hamilton.
In April 2007, Hammond presented a one-off special on BBC Radio 2 for Good Friday followed by another in August 2007 for the bank holiday.
Hammond recorded an interview with the famed American stuntman Evel Knievel, which aired on 23 December 2007 on BBC Two, and was Knievel's last interview before his death on 30 November 2007.
In September 2008, Hammond presented the first episode of a new series; Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections on the National Geographic Channel. In this show, Hammond discovered how the inventions of the past, along with assistance from nature, help designers today. Episodes include the building of the Airbus A380, Taipei 101 and the Keck Observatory. Series 2 of Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections began in May 2010 and has included the building of the Wembley Stadium and the Sydney Opera House.
Hammond appeared in an advertisement for Morrisons supermarkets in 2008, and joined the cast of TV show Ashes To Ashes for a special insert on the 2008 Children in Need special.
While in New Zealand for Top Gear Live 2009, Hammond filmed several television commercials for Telecom New Zealand's new XT UTMS mobile network. Telecom claimed that the new network was "faster in more places", compared to its competitors and its existing CDMA network. After the network suffered three highly publicised outages in late 2009 and early 2010, Hammond became the butt of a joke when he did not return to New Zealand for Top Gear Live 2010. His fellow Top Gear co-hosts said he was too embarrassed to come back to New Zealand, and in a supposed live feed back to Hammond, the feed suddenly drops out as the "XT Network had crashed". Hammond was later given the right of reply to his colleagues during an interview with Marcus Lush on RadioLIVE's breakfast show in New Zealand.
Hammond hosted the UK version of the US series Wipeout, called Total Wipeout for BBC One. It took place in Argentina, and was co-presented by Hammond and Amanda Byram. Hammond presented and performed the voiceover for the clips in a London studio, and Byram was filmed at the obstacle course in Buenos Aires. The series was cancelled at the end of 2012.
Hammond also presented a science-themed game show for children, Richard Hammond's Blast Lab which aired on BBC Two and CBBC.
In March 2010, Hammond presented a three-episode series called Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds, which looked at things too fast for the naked eye to see, things that are beyond the visible spectrum (e.g., ultraviolet and infra-red light), as well as microscopic things.
One of Hammond's lesser known television roles was as presenter of the BBC Two gameshow Time Commanders, a sophisticated warfare simulator which used a modified version of Creative Assembly's Rome: Total War game engine.
Since February 2011, Hammond has presented an online technology series Richard Hammond's Tech Head. In July 2011, Hammond presented a two-part natural science documentary Richard Hammond's Journey to the Centre of the Planet, focused on Earth geology and plate tectonics.
In April 2012, Hammond hosted a BBC America programme titled Richard Hammond's Crash Course, which was also shown in the UK from September 2012 on BBC Two. In May 2012, Hammond co-presented an animal documentary for BBC One called Planet Earth Live alongside Julia Bradbury. The programme recorded animals living in extreme conditions.
In June 2014, Hammond presented a scientific fourteen part series on National Geographic Channel titled Science of Stupid which focused on the application of physics in everyday life. In December, Hammond presented a three-part science documentary for BBC One called Wild Weather with Richard Hammond which focuses on the hidden world of our Earth's extreme weather system.
In September 2015, Hammond presented a two-part documentary for Sky 1 called Richard Hammond's Jungle Quest, supported by Sky Rainforest Rescue.
In March 2017, whilst filming for The Grand Tour episode Feed the world in Mozambique, Hammond frequently fell off his motorbike due to the poor roads. On one occasion he reportedly hit his head and was knocked unconscious.
During the season finale of The Grand Tour season three, Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson announced the current format was coming to the end and later announced that there would be two more seasons of specials, without the tent or live audience.
In January 2021, Hammond starred alongside MythBusters Tory Belleci in The Great Escapists, a fictional six-episode adventure series for Amazon, which was produced by Chimp Productions. The series stranded the pair on a deserted island where they used the resources they could find to build the means to survive.
Rimac Concept One crash
On 10 June 2017, Hammond crashed a Rimac Concept One while filming for The Grand Tour in Hemberg, Switzerland. He was on his last run up a timed hillclimb course during the Bergrennen Hemberg event. Just after crossing the finish line, the car ran off the road, tumbled down the hill and eventually came to rest upside down from the road.
Hammond remained conscious throughout and he later described the feeling of "oh god, I'm going to die", as well as being "aware of tumbling – sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, ground." He was airlifted to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a tibial plateau fracture in his left knee, and a plate and ten screws were surgically inserted.
Jeremy Clarkson and James May, fellow presenters on The Grand Tour, both witnessed the scene from afar; believing Hammond was dead, May recalled feeling a "blossoming, white-hot ball of pure, sickening horror forming in my heart", and Clarkson described his "knees turning to jelly" at the sight of the crash.
After the ordeal, the FIA allegedly ruled that the "show runs" that Hammond and company were doing at the time of the accident violated the governing body's International Sporting Code and that the crash "acted against the interests of the sport." As a result, the Bergrennen Hemberg organizers were fined $5,138, and six-month license suspensions were imposed on race director Christian Müller and stewards Hermann Müller, Karl Marty, and Daniel Lenglet. In August of that year, Motorsport.com reported that the future of the entire event was "now in jeopardy." Despite the reports, the Bergrennen Hemberg was held again in 2018 and driver registrations opened for 2019.
Richard Hammond's Workshop
Hammond announced on Twitter on 21 June 2021 that he would be making a show with Discovery+ about the restoration of old cars.
Personal life
Hammond has been married to Amanda "Mindy" Hammond (born Etheridge, born 6 July 1965), a columnist for the Daily Express, since May 2002. They have two daughters, Isabella "Izzy" (born 2001) and Willow (born 2004).
It was his friend Zog Zieglar who first gave Hammond his nickname Hamster. After the couple announced the impending birth of their first child, Zieglar's response was "And out will pop another hamster." The nickname stuck, especially on Top Gear due to his name and relatively small stature compared to May and Clarkson. His nickname was further reinforced when on three occasions in series 7, he ate cardboard, mimicking hamster-like behaviour.
Hammond is known for owning a large number of animals on Bollitree Farm including several horses, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, sheep, and a peacock. He and his family adopted TG, the official Top Gear dog, after it became apparent that the labradoodle was afraid of cars. The dog died at age 11 in January 2017.
Hammond plays bass guitar, on which he accompanied the other Top Gear presenters when they performed alongside Justin Hawkins on Top Gear of the Pops for Comic Relief in 2007.
He likes to ride his bicycle, scooter, or motorbike in cities, for which he is mocked mercilessly by fellow presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
During the news segment of Top Gears 2010 USA Road Trip special, Hammond openly expressed his dislike of the band Genesis. This fact was later exploited by his co-presenters (particularly by Clarkson) in three special episodes: during the Middle East Special, when they installed a secret second stereo unit in his Fiat Barchetta that only plays the band's Live over Europe 2007 album; in the India Special, Clarkson played the same song used in the previous special (albeit the Seconds Out version) through the megaphone mounted in his Jaguar XJS, despite Hammond driving a different car (a Mini Cooper Sport). In the 2013 Africa Special, Clarkson once again played Genesis in an attempt to get Hammond to let him pass.
In 2007, Hammond went to Africa on a Top Gear special across Botswana, with his choice of car being a 1963 Opel Kadett, which he subsequently named Oliver. A week after the special was aired, Hammond announced during the news section that he had shipped Oliver back to the UK, where it was restored by a team from Practical Classics magazine. Oliver features on Hammond's children's science television show Richard Hammond's Blast Lab and in another episode of Top Gear as a kind of "Hill-holder" in the trailer truck challenge (after it acquired the fake personal plate "OLI V3R"). Oliver is also mentioned in Hammond's second autobiography As You Do.
In 2010, Hammond was the president of the 31st Herefordshire Country Fair held at Hampton Court in Hope under Dinmore. His involvement caused unprecedented attendance with "nearly 15,000 people" drawn to the event to meet the presenter.
In March 2012, Hammond passed his B206 LST helicopter licence and has since owned a Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter.
In September 2018, his wife reported that she and Richard, along with their fifteen-year-old daughter, had been burgled while sleeping at a holiday villa in Saint-Tropez, speculating that they might have been rendered unconscious by noxious gas.
Residences
The Hammond family live in a mock castle in Herefordshire, and they also have an apartment in London. In an interview with The Sunday Times in February 2008, it was reported that Hammond had moved briefly from Gloucestershire to Buckinghamshire, then back again, because he missed the country life.
In October 2012, it was reported he had spent over £2 million buying Bollitree Castle which is situated near Weston under Penyard, Ross-on-Wye. It has been rumoured he has also bought a large house in the town of Wantage, Oxfordshire.
Vehicle ownership
Cars
Hammond owns or has owned many different cars including:
1929 Ford Model A
1933 Riley Alpine Tourer
1934 Morgan 3-Wheeler.
1942 Ford GPW
1956 Land Rover Series 1. Undergoing restoration.
1958 Jaguar XK150
1962 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Mk1
1962 Opel Kadett, bought in 2023 from a seller who like Oliver was originally from Johannesburg South Africa. He has since named it Olivia
1963 Opel Kadett, a car he bought for Top Gear's Botswana special. He named the car Oliver and had it shipped from Botswana to the UK.
1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 in Highland Green.
1971 Buick Riviera which he used in Season 4, Episode 3 (Lochdown) of The Grand Tour. The car is customised with a big supercharger and a rear wing modelled from a Plymouth Superbird.
1972 MGB GT, a car he bought for a classic car challenge in his last episode of Top Gear, which he subsequently kept.
1979 MG Midget
1979 Ford Escort RS2000 MkII, his first restoration project for his workshop which initially sold for £33K at auction but bought it back after the new owner had registration issues
1987 Land Rover Defender-110, known as "Buster" which he spent over £70,000 rebuilding in 2008.
1999 Jaguar XJR (X308) with the supercharged Jaguar AJ-V8 engine, a car he bought in the 2000s, sold, and then bought back in 2022.
2003 Subaru Impreza WRX STI V Limited Edition, which he used in Season 5, Episode 1 (A Scandi Flick) of The Grand Tour. The car was tuned to 356bhp and given a Martini Livery.
2005 Chevrolet SSR which he used in Season 5, Episode 2 (Eurocrash) of The Grand Tour.
2012 Land Rover Defender. With custom tuning by Bowler Manufacturing
2016 Ford Mustang convertible in white with black Shelby stripes, which he bought as a Christmas present for his wife.
2021 Ford Ranger
Land Rover 110 Station Wagon, which was christened "Wallycar" by his eldest daughter and has been owned by him twice.
Land Rover Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE
Jaguar XK120 currently undergoing restoration.
Cars no longer owned by Hammond:
1931 Lagonda 2-litre Supercharged.
1959 Bentley S2, sold in 2021
1969 Dodge Charger R/T
1969 Porsche 911T, sold in 2021
1976 Toyota Corolla liftback, which was his first car.
1982 Porsche 911 SC (sold in the mid-2000s)
1985 Land Rover Range Rover Classic which he later sold.
1994 BMW 850Ci, which was used to race against Clarkson's Mercedes CL600, which they both bought on Top Gear to prove that one could purchase second-hand V12 cars which were a better buy than the Nissan Pixo (Britain's cheapest new car at the time) for less money. He sold this after a week on the challenge.
1994 Porsche 928, purchased in 2004 for the purpose of daily driving. He later sold the car.
1996 Fiat Barchetta, which he revealed that he had previously owned in the Middle East Special when explaining his choice of the Barchetta for the challenge.
1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello, which he mentioned in Top Gear as the car he regretted selling.
1999 Lotus Esprit 350 Sport, sold in 2021
2006 Porsche 911 (997) Carrera S. He sold it in 2013 following the announcement of the GT3.
2010 Fiat 500C TwinAir, which he discussed purchasing during Series 18 of Top Gear. It is unknown when he sold it.
2008 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 which was purchased in the United States on a Series 12 episode of Top Gear. Later he sold it.
2009 Aston Martin DBS Volante, which he purchased for £175,000. Hammond later sold the car.
2009 Morgan Aeromax, in which he was involved in a car accident on 9 August 2009. He later sold it.
2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder which he purchased in 2010. He later sold it in 2012.
2013 Porsche 911 GT3, which he discussed purchasing during Series 21 of Top Gear. This car was subsequently recalled because of multiple reports of the cars catching fire and he sold it in 2016.
2015 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which he purchased on 17 April 2016.
2020 Morgan Plus Six The car was later destroyed in a flood on Christmas Eve and subsequently crushed.
VW camper van, which was customised in pink for his daughters.
Motorcycles
Hammond is a keen motorcyclist, having ridden for over 30 years.
He owns or has owned many different motorcycles including:
1925 Sunbeam Model A, with an asthmatic side-valve 350cc single-cylinder engine, a hand-shift three-speed gearbox, a manual oil pump, acetylene gas lights and no milometer
1929 BMW R52
1935 Indian
1946 Indian Chief
1947 Harley Davidson
1951 BMW R51, with a 600cc conversion, a Hoske tank and cut down mudguards
1959 Norton Dominator
1961 Triumph Bonneville T120C
1962 Triumph Bonneville
1970s Moto Guzzi V7 Sport
1974 Kawasaki Z900
1976 BMW R90S, which is an "[i]rresistible low mileage example of BMWs first attempt at a sportsbike. The tank's been repainted, but the rest is original."
1976 Honda Gold Wing
1976 Yamaha FS-1E
1981 BMW R100RT, which Hammond bought "when some friends, including James May, started a thing called the Crap Motorcycle Camping Club of GB. [...] It's called Eric, after the previous owner and it's done 105,000 miles".
1988 BMW R100GS
1990 BMW K1, with a unique BMW Motorsport inspired paintjob
1990 BMW K100RS, which has a batch painted by Dream Machine in BMW Motorsport colours to celebrate Nick Jeffries finishing 8th in the 1984 Production TT on one
1991 Suzuki GSX-R1100. In an interview for Bike Magazine in 2014, Hammond stated: "When I was a kid I saw a GSX-R 1100 being filled up in a petrol station. I thought it was amazing. I know this isn't the collectable slab-sided one, but I don't care."
1992 Kawasaki KR1-S
1992 Kawasaki ZXR-750. In a Bike Magazine interview, Richard stated: "I just love the hoses from the fairing ducts to the engine. I remember seeing these in Mick Staiano Motorcycles in Harrogate and dreaming of owning one."
1998 Ducati 916 SPS Fogarty Replica
2012 BMW R1200RT, which is according to Richard "[t]he best bike in the world." In 2014, he told Bike Magazine: "I love to hustle on the RT. It's done 8000 commuting miles and is used as a tool."
2014 Norton Commando 961 SE
Bimota SB8R
Bimota YB9
Brough Superior SS80 period race replica
Brough Superior SS100
Ducati 900 Super Sport Desmo
Honda CBX
Honda SS50. In 2014, Richard told Bike Magazine that the Honda had been disassembled and was being restored by his daughter.
Moto Guzzi Daytona 1000
Suzuki GS1000
Vespa GTS 300 Super Sport scooter
Vincent Black Shadow
Yamaha Virago
Motorcycles no longer owned by Hammond:
BMW R1150GS
Honda CBR1000F
Honda CBX750F
Honda MTX50, which was his first motorcycle.
Honda NSR125R
Honda XL100
Kawasaki GP100
Kawasaki ZZR600
1976 Kawasaki Z900. A 40th birthday present from his wife. Sold in 2021.
1977 Moto Guzzi Le Mans (Mk1). "I've always wanted a Guzzi. They've got a tractor-like quality. This one is fitted with a period accessory fairing from Apple Motorcycles", Hammond said in an interview for Bike Magazine. Sold in 2021.
2019 Norton Dominator Street. Hammond's 50th birthday present. Sold in 2021.
1927 Sunbeam Model 2. The first ever vintage vehicle owned by Hammond. Sold in 2021.
Suzuki GSX-R750WP
1929 Velocette KSS. Sold in 2021.
Other vehicles
Furthermore, Hammond owns or has owned the following vehicles:
2005 Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter
John Deere 6210 SE tractor
2022 Ford Transit (used for his restoration company)
Charity work
Hammond is an ambassador of UK charity for children with brain injury and neuro-disability The Children's Trust.
On 29 September 2013, terminally-ill eight-year-old Emilia Palmer was driven by Hammond in a pink Lamborghini Aventador Roadster (newly repainted for the occasion). Hammond flew his Robinson R44 helicopter, G-OHAM, to Shobdon Airfield in Herefordshire, then picked Palmer up from her home in Kimbolton, Herefordshire and drove her back to the airport for a high-speed run on the main runway. The event was arranged at short notice by Rays of Sunshine.
Controversies
Hammond's comments and actions have sometimes resulted in complaints from viewers, LGBT rights charities, and foreign diplomats.
During the second episode of series sixteen of Top Gear, Hammond suggested that no one would ever want to own a Mexican car, since cars are supposed to reflect national characteristics and so a Mexican car would be "lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence, asleep, looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat." Hammond finished with the remark "I'm sorry, but can you imagine waking up and remembering you're Mexican?!" The comments prompted Mexico's ambassador in London, Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza, to lodge an official complaint to the BBC. Demanding an apology from the BBC, the ambassador stated: "These offensive, xenophobic and humiliating remarks only serve to reinforce negative stereotypes and perpetuate prejudice against Mexico and its people." The BBC defended the broadcast of this segment on the grounds that such national stereotyping was a "robust part" of traditional British humour.
Alleged homophobia
In December 2016, in reference to the interior styling of a Volvo S90, co-presenter Clarkson joked that "the only problem is that in one of those, you couldn't enjoy a chocolate Magnum ice cream" – to which Hammond responded: "It's all right, I don't eat ice cream. It's something to do with being straight." The joke was written as a reference to a well-known advertisement in Finland (where that episode of The Grand Tour was filmed); however, LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell accused Hammond of "pandering to prejudice", adding that "it's a perverse world when everyday pleasures like ice cream becomes the butt of homophobic innuendo." A spokesperson for UK LGBT rights charity Stonewall stated that "Hammond's choice of words were not just ridiculous, but chosen purposefully to mock and belittle."
A year later, in an interview with The Times, Hammond stated: "Look, anyone who knows me knows I wasn't being serious, that I'm not homophobic. Love is love, whatever the sex of the two people in love... It may be because I live in a hideously safe and contained middle-class world, where a person's sexuality is not an issue". In an interview with Newsweek Today, Hammond denied making homophobic comments, and refused to apologise for the remarks: "I entirely reject any criticism of me being anti-gay. That's just not the case."
Filmography
Television
Video games
Television advertisements
Awards and honours
Bibliography
Car and motorcycle books
Children's books
Biographies
Racing career
2CV 24 Hour Race results
Britcar 24 Hour results
References
External links
Donations to Yorkshire Air Ambulance double as a result of their life-saving rescue of Richard Hammond
Q&A – The Guardian – 2009-1-3. Hammond questions about himself. Retrieved 2009-6-29.
1969 births
Living people
BBC television presenters
Britcar 24-hour drivers
British motoring journalists
English autobiographers
English broadcasters
English businesspeople
English children's writers
English male journalists
English male non-fiction writers
English non-fiction writers
English radio DJs
English science writers
English television presenters
People educated at Ripon Grammar School
People educated at Solihull School
People from Solihull
People with traumatic brain injuries
Top Gear people
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratas%20Island
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Pratas Island
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Pratas Island, also known as the Tungsha Islands or the Dongsha Islands (), is a coral island situated in the northern part of the South China Sea administered as part of Cijin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is located about southeast of Hong Kong. It has an area of about , including of lagoon, and is the largest of the South China Sea Islands. It is the location of the Dongsha Airport.
There are three undersea features in the waters associated with Pratas Island: Pratas Atoll, North Vereker Bank and South Vereker Bank. The atoll is circular, and the crescent-shaped Pratas Island occupies its western part. Below the ocean's surface to the northwest () of Pratas Island, North Vereker Bank rises to below sea level and South Vereker Bank to below sea level.
There are numerous oil wells to the west of the banks. In 2007, the Dongsha Atoll National Park was established on the island. The People's Republic of China claims the island, atoll and banks as part of Guangdong Province.
Pratas Islands
Pratas Atoll is also called Pratas Reef.
Tungsha Island (Tung-sha Tao) () is the Wade–Giles-derived romanization of the Mandarin Chinese name for the island, and Dongsha Island (Dongsha Dao) is the pinyin-derived name. A smaller island with the same Chinese character name is located in the Taiwan-administered Dongyin Township in the Matsu Islands in the East China Sea.
The area including the island, atoll and banks is also called the Pratas Islands (), the Tungsha Islands and the Dongsha Islands. Despite these names, Pratas Island is the only island; there is no group of islands.
History
The East Indiaman was wrecked on Pratas Island on or about 22 October 1800 with the loss of all aboard. At the time the island was known to British sailors as "Perates". In 1851, the British screw sloop wrecked on the south-east bend of Pratas Atoll while going to the aid of another wrecked vessel; the crew were all saved. Decades later, the boilers and parts of the machinery of the wreckage of HMS Reynard remained visible on the atoll.
In 1859–1861, there was a correspondence between the British Colonial Office and the Hong Kong colonial authorities about building a lighthouse on the main island on the atoll. Despite an offer by a British businessman in Xiamen (Amoy) to build it, it was decided that the cost was too great and the matter lapsed. It is clear from the correspondence that no one supposed the atoll to be a part of any known jurisdiction, so negotiations might have been required to ensure that any construction would be legal.
One consequence of that initiative was that, in 1858, the Royal Navy survey ship completed the first detailed survey of the atoll, resulting in the Plan of the Pratas Reef and Island, J. Richards and others, April 1858, being published by the British Admiralty. On the resulting chart three positions are proposed for a lighthouse: on Pratas Island, on the north-east corner, or on the southern edge near where HMS Reynard had stranded. In the north-east corner of the lagoon the chart notes "Anchorage for junks", indicating regular use by fishing and other small vessels taking shelter. The chart's rubric noted that the available safe draft for vessels entering was only , so it was restricted to relatively small vessels only.
In 1866, Cuthbert Collingwood (naturalist) visited Pratas Island and later published a description of it.
In 1908–1909, a Japanese businessman named Nishizawa Yoshizi (西澤吉次) established a guano collecting station. He destroyed the Dawang Joss House (大王庙), dug up graves and poured the bone ashes of Chinese fishermen into the sea, and renamed the atoll "Nishizawa Island". After a diplomatic confrontation, Chinese sovereignty was re-established, and Nishizawa withdrew, after being compensated by the Guangdong provincial government, and after paying compensation for the destruction of a Chinese fishermen's shrine.
In December 1930, the schooner (Netherlands) ran aground on a coral reef off Pratas Island and was wrecked.
On 22 May 1944, the Japanese gunboat was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine , in the South China Sea off Pratas Island at , while towing the disabled passenger-cargo ship Tsukuba Maru. Casualties are unknown but her commanding officer was killed.
Japanese naval personnel occupied Pratas Island during World War II. The Japanese Navy used the island as a weather station and listening post. On May 29, 1945, at 10:22 AM, a landing party consisting of Australian commandos and US naval personnel from the submarine raised the US flag, declared the island a United States territory, and named it Bluegill Island. The landing party destroyed a radio tower, weather station, fuel and ammunition dumps, and several buildings. They encountered no resistance because the Japanese had left the island prior to the arrival of Bluegill.
Pratas Island was later restored to Guangdong Province of the Republic of China (ROC). On September 12, 1946, the navy of the Republic of China took over and garrisoned Pratas Island.
On 6 June 1949, the ROC established the Hainan Special Administrative District (海南特別行政區), which included Pratas Island.
In autumn 1954, the senior ROC politician Chiang Ching-kuo visited the island and made an inspection.
On 9 June 1960, during Typhoon Mary, the Hong Kong cargo ship was driven against Pratas Reef and wrecked. Her 55 crew took to the liferafts and were rescued by the USS Yorktown (CV-10).
While underway in the South China Sea on 18 July 1965, the USS Frank Knox ran aground on Pratas Reef, and was only freed on 24 August after a very difficult salvage effort.
On 13 April 1996, the jurisdiction of the Taiwan Kaohsiung District Court was extended to include Tungsha Island (Pratas Island).
In May 1999, Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh visited the island and hung an address plate on the island’s fishing service station. On 21 December 2000, ROC President Chen Shui-bian visited the island with Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh. On 28 July 2005, President Chen Shui-bian again visited the island and inaugurated the Fifth Maritime Patrol Squad of the Coast Guard Administration.
In January 2007, the ROC government designated the Pratas atoll as the Dongsha Atoll National Park, the first marine national park in Taiwan.
On 8 January 2013, an office of Chunghwa Post was established on Pratas Island.
In September 2020, the PRC conducted air drills over the waters between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island that intruded into the ROC air defense identification zone (ADIZ). The planes were issued radio warnings by the ROC military until they left.
On 15 October 2020, a regular civilian charter flight by Uni Air had to abandon its trip from the main island of Taiwan to Pratas Island when Hong Kong air traffic controllers told the captain of the aircraft that there were "dangerous activities" happening below and that the Uni Air aircraft could not enter the Hong Kong Flight Information Region (FIR). The transcript of the conversation between the pilot and air traffic control was released by the ROC Civil Aeronautics Administration. The next day, the ROC Minister of National Defense Yen Teh-fa called on PRC not to "disrupt the order of international aviation". On 20 October, Deputy Chief of the ROC General Staff, Lieutenant-General Li Ting-sheng (李廷盛), visited Pratas Island. He made an inspection of the living facilities of the military personnel and gave them instructions. On 26 October, the same Uni Air aircraft made the round trip flight between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island.
On 27 October 2020, a Y8 PRC military aircraft entered ROC air defense identification zone (ADIZ) between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island for the twenty-first time that month. On 28 October, Zhu Fenglian of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the PRC was asked whether, in light of PLA military exercises in Fujian and Guangdong, there was or was not a plan to take Pratas Island from the ROC. Feng responded that she did not have to answer hypothetical questions. On 2 November, eight Chinese PLAAF aircraft breached the ROC ADIZ above an area of sea near Pratas Island. On 3 November, Y-8 plane entered the ADIZ of the ROC in the area between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island. On 4 November, the ROC Minister of National Defense, Yen Teh-fa, stated in a legislative hearing that since January 2020, 276 PRC military planes had entered the airspace between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island, activity that Yen associated with plans by the PRC for a creating its own ADIZ in the South China Sea. On 6 December, a PRC air force Y-8 plane entered the Taiwan ADIZ between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island, the fifth day in December that PRC military aircraft entered Taiwan's ADIZ.
Geography
Pratas Island is located from the rest of Kaoshiung, southwest of Taipei, southeast of Hong Kong and south of Shantou, Guangdong in the northern part of the South China Sea (). An international team of researchers conducted a comprehensive population genetic analysis of 11 marine species sampled from the island. They concluded that Dongsha Atoll is an important regional stepping-stone that promotes genetic connectivity among South China Sea reefs, as marine larvae can potentially reach a large number of reefs in the northern South China Sea. The protection of the island and surrounding reefs by the Taiwanese government as Dongsha Atoll National Park may therefore benefit the entire region.
Pratas Island is long and wide; it is the only feature of the group above sea level. The island is made up of coral atolls and reef flats. Brush, vines and bushes cover some of the island - the rest is white sand. Flora and fauna on and around Pratas Island include:
Silver silk tree
Strawberry tung tree
Coconut tree
Little terns
Turnstones
Gull-billed terns
Parrotfish
Starfish
Rock lobsters
In the Journal of Science (April 1867) there is a nine-page article entitled "The Natural History of Pratas Island in the China Sea" by Dr. Cuthbert Collingwood, the naturalist on board . It describes what was observed, especially bird life, during a visit of two days while the survey ship lay at anchor. Collingwood explored the island on 30 April 1866.
The Vereker Banks () are northwest of Pratas Atoll. North and South Vereker Banks are under water. North Vereker Bank (北衛灘) rises to below sea level with an average depth of to below sea level. A well head with a depth of lies off North Vereker Bank. Two to three miles of deep water separate North Vereker Bank and South Vereker Bank. South Vereker Bank (南衛灘) rises to below sea level. A well head, in a depth of over , lies north of the Vereker Banks at . The associated production platform and SPM make up Lu Feng Terminal; the terminal is enclosed by a restricted area. Exploration for oil is taking place in this area.
There are also some seamount formations nearby which are not part of the three atolls:
Jianfeng Seamount (尖峰海山)
Maojia Seamount (芼架海山)
Beipo Seamount (北波海山)
Politics and government
The island is part of the Republic of China (Taiwan) with the postal code 817. Although there are no long-term inhabitants on the island, Pratas is administered by the Kaohsiung City Government under Cijin District (Qijin). The island has been uninhabited, yet nations (including China and Japan) have claimed them to be their overseas territory.
Military
, about five hundred Taiwanese marines were stationed on Pratas Island. The island has a network of underground bunkers. According to regulations updated on December 2, 2020, in the event that communication is cut off between mainland Taiwan and Pratas Island or Taiping Island (Itu Aba), the highest-ranking local officer can make the decision to fire back at assailants.
Cross-strait relations
The People's Republic of China claims the Pratas Islands () as part of Chengqu, Shanwei (Swabue), Guangdong Province.
According to an anonymous PLA source, plans created around 2010 by China for an air defence identification zone in the South China Sea include Pratas Island airspace. The PLA's actions near the southeast corner of the Taiwan ADIZ and Pratas Island in late 2020 led to speculation that the area might be declared part of an ADIZ by China.
In the later half of 2020, repeated reports of Chinese military exercises and fly overs near the island were interpreted as an apparent attempt to cut off the supply line between Pratas Island and mainland Taiwan.
Pratas Island settlement
As an island with no permanent inhabitants, it is visited largely by fishermen, military personnel and researchers. Amateur radio operators participating in the DXCC and Islands on the Air awards programs also visit occasionally.
Landmarks
An obelisk was erected after 1946.
In 1954 the ROC Government personnel stationed on Pratas erected a stone tablet on the southern side of the island, facing the ocean.
The Da Wang temple is dedicated to 'Kuang Kang' and 'The South China Sea Goddess' - Mazu. It is said that the statue of Guan Gong came to Pratas Island on a canoe in 1948. The soldiers on Pratas Island built a temple to worship her in 1975. Today, the canoe is still kept in the temple. The joss sticks and candles are donated by soldiers, as was the golden sign hung in front of the statue. There is an 'Ever Green' pavilion in front of the temple which was also built by the soldiers. It is the most verdant place on the island.
The Minister for Internal Affairs of the ROC erected the South China Sea Defense stone tablet to declare Republic of China sovereignty in 1989.
In July 1991 the Kaohsiung City Government erected the Pratas Island measuring memorial stone tablet as a symbol that Pratas Island falls within the jurisdiction of Kaohsiung City. Within Kaohsiung, the island belongs to Cijin District (Qijin).
The ROC Government established the Triangulation Benchmark as the triangulation point for Pratas Island in December 1991. There are words on each side of the base of the triangulation point stone tablet. They read 'The Pratas Triangulation Point' on the front, and 'Longitude: 116o 43" 42.5601'E, Latitude: 20o 42' 6.2415'N, Height: 2.4875 meters.' The words 'Defend the South China Sea', written by the commander, Lo Ben Li, were also engraved on the stone tablet. The National Tsing Hua University webpage about the island states: "In addition to making it more convenient to survey and draw navigational maps, and to construct and develop facilities on the island, the establishment of the triangulation point is also the basis of our sovereign rights."
Public buildings
The library is located on one side of the main plaza, and is the center for soldiers to obtain spiritual nourishment. The library contains more than two thousand books.
The military post office is Office No. 67. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications issued the 'South China Sea Islands Map Stamps' in 1996, as a set of two stamps. The inscription 'South China Sea Defense' from the national stone tablet on Pratas Island was printed on the five-dollar stamp, and the 'Defend the South China Sea' inscription from the national stone tablet on Taiping Island was printed on the seventeen-dollar stamp. The background was the south China coastline, Taiwan and Hainan Island with the blue sky and sea. This was the first time that the ROC had issued stamps with the theme of the South China Sea.
In 1987 the military and civilian occupants built the 'Pratas Fishermen's Service Station'. The station was built in traditional Chinese courtyard house style, and provides convenient services for fishermen and boats in the South China Sea, insuring the fishermen's safety and upholding ROC sovereignty. The services provided include lodging, medical rescue, entertainment and supply. The station also provides lodging for the scientists who come to conduct research on the island.
In 2012 National Sun Yat-sen University's Dongsha Atoll Research Station (DARS) was established for biology, biogeochemistry, and oceanography research.
Energy
Diesel-fueled generators are used to power the island. In March 2016, a solar energy system built by the Coast Guard Administration went into operation. The system covers an area of 310.6 m2 and produces 53,200 kWh of electricity each year.
Transportation
The Dongsha Island Airport features a runway located on the north end of Pratas Island with a small airport terminal at the eastern end. The airport is used by the ROC military. A main shack and subordinate shack are located on the southeast end of the island. There are no refueling facilities.
Two piers on the southeast shore allow for small watercraft to land.
A circle with a radius of centered on Pratas Island, referred to as VHR7, is a prohibited area for aeronautical purposes. The 'VH' in VHR7 denotes 'Hong Kong' and the 'R' denotes a 'Restricted Area'. Pratas Island and VHR7 are located within the Hong Kong Flight Information Region (FIR).
Gallery
See also
List of islands of Taiwan
List of Taiwanese superlatives
Politics of the Republic of China
South China Sea Islands
References
External links
Satellite image of the Pratas atoll, Google Maps
History, www.laserbase.com.tw
Pratas Island, vm.nthu.edu.tw
Ecological Resources, vm.nthu.edu.tw
Man-made sights, vm.nthu.edu.tw
東沙二十part1：擁有世界級珊瑚生態的神秘東沙島在哪裡？
Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean
Islands of Taiwan
Landforms of Kaohsiung
Islands of the South China Sea
Disputed islands
Territorial disputes of China
Territorial disputes of the Republic of China
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003%20American%20League%20Championship%20Series
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2003 American League Championship Series
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The 2003 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was played between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees from October 8 to 16, 2003. The Yankees won the series four games to three to advance to the World Series, where they lost in six games to the National League champion Florida Marlins.
Summary
This series delivered yet another blow to Red Sox fans' hopes of winning a World Series for the first time since 1918. The series seemed evenly matched, with the lead being held first by the Red Sox, then by the Yankees. The Sox forced the series to a full seven games, with the seventh game setting another major league record for the rivalry between the two teams: it marked the first time two major league teams played more than 25 games against each other over the course of a single season. The Red Sox also set an ALCS record with 12 home runs in the series.
New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox
Game summaries
Game 1
Wednesday, October 8, 2003 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York 8:07ET MLB on FOX
Tim Wakefield shut the Bronx Bombers down for six innings in Game 1, allowing only back-to-back one-out singles to Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui in the second. Mike Mussina pitched three shutout innings before allowing a leadoff single to Manny Ramirez in the fourth, when the Red Sox began to flex their muscles. David Ortiz homered into the third deck in right field to put the Red Sox up 2–0. Next inning, Todd Walker drove Mussina's first pitch down the right-field line; the ball appeared to strike the foul pole, but was called foul by right field umpire Angel Hernandez. Home plate umpire Tim McClelland immediately overruled him, and awarded Walker home plate. Ramirez followed with a home run later that inning to put the Red Sox ahead 4–0. In the top of the seventh, Jeff Nelson allowed a two-out single to Ramirez and hit Ortiz with a pitch before Kevin Millar's RBI single made it 5-0 Boston. In the bottom of the inning, Wakefield walked Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams before being relieved by Alan Embree, who allowed an RBI double to Posada and sacrifice fly to Matsui to make it 5-2 Boston. But the Yankees did not score again and the Red Sox took a 1–0 series lead, with Scott Williamson earning the save.
Game 2
Thursday, October 9, 2003 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
After leaving the bases loaded in the first, the Red Sox took a 1–0 lead in the second off Andy Pettitte when Jason Varitek hit a leadoff double, moved to third on Trot Nixon's single, and scored on Damian Jackson's single. In the bottom of the inning, Derek Lowe issued a leadoff walk to Jorge Posada and one out later, Nick Johnson's home run put the Yankees up 2-1. Next inning, Lowe allowed three consecutive one-out singles, the last of which, by Bernie Williams, scored Derek Jeter to make it 3-1 Yankees. In the fifth, Williams doubled with one out and scored on a single by Hideki Matsui, who was tagged out at second to end the inning. Varitek's home run in the sixth off Pettitte made it 4-2 Yankees. In the seventh, Lowe allowed a two-out single to Jason Giambi and walked Williams before being relieved by Scott Sauerbeck, who allowed a two-run double to Posada to make it 6-2 Yankees. Their lead held, tying the series at 1-1 heading to Boston.
Game 3
Saturday, October 11, 2003 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
Game 3 was highly anticipated, a classic matchup between Sox ace Pedro Martínez and former Sox pitcher Roger Clemens, who, on the cusp of retirement, was thought to be pitching his last game at Fenway Park. Early on, Karim Garcia was hit in the back by a Martínez fastball. Words were exchanged and Martínez threateningly gestured towards Yankee catcher Jorge Posada. When Garcia was forced out at second, he slid hard into Todd Walker. The following inning, Manny Ramírez took exception to a high Clemens pitch and charged the mound. Both benches cleared, and the resulting brawl turned surreal when 72-year-old Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer charged Martínez. Martínez sidestepped Zimmer, placed his hands on Zimmer's head and propelled Zimmer to the ground. The Zimmer/Martinez altercation ended there as Yankee trainer Gene Monahan and various Yankee players attended to him. After a 13-minute delay, during which Fenway Park stopped all beer sales for the remainder of the game, Clemens struck out Ramirez and proceeded to pitch effectively as the Yankees held a lead. The game did not end quietly: a Fenway groundskeeper got into a scuffle with Yankee reliever Jeff Nelson and Garcia in the middle of the 9th inning in the bullpen area. The employee had cheered a double play the Red Sox turned and Nelson was upset; the employee was taken to the hospital with cleat marks on his back and arm, while Garcia left with a cut hand.
In the bottom of the first, Clemens allowed a leadoff single to Johnny Damon and subsequent double to Todd Walker. After Nomar Garciaparra struck out, Ramirez's double put the Red Sox up 2-0. The Yankees cut it to 2-1 in the second off Martinez when Posada hit a leadoff double and scored on Garcia's single two outs later. Jeter's home run next inning tied the game. In the fourth, Posada drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on Nick Johnson's single, and scored on Matsui's ground-rule double. After Garcia was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Alfonso Soriano hit into a double play that scored Johnson and put the Yankees up 4-2. In the bottom of the seventh, reliever Félix Heredia issued a leadoff walk to Ortiz. Jose Contreras relieved Heredia and allowed a single to Kevin Millar that moved Ortiz to third. Ortiz scored when Trot Nixon hit into a double play to make it 4-3 Yankees. Their lead held, though, putting them up 2-1 in the series.
Game 4
Monday, October 13, 2003 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
Rain postponed Game 4 from Sunday, October 12, to Monday, October 13. The Red Sox went up 1-0 on Todd Walker's second home run of the series in the fourth off Mike Mussina. In the top of the fifth, Tim Wakefield allowed back-to-back one-hit singles before Jeter's double tied the game and put runners on second and third. Bernie Williams walked with two outs to load the bases, but Posada lined out to left to end the inning. In the bottom half, Nixon's home run put the Red Sox up 2-1. They loaded the bases in the seventh off Mussina on a double and two walks with one out when Varitek hit into a force out at second, narrowly beating Soriano's throw to first to avoid a double play and allow Millar to score to make it 3-1. Ruben Sierra's one-out home run in the ninth off Scott Williamson made it 3-2, but Williamson struck out David Dellucci and Soriano to end the game, pick up his second save of the series, and tie the series at 2-2.
Game 5
Tuesday, October 14, 2003 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
The Yankees loaded the bases in the second off Derek Lowe on two walks and a hit when Garcia's single scored two, then Soriano's single scored another. Ramirez's leadoff home run in the fourth off David Wells made it 3-1. They made it 4-1 in the eighth when Bernie Williams reached on a force out at second, moved to third on Posada's single and scored on Matsui's groundout off Alan Embree. In the bottom of the inning, Todd Walker hit a leadoff triple off Mariano Rivera and scored on Garciaparra's groundout to make it 4-2 Yankees. Rivera, though, shut out the Red Sox for the rest of the game, leaving the Yankees one win away from the World Series.
Game 6
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
Jason Giambi's two-out home run in the first off John Burkett put the Yankees up 1-0, but Varitek's leadoff home run in the third off Andy Pettitte tied the score. The Red Sox loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a single before Ortiz's single scored two and Millar's single scored another to put them up 4-1. In the bottom of the fourth, Posada and Matsui hit back-to-back one-out singles before Nick Johnson's double and Aaron Boone's groundout scored a run each. Garciaparra's error allowed Garcia to reach base before Soriano's two-run double put the Yankees on top, 5-4, and ended Burkett's night. Posada's home run next inning off Bronson Arroyo made it 6-4 Yankees. In the top of the seventh, Garciaparra hit a leadoff triple off Jose Contreras and scored on Matsui's errant throw to third. Ramirez then doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Ortiz's single to tie the game. After allowing a one-out single to Bill Mueller, Contreras was relieved by Félix Heredia, who struck out Trot Nixon, but threw a wild pitch that put runners on second and third. After intentionally walking Varitek to load the bases, Heredia walked Damon to force in a run and put the Red Sox up 7-6. They added insurance in the ninth when Mueller doubled with one out off Jeff Nelson. Gabe White relieved Nelson and allowed a home run to Nixon to make it 9-6. Scott Williamson retired the Yankees in order in the bottom half for his third save of the series, forcing a Game 7.
Game 7
Thursday, October 16, 2003 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
In the Martinez–Clemens rematch of Game 3, Clemens allowed a one-out single to Millar before Nixon's home run put Boston up 2-0. After Mueller struck out, Varitek doubled and scored on third baseman Enrique Wilson's throwing error to first on Damon's ground ball. Millar's leadoff home run in the fourth made it 4-0 Boston. Nixon then walked and moved to third on Mueller's single to knock Clemens out of the game. In the first relief appearance of his career, Mike Mussina cleaned up Clemens's mess by striking out Varitek and inducing a Johnny Damon double play. His three innings of scoreless relief, and home runs in the fifth and seventh innings by Giambi kept the Yankees in the game. But in the eighth inning, with the Red Sox leading 5–2 after Ortiz homered in the top half off David Wells, things unraveled for Boston. Sox manager Grady Little kept a tiring Martínez in for the eighth, a controversial move still discussed years later. Little had two relievers who had shown effectiveness in the games leading up to the seventh game—Scott Williamson and Mike Timlin (who had not allowed a single hit in the playoffs), but both had experienced stretches of ineffectiveness during the season, while Martínez had Hall of Fame credentials. Critics of the move note that Martínez had experienced diminished effectiveness in the late innings of games in which he had thrown more than 100 pitches. After Martínez assured Little he still had something left, he gave up a double to Jeter and a single to Bernie Williams, prompting Little to go to the mound. To the surprise of many, Little left Martínez in the game, leaving lefty Alan Embree in the bullpen with the left-handed Matsui coming to the plate. Martínez gave up a ground rule double to Matsui and a bloop double to Posada to tie the game, sending it to extra innings. Mariano Rivera came in for the ninth and pitched three shutout innings.
Tim Wakefield pitched a scoreless tenth for Boston and in the bottom of the 11th faced Aaron Boone, who had entered earlier as a pinch-runner. On Wakefield's first pitch of the inning, Boone launched a walk-off home run into the left field seats. Fox Sports displayed a collection of images thereafter: tears welling up in the eyes of Aaron's brother, Seattle Mariners infielder Bret Boone (the guest announcer), ALCS MVP Rivera running to the mound and collapsing on it in joy, Boone jumping on home plate, and Rivera being carried off on his teammates' shoulders.
Composite box
2003 ALCS (4–3): New York Yankees over Boston Red Sox
Aftermath
The series is widely considered one of the most devastating losses in Boston sports history. The loss was crushing for Red Sox fans, many of whom blamed Little for leaving Martínez in the game since Martínez had experienced difficulty beyond 100 pitches. In his book Now I Can Die in Peace, Bill Simmons writes that the Boston owners and Theo Epstein had ordered Little to remove Martínez from the game when he finished the seventh inning and/or topped the three-digit pitch count. Martínez was sure he would not be called on for the eighth inning, but agreed to pitch when Little asked. After the game, Little reportedly prophetically told Martínez, "Petey, I might not be here anymore." Little defended his move by saying he felt that even a tired Martínez was the best option. Little's defenders also noted that the Red Sox offense collapsed in the game, as the club scored only two runs in the last nine innings, and also noted Damon's poor defensive play in center field during the crucial inning. Others have noted that by staying with a physically fragile pitcher in an ultimate game with two runners on base, a three-run lead, a rested pitcher who had performed well in the postseason ready in the bullpen and the other team's MVP on deck, Little did exactly what Hall of Fame manager Walter Alston did with Sandy Koufax in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series, which Alston's Dodgers won. Little's contract was not renewed after the season and he was replaced by Terry Francona. Little went on to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers before being replaced by Joe Torre after the 2007 season.
Boone's pennant-clinching home run often draws comparisons to another famous Yankee home run against the Red Sox in the postseason: the one Bucky Dent hit in a one-game playoff between the two teams that decided the American League East division title in 1978. But the Yankees won the World Series that year, against the Dodgers. As with Dent, Boone has had the expletive "Fucking" assigned as a middle name by Red Sox fans in the following years.
Until the final game of the pennant race, some baseball fans had been hoping for a rematch of the 1918 World Series between the Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, one of only two major league teams to have played for a longer period of time since winning the World Series (the other was the Chicago White Sox, who won the Series in ). The Cubs reached the 2003 National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins. As with the Red Sox, they had a three-run lead and were only five outs away from reaching the World Series, although this was in Game 6, when the Marlins scored eight runs in that inning and won the game 8–3. The Marlins won Game 7, 9–6, to advance to the World Series, where they defeated the Yankees, four games to two. The Cubs did not reach the World Series until , winning in seven games over the Cleveland Indians.
The following year, Boston and New York met again in the ALCS, with Boston becoming the first team in major league history—as well as just the third team in American professional sports history—to come back to win a playoff series after being down three games to none; they then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to win their first championship since 1918 and thus end the Curse of the Bambino.
In the 2005–06 offseason, the rivalry between Boston and New York revived the Yankees' loss to the Marlins in the 2003 World Series when they traded Josh Beckett, the pitcher who pitched a complete-game shutout against the Yankees in the deciding game of the Series, to the Red Sox.
The Yankees eventually hired postseason hero Boone as their manager in 2018. The two teams have met in the postseason twice during his tenure (2018, 2021), with Boston winning both times; in , the Red Sox beat the Yankees en route to becoming the first team to win two World Series exactly one century apart, a feat that Boone kept them from doing in 2003, as the Red Sox won the inaugural World Series.
Notable performers
Trot Nixon—.333 average, three home runs, five RBI
David Ortiz, Manny Ramírez, Jason Varitek, Todd Walker—two home runs each.
Tim Wakefield—Won Game 1 and Game 4 for the Red Sox, and very likely would have been the ALCS MVP had Boston held on to win the series.
Jorge Posada—.296 average, four doubles
Mariano Rivera—eight innings, 1.12 ERA, two saves (Series MVP)
Mike Timlin and Alan Embree (combined)—ten innings, four hits, no earned runs
Mike Mussina and Rivera—six innings, six strikeouts, four hits, and zero earned runs combined in relief during Game 7.
Jason Giambi—Before the eighth inning rally in Game 7, Giambi had provided the Yankees' only offense with two solo home runs off Pedro Martínez.
Aaron Boone—Hit an 11th inning walk-off home run in Game 7.
References
Inline citations
Bibliography
External links
2003 ALCS at Baseball-Reference
American League Championship Series
American League Championship Series
New York Yankees postseason
Boston Red Sox postseason
American League Championship Series
American League Championship Series
American League Championship Series
Baseball competitions in Boston
American League Championship Series
2000s in the Bronx
Baseball competitions in New York City
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410596
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska%20Airlines%20Flight%20261
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Alaska Airlines Flight 261
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Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was an Alaska Airlines flight of a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 plane that crashed into the Pacific Ocean on January 31, 2000, roughly north of Anacapa Island, California, following a catastrophic loss of pitch control, killing all 88 on board: two pilots, three cabin crew members, and 83 passengers. The flight was a scheduled international passenger flight from Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport near Seattle, Washington, United States, with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport near San Francisco, California.
The subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that inadequate maintenance led to excessive wear and eventual failure of a critical flight control system during flight. The probable cause was stated to be "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of this accident was a loss of airplane pitch control resulting from the in-flight failure of the horizontal stabilizer trim system jackscrew assembly's Acme nut threads." For their heroic efforts to save the plane, both pilots were posthumously awarded the Air Line Pilots Association Gold Medal for Heroism. The accident served as an inspiration for the fictionalized crash landing depicted in the 2012 movie Flight starring Denzel Washington.
Background
Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the accident was a McDonnell-Douglas MD-83, serial number 53077, and registered as N963AS. The aircraft was the 1995th DC-9/MD80 family airframe built, was manufactured and delivered new to Alaska Airlines in 1992, and had logged 26,584 flight hours and 14,315 cycles before the crash.
Crew
The pilots of Flight 261 were both highly experienced aviators. Captain Ted Thompson, 53, had accrued 17,750 flight hours, and had more than 4,000 hours experience flying MD-80s. First Officer William "Bill" Tansky, 57, had accumulated 8,140 total flight hours, including about 8,060 hours as first officer in the MD-80. Thompson had flown for Alaska Airlines for 18 years and Tansky for 15; neither pilot had been involved in an accident or incident prior to the crash. Both pilots had previous military experience — Thompson in the U.S. Air Force and Tansky in the U.S. Navy. Three Seattle-based flight attendants were also on board, completing the five-person crew.
Passengers
The five crew members and 47 of the passengers on board the plane were bound for Seattle. Of the remaining passengers, 30 were traveling to San Francisco; three were bound for Eugene, Oregon; and three passengers were headed for Fairbanks, Alaska. Of the passengers, one was Mexican and one was British, with all others being U.S. citizens.
At least 35 occupants of Flight 261 were connected in some manner with Alaska Airlines or its sister carrier Horizon Air, including 12 actual employees, leading many of the airline's personnel to mourn for those lost in the crash. Alaska Airlines stated that on less busy flights, employees commonly filled seats that would otherwise have been left empty. Bouquets of flowers started arriving at the company's headquarters in SeaTac, Washington, the day after the crash.
Notable passengers
Jean Gandesbery, author of the book Seven Mile Lake: Scenes from a Minnesota Life, died alongside her husband, Robert.
Cynthia Oti, an investment broker and financial talk show host at San Francisco's KSFO-AM, was killed.
Tom Stockley, wine columnist for The Seattle Times, died alongside his wife Margaret.
Morris Thompson, commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska from 1973 to 1976, died alongside his wife Thelma and daughter Sheryl.
Accident flight
Initial flight segment
Alaska Airlines Flight 261 departed from Puerto Vallarta's Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport at 13:37 PST (21:37 UTC), and climbed to its intended cruising altitude of flight level 310 (). The plane was scheduled to land at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Sometime before 15:49 (23:49 UTC), the flight crew contacted the airline's dispatch and maintenance-control facilities in SeaTac, Washington, on a company radio frequency shared with operations and maintenance facilities at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), to discuss a jammed horizontal stabilizer and a possible diversion to LAX. The jammed stabilizer prevented the operation of the trim system, which would normally make slight adjustments to the flight control surfaces to keep the plane stable in flight. At their cruising altitude and speed, the position of the jammed stabilizer required the pilots to pull on their yokes with about of force to keep level. Neither the flight crew nor company maintenance could determine the cause of the jam. Repeated attempts to overcome the jam with the primary and alternate trim systems were unsuccessful.
During this time, the flight crew had several discussions with the company dispatcher about whether to divert to LAX or continue on as planned to SFO. Ultimately, the pilots chose to divert. Later, the NTSB found that while "the flight crew's decision to divert the flight to Los Angeles... was prudent and appropriate", "Alaska Airlines dispatch personnel appear to have attempted to influence the flight crew to continue to San Francisco... instead of diverting to Los Angeles". Cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcripts indicate that the dispatcher was concerned about the effect on the schedule ("flow"), should the flight divert.
First dive and recovery
At 16:09 (00:09 UTC), the flight crew successfully used the primary trim system to unjam the stuck horizontal stabilizer. Upon being freed, however, it quickly moved to an extreme "nose-down" position, forcing the aircraft into an almost vertical nosedive. The plane dropped from about to between in around 80 seconds. Both pilots struggled together to regain control of the aircraft, and only by pulling with 130 to 140 lb (580 to 620 N) on the controls did the flight crew stop the descent of the aircraft and stabilize the MD-83 at roughly .
Alaska 261 informed air traffic control (ATC) of their control problems. After the flight crew stated their intention to land at LAX, ATC asked whether they wanted to proceed to a lower altitude in preparation for the approach. The captain replied: "I need to get down to about ten, change my configuration, make sure I can control the jet and I'd like to do that out here over the bay if I may." Later, during the public hearings into the accident, the request by the pilot not to overfly populated areas was mentioned. During this time, the flight crew considered, and rejected, any further attempts to correct the runaway trim. They descended to a lower altitude and started to configure the aircraft for landing at LAX.
Second dive and crash
Beginning at 16:19 (00:19 UTC), the CVR recorded the sounds of at least four distinct "thumps", followed 17 seconds later by an "extremely loud noise", as the overstrained jackscrew assembly failed completely and the jackscrew separated from the acme nut holding it in place. As a result, the horizontal stabilizer failed at and the aircraft rapidly pitched over into a dive while rolling to the left. The crippled plane had been given a block altitude, and several aircraft in the vicinity had been alerted by ATC to maintain visual contact with the stricken jet. These aircraft immediately contacted the controller. One pilot radioed, "That plane has just started to do a big huge plunge." Another reported, "Yes sir, ah, I concur. He is, uh, definitely in a nose down, uh, position, descending quite rapidly." ATC then tried to contact the plane. The crew of a SkyWest airliner reported, "He's, uh, definitely out of control." Although the CVR captured the co-pilot saying "mayday", no radio communications were received from the flight crew during the final event.
The CVR transcript reveals the pilots' constant attempts for the duration of the dive to regain control of the aircraft. After the jackscrew failed, the plane pitched -70° and was rolling over to the left. Performing an upset recovery maneuver, the captain commanded to "push and roll, push and roll," managing to increase the pitch to -28°, he stated, "ok, we are inverted...and now we gotta get it." Over the next minute, completely inverted and still diving at a -9 degree pitch, the crew struggled to roll the plane, with the captain calling to "push push push...push the blue side up," "ok now let's kick rudder...left rudder left rudder", to which the copilot responded, "I can't reach it". The captain then replied, "ok right rudder...right rudder," followed 18 seconds later by "gotta get it over again...at least upside down we're flying."
Despite the attempt to fly the plane inverted, which almost entirely arrested its descent, the aircraft had lost too much altitude in the dive and was far beyond recovery. A few seconds before 16:21 (00:21 UTC), Flight 261 hit the Pacific Ocean at high speed between the coastal city of Port Hueneme, California, and Anacapa Island. At this time, pilots from aircraft flying in the vicinity reported in, with one pilot saying, "and he's just hit the water." Another reported, "Ah, yes sir, he, ah, he, ah, hit the water. He's, ah, down." The aircraft was destroyed by the impact forces, and all occupants on board were killed by blunt-force impact trauma.
Investigation
Wreckage recovery and analysis
The USS Cleveland (LPD-7) assisted in recovery operations.
Using side-scan sonar, remotely operated vehicles, and a commercial fishing trawler, workers recovered about 85% of the fuselage (including the tail section) and a majority of the wing components. In addition, both engines, as well as the flight data recorder (FDR) and CVR were retrieved. All wreckage recovered from the crash site was unloaded at the Seabees' Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme, California, for examination and documentation by NTSB investigators. Both the horizontal stabilizer trim system jackscrew (also referred to as "acme screw") and the corresponding acme nut, through which the jackscrew turns, were found. The jackscrew was constructed from case-hardened steel and is long and in diameter. The acme nut was constructed from a softer copper alloy containing aluminum, nickel, and bronze. As the jackscrew rotates, it moves up or down through the (fixed) acme nut, and this linear motion moves the horizontal stabilizer for the trim system. Upon subsequent examination, the jackscrew was found to have metallic filaments wrapped around it, which were later determined to be the remains of the acme-nut thread.
The later analysis estimated that 90% of the thread in the acme nut had already worn away previously and that it had finally stripped out during the flight while en route to San Francisco. Once the thread had failed, the horizontal stabilizer assembly was subjected to aerodynamic forces that it was not designed to withstand, leading to the complete failure of the stabilizer assembly. Based on the time since the last inspection of the jackscrew assembly, the NTSB determined that the acme-nut thread had deteriorated at per 1000 flight hours, much faster than the expected wear of per 1000 flight‑hours. Over the course of the investigation, the NTSB considered a number of potential reasons for the substantial amount of deterioration of the nut thread on the jackscrew assembly, including the substitution by Alaska Airlines (with the approval of the aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas) of Aeroshell 33 grease instead of the previously approved lubricant, Mobilgrease 28. The use of Aeroshell 33 was found to be not a factor in this accident. Insufficient lubrication of the components was also considered as a reason for the wear. Examination of the jackscrew and acme nut revealed that no effective lubrication was present on these components at the time of the accident. Ultimately, the lack of lubrication of the acme-nut thread and the resultant excessive wear were determined to be the direct causes of the accident. Both of these circumstances resulted from Alaska Airlines' attempts to cut costs.
Identification of passengers
Due to the extreme impact forces, only a few bodies were found intact, and none were visually identifiable. All passengers were identified using fingerprints, dental records, tattoos, personal items, and anthropological examination.
Inadequate lubrication and end-play checks
The investigation then proceeded to examine why scheduled maintenance had failed to adequately lubricate the jackscrew assembly. In interviews with the Alaska Airlines mechanic at SFO, who last performed the lubrication, the task was shown to take about one hour, whereas the aircraft manufacturer estimated the task should take four hours. This and other evidence suggested to the NTSB that "the SFO mechanic who was responsible for lubricating the jackscrew assembly in September 1999 did not adequately perform the task". Laboratory tests indicated that the excessive wear of the jackscrew assembly could not have accumulated in just the four-month period between the September 1999 maintenance and the accident flight. Therefore, the NTSB concluded, "more than just the last lubrication was missed or inadequately performed".
A periodic maintenance inspection called an "end-play check" was used to monitor wear on the jackscrew assembly. The NTSB examined why the last end-play check on the accident aircraft in September 1997 did not uncover excessive wear. The investigation found that Alaska Airlines had fabricated tools to be used in the end-play check that did not meet the manufacturer's requirements. Testing revealed that the nonstandard tools ("restraining fixtures") used by Alaska Airlines could result in inaccurate measurements and that if accurate measurements had been obtained at the time of the last inspection, these measurements possibly would have indicated the excessive wear and the need to replace the affected components.
Extension of maintenance intervals
Between 1985 and 1996, Alaska Airlines progressively increased the period between both jackscrew lubrication and end-play checks, with the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Since each lubrication or end-play check subsequently not conducted had represented an opportunity to adequately lubricate the jackscrew or detect excessive wear, the NTSB examined the justification of these extensions. In the case of extended lubrication intervals, the investigation could not determine what information, if any, was presented by Alaska Airlines to the FAA prior to 1996. Testimony from an FAA inspector regarding an extension granted in 1996 was that Alaska Airlines submitted documentation from McDonnell Douglas as justification for their extension.
End-play checks were conducted during a periodic comprehensive airframe overhaul process called a C-check. Testimony from the director of reliability and maintenance programs of Alaska Airlines was that a data-analysis package based on the maintenance history of five sample aircraft was submitted to the FAA to justify the extended period between C-checks. Individual maintenance tasks (such as the end-play check) were not separately considered in this extension. The NTSB found, "Alaska Airlines' end-play check interval extension should have been, but was not, supported by adequate technical data to demonstrate that the extension would not present a potential hazard".
FAA oversight
A special inspection conducted by the NTSB in April 2000 of Alaska Airlines uncovered widespread significant deficiencies that "the FAA should have uncovered earlier". The investigation concluded, "FAA surveillance of Alaska Airlines had been deficient for at least several years". The NTSB noted that in July 2001, an FAA panel determined that Alaska Airlines had corrected the previously identified deficiencies. However, several factors led the board to question "the depth and effectiveness of Alaska Airlines corrective actions" and "the overall adequacy of Alaska Airlines' maintenance program".
Systemic problems were identified by the investigation into the FAA's oversight of maintenance programs, including inadequate staffing, its approval process of maintenance interval extensions, and the aircraft certification requirements.
Aircraft design and certification issues
The jackscrew assembly was designed with two independent threads, each of which was strong enough to withstand the forces placed on it. Maintenance procedures such as lubrication and end-play checks were to catch any excessive wear before it progressed to a point of failure of the system. The aircraft designers assumed that at least one set of threads would always be present to carry the loads placed on it; therefore, the effects of catastrophic failure of this system were not considered, and no "fail-safe" provisions were needed.
For this design component to be approved ("certified") by the FAA without any fail-safe provision, a failure had to be considered "extremely improbable". This was defined as "having a probability on the order of 1 or less each flight hour". The accident showed that certain wear mechanisms could affect both sets of threads and that the wear might not be detected. The NTSB determined that the design of "the horizontal stabilizer jackscrew assembly did not account for the loss of the acme-nut threads as a catastrophic single-point failure mode".
Jackscrew design improvement
In 2001, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recognized the risk to its hardware (such as the Space Shuttle) attendant upon the use of similar jackscrews. An engineering fix developed by engineers of NASA and United Space Alliance promised to make progressive failures easy to see and thus complete failures of a jackscrew less likely.
John Liotine
In 1998, an Alaska Airlines mechanic named John Liotine, who worked in the Alaska Airlines maintenance center in Oakland, California, told the FAA that supervisors were approving records of maintenance that they were not allowed to approve or that indicated work had been completed when, in fact, it had not. Liotine began working with federal investigators by secretly audio recording his supervisors. On December 22, 1998, federal authorities raided an Alaska Airlines property and seized maintenance records. In August 1999, Alaska Airlines put Liotine on paid leave, and in 2000, Liotine filed a libel suit against the airline. The crash of AS261 became a part of the federal investigation against Alaska Airlines, because, in 1997, Liotine had recommended that the jackscrew and gimbal nut of the accident aircraft be replaced, but had been overruled by another supervisor. In December 2001, federal prosecutors stated that they were not going to file criminal charges against Alaska Airlines. Around that time, Alaska Airlines agreed to settle the libel suit by paying about $500,000; as part of the settlement, Liotine resigned.
Conclusions
In addition to the probable cause, the NTSB found these contributing factors:
Alaska Airlines' extended its lubrication interval for its McDonnell Douglas MD-80 horizontal stabilizer components based on McDonnell Douglas's recommendation and the FAA approved the extended schedule. This increased the likelihood that a missed or inadequate lubrication would result in the near complete deterioration of the jackscrew-assembly acme-nut threads. The extended lubrication interval was a direct cause of the excessive wear and contributed to the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 accident.
Alaska Airlines's extended the end-play check interval and the FAA approved the change. This allowed the acme-nut threads to deteriorate to the point of failure without the opportunity for detection.
The absence on the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 of a fail-safe mechanism to prevent the catastrophic effects of total acme nut loss.
During the course of the investigation, and later in its final report, the NTSB issued 24 safety recommendations, covering maintenance, regulatory oversight, and aircraft design issues. More than half of these were directly related to jackscrew lubrication and end-play measurement. Also included was a recommendation that pilots were to be instructed that in the event of a flight-control system malfunction, they should not attempt corrective procedures beyond those specified in the checklist procedures, and in particular, in the event of a horizontal stabilizer trim-control system malfunction, the primary and alternate trim motors should not be activated, and if unable to correct the problem through the checklists, they should land at the nearest suitable airport.
In NTSB board member John J. Goglia's statement for the final report, with which the other three board members concurred, he wrote:
Aftermath
After the crash, Alaska Airlines management said that it hoped to handle the aftermath in a manner similar to that conducted by Swissair after the Swissair Flight 111 accident. They wished to avoid the mistakes made by Trans World Airlines in the aftermath of the TWA Flight 800 accident, in other words, TWA's failure to provide timely information and compassion to the families of the victims.
Steve Miletich of The Seattle Times wrote that the western portion of Washington "had never before experienced such a loss from a plane crash".
Liability
Both McDonnell Douglas and Alaska Airlines eventually accepted liability for the crash, and all but one of the lawsuits brought by surviving family members were settled out of court before going to trial. While the financial terms of settlements had not been officially disclosed, The Seattle Times reported the total amount to be in excess of US$300 million, covered entirely by insurance. According to other sources, the individual settlements were "anywhere from a couple million dollars up to $20 million", purportedly "among the largest ever in an air disaster". Candy Hatcher of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote: "Many lost faith in Alaska Airlines, a homegrown company that had taken pride in its safety record and billed itself as a family airline."
Flight status
As of September 2023, Flight 261 no longer exists, and Alaska Airlines no longer operates the Puerto Vallarta–San Francisco–Seattle/Tacoma route. Alaska Airlines now flies from Puerto Vallarta–Seattle/Tacoma nonstop with Flights 1380 and 1411 and Puerto Vallarta—San Francisco nonstop with Flights 1369 and 1370. The airline retired the last of its MD-80s in 2008 and now uses Boeing 737s for these routes.
Memorials
Captain Thompson and First Officer Tansky were both posthumously awarded the Air Line Pilots Association Gold Medal for Heroism, in recognition of their actions during the emergency. This is the only time the award has ever been given posthumously. The Ted Thompson/Bill Tansky Scholarship Fund was named in memory of the two pilots.
The victims' families approved the construction of a memorial sundial, designed by Santa Barbara artist James "Bud" Bottoms, which was placed at Port Hueneme on the California coast. The names of each of the victims are engraved on individual bronze plates mounted on the perimeter of the dial. The sundial casts a shadow on a memorial plaque at 16:22 each January 31.
Many residents of Seattle had been deeply affected by the disaster. As part of a memorial vigil in 2000, a column of light was beamed from the top of the Space Needle. Students and faculty at the John Hay Elementary School in Queen Anne, Seattle, held a memorial for four Hay students who were killed in the crash. In April 2001, John Hay Elementary dedicated the "John Hay Pathway Garden" as a permanent memorial to the students and their families who were killed on Flight 261. The City of Seattle public park Soundview Terrace was renovated in honor of the four Pearson and six Clemetson family members who were killed on board Flight 261 from the same Seattle neighborhood of Queen Anne. The park's playground was named "Rachel's Playground", in memory of six-year-old Rachel Pearson, who was on board the MD-83 and who was often seen playing at the park.
Attempted fraud
Two victims were falsely named in paternity suits as the fathers of children in Guatemala in an attempt to gain insurance and settlement money. Subsequent DNA testing proved these claims to be false.
The crash has appeared in various advance-fee fraud ("419") email scams, in which a scammer uses the name of someone who died in the crash to lure unsuspecting victims into sending money to the scammer by claiming the crash victim left huge amounts of unclaimed funds in a foreign bank account. The names of Morris Thompson and Ronald and Joyce Lake were used in schemes unrelated to them.
In popular culture
In the Canadian TV series Mayday, the flight was featured in the season-one (2003) "Cutting Corners" episode (called Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the U.S. and Air Crash Investigation in the UK and elsewhere around the world). The dramatization was broadcast in the United States with the title "Fatal Error". The flight was also included in a Mayday season-six (2007) Science of Disaster special titled "Fatal Flaw", which was called "Fatal Fix" in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Asia. The crash was covered again (with an entirely new cast) in season 22, episode 5 of Mayday, titled "Pacific Plunge".
The film drama Flight (2012) featured an airplane crash of an aircraft resembling an MD-83, which flies inverted and ultimately crash lands, though the film's version recorded just six fatalities (four passengers, two crew) of the 102 persons aboard. In the film, NTSB investigators determine the probable cause of this crash to be the fatigue of a jackscrew due to excess wear and poor maintenance. The final seconds of the CVR of Flight 261 indicates the plane stabilized and was flying inverted shortly before the crash, an event depicted in the film. Screenwriter John Gatins later explained that the film's featured crash was "loosely inspired" by the events of Flight 261.
Maps
See also
Aeroflot Flight 8641 – another accident resulting from a jackscrew failure
Emery Worldwide Flight 17
Air Moorea Flight 1121
United Airlines Flight 585
Lion Air Flight 610
Delta Air Lines Flight 1080, another case where an improperly greased stabilizer jammed.
References
External links
NTSB Final Report
NTSB investigation docket
Alaska Airlines news reports about 261 (Archive)
Cockpit voice recorder transcript and accident summary
Families of Alaska Airlines Flight 261
"Navy expands search for debris at Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash scene", United States Navy (Archive)
Applying Lessons Learned from Accidents, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 – Informative analysis at faa.gov, with technical diagrams and photos (Archive)
Federal Aviation Administration – Lessons Learned Home: Alaska Airlines Flight 261
Seattle Post-Intelligencer special report
Short Bios of Flight 261 Passengers
261
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2000
2000 in California
Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-83
Airliner accidents and incidents in California
Articles containing video clips
January 2000 events in the United States
Aviation accidents and incidents caused by loss of control
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip
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Whip
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A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally either a firm stick designed for direct contact, or a flexible line requiring a specialized swing. The former is easier and more precise, the latter offers longer reach and greater force. A hunting whip combines a firm stick (the stock or handle) with a flexible line (the lash or thong).
Whips such as the "cat o' nine tails" and knout are specifically developed for flagellation as a means of inflicting corporal punishment or torture on human targets. Certain religious practices and BDSM activities involve the self-use of whips or the use of whips between consenting partners. Misuse on animals may be considered animal cruelty, and misuse on humans may be viewed as assault.
Use
Whips are generally used on animals to provide directional guidance or to encourage movement. Some whips are designed to control animals by imparting discomfort by tapping or pain by a full-force strike that produces pain compliance. Some whips provide guidance by the use of sound, such as cracking of a bullwhip. Other uses of whips are to provide a visual directional cue by extending the reach and visibility of the human arm.
In modern times, the pain stimulus is still used in some animal training, and is permitted in many fields, including most equestrianism disciplines, some of which mandate carrying a whip. The whip can be a vital tool to back up riding aids when applied correctly, particularly when initial commands are ignored. However, many competition governing bodies limit the use of whips, and severe penalties may be in place for over-use of the whip, including disqualification and fines. Improper overuse of whips may be considered animal cruelty in some jurisdictions.
Whip use by sound never or rarely strikes the animal; instead, a long, flexible whip is cracked to produce a very sharp, loud sound. This usage also functions as a form of operant conditioning: most animals will flinch away from the sound instinctively, making it effective for driving sled dogs, livestock and teams of harnessed animals like oxen and mules. The sound is loud enough to affect multiple animals at once, making whip-cracking more efficient under some circumstances. This technique can be used as part of an escalation response, with sound being used first prior to a pain stimulus being applied, again as part of operant conditioning.
Whips used without painful stimulus, as an extension of the human hand or arm, are a visual command, or to tap an animal, or to exert pressure. Such use may be related to operant conditioning where the subject is conditioned to associate the whip with irritation, discomfort or pain, but in other cases, a whip can be used as a simple tool to provide a cue connected to positive reinforcement for compliant behavior. In the light of modern attitudes towards the potential for cruelty in whips, other names have gained currency among practitioners such as whips called a "wand" or a "stick," calling the lash a "string" or a "popper".
Cracking
The loud sound of a whip-crack is produced by a ripple in the material of whip travelling towards the tip, rapidly escalating in speed until it breaches the speed of sound, more than 30 times the speed of the initial movement in the handle. The crack is thus a small sonic boom. Whips were the first man-made objects to break the sound barrier.
Most stick type whips cannot make a crack by themselves, unless they either have a very long lash, such as a longe whip, or are very flexible with a moderately long lash, like certain styles of buggy whip. But any design can be banged against another object, such as leather boot, to make a loud noise. Short, stiff crops often have a wide leather "popper" at the end which makes a particularly loud noise when slapped against an animal, boot, or other object.
Types
Stockwhip
Stockwhips (or stock whips), including bullwhips and the Australian stockwhip, are a type of single-tailed leather whip with a very long lash but a short handle. Stockwhips are primarily used to make a loud cracking sound via special techniques that break the sound barrier, to move livestock (cattle, sheep, horses, etc.) away from the sound. It is generally not used to actually strike an animal, as it would inflict excessive pain and is difficult to apply with precision.
Australian
The Australian stockwhip is often said to have originated in the English hunting whip, but it has since become a distinct type of whip. Today, it is used primarily by stockmen. Unlike the short, embedded handle of a bullwhip, the stockwhip handle is not fitted inside the lash and is usually longer. A stockwhip's handle is connected to the thong by a joint typically made of a few strands of thick leather (which is called a keeper). This allows the whip to hang across a stockman's arm when not being used. The handles are normally longer than those of a bullwhip, being between . The thong can be from long. Stockwhips are also almost exclusively made from tanned kangaroo hide.
The Australian stockwhip was shown internationally when lone rider Steve Jefferys reared his Australian Stock Horse and cracked the stockwhip to commence the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
Bullwhip
A bullwhip consists of a handle between in length, and a lash composed of a braided thong between long. Some whips have an exposed wooden grip, others have an intricately braided leather covered handle. Unlike the Australian stock whip, the thong connects in line with the handle (rather than with a joint), or even engulfs the handle entirely. At the end of the lash is the "fall" and cracker or popper. The fall is a single piece of leather between in length. During trick shots or target work, the fall is usually the portion of the whip used to cut, strike, or wrap around the target. The cracker is the portion of the whip that makes the loud "sonic boom" sound, but a whip without a cracker will still make a sonic boom, simply not as loud.
Other
There are other variations and lengths of stock whips. The yard whip is a type of smaller stockwhip. The yard whip is used on ground in cattle yards and other small areas where speed and precision is needed. The yard whip is also used by younger children that are not strong enough to handle a large stock whip.
The cattle drafter (or drafting whip) is a cane or fibreglass rod with a handgrip, knob and wrist strap. The cane length is about and the flapper length is about long. These whips are used in cattle yards and also when moving pigs.
The bullock-whip was used by an Australian bullock team driver (bullocky). The thong was long, or more, and often made of greenhide. A long handle was cut from spotted gum or another native tree and was frequently taller than the bullock driver's shoulder. The bullocky walked beside the team and kept the bullocks moving with taps from the long handle as well as using the thong as needed.
The Rose whip is another variation of the stockwhip that was pioneered in Canada in the early 19th century, though it largely fell out of use by the 1880s. The Rose whips were effective in animal yards and other small areas. It was pioneered by an American farmer, Jack Liao.
The Raman whip is a similar variation of the stockwhip which closely relates to the Rose whip. This variation was pioneered in the small Ontario city of Hamilton in the early 20th century, though it largely fell out of use by the 1920s. Raman whips were effective on horse farms, horse derbies, and in other rural areas. It was pioneered by the South African inventor, Delaware Kumar.
Cow whip
The Florida cow whip used by Floridian cowboys is a two-piece unit like the stockwhip and is connected to the handle by threading two strands of the thong through a hollow part of a wooden handle before being tied off. The cowwhip is heavier than the Australian stockwhip. Early cowwhips were made mostly of cowhide or buckskin.
Modern cow whips are made of flat nylon parachute cord, which, unlike those made from leather, are still effective when wet. Most cowwhips have handles that average , and thongs that average . A good cowwhip can produce a loud crack by a simple push of the handle. This can make it more convenient to use than a bullwhip in a thick vegetated environment with less swinging room. The Tampa Bay Whip Enthusiasts give demonstrations of the Florida Cracker Cowboy in costume at the annual Heritage Village Civil War Days festival, located in Largo, Florida every year in May.
Signalwhip
Signal whips (or signalwhips) are a type of single-tailed whip, originally designed to control dog teams. A signal whip usually measures between in length. Signal whips and snake whips are similar. What distinguishes a signal whip from a snake whip is the absence of a "fall". A fall is a piece of leather attached to the end of the body of the whip. In a snake whip, the "cracker" attaches to the fall. In a signal whip, the cracker attaches directly to the body of the whip.
Snakewhip
Snake whips (or snakewhips) are a type of single-tailed whip. The name snake whip is derived from the fact that this type of whip has no handle inside and so can be curled up into a small circle which resembles a coiled snake. They were once commonly carried in the saddlebag by cowboys of the old west. A full sized snake whip is usually at least in length (excluding the fall and cracker at the tip of the whip) and around one inch in diameter at the butt of the whip.
A pocket snake whip can be curled up small enough to fit into a large pocket, and ranges in size from in length. The pocket snake whip is primarily a whip for occasional use, such as in loading cattle. Both of these types of snake whips are made with a leather shot bag running approximately three quarters of the length of the whip.
Blacksnakes are the traditional whips used in Montana and Wyoming. The blacksnake has a heavy shot load extending from the butt well down the thong, and the whip is flexible right to the butt. They range in size from in length. Some types concentrate a load in the butt (often a lead ball or steel ball-bearing) to facilitate its use as improvised blackjack.
Equestrian
Horse whips or riding whips are artificial aids used by equestrians while riding, driving, or handling horses from the ground. There are many different kinds, but all feature a handle, a long, semi-flexible shaft, and either a popper or lash at the end, depending on use. Riding whips rarely exceed 48" from handle to popper, horse whips used for ground training and carriage driving are sometimes longer.
The term "whip" is the generic word for riding whips, the term "crop" is more specific, referring to a short, stiff whip used primarily in English riding disciplines such as show jumping or hunt seat. Some of the more common types of horse whips include:
Dressage whips are up to long, including lash or popper, and are used to refine the aids of the rider, not to hurt the horse. They generally ask for more impulsion, and are long enough that they can reach behind the rider's leg to tap the horse while the rider still holds the reins with both hands. The shaft is slightly flexible and tapers to a fine point at the tip. A similar, but slightly longer whip is used in saddle seat style English riding.
Longe whips have a shaft about long and a lash of equal or greater length. They are used to direct the horse as it is 'moved on a circle around the person standing in the centre, a process known as "longeing" (pronounced ) The whip is used to guide and signal direction and pace, and is not used with force against the horse. Taking the place of the rider's leg aids, the positioning of the longe whip in relation to the horse gives the horse signals. Occasionally, due to the long lash, it may be cracked to enforce a command.
Driving whips for carts, carriages, and coaches have a stock about the same length as a longe whips. The lash should be long enough to reach the shoulder of the forward-most horse from the driver's seat.
A crop or "bat" has a fairly stiff stock, and is only in length, with a "popper" - a looped flap of leather - at the end. Because it is too short to reach behind the riders leg while still holding the reins, it is most often used by taking the reins in one hand and hitting the horse behind the rider's leg, using the crop, held in the other hand. Less often, it may be used to tap the horse on the shoulder as a simple reminder to the animal that the rider is carrying it. It is to back up the leg aids, when the horse is not moving forward, or occasionally as a disciplinary measure (such as when a horse refuses or runs out on a jump). Crops or bats are most commonly seen in sports such as show jumping, hunt seat style English riding, horse racing, and in rodeo speed sports such as barrel racing.
A hunting whip is not precisely a horse whip, though it is carried by a mounted rider. It has a stock about the same length as a crop, except its "stock" is stiff, not flexible. On one end of the stock it has a lash that is ~1 m in length, on the other end it has a hook, which is used to help the rider open and close gates while out fox hunting. The hunting whip is not intended to be used on the horse, but rather the lash is there to remind the hounds to stay away from the horse's hooves, and it can also be used as a communication device to the hounds.
A quirt is a short, flexible piece of thickly braided leather with two wide pieces of leather at the end, which makes a loud crack when it strikes an animal or object. They inflict more noise than pain. Quirts are occasionally carried on horses used in western riding disciplines, but because the action of a quirt is slow, they are not used to correct or guide the horse, but are more apt to be used by a rider to reach out and strike at animals, such as cattle that are being herded from horseback.
A show cane is a short, stiff cane that may be plain, leather covered, or covered with braided leather. Traditional canes are made from a stick of holly, cherry or birch wood, which is dressed and polished. They are rarely used now except in formal show hacking events.
Rudyard Kipling's short story Garm - a Hostage mentions a long whip used by a horseback rider in India to defend an accompanying pet dog from risk of attack by native pariah dogs. This probably was a hunting whip.
In Victorian literature cads and bounders are depicted as being horsewhipped or threatened with horsewhipping for seduction of young women or breach of promise (to marry), usually by her brothers or father. Examples are found in the works of Benjamin Disraeli and Anthony Trollope who includes such a scene in Doctor Thorne. It is also mentioned, though not depicted, in comic novels by Evelyn Waugh and P.G. Wodehouse. As late as the 1970s the historian Desmond Seward was reported by the Daily Telegraph to have been threatened with horsewhipping for besmirching the reputation of Richard III in a biography.
Cat o' nine tails
The cat o' nine tails is a type of multi-tailed whip that originated as an implement for severe physical punishment, notably in the Royal Navy and Army of the United Kingdom, and also as a judicial punishment in Britain and some other countries. The cat is made up of nine knotted thongs of cotton cord, about long, designed to lacerate the skin and cause intense pain. It traditionally has nine thongs as a result of the manner in which rope is plaited. Thinner rope is made from three strands of yarn plaited together, and thicker rope from three strands of thinner rope plaited together. To make a cat o' nine tails, a rope is unravelled into three small ropes, each of which is unravelled again.
Melee weapons
The Bian (), also known as Chinese whip or hard whip, is a type of tubular-shaped club or rod weapon designed to inflict blunt damage with whipping motion. A typical hard whip is made with metal and has a length of around 90 centimetres. Bamboo node-like protrusions are attached to the weapon body at regular intervals to reduce the contact surface and enhance the striking effect. The whip is stiff and does not bend. It weighs 7 or 8 kilograms. The weapon is used mainly on horseback with one hand, sometimes with two whips in both hands.
The chain whip, also known as the soft whip, is a weapon used in some Chinese martial arts, particularly traditional Chinese disciplines, in addition to modern and traditional wushu. It consists of several metal rods, which are joined end-to-end by rings to form a flexible chain. Generally, the whip has a handle at one end and a metal dart, used for slashing or piercing an opponent, at the other. A cloth flag is often attached at or near the dart end of the whip and a second flag may cover the whip's handle.
According to the book The Chain Whip, a whip in Chinese historical text may refer to either the soft whip or the hard whip due to an ambiguity in the Chinese language. "Both the hard whip and the soft whip can both be referred to simply as whip (鞭) in Chinese."
Qilinbian
Qilinbian (麒麟鞭, literally meaning "unicorn whip") is a metal whip invented in China in the late 1900s. The 15 cm handle is made from a steel chain wrapped with leather. The lash is made of steel rods decreasing in size linked by progressively smaller steel rings. Lash varies between 150 cm and 180 cm and is attached to a fall and a cracker. Total weight is 1–2 kg. It is used for physical exercise and in performances.
Similar natural appendages
Some organisms exhibit whip-like appendages in their physiology:
Many unicellular organisms and spermatozoa have one or two whip-like flagella, which are used for propulsion. "Flagellum" is Latin for "whip".
The tails of some large lizards (e.g. iguanas and monitor lizards) are used and optimized for whipping, and larger lizards can seriously injure a human with a well-placed strike. The biological names of some lizards reference this with the terms Mastigo- or -mastix, which derive from the Greek term for "whip".
The whip snakes are so-called from their physical resemblance, and were associated with myths that they could whip with their body in self-defense, since proven false.
Uropygi arachnids are also known as "whip scorpions" due to the shape of their tails.
It has been proposed that some sauropod dinosaurs could crack the ends of their tails like coach whips as a sound signal, as well as a form of defense against any attackers. Newer, more sophisticated models, however, suggest that while the tails of some Diplodocid Dinosaurs could be used as whips, they likely would not have been able to break the sound barrier.
In popular culture
The whip is widely—if only situationally—portrayed across many avenues of popular culture. Whips have appeared in many cartoons, television shows, video games (including a central role in the Castlevania franchise), and numerous feature films, ranging from the original Zorro (1919) to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Catwoman (2004). The depicted usage of whips is often dramatic and wildly exaggerated, showing users reliably tripping or disarming adversaries under extraordinary circumstances, breaking substantial objects with normal blows, and use as a grappling aid among others.
This last usage is particularly common and specifically involves wrapping the whip around a fixed overhead object and using the body to swing across an open space. While this is theoretically possible, the wrap must exhibit intense strength—enough to hold the user's body weight for the entire leap—but be made of material loose enough to smoothly disengage once the swing is completed. Thus actual use in this fashion is highly impractical; it would require not only a precisely balanced whip relative to the user, but also to the overhead fixture, which would not only compromise the whip's efficacy for any other use or context but require exceptional contrivance of circumstance. Even granted all of this, the strain of such a swing will damage or break most leather whips. In live-action fiction, the visual effect is achieved by braiding the whip over a steel or kevlar support cable and anchoring the tip permanently to a support such as a crane or scaffolding. In many instances the whip handle is also attached to a concealed body harness on the actor for safety, allowing more dynamic motions to make the swing appear more daring and graceful.
The popular investigative-entertainment program MythBusters tested the various capabilities of whips shown in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark during "The Busters of the Lost Myths" episode. With exact trained usage, the show demonstrated that it is possible to disarm a pistol-wielding opponent with a long whip strike. The episode also demonstrates that a wood log, with sufficient friction, could be used as an overhang to grapple with a whip, swing across a chasm and neatly disengage. Using a high-speed camera they were also able to verify that the tip of a whip can break the speed of sound.
In the Sherlock Holmes series of stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes occasionally carries a loaded hunting crop as his favorite weapon. (For example, see "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons".) Such crops were sold at one time. Loading refers to the practice of filling the shaft and head with heavy metal (e.g., steel, lead) to provide some heft.
See also
Bullwhip
Cat o' nine tails
Crop (implement)
Discipline (mortification)
Flagellation
Hard whip
Knout
Nagaika
Quirts
Scourge
Sjambok
References
Sources
External links
Horse tack and equipment
BDSM equipment
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern%20Europe
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Southern Europe
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Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, southern France, Spain, Turkey (East Thrace), and Vatican City.
Southern Europe is focused on the three peninsulas located in the extreme south of the European continent. These are the Iberian Peninsula, the Apennine Peninsula, and the Balkan Peninsula. These three peninsulas are separated from the rest of Europe by towering mountain ranges, respectively by the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Balkan Mountains. The location of these peninsulas in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as their mountainous reliefs, provide them with very different types of climates (mainly subtropical Mediterranean) from the rest of the continent. So, the Sirocco hot wind that originates in the heart of the Sahara blows over Italy, going up to the interior of the Alpine arc (Po Valley). The Alps prevent the Sirocco from spreading to the rest of Europe. And, conversely, the Alps and the Pyrenees protect the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas from the rains and icy winds from the south of France such as the Mistral and the Tramontane. When the Mistral and the Tramontane are blowing, this provokes an "upwelling" phenomenon on the French coast. They push the surface waters out to sea and bring deeper, cooler waters up to the seaside. Consequently, the temperature of the waters of the French coasts are therefore very cool even in summer, and not representative of the rest of the Mediterranean.
This same kind of phenomenon takes place between the two slopes of the Balkan mountain range. These mountains have, moreover, been a serious handicap to population displacement, focusing southern Europe mainly on the Mediterranean world. The climate and cultures are therefore very specific.
Different methods can be used to define southern Europe, including its political, economic, historical, and cultural attributes. Southern Europe can also be defined by its natural features — its geography, climate, and flora. Politically, nine of the southern European countries form the EU Med Group. Southern Europe also loosely corresponds to the European part of the Mediterranean Basin.
Geography
Geographically, southern Europe is the southern portion of the European continent. This definition is relative, although largely based on history, culture, climate, and flora, which is shared across the region. Southern Europe can be subdivided into three subregions:
Iberian Peninsula and the surrounding islands
Balearic Islands (Spain)
Iberian Peninsula
Andorra
French Cerdagne (France)
Gibraltar (United Kingdom)
Portugal (mainland)
Spain (mainland)
Pyrénées-Orientales (France)
Italian geographic region
Alpes-Maritimes (France)
Apennine Peninsula
Central Italy
San Marino
South Italy
Vatican City (Holy See)
Corsica (France)
Gorizia (Italy)
Insular Italy
Sardinia
Sicily
Istria (peninsula)
Ankaran (Slovenia)
Istria County (Croatia)
Izola (Slovenia)
Koper (Slovenia)
Muggia (Italy)
Piran (Slovenia)
San Dorligo della Valle (Italy)
Malta
Monaco
Northern Italy
Northeast Italy
Northwest Italy
Ticino (Switzerland)
Trieste (Italy)
Southeast Europe
Balkan Peninsula
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia (southern mainland)
East Thrace (Turkey)
Greece (mainland)
Kosovo
Montenegro
North Macedonia
Romania (Northern Dobruja)
Serbia (Central Serbia)
Slovenia (south-western part)
Croatia (northern mainland & offshore islands)
Cyprus
Greece (islands)
Moldova
Romania (inland part)
Slovenia (north-eastern part)
Serbia (Vojvodina)
The major islands in southern Europe generally include the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Sardinia, and Sicily, as well as the island country of Malta.
Gallery
Climate
Southern Europe's most emblematic climate is the Mediterranean climate, influenced by the large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure found, not in the Mediterranean itself, but in the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores High. The Mediterranean climate covers Portugal, Spain, Italy, the southern coast of France, coastal Croatia, coastal Slovenia, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, as well as the Mediterranean islands. Those areas of Mediterranean climate present similar vegetations and landscapes throughout, including dry hills, small plains, pine forests and olive trees.
Cooler climates can be found in certain parts of southern European countries, for example within the mountain ranges of Spain and Italy. Additionally, the north coast of Spain experiences a wetter Atlantic climate. In the highest regions of the Alps, which border southern Europe, even ice cap climate can be found.
Some parts of southern Europe have humid subtropical climates with warm and wet summers, unlike typical Mediterranean climates. This climate is mainly found in Italy and Croatia around the Adriatic Sea in cities such as Venice and Trieste, but also further north, near the Alpine foothills, in cities such as Como and Lugano.
Flora
Southern Europe's flora is mainly characterized by Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub, but also temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. The Mediterranean and Submediterranean climate regions in Europe are found in much of southern Europe, mainly Portugal, Spain, Italy, Malta, Albania, Greece, Cyprus and all the mediterranean islands, but also in southeast France, the Balkan Mediterranean coast and part of Macedonia.
In the Mediterranean coastal areas, olive groves, maquis shrubland, and steppes are very common. At higher elevations, or latitudes, they are replaced by chestnut and (often coppiced) mixed forests.
History
Early history
The Phoenicians originally expanded from Canaan ports, dominating trade in the Mediterranean by the 8th century BC. Carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had firmly established strongholds in Sicily and Sardinia (both regions in present day Italy), which created conflicts of interest with Etruria. Its colonies later reached the Western Mediterranean, such as Cádiz in Spain and most notably Carthage in North Africa, and even the Atlantic Ocean. The civilisation spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC.
The period known as classical antiquity began with the rise of the city-states of Ancient Greece. Greek influence reached its zenith under the expansive empire of Alexander the Great, spreading throughout Asia. The Roman Empire came to dominate the entire Mediterranean Basin in a vast empire based on Roman law and Roman legions. It promoted trade, tolerance, and Greek culture. By 300 AD the Roman Empire was divided into the Western Roman Empire based in Rome, and the Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople. The attacks of the Goths led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, a date which traditionally marks the end of the classical period and the start of the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the Eastern Roman Empire survived, though modern historians refer to this state as the Byzantine Empire. In Western Europe, Germanic peoples moved into positions of power in the remnants of the former Western Roman Empire and established kingdoms and empires of their own.
The period known as the Crusades, a series of religiously motivated military expeditions originally intended to bring the Levant back into Christian rule, began. Several Crusader states were founded in the eastern Mediterranean. These were all short-lived. The Crusaders would have a profound impact on many parts of Europe. Their sack of Constantinople in 1204 brought an abrupt end to the Byzantine Empire. Though it would later be re-established, it would never recover its former glory. The Crusaders would establish trade routes that would develop into the Silk Road and open the way for the merchant republics of Genoa and Venice to become major economic powers. The Reconquista, a related movement, worked to reconquer Iberia for Christendom. The late Middle Ages represented a period of upheaval in Europe. The epidemic known as the Black Death and an associated famine caused demographic catastrophe in Europe as the population plummeted. Dynastic struggles and wars of conquest kept many of the states of Europe at war for much of the period. In the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish state originating in Anatolia, encroached steadily on former Byzantine lands, culminating in the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Post-Middle Ages
Beginning roughly in the 12th century in Florence, and later spreading through Europe with the development of the printing press, a Renaissance of knowledge challenged traditional doctrines in science and theology, with the Arabic texts and thought bringing about rediscovery of classical Greek and Roman knowledge. The Catholic reconquest of Portugal and Spain led to a series of oceanic explorations resulting in the Age of Discovery that established direct links with Africa, the Americas, and Asia. During this period, Iberian forces engaged in a worldwide struggle with Islamic societies; the battlefronts in this Ibero-Islamic World War stretched from the Mediterranean into the Indian Ocean, finally involving the islands of Southeast Asia. Eventually this ecumenical conflict ended when new players—England, Holland and France—replaced Spain and Portugal as the main agents of European imperialism in the mid-17th century.
European overseas expansion led to the rise of colonial empires, producing the Columbian Exchange. The combination of resource inflows from the New World and the Industrial Revolution of Great Britain, allowed a new economy based on manufacturing instead of subsistence agriculture. The period between 1815 and 1871 saw a large number of revolutionary attempts and independence wars. Balkan nations began to regain independence from the Ottoman Empire. Italy unified into a nation state. The capture of Rome in 1870 ended the Papal temporal power.
20th and 21st century
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 was precipitated by the rise of nationalism in Southeastern Europe as the Great Powers took up sides. The Allies defeated the Central Powers in 1918. During the Paris Peace Conference the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, especially the Treaty of Versailles. The Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, and along with Mussolini's Italy sought to gain control of the continent by the Second World War.
Following the Allied victory in the Second World War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain. The countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe were dominated by the Soviet Union and became communist states. The major non-communist southern European countries joined a US-led military alliance (NATO) and formed the European Economic Community amongst themselves. The countries in the Soviet sphere of influence joined the military alliance known as the Warsaw Pact and the economic bloc called Comecon. Yugoslavia was neutral. The common attribute of the eastern countries is that all of them have experiences with socialism, but nevertheless, the beginning of the 1990s was just roughly the same. For some of them becoming independent was the major challenge, while others needed to face with poverty and deep dictatorship also Economically, parallel with the political changes, and the democratic transition, – as a rule of law states – the previous command economies were transformed via the legislation into market economies, and set up or renewed the major macroeconomic factors: budgetary rules, national audit, national currency, central bank. Generally, they shortly encountered the following problems: high inflation, high unemployment, low economic growth and high government debt. By 2000 these economies were stabilized, and sooner or later between 2004 and 2013 some of them joined the European Union, and Slovenia introduced the euro.
Italy became a major industrialized country again, due to its post-war economic miracle. The European Union (EU) involved the division of powers, with tax, health, and education handled by the nation states, while the EU had charge of market rules, competition, legal standards and environmentalism. The Soviet economic and political system collapsed, leading to the end of communism in the satellite countries in 1989, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself in 1991. European Union expanded to subsequently include many of the formerly communist European countries – Romania and Bulgaria (2007) and Croatia (2013).
The Gotthard, a major and direct transport axis between Northern and southern Europe, was completed in 2016 with the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The Gotthard inscribes itself in a long history of transit across the Alps, which saw them progressively changing from an obstacle to a corridor between the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Demographics
Languages
Romance languages
The most widely spoken family of languages in southern Europe are the Romance languages, the heirs of Latin, which have spread from the Italian peninsula, and are emblematic of Southwestern Europe. (See the Latin Arch.) By far the most common Romance languages in southern Europe are Italian (spoken by over 50 million people in Italy, southern Switzerland, Malta, San Marino, and Vatican City) and Spanish, which is spoken by over 40 million people in Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar. Other common Romance languages include Portuguese (spoken in Portugal and Andorra), French (spoken in France, Monaco, and the Aosta Valley in Italy), Catalan (spoken in eastern Spain, Andorra, Southwestern France, and the Sardinian town of Alghero in Italy), Galician (spoken in northwestern Spain), Mirandese (spoken in northeast Portugal), and Occitan, which is spoken in the Val d'Aran in Catalonia, in the Occitan Valleys in Italy and in southern France.
Other languages
The Hellenic languages or Greek language are widely spoken in Greece and Cyprus. Additionally, other varieties of Greek are spoken in small communities in parts of other European countries.
English is used as a second language in parts of southern Europe. As a primary language, however, English has only a small presence in southern Europe, only in Gibraltar (alongside Spanish) and Malta (secondary to Maltese). English is also widely spoken in Cyprus.
There are other language groupings in southern Europe. Albanian is spoken in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Serbia, Croatia and Italy (particularly by the Arbëreshë people in southern Italy), and Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian is spoken in Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Italy (in Molise). Slovenian is spoken in Slovenia, Italy (in Friuli-Venezia Giulia) and Croatia (in Istria) and Macedonian is spoken in North Macedonia. Maltese is a Semitic language that is the official language of Malta, descended from Siculo-Arabic, but written in the Latin script with heavy Latin and Italian influences. The Basque language is spoken in the Basque Country, a region in northern Spain and southwestern France. Turkish is a Turkic language that is spoken in Turkey, Cyprus, Kosovo, Greece, North Macedonia and Bosnia, and German is spoken in Italy, particularly in South Tyrol.
Religion
The predominant religion in southern Europe is Christianity. Christianity spread throughout southern Europe during the Roman Empire, and Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire in the year 380 AD.
Due to the historical break of the Church into the western half based in Rome and the eastern half based in Constantinople, different denominations of Christianity are prominent in different parts of Europe.
Christians in the western half of southern Europe — e.g., Portugal, Spain, Italy — are generally Roman Catholic. Christians in the eastern half of southern Europe — e.g., Greece, Serbia and North Macedonia — are generally Eastern Orthodox. Islam is widely practiced in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Muslims are a significant minority in several countries of southern Europe- e.g., Greece, Italy, Spain. Judaism was practiced widely throughout the European continent within the Roman Empire from the 2nd century.
Other classifications
CIA World Factbook
In the CIA World Factbook, the description of each country includes information about "Location" under the heading "Geography", where the country is classified into a region. The following countries are included in their classification "southern Europe":
Greece
Holy See (Vatican City)
Italy
Malta
San Marino
In addition, Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain are classified as "Southwestern Europe", while Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey (the part west of the Bosporus) are described as located in "Southeastern Europe".
EuroVoc
EuroVoc is a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union, giving definitions of terms for official use. In the definition of "southern Europe", the following countries are included:
Cyprus
Greece
Holy See
Italy
Malta
Portugal
San Marino
Spain
Turkey
UN geoscheme classification
The United Nations geoscheme is a system devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which divides the countries of the world into regional and subregional groups, based on the M49 coding classification. The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories.
In the UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as southern Europe:
Albania
Andorra
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Greece
Holy See
Italy
Malta
Montenegro
North Macedonia
Portugal
San Marino
Serbia
Slovenia
Spain
as well as the dependent territory:
Gibraltar
European Travel Commission classification
European Travel Commission divides the European region on the basis of Tourism Decision Metrics (TDM) model.
Countries which belong to the southern/Mediterranean Europe in this classification are:
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, East Thrace (Turkey), Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, and Spain.
See also
Central and Eastern Europe
Central Europe
Eastern Europe
EU Med Group
EuroVoc#Southern Europe
Mediterranean Basin
Northern Europe
Northwestern Europe
Southeast Europe
Western Europe
Notes
References
Regions of Europe
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount%20Adams%20%28Washington%29
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Mount Adams (Washington)
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Mount Adams, known by some Native American tribes as Pahto or Klickitat, is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range. Although Adams has not erupted in more than 1,000 years, it is not considered extinct. It is the second-highest mountain in Washington, after Mount Rainier.
Adams, named for President John Adams, is a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, and is one of the arc's largest volcanoes, located in a remote wilderness approximately east of Mount St. Helens. The Mount Adams Wilderness consists of the upper and western part of the volcano's cone. The eastern side of the mountain is designated as part of the territory of the Yakama Nation.
Adams' asymmetrical and broad body rises above the Cascade crest. Its nearly flat summit was formed as a result of cone-building eruptions from separated vents. The Pacific Crest Trail traverses the western flank of the mountain.
Geography
General
Mount Adams stands east of Mount St. Helens and about south of Mount Rainier. It is north of the Columbia River and north of Mount Hood in Oregon. The nearest major cities are Yakima, to the northeast, and the Portland metropolitan area, to the southwest. Between half and two thirds of Adams is within the Mount Adams Wilderness of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The remaining area is within the Mount Adams Recreation Area of the Yakama Indian Reservation. While many of the volcanic peaks in Oregon are located on the Cascade Crest, Adams is the only active volcano in Washington to be so. It is farther east than all the rest of Washington's volcanoes except Glacier Peak.
Adams is one of the long-lived volcanoes in the Cascade Range, with minor activity beginning 900,000 years ago and major cone building activity beginning 520,000 years ago. The whole mountain has been completely eroded by glaciers to an elevation of twice during its lifetime. The current cone was built during the most recent major eruptive period 40,000–10,000 years ago.
Standing at , Adams towers about over the surrounding countryside. It is the second-highest mountain in Washington and third-highest in the Cascade Range. Because of the way it developed, it is the largest stratovolcano in Washington and second-largest in the Cascades, behind only Mount Shasta. Its large size is reflected in its -diameter base, which has a prominent north–south trending axis.
Adams is the source of the headwaters for two major rivers, the Lewis River and White Salmon River. The many streams that emanate from the glaciers and from springs at its base flow into two more major river systems, the Cispus River and the Klickitat River. The streams on the north and west portions of Adams feed the Cispus River, which joins the Cowlitz River near Riffe Lake, and the Lewis River.
To the south, the White Salmon River has its source on the lower flanks of the west side of Adams and gains additional flows from streams along the southwest side of the mountain. Streams on the east side all flow to the Klickitat River. Streams on all sides, at some point in their courses, provide essential irrigation water for farming and ranching. The Klickitat and White Salmon rivers are nearly completely free flowing, with only small barriers to aid irrigation (White Salmon) and erosion control (Klickitat). The Cispus and Lewis rivers have been impounded with dams farther downstream for flood control and power generation purposes.
Mount Adams is the second-most isolated, in terms of access, stratovolcano in Washington; Glacier Peak is the most isolated. Only two major highways pass close to it. Highway 12 passes about 25 miles to the north of Adams through the Cascades. Highway 141 comes within 13 miles of Adams as it follows the White Salmon River valley up from the Columbia River to the small town of Trout Lake. From either highway, travelers have to use Forest Service roads to get closer to the mountain. The main access roads, FR 23, FR 82, FR 80, and FR 21, are paved for part of their length. Almost all other roads are gravel or dirt, with varying degrees of maintenance. Access to the Mount Adams Recreation Area is by way of FR 82, which becomes BIA 285 at the Yakama reservation boundary. BIA 285 is known to be extremely rough and often suitable only for trucks or high-clearance vehicles. Two small towns, Glenwood and Trout Lake, are located in valleys less than 15 miles from the summit, Glenwood on the southeast quarter and Trout Lake on the southwest quarter.
Its size and distance from major cities, and the tendency of some people to forget or ignore Mount Adams, has led some people to call this volcano "The Forgotten Giant of Washington."
On a clear day from the summit, other visible volcanoes in the Cascade Range include Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, and Glacier Peak to the north, Mount St. Helens to the west, all in Washington; and Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, and the Three Sisters, all to the south in Oregon.
Summit area
Contrary to legend, the flatness of Adams' current summit area is not due to the loss of the volcano's peak. Instead, it was formed as a result of cone-building eruptions from separated vents. A false summit, Pikers Peak, rises on the south side of the nearly half-mile (800 m) wide summit area. The true summit is about higher on the gently sloping north side. A small lava and scoria cone marks the highest point. Suksdorf Ridge is a long buttress descending from the false summit to an elevation of . This structure was built by repeated lava flows in the late Pleistocene. The Pinnacle forms the northwest false summit and was created by erosion from the Adams and White Salmon glaciers. On the east side, The Castle is a low prominence at the top of Battlement Ridge. The summit crater is filled with snow and is open on its west rim.
Flank terrain features
Prominent ridges descend from the mountain on all sides. On the north side, the aptly named North Cleaver comes down from a point below the summit ice cap heading almost due north. The Northwest Ridge and West Ridge descend from the Pinnacle, to the northwest and west, respectively. Stagman Ridge descends west-southwest from a point about halfway up the west side and turns more southwest at about . South of Stagman Ridge lies Crofton Ridge. Crofton gradually becomes very broad as it descends southwesterly from the tree line. MacDonald Ridge, on the south side, starts at about tree line below the lower end of Suksdorf Ridge and descends in a southerly direction.
Three prominent ridges descend from the east side of the mountain. The Ridge of Wonders is farthest south and ends at an area away from the mountain called The Island. Battlement Ridge is very rugged and descends from high on the mountain. The farthest ridge north on the east side, Victory Ridge, descends from a lower elevation on the mountain than Battlement Ridge beneath the precipitous Roosevelt Cliff. Lava Ridge, starting at about the same location as the North Cleaver, descends slightly east of north.
Several rock prominences exist on the lower flanks of Adams. The Spearhead is an abrupt rocky prominence near the bottom of Battlement Ridge. Burnt Rock, The Hump, and The Bumper are three smaller rocky prominences at or below the tree line on the west side.
Glaciers
In the early 21st century, glaciers covered a total of 2.5% of Adams' surface. During the last ice age about 90% of the mountain was glaciated. Mount Adams has 209 perennial snow and ice features and 12 officially named glaciers. The total ice-covered area makes up , while the area of named glaciers is . Most of the largest remaining glaciers (including the Adams, Klickitat, Lyman, and White Salmon) originate from Adams' summit ice cap.
On the northwest face of the mountain, Adams Glacier cascades down a steep channel in a series of icefalls before spreading out and terminating at around the elevation, where it becomes the source of the Lewis River and Adams Creek, a tributary of the Cispus River. Its eastern lobe ends at a small glacial tarn, Equestria Lake. In the Cascades, Adams Glacier is second in size only to Carbon Glacier on Mount Rainier.
The Pinnacle, White Salmon, and Avalanche glaciers on the west side of the mountain are less thick and voluminous, and are generally patchy in appearance. They all originate from glacial cirques below the actual summit. Although the White Salmon Glacier does not originate from the summit ice cap, it does begin very high on the mountain at about . In the early 1900s, a portion of it descended from the summit ice cap, but volume loss has separated it. Some of its glacial ice feeds the Avalanche Glacier below it to the southwest while the rest tumbles over some large cliffs to its diminutive lower section to the west. The White Salmon and Avalanche Glaciers feed the many streams of the Salt Creek and Cascade Creek drainages, which flow into the White Salmon River. The Pinnacle Glacier is the source of a fork of the Lewis River as well as Riley Creek, which is also a tributary of the Lewis River.
The south side of the mountain along Suksdorf Ridge is moderately glacier-free, with the only glaciers being the relatively small Gotchen Glacier and the Crescent Glacier. The south side, however, does have some perennial snowfields on its slopes. The Crescent Glacier is the source of Morrison Creek; and, although it does not feed it directly, the Gotchen Glacier is the source of Gotchen Creek. Both creeks drain to the White Salmon River.
The rugged east side has four glaciers, the Mazama Glacier, Klickitat Glacier, Rusk Glacier, and the Wilson Glacier. During the last ice age, they carved out two immense canyons: the Hellroaring Canyon and the Avalanche Valley. This created the Ridge of Wonders between the two. Of the four glaciers on the east side, the Mazama Glacier is the farthest south and begins between the Suksdorf Ridge and Ridge of Wonders at about . Near its terminus, it straddles the Ridge of Wonders and a small portion feeds into the Klickitat Glacier. The glacier gains more area from additional glacier ice that collects from drifting snow and avalanches below the Suksdorf Ridge as the ridge turns south. The Mazama Glacier terminates at about and is the source of Hellroaring Creek, which flows over several waterfalls before it joins Big Muddy Creek. Klickitat Glacier on the volcano's eastern flank originates in a wide cirque and is fed by two smaller glaciers from the summit ice cap. It terminates around , where it becomes the source of Big Muddy Creek, a tributary of the Klickitat River. The Rusk Glacier does not start from the summit ice cap, but starts at below the Roosevelt Cliff and is fed by avalanching snow and ice from the summit cap. It is enclosed on the south by Battlement Ridge and Victory Ridge on the north and terminates at about . It is the source of Rusk Creek, which flows over two waterfalls before joining the Big Muddy on its way to the Klickitat. The Wilson Glacier, like the Rusk Glacier, starts below the Roosevelt Cliff and is fed by avalanching snow and ice; however, the Wilson Glacier starts slightly higher at about . It is also fed by an arm of the Lyman Glacier as it flows down from the summit ice cap. The Wilson Glacier terminates at where it is the source of Little Muddy Creek, another tributary of the Klickitat.
The north side is distinguished by two major glaciers, the Lyman and Lava Glaciers. Like the Adams Glacier, the Lyman Glacier is characterized by deep crevasses and many icefalls as it cascades down from the summit ice cap. It is divided into two arms by a very rugged ridge at and terminates at . The Lava Glacier originates in a large cirque below the summit at about , sandwiched between the North Cleaver on the west and the Lava Ridge to the east. It terminates at about . The Lava and Lyman Glaciers are the source of the Muddy Fork of the Cispus River.
The total glacier area on Mount Adams decreased 49%, from to , between 1904 and 2006, with the greatest loss occurring before 1949. Since 1949, the total glacier area has been relatively stable with a small amount of decline since the 1990s.
Surrounding area
Mount Adams is surrounded by a variety of other volcanic features and volcanoes. It stands near the center of a north–south trending volcanic field that is about wide and long, from just south of the Goat Rocks to Guler Mountain, the vent farthest south in the field. This field includes over 120 vents; about 25 of these are considered flank volcanoes of Mount Adams. The largest flank volcano is a basaltic shield volcano on Adams east base called Goat Butte. This structure is at least 150,000 years old.
Little Mount Adams is a symmetrical cinder cone on top of the Ridge of Wonders on Adams' southeast flank.
Potato Hill is a cinder cone on Adams' north side that was created in the late Pleistocene and stands above its lava plain.
Lavas from its base flowed into the Cispus Valley where they were later modified by glaciers. At the level on Adams' south flank is South Butte. The lavas associated with this structure are all younger than Suksdorf Ridge but were emplaced before the end of the last ice age.
Several relatively young obvious lava flows exist in the area around Adams. Most of these flows are on the north side of the mountain and include the flow in the Mutton Creek area, Devils Garden, the Takh Takh Meadows Flow, and the much larger Muddy Fork Lava Flow to the north of Devils Garden. Only one obvious flow appears on the south slopes of Adams, the A. G. Aiken Lava Bed. Other smaller flows exist in various locations around the mountain as well.
The many other vents and volcanoes encompassed by the Mount Adams field include Glaciate Butte and Red Butte on the north, King Mountain, Meadow Butte, Quigley Butte, and Smith Butte on the south, with others interspersed throughout.
Located a few miles north of Adams is Goat Rocks Wilderness and the heavily eroded ruins of a stratovolcano that is much older than Adams. Unlike Adams, the Goat Rocks volcano was periodically explosive and deposited ash 2.5 million years ago that later solidified into thick tuff layers.
In the area surrounding Mount Adams, many caves have formed around inactive lava vents. These caves are usually close to the surface and can be hundreds of feet deep and wide. A few of the more well known caves include the Cheese Cave, Ice Cave, and Deadhorse Caves. Cheese Cave has the largest bore of the caves near Adams with a diameter of and a length of over . Ice cave, which is made up of several sections created by several sinkholes, has an ice section that is long and in diameter and noted for its ice formations. From the same entrance, the tube continues another to the west. Deadhorse Cave is a massive network of lava tubes. It the most complex lava tube in the United States with of passage. These caves are all just outside of Trout Lake. These and many other caves in the Trout Lake area were at one time part of a huge system that originated at the Indian Heaven volcanic field. The most obscure caves around Adams are the Windholes on the southeast side near Island Cabin Campground.
Geology
Adams is made of several overlapping cones that together form an diameter base which is elongated in its north–south axis and covers an area of . The volcano has a volume of placing it second only to Mount Shasta in that category among the Cascade stratovolcanoes. Mount Adams was created by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate, which is located just off the coast of the Pacific Northwest.
Mount Adams was born in the mid to late Pleistocene and grew in several pulses of mostly lava-extruding eruptions. Each eruptive cycle was separated from one another by long periods of dormancy and minor activity, during which, glaciers eroded the mountain to below . Potassium-argon dating has identified three such eruptive periods; the first occurring 520,000 to 500,000 years ago, the second 450,000 years ago, and the third 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. Most of these eruptions and therefore most of the volcano, consist of lava flows with little tephra. The loose material that makes up much of Adams' core is made of brecciated lava.
Andesite and basalt flows formed a thick circle around the base of Mount Adams, and filled existing depressions and ponded in valleys. Most of the volcano is made of andesite together with a handful of dacite and pyroclastic flows which erupted early in Adams' development. The present main cone was built when Adams was capped by a glacier system in the last ice age. The lava that erupted was shattered when it came in contact with the ice and the cone interior is therefore made of easily eroded andesite fragments. Since its construction, constant emissions of heat and caustic gases have transformed much of the rock into clays (mostly kaolinite), iron oxides, sulfur-rich compounds and quartz.
The present eruptive cone above was constructed sometime between 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. Since that time the volcano has erupted at least ten times, generally from above . One of the more recent flows issued from South Butte and created the long by wide A.G. Aiken Lava Bed. This flow looks young but has 3,500-year-old Mount St. Helens ash on it, meaning it is at least that old. Of a similar age are the Takh Takh Meadows and Muddy Fork lava flows. The lowest vent to erupt since the main cone was constructed is Smith Butte on the south slope of Adams. The last lava known to have erupted from Adams is an approximately 1000-year-old flow that emerged from a vent at about on Battlement Ridge.
The Trout Lake Mudflow is the youngest large debris flow from Adams and the only large one since the end of the last Ice Age. The flow dammed Trout Creek and covered of the White Salmon River valley. Impounded water later formed Trout Lake. The Great Slide of 1921 started close to the headwall of the White Salmon Glacier and was the largest avalanche on Adams in historic time. The slide fell about and its debris covered about of the upper Salt Creek area. Steam vents were reported active at the slide source for three years, leading to speculation that the event was started with a small steam explosion. This was the only debris flow in Mount Adams' recorded history, but there are five known lahars.
Since then, thermal anomalies (hot spots) and gas emissions (including hydrogen sulfide) have occurred especially on the summit plateau and indicate that Adams is dormant, not extinct. Future eruptions from Adams will probably follow patterns set by previous events and will thus be flank lava flows of andesite or basalt. Because the primary products were andesite, the eruptions that occur on Adams tend to have a low to moderate explosiveness and present less of a hazard than the violent eruptions of St. Helens and some of the other Cascade volcanoes. However, since the interior of the main cone is little more than a pile of fragmented lava and hydrothermally-altered rock, there is a potential for very large landslides and other debris flows.
In 1997, Adams experienced two slides seven weeks apart that were the largest slides in the Cascades, ignoring the catastrophic landslide eruption of Mount St. Helens, since a slide that occurred on Little Tahoma in 1963. The first occurred at the end of August and consisted of mainly snow and ice with some rock. It fell from a similar location and in a similar path to the slide of 1921. The second slide that year occurred in late October and originated high on Battlement Ridge just below The Castle. It consisted of mainly rock and flowed three miles down the Klickitat Glacier and the Big Muddy Creek streambed. Both slides were estimated to have moved as much as of material.
The Indian Heaven volcanic field is located between St. Helens and Adams and within the Indian Heaven Wilderness. Its principal feature is an long linear zone of shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and flows with volumes of up to with the highest peak, Lemei Rock. The shield volcanoes, which form the backbone of the volcanic field, are located on the northern and southern sides of the field. Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams are on the western and the eastern sides.
To the east, across the Klickitat River, lies the Simcoe Mountains volcanic field. This area contains many small shield volcanoes and cinder cones of mainly alkalic intraplate basalt with fractionated intermediate alkalic products, subordinate subalkaline mafic lavas, and several rhyolites as secondary products. There are about 205 vents that were active between 4.2 million and 600 thousand years ago.
Seismic activity around Adams is very low and it is one of the quietest volcanoes in Oregon and Washington. It is monitored by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and the Cascades Volcano Observatory via a seismic station on the southwest flank of the mountain.
Recreation
Like many other Cascade volcanoes, Mount Adams offers many recreational activities, including mountain climbing, back country skiing, hiking and backpacking, berry picking, camping, boating, fishing, rafting, photography, wildlife viewing, and scenic driving among other things.
The Mount Adams Wilderness along the west slope of Mount Adams offers an abundance of opportunities for hiking, backpacking, backcountry camping, mountain climbing and equestrian sports. Trails in the wilderness pass through dry east-side and moist west-side forests, with views of Mt. Adams and its glaciers, tumbling streams, open alpine forests, parklands, and a variety of wildflowers among lava flows and rimrocks. A Cascades Volcano Pass from the United States Forest Service (USFS) is required for activities above from June through September.
On the north side, the Midway High Lakes Area, which lies mostly outside the wilderness area, is one of the more popular areas around Mount Adams. The area is made up of four large lakes, Council Lake, Takhlakh Lake, Ollalie Lake, and Horseshoe Lake; one small lake, Green Mountain Lake; and a group of small lakes, Chain of Lakes. The area offers developed and primitive camping as well as a good number of trails for hiking and backpacking. Most trails are open to horses and many outside the wilderness are open to motorcycles. More scenery similar to what is encountered in the Mount Adams Wilderness abounds. The area also offers boating and fishing opportunities on several of the lakes.
On the south side of Adams, the Morrison Creek area provides additional opportunities for hiking, backpacking, biking, and equestrian sports with several long loop trails. A few small and primitive campgrounds exist in the area, including the Wicky Creek Shelter. Generally, there are trailheads at these campgrounds.
On the southeast side of the mountain, the Mount Adams Recreation Area, another very popular area, offers activities such as hiking, camping, picnicking, and fishing. The area features Bird Creek Meadows, a popular picnic and hiking area noted for its outstanding display of wildflowers, and exceptional views of Mount Adams and its glaciers, as well as Mount Hood to the south. Some areas of the Yakama Indian Reservation are open for recreation, while other areas are open only to members of the tribe.
Climbing
Each year, thousands of outdoor enthusiasts attempt to summit Mount Adams. The false summits and broad summit plateau have disheartened many climbers as this inscription on a rock at Piker's Peak indicates. "You are a piker if you think this is the summit. Don't crab, the mountain was here first." Crampons and ice axes are needed on many routes because of glaciers and the route's steepness. Aside from crevasses on the more difficult glacier routes, the biggest hazard is the loose rocks and boulders which are easily dislodged and a severe hazard for climbers below. These falling rocks are especially dangerous for climbers on the precipitous east faces and the steep headwalls of the north and west sides. Routes in those areas should only be climbed early in the season under as ideal conditions as can be had. Other hazards faced by climbers on Adams include sudden storms and clouds, avalanches, altitude sickness, and inexperience. Climbing Mount Adams can be dangerous for a variety of reasons and people have died in pursuit of the summit while many others have had close calls.
Routes
There are 25 main routes to the summit with alternates of those main routes. They range in difficulty from the relatively easy non-technical South Spur (South Climb) route to the extremely challenging and dangerous Victory Ridge, Rusk Glacier Headwall, and Wilson Glacier Headwall routes up Roosevelt Cliff.
Hiking
While the summit is the main draw for many who visit Adams, many trails pass through the area around Mount Adams where visitors can find extensive vistas, local history, displays of wildflowers, lava formations, and several waterfalls.
One such trail is the unofficially named "Round the Mountain Trail" that encircles Mount Adams and is approximately long. It is called the "Round the Mountain Trail" unofficially because it is made up of three different named trails and an area where there is no trail. The section of the trail on the Yakama Indian Reservation may require special permits.
Many trails access the "Round the Mountain Trail" in the Mount Adams Wilderness. On the south, the Shorthorn Trail #16 leaves from near the Morrison Creek Campground and the South Climb Trail #183 starts at Cold Springs Trailhead/Campground and heads up the South Spur, the most popular climbing route to the summit. On the west side, there are three trails going up: the Stagman Ridge Trail #12, Pacific Crest Trail #2000, and the Riley Creek Trail #64. There are four trails providing access to the "Round the Mountain Trail" on north side: the Divide Camp Trail #112, Killen Creek Trail #113, Muddy Meadows Trail #13, and the Pacific Crest Trail again as it heads down the mountain to the north. These trails accessing the "Round the Mountain Trail" generally gain between and in between and . Trails are mostly snow-covered from early winter until early summer. Other popular trails in the Mount Adams Wilderness include the Lookingglass Lake Trail #9A, High Camp Trail #10, Salt Creek Trail #75, Crofton Butte Trail #73, and the Riley Connector Trail #64A.
In the Mount Adams Recreation Area, many of the trails are geared toward leisurely walks and are located in the Bird Creek Meadows area. There are many loop trails at Bird Creek Meadows, including the Trail of the Flowers #106 in the main picnic area. Trails travel through meadows and past cold mountain streams and waterfalls, including Crooked Creek Falls. Hikers can access the Hellroaring Overlook, where they can view Hellroaring Meadows, a glacial valley about down from the viewpoint precipice. From here, hikers can gaze up at Mount Adams, the Mazama Glacier, and various waterfalls tumbling off of high cliffs below the glaciers terminus. Little Mount Adams , a symmetrical cinder cone on top of the Ridge of Wonders, rises from the northeast end of Hellroaring Meadow and the Hellroaring Creek valley. A trail used to ascend from Bench Lake at the bottom of the canyon to the east base of the peak, but this trail has recently been abandoned. To reach the top, hikers must traverse rocky terrain; and if they exist, user-made trails.
High Lakes Trail #116, the namesake of the Midway High Lakes Area, crosses the relatively flat area on the north side of the mountain following a trail the Yakama Native Americans used for picking huckleberries. Like several other trails around Adams, this trail has extensive views of the mountain. Other trails, like the Takh Takh Meadows Trail #136, pass through meadows and old lava flows. One of the longest trails on the Gifford Pinchot, Boundary Trail #1, has its eastern terminus in the Midway High Lakes area at Council Lake. Other trails in the area include the Council Bluff Trail #117, Green Mountain Trail #110, and East Canyon Trail #265.
Several long trails pass through the Morrison Creek area on the south side of the mountain. The Snipes Mountain Trail #11 follows the eastern edge of the A. G. Aiken Lava Bed from the lower end for to the Round the Mountain Trail. The Cold Springs Trail #72 follows the western edge for . Other trails in the area include the Gotchen Trail #40, Morrison Creek Trail #39, and Pineway Trail #71.
Camping
Campgrounds near Mount Adams are open during the snow-free months of summer. Campgrounds in the area include the Takhlakh Lake Campground, offering views across the lake of Mount Adams; Olallie Lake; Horseshoe Lake; Killen Creek; Council Lake; and Keenes Horse Camp. Adams Fork Campground and Twin Falls Campground are located along the Lewis and Cispus Rivers. Most lakes within the Midway High Lakes Area offer scenic views of Mount Adams and its glaciers. Adams Fork Campground, Cat Creek Campground, and Twin Falls Campground are located nearer to Mount Adams and are just a few of the many campgrounds along the scenic Lewis and Cispus Rivers.
In the Morrison Creek area, there are three designated campgrounds: Morrison Creek Campground, Mount Adams Horse Camp, and the Wicky Creek Shelter. Many climbers use the Cold Springs Trailhead as a campground as well.
There are three campgrounds in the Mount Adams Recreation Area. A campground is located at Bird Lake, Mirror Lake, and Bench Lake. Bench Lake is the largest campground of the three and has excellent views up the Hellroaring Canyon.
Farther down the southeast slope of Adams, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has two campgrounds along Bird Creek: Bird Creek Campground and Island Cabin Campground. Island Cabin is also used in winter by snowmobilers.
Several of the campgrounds in the National Forest and all campgrounds in the Mount Adams Recreation Area require fees. The campgrounds on DNR lands require a Discover Pass.
Winter recreation
For winter recreation, there are a number of Washington state sno-parks on the south side that are popular with snowmobilers and cross-country skiers. There are three sno-parks on Mount Adams south slope: Snow King, Pineside, and Smith Butte Sno-parks. The south side of the mountain, especially the A.G. Aiken Lava Bed, is especially popular with snowmobilers and skiers. The Mount Adams Recreation Highway (FR 80) is plowed all the way to Pineside and Snow King Sno-parks at about elevation for most of the year, as long as there is enough money in the Forest Service's winter budget. Smith Butte Sno-park, at about , is accessible in low-snow years. Most of the time, the road is not plowed all the way to Smith Butte. The Forest Service does this in order to not dry up the forest service's snowplowing funds.
While the south side has several sno-parks near Adams, the north side has only one nearby, the Orr Creek Sno-park. This sno-park provides winter access to the Midway High Lakes Area. All the sno-parks in the area require a Washington state Sno-Park Permit.
History
Native American legends
Native Americans in the area have composed many legends concerning the three "smoking mountains" that guard the Columbia River. According to the Bridge of the Gods tale, Wy'east (Mount Hood) and Pahto (Mount Adams; also called Paddo or Klickitat by native peoples) were the sons of the Great Spirit. The brothers both competed for the love of the beautiful La-wa-la-clough (Mount St. Helens). When La-wa-la-clough chose Pahto, Wy'east struck his brother hard so that Pahto's head was flattened and Wy'east took La-wa-la-clough from him (thus attempting to explain Adams' squat appearance). Other versions of the story state that losing La-wa-la-clough caused Pahto such grief that he dropped his head in shame.
In a legend from the Klickitats, the chief of the gods, Tyhee Saghalie, came to The Dalles with his two sons. The sons quarreled about who would settle where. To settle the dispute, Saghalie shot an arrow to the west and to the north and told his sons to find them and to settle where the arrows had fallen. So one settled in the Willamette Valley and the other in the area between the Yakima and Columbia Rivers and they became the ancestors of the Multnomah and Klickitat tribes respectively. To separate the tribes, Saghalie raised the Cascade Mountains. He also created the "Bridge of the Gods" as a way for the tribes to meet with one another easily. A "witch-woman," whose name was Loowit, lived on the bridge and had control of the only fire in the world. She wanted to give the tribes fire to improve their condition and Saghalie consented. He was so pleased with Loowit's faithfulness that he offered Loowit whatever she wanted. She asked for youth and beauty and Saghalie granted her wish. Suitors came from near and far until finally she could not decide between Klickitat and Wiyeast. Klickitat and Wiyeast went to war over the matter until finally Sahalie decided to punish them for creating such chaos. He broke the Bridge of the Gods and put the three lovers to death. However, in order to honor their beauty, he raised up three mountains: Wiyeast (Hood), Klickitat (Adams), and Loowit (St. Helens).
In a similar legend from the Klickitats, there was a large inland sea between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains. The Native Americans lived on the sea and each year they would hold two large powwows at Mount Multnomah, one in the spring and one in the fall. The demigod Koyoda Spielei lived among them and settled disputes among the living things of the earth, including the mountains Pa-toe (Adams) and Yi-east (Hood), sons of the Great Spirit Soclai Tyee. For many years, peace prevailed over the land. Then a beautiful squaw mountain moved to the valley between Pa-toe and Yi-east. She fell in love with Yi-east, but liked to flirt with Pa-toe. This caused the two mountains to quarrel with each other and it quickly escalated into an all out brawl. Ignoring Koyoda's calls for peace, they belched forth smoke and ash and threw hot rocks at each other. Some time later, they paused for a rest and discovered the catastrophe they had caused. The forests and meadows had been burnt to the ground and many animals and other living things had been killed. The earth had been shaken so severely that a hole had been created in the mountains and the sea had drained away and the Bridge of the Gods was formed. The squaw mountain had hid herself in a cave during the battle and because they could no longer find her, they were about to resume fighting. However, while they had been fighting, Koyoda went to Soclai and told him what was happening. Soclai arrived in time to stop them from resuming their quarrel. He decreed that the squaw mountain should remain in the cave forever and the Bridge of the Gods was to be a covenant of peace between the mountains that he would cause to fall if they ever resumed their quarrel. He also placed an ugly old woman, known as Loo-wit, as a mountain to guard the bridge and remind the brothers that beauty is never permanent. After many years, the signs of the great battle and the evidence of the inland sea had disappeared and there was happiness and contentment over the earth. The squaw mountain wished to come out of her cave and grew very lonely. In an effort to ease her loneliness, Soclai sent the Bats, a tribe of beautiful birds, to be her companions. Yi-east eventually learned that the Bats were her guardians and carried out secret communication with the squaw mountain through them. He befriended Loo-wit and crossed the bridge at night to meet with the squaw mountain. One night, he stayed too long and had to hurry to get back to his proper place. He caused the ground to shake so much in his haste that a large rock fell and blocked the entrance to the cave. When Soclai found this, he was furious with the Bats and punished them by turning them into bats that are seen today. He allowed the squaw mountain to remain out of the cave on her promise to be good, but would not allow her and Yi-east to be married, fearing the inevitable quarrel that might start again. He did promise to look for a mate for Pa-toe, hoping this would initiate a lasting peace. However, because of his many duties, he forgot this promise and the two mountains were only held in check by his threats. Eventually, when Soclai was in another part of the world, they resumed their quarrel and created chaos again. Their violence broke the Bridge of the Gods and destroyed the landscape again. Loo-wit, in her attempts to stop the two brothers, was badly burned and scarred; and when the bridge collapsed, she fell with it. Finally, Pa-toe won the battle and Yi-east admitted defeat. Soclai returned from where he had been, but he was too late to avert the disaster. He found Loo-wit and because she had been faithful in her guardianship, he rewarded her by giving her her greatest desire, youth and beauty. Having received this gift, she moved to the west side of the Cascades and remains there to this day as Mount St. Helens. Since Pa-toe won the battle, the squaw mountain belonged to him. She was heart broken, but took her place at his side. She soon fell at his feet and into a deep sleep from which she never awoke. She is now known as Sleeping Beauty. Pa-toe became so sad that he caused her deep sleep, he lowered his own head in remorse.
The Yakamas also have a legend attempting to explain Adams' squat appearance. Long ago, the Sun was a man and he had five wives who were mountains: Plash-Plash (the Goat Rocks), Wahkshum (the Simcoe Mountains), Pahto (Adams), Rainier, and St. Helens. Because she was the third wife to be greeted by the Sun in the morning, Pahto became jealous. She broke down both Plash-Plash and Wahkshum, but left Rainier and St. Helens alone. She was happy that she was now the first to be greeted, but wanted more, so she crossed the Columbia and took plants and animals from the mountains there. The other mountains were afraid of her, but Klah Klahnee (the Three Sisters) convinced Wyeast (Hood) to confront Pahto. Wyeast initially tried being nice, but Pahto would have none of it. So Wyeast hit her head and knocked it off, creating Devils Garden. Wyeast then shared what Pahto had taken with the rest of the mountains. After this, Pahto became mean and she would send thunderstorms, heavy rain, and snow to the valleys below. The Great Spirit had been watching all this time and came to Pahto. He gave her a new head in the form of White Eagle and his son Red Eagle and he reminded her that she was his daughter. Pahto repented and promised to stop being mean and greedy.
In many of the legends of the Cascade Mountains, there are thunderbirds that live on them and Adams is no exception. This particular thunderbird was named Enumtla and he terrorized the inhabitants of the land. Speelyi, the Klickitat coyote god, came along one day and they implored him to do something. Speelyi transformed himself into a feather and waited. It did not take long for Enumtla to see the feather and investigate. Being suspicious, he thundered at the feather with no effect. He paused and suddenly the magic feather let loose a terrific volley of thunder and lightning and stunned Enumtla. Speelyi then managed to overpower Enumtla and decreed that the thunderbird could no longer terrify the people, could only thunder on hot days, and could not destroy with lightning.
Several other tribes have legends involving battles and disagreements between the great peaks. The Cowlitz and Chehalis have a legend where Rainier and St. Helens were female mountains and quarreled over Adams, the male mountain. In a different legend from the Cowlitz, St. Helens was the man and Pahto (Adams) and Takhoma (Rainier) were his wives and the two wives quarreled with each other. A thunderbird legend from the Yakamas has a terrific battle between the thunderbird, Enumklah, and his five wives, Tahoma (Rainier), Pahto (Adams), Ah-kee-kun (Hood), Low-we-lat-Klah (St. Helens), and Simcoe. Pahto and Tahoma were badly beaten, Ah-kee-kun and Low-we-lat-Klah escaped without injury, and Simcoe suffered the greatest injury for starting the battle.
Exploration
Adams was known to the Native Americans as Pahto (with various spellings) and Klickitat. In various tribal languages (Plateau Penutian, Chinookan, Salishan), Pahto means high up, very high, standing up, or high sloping mountain. The Klickitat name is of Klickitat origin and comes from the Chinookan for beyond.
In 1805, on the journey westward down the Columbia, the Lewis and Clark Expedition recorded seeing the mountain; noting that it was "a high mountain of emence hight covered with snow" and thought it "perhaps the highest pinnacle in America." They initially misidentified it as Mount St. Helens, which had been previously discovered and named by George Vancouver. On the return journey in 1806, they recorded seeing both, but did not give Adams a name, only calling it "a very high humped mountain". This is the earliest recorded sighting of the volcano by European explorers.
For several decades after Lewis and Clark sighted the mountain, people continued to get Adams confused with St. Helens, due in part to their somewhat similar appearance and similar latitude. In the 1830s, Hall J. Kelley led a campaign to rename the Cascade Range as the President's Range and rename each major Cascade mountain after a former President of the United States. Mount Adams was not known to Kelley and was thus not in his plan. Mount Hood, in fact, was designated by Kelley to be renamed after President John Adams and St. Helens was to be renamed after George Washington. In a mistake or deliberate change by mapmaker and proponent of the Kelley plan, Thomas J. Farnham, the names for Hood and St. Helens were interchanged. And, likely because of the confusion about which mountain was St. Helens, he placed the Mount Adams name north of Mount Hood and about east of Mount St. Helens. By what would seem sheer coincidence, there was in fact a large mountain there to receive the name. Since the mountain had no official name at the time, Kelley's name stuck even though the rest of his plan failed. However, it was not official until 1853, when the Pacific Railroad Surveys, under the direction of Washington Territory governor Isaac I. Stevens, determined its location, described the surrounding countryside, and placed the name on the map.
Since its discovery by explorers, the height of Adams has also been subject to revision. The topographer for the Pacific Railroad Surveys, Lt. Johnson K. Duncan, and George Gibbs, ethnologist and naturalist for the expedition, thought it was about the same height as St. Helens. Its large, uneven size apparently contributed to the underestimation. The Northwest Boundary Survey listed Adams as having an elevation of while a later US Coast and Geodetic Survey gave it an elevation of . The height was more closely determined in 1895 by members of the Mazamas mountaineering club, William A. Gilmore, Professor Edgar McClure, and William Gladstone Steel. Using a boiling point thermometer, mercurial barometer, and an aneroid barometer, they determined the elevation to be respectively. None of these numbers were used on any map because that same year, 1895, the US Geological Survey (USGS), using a triangulation method, also measured the height of several mountains in the Cascades and they measured Adams as having an elevation of . The USGS further refined their measurement sometime in late 1909 or early 1910 to and again in 1970 to for the release of the Mount Adams East 1:24000 quadrangle. The current elevation, , is generated by the new method, NAVD88, for calculating altitudes.
Claude Ewing Rusk, a local settler and mountaineer, was one of those most familiar with Adams and he was instrumental in many of the names given to places around the mountain. In 1890, he, his mother Josie, and his sister Leah completed a circuit of the mountain and explored, to some extent, all ten of its principle glaciers. This was the first recorded circuit of Adams by a woman and likely the first recorded circuit by anyone. While they were on the east side, they named Avalanche Valley. Later, in 1897, after they had completed an ascent of Adams, they went to the Ridge of Wonders and his mother, awestruck by the scene, named it as such.
No detailed descriptions of Adams or its glaciers existed until Professor William Denison Lyman and Horace S. Lyman published descriptions of three of its glaciers and various other features of the southern flanks of the mountain in 1886. The White Salmon/Avalanche, Mazama, and Klickitat Glaciers were those described. They also postulated Adams to be the source of some of the Columbia River basalt flows. They thought that Adams was within what was originally an enormous caldera that was about one hundred miles across. The southern boundary of this enormous caldera was the anticline ridge that forms the southern border of the Glenwood Valley. Modern geology has since dismissed this theory. From information collected on an outing of the Mazamas in 1895, Professor Lyman expanded his descriptions of those three glaciers in 1896. Adams was finally properly surveyed in 1901, when Rusk led noted geologist/glaciologist Harry Fielding Reid to Adams' remote location. Reid conducted the first systematic study of the volcano and also named its most significant glaciers, Pinnacle, Adams, Lava, Lyman, and Rusk with suggestions from Rusk. He also named Castle Rock (The Castle), Little Mount Adams, and Red Butte. Reid noted that it was apparent that the glaciers of Adams had been significantly larger during the Little Ice Age. The geologic history of Adams would have to wait another 80 years before it was fully explored.
On the 1895 Mazamas expedition, the first heliography between several of the peaks of the Cascades was attempted with some success. A party on Mount Hood was able to communicate back and forth with the party on Mount Adams, but the parties on Rainier, Baker, Jefferson, and Diamond Peak were not successful, mainly because of dense smoke and logistical problems.
The first ascent of Mount Adams was in 1854 by Andrew Glenn Aiken, Edward Jay Allen, and Andrew J. Burge. While most sources list the aforementioned names, at least one substitutes Colonel Benjamin Franklin Shaw for Andrew Burge. Their route was likely up the North Cleaver because that summer they were improving a newly designated military road that passes through Naches Pass, which is to the north of Adams.
While the north and south faces of Adams are climbed easily, the west and east faces of the mountain were deemed impossible to climb because of the steep cliffs and ice cascades. To some, this assumption was a challenge and for years, C. E. Rusk searched for a way to climb the east face. On one of these excursions, in 1919, Rusk named the Wilson Glacier, Victory Ridge, and the Roosevelt Cliff. It was on this trip that Rusk decided that the Castle held the easiest route up. In 1921, 67 years after the first ascent of Adams, a group from the Cascadians mountaineering club, led by Rusk, completed the first ascent of the precipitous east face of the mountain. Their route took them up the Rusk Glacier, onto Battlement Ridge, up and over The Castle, and across the vast, heavily crevassed eastern side of the summit ice cap. One of the party, Edgar E. Coursen, said that the route was "thrilling to the point of extreme danger." Others in the party were Wayne E. Richardson, Clarence Truitt, Rolland Whitmore, Robert E. Williams, and Clarence Starcher. Three years later, in 1924, a group of three men from the Mazamas finally climbed the west face of Adams. This route is straightforward, but made difficult by icefalls, mud slips, and easily started rock avalanches.
Some of the caves around Adams were subject to commercial ventures. In the 1860s, ice was gathered from the Ice Cave and shipped to Portland and The Dalles in years of short supply elsewhere. Oddly, a "claim" to the cave using mining laws was used in order to gain exclusive access to the ice. Cheese Cave was used for potato storage in the 1930s and later was home to the Guler Cheese Company, which produced, for a number of years in the 1950s, a bleu cheese similar to the Roquefort produced in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, France. A legend from the Klickitats regarding the formation of the caves, involves a man and his wife who were of gigantic stature. The man left his wife and married a mouse, which became a woman. His wife was furious and because she threatened to kill the man and the "mouse-wife," they hid farther up the mountain at a lake. The man's wife assumed they were underground and began digging for them. In the process, she dug out the many caves in the area. Eventually, she reached the place where they were and the man allowed her to kill the "mouse-wife" to save his own life. Her blood colored the rocks of the lake red and the place was known as Hool-hool-se, which is from the Native American word for mouse. Eventually, the wife killed the man as well and lived alone in the mountains.
Adams was the feature of a 1915 documentary When the Mountains Call. This film documented the journey from Portland to the summit and showed many of the sights along the way.
Forest Service operations
Adams and the lands surrounding it were initially set aside as part of the Mount Rainier Forest Reserve under the Department of the Interior in 1897. Eight years later, in 1905, the Bureau of Forestry, later the Forest Service, was created under the Department of Agriculture and all the Forest Reserves were transferred to the new agency. In 1907, the Forest Reserves were renamed to National Forests and in 1908, the Rainier National Forest was divided among three Forests. The southern half became the Columbia National Forest. The name was changed in 1949 to honor the first Chief of the Forest, Gifford Pinchot. In 1964, the lands around Mount Adams were set aside as a wilderness.
Adams is home to the oldest building on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the Gotchen Creek Guard Station just south of the A. G. Aiken Lava Bed. Built in 1909, it served as the administrative headquarters of the Mount Adams District until 1916. It was built along a major grazing trail to allow for easy monitoring of the thousands of sheep grazed on the lower slopes. Later, in the 1940s, as the amount of grazing decreased, the station housed the Forest Guards responsible for the area. It has been wrapped in protective foil as a precautionary method to shield it from a large wildfire.
In 1916, the Forest Service began preparations to establish the highest fire lookout in the Pacific Northwest at the top of Adams. This was part of an endeavor that began in 1915 on Mount Hood and 1916 on St. Helens The idea was to situate lookouts far above all low-lying hills and mountains to give the lookouts an immense area for observation without obstructions. Being at , the new lookout would also be the third highest in the world and still is. In 1917, building materials were moved to the base of the mountain and in 1918, Dan Lewis packed the building materials and lumber to the lower portion of Suksdorf Ridge. The following summer was spent hauling the building materials to the top. The four men assigned the job, Arthur "Art" Jones, Adolph Schmid, Julius Wang, and Jessie Robbins, had a difficult task ahead of them until they engineered a way to quickly and, for the most part, safely bring the building materials up the slope using a deadman/rope technique. Construction of the standard D-6 building with a ¼ second story cupola began in the summer of 1920 and was completed a year later by Art, Adolph, James Huffman and Joe Guler. It was manned as a lookout during the last year of its construction through 1924. After which it was abandoned because of the difficulties of operating a lookout that high and because lower level clouds, smoke, and haze frequently and effectively blocked the view of the lower elevations. Arthur Jones was likely the one person most involved in the project, spending five seasons on the mountain. Others who worked on the project or staffed the lookout include Rudolph Deitrich, the last lookout, and Chaffin "Chafe" Johnson.
After the lookout at the summit was abandoned, the Forest Service changed strategies from a few lookouts very high up to many lookouts on lower peaks. They placed many lookouts around Adams including one on the southwest slopes of Adams at Madcat Meadows, one on Goat Butte, one on Council Bluff above Council Lake, and many other places farther from the mountain. Eventually these lookouts became obsolete as airplanes became the cheaper method to spot fires. Almost all of these lookouts have since been abandoned and most have been removed or left to disintegrate. One, Burley Mountain, is staffed every summer and another, Red Mountain, was restored in 2010 and decisions regarding its future are pending. Two lookouts remain nearby on the Yakama Indian Reservation. One, Satus Peak, is staffed every season and the other, Signal Peak, is staffed during periods of high fire danger.
Sulfur mine
In 1929, Wade Dean formed the Glacier Mining Company and filed mining claims to the sulfur on Adams' summit plateau. Beginning in 1932, the first assessment work was done. The initial test pits were dug by hand, but this proved to be dangerous work and an alternative was needed to drill through the up to thick ice cap more safely. The answer was a diamond tipped drilling machine, but, being a heavy machine, it could not be carried up the newly completed horse and mule trail like other supplies. So it winched itself up the mountain using a series of deadman anchors. One hundred sixty-eight pack string trips led by John Perry were made over the course of the mining activities. The crew stayed in the abandoned Forest Service lookout, a tight fit for the usual eight men and their equipment. This problem was alleviated somewhat in the later years of the project when an enclosed lean-to was added to the cabin. Another smaller lean-to was added later. The conditions and weather above could be incredibly variable with the highest temperature of recorded 12 hours before the lowest temperature of . This preliminary mining continued for several years until 1937 when the last crew worked from the summit lookout. In the years following, Dean periodically attempted to restart this venture and in 1946, he and Lt. John Hodgkins made several landings by airplane on the summit ice cap. Although sulfur was found, the amount of the ore that was able to be mined in a season was only enough to make up the cost of getting it off the mountain and was not enough to be competitive. Part of this stemmed from Dean's desire that if operations were expanded, an ore as well as passenger transport system was needed, and his desire that Adams not be significantly scarred by the operation. The project was fully abandoned in 1959. Adams is the only large Cascade volcano to have its summit exploited by commercial miners.
Climate
Because of its remote location and relative inaccessibility, climate records are poor. The nearest weather station, Potato Hill, has only been measuring precipitation since 1982 and temperatures since 1989. Temperature and precipitation records from Glenwood and Trout Lake, both considerably lower in elevation and farther from the mountain, are more complete and go back further, 1948 at Glenwood and 1924 at Trout Lake. Snowfall records from the three snow stations on Adams cover a number of years but are discontinuous and are limited to the northwest side. The Potato Hill station was monitored monthly from 1950 to 1976 and was replaced in 1982 with the automated precipitation sensor. It was upgraded in 1983 to report snow water equivalent and it was upgraded again in 2006 to report snow depth. The Council Pass station was monitored monthly from 1956 to 1978 and the Divide Meadow station was monitored monthly from 1962 to 1978. Divide Meadow was the most representative of the snow depth on the west side of Adams because it was the highest station on the flanks of the mountain.
Like the rest of the high Cascade mountains, Adams receives a large amount of snow, but because it lies farther east than many of its Washington compatriots, it receives less than one might expect for a mountain of its height. Although snowfall is not measured directly, it can be estimated from the snow depth; and since the Potato Hill station was upgraded to report daily snow depth in 2006, there has been an average of of snow every year. Also since 2006, the most snow to fall in a day was (May 19, 2021), in a month, (Dec 2007), and in a year, (2012).
By April, there is, on average, of snow on the ground at Potato Hill. The average monthly snow depth at Potato Hill has not changed much from the records collected from 1950 to 1976, with only a small decrease in January, February, and May and a small increase in March and April. Records from Council Pass and Divide Meadow also show depth increasing throughout the winter, peaking in April. These two stations average a greater amount of snow than Potato Hill, with an average of at Council Pass and at Divide Meadow by April. Divide Meadow generally receives the most snow, with a record depth of in 1972. The snowpack at Potato Hill starts building in late October to early November and the last of the snow generally melts by the beginning of June, but occasionally lingers into July.
Temperatures and precipitation can be highly variable around Adams, due in part to its geographic location astride the Cascade Crest, which gives it more of a continental influence than some of its neighbors. At Potato Hill, December is the coldest month with an average high of and an average low of . July is the hottest month with an average high of and an average low of . The highest recorded temperature is on June 29, 2021 and the lowest is on November 24, 2010. Average annual precipitation is with January being the wettest month at , slightly more than November and December. Potato Hill averages 159 precipitation days with 53 snow days. In Trout Lake, the coldest month is January with an average high of and an average low of . July is the hottest month with an average high of and an average low of . The highest recorded temperature is in 1939 and the lowest is in 1930. Average annual precipitation is with January being the wettest month with . In Glenwood, the coldest month is December with an average high of and an average low of . August is the hottest month with an average high of and an average low of . The highest recorded temperature is in 1994 and the lowest is in 1983. Average annual precipitation is with December being the wettest month with .
The climate of Adams places it and the immediate area in two different level three eco-regions: the Cascades eco-region and the Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills eco-region. Within these two eco-regions are five level four eco-regions: the Western Cascade Mountain Highlands, Cascade Crest Montane Forest, and Cascades Subalpine/Alpine within the Cascades eco-region and the Yakima Plateau and Slopes and Grand Fir Mixed Forest within the Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills eco-region. Adams is unique among the Washington volcanoes in that it is in two level three eco-regions as well as being the only one within the Cascade Crest Montane Forest.
Flora and fauna
Flora
The climate of Adams gives it a large amount of diversity within its forests. On the west side, down in the lower valleys, grand fir and Douglas fir dominate the forest with Western hemlock and Western red cedar as well. On the east side, Douglas fir and ponderosa pine are dominant with some patches of dense lodgepole pine. Western hemlock and Western red cedar also occur, but are limited to creek and river bottoms. Grand fir is present on sites with better moisture retention. At middle elevations on the west side, grand fir is increasingly replaced by Pacific silver fir and noble fir; and on the east side, lodgepole becomes much more prevalent. Above a certain elevation, lodgepole pine also appears in areas on the west side as well. As elevation increases, the forest changes again with subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, and mountain hemlock becoming the dominant tree species on all sides of the mountain. Eventually, the last trees to disappear from the mountainside are the highly cold tolerant whitebark pine and mountain hemlock. Other conifers, 18 species in all, that play a lesser role than the dominant species are Western white pine, Sitka spruce, Western larch, Pacific yew, Alaska cedar, and mountain juniper. Adams is also home to many hardwoods as well including the tree species big leaf maple, Oregon white oak, quaking aspen, black cottonwood, and red alder. Large shrubs/small trees include the dwarf birch, Suksdorf's hawthorn, California hazelnut, bitter cherry, vine maple, Douglas maple, and blue elderberry and contribute to a vibrant fall display.
Big Tree, (also known as Trout Lake Big Tree), is a massive ponderosa pine tree in majestic, old growth pine and fir forests at the southern base of Mount Adams. The tree rises to a lofty with a diameter of , and is one of the largest known ponderosa pine trees in the world. As of 2015, however, the tree has been stressed by attacks from pine beetles.
The large diversity of the flora around Adams is even more apparent in the herbage and, including the tree and shrub species previously mentioned, totals at least 843 species. This is more than any other mountain in the Pacific Northwest. The first extensive list of flora from the area around Mount Adams was published in 1896 by William Suksdorf and Thomas Howell and listed 480 species. Suksdorf had taken it upon himself to catalogue as many species around Adams as he could and the list was the result of his extraordinary collection efforts. This was the most complete list for over a century and has finally been updated by David Beik and Susan McDougall to the current 843 species with hundreds of additional species listed. Adams is home to many rare plants including tall bugbane, Suksdorf's monkeyflower, northern microseris (Microceris borealis), Brewer's potentilla (Potentilla breweri), and mountain blue-eyed grass. The plant diversity is most evident in the many meadows and wetlands on the flanks of Adams. The notable Bird Creek Meadows includes in its famous display, magenta paintbrush, arrowleaf ragwort, penstemons, lupines, monkeyflowers, mountain heathers, and many others. In wetlands, generally at lower elevations, one can find bog blueberry, highbush cranberry, sundew, purple cinquefoil, and flatleaf bladderwort, in addition to many sedges and rushes. Subalpine and alpine meadows and parklands, while not as prolific as the meadows and wetlands of lower elevations, have a display as well with partrigefoot, Cascade rockcress, subalpine buttercup, Sitka valerian, alpine false candytuft, elegant Jacob's ladder, and various buckwheats as prominent players.
Fauna
Adams is home to a fairly wide variety of animal species. Several hoofed mammals call the mountain home: mountain goats, Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, and mule deer. Large carnivores include cougar, black bear, coyote, bobcat, and the Cascade mountain fox, an endemic subspecies of the red fox. There have also been sightings of wolverine and unconfirmed reports of wolves. Many small mammals also make Adams their home. Squirrels and chipmunks are numerous throughout the forest. Douglas squirrels, least chipmunks, and Townsend's chipmunks live throughout the forest with golden-mantled ground squirrels and California ground squirrels occupying drier areas as well. These squirrels are preyed upon by the elusive and secretive pine martens that also call Adams their home. Hoary marmots and pikas make their home on open rocky areas at any altitude while the elusive snowshoe hare lives throughout the forest.
The profusion of wildflowers attracts a large number of pollinators including butterflies such as Apollos, Melitaea, Coenonympha, snowflakes, painted ladies, garden whites, swallowtails, skippers, admirals, sulphurs, blues, and fritillaries.
Many birds call Adams home or a stopover on their migration routes. Songbirds include three species of chickadee, two kinglets, several thrushes, warblers, sparrows, and finches. One unique songbird to the high elevations is the gray-crowned rosy finch, who can be found far up the mountain, well above the tree line. Raptors that live in the forest and meadows include Accipiters, red-tailed hawks, golden and bald eagles, ospreys, great horned owls, and falcons. The many snags around the mountain provide forage and nesting habitat for the many species of woodpeckers that live there including the hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, and white-headed woodpecker. Jays such as the Steller's jay and Canada jay are common and the Canada jay is an especially familiar character, as they will boldly investigate campers and hikers. Another familiar character of the higher elevation forests is the Clark's nutcracker with its distinctive call. Swallows and swifts are frequently seen flying just above the water of lakes and some larger streams. Common mergansers and several other species of water birds can be found on many of the lakes as well. The American dipper with its unique way of bobbing about along streams and then ducking into the water is a common sight. Several grouse species, the sooty, spruce, and ruffed grouse and the white-tailed ptarmigan, call the forests and the lower slopes of the mountain home.
The streams and lakes around Adams offer a number of fish for the angler to seek out. The two most common species, eastern brook trout and rainbow trout (Columbia River redband trout), are in nearly every lake and stream. Brown trout and cutthroat trout appear in most of the lakes in the High Lakes Area and three lakes are home to tiger trout. All the lakes in the High Lakes Area are periodically replanted with varying species of trout. Bull trout can be found in the upper reaches of the Klickitat and Lewis Rivers. Westslope cutthroat trout can be found the Klickitat and cutthroat trout are found in the Lewis River and upper reaches of the Cispus River. Whitefish can be found in the Klickitat, Lewis, and Cispus Rivers. Because of barriers to fish passage (dams on the Lewis and Cowlitz Rivers, falls on the White Salmon River), the only river where anadromous fishes can reach the streams around Adams is the Klickitat River. Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead, in several different runs, make for the upper reaches of the Klickitat, including those around Adams, every year.
The Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge lies at the base of Mount Adams. The refuge covers and contains conifer forests, grasslands, and shallow wetlands. Protected wildlife includes deer, elk, beaver, coyote, otter, small rodents, bald eagle, greater sandhill crane, and the Oregon spotted frog. It and the lands nearby are home to several rare and threatened species of plants and animals including the previously mentioned Oregon spotted frog and greater sandhill crane, Suksdorf's milk vetch, rosy owl's-clover, Oregon coyote thistle, Mardon skipper, peregrine falcon, and Western gray squirrel.
See also
Geology of the Pacific Northwest
List of mountain peaks of North America
List of mountain peaks of the United States
List of Ultras of the United States
List of volcanoes in the United States
List of mountain peaks of Washington (state)
List of highest points in Washington by county
References
Further reading
External links
North American 3000 m summits
Stratovolcanoes of the United States
Subduction volcanoes
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Volcanoes of Skamania County, Washington
Mountains of Skamania County, Washington
Mountains of Yakima County, Washington
Cascade Volcanoes
Cascade Range
Mountains of Washington (state)
Volcanoes of Washington (state)
Potentially active volcanoes
VEI-2 volcanoes
Pleistocene stratovolcanoes
Volcanoes of the United States
Stratovolcanoes of Washington
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh%20Guards
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Welsh Guards
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The Welsh Guards (WG; ), part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. Shortly after the regiment's formation, it was deployed to France where it took part in the fighting on the Western Front until the end of the war in November 1918. During the inter-war years, the regiment undertook garrison duties in the United Kingdom, except between 1929 and 1930 when it deployed to Egypt, and late 1939 when it deployed to Gibraltar.
The regiment was expanded to three battalions during the Second World War, and served in France, North Africa, Tunisia, Italy and Western Europe. In the post war period, the regiment was reduced to a single battalion and saw service in Palestine, Egypt, West Germany, Aden, Northern Ireland, and Cyprus. In 1982, the regiment took part in the Falklands War. In the 21st century, the regiment has deployed as peacekeepers to Bosnia, and on operations to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
History
Creation and First World War service
The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of George V in order to include Wales in the national component to the Foot Guards, "..though the order to raise the regiment had been given by the King to Earl Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, on 26 February 1915." They were the last of the Guards to be created, with the Irish Guards coming into being in 1900. Just three days later, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards mounted its first King's Guard at Buckingham Palace on 1 March 1915 – St David's Day.
On 17 August 1915, the 1st Battalion sailed for France to join the Guards Division to commence its participation in the First World War. Its first battle was some months after its initial arrival, at Loos on 27 September 1915. The regiment's first Victoria Cross came two years later in July 1917 awarded to Sergeant Robert Bye.
Inter-war years
Soon after the end of the war in 1918 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards returned home and where they would be based for much of the inter-war period, performing training and ceremonial duties, such as the Changing of the Guard and Trooping the Colour. In 1929, 1st Welsh Guards deployed to Egypt where they joined the Cairo Brigade where they stayed for only a brief period of time, returning home in 1930. Just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, 1st Welsh Guards were dispatched to Gibraltar where they remained upon the outbreak of war in September 1939. The 2nd Battalion, Welsh Guards was created in 1939.
Second World War
The Welsh Guards were increased to three battalions during the Second World War. The 1st Battalion fought valiantly in all the campaigns of the North-West European Theatre. The 2nd Battalion, part of the 20th Independent Infantry Brigade (Guards), fought briefly in Boulogne, France, in late May 1940 whilst the 1st fought in the battles of Belgium and France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) GHQ Troops. In May 1940 at the Battle of Arras, the Welsh Guards gained their second Victoria Cross by Lieutenant Christopher Furness, who was subsequently killed in action. The 1st Battalion was subsequently part of the retreat to Dunkirk, where they were involved in the legendary Dunkirk evacuation that saw nearly 340,000 Allied troops return to the United Kingdom, against all odds.
The 3rd Battalion, Welsh Guards, which was formed at Beavers Lane Camp in 1941, fought throughout the arduous North African Campaign, in the Tunisia Campaign and the Italian campaigns in 1943.
While they battled on in those theatres the 1st and 2nd joined the Guards Armoured Division, with the 1st Battalion being infantry, assigned to the 32nd Guards Brigade, and the 2nd Battalion being armoured, part of the 6th Guards Armoured Brigade. The two battalions worked closely, being the first troops to re-enter Brussels on 3 September 1944 after an advance of 100 miles in one day in what was described as 'an armoured lash unequalled for speed in this or any other war' led by Major-General Sir Allan Henry Adair, the divisional commander.
Postwar
Shortly after the end of the war the 3rd Battalion was disbanded while the 2nd Battalion was placed in suspended animation. In 1947 the 1st Welsh Guards were dispatched to Palestine, then under British control, while it was in a volatile and violent situation. The Welsh Guards were part of the 1st Guards Brigade and performed internal security (IS) duties while there, before leaving in 1948 during the British withdrawal and when the state of Israel was declared. The regiment had its colour trooped for the first time in 1949.
In 1950, the regiment arrived in West Germany as part of the 4th Guards Brigade, part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). In 1952 the regiment joined the Berlin Brigade in West Berlin, an enclave in Communist East Germany during tense times between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact. The Welsh Guards returned home the following year and soon after deployed to the British-controlled Suez Canal Zone (SEZ) in Egypt. As previously in Palestine, the Welsh Guards' time in Egypt was quite turbulent. They performed internal security duties there. They remained in the SEZ until the British withdrawal in 1956.
In 1960, the regiment deployed to West Germany again, and in 1965 to Aden, another part of the declining British Empire. They were to return home the following year. In 1970 the regiment arrived again in West Germany, this time at Münster, as part of 4th Armoured Brigade.
In 1972, came deployment to Northern Ireland, then embroiled in violence later known as "The Troubles". During its tour of duty the regiment lost Sergeant Phillip Price in a terrorist attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on the Oxford Street Bus Depot in Belfast, one of a series of terrorist attacks in the city which became known as "Bloody Friday". The following year the Welsh Guards were dispatched to the province again and during this period lost Guardsman David Roberts in a landmine explosion.
Between October 1975 and March 1976 the Welsh Guards were part of the British contingent of the United Nations force deployed to Cyprus in the aftermath of the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974. In 1977 the regiment arrived in West Berlin again, and then in 1979 once more in the midst of the volatile situation in Northern Ireland, they lost Guardsman Paul Fryer to a booby trap bomb. On 9 July 1981, Daniel Barrett, aged 15 years, was sitting on the garden wall of his home in Havana Court, Ardoyne, North Belfast, when he was shot dead by a soldier from the Welsh Guards.
Falklands War
In 1982, the Welsh Guards (CO Lieutenant-Colonel John Rickett) formed part of the 5th Infantry Brigade of the British Task Force sent to liberate the Falkland Islands from Argentinian occupation during the Falklands War. On 8 June they were on board the ill-fated Sir Galahad, which was accompanied by Sir Tristram, waiting to be landed at Bluff Cove though they were delayed from doing so. However, attack was imminent after the landing craft were spotted by Argentinian observers. At 2:00 am, five Dagger and five A-4 Skyhawk aircraft were seen over the Falklands. Shortly afterwards, the Daggers were the first to attack. Only a short time later, the Skyhawks reached Fitzroy, with three of the aircraft hitting the Sir Galahad two or more times with horrific consequences. Sir Tristram was also hit which killed two crewmen, both ships were ablaze. The attack on Sir Galahad culminated in high casualties, 48 dead, 32 of them Welsh Guards, 11 other Army personnel and five crewmen from Sir Galahad herself. There were many wounded, many suffering from horrendous burns caused by fire from the burning ships, the best known being Simon Weston. The burnt-out Sir Galahad was later scuttled at sea to allow her to become a war grave. On 13-14 June, the remainder of the battalion, reinforced by two companies of Royal Marines from 40 Commando, were given the objective of capturing Sapper Hill in the final stages of the Battle of Mount Tumbledown. Following a firefight at their helicopter landing zone, the force moved on to Sapper Hill but found it abandoned, thus taking the last defensible position before Stanley.
Present day
In 1984, the Welsh Guards arrived in Hohne, West Germany as part of the 22nd Armoured Brigade and two years later arrived in Northern Ireland for another tour-of-duty before returning to Germany. The regiment returned home to Elizabeth Barracks, Pirbright in 1988. In 1989 The Welsh Guards conducted a six-month operational roulement Battalion tour of Belize from April to October 1989 and in 1992 arrived in Northern Ireland for a two-year deployment as part of 8th Infantry Brigade. During their tour of Northern Ireland the BBC filmed the documentary In the Company of Men by Molly Dineen, which filmed a deployment to the heavily nationalist County Fermanagh during the regiment's tour.
On 6 September 1997, 12 Guardsmen of the Welsh Guards led by the adjutant of the 1st Battalion, "The Prince of Wales" Company, Captain Richard Williams MC, hero in 1993 of the Khmer Rouge incident in which he was captured defending civilians in Cambodia, were pulled from security patrols in South Armagh, Northern Ireland and together with members of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery escorted the casket of Diana, Princess of Wales, from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.
In 2002, the regiment arrived in Bosnia as part of SFOR, a NATO-led force intended to ensure peace and stability in the Balkan nation. During their deployment the Queen Mother died. A number of officers of the Welsh Guards stood in vigil around the Queen Mother's coffin which was lying in state in Westminster Hall, one of a number of regiments to do so. The regiment returned home from its deployment to Bosnia later in the year. It was involved in Operation Fresco, the British armed forces response to the firefighters strike; the Welsh Guards covered the Midlands area, primarily in Birmingham using the antiquated Army Green Goddess fire engines.
In 2003, the Welsh Guards experienced a unique moment in their history when they moved from Aldershot to RAF St Athan, Wales.
In 2005, the Welsh Guards were part of Operation Telic and were based in Basra, Southern Iraq. Here they used valuable relationship-building skills, learnt from their time in Bosnia, to build a bond between the regiment and the locals.
In 2006, the regiment returned to London as a public duties battalion. It will alternate this role with the Grenadier Guards. The regiment deployed to Bosnia in October 2006, replacing the 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment. In November 2007, the regiment deployed to Belize at short notice to take part in jungle warfare training, they returned just before Christmas.
In 2008, the Welsh Guards moved from London to Lille Barracks in Aldershot, in preparation for deployment on Operation Herrick 10 in Afghanistan. The regiment departed in April 2009. Six members of the battalion were killed, among them a platoon commander, a company commander and the battalion commander. It was the first time since the Korean War that a single battalion had lost officers at these three key levels of leadership. The six-month tour was chronicled in the book Dead Men Risen; the Welsh Guards and the Defining Story of Britain's War in Afghanistan by Toby Harnden, which won the Orwell Prize for Books 2012.
On 1 July 2009, Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe MBE was killed along with Trooper Joshua Hammond of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, following the detonation of an IED in Afghanistan under their BvS 10 Viking during Operation Panther's Claw. Lieutenant-Colonel Thorneloe was the highest ranking British Army officer killed since Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert "H" Jones, VC OBE, in the Falkland Islands.
As a result of the Army 2020 Refine reforms, the battalion moved to Combermere Barracks which was the former home to the armoured regiment of the Household Cavalry.
Museums
There are two museums with artefacts and memorabilia about the regiment. The Welsh Guards Museum is located in Oswestry, Shropshire. The Guards Museum, located in Wellington Barracks in London, is home of the five regiments of Foot Guards (the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, and Welsh Guards).
Training
Recruits to the Guards Division go through a grueling training programme at the Infantry Training Centre (ITC). The training is two weeks more than the training for the Regular line infantry regiments of the British Army; the extra training, carried out throughout the course, is devoted to drill and ceremonies.
Colonels-in-Chief
King George V assumed the colonelcy-in-chief of the regiment on its formation, and subsequent monarchs have also been colonel-in-chief.
Regimental Colonels
Regimental colonels have been:
Field Marshal The Prince of Wales , 1919–1936
Colonel William Murray Threipland , 1937–1942
Brigadier General The Earl of Gowrie , 1942–1953
Field Marshal The Duke of Edinburgh , 1953–1975
Field Marshal The Prince of Wales , 1975–2022
Major The Prince of Wales , 2022–present
Regimental Lieutenant Colonels
The Regimental Lieutenant Colonels have included:
1915–1917: Col. The Lord Harlech
1917–1920: Col. William Murray Threipland
1920–1924: Col. The Hon. Alexander G. A. Hore-Ruthven
1924–1928: Col. T. R. C. Price
1928–1934: Col. R. E. K. Leatham
1934–1938: Col. Merton Beckwith-Smith
1938–1939: Col. William A. F. L. Fox-Pitt
1939–?: Col. R. E. K. Leatham
1957–1960: Col. Henry C. L. Dimsdale
1960–1964: Col. Charles A. T. Leatham
1964–1967: Col. Mervyn C. Thursby-Pelham
1967–1972: Col. Vivian G. Wallace
1972–1976: Col. James W. T. Malcolm
1976–1978: Col. Michael R. Lee
1978–1982: Col. Samuel C. C. Gaussen
1982–1987: Col. David R. P. Lewis
1987–1989: Lt.-Col. Charles J. Dawnay
1989–1994: Brig. John F. Rickett
1994–2000: Maj.-Gen. Christopher F. Drewry
2000–2005: Maj.-Gen. C. Redmond Watt
2005–2010: Col. Alexander J. E. Malcolm
2010–2015: Maj.-Gen. Robert H. Talbot Rice
2015–2021: Maj.-Gen. Richard J. A. Stanford
2021–present: Col. G. R. Harris
Traditions and affiliations
The Welsh Guards and other Guards regiments have a long-standing connection to The Parachute Regiment. Guardsman who have completed P company are transferred into the Guards Parachute Platoon which is currently attached to 3 PARA, maintaining a tradition of the No 1 (Guards) Independent Parachute Company—the original Pathfinder Group of the 16th Parachute Brigade, now renamed the 16th Air Assault Brigade.
The 3rd Battalion the Royal Welsh from the Army Reserve is paired with 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and will deploy on future Operations with them.
One way to distinguish between the regiments of Foot Guards is the spacing of buttons on the tunic. The Welsh Guards, the fifth regiment in seniority, have buttons arranged in groups of five. The other distinctive feature of their uniform is the presence of a white, green and white plume (hackle), worn on the left side of the bearskin.
In 1810, the British Army introduced metal rank insignia for field officers (majors and colonels) and generals. This was an arrangement of Stars and Crowns. The "Star" (nicknamed a "pip" in line regiments) was actually a raised diamond shape similar to the Knight Grand Cross star of the Order of the Garter. In 1855 metal insignia was introduced for subaltern officers (lieutenants and captains) and the star was changed to that of the Order of the Bath. In 1855 the Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards were granted Order of the Garter stars and the Scots-Fusilier Guards received Order of the Thistle stars for their service in the Crimean War. In 1919 the Irish Guards and Welsh Guards, the two newest regiments of the Brigade of Guards, received distinctive stars of their own for their service in World War One. The Irish Guards were granted the Order of St Patrick and the Welsh Guards were granted the Order of the Garter.
Battle honours
The Welsh Guards have been awarded the following battle honours:
First World War
Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Ginchy, Flers Courcelette, Morval, Ypres 1917, Pilckem, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, Bapaume 1918, Arras 1918, Albert 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Canal Du Nord, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1915–18
Second World War
Defence of Arras, Boulogne 1940, St Omer-La Bassée, Bourguébus Ridge, Cagny, Mont Pincon, Brussels, Hechtel, Nederrijn, Rhineland, Lingen, North-West Europe 1940 '44–45, Fondouk, Djebel el Rhorab, Tunis, Hammam Lif, North Africa 1943, Monte Ornito, Liri Valley, Monte Piccolo, Capture of Perugia, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Gothic Line, Battaglia, Italy 1944–45
Post Second World War
Falkland Islands 1982
Victoria Cross recipients
Sergeant Robert Bye
Lieutenant Christopher Furness
Order of precedence
Alliances
– 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
–
See also
Band of the Welsh Guards
Notes
References
Further reading
L. F. Ellis, Welsh Guards at War (1946)
Hein, David. (2001) "Hugh Lister (1901–1944): Priest, Labor Leader, Combatant Officer", Anglican and Episcopal History 70: p. 353–74.
Ward, Charles Humble Dudley (1920), History of the Welsh Guards
External links
Official Website
The Guards Museum
The Welsh Guards Collection
Welsh Guards Association
Welsh Guards Reunited
Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe – Daily Telegraph obituary
Welsh regiments of the British Army
Guards regiments
Military units and formations established in 1915
Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Falklands War
Regiments of the British Army in World War II
Regiments of the British Army in World War I
Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Military units and formations of the Iraq War
1915 establishments in the United Kingdom
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover%20crop
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Cover crop
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In agriculture, cover crops are plants that are planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. Cover crops manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity and wildlife in an agroecosysteman ecological system managed and shaped by humans. Cover crops can increase microbial activity in the soil, which has a positive effect on nitrogen availability, nitrogen uptake in target crops, and crop yields. Cover crops may be an off-season crop planted after harvesting the cash crop. Cover crops are nurse crops in that they increase the survival of the main crop being harvested, and are often grown over the winter. In the United States, cover cropping may cost as much as $35 per acre.
Soil erosion
Although cover crops can perform multiple functions in an agroecosystem simultaneously, they are often grown for the sole purpose of preventing soil erosion. Soil erosion is a process that can irreparably reduce the productive capacity of an agroecosystem. Cover crops reduce soil loss by improving soil structure and increasing infiltration, protecting the soil surface, scattering raindrop energy, and reducing the velocity of the movement of water over the soil surface. Dense cover crop stands physically slow down the velocity of rainfall before it contacts the soil surface, preventing soil splashing and erosive surface runoff. Additionally, vast cover crop root networks help anchor the soil in place and increase soil porosity, producing suitable habitat networks for soil macrofauna. It keeps the enrichment of the soil good for the next few years.
Soil fertility management
One of the primary uses of cover crops is to increase soil fertility. These types of cover crops are referred to as "green manure". They are used to manage a range of soil macronutrients and micronutrients. Of the various nutrients, the impact that cover crops have on nitrogen management has received the most attention from researchers and farmers because nitrogen is often the most limiting nutrient in crop production.
Often, green manure crops are grown for a specific period, and then plowed under before reaching full maturity to improve soil fertility and quality. The stalks left block the soil from being eroded.
Green manure crops are commonly leguminous, meaning they are part of the pea family, Fabaceae. This family is unique in that all of the species in it set pods, such as bean, lentil, lupins and alfalfa. Leguminous cover crops are typically high in nitrogen and can often provide the required quantity of nitrogen for crop production. In conventional farming, this nitrogen is typically applied in chemical fertilizer form. In organic farming, nitrogen inputs may take the form of organic fertilizers, compost, cover crop seed, and fixation by legume cover crops. This quality of cover crops is called fertilizer replacement value.
Another quality unique to leguminous cover crops is that they form symbiotic relationships with the rhizobial bacteria that reside in legume root nodules. Lupins is nodulated by the soil microorganism Bradyrhizobium sp. (Lupinus). Bradyrhizobia are encountered as microsymbionts in other leguminous crops (Argyrolobium, Lotus, Ornithopus, Acacia, Lupinus) of Mediterranean origin. These bacteria convert biologically unavailable atmospheric nitrogen gas () to biologically available ammonium () through the process of biological nitrogen fixation. In general, cover crops increase soil microbial activity, which has a positive effect on nitrogen availability in the soil, nitrogen uptake in target crops, and crop yields.
Prior to the advent of the Haber–Bosch process, an energy-intensive method developed to carry out industrial nitrogen fixation and create chemical nitrogen fertilizer, most nitrogen introduced to ecosystems arose through biological nitrogen fixation. Some scientists believe that widespread biological nitrogen fixation, achieved mainly through the use of cover crops, is the only alternative to industrial nitrogen fixation in the effort to maintain or increase future food production levels. Industrial nitrogen fixation has been criticized as an unsustainable source of nitrogen for food production due to its reliance on fossil fuel energy and the environmental impacts associated with chemical nitrogen fertilizer use in agriculture. Such widespread environmental impacts include nitrogen fertilizer losses into waterways, which can lead to eutrophication (nutrient loading) and ensuing hypoxia (oxygen depletion) of large bodies of water.
An example of this is in the Mississippi Valley Basin, where years of fertilizer nitrogen loading into the watershed from agricultural production have resulted in an annual summer hypoxic "dead zone" off the Gulf of Mexico that reached an area of over 22,000 square kilometers in 2017. The ecological complexity of marine life in this zone has been diminishing as a consequence.
As well as bringing nitrogen into agroecosystems through biological nitrogen fixation, types of cover crops known as "catch crops" are used to retain and recycle soil nitrogen already present. The catch crops take up surplus nitrogen remaining from fertilization of the previous crop, preventing it from being lost through leaching, or gaseous denitrification or volatilization.
Catch crops are typically fast-growing annual cereal species adapted to scavenge available nitrogen efficiently from the soil. The nitrogen fixed in catch crop biomass is released back into the soil once the cash crop is incorporated as a green manure or otherwise begins to decompose.
An example of green manure use comes from Nigeria, where the cover crop Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean) has been found to increase the availability of phosphorus in soil after a farmer applies rock phosphate.
Soil quality management
Cover crops can also improve soil quality by increasing soil organic matter levels through the input of cover crop biomass over time. Increased soil organic matter enhances soil structure as well as the water and nutrient holding and buffering capacities of the soil. It can also lead to increased soil carbon sequestration, which has been promoted as a strategy to help offset the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
Soil quality is managed to produce optimum conditions for crops to flourish. The principal factors affecting soil quality are soil salination, pH, microorganism balance, and the prevention of soil contamination. It is noted that if soil quality is properly managed and maintained, it forms the foundation for a healthy and productive environment. One can design and manage a crop that will produce a healthy environment for quite some time.
Water management
By reducing soil erosion, cover crops often also reduce both the rate and quantity of water that drains off the field, which would normally pose environmental risks to waterways and ecosystems downstream. Cover crop biomass acts as a physical barrier between rainfall and the soil surface, allowing raindrops to steadily trickle down through the soil profile. Also, as stated above, cover crop root growth results in the formation of soil pores, which, in addition to enhancing soil macrofauna habitat provides pathways for water to filter through the soil profile rather than draining off the field as surface flow. With increased water infiltration, the potential for soil water storage and the recharge of aquifers can be improved.
Just before cover crops are killed (by such practices including mowing, tilling, discing, rolling, or herbicide application) they contain a large amount of moisture. When the cover crop is incorporated into the soil, or left on the soil surface, it often increases soil moisture. In agroecosystems where water for crop production is in short supply, cover crops can be used as a mulch to conserve water by shading and cooling the soil surface. This reduces the evaporation of soil moisture. In other situations farmers try to dry the soil out as quickly as possible going into the planting season. Here prolonged soil moisture conservation can be problematic.
While cover crops can help to conserve water, in temperate regions (particularly in years with below average precipitation) they can draw down soil water supply in the spring, particularly if climatic growing conditions are good. In these cases, just before crop planting, farmers often face a tradeoff between the benefits of increased cover crop growth and the drawbacks of reduced soil moisture for cash crop production that season. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen is balancing this application.
Weed management
Thick cover crop stands often compete well with weeds during the cover crop growth period, and can prevent most germinated weed seeds from completing their life cycle and reproducing. If the cover crop is flattened down on the soil surface rather than incorporated into the soil as a green manure after its growth is terminated, it can form a nearly impenetrable mat. This drastically reduces light transmittance to weed seeds, which in many cases reduces weed seed germination rates. Furthermore, even when weed seeds germinate, they often run out of stored energy for growth before building the necessary structural capacity to break through the cover crop mulch layer. This is often termed the cover crop smother effect.
Some cover crops suppress weeds both during growth and after death. During growth these cover crops compete vigorously with weeds for available space, light, and nutrients, and after death they smother the next flush of weeds by forming a mulch layer on the soil surface. For example, researchers found that when using Melilotus officinalis (yellow sweetclover) as a cover crop in an improved fallow system (where a fallow period is intentionally improved by any number of different management practices, including the planting of cover crops), weed biomass only constituted between 1–12% of total standing biomass at the end of the cover crop growing season. Furthermore, after cover crop termination, the yellow sweetclover residues suppressed weeds to levels 75–97% lower than in fallow (no yellow sweetclover) systems.
In addition to competition-based or physical weed suppression, certain cover crops are known to suppress weeds through allelopathy. This occurs when certain biochemical cover crop compounds are degraded that happen to be toxic to, or inhibit seed germination of, other plant species. Some well known examples of allelopathic cover crops are Secale cereale (rye), Vicia villosa (hairy vetch), Trifolium pratense (red clover), Sorghum bicolor (sorghum-sudangrass), and species in the family Brassicaceae, particularly mustards. In one study, rye cover crop residues were found to have provided between 80% and 95% control of early season broadleaf weeds when used as a mulch during the production of different cash crops such as soybean, tobacco, corn, and sunflower. In general, cover crops need not compete with cash crops, as they can be grown and terminated early on the season before other crops are established.
In a 2010 study released by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), scientists examined how rye seeding rates and planting patterns affected cover crop production. The results show that planting more pounds per acre of rye increased the cover crop's production as well as decreased the amount of weeds. The same was true when scientists tested seeding rates on legumes and oats; a higher density of seeds planted per acre decreased the amount of weeds and increased the yield of legume and oat production. The planting patterns, which consisted of either traditional rows or grid patterns, did not seem to have a significant impact on the cover crop's production or on the weed production in either cover crop. The ARS scientists concluded that increased seeding rates could be an effective method of weed control.
Disease management
In the same way that allelopathic properties of cover crops can suppress weeds, they can also break disease cycles and reduce populations of bacterial and fungal diseases, and parasitic nematodes. Species in the family Brassicaceae, such as mustards, have been widely shown to suppress fungal disease populations through the release of naturally occurring toxic chemicals during the degradation of glucosinolate compounds in their plant cell tissues.
Pest management
Some cover crops are used as so-called "trap crops", to attract pests away from the crop of value and toward what the pest sees as a more favorable habitat. Trap crop areas can be established within crops, within farms, or within landscapes. In many cases, the trap crop is grown during the same season as the food crop being produced. The limited area occupied by these trap crops can be treated with a pesticide once pests are drawn to the trap in large enough numbers to reduce pest populations. In some organic systems, farmers drive over the trap crop with a large vacuum-based implement to physically pull the pests off the plants and out of the field. This system has been recommended for use to help control the lygus bugs in organic strawberry production. Another example of trap crops is nematode-resistant white mustard (Sinapis alba) and radish (Raphanus sativus). They can be grown after a main (cereal) crop and trap nematodes, for example, the beet cyst nematode and the Columbian root knot nematode. When grown, nematodes hatch and are attracted to the roots. After entering the roots they cannot reproduce in the root due to a hypersensitive resistance reaction of the plant. Hence the nematode population is greatly reduced, by 70–99%, depending on species and cultivation time.
Other cover crops are used to attract natural predators of pests by imitating elements of their habitat. This is a form of biological control known as habitat augmentation, but achieved with the use of cover crops. Findings on the relationship between cover crop presence and predator–pest population dynamics have been mixed, suggesting the need for detailed information on specific cover crop types and management practices to best complement a given integrated pest management strategy. For example, the predator mite Euseius tularensis (Congdon) is known to help control the pest citrus thrips in Central California citrus orchards. Researchers found that the planting of several different leguminous cover crops (such as bell bean, woollypod vetch, New Zealand white clover, and Austrian winter pea) provided sufficient pollen as a feeding source to cause a seasonal increase in E. tularensis populations, which with good could potentially introduce enough predatory pressure to reduce pest populations of citrus thrips.
Biodiversity and wildlife
Although cover crops are normally used to serve one of the above discussed purposes often serve as habitat for wildlife. The use of cover crops adds at least one more dimension of plant diversity to a cash crop rotation. Since the cover crop is typically not a crop of value, its management is usually less intensive, providing a window of "soft" human influence on the farm. This relatively "hands-off" management, combined with the increased on-farm heterogeneity produced by the establishment of cover crops, increases the likelihood that a more complex trophic structure will develop to support a higher level of wildlife diversity.
In one study, researchers compared arthropod and songbird species composition and field use between conventionally and cover cropped cotton fields in the Southern United States. The cover cropped cotton fields were planted to clover, which was left to grow in between cotton rows throughout the early cotton growing season (stripcover cropping). During the migration and breeding season, they found that songbird densities were 7–20 times higher in the cotton fields with an integrated clover cover crop than in the conventional cotton fields. Arthropod abundance and biomass was also higher in the clover c-cover fields throughout much of the songbird breeding season, which was attributed to an increased supply of flower nectar from the clover. The clover cover crop enhanced songbird habitat by providing covering sites, and an increased food source from higher arthropod populations.
See also
Agroecology
Allelopathy
Biological control
Green manure
Ground cover
Nitrogen cycle
Nitrogen fixation
Organic matter
Soil contamination
References
Further reading
SARE National. Topic: Cover Crops.
Midwest Cover Crops Council. Resources for growers, researchers, and educators.
External links
"Cover Crops", Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, vol. 2, ed. by L. H. Bailey (1911). A short encyclopedia article, early primary source on varieties and uses of cover crops.
Agricultural soil science
Crops
Nitrogen-fixing crops
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism%20of%20the%20Catholic%20Church
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Criticism of the Catholic Church
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During its long history, the Catholic Church has been subject to criticism regarding various beliefs and practices. Within the church, this often involves opposition or support for practices associated with traditionalist Catholicism. In the past, different interpretations of scripture and various other critiques contributed to schisms such as the schism with the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church has also been criticized for some of its historical actions, such as the church's promotion of the Crusades, and at various times by nationalist groups who feared the influence of Catholicism in undermining their regime. Furthermore, the Catholic Church has been criticized for not practicing ordination of women to the priesthood, its handling of incidents of sexual abuse, and various inter-faith interactions.
Internal
Liturgical reforms
Since 1970, the Mass has been celebrated in the local language of where it is celebrated, and the Mass in Latin less frequently. A minority of Catholics prefer the Mass to be celebrated in Latin, and eschew celebrations of the Mass of Paul VI. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI loosened some restrictions on use of the Latin Mass with the aim of healing the rift that had come about between advocates of the Novus Ordo Mass and advocates of the Tridentine Mass. Pope Francis rescinded many of the provisions of Summorum Pontificum with the promulgation of Traditionis custodes in 2021.
Ordination of women
The teaching of the Catholic Church on ordination, as expressed in the Code of Canon Law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the apostolic letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis, is that "only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination". According to Roman Catholic thinking, the priest is acting 'in persona Christi' (that is, in the Person of Christ). In 1979, Sister Theresa Kane, then president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, challenged Pope John Paul II from the podium at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., to include women "in all ministries of our Church". In his Apostolic Letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis (1994), Pope John Paul II said the "Priestly ordination, … has in the Catholic Church from the beginning always been reserved to men alone." He cited the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (under Pope Paul VI) Declaration Inter Insigniores on the question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood, and declared that "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful." The reasons given included: "the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church."
Several Catholic groups, nonetheless, say the matter should still be open for discussion, and dissenters do not regard Ordinatio sacerdotalis as definitive church teaching. But in June 2018 Pope Francis said, "We cannot do this with Holy Orders (women priests) because dogmatically we cannot. Pope John Paul II was clear and closed the door and I'm not going to go back on that. It [John Paul's decision] was serious, it was not a capricious thing." But from the start of his papacy Francis has pointed out that "sacramental power is too closely identified with power in general. It must be remembered that when we speak of sacramental power "we are in the realm of function, not that of dignity or holiness'" (EG 104). Nevertheless, since the Second Vatican Council, women have taken an increased role in the church. In 1994, the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments formally interpreted the 1983 Code of Canon Law, stating that women could assist at Mass as acolytes or altar servers. Women also serve as lectors and extraordinary ministers. Critics see the church's position on the ordination of women as a sign that women are not equal to men in the Catholic Church, though the church rejects this inference. Pope Francis organized a Study Commission on the Women's Diaconate to review and study the history of women's service to the church, such as that of deaconesses. The Commission submitted its report to Pope Francis in January 2019.
Finances
Concerns about usury included the 19th-century Rothschild loans to the Holy See and 16th-century objections over abuse of the zinskauf clause. This was particularly problematic because the charging of interest (all interest, not just excessive interest) was a violation of doctrine at the time, such as that reflected in the 1745 encyclical Vix pervenit. As a result, work-arounds were employed. For example, in the 15th century, the Medici Bank lent money to the Vatican which was lax about repayment. Rather than charging interest, "the Medici overcharged the pope on the silks and brocades, the jewels and other commodities they supplied." However, the 1917 Code of Canon Law switched position and allowed church monies to be used to accrue interest.
Italian priest Pino Puglisi refused money from Mafia members when offered it for the traditional feast day celebrations, and also resisted the Mafia in other ways, for which he was martyred in 1993.
In 2014, Pope Francis criticized the practice of charging altarage fees or honorariums for things like baptisms, blessings, and Mass intentions (such as Masses for the dead).
In 2018, Pope Francis criticized the selling of Masses for the dead, stating, "the Mass is not paid for, redemption is free, if I want to make an offering, well and good, but Mass is free."
Interfaith
Judaism
In the Middle Ages, religion played a major role in driving antisemitism. Adversus Judaeos ("against the Judeans") are a series of fourth century homilies by John Chrysostom directed to members of the church of Antioch of his time, which continued to observe Jewish feasts and fasts. Critical of this, he cast Judaism and the synagogues in his city in a critical and negative light. The use of hyperbole and other rhetorical devices painted a harsh and negative picture of the Jews. This was largely ignored until the Jewish anti-Christian teachings began to surface in Muslim Andalusia in the 11th and 12th centuries. According to historian William I. Brustein, his sermons against Jews gave further momentum to the idea that Jews are collectively responsible for the death of Jesus. "Over the course of time, Christians began to accept ... that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for killing Jesus. According to this interpretation, both the Jews present at Jesus' death and the Jewish people collectively and for all time, have committed the sin of deicide, or God-killing. For 1900 years of Christian-Jewish history, the charge of deicide has led to hatred, violence against and murder of Jews in Europe and America."
In 1998, Pope John Paul II apologized for the failure of Catholics to help Jews during the Holocaust and acknowledged that Christian antisemitism might have made easier Nazi persecution of the Jews, whom the Pope called "our elder brothers" in the faith.
The 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, allowing a wider use of the Tridentine Mass, raised concerns in the Jewish community regarding the Good Friday liturgy which contained a prayer "For the conversion of the Jews" referring to Jewish "blindness" and prays for them to be "delivered from their darkness." The American Jewish Committee said that this raises "negative implications that some in the Jewish community and beyond have drawn concerning the motu proprio." Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 replaced the prayer in the 1962 Missal with a newly composed prayer that makes no mention of blindness or darkness.
Russian Orthodoxy
In 2007, the then Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow objected to what he termed "proselytizing" by clerics of the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church. Catholic officials replied that their efforts in Russia were not aimed at Eastern Orthodox believers, but were reaching out to the vast majority of Russians who are not churchgoers. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rejected the characterization of "proselytizing" and said that respect towards non-Catholic Christians must not negate the possibility of conversion, if an individual should so chose.
Protestantism
Common factors that played a role during the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation included the rise of nationalism, simony, the appointment of Cardinal-nephews, the sale of indulgences, and other corruption in the Roman Curia and other ecclesiastical hierarchy, as well as the impact of humanism, the new learning of the Renaissance, the epistemological shift between the schola moderna and schola antiqua within scholasticism, and the Western Schism that eroded loyalty to the Papacy.
Key events of the period include Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses (1517), the Council of Trent (1545–1563), the excommunication of Elizabeth I (1570), the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the adoption of the Gregorian calendar under Pope Gregory XIII, the French Wars of Religion, the Long Turkish War, the final phases of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), and the formation of the last Holy League by Innocent XI during the Great Turkish War.
Protestants hold doctrinal differences with the Catholic Church in a number of areas, including the understanding of the meaning of the word "faith" and how it relates to "good works" in terms of salvation, and a difference of opinion regarding the concept of "justification"; also regarding the Catholic Church's belief in sacred tradition as a source of revelation complementary to sacred scripture. Some scholars of Early Christianity are adherents of the New Perspective on Paul and so believe sola fide is a misinterpretation and that Paul was actually speaking about laws (such as circumcision, dietary laws, Sabbath, temple rituals, etc.) that were considered essential for the Jews of the time.
Islam
In September 2006, Pope Benedict XVI delivered the Regensburg lecture at the University of Regensburg in Germany, where he had once served as a professor of theology. It was entitled "Faith, Reason and the UniversityMemories and Reflections". In his lecture, the Pope, speaking in German, quoted a passage about Islam made at the end of the 14th century by Byzantine (Eastern Roman) emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. As the English translation of the Pope's lecture was disseminated across the world, the quotation was taken out of context and many Islamic politicians and religious leaders protested against what they saw as an insulting mischaracterization of Islam. Mass street protests were mounted in many Islamic countries. The Pope maintained that the comment he had quoted did not reflect his own views.
Buddhism
In 1994, Pope John Paul II wrote Crossing the Threshold of Hope, in which he discussed various non-Christian religions, including Buddhism. The book prompted widespread criticism from the Buddhist community, and the pope's statements were characterized as misunderstanding and offending Buddhism. Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist lama, wrote a book to address the "serious, gratuitous misrepresentations of Buddhist doctrine which seemed to be based on misunderstandings" contained within Crossing the Threshold of Hope. Bhikkhu Bodhi, a Theravada Buddhism scholar, published an essay "intended as a short corrective to the Pope's demeaning characterization of Buddhism" entitled Toward a Threshold of Understanding.
Historical
Response to heresy
The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. Before the 12th century, Christianity gradually suppressed what it saw as heresy, usually through a system of ecclesiastical sanctions, excommunication, and anathema. Later, an accusation of heresy could be construed as treason against lawful civil rule, and therefore punishable by civil sanctions such as confiscation of property, imprisonment, or death, though the latter was not frequently imposed, as this form of punishment had many ecclesiastical opponents. Within five years of the official 'criminalization' of heresy by the emperor, the first Christian heretic, Priscillian, was executed in 385 by Roman officials. For some years after the Protestant Reformation, Protestant denominations were also known to execute those whom they considered heretics.
When John Paul II visited Prague in the 1990s, he apologized for the execution of Jan Hus on charges of heresy and requested experts in this matter "to define with greater clarity the position held by Jan Hus among the Church's reformers", and acknowledged that "independently of the theological convictions he defended, Hus cannot be denied integrity in his personal life and commitment to the nation's moral education."
In 2015, after visiting a Waldensian Temple in Turin, Pope Francis, in the name of the Catholic Church, asked Waldensian Christians for forgiveness for their persecution. The Pope apologized for the church's "un-Christian and even inhumane positions and actions".
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of military conflicts, with a religious as well as a socio-political character, waged against external and internal threats by much of Christian Europe. The Crusades were waged against Muslims, Slavs, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites and political enemies of the popes. The Crusaders made vows and were granted an indulgence.
Elements of the Crusades were criticized by some from the time of their inception in 1095. Roger Bacon believed that the Crusades were counter-productive because, "those who survive, together with their children, are more and more embittered against the Christian faith." In spite of some criticism, the movement was still widely supported in Europe long after the fall of Acre in 1291. After that event, the Crusades to recover Jerusalem and the Christian East were unsuccessful. Eighteenth-century rationalists harshly criticized the Crusaders . In the 1950s, Sir Steven Runciman published a highly critical account of the Crusades in which he referred to the practice of Holy War as "a sin against the Holy Ghost".
Nationalist critique
As early as the second century, Justin Martyr addressed his First Apology to the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius in order to convince him that Christians could be good citizens. In addition to arguing against the persecution of individuals solely because they were Christians, Justin also provided the Emperor with a defense of the philosophy of Christianity along with a detailed description of contemporary Christian practices and rituals. In many instances concern regarding the loyalty of Catholics arose in the context of perceived political threats. In 1570, Pope Pius V issued a papal bull titled Regnans in Excelsis, which declared Elizabeth I to be excommunicated and a heretic. Concerned at the possibility that, in the event of an attack by the Catholic monarchs of France and Spain, English Catholics might side with the invaders, Parliament enacted restrictive legislation against Catholics. The initial favorable reception of Jesuits in Japan changed when Toyotomi Hideyoshi became disturbed by the external threats posed by the expansion of European power in East Asia. Hideyoshi was apprehensive that Portugal and Spain might provide military support to Dom Justo Takayama, a Christian daimyō in western Japan. The San Felipe incident (1596) involved the Spanish captain of a shipwrecked trading vessel, who, in an attempt to recover his cargo, made the claim that the missionaries (many of whom had arrived with the Portuguese) were there to prepare Japan for conquest. Hideyoshi was concerned that divided loyalties might lead to dangerous rebels like the Ikkō-ikki Sect of earlier years and issued an edict expelling missionaries.
The Reichskonkordat of 1933 was an agreement between the Holy See and Germany, negotiated by Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen on behalf of President Paul von Hindenburg. While the treaty preserved the church's ecclesiastical and educational institutions, and guaranteed the right to pastoral care in hospitals, prisons and similar institutions, it also required all clergy to abstain from membership in political parties, and not support political causes. Hitler routinely disregarded the concordat and permitted a persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany. Shortly before the 20 July signing of the Reichskonkordat, Germany signed similar agreements with the state Protestant churches in Germany, although the Confessing Church opposed the regime. Nazi breaches of the agreement began almost as soon as it had been signed and intensified afterwards leading to protest from the church including in the 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge of Pope Pius XI, followed in 1943 by Mystici corporis Christi of Pope Pius XII which condemned forced conversions, the murder of disabled people, and the exclusion of people on the basis of race or nationality. The Nazis planned to eliminate the church's influence by restricting its organizations to purely religious activities.
In a series of sermons in the summer of 1941, Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Munster, denounced the Nazi regime for its Gestapo tactics and policies, including euthanasia, and attacked the Third Reich for undermining justice. He stated: "As a German, as a decent citizen, I demand justice". In the view of SS General Jürgen Stroop, German patriotism "was tainted by Papist ideals, which have been harmful to Germany for centuries. Besides, the Archbishop's [Clemens August Graf von Galen] orders came from outside the Fatherland, a fact which disturbed us. We all know that despite its diverse factions, the Catholic Church is a world community, which sticks together when the chips are down." "There is no doubt that in the long run Nazi leaders such as Hitler and Himmler intended to eradicate Christianity just as ruthlessly as any other rival ideology, even if in the short term they had to be content to make compromises with it."
Catholic clergy have been implicated in the violent repression by the Ustaše regime in Croatia during the Second World War.
Sexual abuse scandals
In January 2002, cases in which priests were accused of sexually abusing children were widely reported by the news media. A survey of the ten largest U.S. dioceses found that 234 priests, out of a total of 25,616 priests in those dioceses, have been accused of sexually abusing children in the last 50 years. The report does not state how many of these allegations have been proven true in courts. Victims of such abuse filed lawsuits against a number of dioceses, resulting in multi-million dollar settlements in some cases. In response, in June 2002, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops initiated strict new guidelines ("zero tolerance") for the protection of children and youth in Catholic institutions across the country. In February 2019, the Catholic Church held a worldwide summit of bishops in Rome to discuss the steps that can be taken to prevent the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults.
Canadian Indigenous residential schools
The Indian residential school system in Canada was a network of boarding schools for indigenous peoples. Children were removed from their parents' homes, often forcibly, and sent to the schools. In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimated that more than 4000 students have died due to this system. About 60% of the Canadian Indian residential schools were operated by the Catholic church under federal and provincial government sponsorship and funding. The commission says that students died due to lack of facilities, disease, suicide, and abuse at the hands of those operating the schools.
See also
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-clericalism
Anti-Papalism
Catholic theology
Sacraments of the Catholic Church
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
Clergy removed from office
Criticism of the Catholic Church
Critics of the Catholic Church - list of topics
History of the Catholic Church
Catholic Church and Nazi Germany
Nazi views on Catholicism
Traditionalist Catholicism
Sedevacantism
References
External links
WELS Topical Q&A: Religion – Roman Catholic
Catholicism Today, Forward in Christ, Vol 84, No. 11, Nov 1997
Denominational Differences – Roman Catholicism, FAQs by Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, archived by Internet Archive
The Catholic Guide – A comprehensive source on the Roman Catholic Church.
Catholic Wiki, archived by Internet Archive
Anti-Catholicism
Criticism of the Catholic Church
Critics of the Catholic Church
Relations between Christian denominations
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity%20equation
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Continuity equation
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A continuity equation or transport equation is an equation that describes the transport of some quantity. It is particularly simple and powerful when applied to a conserved quantity, but it can be generalized to apply to any extensive quantity. Since mass, energy, momentum, electric charge and other natural quantities are conserved under their respective appropriate conditions, a variety of physical phenomena may be described using continuity equations.
Continuity equations are a stronger, local form of conservation laws. For example, a weak version of the law of conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed—i.e., the total amount of energy in the universe is fixed. This statement does not rule out the possibility that a quantity of energy could disappear from one point while simultaneously appearing at another point. A stronger statement is that energy is locally conserved: energy can neither be created nor destroyed, nor can it "teleport" from one place to another—it can only move by a continuous flow. A continuity equation is the mathematical way to express this kind of statement. For example, the continuity equation for electric charge states that the amount of electric charge in any volume of space can only change by the amount of electric current flowing into or out of that volume through its boundaries.
Continuity equations more generally can include "source" and "sink" terms, which allow them to describe quantities that are often but not always conserved, such as the density of a molecular species which can be created or destroyed by chemical reactions. In an everyday example, there is a continuity equation for the number of people alive; it has a "source term" to account for people being born, and a "sink term" to account for people dying.
Any continuity equation can be expressed in an "integral form" (in terms of a flux integral), which applies to any finite region, or in a "differential form" (in terms of the divergence operator) which applies at a point.
Continuity equations underlie more specific transport equations such as the convection–diffusion equation, Boltzmann transport equation, and Navier–Stokes equations.
Flows governed by continuity equations can be visualized using a Sankey diagram.
General equation
Definition of flux
A continuity equation is useful when a flux can be defined. To define flux, first there must be a quantity which can flow or move, such as mass, energy, electric charge, momentum, number of molecules, etc. Let be the volume density of this quantity, that is, the amount of per unit volume.
The way that this quantity is flowing is described by its flux. The flux of is a vector field, which we denote as j. Here are some examples and properties of flux:
The dimension of flux is "amount of flowing per unit time, through a unit area". For example, in the mass continuity equation for flowing water, if 1 gram per second of water is flowing through a pipe with cross-sectional area 1 cm2, then the average mass flux inside the pipe is , and its direction is along the pipe in the direction that the water is flowing. Outside the pipe, where there is no water, the flux is zero.
If there is a velocity field which describes the relevant flow—in other words, if all of the quantity at a point is moving with velocity —then the flux is by definition equal to the density times the velocity field:
For example, if in the mass continuity equation for flowing water, is the water's velocity at each point, and is the water's density at each point, then would be the mass flux.
In a well-known example, the flux of electric charge is the electric current density.
If there is an imaginary surface , then the surface integral of flux over is equal to the amount of that is passing through the surface per unit time:
in which is a surface integral.
(Note that the concept that is here called "flux" is alternatively termed flux density in some literature, in which context "flux" denotes the surface integral of flux density. See the main article on Flux for details.)
Integral form
The integral form of the continuity equation states that:
The amount of in a region increases when additional flows inward through the surface of the region, and decreases when it flows outward;
The amount of in a region increases when new is created inside the region, and decreases when is destroyed;
Apart from these two processes, there is no other way for the amount of in a region to change.
Mathematically, the integral form of the continuity equation expressing the rate of increase of within a volume is:
where
is any imaginary closed surface, that encloses a volume ,
denotes a surface integral over that closed surface,
is the total amount of the quantity in the volume ,
is the flux of ,
is time,
is the net rate that is being generated inside the volume per unit time. When is being generated, it is called a source of , and it makes more positive. When is being destroyed, it is called a sink of , and it makes more negative. This term is sometimes written as or the total change of q from its generation or destruction inside the control volume.
In a simple example, could be a building, and could be the number of people in the building. The surface would consist of the walls, doors, roof, and foundation of the building. Then the continuity equation states that the number of people in the building increases when people enter the building (an inward flux through the surface), decreases when people exit the building (an outward flux through the surface), increases when someone in the building gives birth (a source, ), and decreases when someone in the building dies (a sink, ).
Differential form
By the divergence theorem, a general continuity equation can also be written in a "differential form":
where
is divergence,
is the amount of the quantity per unit volume,
is the flux density of ,
is time,
is the generation of per unit volume per unit time. Terms that generate (i.e., ) or remove (i.e., ) are referred to as a "sources" and "sinks" respectively.
This general equation may be used to derive any continuity equation, ranging from as simple as the volume continuity equation to as complicated as the Navier–Stokes equations. This equation also generalizes the advection equation. Other equations in physics, such as Gauss's law of the electric field and Gauss's law for gravity, have a similar mathematical form to the continuity equation, but are not usually referred to by the term "continuity equation", because in those cases does not represent the flow of a real physical quantity.
In the case that is a conserved quantity that cannot be created or destroyed (such as energy), and the equations become:
Electromagnetism
In electromagnetic theory, the continuity equation is an empirical law expressing (local) charge conservation. Mathematically it is an automatic consequence of Maxwell's equations, although charge conservation is more fundamental than Maxwell's equations. It states that the divergence of the current density (in amperes per square metre) is equal to the negative rate of change of the charge density (in coulombs per cubic metre),
Current is the movement of charge. The continuity equation says that if charge is moving out of a differential volume (i.e., divergence of current density is positive) then the amount of charge within that volume is going to decrease, so the rate of change of charge density is negative. Therefore, the continuity equation amounts to a conservation of charge.
If magnetic monopoles exist, there would be a continuity equation for monopole currents as well, see the monopole article for background and the duality between electric and magnetic currents.
Fluid dynamics
In fluid dynamics, the continuity equation states that the rate at which mass enters a system is equal to the rate at which mass leaves the system plus the accumulation of mass within the system.
The differential form of the continuity equation is:
where
is fluid density,
is time,
is the flow velocity vector field.
The time derivative can be understood as the accumulation (or loss) of mass in the system, while the divergence term represents the difference in flow in versus flow out. In this context, this equation is also one of the Euler equations (fluid dynamics). The Navier–Stokes equations form a vector continuity equation describing the conservation of linear momentum.
If the fluid is incompressible (volumetric strain rate is zero), the mass continuity equation simplifies to a volume continuity equation:
which means that the divergence of the velocity field is zero everywhere. Physically, this is equivalent to saying that the local volume dilation rate is zero, hence a flow of water through a converging pipe will adjust solely by increasing its velocity as water is largely incompressible.
Computer vision
In computer vision, optical flow is the pattern of apparent motion of objects in a visual scene. Under the assumption that brightness of the moving object did not change between two image frames, one can derive the optical flow equation as:
where
is time,
coordinates in the image,
is the image intensity at image coordinate and time ,
is the optical flow velocity vector at image coordinate and time
Energy and heat
Conservation of energy says that energy cannot be created or destroyed. (See below for the nuances associated with general relativity.) Therefore, there is a continuity equation for energy flow:
where
, local energy density (energy per unit volume),
, energy flux (transfer of energy per unit cross-sectional area per unit time) as a vector,
An important practical example is the flow of heat. When heat flows inside a solid, the continuity equation can be combined with Fourier's law (heat flux is proportional to temperature gradient) to arrive at the heat equation. The equation of heat flow may also have source terms: Although energy cannot be created or destroyed, heat can be created from other types of energy, for example via friction or joule heating.
Probability distributions
If there is a quantity that moves continuously according to a stochastic (random) process, like the location of a single dissolved molecule with Brownian motion, then there is a continuity equation for its probability distribution. The flux in this case is the probability per unit area per unit time that the particle passes through a surface. According to the continuity equation, the negative divergence of this flux equals the rate of change of the probability density. The continuity equation reflects the fact that the molecule is always somewhere—the integral of its probability distribution is always equal to 1—and that it moves by a continuous motion (no teleporting).
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is another domain where there is a continuity equation related to conservation of probability. The terms in the equation require the following definitions, and are slightly less obvious than the other examples above, so they are outlined here:
The wavefunction for a single particle in position space (rather than momentum space), that is, a function of position and time , .
The probability density function is
The probability of finding the particle within at is denoted and defined by
The probability current (aka probability flux) is
With these definitions the continuity equation reads:
Either form may be quoted. Intuitively, the above quantities indicate this represents the flow of probability. The chance of finding the particle at some position and time flows like a fluid; hence the term probability current, a vector field. The particle itself does not flow deterministically in this vector field.
Semiconductor
The total current flow in the semiconductor consists of drift current and diffusion current of both the electrons in the conduction band and holes in the valence band.
General form for electrons in one-dimension:
where:
n is the local concentration of electrons
is electron mobility
E is the electric field across the depletion region
Dn is the diffusion coefficient for electrons
Gn is the rate of generation of electrons
Rn is the rate of recombination of electrons
Similarly, for holes:
where:
p is the local concentration of holes
is hole mobility
E is the electric field across the depletion region
Dp is the diffusion coefficient for holes
Gp is the rate of generation of holes
Rp is the rate of recombination of holes
Derivation
This section presents a derivation of the equation above for electrons. A similar derivation can be found for the equation for holes.
Consider the fact that the number of electrons is conserved across a volume of semiconductor material with cross-sectional area, A, and length, dx, along the x-axis. More precisely, one can say:
Mathematically, this equality can be written:
Here J denotes current density(whose direction is against electron flow by convention) due to electron flow within the considered volume of the semiconductor. It is also called electron current density.
Total electron current density is the sum of drift current and diffusion current densities:
Therefore, we have
Applying the product rule results in the final expression:
Solution
The key to solving these equations in real devices is whenever possible to select regions in which most of the mechanisms are negligible so that the equations reduce to a much simpler form.
Relativistic version
Special relativity
The notation and tools of special relativity, especially 4-vectors and 4-gradients, offer a convenient way to write any continuity equation.
The density of a quantity and its current can be combined into a 4-vector called a 4-current:
where is the speed of light. The 4-divergence of this current is:
where is the 4-gradient and is an index labeling the spacetime dimension. Then the continuity equation is:
in the usual case where there are no sources or sinks, that is, for perfectly conserved quantities like energy or charge. This continuity equation is manifestly ("obviously") Lorentz invariant.
Examples of continuity equations often written in this form include electric charge conservation
where is the electric 4-current; and energy–momentum conservation
where is the stress–energy tensor.
General relativity
In general relativity, where spacetime is curved, the continuity equation (in differential form) for energy, charge, or other conserved quantities involves the covariant divergence instead of the ordinary divergence.
For example, the stress–energy tensor is a second-order tensor field containing energy–momentum densities, energy–momentum fluxes, and shear stresses, of a mass-energy distribution. The differential form of energy–momentum conservation in general relativity states that the covariant divergence of the stress-energy tensor is zero:
This is an important constraint on the form the Einstein field equations take in general relativity.
However, the ordinary divergence of the stress–energy tensor does not necessarily vanish:
The right-hand side strictly vanishes for a flat geometry only.
As a consequence, the integral form of the continuity equation is difficult to define and not necessarily valid for a region within which spacetime is significantly curved (e.g. around a black hole, or across the whole universe).
Particle physics
Quarks and gluons have color charge, which is always conserved like electric charge, and there is a continuity equation for such color charge currents (explicit expressions for currents are given at gluon field strength tensor).
There are many other quantities in particle physics which are often or always conserved: baryon number (proportional to the number of quarks minus the number of antiquarks), electron number, mu number, tau number, isospin, and others. Each of these has a corresponding continuity equation, possibly including source / sink terms.
Noether's theorem
One reason that conservation equations frequently occur in physics is Noether's theorem. This states that whenever the laws of physics have a continuous symmetry, there is a continuity equation for some conserved physical quantity. The three most famous examples are:
The laws of physics are invariant with respect to time-translation—for example, the laws of physics today are the same as they were yesterday. This symmetry leads to the continuity equation for conservation of energy.
The laws of physics are invariant with respect to space-translation—for example, the laws of physics in Brazil are the same as the laws of physics in Argentina. This symmetry leads to the continuity equation for conservation of momentum.
The laws of physics are invariant with respect to orientation—for example, floating in outer space, there is no measurement you can do to say "which way is up"; the laws of physics are the same regardless of how you are oriented. This symmetry leads to the continuity equation for conservation of angular momentum.
See also
One-Way Wave Equation
Conservation law
Conservation form
Dissipative system
References
Further reading
Equations of fluid dynamics
Conservation equations
Partial differential equations
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music%20of%20Armenia
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Music of Armenia
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The music of Armenia ( haykakan yerazhshtut’yun) has its origins in the Armenian highlands, dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE, and is a long-standing musical tradition that encompasses diverse secular and religious, or sacred, music (such as the sharakan Armenian chant and taghs, along with the indigenous khaz musical notation). Folk music was notably collected and transcribed by Komitas Vardapet, a prominent composer and musicologist, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who is also considered the founder of the modern Armenian national school of music. Armenian music has been presented internationally by numerous artists, such as composers Aram Khachaturian, Alexander Arutiunian, Arno Babajanian, Haig Gudenian, and Karen Kavaleryan as well as by traditional performers such as duduk player Djivan Gasparyan.
Melodic basis
Traditional Armenian folk music as well as Armenian church music is not based on the European tonal system but on a system of tetrachords. The last note of one tetrachord also serves as the first note of the next tetrachord – which makes a lot of Armenian folk music more or less based on a theoretically endless scale.
Folk music
Armenia has had a long tradition of folk music since antiquity. During the Soviet era, Armenian folk music was taught in state-sponsored conservatoires – in 1978, influential kanon player and composer Khachatur Avetisyan founded the folk music department of the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. Traditional instruments include the qamancha, kanon (box zither), dhol (double-headed hand drum, see davul), oud (lute), duduk, zurna, blul, sring, shvi, pku, parkapzuk, tar, dmblak, bambir, and to a lesser degree the saz. Other instruments often used include the violin and clarinet. The duduk is considered to be Armenia's national instrument, and among its well-known performers are Margar Margaryan, Levon Madoyan, Vache Hovsepyan, Gevorg Dabaghyan, and Yeghish Manukyan, as well as Armenia's most famous contemporary duduk player, Djivan Gasparyan.
Notable performers of folk music include vocalists such as Armenak Shahmuradyan, Ofelya Hambardzumyan, Vagharshak Sahakyan, Araksia Gyulzadyan, Varduhi Khachatryan, Norayr Mnatsakanyan, Hovhannes Badalyan, Hayrik Muradyan, Valya Samvelyan, Rima Saribekyan, Raffi Hovhannisyan, Avak Petrosyan, Papin Poghosyan, and Flora Martirosian.
There are also several Armenian folk ensembles, the Shoghaken Folk Ensemble, founded in 1995 in Yerevan, and others such as the Arev Armenian Folk Ensemble.
Gusan and ashugh art
In ancient and medieval Armenia, the gusans () were the creative and performing artists – singers, instrumentalists, dancers, storytellers, and professional folk actors in public theaters. The word gusan is first mentioned in early Armenian texts of V c., e.g. Faustus of Byzantium, Moses of Chorene, and others. In the early Middle Ages the word gusan was used as an equivalent to the classical Greek word mimos (mime). There were 2 groups of gusans:
1. The first were from aristocratic dynasties (feudal lords) and performed as professional musicians;
2. The second group comprised popular, but illiterate gusans.
The gusans were both criticized and praised, particularly in medieval Armenia. The adoption of Christianity had its influence upon Armenian minstrelsy, gradually altering its ethical and ideological orientation. The center of the gusans was the Goghtn gavar (canton), a region in the Vaspurakan province of Greater Armenia that bordered the province of Syunik.
During the late Middle Ages, gusans were succeeded by popular, semi-professional musicians called ashughs (), who played instruments like the kamancha and saz. Sayat-Nova, an 18th-century ashugh and poet, is revered in Armenia. Other Armenian ashughs include Jivani, Sheram, , , , and
Folk music in the Armenian diaspora
Descendants of survivors of the Armenian genocide, originally from Western Armenia, and Armenian emigrants from other parts of the Middle East have settled in various countries, especially in the California Central Valley. The second- and third-generation artists, such as Richard Hagopian, an oud-player associated with the kef tradition of Armenian-American music have kept their folk traditions alive. This dance-oriented style of Armenian music, using Armenian and Middle Eastern folk instruments (often electrified/amplified) and some Western instruments, preserved the folk songs and dances of Western Armenia. Many artists also played the contemporary popular songs of cosmopolitan Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries from which the Armenians emigrated (termed surjaran or café aman, meaning cafeteria), on the Eight Avenue of Manhattan, New York City. Bands such as the Vosbikian Band of Philadelphia were notable in the 1940s and 1950s for developing their own style of "kef music", heavily influenced by the popular American big band jazz of the time. Another oud player, John Berberian, is notable in particular for his fusions of traditional music with rock and jazz in the 1960s.
In the Lebanese and Syrian diaspora, George Tutunjian, Karnig Sarkissian and others performed Armenian revolutionary songs, which quickly became popular among the Armenian Diaspora, notably ARF supporters. In Tehran, Iran, the folk music of the Armenian community is characterized by the work of Nikol Galanderian (1881–1946) and the Goghtan Choir.
Religious music
Armenian religious (or sacred) music, which is predominantly vocal, is one of the oldest branches of Christian culture, and was introduced after the Christianization of Armenia in 301 AD. Armenian chant, composed in one of eight modes, is the most common kind of religious music in Armenia. It is written in khaz, a form of indigenous musical notation. Many of these chants are ancient in origin, extending to pre-Christian times, while others are relatively modern, including several composed by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, who also invented the Armenian alphabet. Some of the best performers of these chants, or sharakans, reside at the Holy Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, and include the late soprano Lusine Zakaryan.
Makar Yekmalyan (1856–1905) composed the Patarag, the setting of the Armenian Apostolic Church's Divine Liturgy, which he completed in 1892 in several arrangements and was first published in Leipzig in 1896. This arrangement of the liturgy incorporated polyphonic and homophonic vocal parts into the structure of the Liturgy and saw it be notated in its entirety. This would influence the compositional approach of Komitas, who was Yekmalian's student (along with the works of Kristapor Kara-Murza) and would also see him introduce polyphony with his version of the Liturgy at the end of the 19th century.
Classical music
Armenian classical composers of Ottoman classical music include Kemani Tatyos Ekserciyan (1858–1913), music theorist Hampartsoum Limondjian (1768–1839) who developed the influential "Hamparsum" notation system, and Bimen Şen Der Ghazarian (1873–1913).
Alexander Spendiarov (1871–1928), Armen Tigranian (1879–1950), and Haro Stepanian are best known for their Armenian operas. Sargis Barkhudaryan (1887–1973) and Garo Zakarian (1895–1967) are representative composers of the pre- and early Soviet Armenian era. The most famous, however, was Aram Khatchaturian (1903–1978), internationally well-known especially for his music for various ballets and the immortal Sabre Dance from his composition for the ballet Gayane. Gevorg Armenyan (1920–2005), Anahit Tsitsikian (1926–1999), Arno Babajanian (1921–1983), Barseg Kanatchian (1885–1967), Edward Mirzoyan (1921–2012), Boris Parsadanian (1925–1997), Ashot Zohrabyan (1945– ), Aram Satian (1947– ), and Vartan Adjemian (1956– ) represent other Soviet-era Armenian composers. Iosif Andriasov's (1933–2000) was an influential composer-symphonist, a moral philosopher, and a teacher. Alexander Arutiunian (1920–2012) is best known for his Trumpet Concerto in A-flat major. Alexander Dolukhanian (1910–1968) composed or arranged numerous Armenian songs, including the well-known "Swallow". Alexander Adjemian (1925–1987), Ashot Satian (1906–1958) and Vagarshak Kotoyan (1921–1992) are known for their contributions to Armenian choral and vocal music. Eduard Abramian (1923–1986) wrote songs on the poetry of Armenian poets Hovhannes Tumanyan and Avetik Isahakian which are now part of the standard repertoire. Artemi Ayvazyan (1902–1975) wrote the first Soviet musical comedies, including the popular "Dentist from the Orient". In recent years, Avet Terterian (1929–1994), Tigran Mansurian (1939– ), Vache Sharafyan (1966– ) and Aram Petrosyan (1972– ) have achieved global success. Another acclaimed, more recent, classical composer is Khachatur Avetissian (1926–1996), many of whose compositions are based on traditional folklore themes. Uruguayan-Armenian composer Coriún Aharonián (1940–2017), besides a notable body of avant-garde compositions has done extensive musicological and political work. The Armenian nationalist composer Alexander Kaloian (1962– ) is known for his overtly nationalistic works for military band and orchestra including marches, tone poems and symphonies immediately recognizable as "Armenian" in their color.
In classical music, many Armenian singers have gained worldwide recognition: sopranos Gohar Gasparyan, Sona Ghazarian, Arpine Pehlivanian, Lucine Amara, Cathy Berberian and, more recently, Isabel Bayrakdarian and Anna Kasyan, mezzo-soprano Tatevik Sazandaryan, tenors Tigran Levonyan, Gegham Grigoryan, and Vahan Mirakyan; basses Ara Berberian, and Henrik Alaverdian, as well as the bass-baritone Barsegh Toumanian.
In the diaspora, Armenian musicians such as pianist Şahan Arzruni, violinists Manoug Parikian and Levon Chilingirian, and composers such as Alan Hovhaness have reached international fame.
Armenian-American composer John Hodian created "Songs of Exile", new music based on poetry by the medieval Armenian painter, poet and priest Mkrtich Naghash. With three female vocalists, duduk, oud, dhol and piano, The Naghash Ensemble has been touring internationally since 2014. Their music has been described as a hybrid of "classical music, jazz, folk and post-minimalism" by the German radio station BR Klassik. Scott Giles (1965–) is an Armenian-American known for his many symphonies and concertos. Armenian-Canadian composer Vahram Sargsyan (1981– ) represents the younger generation of Armenian contemporary composers who is mostly known for his choral compositions.
Jazz
The first jazz band of Yerevan was founded in 1936. Soviet jazz was developed by Armenians such as Artemi Ayvazyan, who founded the Armenian State Estrada Orchestra in 1938. Notable performers in the vocal genre have been: Georgi Minasian, Artashes Avetyan, and Levon Sevan, as well as the aforementioned Elvina Makaryan and Datevik Hovanesian. Tigran Hamasyan is a Gyumri-born contemporary jazz pianist who is strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and modalities.
Popular music
Pop music
Armenian popular songs have been performed by famous Soviet-era performers such as Ruben Matevosyan, Ofelya Hambardzumyan, Varduhi Khachatryan, and Papin Poghosyan. Suzan Yakar and Udi Hrant Kenkulian were famous cabaret performers in Turkey during the 1920s and 1930s. Other representatives of Soviet-era and modern Armenian pop music include Bella Darbinyan, Raisa Mkrtchyan, and the more contemporary vocal performers such as Elvina Makaryan, Erna Yuzbashyan, Nadezhda Sargsyan, Zara Tonikyan, Syuzan Margaryan, and Datevik Hovanesian. Armenian male pop performers include Ruben Hakhverdyan and diasporan artists Adiss Harmandian, Paul Baghdadlian, Manuel Menengichian and Maxim Panossian. Harout Pamboukjian is a widely popular Soviet Armenian-born singer that currently lives in Los Angeles.
In the 2000s, pop singers such as Sirusho and André represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest. Other popular pop singers include Hasmik Karapetyan, Արսեն Սաֆարյան, and Arsen Grigoryan.
Rabiz music
Rabiz (), or rabis, is a genre of Armenian popular music and a subculture, distinguished by its lyrics and dance-oriented synthesized melodies in 6/8 time signature with elements of Armenian folk music. Despite the term's widespread use, the etymology or definition of the word "rabiz" is not clearly understood. According to some sources it stems from the Russian phrase "работники искусства" (rabotniki iskusstva) used during Soviet times, meaning "Art Workers", in reference to unions which specialized in new music composition.
Played by musicians such as Tatul Avoyan and Hayk Ghevondyan (better known as Spitakci Hayko), rabiz music is also widely popular among by Armenian diasporan communities in Los Angeles and Russia. A subgenre of rabiz music, called "kef" (unrelated to the homonymous Armenian-American kef music), concerns romantic love or partying, but also love of family or patriotism.
Rabiz music has recently seen unexpected international commercial success, especially in Turkey, with "Mi Gna" by Armenian American rapper Super Sako, which features Hayk Ghevondyan, hitting No. 1 on a Shazam Top 100 list and its video garnering over 190 million views on YouTube.
Rock
Among the rock bands of the older generation were the Arakyalner ("Apostles") of Arthur Meschian, Vostan Hayots, Ayas, and Arevatsaq. Contemporary Armenian rock bands include Sard, Bambir 2, Vordan Karmir, Dogma, Reincarnation, and alternative rock band The Beautified Project. Armenian Progressive Metal bands have also appeared in the Armenian music scene in recent Years with bands like Dorians (band), and Armenian Space Station.
Hip hop
Hip hop music in Armenia is popular primarily amongst the youth. One of the notable Armenian hip hop bands of the 2000s was Hay Tgheq (Հայ տղեք "Armenian guys"), founded in 2001. Following the band's dissolution, members Misho and HT Hayko started their own solo careers. The most popular Armenian language hip hop song has been regarded as the 2006 song "Qami Pchi" by the now defunct group HAYQ, produced by DerHova. In the diaspora, Glendale, California-based rapper R-Mean gained popularity amongst the Armenian community with the song "Open Wounds," which commemorates the Armenian genocide, and started the movement "Open Wounds 1915". Other Armenian rap groups were formed in Germany, such as Armenios, which was founded in Germany by A-Shot, ArmoX & 15Volt. In the 2010s, Armenian-American rapper Super Sako's aforementioned single "Mi Gna" achieved worldwide commercial success and was remixed in over 10 languages and by international artists, such as Maitre Gims (France), Balti (Morocco), and DJ Pantelis (Greece).
Armenian musicians from the Diaspora
There is a large number of musicians of Armenian descent or origin but living (or born) outside of Armenia.
In France, the artist Charles Aznavour (born Aznavourian), of Armenian descent, has been known for his shows and songs over the course of decades. System of a Down, an internationally popular alternative metal band from the United States, was formed by Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian, Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan, all of whom are of Armenian American descent. Tankian has also released several solo albums with political and socially conscious content. Occasional SOAD collaborator Arto Tunçboyacıyan is a well known Turkish musician of Armenian descent, who is famous in Turkey and worldwide, and currently has his own jazz club in Yerevan, Armenia. He was the founder of the .
Keyboardist Derek Sherinian is a well-known rock keyboardist who has played with Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Dream Theater, amongst others. Andy Madadian is an Iranian Armenian artist, and Vigen Derderian is an Iranian Armenian jazz and pop singer. Armik, an Iranian Armenian flamenco guitarist and composer, is a well-known virtuoso of the new flamenco genre. Armenian-American multi-instrumentalist Danny Bedrosian has been the main keyboardist for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band, George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic (also known as P-Funk), since 2003. George Mgrdichian, born and raised in New York City, was an Armenian American musician who played several instruments in the jazz genre, including the oud and clarinet.
André Manoukian is a French songwriter and jazz pianist of Armenian descent. He served as a judge on the French version of Pop Idol, Nouvelle Star, for 12 seasons. In 2015, he accompanied Syrian-Armenian singer Lena Chamamyan in the production of modern renditions of Armenian folk songs such as Sareri Hovin Mernem and Moutn'er.
Lena Chamamyan is a Syrian-Armenian singer-songwriter who has become famous for her modernized jazz renditions of traditional Arabic and Armenian folk songs. In 2014, she served as a jury member in "Tsovits Tsov – ArmVision 2014", an international contest for Armenian music at the Kremlin Theatre in Moscow.
Armenian-American Taline and Friends group have played a major role in developing Armenian language skills for children worldwide since the early 1990s.
Other Armenian musicians include Ara Topouzian who performs on the kanon and VANArmenya, who sings both folk, children's and patriotic songs, performs on keyboards, and promotes the music of "the other Gomidas," Grikor Mirzaian Suni.
Samples
Recording of "Erivan bachem arer", an Armenian-American folk song from the Library of Congress' California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collection; performed a cappella by Ruben J. Baboyan on 16 April 1939 in Fresno, California
See also
Armenian culture
Armenian dance
Armenian opera
Armenian lullabies
References
Hagopian, Harold. "The Sorrowful Sound". 2000. In: Broughton, Simon & Ellingham, Mark, with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (eds.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp. 332–337. London: Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.
External links
Armenian National Music
Armenian Music Library (Mp3 Version)
Videos
Shoghaken Ensemble live performance, April 21, 2004
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindsight%20bias
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Hindsight bias
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Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they were.
People often believe that after an event has occurred, they would have predicted or perhaps even would have known with a high degree of certainty what the outcome of the event would have been before the event occurred. Hindsight bias may cause distortions of memories of what was known or believed before an event occurred, and is a significant source of overconfidence regarding an individual's ability to predict the outcomes of future events. Examples of hindsight bias can be seen in the writings of historians describing outcomes of battles, physicians recalling clinical trials, and in judicial systems as individuals attribute responsibility on the basis of the supposed predictability of accidents.
In some countries, 20/20 indicates normal visual acuity at 20 feet, from which derives the idiom "hindsight is 20/20".
History
The hindsight bias, although it was not yet named, was not a new concept when it emerged in psychological research in the 1970s. In fact, it had been indirectly described numerous times by historians, philosophers, and physicians. In 1973, Baruch Fischhoff attended a seminar where Paul E. Meehl stated an observation that clinicians often overestimate their ability to have foreseen the outcome of a particular case, as they claim to have known it all along. Baruch, a psychology graduate student at the time, saw an opportunity in psychological research to explain these observations.
In the early 70s, the investigation of heuristics and biases was a large area of study in psychology, led by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. Two heuristics identified by Tversky and Kahneman were of immediate importance in the development of the hindsight bias; these were the availability heuristic and the representativeness heuristic.
In an elaboration of these heuristics, Beyth and Fischhoff devised the first experiment directly testing the hindsight bias. They asked participants to judge the likelihood of several outcomes of US president Richard Nixon's upcoming visit to Beijing and Moscow. Some time after president Nixon's return, participants were asked to recall (or reconstruct) the probabilities they had assigned to each possible outcome, and their perceptions of the likelihood of each outcome were greater or overestimated for events that had occurred. This study is frequently referred to in definitions of the hindsight bias, and the title of the paper, "I knew it would happen," may have contributed to the hindsight bias being interchangeable with the phrase, "knew-it-all-along phenomenon".
In 1975, Fischhoff developed another method for investigating the hindsight bias, which was, at the time, referred to as the "creeping determinism hypothesis". This method involves giving participants a short story with four possible outcomes, one of which they are told is true, and are then asked to assign the likelihood of each particular outcome. Participants frequently assign a higher likelihood of occurrence to whichever outcome they have been told is true. Remaining relatively unmodified, this method is still used in psychological and behavioural experiments investigating aspects of the hindsight bias. Having evolved from the heuristics of Tversky and Kahneman into the creeping determinism hypothesis and finally into the hindsight bias as we now know it, the concept has many practical applications and is still at the forefront of research today. Recent studies involving the hindsight bias have investigated the effect age has on the bias, , and how it may affect banking and investment strategies.
Factors
Outcome valence and intensity
Hindsight bias is more likely to occur when the outcome of an event is negative rather than positive. This is a phenomenon consistent with the general tendency for people to pay more attention to negative outcomes of events than positive outcomes.
In addition, hindsight bias is affected by the severity of the negative outcome. In malpractice lawsuits, it has been found that the more severe a negative outcome is, the juror's hindsight bias is more dramatic. In a perfectly objective case, the verdict would be based on the physician's standard of care instead of the outcome of the treatment; however, studies show that cases ending in severe negative outcomes (such as death) result in a higher level of hindsight bias.
For example, in 1996, LaBine proposed a scenario where a psychiatric patient told a therapist that he was contemplating harming another individual. The therapist did not warn the other individual of the possible danger. Participants were each given one of three possible outcomes; the threatened individual either received no injuries, minor injuries, or serious injuries. Participants were then asked to determine if the physician should be considered negligent. Participants in the "serious injuries" condition were not only more likely to rate the therapist as negligent but also rated the attack as more foreseeable. Participants in the no injuries and minor injury categories were more likely to see the therapist's actions as reasonable.
Surprise
The role of surprise can help explain the malleability of hindsight bias. Surprise influences how the mind reconstructs pre-outcome predictions in three ways:
1. Surprise is a direct metacognitive heuristic to estimate the distance between outcome and prediction.
2. Surprise triggers a deliberate sense-making process.
3. Surprise biases this process ( the malleability of hindsight bias) by enhancing the recall of surprise-congruent information and expectancy-based hypothesis testing.
Pezzo's sense-making model supports two contradicting ideas of a surprising outcome. The results can show a lesser hindsight bias or possibly a reversed effect, where the individual believes the outcome was not a possibility at all. The outcome can also lead to the hindsight bias being magnified to have a stronger effect. The sense-making process is triggered by an initial surprise. If the sense-making process does not complete and the sensory information is not detected or coded [by the individual], the sensation is experienced as a surprise and the hindsight bias has a gradual reduction. When the sense-making process is lacking, the phenomena of reversed hindsight bias is created. Without the sense-making process being present, there is no remnant of thought about the surprise. This can lead to a sensation of not believing the outcome as a possibility.
Personality
Along with the emotion of surprise, the personality traits of an individual affect hindsight bias. A new C model is an approach to figure out the bias and accuracy in human inferences because of their individual personality traits. This model integrates accurate personality judgments and hindsight effects as a by-product of knowledge updating.
During the study, three processes showed potential to explain the occurrence of hindsight effects in personality judgments:
1. Changes in an individual's cue perceptions,
2. Changes in the use of more valid cues, and
3. Changes in the consistency with which an individual applies cue knowledge.
After two studies, it was clear that there were hindsight effects for each of the Big Five personality dimensions. Evidence was found that both the utilization of more valid cues and changes in cue perceptions of the individual, but not changes in the consistency with which cue knowledge is applied, account for the hindsight effects. During both of these studies, participants were presented with target pictures and were asked to judge each target's levels of the Big Five personality traits.
In a study of 75 participants, researchers tested 10 personalities about hindsight bias. This study conducted three comparisons of hindsight estimation with foresight estimation (memory conditioning), hindsight estimation with forward estimation with other participants, and hindsight estimation with foresight estimation. The participants in these comparisons all Demonstrated hindsight bias. Personality measures cannot account for memory hindsight in multiple regression analysis. Hindsight in individual differences is present but must be accounted for in the full effect model.
Age
It is more difficult to test for hindsight bias in children than adults due to the verbal methods used in experiments on adults are too complex for children to understand, let alone measure bias. Some experimental procedures have been created with visual identification to test children about their hindsight bias in a way they can grasp. Methods with visual images start by presenting a blurry image to the child that becomes clearer over time. In some conditions, the subjects know what the final object is and in others they do not. In cases where the subject knows what the object shape will become when the image is clear, they are asked to estimate the amount of time other participants of similar age will take to guess what the object is. Due to hindsight bias, the estimated times are often much lower than the actual times. This is because the participant is using their personal knowledge while making their estimate.
These types of studies show that children are also affected by hindsight bias. Adults and children with hindsight bias share the core cognitive constraint of being biased to one's current knowledge when, at the same time, attempting to recall or reason about a more naïve cognitive state—regardless of whether the more naïve state is one's earlier naïve state or someone else's. Children have a theory of mind, which is their mental state of reasoning. Hindsight bias is a fundamental problem in cognitive perspective-taking. After reviewing developmental literature on hindsight bias and other limitations [of perception], it was found that some of children's limitation in the theory of mind may stem from the same core component as hindsight bias does. This key factor brings forth underlying mechanisms. A developmental approach to [hindsight bias] is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the nature of hindsight bias in social cognition.
Auditory hindsight bias
Hindsight bias also affects human communications. To test auditory hindsight bias, four experiments were completed.
Experiment one included plain words, in which low-pass filters were used to reduce the amplitude for sounds of consonants; thus making the words more degraded. In the naïve-identification task, participants were presented a warning tone before hearing the degraded words. In the hindsight estimation task, a warning tone was presented before the clear word followed by the degraded version of the word.
Experiment two included words with explicit warnings of the hindsight bias. It followed the same procedure as experiment one. However, the participants were informed and asked not to complete the same error.
Experiment three included full sentences of degraded words rather than individual words. Experiment four included less-degraded words in order to make the words easier to understand and identify to the participants.
By using these different techniques, this offered a different range of detection and also evaluated the ecological validity of the [experiment's] effect. In each experiment, the hindsight estimates of the percentage that their naïve peers can correctly identify the words, all exceed the actual percentages. Therefore, knowing the identities of words caused people to overestimate others' naïve ability to identify moderately to highly degraded spoken versions of those words. People who know the outcome of an event tend to overestimate their prior knowledge or others' naïve knowledge of the event. As a result, speakersknowing what is being communicatedtend to overestimate the clarity of their message while listenershearing what they want to heartend to overestimate their understanding of ambiguous messages. This miscommunication stems from hindsight bias which then creates a feeling of inevitability. Overall, this auditory hindsight bias occurs despite people's effort to avoid it.
Cognitive models
To understand how a person can so easily change the foundation of knowledge and belief for events after receiving new information, three cognitive models of hindsight bias have been reviewed.
The three models are:
SARA (Selective Activation and Reconstructive Anchoring),
RAFT (reconstruction after feedback with take the best), and
CMT (causal model theory).
SARA and RAFT focus on distortions or changes in a memory process, while CMT focuses on probability judgments of hindsight bias.
The SARA model, created by Rüdiger Pohl and associates, explains hindsight bias for descriptive information in memory and hypothetical situations. Memory design is when the participants make foresight judgements, and then recall them in hindsight. Hypothetical design is when participants make hindsight judgements as if they had not known the outcome. SARA assumes that people have a set of images to draw their memories from. They suffer from the hindsight bias due to of that set of images.
Basically, people only remember small, select amounts of information—and when asked to recall it later, use that biased image to support their opinions about the situation. The set of images is originally processed in the brain when first experienced. When remembered, this image reactivates, and the mind can edit and alter the memory, which takes place in hindsight bias when new and correct information is presented, leading one to believe that this new information, when remembered at a later time, is the person's original memory. Due to this reactivation in the brain, there may be permanent changes to the existing memory trace. The new information acts as a memory anchor causing retrieval impairment.
The RAFT model explains hindsight bias with comparisons of objects. It uses knowledge-based probability and then applies interpretations to those probabilities. When given two choices, a person recalls the information on both topics and makes assumptions based on how reasonable they find the information. An example case is someone comparing the size of two cities. If they know one city well (e.g. because it has a popular sporting team or through personal history) and know much less about the other, their mental cues for the more popular city increase. They then "take the best" option in their assessment of their probabilities. For example, they recognize a city due to knowing its sports team, and thus they assume that that city has the highest population. "Take the best" refers to a cue that is viewed as most valid and becomes support for the person's interpretations. RAFT is a by-product of adaptive learning. Feedback information updates a person's knowledge base. This can lead a person to be unable to retrieve the initial information because the information cue has been replaced by a cue that they thought was more fitting. The "best" cue has been replaced, and the person only remembers the answer that is most likely and believes they thought this was the best point the whole time.
Both SARA and RAFT descriptions include a memory trace impairment or cognitive distortion that is caused by the feedback of information and reconstruction of memory.
CMT is a non-formal theory based on work by many researchers to create a collaborative process model for hindsight bias that involves event outcomes. People try to make sense of an event that has not turned out how they expected by creating causal reasoning for the starting event conditions. This can give that person the idea that the event outcome was inevitable and there was nothing that could take place to prevent it from happening. CMT can be caused by a discrepancy between a person's expectation of the event and the reality of an outcome. They consciously want to make sense of what has happened and selectively retrieve memory that supports the current outcome. This causal attribution can be motivated by wanting to feel more positive about the outcome and possibly themselves.
Memory distortions
Hindsight bias has similarities to other memory distortions, such as misinformation effect and false autobiographical memory. Misinformation effect occurs after an event is witnessed; new information received after the fact influences how the person remembers the event, and can be called post-event misinformation. This is an important issue with an eyewitness testimony. False autobiographical memory takes place when suggestions or additional outside information is provided to distort and change memory of events; this can also lead to false memory syndrome. At times this can lead to the creation of new memories that are completely false and have not taken place.
All three of these memory distortions contain a three-stage procedure. The details of each procedure are different, but all three can result in some form of psychological manipulation and alteration of memory. Stage one is different between the three paradigms, although all involve an event, an event that has taken place (misinformation effect), an event that has not taken place (false autobiographical memory), and a judgment made by a person about an event that must be remembered (hindsight bias). Stage two consists of more information that is received by the person after the event has taken place. The new information given in hindsight bias is correct and presented upfront to the person, while the extra information for the other two memory distortions is wrong and presented in an indirect and possibly manipulative way. The third stage consists of recalling the starting information. The person must recall the original information with hindsight bias and misinformation effect, while a person that has a false autobiographical memory is expected to remember the incorrect information as a true memory.
Cavillo (2013) tested whether there is a relationship between the amount of time the people performing the experiment gave the participants to respond and the participant's level of bias when recalling their initial judgements. The results showed that there is in fact a relationship; the hindsight bias index was greater among the participants who were asked to respond more rapidly than among the participants who were allowed more time to respond.
Distortions of autobiographical memory produced by hindsight bias have also been used as a tool to study changes in students' beliefs about paranormal phenomena after taking a university level skepticism course. In a study by Kane (2010), students in Kane's skepticism class rated their level of belief in a variety of paranormal phenomena at both the beginning and at the end of the course. At the end of the course, they also rated what they remembered their level of belief had been at the beginning of the course. The critical finding was that not only did students reduce their average level of belief in paranormal phenomena by the end of the course, but they also falsely remembered the level of belief they held at the beginning of the course, recalling a much lower level of belief than what they had initially rated. It is the latter finding that is a reflection of the operation of hindsight bias.
To create a false autobiographical memory, the person must believe a memory that is not real. To seem real, the information must be influenced by their personal judgments. There is no real episode of an event to remember, so this memory construction must be logical to that person's knowledge base. Hindsight bias and the misinformation effect recall a specific time and event; this is called an episodic memory process. These two memory distortions both use memory-based mechanisms that involve a memory trace that has been changed. Hippocampus activation takes place when an episodic memory is recalled. The memory is then available for alteration by new information. The person believes that the recalled information is the original memory trace, not an altered memory. This new memory is made from accurate information, and, therefore, the person does not have much motivation to admit that they were wrong originally by remembering the original memory. This can lead to motivated forgetting.
Motivated forgetting
Following a negative outcome of a situation, people do not want to accept responsibility. Instead of accepting their role in the event, they might either view themselves as caught up in a situation that was unforeseeable with them therefore not being the culprits (this is referred to as defensive processing) or view the situation as inevitable with there therefore being nothing that could have been done to prevent it (this is retroactive pessimism). Defensive processing involves less hindsight bias, as they are playing ignorant of the event. Retroactive pessimism makes use of hindsight bias after a negative, unwanted outcome. Events in life can be hard to control or predict. It is no surprise that people want to view themselves in a more positive light and do not want to take responsibility for situations they could have altered. This leads to hindsight bias in the form of retroactive pessimism to inhibit upward counterfactual thinking, instead interpreting the outcome as succumbing to an inevitable fate.
This memory inhibition that prevents a person from recalling what happened may lead to failure to accept mistakes, and therefore may make someone unable to learn and grow to prevent repeating the mistake. Hindsight bias can also lead to overconfidence in decisions without considering other options. Such people see themselves as persons who remember correctly, even though they are just forgetting that they were wrong. Avoiding responsibility is common among the human population. Examples are discussed below to show the regularity and severity of hindsight bias in society.
Consequences
Hindsight bias has both positive and negative consequences. The bias also plays a role in the process of decision-making within the medical field.
Positive
Positive consequences of hindsight bias is an increase in one's confidence and performance, as long as the bias distortion is reasonable and does not create overconfidence. Another positive consequence is that one's self-assurance of their knowledge and decision-making, even if it ends up being a poor decision, can be beneficial to others; allowing others to experience new things or to learn from those who made the poor decisions.
Negative
Hindsight bias causes overconfidence in one's performance relative to others. Hindsight bias decreases one's rational thinking because of when a person experiences strong emotions, which in turn decreases rational thinking. Another negative consequence of hindsight bias is the interference of one's ability to learn from experience, as a person is unable to look back on past decisions and learn from mistakes. A third consequence is a decrease in sensitivity toward a victim by the person who caused the wrongdoing. The person demoralizes the victim and does not allow for a correction of behaviors and actions.
Medical decision-making
Hindsight bias may lead to overconfidence and malpractice in regards to physicians. Hindsight bias and overconfidence is often attributed to the number of years of experience the physician has. After a procedure, physicians may have a "knew it the whole time" attitude, when in reality they may not have known it. Medical decision support systems are designed to assist physicians in diagnosis and treatment, and have been suggested as a way to counteract hindsight bias. However, these decision support systems come with drawbacks, as going against a recommended decision resulted in more punitive jury outcomes when physicians were found liable for causing harm.
Visual hindsight bias
Hindsight bias has also been found to affect judgments regarding the perception of visual stimuli, an effect referred to as the "I saw it all along" phenomenon. This effect has been demonstrated experimentally by presenting participants with initially very blurry images of celebrities. Participants then viewed the images as the images resolved to full clarity (Phase 1). Following Phase 1, participants predicted the level of blur at which a peer would be able to make an accurate identification of each celebrity. It was found that, now that the identity of the celebrities in each image was known, participants significantly overestimated the ease with which others would be able to identify the celebrities when the images were blurry.
The phenomenon of visual hindsight bias has important implications for a form of malpractice litigation that occurs in the field of radiology. Typically, in these cases, a radiologist is charged with having failed to detect the presence of an abnormality that was present in a radiology image. During litigation, a different radiologist – who now knows that the image contains an abnormality – is asked to judge how likely it would be for a naive radiologist to have detected the abnormality during the initial reading of the image. This kind of judgment directly parallels the judgments made in hindsight bias studies. Consistent with the hindsight bias literature, it has been found that abnormalities are, in fact, more easily detected in hindsight than foresight. In the absence of controls for hindsight bias, testifying radiologists may overestimate the ease with which the abnormality would have been detected in foresight.
Attempts to reduce hindsight bias
Research suggests that people still exhibit the hindsight bias even when they are aware of it or possess the intention of eradicating it. There is no solution to eliminate hindsight bias in its totality, but only ways to reduce it. Some of these include considering alternative explanations or opening one's mind to different perspectives. The only observable way to decrease hindsight bias in testing is to have the participant think about how alternative hypotheses could be correct. As a result, the participant would doubt the correct hypothesis and report not having chosen it.
Given that researchers' attempts to eliminate hindsight bias have failed, some believe there is a possible combination of motivational and automatic processes in cognitive reconstruction. Incentive prompts participants to use more effort to recover even the weak memory traces. This idea supports the causal model theory and the use of sense-making to understand event outcomes.
Individual differences
A multinomial processing tree (MPT) model was used to identify processes underlying the phenomenon of hindsight bias (HB). A 2015 study extended HB by incorporating individual differences in cognitive function into estimates of core parameters of the model for older and younger adults the MPT model. The findings suggest that (1) in the absence of outcome knowledge, better episodic memory is associated with higher recall, (2) Better episodic memory and inhibitory control and higher working memory abilities were associated with higher recall abilities in the presence of knowledge of the outcome, (3) Better inhibitory control is associated with less reconstruction bias. Despite a similar pattern of effects in young adults, cognitive covariates did not significantly predict the underlying HB process in this age group. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that working memory capacity and inhibitory control contribute to individual differences in recall bias and reconstruction bias, respectively, especially in older adults.
Mental illness
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is an example of a disorder that directly affects the hindsight bias. Individuals with schizophrenia are more strongly affected by the hindsight bias than are individuals from the general public.
The hindsight bias effect is a paradigm that demonstrates how recently acquired knowledge influences the recollection of past information. Recently acquired knowledge has a strange but strong influence on schizophrenic individuals in relation to information previously learned. New information combined with rejection of memories can disconfirm behavior and delusional belief, which is typically found in patients with schizophrenia. This can cause faulty memory, which can lead to hindsight thinking and believing in knowing something they do not. Delusion-prone individuals with schizophrenia can falsely jump to conclusions. Jumping to conclusions can lead to hindsight, which strongly influences the delusional conviction in individuals with schizophrenia. In numerous studies, cognitive functional deficits in schizophrenic individuals impair their ability to represent and uphold contextual processing.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the re-experiencing and avoidance of trauma-related stressors, emotions, and memories from a past event or events that has cognitive dramatizing impact on an individual. PTSD can be attributed to the functional impairment of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) structure. Dysfunctions of cognitive processing of context and abnormalities that PTSD patients often have can affect hindsight thinking, such as in combat soldiers perceiving they could have altered outcomes of events in war. The PFC and dopamine systems are parts of the brain that can be responsible for the impairment in cognitive control processing of context information. The PFC is well known for controlling the thought process in hindsight bias that something will happen when it evidently does not. Brain impairment in certain brain regions can also affect the thought process of an individual who may engage in hindsight thinking.
Cognitive flashbacks and other associated features from a traumatic event can trigger severe stress and negative emotions such as unpardonable guilt. For example, studies were done on trauma-related guilt characteristics of war veterans with chronic PTSD. Although there has been limited research, significant data suggests that hindsight bias has an effect on war veterans' personal perception of wrongdoing, in terms of guilt and responsibility from traumatic events of war. They blame themselves, and, in hindsight, perceive that they could have prevented what happened.
Examples
Healthcare system
Accidents are prone to happen in any human undertaking, but accidents occurring within the healthcare system seem more salient and severe because of their profound effect on the lives of those involved and sometimes result in the death of a patient. In the healthcare system, there are a number of methods in which specific cases of accidents that happened being reviewed by others who already know the outcome of the case. Those methods include morbidity and mortality conferences, autopsies, case analysis, medical malpractice claims analysis, staff interviews, and even patient observation. Hindsight bias has been shown to cause difficulties in measuring errors in these cases. Many of the errors are considered preventable after the fact, which clearly indicates the presence and the importance of a hindsight bias in this field. There are two sides in the debate in how these case reviews should be approached to best evaluate past cases: the error elimination strategy and the safety management strategy. The error elimination strategy aims to find the cause of errors, relying heavily on hindsight (therefore more subject to the hindsight bias). The safety management strategy relies less on hindsight (less subject to hindsight bias) and identifies possible constraints during the decision-making process of that case. However, it is not immune to error.
Judicial system
Hindsight bias results in being held to a higher standard in court. The defense is particularly susceptible to these effects since their actions are the ones being scrutinized by the jury. The hindsight bias causes defendants to be judged as capable of preventing the bad outcome. Although much stronger for the defendants, hindsight bias also affects the plaintiffs. In cases that there is an assumption of risk, hindsight bias may contribute to the jurors perceiving the event as riskier because of the poor outcome. That may lead the jury to feel that the plaintiff should have exercised greater caution in the situation. Both effects can be minimized if attorneys put the jury in a position of foresight, rather than hindsight, through the use of language and timelines. Judges and juries are likely to mistakenly view negative events as being more foreseeable than what it was in the moment when they look at the situation after the fact in court. Encouraging people to explicitly think about the counterfactuals was an effective means of reducing the hindsight bias. In other words, people became less attached to the actual outcome and were more open to consider alternative lines of reasoning prior to the event. Judges involved in fraudulent transfer litigation cases were subject to the hindsight bias as well and result in an unfair advantage for the plaintiff, showing that jurors are not the only ones sensitive to the effects of the hindsight bias in the courtroom.
Wikipedia
Since hindsight leads people to focus on information that is consistent with what happened while inconsistent information is ignored or regarded as less relevant, it is likely included in representations about the past as well. In a study of Wikipedia articles the latest article versions before the event (foresight article versions) were compared to two hindsight article versions: the first online after the event took place and another one eight weeks later. To be able to investigate various types of events, even including disasters (such as the nuclear disaster at Fukushima), for which foresight articles do not exist, the authors made use of articles about the structure that suffered damage in those instances (such as the article about the nuclear power plant of Fukushima). When analyzing to what extent the articles were suggestive of a particular event, they found only articles about disasters to be much more suggestive of the disaster in hindsight than in foresight, which indicated hindsight bias. For the remaining event categories, however, Wikipedia articles did not show any hindsight bias. In an attempt to compare individuals' and Wikipedia's hindsight bias more directly, another study came to the conclusion that Wikipedia articles are less susceptible to hindsight bias than individuals' representations.
Economy and business
Financial bubbles are often heavily biased with hindsight after they burst. After the worldwide dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and the Great Recession of 2008, many economists have suggested that conditions that seemed insignificant at the time were harbingers of future financial collapse. According to economist Richard Thaler, executives and entrepreneurs are particularly prone to hindsight bias. For example, in one study, more than 75% of entrepreneurs whose startups eventually failed predicted that their businesses would succeed. However, when asked again after their startup failed, only 58% said they had originally believed their startup would be a success. Hindsight bias can also contribute to startup failure through biased performance evaluations and overentry into competition. Hindsight-biased performance evaluation is also related to inefficient delegation.
Investment industry
Hindsight bias influences the decisions of investors in the investment sector. Investors tend to be overconfident in predicting the future because we mistakenly believe that we have predicted the present in the past, so we assume that the future will follow our predictions. Overconfidence is the killer for investment returns. Biais et al. show that hindsight bias allows people to underestimate the magnitude of volatility and that investment agents with hindsight bias have worse investment return performance. Research suggests that the main cause of hindsight bias is that no investor can remember how they made their decisions at the time. Therefore, in order to invest more rationally and safely, investors should keep a diary of the influences, outcomes and show why those outcomes were achieved when making their investment decisions. However, although the diary approach largely prevents investors from forgetting conditions that have led to insight bias and overconfidence. The process of writing down the investment approach still leads to overconfidence, but the study found that it does not have an overall negative effect on current returns.
See also
References
Further reading
Excerpt from: David G. Myers, Exploring Social Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994, pp. 15–19. (More discussion of Paul Lazarsfeld's experimental questions.)
Ken Fisher, Forecasting (Macro and Micro) and Future Concepts, on Market Analysis (4/7/06)
Social Cognition (2007) Vol. 25, Special Issue: The Hindsight Bias
Why Hindsight Can Damage Foresight. Paul Goodwin. Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting, Spring 2010.
Iraq War Naysayers May Have Hindsight Bias. Shankar Vedantam. The Washington Post.
Barriers to critical thinking
Cognitive biases
Error
Fallacies
Memory biases
Prospect theory
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano%20Guadalupe%20Vallejo
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Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
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Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (4 July 1807 – 18 January 1890) was a Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of Mexico, and shaped the transition of Alta California from a territory of Mexico to the U.S. state of California. He served in the first session of the California State Senate. The city of Vallejo, California, is named after him, and the nearby city of Benicia is named after his wife (née Francisca Benicia Carrillo).
Early career
Mariano Vallejo was born in Monterey, California, the eighth of thirteen children and third son of Ignacio Vicente Ferrer Vallejo (1748–1832) and María Antonia Lugo (1776–1855).
There is controversy over Vallejo's exact date of birth. According to Vallejo, and his family bible, he was born on 7 July 1807. His baptismal certificate, however, signed by Fr. Baltasar Carnicer states that he was baptized on 5 July 1807, and born the previous night (4 July 1807). Other sources state a birthdate of 7 July 1808.
M.G. Vallejo's parents were at Santa Barbara Mission February 18, 1791. His paternal grandparents, Gerónimo Vallejo and Antonia Gómez; maternal grandparents, Francisco Lugo and Juana María Rita Martínez. His father's great grandfather, Pedro Vallejo, was said to have served as viceroy of New Spain, although his name does not appear on the list of viceroys. Earlier Vallejo ancestors were said to include a captain who served under Hernan Cortés and an admiral, Alonso Vallejo, said to be the commander of the ship which brought Columbus back to Spain as a prisoner in 1500. However, these ancestors were probably only a family mythology. Ignacio himself had been a well considered sergeant (sargento distinguido) at the Presidio of Monterey, who eventually served as Alcalde of San José.
As a teenager, Mariano, his nephew Juan Bautista Alvarado (1809–1882), and José Castro (1808–1860) received special instruction from Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá. The boys received government documents and newspapers from Mexico City, as well as access to the governor's personal library. Vallejo then worked as a clerk for English merchant William Hartnell, who taught Vallejo English, French, and Latin.
Vallejo was serving as the personal secretary to the new Governor of California, Luis Argüello, when news of Mexico's independence reached Monterey. Argüello enrolled Vallejo as a cadet in the Presidio company in 1824. After being promoted to corporal, Argüello appointed Vallejo to the diputación, the territorial legislature. He was promoted to alférez (equal to a modern army second lieutenant), and in 1829, Vallejo led a group of soldiers against the Miwoks, under chief Estanislao. After a three-day battle, Vallejo's troops forced the Miwok to flee to Mission San José, seeking refuge with the padres.
Rise to power
In 1831 Vallejo participated in the "emergency installation" of Pío Pico as acting Governor. Vallejo became the Commander of the Presidio of San Francisco in 1833, oversaw the secularization of Mission San Francisco Solano. Mission San Francisco Solano was taken over by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. At first he gave some of the land to the native mission workers as ordered. But later he transferred all the land and building to own Rancho Petaluma Adobe of 44,000 acres in the Petaluma Valley. Vallejo laid out the town of Sonoma in 1835. He had a large plaza made in front of the old mission chapel. But then he took tiles from the church roof and put them on his own house. In poor shape the mission church later was torn down. In need of a church for the town he made, in 1840 Vallejo had a small chapel built where the original parish church was.
He founded the town of Sonoma, and was granted Rancho Petaluma by Governor José Figueroa in 1834. In 1835 he was appointed Comandante of the Fourth Military District and Director of Colonization of the Northern Frontier, the highest military command in Northern California. Vallejo began construction of the Presidio of Sonoma to counter the Russian presence at Fort Ross. Vallejo transferred most of the soldiers from San Francisco to Sonoma, and began construction of his two-story Casa Grande adobe on the town plaza. He formed an alliance with Sem-Yeto, also known as Chief Solano of the Suisunes tribe, providing Vallejo with over a thousand Suisunes allies during his conflicts with other tribes.
Governor Figueroa died in September 1835, and was replaced by Nicolás Gutiérrez, who was unpopular with the Californio population, resulting in an uprising headed by Juan Alvarado the next year. Alvarado tried to persuade Vallejo to join the uprising, but he declined to become involved. One hundred-seventy Californios led by José Castro and fifty Americans led by Isaac Graham marched on Monterey. After the rebels fired a single cannon shot into the Presidio, Governor Gutiérrez surrendered on November 5, 1836. On November 7, Alvarado wrote to his uncle Mariano, informing Vallejo he had claimed to be acting under Vallejo's orders and asking him to come to Monterey to take part in the government. Vallejo came to Monterey as a hero, and on November 29, the diputación promoted Vallejo from alférez to colonel and named him Comandante General of the "Free State of Alta California", while Alvarado was named Governor. The Federal Government in Mexico City would later endorse Vallejo and Alvarado's actions and confirm their new positions.
Troubles
In 1840, Isaac Graham allegedly began agitating for a Texas-style revolution in California, in March issuing a notice for a planned horse race that was loosely construed into being a plot for revolt. Alvarado notified Vallejo of the situation, and in April the Californian military began arresting American and English immigrants, eventually detaining about 100 in the Presidio of Monterey. At the time, there were fewer than 400 foreigners from all nations in the department. Vallejo returned to Monterey and ordered Castro to take 47 of the prisoners to San Blas by ship, to be deported to their home countries. Under pressure from British and American diplomats, President Anastasio Bustamante released the remaining prisoners and began a court martial against Castro. Also assisting in the release of those caught up in the Graham Affair was American traveler Thomas J. Farnham. In 1841, Graham and 18 of his associates returned to Monterey, with new passports issued by the Mexican Federal Government.
Also in 1841, the Russians at Fort Ross offered to sell the post to Vallejo. After several months of negotiations and delays by the Mexican authorities and Governor Alvarado (who feared his uncle was plotting to overthrow him), John Sutter purchased the fort. This economic and military setback confirmed Vallejo's belief that it would be better if California was no longer ruled from Mexico City. Although both France and the United Kingdom expressed interest in acquiring Alta California, Vallejo believed the best hope for economic and cultural development lay with the United States.
In November 1841, Vallejo was meeting with José Castro at Mission San José when he was informed of the arrival in California of an immigrant party led by John Bidwell and John Bartleson. Half of the group was staying with Dr. John Marsh north of Mount Diablo, while the rest had continued on to San José. They were arrested before reaching the pueblo for illegally entering Mexico and brought to Vallejo at the mission. Vallejo's orders from Mexico City were clear. Americans entering Mexico without valid passports were to be sent back to the United States. However, after the Graham affair, Vallejo was reluctant to deport another group of Americans, especially those with skills useful for colonizing the northern frontier. These reasons, coupled with his disillusionment with the Mexican government, led Vallejo to grant passports to the immigrants detained in the mission and to give Marsh passports for those camped on his rancho.
In 1842, the Federal Government replaced Vallejo and his nephew Alvarado with Manuel Micheltorena as both civil and military Governor of Alta California. Micheltorena arrived with the batallón fijo, a force of 300 pardoned criminals, who out of desperation at not being paid began to loot the population.
Bear Flag Revolt
In the early morning of June 14, 1846, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was taken prisoner by a ragtag band of Americans, led by William B. Ide, who had decided to emulate the Texans by revolting against California's Mexican government. They later made and raised an improvised flag featuring a grizzly bear that some viewers mistook for a pig. Instead of resisting, Vallejo, who favored the American takeover of California, invited the rebels inside his quarters in the Casa Grande for a meal and drinks. The Americans proceeded to get drunk while negotiating with Vallejo a letter of capitulation that guaranteed that neither Vallejo nor his family would be taken prisoner, which he unopposedly signed. However, when the agreement was presented to those outside they refused to endorse it. Rather than releasing the Mexican officers under parole they insisted they be held as hostages. Although Vallejo was sympathetic to the advent of American rule, he deemed the perpetrators of the Bear Flag Revolt to be mere lowlife rabble. As he wrote in his five-volume history,
if the men who hoisted the 'Bear Flag' had raised the flag that Washington sanctified by his abnegation and patriotism, there would have been no war on the Sonoma frontier, for all our minds were prepared to give a brotherly embrace to the sons of the Great Republic, whose enterprising spirit had filled us with admiration. Ill-advisedly, however, as some say, or dominated by a desire to rule without let or hindrance, as others say, they placed themselves under the shelter of a flag that pictured a bear, an animal that we took as the emblem of rapine and force. This mistake was the cause of all the trouble, for when the Californians saw parties of men running over their plains and forests under the 'Bear Flag,' they thought that they were dealing with robbers and took the steps they thought most effective for the protection of their lives and property.
Vallejo, his French secretary Victor Prudon, his brother Salvador Vallejo, and their brother-in-law Jacob P. Leese were taken as prisoners to John C. Frémont's camp in the Central Valley. Vallejo was confident that the insurgents were acting under Fremont's orders and had no reason to doubt that as soon as he met Fremont (whom he regarded as his friend), he and his companions would be released, so the prospect of being sent to Sutter's Fort did not worry him much. However, Frémont ordered they be kept prisoners in Sutter's Fort.
Conditions for the prisoners were good, until Frémont discovered they were well fed and allowed to walk around the fort several times a day. He replaced the jailer, instructing the replacement to treat them "no better than any other prisoner". Mariano contracted malaria while being held at the fort. After agreeing to remain neutral during the remainder of the war with Mexico, Mariano was released on August 2, 1846, after "John Murphy had arrived at Sutter's Fort with Stockton's new orders on August 1," and arrived at Casa Grande a day or two later, weighing only 96 pounds. Salvador Vallejo and Jacob P. Leese were released about a week later. By the time of his release, Mariano was still uncertain about his stance in the war. Because of his belief that California would thrive better with the United States, and that at this time, the Americans were in complete control of the northern area of California, he eventually sided with them. At his home, he showed his allegiance by burning his Mexican uniform in a dignified manner.
State politics
Once the United States defeated Mexico in the war, Vallejo proved his allegiance to his new country by persuading wealthy Californios to accept American rule. An influential member of the state's Constitutional Convention, he was elected as a member of the first session of the State Senate in 1850. In 1843, he had been deeded title to Rancho Suscol. In 1850, he offered to donate of that land to the new state government on which to build a capitol away from its cramped quarters in San Jose and also offered to pay for a considerable amount of the construction. The offer was accepted by the new state legislature and signed into law by Governor John McDougall, convening in Vallejo, as the new city was named, for the first time in 1851. However, construction lagged, and state bureaucrats were confronted with inadequate, leaky buildings and a soggy location. Within three years, the state legislature and newly elected Governor John Bigler had authorized the capital's relocation three more times, to Sacramento, Benicia and finally a permanent return to Sacramento.
Landholdings
Although the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo formally protected the legal rights of Mexicans now part of the United States, a long legal challenge to Vallejo's land title cost him thousands of dollars in legal fees and finally deprived him of almost all his land and farm animals. Most Californios could not afford the legal expenses to claim their lands, which were thus lost to wealthy Americans and the flood of immigrants, beginning with the Gold Rush, which left the Californios outnumbered and unable to protect their political power. At some time prior to 1869, Vallejo gave the Mexican land grant Rancho Suscol to his daughter, Epifania Guadalupe Vallejo, April 3, 1851, as a wedding present, when she married General John B. Frisbie.
Family life
Jose Manuel Salvador Vallejo (1813–1876), the General's younger brother, received his commission in the Mexican army in 1835, and was appointed Captain of militia at Sonoma in 1836. In 1838 he was grantee of Rancho Napa; in 1839 of Salvador's Ranch, and in 1844 he and his brother Antonio Juan Vallejo (1816–1857) were grantees of Rancho Lupyomi. Salvador Vallejo also claimed Rancho Yajome. In 1863 he was commissioned a Major in the Union Army by Governor Stanford. Major Vallejo organized the 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers, and he served as far east as Arizona, but did not have a battlefield role in the Civil War. He resigned in 1865 after the war and returned to his ranch in Napa.
Encarnacion Vallejo (1809–1902), the General's sister, married John B.R. Cooper, who was the grantee of Rancho Nicasio and other properties. María Paula Rosalia Vallejo (1811–1889), the General's sister, married Jacob P. Leese grantee of Rancho Huichica and other properties. José de Jesús Vallejo (1798–1882), the General's elder brother, was the grantee of Rancho Arroyo de la Alameda. María Isidora Vallejo (1792–1830), the General's sister, married Mariano de Jesús Soberanes. Their daughter María Ygnacia Soberanes married Dr. Edward Turner Bale grantee of Rancho Carne Humana.
On March 6, 1832, Mariano Vallejo married Francisca Benicia Carrillo (1815–1891) in the Chapel of the Presidio of San Diego. Francisca, born August 23, 1815, in San Diego, was one of twelve children of Joaquin Carrillo and María Ygnacia López. The Carrillo family of California was one of the leading families in San Diego. When Vallejo settled in Sonoma, his widowed mother-in-law, María Ygnacia López de Carrillo, was granted the nearby Rancho Cabeza de Santa Rosa in what is now Santa Rosa, California, and settled there with her children.
By the time of his death on January 18, 1890, Vallejo led a modest lifestyle on the last vestige of his once vast landholdings at his Lachryma Montis home in Sonoma, California. A few days after the first anniversary of her husband's death, Francisca Benicia Carrillo de Vallejo died on January 30, 1891. He is interred at the Mountain Cemetery in Sonoma.
Legacy
The city of Vallejo, California, founded by his son-in-law, and the U.S. Navy submarine were named in his honor. Vallejo's Rancho Petaluma Adobe is now preserved in the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park as a National Historic Landmark. His home in Sonoma, California, where he and his wife lived for more than 35 years, now serves as a museum and cultural center as part of the Sonoma State Historic Park.
A "life-size bronze likeness of" General Vallejo "sitting on a bench," sculpted by Jim Callahan, was unveiled at Sonoma Plaza in June 2017, with a plaque describing in English and Spanish the many roles Vallejo played as a Spanish, Mexican, and American leader.
Actor George J. Lewis was cast as General Vallejo in the 1956 episode "The Bear Flag," on the syndicated television anthology series Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. The segment focused on the conflict between newly arrived Americans and the old Spanish families of California. Robert Tafur played Don Miguel Ruiz, and Don C. Harvey was cast as Ezekiel "Stuttering Zeke" Merritt, who proceeds with plans for the Bear Flag Revolt.
Vallejo, and the city of Sonoma, are the subjects of the opera The Dreamers by David Conte and Philip Littell.
Children
References
Bibliography
This book deals mainly with the Mexican period in General Vallejo's life.
This book deals mainly with the American period in General Vallejo's life.
Madie Brown Emparan, The Vallejos of California, 1968 Contains twelve brief biographies of General Vallejo, his wife Benicia, and each of ten surviving children.
External links
Memoirs of the Vallejos, Platon Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo [biography of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo written by his son], at the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, via Calisphere.
Vallejo Papers Collection at the Autry National Center
Century Magazine, 1891 "Ranch and Mission Days in Alta California" by Guadalupe Vallejo, p. 183, and "Pioneer Spanish Families in California" by Charles Howard Shinn, p. 377. Century Magazine, 1891.
Californios
Ranchers from California
Mexican generals
People of Mexican California
Land owners from California
1807 births
1890 deaths
California state senators
Spanish city founders
History of Sonoma County, California
American politicians of Mexican descent
Mexican people of Spanish descent
Mexican people of Galician descent
Mexican people of the Bear Flag Revolt
People of the Conquest of California
People from Napa County, California
People from Monterey, California
American people of Galician descent
19th-century American politicians
People from Sonoma, California
19th-century American businesspeople
American city founders
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic%20Church%20in%20Canada
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Catholic Church in Canada
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The Canadian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Canada, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, and has a decentralised structure, meaning each diocesan bishop is autonomous but under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. As of 2021, it has the largest number of adherents to a Christian denomination and a religion in Canada, with 29.4% of Canadians (10.8 million) being adherents according to the census in 2021. There are 73 dioceses and about 7,000 priests in Canada. On a normal Sunday, between 15 and 25 percent of Canada's Catholics attend Mass (15 per cent weekly attenders and another nine per cent monthly).
History
First Catholics in Canada
In 1497, when John Cabot landed on the island of Newfoundland on the Avalon Peninsula, he raised the Venetian and Papal banners and claimed the land for his sponsor King Henry VII of England, while recognizing the religious authority of the Catholic Church. A letter of John Day states that Cabot landed on 24 June 1497 and "he landed at only one spot of the mainland, near the place where land was first sighted, and they disembarked there with a crucifix and raised banners with the arms of the Holy Father and those of the King of England".
In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded the first Catholic colony in Quebec City.
Missionary work among Indigenous peoples began in the early 1610s as a stipulated condition to the colonization projects of the King of France. Historian Robert Choquette credits secular priest Jessé Fleché as the first to perform dozens of baptisms on Indigenous peoples, which impacted the religious landscape of Mi'kma'ki. Jessé Fleché's ministry was criticized by Jesuits who believed Fleché erred in baptizing neophytes without teaching them the Catholic faith beforehand. In 1611, the Society of Jesus started its missionary work in Acadia. Unlike their predecessor, the Jesuits began their work on Mi'kma'ki by learning the local language and living alongside the Mi'kmaq in order to instruct and convert them to Catholicism.
In 1620, George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore purchased a tract of land in Newfoundland from Sir William Vaughan and established a colony, calling it Avalon, after the legendary spot where Christianity was introduced to Britain. In 1627 Calvert brought two Catholic priests to Avalon. This was the first continuous Catholic ministry in British North America. Despite the severe religious conflicts of the period, Calvert secured the right of Catholics to practice their religion unimpeded in Newfoundland, and embraced the novel principle of religious tolerance, which he wrote into the Charter of Avalon and the later Charter of Maryland. The Colony of Avalon was thus the first North American jurisdiction to practice religious tolerance.
British Rule in Canada
In the wake of the Canada Conquest in 1759, New France became a British colony. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church continued to grow in Canada due to the flexibility imposed on the British regime in Canada by the Treaty of Paris (1763) on sovereigns of the United Kingdom who allowed the favour of the protection of Catholicism and French-speaking people in Canada. This historical perspective still influences Canadian society today.
Anti-Catholicism
Fears of the Catholic Church were quite strong in the 19th century, especially among Presbyterian and other Protestant Irish immigrants across Canada. In 1853, the Gavazzi Riots left 10 dead in Quebec in the wake of Catholic Irish protest against anti-Catholic speeches by ex-monk Alessandro Gavazzi.
The major flashpoint was public support for Catholic French language schools. Although the Confederation Agreement of 1867 guaranteed the status of Catholic schools where they had been legalized, disputes erupted in numerous provinces, especially in the Manitoba Schools Question in the 1890s and Ontario in the 1910s. In Ontario, Regulation 17 was a regulation by the Ontario Ministry of Education, that restricted the use of French as a language of instruction to the first two years of schooling. French Canada reacted vehemently and resisted the implementation of the Regulation. This conflict, which was first rooted in linguistic and cultural questions, transformed into a religious divide. In 1915, Ontario clergy was divided between French Canadian and Irish allegiances, with the Irish supporting the position of the provincial government. Pope Benedict XV asked his Canadian representative to study the divide in order to reestablish unity among the Catholic church in the province of Ontario. Regulation 17 is among the reasons why French Canada distanced itself from the war effort, as its young men refused to enlist.
Protestant elements succeeded in blocking the growth of French-language Catholic public schools. The Irish Catholics generally supported the English language position advocated by the Protestants. Despite this, French language education in Ontario continues today in Catholic and public schools.
French versus Irish
The central theme of Catholic history from the 1840s through the 1920s was the contest for control of the church between the French Canadians, based in Quebec, and the English-speaking Irish Canadians (along with smaller numbers of Catholic Scottish Canadians, English, and others) based in Ontario. The French Catholics saw Catholics in general as God's chosen people (versus Protestants) and the French as more truly Catholic than any other ethnic group. The fact that the Irish Catholics formed coalition with the anti-French Protestants further infuriated the French.
The Irish Catholics collaborated with Protestants inside Canada, on the school issue: they opposed French language Catholic schools. The Irish had a significant advantage since they were favoured by the Vatican. Irish Catholicism was "ultramontane", which meant its adherents professed total obedience to the Pope. By contrast, the French bishops in Canada kept their distance from the Vatican. In the form of Regulation 17 this became the central issue that finally alienated the French in Quebec from the Canadian Anglophone establishment during the First World War. Ontario's Catholics were led by the Irish Bishop Fallon, who united with the Protestants in opposing French schools. Regulation 17 was repealed in 1927. The French-speakers remain more liberal than the English-speakers to this day, and in addition are also leaving the faith much more quickly.
One by one, the Irish took control of the church in each province except for Quebec. Tensions were especially high in Manitoba at the end of the 19th century. In Alberta in the 1920s, a new Irish bishop undermined French language Catholic schooling, and removed the Francophile order of teaching sisters.
Newfoundland
In the Dominion of Newfoundland (which was an independent dominion before joining Canada in 1949), politics was polarized around religious lines, with the Protestants confronting the Irish Catholics.
The future Archdiocese of St. John's was established on 30 May 1784 as Catholics in Newfoundland gradually gained religious liberty, made explicit by a public declaration by Governor John Campbell. After a request from Irish merchants in St. John's to Bishop William Egan, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, James Louis O'Donel was appointed Prefect Apostolic of Newfoundland. This was the first Roman Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction established in English-speaking North America.
In 1861, the Protestant governor dismissed the Catholic Liberals from office and the ensuing election was marked by riot and disorder with both the Anglican bishop Edward Feild and Catholic bishop John Thomas Mullock taking partisan stances. The Protestants narrowly elected Hugh Hoyles as the Conservative Prime Minister. Hoyles suddenly reversed his long record of militant Protestant activism and worked to defuse tensions. He shared patronage and power with the Catholics; all jobs and patronage were split between the various religious bodies on a per capita basis. This 'denominational compromise' was further extended to education when all religious schools were put on the basis which the Catholics had enjoyed since the 1840s.
A series of sexual abuse incidents at Mount Cashel Orphanage, a home for boys run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, and a police coverup were disclosed in 1989, resulting in the closure of the facility in 1990 after the last resident was moved to an alternate facility. The property was seized and the site razed and sold for real-estate development in the mid-1990s as part of a court settlement ordering financial compensation to the victims.
Newfoundland's denominational schools were funded by the province until the late 1990s. In the fall of 1998, Newfoundland officially adopted a non-denominational school system, following two referendums and judgements by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and its Court of Appeal that constitutionally recognized the end of provincially-funded all religious denominational schools.
In July 2021, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland announced plans to sell off assets in order to compensate victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal.
Recent events
Papal visits
In 1984, John Paul II became the first pope to visit Canada. He would visit the country for a total of three times, his final visit being for World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. Pope Francis visited in July 2022 to apologize in the wake of the Indian school scandal.
Decline
Between 2001 and 2013, the population of Canadians identifying as Catholic remained relatively stagnant, with roughly 12.8 million Canadians self-reporting as Catholic. However, Catholics remained the largest single Christian group in Canada. Church attendance across the Canadian Catholic Church is declining as society becomes more irreligious, resulting in closures of increasing numbers of churches in all provinces and territories in the country.
Indian schools scandal
The Catholic church ran three-quarters of the 130 Indian schools in Canada, in which more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend Christian schools with the aim of assimilating them into Canadian society. Disease and hunger was common, and physical and sexual abuse took place, often at the hands of priests and Catholic laypeople.
The church agreed to pay C$29m in compensation to survivors, but has distributed only C$3.9m, citing poor fundraising efforts. During roughly that same period, however, the church raised C$300m for the construction of new church buildings, including cathedrals, and had more than C$4bn in assets.
Prime minister Justin Trudeau expressed frustration that Pope Francis declined to offer an apology for the Catholic church's role in residential schools."As a Catholic, I am deeply disappointed by the position that the Catholic church has taken now and over the past many years. We expect the church to step up and take responsibility for its role in this and be there to help with the grieving and healing, including with records".Ground penetrating radar has since discovered more than 1,300 unmarked mass graves at former Indian schools. Four out of five were run by the Catholic Church. The resurfacing of the residential schools and gravesites has led some Canadians to leave the church.
Bishop Donald Bolen, of Regina, said in 2022 that Catholic involvement in the residential school system had caused deep wounds and trauma. "Relations between First Nation Peoples and the Catholic Church in Canada carry the burden of a complicated history that people are still grappling with. Colonisation and the government-funded Residential Schools System left First Nations Peoples [the earliest known inhabitants] with a legacy of marginalisation, where their languages, cultures, traditions and spirituality were suppressed. Catholic involvement in this system, and the waves of suffering experienced by so many Indigenous Peoples, including physical, cultural, spiritual and sexual abuses, have left deep wounds and trauma. There is much that the Catholic Church, the Canadian government, and society are accountable for." In 2022, during a visit to Canada, Pope Francis apologised for the church's role in the scandal.
2021 church burnings
Following the increased public awareness of the graves and residential schools, four Catholic churches on First Nations reserves in western Canada were destroyed by fires that investigators regarded as suspicious. Other churches were damaged by fire and vandalism over June and July 2021, with the burnings drawing condemnation from both the Catholic Church and Canadian indigenous figures.
Population
The Catholic population in Canada in 2001, 2011, and 2021.
The Catholic population underwent its first recorded drop between 2001 and 2011. Notable trends include the de-Catholicization of Quebec, a drop in the Catholic population in small provinces with stagnant populations, and a rise in Catholics in the large English-speaking provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. There are also adherents of Eastern Catholic Churches who had already migrated to Canada, most notably the Ukrainians.
Organization
The Catholic Community in Canada is decentralised, meaning each diocesan bishop is autonomous and is related but not accountable to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). According to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Canada is divided in four Episcopal assemblies: the Atlantic Episcopal Assembly, the Assemblée des évêques catholiques du Québec, the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario and the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops. The Pope is represented in Canada by the Apostolic Nunciature to Canada (Ottawa).
Within Canada, the Latin hierarchy consists of:
Archdiocese
Diocese
Edmonton
Calgary
Saint Paul
Gatineau
Amos
Mont-Laurier
Rouyn-Noranda
Grouard-McLennan
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Whitehorse
Halifax-Yarmouth
Antigonish
Charlottetown
Keewatin-Le-Pas
Churchill-Baie d'Hudson
Kingston
Peterborough
Sault Sainte Marie
Moncton
Bathurst
Edmundston
Saint John
Montréal
Joliette
Saint-Jean-Longueuil
Saint-Jérôme
Valleyfield
Ottawa-Cornwall
Hearst–Moosonee
Pembroke
Timmins
Québec
Chicoutimi
Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière
Trois-Rivières
Regina
Prince-Albert
Saskatoon
Rimouski
Baie-Comeau
Gaspé
Saint-Boniface
St. John's
Grand Falls
Corner Brook and Labrador
Sherbrooke
Nicolet
Saint-Hyacinthe
Toronto
Hamilton
London
Saint Catharines
Thunder Bay
Vancouver
Kamloops
Nelson
Prince George
Victoria
Winnipeg (not Metropolitan)
There is a Military Ordinariate of Canada for Canadian military personnel.
The Anglican use of the Latin Church is served from the United States, based in Houston, Texas, by the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.
One former Canadian bishopric, the francophone Diocese of Gravelbourg in Saskatchewan, has since its suppression in 1998 become a titular episcopal see, which may be bestowed on any Latin bishop without proper diocese, working in the Roman Curia or anywhere in the world.
Eastern dioceses
There is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic (Byzantine Rite) province, headed by the Metropolitan Archeparchy of Winnipeg, which has four suffragan eparchies (dioceses):
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of New Westminster
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada in Toronto.
Coptic Catholic Churches in Canada
1) Notre dame D'Egypt in Laval- Quebec
2)Holy family Coptic Catholic church in Toronto – Ontario
There are five other eparchies and an exarchate in Canada:
also Byzantine rite:
Melkite Eparchy of Saint-Sauveur de Montréal, immediately subject to the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch
Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St George's in Canton, a Romanian Greek Catholic Church Eparchy covering all of North America (including Canada), with cathedral see in Canton, Ohio
Slovak Exarchate of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto, Slovak Greek Catholic Church jurisdiction under the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church's North American province, the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh
Antiochian Rite: Maronite Eparchy of Saint-Maron de Montréal, immediately subject to the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch
Chaldean Rite: Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto, directly dependent on the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad
Syrian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate for Canada (immediately exempt to the Holy See)
Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Mississauga (immediately exempt to the Holy See)
A few Eastern particular church communities are pastorally served from the United States:
Armenian Rite: Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in New York, directly subject to the Patriarch of Cilicia
Canadian Catholic personalities
Patron Saint of Canada
Saint Joseph is Patron Saint of Canada.
Notable Canadian Catholics
Neil McNeil (1851–1934)
Bernard Lonergan (1904–1984)
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
Eric McLuhan (1942–2018)
Paul Desmarais (1927–2013)
Charles Taylor (philosopher) (1931–present)
Wayne Hankey (1944–present)
Marc Garneau (1949–present)
Danny Williams (1949–present)
John Candy (1950–1994)
Mary Walsh (1952–present)
Catherine O'Hara (1954–present)
Wayne Gretzky (1961–present)
Celine Dion (1968–present)
Neve Campbell (1973–present)
Caroline Mulroney (1974–present)
Andrew Furey (1975–present)
Ben Mulroney (1976–present)
Tom Power (1987–present)
Prime Ministers
Sir John Thompson (1845–1894)
Wilfrid Laurier (1841–1919)
Louis St. Laurent (1882–1973)
Pierre Trudeau (1919–2000)
Joe Clark (1939–present)
John Turner (1929–2020)
Brian Mulroney (1939–present)
Jean Chrétien (1934–present)
Paul Martin (1938–present)
Justin Trudeau (1971–present)
Lapsed Canadian Catholics
Jim Carrey (1962–present) (Practices Transcendental Meditation).
Saints
François de Laval
Frère André
Kateri Tekakwitha
Marguerite Bourgeoys
Marguerite D'Youville
Marie de l'Incarnation
Canadian Martyrs
Isaac Jogues
Antoine Daniel
Jean de Brébeuf
Gabriel Lalemant
Charles Garnier
Noël Chabanel
René Goupil
Jean de Lalande
Blessed
Catherine de Saint-Augustin
Dina Bélanger
Émilie Tavernier Gamelin
Frédéric Janssoone
Louis-Zéphirin Moreau
Marie-Élisabeth Turgeon
Marie-Léonie Paradis
Marie-Rose Durocher
Nykyta Budka
Vasyl Velychkovsky
Venerables
Alfred Pampalon
Anthony Kowalczyk
Élisabeth Bergeron
Délia Tétreault
Vital-Justin Grandin
See also
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Canada
Catholic sisters and nuns in Canada
Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada
List of Catholic dioceses in Canada
List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)
List of Canadian Catholic saints
List of Indian residential schools in Canada
Indian Mass
Protestantism in Canada
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland
Sexual abuse cases in the Congregation of Christian Brothers
Further reading
Bramadat, Paul, and David Seljak, eds. Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada (2008)
Clarke, Brian P. Piety and Nationalism: Lay Voluntary Associations and the Creation of an Irish catholic Community in Toronto, 1850–1895 (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993)
Fay, Terence J. A History of Canadian Catholics: Gallicanism, Romanism, and Canadianism (2002) excerpt and text search
Gardaz, Michel. "Religious studies in Francophone Canada." Religion 41#1 (https://globalnews.ca/news/544459/statscan-roman-catholics-remains-single-largest-christian-religious-group-in-canada/1): 53–70.
Huel, Raymond. Archbishop A-A Tache of St. Boniface: The "Good Fight" and the Illusive Vision (University of Alberta Press, 2003).
Jaenen, Cornelius J. The Role of the Church in New France (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1976)
Johnston, Angus Anthony. A History of the Catholic Church in Eastern Nova Scotia; Volume I: 1611- 1827 (1960)
Johnston, A.B.J. Life and Religion at Louisbourg, 1713–1758 (MGill-Queen's University Press, 1996)
Lahey, Raymond J. The First Thousand Years: A Brief History of the Catholic Church in Canada (2002)
Laverdure, Paul. "Achille Delaere and the Origins of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Western Canada." Historical Papers' (2004). online
McGowan, Mark. Michael Power: The Struggle to Build the Catholic Church on the Canadian Frontier (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2005)
McGowan, Mark G. ""Pregnant with Perils": Canadian Catholicism and Its Relation to the Catholic Churches of Newfoundland, 1840–1949." Newfoundland and Labrador Studies 28.2 (2013). online
McGowan, Mark G. "Rendering Unto Caesar: Catholics, the State, and the Idea of a Christian Canada." Historical Papers (2011). online
McGowan, Mark George and Brian P. Clarke, eds. Catholics at the Gathering Place: Historical Essays on the Archdiocese of Toronto, 1841–1991 (Dundurn, 1993)
McGowan, Mark George. "Rethinking Catholic-Protestant Relations in Canada: The Episcopal Reports of 1900–1901." Canadian Catholic Historical Assoc., (1992) online
McGowan, Mark G. "A Short History of Catholic Schools in Ontario." online
McGowan, Mark G. "Rendering Unto Caesar: Catholics, the State, and the Idea of a Christian Canada." Historical Papers (2011). online
McGowan, Mark G. "The Maritimes Region and the Building of a Canadian Church: The Case of the Diocese of Antigonish after confederation." Canadian Catholic Historical Association (2004): 46–67. online
Morice, A G. History of the Catholic Church in Western Canada: From Lake Superior to the Pacific (1659–1895) (2 vol; reprint Nabu Press, 2010)
Murphy, Terrence, and Gerald Stortz, eds, Creed and Culture: The Place of English-Speaking Catholics in Canadian Society, 1750 – 1930 (1993), articles by scholars
Pearson, Timothy G. Becoming Holy in Early Canada (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2014.)
Perin, Roberto. Rome in Canada: the Vatican and Canadian affairs in the late Victorian age (U of Toronto Press, 1990)
Trofimenkoff, Susan Mann. The Dream of Nation: A Social and Intellectual History of Quebec'' (1982). passim, esp pp 115–31
References
External links
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Observatory of religious freedom – Presentation of the religious situation in Canada
Catholicsm, The Canadian Encyclopedia
Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario
Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec
Military Ordinariate of Canada
GigaCatholic
Apostolic Nunciature in Canada
Canada
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic%20Church%20in%20the%20United%20States
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Catholic Church in the United States
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With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided into separate denominations. In a 2020 Gallup poll, 25% of Americans said they were Catholic. The United States has the fourth largest Catholic population in the world, after Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.
History
Early colonial period
One of the colonies of British America, the Province of Maryland, "a Catholic Proprietary," was founded with an explicitly English Catholic identity in the 17th century, contrasting itself with the neighbouring Protestant-dominated Massachusetts Bay Colony and Colony of Virginia. It was named after the Catholic Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I of England. Politically, it was under the influence of Catholic colonial families of Maryland such as the Calvert Baron Baltimore and the Carroll family, the latter of Irish origin. Much of the religious situation in the Thirteen Colonies reflected the sectarian divisions of the English Civil War and in a larger sense the aftermath of the English Reformation. Furthermore, radical Puritans, who were viewed as outsiders in England for their opposition to the establishment Laudian-leaning Anglican Church, saw settlement in the American Colonies, particularly with the Plymouth Colony, as a way to escape religious restrictions against them in "the motherland" and were often theologically even more hostile to Catholics than the situation in England itself. The Province of Pennsylvania, which was given to the Quaker, William Penn by the last Catholic King of England, James II, advocated religious toleration as a principle and thus some Catholics lived there. There were also some Catholics in the Province of New York (named after the aforementioned James II). In 1785, the estimated number of Catholics was at 25,000; 15,800 in Maryland, 7,000 in Pennsylvania and 1,500 in New York. There were only 25 priests serving the faithful. This was less than 2% of the total population in the Thirteen Colonies.
Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the United States came to incorporate into itself territories with a pre-existing Catholic history under their previous governance by New France and New Spain; the two premier European Catholic powers active in North America. The territorial evolution of the United States since 1776 has meant that today more areas that are now part of the United States were Catholic in colonial times before they were Protestant. In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase saw vast territories in French Louisiana transferred over from the First French Republic, areas that would become the following states; Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, Louisiana, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, half of Colorado and North Dakota, parts of New Mexico, Texas and North Dakota. The French named a number of their settlements after Catholic saints, such as St. Louis, Sault Ste. Marie, St. Ignace, St. Charles and others. The Catholic, culturally French population of Americans, descended from this colony are today known as the Louisiana Creole and Cajun people.
During the 19th century, territories previously belonging to the Catholic Spanish Empire became part of the United States, starting with Florida in the 1820s. Most of the Spanish American territories with a Catholic heritage became independent during the early 19th century, this included Mexico on the border of the United States. The United States subsequently annexed parts of Mexico, starting with Texas in the 1840s and after the end of the Mexican–American War an area known as the Mexican Cession, including what would become the states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, the rest of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. To an even greater extent than the French, the Spanish had named many settlements in the colonial period after Catholic saints or in reference to Catholic religious symbolism, names that they would retain after becoming part of the United States, especially in California (Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Santa Clarita, San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Obispo and numerous others), as well as Texas (San Antonio, San Juan, San Marcos and San Angelo), New Mexico (Santa Fe) and Florida (St. Augustine). As late as 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States took control of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, as well as Cuba for a time, all of which had several centuries of Spanish Catholic colonial history (though they were not made into states).
Towards the founding of the United States
Anti-Catholicism was the policy for the English who first settled the New England colonies, and it persisted in the face of warfare with the French in New France (now part of Canada). Maryland was founded by a Catholic, Lord Baltimore, as the first 'non-denominational' colony and was the first to accommodate Catholics. A charter was issued to him in 1632. In 1650, the Puritans in the colony rebelled and repealed the Act of Toleration. Catholicism was outlawed and Catholic priests were hunted and exiled. By 1658, the Act of Toleration was reinstated and Maryland became the center of Catholicism into the mid-19th century. In 1689 Puritans rebelled and again repealed the Maryland Toleration Act. These rebels cooperated with the colonial assembly "dominated by Anglicans to endow the Church of England with tax support and to bar Catholics (and Quakers) from holding public office." New York, interestingly enough, proved more tolerant with its Catholic governor, Thomas Dongan, and other Catholic officials. Freedom of religion returned with the American Revolution. In 1756, a Maryland Catholic official estimated seven thousand practicing Catholics in Maryland and three thousand in Pennsylvania. The Williamsburg Foundation estimates in 1765 Maryland Catholics at 20,000 and 6,000 in Pennsylvania. The population of these colonies at the time was approximately 180,000 and 200,000, respectively. By the time the American War for Independence started in 1776, Catholics formed 1.6%, or 40,000 persons of the 2.5 million population of the 13 colonies. Another estimate is 35,000 in 1789, 60% in Maryland with not many more than 30 priests. John Carroll, first Catholic Bishop, in 1785, two years after the Treaty of Paris (1783), reported 24,000 registered communicants in the new country, of whom 90% were in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
After the Revolution, Rome made entirely new arrangements for the creation of an American diocese under American bishops. Numerous Catholics served in the American army and the new nation had very close ties with Catholic France. General George Washington insisted on toleration; for example, he issued strict orders in 1775 that "Pope's Day," the colonial equivalent of Guy Fawkes Night, was not to be celebrated. European Catholics played major military roles, especially Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing, Casimir Pulaski and Tadeusz Kościuszko. Irish-born Commodore John Barry from Co Wexford, Ireland, often credited as "the Father of the American Navy," also played an important military role. In a letter to Bishop Carroll, Washington acknowledged this unique contribution of French Catholics as well as the patriotic contribution of Carroll himself: "And I promise that your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishments of their Revolution, and the establishment of their government; nor the important assistance which they received from a nation in which the Roman Catholic religion is professed."
Beginning in approximately 1780 there was a struggle between lay trustees and bishops over the ownership of church property, with the trustees losing control following the 1852 Plenary Councils of Baltimore.
Of the colonial era, historian Jay Dolan says:
They had lived as second-class citizens, discriminated against politically, professionally, and socially. The revolution changed all this. New laws and new constitutions gave them religious freedom.... [leading] John Carroll to observe in 1779 that Roman Catholics are members of Congress, assemblies, and hold civil and military posts.
President Washington promoted religious tolerance by proclamations and by publicly attending services in various Protestant and Catholic churches. The old colonial laws imposing restrictions on Catholics were gradually abolished by the states, and were prohibited in the new federal constitution.
In 1787 two Catholics, Daniel Carroll of the Irish O'Carrolls and Irish born Thomas Fitzsimons, helped draft the new United States Constitution. John Carroll was appointed by the Vatican as Prefect Apostolic, making him superior of the missionary church in the thirteen states. He formulated the first plans for Georgetown University and became the first American bishop in 1789.
19th century (1800–1900)
The number of Catholics surged starting in the 1840s as German, Irish, and other European Catholics came in large numbers. After 1890, Italians and Poles formed the largest numbers of new Catholics, but many countries in Europe contributed, as did Quebec. By 1850, Catholics had become the country's largest single denomination. Between 1860 and 1890, their population tripled to seven million.
Catholic revival
Historian John McGreevy identifies a major Catholic revival that swept across Europe, North America and South America in the early 19th century. It was nurtured in the world of Catholic urban neighborhoods, parishes, schools, and associations, whose members understood themselves as arrayed against, and morally superior to the wider American society. The Catholic Revival is called “Ultramontanism.” It included a new emphasis on Thomistic theology for intellectuals. For parishioners it meant a much deeper piety that emphasized miracles, saints, and new devotions such as, compulsory Sunday attendance, regular confession and communion, praying the rosary, a devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and meatless Fridays. There was a deeper respect for bishops, and especially the Pope, with more direct control by the Vatican over selecting bishops and less autonomy for local parishes. There was a sharp increase in Mass attendance, religious vocations soared, especially among women. Catholics set up a parochial school system using the newly available nuns, and funding from the more religious parents. Intermarriage with Protestants was strongly discouraged. It was tolerated only if the children were brought up Catholics. The parochial schools effectively promoted marriage inside the faith. By the late 19th century dioceses were building foreign language elementary schools in parishes that catered to Germans and other non-English speaking groups. They raised large sums to build English-only diocesan high schools, which had the effect of increasing ethnic intermarriage and diluting ethnic nationalism. Leadership was increasingly in the hands of the Irish. The Irish bishops worked closely with the Vatican and promoted Vatican supremacy that culminated in Papal infallibility proclaimed in 1870.
The bishops began standardizing discipline in the American Church with the convocation of the Plenary Councils of Baltimore in 1852, 1866 and 1884. These councils resulted in the promulgation of the Baltimore Catechism and the establishment of The Catholic University of America.
Jesuit priests who had been expelled from Europe found a new base in the U.S. They founded numerous secondary schools and 28 colleges and universities, such as Georgetown University (1789), St. Louis University (1818), Boston College, the College of Holy Cross, the University of Santa Clara, and several Loyola Colleges. Many other religious communities like the Dominicans, Congregation of Holy Cross, and Franciscans followed suit.
In the 1890s the Americanism controversy roiled senior officials. The Vatican suspected there was too much liberalism in the American Church, and the result was a turn to conservative theology as the Irish bishops increasingly demonstrated their total loyalty to the Pope, and traces of liberal thought in the Catholic colleges were suppressed. As part of this controversy, the founder of the Paulist Fathers, Isaac Hecker, was accused by the French cleric Charles Maignen (article in French) of subjectivism and crypto-Protestantism. Additionally some who sympathized with Hecker in France were accused of Americanism.
Nuns and sisters
Nuns and sisters played a major role in American religion, education, nursing and social work since the early 19th century. In Catholic Europe, convents were heavily endowed over the centuries, and were sponsored by the aristocracy. But there were very few rich American Catholics, and no aristocrats. Religious orders were founded by entrepreneurial women who saw a need and an opportunity, and were staffed by devout women from poor families. The numbers grew rapidly, from 900 sisters in 15 communities in 1840, 50,000 in 170 congregations in 1900, and 135,000 in 300 different congregations by 1930. Starting in 1820, the sisters always outnumbered the priests and brothers. Their numbers peaked in 1965 at 180,000 then plunged to 56,000 in 2010. Many women left their orders, and few new members were added.
On April 8, 2008, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict XVI, met with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious leaders in Rome and communicated that the CDF would conduct a doctrinal assessment of the LCWR, expressing concern that the nuns were expressing radical feminist views. According to Laurie Goodstein, the investigation, which was viewed by many U.S. Catholics as a "vexing and unjust inquisition of the sisters who ran the church's schools, hospitals and charities", was ultimately closed in 2015 by Pope Francis.
Anti-Catholicism
Some anti-Catholic political movements appeared: the Know Nothings in the 1840s. American Protective Association in the 1890s, and the second Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, were active in the United States. But even as early as 1884, in the face of outbreaks of anti-Catholicism, Catholic leaders like James Cardinal Gibbons were filled with admiration for their country: "The oftener I go to Europe," Gibbons said, "the longer I remain there, and the more I study the political condition of its people, I return home filled with greater admiration for our own country and [am] more profoundly grateful that I am an American citizen." Animosity by Protestants waned as Catholics demonstrated their patriotism in World War I, their commitment to charity, and their dedication to democratic values.
20th–21st centuries
In the era of intense emigration from the 1840s to 1914, bishops often set up separate parishes for major ethnic groups, from Ireland, Germany, Poland, French Canada and Italy. In Iowa, the development of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, the work of Bishop Loras and the building of St. Raphael's Cathedral, to meet the needs of Germans and Irish, is illustrative. Noteworthy, too, was the contribution of 400 Italian Jesuit expatriates who, between 1848–1919, planted dozens of institutions to serve the diverse population out West. By century's end, they had founded colleges (later to become universities) in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Denver, Seattle and Spokane to meet the cultural and religious needs of people of that region. They also ministered to miners in Colorado, to Native Peoples in several states, and to Hispanics in New Mexico, "building churches [in the latter state], publishing books and newspapers, and running schools in both the public and private sectors."
By the beginning of the 20th century, approximately one-sixth of the population of the United States was Catholic. Modern Catholic immigrants come to the United States from the Philippines, Poland and Latin America, especially Mexico and Central America. This multiculturalism and diversity has influenced the conduct of Catholicism in the United States. For example, most dioceses offer Mass in a number of languages, and an increasing number of parishes offer Masses in the official language of the church, Latin, due to its universal nature.
Sociologist Andrew Greeley, an ordained Catholic priest at the University of Chicago, undertook a series of national surveys of Catholics in the late 20th century. He published hundreds of books and articles, both technical and popular. His biographer summarizes his interpretation:
He argued for the continued salience of ethnicity in American life and the distinctiveness of the Catholic religious imagination. Catholics differed from other Americans, he explained in a variety of publications, by their tendency to think in "sacramental" terms, imagining God as present in a world that was revelatory rather than bleak. The poetic elements in the Catholic tradition—its stories, imagery, and rituals—kept most Catholics in the fold, according to Greeley, whatever their disagreements with particular aspects of church discipline or doctrine. Despite the unchanging nature of church doctrine, Greeley insisted that Humanae Vitae, the 1968 papal encyclical upholding the Catholic ban on contraception is solely responsible for the sharp decline in weekly Mass attendance between 1968 and 1975.
In 1965, 71% of Catholics attended Mass regularly.
In the later 20th century "[...] the Catholic Church in the United States became the subject of controversy due to allegations of clerical child abuse of children and adolescents, of episcopal negligence in arresting these crimes, and of numerous civil suits that cost Catholic dioceses hundreds of millions of dollars in damages." Because of this, higher scrutiny and governance as well as protective policies and diocesan investigation into seminaries have been enacted to correct these former abuses of power, and safeguard parishioners and the church from further abuses and scandals.
One initiative is the "National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management" (NLRCM), a lay-led group born in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal and dedicated to bringing better administrative practices to 194 dioceses that include 19,000 parishes nationwide with some 35,000 lay ecclesial ministers who log 20 hours or more a week in these parishes.
According to a 2015 study by Pew Researchers, 39% of Catholics attend church at least once a week and 40%, once or twice a month.
Although the issue of trusteeism was mostly settled in the 19th century, there have been some related issues. In 2005, an interdict was issued to board members of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (St. Louis, Missouri) in an attempt to get them to turn over the church property to the Archdiocese of St. Louis. In 2006, a priest was accused of stealing $1.4 million from his parish, prompting a debate over Connecticut Raised Bill 1098 as a means of forcing the Catholic church to manage money differently. Related to issues of asset ownership, some parishes have been liquidated and the assets taken by the diocese instead of being distributed to nearby parishes, which in violation of church financial rules.
In 2009 John Micklethwait, editor of The Economist and co-author of God Is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith Is Changing the World, said that American Catholicism, which he describes in his book as "arguably the most striking Evangelical success story of the second half of the nineteenth century," has competed quite happily "without losing any of its basic characteristics." It has thrived in America's "pluralism."
In 2011, an estimated 26 million American Catholics were "fallen-away", that is, not practicing their faith. Some religious commentators commonly refer to them as "the second largest religious denomination in the United States." Recent Pew Research survey results in 2014 show about 31.7% of American adults were raised Catholic, while 41% from among that group no longer identify as Catholic.
In a 2015 survey by researchers at Georgetown University, Americans who self identify as Catholic, including those who do not attend Mass regularly, numbered 81.6 million or 25% of the population, and 68.1 million or 20% of the American population are Catholics tied to a specific parish. About 25% of US Catholics say they attend Masses once a week or more, and about 38% went at least once a month. The study found that the number of US Catholics has increased by 3 to 6% each decade since 1965, and that the Catholic Church is "the most diverse in terms of race and ethnicity in the US," with Hispanics accounting for 38% of Catholics and blacks and Asians 3% each. The Catholic Church in the US "represents perhaps the most multi-ethnic organization of any kind, and so is a major laboratory for cross-cultural cooperation and cross-cultural communication completely within the nation's borders." It is as if it wishes to forge a broader ecclesial identity to give newcomers a more inclusive welcome, similar to the aspirations of 19th century church leaders like Archbishops John Ireland and James Gibbons who "wanted Catholic immigrants to become fully American, rather than 'strangers in a strange land.' " Only 2 percent of American Catholics go to confession on a regular basis, while three-quarters of them go to confession once a year or less often; a valid confession is required by the Church after committing mortal sin in order to return to the State of Grace, necessary to receive Holy Communion. As one of the precepts of the church, it is also required that every Catholic makes a valid confession at least once a year.
According to Matthew Bunsen’s analysis of a Real
Clear poll of American Catholics in late 2019:
Catholicism has been battered by the winds of secularism, materialism, and relativism. Failures in catechesis and formation have created wide gaps in practice and belief that stretch now into every aspect of Catholic life.
Since 1970, weekly church attendance among Catholics has dropped from 55% to 20%, the number of priests declined from 59,000 to 35,000 and the number of people who have left Catholicism has increased from under 2 million in 1975 to over 30 million today. In 2022, there were fewer than 42,000 nuns left in the United States, a 76% decline over 50 years, with fewer than 1% of nuns under age 40.
The RealClear poll data indicates that the Latino element has now reached 37 percent of the Catholic population, and growing. It is 60 percent Democratic, while the non-Latinos are split about 50-50 politically. Although many Americans still identify as Catholics, their religious participation rates are declining. Today only 39% of all Catholics go to Mass at least weekly. Nearly two-thirds of Catholics say that their trust in the church leadership has been undermined by the clergy sex abuse crisis. Nevertheless, 86% of all Catholics still consider religion important in their own lives.
Organization
Catholics gather as local communities called parishes, headed by a priest, and typically meet at a permanent church building for liturgies every Sunday, weekdays and on holy days. Within the 196 geographical dioceses and archdioceses (excluding the Archdiocese for the Military Services), there were 17,007 local Catholic parishes in the United States in 2018. The Catholic Church has the third highest total number of local congregations in the US behind Southern Baptists and United Methodists. However, the average Catholic parish is significantly larger than the average Baptist or Methodist congregation; there are more than four times as many Catholics as Southern Baptists and more than eight times as many Catholics as United Methodists.
In the United States, there are 197 ecclesiastical jurisdictions:
177 Latin Church dioceses
including 32 Latin Catholic archdioceses
18 Eastern Catholic eparchies
including 2 Eastern Catholic archeparchies
including 1 Eparchy (for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church)
2 ordinariates
one personal ordinariate for former Anglicans who came into full Catholic communion
one for members of the military (though equivalent to an archdiocese, it is technically a military ordinariate)
Eastern Catholic Churches are churches with origins in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa that have their own distinctive liturgical, legal and organizational systems and are identified by the national or ethnic character of their region of origin. Each is considered fully equal to the Latin tradition within the Catholic Church. In the United States, there are 15 Eastern Church dioceses (called eparchies) and two Eastern Church archdioceses (or archeparchies), the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.
The apostolic exarchate for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the United States is headed by a bishop who is a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. An apostolic exarchate is the Eastern Catholic Church equivalent of an apostolic vicariate. It is not a full-fledged diocese/eparchy, but is established by the Holy See for the pastoral care of Eastern Catholics in an area outside the territory of the Eastern Catholic Church to which they belong. It is headed by a bishop or a priest with the title of exarch.
The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter was established January 1, 2012, to serve former Anglican groups and clergy in the United States who sought to become Catholic. Similar to a diocese though national in scope, the ordinariate is based in Houston, Texas, and includes parishes and communities across the United States that are fully Catholic, while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage and traditions.
, 8 dioceses out of 195 are vacant (sede vacante). None of the current bishops or archbishops are past the retirement age of 75.
The central leadership body of the Catholic Church in the United States is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of the hierarchy of bishops (including archbishops) of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands, although each bishop is independent in his own diocese, answerable only to the Holy See. The USCCB elects a president to serve as their administrative head, but he is in no way the "head" of the church or of Catholics in the United States. In addition to the 195 dioceses and one exarchate represented in the USCCB, there are several dioceses in the nation's other four overseas dependencies. In the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the bishops in the six dioceses (one metropolitan archdiocese and five suffragan dioceses) form their own episcopal conference, the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference (Conferencia Episcopal Puertorriqueña). The bishops in US insular areas in the Pacific Ocean—the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Territory of American Samoa, and the Territory of Guam—are members of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.
No primate exists for Catholics in the United States. In the 1850s, the Archdiocese of Baltimore was acknowledged a Prerogative of Place, which confers to its archbishop some of the leadership responsibilities granted to primates in other countries. The Archdiocese of Baltimore was the first diocese established in the United States, in 1789, with John Carroll (1735–1815) as its first bishop. It was, for many years, the most influential diocese in the fledgling nation. Now, however, the United States has several large archdioceses and a number of cardinal-archbishops.
By far, most Catholics in the United States belong to the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. Rite generally refers to the form of worship ("liturgical rite") in a church community owing to cultural and historical differences as well as differences in practice. However, the Vatican II document, Orientalium Ecclesiarum ("Of the Eastern Churches"), acknowledges that these Eastern Catholic communities are "true Churches" and not just rites within the Catholic Church. There are 14 other churches in the United States (23 within the global Catholic Church) which are in communion with Rome, fully recognized and valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church. They have their own bishops and eparchies. The largest of these communities in the U.S. is the Chaldean Catholic Church. Most of these churches are of Eastern European and Middle Eastern origin. Eastern Catholic Churches are distinguished from Eastern Orthodox, identifiable by their usage of the term Catholic.
In recent years, particularly following the issuing of the apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007, the United States has emerged as a stronghold for the small but growing Traditionalist Catholic movement, along with France, England and a few other Anglophone countries. There are over 600 locations throughout the country where the Traditional Latin Mass is offered.
Personnel
The church employs people in a variety of leadership and service roles. Its ministers include ordained clergy (bishops, priests. and deacons) and non-ordained lay ecclesial ministers, theologians, and catechists.
Some Catholics, both lay and clergy, live in a form of consecrated life, rather than in marriage. This includes a wide range of relationships, from monastic (monks and nuns), to mendicant (friars and sisters), apostolic (priests, brothers, and sisters), and secular and lay institutes. While many of these also serve in some form of ministry, above, others are in secular careers, within or without the church. Consecrated life – in and of itself – does not make a person a part of the clergy or a minister of the church.
Additionally, many lay people are employed in "secular" careers in support of church institutions, including educators, health care professionals, finance and human resources experts, lawyers, and others.
Bishops
Leadership of the Catholic Church in the United States is provided by the bishops, individually for their own dioceses and collectively through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. There are some mid-level groupings of bishops, such as ecclesiastical provinces (often covering a state) and the fourteen geographic regions of the USCCB, but these have little significance for most purposes.
The ordinary office for a bishop is to be the bishop of a particular diocese, its chief pastor and minister, usually geographically defined and incorporating, on average, about 350,000 Catholic Christians. In canon law, the bishop leading a particular diocese, or similar office, is called an "ordinary" (i.e., he has complete jurisdiction in this territory or grouping of Christians).
There are two non-geographic dioceses, called "ordinariates", one for military personnel and one for former Anglicans who are in full communion with the Catholic Church.
Dioceses are grouped together geographically into provinces, usually within a state, part of a state, or multiple states together (see map below). A province comprises several dioceses which look to one ordinary bishop (usually of the most populous or historically influential diocese/city) for guidance and leadership. This lead bishop is their archbishop and his diocese is the archdiocese. The archbishop is called the "metropolitan" bishop who strives to achieve some unanimity of practice with his brother "suffragan" bishops.
Some larger dioceses have additional bishops assisting the diocesan bishop, and these are called "auxiliary" bishops or, if a "coadjutor" bishop, with right of succession.
Additionally, some bishops are called to advise and assist the bishop of Rome, the pope, in a particular way, either as an additional responsibility on top of their diocesan office or sometimes as a full-time position in the Roman Curia or related institution serving the universal church. These are called cardinals, because they are "incardinated" onto a second diocese (Rome). All cardinals under the age of 80 participate in the election of a new pope when the office of the papacy becomes vacant.
There are 428 active and retired Catholic bishops in the United States:
255 active bishops:
36 archbishops
144 diocesan bishops
67 auxiliary bishops
8 apostolic or diocesan administrators
173 retired bishops:
33 retired archbishops
95 retired diocesan bishops
45 retired auxiliary bishops
Cardinals
There are 17 U.S. cardinals.
Six archdioceses are currently led by archbishops who have been created cardinals:
Blase J. Cupich – Chicago
Daniel DiNardo – Galveston-Houston
Timothy M. Dolan – New York
Wilton Daniel Gregory – Washington, D.C.
Seán Patrick O'Malley – Boston
Joseph W. Tobin – Newark
One cardinal serves as bishop of a diocese:
Robert W. McElroy - San Diego
Three cardinals are in service to the pope, in the Roman Curia or related offices:
Kevin Farrell – Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life
James Michael Harvey – Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
Robert Francis Prevost – Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops
Seven cardinals are retired:
Raymond Leo Burke – patron emeritus of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Prefect Emeritus of the Apostolic Signatura
Roger Mahony – Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles
Adam Maida – Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit
Edwin Frederick O'Brien – Grand Master Emeritus of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Justin Francis Rigali – Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia
James Stafford – Major Penitentiary Emeritus of the Apostolic Penitentiary and Archbishop Emeritus of Denver
Donald Wuerl – Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C.
Clergy and ministers
In 2018, there were approximately 100,000 clergy and ministers employed by the church in the United States, including:
36,580 presbyters (priests)
25,254 diocesan
11,326 religious/consecrated
18,291 ordinary (permanent) deacons
39,651 lay ecclesial ministers (2016)
23,149 diocesan
16,502 religious/consecrated
There are also approximately 30,000 seminarians/students in formation for ministry:
3,526 candidates for priesthood
2,088 candidates for diaconate
16,585 candidates for lay ecclesial ministry
Lay employees
The 630 Catholic hospitals in the U.S. have a combined budget of $101.7 billion, and employ 641,030 full-time equivalent staff.
The 6,525 Catholic primary and secondary schools in the U.S. employ 151,101 full-time equivalent staff, 97.2% of whom are lay and 2.3% are consecrated, and 0.5% are ordained.
The 261 Catholic institutions of higher (tertiary) education in the U.S. employ approximately 250,000 full-time equivalent staff, including faculty, administrators, and support staff.
Overall, the Catholic Church employs more than one million employees with an operating budget of nearly $100 billion to run parishes, diocesan primary and secondary schools, nursing homes, retreat centers, hospitals, and other charitable institutions.
Institutions
Parochial schools
By the middle of the 19th century, the Catholics in larger cities started building their own parochial school system. The main impetus was fear that exposure to Protestant teachers in the public schools, and Protestant fellow students, would lead to a loss of faith. Protestants reacted by strong opposition to any public funding of parochial schools. The Catholics nevertheless built their elementary schools, parish by parish, using very low-paid sisters as teachers.
In the classrooms, the highest priorities were piety, orthodoxy, and strict discipline. Knowledge of the subject matter was a minor concern, and in the late 19th century few of the teachers in parochial (or secular) schools had gone beyond the 8th grade themselves. The sisters came from numerous denominations, and there was no effort to provide joint teachers training programs. The bishops were indifferent. Finally around 1911, led by the Catholic University of America in Washington, Catholic colleges began summer institutes to train the sisters in pedagogical techniques. Long past World War II, the Catholic schools were noted for inferior plants compared to the public schools, and less well-trained teachers. The teachers were selected for religiosity, not teaching skills; the outcome was pious children and a reduced risk of marriage to Protestants. However, by the later half the 20th century Catholic schools began to perform significantly better than their public counterparts.
Universities and colleges
According to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities in 2011, there are approximately 230 Catholic universities and colleges in the United States with nearly 1 million students and some 65,000 professors. In 2016, the number of tertiary schools fell to 227, while the number of students also fell to 798,006. The national university of the church, founded by the nation's bishops in 1887, is The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The first Catholic college/university of higher learning established in the United States is Georgetown University, founded in 1789. The richest U.S. Catholic university is the University of Notre Dame (founded in 1842) with an endowment of over 20 billion in 2022. In the 2021 edition of U.S. News & World Report rankings, 10 of the top 100 national universities in the US were Catholic.
Seminaries
According to the 2016 Official Catholic Directory, there were 243 seminaries with 4,785 students in the United States; 3,629 diocesan seminarians and 1,456 religious seminarians. By the official 2017 statistics, there are 5,050 seminarians (3,694 diocesan and 1,356 religious) in the United States. In addition, the American Catholic bishops oversee the Pontifical North American College for American seminarians and priests studying at one of the Pontifical Universities in Rome.
Healthcare system
In 2002, Catholic health care system, overseeing 625 hospitals with a combined revenue of 30 billion dollars, was the nation's largest group of nonprofit systems. In 2008, the cost of running these hospitals had risen to $84.6 billion, including the $5.7 billion they donate. According to the Catholic Health Association of the United States, 60 health care systems, on average, admit one in six patients nationwide each year. According to Merger Watch (2018), Catholic facilities make up about 10% of all "sole community providers" in the US (49 out of 514). In some states, the percentage is much greater: in Wisconsin and South Dakota, for example, "Catholic hospitals account for at least 50% of sole community providers."
Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities is active as the largest voluntary social service networks in the United States. In 2009, it welcomed in New Jersey the 50,000th refugee to come to the United States from Burma. Likewise, the US Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services has resettled 14,846 refugees from Burma since 2006. In 2010 Catholic Charities USA was one of only four charities among the top 400 charitable organizations to witness an increase in donations in 2009, according to a survey conducted by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Demographics
The number of Catholics grew rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries through high fertility and immigration, especially from Ireland and Germany, and after 1880, Eastern Europe, Italy, and Quebec. Large scale Catholic immigration from Mexico began after 1910, and in 2019 Latinos comprised 37 percent of American Catholics.
Since 1960, the percentage of Americans who are Catholic has fallen from about 25% to 22%. In a 2021 Pew Research study, "21% of US adults described themselves as Catholic, identical to the Catholic share of the population in 2014." In absolute numbers, Catholics have increased from 45 million to 72 million. , 39% of American Catholics attend church weekly, compared to 45% of American Protestants.
About 10% of the United States' population are former Catholics or non-practicing, almost 30 million people. People have left for a number of reasons, factors which have also affected other denominations: loss of belief, disenchantment, indifference, or disaffiliation for another religious group or for none. Though Catholic adherents are present throughout the country, Catholics are generally more concentrated in the Northeast and urban Midwest. Currently, however, they are also clustered in the southwest. This is because of the continuing growth of the American Hispanic community as a share of the U.S. population is gradually shifting the geographic center of U.S. Catholicism from the Northeast and urban Midwest to the South and the West. Regional distribution of U.S. Catholics (as a percentage of the total U.S. Catholic population) is as follows: Northeast, 24%; Midwest, 19%; South, 32% (a percentage that has increased in recent years due to a growing number of Catholics mainly in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, with the rest of the Southern states remaining overwhelmingly Protestant); and West, 25%. While the wealthiest and most educated Americans tend to belong to some Protestant American groupings as well as to Jewish and Hindu constituencies as a whole, more Catholics (13.3 million ), owing to their sheer numbers, reside in households with a yearly income of $100,000-or-more than any other individual religious group, and more Catholics hold college degrees (over 19 million) than do members of any other faith community in the United States when divided according to their respective denominations or religious designations.
There were 70,412,000 registered Catholics in the United States (22% of the US population) in 2017, according to the American bishops' count in their Official Catholic Directory 2016. This count primarily rests on the parish assessment tax which priests evaluate yearly according to the number of registered members and contributors. In July 2021, the Public Religion Research Institute issued its own report based on a new census of 500,000 people. It also noted that 22% of 330 million Americans identified as Catholic: 12%, white; 8%, Latino; and 2%, other (Black, Asian, etc.). Estimates of the overall American Catholic population from recent years generally range around 20% to 28%. According to Albert J. Menedez, research director of "Americans for Religious Liberty," many Americans continue to call themselves Catholic but "do not register at local parishes for a variety of reasons." According to a survey of 35,556 American residents (released in 2008 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life), 23.9% of Americans identify themselves as Catholic (approximately 72 million of a national population of 306 million residents). The study notes that 10% of those people who identify themselves as Protestant in the interview are former Catholics and 8% of those who identity themselves as Catholic are former Protestants. In recent years, more parishes have opened than closed.
The northeastern quadrant of the US (i.e., New England, Mid-Atlantic, East North Central, and West North Central) has seen a decline in the number of parishes since 1970, but parish numbers are up in the other five regions (i.e., South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, Pacific, and Mountain regions) and are growing steadily. Catholics in the US are about 6% of the church's total worldwide 1.3 billion membership.
A poll by The Barna Group in 2004 found Catholic ethnicity to be 60% non-Hispanic white (includes Americans with historically Catholic ethnicities such as Irish, Italian, German, Polish, or French), 31% Hispanic of any nationality (mostly Mexicans but also many Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, Colombians, Guatemalans and Hondurans among others), 4% Black (including Africans, Haitians, black Latino and Caribbean), and 5% other ethnicity (mostly Filipinos, Vietnamese and other Asian Americans, Americans who are multiracial and have mixed ethnicities, and American Indians). Among the non-Hispanic whites, about 16 million Catholics identify as being of Irish descent, about 13 million as German, about 12 million as Italian, about 7 million as Polish, and about 5 million as French (note that many identify with more than one ethnicity). The roughly 7.8 million Catholics who are converts (mainly from Protestantism, with a smaller number from irreligion or other religions) are also mostly non-Hispanic white, including many people of British, Dutch, and Scandinavian ancestry.
Between 1990 and 2008, there were 11 million additional Catholics. The growth in the Latino population accounted for 9 million of these. They accounted for 32% of all American Catholics in 2008 as opposed to 20% in 1990. The percentage of Hispanics who identified as Catholic dropped from 67% in 2010 to 55% in 2013.
According to a more recent Pew Forum report which examined American religiosity in 2014 and compared it to 2007, there were 50.9 million adult Catholics (excluding children under 18), forming about 20.8% of the U.S. population, down from 54.3 million and 23.9% in 2007. Pew also found that the Catholic population is aging, forming a higher percentage of the elderly population than the young, and retention rates are also worse among the young. About 41% of those "young" raised Catholic have left the faith (as opposed to 32% overall), about half of these to the unaffiliated population and the rest to evangelical, other Protestant faith communities, and non-Christian faith. Conversions to Catholicism are rare, with 89% of current Catholics being raised in the religion; 8% of current Catholics are ex-Protestants, 2% were raised unaffiliated, and 1% in other religions (Orthodox Christian, Mormon or other nontrinitarian, Buddhist, Muslim, etc.), with Jews and Hindus least likely to become Catholic of all the religious groups surveyed. Overall, Catholicism has by far the worst net conversion balance of any major religious group, with a high conversion rate out of the faith and a low rate into it; by contrast, most other religions have in- and out-conversion rates that roughly balance, whether high or low. This is credited to the more liberal stance of the church since Vatican II, where conversion to Catholicism is no longer encouraged, and the de-emphasizing of basic Catholic religious beliefs in Catholic education. Still, according to the 2015 Pew Research Center, "the Catholic share of the population has been relatively stable over the long term, according to a variety of other surveys. By race, 59% of Catholics are non-Hispanic white, 34% Hispanic, 3% black, 3% Asian, and 2% mixed or Native American. Conversely, 19% of non-Hispanic whites were Catholic in 2014 (down from 22% in 2007), whereas 55% of Hispanics were (versus 58% in 2007). In 2015, Hispanics were 38%, while blacks and Asians were at 3% each. Because conversion away from Catholicism as well as dropping out of religion completely is presently occurring much more quickly among Hispanics than among Euro-American whites, Black (2.9% of US Catholic population) and Asian-American Catholics, it is doubtful they will outnumber the latter three categories of Catholics in the foreseeable future. Pew Research Center predicts that by 2050 (when the Hispanic population will be 128 million), only 40% of "third generation Latinos" will be Catholic, with 22% becoming Protestant, 24% becoming unaffiliated, and the remainder, other. This corresponds to a sharp decline in the Catholic percentage among self-identified Democrats, who are more likely to be nonwhite than Republicans. In one study, three authors found that around 10% of US Catholics are "Secularists," "meaning that their religious identification is purely nominal."
By state
Cultural, social, and political views
Politics
Catholicism has had a significant political impact on the United States, and the religion has historically been associated with the Democratic Party. By the 1890s, the largely Irish- and later Italian-immigrant population of American Catholics began to favor the Democratic Party (United States)|]] over the anti-immigration Republican Party. This continued into the 20th century, where Catholics formed a core part of the New Deal Coalition. Since the 1970s, these ties have weakened, with Catholics often being regarded as swing voters. Two Catholics have been President of the United States: Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) and Joe Biden (2021-present). While contradicting certain teachings of the church, surveys have repeatedly indicated that laity are more culturally liberal than the median voter, including on abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Catholics are also the most likely of Christians in the United States to support the morality of casual sex. Church leadership tends to lean more conservative.
On social issues, the Catholic Church takes strong positions against abortion, which was legalized nationally in 1973 by a ruling of the Supreme Court until being overturned in 2022 by the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, and same-sex marriage, which was legalized nationally in June 2015. The church also condemns embryo-destroying research and In vitro fertilization as immoral. However, the Catholic Church throughout its history has taken special concern for numerous vulnerable groups. This has led to progressive alliances, as well, with the church championing causes such as a strong welfare state, unionization, immigration for those fleeing economic or political hardship, opposition to capital punishment, environmental stewardship, opposition and critical evaluation of modern warfare.
The Catholic Church's teachings, coming from the perspective of a global church, do not conform easily to the American political binary of "liberals" and "conservatives." A majority of Catholics who favor abortion rights support the Democrats, while most anti-abortion Catholics support the Republicans. In August 2012 the New York Times, reviewed the religion of the nine top national leaders: the presidential and vice-presidential nominees, the Supreme Court justices, the House Speaker, and the Senate majority leader. There were nine Catholics (six justices, both vice-presidential candidates, and the Speaker), three Jews (all from the Supreme Court), two Mormons (including the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney) and one African-American Protestant (incumbent President Barack Obama). There were no white Protestants. In 2021, 30.9% of Congress was Catholic and 24.5% of the Senate was of the faith.
Cultural views
While contradicting certain teachings of the church, surveys have repeatedly indicated that laity are more culturally liberal than the median voter, including on abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Catholics are also the most likely of Christians in the United States to support the morality of casual sex. Institutional leadership tends to lean more traditionalist. In 2023, Pope Francis criticized a "very strong, organized, reactionary attitude" among certain American bishops.
Some notable American Catholics
Entertainment
Stephen Colbert – Television host
Jimmy Fallon – Television host
Lady Gaga – Singer
Mel Gibson – Actor
Madonna – Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress
Grace Kelly – Actress & Princess of Monaco
Jimmy Kimmel – Television host
Conan O'Brien – Television host
Frank Sinatra – Singer, actor
Arnold Schwarzenegger- Actor
Martin Sheen – Actor, activist
Mark Wahlberg- Actor
John Wayne – Actor
Politics
Amy Coney Barrett – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
Joe Biden – 46th President of the United States
Charles Carroll of Carrollton – Founding Father of the U.S.
Daniel Carroll – Founding Father of the U.S.
Alexander Haig – 59th Secretary of State
Brett Kavanaugh – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – First Lady of the United States
John F. Kennedy – 35th President of the United States
Ted Kennedy – U.S. Senator, brother of President Kennedy and Robert "Bobby" Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy – U.S. Attorney General, presidential candidate – 1968
Edmund Muskie – 58th Secretary of State
John Roberts – 17th Chief Justice of the United States
Clarence Thomas – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
Roger B. Taney – 5th Chief Justice of the United States
Melania Trump – First Lady of the United States
Edward Douglass White – 9th Chief Justice of the United States
Other
Kobe Bryant – Professional basketball player
John Carroll – Archbishop of Baltimore
Toni Morrison – Novelist
Servants of God and those declared venerable, beatified, and canonized saints
The following are some notable Americans declared as Servants of God, venerables, beatified, and canonized saints:
Servants of God
Thea Bowman
Simon Bruté
Vincent Robert Capodanno
Walter Ciszek
Terence Cooke
Dorothy Day
Black Elk
Demetrius Gallitzin
Julia Greeley
John Hardon
Isaac Hecker
Emil Kapaun
Eusebio Francisco Kino
Mary Elizabeth Lange
Rose Hawthorne Lathrop
James Miller
Joseph Muzquiz
Frank Parater
Félix Varela
Paul Wattson
Annella Zervas
Venerables
Nelson Baker
Frederic Baraga
Cornelia Connelly
Henriette DeLille
Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli
Patrick Peyton
Aloysius Schwartz
Fulton J. Sheen
Augustus Tolton
Pierre Toussaint
Beatified
Solanus Casey
Teresa Demjanovich
Michael J. McGivney
James Alfred Miller, FSC
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez
Stanley Rother
Francis Xavier Seelos
Saints
Frances Xavier Cabrini
Marianne Cope
Jean de Lalande
Damien De Veuster
Katharine Drexel
Rose Philippine Duchesne
René Goupil
Mother Théodore Guérin
Isaac Jogues
John Neumann
Junípero Serra
Elizabeth Ann Seton
Kateri Tekakwitha
Top pilgrimage destinations in the United States
National Shrine of The Divine Mercy (Stockbridge, Massachusetts)
National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa (Doylestown, Pennsylvania)
Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (La Crosse, Wisconsin)
National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi (San Francisco, California)
Saint Anthony's Chapel (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania
National Blue Army Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Washington Township, Warren County, New Jersey)
National Shrine of the North American Martyrs (Auriesville, New York)
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Baltimore, Maryland)
El Santuario de Chimayo (Chimayo, New Mexico; north of Santa Fe)
Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Emmitsburg, Maryland)
Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament of Our Lady of the Angels (Hanceville, Alabama)
Basilica of Our Lady of Victory (Lackawanna, New York)
National Shrine of Saint John Neumann (in St. Peter the Apostle Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Washington, D.C.)
National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (Champion, Wisconsin)
See also
History of the Catholic Church in the United States
Catholic Home Missions
Catholic Church by country
Catholic Church and politics in the United States
List of Catholic dioceses in the United States (includes lists of Eastern Catholic eparchies)
List of American Catholic priests
List of Catholic authors
List of converts to the Catholic Church
List of Catholic scientists
List of Catholic clergy scientists
List of Catholic musicians
Christianity in the United States
Holy See–United States relations
Eastern Catholic Churches
References
Further reading
Surveys
Carey, Patrick W. Catholics in America: A history (Praeger, 2004) online; emphasis on biographies
D'Antonio, William V. American Catholics today: New realities of their faith and their church (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007).
Dolan, Jay P. In Search of an American Catholicism: A History of Religion and Culture in Tension (2003)
Ellis, J.T. American Catholicism 2nd ed.(University of Chicago Press, 1969).
Gillis, Chester. Roman Catholicism in America (Columbia University Press, 2020).
Marty, Martin E. Modern American Religion, Vol. 1: The Irony of It All, 1893–1919 (1986); Modern American Religion. Vol. 2: The Noise of Conflict, 1919–1941 (1991); Modern American Religion, Volume 3: Under God, Indivisible, 1941–1960 (1999); covers all major denominations.
McGuinness Margaret M. and James T. Fisher (eds.) Roman Catholicism in the United States: A Thematic History. (Fordham University Press, 2019).
Morris, Charles R. American Catholic: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America's Most Powerful Church (1998), a popular history online
New Catholic 'Encyclopedia (1967), comprehensive coverage of all topics by Catholic scholars
O'Toole, James M. The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America (2008) [The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America online]
Bishops, priests, nuns
Carey, Patrick W. An Immigrant Bishop: John England's Adaptation of Irish Catholicism to American Republicanism (Catholic University of America Press, 2022).
Coburn, Carol K. and Martha Smith. Spirited Lives: How Nuns Shaped Catholic Culture and American Life, 1836–1920 (1999) pp 129–58 excerpt and text search
Cummings, Kathleen Sprows. A saint of our own: how the quest for a holy hero helped Catholics become American (UNC Press, 2019).
D'Antonio, William V., James D. Davidson, Dean R. Hoge, and Katherine Meyer. American Catholics: Gender, Generation, and Commitment (Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor Visitor Publishing Press, 2001).
Donovan, Grace. "Immigrant Nuns: Their Participation in the Process of Americanization," in Catholic Historical Review 77, 1991, 194–208.
Ellis, J.T. The Life of James Cardinal Gibbons (Bruce Publishing Company, 1963)
Finke, Roger. "An Orderly Return to Tradition: Explaining Membership Growth in Catholic Religious Orders," in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , 36, 1997, 218–30.
Garraghan, Gilbert J. The Jesuits of the Middle United States Vol. II (Loyola University Press, 1984).
Horgan, Paul. Lamy of Santa Fe (McGraw-Hill, 1975), New Mexico.
Jonas, Thomas J. The Divided Mind: American Catholic Evangelists in the 1890s (Garland Press, 1988).
Kantowicz, Edward R. "Cardinal Mundelein of Chicago and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century American Catholicism." Journal of American History 68.1 (1981): 52–68. online
McDermott, Scott. Charles Carroll of Carrollton—Faithful Revolutionary .
McGuinness Margaret M. Called to Serve: A History of Nuns in America (New York University Press, 2013) 266 pages; excerpt
McKevitt, Gerald. Brokers of Culture: Italian Jesuits in the American West, 1848–1919 (Stanford University Press, 2006).
Schroth, Raymond A. The American Jesuits: A History (New York University Press, 2007).
Stepsis, Ursula and Dolores Liptak. Pioneer Healers: The History of Women Religious in American Health Care (1989) 375pp
Demography, ethnicity and race
Avalos, Hector. Introduction to the U.S. Latina and Latino Religious Experience (2005) excerpt
Castañeda-Liles, María Del Socorro. Our lady of everyday life: La Virgen de Guadalupe and the Catholic imagination of Mexican women in America (Oxford University Press, 2018).
Deck, Allan Figueroa, S.J. The Second Wave: Hispanic Ministry and the Evangelization of Cultures (Paulist Press, 1989).
Dolan, Jay P. The Immigrant Church: New York Irish and German Catholics, 1815–1865 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975).
Dolan, Jay P. "The Irish Parish." US Catholic Historian 25.2 (2007): 13–24. online
Garcia, Angel. The Kingdom Began In Puerto Rico: Neil Connolly's Priesthood In The South Bronx (Fordham University Press, 2020).
Greeley, Andrew. "The Demography of American Catholics, 1965–1990" in The Sociology of Andrew Greeley (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1994).
Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo. The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century (Louisiana State University Press, 1995).
McCaffrey, Lawrence John. The Irish Catholic Diaspora in America (Catholic U of America Press, 1997).
Monzell, Thomas I. "The Catholic Church and the Americanization of the Polish immigrant." Polish American Studies (1969) 26#1 pp: 1–15. online
Poyo, Gerald E. Cuban Catholics in the United States, 1960–1980: Exile and Integration (Notre Dame University Press, 2007).
Pula, James S. "Polish-American Catholicism: A Case Study in Cultural Determinism." US Catholic Historian 27.3 (2009): 1–19. online
Radzilowski, John. "A Social History of Polish-American Catholicism." US Catholic Historian 27.3 (2009): 21–43. online
Schultze, George E. Strangers in a Foreign Land: The Organizing of Catholic Latinos in the United States (Lexington, 2007).
Spalding, Thomas W. "German parishes east and west." US Catholic Historian 14.2 (1996): 37–52. online
Sullivan, Eileen P. The Shamrock and the Cross: Irish American Novelists Shape American Catholicism (U of Notre Dame Press, 2016).
Specialized studies
Abell, Aaron. American Catholicism and Social Action: A Search for Social Justice, 1865–1950 (Hanover House, 1960).
Bales, Susan Ridgley. When I Was a Child: Children's Interpretations of First Communion (University of North Carolina, 2005).
Brown, Mary Elizabeth. "Variations on the Themes of Parish History: A Case Study of Saint Mary's, Kutztown, Pennsylvania." Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia 106.1/2 (1995): 39–54. online
Carroll, Michael P. American Catholics in the Protestant Imagination: Rethinking the Academic Study of Religion ( Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007).
Hunt, Thomas C., Ellis A. Joseph, and Ronald James Nuzzi, eds. Catholic schools in the United States: An encyclopedia (2 vol. Greenwood Press, 2004) 805pp; covers K12 schools, not colleges vol 2 online
McMullen, Joanne Halleran and Jon Parrish Peede, eds. Inside the Church of Flannery O'Connor: Sacrament, Sacramental, and the Sacred in Her Fiction (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2007).
Sanders, James W. The Education of an urban Minority: Catholics in Chicago, 1833–1965 (Oxford University Press, 1977).
Walch, Timothy. Parish School: American Catholic Parochial Education from Colonial Times to the Present (Crossroad Publishing, 1996).
Historiography
Dries, Angelyn. " 'Perils of Ocean and Wilderness': A Field Guide to North American Catholic History." Catholic Historical Review 102.2 (2016) pp 251–83.
Ellis, John Tracy, and Robert Trisco. A Guide to American Catholic History (ABC-Clio, 1982) annotated guide to 1240 books. online
Gleason, Philip. "The Historiography of American Catholicism as Reflected in The Catholic Historical Review, 1915–2015." Catholic Historical Review 101#2 (2015) pp: 156–222. online
Thomas, J. Douglas. "A Century of American Catholic History." US Catholic Historian (1987): 25–49. in JSTOR
Primary sources
Ellis, John Tracy. Documents of American Catholic History 2nd ed. (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., 1956). online
External links
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Global Catholic Statistics: 1905 and Today by Albert J. Fritsch, SJ, PhD
The percentage of Catholics in the U.S. (1890–2010)
Largest religious groups in the United States
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Secret%20Garden
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The Secret Garden
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The Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in The American Magazine (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels and is seen as a classic of English children's literature. Some of Burnett's other popular novels include Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Lost Prince and A Little Princess. Several stage and film adaptations have been made of The Secret Garden. The American edition was published by the Frederick A. Stokes Company with illustrations by Maria Louise Kirk (signed as M. L. Kirk) and the British edition by Heinemann with illustrations by Charles Heath Robinson.
Plot summary
At the turn of the 20th century, Mary Lennox is a neglected and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in British India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her and made an effort to ignore her. She is cared for primarily by native servants, who spoil her and allow her to have full reign. After a cholera epidemic kills Mary's parents, the few surviving servants flee the house without Mary.
She is discovered by British soldiers who place her in the temporary care of an English clergyman, whose children taunt her by calling her "Mistress Mary, quite contrary". She is soon sent to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, whom her father's sister Lilias married. He lives on the Yorkshire Moors in a large English country house, Misselthwaite Manor. When escorted to Misselthwaite by the housekeeper Mrs. Medlock, she discovers Lilias Craven is dead and that Mr. Craven is a hunchback.
At first, Mary is as angry and contrary as she was before she was sent there. She dislikes her new home, the people living in it and, most of all, the bleak moor on which it sits. Over time, she becomes more spirited and less cantankerous and befriends her maid, Martha Sowerby, who tells Mary about Lilias Craven, who would spend hours in a private walled garden growing roses. Lilias Craven died after an accident in the garden ten years prior, and the devastated Archibald locked the garden and buried the key.
Mary becomes interested in finding the secret hidden garden herself, and her ill manners begin to soften as a result. Soon, she comes to enjoy the company of Martha, the gardener Ben Weatherstaff, and a friendly robin redbreast. Her health and attitude improve with the bracing Yorkshire air, and she grows stronger as she explores the estate gardens. Mary wonders about the secret garden and about mysterious cries that echo through the house at night.
As Mary explores the gardens, the robin draws her attention to an area of disturbed soil. Here, Mary finds the key to the locked garden, and eventually discovers the door to the garden. She asks Martha for garden tools, which Martha sends with Dickon, her 12-year-old brother, who spends most of his time out on the moors. Mary and Dickon take a liking to each other, as Dickon has a kind way with animals and a good nature. Eager to absorb his gardening knowledge, Mary tells him about the secret garden.
One night, Mary hears the cries once more and decides to follow them through the house. She is startled to find a boy of her age named Colin, who lives in a hidden bedroom. She soon discovers that they are cousins—Colin being the son of Archibald Craven—and that he suffers from fevers and an unspecified spinal condition which precludes him from walking and causes him to be confined to bed. He, like Mary, has grown very spoiled, with servants obeying his every whim in order to prevent the frightening hysterical temper tantrums Colin occasionally flies into. Mary visits him every day that week, distracting him from his troubles and despondency with stories of the moor, Dickon and his animals, and the secret garden. Mary eventually confides to Colin that she has access to the secret garden, and he asks to see it. Colin is put into his wheelchair and brought outside into the secret garden. It is the first time he has been outdoors for several years. With Mary and Dickon's help and encouragement, and absorbing the beneficial effects of the growing garden, he begins to open up to the world around him and finds renewed hope for his future.
While in the garden, the children look up to see Ben Weatherstaff looking over the wall on a ladder. Startled to find the children in the secret garden, he admits that he believed Colin to be "a cripple." Angry at being called "crippled," Colin rises shakily from his chair and finds that he can stand on his legs, albeit they are weak from long disuse. Mary and Dickon spend almost every day in the garden with Colin, and continue to encourage him to grow stronger and attempt walking. Together, the children and Ben conspire to keep Colin's recovering health a secret from the other staff to surprise his father, who is travelling abroad.
While his son's health improves, Archibald experiences a coinciding increase in spirits, culminating in a dream where his late wife calls to him from inside the garden. When he receives a letter from Mrs. Sowerby, who advises him to come back to Misselthwaite, he takes the opportunity to finally return home. He walks the outer garden wall in his wife's memory, and hears voices inside. He finds the door unlocked and is shocked to see the garden in full bloom and his son restored to health, having just won a race against Mary. The children tell him the entire story, explaining the restoration of both the garden and Colin. Archibald and Colin then walk back to the manor together, observed by the stunned and incredulous servants.
Themes
In his analysis of the narrative structures of "the traditional novel for girls," Perry Nodelman highlights Mary Lennox as a departure from the narrative pattern of the "spontaneous and ebullient" orphan girl who changes her new home and family for the better, since those qualities appear later on in the narrative. The revival of the family and the home in these novels, according to Nodelman, "is carried to the extreme in The Secret Garden," in which the garden's restoration and the arrival of spring parallel the emergence of human characters from the home, "almost as if they had been hibernating". Joe Sutliff Sanders examines Mary and The Secret Garden within the context of the Victorian and Edwardian cultural debate over affective discipline, which was echoed in contemporary books about orphan girls. He suggests that The Secret Garden was interested in showing the benefits of affective discipline for men and boys, namely Colin who learns from Mary, understood as "the novel's representative of girlhood" and how to wield his "masculine privilege".
The titular garden has been the subject of much scholarly discussion. Phyllis Bixler Koppes writes that The Secret Garden makes use of the fairy tale, the exemplum, and the pastoral literary genres, which lends the novel a deeper "thematic development and symbolic resonance" than Burnett’s earlier children's novels which only used elements from the first two traditions. She describes the garden as "the central georgic trope, the unifying symbol of rebirth in Burnett's novel". Madelon S. Gohlke understands the titular garden as "both the scene of a tragedy, resulting in the near destruction of a family", as well as the site of its regeneration and restoration.
Discussing representations of disability within the novel, Alexandra Valint suggests that most of the novel's depictions of disability coincide with the stereotypical view of people with disabilities as unhappy, helpless, and less independent than people without disabilities. She looks at how disability intersects with sex and social class within the novel through Colin, whose wheelchair would have been understood by Edwardian readers as a marker of both disability and social status.
Elizabeth Lennox Keyser writes that The Secret Garden is ambivalent about sex roles: while Mary restores the garden and saves the family, her role in the story is overshadowed at the conclusion of the novel by the return of Colin and his father, which may be seen as a defense of patriarchal authority. Danielle E. Price notes that the novel deals with "the thorny issues of sex, class, and imperialism". She writes how Mary's development in the novel parallels "the steps of nineteenth-century garden theorists in their plans for the perfect garden", with Mary ultimately turning into "a girl who, like the ideal garden, can provide both beauty and comfort, and who can cultivate her male cousin, the young patriarch-in-training".
In his examination of The Secret Garden within the context of postcolonialism, Jerry Phillips writes that the novel "is not so much a discourse on the end of empire as an embryonic commentary on the possibility of blowback".
Background
At the time Burnett began working on The Secret Garden, she had already established a literary reputation as a writer of children's fiction and social realist adult fiction. She had started writing children's fiction in the 1880s, with her most notable book at the time being her sentimental novel Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886). Little Lord Fauntleroy was a "literary sensation" in both the United States and Europe, and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Prior to The Secret Garden, she had also written another notable work of children's fiction, A Little Princess (1905), which had begun as a story published in the American children's magazine St. Nicholas Magazine in 1887 and was later adapted as a play in 1902.
Little is known about the literary development and conception of The Secret Garden. Biographers and other scholars have been able to glean the details of Burnett's process and thoughts on her other books through her letters to family members; during the time she was working on The Secret Garden, however, she was living near to them and thus did not need to send them letters. Burnett started the novel in spring 1909, as she was making plans for the garden at her home in Plandome on Long Island. In an October 1910 letter to William Heinemann, her publisher in England, she described the story, whose working title was Mistress Mary, as "an innocent thriller of a story" that she considered "one of [her] best finds". Biographer Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina offers several explanations as to why there is so little surviving information on the book's development. Firstly, Burnett's health faltered after moving to her home in Plandome, and her social excursions became limited as a result. Secondly, her existing notes about The Secret Garden, along with a portrait of her and some photographs, were donated by her son Vivian after her death to a lower Manhattan public school serving the deaf in remembrance of her visit there years previously, but all the items soon vanished from the archive of the school. Lastly, a few weeks before the novel's publication, her brother-in-law died in a collision with a trolley, an event that likely darkened the novel's publication.
Burnett's story My Robin, however, offers a glimpse of the creation of The Secret Garden. In it, she addresses a reader's question on the literary origins of the robin that appears in The Secret Garden, whom the reader felt "could not have been a mere creature of fantasy". Burnett reminisces on her friendship with the real-life English robin, whom she described as "a person—not a mere bird" and who often kept her company in the rose garden where she would often write, when she lived at Maytham Hall. Recounting the first time she tried to communicate with the bird via "low, soft, little sounds", she writes that she "knew—years later—that this is what Mistress Mary thought when she bent down in the Long Walk and 'tried to make robin sounds'".
Maytham Hall in Kent, England, where Burnett lived for a number of years during her marriage, is often cited as the inspiration for the book's setting. Biographer Ann Thwaite writes that while the rose garden at Mayham Hall may have been "crucial" to the novel's development, Maytham Hall and Misselthwaite Manor are physically very different. Thwaite suggests that, for the setting of The Secret Garden, Burnett may have been inspired by the moors of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights, given that Burnett only went once to Yorkshire, to Fryston Hall. She writes that Burnett may have also taken inspiration from Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre, noting parallels between the two narratives: both of them, for example, feature orphans sent to "mysterious mansions", whose master is largely absent. Burnett herself was aware of the similarities, remarking in a letter that Ella Hepworth Dixon had described it as a children's version of Jane Eyre.
Scholar Gretchen V. Rector has examined the author's manuscript of The Secret Garden, which she describes as "the only record of the novel's development". Eighty of the first hundred pages of the manuscript are written in black ink, while the rest and subsequent revisions were made in pencil; the spelling and punctuation tend to follow the American standard. Chapter headings were included prior to the novel's serialization and are not present in the manuscript, with chapters in it delineated by numbers only. The pagination of the manuscript was likely done by a second person: it goes from 1 to 234, only to restart at the nineteenth chapter. From the title page, Rector surmises that the novel's first title was Mary, Mary quite Contrary, later changed to its working title of Mistress Mary. Mary herself is originally nine in the manuscript, only to be aged up a year in a revision, perhaps to highlight the "convergent paths" of Mary, Colin, and the garden itself; however, this revision was not reflected in either the British or the American first editions of the novel, or in later editions. Susan Sowerby is initially introduced to the readers as a deceased character, with her daughter Martha perhaps intended to fill her role in the story; Burnett, however, changed her mind about Susan Sowerby, writing her as a living character a few pages later and crossing out the announcement of her death. Additionally, Dickon in the manuscript was physically disabled and used crutches to move around, perhaps drawing on Burnett's recollections of her first husband, Dr. Swan Burnett, and his physical disability. Burnett later removed references to Dickon's disability.
Publication history
The Secret Garden may be one of the first instances of a story for children first appearing in a magazine with an adult readership, an occasion of which Burnett herself was aware at the time. The Secret Garden was first published in ten issues (November 1910 – August 1911) of The American Magazine, with illustrations by J. Scott Williams. It was first published in book form in August 1911 by the Frederick A. Stokes Company in New York; it was also published that year by William Heinemann in London, illustrated by Charles Robinson. Its copyright expired in the USA in 1986, and in most other parts of the world in 1995, placing the book in the public domain. As a result, several abridged and unabridged editions were published in the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as a full-colour illustrated edition from David R. Godine, Publisher in 1989.
Inga Moore's abridged edition of 2008, illustrated by her, is arranged so that a line of the text also serves as a caption to a picture.
Public reception
Upon its publication in novel format, The Secret Garden garnered largely warm reviews from literary critics, and sold well, with a second printing announced within a month after the novel's release. In general, it was seen as an enjoyable novel, and was reviewed within the context of Burnett's previous works, including Little Lord Fauntleroy. It sold well during the 1911 Christmas season, becoming a bestseller in the fiction category, and placing on critical "best of" lists, including that of the Literary Digest and The New York Times. Its literary debut in a magazine for adults led the public to understand it as adult fiction; the book was marketed accordingly, "with some overlap in the juvenile market", which affected its reception by the public. Of this time, scholar Anne Lundin writes that "The Secret Garden struggled to assert its own identity as a different kind of story that spoke to both the romanticism and modernism of a new century". Burnett regarded The Secret Garden as her favorite novel, although she considered one of her novels for adults, In Connection with the DeWilloughby Claim, to be her Great American Novel.
Tracing the book's revival from almost complete eclipse at the time of Burnett's death in 1924, Lundin notes that the author's obituary notices all remarked on Little Lord Fauntleroy and passed over The Secret Garden in silence. Burnett’s literary reputation waned over the following decades, possibly as a result of biases towards books that garner a female audience. Despite being largely overlooked by literary critics and librarians, The Secret Garden enjoyed a considerable following among its readers. It continued to rank well on readers’ polls for favorite stories. In 1927, it placed in the top fifteen favorite books of female Youth Companion readers, and in the 1960s, the readers of The New York Times ranked The Secret Garden as one of the best children's books. Surveys of adult readers in the 1970s and 1980s show that the novel was a frequent childhood favorite, especially for women.
Burnett's literary reputation underwent a critical resurgence in the 1950s. Marghanita Laski's Mrs Ewing, Mrs Molesworth and Mrs Hodgson Burnett (1951) described The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy as the best of Burnett’s children’s books; Laski considered The Secret Garden to be the best of the three, with a capacity to reach thoughtful and self-reflective children. Other British literary critics and historians began to take note of the novel, including Roger Lancelyn Green and John Rowe Townsend. Thwaite's biography about Burnett, Waiting for the Party (1974), highlighted The Secret Garden for its depiction of unpleasant children that she felt was much closer to contemporary ideas about how children behave. At the time that Thwaite's biography was published, children's literature was becoming a field of greater scholarly interest, and as a result, The Secret Garden began to garner more scholarly analysis. The Secret Garden became accepted as part of the scholarly canon of children's literature in the 1980s.
In the twentieth-first century, The Secret Garden continues to be well regarded among readers. In 2003 it ranked No. 51 in The Big Read, a survey of the British public by the BBC to identify the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" (not just children's novel). Based on a 2007 online poll, the U.S. National Education Association listed it as one of "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". In 2012, it was ranked No. 15 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with a primarily US audience. A Little Princess was ranked number 56 and Little Lord Fauntleroy did not make the Top 100. Jeffrey Masson considers The Secret Garden "one of the greatest books ever written for children". In an oblique compliment, Barbara Sleigh has her title character reading The Secret Garden on the train at the beginning of her children's novel Jessamy and Roald Dahl, in his children's book Matilda, has his title character say that she liked The Secret Garden best of all the children's books in the library.
Adaptations
Film
The motion picture version was made in 1919 by the Famous Players–Lasky Corporation, with 14-year-old Lila Lee as Mary and Paul Willis as Dickon. The film is believed lost.
In 1949, MGM filmed the second adaptation, which starred Margaret O'Brien as Mary, Dean Stockwell as Colin and Brian Roper as Dickon. This version was mainly black-and-white, but with all of the sequences set in the garden filmed in Technicolor. Noel Streatfeild's 1948 novel The Painted Garden was inspired by the making of this film.
American Zoetrope's 1993 production was directed by Agnieszka Holland with a screenplay by Caroline Thompson and starred Kate Maberly as Mary, Heydon Prowse as Colin, Andrew Knott as Dickon, John Lynch as Lord Craven and Dame Maggie Smith as Mrs Medlock. The executive producer was Francis Ford Coppola.
A 2017 production by Dogwood Motion Picture Company is available on the BYUtv Network. This is a science fiction adaptation in the Victorian style based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett; filmed, directed and written for the screen by Owen Smith.
The 2020 film version from Heyday Films and StudioCanal is directed by Marc Munden with a screenplay by Jack Thorne.
Television
Dorothea Brooking adapted the book for BBC television on several occasions;in 1952, 1960 and 1975.
Hallmark Hall of Fame filmed a TV movie adaptation of the novel in 1987, which starred Gennie James as Mary, Barret Oliver as Dickon and Jadrien Steele as Colin. Billie Whitelaw appeared as Mrs Medlock and Derek Jacobi played the role of Archibald Craven, with Alison Doody appearing in flashbacks and visions as Lilias; Colin Firth made a brief appearance as the adult Colin Craven. The story was changed slightly. Colin's father, instead of being Mary's uncle, was now an old friend of Mary's father, allowing Colin and Mary to begin a relationship as adults by the film's end. It was filmed at Highclere Castle, which later became known as the filming location for Downton Abbey. It aired on 30 November. In 2001, Hallmark produced a sequel entitled Back to the Secret Garden.
A 1994 animated adaptation as an ABC Weekend Special starred Honor Blackman as Mrs Medlock, Derek Jacobi as Archibald Craven, Glynis Johns as Darjeeling, Victor Spinetti, Anndi McAfee as Mary Lennox, Joe Baker as Ben Weatherstaff, Felix Bell as Dickon Sowerby, Naomi Bell as Martha Sowerby, Richard Stuart as Colin Craven and Frank Welker as Robin. This version was released on video in 1995 by ABC Video and distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment.
In Japan, NHK produced an anime adaptation of the novel in 1991–1992 entitled Anime Himitsu no Hanazono (アニメ ひみつの花園). Miina Tominaga contributed the voice of Mary, while Mayumi Tanaka voiced Colin. The 39-episode TV series was directed by Tameo Kohanawa and written by Kaoru Umeno. This anime is sometimes mistakenly assumed to be related to the popular dorama series Himitsu no Hanazono. It is unavailable in English language, but has been dubbed into several other languages including: Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Polish and Tagalog.
Theatre
Stage adaptations of the book include a Theatre for Young Audiences version written in 1991 by Pamela Sterling of Arizona State University. This won an American Alliance for Theater and Education "Distinguished New Play" award and is listed in ASSITEH/USA's International Bibliography of Outstanding Plays for Young Audiences.
Multiple musical adaptations have been made. In 1986, there was The Secret Garden: A New Musical with music by Sharon Burgett and Susan Beckwith-Smith, lyrics by Sharon Burgett, Diana Matterson, Susan Beckwith-Smith, Chandler Warren, Will Holt, and book by Alfred Shaughnessy. Another version was released in 1987 with the book and lyrics by Diana Morgan. Thomas W. Olson wrote a version for the Children's Theatre Company in 1988; the play includes music by Hiram Titus, but is not a musical. However, the most well-known and successful musical adaptation is the 1991 Broadway musical with music by Lucy Simon and book and lyrics by Marsha Norman. The production was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning Best Book of a Musical and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Daisy Eagan as Mary, then eleven years old.
In 2013, an opera by the American composer Nolan Gasser, which had been commissioned by the San Francisco Opera, was first performed at the Zellerbach Hall at the University of California, Berkeley.
A stage play by Jessica Swale adapted from the novel was performed at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in Chester in 2014.
In 2020, the Scottish family theatre company Red Bridge Arts produced a retelling of the story set in modern-day Scotland, adapted by Rosalind Sydney.
Radio
In 1997, Focus On The Family Radio Theatre produced an adaptation in which Joan Plowright narrated as the older Mary Lennox. The cast included Ron Moody as Ben Weatherstaff.
Book forms and sequels
In 2021, two versions of the story, adapted into graphic novels, were released. The first, released on June 15, was The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel, with story by Mariah Marsden and illustrations by Hanna Luechtefeld. The second, released on October 19, was a modern retelling by Ivy Noelle Weir, The Secret Garden on 81st Street, following the same vein as the author's previous Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. A Japanese-language adaptation of the novel was written by Chihiro Kurihara and illustrated by You Shiina and was released in October 2012 through Tsubasa Bunko.
Citations
References
External links
(plain text and HTML illustrated)
The Secret Garden, available at Internet Archive. New York: F. A. Stokes, 1911 (colour scanned book)
The Secret Garden From the Collections at the Library of Congress
The Secret Garden as it appeared in The American Magazine via the Hathi Trust
1911 American novels
1911 British novels
1911 children's books
American children's novels
American novels adapted into films
American novels adapted into plays
British children's novels
British novels adapted into films
British novels adapted into plays
Novels by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Novels first published in serial form
American novels adapted into television shows
Works originally published in The American Magazine
Novels about orphans
Novels set in Yorkshire
Children's books set in Yorkshire
Heinemann (publisher) books
Articles containing video clips
ABC Weekend Special
British novels adapted into television shows
Novels adapted into operas
Frederick A. Stokes Company books
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIS%20file%20format
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GIS file format
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A GIS file format is a standard for encoding geographical information into a computer file, as a specialized type of file format for use in geographic information systems (GIS) and other geospatial applications. Since the 1970s, dozens of formats have been created based on various data models for various purposes. They have been created by government mapping agencies (such as the USGS or National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency), GIS software vendors, standards bodies such as the Open Geospatial Consortium, informal user communities, and even individual developers.
History
The first GIS installations of the 1960s, such as the Canada Geographic Information System were based on bespoke software and stored data in bespoke file structures designed for the needs of the particular project. As more of these appeared, they could be compared to find best practices and common structures. When general-purpose GIS software was developed in the 1970s and early 1980s, including programs from academic labs such as the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis, government agencies (e.g., the Map Overlay and Statistical System (MOSS) developed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management), and new GIS software companies such as Esri and Intergraph, each program was built around its own proprietary (and often secret) file format. Since each GIS installation was effectively isolated from all others, interchange between them was not a major consideration.
By the early 1990s, the proliferation of GIS worldwide, and an increasing need for sharing data, soon accelerated by the emergence of the World Wide Web and spatial data infrastructures, led to the need for interoperable data and standard formats. An early attempt at standardization was the U.S. Spatial Data Transfer Standard, released in 1994 and designed to encode the wide variety of federal government data. Although this particular format failed to garner widespread support, it led to other standardization efforts, especially the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), which has developed or adopted several vendor-neutral standards, some of which have been adopted by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Another development in the 1990s was the public release of proprietary file formats by GIS software vendors, enabling them to be used by other software. The most notable example of this was the publication of the Esri Shapefile format, which by the late 1990s had become the most popular de facto standard for data sharing by the entire geospatial industry. When proprietary formats were not shared (for example, the ESRI ARC/INFO coverage), software developers frequently reverse-engineered them to enable import and export in other software, further facilitating data exchange. One result of this was the emergence of free and open-source software libraries, such as the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL), which have greatly facilitated the integration of spatial data in any format into a variety of software.
During the 2000s, the need for specialized spatial files was reduced somewhat by the emergence of spatial databases, which incorporated spatial data into general-purpose relational databases. However, new file formats have continued to appear, especially with the proliferation of web mapping; formats such as the Keyhole Markup Language (KML) and GeoJSON can be more easily integrated into web development languages than traditional GIS files.
Format characteristics
Over a hundred distinct formats have been created for the storage of spatial data, of which 20-30 are currently in common usage for different purposes. These can be distinguished in a number of ways:
Open formats are developed collectively by a community and are available for anyone to implement and contribute improvements, while Proprietary formats have been developed by a software company for use only in their own software and are generally maintained as a trade secret (although they are often reverse-engineered by others). A third category between these would include formats that are owned exclusively by one company or organization, but are published and available for implementation by anyone, such as the Esri Shapefile.
Some file formats are text files that can be read by humans (such as those based on XML or JSON), especially those intended for data exchange, while others are binary files, most commonly those designed for native use in GIS software.
Inherently spatial formats were designed specifically for storing geographic data, while others are spatial extensions to formats designed for a more general use (e.g., GeoTIFF, spatial databases).
Many data formats incorporate some form of data compression, especially raster files. Generally, lossless compression methods are preferable over lossy methods, because the original data values need to be retrieved.
Raster formats
Like any digital image, raster GIS data is based on a regular tessellation of space into a rectangular grid of rows and columns of cells (also known as pixels), with each cell having a measured value stored. The major difference from a photograph is that the grid is registered to geographic space rather than a field of view. The resolution of the raster data set is its cell width in ground units.
Because a grid is a sample of a continuous space, raster data is most commonly used to represent geographic fields, in which a property varies continuously or discretely over space. Common examples include remote sensing imagery, terrain/elevation, population density, weather and climate, soil properties, and many others. Raster data can be images with each pixel (or cell) containing a color value. The value recorded for each cell may be of any level of measurement, including a discrete qualitative value, such as land use type, or a continuous quantitative value, such as temperature, or a null value if no data is available. While a raster cell stores a single value, it can be extended by using raster bands to represent RGB (red, green, blue) colors, colormaps (a mapping between a thematic code and RGB value), or an extended attribute table with one row for each unique cell value. It can also be used to represent discrete Geographic features, but usually only in exigent circumstances.
Raster data is stored in various formats; from a standard file-based structure of TIFF, JPEG, etc. to binary large object (BLOB) data stored directly in a relational database management system (RDBMS) similar to other vector-based feature classes. Database storage, when properly indexed, typically allows for quicker retrieval of the raster data but can require storage of millions of significantly sized records.
Raster format examples
ADRG – National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)'s ARC Digitized Raster Graphics
Binary file – An unformatted file consisting of raster data written in one of several data types, where multiple band are stored in BSQ (band sequential), BIP (band interleaved by pixel) or BIL (band interleaved by line). Georeferencing and other metadata are stored one or more sidecar files.
Digital raster graphic (DRG) – digital scan of a paper USGS topographic map
ECRG – National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)'s Enhanced Compressed ARC Raster Graphics (better resolution than CADRG and no color loss)
ECW – Enhanced Compressed Wavelet (from ERDAS). A compressed wavelet format, often lossy.
Esri grid – proprietary binary raster format used by Esri since the mid-1980s
GeoTIFF – TIFF variant enriched with GIS relevant metadata, especially georeferencing. An open format that has become one of the most common formats for data sharing.
IMG – ERDAS IMAGINE image file format
JPEG2000 – Open-source raster format. A compressed format, allows both lossy and lossless compression.
MrSID – Multi-Resolution Seamless Image Database (by Lizardtech). A compressed wavelet format, allows both lossy and lossless compression.
netCDF-CF – netCDF file format with CF medata conventions for earth science data. Binary storage in open format with optional compression. Allows for direct web-access of subsets/aggregations of maps through OPeNDAP protocol.
RPF – Raster Product Format, military file format specified in MIL-STD-2411
CADRG – Compressed ADRG, developed by NGA, nominal compression of 55:1 over ADRG (type of Raster Product Format)
CIB – Controlled Image Base, developed by NGA (type of Raster Product Format)
USGS DEM – The USGS' Digital Elevation Model
GTOPO30 – Large complete Earth elevation model at 30 arc seconds, delivered in the USGS DEM format
DTED – National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)'s Digital Terrain Elevation Data, the military standard for elevation data
World file – Georeferencing a raster image file (e.g. JPEG, BMP)
Vector formats
A vector dataset (sometimes called a feature dataset) stores information about discrete objects, using an encoding of the vector logical data model to represent the location or geometry of each object, and an encoding of its other properties that is usually based on relational database technology. Typically, a single dataset collects information about a set of closely related or similar objects, such as all of the roads in a city.
The Vector data model uses coordinate geometry to represent each shape as one of several geometric primitives, most commonly points (a single coordinate of zero dimension), lines (a one-dimensional ordered list of coordinates connected by straight lines), and polygons (a self-closing boundary line enclosing a two-dimensional region). Many data structures have been developed to encode these primitives as digital data, but most modern vector file formats are based on the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Simple Features specification, often directly incorporating its Well-known text (WKT) or Well-known binary (WKB) encodings.
In addition to the geometry of each object, a vector dataset must also be able to store its attributes. For example, a database that describes lakes may contain each lake's depth, water quality, and pollution level. Since the 1970s, almost all vector file formats have adopted the relational database model, either in principle or directly incorporating RDBMS software. Thus, the entire dataset is stored in a table, with each row representing a single object that contains columns for each attribute.
Two strategies have been used to integrate the geometry and attributes into a single vector file format structure:
A georelational format stores them as two separate files, with the geometry and attributes of each object being linked by file ordering or a primary key. This was most common from the 1970s through the early 1990s, because GIS software developers had to invent their own geometry data structures, but incorporated existing relational database file formats for the attributes. For example, the Esri Shapefile format includes the .dbf file from the DOS dBase software.
The Object-based model stores them in a single structure, loosely or directly based on the objects in object-oriented programming languages. This is the basis of most modern file formats, including spatial databases that include a geometry column along with the other attributes in a single relational table. Other formats, such as GeoJSON, use different structures for geometry and attributes, but combine them for each object in the same file.
Geospatial topology is often an important part of vector data, representing the inherent spatial relationships (especially adjacency) between objects. Topology has been managed in vector file formats in four ways. In a topological data structure, most notably Harvard's POLYVRT and is successor the ARC/INFO coverage, topological connections between points, lines, and polygons are an inherent part of the encoding of those features. Conversely, non-topological or spaghetti data (such as the Esri Shapefile and most spatial databases) includes no topology information, with each geometry being completely independent of all others. A topology dataset (often used in network analysis) augments spaghetti data with a separate file encoding the topological connections. A topology rulebase is a list of desired topology rules used to enforce spatial integrity in spaghetti data, such as "county polygons must not overlap" and "state polygons must share boundaries with county polygons."
Vector datasets usually represent discrete geographical features, such as people, buildings, trees, and counties. However, they may also be used to represent geographical fields by storing locations where the spatially continuous field has been sampled. Sample points (e.g., weather stations and sensor networks), Contour lines and triangulated irregular networks (TIN) are used to represent elevation or other values that change continuously over space. TINs record values at point locations, which are connected by lines to form an irregular mesh of triangles. The face of the triangles represent the terrain surface.
Example vector file formats
Formats commonly in current usage:
Shapefile – a popular vector data GIS format, developed by Esri
Geography Markup Language (GML) – XML based open standard (by OpenGIS) for GIS data exchange
GeoJSON – a lightweight format based on JSON, used by many open source GIS packages
GeoMedia – Intergraph's Microsoft Access based format for spatial vector storage
Keyhole Markup Language (KML) – XML based open standard (by OpenGIS) for GIS data exchange
MapInfo TAB format – MapInfo's vector data format using TAB, DAT, ID and MAP files
Measure Map Pro format – XML data format to store GIS data
National Transfer Format (NTF) – National Transfer Format (mostly used by the UK Ordnance Survey)
Spatialite – a spatial extension to SQLite, providing vector geodatabase functionality. It is similar to PostGIS, Oracle Spatial, and SQL Server with spatial extensions
Simple Features – Open Geospatial Consortium specification for vector data
Well-known text (WKT) – A text markup language for representing feature geometry, developed by Open Geospatial Consortium
Well-known binary (WKB) – Binary version of well-known text, used in many spatial databases
SOSI – a spatial data format used for all public exchange of spatial data in Norway
AutoCAD DXF – data transfer format for AutoCAD data (by Autodesk)
Geographic Data Files (GDF) — An interchange file format for geographic data
Historical formats seldom used today:
ArcInfo Coverage - topological data structure used in Arc/INFO from 1981 through 2000
Esri TIN – proprietary binary format for triangulated irregular network data used by Esri
Digital line graph (DLG) – a USGS format for vector data
TIGER – Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing
Vector Product Format (VPF) – National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)'s format of vectored data for large geographic databases
Spatial Data File – Autodesk's high-performance geodatabase format, native to MapGuide
ISFC – Intergraph's MicroStation based CAD solution attaching vector elements to a relational Microsoft Access database
Dual Independent Map Encoding (DIME) – A historic GIS file format, developed in the 1960s
Advantages and disadvantages
There are some important advantages and disadvantages to using a raster or vector data model to represent reality:
Raster datasets record a value for all points in the area covered which may require more storage space than representing data in a vector format that can store data only where needed.
Raster data is computationally less expensive to render than vector graphics
Combining values and writing custom formulas for combining values from different layers are much easier using raster data.
There are transparency and aliasing problems when overlaying multiple stacked pieces of raster images.
Vector data allows for visually smooth and easy implementation of overlay operations, especially in terms of graphics and shape-driven information like maps, routes and custom fonts, which are more difficult with raster data.
Vector data can be displayed as vector graphics used on traditional maps, whereas raster data will appear as an image that may have a blocky appearance for object boundaries. (depending on the resolution of the raster file).
Vector data can be easier to register, scale, and re-project, which can simplify combining vector layers from different sources.
Vector data is more compatible with relational database environments, where they can be part of a relational table as a normal column and processed using a multitude of operators.
Vector file sizes are usually smaller than raster data, which can be tens, hundreds or more times larger than vector data (depending on resolution).
Vector data is simpler to update and maintain, whereas a raster image will have to be completely reproduced. (Example: a new road is added).
Vector data allows much more analysis capability, especially for "networks" such as roads, power, rail, telecommunications, etc. (Examples: Best route, largest port, airfields connected to two-lane highways). Raster data will not have all the characteristics of the features it displays.
Integrated file formats
Modern object–relational databases can now store a variety of complex data using the binary large object datatype, including both raster grids and vector geometries. This enables some spatial database systems to store data of both models in the same database.
Esri File Geodatabase - A proprietary format for storing "feature" (vector) and raster data locally
Esri Enterprise Geodatabase - A proprietary model for storing a geodatabase structure in a variety of commercial and open-source relational database management systems
GeoPackage (GPKG) – A standards-based, open format based on the SQLite database format for both vector and raster data, adopted by the Open Geospatial Consortium
See also
Datum (geodesy)
GDAL/OGR, a library for reading and writing many formats
Feature Manipulation Engine (FME), a commercial program for converting data between a large number of formats
References
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim%20McGreevey
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Jim McGreevey
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James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004.
McGreevey served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1990 to 1992, as the 19th mayor of Woodbridge Township from 1991 to 2002, and in the New Jersey Senate from 1994 to 1998. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1997, but was narrowly defeated by Republican incumbent Christine Todd Whitman. He ran for governor again in 2001 and was elected by a large margin.
During his gubernatorial tenure, McGreevey—who was then married to Dina Matos—appointed Israeli national Golan Cipel as homeland security advisor despite Cipel's lack of relevant experience or qualifications. On August 12, 2004, following threats of a sexual harassment lawsuit from Cipel, McGreevey publicly acknowledged his homosexuality and stated that he had engaged in an extramarital relationship; he also announced that he would resign the governorship effective November 15, 2004.
In 2006, following his departure from public office, McGreevey published a memoir entitled The Confession. He later pursued ordination in the Episcopal Church and obtained a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from General Theological Seminary in New York City; however, the Episcopal Church declined to ordain him. In July 2013, McGreevey was appointed head of Jersey City's Employment & Training Program (JCETP). He served in that capacity until his 2019 termination.
Early life and education
McGreevey was born in Jersey City, the son of Veronica, a nurse, and Jack McGreevey, a Marine drill instructor who served in World War II and the Korean War. His family was Irish Catholic, and he grew up in nearby Carteret. There he attended St. Joseph Elementary School, and St. Joseph High School in Metuchen. He attended The Catholic University of America before graduating from Columbia University in 1978. He earned a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1981 and a master's degree in education from Harvard University in 1982. He also attended a summer diploma program in law at the London School of Economics.
Career
Prior to entering politics, McGreevey was an assistant prosecutor and executive director of the state Parole Board. McGreevey has taught ethics, law and leadership at Kean University in Union, New Jersey.
McGreevey was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing the 19th Legislative District from 1990 to 1992, when he became Mayor of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. He was re-elected mayor in 1995 and 1999. He was elected to the New Jersey Senate in 1993, simultaneously serving as mayor during the four-year Senate term.
Governorship of New Jersey
McGreevey first ran for governor in 1997, but was defeated in a close race (47% to 46%) by the incumbent Republican Christine Todd Whitman. Libertarian candidate Murray Sabrin received slightly over 5% of the vote. McGreevey ran for the governorship again in 2001 and won with 56% of the vote, making him the first majority-elected governor since James Florio. His Republican opponent in that race was Bret Schundler. Other candidates in the race included William E. Schluter (Independent), Jerry Coleman (Green), Mark Edgerton (Libertarian), Michael Koontz (Conservative), Costantino Rozzo (Socialist) and Kari Sachs (Socialist Workers).
After being elected to the governorship by a large margin on November 6, 2001, McGreevey inherited a US$5 billion budget deficit. During his term, McGreevey raised the tax on cigarettes and increased the state income tax for the wealthy. Raised as a Roman Catholic but maintaining a pro-choice stance on abortion, he stated as governor that he would not receive Communion at public church services.
Among McGreevey's accomplishments were auto insurance reform, implementing a stem cell research plan for New Jersey, heavily lobbying for the state's first domestic partnership law for same-sex couples and signing such a law in early 2004.
Golan Cipel controversy
McGreevey met Golan Cipel in Israel during a trip there in 2000. Cipel relocated to the United States to work for McGreevey's 2001 gubernatorial campaign as a liaison to the Jewish community.
In 2002, following his election as governor, McGreevey appointed Cipel as homeland security adviser at a salary of $110,000. Members of the Legislature questioned the appointment, and the appointment was criticized because Cipel appeared unqualified for the position. In addition, Cipel could not obtain a security approval from the federal government, as he was Israeli and not a U.S. citizen; therefore, the FBI and the Secret Service would not provide him with intelligence.
McGreevey brought up Cipel's name six weeks into his administration in a February 14, 2002, interview with The Record'''s editorial board at its offices, saying:
McGreevey assisted Cipel in obtaining a townhouse near McGreevey's home. Cipel reportedly stated that he needed to live near the governor because his job involved being on call on a 24-hour basis. "According to the Star-Ledger newspaper, McGreevey even accompanied Cipel on a final walk-through of the townhouse, which the real estate agent said she found odd".
In March 2002, Cipel stepped down from his Homeland Security position and was reassigned to an advisor position regarding government operations. In August 2002, Cipel resigned from the McGreevey administration.
Cipel later threatened to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against McGreevey. This threat led to McGreevey's August 2004 resignation from office.
Other controversies
David D'Amiano, a key McGreevey fund-raiser, was ultimately sentenced to two years in prison for extorting $40,000 from a farmer, Mark Halper, a Middlesex County landowner cooperating with investigators. In the 47-page indictment, there are repeated references to the involvement of "State Official 1," later revealed to be McGreevey. In a conversation with Halper, McGreevey used the word "Machiavelli," the code allegedly arranged by D'Amiano intended to assure the farmer that his $40,000 campaign contribution would get him preferential treatment in a dispute over his land.
Resignation
On the afternoon of August 12, 2004, faced with threats from Cipel's lawyer, Allen Lowy, that Cipel would file a sexual harassment lawsuit against him in Mercer County Court, McGreevey held a press conference. At the press conference, he said: "At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is. And so my truth is that I am a gay American". He also said that he had "engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man" (whom his aides immediately named as Cipel), and that he would resign effective November 15, 2004. New Jersey political circles had speculated about McGreevey's sexual orientation and questions about his relationship with Cipel had been alluded to in the media. McGreevey's announcement made him the first openly gay state governor in United States history. The Star-Ledger won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its "coverage of the resignation of New Jersey's governor after he announced he was gay and confessed to adultery with a male lover." For his part, Cipel later asserted that he was heterosexual and denied having had an affair with McGreevey; Cipel has contended that McGreevey subjected him to sexual harassment and sexual assault and then fired him when his advances were rejected.
McGreevey's decision to delay the effective date of his resignation until after September 3, 2004 avoided a special election in November to replace the governor. Doing so allowed the Democratic Party to retain control of the governorship for the rest (until January 2006) of the four-year term. It avoided the prospect of a special election in tandem with the presidential election, which could have resulted in a Republican victory and helped George W. Bush capture New Jersey's electoral votes. Bush did not win New Jersey's electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election, but captured 46 percent of the statewide vote, compared to 40 percent in the 2000 race, and did win re-election.
Almost immediately after McGreevey's announcement, New Jersey Republicans and Democrats alike called upon the governor not to wait until November to resign and instead to do so immediately. An editorial in The New York Times read, "Mr. McGreevey's strategy to delay resignation does not serve New Jersey residents well. The state will be led by an embattled governor mired in personal and legal problems for three months."
On September 15, U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. dismissed Afran v. McGreevey, filed by Green Party lawyers Bruce Afran and Carl J. Mayer, dismissing their claim that the postponement of McGreevey's resignation had left a vacancy, thereby violating New Jersey residents' voting rights. Brown stated that McGreevey "clearly intends to hold office until November 15, 2004. The requirement of holding a special election does not arise. The rights of registered voters are not being violated." Afran re-filed the same suit in Mercer County Superior Court and Judge Linda R. Feinberg heard arguments on October 4, 2004.
Fellow Democrat and New Jersey Senate President Richard Codey took office upon McGreevey's resignation and served the remainder of the term until January 17, 2006. At the time of McGreevey's resignation, the New Jersey State Constitution stipulated that the Senate president retains that position while serving as acting governor. Intense public attention and political pressure directed to the issue of gubernatorial succession in the wake of McGreevey's resignation resulted in a 2006 amendment to the state constitution that created the post of Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.
Post-gubernatorial activities
Memoir
In September 2006, McGreevey published a memoir, written with assistance from David France as ghostwriter. The memoir was titled The Confession. McGreevey appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 19, 2006, to discuss and promote the book. It was the start of a two-month promotion of his memoir.
In The Confession, McGreevey describes the duality of his life before he came out as gay: "As glorious and meaningful as it would have been to have a loving and sound sexual experience with another man, I knew I'd have to undo my happiness step by step as I began chasing my dream of a public career and the kind of 'acceptable' life that went with it. So, instead, I settled for the detached anonymity of bookstores and rest stopsa compromise, but one that was wholly unfulfilling and morally unsatisfactory."McGreevey discusses his book The Confession at the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center , New York Times' Times Talks Series, ForaTV, October 14, 2006 (video). McGreevey also included descriptions of his alleged affair with Golan Cipel. In response, Cipel continued to deny that an affair between the two men occurred.
Divinity studies and community-building
McGreevey and his partner Mark O'Donnell regularly attended Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York, in addition to a local parish in New Jersey. At St. Bartholomew's, McGreevey was received into the Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 29, 2007. He was accepted to General Theological Seminary, from which he received the degree of Master of Divinity, a prerequisite to becoming an Episcopal priest. In 2009, McGreevey told The New York Times that he volunteered for Exodus Ministries, where he performed service to former prisoners seeking rehabilitation at the Church of Living Hope in Harlem, New York. On November 16, 2009, WCBS-TV reported that McGreevey was continuing his training at All Saints Episcopal Church in Hoboken. An April 2011 report indicated that McGreevey's bid for ordination had been rejected. McGreevey then worked at Integrity House at the Hudson County Correctional Facility with women inmates with a history of drug use.
McGreevey's life after politics, his pursuit of the priesthood, and his ministry to prison inmates are covered in a 2013 HBO documentary film, Fall to Grace'', directed by Alexandra Pelosi.
After years as an Episcopalian, McGreevey rejoined the Catholic Church; as of 2023, he regularly attended Mass at the Christ the King Catholic Church in Jersey City.
Jersey City Employment & Training Program and NJ ReEntry
In July 2013, McGreevey was appointed executive director of Jersey City's Employment & Training Program (JCETP). The program, which provides re-entry coaching for those released from prison, along with other services, such as job opportunities and training, and substance abuse rehabilitation is based at The Hub in the city's Jackson Hill neighborhood. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop felt as though McGreevey was "a valuable asset" to have in this position relating to his ten-plus years working within the government. Also having first-hand experiences with helping the population of those previously incarcerated by serving as a mentor and spiritual counselor to women at the Hudson County Jail added to his qualifications for the executive director position.
Among those at the September 2014 opening of the facility called Martin's Place (located on the major street of Martin Luther King Drive) were Brendan Byrne, Tom Kean, Steve Fulop, Chris Christie, Robert Menendez, Nancy Pelosi and Cornell William Brooks. The prisoner re-entry program, funded by the New Jersey Parole Board with a $4.2 million grant, is located in Sacred Heart Church, also in the neighborhood. The program is a model for a statewide program to be expanded in 2015, initially to four other counties.
In January 2019, the board of the JCETP voted to terminate McGreevey's employment. A forensic audit suggested that funds had been inappropriately re-directed to another program, NJ ReEntry. McGreevey claimed that the move was political. McGreevey responded with eight independent audits that found no wrongdoing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey, McGreevey sought to place early-release prisoners, many of whom were homeless, in makeshift shelters.
Potential return to politics
In October 2015, McGreevey moved from Plainfield to Jersey City, sparking rumors that he might run for mayor. In 2023, with mayor Steven Fulop retiring to run for governor, McGreevey's name was floated among potential candidates to succeed him, with the Union City mayor and State Senator Brian P. Stack endorsing his potential bid. He filed to run for election on October 31, 2023.
Personal life
McGreevey has a daughter from his first marriage (1991–1997) to Canadian Karen Joan Schutz and another daughter from his second marriage to Portuguese-born Dina Matos. When he resigned from office in 2004, McGreevey asserted that he had engaged in an adulterous affair with another man; he later stated that he had had an affair with Golan Cipel. Cipel has denied that an affair between the two men occurred.
Matos and McGreevey separated after he revealed that he is gay, and in late 2005 McGreevey and Australian-American executive Mark O'Donnell began a relationship. The two lived in Plainfield, New Jersey. On March 14, 2007, the Associated Press reported that McGreevey was seeking custody of his younger daughter and filing for child support. Matos demanded $600,000 plus alimony. On August 8, the divorce was granted. McGreevey received joint custody and was directed to pay child support. Matos was denied alimony. In her memoirs, Matos wrote that she would never have married McGreevey if she had known he was gay, nor would she have chosen to have a gay man father her child.
See also
List of the first LGBT holders of political offices in the United States
References
External links
Huge increase in released N.J. sex offenders is draining resources from other inmates, ex-governor says
1957 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
20th-century Roman Catholics
21st-century American Episcopalians
21st-century American politicians
Alumni of the London School of Economics
American lobbyists
American memoirists
American people of Irish descent
Candidates in the 1997 United States elections
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Democratic Party governors of New Jersey
Gay politicians
Georgetown University Law Center alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni
Kean University faculty
LGBT Anglicans
LGBT mayors of places in the United States
Gay memoirists
LGBT state governors of the United States
LGBT state legislators in New Jersey
Mayors of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly
Democratic Party New Jersey state senators
People from Carteret, New Jersey
Politicians from Jersey City, New Jersey
Politicians from Middlesex County, New Jersey
St. Joseph High School (Metuchen, New Jersey) alumni
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles%20Colson
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Charles Colson
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Charles Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012), generally referred to as Chuck Colson, was an American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970. Once known as President Nixon's "hatchet man", Colson gained notoriety at the height of the Watergate scandal, for being named as one of the Watergate Seven, and also for pleading guilty to obstruction of justice for attempting to defame Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg. In 1974, he served seven months in the federal Maxwell Prison in Alabama, as the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges.
Colson became an evangelical Christian in 1973. His mid-life religious conversion sparked a radical life change that led to the founding of his non-profit ministry Prison Fellowship and, three years later, Prison Fellowship International, to a focus on Christian worldview teaching and training around the world. Colson was also a public speaker and the author of more than 30 books. He was the founder and chairman of The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which is a research, study, and networking center for growing in a Christian worldview, and which produces Colson's daily radio commentary, BreakPoint, heard on more than 1,400 outlets across the United States currently presented by John Stonestreet.
Colson was a principal signer of the 1994 Evangelicals and Catholics Together ecumenical document signed by leading Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholic leaders in the United States.
Colson received 15 honorary doctorates, and in 1993 was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world's largest annual award (over US$1 million) in the field of religion, given to a person who "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension". He donated this prize to further the work of Prison Fellowship, as he did all his speaking fees and royalties. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush.
Early life, education, and family
Charles Wendell Colson was born on October 16, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Inez "Dizzy" (née Ducrow) and Wendell Ball Colson. He was of Swedish and British descent.
In his youth, Colson had seen the charitable works of his parents. His mother cooked meals for the hungry during the Depression and his father donated his legal services to the United Prison Association of New England.
During World War II, Colson organized fund-raising campaigns in his school for the war effort that raised enough money to buy a Jeep for the army.
In 1948, Colson volunteered in the campaign to re-elect the Governor of Massachusetts, Robert Bradford.
After attending Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge in 1949, he earned his AB, with honors, in history from Brown University in 1953, and his J.D., with honors, from George Washington University Law School in 1959. At Brown, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi.
Colson's first marriage with Nancy Billings, in 1953, bore three children: Wendell Ball II (born 1954), Christian Billings (1956), and Emily Ann (1958). After some years of separation, the marriage ended in divorce in January 1964. He married Patricia Ann Hughes on April 4, 1964.
Early career
Colson served in the United States Marine Corps from 1953 to 1955, reaching the rank of captain. From 1955 to 1956, he was assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Material). He then worked on the successful 1960 campaign of Leverett Saltonstall (U.S. Republican Party for the U.S. Senate), and was his Administrative Assistant from 1956 to 1961. In 1961 Colson founded the law firm of Colson & Morin, which swiftly grew to a Boston and Washington, D.C., presence with the addition of former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Edward Gadsby and former Raytheon Company general counsel Paul Hannah. Colson and Morin shortened the name to Gadsby & Hannah in late 1967. Colson left the firm to join the Richard Nixon administration in January 1969.
Nixon administration
White House duties
In 1968, Colson served as counsel to Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon's Key Issues Committee.
On November 6, 1969, Colson was appointed as Special Counsel to President Nixon.
Colson was responsible for inviting influential private special interest groups into the White House policy-making process and winning their support on specific issues. His office served as the President's political communications liaison with organized labor, veterans, farmers, conservationists, industrial organizations, citizen groups, and almost any organized lobbying group whose objectives were compatible with the Administration's. Colson's staff broadened the White House lines of communication with organized constituencies by arranging presidential meetings and sending White House news releases of interest to the groups.
In addition to his liaison and political duties, Colson's responsibilities included performing special assignments for the president, such as drafting legal briefs on particular issues, reviewing presidential appointments, and suggesting names for White House guest lists. His work also included major lobbying efforts on such issues as construction of an antiballistic missile system, the president's Vietnamization program, and the administration's revenue-sharing proposal.
"The 'Evil Genius' of an Evil Administration"
Slate magazine writer David Plotz described Colson as Nixon's "hard man, the 'evil genius' of an evil administration." Colson has written that he was "valuable to the President ... because I was willing ... to be ruthless in getting things done". Nixon's White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman described Colson as the president's "hit man".
Colson authored the 1971 memo listing Nixon's major political opponents, later known as Nixon's enemies list. A quip that "Colson would walk over his own grandmother if necessary" mutated into claims in news stories that Colson had boasted that he would run over his own grandmother to re-elect Nixon. In a conversation on February 13, 1973, Colson told Nixon that he had always had "a little prejudice".
New York City Hard Hat Riot
On May 4, 1970, four students were shot dead at Kent State University in Ohio while protesting the Vietnam War and the incursion into Cambodia. As a show of sympathy for the dead students, Mayor John Lindsay ordered all flags at New York City Hall to be flown at half-mast that same day.
A transcription made of a White House tape recording dated May 5, 1971, documents that the planning phase of the Hard Hat Riot took place in the White House Oval Office. Colson is heard successfully instigating several New York State AFL–CIO union leaders into organizing an attack against student protesters in New York. These officials then armed some 200 construction workers in Lower Manhattan with lengths of steel re-bar which they, along with their hard hats, proceeded to use against about 1,000 high school and college students protesting the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings. The initial attack was near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street, but the riot soon spread to New York City Hall and lasted a little more than two hours. More than 70 people were injured, including four policemen. Six people were arrested.
Two weeks after the Hard Hat Riot, Colson arranged a White House ceremony honoring the union leader most responsible for the attack, Peter J. Brennan, president of the Building and Construction Trades local for New York City. Brennan was later appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor and served under Presidents Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Proposed firebombing of the Brookings Institution
Colson also proposed firebombing the Brookings Institution and stealing politically damaging documents while firefighters put the fire out.
Attacking the young Vietnam veteran John Kerry
Colson's voice, from archives of April 1969, is heard in the 2004 movie Going Upriver deprecating the anti-war efforts of John Kerry. Colson's orders were to "destroy the young demagogue before he becomes another Ralph Nader." In a phone conversation with Nixon on April 28, 1971, Colson said, "This fellow Kerry that they had on last week...He turns out to be really quite a phony."
Watergate and Ellsberg scandals
Colson attended some meetings of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP). However, he and the White House Staff "had come to regard the Committee to Re-elect the President as a rival organisation." When Colson had taken charge of the Office of Communications, he was offered but rejected Jeb Magruder as a senior staffer, and Magruder was instead sent over to CRP, as
At a CRP meeting on March 21, 1971, it was agreed to spend US$250,000 on "intelligence gathering" on the Democratic Party. Colson and John Ehrlichman had recruited E. Howard Hunt as a White House consultant for $100 per day ($ in dollars). Though Hunt never worked directly for Colson, he did several odd jobs for Colson's office prior to working for Egil "Bud" Krogh, head of the White House Special Operations Unit (the so-called "Plumbers"), which had been organized to stop leaks in the Nixon administration. Hunt teamed with G. Gordon Liddy, and the two headed the Plumbers' attempted burglary of Pentagon Papers-leaker Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office in Los Angeles in September 1971. The Pentagon Papers were a collection of military documents comprising an exhaustive study of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. Their publication helped increase opposition to the war. Colson hoped that revelations about Ellsberg could be used to discredit the anti-Vietnam War cause. Colson admitted to leaking information from Ellsberg's confidential FBI file to the press, but denied organizing Hunt's burglary of Ellsberg's office. In his 2005 book The Good Life, Colson expressed regret for attempting to cover up this incident.
Although not discovered until several years after Nixon had resigned and Colson had finished serving his prison term, the transcript of a White House conversation between Nixon and Colson tape-recorded on June 20, 1972, has denials from both men of the White House's involvement in the break-in. Hunt had been off the payroll for three months. Colson asks "Do they think I'm that dumb?". Nixon comments that "we have got to have lawyers smart enough to have our people de-, delay (unintelligible) avoiding--depositions, of course, uh, are one possibility. We've got--I think it would be a quite the thing for the judge to call in Mitchell and have a deposition in the middle of the campaign, don't you?" to which Colson responds that he would welcome a deposition because "I'm not--,
because nobody, everybody's completely out of it."
On March 10, 1973, seventeen months before Nixon's resignation, Colson resigned from the White House to return to the private practice of law, as Senior Partner at the law firm of Colson and Shapiro, Washington, D.C. However, Colson was retained as a special consultant by Nixon for several more months.
Indicted
On March 1, 1974, Colson was indicted for conspiring to cover up the Watergate burglaries.
Introduced to evangelical Christianity
As Colson was facing arrest, his close friend Thomas L. Phillips, chairman of the board of Raytheon Company, gave him a copy of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis; after reading it, Colson became an evangelical Christian. Colson then joined a prayer group led by Douglas Coe and including Democratic Senator Harold Hughes, Republican congressman Al Quie and Democratic congressman Graham B. Purcell, Jr. When news of the conversion emerged much later, several U.S. newspapers, as well as Newsweek, The Village Voice, and Time, ridiculed the conversion, claiming that it was a ploy to reduce his sentence. In his 1975 memoir Born Again, Colson noted that a few writers published sympathetic stories, as in the case of a widely reprinted UPI article, "From Watergate to Inner Peace."
Pleads guilty, imprisoned
After taking the Fifth Amendment on the advice of his lawyers during early testimony, Colson found himself torn between his desire to be truthful and his desire to avoid conviction on charges of which he believed himself innocent. Following prayer and consultation with his fellowship group, Colson approached his lawyers and suggested a plea of guilty to a different criminal charge of which he did consider himself to be culpable.
After days of negotiation with Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski and Watergate Trial Judge Gerhard Gesell, Colson pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice on the basis of having attempted to defame Ellsberg's character in the build-up to the trial in order to influence the jury against him. Journalist Carl Rowan commented in a column of June 10, 1974, that the guilty plea came "at a time when the judge was making noises about dismissing the charges against him", and speculated that Colson was preparing to reveal highly damaging information against Nixon, an expectation shared by columnist Clark Mollenhoff; Mollenhoff even went so far as to suggest that for Colson not to become a "devastating witness" would cast doubt on the sincerity of his conversion. On June 21, 1974, Colson was given a one-to- three-year sentence and fined $5,000. He was subsequently disbarred in the District of Columbia, with the expectation of his also being prohibited from using his licenses from Virginia and Massachusetts.
Colson served seven months in Maxwell Correctional Facility in Alabama,—with brief stints at a facility on the Fort Holabird grounds when needed as a trial witness— entering prison on July 9, 1974, and being released early, on January 31, 1975, by the sentencing judge because of family problems. At the time that Gesell ordered his release, Colson was one of the last of the Watergate defendants still in jail: only Gordon Liddy was still incarcerated. Egil Krogh had served his sentence and been released before Colson entered jail, while John Dean, Jeb Magruder, and Herb Kalmbach had been released earlier in January 1975 by Judge John Sirica. Although Gesell declined to name the "family problems" prompting the release, Colson wrote in his 1976 memoir that his son Chris, angry over his father's imprisonment and looking to replace his broken car, had bought $150 worth of marijuana in hopes of selling it at a profit, and had been arrested in South Carolina, where he was in college. The state later dropped the charges.
Interest in prison reform
Born Again, Colson's personal memoir reflecting on his religious conversion and prison term, was made into a 1978 dramatic film starring Dean Jones as Colson, Anne Francis as his wife Patty, and Harold Hughes as himself. Actor Kevin Dunn portrayed Colson in the 1995 movie Nixon.
During his time in prison, Colson had become increasingly aware of what he saw as injustices done to prisoners and incarcerates and shortcomings in their rehabilitation; he also had the opportunity, during a three-day furlough to attend his father's funeral, to pore over his father's papers and discover the two shared an interest in prison reform. He became convinced that he was being called by God to develop a ministry to prisoners with an emphasis in promoting changes in the justice system.
Career after prison
Prison ministry
After his release from prison, Colson founded Prison Fellowship in 1976, which today is "the nation's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families". Colson worked to promote prisoner rehabilitation and reform of the prison system in the United States, citing his disdain for what he called the "lock 'em and leave 'em" warehousing approach to criminal justice. He helped to create prisons whose populations come from inmates who choose to participate in faith-based programs.
In 1979, Colson founded Prison Fellowship International to extend his prison outreach outside the United States. Now in 120 countries, Prison Fellowship International is the largest, most extensive association of national Christian ministries working within the criminal justice field, working to proclaim the Gospel worldwide and alleviate the suffering of prisoners and their families. In 1983, Prison Fellowship International received special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. During this time, Colson also founded Justice Fellowship, using his influence in conservative political circles to push for bipartisan, legislative reforms in the U.S. criminal justice system.
On June 18, 2003, Colson was invited by President George W. Bush to the White House to present results of a scientific study on the faith-based initiative, InnerChange, at the Carol Vance Unit (originally named the Jester II Unit) prison facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Fort Bend County, Texas. Colson led a small group that included Dr. Byron Johnson of the University of Pennsylvania, who was the principal researcher of the InnerChange study, a few staff members of Prison Fellowship and three InnerChange graduates to the meeting. In the presentation, Johnson explained that 171 participants in the InnerChange program were compared to a matched group of 1,754 inmates from the prison's general population. The study found that only 8 percent of InnerChange graduates, as opposed to 20.3 percent of inmates in the matched comparison group, became offenders again in a two-year period. In other words, the recidivism rate was cut by almost two-thirds for those who complete the faith-based program. Those who are dismissed for disciplinary reasons or who drop out voluntarily, or those who are paroled before completion, have a comparable rate of rearrest and incarceration. The commonly-reported results from the study have been strongly criticized for selecting only participants who were unlikely to be rearrested (especially those who were successfully placed in post-prison jobs), and when considering all of the InnerChange study participants, their recidivism rate (24.3%) was worse than the control group (20.3%).
Christian advocacy
Colson maintained a variety of media channels which discuss contemporary issues from an evangelical Christian worldview. In his Christianity Today columns, for example, Colson opposed same-sex marriage, and argued that Darwinism is used to attack Christianity. He also argued against evolution and in favor of intelligent design, and asserted that Darwinism led to forced sterilizations by eugenicists.
Colson was an outspoken critic of postmodernism, believing that as a cultural worldview, it is incompatible with the Christian tradition. He debated prominent post-evangelicals, such as Brian McLaren, on the best response for the evangelical church in dealing with the postmodern cultural shift. Colson, however, came alongside the creation care movement when endorsing Christian environmentalist author Nancy Sleeth's Go Green, Save Green: A Simple Guide to Saving Time, Money, and God's Green Earth. In the early 1980s, Colson was invited to New York by David Frost's variety program on NBC for an open debate with Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the atheist who, in 1963, brought the court case (Murray v. Curlett) that eliminated official public school prayers.
Colson was a member of the Family (also known as the Fellowship), described by prominent evangelical Christians as one of the most politically well-connected fundamentalist organizations in the US. On April 4, 1991, Colson was invited to deliver a speech as part of the Distinguished Lecturer series at Harvard Business School. The speech was titled The Problem of Ethics, where he argued that a society without a foundation of moral absolutes cannot long survive.
Colson was later a principal signer of the 1994 Evangelicals and Catholics Together ecumenical document signed by leading Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholic leaders in the United States, part of a larger ecumenical rapprochement in the United States that had begun in the 1970s with Catholic-Evangelical collaboration during the Gerald R. Ford Administration and in later para-church organizations such as Moral Majority founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell at the urging of Francis Schaeffer and his son Frank Schaeffer during the Jimmy Carter administration.
In November 2009, Colson was a principal writer and driving force behind an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox Christians not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against their religious consciences. He previously had ignited controversy within Protestant circles for his mid-90s common-ground initiative with conservative Roman Catholics Evangelicals and Catholics Together, which Colson wrote alongside prominent Roman Catholic Richard John Neuhaus. Colson was also a proponent of the Bible Literacy Project's curriculum The Bible and Its Influence for public high school literature courses. Colson has said that Protestants have a special duty to prevent anti-Catholic bigotry.
Political engagement
In 1988, Colson became involved with the Elizabeth Morgan case, visiting Morgan in jail and lobbying to change federal law in order to free her.
On October 3, 2002, Colson was one of the co-signers of the Land letter sent to President George W. Bush. The letter was written by Richard D. Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and co-signed by four prominent American evangelical Christian leaders with Colson among them. The letter outlined their theological support for a just war in the form of a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq.
On June 1, 2005, Colson appeared in the national news commenting on the revelation that W. Mark Felt was Deep Throat. Colson expressed disapproval in Felt's role in the Watergate scandal, first in the context of Felt being an FBI employee who should have known better than to disclose the results of a government investigation to the press (violating a fundamental tenet of FBI culture), and second in the context of the trust placed in him (which demanded a more active response, such as a face-to-face confrontation with the FBI director or Nixon or, had that failed, public resignation). His criticism of Felt provoked a harsh response from Benjamin Bradlee, former executive editor of The Washington Post, one of only three individuals to know who Deep Throat was prior to the public disclosure, who said he was "baffled" that Colson and Liddy were "lecturing the world about public morality" considering their role in the Watergate scandal. Bradlee stated that "as far as I'm concerned they have no standing in the morality debate."
Colson also supported the passage of Proposition 8. He signed his name to a full-page ad in the December 5, 2008 The New York Times that objected to violence and intimidation against religious institutions and believers in the wake of the passage of Proposition 8. The ad stated that "violence and intimidation are always wrong, whether the victims are believers, gay people, or anyone else." A dozen other religious and human rights activists from several different faiths also signed the ad, noting that they "differ on important moral and legal questions", including Proposition 8.
Awards and honors
From 1982 to 1995, Colson received honorary doctorates from various colleges and universities.
In 1990, The Salvation Army recognized Colson with its highest civic award, the Others Award. Previous recipients of the award include Barbara Bush, Paul Harvey, US Senator Bob Dole and the Meadows Foundation.
In 1993, Colson was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world's largest cash gift (over $1 million), which is given each year to the one person in the world who has done the most to advance the cause of religion. He donated this prize, as he did all speaking fees and royalties, to further the work of Prison Fellowship.
In 1994, Colson was quoted in contemporary Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Heaven in the Real World" as saying:
In 1999, Colson co-authored How Now Shall We Live? with Nancy Pearcey and published by Tyndale House. The book was winner of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association 2000 Gold Medallion Book Award in the "Christianity and Society" category. Colson had previously won the 1993 Gold Medallion award in the "Theology/Doctrine" category for The Body co-authored with Ellen Santilli Vaughn, published by Word, Inc.
On February 9, 2001, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) presented Colson with the Mark O. Hatfield Leadership Award at the Forum on Christian Higher Education in Orlando, Florida. The award is presented to individuals who have demonstrated uncommon leadership that reflects the values of Christian higher education. The award was established in 1997 in honor of US Senator Mark Hatfield, a long-time supporter of the council.
In 2008, Colson was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush.
Later years
In 2000, Florida Governor Jeb Bush reinstated the rights taken away by Colson's felony conviction, including the right to vote.
On March 31, 2012, Colson underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain after he fell ill while speaking at a Christian worldview conference. CBN erroneously reported on April 18, 2012, that he died with his family at his side but Prison Fellowship later (12:30am on April 19 and again at 7:02am) pointed out that he was still alive as of that moment.
Death
On April 21, 2012, Colson died in the hospital "from complications resulting from a brain hemorrhage".
Books
Colson had a long list of publications and collaborations, including over 30 books which have sold more than 5 million copies. He also wrote forewords for several other books.
(Some of these ISBNs are for recent editions of the older books.)
Curricula
(This is not a complete list.)
Notes
External links
BreakPoint Commentary
Charles W. Colson Papers, Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton College.
Columns in Christianity Today
Columns in The Christian Post
Colson Center for Christian Worldview
Chuck Colson's biography at Prison Fellowship Ministries
Watergate Key Players by The Washington Post
Nixon aides say Felt is no hero msnbc.com. June 1, 2005.
ShortNews.com (Source for Citizens Medal Presentation)
FBI file on Charles Colson
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1931 births
2012 deaths
American Christian writers
American evangelicals
Brown University alumni
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni
Burials at Quantico National Cemetery
Converts to Christianity
Critics of atheism
Editors of Christian publications
George Washington University Law School alumni
Intelligent design advocates
Lawyers disbarred in the Watergate scandal
Lawyers from Boston
Leaders of Christian parachurch organizations
Massachusetts politicians convicted of crimes
Massachusetts Republicans
Members of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President
Military personnel from Massachusetts
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People convicted in the Watergate scandal
People convicted of obstruction of justice
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff%20Stearns
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Cliff Stearns
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Clifford Bundy Stearns Sr. (born April 16, 1941) is an American businessman and politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1989 to 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party.
On August 14, 2012, Stearns lost to veterinarian Ted Yoho in a four-way Republican primary by about one percent of the vote.
In 2012, Stearns donated a collection of his papers to The George Washington University. The collection largely consists of his committee work, but also includes personal and political correspondence, briefing books, and travel agendas. The collection is currently under the care of GW's Special Collections Research Center, located in the Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library.
Since leaving Congress, he has worked for APCO Worldwide, a public relations firm headquartered in Washington D.C. Stearns is also a member of APCO Worldwide International Advisory Council. He sits on the boards of the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, Minority Media & Telecom Council, and the United States Association of Former Members of Congress.
Early life, education, and business career
Stearns was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Emily E. (Newlin) and Clifford Robert Stearns. He was educated at Woodrow Wilson High School, and later earned a degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University. He is also a member of the University's Gamma Beta chapter of Theta Tau, a professional/social engineering fraternity, and participated in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps there and was honored as the Air Force ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate.
Following graduation, he served four years in the United States Air Force as an aerospace engineer in satellite reconnaissance during the Vietnam War. Stearns owned a small chain of motels and restaurants in northern Florida. Before moving to Florida, he worked with a variety of businesses in Florida, such as CBS, Data Control Systems Inc, and Kutola Advertising.
He was also a member of the Engineering Honor Society Sigma Tau, which later merged into the Tau Beta Pi Association which recognizes superior scholarship and/or leadership achievement in the fields of engineering.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
1988–2004
In 1988, incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Buddy MacKay of Florida's 6th congressional district decided to run for the U.S. Senate. Stearns and Jim Cherry qualified for a run-off election, since no one reached the 50% threshold in the six-candidate primary election. Cherry received 32% to Stearns's 26%. In the run-off, Stearns defeated Cherry 54%–46%. In the general election, Stearns defeated State Representative Jon Mills 53%–47%. Until 2012, he never won re-election with less than 59% of the vote.
2006
Stearns was re-elected with 60% of the vote.
2008
Stearns was re-elected with 61% of the vote.
2010
Stearns was re-elected with 71% of the vote.
2012
Redistricting after the 2010 census shifted Stearns' home in Ocala to the 11th District (the old 5th District), but shifted the bulk of his territory to the Gainesville-based 3rd District. Rather than challenge freshman Republican Rich Nugent in the 11th, Stearns opted to run in the 3rd, which contained two-thirds of his former territory.
In the Republican primary for the 3rd—the real contest in this heavily Republican district—Stearns lost to Ted Yoho by only some 800 votes, about 1% of the vote, in the Republican primary.
Tenure
Stearns is a signer of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
Stearns is a member of the Electronic Cigarette Association and supports the use of these products.
On September 29, 2008, Stearns voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
Solyndra investigation
As Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Stearns led the investigation into the Solyndra loan guarantee, which has resulted in Solyndra declaring bankruptcy and the taxpayers losing $535 million. Among the revelations in the investigation are multiple warnings from government officials against giving Solyndra the loan because the company's health was shaky. Even so, the White House pressed for a speedy review. The company, which faced a highly competitive environment, went bankrupt and was raided by the FBI for possible fraud.
Although the White House instituted an internal review of the loan guarantee program, Stearns believes that the review should have occurred before the Obama administration handed out the money.
Stearns received emails showing that the White House had a major influence on the loan guarantee as well as on the Solyndra loan restructuring that subordinated the taxpayers to two commercial firms in violation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Fatal meningitis outbreak of 2012
Stearns led the congressional effort involving the meningitis outbreak. As of November 14, 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 32 deaths and that 438 people have been sickened across 19 states. An investigation determined that the New England Compounding Center(NECC) was the source of the contaminated product. As Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Stearns held a hearing on this outbreak.
During the hearing, Stearns stated the outbreak was preventable had the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted. The FDA knew of severe quality control violations at NEC as early as 2002, and in 2006 the FDA threatened NECC if it did not comply with regulations. During the hearing, FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg testified that the FDA lacked the authority to close down NECC.
Stearns noted that the FDA had authority to close NECC, but simply failed to protect the American people. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, deputy commissioner of the FDA from 2005–07 and Mr. Sheldon Bradshaw, FDA's chief counsel during that same period, disagreed strongly with Hamburg. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on November 13, 2012, they stated unequivocally that FDA did have enough authority and could have acted but chose not to because of FDA’s desire to regulate "the full scope of the practice of pharmacy." They further stated that NECC’s illegal actions, which FDA was aware of, that "put the NECC firmly in violation of FDA rules-if the agency had chosen to enforce existing provisions."
Abortion
As Chairman of the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Stearns conducted the first-ever oversight on taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States.
The investigation was started in response to an investigative report released in July 2011 by the anti-abortion organization Americans United for Life (AUL). According to AUL, "Audits of Planned Parenthood affiliates in California, New Jersey, New York, and Washington State demonstrate a pattern of overbilling and abuse involving Medicaid funds, and in at least Washington even charging drugs used in an abortion as 'family planning.' Furthermore, State audit reports and admissions by former Planned Parenthood employees detail a pattern of misuse of federal funds by some Planned Parenthood affiliates."
The investigation was sweeping, requesting internal audits dating back 12 years and state audits for the past 20 years for the national organization and all 83 of its affiliates. Representative Henry Waxman questioned the political motivations for the timing of the investigation, saying, "Your fervent ideological opposition to Planned Parenthood does not justify launching this intrusive investigation."
On January 31, 2012, The Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization stopped funding Planned Parenthood, stating that the congressional investigation by Stearns triggered a newly-created internal rule about not funding organizations under any federal, state or local investigation. Planned Parenthood is regularly audited to ensure compliance with the Hyde Amendment: these audits have never turned up any evidence of wrongdoing. While the move was applauded by conservative anti-abortion groups, it was denounced by several newspaper editorials, women's health advocacy groups, and politicians. Four days later, Komen's Board of Directors reversed the decision and announced that it would amend the policy to "make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political". Karen Handel, Komen's vice president for public policy, resigned as a result of Komen's reversal.
Economic issues
Stearns held several economic roundtables throughout the district, meeting with business owners, bankers, and realtors to get their views on improving the creating of jobs.
Last year, he sponsored four homeowner workshops in Ocala, Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Orange Park. He brought in realtors, bankers, and mortgage experts to help people who are having trouble making their payments – they also provided essential information for first-time homebuyers.
In meeting with community bankers from Florida, he learned that 70% of Florida’s community banks are under some kind of regulatory order that reduce capital for businesses to grow and loans to revitalize the housing industry.
He took a leadership role for the Florida delegation in sending a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair, claiming that banking examiners may be pursuing an unreasonably tough analysis of Florida banks’ asset quality and are regularly requiring downgrades of performing loans.
Fiscal issues
Stearns was one of only 39 House members to receive an "A" rating from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU). In addition, in 2010 Citizens Against Government Waste once again named Stearns a "Taxpayer Hero."
Stearns also is a strong opponent of automatic congressional pay raises. He also offered legislation to prevent a pay increase in a year following a federal budget deficit.
In fiscal years 2008–2010, Stearns sponsored 46 earmarks totaling $85,810,100.
Stearns voted for Cut, Cap & Balance & the Boehner Debt Ceiling Bill; however, he voted against the final Debt Ceiling compromise bill (The "Budget Control Act of 2011").
Veterans issues
Throughout his tenure, Stearns served on the Veterans Affairs Committee. He advocates for increased funding for the VA and pushed to establish a VA cemetery in the Jacksonville area. He supports the VA's CARES plan to develop a new Regional Health Care Facility in Marion County and the expansion of the VA Hospital in Gainesville with a new 230-bed patient tower. The groundbreaking for this addition occurred in 2008. His Veterans Millennium Health care & Benefits Act and language from his VA Health Care Personnel Act to increase pay for VA health professionals were signed into law.
Technology and privacy
Stearns has been working on extending privacy protection for about 10 years. In 2003, the International Association of Privacy Professionals gave Stearns its Privacy Leadership Award for his efforts on leadership, including holding the most extensive hearings on privacy issues as Chairman of the Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection Subcommittee.
On April 13, 2011, Stearns offered bi-partisan legislation to protect consumer privacy on line—H.R. 1528, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act. The goal is to encourage greater levels of electronic commerce by providing to Internet users the assurance that their experience online will be more secure.
Stearns also is a leader in opposing net neutrality.
Stearns voted for the Patriot Act.
Stearns is the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. From 2001 until 2007, Stearns was Chairman of the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee and he still serves on the Subcommittee.
He helped to create the Do-Not-Call List to protect consumers from unwanted telephone solicitations and legislation to combat spyware, which is software that allows a third party to monitor the computer use of individuals without their knowledge.
Energy issues
Stearns was a member of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, a bi-partisan forum for discussing and disseminating information about renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Stearns’ paper on developing clean-coal technology and applying coal-to-liquid technology was published in December 2008 in the Stanford Law & Policy Review.
During consideration of cap-and-trade legislation in the Energy and Commerce Committee in May 2009, Stearns offered an amendment to afford existing nuclear power plants the same benefits provided to new nuclear power plants in the bill. The amendment simply recognized that nuclear is carbon free and did not provide any new subsidy to the industry.
In 2008, Stearns joined in offering a package of bills to increase domestic energy production. This included more domestic oil and gas production, greater use of clean-coal technology, reducing the barriers to new nuclear power plants, and encouraging renewable energy sources.
Health care
During consideration of the health care legislation, Stearns offered the following amendments:
Provide tax deduction for health care;
Require the President, Supreme Court Justices, and Members of Congress to buy their coverage of the Exchange:
Eliminate the tax on medical devices;
Repeal the cuts to Medicare Advantage.
9/11 first responders
During the debate over compensation for 9/11 first responders and others, Stearns advocated a "standard re-authorization and appropriation process". Congressman Stearns submitted an amendment that was adopted without opposition to H.R.#847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, that would screen thousands of non-first responders and First Responders who submit claims for chronic medical conditions against a Department of Homeland Security terrorist watch list (original committee markup referenced).
Other
Bars fund for IRS to implement the Spanish language for tax refunds.
Increase funding for nuclear energy activities at the Department of Energy.
Prohibit funds to be used by the Internal Revenue Service to implement a Spanish-language version of the "Where's my Refund?" service.
Cut $25.5 million from AmeriCorps and increase funding for TRIO educational programs and the geriatric program.
Prohibit use of funds for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for litigation expenses incurred in connection with cases against employers on the grounds that such employers require employees to speak English.
Committee assignments
Committee on Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Chairman)
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Caucus memberships
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Caucus (Co-Chairman)
Congressional Cystic Fibrosis Caucus (Co-Chairman)
Congressional Horse Caucus (Co-Chairman)
Congressional Air Force Caucus (Co-Chairman)
Transatlantic Legislators Dialogue (Vice-Chairman)
Biomedical Research Caucus
Bipartisan Congressional Pro Life Caucus
Bipartisan Privacy Caucus
Canada-US Interparliamentary Union
Community College Caucus
Congressional Caucus on Adoption
Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues
Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans
Congressional Caucus on Poland
Congressional Caucus on Taiwan
Congressional Caucus on US-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans
Congressional Cyber Security Caucus
Congressional Friends of Liechtenstein Caucus
Congressional Invisible Wounds Caucus
Congressional Internet Caucus
Congressional Israel Allies Caucus
Congressional Media Fairness Caucus
Congressional Prayer Caucus
Congressional Ship Building Caucus
Congressional Singapore Caucus
Congressional Sovereignty Caucus
Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus
Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
Congressional Wireless Caucus
House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus
Immigration Reform Caucus
New Media Caucus
Republican Study Committee (RSC)
Tea Party Caucus
Personal life
Stearns lives in Ocala, Florida with his wife, Joan (née Moore). They have three grown sons. One of his great-great-grandfathers was 19th century Ohio congressman Hezekiah S. Bundy. He is a Presbyterian.
While a Member of Congress, Stearns received the Air Force Association W. Stuart Symington Award, the highest honor presented to a civilian in the field of national security for his work in behalf of the United States Air Force.
References
External links
Congressman Cliff Stearns official U.S. House website
Cliff Stearns for U.S. Congress
Profile at SourceWatch
Preliminary Guide to the Clifford Stearns Congressional Papers, 1988–2013, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
1941 births
Living people
George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
American businesspeople
American Presbyterians
United States Air Force officers
People from Washington, D.C.
Politicians from Ocala, Florida
Tea Party movement activists
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida
21st-century American politicians
Members of Congress who became lobbyists
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden%20plates
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Golden plates
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According to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates (also called the gold plates or in some 19th-century literature, the golden bible) are the source from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith. Some accounts from people who reported handling the plates describe the plates as weighing from , gold in color, and composed of thin metallic pages engraved with hieroglyphics on both sides and bound with three D-shaped rings.
Smith said that he found the plates on September 22, 1823, on a hill near his home in Manchester, New York, after the angel Moroni directed him to a buried stone box. He said that the angel prevented him from taking the plates but instructed him to return to the same location in a year. He returned to that site every year, but it was not until September 1827 that he recovered the plates on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve them. He returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. He allowed others to heft the box but said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original "reformed Egyptian" language.
Smith dictated the text of the plates while a scribe wrote down the words which would later become the Book of Mormon. Eyewitnesses to the process said Smith translated the plates, not by looking directly at them, but by looking through a transparent seer stone in the bottom of his hat. Smith published the first edition of the translation in March 1830 as the Book of Mormon, with a print run of 5,000 copies at a production cost of $3,000 (or 60 cents per book).
Smith eventually obtained testimonies from 11 men who said that they had seen the plates, known as the Book of Mormon witnesses. After the translation was complete, Smith said that he returned the plates to the angel Moroni; thus, they could never be examined. Latter Day Saints believe the account of the golden plates as a matter of faith, while critics often assert that Smith manufactured them himself.
Origin and historicity
In the words of Mormon historian Richard Bushman, "For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." Smith said that he returned the plates to the angel Moroni after he finished translating them, and their authenticity cannot be determined by physical examination. They were reportedly shown to several close associates of Smith. Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies to provide apologetic answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. The credibility of the plates has been a "troublesome item", according to Bushman.
The Book of Mormon itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two pre-Columbian prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: Mormon and his son Moroni. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "reformed Egyptian", a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists. Scholarly reference works on languages do not acknowledge the existence of either a "reformed Egyptian" language or "reformed Egyptian" script as it has been described in Mormon belief, and there is no archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America. Historically, Latter Day Saint movement denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates. The Community of Christ, however, accepts the Book of Mormon as scripture but no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates. Some adherents accept the Book of Mormon as inspired scripture but do not believe that it is a literal translation of a physical historical record, even in the more theologically conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Non-Mormons and some liberal Mormons have advanced naturalistic explanations for the story of the plates. For example, it has been theorized that the plates were fashioned by Smith or one of his associates, that Smith had the ability to convince others of their existence through illusions or hypnosis, or that witnesses were having ecstatic visions.
Story
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to Joseph Smith and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the angel Moroni, translated, and returned to the angel before the publication of the Book of Mormon. Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred while he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances, and many of them provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including several witnesses who said that they saw the golden plates.
The best-known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some Latter Day Saint movement denominations. The LDS Church has canonized part of this 1838 account as part of its scripture, the Pearl of Great Price.
Background
During the Second Great Awakening, Joseph Smith lived on his parents' farm near Palmyra, New York. At the time, churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York later became known as the "burned-over district" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often. Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting". Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a scryer, using what were termed "seer stones" in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure. Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white stovepipe hat, putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.
According to Richard Bushman, Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or "glass-looker", a practice he is said to have called "nonsense", despite his use of seer stones. Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as spiritual gifts. Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves, denied their presumed power to find treasure, or ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised. He came to view seeing with a stone in religious terms as the work of a "seer". Smith's first stone, apparently the same one that he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of a chicken egg, found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors. The LDS Church released photographs of the stone on August 4, 2015.
Finding the plates
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger whom he later identified as the angel Moroni. According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22 in 1822 or 1823. Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called Cumorah, a name found in the Book of Mormon. Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.
However, the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments". Smith recorded some of these commandments but made it clear the main thrust of Moroni's message was that he had to keep God's commandments in general. Some contemporaries who later claimed he told them the story said there were others, some of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether or how closely events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary folk magic. Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain, (2) that he tell his father about the vision, and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person. Smith's contemporaries who claimed to have heard the story, both sympathetic and unsympathetic, generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site in which they had been buried without looking back, and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until they were safe at home in a locked chest. Some unsympathetic listeners who allegedly heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried, (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail", (8) to call for the plates by a certain name, and (9) to "give thanks to God."
In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him. Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father. When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands. Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place that the plates were buried but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."
Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron). Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover and prying it up with a lever, Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.
Unsuccessful retrieval attempts
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures that it contained. Nevertheless, the accounts say that when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it. When Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, he said that he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.
Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic]. Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed to ask why he had been barred from taking the plates.
In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary and saught the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have an eye single to the Glory of God" [sic]. According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands," and according to a nonbeliever, Smith said, "I had forgotten to give thanks to God," as required by the angel.
Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin. Alvin had died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do. Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person" but the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be. However, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife. For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence.
Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823, but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827, when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife. In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord," which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.
Receiving the plates
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827, would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates. According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled necromancer from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates. During one of the trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location but was unable to determine the value of the plates. A few days prior to the September 22, 1827, visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and Joseph Knight Sr. traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.
Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned that he might cause trouble. Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Smith was to tell him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill. Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill Cumorah with Emma. While Emma stayed behind kneeling in prayer, Smith walked to the site of the buried plates. Sometime in the early morning hours, he said that he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah. At the same time, Smith said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the Urim and Thummim or "Interpreters," with lenses consisting of two seer stones, which he showed his mother when he returned in the morning.
Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby Macedon to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates. By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith had said that he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting. Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith Sr., determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of divination. When Emma heard of that, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, who reportedly determined through his Urim and Thummim that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.
Once home in Manchester, he said he walked to Cumorah, removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm. On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun.... Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb." He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries. Smith sent his father, Joseph Knight, and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.
Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester. He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts that he said he had in his possession, but some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth. A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.
The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest, where Smith said the plates were kept. After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth, and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders. Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby that was then being used as a cooper shop. Later, Smith told his mother he had taken the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floorboards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of flax. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered, and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates, who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her seer stone.
Translating the plates
Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and he told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. The translation took place mainly in Harmony, Pennsylvania (now Oakland Township), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner Martin Harris. The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith transcribed some of the characters and then dictated 116 manuscript pages to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of Oliver Cowdery, a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to Fayette, New York, completing the translation early the following month.
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating the words while peering into seer stones, which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation process evolved from his previous use of seer stones in treasure-seeking. During the earliest phase of translation, Smith said he used what he called Urim and Thummim, two stones set in a frame like a set of large spectacles. Witnesses said Smith placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat while he was translating.
After the loss of the first 116 manuscript pages, Smith translated with a single seer stone, which some sources say he had previously used in treasure-seeking. Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation. A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked. Sometimes, Smith dictated to Harris from upstairs or from a different room.
Smith's translation did not require the use of the plates themselves. Though Smith himself said very little about the translation process, his friends and family said that as he looked into the stone, the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English. There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation among anti-Mormons was that he copied the work from a manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding. That theory is repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers. The most prominent modern theory among many ex-Mormons is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time, perhaps while in a magical trance-like state. As a matter of faith, Latter Day Saints generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone or an intuitive translation by Smith, assisted by a mystical connection with God, through the stone. Some Latter Day Saint apologists argue that because of the length of the Book of Mormon (roughly 270,000 words) and the timeframe in which the Book was dictated, it is unlikely that he wrote it or memorized the words from elsewhere. It is also argued that Smith was unfamiliar with the text, often pausing to attempt to pronounce names of people and places that were unfamiliar to him, and therefore it is unlikely that he had read the text before or written it previously.
Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants, including Emma Smith, Martin Harris, and Oliver Cowdery. In May 1829, after Smith had lent 116 unduplicated manuscript pages to Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply retranslate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again." According to Grant Palmer, Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."
Location of the plates during translation
When Smith and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans. For a time, the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father, Isaac Hale, but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house. Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods. Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores. According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau. However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates to translate them.
In April 1828, Martin Harris's wife, Lucy, visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large, black snake and so was prevented from digging up the plates. As a result of Martin Harris's loss of the 116 pages of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the angel Moroni took back both the plates and the Urim and Thummim as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man." According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the anniversary of the day that he first received them.
In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed the directions but could not find the plates.
In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of David Whitmer and his parents in Fayette, New York. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the angel Moroni, who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house, where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.
Returning the plates
After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, but he did not elaborate about this experience. According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders, including Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and possibly others accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the Hill Cumorah. There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the Sword of Laban hanging on the cave wall. According to Brigham Young's understanding, which he said that he had gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates and inscribed with the words: "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."
Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed." The "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time, when the sealed part will be translated and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.
David Whitmer is quoted as stating that he saw just the untranslated portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate). Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which, he said, "testify that they are there."
Descriptions of the plates
Smith said the angel Moroni had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person. However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of several witnesses who saw the plates. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they had seen the plates with their physical eyes or had seen them in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the Book of Mormon even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience."
According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son; but this child was stillborn in 1828. In March 1829, Martin Harris came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found. The next day, Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".
By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith. During the second half of June 1829, Smith took Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer (known collectively as the Three Witnesses) into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves. The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard. A few days later, Smith took a different group of Eight Witnesses to a location near Smith's parents' home in Palmyra where they said Smith showed them the golden plates. Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Smith, were published in 1830 as an appendix to the Book of Mormon. According to later statements ascribed to Martin Harris, he viewed the plates in a vision and not with his "natural eyes."
In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother Lucy Mack Smith said she had "seen and handled" the plates. Smith's wife Emma and his younger brother William and younger sister Katharine also said they had examined and lifted the plates while they were wrapped in fabric. Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.
Described format, binding, and dimensions
The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, Martin Harris, is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires". In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book". David Whitmer, another of the Three Witnesses, was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings ... passing through each leaf in succession". Anomalously, Smith's father is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick. Smith's mother, who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide ... all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".
Hyrum Smith and John Whitmer, also witnesses in 1829, are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book". Smith's wife Emma and his younger brother William said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book". William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.
Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were ... bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".
Described composition and weight
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible". When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the Eight Witnesses described the plates as having "the appearance of gold". The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore". In a June 1830 court hearing, Josiah Stowell testified that he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a corner of the plates (making him "the only witness to see the plates 'by accident,'") and said it "resembled a stone of a greenish caste." In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses, as having said that the plates were a "whitish yellow color", with "three small rings of the same metal".
Smith's first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold", and Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, Martin Harris stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver, and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg), "were lead or gold". Joseph's brother William, who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper ... much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".
Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter. Smith's father Joseph Smith Sr., who was one of the Eight Witnesses, reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg). Smith's brother William, who had lifted the plates, thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment". Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]". Smith's wife Emma never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".
From descriptions of the plates' dimensions, had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg). Based on the plates' lighter weight and Stowell's description of its corner's "greenish cast", one scholar has hypothesized Smith made the plates from copper, which weighs less than gold and rusts green. LDS writers have speculated the plates could also exhibit those qualities if it were made of a copper-gold alloy like Mesoamerican tumbaga.
"Sealed" portion
According to Smith and others, the golden plates contained a "sealed" portion containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof." Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the Book of Mormon may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical, physical, or a combination of these elements.
The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the Book of Mormon says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord" and that separate records of John the Apostle were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the end times. One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.
Smith may have understood the sealing to be a supernatural or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10), an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed." Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."
Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. David Whitmer said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them," that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable," "as solid to my view as wood," and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed" with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them." In 1842, Lucy Mack Smith said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose." The account of the Eight Witnesses says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion. In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed; in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed. Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by Orson Pratt, an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".
Engravings
The golden plates were said to contain engravings that the Book of Mormon describes as reformed Egyptian. Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters ... small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."
John Whitmer, one of the Eight Witnesses, said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides," and Orson Pratt, who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."
Significance in the Latter Day Saint tradition
The golden plates are significant within the Latter Day Saint movement because they are the reputed source for the Book of Mormon, which Smith called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion." However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the Latter Day Saint movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination (see List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)).
Some Latter Day Saints, especially those within the Community of Christ, have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University." For most adherents of the Latter Day Saint faith, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.
Hugh Nibley, a Latter-day Saint scholar popular among church members, said in 1957 that he believed even proof of the actual existence of the golden plates would not settle disputes about the Book of Mormon and the story of its origin.Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon: "Critics of the Book of Mormon often remark sarcastically that it is a great pity that the golden plates have disappeared, since they would very conveniently prove Joseph Smith's story. They would do nothing of the sort. The presence of the plates would only prove that there were plates, no more: it would not prove that Nephites wrote them, or that an angel brought them, or that they had been translated by the gift and power of God; and we can be sure that scholars would quarrel about the writing on them for generations without coming to any agreement, exactly as they did about the writings of Homer and parts of the Bible. The possession of the plates would have a very disruptive effect, and it would prove virtually nothing. On the other hand, a far more impressive claim is put forth when the whole work is given to the world in what is claimed to be a divinely inspired translation – in such a text any cause or pretext for disagreement and speculation about the text is reduced to an absolute minimum: it is a text which all the world can read and understand, and is a far more miraculous object than any gold plates would be."
Other plates
A few other sets of plates have arisen to prominence in various denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Kinderhook plates hoax
In 1843, after reading a missionary tract written by Orson Pratt, three men in Kinderhook, Pike County, Illinois – Robert Wiley, Wilburn Fugate, and Bridge Whitton – decided to collaborate to counterfeit a set of metal plates and "startle the natives," as one of Fugate's sons recalled. The trio forged plates from copper, etched them with acid, and buried them in a mound, digging them up on April 23, 1843, in a pretended discovery. The Quincy Whig published a story on the discovery, and the Times and Seasons and Nauvoo Neighbor, a publication of the church and of the city respectively, reprinted the story. The Mormon community soon expressed much interest in the plates.By May 1, the plates had been brought to Nauvoo and Smith, apparently believing they were authentic, attempted to translate them. Smith's private secretary William Clayton recorded that upon receiving the plates, Smith sent for his "Hebrew Bible & Lexicon", suggesting that rather than translate the plates by direct revelation, Smith attempted to translate the plates by more conventional means. That day, Clayton wrote in his journal:
Scholars examining the Kinderhook plates in retrospect have found that one character coincidentally resembles a character in Smith's Egyptian Alphabet Book, the alleged meaning of which matches Smith's attempted translation of the Kinderhook plates, further suggesting Smith tried to translate the plates as an amateur linguist.
Apostles John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, editors of the Nauvoo Neighbor, anticipated Smith would translate the plates in their entirety and promised in a June 1843 article that "The contents of the plates, together with a Fac-simile of the same, will be published in the 'Times and Seasons,' as soon as the translation is completed." However, the plates were returned untranslated to Wiley and Fugate in Kinderhook. Smith did not express reservations about the plates to any of his compatriots, but whether or not he recognized the Kinderhook plates as fraudulent, "he did not swing into a full-fledged translation" as he had with his earlier encounter with Egyptian scrolls.
In 1886, a signed letter from Fugate was published in the book Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and His Friends: A Study Based on Facts and Documents'', and in the letter Fugate revealed the hoax and the fabrication of the plates. Nevertheless, many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a denomination of Mormons who followed Brigham Young after Smith's death) refused to accept Fugate's confession and defended the Kinderhook plates as authentic and Smith's translation as legitimate until 1980, when Northwestern University materials science professor D. Lynn Johnson examined a plate still held by the Chicago Historical Society and conclusively proved it was a nineteenth-century creation.
Strangite plates
Two other sets of alleged plates, the Voree plates and the Book of the Law of the Lord, were translated by James Strang – one of three major contenders to succeed Smith – who went on to lead the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite). The Voree plates were alleged to have been written by an ancient inhabitant of what is now Burlington, Wisconsin, while the Book of the Law of the Lord was alleged by Strang to be a translation of the Plates of Laban mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Neither of these alleged discoveries by Strang is accepted as authentic outside of the Strangite community.
Notes
References
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. See also: Mormonism Unvailed
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. See also: Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations
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. See also: Journal of Discourses
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1823 archaeological discoveries
1823 in Christianity
1827 in Christianity
1823 in New York (state)
1827 in New York (state)
Angel Moroni
History of the Latter Day Saint movement
Mormonism-related controversies
Joseph Smith
Latter Day Saint terms
Gold objects
Lost objects
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411013
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal%20Naval%20Reserve
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Royal Naval Reserve
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The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War, and War in Afghanistan.
History
Establishment
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) has its origins in the Register of Seamen, established in 1835 to identify men for naval service in the event of war, although just 400 volunteered for duty in the Crimean War in 1854 out of 250,000 on the Register. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858, which in turn led to the Naval Reserve Act of 1859. This established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy. The RNR was originally a reserve of seamen only, but in 1862 was extended to include the recruitment and training of reserve officers. From its creation, RNR officers wore on their uniforms a unique and distinctive lace consisting of stripes of interwoven chain.
A number of drill-ships were established at the main seaports around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, and seamen left their vessels to undertake gunnery training in a drill-ship for one month every year. After initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navy's fleet (usually battleships or battle cruisers) for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. Although under the operational authority of the Admiral Commanding, Reserves, the RNR was administered jointly by the Admiralty and the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen at the Board of Trade throughout its separate existence. In 1910, the RNR (Trawler Section) was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers and other small warships.
Officers and men of the RNR soon gained the respect of their naval counterparts with their professional skills in navigation and seamanship, and served with distinction in a number of conflicts including the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion. Prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—later referred to as "the hungry hundred". In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some also held senior positions in the shipping industry and the government.
Volunteer Reserve
At the turn of the 20th century, there were concerns at the Admiralty and in parliament that the RNR was insufficient to bolster the manning of the greatly-expanded fleet in the event of large-scale war. Despite the huge growth in the number of ships in the British merchant service since the RNR's foundation, many of the additional seamen were from the colonies or were not British subjects. The pool of potential RNR officers had shrunk since 1859 and experience in the Boer War showed that it would not be possible to call up a sufficient number of reservists without negatively impacting the work of the merchant and fishing fleets. In 1903 an Act of Parliament was passed enabling the Admiralty to raise a second reserve force – the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. While the RNR consisted of professional civilian sailors, the RNVR was open to civilians with no prior sea experience. By the outbreak of the First World War there were six RNVR divisions in major ports around the UK.
First World War
On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of 30,000 officers and men. Officers of the permanent RNR on general service quickly took up seagoing appointments in the fleet, many in command, in destroyers, submarines, auxiliary cruisers and Q-ships. Others served in larger units of the battle fleet including a large number with the West Indies Squadron who became casualties at the Battle of Coronel and later at Jutland. Fishermen of the RNR section served with distinction on board trawlers fitted out as minesweepers for mine clearance operations at home and abroad throughout the war, where they suffered heavy casualties and losses. One such casualty was armed naval drifter HMT Frons Olivae, which hit a mine off Ramsgate on 12 October 1915 in an explosion that killed at least five other seamen. One casualty, a Newfoundlander serving with the Royal Naval Reserve, was subsequently buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.
A number of RNR officers qualified as pilots and flew aircraft and airships with the Royal Naval Air Service, whilst many RNR ratings served ashore with the RN and RNVR contingents at Gallipoli and at the Battle of the Somme with the Royal Naval Division. Merchant service officers and men serving in armed merchant cruisers, hospital ships, fleet auxiliaries and transports were entered in the RNR for the duration of the war on special agreements. Although considerably smaller than the RN and the RNVR (which was three times the size of the RNR at the end of the war), the RNR had an exceptional war record, members being awarded twelve Victoria Crosses.
Second World War
On commencement of hostilities in the Second World War, the RN once again called upon the experience and professionalism of the RNR to help it to shoulder the initial burden until sufficient manpower could be trained for the RNVR and 'hostilities only' ratings. Again, RNR officers found themselves in command of destroyers, frigates, sloops, landing craft and submarines, or as specialist navigation officers in cruisers and aircraft carriers. In convoy work, the convoy commodore or escort commander was often an RNR officer. As in the First World War, the RNR acquitted itself well, winning four VCs.
An intermediate form of reserve, between the professional RNR and the civilian RNVR, had been created in 1936. This was the Royal Naval Volunteer (Supplementary) Reserve, open to civilians with existing and proven experience at sea as ratings or officers. In peacetime this carried no obligation or requirement for service or training, being merely a register of people who could be mobilised and trained swiftly in the event of war to quickly provide a core of new personnel. By September 1939 there were around 2,000 RNV(S)R members, mostly yachtsmen, who when mobilised were sent to active service after a 10-day training course while the RNVR began with a regular 12-week course for officers.
On the outbreak of the Second World War, no more ratings were accepted into the RNVR and new intake to the RNR stopped. The RNVR became the route by which virtually all new-entry commissioned officers joined the naval service during the war – the exception being professional mariners who already held master's tickets, who would join the RNR. All new ratings would go direct to the regular Royal Navy. With the exception of the RNV(S)R and a proportion of recruits taken on as Direct Entrants (men with qualifications who would serve in specialist roles such as surgeons, engineers and those selected for intelligence duties), all the newly-created temporary RNVR officers had initially been recruited as ratings and undertaken ten weeks of basic training. Recruits identified as having the potential to be officers at the end of this training were called Commission & Warrant (CW) Candidates and then had to serve at least six months as Ordinary Seamen, including three months at sea. If still considered a CW candidate at the end of this period, they would become a Cadet Rating and proceed for officer training at . Those who did not meet and maintain the required standards while as CW Candidates or while training at King Alfred would continue to serve as RN ratings. Those who were successful would become Temporary Probationary Acting Sub-Lieutenants in the RNVR (those under the age of 21 became Midshipmen). After a month of satisfactory service they would no longer be Probationary and their ranks were confirmed (effectively a promotion from Acting to 'full' Sub-Lieutenant) after three months. Men over the age of 25 who had earned a watchkeeping certificate were eligible for lieutenant rank after one year's service.
By 1945 there were 43,805 officers in the RNVR, nicknamed the "Wavy Navy", after the 3/8-inch wavy sleeve 'rings' that officers wore to distinguish them from their RN and RNR counterparts. These new officers were primarily assigned to anti-submarine warfare/convoy escort, amphibious warfare and the Coastal Forces division - these being the areas of the naval service which saw the most growth during the Second World War, and which were most suitable for employing temporary officers who were quickly-trained in specific areas of expertise. In 1942 the Admiralty revised its arrangements for manning the fleet, reflecting the expansion of the service, the numbers of experienced career officers available and the generally good conduct and performance of the temporary officers taken into the RNVR. A Fleet Order of that year stated that "the Fleet must be manned by Reserve officers with a leavening of Active Service officers, and not manned by RN Officers diluted with Reserve officers." This opened up new postings and promotion paths to temporary RNVR officers, including service on battleships, cruisers and aircraft carriers which had previously been largely the preserve of regular RN and experienced RNR officers. It also put temporary officers on a more equal footing with their regular counterparts when it came to being considered for executive and command positions.
Post-war
As intended, the thousands of RNVR officers employed during the Second World War on temporary commissions were quickly demobilised when the conflict ended. Of the more than 43,000 RNVR officers on the Navy List on VE Day, all but 600 had returned to civilian life by the time the RNVR was officially reconstituted in its original peacetime form in October 1946, now with 12 Divisions across the UK. The post-war RNVR was permitted its own independent sea-going capability - something which had not been the case before the war - with Divisions being given charge of surplus Motor Launches and Motor Minesweepers, which were commissioned, given new names and used for training duties as well as supporting larger RN units.
In 1951 King George VI issued a royal announcement that the RNR and RNVR were to lose their distinctive insignia. Both reserves would now use the same style as the regular RN - officers would wear the straight stripes of lace but with an 'R' in the executive curl while ratings would be distinguished by 'RNR' and 'RNVR' cap tallies or shoulder flashes as required.
In 1954 the RNVR's role in the British armed forces for the Cold War era was confirmed - Divisions would be equipped with Ton-class minesweepers which would collectively become the 101st Minesweeper Squadron. This was part of the RN's permanent established strength and would consist of a rotating number of RNVR minesweepers, each fulfilling a period of active duty for its parent Division and giving the men of that Division their required regular time on active service at sea. The 101st Minesweeper Squadron was declared as part of Britain's standing naval commitment to NATO. While only a small portion of the total RNVR was on active service with the 101st Squadron at any one time, it was envisaged that in time of war the RNVR as a whole would become Britain's primary coastal minesweeping force, allowing the use of regular RN ships and men for other duties. The unit became the 10th Minesweeping Squadron in 1962. The Squadron regularly conducted two large-scale training exercises each year, one to Gibraltar and one to North Africa. The Squadron also made a number of overseas deployments, including four ships deployed on operations to British Guiana and the West Indies in 1965. The Ton-class minesweepers were replaced by new River-class ships in the mid-1980s, with all but one of the 12-strong class being assigned to RNR divisions.
From 1938 until 1957, the RNVR provided aircrew personnel in the form of their own Air Branch. In 1947, their contribution was cut to anti-submarine and fighter squadrons only. By 1957, it was considered by the UK government that the training required to operate modern equipment was beyond that expected of reservists and the Air Branch squadrons were disbanded. (The US government took a different view, and the US Navy and Marine reserve squadrons today still operate front-line types alongside the regular units.) The Air Branch was reformed at RNAS Yeovilton in 1980, though it is only open to service leavers.
In 1958 it was decided to amalgamate the RNR and RNVR into a single reserve service. Legally the RNR was the branch that continued, so that no new legislation had to be drafted to allow the service to function and all RNVR personnel received formal papers transferring them to the RNR. The new unified reserve took the name and legal identity of the original RNR but primarily retained the character and structure of the RNVR, being composed mostly of trained civilians not from sea-going professions. Today the majority of Merchant Navy officers who would have joined the original RNR are encouraged to join the Amphibious Warfare (AW) Branch of the modern RNR. The AW Branch was formed following the Falklands War in 1982, when over 100 reservists volunteered for special temporary duties during, primarily serving in communications, intelligence, staff headquarters and medical roles. But in the analysis of the conflict it was decided that a reserve of personnel with experience of handling large merchant ships and trained in joint operations should be maintained, with serving Merchant Navy officers as the main focus. The Falklands War also led to the formation of the Public Affairs Branch (now Media Operations), providing a body of trained specialists to manage the relationship between the Navy and the media in times of crisis - this followed several unfortunate public relations errors during the War.
Defence reviews over the last 50 years have been inconsistent. Successive reviews have seen reserve forces cut then enlarged, allocated new roles, then cuts withdrawn, then re-imposed. Options for Change in 1990 reduced the RNR by 1,200 and closed many training centres, including HMS Calpe (Gibraltar), (Southampton) and HMS Graham (Glasgow). By 1995 the RNR's total strength was 2600 - 800 officers and 1800 ratings. The Strategic Defence Review in 1998 continued this by disbanding the 10th Minesweeping Squadron, meaning that the RNR no longer had its own ships and sea-going capability. In return the RNR was to gain 350 members in total strength. The restructured RNR was designed to "provide an expanded pool of personnel to provide additional reinforcements for the Fleet", mainly in the roles of logistics and communications - specialist support roles the need for which would expand significantly in the event of a major deployment or extended conflict but which it was not seen as viable to maintain within the regular RN's peacetime strength.
This left the mine-warfare, seaman and diving specialists in "limbo" until the Iraq War (second Gulf War), when the Royal Navy realised it had a pool of reservists with no real sea post. Echoing the Royal Naval Division in the First World War, the Above Water Force Protection branch was formed "from RN reservists with no draft appointment at the outbreak of war". Because of a lack of full-time personnel, mine-warfare and diving has recently returned (in part) to the RNR. Officers and ratings serve on active service in Full Time Reserve Service billets throughout the RN, as well as in mobilised posts in Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Balkans and the UK. The centenary of the formation of the RNVR was commemorated by the RNR in London in 2003 with a parade on Horse Guards, at which Prince Charles took the salute. The Merchant Navy officers within today's RNR commemorated RNR 150 in 2009.
In 2002 the RNR ceased to be issued its own identity cards, with reservists being issued the same documents as their regular counterparts. In 2007 the last distinctions in insignia between regular and reserve services were eliminated - officers no longer wore the 'R' in the curl of their rank stripes and ratings wore 'Royal Navy' shoulder flashes. The exception is for those holding honorary officer positions in the RNR, who continue to wear uniforms with the 'R' in the executive curl.
Commodore RNR Melanie Robinson was appointed the first female Commodore Maritime Reserves (COMMARES) on 4 February 2020.
In October 2022 a new RNR unit, HMS Pegasus, was commissioned as a specialist unit administering the RNR Air Branch, based at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) and with a satellite office at RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk). This was the first naval unit to be commissioned during the reign of King Charles III.
RNR rank badges 1916–1951:
RNVR rank badges 1916–1958:
Branding controversy
Since the Royal Navy rebrand in 2003 that cost circa £100,000, the Royal Naval Reserve has been without its own logo; when one is required, the Royal Navy logo is used with the word Reserves added below, and there is no logo for the entire Maritime Reserve. The older Royal Naval Reserve logo is still used as the watermark for passing out certificates issued to Royal Naval Reserve ratings at .
Trades and specialisations
All RNR personnel, regardless of rank, enrol as general service before being later assigned to a branch of service. RNR Officers join as a General Duty Reserve, and specialise after commissioning and passing their Fleet Board while RNR Ratings join as General Entry and specialise after basic training.
Most branches are open to both ratings and officers with the exception of fleet protection (ratings only) and a small number which recruit exclusively from the officer ranks. Listed below is a breakdown of branches and the sub-specialisations which are aligned to each branch.
New Entry Branch
New Entry Ratings
Ab Initio Officer Cadets
Warfare General Service Branch
Maritime Trade Operations
Diving (Under Water Force Protection)
Mine Warfare
Information Systems
Information Operations
Amphibious Warfare
Submarine Operations
Above Water Force Protection
Media Operations
Intelligence Branch
Defence Intelligence
Imagery Analysis
Operational Intelligence
Human Intelligence
Medical Branch
Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service
Royal Navy Medical Service
Chaplains Branch
Royal Navy Chaplaincy Services
Air Branch (ex-regular)
Flying Operations
Operational Support
Air Engineering
Engineering Branch
Marine Engineering
Weapon Engineering
URNU and Sea Cadet Corps
University Royal Naval Unit (URNU)
The University Royal Naval Units, although under the jurisdiction of BRNC Dartmouth, are also an honorary part of the Royal Naval Reserve. Students hold the rank of officer cadet (OC), and can be promoted to honorary midshipman on completion of their second year. URNU OCs can now undergo the Accelerated Officer Programme (AOP) to become substantive RNR Midshipmen. They can then either continue on an RNR Unit or be seconded back to their URNU for the duration of their university studies. Training Officers attached to URNUs are appointed as temporary officers in the RNR, without commission or call-up liability.
Sea Cadet Corps (SCC)
As nominal members of the RNR (SCC RNR), officers of the Sea Cadet Corps and the RN CCF Combined Cadet Force retain the use of the former RNVR 'wavy navy' lace. However, unlike their traditional RNVR counterparts, they are civilians, do not come under General Trained Strength and are not liable to be called up or deploy.
Officers receive a Cadet Forces commission, introduced in 2017 and restated in 2018; previously they were appointed within their respective Corps, rather than commissioned (unless they already held a commission separately). They are titled ‘(SCC) RNR’ or ‘(CCF) RNR’ to differentiate from the deployable Royal Naval Reserve.
Units
The modern RNR has sixteen Royal Naval Reserve Units (with three satellite units). These are:
(Rosyth)
Tay Division (Dundee)
(Cardiff)
Tawe Division (Swansea)
(Glasgow)
(Bristol)
(Gateshead)
(Leeds)
(London)
Medway Division (Chatham)
(Liverpool)
(Devonport)
(Nottingham)
(Portsmouth)
(Birmingham)
(Lisburn)
(Northwood)
(Chicksands)
(Yeovilton)
Previous units that closed due to recommendations in Options for Change:
HMS Pellew (Exeter)
HMS Wildfire (Chatham)
HMS Salford (Manchester)
HMS Dragon (Swansea)
HMS Wessex (Southampton)
HMS Sussex (Brighton)
HMS Calpe (Gibraltar)
HMS Graham (Glasgow)
HMS Camperdown (Dundee)
HMS Claverhouse (Edinburgh)
Notable members
The RNR had an exceptional war record, as evidenced by the dozen Victoria Crosses awarded in WWI; and demonstrations of exceptional merit continued in peacetime.
Lieutenant Commander Richard Baker (broadcaster) OBE RD RNR (formerly RNVR) – broadcaster (first BBC newsreader), actor, musician, author
Commodore Sir James Bisset, CBE, RD, RNR, LL.D. British merchant sea captain, Commodore of the Cunard White Star Line (1944–47)
Sub-Lieutenant Rupert Davies RNR – BBC TV's 'Inspector Maigret'
Lieutenant Donald Cameron VC RNR – commander of Midget Submarine X.6 during the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in 1943
Lieutenant Commander Ian Fraser VC, DSC, JP, RD RNR – VC awarded as CO of HM Midget Submarine XE-3 attacking Japanese heavy cruiser in Johore Straits. Last surviving naval VC from World War II.
Commodore Sir Bertram Fox Hayes KCMG DSO RD RNR – Commodore White Star Line
Commander Charles Lightoller DSC, RD RNR – senior surviving deck officer from ; took his own yacht to Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 aged 66
Group Captain Adolph Malan DFC, DSO RAF – fighter pilot in Battle of Britain; former Master Mariner, Sub-Lieutenant RNR (1932–36)
Commodore Sir Charles Matheson DSO RD RNR – Commodore Orient Line
Surg Cdr Andrew Murrison RNR – Conservative Member of Parliament and since 2014 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office
Frederick Parslow VC – a Mercantile Marine Master given a posthumous commission in the RNR and VC in 1919 for his courage in command of a horse transport ship that was attacked by a U-boat off Ireland in 1915
Daniel Poole – a recipient of the Distinguished Conduct Medal during World War I
Captain Sir Samuel Robinson KBE RNR – Captain, Empress of Australia; rescue work at Yokohama after 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.
Captain Edward John Smith RD RNR – held the rank of commander within the RNR. He was captain of the White Star Line ships and , among others.
Captain Ronald Niel Stuart VC DSO RD RNR – Holder of US Navy Cross, Commodore Canadian Pacific Steamships
Sir Ernest Shackleton CVO – Lieutenant RNR, master mariner, explorer
Capt John Treasure Jones – last Master of RMS Mauretania and RMS Queen Mary
Dr Attracta Genevieve Rewcastle – first female commissioned officer in the Royal Navy, attained rank of Lieutenant-Surgeon in 1940
Lt Cdr Sir Keith Speed RD RNR – Conservative Member of Parliament 1968–97 and Navy Minister 1979–81, sacked by Thatcher when refused reductions in RN strength prior to Falklands
Commodore John Wacher CBE RD RNR – Commodore (Master), P & O Steam Navigation Co Ltd
Lt Cdr Mike Cumberlege DSO & Bar, Greek Medal of Honour, SOE – murdered in Sachsenhausen concentration camp Feb/March 1945
Honorary appointments
Midshipman Ben Fogle RNR – broadcaster and writer, held the honorary rank of Midshipman in Southampton University Royal Naval Unit.
Honorary Captain Penny Mordaunt RNR – Conservative Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North and Secretary of State for Defence in 2019
Honorary Captain Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, CBE, RD*, RNR – the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world
Selected members of the RNVR
Ian Fleming, James Bond author/creator, served in Naval Intelligence during the Second World War, reached the rank of commander.
Alec Guinness, sub-lieutenant commanded a landing craft during the Second World War invasion of Sicily.
James Robertson Justice actor, invalided out in 1943.
Laurence Olivier, served as a Fleet Air Arm pilot during the Second World War, reached the rank of lieutenant.
James Callaghan, joined as ordinary seaman 1942 and left as lieutenant 1945; Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty 1950–51; Prime Minister 1976–1979.
Duncan Carse, 1942–1945, British explorer and actor.
Erskine Childers, novelist, 1914–1918. Mentioned in Despatches for the Cuxhaven Raid; Distinguished Service Cross for the Gallipoli Campaign.
Lionel Crabb, (well known as "Buster" Crabb), served World War II as a frogman – RN mine and bomb clearance and MI6 diver.
A. J. Cronin, served during the First World War as a surgeon.
James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose, founder of the Scottish National Party. Founded the RNVR in 1903.
Sir John Edward Jackson, diplomat.
Sir Harry Charles Luke, served World War I as commander of the RNVR on the Syrian Coast and as political officer on the staff of Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, he was awarded the Italian medal for military valour.
Patrick Macnee, actor, commissioned in 1943, became a navigator on motor torpedo boats, reached the rank of lieutenant.
Merlin Minshall, prewar explorer and racing driver, reached the rank of commander.
Nicholas Monsarrat, frigate commander during World War II, author of The Cruel Sea, reached the rank of lieutenant commander
Ewen Montagu, served during the Second World War as a lieutenant commander, where he helped conceive Operation Mincemeat, i.e., "The Man Who Never Was"
Sir Richard Pim, Inspector-General of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Jeffrey Quill, Spitfire test pilot during the Second World War, reached rank of lieutenant commander.
Denys Arthur Rayner, escort group commander during World War II, author of The Enemy Below, reached the rank of commander
Sir Richard Rees, attachment to the French Navy during the Second World War serving as a Liaison Officer (LO).
Ralph Richardson, served during the Second World War, reached the rank of lieutenant-commander.
C. W. A. Scott served during the Second World War as a lieutenant and was involved in Operation MENACE.
Peter Scott, served during the Second World War, reaching the rank of lieutenant-commander, and was awarded the DSC and bar.
Christopher Tolkien, son and literary executor of J. R. R. Tolkien.
Peter Bull, served during the Second World War, commanding a Landing craft (Flak) in the Mediterranean. His memoirs of the war are recorded in "To Sea in a Sieve".
Sir Lawrence Weaver, architect and founder of National Institute of Agricultural Botany, was an A.B. in the Anti-aircraft service during the First World War.
Oliver John Whitley, BBC administrator.
Robert Owen Wilcoxon, brother of actor Henry Wilcoxon, killed in the Dunkirk Evacuation.
Frank Wild, Antarctic explorer and holder of a four-bar Polar Medal.
Rodger Winn, intelligence analyst and commander of the Submarine Tracking Room during the Second World War.
Henry Witherby, Ornithologist and publisher. Served 1917–18 and was mentioned in dispatches.
Herbert Penny (founder of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in Cape Town which ultimately led to the formation of the South African Navy).
R.C. Anderson, maritime historian and a founder of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, reached the rank of lieutenant-commander during the First World War.
Charles Lightoller, highest ranking surviving officer of RMS Titanic, RVNR officer during the Great War, later piloted his personal boat to join the Little Ships of Dunkirk.
Arthur Rostron, rescued Titanic survivors as Captain of RMS Carpathia, later captained troopships during the Dardanelles Campaign.
Fictitious characters
James Bond served in the RNVR, reaching the rank of commander.
Lawrence Jamieson (played by Michael Caine) in the film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Ralph Ross Lanyon in Mary Renault's British wartime novel The Charioteer served in the RNVR after being wounded at Dunkirk.
Henry Root, fictional author of The Henry Root Letters previously served in the RNVR under Captain "Crap" Myers.
Logan Mounstuart, fictional diarist and author of William Boyd's Any Human Heart, recounts that he served in the RNVR Naval Intelligence Division alongside Ian Fleming throughout the Second World War, reaching the temporary rank of commander.
Richard Bolton (played by James Caan) in the film Submarine X-1.
Lt. Comdr. Jeffords (played by James Franciscus) in the film Hell Boats.
Lt. Cdr. George Ericson RNR in Nicholas Monsarrat's novel The Cruel Sea, played by Jack Hawkins in the film of the same name. Donald Sinden and Denholm Elliott played junior RNVR officers, and Virginia McKenna a WRNS officer. The differences in rank insignia formats are shown very nicely.
Blue Ensign of the United Kingdom
The Blue Ensign of the United Kingdom has been worn since 1865 by British-registered merchant vessels commanded by active or retired officers of the RNR, when authorised by Admiralty warrant. The flag dates from 1801; this usage dates from 1865.
Colonial Reserves
A number of RNR formed before World War II:
Straits Settlements Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve – c. 1934
Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve – c. 1937
Malayan Volunteer Reserve – c. WWII
Commonwealth Naval Reserve Forces
There are also naval reserve forces operated by other Commonwealth of Nations navies, including the Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR), the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNZNVR), and the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve. Previously there were also colonial RNVR units, such as the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve, Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (CRNVR), Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (HKRNVR), Straits Settlements Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (SSRNVR) and the South African Division of the RNVR.
See also
Army Reserve (United Kingdom)
British Merchant Navy
Maritime Volunteer Service
Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Royal Marines Reserve
Royal Naval Patrol Service
References
External links
RNR homepage
Search and download the WW1 service records of those who served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve War from The National Archives.
Support for Britain's Reservists
Maritime Volunteer Service
The All Party Parliamentary Reserve Forces Group
Royal Navy
Naval Service
Reserve forces of the United Kingdom
1958 establishments in the United Kingdom
Military units and formations established in 1958
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411018
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis%20E
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Hepatitis E
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Hepatitis E is inflammation of the liver caused by infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Hepatitis E has mainly a fecal-oral transmission route that is similar to hepatitis A, although the viruses are unrelated. In retrospect, the earliest known epidemic of hepatitis E occurred in 1955 in New Delhi, but the virus was not isolated until 1983 by Russian scientists investigating an outbreak in Afghanistan. HEV is a positive-sense, single-stranded, nonenveloped, RNA icosahedral virus and one of five known human hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D, and E.
Like hepatitis A, hepatitis E usually follows an acute and self-limiting course of illness (the condition is temporary and the individual recovers) with low death rates in resource-rich areas; however, it can be more severe in pregnant women and people with a weakened immune system, with substantially higher death rates. In pregnant women, especially in the third trimester, the disease is more often severe and is associated with a clinical syndrome called fulminant liver failure, with death rates around 20%. Whereas pregnant women may have a rapid and severe course, organ transplant recipients who receive medications to weaken the immune system and prevent organ rejection can develop a slower and more persistent form called chronic hepatitis E, which is so diagnosed after 3 months of continuous viremia. HEV can be clustered genetically into 8 genotypes, and genotypes 3 and 4 tend to be the ones that cause chronic hepatitis in the immunosuppressed.
In 2017, hepatitis E was estimated to affect more than 19 million people. Those most commonly at risk of HEV are men aged 15 to 35 years of age. A preventive vaccine (HEV 239) is approved for use in China.
Signs and symptoms
Acute infection
The average incubation period of hepatitis E is 40 days, ranging from 2 to 8 weeks. After a short prodromal phase symptoms may include jaundice, fatigue, and nausea, though most HEV infections are asymptomatic. The symptomatic phase coincides with elevated hepatic aminotransferase levels. Viral RNA becomes detectable in stool and blood serum during the incubation period. Serum IgM and IgG antibodies against HEV appear just before the onset of clinical symptoms. Recovery leads to virus clearance from the blood, while the virus may persist in stool for much longer. Recovery is also marked by disappearance of IgM antibodies and increase of levels of IgG antibodies.
Chronic infection
While usually lasting weeks and then resolving, in people with weakened immune systems—particularly in people who have had solid organ transplant—hepatitis E may cause a chronic infection. Occasionally this may result in a life-threatening illness such as fulminant liver failure or liver cirrhosis.
Other organs
Infection with hepatitis E virus can also lead to problems in other organs. For some of these reported conditions such as musculoskeletal or immune-mediated manifestations the relationship is not entirely clear, but for several neurological and blood conditions the relationship appears more consistent:
Acute pancreatitis (HEV genotype 1)
Neurological complications (though the mechanism of neurological damage is unknown at this point.) include: Guillain-Barré syndrome (acute limb weakness due to nerve involvement), neuralgic amyotrophy (arm and shoulder weakness, also known as Parsonage-Turner syndrome), acute transverse myelitis and acute meningoencephalitis.
Glomerulonephritis with nephrotic syndrome and/or cryoglobulinemia
Mixed cryoglobulinemia, where antibodies in the bloodstream react inappropriately at low temperatures
Severe thrombocytopenia (low platelet count in the blood) which confers an increased risk of dangerous bleeding
Infection in pregnancy
Pregnant women show a more severe course of infection than other populations. Liver failure with mortality rates of 20% to 25% has been reported from outbreaks of genotype 1 and 2 HEV in developing countries. Besides signs of an acute infections, adverse effects on the mother and fetus may include preterm delivery, abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal death.
The pathological and biological mechanisms behind the adverse outcomes of pregnancy infections remain largely unclear. Increased viral replication and influence of hormonal changes on the immune system are currently thought to contribute to worsening the course of infection. Furthermore, studies showing evidence for viral replication in the placenta or reporting the full viral life cycle in placental-derived cells in vitro suggest that the human placenta may be a site of viral replication outside the liver. The primary reason for HEV severity in pregnancy remains enigmatic.
Virology
Classification
HEV is classified into the family Hepeviridae, which is divided in two genera, Orthohepevirus (all mammalian and avian HEV isolates) and Piscihepevirus (cutthroat trout HEV). Only one serotype of the human virus is known, and classification is based on the nucleotide sequences of the genome. Genotype 1 can be further subclassified into five subtypes, genotype 2 into two subtypes, and genotypes 3 and 4 have been divided into 10 and seven subtypes. Additionally there are genotypes 5, 6, 7 and 8. Rat HEV was first isolated from Norway rats in Germany, and a 2018 CDC article indicated the detection of rat HEV RNA in a transplant recipient.
Distribution
Genotype 1 has been isolated from tropical and several subtropical countries in Asia and Africa.
Genotype 2 has been isolated from Mexico, Nigeria, and Chad.
Genotype 3 has been isolated almost worldwide including Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America.
Genotype 4 appears to be limited to Asia and indigenous cases from Europe.
Genotypes 1 and 2 are restricted to humans and often associated with large outbreaks and epidemics in developing countries with poor sanitation conditions. Genotypes 3 and 4 infect humans, pigs, and other animal species and have been responsible for sporadic cases of hepatitis E in both developing and industrialized countries.
Transmission
Hepatitis E (genotype 1 and, to a lesser extent genotype 2) is endemic and can cause outbreaks in Southeast Asia, northern and central Africa, India, and Central America. It is spread mainly by the fecal–oral route due to contamination of water supplies or food; direct person-to-person transmission is uncommon. In contrast to genotypes 1 and 2, genotypes 3 and 4 cause sporadic cases thought to be contracted zoonotically, from direct contact with animals or indirectly from contaminated water or undercooked meat.
Outbreaks of epidemic hepatitis E most commonly occur after heavy rainfalls, especially monsoons because of their disruption of water supplies; heavy flooding can causes sewage to contaminate water supplies. The World Health Organization recommendation for chlorine on HEV inactivation, a free chlorine residual of for 30 min (pH, <8.0) Major outbreaks have occurred in New Delhi, India (30,000 cases in 1955–1956), Burma (20,000 cases in 1976–1977), Kashmir, India (52,000 cases in 1978), Kanpur, India (79,000 cases in 1991), and China (100,000 cases between 1986 and 1988). According to Rein et al., HEV genotypes 1 and 2 caused some 20.1 million hepatitis E infections, along with 3.4 million cases of symptomatic disease, and 70,000 deaths in 2005; however the aforementioned paper did not estimate the burden of genotypes 3 and 4.
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, evidence indicated the increase in hepatitis E in the U.K. was due to food-borne zoonoses, citing a study that found in the U.K. that 10% of pork sausages contained the hepatitis E virus. Some research suggests that food must reach a temperature of for 20 minutes to eliminate the risk of infection. The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency discovered hepatitis E in almost half of all pigs in Scotland.
Hepatitis E infection appeared to be more common in people on hemodialysis, although the specific risk factors for transmission are not clear.
Animal reservoir
Hepatitis E due to genotypes other than 1 and 2 is thought to be a zoonosis, in that animals are thought to be the primary reservoir; deer and swine have frequently been implicated. Domestic animals have been reported as a reservoir for the hepatitis E virus, with some surveys showing infection rates exceeding 95% among domestic pigs.
Replicative virus has been found in the small intestine, lymph nodes, colon, and liver of experimentally infected pigs. Transmission after consumption of wild boar meat and uncooked deer meat has been reported as well. The rate of transmission to humans by this route and the public health importance of this are, however, still unclear. Other animal reservoirs are possible but unknown at this time
A number of other small mammals have been identified as potential reservoirs: the lesser bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis), the black rat (Rattus rattus brunneusculus) and the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus). A new virus designated rat hepatitis E virus has been isolated.
Genomics
HEV has three open reading frames (ORFs) encoding two polyproteins (O1 and O2 protein). ORF2 encodes three capsid proteins whereas O1 encodes seven fragments involved in viral replication, among others.
The smallest ORF of the HEV genome, ORF3 is translated from a subgenomic RNA into O3, a protein of 113–115 amino acids. ORF3 is proposed to play critical roles in immune evasion by HEV. Previous studies showed that ORF3 is bound to viral particles found in patient sera and produced in cell culture. Although in cultured cells ORF3 has not appeared essential for HEV RNA replication, viral assembly, or infection, it is required for particle release.
Virus lifecycle
The lifecycle of hepatitis E virus is unknown; the capsid protein obtains viral entry by binding to a cellular receptor. ORF2 (c-terminal) moderates viral entry by binding to HSC70.
Geldanamycin blocks the transport of HEV239 capsid protein, but not the binding/entry of the truncated capsid protein, which indicates that Hsp90 plays an important part in HEV transport.
Diagnosis
In terms of the diagnosis of hepatitis E, only a laboratory blood test that confirms the presence of HEV RNA or IgM antibodies to HEV can be trusted. In the United States no serologic tests for diagnosis of HEV infection have ever been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. The World Health Organization has developed an international standard strain for detection and quantification of HEV RNA. In acute infection the viremic window for detection of HEV RNA closes 3 weeks after symptoms begin.
Virological markers
Assuming that vaccination has not occurred, tests may show:
if the person's immune system is normal, then
if IgM anti-HEV is negative, then there is no evidence of recent HEV infection
if IgM anti-HEV is positive, then the person is likely to have a recent or current HEV infection
if the person's immune system is weakened by disease or medical treatment, as in the case of a person who has received a solid organ transplant, then
if IgM anti-HEV is negative, then if additional blood testing reveals
positive HEV RNA then the person has HEV infection
negative HEV RNA then there is no evidence of current or recent infection
if IgM anti-HEV is positive, then the person is likely to have a recent or current HEV infection, and HEV RNA may be useful to track resolution
Prevention
Sanitation
Sanitation is the most important measure in prevention of hepatitis E; this consists of proper treatment and disposal of human waste, higher standards for public water supplies, improved personal hygiene procedures, and sanitary food preparation. Thus, prevention strategies of this disease are similar to those of many other diseases that plague developing nations. Cooking meat at for five minutes kills the hepatitis E virus, different temperatures means different time to inactivate the virus.
Blood products
The amount of virus present in blood products required to cause transfusion-transmitted infection (TTI) appears variable. Transfusion transmission of hepatitis E virus can be screened via minipool HEV NAT (Nucleic acid testing) screening. NAT is a technique used to screen blood molecularly, when blood donations are received; it screens for TTI.
Vaccines
A vaccine based on recombinant viral proteins was developed in the 1990s and tested in a high-risk population (in Nepal) in 2001. The vaccine appeared to be effective and safe, but development was stopped for lack of profitability, since hepatitis E is rare in developed countries. No hepatitis E vaccine is licensed for use in the United States.
The exception is China; after more than a year of scrutiny and inspection by China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), a hepatitis E vaccine developed by Chinese scientists was available at the end of 2012. The vaccine—called HEV 239 by its developer Xiamen Innovax Biotech—was approved for prevention of hepatitis E in 2012 by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, following a controlled trial on 100,000+ people from Jiangsu Province where none of those vaccinated became infected during a 12-month period, compared to 15 in the group given placebo. The first vaccine batches came out of Innovax's factory in late October 2012, to be sold to Chinese distributors.
Due to lack of evidence, the World Health Organization has not made a recommendation regarding routine use of the HEV 239 vaccine as of 2015. Its 2015 position was that national authorities may decide to use the vaccine based on their local epidemiology.
Treatment
There is no drug that has established safety and effectiveness for hepatitis E, and there have been no large randomized clinical trials of antiviral drugs. Reviews of existing small studies suggest that ribavirin can be considered effective in immunocompromised people who have developed chronic infection.
Chronic HEV infection is associated with immunosuppressive therapies, and when that happens in individuals with solid-organ transplantation, reducing immunosuppressive medications can result in clearance of HEV in one third of patients.
Epidemiology
The hepatitis E virus causes around 20 million infections a year. These result in around three million acute illnesses and resulted in 44,000 deaths during 2015. Pregnant women are particularly at risk of complications due to HEV infection, who can develop an acute form of the disease that is fatal in 30% of cases or more. HEV is a major cause of illness and of death in the developing world and disproportionate cause of deaths among pregnant women. Hepatitis E is endemic in Central Asia, while Central America and the Middle East have reported outbreaks. Increasingly, hepatitis E is being seen in developed nations, with reports in 2015 of 848 cases of hepatitis E virus infection in England and Wales.
Recent outbreaks
In October 2007, an epidemic of hepatitis E occurred in Kitgum District of northern Uganda. This outbreak progressed to become one of the largest known hepatitis E outbreaks in the world. By June 2009, it had resulted in illness in 10,196 persons and 160 deaths. The aforementioned outbreak occurred despite no previous epidemics having been documented in the country, women were the most affected by HEV.
In July 2012, an outbreak was reported in South Sudanese refugee camps in Maban County near the Sudan border. South Sudan's Ministry of Health reported over 400 cases and 16 fatalities as of 13 September 2012. Progressing further, as of 2 February 2013, 88 died due to the outbreak. The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it treated almost 4000 people. In April 2014, an outbreak in the Biratnagar Municipality of Nepal resulted in infection of over 6000 locals and at least 9 dead.
During an outbreak in Namibia, the number of affected people rose from 490 in January 2018, to 5014 (with 42 deaths) by April 2019, to 6151 cases (with 56 deaths) by August 2019; the WHO estimated that the case fatality rate was 0.9%.
In Hong Kong in May 2020, there were at least 10 cases of hepatitis E that were transmitted by rats, and possibly hundreds of cases that had a transmission mechanism that is not fully understood.
Evolution
The strains of HEV that exist today may have arisen from a shared ancestor virus 536 to 1344 years ago.
Another analysis has dated the origin of Hepatitis E to ~6000 years ago, with a suggestion that this was associated with domestication of pigs. At some point, two clades may have diverged — an anthropotropic form and an enzootic form — which subsequently evolved into genotypes 1 and 2 and genotypes 3 and 4, respectively.
Whereas genotype 2 remains less commonly detected than other genotypes, genetic evolutionary analyses suggest that genotypes 1, 3, and 4 have spread substantially during the past 100 years.
References
This article incorporates public domain text from the CDC as cited
Further reading
External links
+E
Rodent-carried diseases
Animal viral diseases
Zoonoses
Vaccine-preventable diseases
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Straits%20Times
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The Straits Times
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The Straits Times (also known informally by its abbreviation ST) is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. First established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and has a significant regional audience. The newspaper is published in the broadsheet format and online, the latter of which was launched in 1994. It is regarded as the newspaper of record for Singapore.
Print and digital editions of The Straits Times and The Sunday Times had a daily average circulation of 364,134 and 364,849 respectively in 2017, as audited by Audit Bureau of Circulations Singapore. In 2014, country-specific editions were published for residents in Brunei and Myanmar, with newsprint circulations of 2,500 and 5,000 respectively.
History
Early years
The original conception for The Straits Times has been debated by historians of Singapore. Prior to 1845, the only English-language newspaper in Singapore was The Singapore Free Press, founded by William Napier in 1835. Marterus Thaddeus Apcar, an Armenian merchant, had intended to start a paper, hired an editor, and purchased printing equipment from England. However the would-be editor died abruptly, prior to the arrival of the printing equipment, and Apcar went bankrupt. Fellow Armenian and friend, Catchick Moses, then bought the printing equipment from Apcar and launched The Straits Times with Robert Carr Woods, Sr., an English journalist from Bombay as editor. The paper was founded as The Straits Times and Singapore Journal of Commerce on 15 July 1845.
The Straits Times was launched as an eight-page weekly, published at 7 Commercial Square using a hand-operated press. The subscription fee then was Sp.$1.75 per month. As editor, Woods sought to distinguish The Straits Times from The Singapore Free Press by including humour, short stories, and foreign news, and by making use of regular steamship services carrying mail that launched shortly before The Straits Times was launched. Historian Mary Turnbull disputes this account of The Straits Times' founding, saying that it was unlikely an Armenian merchant would have wanted to found an English-language newspaper, particularly given the presence of the more established Singapore Free Press. In September 1846, the paper was given to Woods outright because the press proved unprofitable to run and Moses was unable to sell it. The paper struggled with a lack of subscribers and newsworthy items to coverage. Woods covered the financial deficit by using the printing press for other projects, including the first directory of Singapore, The Straits Times Almanack, Calendar and Directory, published in 1846.
The first major political stance taken by The Straits Times was against James Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak. Woods personally resented Brooke and changed that Brooke's actions against Dayak "pirates" was a massacre of peaceful, civilian merchants. The rival Singapore Free Press came to Brooke's defence and the ensuing controversy boosted the circulation of both papers. Woods petitioned the British government for an inquest of Brooke's actions in 1851, with a commission convened in 1854. Brookes was exonerated, but the popularity of the episode made The Straits Times a success, and it became a daily newspaper in 1858.
Woods continued as editor of the paper until he sold it in 1860. John Cameron served as editor from 1861 to 1869, during which the paper nearly went out of business due to hugely destructive fire. The paper's assets were sold at public auction for $40 and Cameron went bankrupt, although he managed to revive the newspaper. Six years after Cameron's death in 1881, his widow appointed Arnot Reid, a young Scottish journalist, as editor, who then held the post for 12 years.
The Straits Times became a major reporter of political and economic events of note in British Malaya, including shipping news, civil and political unrest in Siam and Burma, official reports, and including high society news items such as tea parties held at Government House and visits from dignitaries such as the Sultan of Johor. Colonial officials, such as Frank Swettenham, wrote articles, sometimes in their own names. The paper later published Swettenham's writings on the history of Perak and his involvement in the British Residential system in 1893.
Following Reid's retirement, Alexander W. Still took over as editor, a post he held for 18 years. During Still's leadership as editor, The Straits Times built a reputation for bold reporting and fearless commentary. It was known as the "Thunderer of the East", a reference to the original Thunderer, The Times of London, and was a critic of the British colonial administration, though much milder in its criticism of the government compared to its critique of unethical businesses. Under Still's leadership, circulation (from 3,600 in 1910 to 4,100 in 1920) and ad revenues increased. Still's outspokenness as editor resulted in a number of libel suits against the paper, which were either lost or settled privately out of court. He believed that the paper had an obligation to investigate and expose corruption both in government and in business. For our own part, we cherish the liberty of the press simply for its value to the community as a whole. Nothing fills us with greater contempt than the type of journalism, unfortunately somewhat on the increase in Great Britain, which pries into private affairs, gloats over domestic scandals, and tickles the palates of the people with snappy tidbits of personality. We do not want liberty of the press extended in a form that would enable this kind of journalism to pander without fear of penalties. But in the modern constitution of society, the press has great functions to perform. It is the chief safeguard against corruption . . . our business is to do what we deem right and necessary in the public interest, and no law court can be the keeper of our conscience . . . Malaya has some reason to be proud of its press. It is honest, clean, and public-spirited. It may be wrong-headed occasionally - we may ourselves be the chief of sinners in that respect - but it puts no man or woman to the blush, and its aims are generally wholesome.Still attacked the actions of governor Laurence Guillemard on the grounds of a free press, such as back-room discussions of a proposed constitutional change that colonial administrators urged reporters to delay covering until the proposals were announced. In an editorial, Still replied, "That is mere pompous nonsense when addressed to a free people and a free press."
The Singapore Free Press, which had folded in 1869, was revived by W.G. St. Clair, who edited it until 1916. The rival newspapers spurred readership among the growing English-reading community, with The Singapore Free Press published in the morning and The Straits Times released in the afternoon. Still retired from The Straits Times in 1926 and the paper cycled through four editors in the span of two years before George Seabridge became editor in 1928. He held the position for the next 18 years and oversaw huge growth in circulation: from 5,000 to 25,000 subscribers.
The Straits Times focused predominantly on British and British-related events while ignoring the politics and socio-economic issues of concern to other groups, including the Malay, Chinese, and Indian populations in and around Singapore. Coverage of events related to non-British was typically restricted to court cases or sensationalized crimes, such as the Tok Janggut's rebellion in Kelantan in 1915. Under Still's editorship, the paper called for better working conditions for Malay, Chinese, and Indian labourers, but on the grounds that it would improve their efficiency and productivity. Still also considered the Asian population of Singapore "untrustworthy" and suggested they should not hold positions of power or serve in the military. Asian reporters at The Straits Times experienced discrimination in the workplace and while on assignment. Peter Benson Maxwell, an Indian reporter, arranged an interview with the governor Cecil Clementi via Clementi's secretary, but was quickly removed from the premises of the Government House when he arrived in person.
The paper was originally owned by the individual founders before becoming a private company, as it remained until 1950. Its single largest shareholder was the procurer of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, the Reverend N.J. Couvreur, who also served as the chairman of the company's board of the directors from 1910 to 1920.
Prewar period
In the 1920s and 1930s, The Straits Times began to face competition from other papers, specifically the Malaya Tribune, which promised "frank discussion of Malayan affairs" and "weekly articles by special and well-informed writers, Chinese, Indians, and Muslims". The Tribune, founded in 1914, lagged behind The Straits Times in sales and readership, and launched an advertising campaign to increase circulation and move the paper away from its image as the "clerk's paper". It also hired talented journalists, including Leslie Hoffman and T.S. Khoo, who became the editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief, respectively, of The Straits Times after World War II. The efforts of the Malaya Tribune were successful when, in 1932, its circulation exceeded that of The Straits Times. In response to the competition, Seabridge improved the company by building a new office, replacing and updating old printing equipment, hiring local journalists, and beginning delivery upcountry. He also made significant changes to the paper: he expanded coverage of events in Singapore and Malaya; created a Sunday paper; cut the price of the paper to match that of the Malaya Tribune; and incorporated pictures, comics, and other eye-catching elements to make the paper more attractive. Particularly with the reduction of cost, the number of subscribers dramatically increased. In 1938, the paper began delivery by air to Kuala Lumpur, where they were taken from the city to rural areas by vans.
Part of Seabridge's attempts to expand circulation was to include "women's columns", particularly by incorporating the voices of the wives of wealthy British planters.
By 1933, the renewed Free Press was unable to maintain the competition with The Straits Times and the paper was bought by Seabridge, though it remained more closely affiliated with merchants and lawyers.
Japanese occupation
Lead-up to occupation
In July 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed Duff Cooper, a former Minister of Information, to investigate how to coordinate defence policy planning in Asia against the threat of Japanese invasion. Cooper arrived in Singapore in September 1941 and reported that the various civil, governmental, and military elements did not communicate or coordinate well. Seabridge, as chief editor, was highly critical of the lack of planning and efficiency of government officials. Seabridge and F. D. Bisseker, the chairman of the Eastern Smelting Company, strongly urged Cooper to build up the civil defense; Seabridge also back Cooper's proposal to institute martial law. Japanese attacks in the northern Malay states began on 8 December 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Five days later, the commander ordered the evacuation of all European women and children and all military personnel from the island of Penang. Similar evacuations of only Europeans were ordered throughout the month of December, seriously undermining the morale of the much larger Asian population of Singapore and the surrounding British areas. However, Governor Shenton Thomas insisted that the British community of Singapore not flee in the face of the Japanese, that no racial discrimination was to take place in the evacuation of civilians, and that British civil officers stay behind to "look after their Asian charges". The government also obstructed information of the severity of the situation on the frontlines. On 5 January 1941, The Straits Times published the following lead article summarizing the situation.Malaya has now been in the front line for a month. The Northern Settlement is in enemy hands, and fighting is taking place within 200 miles of Singapore. This island has been bombed on several occasions with 'slight damage to civilian property' and 'a few civilian casualties'. That is a reasonably accurate summary of all the people of this country have been told of the fighting that is going around them. Vague 'lines' have been mentioned and there have been sundry 'strategic withdrawals'. Such generalities provide a very flimsy basis indeed for detailed comment – so flimsy that we do not propose to attempt a task which is very nearly impossible of achievement … The view we propose to put forward here is the view of the middle-class Asiatic who has been asked to help in maintaining morale but finds himself quite unable to do so . . . If the newspapers and the newspaper reading public are to be any help in combatting rumour, they must be supplied with the only things which are of the slightest value in carrying out the task. And those things are facts.
Occupation
On 20 February 1942, five days after the Fall of Singapore, The Straits Times was renamed by Japan and became known as The Shonan Times, Shonan being the Japanese name for Singapore. The first issue of The Shonan Times published a declaration by Tomoyuki Yamashita, announcing that the aim of the Japanese was to establish the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in order to achieve a "Great Spirit of Cosmocrasy" and "sweep away the arrogant and unrighteous British elements".
The children's newspaper, outlined in the third goal, was published as Sakura and included as a free supplement in the 10 June 1942 edition of the Syonan Shimbun, though it was later sold separately for one sen. In addition to the Sakura children's newspaper, the Syonan Shimbun, in all its iterations, was used by the Japanese government as a way of attempting to create pro-Japanese youth leaders among the multiethnic, multilingual children of Singapore.
The paper was later published as The Syonan Times, The Syonan Sinbun, and The Syonan Shimbun. The changes in the spelling arose from squabbles between adherents of different romanization systems, namely Hepburn romanization and a standard devised by the Japanese military government (i.e. General Tojo was written as Tozyo). On 8 December 1942, the anniversary of the initial Japanese invasion, the paper was published as the Syonan Sinbun, the English-language edition of a Japanese newspaper. It finally became the Syonan Shimbun on 8 December 1943. The paper was reverted back to The Straits Times on 5 September 1945 as Singapore returned to British colonial rule and subsequently until today.
During this period, the paper was thoroughly pro-Japanese and would often report on Japan's war efforts in the Pacific. The newspaper was run by members of the Japanese military propaganda division and included prominent writers such as Masuji Ibuse.
Seabridge and his wife fled Singapore on 11 February 1942 and went to Batavia (present-day Jakarta). From Batavia, Seabridge filed a secret report for the War Cabinet in London in April 1942 on the failure of both military and civilian governments to hold and maintain Singapore's defences.Singapore itself was in a state of almost complete chaos from the end of December. Civil Servants who had evacuated from the Malay States sought to set up temporary departments in Singapore for no other apparent reason than the preservation of their jobs. Even the FMS Income Tax Department set itself up in Singapore after the last Federated State had fallen into Japanese hands. The Civil administration cracked badly and broke completely at some points. There was little co-operation with the Services, and many indications of jealousy and fear that outsiders might poach on the preserves of the Civil Servant … The extent to which obstructionists flourished was staggering.
As a war propaganda instrument
In June 1942, the Military Propaganda Squad launched a campaign, Nippon-Go Popularising Week, to promote the Japanese language among Singaporeans, using the Syonan Shimbun. The Propaganda Squad drafted some 150 members of the Japanese literati and assigned them to Singapore (Syonan) under the 25th Army Military Administration. These included notable authors such as the novelist Masuji Ibuse, poet Jimbo Kōtaro, and literary critic Nakajima Kenzo. A document dated 17 May 1942 outlined the four main objectives of Nippon-Go Popularising Week.
To promote the study of Japanese during and after Nippon-Go Popularising Week, introduce the Japanese state of affairs in a series of articles, and strengthen the command of conventional Japanese language in the local papers.
To entreat all Japanese soldiers involved in the constructive war effort to cooperate in teaching correct Japanese to natives.
To publish a weekly children's katakana newspaper.
To publish a guidebook on the proper pronunciation of Japanese syllables.
The children's newspaper, outlined in the third goal, was published as Sakura and included as a free supplement in the 10 June 1942 edition of the Syonan Shimbun, though it was later sold separately for one sen.
Post-war
On 11 March 1950, The Straits Times became a public limited company.
In 1956, The Straits Times established a Malayan (now Malaysian) edition, the New Straits Times, based in Kuala Lumpur. Since the separation of the two countries, these newspapers are now unaffiliated with each other. During the early days of Singaporean self-governance (before 1965), the paper, who had a pro-colonial stance, had an uneasy relationship with some politicians. This included the leaders of the People's Action Party (PAP), who desired self-governance for Singapore.
Editors were warned by British colonial officials that any reportage that may threaten the merger between Singapore and the Malayan Federation may result in subversion charges, and that they may be detained without trial under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance Act.
During the Malayan Emergency, The Straits Times published cash bounties for information leading to the killing or capture of senior communists. Earlier during the Emergency, The Straits Times had erroneously reported that 26 suspected communist guerrillas had been shot dead by the British military while attempting to escape after ammunition had been discovered in their homes. However, it was later discovered that 24 people had been shot dead, and that all of them were innocent civilians who had been executed as part of the Batang Kali massacre by the Scots Guards regiment; an event described by historians as the British Mỹ Lai.
Post-independence
After Singapore gained its independence in 1965, the newspaper has since been referred to as Singapore's newspaper of record. Despite its history as being largely anti-PAP and anti-independence when Singapore was a colony, it has become largely pro-PAP after independence. The news website of The Straits Times launched on 1 January 1994, making it one of the first newspapers in the world to do so. The website remained entirely free until 2005 when paid subscription became required to fully access news and commentary.
Government interference
Prior to 1965, during the early days of Singaporean self-governance, the paper had an uneasy relationship with some politicians, including the leaders of the People's Action Party (PAP). This was partially due to Hoffman criticising the PAP during the 1959 general election and supporting the eventually defeated chief minister Lim Yew Hock. Editors were warned that any reportage that may threaten the merger between Singapore and the Malayan Federation may result in subversion charges, and that they may be detained without trial under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance Act. Following criticism of the paper's coverage from Lee Kuan Yew after the 1979 by-elections and the 1980 general election, The Straits Times agreed to accept S.R. Nathan, a government nominee and the former Director of Internal Security, as its executive chairman. Subsequently, the Singaporean government restructured the entire newspaper industry, in which all papers published in English, Chinese, and Malay were brought under Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), established on 30 November 1984. Following the establishment of the conglomerate, The Straits Times, and the other subsidiaries, were allowed to maintain its own board of directors and editorial staff.
The newspaper is sometimes referred as "the mouthpiece" of the ruling party, or at least "mostly pro-government", as well as "close to the government". Chua Chin Hon, then ST's bureau chief for the United States, was quoted as saying that SPH's "editors have all been groomed as pro-government supporters and are careful to ensure that reporting of local events adheres closely to the official line" in a 2009 US diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks. Past chairpersons of Singapore Press Holdings have been civil or public servants. The SPH Chairman before the SPH media restructuring, Lee Boon Yang, was a former PAP cabinet minister who took over from Tony Tan, former Deputy Prime Minister. Many current ST management and senior editors have close links to the government as well. SPH CEO Alan Chan was a former top civil servant and Principal Private Secretary to then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Current editor-in-chief Warren Fernandez was considered as a PAP candidate for the 2006 elections.
In his memoir OB Markers: My Straits Times Story, former editor-in-chief Cheong Yip Seng, alleged how the newspaper has a government-appointed "monitor" at the newspaper, "someone who could watch to see if indeed the newsroom was beyond control", and that disapproval of the "monitor" could cost a reporter or editor from being internally promoted. Cheong identified the first monitor as S. R. Nathan, director of the Ministry of Defence's Security and Intelligence Division and later president of Singapore. Editors were bound by "out of bounds markers" to denote what topics are permissible for public discussion, such as anything that may produce ill-will and hostility between different races and religious groups.
Coverage
The Straits Times functions with 16 bureaus and special correspondents in major cities worldwide. The paper has five sections: the main section consist of Asian and international news, with sub-sections of columns and editorials and the Forum Page (letters to the press). The Home section consist of local news and topics on Education for Monday, Mind and Body for Tuesday, Digital for Wednesday, Community for Thursday and Science for Friday. There are also a sports and finance section, a classified ads and job listing section and a lifestyle, style, entertainment and the arts section titled "Life!".
The newspaper also publishes special editions for primary and secondary schools in Singapore. The primary-school version contains a special pull-out, titled "Little Red Dot" and the secondary-school version contains a pull-out titled "In".
A separate edition The Sunday Times is published on Sundays.
International editions
A specific Myanmar and Brunei edition of this paper was launched on 25 March 2014 and 30 October 2014. It is published daily with local newspaper printers on licence with SPH. This paper is distributed on ministries, businesses, major hotels, airlines, bookshops and supermarkets on major cities and target sales to local and foreign businessmen in both countries. Circulation of the Myanmar edition currently stands at 5,000 and 2,500 for the Brunei edition. The Brunei edition is currently sold at B$1 per copy and an All-in-One Straits Times package consisting of the print edition and full digital access via online, tablets and smartphones, will also be introduced in Brunei.
Straits Times Online
Launched on 1 January 1994, The Straits Times website was free of charge and granted access to all the sections and articles found in the print edition. On 1 January 2005, the online version began requiring registration and after a short period became a paid-access-only site. Currently, only people who subscribe to the online edition can read all the articles on the Internet, including the frequently updated "Latest News" section.
A free section, featuring a selection of news stories, is currently available at the site. Regular podcast, vodcast and twice-daily—mid-day and evening updates—radio-news bulletins are also available for free online.
Preservation
In July 2007, the National Library Board signed an agreement with the Singapore Press Holdings to digitise the archives of The Straits Times going back to its founding in 1845. The archived materials are held in the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library and are available to the public through microfilm.
Community programmes
The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund
The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund was initiated on 1 October 2000 by The Straits Times, to heighten public awareness of the plight of children from low-income families who were attending school without proper breakfast, or pocket money to sustain their day in school. The aim is to alleviate the financial burden faced by parents in providing for their children's education. At the same time the funds will help children who are already facing difficulties in remaining in school to stay on.
The Straits Times Schools
The Straits Times Schools is a news desk created to encourage youth readership and interest in news and current affairs. Launched in 2004, the programme was initially known as The Straits Times Media Club. Youth newspapers, IN and Little Red Dot are produced on a weekly basis for secondary and primary school students respectively, whose schools would have to subscribe in bulk. Students will receive their papers every Monday together with the main broadsheet. On 7 March 2017, a digital IN app was launched, allowing parents, students and other individual ST subscribers to subscribe to IN weekly releases digitally.
Public opinions
A 2020 Reuters Institute independent survey of 15 media outlets found that 73% of Singaporean respondents trusted reporting from The Straits Times, the second highest rating next to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), a local TV news channel.
See also
Media of Singapore
List of newspapers in Singapore
References
Additional Sources
Thio, HR and the Media in Singapore in HR and the Media, Robert Haas ed, Malaysia: AIDCOM 1996 69 at 72-5.
Further reading
Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980) pp 305–7
Turnbull, C. Mary. Dateline Singapore: 150 Years of The Straits Times (1995), published by Singapore Press Holdings
Cheong Yip Seng. OB Markers: My Straits Times Story (2012), published by Straits Times Press
External links
SPH NewsLink—Archive of Straits Times Articles
Search digitised Singapore newspapers from 1831-2013
1845 establishments in the Straits Settlements
English-language newspapers published in Asia
SPH Media
Newspapers published in Singapore
Newspapers established in 1845
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlamydia%20trachomatis
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Chlamydia trachomatis
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Chlamydia trachomatis (), commonly known as chlamydia, is a bacterium that causes chlamydia, which can manifest in various ways, including: trachoma, lymphogranuloma venereum, nongonococcal urethritis, cervicitis, salpingitis, pelvic inflammatory disease. C. trachomatis is the most common infectious cause of blindness and the most common sexually transmitted bacterium.
Different types of C. trachomatis cause different diseases. The most common strains cause disease in the genital tract, while other strains cause disease in the eye or lymph nodes. Like other Chlamydia species, the C. trachomatis life cycle consists of two morphologically distinct life stages: elementary bodies and reticulate bodies. Elementary bodies are spore-like and infectious, whereas reticulate bodies are in the replicative stage and are seen only within host cells.
Description
Chlamydia trachomatis is a gram-negative bacterium that can replicate only within a host cell. Over the course of the C. trachomatis life cycle, the bacteria take on two distinct forms. Elementary bodies are 200 to 400 nanometers across, and are surrounded by a rigid cell wall that allows them to survive outside of a host cell. This form can initiate a new infection if it comes into contact with a susceptible host cell. Reticulate bodies are 600 to 1500 nanometers across, and are found only within host cells. Neither form is motile.
The C. trachomatis genome is substantially smaller than that of many other bacteria at approximately 1.04 megabases, encoding approximately 900 genes. Several important metabolic functions are not encoded in the C. trachomatis genome, and instead, are likely scavenged from the host cell. In addition to the chromosome that contains most of the genome, nearly all C. trachomatis strains carry a 7.5 kilobase plasmid that contains 8 genes. The role of this plasmid is unknown, though strains without the plasmid have been isolated, suggesting it is not required for survival of the bacterium.
Life cycle
Like other Chlamydia species, C. trachomatis has a life cycle consisting of two morphologically distinct forms. First, C. trachomatis attaches to a new host cell as a small spore-like form called the elementary body. The elementary body enters the host cell, surrounded by a host vacuole, called an inclusion. Within the inclusion, C. trachomatis transforms into a larger, more metabolically active form called the reticulate body. The reticulate body substantially modifies the inclusion, making it a more hospitable environment for rapid replication of the bacteria, which occurs over the following 30 to 72 hours. The massive number of intracellular bacteria then transition back to resistant elementary bodies, before causing the cell to rupture and being released into the environment. These new elementary bodies are then shed in the semen or released from epithelial cells of the female genital tract, and attach to new host cells.
Classification
C. trachomatis are bacteria in the genus Chlamydia, a group of obligate intracellular parasites of eukaryotic cells. Chlamydial cells cannot carry out energy metabolism and they lack biosynthetic pathways.
C. trachomatis strains are generally divided into three biovars based on the type of disease they cause. These are further subdivided into several serovars based on the surface antigens recognized by the immune system. Serovars A through C cause trachoma, which is the world's leading cause of preventable infectious blindness. Serovars D through K infect the genital tract, causing pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancies, and infertility. Serovars L1 through L3 cause an invasive infection of the lymph nodes near the genitals, called lymphogranuloma venereum.
C. trachomatis is thought to have diverged from other Chlamydia species around 6 million years ago. This genus contains a total of nine species: C. trachomatis, C. muridarum, C. pneumoniae, C. pecorum, C. suis, C. abortus, C. felis, C. caviae, and C. psittaci. The closest relative to C. trachomatis is C. muridarum, which infects mice. C. trachomatis along with C. pneumoniae have been found to infect humans to a greater extent. C. trachomatis exclusively infects humans. C. pneumoniae is found to also infect horses, marsupials, and frogs. Some of the other species can have a considerable impact on human health due to their known zoonotic transmission.
Role in disease
Clinical signs and symptoms of C. trachomatis infection in the genitalia present as the chlamydia infection, which may be asymptomatic or may resemble a gonorrhea infection.
Both are common causes of multiple other conditions including pelvic inflammatory disease and urethritis.
C. trachomatis is the single most important infectious agent associated with blindness (trachoma), and it also affects the eyes in the form of inclusion conjunctivitis and is responsible for about 19% of adult cases of conjunctivitis.
C. trachomatis in the lungs presents as the chlamydia pneumoniae respiratory infection and can affect all ages.
Pathogenesis
Elementary bodies are generally present in the semen of infected men and vaginal secretions of infected women. When they come into contact with a new host cell, the elementary bodies bind to the cell via interaction between adhesins on their surface and several host receptor proteins and heparan sulfate proteoglycans. Once attached, the bacteria inject various effector proteins into the host cell using a type three secretion system. These effectors trigger the host cell to take up the elementary bodies and prevent the cell from triggering apoptosis. Within 6 to 8 hours after infection, the elementary bodies transition to reticulate bodies and a number of new effectors are synthesized. These effectors include a number of proteins that modify the inclusion membrane, called Inc proteins, as well as proteins that redirect host vesicles to the inclusion. 8 to 16 hours after infection, another set of effectors are synthesized, driving acquisition of nutrients from the host cell. At this stage, the reticulate bodies begin to divide, coinciding with the expansion of the inclusion. If several elementary bodies have infected a single cell, their inclusions will fuse at this point to create a single large inclusion in the host cell. From 24 to 72 hours after infection, reticulate bodies transition to elementary bodies which are released either by lysis of the host cell or extrusion of the entire inclusion into the host genital tract.
Presentation
Most people infected with C. trachomatis are asymptomatic. However, the bacteria can present in one of three ways: genitourinary (genitals), pulmonary (lungs), and ocular (eyes).
Genitourinary cases can include genital discharge, vaginal bleeding, itchiness (pruritus), painful urination (dysuria), among other symptoms. Often, symptoms are similar to those of a urinary tract infection.
When C. trachomatis presents in the eye in the form of trachoma it begins by gradually thickening the eyelids, and eventually begins to pull the eyelashes into the eyelid. In the form of inclusion conjunctivitis the infection presents with redness, swelling, mucopurulent discharge from the eye, and most other symptoms associated with adult conjunctivitis.
When C. trachomatis is in the lungs in the form of a respiratory infection it typically has symptoms of a runny or stuffy nose, low-grade fever, hoarseness of voice, as well as other symptoms associated with general pneumonia.
C. trachomatis may latently infect the chorionic villi tissues of pregnant women, thereby impacting pregnancy outcome.
Prevalence
Three times as many women are diagnosed with genitourinary C. trachomatis infections as men. Women aged 15–19 have the highest prevalence, followed by women aged 20–24, although the rate of increase of diagnosis is greater for men than for women. Risk factors for genitourinary infections include unprotected sex with multiple partners, lack of condom use, and low socioeconomic status living in urban areas.
Pulmonary infections can occur in infants born to women with active chlamydia infections, although the rate of infection is less than 10%.
Ocular infections take the form of inclusion conjunctivitis or trachoma, both in adults and children. About 84 million worldwide develop C. trachomatis eye infections and 8 million are blinded as a result of the infection. Trachoma is the primary source of infectious blindness in some parts of rural Africa and Asia and is a neglected tropical disease that has been targeted by the World Health Organization for elimination by 2020. Inclusion conjunctivitis from C. trachomatis is responsible for about 19% of adult cases of conjunctivitis.
Treatment
Treatment depends on the infection site, age of the patient, and whether another infection is present. Having a C. trachomatis and one or more other sexually transmitted infections at the same time is possible. Treatment is often done with both partners simultaneously to prevent reinfection. C. trachomatis may be treated with several antibiotic medications, including azithromycin, erythromycin, ofloxacin, and tetracycline.
Tetracycline is the most preferred antibiotic to treat C.trachomatis and has the highest success rate. Azithromycin and doxycycline have equal efficacy to treat C. trachomatis with 97 and 98 percent success, respectively. Azithromycin is dosed as a 1 gram tablet that is taken by mouth as a single dose, primarily to help with concerns of non-adherence. Treatment with generic doxycycline 100 mg twice a day for 7 days has equal success with expensive delayed-release doxycycline 200 mg once a day for 7 days. Erythromycin is less preferred as it may cause gastrointestinal side effects, which can lead to non-adherence. Levofloxacin and ofloxacin are generally no better than azithromycin or doxycycline and are more expensive.
If treatment is necessary during pregnancy, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline, and doxycycline are not prescribed. In the case of a patient who is pregnant, the medications typically prescribed are azithromycin, amoxicillin, and erythromycin. Azithromycin is the recommended medication and is taken as a 1 gram tablet taken by mouth as a single dose. Despite amoxicillin having fewer side effects than the other medications for treating antenatal C. trachomatis infection, there have been concerns that pregnant women who take penicillin-class antibiotics can develop a chronic persistent chlamydia infection. Tetracycline is not used because some children and even adults can not withstand the drug, causing harm to the mother and fetus. Retesting during pregnancy can be performed three weeks after treatment. If the risk of reinfection is high, screening can be repeated throughout pregnancy.
If the infection has progressed, ascending the reproductive tract and pelvic inflammatory disease develops, damage to the fallopian tubes may have already occurred. In most cases, the C. trachomatis infection is then treated on an outpatient basis with azithromycin or doxycycline. Treating the mother of an infant with C. trachomatis of the eye, which can evolve into pneumonia, is recommended. The recommended treatment consists of oral erythromycin base or ethylsuccinate 50 mg/kg/day divided into 4 doses daily for two weeks while monitoring for symptoms of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) in infants less than 6 weeks old.
There have been a few reported cases of C.trachomatis strains that were resistant to multiple antibiotic treatments. However, as of 2018, this is not a major cause of concern as antibiotic resistance is rare in C.trachomatis compared to other infectious bacteria.
Laboratory tests
Chlamydia species are readily identified and distinguished from other Chlamydia species using DNA-based tests. Tests for Chlamydia can be ordered from a doctor, a lab or online.
Most strains of C. trachomatis are recognized by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to epitopes in the VS4 region of MOMP. However, these mAbs may also cross-react with two other Chlamydia species, C. suis and C. muridarum.
Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) tests find the genetic material (DNA) of Chlamydia bacteria. These tests are the most sensitive tests available, meaning they are very accurate and are very unlikely to have false-negative test results. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test is an example of a nucleic acid amplification test. This test can also be done on a urine sample, urethral swabs in men, or cervical or vaginal swabs in women.
Nucleic acid hybridization tests (DNA probe test) also find Chlamydia DNA. A probe test is very accurate but is not as sensitive as NAATs.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, EIA) finds substances (Chlamydia antigens) that trigger the immune system to fight Chlamydia infection. Chlamydia Elementary body (EB)-ELISA could be used to stratify different stages of infection based upon Immunoglobulin-γ status of the infected individuals
Direct fluorescent antibody test also finds Chlamydia antigens.
Chlamydia cell culture is a test in which the suspected Chlamydia sample is grown in a vial of cells. The pathogen infects the cells, and after a set incubation time (48 hours), the vials are stained and viewed on a fluorescent light microscope. Cell culture is more expensive and takes longer (two days) than the other tests. The culture must be grown in a laboratory.
Research
Due to its significance to human health, C. trachomatis is the subject of research in laboratories around the world. The bacteria are commonly grown in immortalised cell lines such as McCoy cells (see RPMI 1640) and HeLa cells. Infectious particles can be quantified by infecting cell layers and counting the number of inclusions, analogous to a plaque assay. Recent research has found that a pair of disulfide bond proteins, which are necessary for C. trachomatis to be able to infect host cells, is very similar to a homologous pair of proteins found in Escherichia coli (E. coli), though the reaction's speed is slower in C. trachomatis.
Other research has been conducted towards the creation of a vaccine against C. trachomatis, finding that it would be very difficult to create a fully effective or even partially effective vaccine since the host's response to infection involves complex immunological pathways that must first be fully understood to ensure that adverse effects are avoided.
Vaccine
In August 2016 a Phase I, double-blind, parallel, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was undertaken by the Danish Statens Serum Institut at Hammersmith Hospital in London, UK, in healthy women aged 19–45 years. The trial aimed to assess the safety and ability to provoke an immune response of the CTH522 chlamydia vaccine. 35 women not infected with chlamydia were included in the trial. The trial included two adjuvants and a saline control group. The vaccine was found to be safe, and all women who received the vaccine regardless of adjuvant developed an immune response against chlamydia.
The Serum Institute has announced that it will continue to pursue funding to move the vaccine into a Phase II trial.
History
C. trachomatis was first described in 1907 by Stanislaus von Prowazek and Ludwig Halberstädter in scrapings from trachoma cases. Thinking they had discovered a "mantled protozoan", they named the organism "Chlamydozoa" from the Greek "Chlamys" meaning mantle. Over the next several decades, "Chlamydozoa" was thought to be a virus as it was small enough to pass through bacterial filters and unable to grow on known laboratory media. However, in 1966 electron microscopy studies showed C. trachomatis to be a bacterium. This is essentially due to the fact that they were found to possess DNA, RNA, and ribosomes like other bacteria. It was originally believed that Chlamydia lacked peptidoglycan because researchers were unable to detect muramic acid in cell extracts. Subsequent studies determined that C. trachomatis synthesizes both muramic acid and peptidoglycan, but relegates it to the microbe's division septum and does not utilize it for construction of a cell wall. The bacterium is still classified as gram-negative
C. trachomatis agent was first cultured and isolated in the yolk sacs of eggs by Tang Fei-fan et al. in 1957. This was a significant milestone because it became possible to preserve these agents which could then be used for future genomic and phylogenetic studies. The isolation of C. trachomatis coined the term isolate to describe how C. trachomatis has been isolated from an in vivo setting into a "strain" in cell culture. Only a few "isolates" have been studied in detail, limiting the information that can be found on the evolutionary history of C. trachomatis.
Evolution
In the 1990s it was shown that there are several species of Chlamydia. Chlamydia trachomatis was first described in historical records in Ebers papyrus written between 1553 and 1550 BC. In the ancient world, it was known as the blinding disease trachoma. The disease may have been closely linked with humans and likely predated civilization. It is now known that C. trachomatis comprises 19 serovars which are identified by monoclonal antibodies that react to epitopes on the major outer-membrane protein (MOMP). Comparison of amino acid sequences reveals that MOMP contains four variable segments: S1,2 ,3 and 4. Different variants of the gene that encodes for MOMP, differentiate the genotypes of the different serovars. The antigenic relatedness of the serovars reflects the homology levels of DNA between MOMP genes, especially within these segments.
Furthermore, there have been over 220 Chlamydia vaccine trials done on mice and other non-human host species to target C. muridarum and C. trachomatis strains. However, it has been difficult to translate these results to the human species due to physiological and anatomical differences. Future trials are working with closely related species to the human.
See also
Translocated actin-recruiting phosphoprotein
References
Further reading
External links
Chlamydiae.com
Type strain of Chlamydia trachomatis at BacDive – the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Chlamydia symptoms with pictures
Chlamydiota
Sexually transmitted diseases and infections
Infectious causes of cancer
Infectious diseases with eradication efforts
Infections with a predominantly sexual mode of transmission
Bacteria described in 1935
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurva%20Synagogue
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Hurva Synagogue
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The Hurva Synagogue (, translit: Beit ha-Knesset ha-Hurva, lit. "The Ruin Synagogue"), also known as Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid (, "Ruin of Rabbi Judah the Pious"), is a synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
It was originally founded in the early 18th century by followers of Judah HeHasid on the ruins of a 15th century synagogue and adjacent to the 14th century Sidna Omar mosque, but was destroyed a few years later in 1721 by Ottoman authorities, for failure of its proprietors to pay back a debt to local Muslims. The plot became known as "The Ruin", or Hurva, where it lay desolate for 116 years until it was resettled in 1837 by members of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, known as the Perushim. In 1864, the Perushim rebuilt the synagogue, and although officially named the Beis Yaakov Synagogue, it retained its name as the Hurva. It became Jerusalem's main Ashkenazi synagogue, until it too was destroyed by the Arab Legion during the fighting in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
After Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, a number of plans were submitted for the design of a new building. After years of deliberation and indecision, a commemorative arch was erected instead at the site in 1977, itself becoming a prominent landmark of the Jewish Quarter. The plan to rebuild the synagogue in its 19th-century style received approval by the Israeli Government in 2000, and the newly rebuilt synagogue was dedicated on March 15, 2010.
History
Early history
The Hurva Synagogue today stands off a plaza in the centre of Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter, adjacent to the 14th century Sidna Omar mosque. Excavations carried out at the site in July and August 2003 revealed evidence from four main settlement periods: First Temple (800–600 BCE), Second Temple (100 CE), Byzantine and Ottoman. Three bedrock-hewn mikvehs (ritual baths) were uncovered there dating from the 1st century. The earliest tradition regarding the site is of a synagogue existing there at the time of the second-century sage Judah the Prince.
Judah heHasid and aftermath: 1700s
In the winter of 1700, a group of around 500 Ashkenazim led by Judah HeHasid arrived from Poland. They were mystics who were intent on advancing the arrival of the Messianic Era by settling in Jerusalem and leading ascetic lives. A few days after their arrival in the city, heHasid died, and without a leader, their messianic hopes dissipated and the community began to disintegrate. Those who remained managed to build forty dwellings and a small synagogue in the Ashkenazic Compound. Soon after, they endeavoured to construct a larger synagogue, but the task proved expensive. They found themselves having to bribe the Ottoman authorities in order to enable them to proceed with their building project. Unexpected costs relating to the construction, financial hardships and the burden of various other taxes drained their funds. They became impoverished and were forced to take loans from local Arabs, eventually falling into severe debt. Pressure and threats from the creditors led to a meshulach (rabbinical emissary) being sent abroad to solicit funds for repayment of the loans. In late 1720, with the debts still outstanding, the Arab lenders lost patience and set the synagogue and its contents alight. The leaders of the community were imprisoned and shortly after, not only this group but all other Ashkenazim were banished from the city, an interdiction which remained until statute of limitations on the synagogue loans expired roughly a century later. Over the course of time, shops were built in the courtyard and the synagogue was left desolate, in a pile of rubble. It thus became known as the "Ruin of Rabbi Judah heHasid".
Efforts of the Perushim: 1812–1837
By the winter of 1700, the followers of Rabbi Judah he-Hasid had purchased the courtyard of the ruined synagogue, Hurva, which again lay in ruins in 1721. Between 1808 and 1812 another group of ascetic Jews, known as Perushim, immigrated to Palestine from Lithuania. They were disciples of the Vilna Gaon and had settled in the city of Safed to the north. Some had wished to settle in Jerusalem and reclaim the Ashkenazic Compound. They were worried, however, that descendants of the Arab creditors still held the old promissory notes relating to the century-old debts incurred by he-Hasid's followers and that a new group of Ashkenazic immigrants would possibly inherit responsibility for repayment. The descendants of a group of Hasidim who made aliyah in 1777 also presented a problem. They apparently objected to any effort by the Perushim to take control of the synagogue ruin, claiming it had never belonged to the Perushim or their ancestors. The Hasidim claimed they had closer ties with the original owners and that their rights to the parcel of land were greater.
Nevertheless, in late 1815, leader of the Safed Perushim, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, arrived in Jerusalem with a group of followers. They directed their main efforts to rebuilding he-Hasid's synagogue, which had symbolised the expulsion of the Ashkenazim from Jerusalem. By this, they intended to demonstrate the re-establishment of Ashkenazic presence in the city. Rebuilding one of Jerusalem's ruins would also have symbolic kabbalistic significance. The "repairing" of an earlier destruction would represent the first step of rebuilding the entire city, a prerequisite for the arrival of the Messiah.
In 1816 they "pleaded with the powers in the city of Constantinople to obtain a royal decree that the Arabs residing in Jerusalem would not be permitted to enforce the debts of the Ashkenazim", but nothing came of it. A year later, several leaders of the group, including Avraham Shlomo Zalman Zoref, a Lithuanian-born silversmith, and Soloman Pach, travelled to Constantinople endeavouring to obtain such a firman (imperial decree). Two years later, in 1819, their efforts were realised and the century-old debts were cancelled. The group acquired a legal document delineating the entire site acquired by he-Hasid in 1700. The area now included dilapidated dwellings and shops built by the creditors' heirs on part of the site. Next, they had to secure another firman that would permit construction at the site, including the building of a large synagogue. Two successive missions in 1820 and 1821 to obtain the firman from the sultan's court failed.
Still awaiting imperial permission to build in the courtyard, the Perushim wished to rely on an old firman given to the Jews in 1623, which stated that there could be no objection to them building in their own quarters. Having received a supporting document issued by the Qadi of Jerusalem in March 1824, it was possible for them begin rebuilding the dwellings in the courtyard. In practice, however, construction never materialised as they were unable to exercise their authority over the plot of land. This was apparently due to confrontation with the Arab squatters and the local government's disregard of the documents proving their ownership of the courtyard.
In 1825, following the disruption the group were experiencing, Shapira travelled to Europe once again. He hoped to secure the necessary firman, which would place the courtyard firmly in the Perushim's possession, and also to raise funds to cover the costs incurred trying to redeem the courtyard. His mission, however, was unsuccessful, as was a later mission attempted in 1829 by Zoref.
Egypt gives ambiguous consent
With the annexation of Jerusalem by Egypt in 1831, a new opportunity arose for the Perushim. They petitioned Muhammad Ali regarding the rebuilding of the synagogue, but concerns about deviating from longstanding Muslim tradition and the Pact of Umar (which restricted the repair or construction of non-Muslim houses of worship) meant permission was not forthcoming. However, five months after the earthquake of May 1834, the prohibition was relaxed and the Sephardim were allowed to carry out repair works to their existing synagogues. This consent gave rise to further efforts by the Ashkenazim to receive authorisation to rebuild theirs.
On June 23, 1836, after traveling to Egypt, Zoref, together with the backing of the Austrian and Russian consuls in Alexandria, obtained the long-awaited firman. It seems he was successful in gaining support of the Austrian consul and Muhammad Ali by invoking the name of Baron Salomon Mayer von Rothschild of Vienna. Muhammad Ali was hopeful that by giving his permission to rebuild the Ruin, Rothschild would be inclined to forge financial and political ties with him, which would in turn secure political support of Austria and France. In fact, Rothschild's involvement was a ruse. As soon as Zoref received the firman, he contacted Zvi Hirsch Lehren of the Clerks' Organisation in Amsterdam, requesting that funds his brother had pledged towards the building of synagogues in Palestine be applied to the Ruin. But Lehren had doubts as to what exactly the firman permitted. Explicit authorisation for construction of a large synagogue was absent. (A letter from the leaders of the Amsterdam community to Moses Montefiore in 1849 confirms that permission for a synagogue in the Ashkenasic Compound had not been sanctioned; they had only been allowed to build dwellings in the area.)
Menachem Zion Synagogue
In spite of the doubts highlighted in relation to the construction of a synagogue, the Perushim, confidently in possession of the ambiguous firman, began clearing away the rubble from the Ruin courtyard in September 1836. As the foundations of he-Hasid's original synagogue were revealed, they discovered a few old documents dating from 1579, signed by Israel ben Moses Najara. After much debate, they decided not to rebuild the Ruin, but initially erect a small structure on the edge of the Ashkenasic compound. The Arab creditors, however, still refused to relinquish the claims they had on the Jews and continued to interfere with the works. Zoref, claiming that the Ashkenazim currently in Jerusalem were not related in any way to those who had borrowed the money at the turn of the 18th century, was forced to appear in court requesting a further ruling cancelling the debts. He mentioned that an injunction had already been passed that absolved the Ashkenazim from repaying the debt and maintained that the Turkish Statute of Limitations cancelled out the debts of Judah heHasid's followers. Although the court ruled in the Ashkenazim's favour, Zoref nevertheless had to appease the Arab instigators with annual bribes in order to allow building to continue. At some point this arrangement ceased and in 1851, he was struck on the head with a sword and died of his wounds three months later. By January 1837 however, the Perushim had dedicated the modest Menachem Zion Synagogue in the northwestern corner of the courtyard. In 1854, a second smaller synagogue was built within the compound. The actual plot upon which he-Hasid's synagogue had stood 130 years earlier, however, remained in ruins.
Rebuilding he-Hasid's Ruin: 1857–1864
In the early 1850s, the Perushim felt ready to attempt the building a larger synagogue on he-Hasid's original site. An outcome of the Crimean War was the British government's willingness to use its increased influence at Constantinople to intervene on behalf of its Jewish subjects who resided in Jerusalem. On July 13, 1854, James Finn of the British consulate in Jerusalem wrote to the British ambassador in Constantinople describing the wishes of the 2,000 strong Ashkenazic community to build a new synagogue. He noted that funds for construction had been collected by Moses Montefiore twelve years earlier. He also enclosed a 150-year-old firman, which authorised the Ashkenazic Jews to rebuild their ruined synagogue. As the title to the plot of land was held by the Amzalag family, who were British subjects, they designated London-born Rabbi Hirschell, son of Chief Rabbi of Great Britain Solomon Hirschell, to negotiate the transfer. The British consulate agreed to lend its sanction to the contract in order to avoid possible intrusion by the Turks. At issue was the question of whether the building of a synagogue at the site constituted the repair of an old house of non-Muslim worship or the establishment of a new synagogue. The Turks would have to grant a special license for the latter. This was received through the efforts of Francis Napier and Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, British ambassadors to the Sublime Porte, who secured the necessary firman in 1854. In July 1855, while in Constantinople, Montefiore was handed the firman, which he hand-delivered during his fourth visit to Jerusalem in 1857.
With permission granted, the groundbreaking ceremony took place on the last day of Hanukkah of 1855. On April 22, 1856, the cornerstone was laid in the presence of Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Shmuel Salant. Salant had been instrumental in raising the necessary funding, making a trip to Europe in 1860 and obtaining large donations, especially from Montefiore. Some of the stones used in construction of the building was purchased from the Industrial Plantation, where poor Jews assisted in quarrying and shaping the blocks. On May 7, 1856 Consul Finn inspected the site after receiving complaints from Muslims who suspected the opening of windows towards a mosque.
Although originally in possession of a lump sum they hoped would pay for the planned edifice, expenses increased. Construction work progressed slowly for lack of funds and the impoverished community soon found themselves having to arrange collections throughout the diaspora. One notable emissary, Jacob Saphir, set off for Egypt in 1857 and returned in 1863 having visited Yemen, Aden, India, Java, Australia, New Zealand and Ceylon. The largest single gift came from Ezekiel Reuben, a wealthy Sephardi Jew from Baghdad, who gave 100,000 of the million piasters needed. His sons, Menashe and Sasson, later supplemented his donation. The combined donations from the Reuben family eventually covered more than half the cost. It marked an important step in the unity of the Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities of the city. Another contributor was Frederick William IV of Prussia, whose name was inscribed above the entrance together with those of other benefactors. He also gave permission for funds to be collected from his Jewish subjects. Throughout Western Europe, emissaries sought donations with the slogan "Merit Eternal Life with one stone".
With new funds arriving, work could progress. In 1862 the domed ceiling was completed and Rabbi Yeshaya Bardaki, head of the Ashkenazic community, was honored with placing the final stone of the dome. Two years later in 1864, the new synagogue was dedicated. Present was Baron Alphonse James de Rothschild, who 8 years earlier had been given the honour of laying the first stone. The edifice was officially named Beis Yaakov – "House of Jacob" – in memory of James Mayer de Rothschild, whose son Edmond James de Rothschild had dedicated much of his life supporting the Jews of Palestine. The locals, however, continued to refer to the building as the Hurva. As a token of gratitude to the British government for their involvement, the British Consul James Finn, was invited to the dedication ceremony, which included a thanksgiving service. He described the "beautiful chants and anthems in Hebrew", the subsequent refreshments provided and the playing of Russian and Austrian music.
Structure
The Hurva Synagogue was designed and constructed under the supervision of Assad Effendi, the sultan's official architect. Built in Byzantine Revival style, it was supported by four massive pilasters at each corner over which soared a large dome. The construction of only one of these towers was completed. The other three were missing the upper level and the small dome that capped it. The facade was covered in finely hewn stone and incorporated high window arches. The height of the synagogue to the bottom of its dome was around and to the top of the dome it was . Twelve windows were placed around the base of the dome, which was surrounded by a veranda, which offered a fine view of large parts of the Old City and the area around Jerusalem. Being one of the tallest structures in the Old City, it was visible for miles.
Interior
The synagogue prayer hall was reached via an entrance with three iron gates. The length was around and the width was around . The women's section was in the galleries, along the three sides of the chapel, except the eastern side. Access to the galleries was through towers situated at the corners of the building.
The Torah ark had the capacity to house 50 Torah scrolls and was built on two levels. It was flanked by four Corinthian columns surrounded by baroque woodcuts depicting flowers and birds. The Ark, together with its ornamental gates, were taken from the Nikolayevsky Synagogue in Kherson, Russia, which had been used by Russian Jewish conscripts forced to spend twenty-five years in the Imperial Russian Army. Directly above the Ark was a triangular window with rounded points. To the right and in front of the ark was the cantor's podium, which was designed as a miniature version of the two-level Ark.
The centre of the synagogue originally contained a high wooden bimah, but this was later replaced with a flat platform covered with expensive marble plates.
Numerous crystal chandeliers hung from the dome. The dome itself was painted sky-blue and strewn with golden stars. Frescoes with religious motifs, such as stars of David, the menorah, Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments, adorned every wall. In the four corners were drawings of four animals in accordance with the statement in Pirkei Avot: "Be strong as the leopard and swift as the eagle, fleet as the deer and brave as the lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven."
One of the most generous donations came from Pinchas Rosenberg, the Imperial Court tailor of Saint Petersburg. In the diary of Rabbi Chaim ha-Levy, the emissary who had been sent from Jerusalem to collect funds for the synagogue, Rosenberg set out in details what his money was intended for. Among the items that were bought with his money were two big bronze candelabras; a silver menorah that "arrived miraculously on the 1st Tevet [1866] precisely in time to light the last eight Hanukah candles" and an iron door made under the holy ark for safe-keeping of the candlestick. He also earmarked funds towards the building of an "artistically wrought iron fence around the roof under the upper windows so that there be a veranda on which may stand all our brethren who go up in pilgrimage to behold our desolate Temple, and also a partition for the womenfolk on the Feast of Tabernacles and Simchat Torah".
Golden years: 1864–1948
From 1864 onwards, the Hurva Synagogue was considered the most beautiful and most important synagogue in the Land of Israel. It was described as "the glory of the Old City" and the "most striking edifice in all of Palestine". It also housed part of the Etz Chaim Yeshiva, the largest yeshiva in Jerusalem. It was a focal point of Jewish spiritual life in the city and was the site of the installation of the Ashkenazic chief rabbis of both Palestine and Jerusalem. On his visit to Jerusalem in 1866, Moses Montefiore went to the synagogue, placing a silver breastplate on one of the Torah scrolls. When he visited again in 1875, a crowd of 3,000 Jews turned out to greet him. On February 3, 1901 a memorial service for Queen Victoria took place inside the synagogue in gratitude for the protection afforded to the Jews of Jerusalem by Britain. The service was presided over by the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi, Shmuel Salant. According to a report in The Jewish Chronicle, the large building was "filled to its utmost capacity and policemen had to keep off the crowds, who vainly sought admission, by force". In around 1919, Benjamin Lee Gordon wrote that the "synagogue presented a very pleasant and dignified appearance. It was well illuminated with artistic lamps presented by a certain Mr. Lichtenstein, of Philadelphia". In 1921 Abraham Isaac Kook was appointed first Chief Rabbi of Palestine at the synagogue. The synagogue also hosted Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, who was honoured with reciting a portion of the Torah. In 1923 Yosef Shalom Eliashiv's bar mitzvah was held at the synagogue. In the 1930s and possibly earlier, the synagogue housed the Chayei Olam Cheider, where indigent students form the Old City received their Torah education.
Destruction during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
On May 25, 1948, during the battle for the Old City, commander of the Jordanian Arab Legion, Major Abdullah el-Tell, wrote to Otto Lehner of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to warn that unless the Haganah abandoned its positions in the synagogue and its adjoining courtyard, he would be forced to attack it. Moshe Russnak, commander of the Haganah in the Old City, ignored his request, knowing that if the Hurva fell, the battle for the Jewish Quarter would soon be lost. On May 26, 1948, the Jordanian Arab Legion delivered an ultimatum to the Jews to surrender within 12 hours; otherwise the Hurva would be bombarded.
On May 27, el-Tell, after receiving no answer to his proposition, told his men to "Get the Hurva Synagogue by noon." Fawzi el-Kutub executed the mission by placing a 200-litre barrel filled with explosives against the synagogue wall. The explosion resulted in a gaping hole and Haganah fighters spent forty-five minutes fighting in vain to prevent the Legionnaires from entering. When they finally burst through, they tried to reach the top of its dome to plant an Arab flag. Three were shot by snipers, but the fourth succeeded. The Arab flag flying over the Old City skyline signaled the Legion's triumph. Photographs show that the dome of the synagogue was badly damaged during the fighting. After taking the synagogue, the Arab Legion blew up what remained. A huge explosion reduced the 84-year-old synagogue, together with the Etz Chaim Yeshiva attached to it, to rubble. The Jewish defenders of the Old City surrendered the following day.
Post-1967: Plans sought for a new design
Following the Six-Day War, plans were mooted and designs sought for a new synagogue to be built at the site, part of the overall rehabilitation of the Jewish Quarter. Many religious and political figures supported the proposal to rebuild the original synagogue "where it was, as it was" in line with the traditional religious character of the area. However, the Jewish Quarter Development Company, in charge of the restoration of the Jewish Quarter, strongly opposed it. The Israeli planners and architects involved in developing the area wanted the building to reflect their modern Western identity. Additionally, although it would have been possible to rebuild it as it was, neither the architects nor the masons felt they were sufficiently qualified in traditional masonry technology to attempt it. Moreover, most of the original carved stones and surviving decorative elements had been removed, making a true "reconstruction" unrealisable. Swayed by the creativity of contemporary architecture and contrary to the 19th century design, which was meant to blend in with the Oriental landscape, they supported the modern redesign of the Hurva by a prominent architect.
Kahn plans
Leading the campaign to rebuild the Hurva was Shlomo Zalman Tzoref's great-great-grandson, Ya'acov Salomon. He consulted Ram Karmi, who in turn recommended Louis Kahn, a world-renowned architect who was also a founding member of the Jerusalem Committee. Kahn had also previously designed Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel Synagogue in 1961 which remained unbuilt. Between 1968 and 1973, Kahn presented three plans for the reconstruction. The ruins were incorporated in a memorial garden, with a new structure on an adjacent lot and a promenade, the "Route of the Prophets", leading to the Western Wall.
Kahn proposed a structure within a structure, monumental "pylons of Jerusalem stone on each side enclosing four huge central pillars of reinforced concrete, so that the pylons function[ed] as a container and the pillars as its content". Following the Beaux-Arts tradition, the elements of architecture were conceived as hollow, thus creating pocketing spaces within both structures. The outer structure was composed of 16 piers covered in golden Jerusalem stone cut in blocks of the same proportions and same course finish as those of the Western Wall. In the bases of the four corners of the two-story, high structure delineated by the piers, there would be small alcoves for meditation or individual prayer. Such alcoves would be used for daily prayer services, allowing larger crowds on Sabbath or festivals. Boston-based Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, who had built extensively in Jerusalem and trained with Kahn in Philadelphia, was also in favour of rebuilding using contemporary design: "It's absurd to reconstruct the Hurva as if nothing had happened. If we have the desire to rebuild it, let's have the courage to have a great architect do it."
When Teddy Kollek, then mayor of Jerusalem, had learned of Kahn's plans to design the Hurva at a scale comparable to the Dome of the Rock and the Kotel, the mayor was unsupportive and stated: "Should we in the Jewish Quarter have a building of major importance which 'competes' with the Mosque and the Holy Sepulcher and should we in general have any building which would compete in importance with the Western Wall of the Temple?" Kollek was also concerned with the impact such a monumental temple may have in the Old City. Kahn's model was displayed in the Israel Museum, but his plan was shelved when he died in 1974. Kent Larson later referred to Kahn's proposal as "the greatest of the unbuilt".
Commemorative arch and subsequent proposals
As no permanent solution could be agreed upon, a temporary, symbolic solution was created. In 1977, one of the four stone arches that had originally supported the synagogue's monumental dome was recreated. The height of the original building, including the dome, had been 50% greater than that of the new commemorative arch, which stood high. Together with the remains of the building and explanatory plaques, it was a stark reminder of what had once stood at the site. In 1996, the Hurva rebuilt arch was compared with the ecclesiastical allegory known as Synagoga, a medieval personification of the "Synagogue", with attributes suggesting her ruined condition.
With the ongoing disputes over the modern façade of the proposed new building, which some felt did not properly match the Jewish Quarter's aesthetic, an Englishman named Charles Clore took the initiative to fund a new design projects. He commissioned Denys Lasdun, who drew up plans between 1978 and 1981 that more closely adhered to the original Hurva. His plans were still considered insufficient, as they were rejected by Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the Minister of Interior, who refused to sign papers enabling construction to begin. No further progress was made and when Clore, who had wished to see the synagogue completed in his lifetime, died, his daughter provided funds to create one of the few open spaces in the Jewish Quarter adjacent to the Hurva.
The Hurva featured on a NIS 3.60 Israeli postage stamp in 1993 to commemorate 45 years of Israeli independence, and its arch on a $1.20 Antiguan postage stamp in 1996. However, in 1996, the supposedly temporary arch of the Hurva was almost thirty years old and, as a solution, it became nearly perpetual. Such condition was then publicly noted and interpreted:
This suggested that the single reconstructed arch of the Hurva could no longer be understood as a satisfactory expression of any commitment to rebuild the lost synagogue nor as an acceptable official response to its intentional destruction in 1948.
Reconstruction (2005–2010)
The plan to rebuild the synagogue in its original 19th-century style received approval by the Israeli government in 2000. Jerusalem architect Nahum Meltzer, who proposed rebuilding the synagogue in its original Ottoman format, was given the commission. Meltzer stated that "both out of respect for the historical memory of the Jewish people and out of respect for the built-up area of the Old City, it is fitting for us to restore the lost glory and rebuild the Hurva Synagogue the way it was." The state-funded Jewish Quarter Development Corporation under the leadership of Dov Kalmanovich convinced the Israeli government to allocate $6.2 million (NIS 24m), about 85% of the cost, for the reconstruction, with private donors contributing the remainder. In the end, the government only gave NIS 11m, with the remainder being donated by a Ukrainian Jewish businessman and politician, Vadim Rabinovitch.
In 2002 the Israeli mint issued a set of medals featuring the synagogue to mark the beginning of the reconstruction project. Following comprehensive historic research, the reconstruction works began in 2005 and on February 15, 2007, Simcha HaKohen Kook of Rehovot was appointed as its rabbi, a move confirmed by leading rabbis, including Yosef Shalom Eliashiv. On April 15, 2008 a celebration marked the placing of the keystone in the synagogue's dome.
Contention arose over what kind of institution the Hurva would be. Secularist and nationalist-religious activists opposed the notion of another synagogue in the Old City and wanted the site to become a museum presenting the historical saga of the Jewish Quarter and displaying archaeological finds unearthed there. They viewed the appointment of Kook as the rabbi while the structure was still a shell as a move aimed at preventing a Modern Orthodox rabbi, who would have been more amenable to a broader utilisation of the site, from getting the position. Rabbi of the Jewish Quarter, Avigdor Nebenzahl, has been clear that he wants the building to serve as a synagogue and a house of study.
Rededication and response
The reconstructed Hurva was officially opened on March 15, 2010 in the presence of Israeli politicians and chief rabbis. A day earlier, hundreds of people had accompanied a new Torah scroll into the synagogue. Several Palestinian leaders claimed that the rededication signaled Israel's intent to destroy the Muslim holy places on the Temple Mount and replace it with the Third Temple. Fatah official Khatem Abd el-Khader called the renovation of the Hurva a "provocation", warned Israel that it was "playing with fire" and called on Palestinians to "converge on Al-Aksa to save it". Khaled Mashal of Hamas described the synagogue's opening as "a declaration of war" and called it a "falsification of history and Jerusalem's religious and historic monuments". Fearing riots by Arab protestors, over 3,000 policemen were deployed ahead of the dedication ceremony. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference said that the reopening risked "dragging the region into a religious war" and claimed the building was historically on a waqf (Islamic trust) land. The Jordanian government also condemned the move stating that it "categorically rejects the rededication of Hurva synagogue and all other unilateral Israeli measures in occupied East Jerusalem because they run counter to international legitimacy". Iran's Foreign Ministry urged the international community to respond to the reopening calling the move a "catastrophe that has distressed the Islamic world". Israeli officials countered that Arab fears of a takeover of the Temple Mount were based on rumors and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended a message of coexistence. The U.S. State Department criticised Palestinians for stoking tensions at the rededication of the historic synagogue. The day after, Arabs clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem after Palestinian groups called for a "day of rage" over the reopening.
In September 2010, Hamas released a propaganda video showing various Israeli landmarks, including the Hurva synagogue, ablaze after coming under missile attack. The images were the result of special effects, as no such attacks had taken place.
Cultural depictions
The Hurva Synagogue, as an emblem of Jerusalem and its Jewish heritage, has been portrayed over the years in numerous paintings, and referred to in literature and culture. The synagogue was portrayed, for example, in works by artists Yossef Gaiger, Jonathan Kis-Lev, and in the works of Holocaust survivor, artist Motke Blum. For decades, the synagogue's arch has been the emblem of the Jewish quarter in the works of artists portraying the old city.
Computer graphic reconstructions of Louis Kahn's unbuilt project were made by Kent Larson (MIT, early 1990s), and further developed in terms of animation by Francesco Cerbella & Federico Caponi (University of Florence, November 2013).
Gallery
References
Bibliography
Books
Akerman, Luis Mariano. "The Evocative Character of Louis I. Kahn's Hurva Synagogue Project, 1967–1974" (1996), in: The Real and Ideal Jerusalem in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Art, ed. Bianca Kühnel, CFJA, 1997–98, pp. 245–53, ilus.
Ben-Arieh, Yehoshua. Jerusalem in the Nineteenth Century, The Old City, St. Martin's Press, 1985.
Benveniśtî, Mêrôn. Son of the cypresses: memories, reflections, and regrets from a political life, University of California Press, 2007.
Blumberg, Arnold & Finn, James and Elizabeth Anne. A View from Jerusalem, 1849–1858, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1981.
Brinker, Dov Nathan (1947 - Elul), The Jerusalem Almanac for the year 1948 (), p. 89 (in Hebrew) ()
Collins, Larry & Lapierre, Dominique. O Jerusalem!, Pan Books, 1973.
Finn, James. Stirring Times, Adamant Media Corporation, 2004; [C. Kegan Paul & Co., London, 1878].
Gilbert, Martin. Jerusalem, Rebirth of a City, Chatto & Windus, 1985.
Gilbert, Martin. Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century, Chatto & Windus, 1996.
Gordon, Benjamin Lee. New Judea: Jewish life in modern Palestine and Egypt, Ayer Publishing, 1977; [J. H. Greenstone, 1919].
Halper, Jeff. , Westview Press, 1991.
Horovitz, Ahron. Jerusalem, Footsteps Through Time, Feldheim, 2000.
Kroyanker, David. Jerusalem Architecture, Tauris Parke Books, 1994.
Maoz, Moshe. Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman period, Magnes Press, 1975.
Millgram, Abraham Ezra. Jerusalem Curiosities, Jewish Publication Society, 1990.
Morgenstern, Arie. Hastening Redemption, Oxford University Press, 2006.
Rabinovich, Itamar & Reinharz, Jehuda. Israel in the Middle East, UPNE, 2008.
Ricca, Simone. Reinventing Jerusalem, I.B. Tauris, 2007.
Rossoff, Dovid. Where Heaven Touches Earth, Guardian Press, 1998.
Safdie, Moshe. Jerusalem: The Future of the Past, Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
Shulman, Yaakov Dovid. Pathway to Jerusalem: The Travel Letters of Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura, CIS Publishers, 1992.
Shteiner, Pu'ah. Forever My Jerusalem Feldheim, 1997.
Wasserstein, Bernard. Divided Jerusalem, Yale University Press, 2008.
Vale, Lawrence J. & Campanella, Thomas J. The resilient city: how modern cities recover from disaster, Oxford University Press US, 2005.
Newspapers, magazines, and the media
Akerman, Luis Mariano. "La Sinagoga Hurva en el proyecto de Louis Kahn" (1996), Ideas en Arquitectura, ed. Alfonso Corona Martínez, Vol. 1, No. 1, Buenos Aires: Fundación Universidad de Begrano, March 1997, pp. 6–9, ilus.
Balint, Benjamin. "In the Holy Land: A Rebuilding for the Generations", The Wall Street Journal, March 10, 2010. Accessed May 21, 2014
Green, David. "Rising from the Ruin?", The Jerusalem Report, December 12, 1996, pp. 40–41.
Green, David. "From the ruins: A master architect's attempt to rebuild on sacred ground", The Boston Globe, February 29, 2004. Accessed July 25, 2007
Hasson, Nir. "If the Vilna Gaon was right, the 3rd Temple is on its way", Haaretz, November 30, 2009. Accessed March 10, 2010
"The Hurva returns to life", Chadrei Charedim, February 20, 2007. Accessed March 11, 2010.
Kempinski, Yoni. "First Visit to the Rebuilt Hurva Synagogue", Arutz Sheva, August 3, 2010. Accessed May 21, 2014
Lefkovits, Etgar. , Jerusalem Post, March 28, 2008. Accessed October 25, 2008
Lis, Jonathan. "Ruined synagogue to get new arch", Haaretz, April 15, 2008. Accessed October 25, 2008
Rigler, Sara Yoheved. "Destroying Synagogues Again", Aish.com, September 13, 2005. Accessed November 2, 2008
Rosenfeld, Gavriel. "A New Ruin Rising: The Hurva Synagogue's Latest Incarnation", The Forward, November 9, 2007, p. B1. Accessed May 21, 2014
Rossoff, Dovid. "The Churva Synagogue", Jewish Magazine, December 1997. Accessed October 25, 2008
Shragai, Nadav. "Out of the ruins", Haaretz, December 20, 2005. Accessed January 8, 2007
Shragai, Nadav. "Byzantine arch found at site of renovated Jerusalem synagogue", Haaretz, November 28, 2006. Accessed July 25, 2007
Shragai, Nadav. "The first official victim of terror", Haaretz, May 5, 2008. Accessed August 11, 2008
External links
The Hurva Synagogue – Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter
The Hurva Synagogue – Survey of the building's interior – Israel Antiquities Authority
, including design and site documentation drawings by Louis Kahn
Computerized graphic reconstruction of Kahn's first proposal (1967–68), by Cerbella & Caponi, Florence, 2013
Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Jerusalem
Ashkenazi synagogues
Synagogues in Jerusalem
Byzantine Revival synagogues
Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem)
Synagogues completed in 1856
18th century in Jerusalem
18th-century synagogues
Synagogues completed in 2010
Rebuilt synagogues
1856 establishments in Ottoman Syria
18th-century establishments in Ottoman Syria
18th-century disestablishments in Ottoman Syria
Synagogue buildings with domes
Buildings and structures demolished in 1948
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music%20history%20of%20the%20United%20States%20in%20the%201950s
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Music history of the United States in the 1950s
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Many musical styles flourished and combined in the 1940s and 1950s, most likely because of the influence the radio had in creating a mass market for music. World War II caused great social upheaval, and the music of this period shows the effects of that upheaval.
Classic pop
Popular music, or "classic pop," dominated the charts for the first half of the 1950s. Vocal-driven classic pop replaced Big Band/Swing at the end of World War II, although it often used orchestras to back the vocalists. 1940s style Crooners vied with a new generation of big voiced singers, many drawing on Italian bel canto traditions. Mitch Miller, A&R man at the era's most successful label, Columbia Records, set the tone for the development of popular music well into the middle of decade. Miller integrated country, Western, rhythm & blues, and folk music into the musical mainstream, by having many of his label's biggest artists record them in a style that corresponded to Pop traditions. Miller often employed novel and ear-catching arrangements featuring classical instruments (whooping french horns, harpsichord), or sound effects (whip cracks). He approached each record as a miniature story, often "casting" the vocalist according to type.
(Mitch) Miller and the producers who followed his model were creating a new sort of pop record. Instead of capturing the sound of live groups, they were making three-minute musicals, matching singers to songs in the same way that movie producers matched stars to film roles. As Miller told 'Time' magazine in 1951, 'Every singer has certain sounds he makes better than others. Frankie Laine is sweat and hard words - he's a guy beating the pillow, a purveyor of basic emotions. Guy Mitchell is better with happy-go-lucky songs; he's a virile young singer, gives people a vicarious lift. Rosemary Clooney is a barrelhouse dame, a hillbilly at heart.' It was a way of thinking perfectly suited to the new market in which vocalists were creating unique identities and hit songs were performed as television skits.
Whereas Big Band/Swing music placed the primary emphasis on the orchestration, post-war/early 1950s era Pop focused on the song's story and/or the emotion being expressed. By the early 1950s, emotional delivery had reached its apex in the miniature psycho-drama songs of writer-singer Johnnie Ray. Known as 'The Cry Guy' and 'The Prince of Wails,' Ray's on-stage emotion wrought 'breakdowns' provided a release for the pent-up angst of his predominantly teenaged fans. As Ray described it, "I make them feel, I exhaust them, I destroy them.' It was during this period that the fan hysteria, which began with Frank Sinatra during the Second World War, really began to take hold.
Although often ignored by musical historians, Pop music played a significant role in the development of Rock 'n' Roll as well:
[Mitch] Miller also conceived of the idea of the pop record 'sound' per se: not so much an arrangement or a tune, but an aural texture (usually replete with extramusical gimmicks) that could be created in the studio and then replicated in live performance, instead of the other way around. Miller was hardly a rock 'n' roller, yet without these ideas there could never have been rock 'n' roll. 'Mule Train', Miller's first major hit (for Frankie Laine) and the foundation of his career, set the pattern for virtually the entire first decade of rock. The similarities between it and, say, 'Leader of the Pack,' need hardly be outlined here.
Patti Page kicked things off with what would become the decade's biggest hit, "Tennessee Waltz." Her other hits from this period included: "Mister and Mississippi," "Mockin' Bird Hill," "Detour," "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window," and "Old Cape Cod." Frankie Laine's 1949 hits, "That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)" and "Mule Train," were still riding high on the charts when the decade began. He continued to score with such hits as: "Georgia On My Mind," "Cry of the Wild Goose," "Jezebel," "Rose, Rose, I Love You," "Jealousy (Jalousie)," "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)," "I Believe," "Granada," "Moonlight Gambler," and "Rawhide." Johnnie Ray had a long run of hits in the early half of the decade, often backed by The Four Lads, including: "Cry," "The Little White Cloud That Cried," "Walking My Baby Back Home," "Please, Mr. Sun," and "Just Walkin' in the Rain." The Four Lads racked up some hits on their own with "Who Needs You," "No, Not Much," "Standin' on the Corner," and "Moments to Remember." Nat "King" Cole dominated the charts throughout the decade with such timeless classics as "Unforgettable," "Mona Lisa," "Too Young," "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup," "Pretend," "Smile," and "A Blossom Fell." Perry Como was another frequent visitor to the charts with hits like: "If," "Round and Round," "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," "Tina Marie," "Papa Loves Mambo," and "Catch a Falling Star."
Other major stars in the early 1950s included Frank Sinatra ("Young at Heart," "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Witchcraft"), Tony Bennett ("Cold, Cold Heart," "Because of You," "Rags to Riches"), Kay Starr ("Bonaparte's Retreat," "Wheel of Fortune," "Rock and Roll Waltz"), Rosemary Clooney ("Come On-a My House," "Mambo Italiano," "Half as Much," "This Ole House"), Dean Martin ("That's Amore," "Return to Me," "Sway"), Georgia Gibbs ("Kiss of Fire," "Dance With Me, Henry," "Tweedle Dee"), Eddie Fisher ("Anytime," "Wish You Were Here," "Thinking of You," "I'm Walking Behind You," "Oh! My Pa-Pa," "Fanny"), Teresa Brewer ("Music! Music! Music!," "Till I Waltz Again With You," "Ricochet(Rick-O-Shay)"), Doris Day ("Secret Love," "Whatever Will Be Will Be (Que Sera Sera)," "Teacher's Pet"), Guy Mitchell ("My Heart Cries for You," "The Roving Kind," "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania," "Singing the Blues"), Bing Crosby ("Play a Simple Melody with son Gary Crosby, "True Love with Grace Kelly), Dinah Shore ("Lavender Blue"), Kitty Kallen ("Little Things Mean a Lot"), Joni James ("Have You Heard," "Wishing Ring," "Your Cheatin' Heart"), Peggy Lee ("Lover," "Fever"), Julie London ("Cry Me a River"), Toni Arden ("Padre"), June Valli ("Why Don't You Believe Me"), Arthur Godfrey ("Slowpoke"), Tennessee Ernie Ford ("Sixteen Tons"), Les Paul and Mary Ford ("Vaya Con Dios," "Tiger Rag"), and vocal groups like The Mills Brothers ("Glow Worm"), The Weavers "(Goodnight Irene"), The Four Aces ("Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", "(It's No) Sin"), The Chordettes ("Mister Sandman"), Fontane Sisters ("Hearts of Stone"), The Hilltoppers ("Trying," "P.S. I Love You"), The McGuire Sisters ("Sincerely," "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite," "Sugartime") and The Ames Brothers ("Ragmop", "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane").
Classic pop declined in popularity as rock and roll entered the mainstream and became a major force in American record sales. Crooners such as Eddie Fisher, Perry Como, and Patti Page, who had dominated the first half of the decade, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed by the decade's end. However, new Pop vocalists continued to rise to prominence throughout the decade, many of whom started out singing Rock 'n' Roll. These include: Pat Boone ("Don't Forbid Me," "April Love," "Love Letters in the Sand"), Connie Francis ("Who's Sorry Now," "Among My Souvenirs," "My Happiness"), Gogi Grant ("Suddenly There's a Valley," "The Wayward Wind"), Bobby Darin ("Dream Lover," "Beyond the Sea," "Mack the Knife"), and Andy Williams ("Canadian Sunset," "Butterfly," "Hawaiian Wedding Song"). Even Rock 'n' Roll icon Elvis Presley spent the rest of his career alternating between Pop and Rock ("Love Me Tender," "Loving You," "I Love You Because"). Pop would resurface on the charts in the mid-1960s as "Adult Contemporary."
Rock and roll
Rock and roll dominated popular music in the latter half of the 1950s. The musical style originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and quickly spread to much of the rest of the world. Its immediate origins lay in a mixing together of various black musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music; with country and western and Pop. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience, and is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music, though the terms "rocking" and "rolling" were being used in boogie-woogie and religious music for decades before that.
The 1950s saw the growth in popularity of the electric guitar (developed and popularized by Les Paul). Paul's hit records like "How High the Moon," and "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," helped lead to the development of a specifically rock and roll style of playing of such exponents as Chuck Berry, Link Wray, and Scotty Moore. Chuck Berry, who is considered to be one of the pioneers of Rock and roll music, refined and developed the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, focusing on teen life and introducing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music.
Artists such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Big Joe Turner, and Gene Vincent released the initial rhythm and blues-influenced early rock and roll hits. Rock and roll forerunners in the popular music field included Johnnie Ray, The Crew-Cuts, The Fontane Sisters, and Les Paul and Mary Ford. The Rock and Roll Era is generally dated from the March 25, 1955 premiere of the motion picture, "The Blackboard Jungle." This film's use of Bill Haley and His Comets' "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" over its opening credits, caused a national sensation when teenagers started dancing in the aisles.
Pat Boone became the first rock and roll teen idol in 1955 with heavily Pop-influenced "covers" of R&B hits like "Two Hearts, Two Kisses (Make One Love)," "Ain't That a Shame", and "At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)." Boone's traditional approach to rock and roll, coupled with his All-American, clean-cut image helped bring the new sound to a much wider audience. Elvis Presley, who began his career in the mid-1950s, soon became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances, motion pictures, and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs, many from African American sources, and his uninhibited performance style made him enormously popular—and controversial during that period. Boone and Presley's styles/images represented opposite ends of the burgeoning musical form, which competed with one another throughout the remainder of the decade.
In 1957, a popular television show featuring rock and roll performers, American Bandstand, went national. Hosted by Dick Clark, the program helped to popularize the more clean-cut, All-American brand of rock and roll. By the end of the decade, teen idols like Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Frankie Avalon, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Rydell, Connie Francis, and Fabian Forte were topping the charts. Some commentators have perceived this as the decline of rock and roll; citing the deaths of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a tragic plane crash in 1959 and the departure of Elvis for the army as causes.
On the other side of the spectrum, R&B-influenced acts like The Crows, The Penguins, The El Dorados and The Turbans all scored major hits, and groups like The Platters, with songs including "The Great Pretender" (1955), and The Coasters with humorous songs like "Yakety Yak" (1958), ranked among the most successful rock and roll acts of the period.
Rock and roll has also been seen as leading to a number of distinct subgenres, including rockabilly (see below) in the 1950s, combining rock and roll with "hillbilly" country music, which was usually played and recorded in the mid-1950s by white singers such as Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and with the greatest commercial success, Elvis Presley. Another subgenre, Doo Wop, entered the pop charts in the 1950s . Its popularity soon spawns the parody "Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)."
Novelty songs, long a music industry staple, continued their popularity in the Rock and Roll medium with hits such as "Beep Beep."
Bluegrass
In the late 1930s, Bill Monroe formed the Blue Grass Boys (named after his native state of Kentucky, the blue grass state) and combined diverse influences into Appalachian folk music. These include Scottish, Poland and Southeastern Europe and folk, as well as doo wop, country and gospel. Monroe became the father of bluegrass music, and his band was a training ground for most of bluegrass' future stars, especially Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Flatt and Scruggs popularized bluegrass as part of the Foggy Mountain Boys, which they formed in 1948. Though bluegrass has never quite achieved mainstream status, it did become well known through its use in several recorded plays, including the T.V. theme song for Beverly Hillbillies and the movies Bonnie and Clyde and Deliverance. In the 1950s, bluegrass artists included Stanley Brothers, Osborne Brothers and Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys.
Country music
The 1950s also saw the popular dominance of the Nashville sound in country music. Country's Nashville sound was slick and soulful, and a movement of rough honky tonk developed in a reaction against the mainstream orientation of Nashville. This movement was centered in Bakersfield, California with musicians like Buck Owens ("Act Naturally"), Merle Haggard ("Sing a Sad Song") and Wynn Stewart ("It's Such a Pretty World Today") helping to define the sound among the community, made up primarily of Oklahoman immigrants to California, who had fled unemployment and drought.
Folk music
The late 1940s and the early 1950s saw the beginning of popular folk music with groups like The Weavers. The Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Odetta, and several other performers were instrumental in launching the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s.
Roots revival
By the late 1950s, a revival of Appalachian folk music was taking place across the country, and bands like The Weavers were paving the way for future mainstream stars like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Bluegrass was similarly revitalized and updated by artists including Tony Rice, Clarence White, Richard Green, Bill Keith and David Grisman. The Dillards, however, were the ones to break bluegrass into mainstream markets in the early 1960s.
Gospel
Following World War II, gospel began its golden age. Artists like the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, The Swan Silvertones, Clara Ward Singers and Sensational Nightingales became stars across the country; other early artists like Sam Cooke, Dionne Warwick, Dinah Washington, Johnnie Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett began their career in gospel quartets during this period, only to achieve even greater fame in the 1960s as the pioneers of soul music, itself a secularized, R&B-influenced form of gospel. Mahalia Jackson and The Staple Singers were undoubtedly the most successful of the golden age gospel artists.
Doo wop
In addition, doo wop achieved widespread popularity in the 1950s. Doo wop was a harmonically complex style of choral singing that developed in the streets of major cities like Chicago, New York City, and, most importantly, Baltimore. Doo wop singers would work a cappella without backing instruments, and practice in hallways of their schools, apartment buildings, or alleys to achieve echo effects on their voices, and lyrics were generally innocent youthful observations on the upsides of teen love and romance. Groups like The Crows ("Gee"), The Orioles ("It's Too Soon to Know") and Brooklyn's Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers ("Why Do Fools Fall in Love") had a string of hit songs that brought the genre to chart domination by 1958 (see 1958 in music).
Latin music
Cuban mambo, cha-cha-chá and charanga bands enjoyed brief periods of popularity, and helped establish a viable Latin-American music industry, which led the way to the invention of salsa music among Cubans and Puerto Ricans in New York City in the 1970s. The 1950s also saw success for Mexican ranchera divas, while a Mexican-American mariachi scene was developing on the West Coast, and Puerto Rican plena, Brazilian bossa nova and other Latin genres became popular.
Mexican-Texans had been playing conjunto music for decades by the end of World War 2, female duos created the first popular style of Mexican-American music, norteña. Mexican romantic ballads called bolero were also popular, especially singers like the Queen of the Bolero, Chelo Silva. In the mid-1950s, when Mexican ranchera was used in Hollywood film soundtracks and the upper-class enjoyed stately orquestas Tejanas and conjunto evolved into a distinctively Mexican-American genre called Tejano. Artists of this era include Esteban Jordan, Tony de la Rosa and El Conjunto Bernal.
Cajun and Creole music
The 1940s saw a return to the roots of Cajun music, led by Iry LeJeune, Nathan Abshire and other artists, alongside musicians who incorporated rock and roll, including Laurence Walker and Aldus Roger. In the late 1940s, Clifton Chenier, a Creole, began playing an updated form of la la called zydeco. Zydeco was briefly popular among some mainstream listeners during the 1950s. Artists like Boozoo Chavis, Queen Ida, Rockin' Dopsie and Rockin' Sidney have continued to bring zydeco to national audiences in the following decades. Zydeco shows major influences from rock, and artists like Beau Jocque have combined other influences, including hip hop.
See also
1950s in music
American music during World War II
Essential American Recordings Survey
List of musicians of the 1950s
References
1950
U.S. 1950
1940s in American music
1950s in American music
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Music history of the United States in the 1970s
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Popular music of the United States in the 1970s saw various forms of pop music dominating the charts. Often characterized as being shallow, 1970s pop took many forms and could be seen as a reaction against the high-energy and activist pop of the previous decade. It began with singer-songwriters like Carole King and Carly Simon topping the charts, while New York City saw a period of great innovation; hip hop, punk rock and salsa were invented in 1970s New York, which was also a center for electronic music, techno.
By the middle of the decade, various trends were vying for popular success. Sly & the Family Stone's pop-funk had spawned singers like Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, alongside George Clinton's spacy P Funk extravaganzas, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band led a wave of country rock bands. Pop progressive-hard rock bands like Boston, Kansas, Journey, and Styx had long-running popularity. Bruce Springsteen garnered critical acclaim during much of the decade, finally breaking through in a big way very late in the 1970s. Disco, especially The Bee Gees and Donna Summer, were dominating the charts the last few years of the decade, while punk rock and other genres were developing underground.
Rock
Hard rock, arena rock and heavy metal
The 1970s saw the emergence of hard rock as one of the most prominent subgenres of rock music. Bands like Alice Cooper and Deep Purple were highly popular by 1972. The guitar sounds became heavier and the riffs faster. By the second half of the decade, several bands had achieved star status, namely, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith and Kiss.
Arena rock grew in popularity through progressive bands like Styx ("Come Sail Away"), and hard rock bands like Boston ("More Than a Feeling").
Heavy metal music (though not recognized as a separate genre from hard rock at the time) gained a cult following in the 1970s, led by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, with their styles later influencing other bands like Judas Priest and Motörhead, which eventually started the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the 1980s.
Psychedelic rock declined in popularity after the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison and the breakup of The Beatles.
Soft rock and singer-songwriter
Soft rock was prominently featured on many Top 40 and contemporary hit radio stations throughout the 1970s. Soft rock often used acoustic instruments and placed emphasis on melody and harmonies. Major soft rock artists of the 1970s included Carole King, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Chicago, America and Fleetwood Mac, whose Rumours (1977) was the best selling album of the decade. (See the country music section of this article for more about country music that crossed over onto the pop charts.) Bob Dylan's 1975–1976 Rolling Thunder Revue reunited him with a number of folk-rock acts from his early days of performing, most notably Joan Baez.
A large number of country-pop and soft rock songs fit into the singer-songwriter classification – that is, songs written and recorded by the same person. Some of the most successful singer-songwriter artists were Jackson Browne, Eric Carmen, Jim Croce, John Denver, Steve Goodman, Arlo Guthrie, Joel, Dave Mason, Don McLean, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Taylor and Neil Young. Some artists – including King, Kris Kristofferson and Gordon Lightfoot — had previously been primarily songwriters but began releasing albums and songs of their own. King's album Tapestry became one of the top-selling albums of the decade, and the song "It's Too Late" became one of the 1970s biggest songs. McLean's 1971 song "American Pie," inspired by the death of Buddy Holly, became one of popular music's most-recognized songs of the 20th century, thanks to its abstract and vivid storytelling, which center around "The Day the Music Died" and popular music of the rock era.
The early 1970s marked the departure of Diana Ross from The Supremes and the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel. Ross, Simon and Art Garfunkel all continued hugely successful recording careers throughout the decade and beyond. Several of their songs are listed among the biggest hits of the 1970s: Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Simon's solo hit "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," and Ross' "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
Country rock and Southern rock
Country rock, formed from the fusion of rock music with country music, gained its greatest commercial success in the 1970s, beginning with non-country artists such as Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons and The Byrds. By the mid-1970s, Linda Ronstadt, along with other newer artists such as Emmylou Harris and The Eagles, were enjoying mainstream success and popularity that continues to this day. The Eagles themselves emerged as one of the most successful rock acts of all time, producing albums that included Hotel California (1976).
During the 1970s, a similar style of country rock called Southern rock (fusing rock, country and blues music, and focusing on electric guitars and vocals) was enjoying popularity with country audiences, thanks to such non-country acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section and The Marshall Tucker Band.
Progressive rock
The American brand of prog rock varied from the eclectic and innovative Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and Pavlov's Dog to more pop arena rock bands like Boston, Kansas, Journey, TOTO and Styx. These, beside British bands Jethro Tull, Supertramp and Electric Light Orchestra, all demonstrated a prog rock influence and while ranking among the most commercially successful acts of the 1970s, issuing in the era of pomp or arena rock, which would last until the costs of complex shows (often with theatrical staging and special effects), would be replaced by more economical rock festivals as major live venues in the 1990s.
New Wave
Many American bands in the late seventies began experimenting with synthesizers, forming the new wave style. The original American bands included Talking Heads, The Cars, and Devo. In the eighties, Britain would respond with the synthpop style, which broadened the definition of "new wave".
Power pop
Combining elements of punk rock and pop music, bands such as The Romantics, The Knack, and Cheap Trick created the "power pop" sound. Also seeing mild success is Loverboy.
Blues rock
Blues rock remains popular, with Johnnie Winter, ZZ Top, and George Thorogood and Eric Clapton(UK), seeing the greatest success.
Disco
For many people, disco is the genre of music most readily associated with the 1970s. First appearing in dance clubs by the middle of the decade, (with such hits as "The Hustle" by Van McCoy), artist like Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor popularized the genre and were described in subsequent decades as the "disco divas." The movie Saturday Night Fever was released in December 1977, starring John Travolta and featuring the music of the Bee Gees and several other artists. It had the effect of setting off disco mania in the United States. the Bee Gees' soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever became the one best selling album of all time. The Bee Gees and Donna Summer became the genres mega stars. The Bee Gees had 9 number 1 singles, and 12 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Donna Summer had 4 number 1 singles, and 8 top 5 hits, 9 top 10s during the second half of the decade. Summer would be the first female artist of the modern era, to have the number one single and number album, simultaneously on the pop charts. She would accomplish this 3 times in 8 months. She was the first female artist to have 3 number one singles, and 5 top 10, and or; 5 top 5 singles in a calendar year (1979). The other prominent acts of the genre were KC and the Sunshine Band who scored 4 number one singles, The Village People, and Chic. KC and the Sunshine Band would enter the first week of the new decade (1980s) with their fifth number one single, and Donna Summer would enter the new decade with her third number one double album.
The genre started to become increasingly commercialized, and the large number of disco songs flooding the radio airwaves in 1978–1979 resulted in a growing backlash against it, as epitomized by the "Disco Demolition Night" stunt by a Chicago disc jockey at a July 1979 baseball game at Comiskey Park. The popularity of the genre waned, and 1980s, declared dead by the rock deejays of the nation, "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc was one of the last disco hits. Along with the demise of disco came the end of the orchestrations and musical instruments (such as strings) which had become associated with disco, in part because of the high cost of producing such music. Electronic and synthesized music quickly replaced the lush orchestral sounds of the 1970s and rock music resurged in popularity with new wave bands such as Blondie ("Heart of Glass"), The Knack ("My Sharona") and Devo ("Whip It"), all who formed their bands in the 1970s. Many artists such as The Bee Gees, who came to be associated with disco, found it difficult to get airplay on the radio.
R&B and urban
Along with disco, funk was one of the most popular genres of music in the 1970s. Primarily an African-American genre, it was characterized by the heavy use of bass and "wah-wah" pedals. Rhythm was emphasized over melody. Artists such as James Brown, The Meters, Parliament-Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone pioneered the genre. It then spawned artists such as Stevie Wonder, The Brothers Johnson, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bootsy's Rubber Band, King Floyd, Tower of Power, Ohio Players, The Commodores, War, Kool & the Gang, Confunkshun, Slave, Cameo, the Bar-Kays, Zapp, and many more.
The Jackson 5 became one of the biggest pop-music phenomena of the 1970s, playing from a repertoire of rhythm and blues, soul, pop and later disco. The Jacksons include Jermaine and Michael, the first act in recording history to have their first four major label singles: "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There" reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The band served as the launching pad for the solo careers of their lead singers Jermaine and Michael, and while Jermaine had some success, it was Michael who would transform his early fame into greater success as an adult artist, with songs such as "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You."
First album of The Commodores were funk song only, but later, they played pop songs. Lionel Richie changed his sound and got success as a solo singer. His group's era he had big hits, including "Easy," "Three Times a Lady" and "Still."
Pop
Some of the notable pop groups during the 1970s were the Carpenters, the Jackson 5, Chicago, ABBA, the Bee Gees, Electric Light Orchestra, the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac.
Male soloists who characterized the pop music of the era included Barry Manilow, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Stevie Wonder and Rod Stewart. Female soloists who epitomized the 1970s included Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton-John, Diana Ross, and Helen Reddy.
Country
A number of styles defined country music during the 1970s decade. At the beginning of the decade, the countrypolitan — an offshoot of the earlier "Nashville Sound" of the late 1950s and early 1960s – and the honky-tonk fused Bakersfield Sound were some of the more popular styles.
The countrypolitan sound – a polished, streamlined sound featuring string sections, background vocals and crooning lead vocalists – was popularized by artists including Lynn Anderson, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, Dottie West, Tammy Wynette and others, achieving their successes through such songs as "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden", "Snowbird" and others. The Bakersfield sound, first popularized in the early 1960s, continued its peak in popularity through artists such as Buck Owens and Merle Haggard.
But other styles began to emerge during the 1970s. One of the more successful styles was "outlaw country", a type of music blending the traditional and honky tonk sounds of country music with rock and blues music, and mixed with the anger of an alienated subculture of the nation during the period. The leaders of the movement were Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, although others associated with the movement were David Allan Coe, Jessi Colter, Tompall Glaser, Gary Stewart and Billy Joe Shaver. The efforts of Jennings, Nelson Colter and Glaser were encapsulated in the 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws.
The country pop sound was a successor to the countrypolitan sound of the early 1970s. In addition to artists such as Murray and Campbell, several artists who were not initially marketed as country were enjoying crossover success with country audiences through radio airplay and sales. The most successful of these artists included The Bellamy Brothers, Charlie Rich, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, Marie Osmond, Starland Vocal Band, B. J. Thomas and Kenny Rogers. Newton-John, an Australian pop singer, was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association, sparking a debate that continues to this day – what is country music? A group of traditional-minded artists, troubled by this trend, formed the short-lived Association of Country Entertainers, in an attempt to bring back traditional honky-tonk sounds to the forefront. The debate continued into 1975, a year where six songs reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts. Things came to a head when, at that year's CMA Awards, Rich – the reigning Entertainer of the Year, and himself a crossover artist – presented the award to his successor, "my good friend, Mr. John Denver." His statement, taken as sarcasm, and his setting fire to the envelope (containing Denver's name) with a cigarette lighter were taken as a protest against the increasing pop style in country music.
By the later half of the 1970s, Dolly Parton, a highly successful traditional-minded country artist since the late 1960s, mounted a high-profile campaign to crossover to pop music, culminating in her 1977 hit "Here You Come Again," which peaked at No. 1 country and No. 3 pop. Rogers, the former lead singer of The First Edition, followed up a successful career in pop, rock and folk music by switching to country music. Like Parton, he enjoyed a long series of successful songs that charted on both the Hot Country Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts; the first of the lot was "Lucille," a No. 1 country and No. 5 pop hit. Crystal Gayle, Ronnie Milsap, Eddie Rabbitt and Linda Ronstadt were some of the other artists who also found success on both the country and pop charts with their records as well.
The 1970s continued a trend toward a proliferation of No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. In 1970, there were 23 songs that reached the top spot on the chart, but by the mid-1970s, more than 40 titles rotated in and out of the top spot for the first time in history. The trend temporarily reversed itself by the late 1970s, when about 30 to 35 songs reached the pinnacle position of the chart annually.
Other developments
In the second half of the decade, a 1950s nostalgia movement prompted the Rockabilly Revival fad. The Stray Cats led the revival into the early 1980s. Billy Joel provided "Piano Man" and "Only The Good Die Young". Also symbolizing this trend was the hit movie Grease in 1978, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
Tying in with the nostalgia craze, several stars of the late 1950s and early 1960s successfully revived their careers during the early- to mid-1970s after several years of inactivity. The most successful of these were Ricky Nelson ("Garden Party", 1972), Neil Sedaka ("Laughter in the Rain" and "Bad Blood", both 1975), and Frankie Valli as both a solo artist (1975's "My Eyes Adored You") and with The Four Seasons (1976's "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"). In addition, Perry Como—one of the most successful pre-rock era artists—enjoyed continued success, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale (as most of his fans were adults who grew up during the 1940s and early 1950s, and not the rock record-buying youth); his most successful hits of the decade were "It's Impossible" (1970) and the Don McLean song "And I Love Her So" (1973).
Two of popular music's most successful artists died within six weeks of each other in 1977: Elvis Presley (on August 16) and Bing Crosby (on October 14). Presley—whose top 1970s hit was "Burning Love" in 1972— ranked among the top artists of the rock era, while Crosby was among the most successful pre-rock era artists.
The early seventies also marked the deaths of rock legends Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix as well as the plane crash in 1977 in which three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed.
See also
Music history of the United States in the 1950s
Music history of the United States in the 1960s
Music history of the United States in the 1980s
Music history of the United States in the 1990s
References
1960
1970s in American music
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Music history of the United States in the 1980s
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Popular music of the United States in the 1980s saw heavy metal, country music, Top40 hits, hip hop, MTV, CMJ, and new wave
as mainstream. Punk rock and hardcore punk was popular on CMJ. With the demise of punk rock, a new generation of punk-influenced genres arose, including Gothic rock, post-punk, alternative rock, emo and thrash metal. Hip hop underwent its first diversification, with Miami bass, Chicago hip house, Washington, D.C. go-go, Detroit ghettotech, Los Angeles G-funk and the "golden age of old school hip hop" in New York City. House music developed in Chicago, techno music developed in Detroit which also saw the flowering of the Detroit Sound in gospel. This helped inspire the greatest crossover success of Christian Contemporary Music (CCM), as well as the Miami Sound of Cuban pop.
Pop
The 1980s saw the reinvention of Michael Jackson and the emergence and superstardom of Prince, Madonna and Whitney Houston. Their videos became a permanent fixture on MTV. In 1982 Michael Jackson became the first African American artist to be placed in heavy rotation on MTV, with his videos for Billie Jean, and Beat It. Donna Summer also had the first two videos She Works Hard for the Money and Unconditional Love, by an African American female artist in 1983. Michael Jackson's Thriller album from 1982 is considered to be the best-selling album of all time; it set a record and sold 20 million copies during the decade. His other album of the decade, 1987's Bad, sold 6 million, and became the first album to have 5 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Jackson scored 9 #1 singles and 16 top 10 singles on the Billboard charts. Madonna scored 7 #1 singles, and 16 top 5 singles, and 17 top 10 singles. Whitney Houston is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, from "Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), both peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and are among the best-selling albums of all time. Prince's 1984 album Purple Rain spent six consecutive months atop the Billboard 200.
By 1980, the disco production of the 1970s, largely dependent on orchestras, is replaced by a lighter synthpop production. In the second half of the 1980s teen pop has its first wave. Bands and artists include New Kids on the Block, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, New Edition, Stacey Q, The Bangles, Madonna and others.
Prominent American urban pop acts of the 1980s include Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Diana Ross.
Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Hall and Oates, Billy Joel, John Mellencamp, Bon Jovi, Prince, Kool & the Gang, the Pointer Sisters and Kenny Rogers were among the most successful artists on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US. Prince was the top charting artist with 378 weeks on the pop charts, and Billy Joel was the top selling, he sold over 35 million albums.
Many British pop bands dominated the American charts in the early 1980s. Their popularity was helped by exposure on MTV, these bands included the Human League, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Wham, Fine Young Cannibals, also George Michael as a solo artist, Rick Astley and Terence Trent D'Arby.
Canadian artist such as Bryan Adams, Anne Murray, Loverboy and Glass Tiger found chart success during the decade.
Rock
Hard rock and heavy / glam metal
Beginning in 1983 and peaking in success in 1986–1989, the decade saw the resurgence of hard rock music and the emergence of its glam metal subgenre. Bands such as Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Quiet Riot, Europe, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake, and Cinderella were among the most popular acts of the decade. The 1980s saw the emergence of wildly popular hard rock band Guns N' Roses and the successful comebacks of Aerosmith and Alice Cooper in the late 1980s. The success of hard rock act Van Halen spanned throughout the entire decade, first with singer David Lee Roth and later with Sammy Hagar. Queen, which had expanded its music to experimental and crossover genres in the early 1980s, returned to guitar-driven hard rock with The Miracle in 1989. Additionally, a few women managed to achieve stardom in the 1980s' hard rock scene: Pat Benatar and Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart, who had been around since the 1970s, is a prime example of female success in hard rock, and so are both ex-Runaways Joan Jett and Lita Ford.
The Arena rock trend of the 1970s continued in the 1980s with bands like Styx, Toto, Rush, Journey, Boston, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Van Halen, and Aerosmith which were popular into the early 1980s, with glam metal taking their place later.
Traditionally associated (and often confused) with Hard rock, heavy metal was also extremely popular throughout the decade, with Ozzy Osbourne achieving success during his solo career ; bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Dio were also widely popular North American acts. Speed metal pioneer Motörhead maintained its popularity through the releases of several albums.
Underground scenes produced an array of more extreme, aggressive Metal subgenres: thrash metal broke into the mainstream with bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth, while other styles like death metal and black metal remaining subcultural phenomena.
The decade also saw the emergence of a string of guitar virtuosi, influenced by guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen; Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen achieved international recognition for their skills. While considerably less numerous, bass guitar virtuosi also gained momentum in the 1980s : Billy Sheehan (of David Lee Roth and Mr. Big fame), Cliff Burton (of Metallica) and alternative/funk metal bassist Les Claypool (of Primus fame) became famous during that period.
Both hard rock and heavy metal were extremely popular live genres and bands toured extensively around the globe.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock and punk groups from the 1970s like Ramones and Talking Heads, as well as solo performers like Patti Smith and Tom Waits, grew their audiences significantly the early years of the 1980s. By 1984, a majority of groups signed to independent record labels were mining from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a sharp break from the futuristic, hyper rational post-punk years.
Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock was mainly an underground phenomena. While on occasion a song would become a commercial hit or albums would receive critical praise in mainstream publications like Rolling Stone, alternative rock in the 1980s was primarily relegated to independent record labels, fanzines, and college radio stations. Alternative bands built underground followings by touring constantly and regularly releasing low-budget albums. In the case of the United States, new bands would form in the wake of previous bands, which created an extensive underground circuit in America, filled with different scenes in various parts of the country. Although American alternative artists of the 1980s never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on later alternative musicians and laid the groundwork for their success.
Early American alternative bands such as R.E.M., The Feelies, and Violent Femmes combined punk influences with folk music and mainstream music influences. R.E.M. was the most immediately successful; its debut album, Murmur (1983), entered the Top 40 and spawned a number of jangle pop followers.
American indie record labels SST Records, Twin/Tone Records, Touch and Go Records, and Dischord Records presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging. Minnesota bands Hüsker Dü and The Replacements were indicative of this shift. Both started out as punk rock bands, but soon diversified their sounds and became more melodic.
By the late 1980s, the American alternative scene was dominated by styles ranging from quirky alternative pop (They Might Be Giants and Camper Van Beethoven), to noise rock (Sonic Youth, Big Black) to industrial rock (Ministry, Nine Inch Nails). These sounds were in turn followed by the advent of Boston's the Pixies and Los Angeles' Jane's Addiction.
The top mainstream American Alternative Rock bands of 1980s included Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, R.E.M., The Pixies, and Sonic Youth which were popular long before the Grunge movement of the early 1990s. Many alternative groups whose success peaked in the following decade started their careers in the 1980s, including The Flaming Lips, Nirvana, and Yo La Tengo.
Folk rock, roots rock
Rock singers and songwriters appeared including Heartland rockers such as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, and folk rockers such as Lucinda Williams, Rickie Lee Jones, Stevie Nicks and Warren Zevon. Roots rocker John Fogerty had hit "Old Man Down the Road" in 1985. Punk rock artists such as Patti Smith and Paul Westerberg(The Replacements) were popular as singers and songwriters.
In the late 1980s, new history of female U.S. folk artists was beginning with Suzanne Vega whose first album sold unexpectedly well. And Tracy Chapman, Nanci Griffith, k.d. lang and Tori Amos followed Suzanne Vega.
Other trends
Various older rock bands made a comeback, including The Beach Boys with "Kokomo", The Kinks with Come Dancing and "Do It Again", the Steve Miller Band with "Abracadabra", and Steely Dan with "Hey Nineteen". Bruce Springsteen released his blockbuster album Born In The U.S.A., while Stevie Ray Vaughan and George Thorogood sparked a revival of blues. However, Led Zeppelin disbanded after John Bonham's 1980 death. Linda Ronstadt who had been a huge contributor to the country rock & pop rock movement of the 70s, did 3 albums of American Standards, coaxing the great orchestrator Nelson Riddle out of retirement, to collaborate with.
Hardcore punk flourished throughout the early to mid-1980s, with bands leading the genre such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Suicidal Tendencies, amongst others.
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B originated in the 1980s, when musicians started adding disco-like beats, high-tech production, and elements of hip hop, soul and funk to rhythm and blues, making it more danceable and modern. The top mainstream R&B artists of 1980s included Michael Jackson, Prince, Jermaine Jackson, The Whispers, The S.O.S. Band, Stevie Wonder, Kool & the Gang, Yarbrough and Peoples, Smokey Robinson, Rick James, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Earth, Wind & Fire, Dazz Band, Evelyn King, Marvin Gaye, Mtume, DeBarge, Midnight Star, and Freddie Jackson.
In the mid-1980s, many of the recordings by artists Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson, Sade, Anita Baker, Teddy Pendergrass, Peabo Bryson and others became known as quiet storm. The term had originated with Smokey Robinson's 1975 album A Quiet Storm. Quiet storm has been described as "R&B's answer to soft rock and adult contemporary—while it was primarily intended for black audiences, quiet storm had the same understated dynamics, relaxed tempos and rhythms, and romantic sentiment."
Tina Turner made a comeback in the mid 1980s, while Donna Summer, Diana Ross and The Pointer Sisters continued to have success on the pop charts, in the first half of the decade, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Jody Watley scored hits on the pop music charts in the second half of the 80s. Richard J. Ripani wrote that Janet Jackson's third studio album Control (1986) was "important to the development of R&B for a number of reasons", as she and her producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, "crafted a new sound that fuses the rhythmic elements of funk and disco, along with heavy doses of synthesizers, percussion, sound effects, and a rap music sensibility." Ripani wrote that "the success of Control led to the incorporation of stylistic traits of rap over the next few years, and Janet Jackson was to continue to be one of the leaders in that development." That same year, Teddy Riley began producing R&B recordings that included hip hop influences. This combination of R&B style and hip hop rhythms was termed new jack swing, and was applied to artists such as Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Guy, Jodeci, and Bell Biv DeVoe.
Michael Jackson remained a prominent figure in the genre in the late 1980s, following the release of his album Bad (1987) which sold more than 6 million copies in the US in the 80s, and went on the sell 30 million worldwide. Janet Jackson's 1989 album Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 continued the development of contemporary R&B into the 1990s, as the album's title track "Rhythm Nation" made "use of elements from across the R&B spectrum, including use of a sample loop, triplet swing, rapped vocal parts and blues notes."
Hip hop
Encompassing graffiti art, break dancing, rap music, and fashion, hip-hop became the dominant cultural movement of the African American and Hispanic communities in the 1980s. The Hip hop musical genre had a strong influence on pop music in the late 1980s which still continues to the present day.
During the 1980s, the hip hop genre started embracing the creation of rhythm by using the human body, via the vocal percussion technique of beatboxing. Pioneers such as Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie and Buffy from the Fat Boys made beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using their mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and other body parts. "Human Beatbox" artists would also sing or imitate turntablism scratching or other instrument sounds.
The 1980s also saw many artists make social statements through hip hop. In 1982, Melle Mel and Duke Bootee recorded "The Message" (officially credited to Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five), a song that foreshadowed the socially conscious statements of Run-DMC's "It's like That" and Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos".
Popular Hip hop artists of the 1980s include Run D.M.C., Beastie Boys, NWA, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, Salt-n-Pepa, Big Daddy Kane, Boogie Down Productions, Whodini, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and Ice-T, among others.
Electronic music
In the 1980s, dance music records made using only electronic instruments became increasingly popular, largely influenced by the Electronic music of Kraftwerk and 1970s disco music. Such music was originally born of and popularized via regional nightclub scenes in the 1980s, and became the predominant type of music played in discothèques as well as the rave scene.
House music is a style of electronic dance music which originated in Chicago, Illinois, USA in the early 1980s. House music was strongly influenced by elements of soul- and funk-infused varieties of disco. Club play from pioneering DJs like Ron Hardy and Lil Louis, local dance music record shops, and the popular Hot Mix 5 shows on radio station WBMX-FM helped popularize house music in Chicago and among visiting DJs & producers from Detroit. Trax Records and DJ International Records, local labels with wider distribution, helped popularize house music outside of Chicago. It eventually reached Europe before becoming infused in mainstream pop & dance music worldwide during the 1990s.
It has been widely cited that the initial blueprint for Techno was developed during the mid-1980s in Detroit, Michigan, by Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May (the so-called "Belleville Three"), and Eddie Fowlkes, all of whom attended school together at Belleville High, near Detroit. Though initially conceived as party music that was played on daily mixed radio programs and played at parties given by cliquish, Detroit high school clubs, it has grown to be a global phenomenon.
Country music
As the 1980s dawned, pop-influenced country music was the dominant style, through such acts as Kenny Rogers, Ronnie Milsap, T.G. Sheppard, Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, Anne Murray and Dolly Parton. The 1980 movie Urban Cowboy, a romantic comedy starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, spawned a successful soundtrack album featuring pop-styled country songs, including "Lookin' for Love" by Johnny Lee, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band, "Could I Have This Dance" by Murray and "Love the World Away" by Rogers. The songs, and the movie itself, resulted in an early 1980s boom in pop-style country music, and the era is sometimes known as the "Urban Cowboy Movement".
By the mid-1980s, country music audiences were beginning to tire of country-pop. Although some pop-country artists continued to record and release successful songs and albums, the genre, in general, was beginning to suffer. By 1985, a New York Times article declared country music "dead". However, by this time, several newcomers were working behind the scenes to reverse this perception.
The year 1986 brought forth several new artists who performed in traditional country styles, such as honky-tonk. This sparked the "new traditionalist" movement, or return to traditional country music. The most successful of these artists included Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakam, Ricky Van Shelton, and Holly Dunn. Also, artists like Kathy Mattea and Keith Whitley, both of whom had been performing for a few years prior, had their first major hits during 1986; Mattea was more folk-styled, while Whitley was pure honky-tonk. But the new traditionalist movement had already taken hold as early as 1981 when newcomers such as John Anderson and George Strait had their first big hits, and Reba McEntire had her first big hit in 1980; in addition, songwriter–guitarist and Chet Atkins prodigy Steve Wariner also emerged as a popular act starting in the early 1980s. Another boom period for newcomers with new traditionalist styles was 1989, when artists such as Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lorrie Morgan and Travis Tritt had their first big hits.
Vocal duos were also popular because of their harmonies, most notably The Bellamy Brothers and The Judds. Several of the Bellamy Brothers' songs included double-entendre' laden hooks, on songs such as "Do You Love as Good As You Look". The Judds, a mother-and-daughter duo, combined elements of contemporary pop and traditional country music on songs such as "Why Not Me" and "Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Ol' Days)".
Country music groups and bands continued to rise in popularity during the 1980s. The most successful of the lot was Alabama, a Fort Payne-based band that blended traditional and pop-country sounds with southern rock. Their concerts regularly sold out, while their single releases regularly reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In 1989, Alabama was named the Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music. By the end of the 1980s, the group had sold more than 24 million albums in the United States.
Ranking just behind Alabama in popularity, as far as groups were concerned, were The Oak Ridge Boys and The Statler Brothers, both four-part harmony groups with gospel and country-pop stylings. The popularity of those three groups sparked a boom in new groups and bands, and by the end of the 1980s, fans were listening to such acts as Restless Heart and Exile, the latter which previously enjoyed success with the pop hit "Kiss You All Over".
Despite the prevailing pop-country sound, enduring acts from the 1970s and earlier continued to enjoy great success with fans. George Jones, one of the longest-running acts of the time, recorded several successful singles, including the critically acclaimed "He Stopped Loving Her Today". Conway Twitty continued to have a series of No. 1 hits, with 1986's "Desperado Love" becoming his 40th chart-topper on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, a record that stood for nearly 20 years. The movie Coal Miner's Daughter profiled the life of Loretta Lynn (with Sissy Spacek in the lead role), while Willie Nelson also had a series of acting credits. Dolly Parton had much success in the 1980s, with several leading movie roles, two No. 1 albums and 13 number one hits and having many successful tours. Others who had been around for a while and continued to have great success were Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Ray Price, Hank Williams Jr. and Tammy Wynette.
See also
1980s in music
Notes
Sources
1980
1980s in American music
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James%20Caan
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James Caan
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James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in The Godfather Part II (1974). He received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.
After early roles in Howard Hawks' El Dorado (1966), Robert Altman's Countdown (1967) and Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People (1969), Caan gained acclaim for his portrayal of Brian Piccolo in the 1971 television movie Brian's Song, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nomination. Caan received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in the drama The Gambler (1974), and the musical Funny Lady (1975). He continued to receive significant roles in feature films such as Cinderella Liberty (1973), Rollerball (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Comes a Horseman (1978), Chapter Two (1979) and Thief (1981).
After a five-year break from acting, he returned with roles in Gardens of Stone (1987), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Eraser (1996), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), The Yards (2000), City of Ghosts (2002), Elf (2003), and Get Smart (2008).
Early life
Caan was born on March 26, 1940, in The Bronx, New York City, to Sophie (née Falkenstein; 1915–2016) and Arthur Caan (1909–1986), Jewish immigrants from Germany. His father was a kosher meat dealer. One of three siblings, Caan grew up in Sunnyside, Queens. His sister, Barbara Emily Caan (Licker), died of leukemia in 1981, aged 38.
Caan was educated in New York City, and later attended Michigan State University (MSU). He was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity during his two years at Michigan State. During his time at MSU he wanted to play football but was unable to make the team. He later transferred to Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, but did not graduate. His classmates at Hofstra included Francis Ford Coppola and Lainie Kazan.
While studying at Hofstra University, Caan became intrigued by acting. He was interviewed for, accepted to, and enrolled in New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where he studied for five years. One of his instructors was Sanford Meisner. "I just fell in love with acting", he later recalled. "Of course all my improvs ended in violence."
Career
1960s
Caan began appearing off-Broadway in plays such as Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde before making his 1961 Broadway debut in Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole, his first significant acting role. In 1969, he starred in Coppola's The Rain People.
Caan's first television appearance was in an episode of Naked City. He was also seen in episodes of Play of the Week, Route 66, Alcoa Premiere, Dr. Kildare, The Untouchables (in an episode guest starring Lee Marvin), The Doctors and the Nurses, “Wagon Train” Death Valley Days (twice), Wide Country, and Combat! as a clever German sergeant. He guest starred on Ben Casey and Kraft Suspense Theatre.
His first film was Irma la Douce (1963), in which he had an uncredited bit part as a US soldier with a transistor radio more interested in a baseball game than the girl. According to Filmink magazine:
People thought Caan was going to be a star pretty much from the get-go. And it’s not hard to see why. Watch him in his early movies and TV appearances, and he’s simply got “it”: he was handsome, virile-looking, and could act (New York trained, Broadway broken). Most of all, he had X factor: a nervous energy and intensity that you can feel off the screen. A lot of stars take a while to warm up – Caan was good from the beginning.
Caan's first substantial film role was as a punk hoodlum who gets his eyes poked out in the 1964 thriller Lady in a Cage, which starred Olivia de Havilland, who praised Caan's performance. He had roles in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Wagon Train. He was fourth-billed in a Western feature, The Glory Guys (1965). He turned down the starring role in a TV series around this time, saying "I want to be an actor not a millionaire."
In 1965, Caan landed his first starring role, in Howard Hawks' auto-racing drama Red Line 7000. It was not a financial success. But Hawks liked Caan and cast him in his next film, El Dorado, playing Alan Bourdillion Traherne, a.k.a. Mississippi, in support of John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. He had the starring role in Robert Altman's second feature film, Countdown (1967) and was second billed in the Curtis Harrington thriller Games (1967). Caan went to Britain to star in a war film, Submarine X-1 (1968), then played the lead in a Western, Journey to Shiloh (1968).
He returned to television with a guest role in The F.B.I.. He had an uncredited spot on the spy sitcom Get Smart as a favor to star Don Adams, playing Rupert of Rathskeller in the episode "To Sire with Love".
Caan won praise for his role as a brain-damaged football player in The Rain People (1969), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He starred with Stefanie Powers in a Western called Gone with the West, filmed in 1969, that was not released until 1975.
None of these films, apart from El Dorado, was particularly successful at the box office, including Rabbit, Run (1970), based on the John Updike novel of the same name, in which Caan had the lead. He said it "was a film I really wanted to do, really wanted to be involved with." "No one would put me in a movie", he later recalled. "They all said, 'His pictures never make money'."
1970s
Caan returned to the small screen with the TV movie Brian's Song (1971), playing dying football player Brian Piccolo, opposite Billy Dee Williams. Caan did not want to return to television and turned down the role several times, but changed his mind after reading the script. The film was a huge critical success and Caan's performance earned him an Emmy nomination. He got a deal to make a film and agreed to be in T.R. Baskin.
The following year, Coppola cast him as the short-tempered Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. Originally, Caan was cast as Michael Corleone (Sonny's youngest brother); both Coppola and Caan demanded that this role be played by Al Pacino, so Caan could play Sonny instead. Robert De Niro was also considered to play Sonny. Although another actor, Carmine Caridi, was already signed to play Sonny, the studio eventually insisted on having Caan, so he remained in the production. Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film, along with co-stars Robert Duvall and Pacino. Caan was closely identified with the role for years afterward: "They called me a wiseguy. I won Italian of the Year twice in New York, and I'm Jewish, not Italian.... I was denied in a country club once. Oh yeah, the guy sat in front of the board, and he says, 'No, no, he's a wiseguy, been downtown. He's a made guy.' I thought, What? Are you out of your mind?"
Caan was now established as a leading movie star. He was in a road movie, Slither (1973), based on a script by W. D. Richter; and a romantic comedy with Marsha Mason, Cinderella Liberty (1973), directed by Mark Rydell. He received good reviews for playing the title role in The Gambler (1974), based on a script by James Toback originally written for Robert De Niro, and directed by Karel Reisz. More popular at the box office was the action comedy Freebie and the Bean (1974) with Alan Arkin.
Caan reprised his role as Sonny Corleone for a flashback scene in The Godfather Part II (1974). He had a hit with Funny Lady (1975) playing Billy Rose opposite Barbra Streisand's Fanny Brice.″ Caan starred in two action feature films, Norman Jewison's Rollerball (1975) as a star athlete of a deadly extreme sport, and Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite (1975). Both were popular, though Caan hated Elite. He made a cameo in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie (1976), and tried comedy with Rydell's Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976). Caan was so unhappy with the latter he sacked his management. He said he did not want to make Elite or Harry but "people kept telling me I had to be commercial."
Caan was one of many stars in the war film A Bridge Too Far (1977). He had a change of pace when he went to France to make Another Man, Another Chance (1977) for director Claude Lelouch alongside Geneviève Bujold, which Caan did for "peanuts" and "loved" the experience.
Back in the United States, Caan made a modern-day Western, Comes a Horseman (1978), with Jane Fonda for director Alan J. Pakula. He was reunited with Marsha Mason in the film adaptation of Neil Simon's autobiographical Chapter Two (1979). Caan later said he only did the film for the money as he was trying to raise money for his directorial debut, but it was a success at the box office.
In 1978, Caan directed Hide in Plain Sight, a film about a father searching for his children, who were lost in the Witness Protection Program. Despite critical praise, the film was only moderately successful with the public.
During Caan's peak years of stardom, he rejected a series of starring roles that proved to be successes for other actors, in films including M*A*S*H, The French Connection, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Kramer vs. Kramer ("it was such middle class bourgeois baloney"), Apocalypse Now (because Coppola "mentioned something about 16 weeks in the Philippine jungles"), Blade Runner, Love Story, and Superman ("I didn't want to wear the cape".). In 1977, Caan rated several of his movies out of ten – The Godfather (10), Freebie and the Bean (4), Cinderella Liberty (8), The Gambler (8), Funny Lady (9), Rollerball (8), The Killer Elite (5), Harry and Walter Go to New York (0), Slither (4), A Bridge Too Far (7), and Another Man Another Chance (10). He also liked his performances in The Rain People and Thief.
1980s
Caan had a role in Claude Lelouch's Les Uns et les Autres (1981), which was popular in France, and won the Technical Grand Prize at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. In Hollywood, Caan appeared in the neo-noir film Thief (1981), directed by Michael Mann, in which he played a professional safe cracker. Although the film was not successful at the time, Caan's performance was widely lauded and the movie has acquired something of a cult following. Caan always praised Mann's script and direction and often said that, next to The Godfather, Thief was the movie of which he was proudest.
From 1982 to 1987, Caan suffered from depression over his sister's death from leukemia, a growing problem with cocaine, and what he described as "Hollywood burnout" and did not act in any films.
In a 1992 interview, Caan said that this was a time when "a lot of mediocrity was produced. Because I think that directors got to the point where they made themselves too important. They didn't want anything or anybody to distract from their directorial prowess. There were actors who were good and capable, but they would distract from the special effects. It was a period of time when I said, 'I'm not going to work again.'"
He walked off the set of The Holcroft Covenant and was replaced by Michael Caine. Caan devoted much of his time during these years to coaching children's sports. In 1985 he was in a car crash. Caan considered retiring for good but instead of being "set for life", as he believed, he found out one day that "I was flat-ass broke... I didn't want to work. But then when the dogs got hungry and I saw their ribs, I decided that maybe now it's a good idea."
Caan returned to acting in 1987, when Coppola cast him as an army platoon sergeant for the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) in Gardens of Stone, a movie that dealt with the effect of the Vietnam War on the United States homefront. He only received a quarter of his pre-hiatus salary, and then had to kick in tens of thousands more to the completion bond company because of Holcroft. "I don't know what it is, but, boy, when you're down, they like to stomp on you", he said. The movie was not a popular success but Alien Nation (1988), where Caan played a cop who partnered with an alien, did well. The film received a television spinoff. He had a support role as Spaldoni, under much make up, in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy.
1990s
Caan was planning to make an action film in Italy, but then heard Rob Reiner was looking for a leading man in his adaptation of Stephen King's Misery (1990). Since the script for Misery called for the male lead, Paul Sheldon, to spend most of his time lying in bed tormented by his nurse, the role was turned down by many of Hollywood's leading actors before Caan accepted. Caan had a small role in The Dark Backward (1991) and co-starred with Bette Midler in the expensive For the Boys (1991), directed by Rydell who called Caan "one of the four or five best actors in America".
Caan was a gangster in the comedy Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) and played Coach Winters in The Program (1993). He had supporting roles in Flesh and Bone (1993) and A Boy Called Hate (1995), the latter starring his son Scott Caan. In 1996, he appeared in North Star, a Western; Bottle Rocket, the directorial debut of Wes Anderson; Eraser, with Arnold Schwarzenegger; and Bulletproof with Adam Sandler and Damon Wayans. In 1998, Caan portrayed Philip Marlowe in the HBO film Poodle Springs. He was also in This Is My Father (1998). Caan was a gangster for comedy in Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), with Hugh Grant.
2000s
Caan was in The Yards (2000) with Mark Wahlberg and director James Gray, Luckytown (2000) with Kirsten Dunst, and The Way of the Gun (2000) for Christopher McQuarrie. Caan starred in TV movies like Warden of Red Rock (2001) and A Glimpse of Hell (2001), and was in some thrillers: Viva Las Nowhere (2001), In the Shadows (2001), and Night at the Golden Eagle (2002). He was in Lathe of Heaven with Lukas Haas (2002), City of Ghosts (2002) with Matt Dillon, Blood Crime (2002), The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie (2003), and Jericho Mansions (2003). Most of these films were not widely seen, but Dogville (2003) and Elf (2003), in which Caan had key supporting roles, were big successes on the art house and commercial circuit respectively.
In 2003, Caan portrayed Jimmy the Con in the film This Thing of Ours, whose associate producer was Sonny Franzese, longtime mobster and underboss of the Colombo crime family. The same year, Caan played Will Ferrell's estranged book publisher father in the enormously successful family Christmas comedy Elf, and auditioned for, and won, the role of Montecito Hotel/Casino president "Big Ed" Deline in Las Vegas. On February 27, 2007, 27 days before his 67th birthday, Caan announced that he would not return to the show for its fifth season to return to film work; he was replaced by Tom Selleck.
Caan had a role in the TV movie Wisegal (2008), played the President of the United States in the 2008 film Get Smart, and had a part in the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009). He was one of many stars in New York, I Love You (2008) and had a support role in Middle Men (2009). He did Mercy (2009), starring and written by his son Scott.
2010s
Caan appeared in Henry's Crime (2010), Detachment (2011), Small Apartments (2012), That's My Boy (2012) with Adam Sandler, For the Love of Money (2012), and Blood Ties (2013). In 2012, Caan was a guest star on the re-imagined Hawaii Five-0 TV series, playing opposite his son, Scott Caan who played Danny "Danno" Williams. Caan was the chairman of an Internet company, Openfilm, intended to help up-and-coming filmmakers. In 2013, Caan portrayed Chicago mob kingpin Sy Berman in the Starz TV drama Magic City. He tried another regular series, the sitcom Back in the Game (2013) with Maggie Lawson.
Caan returned to film work with A Fighting Man (2013) and The Outsider (2014). In 2014, Caan appeared in the dramatic comedy Preggoland, playing a father who is disappointed with his daughter's lack of ambition, but who becomes overjoyed when she (falsely) announces that she is pregnant. The film premiered in the Special Presentations section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival The film had its U.S. premiere on January 28, 2015, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Crackle premiered The Throwaways on January 30, 2015. Caan plays Lt. Col. Christopher Holden, who leads a team fighting a cyberterrorist.
Caan's later films include The Wrong Boyfriend (2015), Sicilian Vampire (2015), JL Ranch (2016), and Good Enough (2016). He had the lead in The Good Neighbor (2016), The Red Maple Leaf (2016), and Undercover Grandpa (2017). In 2019, he starred in Carol Morley's crime drama Out of Blue.
Personal life
Caan married four times. In 1961, he married Dee Jay Mathis; they divorced in 1966. They had a daughter, Tara (born 1964). Caan's second marriage to Sheila Marie Ryan (a former girlfriend of Elvis Presley) in 1976 was short-lived; they divorced the following year. Their son, Scott Caan, also an actor, was born August 23, 1976.
Caan was married to Ingrid Hajek from September 1990 to March 1994; they had a son, Alexander James Caan, born 1991. In a 1994 interview with Vanity Fair, Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss claimed to be in a relationship with Caan during his marriage to Hajek in 1992, visiting him on the set of Flesh and Bone in Texas. Caan said his relationship with Fleiss was platonic.
Caan married Linda Stokes on October 7, 1995, they had two sons, James Arthur Caan (born 1995) and Jacob Nicholas Caan (born 1998). Caan filed for divorce in 2017, citing irreconcilable differences.
In 1994, Caan was arrested and released after being accused by a Los Angeles rap artist of pulling a gun on him.
Caan was a practicing martial artist. He trained with Takayuki Kubota for nearly 30 years, earning various ranks. He was a Master (6th Dan) of Gosoku-ryu Karate and was granted the title of Soke Dai by the International Karate Association.
He also took part in steer roping at rodeos and referred to himself as the "only Jewish cowboy from New York on the professional rodeo cowboy circuit."
Alleged Links to organized crime
During production of The Godfather in 1971, Caan was known to hang out with Carmine Persico, also known as "The Snake", a notorious mafioso and later head of the Colombo crime family. Government agents briefly mistook Caan, who was relatively unknown at the time, as an aspiring mobster. Caan was also a friend of Colombo Family mobster Andrew Russo who is the godfather of Caan's son Scott Caan.
In 1982 according to a conversation intercepted by the FBI and mobster Anthony Fiato, Caan had Fiato beat up actor Joe Pesci over Pesci failing to pay an $8,000 bill to a hotel.
Political views
Caan supported Donald Trump during the 2016 United States presidential election.
Death
On July 6, 2022, Caan died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles from a heart attack caused by coronary artery disease; he was 82. At the time of his death, he also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure. He was buried at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery.
Tributes to Caan were paid by Rob Reiner, Francis Ford Coppola, Barbra Streisand, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Robert Duvall, and Will Ferrell among others.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1940 births
2022 deaths
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
American Ashkenazi Jews
American male film actors
American male karateka
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of German-Jewish descent
Burials at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery
Deaths from coronary artery disease
Entertainers from the Bronx
Hofstra University alumni
Jewish American male actors
Male actors from New York City
Michigan State University alumni
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni
New York (state) Republicans
People from Sunnyside, Queens
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgi%20Dimitrov
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Georgi Dimitrov
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Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; Bulgarian: Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов) also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian communist politician who served as General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1946 to 1949. From 1935 to 1943, he was the General Secretary of the Communist International.
Born in western Bulgaria, Dimitrov worked as a printer and trade unionist during his youth. He was elected to the Bulgarian parliament as a socialist during the First World War and campaigned against the country's involvement, which led to his brief imprisonment for sedition. In 1919, he helped found the Bulgarian Communist Party, and two years later he moved to the Soviet Union and was elected to the executive committee of Profintern. In 1923, Dimitrov led a failed communist uprising against the government of Aleksandar Tsankov and was subsequently forced into exile. He lived in the Soviet Union until 1929, when he relocated to Germany and became head of the Comintern operations in central Europe.
Dimitrov rose to international prominence in the aftermath of the Reichstag fire trial. Accused of plotting the arson, he refused counsel and mounted an eloquent defence against his Nazi accusers, in particular Hermann Göring, ultimately winning acquittal. After the trial he relocated to Moscow and was elected head of Comintern.
In 1946, Dimitrov returned to Bulgaria after 22 years in exile and was elected prime minister of the newly founded People's Republic of Bulgaria. He negotiated with Josip Broz Tito to create a federation of Southern Slavs, which led to the 1947 Bled accord. The plan ultimately fell apart over differences regarding the future of the join country as well as the Macedonian question, and was completely abandoned following the fallout between Stalin and Tito. Dimitrov died after a short illness in 1949 in Barvikha near Moscow. His embalmed body was housed in the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum in Sofia until its removal in 1990; the mausoleum was demolished in 1999.
Early life
Dimitrov was born in Kovachevtsi in present-day Pernik Province, the first of eight children, to refugee parents from Ottoman Macedonia (a mother from Bansko and a father from Razlog). His father was a rural craftsman, forced by industrialisation to become a factory worker. His mother, Parashkeva Doseva, was a Protestant Christian, and his family is sometimes described as Protestant. The family moved to Radomir and then to Sofia. One of Georgi's brothers, Nikola, moved to Russia, joined the Bolsheviks in Odessa until he was arrested in 1908 and exiled to Siberia, where he died in 1916. Another brother, Konstantin, became a trade union leader but was killed in the First Balkan War in 1912. One of his sisters, Lena, married a future communist leader, Valko Chervenkov.
Dimitrov was sent to Sunday school by his mother, who wanted him to be a pastor, but was expelled at the age of 12, and trained as a compositor, and became active in the labor movement in the Bulgarian capital, and was an active trade union member from the age of 15. In 1900, he became secretary of the Sofia branch of the printers' union.
Career
Dimitrov joined the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1902, and in 1903 followed Dimitar Blagoev and his wing, as it formed the Social Democratic Labour Party of Bulgaria ("The Narrow Party", or tesniaks). This party became the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1919, when it affiliated to Bolshevism and the Comintern. From 1904 to 1923, he was Secretary of the General Trade Unions Federation, which the Narrows controlled.
In 1911, he spent a month in prison for libeling an official of the rival Free Federation of Trade Unions, whom he accused of strike breaking. In 1915 (during World War I) he was elected to the Bulgarian Parliament and opposed the voting of a new war credit. In summer 1917, after he intervened in defence of wounded soldiers who were being ordered by an officer to clear out of a first class railway carriage, he was charged with 'incitement to mutiny, stripped of his parliamentary immunity and was imprisoned on 29 August 1918. Released in 1919, he went underground, and made two failed attempts to visit Russia, finally reaching Moscow in February 1921. He returned to Bulgaria later in 1921 but returned to Moscow and was elected in December 1922 to the executive of Profintern, the communist trade union international.
In June 1923, when Prime Minister Aleksandar Stamboliyski was deposed through a coup d'état, Dimitrov and Khristo Kabakchiev, the leading communists in Bulgaria at that time, resolved not to take sides, a decision condemned by Comintern as a "political capitulation" brought on by the party's "dogmatic-doctrinaire approach". After Vasil Kolarov had been sent from Moscow to impose a change in the party line, Dimitrov accepted Comintern's authority, and in September 1923 led, alongside Kolarov, the failed uprising, against the regime of against Aleksandar Tsankov, which cost the lives of possibly five thousand communist supporters during the fighting and the reprisals that followed. Despite its failure, the attempt was approved by Comintern, and secured the positions of Kolarov and Dimitrov – who escaped via Yugoslavia to Vienna – as the joint leaders of the Bulgarian CP.
In the aftermath the St Nedelya Church, a terrorist bomb attack carried out by communists, Dimitrov was tried in absentia in May 1926 and sentenced to death, although he had not approved the attack, and his only surviving brother, Todor, was arrested and killed by royal police in 1925. Under pseudonyms, he lived in the Soviet Union until 1929, when he was ousted from his leadership role in the Bulgarian communist party by a faction of younger, more left wing activists, and was relocated to Germany, where he was given charge of the Central European section of the Comintern. In 1932, Dimitrov was appointed Secretary General of the World Committee Against War and Fascism, replacing Willi Münzenberg.
Leipzig trial
Dimitrov was based in Berlin when the Nazis came to power, and was arrested on 9 March 1933 on the evidence of a waiter who claimed to have seen "three Russians" (in reality, Dimitrov and two other Bulgarians, Vasil Tanev, and Blagoy Popov, both of whom were members of the faction that had supplanted Dimitrov in the Bulgarian Communist Party) talking in a cafe with Marinus van der Lubbe, who would later be accused of setting the Reichstag on fire by the Nazis. During the Leipzig trial, Dimitrov famously decided to refuse counsel and instead defend himself against his Nazi accusers, primarily Hermann Göring, using the trial as an opportunity to defend the ideology of Communism. Explaining why he chose to speak in his own defense, Dimitrov said:
I admit that my tone is hard and grim. The struggle of my life has always been hard and grim. My tone is frank and open. I am used to calling a spade a spade. I am no lawyer appearing before this court in the mere way of his profession. I am defending myself, an accused Communist. I am defending my political honor, my honor as a revolutionary. I am defending my Communist ideology, my ideals. I am defending the content and significance of my whole life. For these reasons every word which I say in this court is a part of me, each phrase is the expression of my deep indignation against the unjust accusation, against the putting of this anti-Communist crime, the burning of the Reichstag, to the account of the Communists.
Dimitrov's calm conduct of his defence and the accusations he directed at his prosecutors won him world renown. On August 24, 1942, The Milwaukee Journal declared that in the Leipzig Trial, Dimitrov displayed "the most magnificent exhibition of moral courage ever shown anywhere." In Europe, a popular saying spread across the Continent: "There is only one brave man in Germany, and he is a Bulgarian." Dimitrov, Tanev, and Popov were acquitted. Two months later, on 23 December, the USSR secured the release of the three Bulgarians, who were granted Soviet citizenship.
Head of Comintern
When Dimitrov arrived in Moscow, on 27 February 1934, he was encouraged by Joseph Stalin to end the practice of denouncing Social Democrats as 'social fascists', practically indistinguishable from actual fascists, and to promote united front tactics against Fascism. In April, as his fame grew in the wake of the Leipzig Trial, he was appointed a member of the Executive of Comintern and of its political secretariat, in charge of the Anglo-American and Central European sections. He was being positioned to take control of the Comintern from the Old Bolsheviks Iosif Pyatnitsky and Wilhelm Knorin, who had controlled it since 1923. Dimitrov was chosen by Stalin to be the head of the Comintern in 1934. Tzvetan Todorov says, "He became part of the Soviet leader's inner circle." He was the dominant presence at the 7th Comintern Congress, in July–August 1935, at which he was elected General Secretary of Comintern.
During the Great Purge, Dimitrov knew about the mass arrests, but did almost nothing. In November 1937, he was told by Stalin to lure Willi Münzenberg to the USSR so that he could be arrested, but did not object. Similarly, he noted in his diary when Julian Leszczyński, Henryk Walecki, and several members of his staff were arrested, but again did nothing, though he did raise questions when the NKVD representative in Comintern, Mikhail Trilisser, was arrested.
Leader of Bulgaria
In 1946, Dimitrov returned to Bulgaria after 22 years in exile and became leader of the Communist party there. After the founding of the People's Republic of Bulgaria in 1946, Dimitrov succeeded Kimon Georgiev as Prime Minister, while keeping his Soviet Union citizenship. Dimitrov started negotiating with Josip Broz Tito on the creation of a Federation of the Southern Slavs, which had been underway since November 1944 between the Bulgarian and Yugoslav Communist leaderships. The idea was based on the idea that Yugoslavia and Bulgaria were the only two homelands of the Southern Slavs, separated from the rest of the Slavic world. The idea eventually resulted in the 1947 Bled accord, signed by Dimitrov and Tito, which called for abandoning frontier travel barriers, arranging for a future customs union, and Yugoslavia's unilateral forgiveness of Bulgarian war reparations. The preliminary plan for the federation included the incorporation of the Blagoevgrad Region ("Pirin Macedonia") into the People's Republic of Macedonia and the return of the Western Outlands from Serbia to Bulgaria. In anticipation of this, Bulgaria accepted teachers from Yugoslavia who started to teach the newly codified Macedonian language in the schools in Pirin Macedonia and issued the order that the Bulgarians of the Blagoevgrad Region should claim а Macedonian identity.
However, differences soon emerged between Tito and Dimitrov with regard to both the future joint country and the Macedonian question. Whereas Dimitrov envisaged a state where Yugoslavia and Bulgaria would be placed on an equal footing and Macedonia would be more or less attached to Bulgaria, Tito saw Bulgaria as a seventh republic in an enlarged Yugoslavia tightly ruled from Belgrade. Their differences also extended to the national character of the Macedonians; whereas Dimitrov considered them to be an offshoot of the Bulgarians, Tito regarded them as an independent nation which had nothing to do whatsoever with the Bulgarians. The initial tolerance for the Macedonization of Pirin Macedonia gradually grew into outright alarm.
By January 1948, Tito's plans to annex Bulgaria and Albania had become an obstacle to policy of the Cominform and the other Eastern Bloc countries. In December 1947, Enver Hoxha and an Albanian delegation were invited to Bulgaria. During their meeting, Dimitrov told Enver Hoxha, knowing about the subversive activity of Koçi Xoxe and other pro-Yugoslav Albanian officials: "Look here, Comrade Enver, keep the Party pure! Let it be revolutionary, proletarian and everything will go well with you!"
After the initial rupture, Stalin invited Tito and Dimitrov to Moscow regarding the recent incident. Dimitrov accepted the invitation, but Tito refused, and sent Edvard Kardelj, his close associate, instead. The resulting fall-out between Stalin and Tito in 1948 gave the Bulgarian Government an eagerly-awaited opportunity of denouncing Yugoslav policy in Macedonia as expansionistic and of revising its policy on the Macedonian question. The ideas of a Balkan Federation and a United Macedonia were abandoned, the Macedonian teachers were expelled and teaching of Macedonian throughout the province was discontinued. At the 5th Congress of the Bulgarian Workers' Party (Communists), Dimitrov accused Tito of "nationalism" and hostility towards the internationalist communists, specifically the Soviet Union. Despite the fallout, Yugoslavia did not reverse its position on renouncing Bulgarian war reparations, as defined in the 1947 Bled accord.
Personal life
In 1906, Dimitrov married his first wife, Serbian emigrant milliner, writer and socialist Ljubica Ivošević, with whom he lived until her death in 1933. While in the Soviet Union, Dimitrov married his second wife, the Czech-born Roza Yulievna Fleishmann (1896–1958), who gave birth to his only son, Mitya, in 1936. The boy died at age seven of diphtheria. While Mitya was alive, Dimitrov adopted Fani, a daughter of Wang Ming, the acting General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 1931. He and his wife adopted another child, Boiko Dimitrov, born 1941.
Death
Dimitrov died on 2 July 1949 in the Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow. The speculation that he had been poisoned has never been confirmed, although his health seemed to deteriorate quite abruptly. The supporters of the poisoning theory claim that Stalin did not like the "Balkan Federation" idea of Dimitrov and his closeness with Tito.
After the funeral, Dimitrov's body was embalmed and placed on display in Sofia's Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum. After the fall of Communism in Bulgaria, his body was buried in Sofia's central cemetery in 1990. His mausoleum was demolished in 1999.
Legacy
Bulgaria
Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria
Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum 1949–1999
Russia
Dimitrovgrad, Russia
In Novosibirsk a large street leading to a bridge over the Ob River are both named after him. The bridge was opened in 1978.
Serbia
Dimitrovgrad, Serbia
Romania
In Bucharest, a boulevard was named after him (Bulevardul Dimitrov), although this name was changed after 1990 to the former Romanian king Ferdinand (Bulevardul Ferdinand).
Armenia
Dimitrov, Armenia
Hungary
The square Fővám tér and the street Máriaremetei út in Budapest, Hungary were named after Dimitrov between 1949 and 1991. On the square a bust of him was erected in 1954, replaced by a full-length statue in 1983 and taken to the eponymous street a year later. Both sculptures are exhibited since 1992 in the Memento Park.
Slovakia
During the times of the communist rule, an important chemical factory in Bratislava was called "Chemické závody Juraja Dimitrova" (colloquially Dimitrovka) in his honour. After the Velvet revolution, it was renamed Istrochem.
East Germany
In then-East Berlin's Pankow district, a street that since 1874 had been named Danziger Straße — after the formerly German city Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) — was in 1950 renamed Dimitroffstraße (Dimitrov Street) by the Communist East German regime. It also lent its name to an U-Bahn station. After German unification, the Berlin Senate in 1995 restored the street's name to Danziger Straße, and the U-Bahn station was renamed Eberswalder Straße.
Benin
A large painted statue of Dimitrov survives in the centre of Place Bulgarie in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, decades after the country abandoned Marxism–Leninism and the colossal statue of Vladimir Lenin was removed from Place Lenine.
Ukraine
Dymytrov, now Myrnohrad in Ukraine was named Dymytrov between 1972 and 2016.
Yugoslavia
After the 1963 Skopje earthquake, Bulgaria joined the international reconstruction effort by donating funds for the construction of a high school, which opened in 1964. In order to honor the donor country's first post-World War II president, the high school was named after Georgi Dimitrov, a name it still bears today.
The town of Caribrod (Цариброд) in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia, FPRY was renamed in 1950 to Dimitrovgrad (Димитровград) to honor the late Bulgarian leader, despite the Tito-Stalin split. The name has been kept since, although in recent years the local city council has tried to restore the old name (most recently in 2019), and some people prefer the older name to avoid confusion with the Dimitrovgrad in Bulgaria.
Cuba
A main avenue in the Nuevo Holguin neighborhood, which was built during the 1970s and 1980s in the city of Holguín, Cuba is named after him.
Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias Jorge Dimitrov in Bayamo is named after him.
IPUEC Jorge Dimitrov (Ceiba 7) school in Caimito
Primary School Escuela Primaria Jorge Dimitrov in Havana
Nicaragua
The Sandinista government of Nicaragua renamed one of Managua's central neighbourhoods "Barrio Jorge Dimitrov" in his honor during that country's revolution in the 1980s.
Cambodia
There is also an avenue (#114) named for him in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Italy
There is a Georgi Dimitrov street in the city of Reggio Emilia, Emilia Romagna administrative region.
Works
References
Citations
Cited works
Further reading
Dalin and Firsov, Dimitrov and Stalin, 1934–1943: Letters from the Soviet Archives, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000
Dimitrov and Banac, The Diary of Georgi Dimitrov, 1933–1949, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003
Marietta Stankova, Georgi Dimitrov: A Life, London: I. B. Tauris, 2010
External links
Georgi Dimitrov Reference Archive at Marxist Internet Archive.
Selected Works in English (Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3) in PDF format, published in Bulgaria in 1972
Georgi Dimitrov: 90th Birth Anniversary, containing biographical information.
Video A Better Tomorrow: The Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum from UCTV (University of California)
1882 births
1949 deaths
People from Pernik Province
Prime Ministers of Bulgaria
Bulgarian Comintern people
Bulgarian Communist Party politicians
Bulgarian anti-fascists
Stalinism
Politicide perpetrators
Anti-revisionists
Bulgarian male writers
Burials at Central Sofia Cemetery
Bulgarian expatriates in the Soviet Union
Bulgarian people imprisoned abroad
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Executive Committee of the Communist International
20th-century Bulgarian politicians
Unsolved deaths
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian%20Orchestra
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. The band gained in popularity when they began touring in 1999 after completing their second album, The Christmas Attic, the year previous. In 2007, the Washington Post referred to them as "an arena-rock juggernaut" and described their music as "Pink Floyd meets Yes and the Who at Radio City Music Hall." TSO has sold more than 10 million concert tickets and over 10 million albums. The band has released a series of rock operas: Christmas Eve and Other Stories, The Christmas Attic, Beethoven's Last Night, The Lost Christmas Eve, their two-disc Night Castle and Letters From the Labyrinth. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is also known for their extensive charity work and elaborate concerts, which include a string section, a light show, lasers, moving trusses, video screens, and effects synchronized to music.
Both Billboard Magazine and Pollstar have ranked them as one of the top twenty-five ticket-selling bands in the first decade of the new millennium. Their path to success was unusual in that, according to O'Neill, TSO is the first major rock band to go straight to theaters and arenas, having never played at a club, never having an opening act and never being an opening act.
History
Origins and formation
Paul O'Neill managed and produced rock bands including Aerosmith, Humble Pie, AC/DC, Joan Jett, and Scorpions, later producing and co-writing albums by the progressive metal band Savatage, where he began working with Robert Kinkel, Al Pitrelli and Jon Oliva. Oliva had left Savatage to spend time with his family and take care of personal matters. O'Neill took his first steps into rock music in the 1970s when he started the progressive rock band Slowburn, for whom he was the lyricist and co-composer. What was intended to be the band's debut album was recorded at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios and engineered by Dave Wittman. Although Wittman's engineering was capturing the exact sound O'Neill was hearing in his head, O'Neill was having trouble with it because many of his melodies were between two and three octaves. Rather than releasing an album that he was not happy with, he shelved the project, but continued working in the industry at Contemporary Communications Corporation (also known as Leber & Krebs).
Over the years, O'Neill continued to work as a writer, producer, manager, and concert promoter. In 1996, he accepted Atlantic Records' offer to start his own band. He built the band on a foundation created by the marriage of classical and rock music and the artists he idolized (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Queen, Yes, The Who, and Pink Floyd, and hard rock bands such as Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin and the multiple lead vocalists of the R&B groups the Temptations and the Four Tops). He brought in Oliva, Kinkel, and Pitrelli to help start the project. O'Neill has stated, "My original concept was six rock operas, a trilogy about Christmas and maybe one or two regular albums."
In the 1980s I was fortunate enough to have visited Russia. If anyone has ever seen Siberia, it is incredibly beautiful but incredibly harsh and unforgiving as well. The one thing that everyone who lives there has in common that runs across it in relative safety is the Trans-Siberian Railway. Life, too, can be incredibly beautiful but also incredibly harsh and unforgiving, and the one thing that we all have in common that runs across it in relative safety is music. It was a little bit overly philosophical, but it sounded different, and I like the initials, TSO.
Christmas Eve and Other Stories and The Christmas Attic (1996–1998, 2014)
Their debut album, the first installment of the intended Christmas Trilogy, was a rock opera called Christmas Eve and Other Stories, and was released in 1996. It remains among their best-selling albums. It contains the instrumental "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" which originally appeared on Savatage's rock opera, Dead Winter Dead, a story about the Bosnian War. Their 1998 release The Christmas Attic, the sequel to Christmas Eve and Other Stories followed a similar format. This album produced the hit "Christmas Canon", a take on Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D major with lyrics and new melodies added.
The Christmas Attic was first performed live in 2014.
Beethoven's Last Night (1999–2000, 2010–2012)
Beethoven's Last Night was written and recorded in 1998 and 1999 and turned over to Atlantic Records in late 1999 for release in 2000. The story begins when Mephistopheles appears before Beethoven, whom Paul O'Neill refers to as "the world's first Heavy Metal Rock Star", to collect the great composer's soul. Of course Beethoven is horrified at the thought of eternal damnation, but the devil has an offer and the bargaining begins. There are numerous plot twists including the fate of his music, and the ending is based on a true but little known fact about Beethoven. Also in 1998, at the request of Scott Shannon of WPLJ, they performed live for the first time in a charity concert for Blythedale Children's Hospital. In 1999, at the urging of Bill Louis, a DJ for WNCX in Cleveland, they did their first tour, during which they debuted sections of Beethoven's Last Night. They performed the album in its entirety for the first time during the spring tour of 2010. In October 2011, Beethoven's Last Night was released in Europe to coincide with their European tour with new cover art by Greg Hildebrandt and the missing pages of poetry from the original release.
The Mephistopheles songs are sung by Jon Oliva.
To coincide with the 2012 spring tour, Beethoven's Last Night: The Complete Narrated Version was released by Atlantic/Rhino/Warner Brothers Record. This two-disc deluxe edition includes all the music from the original release and, for the first time, the narration featured during live performances of the album. It comes packaged with a booklet filled with Hildebrandt's illustrations of the story, plus the full lyrics and narration. The narration is performed by Bryan Hicks, who has been handling the live narration on the tours for this album. Creator Paul O'Neill explains, "This is how I have always envisioned the story being experienced. Where the listener can relax, close their eyes and within minutes be wandering the streets of 1800s Vienna with Beethoven on the last great adventure of his life."
The Lost Christmas Eve (2004, 2013)
Whenever the band was off the road they returned to the studio and in 2004 completed The Lost Christmas Eve, the final installment of the Christmas Trilogy. It is a story of loss and redemption that encompasses a rundown hotel, an old toy store, a blues bar, a Gothic cathedral and their respective inhabitants all intertwined on a single enchanted Christmas Eve in New York City. The next year they combined all three Christmas albums and released them in a box set titled The Christmas Trilogy, which also contained a DVD of their 1999 TV special The Ghosts of Christmas Eve (Each of the albums still continue to be available individually.) The Lost Christmas Eve was first performed live in 2012 followed by a encore tour in 2013. Critics once again called it "stunning showmanship" "that included every trick known to man kind including massive pyro, spectacular lasers, stages that hover over the audience, hot back up singers all the while constantly connecting with their audience."
Night Castle (2009–2011)
After another few years of touring, Night Castle, Trans-Siberian Orchestra's fifth album, was released on October 27, 2009 well received by fans and critics alike. It debuted at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts. It was certified gold in eight weeks and is now platinum. "Their most ambitious and adventurous work to date. It runs the gamut from hard rock to classical taking the listener on a journey through history detailing the triumphs and follies of man but is ultimately a story of transformation and love." Initially intended to be their first regular, non rock opera, consisting of ten stand alone songs album, O'Neill credits Jon Oliva persistence that it was too early for such a move and that the fifth album had to be a rock opera. Insisting that "TSO was not like any other band and that the fans expected a story. It was a little bit of a role reversal because when we were working in Savatage, I was always wanting to do a concept record." The two-disc set includes a version of "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, which was previewed live by the band during their 2004–2008 tours. An MP3 version of the album released through Amazon.com contains an additional track entitled "The Flight of Cassandra".
The first half is a rock opera about a seven-year-old child on a beach who meets a stranger from New York City who tells her a story that takes her all around the world and through time where she encounters various characters, many of which are based on historical individuals such as Desiderius Erasmus. The second half pays homage to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's influences. It also contains new versions of several Savatage songs as well as "Nut Rocker", originally by B. Bumble and the Stingers and previously made famous by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, featuring Greg Lake on bass guitar.
In February 2011, Night Castle was released in Europe with two live bonus tracks ("Requiem" and "Toccata-Carpimus Noctem") added. Both live tracks were recorded on the 2010 spring tour at the Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, in Texas. Metal Kaoz, reviewed it as a two-hour plus double rock opera CD with, "no filler" that flows smoothly. "The classical layers meet the beauty of Metal music and form the fine blend... a wide range of emotions and musical colors...tracks that will blow your mind. Hit play and wander freely in TSO's, Night Castle."
Dreams of Fireflies (2012)
On October 30, 2012 Trans-Siberian Orchestra released a new five-song EP entitled Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night) on Lava Republic Universal Records. It debuted in Billboard Magazine's Top 200 Albums chart at number #9, and #1 in the rock charts. It was the band's first EP and with a list price of five dollars or under was Trans-Siberian Orchestra's way of saying thank you to their fans. Rather than containing the usual TSO story, it was more like a Harry Chapin album where a short story is contained within the song. For example, "Someday" is about how people have a tendency to put off saying thank you to individuals that they owe a great debt to and with the best of intention tell themselves that they will do it someday. Also each song is accompanied by a short poem.
Tales of Winter: Selections from the TSO Rock Operas (2013)
Released on October 11, 2013, this fifteen-track collection is Trans-Siberian Orchestra's first greatest hits collection and includes songs from all six prior releases. Cover art once again provided by Greg Hildebrandt.
Who I Am
On November 11, 2011, TSO released a new choral piece entitled, "Who I Am". This was originally released as a digital download to fans who purchased tickets through the band's ticket pre-sale but is now available through other music sites as well as being released on their 2015 album, Letters from the Labyrinth. The song was performed live as the opening number for the 2011 winter tour in acknowledgment of the rough times many people in the world were going through but bringing a message of hope by pointing out that together we can solve these problems as earlier generations have done in the past. It was accompanied by sound and video clips of individuals who helped humanity progress forward or overcome seemingly impossible situations. The first quote and image was Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. voice echoing " I have a dream...that all men will be judged by the content of their character," followed by President John F. Kennedy's inaugural challenge, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." It included pictures of Jonas Salk, the scientist who cured polio, Saint "Mother" Teresa of Calcutta who spent her life caring for the unwanted and ended with Neil Armstrong taking the first step on the Moon and the NASA's Gene Kranz paraphrased quote in regard to saving the astronauts aboard the damaged space capsule Apollo 13, that, "Failure is not an option."
Merry Christmas Rabbi
In 2013 the band announced the late November release of a novella, Merry Christmas Rabbi. Referred to as the final missing piece to the Christmas Trilogy, it is the journal discovered by the girl in the Christmas Attic rock opera that leads into the song, "Dream Child". Press releases described it as "the story of a fateful Christmas Eve and how one of the craziest gambles in human history leads to a second chance for a troubled youth who finds himself past the point of no return."
2017 deaths and subsequent touring
O'Neill died on April 5, 2017, at age 61, while staying at an Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa. Cause of death as determined by the Hillsborough County, Florida medical examiner’s Office, was intoxication from a mixture of methadone, codeine, Valium and doxylamine, and the manner of death as drug abuse.
In June of 2017, the organization announced that they would continue with their Christmas-themed touring. The Ghosts of Christmas Eve story, which they had performed in 2015 and 2016, was announced as their story once again for the 2017 tour.
David Z, bassist for TSO, died on July 14, 2017, while touring with Adrenaline Mob for their "We The People" tour; a tractor-trailer veered off Interstate 75 in Florida and struck the RV that Adrenaline Mob was riding in. Fellow TSO and Adrenaline Mob member Russell Allen was also injured in the accident.
For the 20th annual TSO winter tour in 2018, the band decided to once again tour with The Ghosts of Christmas Eve story. In 2019, TSO returned to the Christmas Eve and Other Stories show, which had previously been performed from the inaugural 1999 tour through 2011. No tour was held in 2020, due to continued mass gathering restrictions tied to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The band instead played an online livestream performance of Christmas Eve and Other Stories on December 18, and returned to physical performances in 2021 with the same Christmas Eve and Other Stories show.
In 2022, the band announced a tour of The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO and More.
A new instrumental song entitled "Carousels of Christmas", written by Jon Oliva, was performed on the 2022 tour.
TSO's influence
Bands influenced
In 2009, a group of musicians from the metro New York area formed a band, called The Wizards of Winter, inspired by TSO. The Wizards released their own limited-release Christmas album in 2011 while performing a mixture of TSO and original material in live concerts. In 2013, four of the original members of TSO — Tommy Farese, Guy LeMonnier, Tony Gaynor, and Michael Lanning toured as guests with The Wizards of Winter. Another original TSO vocalist, Joe Cerisano toured with them in 2014. The band released three new Christmas albums (The Wizards of Winter and The Magic of Winter andThe Christmas Dream ) with Guy LeMonnier and Tony Gaynor joining the band as full members. The band now performs their own original material when touring, with a TSO songs added occasionally. In June 2018, long-time TSO drummer John O. Reilly also joined the Wizards of Winter as a full member.
Lighting displays
In 2005 Carson Williams started a synchronized lighting race when he used 88 Light-O-Rama channels, over ten thousand lights and a small radio transmitter to illuminate his home to "Wizards in Winter". A video of the house quickly went viral on the internet and eventually was picked up by Miller Lite as the theme for their TV ads over the next two years. Other homes soon followed eventually crossing to single homes with over a million lights. Soon after entire cities like Denver and Chicago were lighting their downtown districts in a similar manner, as well as many major theme parks such as Disney World and Universal Studios.
Philanthropic activities
Since Trans-Siberian Orchestra began touring, the band has donated over $16 million to a combination of local and national charities. At every tour stop, the group donates one dollar or more from each ticket sold to a local charity in the city where they are performing. A single day (two shows) in New Jersey's Izod arena yielded $40,000 to local charities. The band helps any charity or group they think is in need but especially ones that protect and help children. In 2010 Paul O'Neill voiced the band's philosophy on the TSO's web site and also in the 2010 Winter Tour Book, "We are all in this together. We must look out for the well being of each other, most of all the young. For the young are the architects of the future and we are the architects of the young. We can not tell those yet to be born that we did our best." Paul was a well known history buff.
Fans and crew
Paul O'Neill constantly stated that the fans own the band: "TSO's goal is to make the best albums and concerts we possibly can, sparing no amount of time or expense and then charge the lowest possible price. No musician or singer is on the TSO flight deck for the money. We do it because we love the energy from the crowd especially the kids. Also in Trans Siberian Orchestra the crew are as much a member of the band as anyone on the flight deck. They actually have the hardest jobs. They are the first ones in and the last ones out. Watching them at work is like watching a well choreographed ballet or military operation. TSO could not be TSO without them and we know it." Al Pitrelli summed it up more humorously, "No one in TSO is paid to be on the stage, that we do for free. The money is to stay out of trouble on our off time."
Over the years, O'Neill consistently thanks the audience, referring to them as the second half of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and that without them TSO would just be notes and words echoing in an empty arena. "The fans' enthusiasm and energy power the stage show as much, if not more, than any local electric company."
Touring
In 1999, TSO performed a stage adaptation of Christmas Eve and Other Stories for its first live tour.The popularity of these initial shows prompted O'Neill to form two touring bands, divided between the East and West coasts, allowing TSO to perform a greater number of shows during their holiday touring period.
In 2009, Billboard ranked TSO as one of the Top 25 Touring Artists of the past decade. Live shows are known for their extensive use of pyrotechnics, lasers, and lights synchronized with the performance.
Between 2010 and 2012 spring tours were held, in which the entire Beethoven's Last Night album, and songs of Night Castle were played. In 2011, for the very first time in the band's history, a European leg was included, with venues predominantly in Germany, but also in Austria, Belgium, England, and Switzerland. Initially, Savatage was announced to reunite at the end of the TSO setlist. However, the plans were scrapped, as the band cited undisclosed personal matters that held Jon Oliva from being available to tour.
Their 2012-2013 Fall/Winter tour, sponsored by the Hallmark Channel featured The Lost Christmas Eve album in place of Christmas Eve and Other Stories.
In 2013, TSO kicked off their second European tour with a performance on New Year's Eve 2013-14 in front of over one million fans at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. "A daring feat in which the band played three shows across two continents in 27 hours." The show was broadcast live to millions more on German television.
In August 2014 the band announced the first half of the winter tour they would feature The Christmas Attic, the only rock opera from the "Christmas Trilogy" never performed live up to that point.
In August 2019, TSO announced the return of Christmas Eve and Other Stories for the winter tour.
In August 2022, TSO announced the return of the Ghosts of Christmas Eve for the winter tour. A new instrumental song entitled "Carousels of Christmas", written by Jon Oliva, is being performed on the 2022 tour.
Wacken Open Air Festival 2015
On July 30, 2015, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and a reunited Savatage headlined the 26th edition of Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany, which is the largest metal festival in the world. The 2015 festival lasted three days and featured over one hundred bands. This event marked both TSO's first outdoor festival appearance and first Savatage show in 13 years. A massive set was designed so that the two main festival stages would be identical, although this aspect of the show was not revealed until the second half of the performance. For the first 40 minutes Savatage played a reunion show featuring Jon Oliva as the main lead singer for the first time in over 25 years, as well as Zak Stevens. This was followed by a Trans-Siberian Orchestra set on the next stage debuting several new songs. Following this, for the first time in music history, the entire band played a coordinated set spanning the two festival main stages, connected by a catwalk. This united Trans-Siberian Orchestra featured four guitarists, four keyboard players, two drummers, two bassists, a full string section, and 24 vocalists and dancers performing in sync for nearly 80,000 people.
In the televised broadcast a week after the show but right before the actual performance, Paul O'Neill and Al Pitrelli admitted to being blindsided by non-stop rain and mud on the night before which removed any chance to check the staging until the actual show. Metal Recusants, which favorably reviewed the entire event said, "If all the above shows were spectacular and memorable the Savatage's and Trans-Siberian Orchestra show is a whole new level of shows...I have never seen such a thing take place before and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience."
List of touring performers
Guitarists:
Tristan Avakian (2003)
Chris Caffery (1999–)
George Cintron (2000)
Angus Clark (2001–2019, 2021-)
Joel Hoekstra (2010–2014, 2016–2019, 2021–)
Bill Hudson (2015)
Damon La Scott (2000)
Al Pitrelli (1999, 2001–)
Alex Skolnick (2000–2002, 2004–2009)
Bassists:
Chris Altenhoff (2007–2009)
Tony Dickinson (2017–2019, 2021≠)
Malcolm Gold (2001)
Johnny Lee Middleton (1999–2000, 2002–)
David Z (2000–2006, 2010–2016; Died 2017)
Keyboardists:
Luci Butler (2008–2013)
Carmine Giglio (2002–2005)
Mee Eun Kim (2000–2002, 2004–2007, 2011–2012, 2014–)
Bob Kinkel (1999–2009)
Doug Kistner (2000)
Vitalij Kuprij (2009–2019, 2021-)
Allison Lovejoy (2003)
Jane Mangini (2001–2019, 2021-)
John Margolis (1999, 2001)
Paul Morris (2000)
Derek Wieland (2006–)
Electric Violinists:
Sarah Charness (2010)
Roddy Chong (2008–2019, 2021-)
Ted Falcon (2002)
Asha Mevlana (2011–)
Lucia Micarelli (2003)
Caitlin Moe (2009–2010)
Anna Phoebe (2004–2009)
Valerie Vigoda (2000-2001)
Mark Wood (1999–2008)
Alison Zlotow (2008)
Drummers:
Blas Elias (2017–2019, 2021-)
Steve Murphy (2000–2001)
Jeff Plate (1999–)
John O. Reilly (2002–2016)
Vocalists:
Ashley Adamek (2011)
Angelica Allen (2011)
Russell Allen (2013–2018, 2020-)
Nate Amor (2019-)
April Berry (2009–2019, 2021-)
Robin Borneman (2013–2019, 2021-)
Dustin Brayley (2012–2019, 2021-)
John Brink (2010–2011, 2013–)
Steve Broderick (2000–2009)
Jennifer Cella (2001–2007, 2021)
Joe Cerisano (2000–2003)
Katrina Chester (1999, 2001)
Tru Collins (2010)
Ava Davis (2012–2014, 2017)
Eileen Kaden Dean (2000)
Marcus DeLoach (2004)
Hayley Dorling (2019)
Rob Evan (2001, 2003, 2009–2017)
Dina Fanai (2002, 2003)
Tommy Farese (1999–2010)
Scout Ford (2007–2010)
Moriah Formica (2022-)
Jamey Garner (2008)
Jill Gioia (2003–2005)
Alexa Goddard (2007–2008)
Kristin Lewis Gorman (2001–2010)
Gabriela Guncikova (2014–2015)
Heather Gunn (2005–2007)
Autumn Guzzardi (2010, 2012–2016)
Erin Henry (2006–2010)
Steena Hernandez (2006–2008)
Katie Hicks (2009–2010)
Tim Hockenberry (2008–2010)
Ashley Hollister (2016–2019, 2021)
Nathan James (2012–2014)
Dino Jelusick (2016–2019, 2021–2022)
Erika Jerry (2010–2013, 2018–)
Caleb Johnson (2018–2019, 2021–)
Jodi Katz (2009–2019, 2021-)
Kelly Keeling (2006–2007)
Danielle Landherr (2003–2010)
Michael Lanning (2000–2005)
Rosie Lanziero (1999)
Rosa Laricchiuta (2016–2019)
Lisa Lavie (2014–2018)
Becca Lee (2015)
Guy LeMonnier (1999, 2002–2006)
Mats Levén (2016–2018)
James Lewis (2004–2012; Died 2023)
Gary Lindemann (2000)
Tany Ling (2004–2006)
Guy Lockard (2010)
Chloe Lowery (2010–)
Dari Mahnic (2011)
Maxx Mann (2002, 2006)
Sanya Mateyas (2002–2003)
Abby Lynn Mulay (2009)
Ronny Munroe (2011–2012)
Georgia Napolitano (2010–)
Jenna O'Gara (2022)
Daryl Pediford (1999–2003, died 2004)
Jay Pierce (2004–2009, 2012)
Natalya Rose Piette (2010–2019, 2021–)
Chris Pinnella (2012)
Valentina Porter (2008–2009)
Cynthia Posner (2000)
Gabbie Rae (2021-
Sophia Ramos (2001)
Kayla Reeves (2010–2019, 2021–)
Joe Retta (2015)
Marisa Rhodes (2007)
Andrew Ross (2007–2019, 2021–)
Bart Shatto (2002–2011, 2014–2015)
Peter Shaw (2005–2007)
Allie Sheridan (2003)
Rebecca Simon (2000)
Jeff Scott Soto (2008–)
Zachary Stevens (2015–2019, 2021–)
Kay Story (2000)
Becca Tobin (2011)
Gabbie Rae Trial (aka GabrieLa) (2021)
Marilyn Villamar (2002)
Adrienne Warren (2008)
Rod Weber (2000–2002)
Jason Wooten (2010)
Narrators:
Phillip Brandon (2010–2019, 2021–)
Tim Cain (2000–2002)
Tony Gaynor (1999–2009)
Bryan Hicks (2003–)
Discography
Christmas Eve and Other Stories (1996)
The Christmas Attic (1998)
The Ghosts of Christmas Eve (live video) (1999) (released to DVD in 2003)
Beethoven's Last Night (2000)
The Lost Christmas Eve (2004)
Night Castle (2009)
Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night) (EP) (2012)
Tales of Winter: Selections from the TSO Rock Operas (compilation) (2013)
Letters from the Labyrinth'' (2015)
See also
Christmas music
Mannheim Steamroller
The Wizards of Winter
References
External links
American instrumental musical groups
American progressive rock groups
American symphonic metal musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
Instrumental rock musical groups
Musical groups established in 1993
Savatage
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir%20Vysotsky
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Vladimir Vysotsky
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Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980) was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor who had an immense and enduring effect on Soviet culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often-humorous street jargon. He was also a prominent stage- and screen-actor. Though the official Soviet cultural establishment largely ignored his work, he was remarkably popular during his lifetime and has exerted significant influence on many of Russia's musicians and actors.
Early life
Vysotsky was born on January 25, 1938, at the 3rd Meshchanskaya Street (61/2) maternity hospital in Moscow. His father was Semyon Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Vysotsky, a Jewish man who came originally from Kyiv. His mother, Nina Maksimovna Vysotsky (née Seryogina), was Russian, and worked as a German translator. The family lived in a communal flat at No. 126, 1st Meshchanskaya Street, and had serious financial difficulties. When Vladimir was only old, Nina had to return to her job at the Transcript Bureau of the Soviet Ministry of Geodesy and Cartography (engaged in making German maps available to the Soviet military) to help earn a living.
Vladimir's theatrical inclinations became obvious at an early age, and were supported by his mother, herself a great fan of theatre. Vysotsky later recalled: "I didn't have anyone in my family who was an actor or a director [...] nobody who was in the arts. But my mother really loved theatre, and every Saturday—from the very earliest age until I was about thirteen or fourteen—she would take me to the theatre. And that probably stuck." His paternal grandmother Dora Bronshteyn also supported his interests. The boy used to recite poems, standing on a chair and "flinging hair backwards, like a real poet," and often used expressions he could hardly have heard at home. Once, at the age of two, when he had tired of the family's guests' poetry requests, he, according to his mother, sat himself under the New Year tree with a frustrated air about him and sighed: "You freeloaders, let the child rest!" His sense of humor was extraordinary, but often baffling for people around him. At three years old he would jeer at his father while the latter was in the bathroom, breaking out unexpected poetic improvisation ("Take a look what’s happening here! / Our goat’s decided to shave!") or appall unwanted guests with street folk songs. Vysotsky remembered these earliest years of his life in the autobiographical song "Ballada detstva" ("Ballad of Childhood").
After the outbreak of World War II, Semyon Vysotsky, who had been a reserve officer, was called up for service in the Red Army. In March 1941 he was sent to the front. Nina and Vladimir were evacuated to the village of Vorontsovka in Orenburg Oblast, where the boy had to spend six days a week at kindergarten while his mother worked twelve hours a day in a chemical factory. In 1943, both returned to their flat in Moscow. In September 1945, Vladimir entered the first grade at the 273rd Moscow Rostokino District School.
In December 1946, Vysotsky's parents divorced. From 1947 to 1949, Vladimir lived with Semyon Vladimirovich (then an army Major) and his Armenian wife, Yevgenya Stepanovna Liholatova, whom the boy called "Aunt Zhenya," at a military base in Eberswalde in the Soviet occupation zone in Germany. "We decided that our son would stay with me. Vladimir came to stay with me in January 1947, and my second wife, Yevgenia, became Vladimir's second mother for many years to come. They had much in common and liked each other, which made me really happy," Semyon Vysotsky later remembered. Here the living conditions were much better than at Nina's communal flat in Moscow; the family occupied the whole floor of a two-story house, and for the first time in his life Vladimir had a room to himself. In 1949, Vladimir and his stepmother returned to Moscow. There he joined the fifth grade of the 128th School of Moscow and settled at 15 , where they had two rooms of a four-room communal flat to themselves. Vysotsky found "Auntie Zhenya," who was just 28 at the time, to be a woman of great kindness and warmth, and later remembered as her as being a second mother to him.
In 1953 Vysotsky, by this point very interested in theater and cinema, enrolled in drama courses led by Vladimir Bogomolov. That same year he received his first-ever guitar, as a birthday present from his mother. His close friend Igor Kokhanovsky, who would go on to become a well-known Soviet pop lyricist, taught him basic chords. In 1955 Vladimir moved into his mother's new home at No. 76, 1st Meshchanskaya, and in June of that year he graduated from school with five A's.
Career
1955-1963: Beginnings in theatre, cinema, and music
In 1955, Vladimir enrolled into the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, but dropped out after just one year to pursue an acting career. In June 1956 he joined Boris Vershilov's class at the Moscow Art Theatre School. There he met the third-year student Iza Zhukova, who four years later would become his wife. The two soon settled in a common room at the Meschanskaya flat, where their space was sectioned off by a folding screen. It was also at the MAT School that Vysotsky met Bulat Okudzhava, who at this point was already a popular underground bard. He was even more impressed by his Russian literature teacher, Andrey Sinyavsky, who often invited students to his home to stage improvised disputes and concerts.
In 1958, Vysotsky got his first role at the Moscow Art Theatre: that of Porfiry Petrovich in Crime and Punishment.
In 1959 he was cast in his first cinema role, that of the student Petya in Female Age-Mates.
On 20 June 1960, Vysotsky graduated from the MAT School. He soon joined the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre, then led by Boris Ravenskikh, where he spent almost three troubled years (with intervals). His time at the theatre was marred by numerous administrative sanctions for "lack of discipline" and occasional drunken sprees, which were primarily a reaction to the lack of serious roles and his inability to realize his artistic potential.
In 1961 and 1962 Vysotsky appeared in the films Dima Gorin's Career and 713 Requests Permission to Land, respectively. Both roles required him to be beaten up on screen, in the first case by Aleksandr Demyanenko. "That was the way cinema greeted me," Vysotsky joked later.
In 1961 Vysotsky also wrote his first proper song, called "Tatuirovka" ("Tattoo"), starting a long and colorful cycle of artfully stylized criminal underworld romantic stories, full of undercurrents and witty social comments.
In 1962 he did a short stint at the Moscow Theater of Miniatures, then directed by Vladimir Polyakov, which ended with his being fired. The official reason given was "for total lack of а sense of humour."
In June 1963, while shooting Penalty Kick (dir. Veniamin Dorman) Vysotsky used the Gorky Film Studio to record an hour-long reel-to-reel cassette of his own songs. Copies of it quickly spread, and Vysotsky's name became known in Moscow and elsewhere, though many of the songs were referred to as being either folk music or anonymous. Only several months later, chess grandmaster Mikhail Tal was heard praising the author of "Bolshoy Karetny," and Anna Akhmatova (in conversation with Joseph Brodsky) quoted from Vysotsky's "Ya byl dushoj durnogo obshhestva" ("I Was the Soul of a Bad Company"), apparently taking it for a brilliant piece of anonymous street folklore.
1964–1970: Taganka Theatre, rise to fame, and backlash
Taganka Theatre and early work
In 1964 Vysotsky auditioned at the Taganka Theatre. Yuri Lyubimov, the theatre's director, recalled the audition many years later: "A young man came to my theatre. When I asked him what role he wanted to read for, he answered, 'I've written some songs of my own. Won't you listen?' I agreed to listen to one song […] Our meeting should have lasted at most five minutes. But I ended up listening without interruption for an hour and a half." Vysotsky was invited to join, and on 19 September 1964 he debuted in Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan as the Second God. Later that year he appeared on stage as a dragoon captain (Bela's father) in an adaptation of A Hero of Our Time.
Outside of the theater, in October 1964 Vysotsky recorded 48 of his songs in chronological order, creating his first The Complete Works of... compilation. This boosted his popularity as a new Moscow folk underground star.
It was at Taganka Theatre that Vysotsky first started to sing on stage. In January 1965 he appeared in the avant-garde production The Poet and the Theater, which combined the poetry of Andrey Voznesensky with sketches and music, and received his first-ever songwriting credit for his contributions. That same month he also appeared in Ten Days That Shook the World, again contributing music and lyrics. In April 1965 Vysotsky also debuted as a solo musical performer, holding two live concerts at the Leningrad Nuclear Physics Institute. He then wrote multiple songs for, and appeared in, Yuri Lyubimov's World War II play The Fallen and the Living, which premiered at Taganka Theatre in October 1965. Vysotsky's musical contributions included "Zvezdy" ("Stars"), "Soldaty gruppy Tsentr" ("Center Group Soldiers"), and "Shtrafniye batalyony" ("Penal Battalions"), all striking examples of a completely new kind of war song.
On 17 May 1966 Vysotsky appeared in his first leading theater role, Galileo in Lyubimov's production of Life of Galileo. The role required Vysotsky to perform numerous acrobatic tricks on stage. Press reaction was mixed, with some reviewers stating they disliked Vysotsky's overt emotionalism, but for the first time his name appeared in Soviet papers.
Around this time Vysotsky also landed his first "serious" (neither comical nor villainous) film role, appearing as Volodya in Viktor Turov's I Come From Childhood (1966). The film featured two of his songs, "Holoda" ("The Cold") and "Bratskie mogily" ("Mass Graves"), the latter sung for the film by Mark Bernes.
Breakthrough role and rise to fame
Vysotsky's major breakthrough came with his starring role in the mountain climbing drama Vertical (1967), which prominently featured his songs. Mostly written during filming on Mount Elbrus, these included "Pesnya o druge" ("Song About a Friend") and "Voyennaya pesnya" ("War Song"). Due to widely-circulated amateur recordings of his live performances, the songs were already widely-known by the time the film premiered. When the film was released, Vysotsky skyrocketed to fame. In January of 1968, thanks to the efforts of producer Anna Kachalina (Chief Variety Editor for the record label Melodiya) and permission from the head of Melodiya, music was from the film was released on vinyl. The initial pressing sold out immediately, and record stores placed further orders directly to record factories without Melodiya's authorization.
In 1967 Vysotsky also starred in Kira Muratova's Brief Encounters, which featured another off-the-cuff musical piece, this time the melancholy "Dela" ("Things to Do"). Vysotsky also continued his work at Taganka Theatre, taking the role of Mayakovsky in the experimental play Listen! and holding regular semi-official concerts where audiences greeted him as a cult hero.
At the end of 1967 Vysotsky landed another pivotal theater role, that of in Pugachev, based on Sergei Yesenin's poem Land of Scoundrels. The play is often described as one of Taganka's finest. Several weeks after the premiere, infuriated by the actor's increasing unreliability due to worsening drinking problems, Lyubimov fired him—only to invite him back several months later. This began a cycle of Vysotsky being sacked and then pardoned which would continue for years.
Marina Vlady, describing Vysotsky's popularity during this period, recalled going for a walk on a summer night and hearing his distinctive singing voice from literally every open window.
At least four of Vysotsky's 1968 songs, "Spasitye nashi dushi" ("Save Our Souls"), "Ohota na volkov" ("The Wolfhunt"), "Variatszyi na tsiganskiye temy" ("Gypsy Variations"), and "Ban'ka po belomu" ("Steam-bath in White") were later hailed as masterpieces.
Official backlash
In June 1968 a smear campaign was launched against Vysotsky in the Soviet press. First, Sovetskaya Rossiya commented on the "epidemic spread of immoral, smutty songs," allegedly promoting "criminal world values, alcoholism, vice and immorality," and condemned their author for "sowing seeds of evil." Then Komsomolskaya Pravda linked Vysotsky with black market dealers selling his tapes in Siberia. Composer Dmitry Kabalevsky, speaking at a conference of the Union of Soviet Composers, criticized Soviet radio for giving an ideologically dubious, "low-life product" like "Song for a Friend" unwarranted airplay. Playwright Alexander Stein, who had used several of Vysotsky's songs in his play Last Parade, was chastised by a Ministry of Culture official for "providing a platform for this anti-Soviet scum." The phraseology prompted commentators in the West to draw parallels between Vysotsky and Mikhail Zoschenko, another Soviet author who had been officially labeled "scum" some 20 years prior.
Two of Vysotsky's 1968 films, Gennadi Poloka's Intervention (in which he was cast as a dodgy if highly artistic character) and Yevgeny Karelov's Two Comrades Were Serving (in which he played a gun-toting White Army officer who in the course of the film shoots his friend, his horse, the protagonist, and, finally, himself) were severely censored, the former shelved for almost twenty years.
In 1969 Vysotsky starred in two films: Master of the Taiga, where he played a villainous, timber-floating Siberian brigadier, and Georgi Yungvald-Khilkevich's Dangerous Tour. The latter was criticized in the Soviet press for taking a farcical approach to the subject of the Bolshevik underground activities, though it was well-received by the broader Soviet audience.
Concert tour in Soviet Central Asia
In 1970, after visiting the dislodged Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at his dacha and having a lengthy conversation with him, Vysotsky embarked on a massive and, by Soviet standards, dangerously commercial concert tour in Soviet Central Asia.
1971–1973
In 1971 a drinking spree-related nervous breakdown sent Vysotsky to the . Many of his songs from this period deal with alcoholism and insanity. After a partial recovery (owed largely to the supportive presence of Marina Vlady) Vysotsky embarked on a successful Ukrainian concert tour, and wrote a cluster of new songs.
On 29 November 1971 Lyubimov's verison of Hamlet premiered at Taganka Theatre, a groundbreaking production with Vysotsky in the leading role—in this incarnation a lone intellectual rebel, rising to fight the cruel state machine.
Also in 1971 Vysotsky was invited to play the lead in The Sannikov Land, the screen adaptation of Vladimir Obruchev's science fiction novel. He wrote several songs for it, but was dropped at the behest of the General Director of Mosfilm, Nikolai Sizov, ostensibly for being too recognizable as a popular figure. One of the songs written for the film, the doom-laden epic allegory "Koni priveredlivye" ("Picky Horses") became one of Vysotsky's signature tunes.
In 1972 Vysotsky starred in The Fourth. He also appeared on Soviet Estonian TV (Eesti Televisioon) for an episode entitled "Noormees Tagankalt" (Young Man from Taganka), in which he performed his songs and gave an interview.
Songs written by Vysotsky in 1972 included "Pevetz u mikrofona" ("Singer at the Microphone"), "Kanatohodetz" ("The Tightrope Walker"), "My vrashaem zemlyu" ("We Turn the Earth"), "Cherniye bushlaty" ("Black Pea-Coats"), "Beda" ("Disaster"), "Zhertva televidinya" ("Victim of Television"), "Chest' shashmatnoj korony" ("Honor of the Chess Crown"), and "Mishka Shifman."
In April 1973 Vysotsky visited Poland and France. Difficulties with getting travel permits were resolved after French Communist Party leader Georges Marchais made a personal phone call to Leonid Brezhnev, who, according to Marina Vlady's memoirs, rather sympathized with the celebrity couple. Upon their return, Vysotsky discovered that a lawsuit had been brought against him regarding unsanctioned concerts in Siberia the year before. In response, he wrote a defiant letter to the Minister of Culture, Pyotr Demichev. As a result, he was granted the status of a philharmonic artist, guaranteed a payment of 11.5 roubles per concert. Nonetheless, the court found that Vysotsky had to pay a fine of 900 rubles (a substantial sum, given that his monthly salary at Taganka Theatre was 110 rubles).
In 1973 Vysotsky also starred alongside Oleg Dahl in Bad Good Man, playing the role of von Koren. His performance earned him the award of "Best Actor in a Male Role" at the 5th Festival of Nations competition at the Taormina Film Fest in Italy.
That same year Vysotsky wrote some thirty songs for Alice in Wonderland, an audio play in which he also voiced several minor roles. His best-known songs from 1973 include "Chuzhaya koleya" ("Someone Else's Rut"), "Prervannyj polet" ("Interrupted Flight"), and "Pamyatnik" ("Monument").
1974–1977
In 1974 Melodiya released a 7-inch EP featuring four of Vysotsky's war songs: "On ne vernulsya iz boya" ("He Didn't Return From Battle"), "Pesnya o novom vremeni" ("Song About New Times"), "Bratskiye mogily" ("Mass Graves"), and "Pesnya o zemle" ("Song About the Earth"). This represented only a tiny portion of his creative work, by this point owned by millions on tape.
In September 1974 Vysotsky received his first state award, an Honorary Diploma of the Uzbek SSR, following a tour of the Taganka Theatre in Uzbekistan. Also in 1974 he filmed in The Only Road, a joint venture between Mosfilm and the Yugoslav Filmski Studio.
In 1975 Vysotsky was granted membership in the Cinematographers Union of the USSR. This meant he was no longer "anti-Soviet scum," but rather an unlikely link between the state-sanctioned Soviet cinema elite and the "progressive-thinking artists of the West." More films followed, among them the science fiction movie The Flight of Mr. McKinley (1975). Of the nine ballads he wrote for the film, only two made it into the soundtrack.
This period was the height of Vysotsky's popularity. Songs he wrote at the time included "Instruktziya pered poyezdkoj zarubezh" ("Instructions Before a Trip Abroad") and "Pesnya o pogibshem letchike" ("Song About a Fallen Pilot").
Also in 1975 Vysotsky made his third trip to France, where he took the risk of visiting his former tutor, Andrey Sinyavsky, by then a celebrated dissident émigré. Vysotsky also became friends with the Paris-based artist Mikhail Shemyakin, with whom he would often drink. Shemyakin recorded Vysotsky in his home studio. Subsequently, after a brief stay in England, Vysotsky traveled to Mexico and in April performed his first concerts there.
During this time there were changes at Taganka Theatre. Lyubimov took a contract job with La Scala in Milan, and was replaced by Anatoly Efros, who had a radically different directorial approach. Efros put on the The Cherry Orchard, which premiered on 30 June 1975 and starred Alla Demidova (as Ranevskaya) and Vysotsky (as Lopakhin). The play caused a sensation, with critics praising the powerful interplay between Demidova and Vysotksy. Lyubimov, who disliked the piece, accused Efros of giving his actors "stardom malaise."
The 1976 Taganka Theatre made a visit to Bulgaria, where Vysotsky filmed an interview and recorded 15 songs for the Balkanton record label. When the troupe returned to Moscow, Lyubimov (by then back from Milan) declared himself unable to work with Vysotsky any longer and gave the role of Hamlet to Valery Zolotukhin, Vysotsky's best friend. Reportedly, this was when the stressed-out Vysotsky started taking amphetamines.
Songs written by Vysotsky in 1976 included "Kupola" ("Cupolas") and "Ballada o Lyubvi" ("Ballad of Love").
After another trip to Belarus, Vysotsky and Vlady traveled to France and from there to North America, without requesting or receiving official permission to leave the Soviet Union.
In North America Vysotsky stopped in New York City, where he met Mikhail Baryshnikov and Joseph Brodsky. He also recorded a segment for 60 Minutes with Dan Rather, which aired on 20 February 1977. The program incorrectly stated he had served time in a labor camp and presented him as a dissident, though Vysotsky stressed during his interview that he loved his country and did not want to do it any harm. The unauthorized venture bore no repercussions at home, as by this time Soviet authorities were divided on Vysotsky up to the highest level: while Mikhail Suslov detested the bard, Brezhnev loved his work so much that when Brezhnev was in the hospital he asked Vysotsky to perform at the home of his daughter Galina so that he could listen over the telephone.
During this trip Vysotsky also visited Canada, where he recorded an LP with RCA Victor, backed by an orchestra. The resulting record was released in Paris in 1977 under the title Vladimir Vissotsky and contained eleven songs.
In September 1976 Vysotsky accompanied the rest of the Taganka Theatre troupe to Yugoslavia, where Hamlet won first prize at the annual BITEF festival. He then traveled to Hungary for a two-week concert tour. Once back in Moscow, he played the modest role of Ivan Bezdomny in Lyubimov's production of The Master and Margarita, and the more major role of Svidrigailov in Yury Karyakin's take on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.
Vysotsky's new songs during this time included "Istoriya Bolezni" ("History of Illness"), which concerned his health problems, the humorous "Pochemu Aborigeny Syeli Kooka" ("Why Did the Aborigines Eat Captain Cook"), "Ballada o Pravda i Lzhi" ("Ballad of Truth and Lies"), and "Dve Sud'by" ("Two Fates"), a chilling story of a self-absorbed alcoholic hunted by two malevolent witches.
In 1977 Vysotsky's health deteriorated to such an extent that in April he found himself in a Moscow clinic's reanimation center in а state of physical and mental collapse. He suffered heart, kidney, and liver failures, a jaw infection, and a nervous breakdown.
1977–1980
In 1977 three of Vysotsky's LPs were released in France, including the one he recorded with RCA during his trip to Canada in the previous year. Arranged and accompanied by guitarist Kostya Kazansky, this was the first time Vysotsky enjoyed a relatively sophisticated musical backing.
In August 1977 Vysotsky performed in Hollywood for the film crew of New York, New York (1977), and, according to Vlady, was greeted warmly by actors including Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro. Further concerts in Los Angeles were followed by an appearance at an annual event held by the French Communist paper L’Humanité.
In December 1977 the Taganka Theatre troupe traveled to France to perform Hamlet, with Vysotsky back in the lead. The play received positive reviews.
In March–April of 1978 Vysotsky did a series of concerts in Moscow and Ukraine. Subsequently, in May 1978 Vysotsky began filming in The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed, a five-part television film about two detectives pursuing a criminal gang in 1945 Moscow. Vysotsky starred as Gleb Zheglov, a ruthless and charismatic cop mentoring his milder and more rule-abiding partner Vladimir Sharapov (played by Vladimir Konkin). The film premiered on 11 November 1978 on Soviet Central TV.
During this time Vysotsky also became involved in Taganka Theatre's Genre-seeking show (performing some of his own songs) and played Aleksander Blok in Anatoly Efros' Neznakomka (The Lady Stranger) radio play, which premiered on 10 July 1979 and later released as a double LP.
In November 1978 Vysotsky took part in the underground censorship-defying literary project Metropolis, inspired and organized by Vasily Aksenov. In January 1979 Vysotsky again visited America with highly successful series of concerts. That was the point (according to biographer Vladimir Novikov) when a glimpse of new, clean life of a respectable international actor and performer all but made Vysotsky seriously reconsider his priorities. What followed though, was a return to the self-destructive theater and concert tours schedule, personal doctor Anatoly Fedotov now not only his companion, but part of Taganka's crew. "Who was this Anatoly? Just a man who in every possible situation would try to provide drugs. And he did provide. In such moments Volodya trusted him totally," Oksana Afanasyeva, Vysotsky's Moscow girlfriend (who was near him for most of the last year of his life and, on occasion, herself served as a drug courier) remembered. In July 1979, after a series of Central Asia concerts, Vysotsky collapsed, experienced clinical death and was resuscitated by Fedotov (who injected caffeine into the heart directly), colleague and close friend Vsevolod Abdulov helping with heart massage. In January 1980 Vysotsky asked Lyubimov for a year's leave. "Up to you, but on condition that Hamlet is yours," was the answer. The songwriting showed signs of slowing down, as Vysotsky began switching from songs to more conventional poetry.
Still, of nearly 800 poems by Vysotsky only one has been published in the Soviet Union while he was alive. Not a single performance or interview was broadcast by the Soviet television in his lifetime.
In May 1979, being in a practice studio of the MSU Faculty of Journalism, Vysotsky recorded a video letter to American actor and film producer Warren Beatty, looking for both a personal meeting with Beatty and an opportunity to get a role in Reds film, to be produced and directed by the latter. While recording, Vysotsky made a few attempts to speak English, trying to overcome the language barrier. This video letter never reached Beatty. It was broadcast for the first time more than three decades later, on the night of 24 January 2013 (local time) by Rossiya 1 channel, along with records of TV channels of Italy, Mexico, Poland, USA and from private collections, in Vladimir Vysotsky. A letter to Warren Beatty film by Alexander Kovanovsky and Igor Rakhmanov. While recording this video, Vysotsky had a rare opportunity to perform for a camera, being still unable to do it with Soviet television.
On 22 January 1980, Vysotsky entered the Moscow Ostankino TV Center to record his one and only studio concert for the Soviet television. What proved to be an exhausting affair (his concentration lacking, he had to plod through several takes for each song) was premiered on the Soviet TV eight years later. The last six months of his life saw Vysotsky appearing on stage sporadically, fueled by heavy dosages of drugs and alcohol. His performances were often erratic. Occasionally Vysotsky paid visits to institute's ER unit, but would not hear of Marina Vlady's suggestions for him to take long-term rehabilitation course in a Western clinic. Yet he kept writing, mostly poetry and even prose, but songs as well. The last song he performed was the agonizing "My Sorrow, My Anguish" and his final poem, written one week prior to his death was "A Letter to Marina": "I'm less than fifty, but the time is short / By you and God protected, life and limb / I have a song or two to sing before the Lord / I have a way to make my peace with him."
Death
Although several theories of the ultimate cause of the singer's death persist to this day, given what is now known about cardiovascular disease, it seems likely that by the time of his death Vysotsky had an advanced coronary condition brought about by years of tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as his grueling work schedule and the stress of the constant harassment by the government. Towards the end, most of Vysotsky's closest friends had become aware of the ominous signs and were convinced that his demise was only a matter of time. Clear evidence of this can be seen in a video ostensibly shot by the Japanese NHK channel only months before Vysotsky's death, where he appears visibly unwell, breathing heavily and slurring his speech. Accounts by Vysotsky's close friends and colleagues concerning his last hours were compiled in the book by V. Perevozchikov.
Vysotsky suffered from alcoholism for most of his life. Sometime around 1977, he started using amphetamines and other prescription narcotics in an attempt to counteract the debilitating hangovers and eventually to rid himself of alcohol addiction. While these attempts were partially successful, he ended up trading alcoholism for a severe drug dependency that was fast spiralling out of control. He was reduced to begging some of his close friends in the medical profession for supplies of drugs, often using his acting skills to collapse in a medical office and imitate a seizure or some other condition requiring a painkiller injection. On 25 July 1979 (a year to the day before his death) he suffered a cardiac arrest and was clinically dead for several minutes during a concert tour of Soviet Uzbekistan, after injecting himself with a wrong kind of painkiller he had previously obtained from a dentist's office.
Fully aware of the dangers of his condition, Vysotsky made several attempts to cure himself of his addiction. He underwent an experimental (and ultimately discredited) blood purification procedure offered by a leading drug rehabilitation specialist in Moscow. He also went to an isolated retreat in France with his wife Marina in the spring of 1980 as a way of forcefully depriving himself of any access to drugs. After these attempts failed, Vysotsky returned to Moscow to find his life in an increasingly stressful state of disarray. He had been a defendant in two criminal trials, one for a car wreck he had caused some months earlier, and one for an alleged conspiracy to sell unauthorized concert tickets (he eventually received a suspended sentence and a probation in the first case, and the charges in the second were dismissed, although several of his co-defendants were found guilty). He also unsuccessfully fought the film studio authorities for the rights to direct a movie called The Green Phaeton. Relations with his wife Marina were deteriorating, and he was torn between his loyalty to her and his love for his mistress Oksana Afanasyeva. He had also developed severe inflammation in one of his legs, making his concert performances extremely challenging.
In a final desperate attempt to overcome his drug addiction, partially prompted by his inability to obtain drugs through his usual channels (the authorities had imposed a strict monitoring of the medical institutions to prevent illicit drug distribution during the 1980 Olympics), he relapsed into alcohol and went on a prolonged drinking binge (apparently consuming copious amounts of champagne due to a prevalent misconception at the time that it was better than vodka at countering the effects of drug withdrawal).
On 3 July 1980, Vysotsky gave a performance at a suburban Moscow concert hall. One of the stage managers recalls that he looked visibly unhealthy ("gray-faced", as she puts it) and complained of not feeling too good, while another says she was surprised by his request for champagne before the start of the show, as he had always been known for completely abstaining from drink before his concerts. On 16 July Vysotsky gave his last public concert in Kaliningrad. On 18 July, Vysotsky played Hamlet for the last time at the Taganka Theatre. From around 21 July, several of his close friends were on a round-the-clock watch at his apartment, carefully monitoring his alcohol intake and hoping against all odds that his drug dependency would soon be overcome and they would then be able to bring him back from the brink. The effects of drug withdrawal were clearly getting the better of him, as he got increasingly restless, moaned and screamed in pain, and at times fell into memory lapses, failing to recognize at first some of his visitors, including his son Arkadiy. At one point, Vysotsky's personal physician A. Fedotov (the same doctor who had brought him back from clinical death a year earlier in Uzbekistan) attempted to sedate him, inadvertently causing asphyxiation from which he was barely saved. On 24 July, Vysotsky told his mother that he thought he was going to die that day, and then made similar remarks to a few of the friends present at the apartment, who begged him to stop such talk and keep his spirits up. But soon thereafter, Oksana Afanasyeva saw him clench his chest several times, which led her to suspect that he was genuinely suffering from a cardiovascular condition. She informed Fedotov of this but was told not to worry, as he was going to monitor Vysotsky's condition all night. In the evening, after drinking relatively small amounts of alcohol, the moaning and groaning Vysotsky was sedated by Fedotov, who then sat down on the couch next to him but fell asleep. Fedotov awoke in the early hours of 25 July to an unusual silence and found Vysotsky dead in his bed with his eyes wide open, apparently of a myocardial infarction, as he later certified. This was contradicted by Fedotov's colleagues, Sklifosovsky Emergency Medical Institute physicians L. Sul'povar and S. Scherbakov (who had demanded the actor's immediate hospitalization on 23 July but were allegedly rebuffed by Fedotov), who insisted that Fedotov's incompetent sedation combined with alcohol was what killed Vysotsky. An autopsy was prevented by Vysotsky's parents (who were eager to have their son's drug addiction remain secret), so the true cause of death remains unknown.
No official announcement of the actor's death was made, only a brief obituary appeared in the Moscow newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva, and a note informing of Vysotsky's death and cancellation of the Hamlet performance was put out at the entrance to the Taganka Theatre (the story goes that not a single ticket holder took advantage of the refund offer). Despite this, by the end of the day, millions had learned of Vysotsky's death. On 28 July, he lay in state at the Taganka Theatre. After a mourning ceremony involving an unauthorized mass gathering of unprecedented scale, Vysotsky was buried at the Vagankovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. The attendance at the Olympic events dropped noticeably on that day, as scores of spectators left to attend the funeral. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of his coffin.
Controversy surrounding circumstances of death
According to author Valery Perevozchikov part of the blame for his death lay with the group of associates who surrounded him in the last years of his life. This inner circle were all people under the influence of his strong character, combined with a material interest in the large sums of money his concerts earned. This list included Valerii Yankelovich, manager of the Taganka Theatre and prime organiser of his non-sanctioned concerts; Anatoly Fedotov, his personal doctor; Vadim Tumanov, gold prospector (and personal friend) from Siberia; Oksana Afanasyeva (later Yarmolnik), his mistress the last three years of his life; Ivan Bortnik, a fellow actor; and Leonid Sul'povar, a department head at the Sklifosovski hospital who was responsible for much of the supply of drugs.
Vysotsky's associates had all put in efforts to supply his drug habit, which kept him going in the last years of his life. Under their influence, he was able to continue to perform all over the country, up to a week before his death. Due to illegal (i.e. non-state-sanctioned) sales of tickets and other underground methods, these concerts pulled in sums of money unimaginable in Soviet times, when almost everyone received nearly the same small salary. The payouts and gathering of money were a constant source of danger, and Yankelovich and others were needed to organise them.
Some money went to Vysotsky, the rest was distributed amongst this circle. At first this was a reasonable return on their efforts; however, as his addiction progressed and his body developed resistance, the frequency and amount of drugs needed to keep Vysotsky going became unmanageable. This culminated at the time of the Moscow Olympics which coincided with the last days of his life, when supplies of drugs were monitored more strictly than usual, and some of the doctors involved in supplying Vysotsky were already behind bars (normally the doctors had to account for every ampule, thus drugs were transferred to an empty container, while the patients received a substitute or placebo instead). In the last few days Vysotsky became uncontrollable, his shouting could be heard all over the apartment building on Malaya Gruzinskaya St. where he lived amongst VIP's. Several days before his death, in a state of stupor he went on a high speed drive around Moscow in an attempt to obtain drugs and alcohol – when many high-ranking people saw him. This increased the likelihood of him being forcibly admitted to the hospital, and the consequent danger to the circle supplying his habit. As his state of health declined, and it became obvious that he might die, his associates gathered to decide what to do with him. They came up with no firm decision. They did not want him admitted officially, as his drug addiction would become public and they would fall under suspicion, although some of them admitted that any ordinary person in his condition would have been admitted immediately.
On Vysotsky's death his associates and relatives put in much effort to prevent a post-mortem being carried out. This despite the fairly unusual circumstances: he died aged 42 under heavy sedation with an improvised cocktail of sedatives and stimulants, including the toxic chloral hydrate, provided by his personal doctor who had been supplying him with narcotics the previous three years. This doctor, being the only one present at his side when death occurred, had a few days earlier been seen to display elementary negligence in treating the sedated Vysotsky. On the night of his death, Arkadii Vysotsky (his son), who tried to visit his father in his apartment, was rudely refused entry by Yankelovich, even though there was a lack of people able to care for him. Subsequently, the Soviet police commenced a manslaughter investigation which was dropped due to the absence of evidence taken at the time of death.
Personal life
Drug and alcohol abuse
Relationships
Iza Zhukova
Vysotsky's first wife was Iza Zhukova. They met in 1956, being both MAT theater institute students, lived for some time at Vysotsky's mother's flat in Moscow. After her graduation (Iza was 2 years older) they spent months in different cities (she in Kyiv, then Rostov) and finally married on 25 April 1960.
Lyudmila Abramova
Vysotsky met Lyudmila Abramova in September 1961, while they were both filming 713 Requests Permission to Land in Leningrad. Abramova was still a student at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, while Vysotsky was then with the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre.
They married in 1965 and had two sons, Arkady (born 1962) and Nikita (born 1964). Their relationship ended when she realized that Vysotsky had been cheating on her.
In an interview in 2018, Abramova said that she was largely happy while they were together, even if there were occasional bad times.
Tatyana Ivanenko
While still married to Lyudmila Abramova, Vysotsky began a romantic relationship with Tatyana Ivanenko, a Taganka actress.
Marina Vlady
In 1967 Vysotsky fell in love with Marina Vlady, a French actress of Russian descent, who was working at Mosfilm on a joint Soviet-French production at that time. As a result, 1968 marked the point when "proper" love songs started to appear in his repertoire, documenting the beginning of their love affair.
After his visit with Khruschev in 1969, Vysotsky took Marina Vlady to director 's place to investigate her Belarusian roots. They subsequently married on 1 December 1970, causing a furor among Moscow's cultural and political elite. They spent their honeymoon in Georgia, during which time Vysotsky wrote numerous new songs, including "Ya Ne Lyublyu" ("I Don't Like").
For 10 years the two maintained a long-distance relationship as Marina compromised her career in France to spend more time in Moscow, and Vladimir's friends pulled strings for him to be allowed to travel abroad to stay with his wife. Marina eventually joined the Communist Party of France, which essentially gave her an unlimited-entry visa into the Soviet Union, and provided Vladimir with some immunity against prosecution by the government, which was becoming weary of his covertly anti-Soviet lyrics and his odds-defying popularity with the masses. The problems of his long-distance relationship with Vlady inspired several of Vysotsky's songs.
Legacy and remembrance
In the autumn of 1981 Vysotsky's first collection of poetry was officially published in the USSR, called The Nerve (Нерв). Its first edition (25,000 copies) was sold out instantly. In 1982 the second one followed (100,000), then the 3rd (1988, 200,000), followed in the 1990s by several more. The material for it was compiled by Robert Rozhdestvensky, an officially laurelled Soviet poet. Also in 1981 Yuri Lyubimov staged at Taganka a new music and poetry production called Vladimir Vysotsky which was promptly banned and officially premiered on 25 January 1989.
In 1982 the motion picture The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe was produced in the Soviet Union and in 1983 the movie was released to the public. Four songs by Vysotsky were featured in the film.
In 1986 the official Vysotsky poetic heritage committee was formed (with Robert Rozhdestvensky at the helm, theater critic Natalya Krymova being both the instigator and the organizer). Despite some opposition from the conservatives (Yegor Ligachev was the latter's political leader, Stanislav Kunyaev of Nash Sovremennik represented its literary flank) Vysotsky was rewarded posthumously with the USSR State Prize. The official formula – "for creating the character of Zheglov and artistic achievements as a singer-songwriter" was much derided from both the left and the right. In 1988 the Selected Works of... (edited by N. Krymova) compilation was published, preceded by I Will Surely Return... (Я, конечно, вернусь...) book of fellow actors' memoirs and Vysotsky's verses, some published for the first time. In 1990 two volumes of extensive The Works of... were published, financed by the late poet's father Semyon Vysotsky. Even more ambitious publication series, self-proclaimed "the first ever academical edition" (the latter assertion being dismissed by sceptics) compiled and edited by Sergey Zhiltsov, were published in Tula (1994–1998, 5 volumes), Germany (1994, 7 volumes) and Moscow (1997, 4 volumes).
In 1989 the official Vysotsky Museum opened in Moscow, with the magazine of its own called Vagant (edited by Sergey Zaitsev) devoted entirely to Vysotsky's legacy. In 1996 it became an independent publication and was closed in 2002.
In the years to come, Vysotsky's grave became a site of pilgrimage for several generations of his fans, the youngest of whom were born after his death. His tombstone also became the subject of controversy, as his widow had wished for a simple abstract slab, while his parents insisted on a realistic gilded statue. Although probably too solemn to have inspired Vysotsky himself, the statue is believed by some to be full of metaphors and symbols reminiscent of the singer's life.
In 1995 in Moscow the Vysotsky monument was officially opened at Strastnoy Boulevard, by the Petrovsky Gates. Among those present were the bard's parents, two of his sons, first wife Iza, renown poets Yevtushenko and Voznesensky. "Vysotsky had always been telling the truth. Only once he was wrong when he sang in one of his songs: 'They will never erect me a monument in a square like that by Petrovskye Vorota'", Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov said in his speech. A further monument to Vysotsky was erected in 2014 at Rostov-on-Don.
In October 2004, a monument to Vysotsky was erected in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, near the Millennium Bridge. His son, Nikita Vysotsky, attended the unveiling. The statue was designed by Russian sculptor Alexander Taratinov, who also designed a monument to Alexander Pushkin in Podgorica. The bronze statue shows Vysotsky standing on a pedestal, with his one hand raised and the other holding a guitar. Next to the figure lies a bronze skull – a reference to Vysotsky's monumental lead performances in Shakespeare's Hamlet. On the pedestal the last lines from a poem of Vysotsky's, dedicated to Montenegro, are carved.
The Vysotsky business center & semi-skyscraper was officially opened in Yekaterinburg, in 2011. It is the tallest building in Russia outside of Moscow, has 54 floors, total height: . On the third floor of the business center is the Vysotsky Museum. Behind the building is a bronze sculpture of Vladimir Vysotsky and his third wife, a French actress Marina Vlady.
In 2011 a controversial movie Vysotsky. Thank You For Being Alive was released, script written by his son, Nikita Vysotsky. The actor Sergey Bezrukov portrayed Vysotsky, using a combination of a mask and CGI effects. The film tells about Vysotsky's illegal underground performances, problems with KGB and drugs, and subsequent clinical death in 1979.
Shortly after Vysotsky's death, many Russian bards started writing songs and poems about his life and death. The best known are Yuri Vizbor's "Letter to Vysotsky" (1982) and Bulat Okudzhava's "About Volodya Vysotsky" (1980). In Poland, Jacek Kaczmarski based some of his songs on those of Vysotsky, such as his first song (1977) was based on "The Wolfhunt", and dedicated to his memory the song "Epitafium dla Włodzimierza Wysockiego" ("Epitaph for Vladimir Vysotsky").
Every year on Vysotsky's birthday festivals are held throughout Russia and in many communities throughout the world, especially in Europe. Vysotsky's impact in Russia is often compared to that of Wolf Biermann in Germany, Bob Dylan in America, or Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel in France.
The asteroid 2374 Vladvysotskij, discovered by Lyudmila Zhuravleva, was named after Vysotsky.
During the Annual Q&A Event Direct Line with Vladimir Putin, Alexey Venediktov asked Putin to name a street in Moscow after the singer Vladimir Vysotsky, who, though considered one of the greatest Russian artists, has no street named after him in Moscow almost 30 years after his death. Venediktov stated a Russian law that allowed the President to do so and promote a law suggestion to name a street by decree. Putin answered that he would talk to Mayor of Moscow and would solve this problem. In July 2015 former Upper and Lower Tagansky Dead-ends (Верхний и Нижний Таганские тупики) in Moscow were reorganized into Vladimir Vysotsky Street.
The Sata Kieli Cultural Association, [Finland], organizes the annual International Vladimir Vysotsky Festival (Vysotski Fest), where Vysotsky's singers from different countries perform in Helsinki and other Finnish cities. They sing Vysotsky in different languages and in different arrangements.
Two brothers and singers from Finland, Mika and Turkka Mali, over the course of their more than 30-year musical career, have translated into Finnish, recorded and on numerous occasions publicly performed songs of Vladimir Vysotsky.
Throughout his lengthy musical career, Jaromír Nohavica, a famed Czech singer, translated and performed numerous songs of Vladimir Vysotsky, most notably Песня о друге (Píseň o příteli – Song about a friend).
The Museum of Vladimir Vysotsky in Koszalin dedicated to Vladimir Vysotsky was founded by Marlena Zimna (1969–2016) in May 1994, in her apartment, in the city of Koszalin, in Poland. Since then the museum has collected over 19,500 exhibits from different countries and currently holds Vladimir Vysotsky' personal items, autographs, drawings, letters, photographs and a large library containing unique film footage, vinyl records, CDs and DVDs. A special place in the collection holds a Vladimir Vysotsky's guitar, on which he played at a concert in Casablanca in April 1976. Vladimir Vysotsky presented this guitar to Moroccan journalist Hassan El-Sayed together with an autograph (an extract from Vladimir Vysotsky's song "What Happened in Africa"), written in Russian right on the guitar.
In January 2023, a monument to the outstanding actor, singer and poet Vladimir Vysotsky was unveiled in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, in the square near the Rodina House of Culture. Author Vladimir Chebotarev.
Books on Vladimir Vysotsky
After her husband's death, urged by her friend Simone Signoret, Marina Vlady wrote a book called The Aborted Flight about her years together with Vysotsky. The book paid tribute to Vladimir's talent and rich persona, yet was uncompromising in its depiction of his addictions and the problems that they caused in their marriage. Written in French (and published in France in 1987), it was translated into Russian in tandem by Vlady and a professional translator and came out in 1989 in the USSR. Totally credible from the specialists' point of view, the book caused controversy, among other things, by shocking revelations about the difficult father-and-son relationship (or rather, the lack of any), implying that Vysotsky-senior (while his son was alive) was deeply ashamed of him and his songs which he deemed "anti-Soviet" and reported his own son to the KGB. Also in 1989 another important book of memoirs was published in the USSR, providing a bulk of priceless material for the host of future biographers, Alla Demidova's Vladimir Vysotsky, the One I Know and Love. Among other publications of note were Valery Zolotukhin's Vysotsky's Secret (2000), a series of Valery Perevozchikov's books (His Dying Hour, The Unknown Vysotsky and others) containing detailed accounts and interviews dealing with the bard's life's major controversies (the mystery surrounding his death, the truth behind Vysotsky Sr.'s alleged KGB reports, the true nature of Vladimir Vysotsky's relations with his mother Nina's second husband Georgy Bartosh etc.), Iza Zhukova's Short Happiness for a Lifetime and the late bard's sister-in-law Irena Vysotskaya's My Brother Vysotsky. The Beginnings (both 2005).
A group of enthusiasts has created a non-profit project – the mobile application "Vysotsky"
Music
The multifaceted talent of Vysotsky is often described by the term "bard" (бард) that Vysotsky has never been enthusiastic about. He thought of himself mainly as an actor and poet rather than a singer, and once remarked, "I do not belong to what people call bards or minstrels or whatever." With the advent of portable tape-recorders in the Soviet Union, Vysotsky's music became available to the masses in the form of home-made reel-to-reel audio tape recordings (later on cassette tapes).
Vysotsky accompanied himself on a Russian seven-string guitar, with a raspy voice singing ballads of love, peace, war, everyday Soviet life and of the human condition. He was largely perceived as the voice of honesty, at times sarcastically jabbing at the Soviet government, which made him a target for surveillance and threats. In France, he has been compared with Georges Brassens; in Russia, however, he was more frequently compared with Joe Dassin, partly because they were the same age and died in the same year, although their ideologies, biographies, and musical styles are very different. Vysotsky's lyrics and style greatly influenced Jacek Kaczmarski, a Polish songwriter and singer who touched on similar themes.
Not being officially recognized as a poet and singer, Vysotsky performed wherever and whenever he couldin the theater (where he worked), at universities, in private apartments, village clubs, and in the open air. It was not unusual for him to give several concerts in one day. He used to sleep little, using the night hours to write. With few exceptions, he wasn't allowed to publish his recordings with "Melodiya", which held a monopoly on the Soviet music industry. His songs were passed on through amateur, fairly low quality recordings on vinyl discs and magnetic tape, resulting in his immense popularity. Cosmonauts even took his music on cassette into orbit.
Themes
Vysotsky's songs—over 600 of them—were written about almost any imaginable theme. The earliest were blatnaya pesnya ("outlaw songs"). These songs were based either on the life of the common people in Moscow or on life in the crime people, sometimes in Gulag. Vysotsky slowly grew out of this phase and started singing more serious, though often satirical, songs. Many of these songs were about war. These war songs were not written to glorify war, but rather to expose the listener to the emotions of those in extreme, life-threatening situations. Most Soviet veterans would say that Vysotsky's war songs described the truth of war far more accurately than more official "patriotic" songs.
Nearly all of Vysotsky's songs are in the first person, although he is almost never the narrator. When singing his criminal songs, he would adopt the accent and intonation of a Moscow thief, and when singing war songs, he would sing from the point of view of a soldier. In many of his philosophical songs, he adopted the role of inanimate objects. In essence, Vysotsky's songs were miniature theatrical dramatizations, often with a protagonist and containing many dialogues. He achieved such a high level of authenticity that many real life former prisoners, war veterans, boxers, and footballers refused to believe that Vysotsky had not himself spent time behind bars, fought in the war, or been a boxer or footballer. Following his first solo concerts at the Leningrad Nuclear Physics Institute, he published a note for his fans with the words: "Now that you've heard all these songs, please, don't you make a mistake of mixing me with my characters, I am not like them at all. With love, Vysotsky, 20 April 1965, XX c." He found it necessary to make similar excuses throughout his career.
Veteran screenwriter Nikolay Erdman said of Vysotsky's work: "I can well understand how Mayakovsky or Seryozha Yesenin did it. How Volodya Vysotsky does it is totally beyond me."
However, one of the themes in his repertoire was considerably more autobiographical: alcoholism, with which he personally struggled. By the time of his breakthrough in 1967, he had already suffered several physical breakdowns, and once was sent (by the director of the Taganka Theatre) to a rehabilitation clinic, a visit he had to repeat multiple times thereafter.
Musical style
Musically, virtually all of Vysotsky's songs were written in a minor key, and tended to employ from three to seven chords. Vysotsky composed his songs and played them exclusively on the Russian seven string guitar, often tuned a tone or a tone-and-a-half below the traditional Russian "Open G major" tuning. This guitar, with its specific Russian tuning, makes a slight yet notable difference in chord voicings than the standard tuned six string Spanish (classical) guitar, and it became a staple of his sound. Because Vysotsky tuned down a tone and a half, his strings had less tension, which also colored the sound.
His earliest songs were usually written in C minor (with the guitar tuned a tone down from DGBDGBD to CFACFAC), using the following chord shapes:
Songs written in this key include "Stars" (Zvyozdy), "My friend left for Magadan" (Moy drug uyekhal v Magadan), and most of his "outlaw songs".
At around 1970, Vysotsky began writing and playing exclusively in A minor (guitar tuned to CFACFAC), which he continued doing until his death. The main chord shapes he based his songs on were:
Vysotsky used his fingers instead of a pick to pluck and strum, as was the tradition with Russian guitar playing. He used a variety of finger picking and strumming techniques. One of his favorite was to play an alternating bass with his thumb as he plucked or strummed with his other fingers.
Often, Vysotsky would neglect to check the tuning of his guitar, which is particularly noticeable on earlier recordings. According to some accounts, Vysotsky would get upset when friends would attempt to tune his guitar, leading some to believe that he preferred to play slightly out of tune as a stylistic choice. Much of this is also attributable to the fact that a guitar that is tuned down more than 1 whole step (Vysotsky would sometimes tune as much as 2 and a half steps down) is prone to intonation problems.
Singing style
Apart from his recognizable raspy voice, Vysotsky had a unique singing style. He had an unusual habit of elongating consonants instead of vowels in his songs. So when a syllable is sung for a prolonged period of time, he would elongate the consonant instead of the vowel in that syllable.
Filmography
1959: Female Age-Mates (Сверстницы) (Mosfilm, Director: Vasiliy Ordynsky)
1961: Dima Gorin's Career (Карьера Димы Горина) (Gorky Film Studio, Director: Frunze Dovlatyan & Lev Mirsky) as Sofron
1962: 713 Requests Permission to Land (713-й просит посадку) (Lenfilm, Director: Grigory Nikulin) as an American sailor
1962: Shore Leave (Увольнение на берег) (Mosfilm, Director: Feliks Mironer) as Pyotr
1962: Greshnitsa (Director: Gavriil Egiazarov and Fyodor Filippov)
1963: Penalty Kick (Штрафной удар) (Gorky Film Studio, Director: Veniamin Dorman) as Aleksandr Nikulin
1964: The Living and the Dead (Живые и мёртвые) (Mosfilm, Director: Aleksandr Stolper)
1965: Our House (Наш дом) (Mosfilm, Director: Vasily Pronin) as Mechanic
1965: On Tomorrow's Street (На завтрашней улице) (Mosfilm, Director: Fyodor Filipov) as Pyotr Markin
1965: The Cook (Стряпуха) (Mosfilm, Director: Edmond Keosayan)
1966: Stryapukha (Director: Edmond Keosayan)
1966: I Was Born in Childhood (Я родом из детства) (Belarusfilm, Director: Viktor Turov)
1966: Vertical (Вертикаль) (Odessa Film Studio, Director: Stanislav Govorukhin and Boris Durov) as Volodya, the radio operator
1966: Sasha-Sashen'ka (Саша-Сашенька) (Belarusfilm, Director: Vitaly Chetverikov) as Singer with Guitar (uncredited)
1967: Brief Encounters (Короткие встречи) (Odessa Film Studio, Director: Kira Muratova) as Maksim
1967: War Under the Rooftops (Война под крышами) (Belarusfilm, Director: Victor Turov)
1968: Two Comrades Were Serving (Служили два товарища) (Mosfilm, Director: Yevgeny Karelov) as Alexander Brusentsov
1968: Intervention (Интервенция) (Lenfilm, Director: Gennadi Poloka) as Michel Voronov / Brodsky
1969: Master of the Taiga (Хозяин тайги) (Mosfilm, Director: Vladimir Nazarov)
1969: Dangerous Tour (Опасные гастроли) (Odessa Film Studio; Director: Georgi Yungvald-Khilkevich) as George Bengalsky
1969: White Explosion (Белый взрыв) (Odessa Film Studio, Director: Stanislav Govorukhin) as Kapitan
1973: The Fourth (Четвёртый) – Mosfilm; Director: Alexandr Stolper
1973: Bad Good Man (Плохой хороший человек) (Lenfilm, Director: Iosif Kheifits) as Von Koren
1975: The Only Road (Единственная дорога) (Mosfilm & Titograd Studio, Director: Vladimir Pavlovich) as Sofer Solodov
1975: Kontrabanda (Director: Stanislav Govorukhin) (singing voice)
1975: The Flight of Mr. McKinley (Бегство мистера Мак-Кинли) (Mosfilm, Director: Mikhail Schweitzer) as Bill Siger, a singer
1976: The Only One (Единственная) (Lenfilm, Director: Iosif Heifits) as Boris Ilyich, muzikalno-khorovogo kruzhka
1976: How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor (Сказ про то, как царь Пётр арапа женил) (Mosfilm, Director: Alexander Mitta) as Ibragim
1976: 72 gradusa nizhe nulya (Director: Sergei Danilin and Yevgeni Tatarsky) (singing voice)
1977: They're Together (Они вдвоём) (Mafilm, Director: Márta Mészáros)
1979: The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (Место встречи изменить нельзя) (TV Mini-Series, Director: Stanislav Govorukhin) as Gleb Zheglov
1979: Little Tragedies (Маленькие трагедии) (TV Mini-Series, Director: Mikhail Schveytser) as Don Juan (final appearance)
Bibliography
Wladimir Wyssozki. Aufbau Verlag 1989 (DDR): Zerreißt mir nicht meine silbernen Saiten....
Vysotsky, Vladimir (1990): Hamlet With a Guitar. Moscow, Progress Publishers.
Vysotsky, Vladimir (2003): Songs, Poems, Prose. Moscow, Eksmo. ISBN
Vysotsky, Vladimir / Mer, Nathan (trans) (1991): Songs & Poems.
Vysotsky, Vladimir (1991): I Love, Therefore I Live.
Vlady, Marina (1987): Vladimir ou Le Vol Arrêté. Paris, Ed. Fayard. (Vladimir or the Aborted Flight)
Влади М. Владимир, или Прерванный полет. М.: Прогресс, 1989.
Vlady, Marina / Meinert, Joachim (transl) (1991): Eine Liebe zwischen zwei Welten. Mein Leben mit Wladimir Wyssozki. Weimar, Aufbau Verlag. ISBN
Other books
Novel about Girls (Roman o devochkah)
Vacation in Vienna (Venskie kanikulyi)
Discography
Lifetime
Selected songs Melodiya, 1974
Tightrope (Натянутый канат), PolyGram, 1977
Алиса в стране чудес / Alice in Wonderland (1976) [2 vinyls]. Musical play, an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, with Klara Rumyanova, Vladimir Vysotsky, Vsevolod Abdulov. Lyrics and music by Vladimir Vysotsky
Posthumous releases
Bulgaria
Автопортрет / Self-Portrait (1981) [12-inch vinyl] [LP] Balkanton
France
Le Monument (1995) [CD]
Le Vol Arrêté (2000) [CD]
Germany
Wir drehen die Erde (1993) [CD]
Lieder vom Krieg (1995) [CD]
Russia
Песни / Songs (1980) [LP] Melodiya
Collection of songs published shortly after his death. [Melodiya Stereo C60-14761.2]
Sons Are Leaving For Battle (1987) [double LP] Melodiya
War songs. Archive recordings from between 1960 and 1980. [Melodiya MONO M60 47429 008/006]
На концертах Владимира Высоцкого / At Vladimir Vysotsky's concerts
01, 02, 03, ... 21 (1986–1990) [12-inch vinyl]
Marina Vlady and Vladimir Vysotsky (1996) [CD] [Melodiya]
Vysotsky On Compact Cassettes – 30 individual cassettes in total, also sold as a box set (1996) [Aprelevka Sound Production]
MP3 Kollektsiya: Vladimir Vysotsky [SoLyd Records] Concert and Studio recordings, (period 1979–1980) (2002) [CD: MP3 192 kbit/s]
Disk 1,
Disk 2,
Disk 3
Disk 4
Platinovaya Kollektsiya: Vladimir Vysotsky (2003) [2 CDs]: CD 1, CD 2
Notes
References
See also
Russian traditional music
Museum of Vladimir Vysotsky in Koszalin
External links
English sources
Vladimir Vysotsky's songs translated into English
Vladimir Vysotsky. Songs in English, covered by a native English-speaker (Youtube)
Eugenia Weinstein (private site, with English translation of some songs)
Vladimir Vysotsky – Speaking In Tongues, Collected Poems (Songs) by Vladimir Vysotsky. Bilingual Version. Translated from the Russian by Alec Vagapov
Vysotsky's father: "This Is What Our Son Was Like" – Speaking In Tongues
My Life on Stage (autobiographical reminiscences) – Speaking In Tongues
V. Vysotsky. The Monument. English translations
Another Biography of Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Vysotsky in different tongues
Poems and songs of Vladimir Vysotsky in the traditional Russian and English languages
"Hey, Driver" by Vladimir Vysotsky. Bi-lingual edition. English translation by Andrew Glikin-Gusinsky
Prose poem "Rafts" by Vladimir Vysotsky. English translation by Andrew Glikin-Gusinsky
Russian sources
Mobile application "Vysotsky"
bards.ru (lyrics to most of his songs)
vysotsky.km.ru (scores of photographs, a wealth of information)
vv.uka.ru ("fonoteka": most of his songs in MP3 format)
zeuhl.academ.org (Another source for MP3 files)
zipsites.ru (Over 900 MP3 files from 32 disk box set)
Nikita Vysotsky, Vladimir's son talks to AIF.
Vysotsky and Pushkin together
Truth of the moment of death V. K. Perevozchikov. Pravda Smertnogo Chasa:
smotry-film.ru (Over 90 film files)
Vladimir Vysotsky. 1980. Moscow. Sampo, 1998. 272 p.
1938 births
1980 deaths
Soviet Jews
Soviet male actors
Soviet musicians
Soviet male film actors
Soviet male stage actors
Soviet male singer-songwriters
Soviet singer-songwriters
Seven-string guitarists
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Russian bards
Russian-language poets
Russian male film actors
Russian male singer-songwriters
Russian singer-songwriters
Male actors from Moscow
Singers from Moscow
Writers from Moscow
Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery
20th-century guitarists
20th-century Russian male musicians
20th-century Russian male actors
20th-century Russian male singers
20th-century Russian writers
Moscow Art Theatre School alumni
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%20Union%20Station
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Washington Union Station
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Washington Union Station, known locally as Union Station, is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's headquarters, the railroad's second-busiest station, and North America's 10th-busiest railroad station. The station is the southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor, an electrified rail line extending north through major cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston, and the busiest passenger rail line in the nation. In 2015, it served just under five million passengers.
An intermodal facility, Union Station also serves MARC and VRE commuter rail services, the Washington Metro, the DC Streetcar, intercity bus lines, and local Metrobus buses. It carries the IATA airport code of ZWU.
At the height of its traffic, during World War II, as many as 200,000 passengers passed through the station in a single day. In 1988, a headhouse wing was added and the original station renovated for use as a shopping mall. As of 2014, Union Station was one of the busiest rail facilities and shopping destinations in the United States, visited by over 40 million people a year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors caused a sharp decline in retail and dining; by late 2022, more than half its commercial space was vacant, but Amtrak is attempting to regain control of the station and plans a major renovation and expansion.
History
Pre-Union Station terminals
Before Union Station opened, each of the major railroads operated out of one of two stations:
New Jersey Avenue Station (1851–1907): Baltimore and Ohio Railroad trains arrived and left from this railroad station. It was located at the corner of New Jersey Avenue NW and C Street NW.
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station (1872–1907): Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) (a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad), the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and the Southern Railway all left from this train station. It was located at the corner of B Street NW (now Constitution Avenue) and 6th Street NW.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line ran east on D Street NE across North Capitol, then north on Delaware Avenue NE. It divided into two lines. The Metropolitan branch continued north on 1st Street NE, turning east on New York Ave NE and continuing north through Eckington. The other line turned east onto I Street NE up to 7th Street NE where it headed back north on what is today West Virginia Avenue running next to the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb (now Gallaudet University).
Construction
When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad announced in 1901 that they had agreed to build a new union station together, the city had two reasons to celebrate. The decision meant that both railroads would soon remove their trackwork and terminals from the National Mall. Though changes there appeared only gradually, the consolidation of the depots allowed the creation of the Mall as it appears today. Secondly, the plan to bring all the city's railroads under one roof promised that Washington would finally have a station both large enough to handle large crowds and impressive enough to befit the city's role as the federal capital. The station was to be designed under the guidance of Daniel Burnham, a famed Chicago architect and member of the U.S. Senate Park Commission, who in September 1901 wrote to the Commission's chairman, Sen. James McMillan, of the proposed project: "The station and its surroundings should be treated in a monumental manner, as they will become the vestibule of the city of Washington, and as they will be in close proximity to the Capitol itself."
After two years of complicated and sometimes contentious negotiations, Congress passed S. 4825 (58th-1st session) entitled "An Act to provide a union railroad station in the District of Columbia" which was signed into law by 26th President Theodore Roosevelt on February 28, 1903. The Act authorized the Washington Terminal Company (which was to be jointly owned by the B&O and the PRR-controlled Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad) to construct a station "monumental in character" that would cost at least $4 million (equivalent to $ in ). (The main station building's actual cost eventually exceeded $5.9 million [equivalent to $ in ].) Including additional outlays for new terminal grades, approaches, bridges, viaducts, coach and freight yards, tunnels, shops, support buildings and other infrastructure, the total cost to the Terminal Company for all the improvements associated with Union Station exceeded $16 million (equivalent to $ in ). This cost was financed by $12 million (equivalent to $ in ) in first mortgage bonds as well as advances by the owners which were repaid by stock and cash.
Each carrier also received $1.5 million (equivalent to $ in ) in government funding to compensate them for the costs of eliminating grade crossings in the city. The only railroad station in the nation specifically authorized by the U.S. Congress, the building was primarily designed by William Pierce Anderson of the Chicago architectural firm of D.H. Burnham & Company.
Effect on the neighborhood
Though the project was supported by the federal government, there was opposition at the local level. The new depot would displace residents and cleave new neighborhoods east of the tracks.
On January 10, 1902, representatives of the railroads presented preliminary plans for the construction of the Union Depot (Union Station) to representatives of the District of Columbia. They proposed to build tunnels under the tracks for K, L, and M Streets NE and to close H Street. The street would be closed on both sides of Delaware Avenue (for a total of ). If a tunnel was to be built for H Street NE, the cost would be an extra $10,000 (equivalent to $ in ).
Three days later, officers and members of the Northeast Washington Citizens' Association expressed their outrage to representatives of Congress and the railroads at an Association meeting at the Northeast Temple on H Street NE. The president of the Association claimed that the Pennsylvania Railroad controlled Congress; a member of the Association threatened to take the matter to court. The Association declared unacceptable the loss of a major access road to downtown for the residents of Northeast; the loss of millions of dollars of business properties and of the business it represented; the closure of a vital streetcar line used by commuters, considering the alternative cost of building an access across the tracks.
At the association's March 10, 1902, meeting, its president told the audience that the District Commissioners had heard their complaints, and that H Street would remain open with a tunnel running under the tracks.
More than 100 houses were demolished to make way for the station and its tracks. The demolition erased the heart of an impoverished neighborhood called "Swampoodle" where crime was rampant. It was the end of a community but the beginning of a new era for Washington, D.C. Tiber Creek, which was prone to flooding, was put in a tunnel. Delaware Avenue disappeared from the map between Massachusetts Avenue and Florida Avenue under the tracks. Only a small section remains, next to the tracks between L and M Streets NE.
Opening and operation
The first B&O train to arrive with passengers was the Pittsburgh Express, at 6:50 a.m. on October 27, 1907; the first PRR train arrived three weeks later on November 17. The main building itself was completed in 1908. Of its 32 station tracks, 20 enter from the northeast and terminate at the station's headhouse. The remaining 12 tracks enter below ground level from the south via a 4,033-foot twin-tube tunnel passing under Capitol Hill and an 898-foot long subway under Massachusetts Avenue, which allow through traffic direct access to the rail networks both north and south of the city.
Among the new station's unique features was an opulent "Presidential Suite" (aka "State Reception Suite") where the U.S. President, State Department and Congressional leaders could receive distinguished visitors arriving in Washington. Provided with a separate entrance, the suite (which was first used by 27th President William Howard Taft in 1909) was also meant to safeguard the Chief Executive during his travels in an effort to prevent a repeat of the July, 1881 assassination of 20th President James A. Garfield in the old former Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station. The suite was converted in December 1941, during World War II, to a U.S.O. (United Services Organization) canteen, which went on to serve 6.5 million military service members during World War II. Although closed on May 31, 1946, it was reopened in 1951 as a U.S.O. lounge and dedicated by President Harry Truman as a permanent "home away from home" for traveling U.S. Armed Services members.
On the morning of January 15, 1953, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Federal, the overnight train from Boston, crashed into the station. When the engineer tried to apply the trainline brakes two miles out of the platforms, he discovered that he only had engine brakes. A switchman on the approach to the station noticed the runaway train and telephoned a warning to the station, as the train coasted downhill into track 16. The GG1 electric locomotive, No. 4876, hit the bumper block at about , jumped onto the platform, destroyed the stationmaster's office at the end of the track, took out a newsstand, and was on its way to crashing through the wall into the Great Hall. Just then, the floor of the terminal, having never been designed to carry the 475,000-pound weight of this locomotive, gave way, dropping the engine into the basement. The electric locomotive fell into about the center of what is now the food court. Remarkably, no one was killed, and passengers in the rear cars thought that they had only had a rough stop. An investigation revealed that an anglecock on the brakeline had been closed, probably by an icicle knocked from an overhead bridge. The accident inspired the finale of the 1976 film Silver Streak. The durable design of the GG1 made its damage repairable, and it was soon back in service after being hauled away in pieces to the PRR's main shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Before the latter action was undertaken, however, the GG1 and the hole it made were temporarily planked over and hidden from view due to the imminent inauguration of General Dwight D. Eisenhower as the thirty-fourth President of the United States.
Until intercity passenger rail service was taken over by Amtrak on May 1, 1971, Union Station served as a hub for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Southern Railway. The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad provided a link to Richmond, Virginia, about to the south, where major north–south lines of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Seaboard Air Line Railroad provided service to the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. World War II was the busiest period in the station's history in terms of passenger traffic, with up to 200,000 people passing through on a single day.
Decline
In 1967, the chairman of the Civil Service Commission expressed interest in using Union Station as a visitor center during the upcoming Bicentennial celebrations. Funding for this was collected over the next six years, and the reconstruction of the station included outfitting the Main Hall with a recessed pit to display a slide show presentation. This was officially the PAVE (Primary Audio-Visual Experience), but was sarcastically referred to as "the Pit". The entire project was completed, save for the parking garage, and opening ceremonies were held on Independence Day 1976. Due to a lack of publicity and convenient parking, the National Visitor Center was never popular. Financial considerations caused the National Park Service to close the theaters, end the slideshow presentation in "the Pit", and lay off almost three-quarters of the center's staff on October 28, 1978.
After the leaking roof caused the partial collapse of plaster from the ceiling in the eastern wing of the building, the National Park Service declared the entire structure unsafe on February 23, 1981, and sealed the structure to the public.
Restoration
The 1981 ceiling collapse deeply alarmed members of Congress and officials in the new Reagan administration. On April 3, despite a budget austerity push, administration officials proposed a plan to appropriate $7 million (equivalent to $ in ) to allow the Department of the Interior to finish its authorized $8 million (equivalent to $ in ) roof repair program. In addition, the government of the District of Columbia would be permitted to reprogram up to $40 million (equivalent to $ in ) in federal highway money to finish the parking garage at Union Station. On October 19, administration officials and members of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation agreed on additional aspects of the plan. Up to $1 million (equivalent to $ in ) would be authorized and appropriated to fund a study on needed repairs at the station and a second study on the feasibility of turning Union Station into a retail complex. The Department of Transportation (DOT) was authorized to sign contracts with any willing corporation to construct a retail complex in and around Union Station. DOT was also authorized to spend up to $29 million (equivalent to $ in ) in already-appropriated money from its Northeast Corridor rail capital building program on Union Station repairs. The revised bill also required DOT to take control of Union Station from the Department of the Interior, and for DOT to buy out its lease with the station's private-sector owners. The buy-out would be spread over six years, for which $275,000 a year (equivalent to $ in ) was authorized and appropriated. The bill required DOT to operate Union Station as a train station once more, complete with ticketing, waiting areas, baggage areas, and boarding. Although no statement was made in the bill, Senate aides said the intent was to have Amtrak tear down its 1960s-era station at the rear of Union Station and move its operations back inside. The Senate passed the bill unanimously on November 23. The House approved the bill on December 16. President Ronald Reagan signed the Union Station Redevelopment Act into law on December 29.
As a result of the Redevelopment Act of 1981, Union Station was closed for restoration and refurbishing. Mold was growing in the leaking ceiling of the Main Hall, and the carpet laid out for an Inauguration Day celebration was full of cigarette-burned holes. In 1988, Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole awarded $70 million (equivalent to $ in ) to the restoration effort. "The Pit" was transformed into a new basement level, and the Main Hall floor was refitted with marble. While installing new HVAC systems, crews discovered antique items in shafts that had not been opened since the building's creation.
A new life
The station reopened in its present form on September 29, 1988. The former "Pit" area was replaced with an AMC movie theater (later Phoenix Theatres), which closed on October 12, 2009, and was replaced with an expanded food court and a Walgreens store. The food court still retains the original arches under which the trains were parked as well as the track numbers on those arches. A variety of shops opened along the Concourse and Main Hall, and a new Amtrak terminal at the back behind the original Concourse. Trains no longer enter the original Concourse, but the original, decorative gates were relocated to the new passenger concourse. In 1994, this new passenger concourse was renamed to honor W. Graham Claytor Jr., who served as Amtrak's president from 1982 to 1993. The decorative elements of the station were also restored. The skylights were preserved, but sunlight no longer illuminates the Concourse because it is blocked by the newer roof structure built directly overhead to support the aging, original structure.
In July 2012, Amtrak announced a four-phase, $7 billion plan to revamp and renovate the station over 15 to 20 years. The proposed conversion would "double the number of trains and triple the number of passengers in gleaming, glass-encased halls". Then-Amtrak President and CEO Joseph H. Boardman hoped the federal government would finance "50 to 80 percent" of the project.
In June 2015, the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation released a Historic Preservation Plan to guide preservation and restoration at the station complex.
A new decline
In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the station saw a decline in the number of restaurants and stores, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020–2022. The cinemas closed in 2009, B. Smith's restaurant in 2013, Barnes & Noble in 2013, and its replacement, H&M in 2019. Amtrak itself moved its headquarters offices from Union Station to a nearby building in 2017. "A once-thriving terminal is now filled with vacant storefronts," the Washington Post reported in 2022: "Union Station had as many as 100 stores more than two decades ago. It’s down to about 40 retailers and eateries while more than half its commercial space sits vacant." The station continued to wrestle with issues stemming from unhoused persons camped around the station and relying on its waiting and restroom facilities. Columbus Circle has been rebuilt to fix its deteriorated roadbed, adjust the passenger pickup/dropoff locations, streamline the taxi stand, and better accommodate tour buses.
In January 2017, the expansion and refurbishment of the Washington Union Station was listed as an infrastructure funding priority at an estimated cost of $8.7 billion.
Renovation plans
As of 2022, Amtrak is attempting to regain control of the station and plans a major renovation and expansion, which seek to triple passenger capacity and double train capacity by modernizing and expanding station facilities over the next 20 years. The "Second Century Plan" accommodates Burnham Place, a new transit-oriented three million square-foot mixed-use development over the existing rail yard, connecting the station complex to the nearby burgeoning neighborhoods of NoMa and the H Street Corridor.
Architecture
Architect Daniel H. Burnham, assisted by Pierce Anderson, was inspired by a number of architectural styles. Classical elements included the Arch of Constantine (exterior, main façade) and the great vaulted spaces of the Baths of Diocletian (interior); prominent siting at the intersection of two of Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's avenues, with an orientation that faced the United States Capitol just five blocks away; a massive scale, including a façade stretching more than and a waiting room ceiling above the floor; stone inscriptions and allegorical sculpture in the Beaux-Arts style; expensive materials such as marble, gold leaf and white granite from a previously unused quarry.
In the Attic block, above the main cornice of the central block, stand six colossal statues (modeled on the Dacian prisoners of the Arch of Constantine) created by Louis St. Gaudens. These are entitled "The Progress of Railroading" and their iconography expresses the confident enthusiasm of the American Renaissance movement:
Prometheus (for Fire)
Thales (for Electricity)
Themis (for Freedom and Justice)
Apollo (for Imagination and Inspiration)
Ceres (for Agriculture)
Archimedes (for Mechanics)
The substitution of Agriculture for Commerce in a railroad station iconography vividly conveys the power of a specifically American lobbying bloc.
St. Gaudens also created the 26 centurions for the station's main hall.
The massive plaster statues which were modelled after ancient Roman soldiers, are also called Legionnaires and symbolically, they are a protective force, guarding over all who travel through the halls of Union Station.
Burnham drew upon a tradition, launched with the 1837 Euston railway station in London, of treating the entrance to a major terminal as a triumphal arch. He linked the monumental end pavilions with long arcades enclosing loggias in a long series of bays that were vaulted with the lightweight fireproof Guastavino tiles favored by American Beaux-Arts architects. The final aspect owed much to the Court of Heroes at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, where Burnham had been coordinating architect. The setting of Union Station's façade at the focus of converging avenues in a park-like green setting is one of the few executed achievements of the City Beautiful movement: elite city planning that was based on the "goosefoot" (patte d'oie) of formal garden plans made by Baroque designers such as André Le Nôtre.
The station held a full range of dining rooms and other services, including barber shops and a mortuary. Union Station was equipped with a presidential suite which is now occupied by a restaurant.
Services
Trains
Union Station is served by Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express, Northeast Regional, and several of Amtrak's long-distance trains (including, among others, the Capitol Limited, Crescent, and Silver Service trains). From Union Station, Amtrak also operates long-distance service to the Southeast and Midwest, including many intermediate stops to destinations such as Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Miami. In fiscal 2011, an average of more than 13,000 passengers boarded or got off Amtrak trains each day. It is also the busiest station that can handle the railroad's Superliner railcars; inadequate tunnel clearances in Baltimore and New York preclude the use of Superliners on most Eastern routes.
The station is the terminus for commuter railways that link Washington to Maryland and West Virginia (MARC) and Northern Virginia (Virginia Railway Express).
The station's tracks are split between a ground level and a lower level. The ground level contains tracks 7–20 (tracks 1–6 no longer exist), which are served by high-level bay platforms at the door level of most trains. These tracks are used by all MARC commuter rail services, all Amtrak Acela Express trains, the Amtrak Capitol Limited, and Amtrak Northeast Regional trains that terminate at the station. All of the tracks on this level terminate at the station and are only used by trains arriving from and departing to the north.
The lower level contains tracks 22–29, which are served by low-level platforms at the track level. These platforms are served by all VRE trains, all Amtrak long-distance trains that serve the station except for the Capitol Limited, and Amtrak Northeast Regional trains that continue south to Virginia. Unlike the tracks on the upper level, the lower level tracks run through under the station building and Capitol Hill via the First Street tunnel. Electrification ends at the station, and all trains continuing south through the tunnel must have their electric engines swapped out for diesel locomotives. For example, when a southbound Northeast Regional train arrives on a lower-level platform on its way to Newport News, Virginia, its Siemens ACS-64 electric engine is removed and set aside. A GE Genesis diesel engine that was earlier removed from a northbound train is coupled to the front of the southbound, and it continues through the tunnel toward Virginia. The ACS-64 is readied for a Northeast Regional arriving from Alexandria, and once coupled pulls the train toward Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York or Boston.
Transit
A nearby Washington Metro station connects to the Red Line. The Metrorail station is underground beneath the western side of the building. Entrances are inside Union Station with direct access from the high-level MARC and Amtrak platforms, from the east side of First Street NE, or from just outside the station at Massachusetts Avenue NE, providing access to the main concourse.
Buses of the Georgetown-Union Station route of the DC Circulator system stop within the facility every ten minutes during operating hours.
The DC Streetcar's H Street/Benning Road Line serves the station from a stop on the H Street Bridge (a.k.a. the "Hopscotch Bridge") directly north of the station. The stop is accessible via the station's parking garage.
Intercity buses
On August 1, 2011, John Porcari, the United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation, announced that Greyhound Lines, BoltBus, Megabus, and Washington Deluxe would begin operating intercity buses later that year from a new bus facility in the station's parking garage. By November 15, 2011, BoltBus, Megabus, Tripper Bus, and Washington Deluxe were operating from the new facility. On September 26, 2012, Greyhound and Peter Pan Bus Lines moved all of their Washington, D.C., operations to the facility. In 2017, OurBus began offering service from Union Station to Maryland, New Jersey, and New York.
Maintenance
The Ivy City Yard, just north of Union Station, houses a large Amtrak maintenance facility. This includes the new maintenance facility for the Acela high-speed train sets. Amtrak also does contract work for MARC's electric locomotives. Metro's Brentwood maintenance facility is also in the southwest corner of the Ivy City Yard. Riders on the Metro Red Line between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue Station get an aerial view of the south end of the Ivy City Yard.
Owner
Union Station is owned by Amtrak and the United States Department of Transportation. The DOT owns the station building itself and the surrounding parking lots, while Amtrak owns the platforms and tracks through the Washington Terminal Company: a nearly wholly-owned subsidiary (99.9% controlling interest).
The non-profit Union Station Redevelopment Corporation managed the station on behalf of the owners, but an 84-year lease of the property is held by New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation and managed by Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle.
In popular culture
Washington Union Station has appeared in several movies and television shows. Among them are Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Strangers on a Train (1951), Don't Give Up the Ship (1959), Hannibal (2001), Collateral Damage (2002), and Head of State (2003).
Gallery
See also
Union Station (disambiguation)
Freedom Bell, American Legion, an artwork installed in front of Union Station
List of busiest railway stations in North America
References
Further reading
External links
Union Station Redevelopment Corporation
Union Station – Virginia Railway Express
Union Station, a brief history – National Railway Historical Society
Station building from Google Maps Street View
Amtrak stations in Washington, D.C.
Brunswick Line
Camden Line
Penn Line
Virginia Railway Express stations
MARC Train stations
Stations on the Northeast Corridor
Tourist attractions in Washington, D.C.
Shopping arcades in the United States
Capitol Hill
Transit centers in the United States
Union stations in the United States
Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
Beaux-Arts architecture in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway stations
Washington, D.C.
Shopping malls in Washington, D.C.
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1907
JLL (company)
1907 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Near Northeast (Washington, D.C.)
Former Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad stations
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian%20Chinese%20Association
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Malaysian Chinese Association
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The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; ; ; , initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to represent the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it was one of the three original major component parties of the coalition party in Malaysia called the Alliance Party, which later became a broader coalition called Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.
Along with the largest and third largest component party in BN, i.e. United Malays National Organisation and Malaysian Indian Congress, MCA has a significant influence over the political arena in Malaysia since its independence. Through its holding of companies such as Huaren Holdings, MCA controls The Star, which is Malaysia's best-selling English newspaper.
The party was once the largest party representing the Chinese community in Malaysia, and was particularly dominant in the early period until the late 1960s. Its fortunes fluctuated after the establishment of other political parties in the 1960s that challenged it for the Chinese votes, although it still enjoyed strong support in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s period. However, it has performed poorly in elections since 2008, with the Malaysian Chinese community mostly voting for the Democratic Action Party and People's Justice Party, and in the 2018 Malaysian general election, it lost all but one of its parliamentary seats and was relegated to the opposition. It returned to power in March 2020 as part of the alliance with Perikatan Nasional,. After the 2022 election, the party joined the government as a backbencher with Barisan Nasional supporting Pakatan Harapan.
History
Formation and early years
The Malayan Chinese Association was formed on 27 February 1949 with the implicit support by the post-World War II British colonial administration. A central purpose of the MCA at the time of its founding was to manage the specific social and welfare concerns of the populations interned in the so-called New Villages created under the Briggs Plan in response to the Malayan Emergency.
The declaration that announced the MCA as a formal political party in 1951 was written by a prominent Straits Chinese businessman, Tan Cheng Lock, its first president. In general, its early members were landowners, businessmen, or otherwise better off, while the working classes in the New Villages overwhelmingly joined the Socialist Front instead. Many prominent members of the MCA were also Kuomintang members opposed to the Malayan Communist Party. Leong Yew Koh, was a KMT major general who became a cabinet minister and later became governor of Malacca; Malaysia's first minister of finance, Henry H.S. Lee, was a KMT colonel; and Lim Chong Eu, the leader of the Radical Party and joined the MCA in 1952, was a colonel (medical) doctor in the Kuomintang.
In 1952, MCA joined force with United Malays National Organisation on a local level to contest the Kuala Lumpur municipal elections which would lead to the formation of the Alliance Party. The alliance was joined by Malaysian Indian Congress in 1954 and they contested the first Malayan General Election in 1955 as one body, and the alliance won 51 of the 52 seat contested. MCA won all 15 of the seats allocated.
Tan Cheng Lock was succeeded by Lim Chong Eu after a successful challenge by Lim for the presidency in 1958. Lim attempted to amend the party's Constitution to consolidate the power of the Central Committee, and although amendment was passed narrowly, it also split the party. Prior to the 1959 General Election, Lim pressed for an increase of the allocated number of seats from 28 to 40, but this was refused by UMNO leader Tunku Abdul Rahman. Lim was forced to back down and later resigned as president, with Cheah Toon Lock taking over as acting president. Other members also resigned from MCA to contest the election as independent candidates, which cost the party some seats. The party only won 19 of the 31 seats eventually allocated. Lim himself left the party in December 1960, later becoming one of the founding members of the opposition Gerakan in 1968. In 1961 Tan Siew Sin, son of Tan Cheng Lock and favoured by Tunku, became MCA's third President. Tan led the party to a firm victory in the 1964 General Election, winning 27 of the 33 parliamentary seats contested. In 1969, Tan established Tunku Abdul Rahman College after a proposal for a Chinese-language university was turned down by the government.
1969–1985
The third Malaysian general elections were held on 10 May 1969. MCA faced strong challenges from the new, mainly Chinese, opposition parties Democratic Action Party and Gerakan. Of the 33 parliamentary seats contested, MCA managed to retain only 13. MCA also lost control of the Penang State Government to Gerakan. The gain by the opposition parties led to tension between different communities which erupted into the May 13 Riots. Prior to the riots, on 12 May 1969, Tan Siew Sin announced that the party would withdraw from the Alliance, but reconsidered on 20 May and joined the National Operations Council formed in place of the suspended Parliament after the riots. The loss of support for MCA among the Chinese population elicited a comment by the then Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ismail that if MCA continue to lose support, UMNO may stop co-operating with it. To regain Chinese support, Tan attempted to broaden the appeal of the party previously seen as a party of the taukeh (tou jia, rich men), and invited professionals to join the party. However, many of these were later expelled after a dispute involving Lim Keng Yaik who then joined Gerakan.
With the loss of support for MCA in the 1969 election, and the enlargement of the Alliance party in 1972 (which later became Barisan Nasional) to include Gerakan, UMNO became even more dominant and MCA suffered a loss of status within the coalition. In 1973, Tan Siew Sin requested a position as Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet reshuffle following the death of Tun Dr. Ismail, but this was refused by Tun Abdul Razak, which angered Tan. On 8 April 1974, prior to the general election, Tan Siew Sin resigned all of his party and government posts for health reasons.
Lee San Choon took over as Acting President following Tan's resignation, and was then elected president in 1975. After Tan's resignation, the cabinet posts allocated to MCA declined in importance, and MCA lost both the Finance Ministry and Trade and Industry Ministry posts it once held in 1957. The party performed better in the 1974 election, but lost ground again in the following 1978 general election, with the MCA winning only 17 of the 28 parliamentary seats and 44 of the 60 state seats. In 1979, Michael Chen stood against Lee San Choon for the MCA Presidency but lost, and later in 1981 led a group of MCA dissidents to join Gerakan.
The 1982 general election however saw a shift in fortune for MCA. Lee accepted a challenge from the opposition Democratic Action Party which taunted the MCA's leadership for not daring to contest a seat with large urban Chinese majority, and contested the parliamentary seat for Seremban against the incumbent DAP Chairman Chen Man Hin. Lee won his challenge, and led his party to a resounding victory, winning 24 out of 28 allocated parliamentary seats and 55 out of 62 state seats. After the success in the election and at the height of his career, Lee San Choon unexpectedly resigned his presidency and cabinet post for unspecified reason in 1983. Neo Yee Pan then led as Acting President until 1985.
1985–2003
In 1985, Tan Koon Swan, who was sacked from the party a year earlier, won the presidential election with the largest majority in the party's history. However, in the following year, he was charged with abetting criminal breach of trust relating to his private business dealings in Singapore, and resigned from the presidency. Koon Swan also originated the Deposit-Taking Cooperatives, which sought to accumulate capital for Chinese Malaysians through investments. The mismanagement of the DTCs' funds led to a scandal, with the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, stepping in to freeze the assets of up to 35 DTCs. The total loss was estimated to be RM3.6 billion, and depositors could only recover 62% of their deposits.
Koon Swan was succeeded by his deputy Ling Liong Sik in 1986. He assumed the presidency when the party was still rife with factionalism and faced disillusionment with the Chinese community over the Deposit-Taking Cooperatives scandal. Ling spent his early years as president working to resolve MCA's financial problems, raising funds while restructuring the party's assets. Ling presided over a period of relative peace within the party, and worked to maintain the interests of the Chinese community through a closed-door approach within the government. He expanded the MCA-owned Tunku Abdul Rahman College through fund-raising and government contributions, and in 2001 set up Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. Ling led MCA to its best electoral performance thus far in the 1995 general election, winning 30 of the 34 allocated parliamentary seats and 71 of the 77 state seats, and secured a majority of Chinese votes at the expense of DAP. MCA also performed well in the 1999 general elections, and the successive electoral victory boosted the party's standing within the Barisan Nasional coalition as well as Ling's personal relationship with BN leader and prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
However, internal power struggles persisted. In 1993 Ling's deputy Lee Kim Sai indicated that he would challenge Ling for the presidency, but withdrew at the eleventh hour. Lee eventually retired in 1996 and was replaced as deputy president by Lim Ah Lek. In 1999, the party was again wracked by factionalism. Deputy president Lim Ah Lek announced his intention to retire as a minister and agreed with Ling to nominate his protégé Chan Kong Choy to the Cabinet after the 1999 elections. However, Ling nominated his own protégé Ong Ka Ting as a minister at the expense of Chan, causing discontent with members aligned to Lim, which became known as "Team B" among party members. The Ling faction was known as "Team A". Tensions flared further after MCA, through its holding company Huaren, moved to acquire the independent daily Nanyang Siang Pau. This was vehemently opposed by Team B, fearing a complete control of the Chinese media by Team A. They were joined by Chinese journalists and non-governmental organisations, who made their opposition public through demonstrations. The situation turned farcical when chairs were thrown during the 2001 Youth general assembly over the issue. Huaren eventually succeeded in taking over Nanyang Siang Pau. Huaren also controls The Star and China Press, and the domination of media press resulted in strong resentments in the divided party and concerns over press freedom.
Mahathir, as BN leader, eventually stepped in to resolve the conflict, suggesting a "peace plan" among the factions. The scheduled 2002 party elections were cancelled, while Ling and Lim stepped down to be replaced by their respective protégés.
2003–2008
In May 2003, the leadership transition occurred as planned. Ong Ka Ting, who was then a vice-president succeeded Ling Liong Sik as president, while Chan Kong Choy succeeded Lim Ah Lek as deputy president. The Ong-led MCA contributed to Barisan Nasional's overwhelming victory in the 2004 general elections. MCA won 31 of the 40 parliamentary seats and 76 of the 90 state seats allocated. During the 2005 party elections, Teams A and B ran on a united front, easily quashing the challenge by vice-president Chua Jui Meng (for president) and secretary-general Ting Chew Peh (for deputy president).
The Ong-Chan leadership continued the soft approach to protecting the Chinese community's interests, although tension with UMNO over racial issues flared up now and again after the 2004 election. In early 2008, vice-president and Health Minister Chua Soi Lek, a prominent Johor member, was involved in a sex scandal. DVDs of Chua having sex with a woman were circulated in Johor, prompting Chua to resign all his political positions, including as Member of Parliament. Chua suggested that his political enemies within the party who might have felt threatened by him for plotting his downfall.
In the March 2008 general elections, MCA fared badly, winning only 15 parliamentary seats and 32 state seats, less than half the number of seats they won in the previous election. Ong decided not to contest the presidency during the party elections later that year, to allow a new leader to take over. The October 2008 party election marked a realignment of the party's factions, with the return of Chua Soi Lek to the fold. Ong Ka Ting's anointed successor was vice-president Ong Tee Keat. Meanwhile, Chua entered the race for deputy president, facing among others, Ong Ka Chuan, the elder brother of Ka Ting. Ong Tee Keat won the presidency comfortably, while Chua edged out Ka Chuan. Following his victory, Tee Keat pledged reform and reaching out to more young voters to revive the party.
2008–present
After the 2008 leadership change, factional infighting continued and the relationship between the Ong Tee Keat and Chua Soi Lek remained tense. Chua was sidelined by Ong from taking an active role in the party's leadership, and he was also excluded from government posts. He was then sacked by MCA in August 2009 for damaging the party's image with his sex scandal more than a year prior. In response, Chua's supporters forced an extraordinary general meeting which passed a vote of no confidence against incumbent president Ong and annulled the expulsion of Chua. The EGM, however, failed to reinstate Chua as deputy president. Ong refused to resign despite the vote of no confidence, but pledged with Chua to set aside their differences under the "greater unity plan." However, this was opposed by vice-president Liow Tiong Lai who demanded Ong step down and that new elections be held. This set in motion a new leadership crisis, which lasted almost six months.
Finally in March 2010, Chua, along with his supporters in the central committee resigned. Along with the resignations of Liow's supporters in the CC, more than two-thirds of the CC had vacated their seats, paving the way for an election per the party constitution. The subsequent election saw Chua defeating incumbent Ong Tee Keat and former leader Ong Ka Ting in the race for president, while Liow defeated Kong Cho Ha in the contest for deputy president. Chua and his deputy Liow pledged to co-operate, and opened the party to non-Chinese.
MCA's electoral performance meanwhile continued to deteriorate, as in the 2013 General Election, MCA only managed to score only 7 of the 37 parliamentary seats and 11 of the 90 state seats it contested, leading to calls for Chua's resignation. The so-called "Chinese tsunami" where the great majority of Chinese votes went to the opposition was blamed by Najib Razak for the losses of the governing coalition. MCA's poor performance in the two elections, along with continued factionalism, raised concerns over the party's relevance in the Malaysian political arena. Also as a result of its poor performance, there was no MCA representation in the cabinet for the first time since independence due to a resolution that MCA would not accept cabinet posts if it performed badly in the general election.
Chua did not enter the following party poll for president, and in December 2013, Liow Tiong Lai was elected the president of MCA. Liow also reversed the resolution not to serve in the government and re-entered the cabinet.
In the 2018 election, MCA suffered its worst ever defeat, as it has lost all state seats it has contested, and only managed to retain one elected representative in the national parliament - Wee Ka Siong, who represents Ayer Hitam constituency in Johor. MCA, as part of the Barisan Nasional coalition, was also relegated to the opposition for the first time since independence. Wee Ka Siong was elected president on 4 November 2018 while Liow decided not to stand for party polls after his defeat. MCA later regained a seat in the 2019 Tanjung Piai by-election.
In March 2020, MCA returned to power as part of Barisan Nasional aligned to the Perikatan Nasional coalition after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.
In the 2022 election, the Pakatan Harapan won the most seats but not the majority, and returned to government with the support of Barisan Nasional. MCA won two seats, however, it was not given any government cabinet posts and it stayed as a backbencher of the government.
Controversy
1MDB scandal
On 8 July 2020, a sum of RM835,258.19 seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from Pahang MCA for allegedly linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund scandal, has been forfeited to the Malaysian government.
Central Committee Members
Incumbent leadership of MCA was elected by general assembly delegates in the 2023 Malaysian Chinese Association leadership election.
President: Wee Ka Siong
Deputy President: Mah Hang Soon
Secretary-General: Chong Sin Woon
1st Vice-president: Wee Jeck Seng
2nd Vice-president: Lim Ban Hong
3rd Vice-president: Ir. Lawrence Low
4th Vice-president: Tan Teik Cheng
Youth Chief: Ling Tian Soon
Women Chief: Wong You Fong
Treasurer-General: Tan Tuan Peng
National Organising Secretary: Leaw Kok Chan
Central Committee Members:
List of party leaders
Presidents of the Malayan Chinese Association
Presidents of the Malaysian Chinese Association
Elected representatives
Dewan Negara (Senate)
Senators
Koh Nai Kwong – elected by the Malacca State Legislative Assembly
Lim Pay Hen – elected by the Johor State Legislative Assembly
Ti Lian Ker - appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)
Members of Parliament of the 15th Malaysian Parliament
MCA currently has two MPs in the House of Representatives.
Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)
Malaysian State Assembly Representatives
Johor State Legislative Assembly
Malacca State Legislative Assembly
Perak State Legislative Assembly
Pahang State Legislative Assembly
Kedah State Legislative Assembly
Terengganu State Legislative Assembly
Penang State Legislative Assembly
Kelantan State Legislative Assembly
Selangor State Legislative Assembly
Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly
Perlis State Legislative Assembly
Sabah State Legislative Assembly
Sarawak State Legislative Assembly
General election results
State election results
See also
List of political parties in Malaysia
Politics of Malaysia
Kuomintang
References
Notes
James Chin (2016). “From K etuanan Melayu to Ketuanan Islam: UMNO and the Malaysian Chinese” in Bridget Welsh (ed.) The End of UMNO? Essays on Malaysia's Dominant Party (Strategic Information and Research Development Centre: Selangor, Malaysia) pp 226–273
James Chin. Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Politics a Year Later: Crisis of Political Legitimacy, The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs Vol. 99, No. 407, April 2010, pp. 153–162
James Chin. The Malaysian Chinese Dilemma: The Never Ending Policy (NEP), Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies, Vol 3, 2009
Chin, James (2006). "New Chinese Leadership in Malaysia: The Contest for the MCA and Gerakan Presidency". Contemporary Southeast Asia (CSEA), Vol. 28, No. 1 (April 2006).
Chin, James (2000). "A New Balance: The Chinese Vote in the 1999 Malaysian General Election". South East Asia Research 8 (3), 281–299.
Chin, James (2001). "Malaysian Chinese Politics in the 21st Century: Fear, Service and Marginalisation". Asian Journal of Political Science 9 (2), 78–94.
James Chin (2018) The Malaysian Chinese Association, set adrift in need of a direction, Channel News Asia, 30 October
Goh, Cheng Teik (1994). Malaysia: Beyond Communal Politics. Pelanduk Publications. .
"National Front parties were not formed to fight for Malaysian independence". Malaysia Today. by Pillai, M.G.G. (3 November 2005)
External links
Political parties in Malaysia
Chinese-Malaysian culture
Conservative parties in Malaysia
Political parties of minorities
Political parties established in 1949
1949 establishments in Malaya
Defunct political parties in Singapore
Anti-communist parties
Social conservative parties
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ileana%20Ros-Lehtinen
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Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
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Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (; born Ileana Carmen Ros y Adato, July 15, 1952) is a politician and lobbyist from Miami, Florida, who represented from 1989 to 2019. By the end of her tenure, she was the most senior U.S. Representative from Florida. She was Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011–2013. In 1989, Ros-Lehtinen won a special election and became the first Cuban American elected to Congress. She was also the first Republican woman elected to the House from Florida. Ros-Lehtinen gave the first Republican response to the State of the Union address in Spanish in 2011, and gave the third in 2014.
In September 2011, Ros-Lehtinen became the first Republican member of the U.S. Congress to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. In July 2012, Ros-Lehtinen became the first Republican in the House to support same-sex marriage.
On April 30, 2017, Ros-Lehtinen announced that she would not be running for re-election in 2018.
Early life and education
Ileana Ros y Adato was born in Havana, Cuba, one of two children born to Enrique Ros (1924–2013), who later became a businessman and anti–Fidel Castro activist, and his wife, Amanda Adato. The family immigrated to the United States when Ileana was seven years old. She received her Bachelor of Arts in education and her Master of Arts in educational leadership from Florida International University. She attended the University of Miami where she earned an Ed.D in higher education.
Ros-Lehtinen was raised Catholic and is now an Episcopalian. Ros-Lehtinen's maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews, originally from the Ottoman Empire, who had been active in Cuba's Jewish community. Her maternal grandfather left the city of Kırklareli for Cuba in 1913, fleeing the devastation and economic collapse caused by the First Balkan War. Her mother later converted to Catholicism to marry her father.
Career
Ros-Lehtinen was an educator and the owner/operator of a private school in Miami-Dade County. She was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1982, where she met State Representative Dexter Lehtinen (D-Miami). They married on June 9, 1984, after Dexter switched parties. They both served in the State House until 1986. That year, they were both elected to the Florida Senate, where he was elected to District 40 and she was elected in District 34. In 1988, Dexter Lehtinen resigned his seat to become U.S. Attorney of South Florida. In 1989, Ros-Lehtinen resigned her seat to become a U.S. Representative.
U.S. House of Representatives
After incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Claude Pepper died on May 30, 1989, there was a special election scheduled for August 29, 1989. State Senator Ros-Lehtinen defeated Democrat Gerald Richman 53%–47%. She was the first Cuban American elected to the United States Congress and the first Republican woman elected from Florida. Upon her election, Ros-Lehtinen was incorrectly informed that she was also the first Latina elected to Congress, the first having been Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, who was of partial Mexican descent and was elected in 1982. In 1990, she won re-election to a full term with 60% of the vote. In total, she was elected to fourteen full terms, never winning with less than 58%.
Ros-Lehtinen joined Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) on a congressional delegation to the United Nations in order to encourage international support for an end to the genocide in Darfur. In addition, when Ros-Lehtinen returned from a trip to Darfur in April 2007 where she visited Sudanese refugee camps, she strongly encouraged the United States and the international community to find a solution to this humanitarian crisis.
Following the 2008 elections, then President-elect Barack Obama rang Ros-Lehtinen to congratulate her on her re-election. She hung up on him, believing that it was a prank call from a radio station. She did the same to Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel when he rang to confirm the original call was genuine, and only accepted the call after Congressman Howard Berman managed to speak to her.
Ros-Lehtinen played a key role in keeping the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010 from being passed into law. Although the bill had unanimously passed the Senate with bipartisan support, she persuaded enough Republicans in the House to vote against the bill so that it did not receive the required two-thirds majority. She reportedly invoked concerns about the legislation's cost and that funds could be used to promote abortion.
Ros-Lehtinen was Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011–2013. During the 2011 Libyan civil war, she expressed support of the Libyan opposition; on February 26, 2011, she released a press release which stated, "stronger penalties must be imposed in order to hold the regime accountable for its heinous crimes, and to prevent further violence against the Libyan people". But on March 20, 2011, the day after the NATO strikes to enforce the no-fly-zone began, she expressed a different view in a press release: "I am concerned that the President has yet to clearly define for the American people what vital United States security interests he believes are currently at stake in Libya." The congresswoman has also been a forerunner in cutting U.S. aid to foreign lands, including the State Department, The Peace Corps, the Asia Foundation, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the East–West Center. She also advocates cutting funding to Lebanese Armed Forces and the West Bank and Gaza.
After comments by State Department over Israeli settlements, she demanded that the Obama administration halt its "condemnations" of "an indispensable ally and friend of the United States." In September 2011, she introduced a bill to cut off US funding to any UN organization that recognises Palestinian statehood.
Ros-Lehtinen has been an opponent of funding for the Peace Corps. In 2011, she led a hearing about the perils that volunteers faced and the lack of concern for victims of sexual abuse while serving. Ros-Lehtinen pressured the State Department to accelerate its processing of passports, something that had hindered American citizens' travel during the crucial summer travel season. Calling the delay "outrageous, incomprehensible, unconscionable" at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she is Chairwoman, Ros-Lehtinen brought the pressure of committee Republicans to bear on the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs and spur them to action.
On May 7, 2014, Ros-Lehtinen introduced the Venezuelan Human Rights and Democracy Protection Act (H.R. 4587; 113th Congress) in the House. The bill would impose sanctions against Venezuela and authorize appropriations to support civil society in that country. The sanctions would be directed at any government official who was involved in the mistreatment of protestors. Ros-Lehtinen said that the bill was to "condemn the ongoing human rights abuses being committed in Venezuela, and to answer the cries of the people of Venezuela." Ros-Lehtinen also said that she was "pleased that the House of Representatives has acted to punish the thugs of the Maduro regime for brutally repressing and violating the human rights of those seeking to exercise their basic freedoms of speech and assembly in Venezuela."
She was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.
Committee assignments
Committee on Foreign Affairs (Chair, 2011–2013)
Caucus membership
Co-Chair, Congressional Vision Caucus
Co-Chair, National Marine Sanctuary Caucus
Congressional Pro-Life Women's Caucus
LGBT Equality Caucus
Climate Solutions Caucus
Congressional Taiwan Caucus
Congressional Hispanic Conference
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
Congressional Arts Caucus
Afterschool Caucuses
Problem Solvers Caucus
Notable campaign contributors
A major individual campaign contributor to Ros-Lehtinen is Irving Moskowitz, a funder of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The lobby group J Street has called on Ros-Lehtinen to return campaign contributions from Moskowitz, saying he "actively undermines the two-state solution and the foreign policy of the United States by funding illegal settlements in the occupied territories". American Council on World Jewry president Jack Rosen has "great concern" about this demand.
Political positions
A leading Republican moderate, Ros-Lehtinen opposed Donald Trump's 2016 presidential candidacy. In April 2017, she called on President Trump to remove Steve Bannon from his position as chief strategist in the Trump administration. As of May 2018, Ros-Lehtinen had voted with her party in 85.7% of votes in the 115th United States Congress and voted in line with President Trump's position in 68.7% of the votes.
The National Journal, as cited in the Almanac of American Politics 2016, gave Ros-Lehtinen a composite score of 54% conservative and 46% liberal. Ros-Lehtinen was ranked as the sixth most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress in the Bipartisan Index, created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy to assess congressional bipartisanship. During the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Ros-Lehtinen's ranking improved to second.
Economic issues
She signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Ros-Lehtinen voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 in its initial September 29, 2008 vote, which failed, but voted in favor of the revised bill in its October 3, 2008 vote, which passed.
In February 2017, she voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session. Ros-Lehtinen voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. According to one estimate, 39,900 of Ros-Lehtinen's constituents could lose their health insurance in 2019 due to the bill's passage.
Foreign policy
Ros-Lehtinen was rated 57% conservative and 43% liberal on foreign policy issues by the National Journal. Ros-Lehtinen supported President George W. Bush's surge policy in Iraq, supports Israel, and supports continued sanctions against Cuba. She also supported the de facto government in Honduras, headed by Roberto Micheletti, that emerged after the military coup against President Manuel Zelaya. She has said of the decision to invade Iraq: "Whether or not there is a direct link to the World Trade Center does not mean that Iraq is not meritorious of shedding blood. The common link is that they hate America."
On November 23, 2010, she called on the Obama administration to "announce publicly, right now, that we will stay away from Durban III, deny it US taxpayer dollars, and oppose all measures that seek to facilitate it. And we should encourage other responsible nations to do the same."
Ros-Lehtinen opposes US support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the Palestinian Authority. She describes herself as a "strong supporter of Israel" and regards the U.S. relationship with Israel as "critical to the national security interests of both nations". Ros-Lehtinen supported President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Cuba
Ros-Lehtinen played a prominent role in the Cuban-American lobby, which puts pressure on the Cuban government to bring about political change in Cuba. She was a member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. Ros-Lehtinen also advanced strongly held views on Cuba, and lobbied against ending the United States embargo against that country. In 2004 she formed the Cuba Democracy Group aimed at curtailing U.S. agriculture exports and preventing U.S. banks from doing business with the Cuban government.
Ros-Lehtinen has defended former fugitive Velentin Hernández, convicted of murdering Luciano Nieves, a fellow Cuban exile who supported negotiations with the Cuban government, In the 1980s, Ros-Lehtinen lobbied for the release and pardon of Cuban exile Orlando Bosch, who had been convicted of terrorist acts and has also been accused of involvement in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455, which killed 73 people, helping organize an "Orlando Bosch day" to gain support for his release. Ros-Lehtinen played a prominent role in the unsuccessful attempt by relatives of Elian Gonzalez to gain custody of six-year-old from the Castro regime, describing Cuba as "that system of godless communism". She also attempted to block Jimmy Carter's visit to the island in 2002.
Ros-Lehtinen stirred controversy by calling for the assassination of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. She appeared in a British documentary, which was entitled 638 Ways to Kill Castro, saying: "I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people." After a 28-second clip began circulating on the Internet, she claimed the filmmakers spliced clips together to get the sound bite. Twenty-four hours after the controversy erupted, director Dollan Cannell sent unedited tapes of his interview with Ros-Lehtinen to reporters. The uncut version contradicted her response, showing she had twice welcomed an attempt on Castro's life. Although she attempted to distance herself from her denial, filmmaker Cannell requested an apology.
Immigration and refugees
Ros-Lehtinen opposed President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods are devised. She stated that "I object to the suspension of visas from the seven named countries because we could have accomplished our objective of keeping our homeland safe by immediate implementation of more thorough screening procedures."
Abortion
In 2003, she received a 0% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. In 2006, she received a 100% rating from the National Right to Life Committee for her abortion-related voting record. She is against allowing federal funds and federal health coverage for abortions. She wants to stop embryonic stem cell research. She has voted to make it a crime to harm a fetus while committing a crime. She is against partial-birth abortions unless it is necessary to save the mother's life. She has voted to ban minors from being transported to receive an abortion and wants to prohibit minors from traveling over state lines for abortions.
Drug policy
Ros-Lehtinen has a "B" rating from NORML for her voting history regarding cannabis-related causes. Ros-Lehtinen supports veterans having access to medical marijuana if recommended by their Veterans Health Administration doctor and if it is legal for medicinal purposes in their state of residence.
LGBT issues
Ros-Lehtinen has been a notable Republican voice in favor of LGBT rights. In a Winter 2013 interview with the Human Rights Campaign, she stated that her support for same-sex marriage was based on "coming from Cuba, losing my homeland to communism, seeing the state control everything—I'm a person that believes in individual liberties and not having the government control everything." When asked about her support for her son Rodrigo, a transgender LGBT rights advocate, Ros-Lehtinen commented that:
It's important for families to support their children and to support their children's choices. It's important to listen to your children, accept your children and have your children know that you love them unconditionally. It's not "I love you, but ..."—there's no "but." "It's just "I love you."... To do otherwise is—you're hurting yourself, you're going to shun your child or grandchild. You're going to say, "No, I have my views and my views are the perfect views and no one can have a different point of view. I'm right and everything else is wrong." And that's a lonely way to live. It just means you'll be out of that person's life, and who wants to be cut out of their child's life?
Although Ros-Lehtinen voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, she began to support LGBT issues over the following decade (due in part to her district, which includes large LGBT populations in South Beach in Miami Beach and in the Florida Keys, as well as Rodrigo coming out). She was one of three Republican members of the LGBT Equality Caucus, of which she is a founding member and a vice-chairwoman. While she is not a co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act, she supports anti-hate crime laws, anti-discrimination bills, believes gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the armed forces, is a sponsor of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, and voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment. Ros-Lehtinen was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and was the first Republican cosponsor of the bill.
In September 2011, Ros-Lehtinen became the first Republican member of the U.S. Congress to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, and signed on to a letter to IRS Commissioner Schulman requesting that the IRS provide clear guidance for LGBT taxpayers. The letter asks the IRS to ensure that tax law is being applied fairly to all individuals. In July 2012, she became the first Republican in the House to fully support same-sex marriage. In 2013, Ros-Lehtinen was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.
Post-congressional career
Ros-Lehtinen has remained active in politics since leaving office, endorsing the Republican campaign of María Elvira Salazar for her old congressional seat in 2020. She donated to the congressional reelection campaign of Democrat Frederica Wilson in 2022.
United Arab Emirates lobbying controversy
After leaving Congress, Ros-Lehtinen was hired by the lobbying firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. In this role, she has worked as a foreign agent for the government of the United Arab Emirates. In July 2020, she was involved in the Emirates’ attempt of defaming the regional rival Qatar, where a report of 124 pages was published by her. Entitled Report Concerning Qatar’s Al Jazeera Media Network & The Foreign Agents Registration Act, the report submitted to the FARA claimed that the media agency Al Jazeera was funded, owned, directed and controlled by Qatar. Both the lobbying firm and Ros were putting efforts on behalf of the UAE to crush the global influence of Al Jazeera.
Department of Justice investigation
In September 2020, the US Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section opened an investigation into allegations against Ileana Ros that she misused the campaign funds. She allegedly used the funds for personal expenses and vacations, where the reports from PAC showed spending of $4,000 on a trip to the Walt Disney World with family in December 2017 and another transaction of $3,100 at the Coral Gables seafood restaurant MesaMar on 2018 New Year’s Eve.
Personal life
In 1984, Ros-Lehtinen married Dexter Lehtinen, a former attorney for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District, with whom she has two children, Rodrigo, a transgender LGBT rights activist, and Patricia Marie. She is also step-mother to Katherine and Douglas Lehtinen. She is an Episcopalian.
Awards
: Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon (2018).
References
External links
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1952 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Episcopalians from Florida
American people of Cuban-Jewish descent
American people of Spanish descent
American people of Turkish-Jewish descent
American politicians of Cuban descent
Cuban emigrants to the United States
Cuban people of Sephardic-Jewish descent
Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Florida International University alumni
Republican Party Florida state senators
Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
Hispanic and Latino American women in politics
Living people
Miami Dade College alumni
Politicians from Havana
People with acquired American citizenship
Politicians from Miami
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida
University of Miami School of Education alumni
Women state legislators in Florida
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Recipients of the Order of Propitious Clouds
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New%20Toronto
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New Toronto
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New Toronto is a neighbourhood and former municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-west area of Toronto, along Lake Ontario. The Town of New Toronto was established in 1890, and was designed and planned as an industrial centre by a group of industrialists from Toronto who had visited Rochester, New York. New Toronto was originally a part of the Township of Etobicoke. It was an independent municipality from 1913 to 1967, being one of the former 'Lakeshore Municipalities' amalgamated into the Borough of Etobicoke, and eventually amalgamated into Toronto. The neighbourhood has retained the name.
Boundaries
New Toronto is bounded by Lake Ontario to the south, with a western boundary of Twenty Third Street (south of Lake Shore Blvd. West) and the midpoint between Twenty-Second and Twenty-Fourth Streets (north of Lake Shore Blvd. West), the Canadian National Railway mainline to the north, and Dwight Avenue to the east. To the east is the neighbourhood of Mimico and the neighbourhood of Long Branch is to the west.
Character
New Toronto is now centred around the intersection of Seventh Street/ Islington Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard West with a commercial strip running east–west along the latter street. Residential streets generally run north–south from Lake Ontario north to Birmingham Street, except for the Lakeshore Grounds (formerly the Mimico Lunatic Asylum / Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital) to the southwest which extends from Lake Shore Blvd. West south to the Lake. North of Birmingham Street has historically been a large industrial district, although many industries moved or closed in the period from 1987 to 1991.
New Toronto is now a neighbourhood in transition, as the industrial corridor located at the north end of the community is being redeveloped after having been vacant and fallow for many years. Industry that gradually moved out of New Toronto over the years is now being re-established, in addition to institutional uses.
Lakeshore Village, a community of co-operative housing between 9th and 13th Streets, north of Lake Shore Boulevard. West, was built by The Daniels Corp. developers, on the former Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company site. The loss of the former employment base resulted in a considerable downtrend in local business viability, which the lower-income housing could never replace.
In September 2009, the new Toronto Police College training facility opened at 70 Birmingham St., and also houses a 22 Division Police Substation. This is the site of the former Continental Can Company of Canada Ltd. New Toronto Plant.
In 1890, new streets for the Town of New Toronto were laid out in several series, essentially without names by simply using ordinal numbers (First, Second, Third, etc.). When the streets were laid out along Lake Shore Road (now Lake Shore Blvd. West), they had a single new starting point. The second numbering system began with First Street being one half-block west of Dwight Ave (the boundary street between the Town of Mimico and New Toronto) and continuing westward. Originally named "Mimico Avenue", and for most of the 20th century as "Eighteenth Street" (officially, until the 1980s), Kipling Avenue is the westernmost north–south major road. The street-number naming convention was later applied to streets further west of New Toronto in the Village of Long Branch when their streets were renamed in 1931.
History
Establishment
The largest farming families in what would become New Toronto were the Northcote family to the east (south of Lake Shore Blvd. West at Seventh Street/Islington Avenue today), and the Goldthorpe family to the west at Mimico Avenue (now Kipling Avenue), where the Mimico Lunatic Asylum was later built.
In the 1880s, the Goldthorpe farm south of the Lake Shore Road Lake Shore Boulevard West and east of Mimico Avenue was purchased by the Ontario Government. In 1888, it became the location of the Mimico Lunatic Asylum (later known as the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital.) It was built to alleviate overcrowding at Toronto's Asylum on Queen Street West (later known as Queen Street Mental Health Centre, and now the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health).
In 1890, a plan of subdivision was filed by a group of industrialists and the first streets laid out for the Town of New Toronto by the Mimico Real Estate Security Company. With the first industries in New Toronto already operating, or to be operational by the end of 1890, New Toronto was promoted with the publication of an article in the edition of October 25, 1890 of the Toronto Globe newspaper (now the Globe & Mail) entitled "Toronto's Growing Suburb – New Toronto – As it is and what it will be". New Toronto, as an industrial centre "was expected to rival – if not exceed – 'old' Toronto in manufacturing output". A few worker's homes were built on early streets north of Lake Shore Road while development proceeded.
New Toronto was planned and designed as a "town", with manufacturing as its focal point, but also including retail business and residential areas in the plan. The Town of New Toronto would become a fully independent, self-sufficient municipality.
John Sheane's Hotel (later, The New Toronto Hotel and the Almont Hotel) was located across from the Asylum grounds at Mimico Avenue (Kipling Ave.) and the Lake Shore Road (now Lake Shore Blvd West). In 1892, a post office was established in New Toronto. The next year, the pastor of Mimico's Methodist Church began holding separate services in New Toronto, establishing a church building as a branch of Mimico's new Methodist Circuit in 1909.
The Mimico Yard (the former Grand Trunk Railway freight yard) was established in 1906, encouraging many more industries to relocate to New Toronto. The same year a public school was established on Sixth Street. A proper school house was opened in 1909 on Fifth Street (Fifth Street Public School). By 1911, an Anglican church had been completed in New Toronto called St. Margaret's.
While some early factory housing was built on Sixth Street, and later Fifth Street, little residential development in New Toronto took place until after World War I. Farming was still prevalent south of the Lake Shore Road. Although some realtors began to advertise subdivisions for housing around 1910, it still took at least a decade until a sufficient base of local retail stores existed to support a permanent local population.
Town of New Toronto (1913–1967)
In 1913, New Toronto was incorporated as a separate village, with a population of 500. In 1915 the Methodist church became a separate Methodist Parish from Mimico. 1916 saw a referendum on joining New Toronto to Mimico which passed in Mimico but was defeated by New Toronto residents.
With the First World War raging, new industries arrived in New Toronto - most notably Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company established a plant in 1916-17 which quickly became the town's largest employer. Other major industries included: E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company 'Fabrikoid' plant (1915, later renamed as "Canadian Industries Limited"), Anaconda American Brass Company of Canada (1922, after taking over the operations of Browns Copper & Brass Rolling Mills Ltd., 1915), Campbell Soup Co. of Canada (1930), W & A Gilbey Ltd. distillery (1933), and the Continental Can Company of Canada Ltd. (1936).
In 1919 Loblaws introduced their "self-shopping" concept with the first Loblaw Groceteria at 2879 Lake Shore Boulevard West in New Toronto.
New Toronto became a fully independent municipality (town) in 1920 and established a Library Association. In 1924 a St. Teresa's Catholic Church was created in New Toronto out of Mimico's St. Leo's Catholic Church.
By 1927 a new school was needed and Seventh Street Public school was opened.
With the creation of the United Church of Canada after the union of the Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian Churches, the New Toronto Methodist Church opened a new church building, the first to be built specifically as a United Church, called the Century United Church.
In 1929, the New Toronto fire station was built. Designed in an Italianate style, it was also used as the Town Hall for a time. It is still a fire station today. At the same time, the new mayor William Jackson donated land for a Public Library Building. Jackson would go on to be mayor almost continuously until 1952. In 1930, the Campbell Soup Company Ltd. had arrived in New Toronto commissioning architects Mathers and Holdenby to build an Art Deco factory at 60 Birmingham Street (c. 1931). In 1947 the Fifth Street Public School burned down and was replaced with the new Second Street Public School. The former Fifth St. Public School was then rebuilt to become the Town of New Toronto Town Hall.
Because of New Toronto's large industrial base, a new high school was needed to educate and train future workers for industry. In 1951, New Toronto Secondary School (NTSS) was opened. The curriculum of NTSS focused on the sciences and skilled trades (i.e. calculus, functions, geometry, physics, biology, auto mechanics, woodworking, machine shop, electrical shops; to name some of the major study areas).
In 1953 the Town of Mimico, Town of New Toronto, Village of Long Branch, Etobicoke Township, Village of Swansea, Village of Forest Hill, Town of Weston, Town of Leaside, East York Township, North York Township, York Township, Scarborough Township and City of Toronto joined together to create a new common level of government: Metropolitan Toronto (Metro). Each municipality retained its own town council and government, but several infrastructure departments were transferred to Metro. This lasted until 1967, when the number of municipalities in Metro was reduced.
In New Toronto, to serve the large local population of Ukrainians who had settled in the area over the years, St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church was built in 1954 on Sixth Street (just north of St. Margaret's Anglican Church). While many Ukrainian and Polish immigrants lived in New Toronto and surrounding communities beginning early in the 20th century, more arrived after the Communist Bloc collapsed in 1989.
Growing freight traffic in the Toronto area necessitated the creation of an amalgamated facility and a by-pass of the congested Toronto Terminal downtown. In 1965, a new rail freight facility, first named Toronto Yard and then MacMillan Yard, was opened north of Metro Toronto. The local Mimico Railway Yard was downgraded considerably, resulting in the dislocation of much railway employment. At the same time the Toronto By-Pass line allowed for the creation of GO Transit commuter service between Oakville and Pickering. GO named its facility Willowbrook, after the nearby Willowbrook Road. Old CNR facilities in Mimico Yard were used for the startup of this trial train service. Its subsequent growth has resulted in new facilities being built for GO. In 1985, Via Rail facilities at Spadina Avenue were relocated from downtown Toronto to New Toronto's underused former Mimico Yards at the newly completed Toronto Maintenance Centre (which would have its major operations moved to Quebec just a few years later).
Post-annexation (1967–present)
In 1967, the Town of New Toronto was amalgamated with the other Lake Shore municipalities (Town of Mimico and Village of Long Branch) with Etobicoke to create the new Borough of Etobicoke. Etobicoke later became a city in 1984. In 1998, Etobicoke was amalgamated with the other municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto to form the current City of Toronto.
An upheaval came in May 1987. Goodyear Canada Inc., which was the largest employer in New Toronto, shut down its plant contributing to a general loss of employment in the area. The lands are now the site of several co-operative housing buildings, townhouses, condos, and a park. New Toronto's library branch was demolished in 1993 to be replaced with a new building.
Recent attempts to rejuvenate New Toronto include the protection of remaining industrial lands for employment. The former Mimico Lunatic Asylum buildings and grounds became the new site of Humber College's Lake Shore campus. The new Lakeshore Lions Arena was constructed on the former W & A Gilbey distillery site.
Education
New Toronto is also home to Humber College's Lakeshore campus. The college is a public post-secondary institution. The Lakeshore Campus is located on the former grounds of the Mimico Lunatic Asylum (later renamed the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital), at the foot of Kipling Avenue (originally Eighteenth Street).
In addition to post-secondary schooling, two public school boards operate institutions within New Toronto, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). Both school boards provide primary and secondary schooling.
TDSB is a secular public school board for the city, and operates one secondary school in the neighbourhood, Lakeshore Collegiate Institute, originally New Toronto Secondary School. The secondary school opened in 1951. Its purpose was to provide technical education to students who would either go on to university or enter the skilled trades, as the school's focus was on technical shops and science education, whereas Mimico High School was business-oriented. The Lakeshore district experienced a constant heightened demand for skilled trades due to the numerous major industries and supporting businesses located there. New Toronto Secondary School was expanded in 1965 to accommodate a growing student population.
The school merged with Alderwood Collegiate Institute to form Lakeshore Collegiate Institute in 1983, due to falling public school enrollment when the Province extended public funding to Catholic high schools. New Toronto's building was designed by architect John B. Parkin.
TDSB operates several elementary and middle schools in New Toronto. They include:
Second Street Junior Middle School is a public elementary school located a few blocks east of the intersection of Seventh Street/ Lake Shore Boulevard West and Islington Avenue. The original school was built in 1949 and a large second storey wheelchair accessible addition was built in 1996 where the previous single-storey wing existed. The school was built because Fifth Street School had burnt down and the students needed a new school. The Fifth Street School became the New Toronto Town Hall, then Metro Police 21 Division station, and then became the Lakeshore Area Multiservices Project (LAMP) in 1973. The City of Toronto is the owner of the building now.
Seventh Street Junior School is a public elementary school on Seventh Street. The original school opened in 1922. In 1989, a new school was built on the school yard and the old building was then demolished.
Twentieth Street Junior School is a public elementary school on the corner of Lake Shore Boulevard and Twentieth Street. There has been a school on this site serving the New Toronto community since 1920. In 1993, the original building and its additions were demolished and a new structure was constructed which opened in September 1994. The school is fully accessible and is close to a host of community recreation facilities such as Lakeshore Lions Arena and Gus Ryder Pool. Twentieth Street Junior School is a short walk from Lake Ontario.
TCDSB is a public separate school board for the city, and operates one elementary school in the neighbourhood, St. Teresa Catholic Elementary School. Located on Tenth Street. Prior to its establishment, children attending Catholic schools went to Christ the King Catholic School or St. Leo Catholic Elementary School. St. Teresa's school was established in 1957 during a post war population boom in the, then independent, Town of New Toronto, including many families from predominantly Catholic countries, especially Poland.
Demographics
In 2016, the New Toronto neighbourhood was home to 11,463 residents. 66% of the population speak English as their first language, 5.2% speak Polish, 2.9% speak Tagalog and 2.5% speak Spanish.
Major ethnic populations (2016):
66% White; 17.6% British, 15.4% Irish, 15.4% Scottish, 9.6% Polish
11% Black; 3.7% Jamaican
5.1% South Asian; 4.4% Indian
3.5% Filipino
Institutions
New Toronto Town Hall (now LAMP)
New Toronto Post Office
New Toronto Fire Hall, 130 Eighth St
New Toronto Library
Almont Hotel
Winston Spencer Churchill Legion Hall
Mimico Railway Yards
Lakeshore Lions Arena
New Toronto always had a large industrial base including plants operated by: Ritchie and Ramsay Co. paper mills, Anaconda American Brass Ltd., Canadian Industries Ltd., Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Ltd., Plibrico, Charis Ltd., W & A Gilbey Ltd., Continental Can Company of Canada Ltd. (all demolished), as well as the Campbell Soup Company of Canada Ltd. and Dominion Colour Corporation Ltd. (surviving), McDonald Stamping Works/Robert Menzie Wallpaper Co./Reg. N. Boxer Co./Canadian Wallpaper Manufacturers Ltd., Mel-O-Ripe Bananas (buildings survive).
Churches
St. Margaret Anglican Church (est. 1906)
St. Teresa Roman Catholic Church (est. 1924)
St. Michaels Ukrainian Catholic Church (est. 1954)
Living Hope Baptist Church
New Covenant Pentecostal Church
Bosnian Mosque, former site of Century United Church
Transportation
The Toronto Transit Commission's 501 Queen streetcar line, which runs along Lake Shore Boulevard, connects New Toronto to the downtown core. Though Mimico GO Station is nearby and GO Transit trains use track in the northern reaches of the neighbourhood, there is no active railway station in New Toronto. Four TTC bus lines serve the area. The 44 Kipling South, the 110 Islington South and the 944 Kipling South Express routes connect to the Bloor-Danforth subway to the north.
Notable people
Mayors
The position of Mayor of the Town of New Toronto was created in 1920. The town also retained the position of reeve, as the municipality's second ranking position, until 1954 and had a deputy reeve from 1921 to 1953.
Mayors of New Toronto include:
George Ironside (1913–1917) (Reeve)
Charles Lovejoy (1917–1922) Mayor from 1920
S. Tucker (1922)
George Janes (1923–1926)
George Warner (1926–1929)
William G.W. Jackson (1929–1937, 1938–1952) - Farmer and land speculator, previously Reeve of Etobicoke (1919-1920), died in office
S.B. Douglas (1937)
E.W. Grant (1952–1954) - lawyer by profession
John L. (Jack) Strath (1954) - retired locomotive engineer with the Canadian National Railway and was active with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. First elected to town council in 1937.
Donald R. Russell (1955–1967) - pharmacist who had run a drug store in New Toronto since 1933. Served as first chairman of the Lakeshore Board of Education before being elected to town council in 1954. After amalgamation, he was elected to the Etobicoke Board of Control for two terms.
See also
Jackson Creek (Toronto)
References
External links
City of Toronto - New Toronto Neighbourhood Profile
New Toronto Historical Society
Etobicoke
Neighbourhoods in Toronto
Streetcar suburbs
Metropolitan Toronto
Former towns in Ontario
Former municipalities in Toronto
Populated places disestablished in 1967
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan%20Ziporyn
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Evan Ziporyn
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Evan Ziporyn (b. Chicago, Illinois, December 14, 1959) is an American composer of post-minimalist music with a cross-cultural orientation, drawing equally from classical music, avant-garde, various world music traditions, and jazz. Ziporyn has composed for a wide range of ensembles, including symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, many types of chamber groups, and solo works, sometimes involving electronics. Balinese gamelan, for which he has composed numerous works, has compositions. He is known for his solo performances on clarinet and bass clarinet; additionally, Ziporyn plays gender wayang and other Balinese instruments, saxophones, piano & keyboards, EWI, and Shona mbira.
Ziporyn is the Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as director of MIT's Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST). At MIT he directs Gamelan Galak Tika, an ensemble he founded in 1993, a group of 30 MIT students, staff and community members, devoted to the study and performance of new works for Balinese Gamelan.
He is currently a member of the Eviyan Trio, with Czech violinist/vocalist Iva Bittovà and American guitarist Gyan Riley.
He has released albums on Cantaloupe, New Albion, New World, Victo, Airplane Ears, and CRI Emergency Music; his works have also been recorded on Naxos, Koch, Innova, and World Village. As a performer, he has recorded for Nonesuch, Sony Classical, and Point Music, among others. He has composed music for a wide range of ensembles worldwide, including Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, the American Composers Orchestra, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Kronos Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, Ethel, cellist Maya Beiser, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the MIT Wind Ensemble, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Sentieri Selvaggi, Gamelan Salukat, and Gamelan Semara Ratih.
Evan Ziporyn was named a 2007 USA Walker Fellow by United States Artists, an arts advocacy foundation dedicated to the support and promotion of America's top living artists.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois and now lives in Lexington, Massachusetts with composer Christine Southworth. He is the brother of Brook Ziporyn and Terra Ziporyn Snider, and has two children, Leonardo Ziporyn and Ava Ziporyn.
Career
Ziporyn studied at Eastman, Yale and UC Berkeley with Joseph Schwantner, Martin Bresnick, and Gerard Grisey. He first traveled to Bali in 1981, studying with Madé Lebah, Colin McPhee's 1930s musical informant. He returned on a Fulbright in 1987. While living on the west coast during the 1980s he was a member of Gamelan Sekar Jaya. The three compositions he composed for Sekar Jaya all included western instruments.
He performed a clarinet solo at the First Bang on a Can Marathon in New York. His involvement with BOAC continued for 25 years: in 1992 he co-founded the Bang on a Can All-stars (Musical America's 2005 Ensemble of the Year), with whom he toured the globe and premiered over 100 commissioned works, collaborating with Nik Bartsch, Iva Bittova, Don Byron, Ornette Coleman, Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Thurston Moore, Terry Riley and Tan Dun. He co-produced their seminal 1996 recording of Brian Eno's Music for Airports, as well as their 2012 Big Beautiful Dark & Scary (2012). He left the group in the fall of that year to form Eviyan with Iva Bittová and Gyan Riley, with whom he now concertizes and records regularly. In the fall of 2013 he founded the Critical Band, a group devoted to the music of the late British composer Steve Martland.
Ziporyn joined the MIT faculty in 1990, founding Gamelan Galak Tika there in 1993, and continued a series of compositions for gamelan and western instruments. These include three evening-length works, 2001's ShadowBang, 2004's Oedipus Rex at the American Repertory Theater (Robert Woodruff, director), and 2009's A House in Bali, an opera which joins western singers with Balinese traditional performers, and the All-stars with a full gamelan. It received its world premiere in Bali that summer and its New York premiere at BAM Next Wave in October 2010.
In 1992 Ziporyn founded the Bang on a Can All Stars, with whom he performed and recorded until 2012. He also was a member of Steve Reich and Musicians, with whom he shared a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance.
As a clarinetist, Ziporyn recorded the definitive version of Steve Reich's multi-clarinet New York Counterpoint in 1996, sharing in that ensemble's Grammy Award in 1998. In 2001 his solo clarinet CD, This is Not A Clarinet, made Top Ten lists across the country. His compositions have been commissioned by Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Maya Beiser, So Percussion, Wu Man, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, with whom he recorded two CDs, Frog's Eye (2006) and Big Grenadilla/Mumbai (2012). His honors include awards from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (2011), The Herb Alpert Foundation (2011), USA Artists Walker Fellowship (2007), MIT's Kepes Prize (2006), the American Academy of Arts and Letters Goddard Lieberson Fellowship (2004), as well as commissions from Meet the Composer/Commissioning Music USA and the Rockefeller MAP Fund. Recordings of his works have been released on Cantaloupe, Sony Classical, New Albion, New World, Koch, Naxos, Innova, and CRI.
He is Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music at MIT. He has also been inaugural director of MIT's new Center for Art Science and Technology and still serves as head of Music and Theater Arts at the Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST). He is also founder and artistic director of Gamelan Galak Tika, and curator of the MIT Sounding performance series.
Recordings
Connect4 (2020) CD Nut Trytone Records TT0559-088 Fie Schouten, Jelte Althuis (bass clarinet), Tatiana Koleva vibraphone, Eva van de Poll violoncello
Eviyan Live
November 2013, Les Disques Victo
Iva Bittova (violin/voice), Gyan Riley (guitar), Evan Ziporyn (clarinet/bass clarinet)
Compositions and improvisations by Bittova, Riley, and Ziporyn
In My Mind and In My Car
October 2013, Airplane Ears Music
Clarinet / Bass Clarinet performed by Evan Ziporyn
Electronics and composition by Christine Southworth and Evan Ziporyn
Big Grenadilla / Mumbai
April 2012, Cantaloupe Records
Big Grenadilla (Evan Ziporyn, bass clarinet)
Mumbai (Sandeep Das, tabla)
Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, conductor
Frog's Eye
October 2006, Cantaloupe Records
Performed by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
Frog's Eye, The Ornate Zither and the Nomad Flute (Anne Harley, soprano), War Chant , Drill
Typical Music
November 2005, New Albion Records
Pondok (Sarah Cahill, piano)
Typical Music (Arden Trio)
Ngaben (Gamelan Galak Tika w/ New England Conservatory Philharmonia Dante Anzolini, director)
Shadowbang
June 2003, Cantaloupe Records
Bang on a Can All-Stars with Wayan Wija, dalang
This is Not a Clarinet
July 2001, Cantaloupe Records
Partial Truths
Four Impersonations: Honshirabe, Pengrangrang Gede, Thum Nyatiti, Bindu Semara
Three Island Duos by Michael Tenzer
Press Release by David Lang
Evan Ziporyn: Gamelan Galak Tika
May 2000, New World Records
Amok
Tire Fire
Animal Act
CRI Emergency Music 1993
What She Saw There
Tree Frog
Waiting by the Phone
Walk the Dog
American Works for Balinese Gamelan
New World Records 1993
Banyuari by Michael Tenzer, Situ Banda by Michael Tenzer, Khayalan Tiga by Wayne Vitale, Aneh Tapi Nyata by Evan Ziporyn, Kekembangan by Nyoman Windha & Evan Ziporyn
Performed by Gamelan Sekar Jaya
Works
Works for clarinet / bass clarinet
Notes to Self (2010) 15' – solo bass clarinet
Hive (2007) 17' clarinet quartet – 2 clarinets, 2 bass clarinets
Big Grenadilla (2006) 15' – concerto for bass clarinet and chamber orchestra
Drill (2002) 10' – concerto for solo bass clarinet with wind ensemble
Four Impersonations (1999) 18' – solo clarinet
Honshirabe (4:00) Bindu Semara (5:30) Thum Nyatiti (2:30) Pengrangrang Gede (5:30)
Partial Truths (1999) 17' – solo bass clarinet
Tsmindao Ghmerto (1995) 7' – solo bass clarinet and wind ensemble
Tsmindao Ghmerto (1994) 4' – solo bass clarinet
Walk the Dog (1990) 25' – bass clarinet and electronics
Be-In (1990) 9' – bass clarinet and string quartet
What She Saw There (1988) 13' – bass clarinet (or cello) and 2 marimbists
Waiting By The Phone (1986) 12' – solo clarinet
Two Obsessions (1980) 15' – solo clarinet
Works for gamelan
Hujan Arja (2012) 12' – Balinese gamelan semara dana (7-toned gong kebyar)
Lapanbelas (2010) 18' – Balinese gamelan semara dana (7-toned gong kebyar)
Bali Tiba (from A House in Bali) (2009) 7' – Balinese gamelan gong kebyar
Bayu Sabda Idep (2007) 27' – Just Intonation slendro chamber gamelan and chamber string orchestra
Cu(Bali)Bre (2007) 3'30" – gender wayang duo
Sabar Gong (2005) 5' (in collaboration w/Lamine Touré) – Balinese gamelan with Senegalese Sabar drums
Aradhana (2004) 15' – Balinese gamelan with Chinese pipa
Ngaben (for Sari Club) (2003) 15' – Balinese gamelan & orchestra
Kebyar Kebyar (2002) 7' – Balinese gamelan gong kebyar
Amok! (1996) 32' – six movements for Balinese gamelan, double bass (or cello), percussion sampler, keyboard sampler
Tire Fire (1994) 25' – Balinese gamelan, two electric guitars, electric bass, and keyboard (or mandolin)
Aneh Tapi Nyata (1992) 14' – chamber ensemble and Balinese percussion
Kekembangan (1990) 16' (in collaboration with I Nyoman Windha) – saxophone quartet and Balinese gamelan
Night Bus (1990) 12' – Sundanese gamelan (commissioned by the Toronto Border Crossings Festival for the Evergreen Club)
Theater
A House in Bali (2009) 90' – opera based on the memoir of Colin McPhee, for amplified sextet (gtr, perc, pno, vln, vc, cb), Balinese gamelan, two tenors, one soprano, and four Balinese actors/dancers www.houseinbali.org
Oedipus Rex (2004) 90' – Greek choruses and onstage incidental music the American Repertory Theater production of the original Sophocles tragedy. Directed by Robert Woodruff, Loeb Theater, Cambridge, MA
ShadowBang (2001) 90' – full-length theater work for Balinese dalang (shadow puppeteer) and Bang on a Can Allstars.
Commissioned by Rockefeller Multi-Arts Program for I Wayan Wija and Bang on a Can Allstars; premiered October 2001 at MIT Kresge Auditorium, Cambridge, and MassMOCA, North Adams, MA
Orchestra
Tabla Concerto: Mumbai (2011) 25' – tabla solo, strings and percussion
commissioned by Meet the Composer
Hard Drive (2007) 18' – orchestra with electric guitar
Bayu Sabda Idep (2007) 27' – chamber string orchestra with gamelan
Big Grenadilla (2006) 15' – orchestra and solo bass clarinet
War Chant (2004) 15' – orchestra with Hawaiian-style lap-steel guitar
commissioned by Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Ngaben (for Sari Club) (2003) 15' – orchestra with gamelan
commissioned by the New England Conservatory; world premiere Jordan Hall, Boston, March 12, 2003 by Gamelan Galak Tika and the NEC Symphony, Dante Anzolini, conductor
Frog's Eye (2002) 13' – chamber orchestra
commissioned and premiered by Boston Pro Arte Orchestra, Isaiah Jackson, conductor, October 2002
Filling Station (1986) 12' – orchestra premiered by UC Berkeley Symphony, EZ conductor, October 1986
Pleasureville, Pain City (1985) 6' – premiered by UC Berkeley Symphony, John Sackett, conductor, February 1985
Wind ensemble
The Ornate Zither and the Nomad Flute (2005) 15' – for solo soprano and wind ensemble
premiered March 2005 by Anne Harley with MIT Wind Ensemble, Fred Harris, director
Commissioned by Richard Nordlof.
Drill (2002) 10' – concerto for solo bass clarinet with wind ensemble
premiered by EZ and MIT WindEnsemble, Fred Harris, director
Tsmindao Ghmerto (1995) 7' – solo bass clarinet and wind ensemble
commissioned and premiered by Nederlands Blazers, New Years Day 1996
Houtman's Men in Buleleng (1996) 15'
for Orkest de Volharding, premiered at Ijsbreker, Amsterdam
Chamber music
Standard ensembles
Where Was I? (2008) 25' – cello, piano, percussion
Hive (2007) 17' – clarinet quartet – 2 clarinets, 2 bass clarinets
Speak, At-man! (2006) 10' – alto flute and piano
Breathing Space (2003) 20' – three movements for string quartet
commissioned and premiered by Ethel, Miller Theater, New York, April 2003
Typical Music (2000) 30' – three movements for piano trio
commissioned by Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer and the Sun Valley Center for the Arts for the Arden Trio, premiered Ketchum, ID, January 2001
Melody Competition (1999, rev. 2000) 21' – for percussion sextet
commissioned and premiered by red fishblue fish, Steven Schick, director; UCSD, La Jolla, CA, May 1999
Dreams of a Dominant Culture (1997) 20' – for flute, clarinet, percussion, electric piano, violin, cello
commissioned and premiered by Boston Musica Viva, Richard Pittman, conductor; Longy School, Cambridge, October 1997
Eel Bone (1996) 13' – string quartet
commissioned and premiered by Kronos Quartet, San Francisco, May 1996
Kebyar Maya (1995) 14' – cello octet
commissioned by Rockefeller Multi-Arts Program for Maya Beiser
Be-In (1991) 11' – multiple versions: string quartet and bass clarinet/bassoon/double bass, clarinet, mandolin, cello, electric piano, double bass, hand percussion
Bossa Nova for brass quintet (1991) 3' – commissioned by MIT for the inauguration of President Charles Vest
Dog Dream (1990) 12' – flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello, electric guitar
commissioned and premiered by California EAR Unit, LA County Museum
Ten String Quartets (1979) 10'
Non-standard ensembles
Sulvasutra (2006) 18' – string quartet, pipa, and tabla
commissioned by the Silk Road Project
Belle Labs (2006) 20' – violin, clarinet, and robotic xylophone (Heliphon)
commissioned by Ensemble Robot and Boston Museum of Science, premiered January 25, 2005 by Evan Ziporyn and Todd Reynolds
Thread (2005) 25' – clarinet, alto and bass flute, violin, cello
commissioned and premiered by Dinosaur Annex, Cambridge, MA June 2005
No Return (2002) 30' – 4 movements for violin, clarinet, and sounds of the Salmon River
commissioned by Sun Valley Center for the Arts and premiered by Todd Reynolds and Evan Ziporyn, Ketchum, ID, January 2003
More Songs About Telephones and Dogs (2002) 20' – 4 movements for mixed ensemble – 'Iris in Furs' 'Jubilee of Indifference' '...no messages...' 'Dog Heaven'
commissioned by The Kitchen for Kitchen House Blend, premiered December 2002
Tight Fitting Garments 15' – violin and clarinet: "It Is And It Isn't," "Illusions of Purity," "Jubilee of Indifference"
Serenity Now (1998) 5'
commissioned by Chamber Music Conference of the East, Bennington, VT
Pay Phone (1993) – violin, viola, electric guitar, bass clarinet, keyboard for the Michael Gordon Philharmonic
Esto House (1993) 10' – violin, viola, electric guitar, bass clarinet, keyboard for the Michael Gordon Philharmonic
Tree Frog (1990) 25' – bass clarinet, baritone saxophone, trombone, percussion, keyboard, violin; commissioned by Toronto Border Crossings Festival for Sound Pressure, premiered at the Music Gallery, Toronto, May 1990
Twine (1985) 12' – three movements for soprano, two saxophones, bass clarinet, violin, viola, percussion
LUVTime (1984) 15' – three movements for bass clarinet, baritone saxophone, trombone, percussion, piano
Works for one
Solo piano
In Bounds (2004)
Pondok (2000) 21'
four movements – 'Fragrant Forest' (4:30), 'Tree Trunk' (3:45), 'Ginoman' (2:00), 'Gebyog (Husk)' (10:00)
commissioned and premiered by Sarah Cahill
Fractal-Head (1987) 15'
Some Coal, ten movements (1985) 30'
The Water's Fine (1983) 30' – premiered by Michael Orland
Weltscenen (1981) 20' – premiered by Christopher Oldfather
Solo pieces for other instruments
Hval (2007) – solo bass, commissioned by Robert Black
Current Rate (1999) 15' – solo Chinese pipa and pre-recorded CD (or two pipa), commissioned and premiered by Wu Man at Bang on a Can Women and Music, Henry Street Settlement
Kebyar Maya (1995) 14' – solo cello and prerecorded CD, commissioned by Rockefeller Multi-Arts Program for Maya Beiser
Studies in Normative Behaviour, Vol 1 (1991) 10' – solo percussionist, commissioned and premiered by Danny Tunick
The Motions (1990) 9' – solo viola (or viola and CD), premiered by John Lad
China Spring (1991) 15' – for oboe and piano, commissioned and premiered by Peter Cooper and Evan Ziporyn
References
External links
Evan Ziporyn Official Site
MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST)
Gamelan Galak Tika
Eviyan
Critical Band
Two (early) Interviews with Evan Ziporyn, August 18, 1989 & September 5, 1994
Listening
Music by Ziporyn on his official site
Ethel, "Be-in", Ethel (2003)
Published musical scores
Schott EAM
Airplane Ears Music
Bass clarinetists
MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty
21st-century classical composers
Living people
Gamelan musicians
Musicians from Chicago
1959 births
Contemporary classical music performers
Musicians from Lexington, Massachusetts
Musicians from Somerville, Massachusetts
American classical clarinetists
Classical musicians from Massachusetts
Classical musicians from Illinois
21st-century clarinetists
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcee%20Hastings
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Alcee Hastings
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Alcee Lamar Hastings ( ; September 5, 1936 – April 6, 2021) was an American politician and former judge from the state of Florida. He was notable for having been impeached and removed from office as a judge for bribery and perjury.
Hastings was nominated to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida by President Jimmy Carter in August 1979. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31, 1979. In 1981, after an FBI sting operation, Hastings was charged with conspiracy to solicit a bribe. Following a 1983 criminal trial, Hastings was acquitted; however, he was impeached for bribery and perjury by the United States House of Representatives in 1988 and was convicted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial on October 20, 1989. While Hastings was removed from the bench, the Senate did not bar him from holding public office in the future. Hastings was the first and, as of 2023, remains the only African American federal official to be impeached.
A Democrat, Hastings was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1992. He represented Florida's 23rd congressional district from 1993 to 2013 and represented Florida's 20th congressional district from 2013 until his death in 2021. The 20th district included most of the majority-black precincts in and around Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Following Senator Bill Nelson's departure from office in January 2019, Hastings became the dean of Florida's congressional delegation; he retained this title until his death.
Early life, education, and early career
Alcee Lamar Hastings was born in Altamonte Springs, Florida, the son of Mildred L. (Merritt) and Julius "J. C." Hastings. He was educated at Crooms Academy in Goldsboro (Sanford), Florida, before going on to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in zoology and botany from Fisk in 1958. After being dismissed from Howard University School of Law, Hastings received his Juris Doctor from Florida A&M University College of Law in 1963. While in school, he became a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He was admitted to the bar in 1963, and began to practice law.
1970 U.S. Senate election
Hastings decided to run for the United States Senate in 1970 after incumbent Spessard Holland decided to retire. He failed to win the Democratic primary or make the runoff election, finishing fourth out of five candidates, with 13% of the vote. Former Governor Farris Bryant finished first with 33% of the vote. State Senator Lawton Chiles was second with 26%. Chiles defeated Bryant in the runoff election and won the November general election.
Judicial career (1977–1989)
In 1977, Hastings became a judge of the circuit court of Broward County, Florida. On August 28, 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated Hastings to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31, 1979, and received his commission on November 2, 1979. Hastings was the first black federal judge in the history of the state of Florida. His service was terminated on October 20, 1989, due to impeachment and conviction.
Allegations and impeachment
Criminal trial
In 1981, after a sting operation by the FBI against attorney and alleged co-conspirator William Borders, Hastings was charged with conspiracy to solicit a $150,000 bribe () in exchange for a lenient sentence for Frank and Thomas Romano on 21 counts of racketeering and the return of their seized assets. In his 1983 trial, Hastings was acquitted by a jury after Borders refused to testify in court, despite having been convicted in his own trial in 1982. Borders went to jail for accepting the first $25,000 payment, but was later given a full pardon by President Bill Clinton on his last day in office.
Impeachment trial
The Judicial Conference of the United States investigated Hastings and brought its accusations, which it believed warranted an impeachment, to the United States House of Representatives.
In 1988, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives took up the case, and Hastings was impeached for bribery and perjury by a vote of 413–3. He was then convicted in his impeachment trial before the United States Senate on October 20, 1989. At the time, the Senate was also controlled by a Democratic majority. Hastings became the sixth federal judge in the history of the United States to be removed from office by the Senate. The Senate, in two hours of roll calls, voted on 11 of the 17 articles of impeachment. It convicted Hastings of eight of the 11 articles. The vote on the first article was 69 for and 26 opposed. He was removed from the bench, but the Senate did not preclude him from holding office in the future.
Appeal
Hastings filed suit in federal court claiming that his impeachment trial was invalid because he was tried by a Senate committee, not in front of the full Senate, and that he had been acquitted in a criminal trial. Judge Stanley Sporkin ruled in favor of Hastings, remanding the case to the Senate, but stayed his ruling pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court in a similar case regarding Judge Walter Nixon, who had also been impeached and removed.
The Supreme Court ruled in Nixon v. United States, again referring to Walter Nixon, that procedures for trying an impeached individual cannot be subject to review by the judiciary. Judge Sporkin changed his ruling accordingly, and Hastings's conviction and removal were upheld.
1990 Secretary of State election
Hastings attempted to make a political comeback by running for Secretary of State of Florida, campaigning on a platform of legalizing casinos. In a three-way Democratic primary, he placed second with 33% of the vote, behind newspaper columnist Jim Minter's 38% of the vote. In the runoff, which saw a large dropoff in turnout, Minter defeated Hastings, 67%–33%. Hastings won just one of Florida's 67 counties: Miami-Dade.
U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2021)
Elections
Hastings was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1992, representing Florida's 23rd district. After placing second in the initial Democratic primary for the post, he scored an upset victory over state representative Lois J. Frankel in the runoff, and went on to easily win election in the heavily Democratic district. He did not face a serious challenge for reelection thereafter. Following redistricting, Hastings represented Florida's 20th district from January 2013 until his death. His death triggered a special election in 2022.
Tenure
Hastings was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and was elected president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in July 2004. As a senior Democratic whip, Hastings was an influential member of the Democratic leadership. He was also a member of the House Rules Committee. He was previously a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). On the HPSCI, Hastings was the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Impeachment matters
In September 1998, Hastings introduced an unsuccessful resolution to impeach Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. On September 11, 1998, Hastings was one of 63 House members to vote against a resolution to publicly release the Starr Report into Democratic Party President Bill Clinton's conduct and authorize a House Judiciary Committee review of the report. On October 8, 1998, Hastings joined all but 31 Democratic House members in voting against the authorization of the impeachment inquiry against Clinton. On December 9, 1998, Hastings joined nearly all Democrats in voting against all four articles of impeachment introduced against Clinton, two of which were successfully approved by the House. Also on December 19, 1998, Hastings joined nearly all Democrats in voting against the appointment of impeachment managers. On January 6, 1999, he joined nearly all Democrats in voting against the re-appointment of the impeachment managers at the start of the 106th United States Congress.
Hastings voted to impeach Texas federal judge Samuel B. Kent on all four counts presented against him on June 19, 2009.
On March 11, 2010, Hastings took part in the unanimous votes to approve all four articles of impeachment against Federal Judge Thomas Porteous.
On October 31, 2019, Hastings joined nearly all Democrats in voting for a resolution directing how several committee should proceed in the then-ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, a Republican. On December 18, 2019, he joined nearly all Democrats in voting voting to impeach Trump. On January 13, 2021, he joined all Democrats and ten Republicans in voting to impeach Trump for a second time.
Objection to the 2000 presidential election
Hastings and other members of the House of Representatives objected to counting the 25 electoral votes from Florida which George W. Bush narrowly won after a contentious recount. Because no senator joined his objection, the objection was dismissed by Vice President Al Gore, who was Bush's opponent in the 2000 presidential election.
Objection to the 2004 presidential election
Hastings was one of the 31 House Democrats who voted not to count the 20 electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 presidential election, despite Republican President George W. Bush winning the state by 118,457 votes. Without Ohio's electoral votes, the election would have been decided by the U.S. House of Representatives, with each state having one vote in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Bid for chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee
After the 2006 United States House of Representatives elections, Hastings attracted attention after it was reported that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi might appoint him as head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He had support from the Congressional Black Caucus but was opposed by the Blue Dog Coalition. Hastings attacked his critics as "misinformed fools." Pelosi reportedly favored Hastings over the ranking Democrat, Jane Harman, due to policy differences and the Congressional Black Caucus's support. On November 28, 2006, Pelosi announced that Hastings would not be the committee's chairman, and she later chose Silvestre Reyes (D-TX). While Hastings was passed over to chair the committee, he became chair of a subcommittee. He told the National Journal, "I am not angry. At some point along the way, it became too much to explain. That is legitimate politics. But it's unfortunate for me."
Comments about Sarah Palin
On September 24, 2008, Hastings came under fire for comments he made about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Speaking in Washington, D.C., to a conference sponsored by the National Jewish Democratic Council, he said, "If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention. Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."
On September 29, 2008, Hastings issued a written apology, while standing by its core message: "I regret the comments I made last Tuesday that were not smart and certainly not relevant to hunters or sportsmen. The point I made, and will continue to make, is that the policies and priorities of a McCain-Palin administration would be anathema to most African Americans and Jews. I regret that I was not clearer and apologize to Governor Palin, my host where I was speaking, and those who my comments may have offended."
Lexus lease
In May 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hastings spent over $24,000 in taxpayer money in 2008 to lease a luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. The Journal noted that the expenditure was legal, properly accounted for, and drawn from an expense allowance the U.S. government grants to all lawmakers.
Sexual harassment allegation
In June 2011, one of Hastings's staff members, Winsome Packer, filed a lawsuit alleging that he had made repeated unwanted sexual advances and threatened her job when she refused him. A congressional ethics panel investigated these claims. Packer was represented by the conservative legal group Judicial Watch. Hastings denied the allegations and called them "ludicrous." He said, "I will win this lawsuit. That is a certainty. In a race with a lie, the truth always wins. And when the truth comes to light and the personal agendas of my accusers are exposed, I will be vindicated." In February 2012, it was reported that Hastings would be released from the lawsuit, and it would only continue against the Helsinki Commission which Hastings chaired and Packer represented in Vienna. In December 2017, it was reported that the Treasury Department paid $220,000 to settle the lawsuit. Hastings later complained that he played no role in the settlement negotiations but the way they had been framed implied that he had.
Committee assignments
Committee on Rules (Vice Chair)
Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process
Helsinki Commission (chair)
Leadership positions
Florida Congressional delegation (co-chairman)
Senior Democratic whip
Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety (co-chairman)
International Conservation Caucus
Sportsmen's Caucus
Caucus memberships
Congressional Arts Caucus
Afterschool Caucuses
Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
Veterinary Medicine Caucus
U.S.-Japan Caucus
Medicare for All Caucus
Blue Collar Caucus
Political positions
Foreign policy
Hastings opposed President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He stated: "I believe that Jerusalem is and should remain the undivided capital of Israel. To deny the Jewish connection to Jerusalem would be to deny world history. That being said, the manner in which the Trump Administration has announced its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is of great concern."
Gun policy
Hastings said that gun control is a "critical element" in addressing the United States' crime problem. He favored reinstating the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and supported a federal ban on bump stocks. He supported raising the minimum age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21. In 2017, he voted against the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017. His last rating from the NRA was an F, indicating that the organization believed that he did not support gun rights legislation.
Following the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Hastings released a statement in which he said, "The stranglehold of the gun lobby has gone on long enough."
Hastings wrote a letter to the Speaker of the Florida House and President of the Florida Senate urging them to repeal the state's preemption law, which prohibits communities in Florida from passing their own gun regulations.
Personal life and death
Hastings was married three times and had three children; his first two marriages ended in divorce. He married Patricia Williams in 2019, and they remained together until his death.
In January 2019, Hastings was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and he died from the disease on April 6, 2021, at the age of 84.
See also
List of African-American federal judges
List of African-American jurists
List of African-American United States representatives
List of United States Congress members who died in office (2000–)#2020s
References
Sources
Books
External links
U.S. House website (archived)
Obituary in Washington Post, April 2021
In Black America; The Honorable Alcee Lamar Hastings, 1986-09-30, KUT Radio, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Alcee Hastings Collection, African American Research Library and Cultural Center, Broward County Library
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African-American members of the United States House of Representatives
African-American people in Florida politics
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida
Fisk University alumni
Florida state court judges
Howard University alumni
Impeached United States federal judges removed from office
Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario%20D%C3%ADaz-Balart
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Mario Díaz-Balart
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Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart Caballero ( ; born September 25, 1961) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district. A Republican, he was elected in 2002, and his district includes much of southwestern Miami-Dade County, including Hialeah, and much of the northern portion of the Everglades.
After Representative Alcee Hastings's death in April 2021, Díaz-Balart became the dean (or longest-serving member) of Florida's congressional delegation.
Early life, education, and early political career
Díaz-Balart was born in 1961 in Fort Lauderdale, to Cuban parents, the late Cuban politician Rafael Díaz-Balart, and his wife, Hilda Caballero Brunet.
He is a member of the Díaz-Balart family: His aunt, Mirta Díaz-Balart, was the first wife of Cuban president Fidel Castro. Her son, and his cousin, was Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart. His uncle is the Cuban-Spanish painter Waldo Díaz-Balart. His brother Lincoln Díaz-Balart represented Florida's 21st District from 1993 to 2011. He has two other brothers, José Díaz-Balart, a journalist, and Rafael Díaz-Balart, a banker.
He studied political science at the University of South Florida before beginning his public service career as an aide to then-Miami Mayor Xavier Suárez in 1985. In the same year, he changed his political party affiliation from Democratic to Republican.
Florida legislature
Díaz-Balart was elected to the Florida House in 1988 and to the Florida Senate in 1992. He returned to the Florida House in 2000.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2002–2006
Díaz-Balart gave up his seat in the state house to run in the newly created 25th District, which included most of western Miami-Dade County, part of Collier County and the mainland portion of Monroe County. He won with 64% of the vote. He was unopposed for reelection in 2004, and won a third term with 58% of the vote in 2006.
2008
In 2008, Díaz-Balart faced his strongest challenge to date in Joe García, former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation and former chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party. Díaz-Balart defeated Garcia with 53% of the vote.
2010
On February 11, 2010, Díaz-Balart announced his intention to seek election in Florida's 21st congressional district—being vacated by his brother, Lincoln Díaz-Balart—rather than the 25th district. Unlike the 25th, the 21st has long been considered the Miami area's most Republican district. No other party even fielded a candidate when filing closed on April 30, handing Díaz-Balart the seat.
2012
Díaz-Balart was reelected unopposed in 2012 in the renumbered 25th district.
2014
In 2014, Díaz-Balart ran unopposed.
2016
In 2016, Díaz-Balart beat Democrat Alina Valdes, 62.4% to 37.6%. It was only the third time that a Democrat had filed to run in this district, which had been numbered as the 21st from 1993 to 2013.
2018
The Miami Herald reported in April 2018 that Díaz-Balart seemed a shoo-in for reelection in November. Former Hialeah mayor Raúl Martínez, a Democrat who had challenged Lincoln Díaz-Balart in what was the 21st in 2008, said the 25th district "is very hard to win for a Democrat, especially if you're not Hispanic and you don't speak Spanish." Valdes, who had lost to him in 2016, was a candidate in the Democratic primary. In April, Annisa Karim, who is active in the Democratic Party, announced that she too would run in the primary. In May, the Herald reported that Mary Barzee Flores, a former judge who had at first decided to run in the 27th district, had opted instead to run for Díaz-Balart's seat.
In the November 2018 general election, Díaz-Balart defeated Barzee Flores, 60.5% to 39.5%.
Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress:
Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Defense
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Caucus memberships
Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference
Founder of the Protecting Families Online Initiative
Founding member of the Washington Waste Watchers
Member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus
Republican Main Street Partnership
House Baltic Caucus
Republican Governance Group
Political positions
As of January 2018, Díaz-Balart had voted with his party in 92.4% of votes in the 115th United States Congress and voted in line with President Trump's position in 93.1% of votes.
He is a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a caucus of Hispanic Republican congressmen.
LGBT rights
In May 2019, Díaz-Balart voted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit, and the jury system under the Equality Act. He joined seven other Republicans and 228 Democrats in supporting the legislation, which passed the United States House of Representatives during the 116th Congress.
In February 2021, Díaz-Balart changed his position on the legislation, voting against it during the 117th Congress on the basis that it did not protect individuals or organizations who oppose LGBTQ rights. In a statement released after his vote, he claimed Democrats ignored Republicans' issues with the bill and "doubled down on some of the most troubling issues, including sabotaging religious freedom."
In 2021, Díaz-Balart co-sponsored the Fairness for All Act, the Republican alternative to the Equality Act. The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and protect the free exercise of religion.
In 2015, Díaz-Balart was one of 60 Republicans voting to uphold President Barack Obama's 2014 executive order banning federal contractors from making hiring decisions that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
In 2016, Díaz-Balart was one of 43 Republicans to vote for the Maloney Amendment to H.R. 5055 which would prohibit the use of funds for government contractors who discriminate against LGBT employees.
On July 19, 2022, Díaz-Balart and 46 other Republican Representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law. However, Díaz-Balart voted against final passage on December 8, 2022.
Vote Smart issue positions
According to Vote Smart's 2016 analysis, Díaz-Balart generally supports pro-life legislation, opposes an income tax increase, opposes mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, opposes federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth, supports lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth, opposes requiring states to adopt federal education standards, supports building the Keystone Pipeline, supports government funding for the development of renewable energy, opposes the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, opposes gun-control legislation, supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, opposes requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship, opposes same-sex marriage, and supports allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts.
Environment
In 2007, Díaz-Balart said, "I know there's a lot of money to be made on the bandwagon of global warming. You can make movies, documentaries, get a lot of research money — and that's okay, I love capitalism...My fear is using the bandwagon of global warming to have Congress act on some knee-jerk reaction which will please some editorialists, will hurt our economy, will not do anything to help us in the future."
As of January 2018, Díaz-Balart was not a member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.
Health care
On May 4, 2017, Díaz-Balart voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and pass the American Health Care Act.
Donald Trump
In February 2017, Díaz-Balart voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of then-President Donald Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.
Díaz-Balart supported Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, saying, "It is clear that Director Comey had lost the confidence of the deputy attorney general, attorney general, and the president. Unfortunately, he became a controversial and divisive figure."
In January 2018, after it was reported that Trump had voiced his opposition to immigration from Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries—which he reportedly called "shithole countries"—in a meeting on immigration reform, Díaz-Balart, who attended the meeting, did not say whether the alleged incident took place.
In December 2020, Díaz-Balart was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion". She also reprimanded Díaz-Balart and the other House members who supported the lawsuit: "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions." New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell, citing section three of the 14th Amendment, called for Pelosi to not seat Díaz-Balart and the other Republicans who signed the brief supporting the suit, arguing that "the text of the 14th Amendment expressly forbids Members of Congress from engaging in rebellion against the United States. Trying to overturn a democratic election and install a dictator seems like a pretty clear example of that." On January 6, 2021, Diaz-Balart was among a group of legislators who voted against certification of the United States Electoral College vote count despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Committee membership
On February 4, 2021, Díaz-Balart voted with 10 other Republican House members and all voting Democrats to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her House Education and Labor Committee and House Budget Committee assignments in response to controversial political statements she had made.
Economic issues
On September 29, 2008, Díaz-Balart voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which was intended to purchase distressed assets and supply cash directly to banks during the global financial crisis of 2008.
Díaz-Balart voted to promote free trade with Peru, against assisting workers who lose jobs due to globalization, for the Central America Free Trade Agreement, for the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement, for the US-Singapore free trade agreement, and for free trade with Chile. He was rated 75% by the National Foreign Trade Council, indicating support for trade engagement.
Tax reform
Díaz-Balart voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The Center for American Progress, a center-left think-tank, estimated that 41,000 of his constituents would lose their health insurance as a result of the bill's passing.
Foreign policy
Cuba
In 2007, Díaz-Balart advocated maintaining the Cuban embargo, saying, "Some people do not understand the embargo of Cuba. Its purpose is to keep American hard currency out of the hands of a Communist thug by restricting most trade and travel."
In an April 2015 essay for Time magazine, Díaz-Balart wrote that President Obama "continues to appease brutal dictatorships while gaining precious little in return. He conflates the Cuban dictatorship with the Cuban people when in reality, their interests are diametrically opposed." Díaz-Balart noted that "all eight Cuban-American senators and congressmen from both sides of the aisle strongly disagree" with Obama's policy on Cuba, whose people "want to gather peacefully, speak their minds, practice their faiths, access the Internet, and enjoy the fruits of their labor."
In September 2016, Díaz-Balart praised Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump "for firmly stating his commitment today to reverse President Obama's capitulations to the Castro regime" and contrasted Trump's position to what he called Hillary Clinton's "foolhardy stance". The U.S., he said, needs "a president who once again will stand with the Cuban people instead of emboldening and enriching their oppressors."
In a March 2017 memo to the Trump White House, Díaz-Balart argued that if the Cuban government did not conform to the Helms-Burton law within 90 days, the U.S. should revert to its pre-Obama policy on Cuba.
On January 19, 2023, Diaz-Balart said he supported sanctioning and revoking the visas of members of the Honduran government if the legislative body voted to remove Honduras from CAFTA. He was the first U.S. lawmaker to threaten to revoke the visas of members of Xiomara Castro's government.
Falklands
Díaz-Balart has strongly supported the right of self-determination on the Falkland Islands, over which there is a sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom. On April 18, 2013, he introduced a House resolution calling on the federal government to officially recognize the result of the 2013 Falkland Islands sovereignty referendum in which the Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly voted to remain a British Overseas Territory. Díaz-Balart introduced a similar resolution in 2017, recognizing the result of that year's general election in the Falklands.
Israel
Diaz-Balart voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Immigration and refugees
In 2014, The Washington Post reported that Díaz-Balart was "eagerly seeking a deal" on undocumented immigrants "that can somehow please enough Republicans and Democrats to advance. And that upsets many Democrats and Republicans." After being "involved in bipartisan talks on the issue for years", he was "one of the guys most skilled on the issue" and hence "gets plenty of flack from both sides." Díaz-Balart told the Post that "President Obama said that this was going to be one of his first priorities in his first 12 months", but even when "Democrats controlled everything", nothing got done "because they didn't want to do it."
Díaz-Balart supported Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying, "The ban is only temporary until the administration can review and enact the necessary procedures to vet immigrants from these countries. The ban is based on countries the Obama administration identified as 'countries of concern' and not based on a religious test."
He took part in a January 2018 White House meeting about DACA, and said that nothing would "divert my focus to stop the deportation of these innocent people whose futures are at stake."
Gun policy
In the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on February 14, 2018, in Parkland, Florida, Díaz-Balart said gun control legislation would not be effective at stopping mass shootings, saying, "I want to make sure we look at things that could make a difference."
Drug policy
Díaz-Balart has a "D" rating from NORML for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes.
Espionage
Díaz-Balart took part in a November 2013 meeting between American legislators and the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee about NSA spying on European officials. He told his European counterparts that they should realize that the U.S. is their greatest ally. "Part of re-establishing trust", he said, "is to know who your friends are and treat them accordingly, and to know who your enemies are and treat them accordingly."
Infrastructure
A 2017 report found that Díaz-Balart had delivered millions to his district for road and highway improvements.
Personal life
Díaz-Balart lives in Miami with his wife, Tia, and their son, Cristian Rafael.
On March 18, 2020, Díaz-Balart announced he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was the first member of Congress to do so. While recovering from the effects of the disease, though still drained from the experience, Diaz-Balart said he would offer his blood plasma, with antibodies against the virus, for experimental treatment or research purposes.
Díaz-Balart is Roman Catholic.
See also
List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
References
External links
Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart official U.S. House website
Mario Díaz-Balart campaign website
Mario Díaz-Balart at PolitiFact Florida
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Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida
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Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives
Politicians from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Politicians from Miami
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thun
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Thun
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Thun () is a town and a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located where the Aare flows out of Lake Thun (Thunersee), southeast of Bern.
the municipality has almost about 45,000 inhabitants and around 80,000 live in the agglomeration.
Besides tourism, machine and precision instrument engineering, the largest garrison in the country, the food industry, armaments and publishing are of economic importance to Thun.
The official language of Thun is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect.
History
The area of what is now Thun was inhabited since the Neolithic age (mid-3rd millennium BC). During the early Bronze Age there were a number of settlements along the lake shore and the Aare. A site at Renzenbühl had a local chief or nobleman's grave which contained one of the richest collections of early Bronze Age artifacts in Europe. The Thun-Renzenbühl axe, dating from 1800 BC, is one of the earliest examples of damascening technique in the world. The gold inlay decoration on the axe may also have a numerical, astronomical meaning. Another site at Wiler contained approximately 1,500 maritime snail shells which were harvested from the Mediterranean and traded over the Alps.
The name of the town derives from the Celtic term Dunum, meaning "fortified town". It fell to Rome in 58 BC, when Roman legions conquered almost all of Switzerland, and it soon became one of the main centers of Roman administration in the region.
The Romans were driven out of Thun, and out of the rest of Switzerland, by the Burgundians around 400 AD. The Aare became the frontier between the Christian Burgundians and the Pagan, German-speaking Alemanni, who lived north. The region was mentioned for the first time during the 7th century, in the chronicle of Frankish monk Fredgar. The town is first mentioned in 1133 as Tuno.
The region of Thun became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1033, when Conrad II gained the title of King of Burgundy. The emperors entrusted the Zähringen family, centred in Bern, with subduing the unruly nobles of central Switzerland. Around 1190 Duke Bertold V of Zähringen, built Thun castle and expanded the town. After Bertold's death in 1218, his territories went to Ulrich III von Kyburg.
In 1264 Thun received town rights and in 1384 the town was bought by the canton of Bern. Thun was the capital of the Canton of Oberland of the Helvetic Republic, which lasted from 1798 until 1803.
In 1819 a Military School was founded in the town, which later developed into the main military school in Switzerland. Thun was connected to the railway network of Switzerland in 1859 and telephone access made available in 1888.
Geography and climate
Topography
The center of Thun is located on the Aare, just downstream of the point where that river flows out of Lake Thun, and encompasses both banks of the river and an island between. The town covers an area of , with the town boundaries reaching up to from the town centre. The town ranges in altitude between about , in the town center, and , on its eastern boundary.
Thun has an area of . As of the 2004 survey, a total of or 27.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 20.0% is forested. Of rest of the municipality or 49.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.3% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.9% is unproductive land.
From the same survey, industrial buildings made up 5.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 26.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.1%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.4%. All of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 11.4% is used for growing crops and 15.6% is pasturage. Of the water in the municipality, 0.9% is in lakes and 0.4% is in rivers and streams.
On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Thun, of which it was the capital, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it became the capital of the larger Verwaltungskreis Thun.
Climate
Between 1981 and 2010 Thun had an average of 123.7 days of rain or snow per year and on average received of precipitation. The wettest month was August during which time Thun received an average of of rain or snow. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 11.7 days. The month with the most days of precipitation was June, with an average of 12.9, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year was February with an average of of precipitation over 8.3 days.
Politics
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules on a Bend Argent in chief a Mullet of Seven Or.
Elections
National Council
In the 2019 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the SVP which received 26.6% (-4.2) of the vote. The next six most popular parties were the SP (16.9%, -2.1), the Green Party (15.1%, +5.6), the glp (10.9%, +4.0), FDP (7.6%, -1.0), the BDP (7.0%, -4.1), and the EVP (5.9%, +0.1). In the federal election a total of 13,904 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.8%.
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 25.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (SP) (19.6%), the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (16.1%) and the Green Party (8.9%). In the federal election, a total of 15,012 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.8%.
International relations
Twin & sister towns
From 1996 to 2019 Thun was twinned with Gabrovo in Bulgaria.
Zähringer towns
For 30 years, authorities, associations and other population groups have been visiting the Zähringer towns. In Germany, this friendly alliance includes: Freiburg im Breisgau, Villingen-Schwenningen, Neuenburg am Rhein, Bräunlingen, St. Peter in the Black Forest and Weilheim an der Teck, and in Switzerland: Bern, Freiburg, Burgdorf, Murten and Rheinfelden.
Demographics
Population
Thun has a population () of . , 12.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Between the last 2 years (2010-2012) the population changed at a rate of 0.3%. Migration accounted for 0.4%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.4%.
Most of the population () speaks German (36,551 or 90.5%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (728 or 1.8%) and Albanian is the third (511 or 1.3%). There are 399 people who speak French and 31 people who speak Romansh.
, the population was 47.5% male and 52.5% female. The population was made up of 17,629 Swiss men (41.1% of the population) and 2,779 (6.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 19,956 Swiss women (46.5%) and 2,559 (6.0%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 12,265 or about 30.4% were born in Thun and lived there in 2000. There were 15,105 or 37.4% who were born in the same canton, while 5,846 or 14.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 5,699 or 14.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 17.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 21.8%.
, there were 15,905 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 18,969 married individuals, 2,875 widows or widowers and 2,628 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 7,537 households that consist of only one person and 919 households with five or more people. , a total of 18,153 apartments (92.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,080 apartments (5.5%) were seasonally occupied and 406 apartments (2.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 5.5 new units per 1000 residents.
the average price to rent an average apartment in Thun was 1017.63 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$810, £460, €650 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 601.00 CHF (US$480, £270, €380), a two-room apartment was about 784.97 CHF (US$630, £350, €500), a three-room apartment was about 927.87 CHF (US$740, £420, €590) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1821.24 CHF (US$1460, £820, €1170). The average apartment price in Thun was 91.2% of the national average of 1116 CHF.
The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.1%. In 2012, single family homes made up 46.7% of the total housing in the municipality.
Historic population
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Religion
From the , 26,334 or 65.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 5,852 or 14.5% were Roman Catholic. Of the rest of the population, there were 441 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.09% of the population), there were 37 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 1,823 individuals (or about 4.51% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 17 individuals (or about 0.04% of the population) who were Jewish, and 1,365 (or about 3.38% of the population) who were Muslim. There were 115 individuals who were Buddhist, 347 individuals who were Hindu and 35 individuals who belonged to another church. 2,765 (or about 6.85% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 1,246 individuals (or about 3.09% of the population) did not answer the question.
Economy
, Thun had an unemployment rate of 2.41%. , there were a total of 28,536 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 114 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 44 businesses involved in this sector. The secondary sector employs 6,625 people and there were 450 businesses in this sector. The tertiary sector employs 21,797 people, with 2,696 businesses in this sector. There were 20,515 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.5% of the workforce.
there were a total of 20,331 full-time equivalent jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 66, of which 63 were in agriculture, 1 was in forestry or lumber production and 1 was in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 6,159 of which 3,898 or (63.3%) were in manufacturing and 2,092 (34.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 14,106. In the tertiary sector; 2,910 or 20.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 918 or 6.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 968 or 6.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 345 or 2.4% were in the information industry, 663 or 4.7% were the insurance or financial industry, 1,075 or 7.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 692 or 4.9% were in education and 2,457 or 17.4% were in health care.
, there were 12,673 workers who commuted into the municipality and 9,195 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.4 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. A total of 11,320 workers (47.2% of the 23,993 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Thun. Of the working population, 27% used public transportation to get to work, and 41.2% used a private car.
The local and cantonal tax rate in Thun is one of the lowest in the canton. In 2012 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Thun making 150,000 CHF was 12.1%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 18.1%. For comparison, the average rate for the entire canton in 2011, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide average was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively.
In 2010 there were a total of 20,367 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 6,140 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 133 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The greatest number of workers, 6,238, made between 50,000 and 75,000 CHF per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Thun was 113,507 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 131,244 CHF.
In 2011 a total of 2.4% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government.
Public transport
The main node for public transport in Thun is Thun railway station. Here public transport bus service, both within the urban area and connecting Thun with nearby towns, is provided by Verkehrsbetriebe STI. Intercity passenger rail service is provided by BLS AG and by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). BLS also operates passenger ships on Lake Thun, which reach the station by means of the Thun ship canal.
Main sights
Thun Castle (twelfth century) with a history museum. This has several sections about medieval armour and weaponry and rural life.
The Rathaus (town hall), erected in the 16th century
Lake Thun and the view of the Bernese Alps, including the Niederhorn, Niesen, Stockhorn and Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau peaks.
The Wocher Panorama, the oldest remaining panorama drawing in the world.
The Kunstmuseum Thun
Schloss Schadau
Panzermuseum Thun, with several World War II armored vehicles and weapons
Heritage sites of national significance
The Steamship Blüemlisalp, the former Hotel Bellevue-Du Parc, the former Hotel Thunerhof, the zum Rosengarten House, the Landsitz Bellerive, the armory (Mannschaftskaserne), the former hospital at Platzschulhaus, the Rathaus (Town council house), the Reformed Church of Scherzligen and the Sammlung Historisches Armeematerial (Collection of Historical Military Equipment) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Education
In Thun about 57.3% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 17.6% have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 4,675 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in the census, 68.6% were Swiss men, 22.5% were Swiss women, 5.8% were non-Swiss men and 3.1% were non-Swiss women.
The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship.
During the 2012–13 school year, there were a total of 3,923 students attending classes in Thun. There were a total of 603 students in the German language kindergarten classes in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 18.7% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 29.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality's primary school had 2,050 students in German language classes. Of the primary students, 15.7% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 26.3% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, the lower secondary school had a total of 1,270 students. There were 12.5% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 23.1% have a different mother language than the classroom language.
, there were a total of 5,562 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 4,331 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 1,231 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 427 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Thun is home to the Stadtbibliothek Thun library. The library has () 56,800 books or other media, and loaned out 330,316 items in the same year. It was open a total of 300 days with average of 35 hours per week during that year.
Sports
Soccer: FC Thun plays in the Swiss Super League. Their home ground is Arena Thun. On 23 August 2005 FC Thun qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Handball: Wacker Thun plays in the SHL. Their home ground is the 2,000-seat Sporthalle Lachen. They have won the swiss championship twice.
Ice hockey : EHC Thun plays in the MySports League, the third tier of Swiss hockey. They play their home games in the 4,000-seat Grabengut.
Orienteering: Thun hosted the 1981 World Orienteering Championships.
Freestyle Kayak: Thun hosted the 2009 ICF Freestyle World Championships.
Thun Tigers: American football club that currently plays in the top division in Switzerland Nationalliga A (American football).The Tigers play their home games at Stadion Lachen in Thun.
In fiction
A scene in the spy novel Smiley's People by John le Carré is set here.
Robert Walser's story Kleist in Thun is set here.
Notable residents
19th C
Eduard Rubin (1846-1920), a Swiss mechanical engineer, invented the full metal jacket bullet
Niklaus Gerber (1850-1914), a Swiss dairy chemist and industrialist
Edward Bullough (1880–1934), an English aesthetician and scholar of modern languages
Renée Schwarzenbach-Wille (1883–1959), a passionate horsewoman, photographer and music-lover about which she kept a photographic diary
Markus Feldmann (1897–1958), a Swiss politician, member of the Swiss Federal Council 1951-1958
20th C
Drs. P (Heinz Hermann Polzer) (1919–2015), a Swiss singer-songwriter, poet, and prose writer in the Dutch language
Jean Ziegler (born 1934), politician, professor and author
Guy Bovet (born 1942), a Swiss organist and composer
Alexandre Dubach (born 1955), a Swiss violinist
Peter Maurer (born 1956), President of the International Committee of the Red Cross since 2012
Stefan Haenni (born 1958), a Swiss painter and a crime novel writer
Regula Rytz (born 1962), politician, sociologist and historian
Philipp Fankhauser (born 1964), a Swiss blues musician and songwriter
Sandra Moser (born 1969), a Swiss stage and film actress
Sport
Heinz Schneiter (1935–2017), a football player and manager
Hanspeter Latour (born 1947), a football manager and former goalkeeper
Walter Balmer (1948-2010), an international footballer, played 20 games for the national side
Ralph Pichler (born 1954), a bobsledder, competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics
Markus Eggler (born 1969), a retired curler, competed in the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics
Bruno Kernen (born 1972), a alpine ski racer, bronze medallist in the 2006 Winter Olympics
Ivan Rieder (born 1976), a Nordic combined skier, competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics
Marc Schneider (born 1980), a footballer, played over 330 games, current manager of FC Thun
Zdravko Kuzmanovic, (born 1987), a footballer
Simona de Silvestro (born 1988), a race car driver
Stjepan Kukuruzović (born 1989), a Swiss-born Croatian footballer
Nico Müller (born 1992), a race car driver
See also
Thunerseespiele
References
External links
Tourist information
Cities in Switzerland
Municipalities of the canton of Bern
Populated places on the Aare
Populated places on Lake Thun
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofcom
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Ofcom
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The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material.
Some of the main areas Ofcom regulates are TV and radio standards, broadband and phones, video-sharing platforms online, the wireless spectrum and postal services.
The regulator was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 and received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003.
History
On , the Queen's Speech to the UK Parliament announced the creation of Ofcom. The new body, which was to replace several existing authorities, was conceived as a "super-regulator" to oversee media channels that were rapidly converging through digital transmission.
On , Ofcom launched, formally inheriting the duties that had previously been the responsibility of five different regulators:
the Broadcasting Standards Commission
the Independent Television Commission
the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel)
the Radio Authority
the Radiocommunications Agency
In July 2009, Conservative Party opposition leader David Cameron referenced Ofcom in a speech against the proliferation of quangos:
Under Cameron's subsequent premiership of the 2010 UK coalition government, the Public Bodies Act 2011 did remove or modify several of Ofcom's duties, although it did not substantially reduce Ofcom's remit.
On 1 October 2011, Ofcom took over responsibility for regulating the postal services industry from the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm).
In April 2015, Ofcom announced that telephone companies would have to provide customers with a set charge for the cost of calling numbers starting with 084, 087 and 09. The streamlining of these charges must be printed in each customer's contract and monthly bills. The change came into force on 1 July 2015 and affected over 175 million phone numbers, making it the biggest overhaul of telephoning in over a decade.
On 1 January 2016, the regulation of video on demand was transferred to Ofcom from ATVOD, the Authority for Television on Demand.
The Digital Economy Act 2017 extended Ofcom's remit and powers. Ofcom were given powers concerning the minimum broadband speed provided by Internet service providers, the ability to financially penalise communications providers for failing to comply with licence commitments and the power to require public service broadcasters to include a minimum quantity of children's programming made in the United Kingdom. The act also transferred to Ofcom the regulation of the BBC, a duty previously undertaken by the BBC Trust, and updated the Ofcom Electronic Communications Code to make it easier for telecommunications companies to erect and extend mobile masts.
Following a consultation over the Online Harms White Paper published by the UK government in April 2019, the government announced in February 2020 that it intended Ofcom to have a greater role in Internet regulation to protect users from "harmful and illegal content".
In July 2022, Ofcom received additional tools to prevent, identify and remove any content that depicts child sexual abuse and exploitation. These tools will be introduced through an amendment to the Online Safety Bill. Ofcom will be allowed to penalise those tech firms that do not comply, either by fines up to £18m or by 10% of the company's annual turnover, whichever amount is higher.
News International phone hacking scandal
In July 2011, in the wake of the News International phone hacking scandal, Ofcom came under pressure to launch an inquiry into whether the parent company of News International, News Corporation, was still the "fit and proper" owner of a controlling stake in the satellite broadcasting company British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). On 13 July former Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged Ofcom to launch an investigation. On 15 July the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stated that the Government would launch a review of laws on what constituted a "fit and proper" owner for broadcasting companies in the United Kingdom, and that anyone found not to meet that standard can be forced to give up their current holdings in a company.
On 22 July 2011, it was reported that Ofcom had begun an investigation into whether the phone-hacking scandal may have changed BSkyB's status as the "fit and proper" holder of a UK broadcasting licence. On the same day Ed Richards, the then chief executive of Ofcom, replied to Simon Hughes MP, Don Foster MP and Tim Farron MP following a letter which they had written to him on 8 July concerning News Corporation's shareholding in BSkyB. In the letter Richards confirmed that Ofcom considers that News Corporation's current shareholding of 39.14% in BSkyB does give it a material influence over the company; that Ofcom is not precluded from acting by ongoing police investigations; and that Ofcom's process is not dependent upon a criminal conviction being secured.
In April 2012, Ofcom's probe moved from a monitoring phase to an "evidence gathering" phase.
Timeline of communications regulators
* Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
Activities
Television and radio
Ofcom licenses all UK commercial television and radio services in the UK. Broadcasters must comply by the terms of their licence, or risk having it revoked. Ofcom also publishes the Broadcasting Code, a series of rules which all broadcast content on television and radio must follow. The Broadcasting Code requires that content inappropriate for children should not be broadcast between the hours of 5:30a.m. and 9:00p.m. Premium-rate film services may broadcast content equivalent to a BBFC 15 certificate at any time of day provided a PIN-protected system is in place to restrict access to those authorised to view it. The broadcasting of pornography with a BBFC R18 certificate is not permitted. In 2010 Ofcom revoked the licences of four free-to-air television channels for promoting adult chat services during daytime hours and transmitting content that was too sexually explicit. The companies involved were fined £157,250. Ofcom's jurisdiction does not cover television and radio channels which are broadcast in the UK but licensed abroad. In 2012 Ofcom lodged a complaint with the Dutch media regulator regarding the content of adult chat television channels which are broadcast in the UK but licensed in the Netherlands. Based on a survey of 200 British respondents, Ofcom published in 2016 a list of about 50 words classified in four grades of offensiveness, from "milder" to "strongest."
Telephone and broadband
Ofcom regulates the UK telecoms sector, defining and enforcing the conditions by which all mobile and fixed-line phone and broadband companies must abide. These 'general conditions' are wide-ranging rules relating to matters such as telephone numbering, emergency services, sales, marketing and interconnection standards. Ofcom's investigation unit monitors compliance with the conditions and resolves disputes between providers.
Ofcom is also the competition authority for telecoms, enforcing remedies in markets where it believes dominant operators may have a potentially harmful influence on competition or consumers. One of its most high-profile interventions was to require BT to split its wholesale and retail arms into separate companies, bringing about the creation of Openreach which supplies wholesale services to both BT Retail and competing providers.
On 1 July 2015, Ofcom made a number of changes to the way phone calls to UK service numbers would be charged. Under the new legislation, which was promoted by an information campaign entitled UK Calling, call charges must be clearly stated on all materials that advertise a service number. The changes came after research found that callers are often confused about service call charges, and thus can avoid calling these numbers. The July 2015 changes also saw 'freephone numbers' 0800 and 0808 become free to call from both mobiles and landlines.
In March 2016, Ofcom launched an interactive "Mobile coverage and fixed broadband checker", allowing people to check mobile coverage and broadband speeds via their post code.
Spectrum licensing and protection
Ofcom is responsible for the management, regulation, assignment and licensing of the electromagnetic spectrum in the UK, and licenses portions of it for use in television and radio broadcasts, mobile phone transmissions, private communications networks, wireless devices and so on. The process of licensing varies depending on the type of use required. Some licences simply have to be applied and paid for; other commercial licences are subject to a bidding process. Most of the procedures in place have been inherited from the systems used by the previous regulators. However, Ofcom may change some of these processes in future.
Ofcom protects the radio spectrum in a number of ways:
Working within international organisations (ITU, CEPT and BEREC).
Licensing UK-controlled commercial radio spectrum; the Ministry of Defence controls its own spectrum. Within the international framework for frequency use; Ofcom liaises through the UK Government to produce the UKFAT (UK Frequency Allocation Table). The current table was produced in 2017.
Investigate and, when necessary, carry out enforcement activities to clear interference or illegal use from the spectrum. Until June 2010 Ofcom investigated all interference cases within the UK. Interference reporting has now been transferred to the BBC. This contract specifically excludes any requirement to investigate interference relating to AM radio reception. Commercial and spectrum licence holders report to Ofcom and in all cases illegal ("pirate") radio operations are still reported to Ofcom.
Postal services
In October 2010 the government announced plans for Ofcom to inherit the functions of Postcomm as part of a wider set of public service sell-off measures. Following the Postal Services Act 2011 regulatory responsibility for postal services transferred to Ofcom on 1 October 2011, with its primary duty to maintain the UK's six-day-a-week universal postal service.
Consultations
Ofcom makes extensive use of consultations with industry and the public to help it make decisions based upon the evidence presented. Consultation processes begin with publishing documents on its website, asking for views and responses. If the document is perceived to be long and complicated, a plain English summary is usually published as well. A period, usually of 10 weeks, is allowed for interested persons, companies or organisations to send in their responses to the consultation.
After this consultation period, Ofcom publishes all the responses on its website, excluding any personal or confidential information. Ofcom then prepares a summary of the responses received, and uses this information as a basis for its decisions.
Leadership
Current
Michael Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth was appointed as chairman of Ofcom for a four-year term from 1 May 2022.
The current Chief Executive is Melanie Dawes who was appointed on 12 February 2020.
Historical
The first chairman of Ofcom (2002–2009) was David Currie, Dean of Cass Business School at City University and a life peer under the title Lord Currie of Marylebone. The first chief executive (2003–2007) was Stephen Carter, Baron Carter of Barnes, formerly a senior executive of JWT UK and NTL and subsequently a Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting.
Colette Bowe was appointed Ofcom chairman with effect from 11 March 2009. She was the founding chairman of the Telecoms Ombudsman Council, and chaired Ofcom's Consumer Panel from its inception in 2003 to December 2007.
Dame Patricia Hodgson DBE was appointed as chairman of Ofcom for a three-year term from April 2014. She was a member of the Ofcom board from July 2011 and became deputy chairman in January 2012. On 18 July 2016, it was announced that her term would be extended for a further year until 2018.
Sharon White was Ofcom's chief executive from 2015 to 2019, having replaced Ed Richards in the role.
After Sharon White was appointed the Chief Executive of John Lewis in June 2019, the office of Chief Executive remained open until Jonathan Oxley was appointed as Interim Chief Executive. In February 2020, it was announced that Melanie Dawes would become the new Chief Executive.
On 15 March 2016, it was announced that Steve Gettings would become Corporation Secretary in succession to Graham Howell.
Key personnel
Ofcom's key personnel are:
Chief Executive, Melanie Dawes, appointed February 2020
Board members:
Maggie Carver, Deputy Chair, appointed September 2018
Jonathan Oxley, appointed January 2015
Graham Mather, appointed June 2014
Ben Verwaayen, appointed January 2016
Tim Suter, appointed September 2017
Bob Downes, appointed February 2018
Angela Dean, appointed September 2018
David Jones, appointed April 2019
Ofcom publishes a register of disclosable interests of the Ofcom board.
Chairman of Ofcom
Status
Chief Executive Officer of Ofcom
29 December 2003 – 31 July 2006 Stephen Carter
1 August 2006 – 5 October 2006 Chairman of Ofcom (Acting)
5 October 2006 – 31 December 2014 Ed Richards
1 January 2015 – 23 March 2015 Steve Unger (Acting)
23 March 2015 – 27 November 2019 Sharon White
27 November 2019 – March 2020 Jonathan Oxley (Acting)
March 2020 – present Melanie Dawes
Ofcom committees
Ofcom has a number of committees and advisory bodies which inform the Ofcom Board and Executive. These include:
Communications Consumer Panel (CCP)
Advisory Committee for Older and Disabled People (ACOD)
Risk and Audit Committee
Nominations Committee
Remuneration Committee
Election Committee
Non-Executive Remuneration Committee
Nations Committee
Advisory Committee for England
Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland
Advisory Committee for Scotland
Advisory Committee for Wales
Community Radio Fund Panel
Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board (OSAB)
Broadcast Licensing Committee
UK hate speech regulation
Since 1 January 2021, Ofcom has defined hate speech as "all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify hatred based on intolerance on the grounds of disability, ethnicity, social origin, sex, gender, gender reassignment, nationality, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, colour, genetic features, language, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth or age." However, there is concern that Ofcom's broad definition of hate speech can easily result in the unjustified censorship of controversial opinions, however legitimate they might be.
Controversies
Expenditure
Ofcom has received criticism for incurring unnecessary costs as a result of "extravagant Thames-side offices" and a "top-heavy salary bill", for inflexibility in its regulation of commercial radio, and for "poor service". In response to ongoing expenditure concerns, Ofcom made the following statement regarding the 2017/2018 budget: "Ofcom has delivered 12 consecutive years of like-for-like real-terms budget reductions, and we will continue to reduce spending wherever we can."
Al Jazeera
The Qatar-based news media outlet was reported to Ofcom in January 2017, following an exposé about Israeli diplomatic corps irregularities and influence peddling amongst political and student groups in the UK.
After investigations exceeding eight months, Ofcom reported that Al Jazeera was in line with journalism standards and cleared the filmmakers of the allegations.
Press TV
In May 2011, Ofcom ruled that Press TV, an Iranian English-language satellite channel, was responsible for a serious breach of UK broadcasting rules and could face a fine for airing an interview with Maziar Bahari, the Newsweek journalist arrested covering the Iranian presidential election in 2009, that was obtained by force while he was held in a Tehran jail. Press TV said that Bahari did not "dispute the truth and accuracy" of the extract of the interview, so it made "no logical sense" to require his consent.
Sitefinder database and freedom of information
The Sitefinder database is a national database of mobile phone base stations in the UK. In September 2007, an Information Tribunal ruled that the public should have access to the database under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. However, as Ofcom has no legal power to force mobile phone operators to add information to the database, UK mobile phone operators consequently ceased updating it.
Ofcom appealed against the Freedom of Information Act ruling, together with one UK mobile operator – T-Mobile. This has led to accusations of the organisation's complicity with the mobile telecommunications industry in keeping information about mast locations secret. Ofcom's stated reasons for the appeal have ranged from "preventing terrorist attacks" on the sites of phone masts to "protecting the intellectual property" of the mobile telecommunications industry.
In April 2008, the High Court found in favour of the Information Commissioner's Office and over-ruled Ofcom's objections. Ofcom appealed to the Supreme Court, who in turn referred a point of law to the European Court of Justice, and then in October 2011 ordered that the matter should be remitted to the Information Rights Tribunal to reconsider the public interest balancing exercise. On 12 December 2012, the Information Rights Tribunal upheld its decision of 4 September 2007.
Deryn Consulting controversy
In 2017, Ofcom's advisory committee for Wales awarded Deryn Consulting a contract to monitor the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Government. It was subsequently reported that the contract had not been put out to tender and that Huw Roberts and Nerys Evans held positions for both Deryn and Ofcom. The contract was terminated and Ofcom concluded that it had broken its own procurement rules.
Abu Dhabi TV
Abu Dhabi TV, owned by the Abu Dhabi Media state enterprise, was condemned by Ofcom for broadcasting a televised interview of the confessions made by a Qatari citizen, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Jaida, while he was detained arbitrarily in the Abu Dhabi prisons in 2013. The National Human Rights Committee of the State of Qatar welcomed Ofcom's decision. Under the decision, it was stated that on 28 June 2017, the Abu Dhabi TV channel, which is affiliated with Abu Dhabi Media Company P.J.S.C “ADMC”, licensed under Ofcom had broadcast an interview recording titled “Mahmoud Al-Jaidah and the clandestine organization in UAE”. According to the decision, the aired interview was recorded against the consent of Dr. Al-Jaidah, who was physically tortured during his time in the Abu Dhabi prison. The activity had constituted a serious breach of the principles of fairness and privacy detailed in the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.
CGTN
In 2019, Ofcom began an investigation into the Chinese international channel CGTN, owned by state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), following allegations that a forced confession from British former journalist Peter Humphrey was broadcast on the channel. In addition, it also received four formal complaints over similar alleged confessions. In November, Hong Kong activist and former UK consulate worker Simon Cheng filed a complaint to Ofcom a week after CGTN released a video of him admitting to "soliciting prostitution", which Cheng said he was forced to make.
In early 2021, Ofcom revoked the UK broadcasting licence of CGTN. In a statement, it noted that the licence holder for the channel, Star China Media Ltd., did not have editorial responsibility over the channel, which was against legal requirements. It was also unable to hand over the licence to a corporation called "China Global Television Network Corporation" (CGTNC), on the grounds that the company was "ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is not permitted under UK broadcasting law". Ofcom later fined CGTN £225,000 for "breaching rules on fairness, privacy and due impartiality".
Following the revocation, both the Chinese government and state media began targeting the BBC, accusing it of producing "fake news" in its coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China and the Xinjiang internment camps. CGTN itself claimed that Ofcom was "manipulated by extreme right-wing organizations and anti-China forces".
Criticism of Michael Grade
In June 2022, the BBC's historian, Jean Seaton, publicy said that Michael Grade "is too lazy, too old, and has too many conflicts of interest," according to The Guardian. She called his appointment as chairman a means of "bullying" the BBC.
See also
Overton window
Advertising Standards Authority
Annan Committee, that in 1977 recommended the establishment of a Broadcasting Complaints Commission
Broadband stakeholder group
Office of Fair Trading
Press Complaints Commission
ATVOD
ITSPA
ISPA
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO)
International Telecommunication Union
List of telecommunications regulatory bodies
Roskomnadzor
References
External links
Ofcom Broadcast Codes
Quick video guide to Ofcom for broadcast journalists
Radio in the United Kingdom
Television in the United Kingdom
Communications authorities
Communications in the United Kingdom
Mass media complaints authorities
Postal system of the United Kingdom
Statutory corporations of the United Kingdom government
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Government agencies established in 2003
Organisations based in the London Borough of Southwark
2003 establishments in the United Kingdom
Regulators of the United Kingdom
Telecommunications in the United Kingdom
Telecommunications regulatory authorities
Consumer organisations in the United Kingdom
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadence
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Cadence
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In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin cadentia, "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards. A harmonic cadence is a progression of two or more chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music. A rhythmic cadence is a characteristic rhythmic pattern that indicates the end of a phrase. A cadence can be labeled "weak" or "strong" depending on the impression of finality it gives. While cadences are usually classified by specific chord or melodic progressions, the use of such progressions does not necessarily constitute a cadence—there must be a sense of closure, as at the end of a phrase. Harmonic rhythm plays an important part in determining where a cadence occurs. The word "cadence" sometimes slightly shifts its meaning depending on the context; for example, it can be used to refer to the last few notes of a particular phrase, or to just the final chord of that phrase, or to types of chord progressions that are suitable for phrase endings in general.
Cadences are strong indicators of the tonic or central pitch of a passage or piece. The musicologist Edward Lowinsky proposed that the cadence was the "cradle of tonality".
US and British nomenclature
Cadence names may differ between US usage and British usage. This article follows US usage.
Common classifications
Cadences are divided into four main types, according to their harmonic progression: authentic (typically perfect authentic or imperfect authentic), half, plagal, and deceptive. Typically, phrases end on authentic or half cadences, and the terms plagal and deceptive refer to motion that avoids or follows a phrase-ending cadence. Each cadence can be described using the Roman numeral system of naming chords.
Authentic cadence
An authentic cadence is a cadence from the dominant chord (V) to the root chord (I). During the dominant chord, a seventh above the dominant may be added to create a dominant seventh chord (V7); the dominant chord may also be preceded by a cadential chord. The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians says, "This cadence is a microcosm of the tonal system, and is the most direct means of establishing a pitch as tonic. It is virtually obligatory as the final structural cadence of a tonal work." Authentic cadences are generally classified as either perfect or imperfect. The phrase perfect cadence is sometimes used as a synonym for authentic cadence but can also have a more precise meaning depending on the chord voicing.
Perfect authentic cadence
In a perfect authentic cadence (PAC), the chords are in root position – that is, the roots of both chords are in the bass – and the tonic is in the highest voice of the final chord. This is generally considered the strongest type of cadence and often found at structurally defining moments. Music theorist William Caplin writes that the perfect authentic cadence "achieves complete harmonic and melodic closure."
Imperfect authentic cadence
There are three types of imperfect authentic cadences (IAC):
Root position IAC (shown below): Similar to a perfect authentic cadence, but the highest voice is not the tonic.
Inverted IAC: Similar to a perfect authentic cadence, but one or both chords are inverted.
Leading-tone IAC: The penultimate (V) chord is replaced with a chord based on the leading-tone (viio chord).
Evaded cadence
An evaded cadence moves from a dominant seventh third inversion chord (V) to a first inversion tonic chord (I). Because the seventh must fall stepwise, it forces the cadence to resolve to the less stable first inversion chord. To achieve this, a root position V usually changes to a V right before resolution, thereby "evading" the root-position I chord that would usually follow a root-position V. (See also inverted cadence below.)
Half cadence
A half cadence (also called an imperfect cadence or semicadence) is any cadence ending on V, whether preceded by II (V of V), ii, vi, IV, or I—or any other chord. Because it sounds incomplete or suspended, the half cadence is considered a weak cadence that calls for continuation.
Several types of half cadences are described below.
Phrygian half cadence
A Phrygian half cadence is a half cadence iv6–V in minor, so named because the semitonal motion in the bass (sixth degree to fifth degree) resembles the half-step heard in the ii–I of the 15th-century cadence in the Phrygian mode. Due to its being a survival from modal Renaissance harmony this cadence gives an archaic sound, especially when preceded by v (v–iv6–V). A characteristic gesture in Baroque music, the Phrygian cadence often concluded a slow movement immediately followed by a faster one. With the addition of motion in the upper part to the sixth degree, it becomes the Landini cadence.
Lydian cadence
A Lydian cadence is similar to the Phrygian half cadence, involving iv6–V in the minor. The difference is that in the Lydian cadence, the whole iv6 is raised by a half step. In other words, the Phrygian half cadence begins with the first chord built on scale degree , while the Lydian half cadence is built on the scale degree .
Burgundian cadences
Burgundian cadences became popular in Burgundian music. Note the parallel fourths between the upper voices.
Plagal half cadence
The rare plagal half cadence involves a I–IV progression. Like an authentic cadence (V–I), the plagal half cadence involves an ascending fourth (or, by inversion, a descending fifth). The plagal half cadence is a weak cadence, ordinarily at the ending of an antecedent phrase, after which a consequent phrase commences. One example of this use is in "Auld Lang Syne". But in one very unusual occurrence – the end of the exposition of the first movement of Brahms' Clarinet Trio, Op. 114—it is used to complete not just a musical phrase but an entire section of a movement.
Plagal cadence
A plagal cadence is a cadence from IV to I. It is also known as the Amen cadence because of its frequent setting to the text "Amen" in hymns.
Minor plagal cadence
A minor plagal cadence, also known as a perfect plagal cadence, uses the minor iv instead of a major IV. With a very similar voice leading to a perfect cadence, the minor plagal cadence is a strong resolution to the tonic.
Moravian cadence
The Moravian cadence, which can be found in the works of Leoš Janáček and Bohuslav Martinů amongst others, is a form of plagal cadence in which the outer notes of the first chord each move inwards by a tone to the second. (IVadd6 → I6). An early suggestion of the Moravian cadence in classical music occurs in Antonín Dvořák’s New World Symphony.
Deceptive cadence
"A cadence is called 'interrupted', 'deceptive' or 'false' where the penultimate, dominant chord is not followed by the expected tonic, but by another one, often the submediant." This is the most important irregular resolution, most commonly V7–vi (or V7–VI) in major or V7–VI in minor. This is considered a weak cadence because of the "hanging" (suspended) feeling it invokes.
At the beginning of the final movement of Gustav Mahler's 9th Symphony, the listener hears a string of many deceptive cadences progressing from V to IV6.
One of the most striking uses of this cadence is in the A-minor section at the end of the exposition in the first movement of Brahms' Third Symphony. The music progresses to an implied E minor dominant (B7) with a rapid chromatic scale upwards but suddenly sidesteps to C major. The same device is used again in the recapitulation; this time the sidestep is—as one would expect—to F major, the tonic key of the whole Symphony.
The interrupted cadence is also frequently used in popular music. For example, the Pink Floyd song "Bring the Boys Back Home" ends with such a cadence (at approximately 0:45–50).
Other classifications
Inverted cadence
An inverted cadence (also called a medial cadence) inverts the last chord. It may be restricted only to the perfect and imperfect cadence, or only to the perfect cadence, or it may apply to cadences of all types. To distinguish them from this form, the other, more common forms of cadences listed above are known as radical cadences.
Rhythmic classifications
Cadences can also be classified by their rhythmic position:
A metrically accented cadence has its final note in a metrically strong position, typically the downbeat of a measure.
A metrically unaccented cadence has its final note in a metrically weak position, for instance, after a long appoggiatura.
Metrically accented cadences are considered stronger and are generally of greater structural significance. In the past, the terms masculine and feminine were sometimes used to describe rhythmically "strong" or "weak" cadences, but this terminology is no longer acceptable to some. Susan McClary has written extensively on the gendered terminology of music and music theory in her book Feminine Endings.
The example below shows a metrically unaccented cadence (IV–V–I). The final chord is postponed to fall on a weak beat.
Picardy third
A Picardy third (or Picardy cadence) is a harmonic device that originated in Western music in the Renaissance era. It refers to the use of a major chord of the tonic at the end of a musical section that is either modal or in a minor key. The example below shows a picardy third in the final chord, from J.S. Bach's Jesu, meine Freude (Jesus, My Joy), mm. 12–13.
Upper leading-tone cadence
This example from a well-known 16th-century lamentation shows a cadence that appears to imply the use of an upper leading-tone, a debate over which was documented in Rome c. 1540. The final three written notes in the upper voice are printed B–C–D, in which case the customary trill on the second to last note should be played using D and C. However, convention implied that the written C should be played as a C in this context, and a cadential trill of a whole tone on the second to last note would then require a D/E, the upper leading-tone of D. Presumably, the debate was over whether to use D–C or D–C for the trill.
In medieval and Renaissance polyphony
Medieval and Renaissance cadences are based upon dyads rather than chords. The first theoretical mention of cadences comes from Guido of Arezzo's description of the occursus in his Micrologus, where he uses the term to mean where the two lines of a two-part polyphonic phrase end in a unison.
Clausula vera
A clausula or clausula vera ("true close") is a dyadic or intervallic, rather than chordal or harmonic, cadence. In a clausula vera, two voices approach an octave or unison through stepwise motion in contrary motion.
In three voices, the third voice often adds a falling fifth creating a cadence similar to the authentic cadence in tonal music.
According to Carl Dahlhaus, "as late as the 13th century the half step was experienced as a problematic interval not easily understood, as the remainder between the perfect fourth and the ditone:
In a melodic half step, listeners of the time perceived no tendency of the lower tone toward the upper, or the upper toward the lower. The second tone was not the 'goal' of the first. Instead, musicians avoided the half step in clausulas because, to their ears, it lacked clarity as an interval. Beginning in the 13th century, cadences begin to require motion in one voice by half step and the other a whole step in contrary motion.
Plagal cadence
A plagal cadence was found occasionally as an interior cadence, with the lower voice in two-part writing moving up a perfect fifth or down a perfect fourth.
Rest
A rest in one voice may also be used as a weak interior cadence. The example below, Lassus's Qui vult venire post me, mm. 3–5, shows a rest in the third measure.
Evaded cadence
In counterpoint, an evaded cadence is one where one of the voices in a suspension does not resolve as expected, and the voices together resolve to a consonance other than an octave or unison (a perfect fifth, a sixth, or a third).
Corelli cadence
The Corelli cadence, or Corelli clash, named for its association with the violin music of the Corelli school, is a cadence characterized by a major and/or minor second clash between the tonic and the leading-tone or the tonic and supertonic. An example is shown below.
English cadence
Another "clash cadence", the English cadence, is a contrapuntal pattern particular to the authentic or perfect cadence. It features the blue seventh against the dominant chord, which in the key of C would be B and G–B–D. Popular with English composers of the High Renaissance and Restoration periods in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English cadence is described as sounding archaic or old-fashioned. It was first given its name in the 20th century.
The hallmark of this device is the dissonant augmented octave (compound augmented unison) produced by a false relation between the split seventh scale degree, as shown below in an excerpt from O sacrum convivium by Thomas Tallis. The courtesy accidental on the tenor's G is editorial.
Landini cadence
A Landini cadence (also known as a Landini sixth, Landini sixth cadence, or under-third cadence) is a cadence that was used extensively in the 14th and early 15th century. It is named after Francesco Landini, a composer who used them profusely. Similar to a clausula vera, it includes an escape tone in the upper voice, which briefly narrows the interval to a perfect fifth before the octave.
Common practice period
The classical and romantic periods of musical history provide many examples of the way the different cadences are used in context.
Authentic cadences and half cadences
Mozart’s Romanze from his Piano Concerto No. 20 follows a familiar pattern of a pair of phrases, one ending with a half (imperfect) cadence and the other with an authentic cadence:The presto movement from Beethoven’s String Quartet Op 130 follows the same pattern, but in a minor key:
Plagal cadences
The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah culminates powerfully with an iterated plagal cadence:Debussy’s prelude ‘La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin’ contains a plagal cadence in its 2nd and 3rd bars : One of the most famous endings in all music is found in the concluding bars of Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde, where the dissonant chord in the opening phrase of the opera is finally resolved "three enormous acts and five hours later" in the form of a minor plagal cadence:
Deceptive cadences
In Bach's harmonization of the chorale ‘Wachet auf’, a phrase ending in a deceptive cadence repeats with the cadence changed to an authentic one: The exposition of the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21 (The Waldstein Sonata), Op. 53 features a minor key passage where an authentic (perfect) cadence precedes a deceptive (interrupted) one:
Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance, Op. 72, No. 2 features deceptive (interrupted), half (imperfect) and authentic (perfect) cadences within its first sixteen bars:
Debussy's Prelude “La fille aux cheveux de lin” (see also above) concludes with a passage featuring a deceptive (interrupted) cadence that progresses, not from V–VI, but from V–IV:
Some varieties of deceptive cadence that go beyond the usual V–VI pattern lead to some startling effects. For example, a particularly dramatic and abrupt deceptive cadence occurs in the second Presto movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30, Op. 109, bars 97–112, "a striking passage that used to pre-occupy theorists". The music at this point is in B minor, and carries the expectation is that the chord of F sharp (Chord V) will be followed by the tonic chord of B. However, "Dynamics become softer and softer; dominant and tonic chords of B minor appear isolated on the first beat of a bar, separated by silences: until in sudden fortissimo ... the recapitulation bursts on us in the tonic E minor, the B minor dominants left unresolved."
An equally startling example occurs in J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540:
According to Richard Taruskin, in this Toccata, "the already much-delayed resolution is thwarted (m204) by what was the most spectacular 'deceptive cadence' anyone had composed as of the second decade of the eighteenth century ... producing an especially pungent effect." Hermann Keller describes the effect of this cadence as follows: "the splendour of the end with the famous third inversion of the seventh chord, who would not be enthralled by that?"
Chopin's Fantaisie, Op. 49, composed over a century later in 1841, features a similar harmonic jolt:
A deceptive cadence is a useful means for extending a musical narrative. In the closing passage of Bach’s Prelude in F minor from Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier, the opening theme returns and seems headed towards a possible final resolution on an authentic (perfect) cadence. What the listener may expect is:
Instead, at bar 60, Bach inserts a deceptive cadence (V–VI in F minor), leading to a lengthy digression of some dozen bars before reaching resolution on the final (V–I) cadence.
A similar passage occurs at the conclusion of Mozart's Fantasia in D minor, K397:
Jazz
Cadences in jazz are usually simply called cadences, as in common practice harmony. However, a certain category of cadence is referred to as a turnaround (originally called a "turnback" which is more accurate); this is when a cadence functions as a return to an already existing part of a song form such as AABA. In an AABA form, there are two turnbacks: at the end of the first A (A1) in order to repeat it (A2), and at the end of the B section in order to play the A a third time (A3). (The transition from the second A to the B is not a turnback, because the B section is being heard for the first time.)
Half-step cadences are common in jazz if not cliché. For example, the ascending diminished seventh chord half-step cadence, which—using a secondary diminished seventh chord—creates momentum between two chords a major second apart (with the diminished seventh in between).
The descending diminished seventh chord half-step cadence is assisted by two common tones.
Rhythmic cadence
Cadences often include (and may be emphasized or signalled by) a change in the prevailing rhythmic pattern; in such cases the final note of the cadence usually takes more time (a longer note value, or followed by a rest, or both), and within a piece of music the cadences may also share a rhythmic pattern that is characteristic of the cadences in that piece. This method of ending a phrase with some distinctive rhythmic pattern has been called a "rhythmic cadence"; rhythmic cadences continue to function without harmony or melody, for example at the ends of phrases in music for drums. Some styles of music rely on frequent regular rhythmic cadences as a unifying feature of that style. The example below shows a characteristic rhythmic cadence (i.e. many of the cadences in this piece share this rhythmic pattern) at the end of the first phrase (in particular the last two notes and the following rest, contrasted with the regular pattern set up by all the notes before them) of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BMV 1048, mvmt. I, mm. 1–2:
See also
Andalusian cadence
Approach chord
Cadential six-four
Coda
Cadenza
Drum cadence
Kadans
Lament bass
List of Caribbean music genres: cadence-lypso and cadence rampa
V–IV–I turnaround
VII–V7 cadence
References
Sources
Jazz terminology
Musical terminology
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic%20sanctions
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Economic sanctions
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Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior through disruption in economic exchange. Sanctions can be intended to compel (an attempt to change an actor's behavior) or deterrence (an attempt to stop an actor from certain actions).
Sanctions can target an entire country or they can be more narrowly targeted at individuals or groups; this latter form of sanctions are sometimes called "smart sanctions". Prominent forms of economic sanctions include trade barriers, asset freezes, travel bans, arms embargoes, and restrictions on financial transactions.
The efficacy of sanctions in achieving intended goals is the subject of debate. The humanitarian impact of country-wide sanctions have been a subject of controversy. As a consequence, since the mid-1990s, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions have tended to target individuals and entities, in contrast to the country-wide sanctions of earlier decades.
History of sanctions
One of the most comprehensive attempts at an embargo occurred during the Napoleonic Wars of 1803–1815. Aiming to cripple the United Kingdom economically, Emperor Napoleon I of France in 1806 promulgated the Continental System—which forbade European nations from trading with the UK. In practice the French Empire could not completely enforce the embargo, which proved as harmful (if not more so) to the continental nations involved as to the British.
World War I and the Interwar period
Sanctions in the form of blockades were prominent during World War I. Debates about implementing sanctions through international organizations, such as the League of Nations, became prominent after the end of World War I. Leaders saw sanctions as a viable alternative to war.
The League Covenant permitted the use of sanctions in five cases:
When Article 10 of the League Covenant is violated
In case of war or threat of war (Article 11)
When a League member does not pay an arbitration award (Article 12)
When a League member goes to war without submitting the dispute to the League Council or League Assembly (Articles 12–15)
When a non-member goes to war against a League member (Article 17)
The Abyssinia Crisis in 1935 resulted in League sanctions against Mussolini's Italy under Article 16 of the Covenant. Oil supplies, however, were not stopped, nor the Suez Canal closed to Italy, and the conquest proceeded. The sanctions were lifted in 1936 and Italy left the League in 1937.
In the lead-up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States imposed severe trade restrictions on Japan to discourage further Japanese conquests in East Asia.
From World War II onwards
After World War II, the League was replaced by the more expansive United Nations (UN) in 1945. Throughout the Cold War, the use of sanctions increased gradually. After the end of the Cold War, there was a major increase in economic sanctions.
According to the Global Sanctions Data Base, there have been 1,325 sanctions in the period 1950–2022.
Politics of sanctions
Economic sanctions are used as a tool of foreign policy by many governments. Economic sanctions are usually imposed by a larger country upon a smaller country for one of two reasons: either the latter is a perceived threat to the security of the former nation or that country treats its citizens unfairly. They can be used as a coercive measure for achieving particular policy goals related to trade or for humanitarian violations. Economic sanctions are used as an alternative weapon instead of going to war to achieve desired outcomes.
The Global Sanctions Data Base categorizes nine objectives of sanctions: "changing policy, destabilizing regimes, resolving territorial conflicts, fighting terrorism, preventing war, ending war, restoring and promoting human rights, restoring and promoting democracy, and other objectives."
Effectiveness of economic sanctions
According to a study by Neuenkirch and Neumeier, UN economic sanctions had a statistically significant impact on targeted states by reducing their GDP growth by an average of 2.3–3.5% per year—and more than 5% per year in the case of comprehensive UN embargoes—with the negative effects typically persisting for a period of ten years. By contrast, unilateral US sanctions had a considerably smaller impact on GDP growth, restricting it by 0.5–0.9% per year, with an average duration of seven years.
Imposing sanctions on an opponent also affects the economy of the imposing country to a degree. If import restrictions are promulgated, consumers in the imposing country may have restricted choices of goods. If export restrictions are imposed or if sanctions prohibit companies in the imposing country from trading with the target country, the imposing country may lose markets and investment opportunities to competing countries.
Hufbauer, Schott, and Elliot (2008) argue that regime change is the most frequent foreign-policy objective of economic sanctions, accounting for just over 39 percent of cases of their imposition. Hufbauer et al. found that 34 percent of the cases studied were successful. When Robert A. Pape examined their study, he found that only 5 of their reported 40 successes were actually effective, reducing the success rate to 4%. In either case, the difficulty and unexpected nuances of measuring the actual success of sanctions in relation to their goals are both increasingly apparent and still under debate. In other words, it is difficult to determine why a regime or country changes (i.e., whether it was the sanction or inherent instability) and doubly so to measure the full political effect of a given action.
Offering an explanation as to why sanctions are still imposed even when they may be marginally effective, British diplomat Jeremy Greenstock suggests sanctions are popular not because they are known to be effective, but because "there is nothing else [to do] between words and military action if you want to bring pressure upon a government". Critics of sanctions like Belgian jurist Marc Bossuyt argue that in nondemocratic regimes, the extent to which this affects political outcomes is contested, because by definition such regimes do not respond as strongly to the popular will.
A strong connection has been found between the effectiveness of sanctions and the size of veto players in a government. Veto players represent individual or collective actors whose agreement is required for a change of the status quo, for example, parties in a coalition, or the legislature's check on presidential powers. When sanctions are imposed on a country, it can try to mitigate them by adjusting its economic policy. The size of the veto players determines how many constraints the government will face when trying to change status quo policies, and the larger the size of the veto players, the more difficult it is to find support for new policies, thus making the sanctions more effective.
Francesco Giumelli writes that the "set of sanctions ... that many observers would be likely to consider the most persuasive (and effective)", namely, UN sanctions against "central bank assets and sovereign wealth funds", are "of all the types of measures applied ... the one least frequently used". Giumelli also distinguishes between sanctions against international terrorists, in which "the nature of the request is not as important as the constraining aspect", and sanctions imposed in connection with "post-conflict scenarios", which should "include flexible demands and the potential for adaptation if the situation changes".
Economic sanctions can be used for achieving domestic and international purposes.
Criticism
Sanctions have been criticized on humanitarian grounds, as they negatively impact a nation's economy and can also cause collateral damage on ordinary citizens. Peksen implies that sanctions can degenerate human rights in the target country. Some policy analysts believe that imposing trade restrictions only serves to hurt ordinary people as opposed to government elites, and others have likened the practice to siege warfare. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has generally refrained from imposing comprehensive sanctions since the mid-1990s, in part due to the controversy over the efficacy and civilian harms attributed to the sanctions against Iraq.
Sanctions can have unintended consequences.
Implications for businesses
There is an importance, especially with relation to financial loss, for companies to be aware of embargoes that apply to their intended export or import destinations. Properly preparing products for trade, sometimes referred to as an embargo check, is a difficult and timely process for both importers and exporters.
There are many steps that must be taken to ensure that a business entity does not accrue unwanted fines, taxes, or other punitive measures. Common examples of embargo checks include referencing embargo lists, cancelling transactions, and ensuring the validity of a trade entity.
This process can become very complicated, especially for countries with changing embargoes. Before better tools became available, many companies relied on spreadsheets and manual processes to keep track of compliance issues. Today, there are software based solutions that automatically handle sanctions and other complications with trade.
Examples
United States sanctions
US Embargo Act of 1807
The United States Embargo of 1807 involved a series of laws passed by the US Congress (1806–1808) during the second term of President Thomas Jefferson. Britain and France were engaged in the War of the Fourth Coalition; the US wanted to remain neutral and to trade with both sides, but both countries objected to American trade with the other. American policy aimed to use the new laws to avoid war and to force both France and Britain to respect American rights. The embargo failed to achieve its aims, and Jefferson repealed the legislation in March 1809.
US embargo of Cuba
The United States embargo against Cuba began on March 14, 1958, during the overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista by Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution. At first, the embargo applied only to arms sales; however, it later expanded to include other imports, eventually extending to almost all trade on February 7, 1962. Referred to by Cuba as "el bloqueo" (the blockade), the US embargo on Cuba remains one of the longest-standing embargoes in modern history. Few of the United States' allies embraced the embargo, and many have argued it has been ineffective in changing Cuban government behavior. While taking some steps to allow limited economic exchanges with Cuba, American President Barack Obama nevertheless reaffirmed the policy in 2011, stating that without the granting of improved human rights and freedoms by Cuba's current government, the embargo remains "in the national interest of the United States".
Other countries
Russian sanctions
Russia has been known to utilize economic sanctions to achieve its political goals. Russia's focus has been primarily on implementing sanctions against the pro-Western governments of former Soviet Union states. The Kremlin's aim is particularly on states that aspire to join the European Union and NATO, such as Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. Russia has enacted a law, the Dima Yakovlev Law, that defines sanctions against US citizens involved in "violations of the human rights and freedoms of Russian citizens". It lists US citizens who are banned from entering Russia.
Russia sanctions on Ukraine
Viktor Yushchenko, the third president of Ukraine who was elected in 2004, lobbied during his term to gain admission to NATO and the EU. Soon after Yushchenko entered office, Russia demanded Kyiv pay the same rate that it charged Western European states. This quadrupled Ukraine's energy bill overnight. Russia subsequently cut off the supply of natural gas in 2006, causing significant harm to the Ukrainian and Russian economies. As the Ukrainian economy began to struggle, Yushchenko's approval ratings dropped significantly; reaching the single digits by the 2010 election; Viktor Yanukovych, who was more supportive of Moscow won the election in 2010 to become the fourth president of Ukraine. After his election, gas prices were reduced substantially.
Russian sanctions on Georgia
The Rose Revolution in Georgia brought Mikheil Saakashvili to power as the third president of the country. Saakashvili wanted to bring Georgia into NATO and the EU and was a strong supporter of the US-led war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Russia would soon implement a number of different sanctions on Georgia, including natural gas price raises through Gazprom and wider trade sanctions that impacted the Georgian economy, particularly Georgian exports of wine, citrus fruits, and mineral water. In 2006, Russia banned all imports from Georgia which was able to deal a significant blow to the Georgian economy. Russia also expelled nearly 2,300 Georgians who worked within its borders.
United Nations sanctions
The United Nations issues sanctions by consent of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and/or General Assembly in response to major international events, receiving authority to do so under Article 41 of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The nature of these sanctions may vary, and include financial, trade, or weaponry restrictions. Motivations can also vary, ranging from humanitarian and environmental concerns to efforts to halt nuclear proliferation. Over two dozen sanctions measures have been implemented by the United Nations since its founding in 1945.
Most UNSC sanctions since the mid-1990s have targeted individuals and entities rather than entire governments, a change from the comprehensive trade sanctions of earlier decades. For example, the UNSC maintains lists of individuals indicted for crimes or linked to international terrorism, which raises novel legal questions regarding due process. According to a dataset covering the years 1991 to 2013, 95% of UNSC sanction regimes included "sectoral bans" on aviation and/or the import (or export) of arms or raw materials, 75% included "individual/group" sanctions such as asset freezes or restrictions on travel, and just 10% targeted national finances or included measures against central banks, sovereign wealth funds, or foreign investment. The most frequently used UNSC sanction documented in the dataset is an embargo against imported weapons, which applied in 87% of all cases and was directed against non-state actors more often than against governments. Targeted sanctions regimes may contain hundreds of names, a handful, or none at all.
Sanctions on Somalia, 1992
The UN implemented sanctions against Somalia beginning in April 1992, after the overthrow of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 during the Somali Civil War. UNSC Resolution 751 forbade members to sell, finance, or transfer any military equipment to Somalia.
Sanctions on North Korea, 2006
The UNSC passed Resolution 1718 in 2006 in response to a nuclear test that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted in violation of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The resolution banned the sale of military and luxury goods and froze government assets. Since then, the UN has passed multiple resolutions subsequently expanding sanctions on North Korea. Resolution 2270 from 2016 placed restrictions on transport personnel and vehicles employed by North Korea while also restricting the sale of natural resources and fuel for aircraft.
The efficacy of such sanctions has been questioned in light of continued nuclear tests by North Korea in the decade following the 2006 resolution. Professor William Brown of Georgetown University argued that "sanctions don't have much of an impact on an economy that has been essentially bankrupt for a generation".
Sanctions on Libya
On February 26, 2011, the UNSC issued an arms embargo against the Libya through Security Council Resolution 1970 in response to humanitarian abuses occurring in the First Libyan Civil War. The embargo was later extended to mid-2018. Under the embargo, Libya has suffered severe inflation because of increased dependence on the private sector to import goods. The sanctions caused large cuts to health and education, which caused social conditions to decrease. Even though the sanctions were in response to human rights, their effects were limited.
Sanctions on apartheid South Africa
In effort to punish South Africa for its policies of apartheid, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a voluntary international oil-embargo against South Africa on November 20, 1987; that embargo had the support of 130 countries. South Africa, in response, expanded its Sasol production of synthetic crude.
All United Nations sanctions on South Africa ended over the Negotiations to end Apartheid, Resolution 919 and the 1994 South African elections, in which Nelson Mandela was elected as the first post-Apartheid president. When asked in 1993 if economic sanctions had helped end apartheid, Mandela replied "Oh, there is no doubt."
Other multilateral sanctions
The United States, Britain, the Republic of China and the Netherlands imposed sanctions against Japan in 1940–1941 in response to its expansionism. Deprived of access to vital oil, iron-ore and steel supplies, Japan started planning for military action to seize the resource-rich Dutch East Indies, which required a preemptive attack on Pearl Harbor, triggering the American entry into the Pacific War.
In 1973–1974, OAPEC instigated the 1973 oil crisis through its oil embargo against the United States and other industrialized nations that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War. The results included a sharp rise in oil prices and in OPEC revenues, an emergency period of energy rationing, a global economic recession, large-scale conservation efforts, and long-lasting shifts toward natural gas, ethanol, nuclear and other alternative energy sources. Israel continued to receive Western support, however.
Current sanctions
By targeted country
List of sanctioned countries (the below is not an exhaustive list):
Afghanistan sanctions by the US
China by the EU and the US. Sanctions made on arms embargo, enacted in response to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
European Union arms embargo on the People's Republic of China
Hong Kong, enacted in response to the National Security Law
Cuban embargoes by the US. It covers arms, consumer goods and financial assets, enacted in 1958
EU, US, Australia, Canada and Norway by Russia since August 2014 on beef, pork, fruit and vegetable produce, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and dairy items. On August 13, 2015, the embargo was expanded to include Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, and Liechtenstein
Gaza Strip by Israel since 2001, under arms blockade since 2007 due to the large number of illicit arms traffic used to wage war
Indonesia by Australia on live cattle due to the alleged cruel slaughter methods in Indonesia
Iran sanctions by the US and its allies, notably by barring nuclear, missile and many military exports to Iran and target investments in: oil, gas and petrochemicals, exports of refined petroleum products, banks, insurance, financial institutions, and shipping. Enacted 1979, increased through the following years and reached its tightest point in 2010. In April 2019 the US threatened to sanction countries that continued to buy oil from Iran after an initial six-month waiver announced in November 2018 had expired. According to the BBC, US sanctions against Iran "have led to a sharp downturn in Iran's economy, pushing the value of its currency to record lows, quadrupling its annual inflation rate, driving away foreign investors, and triggering protests". These sanctions have taken a toll on humanitarian concerns.
Mali by the UNSC in relation to the spiraling security situation and hostilities in breach of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in 2017
Myanmar sanctions by the EU. Sanctions were imposed against Myanmar due to the worsening state of democracy and human rights infringements
Nicaragua by the UK. Sanctions imposed in 2020 to push the government to respect democratic principles and legal institutions
North Korean sanctions:
international sanctions imposed on North Korea since the Korean War of 1950–1953 eased under the Sunshine Policy of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and of US President Bill Clinton. but tightened again in 2010
by the UN, US and EU on luxury goods (and arms) enacted 2006
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 (2006) – a reaction to the DPRK's claim of a nuclear test
Russian sanctions:
by the US. On 2 August 2017, President Donald Trump signed into law the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act that grouped together sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea
by the EU. In March 2021, Reuters reported that the EU has placed immediate sanctions on both Chechnya and Russia—due to ongoing government sponsored and backed violence against LGBTIQ+ individuals
international sanctions were also implemented in response to the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014
international sanctions during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Somalian arms embargo by the UN and sanctions by the UK
Sudan by the US in 1997
Syrian sanctions by the EU and the US on arms and imports of oil
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus embargo by the UN on consumer goods, enacted since 1994
Venezuelan sanctions by the US and its allies since 2015. An arms embargo and the selling of assets were banned due to human rights violations, high government corruption, links with drug cartels and electoral rigging in the 2018 Venezuelan presidential elections. Sanctions imposed by Canada since 2017, and since 2018 by Mexico, Panama and Switzerland
By targeted individuals
List of individuals sanctioned during the Venezuelan crisis
List of people and organizations sanctioned during the Russo-Ukrainian War
List of people and organizations sanctioned in relation to human rights violations in Belarus
United Nations sanction imposed by UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in 1999 against all Al-Qaida- and Taliban-associated individuals. The cornerstone of the sanction is a consolidated list of persons maintained by the Security Council. All nations are obliged to freeze bank accounts and other financial instruments controlled by or used for the benefit of anyone on the list.
By sanctioning country or organization
Australia currently sanctions 9 countries
India sanctions
United Kingdom currently has sanctions on 27 countries
United Nations has since 1966 established 30 sanctions regimes to countries (such as Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, Yugoslavia and more) and to organizations (such as ISIL, al-Qaida and the Taliban)
United States sanctions and United States embargoes
2002 United States steel tariff was placed by the United States on steel to protect its industry from foreign producers such as China and Russia. The World Trade Organization ruled that the tariffs were illegal. The European Union threatened retaliatory tariffs on a range of US goods that would mainly affect swing states. The US government then removed the steel tariffs in early 2004.
By targeted activity
In response to cyber-attacks on April 1, 2015, President Obama issued an Executive Order establishing the first-ever economic sanctions. The Executive Order was intended to impact individuals and entities ("designees") responsible for cyber-attacks that threaten the national security, foreign policy, economic health, or financial stability of the US. Specifically, the Executive Order authorized the Treasury Department to freeze designees— assets. The European Union implemented their first targeted financial sanctions regarding cyber activity in 2020.
In response to intelligence analysis alleging Russian hacking and interference with the 2016 US elections, President Obama expanded presidential authority to sanction in response to cyber activity that threatens democratic elections. Given that the original order was intended to protect critical infrastructure, it can be argued that the election process should have been included in the original order.
Bilateral trade disputes
Vietnam as a result of capitalist influences over the 1990s and having imposed sanctions against Cambodia, is accepting of sanctions disposed with accountability.
Brazil introduced sanctions against the US in March 2010. These sanctions were placed because the US government was paying cotton farmers for their products against World Trade Organization rules. The sanctions cover cotton, as well as cars, chewing gum, fruit, and vegetable products. The WTO is currently supervising talks between the states to remove the sanctions.
Former sanctions
Comecon nations (CoCom export controls) by the Western bloc
Georgian and Moldovan import ban by Russia on agricultural products, wine and mineral water (2006–2013)
Iraqi sanctions by the US (1990–2003)
Israeli boycott by Arab nations
Italy by the League of Nations in 1935 after the Italian invasion of Abyssinia
Japan (ABCD line) by the US, UK, China and the Netherlands in 1940 to discourage militarism
Libya by the UN in 2011 due to mass killings of Libyan protesters/rebels. Ended in 2012 after the overthrow and execution of Gaddafi
India by the UK due to nuclear exports restriction
Macedonia total trade embargo by Greece (1994–1995)
Mali total embargo by ECOWAS in 2012 to force the junta to return power to the civilian government and re-install the National constitution
Nicaraguan embargo by the US
North Vietnam (and then unified Vietnam) trade embargo by the US (1964–1994)
Pakistan by the UK in 2002 on nuclear export restrictions
Palestinian National Authority sanctions by Israel, US and other countries (2006–2007)
Qatar by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt due to Qatar's alleged support for terrorist organizations (2017–2021)
South African sanctions by the international community during Apartheid (see also disinvestment from South Africa)
Serbia by Kosovo's unilaterally declared government in 2011
Yugoslavian sanctions by the UN in response to the Bosnian War (1992–2001)
Embargo Act of 1807
See also
Arms embargo
Boycott
Economic freedom
Economic warfare
Globalization
International political economy
International sanctions
Magnitsky legislation
Political economy
Specially Designated National
Trade war
References
Further reading
Ashouri, Mahan "The Role of transnational Private Actors in Ukrain International Flight 752 Crash in Iran Under Economic Sanctions Pressure" (2021)
Brzoska, Michael. "International sanctions before and beyond UN sanctions." International Affairs 91.6 (2015): 1339–1349.
Caruso, Raul. "The impact of international economic sanctions on trade: An empirical analysis." Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy 9.2 (2003) online.
Cortright, David, et al. The sanctions decade: Assessing UN strategies in the 1990s (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000).
Doxey, Margaret P. International sanctions in contemporary perspective (1987) online
Doxey, Margaret. "International sanctions: a framework for analysis with special reference to the UN and Southern Africa." International organization 26.3 (1972): 527–550.
Doxey, Margaret. "International sanctions in theory and practice." Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 15 (1983): 273+. online
Drezner, Daniel W. The Sanctions Paradox. (Cambridge University Press, 1999)
Escribà-Folch, Abel, and Joseph Wright. "Dealing with tyranny: International sanctions and the survival of authoritarian rulers." International studies quarterly 54.2 (2010): 335–359. online
Farrall, Jeremy Matam. United Nations sanctions and the rule of law (Cambridge University Press, 2007). online
Hufbauer, Gary C. Economic sanctions and American diplomacy (Council on Foreign Relations, 1998) online.
Hufbauer, Gary C., Jeffrey J. Schott, and Kimberley Ann Elliott. Economic Sanctions Reconsidered: History and Current Policy (Washington DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics, 1990)
Kaempfer, William H. International economic sanctions: a public choice perspective (1992) online
Köchler, Hans. The United Nations sanctions policy & international law (1995) online
Mulder, Nicholas. The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War (2022) excerpt also see online review
Nossal, Kim Richard. "International sanctions as international punishment." International Organization 43.2 (1989): 301–322.
Royal Institute of International Affairs. International Sanctions (1935).
Stevenson, Tom, "First Recourse for Rebels" (review of Nicholas Mulder, The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War, Yale, 2022, , 434 pp.), London Review of Books, vol. 44, no. 6 (24 March 2022), pp. 25–29. "US sanctions are based on monopoly power over a global commons: the world's reserve currency and medium of exchange." (p. 25.) "At some point the US may no longer be in a position to exploit its financial centrality as it does now. For large parts of the world that moment will be cause for celebration." (p. 29.)
External links
Business and Sanctions Consulting Network: List of Countries
The Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB)
Threat and Imposition of Economic Sanctions (TIES) Dataset
The International Sanctions Termination (IST) dataset
Online Books
International sanctions
Non-tariff barriers to trade
Embargoes
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%20Piper%20%28artist%29
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John Piper (artist)
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John Egerton Christmas Piper CH (13 December 1903 – 28 June 1992) was an English painter, printmaker and designer of stained-glass windows and both opera and theatre sets. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. He was educated at Epsom College and trained at the Richmond School of Art followed by the Royal College of Art in London. He turned from abstraction early in his career, concentrating on a more naturalistic but distinctive approach, but often worked in several different styles throughout his career.
Piper was an official war artist in World War II and his wartime depictions of bomb-damaged churches and landmarks, most notably those of Coventry Cathedral, made Piper a household name and led to his work being acquired by several public collections. Piper collaborated with many others, including the poets John Betjeman and Geoffrey Grigson on the Shell Guides, the potter Geoffrey Eastop and the artist Ben Nicholson. In his later years, he produced many limited-edition prints.
Biography
Early life
John Piper was born in Epsom, Surrey, the youngest of three sons of the solicitor Charles Alfred Piper and his wife Mary Ellen Matthews. Charles Alfred Piper's father, Charles Christmas Piper, had taken over the family bootmaking business, and was also a partner in a printing and stationery company. During Piper's childhood, Epsom was still largely countryside. He went exploring on his bicycle and drew and painted pictures of old churches and monuments on the way. He started making guide books complete with pictures and information at a young age. Piper's brothers both served in the First World War and one of them was killed at Ypres in 1915.
John Piper attended Epsom College from 1919. He did not like the college but found refuge in art. When he left Epsom College in 1922, Piper published a book of poetry and wanted to study to become an artist. However, his father disagreed and insisted he join the family law firm, Piper, Smith & Piper in Westminster. Piper worked beside his father in London for three years, and took articles, but refused the offer of a partnership in the firm. This refusal cost Piper his inheritance but left him free to attend Richmond School of Art. At Richmond, the artist Raymond Coxon prepared Piper for the entrance exams for the Royal College of Art, which he entered in 1928. While studying at Richmond, Piper met Eileen Holding, a fellow student, whom he married in August 1929.
1930s
Piper disliked the regime at the Royal College of Art and left in December 1929. Piper and his wife lived in Hammersmith and held a joint exhibition of their artworks at Heal's in London in 1931. Piper also wrote art and music reviews for several papers and magazines, notably The Nation and Athenaeum. One such review, of the artist Edward Wadsworth's work, led to an invitation from Ben Nicholson for Piper to join the Seven and Five Society of modern artists. In the following years Piper was involved in a wide variety of projects in several different media. As well as abstract paintings, he produced collages, often with the English landscape or seaside as the subject. He drew a series on Welsh nonconformist chapels, produced articles on English typography and made arts programmes for the BBC. He experimented with placing constructions of dowelling rods over the surface of his canvases and with using mixtures of sand and paint.
With Myfanwy Evans, Piper founded the contemporary art journal Axis in January 1935. As the art critic for The Listener, through working on Axis and by his membership of the London Group and the Seven and Five Society, Piper was at the forefront of the modernist movement in Britain throughout the 1930s. In 1935 Piper and Evans began documenting Early English sculptures in British churches. Piper believed that Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque sculptures, as a popular art form, had parallels with contemporary art. Through Evans, Piper met John Betjeman in 1937 and Betjeman asked Piper to work on the Shell Guides he was editing. Piper wrote and illustrated the guide to Oxfordshire, focusing on rural churches. In March 1938 Stephen Spender asked Piper to design the sets for his production of Trial of a Judge. Piper's first one-man show in May 1938 included abstract paintings, collage landscapes and more conventional landscapes. His second in March 1940 at the Leicester Galleries, featuring several pictures of derelict ruins, was a sell-out.
Piper had first met Myfanwy Evans in 1934 and early the next year when his wife Eileen left him for another artist, Piper and Evans moved into an abandoned farmhouse at Fawley Bottom in the Chilterns near Henley-on-Thames. The farmhouse had no mains electricity, no mains water and no telephone connection. They married in 1937. They gradually converted the farm's outbuildings to studios for their artworks, but it was not until the 1960s that they could afford to modernise the property.
World War II
At the start of World War II, Piper volunteered to work interpreting aerial reconnaissance photographs for the RAF, but was persuaded by Sir Kenneth Clark to work as an official war artist for the War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC), which he did from 1940 to 1944 on short-term contracts. Piper was one of only two artists, the other being Meredith Frampton, commissioned to paint inside Air Raid Precaution (ARP) control rooms. Early in 1940 Piper was secretly taken to the ARP underground centre in Bristol, where he painted two pictures.
In November 1940 Piper persuaded the WAAC committee that he should be allowed to concentrate on painting bombed churches. This may have reflected his pre-war conversion to the Anglican faith as much as his previous interest in depicting derelict architectural ruins. The terms of this commission meant Piper would be visiting bombed cities, and other sites, as soon as possible after an air raid: often "the following morning, before the clearing up". Hence he arrived in Coventry the morning after the Coventry Blitz air raid of 14 November 1940 that resulted in 1000 casualties and the destruction of the medieval Coventry Cathedral. Piper made drawings of the cathedral and other gutted churches in the city which he subsequently worked up into oil paintings in his studio. Piper's first painting of the bombed cathedral, Interior of Coventry Cathedral, now exhibited at the Herbert Art Gallery, was described by Jeffery Daniels in The Times as "all the more poignant for the exclusion of a human element". Piper's depiction of the east end of the cathedral was printed as a post-card during the war and sold well. In 1962 the same image was used on the cover of the official souvenir guide to the Cathedral."
After the bombing raids of 24 November 1940 on Bristol, Piper arrived in the city a day, or possibly two, later. Piper only spent a few hours in the city, but his sketches resulted, by January 1941, in three oil paintings of ruined churches: St Mary-le-Port, Bristol, The Temple Church and The Church of the Holy Nativity. Piper also painted bombed churches and other buildings in London and Newport Pagnell, and also spent a week painting in Bath after the Bath Blitz air raids in April 1942. During the summer of 1941, Piper featured in a group exhibition with Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland at Temple Newsam in Leeds. The show was a great success, attracting some 52,000 visitors before touring to other English towns and cities.
In 1943, the WAAC commissioned Piper to go to the disused slate mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog where the paintings from the National Gallery had been evacuated for safety during the Blitz. Piper found conditions in the underground quarry too difficult to work in but did paint some landscapes in the immediate area. He also toured North Wales by bicycle, cycling and climbing to photograph and sketch buildings and views in Harlech, in the Vale of Ffestiniog, on Cader Idris and on Aran Fawddwy. Piper had previously visited Snowdonia in 1939, 1940 and 1941, and often returned there after the war.
Piper was also commissioned by the WAAC to record a series of experiments on bomb shelter designs and land reclamation work. Alongside Vivian Pitchforth, he painted the bombed interior of the House of Commons. In July 1944 the WAAC appointed Piper to the full-time artist post vacated by John Platt at the Ministry of War Transport. In this role Piper painted rail and marine transport scenes in Cardiff, Bristol, Southampton and other south-coast locations. Earlier in the war, he had also painted at the locomotive works in Swindon.
Throughout the war Piper also undertook work for the Recording Britain project, initiated by Kenneth Clark, to paint historic sites thought to be at risk from bombing or neglect. He also undertook some private commissions during the war. Viscount Ridley commissioned him to produce a series of watercolours of Blagdon Hall and this led to a commission from the Royal Family for a series of watercolours of Windsor Castle and Windsor Great Park, which Piper completed by March 1942. The King, George VI was unimpressed with the dark tone of the pictures and commented, "You seem to have very bad luck with your weather, Mr Piper".
Sir Osbert Sitwell invited Piper to Renishaw Hall to paint the house and illustrate an autobiography he was writing. Piper made the first of many visits to the estate in 1942. The family retain 70 of his pictures and there is a display at the hall. Piper painted a similar series at Knole House for Edward Sackville-West. In 1943, Piper received the first of several poster commissions from Ealing Studios. His draft poster for the film The Bells Go Down featured a view of St Paul's Cathedral seen among monumental ruins.
Later life
From 1950 Piper began working in stained glass in partnership with Patrick Reyntiens, whom he had met through John Betjeman. Their first completed commission, for the chapel at Oundle School, led to Basil Spence commissioning them to design the stained-glass baptistry window for the new Coventry Cathedral. They produced an abstract design that occupies the full height of the bowed baptistry, and comprises 195 panes, ranging from white to deep blue. Their depiction of The Supper at Emmaus was installed at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff during 1953.
Piper and Reyntiens went on to design large stained-glass windows for the chapel of Robinson College, Cambridge, and The Land Is Bright, a large window in the Washington National Cathedral, as well as windows for many smaller churches. Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, completed in 1967, features an innovative stained glass lantern by Piper and Reyntiens. The lantern panels were cemented together with epoxy resin within thin concrete ribs, a technique invented for the job. Side chapels were also framed in glass to their designs. Piper and Reyntiens also made windows for the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Piper also designed windows for Eton College Chapel, which were executed by Reyntiens. In total, Piper designed over 60 stained glass window commissions. The last of these was the 1984 memorial window to John Betjeman in All Saints Church at Farnborough in Berkshire.
In 1962 Piper completed the Spirit of Energy murals in fibreglass on the outside of the 1950s built former North Thames Gas Board headquarters on Peterborough Road in Fulham. The building is now known as the Piper Building and the murals were Grade II listed in 2022.
In 1966 Walter Hussey, the Dean of Chichester Cathedral, commissioned Piper to produce a tapestry to enliven the dark area around the high altar of the cathedral. Piper had designed the cope presented to Hussey when he left his previous post in 1955, and for Chichester he produced a very brightly coloured tapestry with an abstract design of the Holy Trinity flanked by the Elements and by the Evangelists. Although the tapestry received a mixed, mostly negative, reaction from the public, Piper was commissioned to create a set of clerical vestments to complement the work in 1967. Piper also created tapestries for Hereford Cathedral and Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff.
Piper made working visits to south Wales in both 1936 and 1939, and from 1943 to 1951, he made an annual painting trip to Snowdonia. He did not paint in the Welsh mountains after 1951 but did visit, and painted in Aberaeron in 1954. Piper's Snowdonia paintings and drawings were exhibited in New York in September 1947 and in May 1950, on both occasions at Curt Valentin's Buchholz Gallery. The former show was Piper's first large solo show in the United States.
For the Festival of Britain in 1951, the Arts Council of Great Britain commissioned Piper to create a large mural, The Englishman's Home, which consisted of 42 plywood panels and depicted dwellings ranging from cottages to castles. The mural was displayed in a large open porch on the South Bank festival site. Later in the 1950s, Piper produced pioneering designs for furnishing fabrics for Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd and David Whitehead Ltd, as part of a movement to bring art and design to the masses. He also designed a number of dust jackets for books, frequently depicting both natural and architectural forms, often in a state of decay, within theatrical framing.
Piper continued to write extensively on modern art in books and articles. From 1946 until 1954, Piper served as a trustee of the Tate Gallery. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s he frequently visited Pembrokeshire to paint. He was a theatre set designer, including for the Kenton Theatre in Henley-on-Thames. He designed many of the premiere productions of Benjamin Britten's operas at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Royal Opera House, La Fenice and the Aldeburgh Festival, as well as for some of the operas of Alun Hoddinott. Piper also designed firework displays, most notably for the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977.
Piper was made an Honorary Member of the Printmakers Council.
John Piper died at his home at Fawley Bottom, Buckinghamshire, where he had lived for most of his life with his wife Myfanwy. His children are Clarissa Lewis, the painter Edward Piper (deceased), Susannah Brooks and Sebastian Piper; his grandchildren include painter Luke Piper and sculptor Henry Piper.
Exhibitions
The Tate collection holds 180 of Piper's works, including etchings and some earlier abstractions. Other collections holding Piper's work include the Art Institute of Chicago, Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery, Dallas Museum of Art, National Galleries of Scotland, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Currier Gallery of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Manchester City Art Gallery, Norwich Museums, Pallant House Gallery, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Southampton City Art Gallery, The Hepworth Wakefield, The Priseman Seabrook Collection, the Usher Gallery in Lincoln, Victoria and Albert Museum and Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Major retrospective exhibitions have been held at Tate Britain (1983–84), the Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Imperial War Museum, the River and Rowing Museum, Museum of Reading and Dorchester Abbey. In 2012 an exhibition, John Piper and the Church, curated by Patricia Jordan Evans of Bohun Gallery, examined his relationship with the Church and his contribution to the development of modern art within churches. In 2016, the Pallant House Gallery mounted an exhibition entitled John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism which focused on Piper's textile designs, while 2017/ 2018 saw Tate Liverpool and Mead Gallery at Warwick Arts Centre mount a joint exhibition focusing on Piper's early career, with an emphasis on the 1930s and 1940s. The River and Rowing Museum at Henley-on-Thames maintains a gallery dedicated to Piper.
Published works
Oxfordshire, Shell Guide No. 11, 1938, (Faber & Faber).
British Romantic Artists, 1942, (Collins), published as Volume 34 of Britain in Pictures.
Buildings and Prospects, 1948, (London: Architectural Press), a collection of published articles.
Romney Marsh, Illustrated and Described by John Piper, 1950, King Penguin No. 55, Penguin Books.
Shropshire, A Shell Guide, 1951, with John Betjeman,.
Stained Glass: Art or Anti-Art ?, 1968, booklet.
Piper's Places: John Piper in England and Wales, 1983, with Richard Ingrams,(London: Chatto & Windus, The Hogarth Press) ().
Stained glass
Examples of stained glass designed by John Piper:
References
Further reading
Bowen, Jane (curator), John Piper Centenary: Crossing Boundaries (2002) ().
Davis, Howard, A Great Job of Work For All Time. John Piper – Unknown Mosaicist, Andamento No. 3 (2009 [British Association for Modern Mosaic])
Heathcote, David, A Shell Eye on England: The Shell County Guides 1934–1984 (Faringdon: Libri Publishing, 2010) (ISBN 978-1- 907471-07-0)
Jenkins, David Fraser, & John Piper, A Painter's Camera (London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1987) ()
Jenkins, David Fraser, John Piper – The Robert and Rena Lewin Gift to the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1992) ().
Levinson, Orde, Quality and Experiment: The Prints of John Piper — A Catalogue Raisonné 1932–91 (London: Lund Humphries Publishers, 1996) ().
Powers, Alan, et al., Piper in Print (Artist's Choice Edition, 2010) ().
West, Anthony, John Piper (Secker & Warburg, 1979) ().
Woods, S. John, John Piper Paintings Drawings & Theatre Designs 1932–1954 (New York: Curt Valentin, 1955)
Wortley, Laura, John Piper – Master of Diversity (Henley-on-Thames: River and Rowing Museum, 2000) ()
John Piper (1983, Tate Gallery)
John Piper, "Book illustration and the painter-artist", in Penrose Annual; 43 (1949), p. 52–54
John Piper and the Church exhibition catalogue, edited by Patricia Jordan Evans and Joanna Cartwright (2012)
External links
1903 births
1992 deaths
20th-century English male artists
20th-century English painters
Alumni of the Royal College of Art
Benjamin Britten
British war artists
English male painters
English printmakers
English scenic designers
English stained glass artists and manufacturers
English watercolourists
Collage artists
Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Modern painters
People associated with the Tate galleries
People educated at Epsom College
John
World War II artists
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie%20Ecclestone
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Bernie Ecclestone
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Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British former business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport. As such, he was commonly described in journalism as the 'F1 Supremo'. In October 2023, he was convicted of tax fraud by false representation, and had to pay HM Revenue and Customs nearly £653m in back tax and penalties. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Ecclestone began his career as a racing driver and entered two Grand Prix races during the 1958 season, but failed to qualify for either of them. Later, he became manager of drivers Stuart Lewis-Evans and Jochen Rindt. In 1972, he bought the Brabham team, which he ran for 15 years. As a team owner he became a member of the Formula One Constructors Association.
His control of the sport, which grew from his pioneering sale of the television rights in the late 1970s, was chiefly financial; however, under the terms of the Concorde Agreement, Ecclestone and his companies also controlled the administration, setup and logistics of each Grand Prix, thus making him one of the richest men in the United Kingdom.
Ecclestone was replaced by Chase Carey as chief executive of the Formula One Group in 2017. He was subsequently appointed as chairman emeritus and acted as an adviser to the board.
Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore also owned the English football club Queens Park Rangers between 2007 and 2011.
Early life
Ecclestone was born on 28 October 1930 in St Peter, South Elmham , a hamlet three miles south of Bungay. He was the son of Sidney Ecclestone, a fisherman, whose family was originally from Kent, and his wife Bertha Sophia (née Westley). Ecclestone attended primary school in Wissett in Suffolk before the family moved to Danson Road, Bexleyheath, southeast London, in 1938. He was not evacuated to the countryside during the Second World War and remained with his family.
Ecclestone left Dartford West Central Secondary School at the age of 16 to work as an assistant in the chemical laboratory at the local gasworks testing gas purity. He also studied chemistry at Woolwich Polytechnic and pursued his hobby of motorcycles.
Motorsports career
Early career
Immediately after the end of the Second World War, Ecclestone went into business trading in spare parts for motorcycles, and formed the Compton & Ecclestone motorcycle dealership with Fred Compton. His first racing experience came in 1949 in the 500cc Formula 3 Series, acquiring a Cooper Mk V in 1951.
He drove only a limited number of races, mainly at his local circuit, Brands Hatch, but achieved a number of good placings and an occasional win. He initially retired from racing following several accidents at Brands Hatch, intending to focus on his business interests.
Team ownership
After his accident, Ecclestone temporarily left racing to make a number of eventually lucrative investments in property and loan financing and to manage the Weekend Car Auctions firm.
He returned to racing in 1957 as manager of driver Stuart Lewis-Evans, and purchased two chassis from the disbanded Connaught Formula One team. Ecclestone even tried, unsuccessfully, to qualify a car himself at Monaco in 1958, although this has since been described as "not a serious attempt".
He also entered the British Grand Prix, but the car was raced by Jack Fairman. He continued to manage Lewis-Evans when he moved to the Vanwall team; Roy Salvadori moved on to manage the Cooper team. Lewis-Evans suffered severe burns when his engine exploded at the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix and died six days later; Ecclestone was shocked and once again retired from racing.
His friendship with Salvadori led to his becoming manager of driver Jochen Rindt and a partial owner of Rindt's 1970 Lotus Formula 2 team, whose other driver was Graham Hill. Rindt, on his way to the 1970 World Championship, died in a crash at the Monza circuit, though he was awarded the championship posthumously.
Brabham
During the 1971 season, Ecclestone was approached by Ron Tauranac, owner of the Brabham team, who was looking for a suitable business partner. Ecclestone made him an offer of £100,000 for the whole team, which Tauranac eventually accepted. Tauranac stayed on as designer and to run the factory, while Colin Seeley was briefly brought in against Tauranac's wishes to assist in design and management.
Ecclestone and Tauranac were both dominant personalities and Tauranac left Brabham early in the 1972 season. The team achieved little during 1972, as Ecclestone moulded the team to fit his vision of a Formula One team. He abandoned the highly successful customer car production business established by Jack Brabham and Tauranac – reasoning that to compete at the very front in Formula One you must concentrate all of your resources there. For the 1973 season, Ecclestone promoted Gordon Murray to chief designer. The young South African produced the triangular cross-section BT42, the first of a series of Ford-powered cars with which the Brabham team would take several victories in 1974 and 1975 with Carlos Reutemann and Carlos Pace.
Despite the increasing success of Murray's nimble Ford-powered cars, Ecclestone signed a deal with Alfa Romeo to use its powerful but heavy flat-12 engine from the 1976 season. Although this was financially beneficial, the new BT45s were unreliable and the Alfa engines rendered them significantly overweight. The 1976 and 1977 seasons saw Brabham fall towards the back of the field again, before winning two races again in the 1978 season when Ecclestone signed the Austrian double world champion Niki Lauda, intrigued by Murray's radical BT46 design.
The Brabham-Alfa era ended in 1979, the team's first season with the up-and-coming young Brazilian Nelson Piquet when Alfa Romeo started testing its own Formula One car during that season. This prompted Ecclestone to revert to Cosworth DFV engines – a move Murray described as "like having a holiday".
Piquet formed a close and long-lasting relationship with Ecclestone and the team, losing the title after a narrow battle with Alan Jones in 1980 and eventually winning in 1981 and 1983. In the summer of 1981 Brabham had tested a car powered by a BMW turbo engine, and 1982's new BT50 was powered by BMW's turbocharged four-cylinder M10. Brabham continued to run the Ford-powered BT49D in the early part of the season while reliability and driveability issues were sorted out by BMW and its technical partner Bosch. Ecclestone and BMW came close to splitting before the turbo car duly took its first win at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix but the partnership took the first turbo-powered world championship in 1983.
The team continued to be competitive until 1985. At the end of the year, Piquet left after seven years. He was unhappy with the money that Ecclestone was willing to offer him and went to Williams where he would win his third championship. The following year, Murray, who since 1973 had designed cars that had scored 22 GP wins, left Brabham to join McLaren. Brabham continued under Ecclestone's leadership to the end of the 1987 season, in which the team scored only eight points. BMW withdrew from Formula One after the 1987 season.
Having bought the team from Ron Tauranac for approximately $120,000 at the end of 1971, Ecclestone eventually sold it for over US$5 million to a Swiss businessman, Joachim Luhti in 1988.
Formula One executive
In parallel to his activities as team owner, Ecclestone formed the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) in 1974 with Frank Williams, Colin Chapman, Teddy Mayer, Ken Tyrrell, and Max Mosley. He became increasingly involved with his roles at FISA and the FOCA in the 1970s, in particular with negotiating the sport's television rights, in his decades-long advocacy for team control.
Ecclestone became chief executive of FOCA in 1978 with Mosley as his legal adviser; together, they negotiated a series of legal issues with the FIA and Jean-Marie Balestre, culminating in Ecclestone's famous coup, his securing the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts for the Grands Prix. For this purpose Ecclestone established Formula One Promotions and Administration, giving 47% of television revenues to teams, 30% to the FIA, and 23% to FOPA (i.e. Ecclestone himself); in return, FOPA put up the prize money – grand prix could literally be translated from French as "great prize".
Television rights shuffled between Ecclestone's companies, teams, and the FIA in the late 1990s, but Ecclestone emerged on top again in 1997 when he negotiated the fourth Concorde Agreement: in exchange for annual payments, he maintained the television rights.
Also in 1978, Ecclestone hired Sid Watkins as official Formula One medical doctor. Following the crash at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, Watkins demanded that Ecclestone provide better safety measures, which were provided at the next race. This way, Formula One began to improve safety, decreasing the number of deaths and serious injuries along the decades.
At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, following Ayrton Senna's fatal accident but while Senna was still alive, Ecclestone inadvertently misinformed Senna's family that Senna had died. Ecclestone had used a walkie-talkie to ask Sid Watkins - who was at the crash scene - about Senna's condition. Over the static of the walkie-talkie, Ecclestone misheard Watkins' response of "His head" as "He's dead". Based on this, Ecclestone told Senna's brother Leonardo, who was attending the race, that Senna had died. Senna in fact remained biologically alive for several more hours. This misunderstanding caused a rift in the hitherto friendly relations between Ecclestone and the Senna family; although Ecclestone travelled to Sâo Paulo at the time of Senna's funeral, he did not attend the funeral itself, instead watching it on television at his hotel.
Despite heart surgery and triple coronary bypass in 1999, Ecclestone remained as energetic as always in promoting his own business interests. In the late 1990s he reduced his share in SLEC Holdings (owner of the various F1 managing firms) to 25%, though despite his minority share he retained complete control of the companies.
Ecclestone came under fire in October 2004 when he and British Racing Drivers' Club president Jackie Stewart were unable to come to terms regarding the future British Grand Prix, causing the race to be dropped from the 2005 provisional season calendar. Negotiations with Ecclestone to keep the race in Formula One ended in the signing of a contract on 9 December to guarantee the continuation of the British Grand Prix for the following five years. In mid-November 2004, the three banks comprising Speed Investments, which owns a 75% share in SLEC, which in turn controls Formula One – Bayerische Landesbank, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Lehman Brothers – sued Ecclestone for more control over the sport, prompting speculation that Ecclestone might altogether lose the control he had maintained for more than 30 years.
A two-day hearing began on 23 November. After the proceedings ended the following day, Justice Andrew Park announced his intention to reserve ruling for several weeks. On 6 December 2004, Park read his verdict, stating that "In [his] judgment it is clear that Speed's contentions are correct and [he] should therefore make the declarations which it requests." However, Ecclestone insisted that the verdict – seen almost universally as a legal blow to his control of Formula One – would mean "nothing at all". He stated his intention to appeal against the decision. The following day, at a meeting of team bosses at Heathrow Airport in London, Ecclestone offered the teams a total of £260,000,000 over three years in return for unanimous renewal of the Concorde Agreement, which expired in 2008. Two weeks later, Gerhard Gribkowsky, a board member of Bayerische Landesbank and the chairman of SLEC, said that the banks had no intention to remove Ecclestone from his position of control.
Ecclestone saw 14 of 20 cars pull out of the 2005 United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The seven teams which refused to participate, stating concern over the safety of their Michelin tyres, requested rule changes and/or a change to the track configuration. Despite a series of meetings between Ecclestone, Max Mosley and the team principals, no compromise was reached by race time, and Ecclestone became an object of the public's frustration at the resultant six-car race. Despite him not having caused the problem, fans and journalists blamed him for failing to take control and enforce a solution, given the position of power in which he had placed himself.
On 25 November 2005 CVC Capital Partners announced it was to purchase both the Ecclestone shares of the Formula One Group (25% of SLEC) and Bayerische Landesbank's 48% share (held through Speed Investments). This left Alpha Prema owning 71.65% of the Formula One Group. Ecclestone used the proceeds of this sale to purchase a stake in this new company (the exact ratio of the CVC/Ecclestone shareholding is unknown). On 6 December Alpha Prema acquired JP Morgan's share of SLEC to increase its ownership of Formula One to 86%; the remaining 14% was held by Lehman Brothers.
On 21 March 2006 the EU competition authorities approved the transaction subject to CVC selling Dorna, which controls the rights to MotoGP. CVC announced the completion of the transaction on 28 March. CVC acquired Lehman Brothers' share at the end of March 2006. Allsport Management SA, owned by Paddy McNally was also acquired by CVC on 30 March. On 21 July 2007, Ecclestone announced in the media that he would be open to discussing the purchase of Arsenal Football Club. As a close friend to former director of Arsenal David Dein, it was believed that the current board of the north London–based football club would prefer to sell to a British party, this after American-based investment company KSE headed by Stan Kroenke was thought to be preparing a £650 million takeover bid for Arsenal Holdings plc.
The revenue sharing with the various teams, the Concorde Agreement, expired on the last day of 2007, and the contract with the FIA expired on the last day of 2012.
After the loss of Silverstone as the venue for the British Grand Prix in 2008, Ecclestone came under fire from several high-profile names for his handling of Formula One's revenues. Damon Hill blamed Formula One Management as a key factor in the loss of the event: "There's always been the question of the FOM fee, and ultimately that is the deciding factor. To quote Bernie, he once said: 'You can have anything you like, as long as you pay too much for it,' but we can't pay too much for something ... The problem is money goes out and away. There's a question whether that money even returns to Formula One." Flavio Briatore also criticised FOM: "Nowadays Ecclestone takes 50% of all revenues, but we are supposed to be able to reduce our costs by 50%".
Ecclestone was removed from his position as chief executive of Formula One Group on 23 January 2017, following its takeover by Liberty Media in 2016.
Other activities
In 1996, Ecclestone's International Sportsworld Communicators signed a 14-year agreement with the FIA for the exclusive broadcasting rights for 18 FIA championships. In 1999, the European Commission investigated FIA, ISC and FOA for abusing dominant position and restricting competition. As a result, in early 2000 the ISC and FIA made a new agreement to reduce the number of rights packages to two, the World Rally and Regional Rally Championships. In April 2000 Ecclestone sold ISC to a group led by David Richards.
On 17 June 2005, Ecclestone made American headlines with his reply to a question about Danica Patrick's fourth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500, during an interview with Indianapolis television station WRTV: "She did a good job, didn't she? Super. Didn't think she'd be able to make it like that. You know, I've got one of these wonderful ideas that women should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances." Following Patrick's 2008 victory at Twin Ring Motegi, Ecclestone personally sent her a congratulatory letter.
On 7 January 2010, it was announced that Ecclestone had, together with Genii Capital, submitted a bid for Swedish car brand Saab Automobile.
Queens Park Rangers
On 3 September 2007, it was announced that Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore had bought Queens Park Rangers (QPR) Football Club. In December 2007, they were joined as co-owners by businessman Lakshmi Mittal, the fifth richest person in the world, who bought 20% of the club.
On 17 December 2010 it was announced that Ecclestone had purchased the majority of shares from Flavio Briatore becoming the majority shareholder with 62% of the shares.
It was announced on 18 August 2011 that Ecclestone and Briatore had sold their entire shareholding in the club to Tony Fernandes, known for his ownership of the Caterham Formula 1 team.
Controversies
Great Train Robbery
For many years Ecclestone was rumoured to have been involved in the Great Train Robbery (1963). In a 2014 interview Ecclestone claimed that this rumour arose from his acquaintance with robber Roy James, the getaway driver who was an amateur racing driver. James later produced the silver trophy given to Formula One promoters.
Labour Party controversy
In 1997, Ecclestone was involved in a political controversy over the British Labour Party's policy on tobacco sponsorship. Labour had pledged to ban tobacco advertising in its manifesto ahead of its 1997 general election victory, supporting a proposed European Union Directive banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship. At this time all leading Formula One Teams carried significant branding from tobacco brands. The Labour Party's stance on banning tobacco advertising was reinforced following the election by forceful statements from the Health Secretary Frank Dobson and Minister for Public Health Tessa Jowell. Ecclestone appealed 'over Jowell's head' to Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's chief of staff, who arranged a meeting with Blair. Ecclestone and Max Mosley, both Labour Party donors, met Blair on 16 October 1997, where Mosley argued:
"Motor racing was a world class industry which put Britain at the hi-tech edge. Deprived of tobacco money, Formula One would move abroad at the loss of 50,000 jobs, 150,000 part-time jobs and £900 million of exports."
On 4 November the "fiercely anti-tobacco Jowell" argued in Brussels for an exemption for Formula One. Media attention initially focused on Labour bending its principles for a "glamour sport" and on the "false trail" of Jowell's husband's links to Benetton. On 6 November correspondents from three newspapers inquired whether Labour had received any donations from Ecclestone; he had donated £1 million in January 1997. On 11 November Labour promised to return the money on the advice of Sir Patrick Neill. On 17 November, Blair apologised for his government's mishandling of the affair and stated "the decision to exempt Formula One from tobacco sponsorship was taken two weeks later. It was in response to fears that Britain might lose the industry overseas to Asian countries who were bidding for it." In 2008, the year after Blair stepped down as Prime Minister, internal Downing Street memos revealed that in fact the decision had been made at the time of the meeting, and not two weeks later as Blair stated in Parliament.
Tax avoidance (2008)
Interviews conducted by a German prosecutor in the Gerhard Gribkowsky case showed that Ecclestone had been under investigation by the UK tax authorities for nine years, and that he had avoided the payment of £1.2 billion through a legal tax avoidance scheme. HM Revenue and Customs agreed to conclude the matter in 2008 with a payment of £10 million.
Hitler remarks
In a Times interview published on 4 July 2009, Ecclestone said "terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was – in the way that he could command a lot of people – able to get things done." According to Ecclestone: "If you have a look at a democracy it hasn't done a lot of good for many countries — including this one", in reference to the United Kingdom. He also said that his friend of 40 years Max Mosley, the son of British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, "would do a super job" as Prime Minister and added "I don't think his background would be a problem."
Stephen Pollard, editor of The Jewish Chronicle, said: "Mr Ecclestone is either an idiot or morally repulsive. Either he has no idea how stupid and offensive his views are or he does and deserves to be held in contempt by all decent people." In a subsequent interview with The Jewish Chronicle, Ecclestone said that his comments were taken the wrong way, but apologised, saying, "I'm just sorry that I was an idiot. I sincerely, genuinely apologise." However, when Ecclestone was later told by Associated Press that the World Jewish Congress had called for his resignation, he said: "It's a pity they didn't sort the banks out," referring to the financial crisis of 2007–2010, and stated: "They have a lot of influence everywhere."
Bribery accusation
In a 2012 trial against the former BayernLB chief risk officer Gerhard Gribkowsky, the public prosecutor accused Ecclestone of being a co-perpetrator in the case. Gribkowsky confessed to the charges of tax evasion, breach of trust and for accepting bribes. In closing arguments at a Munich trial the public prosecutor told the court Ecclestone "hasn't been blackmailed, he is a co-perpetrator in a bribery case". According to the prosecutor and defendant, Ecclestone paid about $44 million to the former banker to get rid of the lender's stake in Formula One. Ecclestone told prosecutors he paid Gribkowsky because he blackmailed him with telling UK tax authorities about a family trust controlled by Ecclestone's former wife.
In November 2012 private equity firm Bluewaters Communications Holdings filed a £409m lawsuit against the 2005 sale of Formula One, alleging it was the sport's rightful owner.
In May 2013, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the Munich prosecutors' office had charged Ecclestone on two counts of bribery after a two-year investigation into his relationship with Gribkowsky. In July 2013, German prosecutors indicted Ecclestone for alleged bribery. The charge relates to a $44 million (£29m) payment to Gribkowsky. It was linked to the sale of a stake in Formula 1. Gribkowsky, the BayernLB bank executive, was found guilty of taking $44m in bribes and failing to pay tax on the money.
On 14 January 2014, a court in Munich ruled that Ecclestone would indeed be tried on bribery charges in Germany, and on 5 August 2014, the same court ruled that Ecclestone could pay a £60m settlement, without admitting guilt, to end the trial.
Comments on diversity and racism
In the weeks following the events of the murder of George Floyd, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, F1's only black driver, had launched his own commission to tackle racism and increase diversity, with Formula One launching a We Race As One initiative to fight global inequality. In an interview with CNN, Ecclestone initially praised Hamilton's efforts but then questioned whether it would "do anything bad or good for Formula One", before saying that "In a lot of cases, black people are more racist than what white people are." In response, Hamilton has countered Ecclestone, criticising him on Instagram for being "ignorant and uneducated", and that he has realised why nothing much has been done to address diversity and racism. Formula One Group also issued a statement, saying that they "completely disagree with Bernie Ecclestone’s comments that have no place in Formula 1 or society", and had added that his title as a chairman emeritus had since expired in January 2020.
Illegal possession of a firearm
Ecclestone was arrested by Brazilian authorities on 25 May 2022 for illegally carrying a firearm while boarding a private plane to Switzerland. An undocumented LW Seecamp .32 gun was found in his luggage during an x-ray screening. Ecclestone acknowledged owning the gun, but said he was unaware it was in his luggage at the time. He subsequently paid bail and was freed to travel to Switzerland.
Comments on the Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 30 June 2022 Ecclestone appeared on an interview on ITV's Good Morning Britain. Co-host Kate Garraway asked if Ecclestone was "still a friend" of Vladimir Putin, to which he replied that he would "take a bullet" for him because he was a "first class person." Ecclestone argued that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was just a "mistake" that all business men make. Ecclestone then went on to mention that he believed President Zelenskyy could have prevented the invasion of Ukraine. GMB's other co-host Ben Shephard asked about the death of innocent Ukrainian citizens, to which Ecclestone said it was not "intentional" and gave examples of American invasions into other countries.
In the same interview, Ecclestone argued against the ban on Russian drivers taking part in Formula One. He suggested that he would not have removed the Russian Grand Prix or banned Russian drivers had he been a part of the decision-making process. In response, Formula One released a statement that said: "The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to position of the modern values of the sport."
Tax fraud
On 11 July 2022 Ecclestone was officially charged with tax fraud ("fraud by false representation") by the Crown Prosecution Service after an examination of a file sent to the CPS by HM Revenue and Customs which reported he had failed to declare foreign assets of ₤400 million.
The first hearing into the case was scheduled for 22 August at Westminster Magistrates' Court. In January 2023 the trial date was pushed back to November 2023 at an administrative hearing at Southwark Crown Court.
On 12 October 2023 at Southwark Crown Court Ecclestone pleaded guilty to fraud, after agreeing to pay nearly £653m in back tax and fines. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Tom Bower biography
In 2011, Faber and Faber published Tom Bower's biography No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone, which was written with Ecclestone's co-operation. Bower's previous exposé biographies of figures such as Robert Maxwell led commentators such as Bryan Appleyard, writing for the New Statesman, to express surprise over Ecclestone's co-operation.
The book recounts an episode at the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix in which Colin Chapman offered Mario Andretti $1000 to push Ecclestone into a hotel swimming pool in Buenos Aires. A nervous Andretti approached Ecclestone and confessed the plot, to which Ecclestone replied: "Pay me half and you can".
Personal life
The Forbes World's Billionaires List of 2021 estimated Ecclestone's net worth at $3.5 billion. As of 2021, The Sunday Times Rich List ranks him as the 65th richest person in the UK with an estimated net worth of £2.5 billion.
In early 2004, he sold one of his London residences in Kensington Palace Gardens, never having lived in it, to Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal for £57.1 million. At Grand Prix venues, Ecclestone used a grey mobile home, known as "Bernie's bus", as his headquarters. In 2005, Ecclestone sold his £9 million yacht Va Bene to his friend Eric Clapton.
Terry Lovell published a biography of Ecclestone, Bernie's Game: Inside the Formula One World of Bernie Ecclestone in March 2003 after legal issues had delayed its publication from its original date of November 2001.
Ecclestone turned down a knighthood in the early 2000s as he did not believe that he deserved it. In a 2019 interview, he stated that if he had brought some good to the country, he was glad, but he did not set out with this purpose in mind, so did not deserve recognition.
Family
Ecclestone has been married three times. With first wife Ivy, he has a daughter, Deborah, through whom he is a great-grandfather. He has five grandchildren — two granddaughters and three grandsons.
Ecclestone had a 17-year relationship with Tuana Tan, which ended in 1984 when Slavica Radić, later his second wife, became pregnant.
Ecclestone was then married to Yugoslav-born former Armani model Radić for 23 years. The couple have two daughters, Tamara (born 1984) and Petra (born 1988). In 2008, Slavica Ecclestone filed for divorce. Slavica settled their divorce amicably with her receiving a reported $1 billion to $1.5 billion settlement. The divorce was granted on 11 March 2009.
In August 2012 Ecclestone married Fabiana Flosi, the vice-president of marketing for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Flosi is 46 years younger than Ecclestone. Ecclestone's son with Flosi was born in July 2020.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key)
Awards and honours
2000 Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria
2006 Commander of the Order of Saint-Charles, Monaco
2008 Imperial College Honorary Doctorate
Notes
References
Bernie Ecclestone, the man behind Formula One BBC News, 12 November 1997
Chicanery in Formula One? The Economist, 26 August 2004
Grand prix, grand prizes. The Economist, 13 July 2004
Griffiths, John The case that will decide Formula One's future. Financial Times, 23 November 2004
Mott, Sue The funny billionaire in trapped in the body of a tyrant Telegraph, 20 March 2004
Mr Formula One The Economist, 13 March 1997
The main men in F1 BBC Sport, 11 October 2004
The Governor of Grand Prix UK Motorsport, from Daily Telegraph, 1997
External links
#212 Bernard Ecclestone & Family at Forbes Billionaires, 2010, 10 March 2010
1930 births
Living people
Auto racing executives
Brighton Speed Trials people
Formula One team owners
Formula One team principals
People from Bexleyheath
People from Bungay
Commanders of the Order of Saint-Charles
Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Queens Park Rangers F.C. directors and chairmen
Bernie
British Eurosceptics
British Formula One drivers
English chief executives
English motorsport people
English billionaires
English people convicted of tax crimes
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American%20Airlines%20Flight%201420
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American Airlines Flight 1420
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American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Little Rock National Airport in the United States. On June 1, 1999, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Flight 1420 overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed. 9 of the 145 people aboard were immediately killed—the captain and 8 passengers.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the incident was a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (registration ), a derivative of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, and part of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series of aircraft. It was delivered new to American Airlines in 1983, and had been operated continuously by the airline since, accumulating a total of 49,136 flight hours. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-217C turbofan jet engines.
The aircraft was equipped with X-band weather radar, which is susceptible to attenuation during heavy precipitation, and did not have an attenuation alert to warn the flight crew of system impairment during heavy rainfall. The radar weather system had a forward-looking design that offered the flight crew only a limited field of view in front of the aircraft.
Flight crew
Flight 1420 was commanded by Captain Richard Buschmann, age 48, an experienced pilot with 10,234 flight hours, nearly half of which were accumulated flying the MD-80 series of aircraft. Buschmann graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1972, and served in the Air Force until 1979. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel with the US Air Force Reserve Command, and was hired by American Airlines in July 1979. Experienced at flying the Boeing 727 for American, he transitioned to flying the twin-engined MD-80 series in 1991.
The flight's first officer was Michael Origel, age 35. The first officer had been with the airline for less than a year, and had only 182 hours of flight time with American Airlines as an MD-80 pilot. However, the first officer had trained as a pilot with the United States Navy, and had prior commercial flight experience as a corporate pilot, with a total of 4,292 hours of experience at the time of the incident.
Flight 1420 was staffed with four flight attendants, all of whom were qualified on the MD-80, and had recently received refresher training on emergency procedures.
Flight and weather conditions
Flight 1420 was scheduled to depart DFW at 20:28 (8:28 pm) Central Daylight Time, and arrive in Little Rock at 21:41 (9:41 pm). The flight crew was advised before boarding that the departure would be delayed, and that the National Weather Service had issued in-flight weather advisories indicating severe thunderstorms along the planned flight path. Adverse weather caused the plane that was intended for Flight 1420 to be delayed in arriving at DFW. Airline policy set a maximum pilot duty time of 14 hours, and Flight 1420 was the flight crew's last flight of the day. The first officer notified the airline's flight dispatcher that the flight crew would, therefore, be unable to depart after 23:16 (11:16 pm). The airline substituted another MD-80, tail number N215AA, which allowed Flight 1420 to depart DFW at 22:40 (10:40 pm).
At 23:04 (11:04 pm), air traffic controllers issued a weather advisory indicating severe thunderstorms in an area that included the Little Rock airport, and the flight crew witnessed lightning while on approach. The flight crew discussed the weather reports, but decided to expedite the approach rather than diverting to the designated alternate airport (Nashville International Airport) or returning to DFW.
Air traffic control at Little Rock had originally told Flight 1420 to expect an approach to runway 22L. At 23:39 (11:39 pm), a controller advised the crew of a wind-shear alert and a change in wind direction. As a result, Captain Buschmann requested a change to Runway 4R, so the flight would have a headwind during landing, and Flight 1420 was cleared for a visual approach to this runway. Because the plane was already close to the airport, the controller had to direct it away to line it up for a landing on 4R. As a result, Flight 1420 faced away from the airport for several minutes, and due to the plane's weather radar capabilities being limited to a narrow and forward-facing field of view, the flight crew could not see thunderstorms approaching the airport during their turn. As the aircraft approached, a severe thunderstorm arrived over the airport, and at 23:44 (11:44 pm), the first officer notified the controller that the crew had lost sight of the runway. The controller then cleared the aircraft to land on 4R using an instrument landing system (ILS) approach.
The pilots rushed to land as soon as possible, leading to errors in judgment that included the crew's failure to complete the airline's pre-landing checklist before descending. This was a crucial event in the accident chain, as the crew overlooked multiple critical landing systems on the checklist. The flight crew failed to arm the automatic spoiler system, which automatically moves the spoiler control lever, and deploys the spoilers upon landing. The pilots also failed to set the plane's automatic braking system. The flight crew also failed to set landing flaps, another item on the preflight checklist, but as the plane descended past , the first officer realized the flaps were not set, and the flight crew set a 40° flap setting for landing.
At 23:49:32 (11:49:32 pm), the controller issued the last weather report before Flight 1420 landed, and advised that winds at the airport were 330° at . The reported winds exceeded the MD-82's crosswind limit for landing in reduced visibility on a wet runway. Despite the excessive crosswind and two wind-shear reports, Captain Buschmann did not abandon the aircraft's approach into Little Rock, and deciding to continue the approach to 4R instead.
Crash
The aircraft touched down on Runway 4R at 23:50:20 (11:50:20 pm). About two seconds after the wheels touched down, First Officer Origel stated, "We're down. We're sliding!" Because the pilots failed to arm the autospoiler, the spoilers did not deploy automatically on landing, and the flight crew did not deploy them manually. Autospoilers and autobrakes are essential to ensure the plane's ability to stop within the confines of a wet runway, especially one that is being subjected to strong and gusting winds. Spoilers disrupt the airflow over the wings, prevent them from generating lift, and cause more of the plane's weight to be borne by the landing gear. About 65% of Flight 1420's weight would have been supported by the plane's landing gear if the spoilers had been deployed, but without the spoilers, this number dropped to only 15%. With the light loading of the landing gear, the aircraft's brakes were ineffective at slowing down the plane, which continued down the runway at high speed. Directional control was lost when Captain Buschmann applied too much reverse thrust, which reduced the effectiveness of the plane's rudder and vertical stabilizer.
The aircraft continued past the end of the runway, traveling another , and striking a security fence and an ILS localizer array. The aircraft then collided with a structure built to support the approach lights for Runway 22L, which extended out into the Arkansas River. Such structures are usually frangible, designed to shear off on impact, but because the approach lights were located on the unstable river bank, they were firmly anchored. The collision with the sturdy structure crushed the airplane's nose, and destroyed the left side of the plane's fuselage, from the cockpit back to the first two rows of coach seating. The impact broke the aircraft apart into large sections, which came to a rest short of the river bank.
Captain Buschmann and 8 of the plane's 139 passengers were immediately killed in the crash; another two passengers died in the hospital in the weeks that followed. First Officer Origel, three of the four flight attendants, and 41 passengers sustained serious injuries, the remaining flight attendant and 64 passengers sustained minor injuries, and 24 passengers sustained no injuries.
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the crash.
Automatic spoiler and brake systems
The NTSB conducted extensive testing to determine whether the automatic spoiler and brake systems had been armed by the pilots before landing.
The plane's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was reviewed, and no sounds consistent with the spoiler arming or automatically deploying were recorded by the CVR. The NTSB conducted two test flights of American Airlines MD-80 aircraft, which confirmed that manually arming the spoiler created an audible "click" noise—distinguishable from noises made by automatic deployment of the system—that could be clearly heard on CVR playback. The NTSB also conducted ground tests on similar aircraft, including another American Airlines MD-80, for which the autospoiler system failed to deploy during a runway overrun event in Palm Springs, California, but did not result in destruction of the aircraft.
After Flight 1420 and the Palm Springs incident, American Airlines revised its checklist so pilots would confirm that the spoilers are armed for autodeployment before landing, confirm spoiler deployment, and deploy spoilers manually if they had failed to automatically deploy.
Pilot behavior regarding thunderstorms
The NTSB investigation also focused on pilot behavior in inclement weather, to determine the impact the storms may have had on the pilots' decision-making process while approaching Little Rock National Airport.
Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology performed a study that recorded the behavior of pilots landing at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, which aimed to see whether pilots were willing to land in thunderstorms. From a total of 1,952 thunderstorm encounters, 1,310 pilots (67%) flew into thunderstorms during landing attempts. The study found that pilots exhibited more recklessness if they fell behind schedule, if they were attempting to land at night, and if aircraft in front of them successfully landed in similar weather. In a later interview, Greg Feith, the lead NTSB investigator, said he was surprised to learn that pilots exhibited this behavior. Feith added that the pilots may have exhibited "get there-itis," more formally known as "task completion bias" (TCB), as the pilots knew that they were approaching their 14-hour duty limits.
Fatigue
The NTSB report cited fatigue as a contributing factor. The captain had been awake for 16 hours that day; research indicates that after being awake for 13 hours, pilots make considerably more mistakes. The time of the crash occurred several hours after both pilots' usual bedtime. The first officer reported feeling tired that night, and a yawn was heard on the CVR. The report stated that sleep-deprived individuals are likely to try the same method of problem solving repeatedly without regard to alternatives.
Cause
On October 23, 2001, the NTSB issued its determination on the cause of the crash:
Legal issues
Multiple lawsuits were filed after the crash, and on December 15, 1999, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the various federal lawsuits for consolidated and coordinated pretrial proceedings, and assigned the case to United States District Court Senior Judge Henry Woods of the Eastern District of Arkansas. In the lawsuits, the passengers sought compensatory and punitive damages from American Airlines.
Judge Woods separated the passenger cases into those involving domestic and international passengers, because different laws governed the rights of the claimants in each category. For example, passengers traveling on international tickets were prohibited by an international treaty (the Warsaw Convention) from recovering punitive damages. Therefore, Judge Woods ruled that only the domestic passengers would be permitted to pursue punitive damages claims.
The compensatory damages claims proceeded first. American Airlines "admitted liability for the crash, and individual trials were scheduled to assess the proper amount of compensatory damages. Thereafter, American Airlines reached settlement agreements with a majority of the domestic Plaintiffs."
As part of the settlement agreement, "Plaintiffs relinquished not only their compensatory damages claims, but their punitive damages claims, as well." The case proceeded as "three compensatory damages trials involving domestic Plaintiffs [that] were ultimately tried to a jury, and awards of $5.7 million, $3.4 million, and $4.2 million were made." These three Plaintiffs pursued, but ultimately lost their claims for punitive damages. The District Court granted summary judgment in American Airlines' favor on punitive damages, finding under Arkansas law that there was insufficient evidence to submit the issue to a jury to decide. This ruling was later upheld on appeal.
In the only liability trial arising out of the crash of Flight 1420, a federal jury in Little Rock awarded Captain Buschmann's family $2 million in wrongful-death damages following a lawsuit they had filed against Little Rock National Airport. The jury decided Buschmann's death occurred because the aircraft collided with illegal nonfrangible approach-light supports erected in what should have been the runway safety area. The airport was found to have failed to comply with airport safety standards. Buschmann's estate presented evidence that the spoilers were deployed and had malfunctioned (not through the captain’s fault), and that the aircraft did not encounter turbulence. The jury rejected the airport's argument that Buschmann was at fault in causing his own death.
The jury verdict has been claimed to completely absolve Buschmann of all fault for the crash, but the NTSB has not changed its probable-cause ruling; additionally, American Airlines admitted liability for the crash, and had "paid many millions of dollars in damages to the passengers and their families." About 10 years following the crash, David E. Rapoport, an attorney who was a member of the court-appointed Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, surmised, "after all these years, [whether Captain Buschmann was "absolved" of all responsibility for the crash] is still a matter reasonable people who are fully informed may disagree on." However, Rapoport concluded that there should be a consensus understanding among all parties involved that "flight operations should not be conducted in the terminal area when thunderstorms are on the flight path, and nonfrangible objects should not be placed where it is foreseeable an aircraft may go."
Aftermath
A 2004 memorial ceremony was held adjacent to the airport. Survivor Jeana Varnell attended the ceremony, but was quoted in a newspaper article as saying that she strongly objected to memorializing Captain Buschmann.
American Airlines still flies to Little Rock from Dallas, but the aircraft used is mostly an Embraer E170.
Every year between 2000 and 2022, the father of crash victim Debra Taylor-Sattari, elaborately decorated the exterior of his home in Vallejo, California with Christmas lights and decorations in her honor, which has gained attention from local and national media.
In popular culture
The events of Flight 1420 were featured in "Racing the Storm," a season one (2003) episode of the Canadian TV series Mayday (called Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the U.S., and Air Crash Investigation in the UK and elsewhere around the world). The dramatization was broadcast in the United States with the title "Fatal Landing." The flight was also included in a Mayday season-eight (2009) Science of Disaster special titled "Cruel Skies," which looked at the role of bad weather in aviation disasters.
The Weather Channel detailed the story of the flight on an episode of Storm Stories, as did the Biography Channel on the show Flightmares.
References
External links
Weather satellite imagery (Archive)
Essay by Survivor Sharon Angleman
Graphic showing what happened during the last seconds of the crash
Transcript of cockpit voice recorder
Story on the crash from Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Graphics showing weather radar from around the time of the crash
Pre-crash photos of N215AA
Photo of the Crashed Aircraft
Passenger manifest of AA1420 (Archive)
Dutch explanation of Crosswind Certification (Archive)
1999 in Arkansas
1999 meteorology
Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-82
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather
Airliner accidents and incidents in Arkansas
1420
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1999
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
Disasters in Arkansas
History of Little Rock, Arkansas
Airliner accidents and incidents involving runway overruns
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1999
Articles containing video clips
June 1999 events in the United States
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Sandman (Wesley Dodds)
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The Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, fedora, and World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the "mystery men" to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s, but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring a sidekick, Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America (JSA).
Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.
Publication history
Golden Age of comic books
Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.
Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the anthology Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.
In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.
The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.
In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.
Silver Age to Modern Age
Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.
In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.
Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.
An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.
In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.
Twilight years
Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the "Ragnarok Dimension" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.
During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.
Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. While his former teammates attended his funeral, they were alerted to the threat of Mordru and his quest for the new Doctor Fate, the subsequent struggle prompting the Justice Society to officially reform. Dodd's youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams; Sand not only serves as the new team's initial chairman, but offers to fund the organization and provide Dodds' home as a base, observing that Dodds and Dian had left him enough money to fund a small country. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.
Sleep of Reason
Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.
Blackest Night
Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the "Blackest Night" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.
Exodus Noir
Dodds appeared in the "Exodus Noir" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.
DC Rebirth
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.
New Justice
In the pages of "Dark Nights: Death Metal", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.
Dawn of DC
Knight Terrors
Dodds becomes a central character in the Knight Terrors crossover event. Considering his detective skills and the ability to discover truths through prophetic dreams, Deadman resurrects Dodds and questions him for knowledge in regard to both Insomnia and the Nightmare Stone. Remembering the Nightmare Stone, Dodds recalls to Deadman a long-unfinished case from the younger years of his past life, where encountered a strange death cult that believed in a nightmare god. His attempt to stop the cult's sacrifice was somewhat successful, for he was able to put all of the members to sleep - except for the determined leader who fatally stabbed himself.
That one lone sacrifice was only enough to make the Nightmare Stone briefly appear moment before vanishing.
Upon being asked by Dodds, various Justice Society members stated that they never encountered anything like the Nightmare Stone. However, Doctor Fate once told Dodds that an "item that bridged dream and the waking world was dangerous... and should never fall into the wrong hands..." Giving thanks for what was revealed to him, Deadman offers to return the zombified Dodds to his grave. But being determined to resume his still-unfinished case, Dodds insists on joining Deadman to find the Nightmare Stone and defeat Insomnia.
The New Golden Age
In the pages of "The New Golden Age", a flashback to 1940 shows Sandman among the Justice Society members partaking in a group photo. He states that his dreams have told him that there would be more members in the JSA while noting that his prophetic dreams pale in comparison to Doctor Fate's abilities. When a Huntress from a possible future ends up in 1940, Sandman is among the Justice Society members that meet her. As Doctor Fate tries to read her mind about the threat in her future, Sandman is among those that are knocked down by the magical feedback.
Wesley Dodds: The Sandman
In the six-issue limited series "Wesley Dodds: The Sandman," Wesley manages to improve and perfect his usage of sleep gas as a harmless weapon. But he soon realizes that his journal of failed and deadlier formulas is stolen, and he must find the thief before the formulas are released.
Powers and abilities
Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sandy Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.
Equipment
Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidant Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.
In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.
Enemies
Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:
Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.
Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.
Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.
Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.
Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.
Other versions
Kingdom Come
Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of Kingdom Come, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to his friend Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.
Earth 40
On Earth 40, Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.
Earth 2
In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.
In other media
Wesley Dodds / Sandman appears in the Smallville two-part episode "Absolute Justice", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the Justice Society of America (JSA) before the group was disbanded in the 1970s. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II.
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!" as a member of the JSA.
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in a flashback in the Young Justice episode "Humanity" as a member of the JSA.
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Stargirl pilot episode as a member of the JSA who was killed by the Injustice Society.
Collected editions
The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.
Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)
References
External links
JSA Fact File: The Sandman
Earth-2 Sandman at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics
Characters created by Allen Bert Christman
Characters created by Gardner Fox
Comics characters introduced in 1939
DC Comics male superheroes
DC Comics scientists
Earth-Two
Fictional businesspeople
Fictional characters with precognition
Superhero detectives
Fictional socialites
Golden Age superheroes
Jewish superheroes
Sandman
Vigilante characters in comics
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandman%20%28Marvel%20Comics%29
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Sandman (Marvel Comics)
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The Sandman (William Baker, a.k.a. Flint Marko) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A shapeshifter endowed through an accident with the ability to turn himself into sand, he started out as a recurring adversary to the superhero Spider-Man, but has redeemed himself over time, eventually becoming an antihero. The Sandman has also been an enemy of the Fantastic Four and is a founding member of the supervillain teams the Sinister Six and the Frightful Four.
The character has been adapted into various other media incarnations of Spider-Man, including films, television series, and video games. In live-action, he was portrayed by Thomas Haden Church in Spider-Man 3 (2007) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). An illusionary creature based on the Sandman appeared in the MCU film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). In 2009, the Sandman was ranked as IGN's 72nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.
Publication history
The Sandman first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (Sept. 1963), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko as an adversary of Spider-Man. The character returned in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and The Amazing Spider-Man #18-19, and was soon depicted in other comics, such as The Incredible Hulk and The Fantastic Four.
The Sandman served as the villain of the first issue of the Spider-Man spin-off series Marvel Team-Up (March 1972), which gave him a more morally ambiguous depiction. Writer Roy Thomas later commented, "I've been pleased to see Sandman's gradual redemption, whose seeds perhaps I helped plant in that story. He just seemed to me like a character who might have that in him ..." Subsequent stories stuck with the character's original depiction, but a decade later the more sympathetic portrayal of the Sandman returned, starting with Marvel Two-in-One #86 (April 1982), in which the Sandman is given co-star billing with his nemesis the Thing. The Sandman was later an ally of Spider-Man, as well as a reserve member of the Avengers and a member of Silver Sable's "Wild Pack" team of mercenaries.
Besides being most notable as a Spider-Man supervillain, he has also been depicted as a Fantastic Four antagonist in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic books (mostly due to being introduced as a founding member of the original Frightful Four) along with being on the heroic side (being an Avengers reserve member) until being introduced as a tragic supervillain in the Spider-Man comics once again.
Fictional character biography
William Baker was born in Queens, New York. When he was three years old, his father abandoned him and his mother. In these early years, she took her son to Coney Island beach. He lost himself happily in sand sculptures, a craft he would use in secondary school under the encouragement of his teacher (and first crush), Miss Flint.
In preparatory school, a boy named Vic bullied Baker until he learned to fight using an opponent's motions against themselves, a technique he performed as if he "slipped through their fingers like sand". Vic and his buddies eventually befriended Baker. In high school, William played on his school's football team, using the sport to channel his anger. While playing football, he adopted the nickname "Flint", after his former teacher.
After Vic incurs a large gambling debt to a mobster, he begs Flint to fix a football game he bet on to pay off his debt. Flint does, but is kicked off the team after the coach discovers his involvement. The coach taunts Baker, telling him that he will accomplish nothing of importance in his life. Flint hits his ex-coach, resulting in his expulsion from school and the beginning of his life of crime.
His illegal activity increases in depth and scope, turning him into a violent, bitter man. Eventually he ends up in prison on Ryker's Island where he meets his father, Floyd Baker. He is friendly to his father, but does not tell him who he is. He tells Floyd his nickname, Flint, and a false surname, Marko, inspired by his former coach's taunts about not "making a mark" on the world. He uses the alias Flint Marko from that point on (he changed his name also to prevent his mother from discovering he was a criminal). After Floyd is released from prison, Marko escapes.
Marko flees to a nuclear testing site on a beach near Savannah, Georgia where he comes into contact with sand that had been irradiated by an experimental reactor. His body and the radioactive sand bond, changing Marko's molecular structure into sand. Impressed, he calls himself the Sandman after his new powers.
Marko clashes with Peter Parker/Spider-Man for the first time in Peter's high school. Spider-Man defeats Marko with a vacuum cleaner and hands it over to the police. The Sandman escapes by getting through his window after turning himself to sand, but is recaptured by the Human Torch after the Torch lures the Sandman to a building by disguising himself as Spider-Man, then activating the sprinkler system. After this Marko resurfaces as a member of the Sinister Six, led by Doctor Octopus. He battles Spider-Man inside an airtight metal box, which is activated when Spider-Man touches a card saying where the Vulture is, but the Sandman is defeated due to Spider-Man having stronger lungs than he does.
Alongside the Enforcers, he captures the Human Torch but later succumbs to Spider-Man and the Human Torch.
After Spider-Man defeats Marko numerous times, Marko diverts his attention to other superheroes. He teams with the Wizard, Paste-Pot Pete (later known as the Trapster) and Medusa to form the Frightful Four to combat the Fantastic Four, which attacks during Reed and Sue's engagement party. The Fantastic Four, with the help of a few other superheroes, defeat the group. In another battle, in which he teams up with Blastaar and loses against the Four, he dons a diamond-patterned green costume designed by the Wizard. Later, he and the Hulk battle for the first time. The Mandarin joins him in his next conflict against the Hulk.
In time the Sandman discovers—-starting with his hands—-that his body can transform into glass and back again. He contracts cancer and takes over a medical research center, battling the Hulk again. He battles Wonder Man but is cured of his cancer by radiation.
Afterward, he allies himself with Hydro-Man to battle their mutual enemy, Spider-Man. An accident merges the two villains into a monster called the Mud-Thing. Spider-Man and the police are able to dehydrate the monstrosity. Months later, the supervillains manage to separate themselves and go their separate ways.
The time trapped with Hydro-Man caused Marko to question his bad life choices. The Thing, after an aborted attempt to fight Baker, urges him to straighten himself out and use his ability to do good. The story continues when he meets with the Thing for a second time to see a sports game.
Marko boards with the Cassadas and teams with Spider-Man against the Enforcers. The Sandman then makes sporadic appearances in Spider-Man comics assisting his former enemy. His first appearance has him coming to the rescue of Spider-Man and Silver Sable, who are outnumbered and surrounded by the Sinister Syndicate. Silver Sable is impressed by the Sandman's performance and recruits him as a freelance operative. Doctor Octopus coerces him to rejoin the Sinister Six, but Marko turns against them. Doctor Octopus turns him into glass for his treason. Spider-Man, however, saved the Sandman. Sandman also appears as part of the Outlaws, a group of reformed Spider-Man enemies, such as the Prowler, the Rocket Racer, the Puma and the Will o' the Wisp, that on occasion that would aid Spider-Man.
Later, he receives a presidential pardon and briefly joins the Avengers as a reserve member. Later, he becomes a full-time mercenary in the employ of Silver Sable, as a member of her Wild Pack, serving alongside heroes such as Paladin and Battlestar. The Sandman is one of the few heroes temporarily overwhelmed by their evil doubles during the Infinity War. This double almost kills them all.
Marko turns against Spider-Man and his sometimes ally the Thing and declares his allegiance to evil and his former employer, the Wizard. This change proved incompatible to what many fans had thought Sandman had become, a hero. This outcry caused Marvel to rush out a story which retconned The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #4 in which the Wizard had kidnapped the Sandman and used his mind control machine, the Id Machine, to turn him back into a villain.
The machine worked too well and the Sandman went about reforming the Sinister Six to destroy both Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, only to be double-crossed by Venom, who the Sandman recruited as the sixth member of the team. During Venom's brawl against the Sandman, the vicious black symbiote's mouth rips a chunk of sand from the Sandman. That missing sand destabilizes the Sandman, causing him to lose his ability to maintain his human form. Before falling into the sewer (and as a nod to fans who rejected Marvel's attempt to re-villainize the character), the Sandman admitted that part of the reason for his fall from grace was the trouble he had to really cope with life on the good guys' side, and asks Spider-Man to tell his mother he was sorry he did not fulfill his promise to her, to be a force for good. The Sandman washes away and slides down a sewer, from which he mixes into Jones Beach, New York and is thought dead.
The Sandman's body and mind are scattered throughout the beach. This separation lasts too long for him, causing his mind to split into good and its opposite, evil, which when dominant created sand vortexes to ensnare beachcombers. Spider-Man arrived to confront the Sandman, ultimately using the Sandman's mental instability to free his captives and cause him to explode.
His sand wafts throughout New York and touches down into piles forming beings that personify him: the good, the bad, the gentle and the innocent. Spider-Man locates these Sandmen to convince them to unify. The Sandman's evil persona merges with his innocent and gentle personas, but the Sandman's good persona rebuffs the evil one. Because the Sandman's mind can handle his personality in separation for only a limited time, he loses his ability to retain himself, crumbling and blowing away, leaving Spider-Man to ponder the nature of his scuttled foe.
The Sandman is one of the villains recruited to recover the Identity Disc, but during its recovery seemingly he is killed in a mutiny. At the series' end, the Sandman is found alive and working with the Vulture to manipulate the other villains.
In the storyline "Sandblasted", in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #17–19 (April–June 2007), the Sandman asks Spider-Man to help him redeem his father, who has been charged with and imprisoned for murdering a homeless man. He admits his father was a petty criminal, but insists he would not commit murder. Marko also said the victim resembles Peter Parker's Uncle Ben, who had been murdered years before then. The Sandman and Spider-Man find the killer, the Chameleon 2211. The Chameleon 2211 kills the Uncle Ben who the Hobgoblin 2211 brought from an alternate universe and had been posing as him after that. Thanks to Spider-Man, Floyd Baker is switched with the Chameleon 2211 and saved, for which the Sandman thanks Spider-Man.
The Sandman returned in "Spider-Man: The Gauntlet" storyline, which redefined the character and his powers/mental state. While investigating a series of murders and a missing girl named Keemia Alvarado, whose mother is a victim of those murders, Spider-Man traces the murders and the abduction to the Sandman, the girl's father, who is hiding on Governor's Island with Keemia. The Sandman's powers have evolved to where he can create duplicates of himself who have their own personalities and, to Marko's shock, claim they committed the murders. Spider-Man sneaks away and uses a fan to obliterate the Sandmen. Originally Spider-Man believed Keemia would be handed to her grandmother, but instead she was sent to a foster home by Child Protective Services. Carlie Cooper is exonerated upon being under police suspicion for tampering with the murder evidences, but the Sandman is still at large.
During the "Origin of the Species" storyline, the Sandman is among the supervillains invited by Doctor Octopus to join his villains' team where he becomes involved in a plot to receive a reward and securing some specific items for him. The Sandman went after Spider-Man for Menace's infant, believing that Doctor Octopus would reward him by reuniting him with Keemia. He ended up being accidentally struck with lightning by Electro, temporarily turning him into fulgurite. Spider-Man goes on a rampage against all the villains after the Chameleon stole the infant and tricked him into believing it had died. At the dock, the Sandman, along with the Shocker and the Enforcers, are hiding. However, Spider-Man collapses the floor of the building which falls into the water. The Sandman attempts to rise to attack, but Spider-Man shoots him using the Shocker's vibrational air-blasts.
In Big Time, he is part of the new Sinister Six along with Mysterio, the Rhino, Doctor Octopus, the Chameleon and Electro. He rises up against Doctor Octopus' plan to detonate New York, saying Keemia is still there. He is later angered when, during a confrontation between the Sinister Six and the Intelligencia, Doctor Octopus teleports the Wizard into the upper atmosphere using the Intelligencia's equipment. The Sandman was talking with his former Frightful Four teammate and old friend at the time. When the Mad Thinker goes after Electro, the Sandman violently attacks him, claiming that he did not want to lose any more friends.
When Doctor Octopus puts his plan into action, the Sandman is satisfied with the job because of the planned 2 billion dollar "compensation fee", which he reasons will help him gain custody of Keemia. However, although sent to guard a facility in the Sahara Desert giving him complete control of the largest body of sand in the world, he is defeated by Spider-Man, the Black Widow and Silver Sable when Spider-Man identifies and isolates the one grain of sand that contains his conscious mind. Spider-Man and Silver Sable then violently interrogate the Sandman to reveal all of Doctor Octopus' secrets to them.
Following the "Dying Wish" storyline, the Sandman's captive form is later stolen from the Baxter Building by the Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Spider-Man's body) where he takes him to his underwater lab. The Sandman, the Chameleon, Electro, Mysterion (an impersonator of Mysterio), and the Vulture are later seen as part of a team led by the Superior Spider-Man called the "Superior Six". The Superior Spider-Man has been temporarily controlling their minds to redeem them for their crimes. He does this by forcing them do heroic deeds against their will, some of which almost get some of them killed. Every time he is done controlling them, he puts them back in their containment cells. They eventually break free of the Superior Spider-Man's control and attempt to exact revenge on the wall-crawler, while nearly destroying New York to do so. With the help of Sun Girl, the Superior Spider-Man is barely able to stop the Superior Six.
Inspired by the heroism of the villains who had their moralities inverted by the events of "AXIS", the Sandman rejoins one of his old gangs and breaks into Ryker's Island in search of the group's leader Dixon. Upon reaching Dixon's cell, the Sandman turns on and incapacitates him and his followers. He then leaves with Dixon's cellmate, a "good egg" whom the Sandman had deemed deserving of a second chance.
During the "Secret Wars" storyline, the Sandman is among the villains at the Kingpin's viewing party of the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610.
The Sandman later appears as a member of the Sinister Six led by Aaron Davis in a recolored Iron Spider armor. He accompanied the Sinister Six in a plot to steal a decommissioned S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
During the "Infinity Wars" storyline, the Sandman is among the villains that accompany Turk Barrett to his meeting with the Infinity Watch at Central Park.
The Sandman later discovered that he is starting to lose the consistency of his body. When the Mad Thinker and the Wizard are unable to find a solution to counter this and the Sandman is hospitalized after collapsing, he is visited by Spider-Man, who took him to the beach that the Sandman visited in his childhood and stayed with him until his body broke down. After that happened, Spider-Man discovered that the Sandman did not die and that he lost the ability to assume a human shape, where he now sports a blob-shaped body. When the Sandman's body is taken over by a future version of the Sandman from Earth-51838 where the sun went out, Spider-Man received some of the Sandman's powers and used them to defeat the Sandman of Earth-51838 and sends him back to his reality using the Multisect and assistance from the Human Torch. After bidding farewell to Spider-Man, the Sandman left to get adjusted to his new form while having developed a fear of his newly-discovered immortality.
At an unknown beach, Sandman somehow regained his human shape and has lost his sense of direction. Doctor Octopus helped Sandman regain his sense of direction which pleases Kindred.
Powers and abilities
The Sandman has the ability to transform his body. He can will his body to be hardened, compacted, dispersed or shaped, or a combination of those qualities, an Earth manipulation of sand and rock particles. More often than not in combat, this ability enables him to absorb most blows with little to no ill effect other than reforming himself, a relatively fast action. His striped shirt and cargo pants are colored sand to make him appear as if he wears clothes. Even when soaked, he was able to stretch his sand molecules, growing to double his size.
Sandman can mold his arms and hands into shapes, such as a mace or a sledgehammer, to battle Spider-Man and his other enemies. His mass, strength and shape shifting ability correspond to the number of sand and rock particles that comprise him. The more he incorporates (nearby) sand grains and rock granules into his body, the more those qualities are enhanced. Even though he controls every particle in his body, his mind exists in the astral plane. He can turn himself into a sandstorm, which enables him to fly great distances and to suffocate his enemies.
His body takes on sand's chemical qualities, impervious to many, but not all, elements. Once, cement's ingredients were mixed into Sandman. That mixture turned him into cement that dried, rendering him immobile. Despite this frailty he remained alive, but in a coma-like state for a while before he returned to normal. In addition to his superb endurance, the Sandman possesses superhuman strength several times more than Spider-Man's and on a par with the Thing's.
In a story with the Wizard, the Wizard fashioned Sandman a green suit with a belt that contained three buttons that allowed various chemicals to mix into the Sandman's body to enable him to change himself into consistencies related to sand. The suit, like the Sandman's usual "clothes", changed into sand with him. Eventually, with the disbanding of the original Frightful Four, the Sandman stopped using the suit.
Temperature does alter the Sandman. At 3,400 degrees Fahrenheit his body turns into glass, also a form he can control. Unlike the Sandman's fast transformation from sand to glass, his transformation from glass to sand takes time.
Although he is invulnerable to most physical attacks, even projectiles because they pass through him, water is capable of harming him. There are some exceptions, for example while fighting Venom, the villain's powerful mouth ripped cleanly and swiftly into the Sandman. The amount of sand removed abruptly, and perhaps because of Venom's venoms, left the mass of the Sandman in contortion, crippled beyond immediate repair. The Sandman began to disintegrate, then flowed down a drain, and then washed up onto and into a beach.
It has been revealed that, while the Sandman can absorb and lose sand, his body must retain one key particle of sand that contains his conscious mind, allowing Spider-Man to defeat him once by isolating that one grain from the rest of the Sandman (although the difficulty involved in setting up these events in the first place makes it impractical to use regularly).
Family members
This section lists the known relatives of Sandman:
Floyd Baker - The father of William Baker, who was unaware that he was the Sandman during his time in prison.
Keemia Alvarado - The foster child of the Sandman.
Mrs. Baker (first name unknown) - The mother of William Baker.
Other characters named the Sandman
There have been some other characters in Marvel Comics that have been named the "Sandman":
In Marvel Mystery Comics, the Sandman that appears is the Sandman of legend. He lives in the Land of Dreams, which is located in the Realm of Fairies within the potentially imaginary world of Nowhere. The Sandman ruled over the realm and would place a blanket over it every day. Those who grabbed a dream from the dream tree would have a dream based on whatever they grabbed from the tree and awaken again when the Sandman removed the blanket over his land. Anyone who did not grab a dream would end up in an eternal, dreamless sleep.
In Journey into Mystery, an alien Sandman crash-landed on Earth where he ended up in Mexico. The local tribespeople thought it was an evil spirit. They took him while he was still weak from his crash and sealed him in a cave with no air and light, where he remained in a state of suspended animation. By the early 1960s, a vacationing Marine named Steve Bronson and his family accidentally unleashed the alien Sandman on the world. The alien Sandman regained its consciousness, recounted its past to the Bronson family and planned to conquer the Earth. Steve Bronson tried to oppose the alien Sandman, but it proved invulnerable to physical assault. The alien Sandman ordered the Bronsons to transport him to North America, so he could observe the most powerful nation on the planet before putting his plan into action. Steve Bronson was able to alert the military to the alien Sandman's presence, but they also proved ineffective in dealing with the extraterrestrial threat. Bullets went right through him, gas was ineffectual because he does not breathe and while bombs would scatter his pieces, he proved capable of reforming himself afterwards. The alien Sandman planned to increase its size by absorbing every sand on the beaches until nothing can stop him. Steve Bronson's son Bobby heard about the plan and headed to the beach with a plan of his own. Bobby threw a pile of water over the sand, which made the alien Sandman soggy to the point where he could not move. The military quickly transported the alien Sandman's body to a top-secret underground facility where he has remained ever since.
There was an android version of the Sandman who was created by the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker to fight the Fantastic Four.
Other versions
1602
Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four, a sequel to Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 written by Peter David, features the 1602 version of the Marvel Sandman. While he physically resembles Flint Marko, he has the pale skin and glowing eyes of Gaiman's Morpheus. He also alludes to an ability to summon nightmares. In issue #4 he is able to send Ben Grimm to sleep by blowing a vapor or dust at him. Both the Sandman and the Trapster are crushed by falling debris when Bensaylum collapses.
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows
During the Secret Wars storyline in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, a version of the Sandman lives in the Battleworld domain of the Regency. The Sandman allied himself with the rebel forces at S.H.I.E.L.D. following Regent conquering the world, where part of it became the Battleworld domain of The Regency. When Spider-Man exposes himself and is attacked by the Sinister Six, the Sandman appears and tries to convince Spider-Man to follow him, but Spider-Man does not listen and assume the Sandman is part of the Six. They are captured by Regent and he reads the Sandman's mind to find out S.H.I.E.L.D's location. One of Spot's portals was sewn into the Sandman, and as a last resort, he sacrifices himself to allow the rebels to break in, using the portal to stop Regent and rescue Spider-Man.
House of M: Masters of Evil
The Sandman appears as a member of the Hood's Masters of Evil. He was killed by both Rogue and Marrow during the riot at Santo Rico.
JLA/Avengers
The Sandman appears in the last issue among the Avengers fighting through Krona's stronghold, in a panel where he defeats the Scorpion.
Marvel Noir
In the Marvel Noir universe, the Sandman exists, and exhibits slightly different powers than the one in the mainstream Universe. Whilst he cannot externally change into sand, he can alter his internal physiology, and, as Spider-Man noted, his skin can feel like granite. He is an enforcer for the Crime Master.
Marvel Zombies
In Marvel Zombies: Dead Days, the Sandman, having become a zombie, appears to attack Wolverine and Magneto alongside several other Spider-Man villains during an attempt to evacuate innocent civilians into a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. The six villains are repelled. It is shown in Marvel Zombies Return #1 that the Zombie Spider-Man is responsible for infecting this universe's Flint Marko.
Marvel Zombies Return
A version of the Sandman similar to a past version of his 616 counterpart appears as part of a version of the Sinister Six. After Zombie Spider-Man teleports into this reality, the Kingpin sends the Six to fight "Spider-Man". The other five members are violently killed by the Zombie Spider-Man and the Sandman flees, later encountering and killing his own reality's Spider-Man out of fear by forcing his own sand body mass down Spider-Man's throat and causing his stomach to bloat to massive proportions before violently exploding out of his chest. He is also disappointed by the seeming betrayal of his enemy, thinking that if Spider-Man is now willing to kill, then the Sandman will also kill. Decades later, the Sandman is infused with a nanite cure developed by Tony Stark and the Zombie Spider-Man that incorporates Wolverine's healing factor, which allows him to safely confront the zombies. Working with a few allies that oppose the murderous zombies, the Sandman springs his trap. All the zombies fall, destroyed from within. Upon his final death, Zombie Spider-Man thanks the Sandman for avenging Aunt May and Mary Jane, to which the Sandman replies, "Good riddance, ya disgusting freak". He is later congratulated by Uatu the Watcher for his great help.
Mini-Marvels
The Sandman makes a cameo in Mini-Marvels when he attacks Spider-Man and the Team Poder while they were playing in a sandbox. He is defeated and turned into a sand castle.
Spider-Ham
In Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #12, the Sandman appears as a manatee called the Sandmanatee. He later joined the Sinister Swine and was turned to glass.
Spider-Man: Reign
In Spider-Man: Reign, the Sandman is a part of an elderly Sinister Six which is under the control of the tyrannical power structure running New York. During the showdown between rebellious citizens at the Mayor's tower, the Sandman encounters his super-powered daughter, Susie, but loses her due to wounds inflicted by the police. As such he abandons the Six and assists Spider-Man in defeating the tyrants.
Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Flint Marko is a genetic mutation created by industrialist Justin Hammer who attempts to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. Shortly after Justin Hammer dies of a heart attack during Spider-Man's fight with Doctor Octopus, S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrates Hammer's factory to obtain experiments Hammer had been working on. Marko uses this opportunity to escape and wreak havoc in New Jersey. S.H.I.E.L.D., with the help of Spider-Man, contains him and imprisons him in a S.H.I.E.L.D holding facility.
There, he meets fellow genetically altered criminals Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, and Kraven the Hunter. Under the Green Goblin's and Doctor Octopus's leadership, they break free and capture Spider-Man. They tie him to a chair, unmask, and humiliate Peter for being a child and for Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius' involvement in his creation. Osborn then blackmails Peter into joining the team, forming the Ultimate Six. Marko participates with the group in an attack on the White House. Iron Man defeats Marko by having S.H.I.E.L.D. Control upload a genetic code sequence into his armor enabling him to subject Marko to a temporary genetic paralysis. After the battle, S.H.I.E.L.D. seals Marko in various jars and keeps them frozen.
Artist Mark Bagley, who drew the first 100+ issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, noted in his rough designs for the Ultimate Sandman that he would appear "naked" most of the time. As he wanted to go with the more 'realistic' feel of the Ultimate imprint, he doubted whether Flint Marko's clothing had unstable molecules like his body.
Alongside the rest of the Ultimate Six who are now joined by Vulture, the Sandman plays a role in the "Death of Spider-Man" storyline. Norman Osborn breaks him and the rest out of the Triskelion, and after their escape, informs them that God wishes for them to kill Peter Parker. When Electro is shot by Aunt May, an electric surge knocks out Kraven, the Sandman, and the Vulture.
In other media
Television
The Sandman appears in the Spider-Man (1967) episode "Sands of Crime", voiced by Tom Harvey.
The Sandman appears in the Fantastic Four (1978) episode "The Frightful Four" as a member of the titular group.
The Sandman appears in the Spider-Man (1981) episode "The Coming of the Sandman", voiced by Neil Ross.
The Sandman appears in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "Spider-Man: Unmasked!", voiced by Christopher Collins.
The Sandman was originally going to appear in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. However, the series' creators did not want to interfere with the continuity of James Cameron's proposed Spider-Man film at the time, in which the Sandman and Electro were supposed to appear. While Electro was belatedly introduced into the series when Cameron's film fell through, the Sandman remained unseen. Despite this, the character Hydro-Man fulfilled several similar roles and it has been stated that he was essentially used as a replacement for the Sandman. Also due to Cameron's film, the Sandman did not appear in Fantastic Four (1994).
Flint Marko / Sandman appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by John DiMaggio. First appearing in the pilot episode "Survival of the Fittest", this version was a petty crook and partner of Alex O'Hirn who works for the crime boss Tombstone, but is consistently caught by Spider-Man. In the episode "Competition", Marko is used as a guinea pig in Oscorp's underground experiments, which results in him gaining sand-based powers. Though he is offered a chance at revenge against Spider-Man, he refuses as he only wants a "big score". Marko becomes an independent criminal, but is eventually caught by Spider-Man once more. In the episodes "Group Therapy" and "Reinforcement", Marko joins two iterations of the Sinister Six to get revenge on Spider-Man, but is defeated both times. In the episode "First Steps", Sandman becomes more powerful during his time in prison after learning to absorb extra sand and escapes again to achieve his "big score" by attacking an oil tanker. However, he helps Spider-Man evacuate the crew before the tanker explodes and seemingly sacrifices himself to contain the explosion. While Spider-Man believes he died, Sandman is later revealed to have survived.
The Sandman appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. This version is a prison escapee who gained his powers in an explosion and was abandoned on a deserted island by S.H.I.E.L.D. as no ordinary prison could hold him. In the episode "Snow Day", Spider-Man and his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees encounter Sandman on an island they were using as a vacation spot in the form of a young boy named Sandy (voiced by Tara Strong).) However, the team later discovers the truth and escape in a Quinjet. Sandman sneaks aboard and tries to attack them, but is crystallized by Iron Fist and later imprisoned in a rotating hourglass-like containment unit. In the episode "Sandman Returns", the Awesome Android frees Sandman, who helps Spider-Man defeat it. In response, the web-slinger tries to help him become a hero, but Sandman loses control of his emotions. Despite his allies telling him otherwise, Spider-Man reasons with Sandman and convinces him to return to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. In the episode "Beached", the Sandman is captured and cloned by Doctor Octopus, who wants the "Ultimate Sandman" to join his HYDRA-backed Sinister Six. However, Spider-Man and Iron Spider discover his plot and use an electronic disruption to render the clones inert so the original Sandman can reabsorb them. Though Doctor Octopus escapes, Spider-Man allows the Sandman to stay outside the Triskelion. In the episode "The New Sinister Six" Pt. 2, the Sandman fights off Hydro-Man during the Sinister Six's attack on the Triskelion. Sandman also makes minor appearances in later episodes, having been fully redeemed and indebted himself to Spider-Man.
Flint Marko / Sandman appears in a self-titled episode of Spider-Man (2017), voiced by Travis Willingham. This version is a former henchman of Hammerhead and has a daughter named Keemia Marko. After failing Hammerhead too many times, Flint was buried in sand and toxic waste and presumed dead, but was mutated and acquired sand-based powers.
The Sandman appears in Spidey and His Amazing Friends, voiced by Thomas F. Wilson.
Film
An original incarnation of the Sandman appears in James Cameron's aborted Spider-Man film script, with Michael Biehn being considered for the role. This version would have been Carlton Strand's henchman Boyd, who was mutated by an accident involving Philadelphia Experiment-esque bilocation and atom-mixing.
Thomas Haden Church portrays Flint Marko / Sandman in two Marvel films. This version is portrayed as a tragic and sympathetic criminal who is desperate to raise money for his critically ill daughter, Penny, and becomes the Sandman after an accident involving an experimental particle accelerator that bonded him with sand at the molecular level, giving him sand-based shapeshifting abilities. Furthermore, he played a part in Spider-Man's origin story, being accidentally responsible for the death of the latter's uncle Ben Parker.
Marko first appears in the Sony film Spider-Man 3 (2007). After breaking out of prison, he visits his family, but his upset ex-wife Emma forces him to leave. While on the run from police, he stumbles upon a particle physics test facility that transforms him into the Sandman. Using his newly-acquired powers, Marko attacks an armored car and is confronted by Spider-Man, but manages to escape. After Spider-Man obtains his black suit, which increases his aggressiveness, and learns that Marko was Ben's killer, he fights and seemingly kills him in the sewers. Marko later reconstitutes himself and encounters Venom, who persuades him to join forces to kill Spider-Man. They kidnap Mary Jane Watson and lure Spider-Man to a construction site, where they nearly succeed until Harry Osborn intervenes and defeats Marko. Following the battle, Marko, now aware of Spider-Man's identity, approaches him to apologize and come to terms with the truth about Ben's murder: during the robbery, Marko tried to steal Ben's car while holding the man at gunpoint, but his partner, Dennis Carradine, had startled him, causing Marko to pull the trigger by accident. Shocked by what happened, Marko later turned himself in. Upon learning about Marko's troubled history and what he had been through, Spider-Man forgives Marko and allows him to escape.
Church reprises his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), with director Jon Watts providing motion capture. Sometime after the events of Spider-Man 3, he ends up in another universe due to a botched spell, where he helps its version of Spider-Man (later dubbed "Peter-One") defeat an Electro from a separate universe before being teleported to and imprisoned in the New York Sanctum alongside other alternate universe-displaced supervillains. As his abilities become unstable and he withers away, Marko receives a chance at a cure from Peter-One, but is convinced by the Green Goblin to fight back instead. Marko, adamant about returning to his universe, later assists Electro and the Lizard in fighting Peter-One until his version of Spider-Man cures him of his powers, reverting Marko to his human state before Doctor Strange returns him and the other displaced individuals to their respective universes.
A member of the Elementals inspired by the Sandman appears in the MCU film Spider-Man: Far From Home. Identified as the Earth Elemental, it had power over rocks and sand. It attacked Mexico, during which it encountered Nick Fury and Maria Hill before Mysterio defeated it off-screen. Spider-Man later discovers the Elementals were illusions created by Mysterio and his fellow ex-Stark Industries employees as part of his plot to obtain Tony Stark's technology and fraudulently establish himself as a superhero.
Video games
The Sandman appears in Questprobe featuring Spider-Man.
The Sandman appears as a boss in Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin.
The Sandman appears as a boss in Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six. This version is a member of the titular team.
The Sandman appears as a boss in Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six. This version is a member of the titular team.
The Sandman appears in Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, voiced by Daran Norris. This version is an underling of Electro.
Flint Marko / Sandman appears in the Spider-Man 3 film tie-in game, voiced by Thomas Haden Church. Similarly to the film, this version is an escaped convict looking to provide for his family and becomes the Sandman after accidentally falling into a pit of sand that scientists were experimenting on while running from the police. However, his identity as Ben Parker's killer is omitted. After robbing a bank, the Sandman is pursued into the subway system by a symbiote-suited Spider-Man. During their battle, Spider-Man gets overwhelmed by the symbiote's influence and violently washes the Sandman down the sewer line. Sandman survives, but is later blackmailed by Venom into helping him kill Spider-Man or else his daughter will be killed. The final battle is similar to that of the film, with Sandman being defeated by Harry Osborn. After the battle, Sandman is reunited with his daughter, who had been rescued by the police, and apologizes to Spider-Man before leaving in peace.
The Sandman appears as a boss and playable character in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, voiced by Fred Tatasciore. This version's design is inspired by Thomas Haden Church's portrayal. He, among other supervillains, fight Spider-Man until they are all attacked by P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s under Mysterio's command. The Sandman is captured along with the other villains, placed under mind control, and sent to Cairo to retrieve a meteor shard located there. Spider-Man later defeats the Sandman and destroys the mind-control device before the latter joins him to exact revenge on Mysterio.
The Sandman appears as a boss in Spider-Man: The Battle Within.
The Sandman appears as an assist character in the PS2 and PSP versions of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.
The Sandman appears as a boss in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions voiced by Dimitri Diatchenko. He obtains a fragment of the Tablet of Order and Chaos, which augments his powers to the point where he can control any sand simply by looking at it, but it gradually fractures his mind from overextending himself. Spider-Man fights him in an abandoned quarry and eventually defeats him, claiming his tablet fragment.
The Sandman appears as a boss, later unlockable character, in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
The Sandman appears as a boss and playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
Various alternate reality versions of Sandman appear as bosses in Spider-Man Unlimited, voiced by Travis Willingham. They joined a multiversal Sinister Six to harvest iso-8 crystals.
The Sandman appears as a playable character in Marvel: Future Fight.
The Sandman appears as a playable character in Marvel Puzzle Quest.
The Sandman appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2.
The Sandman appears as a boss in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, voiced by Richard Epcar. He joins the Sinister Six in fighting Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy after escaping from the Raft, but is ultimately defeated.
The Sandman appears as the first boss of Spider-Man 2 (2023), voiced by Leandro Cano. This version reformed years prior to spend more time with his daughter Keemia, but Kraven the Hunter and his forces threaten them, forcing Sandman to wreak havoc to evade them and keep Keemia safe until the Spider-Men defeat him. After Sandman warns the Spider-Men about Kraven's plot before being safely taken to the Raft, the pair discover Sandman's mind had been fractured, turned into several sand crystals, and scattered across New York. While collecting the crystals and restoring Sandman's mind, the Spider-Men discover what happened to him, ensure Keemia's safety, and use the crystals to make a statue of Sandman for her on his behalf.
References
External links
Sandman at Marvel.com
Sandman at Comic Vine
Action film villains
Avengers (comics) characters
Characters created by Stan Lee
Characters created by Steve Ditko
Comics characters introduced in 1963
Fictional characters from Queens, New York
Fictional characters who can change size
Fictional characters who can stretch themselves
Fictional characters with density control abilities
Fictional characters with earth or stone abilities
Fictional henchmen
Film supervillains
Marvel Comics characters who are shapeshifters
Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
Marvel Comics film characters
Marvel Comics male superheroes
Marvel Comics male supervillains
Marvel Comics mutates
Sandman
Spider-Man characters
Villains in animated television series
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child%20marriage
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Child marriage
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Child marriage refers to a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, between a child and an adult, or between a child and another child.
Although the age of majority (legal adulthood) and marriageable age is typically 18 years old, these thresholds can differ in different jurisdictions. In some regions, the legal age for marriage can be as young as 14, with cultural traditions sometimes superseding legal stipulations. Additionally, jurisdictions may allow marriages younger than the stipulated age where specific exceptions exist, such as parental or guardian consent, or an anomalous event, such as teenage pregnancy.
Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative consequences for child brides and grooms. Girls who marry as children often lack access to education and future career opportunities. It is also common for them to experience adverse health effects resulting from early pregnancy and childbirth. Effects on child grooms may include the economic pressure of providing for a household and various constraints in educational and career opportunities.
Child marriage is part of the practice of child betrothal, often including civil cohabitation and a court-approval of the engagement. Some factors that encourage child marriages include poverty, bride price, dowries, cultural traditions, religious and social pressure, regional customs, fear of the child remaining unmarried into adulthood, illiteracy, and the perceived inability of women to work.
Research indicates that comprehensive sex education can prevent child marriages. The rate of child marriages can also be reduced by strengthening rural communities' education systems. Rural development programs that provide basic infrastructure, including healthcare, clean water, and sanitation, may aid families financially.
Child marriages have historically been common and continue to be widespread, particularly in developing nations in Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. However, developed nations also face this issue. Legal exceptions still allow children to marry in 40 US states.
Child marriage has been decreasing in prevalence in most parts of the world. UNICEF data from 2018 showed that 21% of young women worldwide (aged 20 to 24) were married as children. This shows a 25% decrease from 10 years prior. The countries with the highest known rates of child marriages were Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea, the Central African Republic, Mozambique and Nepal, all of which had rates above 50% between 1998 and 2007. According to studies conducted between 2003 and 2009, the marriage rate of girls under 15 years old was greater than 20% in Niger, Chad, Bangladesh, Mali, and Ethiopia. Each year, an estimated 12 million girls globally are married under the age of 18.
In 2021, 13.3 million babies, or about 10% of all global births, were born to mothers aged under 20 years old.
History
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, women around the world were often married at an early age, usually soon after reaching puberty. These practices carried over well into the 19th century in societies with largely rural populations. Men tended to marry later in societies where a married couple was expected to establish a household of their own. This tended to encourage men to remain unmarried until they accumulated sufficient wealth to support a new home and marry adolescent girls.
In many ancient and medieval societies, it was common for girls to be betrothed at or even before the age of puberty. According to Mordechai A. Friedman, "Arranging and contracting the marriage of a young girl were the undisputed prerogatives of her father in Ancient Israel." Most girls were married before the age of 15, often at the start of puberty. It has been claimed that in the Middle Ages, marriage took place around puberty throughout the Jewish world.
Ruth Lamdan writes, "The numerous references to child marriage in the 16th-century Responsa literature and other sources show that child marriage was so common, it was virtually the norm. In this context, it is important to remember that in halakha, the term "minor" refers to a girl under twelve years and a day old. A girl aged twelve and a half was considered an adult in all respects."
In Ancient Greece, early marriage and teenage motherhood for girls existed. Boys were also expected to marry in their teens. In the Roman Empire, girls were married from the age of 12 and boys from the age of 14. In the Middle Ages, under English civil laws derived from Roman laws, marriages before the age of 16 existed. In Imperial China, child marriage was the norm.
In contrast to other pre-modern societies—and for reasons that are subject to debate—Northwest Europe was characterized by relatively late marriages for both men and women, with both sexes commonly delaying marriage until their mid-20s or even 30s. The data available for England suggest this was the case by the 14th century. The pattern was reflected in English Common Law, which was the first in Western Europe to establish statutory rape laws and ages of consent for marriage. In 1275, sexual relations with girls under either 12 or 14 (depending on the interpretation of the sources) were criminalized; a second law with more severe punishments for those under the age of 10 was enacted in 1576. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British colonial administration introduced marriage age restrictions for Hindu and Muslim girls in the Indian subcontinent.
A Scottish physician living in the 18th century Syria reported that locals tried to contract marriages for their children at a young age, but the marriage was not consummated until the girl "had come of age". Evidence from 19th century Palestine suggests that husbands sometimes initiated sexual relations before their wives reached puberty, but that it was a rare occurrence, condemned socially and censured by sharia courts. Writing in the 1830s, Edward William Lane observed that few Egyptian girls remained single by the age of 16, but socioeconomic transformation, educational reform, and modernity brought significant changes. By 1920, less than 10% of Egyptian women married before the age of 20. In 1923, Egypt's parliament set the minimum age of marriage at 16 for women and 18 for men.
Religious norms and laws
Most religions practiced throughout history have established a minimum age for marriage. Christian canon law forbade the marriage of a girl before the onset of puberty. Within the Catholic Church, before the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the minimum age for a dissoluble betrothal () was seven years in the s. The minimal age for a valid marriage was puberty, or nominally 14 for males, and 12 for females. The 1917 Code of Canon Law raised the minimal age for a valid marriage to 16 for males, and 14 for females. The 1983 Code of Canon Law maintained the minimal age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.
English Ecclesiastical Law forbade the marriage of a girl before the age of puberty.
Jewish scholars and rabbis strongly discouraged marriages before the onset of puberty, but in exceptional cases, girls ages 3 through 12 (the legal age of consent according to halakha) might be given in marriage by their fathers. By Judaism, the minimum marriageable age for girls was 12 years and one day, "na'arah", as mentioned in the ancient Talmud Mishnah books (compiled between 536 BCE – 70 CE, redacted in the 3rd century CE), Order Nashim Masechet Kiddushin 41 a & b.
According to halakha, a girl should not marry until she becomes a "bogeret", or a mature woman, at 12 years and six months of age. Although Moses Maimonides mentions in the Talmud Mishneh Torah (compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE) that in exceptional cases girls aged 3 through 12 might be given in marriage by their fathers, he also clarifies in verse 3:19 of the same chapter that "Although a father has the option of consecrating his daughter to anyone he desires while she is a minor or while she is a maiden, it is not proper for him to act in this manner."
The Hindu Vedas, specifically the Rigveda and Atharvaveda, have verses that indicate that during the Vedic period, girls married well after attaining puberty and were of a mature age. The early Dharmaśāstra also states that girls should be married after they have attained puberty while some texts extend the marriageable age to before puberty. In the Manusmriti, which was not implemented as law, a father is considered to have wronged his daughter if he fails to marry her before puberty and if the girl is not married in less than three years after reaching puberty, she can search for the husband herself.
There is no minimum marriage age defined in traditional Islamic law; the legal discussion of this topic is centered primarily on women's physical maturity. Classical Sunni jurisprudence allows a father to contract a marriage for his under-aged daughter. The appropriate age for consummating the marriage, which could occur several years after signing the marriage contract, was to be determined by the bride, groom, and the bride's guardian since medieval jurists held that the age of fitness for intercourse was too variable for legislation. This was based in part on the precedent set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as described in the hadith collections considered to be authentic by Muslims. According to these sources, Muhammad married Aisha, his third wife, when she was about six, and consummated the marriage when she was about nine.{{efn|Most sources suggest age at consummation as nine, and one that it may have been age 10; See: Denise Spellberg (1996), Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr,
Columbia University Press, , pp. 39–40;The Ahmadiyya minority sect has published Pakistan's Muhammad Ali view that Sahih al-Bukhari is unauthentic, and argued that Aisha may have been a teenager; See: However, Ahmadiyya sect views about Islam and its history are widely disputed by mainstream Islam. See: Siddiq & Ahmad (1995), Enforced Apostasy: Zaheeruddin v. State and the Official Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan, Law & Inequality'-, 14: pp. 275–284.}} Some modern Muslim authors and Islamic scholars, such as Ali Gomaa, who served as the Grand Mufti of Egypt, doubt the traditionally accepted narrative and believe based on other evidence that Aisha was in her late teens at the time of her marriage. As a general rule, intercourse was prohibited for girls "not able to undergo it," on the grounds of potential physical harm. Disputes regarding physical maturity between the involved parties were to be resolved by a judge, potentially after examination by a female expert witness. The 1917 Codification of Islamic Family Law in the Ottoman Empire distinguished between the age of competence for marriage, which was set at 18 for boys and 17 for girls, and the minimum age for marriage, set at 12 for boys and 9 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence was permissible only if proof of sexual maturity was accepted in court, while marriage under the minimum age was forbidden. During the 20th century, sharia-based legislation in most countries in the Middle East followed the Ottoman precedent in defining the age of competence, while raising the minimum age to 15-16 for boys and 13-16 for girls. In 2019, Saudi Arabia raised the age of marriage to 18.
By the beginning of the 21st century, most countries had enacted laws establishing the general minimum age for marriage at 18 years. However, in many of these countries, some exceptions allowed marriage before this age with the consent of the parents and/or by court decision. In some countries, a religious marriage is still recognized by the state authorities, while in others, a registered civil marriage is mandatory.
Gendered effects
Child marriage has lasting consequences on girls, from their health (mental and physical), education, and social development perspectives. These consequences last well beyond adolescence. One of the most common causes of death for girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries was pregnancy and childbirth. In Niger, estimated to have the world's highest rate of child marriage, approximately three out of four girls marry before their 18th birthday.
Boys are sometimes married as children, almost always to a female minor. UNICEF states that "girls [are] disproportionately affected by the practice. Globally, the prevalence of child marriage among boys is just one-sixth that among girls." Research on the effects of child marriage on underage boys is scant, which researchers state is likely because child marriage involving boys is less common and boys do not face the adverse health effects as a result of early pregnancy and childbirth. The effects of child marriage on boys include being ill-prepared for certain responsibilities such as providing for the family, early fatherhood, and a lack of access to education and career opportunities. , 156 million living men were married as underage boys.
In its first in-depth analysis of child grooms, UNICEF revealed that an estimated 115 million boys and men around the world were married as children. Of these, 1 in 5, or 23 million, boys were married before the age of 15. According to the data, the Central African Republic has the highest prevalence of child marriage among males (28%), followed by Nicaragua (19%) and Madagascar (13%). The estimates bring the total number of child brides and child grooms to 765 million. Girls remain disproportionately affected, with 1 in 5 young women aged 20 to 24 years old married before their 18th birthday, compared to 1 in 30 young men.
Causes
According to the United Nations Population Fund, factors that promote and reinforce child marriage include poverty and economic survival strategies; gender inequality; sealing land or property deals or settling disputes; control over sexuality and protecting family honor; tradition and culture; and insecurity, particularly during war, famine or epidemics. Other factors include family ties in which marriage is a means of consolidating powerful relations between families.
Dowry and bride price
Providing a girl with a dowry at her marriage is an ancient practice that continues in some parts of the world, especially in the Indian subcontinent. Parents bestow property on the marriage of a daughter as a dowry, which is often an economic challenge for many families. The difficulty in saving for dowry was common, particularly in times of economic hardship, or persecution, or unpredictable seizure of property and savings. These difficulties pressed families to betroth their girls, irrespective of their age, as soon as they had the resources to pay the dowry. Thus, Goitein notes that European Jews would marry their girls early, once they had collected the expected amount of dowry.
A bride price is the amount paid by the groom to the parents of a bride for them to consent to him marrying their daughter. In some countries, the younger the bride, the higher the bride price. This practice can create an economic incentive where girls are sought and married early by her family to the highest bidder. Child marriages of girls can function as a way out of desperate economic conditions or simply as a source of income for the parents. Bride price is another cause of child marriage and child trafficking.
Bride kidnapping
Bride kidnapping, also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a practice in which a male abducts the female he wishes to marry. Bride kidnapping has been practiced around the world and throughout history. It continues to occur in countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus region, parts of Africa, among people as diverse as the Hmong in Southeast Asia, the Tzeltal in Mexico, and the Romani in Europe.
In most nations, bride kidnapping is considered a crime rather than a valid form of marriage. Some types of it may also be seen as falling along the continuum between forced marriage and arranged marriage. However, even when the practice is against the law, judicial enforcement remains lax in some areas. Bride kidnapping occurs in various parts of the world, but it is most common in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Bride kidnapping is often a form of child marriage. It may be connected to the practice of bride price, and the inability or unwillingness to pay it.
Persecution, forced migration, and slavery
Social upheavals such as wars, major military campaigns, forced religious conversion, taking natives as prisoners of war and converting them into slaves, arrest and forced migrations of people often made a suitable groom a rare commodity. Bride's families would seek out any available bachelors and marry them to their daughters before events beyond their control moved the boy away. Persecution and displacement of Roma and Jewish people in Europe, colonial campaigns to get slaves from various ethnic groups in West Africa across the Atlantic for plantations, and Islamic campaigns to get Hindu slaves from India across Afghanistan's Hindu Kush as property and for work were some of the historical events that increased the practice of child marriage before the 19th century.Andre Wink (1997), Al-Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, vol. 2, The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest, 11th–13th Centuries (Leiden)
Among Sephardi Jewish communities, child marriages became frequent from the 10th to 13th centuries, especially in Muslim Spain. This practice intensified after the Jewish community was expelled from Spain, and resettled in the Ottoman Empire. Child marriages among the Eastern Sephardic Jews continued through the 18th century in Islamic majority regions.Ruth Lamdan, Child Marriages in Jewish Society in Eastern Mediterranean during the 16th Century, Mediterranean Historical Review, 2 (June 1996); Vol 11, pages 37–59
Fear, poverty, social pressures, and a sense of protection
A sense of social insecurity is a cause of child marriages across the world. For example, in Nepal, parents fear social stigma if adult daughters (past 18 years) stay at home. Others fear crimes such as rape, which not only would be traumatic but may lead to less acceptance of the girl if she becomes a victim of such a crime. For example, girls may not be seen as eligible for marriage if they are not virgins. In other cultures, the fear is that an unmarried girl may engage in illicit relationships, or elope, causing a permanent social blemish to her siblings, or that the impoverished family may be unable to find bachelors for grown-up girls in their socioeconomic group. Such fears and social pressures have been proposed as causes that lead to child marriages. Insofar as child marriage is a social norm in practicing communities, the elimination of child marriage must come through a changing of those social norms. The mindset of the communities, and what is believed to be the proper outcome for a child bride, must be shifted to bring about a change in the prevalence of child marriage.
Families in extreme poverty may perceive daughters as an economic burden. If they can't afford to raise a child, seeking a child marriage for a girl can be seen as a way of ensuring her economic security and thus benefiting her as well as her parents. In reviews of Jewish community history, scholarsA. Grossman, 'Child marriage in Jewish society in the Middle Ages until the thirteenth century' (in Hebrew), Peamim 45 (1990), 108–126 claim poverty, shortage of grooms, and uncertain social and economic conditions were a cause of frequent child marriages.
An additional factor causing child marriage is the parental belief that early marriage offers protection. Parents feel that marriage provides their daughter with a sense of protection from sexual promiscuity and safe from sexually transmitted infections. However, in reality, young girls tend to marry older men, placing them at an increased risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection.
Protection through marriage may play a specific role in conflict settings. Families may have their young daughters marry members of an armed group or military in hopes that they will be better protected. Girls may also be taken by armed groups and forced into marriages.
Climate disasters
In 2023, a study led by University of Ohio sociology professor Smitha Rao found that the increase in environmental disasters tied to climate change were contributing factor to a rise in child marriage in at least 20 countries.
Religion, culture and civil law
Although the general marriageable age is 18 in the majority of countries, most jurisdictions allow for exceptions for underage youth with parental and/or judicial consent. Such laws are neither limited to developing countries, nor a state's religion. In some countries, a religious marriage by itself has legal validity, while in others it does not, as civil marriage is obligatory. For Catholics incorporated into the Latin Church, the 1983 Code of Canon Law sets the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females. In 2015, Spain raised its minimum marriageable age to 18 (16 with court consent) from the previous 14. In Mexico, marriage under 18 is allowed with parental consent, from age 14 for girls and age 16 for boys. In Ukraine, in 2012, the Family Code was amended to equalize the marriageable age for girls and boys to 18, with courts being allowed to grant permission to marry from 16 years of age if it is established that the marriage is in the best interest of the youth.
Many states in the US permit child marriages with the court's permission. Since 2015, the minimum marriageable age throughout Canada is 16. In Canada, the age of majority is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so minors under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Under the Criminal Code, Art. 293.2 Marriage under the age of 16 years reads: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years." The Civil Marriage Act also states: "2.2 No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage." In the UK, marriage is allowed for 16–17 years old with parental consent in England and Wales as well as in Northern Ireland, and even without parental consent in Scotland. However, a marriage of a person under 16 is void under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The United Nations Population Fund stated the following:
A lower legally allowed marriage age does not necessarily cause high rates of child marriages. However, there is a correlation between restrictions placed by laws and the average age of first marriage. In the United States, per 1960 Census data, 3.5% of girls married before the age of 16, while an additional 11.9% married between 16 and 18. States with lower marriage age limits saw higher percentages of child marriages. This correlation between the higher age of marriage in civil law and the observed frequency of child marriages breaks down in countries with Islam as the state religion. In Islamic nations, many countries do not allow child marriage of girls under their civil code of laws. But, the state-recognized Sharia religious laws and courts in all these nations have the power to override the civil code, and often do. UNICEF reports that the top eight nations in the world with the highest observed child marriage rates are Niger (75%), Chad (72%), Mali (71%), Bangladesh (64%), Guinea (63%), Central African Republic (61%), Mozambique (56%), and Nepal (51%).
Marriageable age in religious sources
Judaism
Ancient Rabbis set the age of marriage for every Israelite at 18 years old; males are expected to be married by 20 years old in teenage marriage and females can stay unmarried but must be celibate.
In Rabbinic Judaism, males cannot consent to marriage until they reach the age of 13 years and a day and have undergone puberty. They are considered minors until the age of twenty. The same rules apply to females, except their age is 12 years and a day. If females show no signs of puberty and males show no signs of puberty or do show impotence, they automatically become adults by age 35 and can marry.
A large age gap between spouses, in either direction, is advised against as unwise. A younger woman marrying a significantly older man however is especially problematic: marrying one's young daughter to an old man was declared as reprehensible as forcing her into prostitution.
A ketannah (literally meaning "little [one]") was any girl between the age of 3 years and 12 years plus one day; she was subject to her father's authority, and he could arrange a marriage for her without her agreement. However, after reaching the age of maturity, she would have to agree to the marriage to be considered married.
Catholic Church
The minimum ages of consent for marriage in the Catholic Church are 14 for girls and 16 for boys. Being underage constitutes a diriment impediment. That is, a marriage involving an underage bride or groom is canonically invalid. A Conference of Bishops may adopt a higher age for marriage, but in that case, the higher age only creates a prohibitive impediment, that is, a marriage involving a bride or groom above the Church's minimum age but below that set by the Conference is valid but illicit. Permission to marry against a civil authority's directive requires the permission of the Ordinary, which, in the case of sensible and equal laws regarding marriage age, is not usually granted. The permission by the Ordinary is also required in case of a marriage of a minor when their parents are unaware of his marriage or if their parents reasonably oppose the marriage.
Islam
In classical Islamic law, suitability for marital relations is conditional on physical maturity (bulugh) and mental maturity (rushd). Classical jurists did not stipulate a minimum marriageable age because they did not believe that maturity is reached by everyone at a specific age. Büchler and Schlater observe that "marriageable age according to classical Islamic law coincides with the occurrence of puberty. The notion of puberty refers to signs of physical maturity such as the emission of semen or the onset of menstruation". Traditional schools of Islamic jurisprudence (madhaahib) define the age of full legal capacity to enter marriage as follows:
According to Büchler and Schlater, while marriageable age is not the same as the legal majority under civil law, these age limits may correspond.
The 1917 codification of Islamic family law in the Ottoman Empire distinguished between the age of competence for marriage, which was set at 18 for boys and 17 for girls, and the minimum age for marriage, which followed the traditional Hanafi ages of the legal majority of 12 for boys and 9 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence was permissible only if proof of sexual maturity was accepted in court, while marriage under the minimum age was forbidden. During the 20th century, most countries in the Middle East followed the Ottoman precedent in defining the age of competence, while raising the minimum age to 15 or 16 for boys and 13–16 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence is subject to approval by a judge and the legal guardian of the adolescent. Egypt diverged from this pattern by setting the age limits of 18 for boys and 16 for girls, without a distinction between competence for marriage and minimum age. In 2020, Saudi Arabia officially banned all marriages under the age of 18. The push to ban child marriage was initially opposed by senior clergy, who argued that a woman reaches adulthood at puberty. However, by 2019 the Saudi Shura Council had outlawed marriages under the age of 15 and required court approval for those under 18.
Politics and financial relationships
Child marriages may depend upon socio-economic status. The aristocracy in some cultures, as in the European feudal era tended to use child marriage as a method to secure political ties. Families were able to cement political and/or financial ties by having their children marry. The betrothal is considered a binding contract between the families and the children. The breaking of a betrothal can have serious consequences both for the families and for the betrothed individuals themselves.
Effects on global regions
A UNFPA report stated: "For the period 2000–2011, just over one third (an estimated 34 percent) of women aged 20 to 24 years in developing regions were married or in union before their eighteenth birthday. In 2010 this was equivalent to almost 67 million women. About 12 percent of them were married or in union before age 15." The prevalence of child marriage varies substantially among countries. Around the world, girls from rural areas are twice as likely to marry as children as those from urban areas.
Africa
According to UNICEF, Africa has the highest incidence rates of child marriage, with over 50% of girls marrying under the age of eighteen in five nations. Girls in West and Central Africa have the highest risk of marrying in childhood. Niger has one of the highest rates of early marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. Among Nigerien women between the ages of twenty and twenty-four, 76% reported marrying before the age of eighteen, and 28% reported marrying before the age of fifteen. This UNICEF report is based on data that is derived from a small sample survey between 1995 and 2004, and the current rate is unknown given the lack of infrastructure and in some cases, regional violence.
UNICEF stated in 2018 that although the number of child marriages has declined on a worldwide scale, the problem remains most severe in Africa, despite the fact that Ethiopia cut child marriage rates by one third.
African countries have enacted marriageable age laws to limit marriage to a minimum age of 16 to 18, depending on the jurisdiction. In Ethiopia, Chad and Niger, the legal marriage age is 15, but local customs and religious courts have the power to allow marriages below 12 years of age. Child marriages of girls in West Africa, Central Africa and Northeast Africa are widespread. Additionally, poverty, religion, tradition, and conflict make the rate of child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa very high in some regions.
In many traditional systems, a man pays a bride price to the girl's family to marry her (comparable to the customs of dowry and dower). In many parts of Africa, this payment, in cash, cattle, or other valuables, decreases as a girl gets older. Even before a girl reaches puberty, it is common for a married girl to leave her parents to be with her husband. Many marriages are related to poverty, with parents needing the bride price of a daughter to feed, clothe, educate, and house the rest of the family. In Mali, the female: male ratio of marriage before age 18 is 72:1; in Kenya, 21:1.
The various reports indicate that in many Sub-Saharan countries, there is a high incidence of marriage among girls younger than 15. Many governments have tended to overlook the particular problems resulting from child marriage, including obstetric fistulae, premature births, stillbirth, sexually transmitted diseases (including cervical cancer), and malaria.
In parts of Ethiopia and Nigeria, many girls are married before the age of 15, some as young as 7. In parts of Mali, 39% of girls are married before the age of 15. In Niger and Chad, over 70% of girls are married before the age of 18.
The Gambia
In 2016, during a feast ending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced that child and forced marriages were banned.
Kenya
In Kenya 23% of girls are married before age 18, including 4% by age 15.
Malawi
In 2015, Malawi passed a law banning child marriage, which raises the minimum age for marriage to 18. This major accomplishment came following years of effort by the Girls Empowerment Network campaign, which ultimately led to tribal and traditional leaders banning the cultural practice of child marriage.
Morocco
In Morocco, child marriage is a common practice. Over 41,000 marriages every year involve child brides. Before 2003, child marriages did not require a court's or state's approval. In 2003, Morocco passed the family law (Moudawana) that raised the minimum age of marriage for girls from 14 to 18, with the exception that underage girls may marry with the permission of the government-recognized official/court and girl's guardian.Morocco: Underage marriages increase CRIN, Rabat (28 January 2011) Over the 10 years preceding 2008, requests for child marriages have been predominantly approved by Morocco's Ministry for Social Development, and have increased (c. 29% of all marriages). Some child marriages in Morocco are a result of Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code, a law that allows rapists to avoid punishment if they marry their underage victims. Article 475 was amended in January 2014 after much campaigning, and rapists can legally no longer avoid sentencing by marrying their victims.
Mozambique
In 2019, Mozambique's national assembly passed a law prohibiting child marriage. This law came after national movements condemning Mozambique's high rate of child marriage, with 50% of girls marrying under the age of 18.
Nigeria
As of 2006, 15–20% of school dropouts in Nigeria were the result of child marriage. In 2013, Nigeria attempted to change Section 29, Subsection 4 of its laws and thereby prohibit child marriages. Christianity and Islam are each practiced by roughly half of its population, and the country continues with personal laws from its British colonial-era laws, in which child marriages are forbidden for its Christians and allowed for its Muslims. In Nigeria, child marriage is a divisive topic and widely practiced. In northern states, which are predominantly Muslim, over 50% of the girls marry before the age of 15.
South Africa
In South Africa, the law provides for respecting the marriage practices of traditional marriages, whereby a person might be married as young as 12 for females and 14 for males. Early marriage is cited as "a barrier to continuing education for girls (and boys)". This includes absuma (arranged marriages set up between cousins at birth in a local Islamic ethnic group), bride kidnapping, and elopement decided on by the children.
Tanzania
In 2016, the Tanzanian High Court – in a case filed by the Msichana Initiative, a lobbying group that advocates for girls' right to education – ruled in favor of protecting girls from the harms of early marriage. It is now illegal for anyone younger than 18 to marry in Tanzania.
Zimbabwe
A 2015 Human Rights Watch report stated that in Zimbabwe, one-third of women aged between 20 and 49 years old had married before reaching the age of 18. In January 2016, two women who had been married as children brought a court case requesting a change in the legal age of marriage to the Constitutional Court, with the result that the court declared that 18 is to be the minimum age for a legal marriage for both men and women (previously the legal age had been 16 for women and 18 for men). The law took effect immediately and was hailed by several human rights, women's rights, medical, and legal groups as a landmark ruling for the country.
Americas
Latin America
Child marriage is common in Latin America and the Caribbean island nations. About 29% of girls were married before age 18 (as of 2007). The Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Ecuador report some of the highest rates in the Americas, while Bolivia and Guyana have shown the sharpest decline in child marriage rates as of 2012. Brazil is ranked fourth in the world in terms of absolute numbers of girls married or cohabitating by age 15.
Poverty and lack of laws mandating minimum age for marriage have been cited as reasons for child marriage in Latin America. In an effort to combat the widespread belief among poor, rural, and indigenous communities that child marriage is a route out of poverty, some NGOs are working with communities in Latin America to shift norms and create safe spaces for adolescent girls.
In Guatemala, early marriage is most common among indigenous Mayan communities. In southeastern Colombia, historically the indigenous Nasa sometimes married at early ages to dissuade colonizers from coercively taking girls.
Canada
Since 2015, the minimum marriageable age throughout Canada is 16. In Canada, the age of majority is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so minors under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Under the Criminal Code, Art. 293.2 Marriage under the age of 16 years reads: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years." The Civil Marriage Act also states: "2.2 No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage."
According to a study from McGill University, from 2000 to 2018, 3,600 marriage certificates were issued to children (mostly girls) under 18 in Canada.
United States
Child marriage, as defined by UNICEF, is observed in the United States. The UNICEF definition of child marriage includes couples who are formally married, or who live together as a sexually active couple in an informal union, with at least one member – usually the girl – being less than 18 years old. The latter practice is more common in the United States, and it is officially called cohabitation. According to a 2010 report by the United States' National Center for Health Statistics, 2.1% of all girls in the 15–17 age group were either in a child marriage or in an informal union. In the age group of 15–19, 7.6% of all girls in the United States were formally married or in an informal union. The child marriage rates were higher for certain ethnic groups and states. In Hispanic groups, for example, 6.6% of all girls in the 15–17 age group were formally married or in an informal union, and 13% of the 15–19 age group were. Over 350,000 babies are born to teenage mothers every year in the United States, and over 50,000 of these are second babies to teen mothers.
Laws regarding child marriage vary in the different states of the United States. Generally, children 16 and over may marry with parental consent, with the age of 18 being the minimum in all but two states to marry without parental consent. However, all states but Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have exceptions for child marriage within their laws, and although those under 16 generally require a court order in addition to parental consent, when those exceptions are taken into account, 17 states have no minimum age requirement.
Until 2008 the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints practiced child marriage through the concept of "spiritual marriage" as soon as it was possible for girls to bear children, as part of its polygamy practice, but laws have raised the age of legal marriage in response to criticism of the practice. In 2007 church leader Warren Jeffs was convicted of being an accomplice to statutory rape of a minor due to arranging a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man. In March 2008 officials of the state of Texas believed that children at the Yearning For Zion Ranch were being married to adults and were being abused. The state of Texas removed all 468 children from the ranch and placed them into temporary state custody. After the Austin's 3rd Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that Texas acted improperly in removing them from the YFZ Ranch, the children were returned to their parents or relatives. In 2008 the Church changed its policy in the United States to no longer marry individuals younger than the local legal age.
In 2018, Delaware became the first state to ban child marriage without exceptions, followed by New Jersey the same year. Pennsylvania and Minnesota ended child marriage in 2020, followed by Rhode Island and New York in 2021, Massachusetts in 2022, and Vermont, Connecticut, and Michigan in 2023.
Asia
More than half of all child marriages occur in the South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. There was a decrease in the rates of child marriage across the Indian subcontinent from 1991 to 2007, but the decrease was observed among young adolescent girls and not girls in their late teens. Some scholars believe this age-specific reduction was linked to girls increasingly attending school until about age 15 and then marrying.
Western Asia
A 2013 report claims 53% of all married women in Afghanistan were married before age 18, and 21% of all were married before age 15. Afghanistan's official minimum age of marriage for girls is 15 with her father's permission. In all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, the customary practice of ba'ad is another reason for child marriages; this custom involves village elders, or jirga, settling disputes between families or unpaid debts or ruling punishment for a crime by forcing the guilty family to give their 5- to 12-year-old girls as wives. Sometimes a girl is forced into child marriage for a crime her uncle or distant relative is alleged to have committed. Andrew Bushell claims the rate of marriage of 8- to 13-year-old girls exceeds 50% in Afghan refugee camps along the Pakistan border.
Over half of Yemeni girls are married before 18, some by the age of eight. The Yemen government's Sharia Legislative Committee has blocked attempts to raise marriage age to either 15 or 18, on grounds that any law setting a minimum age for girls is un-Islamic. Yemeni Muslim activists argue that some girls are ready for marriage at age 9. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), in 1999 the minimum marriage age 15 for women was abolished; the onset of puberty, interpreted by conservatives to be at age nine, was set as a requirement for consummation of marriage. In practice "Yemeni law allows girls of any age to wed, but it forbids sex with them until the indefinite time they are 'suitable for sexual intercourse'." As with Africa, the marriage incidence data for Yemen in the HRW report is from surveys between 1990 and 2000. Current data is difficult to obtain because of regional violence.
In April 2008, Nujood Ali, a 10-year-old girl, successfully obtained a divorce after being raped under these conditions. Her case prompted calls to raise the legal age for marriage to 18. Later in 2008, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood proposed to define the minimum age for marriage at 18 years. The law was passed in April 2009, with the age voted for as 17. But the law was dropped the next day following maneuvers by opposing parliamentarians. Negotiations to pass the legislation continue. Meanwhile, Yemenis inspired by Nujood's efforts continue to push for change, with Nujood involved in at least one rally. In September 2013, an 8-year-old girl died of internal bleeding and uterine rupture on her wedding night after marrying a 40-year-old man.
The widespread prevalence of child marriage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been documented by human rights groups. Saudi clerics have justified the marriage of girls as young as 9, with sanction from the judiciary. No laws define a minimum age of consent in Saudi Arabia, though drafts for possible laws have been created since 2011. Members of the Saudi Shoura Council in 2019 approved fresh regulations for minor marriages that will outlaw the marrying of 15-year-olds and force the need for court approval for those under 18. Chairman of the Human Rights Committee at the Shoura Council, Dr. Hadi Al-Yami, said that the introduced controls were based on in-depth studies presented to the body. He pointed out that the regulation, vetted by the Islamic Affairs Committee at the Shoura Council, has raised the age of marriage to 18 and prohibited it for those under 15. Saudi Arabia has officially updated the law, banning all marriages under the age of 18.
Research by the United Nations Population Fund indicates that 28.2% of marriages in Turkey – almost one in three – involve girls under 18.
Child marriage was also found to be prevalent among Syrian and Palestinian Syrian refugees in Lebanon, in addition to other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Marriage was seen as a potential way to protect family honor and protect a girl from rape, given how common rape was during the conflict. Incidents of child marriages increased in Syria and among Syrian refugees over the course of the conflict. The proportion of Syrian refugee girls living in Jordan who were married increased from 13% in 2011 to 32% in 2014. Journalists Magnus Wennman and Carina Bergfeldt documented the practice, and some of its results.
Southeast Asia
Hill tribe girls are often married young. For the Karen people, it is possible that two couples can arrange their children's marriage before the children are born.
Indonesia
In a move to curb child marriage in Indonesia, the minimum marriage age for girls in Indonesia was raised to 19 in 2019, equalizing it to that of males. Previously, under the 1974 marriage law, the marriage age for girls was 16, and there was no minimum with judicial consent.
There has been an increase in underage marriage which has been attributed to a rise in social networking sites like Facebook. It has been reported that in areas like Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, couples become acquainted through Facebook and continue their relationships until girls become pregnant. Under Indonesian law, underage marriage is prosecuted as sexual abuse, though unregistered marriages between young girls and older men are common in rural areas. In one case that caused a nationwide outcry, a wealthy Muslim cleric married a 12-year-old girl. He was prosecuted for sexually abusing a minor and sentenced to four years in jail.
Among the Aceh of Sumatra, girls formerly married before puberty. The husbands, though usually older, were still unfit for sexual union.
Malaysia
A 41-year-old Malaysian man married an 11-year-old girl in Golok, a border town in southern Thailand, in June 2018, according to information made public in Malaysia. The man was the imam of a surau in a hamlet near Gua Musang, Kelantan, and he already had two wives and six children. The girl's parents defended their choice to consent to the marriage.
In response to this incident, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said that the marriage remained valid under Islam. She also said in a press statement that “the Malaysian government ‘unequivocally’ opposes child marriages and is already taking steps to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18”.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa, proposed a blanket ban on marriages involving minors. In response, PAS Vice President Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said that imposing a blanket ban on child marriage contradicts Islamic religious teachings and could not be accepted. He also said it would be better to enforce existing laws to protect children from being forced into early marriages.
In July 2018, another case of a child bride was reported in Malaysia, involving a 19-year-old man from Terengganu and a 13-year-old girl from Kelantan.
In August 2018, Selangor announced plans for an amendment to the Islamic Family Law (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 which would raise the minimum age of marriage for Muslim women from 16 to 18 years.
Another child marriage case was covered by the media in September 2018.
Malaysia planned to tighten the requirements for child marriages in 2019. Subsequently, any marriage with minors would have to go through a stringent approval process involving Shariah Court Department, the Home Ministry, State Religious Council, and Customary Courts.
Philippines
In December 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law criminalizing child marriage, including its facilitation and solemnization, and cohabitation of an adult with a child outside wedlock.
Before the law change, the legal age for marriage was 18 for most Filipinos; however, Muslim Filipino boys were able to marry from age 15, and Muslim girls from puberty.
According to UNICEF, 15% of Filipino girls were married before age 18, and 2% were married by age 15, mostly in the Muslim-dominated Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao region
Bangladesh
Child marriage rates in Bangladesh are amongst the highest in the world. Every 2 out of 3 marriages involve child marriages. According to statistics from 2005, 49% of women then between 25 and 29 were married by the age of 15 in Bangladesh. According to a 2008 study, for each additional year a girl in rural Bangladesh is not married she will attend school an additional 0.22 years on average. The later girls were married, the more likely they were to utilize preventive health care. Married girls in the region were found to have less influence on family planning, higher rates of maternal mortality, and lower status in their husband's family than girls who married later. Another study found that women who married at age 18 or older were less likely to experience IPV (intimate partner violence) than those married before age 18. It also found that girls married before age 15 were at an even higher risk for IPV.
India
According to UNICEF's "State of the World's Children-2009" report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 married before the legal age of 18, with 56% marrying before age 18 in rural areas. The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India. As with Africa, this UNICEF report is based on data that is derived from a small sample survey in 1999. The latest available UNICEF report for India uses 2004–2005 household survey data, on a small sample, and other scholars report lower incidence rates for India. According to Raj et al., the 2005 small sample household survey data suggests 22% of girls ever married aged 16–18, 20% of girls in India married between 13 and 16, and 2.6% married before age 13. According to 2011 nationwide census of India, the average age of marriage for women in India is 21. The child marriage rates in India, according to a 2009 representative survey, dropped to 7%. In its 2001 demographic report, the Census of India stated zero married girls below age 10, 1.4 million married girls out of 59.2 million girls in the age 10–14, and 11.3 million married girls out of 46.3 million girls in the age 15–19 (which includes 18–19 age group). For 2011, the Census of India reports child marriage rates dropping further to 3.7% of females aged less than 18 being married.
The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 was passed during the tenure of British rule on Colonial India. It forbade the marriage of a male younger than 21 or a female younger than 18 for Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and most people of India. However, this law did not and currently does not apply to India's 165 million Muslim population, and only applies to India's Hindu, Christian, Jain, Sikh, and other religious minorities. This link of law and religion was formalized by the British colonial rule with the Muslim personal laws codified in the Indian Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937. The age at which India's Muslim girls can legally marry, according to this Muslim Personal Law, is 9, and can be lower if her guardian (wali) decides she is sexually mature. Over the last 25 years, All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other Muslim civil organizations have actively opposed India-wide laws and enforcement action against child marriages; they have argued that Indian Muslim families have a religious right to marry a girl aged 15 or even 12. Several states of India claim specially high child marriage rates in their Muslim and tribal communities. India, with a population of over 1.2 billion, has the world's highest total number of child marriages. It is a significant social issue. As of 2016, the situation has been legally rectified by The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
According to the "National Plan of Action for Children 2005", published by Indian government's Department of Women and Child Development, set a goal to eliminate child marriage completely by 2010. In 2006, The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 was passed to prohibit solemnization of child marriages. This law states that men must be at least 21 years of age and women must be at least 18 years of age to marry.
Some Muslim organizations planned to challenge the new law in the Supreme Court of India. In latter years, various high courts in India – including the Gujarat High Court, the Karnataka High Court and the Madras High Court – have ruled that the act prevails over any personal law (including Muslim personal law).
Nepal
UNICEF reported that 28.8% of marriages in Nepal were child marriages as of 2011. A UNICEF discussion paper determined that 79.6 percent of Muslim girls in Nepal, 69.7 percent of girls living in hilly regions irrespective of religion, and 55.7 percent of girls living in other rural areas, are all married before the age of 15. Girls born into the highest wealth quintile marry about two years later than those from the other quintiles.
Pakistan
According to a UNICEF report from 2018, around 18% of the girls in Pakistan were married before the age of 18Atlas: Pakistan. Girls Not Brides. 31 July 2021 and 4% of the girls were married before the age of 15. In the past two 2013 reports suggest that over 50% of all marriages in Pakistan involve girls less than 18 years old.
The exact number of child marriages in Pakistan below the age of 13 is unknown, but rising according to the United Nations.
Another custom in Pakistan, called swara or vani, involves village elders solving family disputes or settling unpaid debts by marrying off girls. The average marriage age of swara girls is between 5 and 9. Similarly, the custom of watta satta has been cited as a cause of child marriages in Pakistan.
According to Population Council, 35% of all females in Pakistan become mothers before they reach the age of 18, and 67% have experienced pregnancy – 69% of these have given birth – before they reach the age of 19. Less than 4% of married girls below the age of 19 had some say in choosing her spouse; over 80% were married to a near or distant relative. Child marriage and early motherhood is common in Pakistan.
Iran
In Iran, as in other developing societies, the phenomenon of child marriage, or early child marriage, is widespread. According to the official statistics of Iran in 2013, as many as 187,000 marriages of children under the legal age were registered with the country's Civil Registration Organization. The vice president of prevention of social harms of the government's welfare organization stated that, in 2016, 17% of girls’ marriages in Iran took place before they reached the age of 18. The border provinces of Khorasan Razavi, East Azerbaijan, and Sistan and Baluchistan are the three provinces where the highest number of child marriages occur.
Though the legal age of marriage in Iran is 13 years for girls and 15 for boys, there are cases of girls below the age of 10 being married. The same source pointed out that "child marriages are more common in socially backward rural areas often afflicted with high levels of illiteracy and drug addiction". In October 2019, a prosecutor annulled the marriage of an 11-year-old girl to her adult cousin in rural Iran, and said he was indicting the mullah (officiant) and the girl's parents for an illegal underage marriage. According to the Iranian Students News Agency, nearly 6,000 children are married each year in Iran.
The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) examining child marriage in Iran has warned of a rising number of young girls forced into marriage in Iran. The Committee deplored the fact that the State party allows sexual intercourse involving girls as young as 9 lunar years and that other forms of sexual abuse of even younger children is not criminalized.
CRC said that Tehran must "repeal all provisions that authorize, condone or lead to child sexual abuse" and called for the age of sexual consent to be increased from nine years old to 16. The Society For Protecting The Rights of The Child said that 43,459 girls aged under 15 married in 2009. In 2010, 716 girls under the age of 10 married, up from 449 in the year prior. On 8 March 2018 a member of the Tehran City Council, Shahrbanoo Amani said that there were 15,000 widows under the age of 15 in the country.
The Iranian Government has been criticized by the international community over its high rate of child marriage.
In August 2019, Iran demonstrated its sensitivity towards its birth rates by arresting Kameel Ahmady, an expert in the area of child marriage, and sentencing him to a nine-year and three-month imprisonment for alleged "subversive research." Ahmady's research focuses on harmful traditional practices such as early child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), sexuality and the LGBTQ+ community, child labour and ethnic issues. His group fieldwork research on child marriage, carried out in 2017 and published under the title An Echo of Silence: A Comprehensive Research Study on Early Child Marriage (ECM) in Iran, brought him to the attention of the authorities because they believed he was campaigning to raise the legal age of marriage for girls.Ahmady, Kameel. THE NEXUS BETWEEN TEMPORARY MARRIAGE AND EARLY CHILD MARRIAGE IN IRAN, Paper presented at the 14th Eurasian Conference on Language and Social Sciences Hosted by University of Gjakova‘Fehmi Agani, KOSOVO, pp. 376-391, Jan 2022.
Europe
General
Each European country has its own laws; in both the European Union and the Council of Europe the marriageable age falls within the jurisdiction of individual member states. The Istanbul convention, the first legally binding instrument in Europe in the field of violence against women and domestic violence, only requires countries which ratify it to prohibit forced marriage (Article 37) and to ensure that forced marriages can be easily voided without further victimization (Article 32), but does not make any reference to a minimum age of marriage.
European Union
In the European Union, the general age of marriage as a right is 18 in all member states. When all exceptions are taken into account (such as judicial or parental consent), the minimum age is 16 in most countries, and in Estonia, it is 15. In 6 countries marriage under 18 is completely prohibited. By contrast, in 6 countries there is no set minimum age, although all these countries require the authorization of a public authority (such as a judge or social worker) for the marriage to take place.
Scandinavia
In April 2016, Reuters reported "Child brides sometimes tolerated in Nordic asylum centers despite bans". For example, at least 70 girls under 18 were living as married couples in Sweden; in Norway, "some" under 16 lived "with their partners". In Denmark, it was determined there were "dozens of cases of girls living with older men", prompting Minister Inger Stojberg to state she would "stop housing child brides in asylum centers".
Marriage under 18 was completely banned in Sweden in 2014, in Denmark in 2017, and in Finland in 2019.
Balkans/Eastern Europe
In these areas, child and forced marriages are associated with the Roma community and with some rural populations. However, such marriages are illegal in most of the countries from that area. In recent years, many of those countries have taken steps in order to curb these practices, including equalizing the marriageable age of both sexes (e.g. Romania in 2007, Ukraine in 2012). Therefore, most of those 'marriages' are informal unions (without legal recognition) and often arranged from very young ages. Such practices are common in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania (in these countries the marriageable age is 18, and can only be lowered to 16 in special circumstances with judicial approvalhttp://kenarova.com/law/Family%20Code.pdf ). A 2003 case involving the daughter of an informal 'gypsy king' of the area has made international news.
BelgiumThe Washington Post reported in April 2016 that "17 child brides" arrived in Belgium in 2015 and a further 7 so far in 2016. The same report added that "Between 2010 and 2013, the police registered at least 56 complaints about a forced marriage."
Germany
In 2016 there were 1475 underage foreigners in Germany registered as married, of which 1100 were girls. Syrians represented 664, Afghans 157 and Iraqis 100. In July 2016, 361 foreign children under 14 were registered as married.
Netherlands
The Dutch government's National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children wrote that "between September 2015 and January 2016 around 60 child brides entered the Netherlands". At least one was 14 years old. The Washington Post reported that asylum centers in the Netherlands were "housing 20 child brides between ages 13 and 15" in 2015.
Russia
The common marriageable age established by the Family Code of Russia is 18 years old. Marriages of persons at age from 16 to 18 years allowed only with good reasons and by local municipal authority permission. Marriage before 16 years old may be allowed by federal subject of Russia law as an exception just in special circumstances.
By 2016, a minimum age for marriage in special circumstances had been established at 14 years (in Adygea, Kaluga Oblast, Magadan Oblast, Moscow Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Novgorod Oblast, Oryol Oblast, Sakhalin Oblast, Tambov Oblast, Tatarstan, Vologda Oblast) or to 15 years (in Murmansk Oblast and Ryazan Oblast). Others subjects of Russia also can have marriageable age laws.
Abatement of marriageable age is an ultimate measure acceptable in cases of life threat, pregnancy, and childbirth.
United Kingdom
Since May 1, 2022, the marriageable age in both England and Wales is 18 with no exemptions (16 with consent of both parents or guardians, plus also a magistrate approval required within Northern Ireland only), although in Scotland no parental consent is required over 16. Scotland and Andorra are the only European jurisdictions where 16 year-olds can marry as a right (i.e. without parental or court approval); see .
According to a 2004 report in The Guardian, girls as young as 12 have been smuggled into the UK to be the brides of men in the Muslim community. Girls trying to escape this child marriage can face death because this breaks the honor code of her husband and both families.
As with the United States, underage cohabitation is observed in the United Kingdom. According to a 2005 study, 4.1% of all girls in the 15–19 age group in the UK were cohabiting (living in an informal union), while 8.9% of all girls in that age group admitted to having been in a cohabitation relation (child marriage per UNICEF definition), before the age of 18. Over 4% of all underage girls in the UK were teenage mothers.
In July 2014, the United Kingdom hosted its first global Girl Summit; the goal of the Summit was to increase efforts to end child, early, and forced marriage, as well as female genital mutilation within a generation.
Oceania
The Marquesas Islands have been noted for their sexual culture. Many sexual activities seen as taboo in Western cultures are viewed appropriate by the native culture. One of these differences is that children are introduced and educated to sex at a very young age. Contact with Western societies has changed many of these customs, so research into their pre-Western social history has to be done by reading antique writings. Children slept in the same room as their parents and were able to witness their parents while they had sex. Intercourse simulation became real penetration as soon as boys were physically able. Adults found simulation of sex by children to be funny. As children approached 11 attitudes shifted toward girls. When a child reaches adulthood, they are educated on sexual techniques by a much older adult.
Yuri Lisyansky in his memoirs reports that:
Adam Johann von Krusenstern in his book about the same expedition as Yuri's, reports that a father brought a 10- to 12-year-old girl on his ship, and she had sex with the crew. According to the book of Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu and Étienne Marchand, eight-year-old girls had sex and other unnatural acts in public.
Consequences
Child marriage has consequences that last well beyond adolescence.Bunting, Annie. 2005. Stages of development: marriage of girls and teens as an international human rights issue. Social and Legal Studies 14(2):17–38 Women married as children struggle with the impact of pregnancy at a young age on the body, often with little spacing between children. Early marriages followed by teen pregnancy also significantly increase birth complications and social isolation. In poor countries, early pregnancy limits or can even eliminate a woman's education options, affecting her economic independence. Girls in child marriages are more likely to suffer from domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and marital rape.
Health
Child marriage threatens the health and life of girls. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the main cause of death among adolescent girls below age 19 in developing countries. Girls aged 15 to 19 are twice as likely to die in childbirth as fully-grown women in their 20s, and girls under the age of 15 are five to seven times more likely to die during childbirth. These consequences are due largely to girls' physical immaturity wherefore the pelvis and birth canal are not fully developed. Teen pregnancy, particularly below age 15, increases risk of developing obstetric fistula, since their smaller pelvises make them prone to obstructed labor. Girls who give birth before the age of 15 have an 88% risk of developing fistula, and those between 18 and 15 have a 25% chance. Fistula leaves its victims with urine or fecal incontinence that causes lifelong complications with infection and pain. Unless surgically repaired, obstetric fistulas can cause years of permanent disability, shame to mothers, and can result in being shunned by the community. Married girls also have a higher risk of sexually transmitted infections, cervical cancer, and malaria than non-married peers or girls who marry in their 20s.
Child marriage also threatens the lives of offspring. Mothers under the age of 18 years have 35 to 55% increased risk of delivering pre-term or having a low birth weight baby than a mother who is 19 or 20 years old. In addition, infant mortality rates are 60% higher when the mother is under 18 years old. Infants born to child mothers tend to have weaker immune systems and face a heightened risk of malnutrition.
Prevalence of child marriage may also be associated with higher rates of population growth, more cases of children left orphaned, and the accelerated spread of disease which for many translate into prolonged poverty.
Illiteracy and poverty
Child marriage often ends a girl's education, particularly in impoverished countries where child marriages are common. In addition, uneducated girls are more at risk for child marriage. Girls who have only a primary education are twice as likely to marry before age 18 than those with a secondary or higher education, and girls with no education are three times more likely to marry before age 18 than those with a secondary education. Early marriage impedes a young girl's ability to continue with her education as most drop out of school following marriage to focus their attention on domestic duties and having or raising children. Girls may be taken out of school years before they are married due to family or community beliefs that allocating resources for girls' education is unnecessary given that her primary roles will be that of wife and mother. Without education, girls and adult women have fewer opportunities to earn an income and financially provide for themselves and their children. This makes girls more vulnerable to persistent poverty if their spouses die, abandon them, or divorce them. Given that girls in child marriages are often significantly younger than their husbands, they become widowed earlier in life and may face associated economic and social challenges for a greater portion of their life than women who marry later.
Domestic violence
Married teenage girls with low levels of education suffer greater risk of social isolation and domestic violence than more educated women who marry as adults.Haberland, Nicole, Eric L. Chong, and Hillary J. Bracken. 2006. A world apart: the disadvantage and social isolation of married adolescent girls. Brief based on background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents. New York: The Population Council Following marriage, girls frequently relocate to their husband's home and take on the domestic role of being a wife, which often involves relocating to another village or area. This transition may result in a young girl dropping out of school, moving away from her family and friends, and a loss of the social support that she once had. A husband's family may also have higher expectations for the girl's submissiveness to her husband and his family because of her youth. This sense of isolation from a support system can have severe mental health implications including depression.
Large age gaps between the child and her spouse makes her more vulnerable to domestic violence and marital rape. Girls who marry as children face severe and life-threatening marital violence at higher rates. Husbands in child marriages are often more than ten years older than their wives. This can increase the power and control a husband has over his wife and contribute to prevalence of spousal violence. Early marriage places young girls in a vulnerable situation of being completely dependent on her husband. Domestic and sexual violence from their husbands has lifelong, devastating mental health consequences for young girls because they are at a formative stage of psychological development. These mental health consequences of spousal violence can include depression and suicidal thoughts. Child brides, particularly in situations such as vani, also face social isolation, emotional abuse and discrimination in the homes of their husbands and in-laws.
Women's rights
The United Nations, through a series of conventions has declared child marriage a violation of human rights. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination of Women ('CEDAW'), the Committee on the Rights of the Child ('CRC'), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights form the international standard against child marriage. Child marriages impact violates a range of women's interconnected rights such as equality on grounds of sex and age, to receive the highest attainable standard of health, to be free from slavery, access to education, freedom of movement, freedom from violence, reproductive rights, and the right to consensual marriage. The consequence of these violations impact woman, her children, and the broader society.
Development
High rates of child marriage negatively impact countries' economic development because of early marriages' impact on girls' education and labor market participation. Some researchers and activists note that high rates of child marriage prevent significant progress toward each of the eight Millennium Development Goals and global efforts to reduce poverty due to its effects on educational attainment, economic and political participation, and health.
A UNICEF Nepal issued report noted that child marriage impacts Nepal's development due to loss of productivity, poverty, and health effects. Using Nepal Multi-Indicator Survey data, its researchers estimate that all girls delaying marriage until age 20 and after would increase cash flow among Nepali women in an amount equal to 3.87% of the country's GDP. Their estimates considered decreased education and employment among girls in child marriages in addition to low rates of education and high rates of poverty among children from child marriages.
Prevention
Child marriage is always forced marriage, according to the United Nations, because children cannot give full informed consent to marriage. Many organizations offer ways to help prevent child marriage and forced marriage.
For children
Child marriage is illegal in many places; however, children who have been forced into marriage have not broken the law. There are organizations that offer help, such as housing and legal aid, to children who are trying to escape or prevent a marriage.
In the United States
A child who has been forced into a marriage has not broken any laws in the United States and is not at fault. The U.S. government is opposed to child marriage, and offers legal help and social services to children who have been forced to marry. Children in the United States who need to prevent or leave a forced marriage can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
In Europe
In the United Kingdom, when anything is done to make someone marry before they turn 18 the government of the UK considers this to be a forced marriage, which is not a lawful marriage. The Forced Marriage Unit offers help to children facing a forced marriage.
In the Netherlands, the minimum age to marry is 18. Forcing someone to marry is unlawful, even if the marriage took place outside the Netherlands. Children who have been forced to marry may contact National Expertise Centre on Forced Marriage and Abandonment for help.
International initiatives
In December 2011 a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/66/170) designated 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child. On 11 October 2012 the first International Day of the Girl Child'' was held, the theme of which was ending child marriage.
In 2013 the first United Nations Human Rights Council resolution against child, early, and forced marriages was adopted; it recognizes child marriage as a human rights violation and pledges to eliminate the practice as part of the U.N.'s post-2015 global development agenda.
In 2014 the UN's Commission on the Status of Women issued a document in which they agreed, among other things, to eliminate child marriage.
The World Health Organization recommends increased educational attainment among girls, increased enforcement structures for existing minimum marriage age laws, and informing parents in practicing communities of the risks associated as primary methods to prevent child marriages.
Programs to prevent child marriage have taken several different approaches. Various initiatives have aimed to empower young girls, educate parents on the associated risks, change community perceptions, support girls' education, and provide economic opportunities for girls and their families through means other than marriage. A survey of a variety of prevention programs found that initiatives were most effect when they combined efforts to address financial constraints, education, and limited employment of women.
Girls in families participating in an unconditional cash transfer program in Malawi aimed at incentivizing girls' education married and had children later than their peers who had not participated in the program. The program's effects on rates of child marriage were greater for unconditional cast transfer programs than those with conditions. Evaluators believe this demonstrated that the economic needs of the family heavily influenced the appeal of child marriage in this community. Therefore, reducing financial pressures on the family decreased the economic motivations to marry daughters off at a young age.
The Haryana state government in India operated a program in which poor families were given a financial incentive if they kept their daughters in school and unmarried until age 18. Girls in families who were eligible for the program were less likely to be married before age 18 than their peers.
A similar program was operated in 2004 by the Population Council and the regional government in Ethiopia's rural Amhara Region. Families received cash if their daughters remained in school and unmarried during the two years of the program. They also instituted mentorship programs, livelihood training, community conversations about girls' education and child marriage, and gave school supplies for girls. After the two-year program, girls in families eligible for the program were three times more likely to be in school and one tenth as likely to be married compared to their peers.
The Global Campaign for the Prevention of Child Marriage (GCPCM) was launched in March 2019. Its primary goal is raising awareness and addressing child marriage in the world.
Other programs have addressed child marriage less directly through a variety of programming related to girls' empowerment, education, sexual and reproductive health, financial literacy, life skills, communication skills, and community mobilization.
In 2018, UN Women announced that Jaha Dukureh would serve as Goodwill Ambassador in Africa to help organize to prevent child marriage.
Tipping point analysis
Researchers at the International Center for Research on Women found that in some communities rates of child marriage increase significantly when girls are a particular age. This "tipping point", or age at which rates of marriage increase dramatically, may occur years before the median age of marriage. Therefore, the researchers argue prevention programs should focus their programming on girls who are pre-tipping point age rather than only girls who are married before they reach the median age for marriage.
Prevalence data
See also
Arranged marriage
Baad (practice)
Because I Am a Girl
Child sexuality
Forced marriage
Jewish views on marriage
Jirga
Karo kari
List of child brides
List of child bridegrooms
Marriageable age
Marriage in Islam
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery
Teenage marriage
Teenage pregnancy
Vani (custom)
Watta satta
Westermarck effect
Women related laws in Pakistan
Notes
References
Works cited
External links
UN Population Fund on Child Marriage
Arranged marriage
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eerie%2C%20Indiana
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Eerie, Indiana
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Eerie, Indiana is an American horror science fiction television series that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1991, to December 9, 1993. The series was created by José Rivera and Karl Schaefer, with Joe Dante serving as creative consultant.
A total of nineteen episodes were produced. The final episode aired for the first time in 1993, when the series was syndicated on The Disney Channel. The show was rerun on The Disney Channel from October 7, 1993 to late March 1996. In 1997, the show generated a new fan base, when the Fox Kids Network aired the series on Saturday mornings from January to September, gaining something of a cult following despite its short run. The renewed popularity of the series encouraged Fox Kids to produce a spin-off Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, lasting only one season in 1998.
Overview
The series revolves around Marshall Teller, a teenager whose family moves to the desolate town of Eerie, Indiana, population of 16,661. While moving into his new home, he meets Simon Holmes, one of the few normal people in Eerie. Together, they are faced with bizarre scenarios, which include discovering a sinister group of intelligent dogs that are planning on taking over the world, and meeting a tornado hunter who is reminiscent of Captain Ahab. They also confront numerous urban legends such as Bigfoot and a still-living Elvis Presley. Although the show was host to a plethora of jokes, it also featured a serious tone.
After thirteen episodes, one of which did not air during the network run, the series was retooled with Jason Marsden's "Dash X" added to the cast and Archie Hahn's Mr. Radford revealed to be an imposter, with John Astin revealed as the "actual" Mr. Radford. The final produced episode was a tongue-in-cheek, fourth-wall-breaking sequence of events depicting Dash X's attempts to take over as star of the show.
Characters
Main
Marshall Teller, played by Omri Katz, is the protagonist of the series. With the help of his sidekick and best friend, Simon Holmes, he manages to unravel the many mysteries that plague Eerie, Indiana. Before moving to Eerie, Indiana, he and his family once lived in a large city, which he preferred. Though occasionally arrogant, Marshall is also intelligent, resourceful and quick-thinking, qualities that come in handy during his investigations. He is sometimes torn between hanging out with Simon and following his burgeoning instincts about girls. Marshall constantly compares Eerie to where he grew up in New Jersey, which is the epitome of 'normal' in his mind. He is a fan of the New York Giants.
Simon Holmes, played by Justin Shenkarow, is Marshall's nine-year-old best friend. Due to the constant arguing between Simon's parents, he chooses to spend most of his free time hanging out with Marshall. Prior to Marshall's arrival, Simon was a lonely child, as most of his peers in Eerie shun him. Similar to Marshall, Simon believes that something is afoul in Eerie. In the episode "America's Scariest Home Video", it is revealed that Simon has a younger brother, Harley Schwarzenegger Holmes, who only appeared in that episode.
Edgar Teller, played by Francis Guinan, is Marshall's father. Edgar works at "Things Incorporated", a product testing company, for a living. According to Marshall, it was Edgar's idea to leave New Jersey, and move to Eerie. During the course of the series, it is revealed that Edgar interned at the Smithsonian Institution before entering the Syracuse University to do his undergraduate work in archaeology. He later received a scholarship from NASA to attend M.I.T., where he worked on his thesis, "Matter: What is it Exactly?". As Edgar is a scientist, many fans believe that his name was a subtle nod towards Edward Teller, an American nuclear physicist who helped develop the hydrogen bomb.
Marilyn Teller, played by Mary-Margaret Humes, is Marshall's mother. Marilyn operates her own party planning business at the Eerie Mall. Ironically, as shown in "Forever Ware", Marilyn is not an organised person. In episode "Who's Who", she is briefly adopted as a mother by Sara Bob, who is trying to create a perfect family.
Syndi Marie Priscilla Teller, played by Julie Condra, is Marshall's older sister. At the time in which Marshall introduces Syndi to the audience, she is practicing for her drivers license test. Marshall often ridicules his sister for the awkward spelling of her name. Syndi aims to be a reporter and spends time with the Eerie police and fire department to gain experience. "The Loyal Order of Corn" is the only episode where Syndi does not appear.
Dash X, played by Jason Marsden, is a character shrouded in mystery. First introduced in the episode "The Hole in the Head Gang", Dash claims that he woke up in "Weirdsville" without any knowledge to how he got there. Dash has no memory of parents, hometown, past or his real name. Since Dash has no home, he is forced to live on the streets and eat out of Dumpsters. Dash is commonly referred to as "The Kid with the Grey Hair". People would later go on to call him the "Sneaky Kid with the Hair" and "The Kid with No Name". On some occasions, Dash would help Marshall and Simon solve some of Eerie's mysteries, most notably by helping them infiltrate the Loyal Order of Corn cult. Dash X gave himself his name in the episode "The Loyal Order of the Corn", as a reference to the mysterious '-' and '+' markings on his hands which were shared by the extraterrestrial leader of the cult. Dash X wonders if the cult leader, played by Ray Walston is his father, but the leader ruefully and cryptically remarks, "If only it were as simple as that," before returning to his homeworld.
Recurring
Mr. Radford (the imposter – revealed as Fred Suggs) – (Archie Hahn)
Mr. Radford (the real one) – (John Astin)
Winifred Swanson and Mother – (Belinda Balaski)
Sergeant Knight – (Harry Goaz)
Mayor Winston Chisel – (Gregory Itzin)
The Anchorman – (Doug Llewelyn)
Elvis Presley – (Steven Peri)
Bertram Wilson – (Nathan Schultz & Dan Stanton)
Ernest Wilson – (Nicholas Schultz & Don Stanton)
Harley Schwarzenegger Holmes – (Christian and Joseph Cousins)
Lodgepoole – (Henry Gibson)
Production
Writing
Each episode was strewn with in-jokes and references to old films, particularly horror films:
In the episode "Heart on a Chain", a scene begins with a shot of spider web before panning right to action taking place. Whilst looking at the spider web, one can faintly hear a high-pitched voice crying "Help me! Help me!", a sly reference to the 1958 version of The Fly. Also in this episode, Marshall's creepy English teacher is called Miss Annabel Lee, a reference to the morbid Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name. Right at the end of the episode, the Grim Reaper is seen in the background.
In the episode "Mr. Chaney", Marshall meets a werewolf that, while in human form, goes by the name of "Mr. Chaney", a nod to Lon Chaney Jr. who played the title role in the 1941 version of The Wolf Man. In this same episode, there is a reference to the 1981 film The Howling, a film about werewolves directed by Joe Dante, himself an occasional director of the show. There is also a mention of David Lynch's TV show Twin Peaks with Marshall exclaiming at one point 'It's you!' and the Grey Haired Kid, holding a log with which he just hit Mr. Chaney, replying 'Well, it ain't the Log Lady.'
In the episode "Just Say No Fun", the name of the school is B. F. Skinner Middle School in reference to the eponymous psychologist.
In the episode "America's Scariest Home Video", an actor from a classic mummy movie is transported into the Teller home. The actor's name is Boris Von Orloff, a reference to Boris Karloff, who played the title role in the 1932 film, The Mummy.
In the episode "The Retainer", the orthodontist's name is Dr. Eukanuba, a reference to the dog food brand and the episode's plot about evil dogs.
In the episode "No Brain, No Pain", a leather clad woman with sunglasses utters, "I'll be back", before hastily leaving Marshall and his friends. Her appearance and quote reminisces Arnold Schwarzenegger's role as The Terminator. She was also referred to as "Mrs. Terminator" by one of the boys. Incidentally Simon's little brother's middle name is "Schwarzenegger". Additionally, an instrumental variation of the song "My Sharona" is played during portions of the episode, while the song is referenced several times. Marshall's family eats at the Dragon of the Black Pool Chinese restaurant, a direct reference to the film Big Trouble in Little China.
In the episode "Reality Takes a Holiday" Marshall says, "I don't have a dog named Toto. But, if I did, right about now I'd be telling him – Toto, I don't think we're in Indiana any more", a reference to The Wizard of Oz. Later in the episode, Dash X says, "he's the kind of guy who actually believes that there's no place like home".
In the first episode, "Forever Ware'" Marshall says, "Dad's job is one of the reasons we moved here, because, statistically speaking, Eerie's the most normal place in the entire country". This is a reference to the Middletown studies which served as a sociological case study of Muncie, Indiana in the 1920s and 1930s. Several references are also made to the popular children's show Sesame Street. For example, the two twin boys are named Bertram and Ernest, or Bert and Ernie for short.
Also in the first episode, Marshall jokes "Where's Donna Reed when you need her?" This is a reference to The Donna Reed Show where Reed played the typical 1950s housewife and foreshadows the arrival of Betty Wilson, whose look and characterisation are heavily inspired by said show. Donna Reed also played the grandmother of Omri Katz's character in Dallas between 1984 and 1985.
Episodes
A total of nineteen episodes of Eerie, Indiana were produced before the show's cancellation. The episode "The Broken Record" was the only episode which did not air before the show's retooling and was omitted during the show's initial run on NBC. The episode aired for the first time on television when the series was syndicated on The Disney Channel in 1993.
The show's producers planned to make an episode entitled "The Jolly Rogers", which featured a group of pirates in search for buried treasure in the Teller house.
* "The Hole in the Head Gang" is the first episode in which the episode titles are shown on screen.
Reception
Eerie, Indiana was well received by critics when it debuted on television. Entertainment Weekly gave it a "B" rating and Ken Tucker wrote "You watch Eerie for the small-screen spectacle of it all—to see the way, in the show's first few weeks, feature-film directors like Joe Dante (Gremlins) and Tim Hunter (River's Edge) oversaw episodes that summoned up an atmosphere of absurdist suburban dread."
In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, Miles Beller wrote "Scripted by Karl Schaefer and José Rivera with smart, sharp insights; slyly directed by feature film helmsman Joe Dante; and given edgy life by the show's winning cast, Eerie, Indiana shapes up as one of the fall season's standouts, a newcomer that has the fresh, bracing look of Edward Scissorhands and scores as a clever, wry presentation well worth watching." In his review for the Orange County Register, Ray Richmond wrote "It's the kind of knowingly hip series with equally strong appeal for both kids and adults, the kind that preteens will watch and discuss."
USA Today described the show as "Stephen King by way of The Simpsons", and Matt Roush wrote "Eerie recalls Edward Scissorhands and even—heaven help it—David Lynch in its garish nightmare-comedy depiction of the lurid and silly horrors that lurk beneath suburban conformity." In his review for The Washington Times, David Klinghoffer wrote "Everything about the pilot exceeds the normal minimal expectations of TV. Mr. Dante directs as if he were making a movie, and a good one. In a departure from usual TV operating procedures, he sometimes actually has more than one thing going on on screen at the same time!"
Broadcast history
In the UK, Eerie, Indiana was shown on Channel 4 from March to July 1993.
In 2012, the entire series was added to the Hulu website.
Reruns of the series began in August 2012 on the now-defunct Fearnet, airing weekend mornings on their "Funhouse" block.
As of 2022, the series is available to stream on Amazon Freevee.
Spin-off series
In 1997, the show generated a new fan base, when Fox's children's programming block Fox Kids aired the series. The following year, a spin-off series was produced entitled, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension. The series was filmed in Canada and focused on another, younger boy while still following the concept of the original show. The spin-off lasted one season. The first episode of the spin-off, "Switching Channels", features a crossover between the two shows via a TV set.
Home media
On October 12, 2004, Alpha Video released Eerie, Indiana: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 5-disc box set features all nineteen episodes of the original series.
In other media
Books
Following its rebroadcast on Fox in 1997, Avon began publishing a series of paperback books based on the television series. They featured new stories with Marshall and Simon continuing to solve various perplexing phenomena in Eerie. Books in the series were written by authors Michael Thomas Ford, Sherry Shahan, Jeremy Roberts, John Peel and Robert James.
Titles
Return to Forever Ware (Mike Ford) (October 1997) : Marshall and Simon get jobs cleaning a strange couple's basement out and discover that they were Forever Ware representatives and also used the infamous Tupperware to keep themselves young.
Bureau of Lost (John Peel) (October 1997) : Eerie's Bureau of Lost suffers a power failure, and all of history's famous figures who went missing and/or died under mysterious circumstances (Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, Amelia Earhart, among others) are on the loose and planning to commit crimes.
The Eerie Triangle (Mike Ford) (October 1997) : Marshall and Simon try to solve the mystery of why Eerie, Indiana's town founder is not mentioned in the history books and if it has anything to do with a possible alien invasion cover-up in the 1950s.
Simon and Marshall's Excellent Adventure (John Peel) (November 1997) : Simon and Marshall suspect a new boy, Jazen, who seems to disappear into thin air as he is about to be caught, of being a time traveler.
Have Yourself an Eerie Little Christmas (Mike Ford) (December 1997) : Marshall and Simon find themselves in a Dickensian London town on Christmas Eve—and discover that they are trapped inside a snow globe and will remain so unless they can find a way out.
Fountain of Weird (Sherry Shahan) (January 1998) : Marshall and Simon find themselves at the Old Fogey's Farm, run by Dr. Beelzebug, who has discovered a way to stop people from aging. But he uses hormones from young people to do it—and he plans for the boys to be his next donors.
Attack of the Two-Ton Tomatoes (Mike Ford) (February 1998) : Everyone in Eerie begins eating a new line of super-juicy, super-big vegetables to get healthy, but Marshall and Simon soon find that the produce is turning the people into plant monsters.
Who Framed Alice Prophet? (Mike Ford) (March 1998) : A mysterious painting leads Marshall and Simon on the trail of an artist who makes her paintings too real.
Bring Me a Dream (Robert James) (March 1998) : When anything the Tellers dream of is delivered to Marshall's door, it's fun at first—until the delivery van starts leaving nightmares.
Finger-Lickin' Strange (Jeremy Roberts) (May 1998) : The new chef at World o' Stuff's lunch counter is a sensation: everybody raves about her cooking, but Marshall and Simon discover why the new chef's lunch leaves people wanting more.
The Dollhouse That Time Forgot (Mike Ford) (June 1998) : Syndi and Mrs. Teller just love the old dollhouse they found at a yard sale, but Marshall and Simon aren't impressed. Still, when they see an interesting doll in a shop window, they make it a present for Syndi. But when Syndi puts the doll into the house, weirdness ensues. And when Marshall sneaks into a real-life house that looks like the dollhouse, he realizes that he's shrinking. What's the connection between all this and the peculiar new girl in school who looks just like Syndi's doll?
They Say (Mike Ford) (July 1998) : Marshall and Simon help an old woman who tells them about The Gathering of They, a secret society behind the myriad of generalizations, advice, and superstitions in society.
Switching Channels (Mike Ford) (August 1998) : In an adaptation of the series premiere of Eerie, Indiana: The New Dimension, two boys named Mitchell and Stanley find their television tuned into another dimension, where two boys named Marshall and Simon are looking for a portal into another reality.
The Incredible Shrinking Stanley (Robert James) (September 1998) : Stanley and Mitchell go to the Eerie Laundromat after Stanley's washer breaks, but when Stanley comes in contact with the laundromat's soaps and powders, he begins to shrink, and unless Mitchell can fix it, Stanley will continue to grow small until he vanishes.
Halloweird (Mike Ford) (October 1998) : Mitchell's dad is planning a special Halloween show on radio station WERD, a spooky story about invaders from Mars. Then Mitchell and Stanley find some terrific costumes at a local shop, and offer to help the proprietor organize a Halloween parade in return for letting them use the costumes for Halloween, unaware that they are about to get caught up in the weirdest adventure of all. Because some of the people in Eerie aren't really people—and Dad's radio show might just turn out to be true.
Eerie in the Mirror (by Robert James) (November 1998) : Stanley and Mitchell accidentally break a mirror, but, rather than seven years' bad luck, the mirror creates an inverted reality of Eerie, Indiana. Can Mitchell and Stanley set things right without coming in contact with their inverted selves?
We Wish You an Eerie Christmas (Robert James) (December 1998) : When the Tellers find themselves on the verge of losing their home, Mitchell's Christmas cheer turns sour, and only the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Not-So-Far-Into-The-Future can help him.
Legacy
Alex Hirsch cited the series as an influence on his own Gravity Falls series.
References
External links
1990s American horror television series
1990s American mystery television series
1990s American science fiction television series
1991 American television series debuts
1993 American television series endings
English-language television shows
Fictional populated places in Indiana
Indiana culture
NBC original programming
Television series about families
Television series about teenagers
Television shows set in Indiana
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin%20Harris%20%28Latter%20Day%20Saints%29
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Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)
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Martin Harris (May 18, 1783 – July 10, 1875) was an early convert to the Latter Day Saint movement who financially guaranteed the first printing of the Book of Mormon and also served as one of Three Witnesses who testified that they had seen the golden plates from which Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon had been translated.
Early life
Harris was born in Easton, New York, the second of the eight children born to Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham.
According to historian Ronald W. Walker, little is known of his youth. In 1808, Harris married his first cousin Lucy Harris.
Harris served with the 39th regiment of the New York State Militia of Ontario County, New York in the War of 1812. He inherited 150 acres.
Until 1831, Harris lived in Palmyra, New York, where he was a prosperous farmer. Harris's neighbors considered him both an honest and superstitious man. A biographer wrote that Harris's "imagination was excitable and fecund." For example, Harris once perceived a sputtering candle to be the work of the devil. An acquaintance said that Harris claimed to have seen Jesus in the shape of a deer and walked and talked with him for two or three miles. The local Presbyterian minister called him "a visionary fanatic." A friend, who praised Harris as being "universally esteemed as an honest man," also declared that Harris's mind "was overbalanced by 'marvellousness'" and that his belief in earthly visitations of angels and ghosts gave him the local reputation of being crazy. Another friend said, "Martin was a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But, he was a great man for seeing spooks." Some Palmyrans, however, remembered Harris as a 'skeptic' who was "not very religious" before the Book of Mormon. Nevertheless, even early anti-Mormons who knew Harris believed that he was "honest," "industrious," "benevolent," and a "worthy citizen."
On Harris's departure from New York with the Latter Day Saints, the local paper wrote: "Several families, numbering about fifty souls, took up their line of march from this town last week for the 'promised land,' among whom was Martin Harris, one of the original believers in the 'Book of Mormon.' Mr. Harris was among the early settlers of this town, and has ever borne the character of an honorable and upright man, and an obliging and benevolent neighbor. He had secured to himself by honest industry a respectable fortune—and he has left a large circle of acquaintances and friends to pity his delusion."
Early interaction with Smith
The Smith family moved to Palmyra in 1816, and in 1824, Harris employed Joseph Smith Sr., to dig a well and a cistern. Smith Sr. reportedly told Harris about the gold plates in 1824. Harris later recounted the first time he saw Joseph Smith use a seer stone, when the latter used it to locate a lost object for Harris.
Role in Anthon transcript
Because Harris wanted assurance of the Book of Mormon's authenticity, Smith transcribed characters from the golden plates to a piece of paper, perhaps the one now known as the Anthon transcript, but there is much to cast doubt on this document being the original as both Harris's and Anthon's accounts describe it differently. In the winter of 1828, Harris took the transcript of characters to New York City, where he met with Charles Anthon, a professor of linguistics at Columbia College. The two men's accounts of the meeting conflict on almost every point. Harris's account is recorded in Smith's History of the Church. According to the account, Harris said that Anthon gave him a certificate verifying the authenticity of the characters and the translations, but that when Anthon learned that Smith claimed to have received the plates from an angel, he took the certificate back and tore it to pieces. Anthon, for his part, gave written accounts in 1834 and 1841. Despite the years in between, both accounts are in good agreement, but there is a contradiction as to whether he had given Harris a written opinion about the transcript or not. In both accounts, Anthon maintained that he told Harris that he (Harris) was a victim of a fraud and not to get involved. In either case, the episode apparently satisfied Harris's doubts about the authenticity of the golden plates and the translation enough to mortgage his farm to have the book printed. Harris's wife continued to oppose his collaboration with Smith.
In both of Anthon's accounts, he states that Harris visited him again after the Book of Mormon was printed and brought him a copy, which Anthon refused to accept. Anthon records that he again advised Harris he had been defrauded and should go straight home and ask to examine the plates locked in the chest, but Harris responded that he could not look at the plates or he and his family would be cursed.
Scribe to Joseph Smith
In February 1828, Harris traveled to Harmony, Pennsylvania to serve as a scribe while Smith dictated the translation of the golden plates. By June 1828, Smith and Harris's work on the translation had resulted in 116 pages of manuscript.
Harris asked Smith for permission to take the 116 pages of manuscript back to his wife to convince her of its authenticity; Smith reluctantly agreed. After Harris had shown the pages to his wife and some others, the manuscript disappeared. The loss temporarily halted the translation of the plates, and when Smith began again, he used other scribes, primarily Oliver Cowdery.
The first extant written revelation to Joseph Smith, dated July 1828, refers to Smith's delivering the 116 pages to Harris. Addressing Smith, the revelation says: "thou deliveredst up that which was sacred, into the hands of a wicked man, who has set at nought the counsels of God, and has broken the most sacred promises, which were made before God, and has depended upon his own judgement, and boasted in his own wisdom."
Book of Mormon financier
Nevertheless, Harris continued to support Smith financially. The translation was completed in June 1829. By August, Smith contracted with publisher E. B. Grandin of Palmyra to print the Book of Mormon. Harris mortgaged his farm to Grandin to ensure payment of the printing costs, and he later sold of his farm to pay off the mortgage. In March 1830, Smith announced a revelation to Harris: "I command you, that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart freely to the printing of the book of Mormon." He warned, "Misery thou shalt receive, if thou wilt slight these counsels: Yea, even destruction of thyself and property. Impart a portion of thy property; Yea, even a part of thy lands and all save the support of thy family. Pay the printer's debt."
Witness to the golden plates
As the translation neared completion, Joseph Smith said he received a revelation from God that three men would be called as special witnesses to the existence of the golden plates. Harris, along with Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, was chosen as one of the Three Witnesses.
In the words of David Whitmer, one of the other two witnesses, "It was in the latter part of June, 1829... Joseph, Oliver Cowdery and myself were together, and the angel showed them [the plates] to us.... [We were] sitting on a log when we were overshadowed by a light more glorious than that of the sun. In the midst of this light, but a few feet from us, appeared a table upon which were many golden plates, also the sword of Laban and the directors. I saw them as plain as I see you now, and distinctly heard the voice of the Lord declaring that the records of the plates of the Book of Mormon were translated by the gift and power of God."
Joseph Smith and Martin Harris had a similar experience, and as the manuscript was prepared for printing, Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris signed a joint statement that has been included in each of the more than 120 million copies of the Book of Mormon printed since then. It reads in part:
"And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true.
In 1839, Smith indicated that Harris's experience in seeing the plates occurred separately from that of Whitmer and Cowdery. The Three Witnesses's attestation was printed with the book, and it has been included in nearly every subsequent edition.
Marital conflict
In part because of their continued disagreement over the legitimacy of Smith and the golden plates, and because of the loss of his farm, Harris and his wife separated. Lucy Harris was described by Lucy Mack Smith as a woman of "irascible temper". Lucy Harris wrote that Martin Harris beat her often—and neighbors attested to seeing her with bruises and other signs of abuse. She also claimed that her husband may have committed adultery with a neighboring "Mrs. Haggard."
High Priest
Harris became an early member of the Church of Christ, which Smith organized on April 6, 1830.
In 1830, Harris prophesied, '"Jackson would be the last president that we would have; and that all persons who did not embrace Mormonism in two years' time would be stricken off the face of the earth.' He said that Palmyra was to be the New Jerusalem, and that her streets were to be paved with gold.".
On June 3, 1831, at a conference at the headquarters of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, Harris was ordained to the office of high priest and served as a missionary in the Midwest, Pennsylvania, and New York.
On February 12, 1834, Sidney Rigdon charged Harris before the Kirtland High Council, then the chief judicial and legislative council of the church. Among the charges was the allegation that Harris had "told Edqr. A.C. Russell that Joseph drank too much liquor when he was translating the Book of Mormon and that he wrestled with many men and threw them &c. Another charge was, that he exalted himself above Bro. Joseph, in that he said bro. Joseph knew not the contents of the Book of Mormon until after it was translated." Harris reportedly admitted that he "had said many things inadvertently calculating to wound the feelings of his brother and promised to do better. The council forgave him and gave him much good advice."
On February 17, 1834, Harris was ordained a member of Kirtland High Council. In response to the conflicts between Mormons and non-Mormons in Missouri, Harris joined what is now known as Zion's Camp and marched from Kirtland to Clay County, Missouri. Afterwards, Harris, along with Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, selected and ordained a "traveling High Council" of 12 men that eventually became the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. (Some early church leaders claimed that Harris, like Smith and Cowdery, was ordained to the priesthood office of apostle; but there is no record of this ordination, and neither Harris nor Cowdery was ever a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.)
Marriage to Caroline Young
Lucy Harris died in the summer of 1836, and on November 1, 1836, Harris married Caroline Young, the 22-year-old daughter of Brigham Young's brother, John. Harris was 31 years older than his new wife; they had seven children together.
Split with Joseph Smith
In 1837, dissension arose in Kirtland over the failure of the church's Kirtland Safety Society bank. Harris called it a "fraud" and was among the dissenters who broke with Smith and attempted to reorganize the church, led by Warren Parrish. Smith and Rigdon relocated to Far West, Missouri. In December 1837, Smith and the Kirtland High Council excommunicated 28 individuals, Harris among them.
In 1838, Smith called the Three Witnesses (Cowdery, Harris, and Whitmer) "too mean to mention; and we had liked to have forgotten them." Parrish's church in Kirtland took control of the temple and became known as The Church of Christ. In its 1838 articles of incorporation, Harris was named one of the church's three trustees.
In 1838, Harris is said to have told "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision."
In March 1838, disillusioned church members said that Harris had publicly denied that any of the Witnesses to the Book of Mormon had ever seen or handled the golden plates. Harris's statement reportedly induced five influential members, including three apostles, to leave the church.
In June 1841, the Painesville Telegraph reported, "Martin Harris believes that the work in its commencement was a genuine work of the Lord, but that Smith, having become worldly and proud, has been forsaken of the Lord, and has become a knave and impostor. He expects that the work will be yet revived, through other instrumentalities."
Strangite, Whitmerite, Gladdenite, Williamite, Shaker
According to residents of Palmyra, Harris had earlier changed his religion several times, though Harris himself claimed never to have joined a church before he became a Mormon. After the killing of Joseph Smith, Harris remained in Kirtland and accepted James Strang as Mormonism's new prophet, one who claimed to have another set of supernatural plates and witnesses to authenticate them. In August 1846, Harris traveled on a mission to England for the Strangite church, but the Mormon conference there declined to hear to him. When he insisted on preaching outside the building, police removed him.
By 1847, Harris had broken with Strang and accepted the leadership claims of fellow Book of Mormon witness David Whitmer. Mormon apostle William E. McLellin organized a Whitmerite congregation in Kirtland, and Harris became a member. By 1851, Harris had accepted another Latter Day Saint factional leader, Gladden Bishop, as prophet and joined Bishop's Kirtland-based organization. In 1855, Harris joined with the last surviving brother of Joseph Smith, William Smith and declared that William was Joseph's true successor. Harris was also briefly intrigued by the "Roll and Book," a scripture that had been supernaturally delivered to the Shakers. By the 1860s, all of those organizations had either dissolved or declined. In 1856, his wife left him to gather with the Mormons in Utah Territory while he remained in Kirtland and gave tours of the temple to curious visitors.
In 1859, Harris gave an interview which described him as "an earnest and sincere advocate of the spiritual and divine authority of the Book of Mormon." It clarified that Harris "does not sympathize with Brigham Young and the Salt Lake Church. He considers them apostates from the true faith; and as being under the influence of the devil. Mr. Harris says, that the pretended church of the 'Latter Day Saints,' are in reality 'latter day devils,' and that himself and a very few others are the only genuine Mormons left."
Rebaptism into LDS Church
In 1870, at 87, Harris moved to the Utah Territory and, shortly afterward, was rebaptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Harris, who had been left destitute and without a congregation in Kirtland, accepted the assistance of members of the LDS Church, who raised $200 () to help him move west. Harris lived the last four and a half years of his life with relatives in Cache Valley. He died on July 10, 1875, in Clarkston, Utah Territory, and was buried there.
Testimony to the Book of Mormon
Although he was estranged from Mormon leaders for most of his life, Harris continued to testify to the truth of the Book of Mormon. Nevertheless, at least during the early years, Harris "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye.'" Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision."
In March 1838, disillusioned church members said that Harris had publicly denied that any of the Witnesses to the Book of Mormon had ever seen or handled the golden plates—although Harris had not been present when Whitmer and Cowdery first said they had viewed them—and they stated that Harris's recantation, made during a period of crisis in early Mormonism, induced five influential members, including three apostles, to leave the church. Even at the end of his long life, Harris said that he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement." Nevertheless, in 1853, Harris told David Dille that he had held the forty- to sixty-pound plates on his knee for "an hour-and-a-half" and handled the plates with his hands, "plate after plate." Even later, Harris affirmed that he had seen the plates and the angel: "Gentlemen," holding out his hand, "do you see that hand? Are you sure you see it? Or are your eyes playing you a trick or something? No. Well, as sure as you see my hand so sure did I see the Angel and the plates." The following year Harris affirmed that "No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon [or] the administration of the angel that showed me the plates."
At the end of his life, Harris responded when he was asked if he still believed in Smith and the Book of Mormon: "Do I believe it! Do you see the sun shining! Just as surely as the sun is shining on us and gives us light, and the [moon] and stars give us light by night, just as surely as the breath of life sustains us, so surely do I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, chosen of God to open the last dispensation of the fulness of times; so surely do I know that the Book of Mormon was divinely translated. I saw the plates; I saw the Angel; I heard the voice of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. I might as well doubt my own existence as to doubt the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon or the divine calling of Joseph Smith."
On his death bed, Harris said: "The Book of Mormon is no fake. I know what I know. I have seen what I have seen and I have heard what I have heard. I have seen the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon is written. An angel appeared to me and others and testified to the truthfulness of the record, and had I been willing to have perjured myself and sworn falsely to the testimony I now bear I could have been a rich man, but I could not have testified other than I have done and am now doing for these things are true."
See also
Notes
References
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Further reading
Tuckett, Madge Harris, and Belle Haris Wilson. The Martin Harris Story: with Biographies of Emer Harris and Dennison Lott Harris. Pleasant Grove, Utah: Vintage Books, 1983. N.B.: The co-authors are descendants of the family of the brothers Martin and Emer Harris. Without ISBN
, on Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages, by William O. Lewis III.
External links
Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham Family, parents of Martin Harris, annotated genealogy.
1783 births
1875 deaths
American Latter Day Saint leaders
American Latter Day Saint missionaries
Angelic visionaries
Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)
Book of Mormon witnesses
Converts to Mormonism
Doctrine and Covenants people
Latter Day Saint missionaries in the United States
Latter Day Saints from New York (state)
People from Easton, New York
People from Palmyra, New York
Religious leaders from New York (state)
Harold B. Lee Library-related 19th century articles
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallicanism
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Gallicanism
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Gallicanism is the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by the monarch's or the state's authority—over the Catholic Church is comparable to that of the pope. Gallicanism is a rejection of ultramontanism; it has something in common with Anglicanism, but is nuanced, in that it plays down the authority of the Pope in church without denying that there are some authoritative elements to the office associated with being primus inter pares ("first among equals"). Other terms for the same or similar doctrines include Erastianism, Febronianism, and Josephinism.
Gallicanism originated in France (the term derives from Gallia, the Latin name of Gaul), and is unrelated to the first-millennium Catholic Gallican Rite. In the 18th century it spread to the Low Countries, especially the Netherlands. The University of Notre Dame professor John McGreevy defines it as "the notion that national customs might trump Roman (Catholic Church) regulations."
Background
Gallicanism is a group of religious opinions that was for some time peculiar to the Catholic Church in France. These opinions were in opposition to the ideas which were called ultramontane, which means "across the mountains" (the Alps). Ultramontanism affirmed the authority of the pope over the temporal kingdoms of the rest of Europe, particularly emphasizing a supreme episcopate for the pope holding universal immediate jurisdiction. This eventually led to the definition by the Roman Catholic Church of the dogma of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council.
Gallicanism tended to restrain the pope's authority in favour of that of bishops and the people's representatives in the State, or the monarch. But the most respected proponents of Gallican ideas did not contest the pope's primacy in the Church, merely his supremacy and doctrinal infallibility. They believed their way of regarding the authority of the pope—more in line with that of the Conciliar movement and akin to the Orthodox and Anglicans—was more in conformity with Holy Scripture and tradition. At the same time, they believed their theory did not transgress the limits of free opinions.
General notions
The Declaration of the Clergy of France of 1682 is made up of four articles:
St. Peter and the popes, his successors, and the Church itself have dominion from God only over things spiritual and not over things temporal and civil. Therefore, kings and sovereigns are not beholden to the church in deciding temporal things. They cannot be deposed by the church and their subjects cannot be absolved by the church from their oaths of allegiance.
The authority in things spiritual belongs to the Holy See and the successors of St. Peter, and does not affect the decrees of the Council of Constance contained in the fourth and fifth sessions of that council, which is observed by the Gallican Church. The Gallicans do not approve of casting slurs on those decrees.
The exercise of this Apostolic authority (puissance) must be regulated in accordance with canons (rules) established by the Holy Spirit through the centuries of Church history.
Although the pope has the chief part in questions of faith, and his decrees apply to all the Churches, and to each Church in particular, yet his judgment is not irreformable, at least pending the consent of the Church.
According to the initial Gallican theory, then, papal primacy was limited first by the temporal power of monarchs, which, by divine will, was inviolable. Secondly, it was limited by the authority of the general councils and the bishops, and lastly by the canons and customs of particular churches, which the pope was bound to take into account when he exercised his authority.
Gallicanism was more than pure theory – the bishops and magistrates of France used it, the former to increase power in the government of dioceses, the latter to extend their jurisdiction so as to cover ecclesiastical affairs. There also was an episcopal and political Gallicanism, and a parliamentary or judicial Gallicanism. The former lessened the doctrinal authority of the pope in favour of that of the bishops, to the degree marked by the Declaration of 1682, and the latter augmented the rights of the state.
There were eighty-three "Liberties of the Gallican Church", according to a collection drawn up by the jurisconsults Guy Coquille and Pierre Pithou. Besides the four articles cited above, which were incorporated, these Liberties included the following:
The Kings of France had the right to assemble councils in their dominions, and to make laws and regulations touching ecclesiastical matters.
The pope's legates could not be sent into France, or exercise their power within that kingdom, except at the king's request or with his consent.
Bishops, even when commanded by the pope, could not go out of the kingdom without the king's consent.
Royal officers could not be excommunicated for any act performed in the discharge of their official duties.
The pope could not authorize the alienation of any landed estate of the Churches, or the diminishing of any foundations.
His bulls and letters might not be executed without the pareatis of the king or his officers.
He could not issue dispensations to the prejudice of the laudable customs and statutes of the cathedral Churches.
It was lawful to appeal from him to a future council, or to have recourse to the "appeal as from an abuse" against acts of the ecclesiastical power.
Parliamentary Gallicanism, therefore, was of much wider scope than episcopal; indeed, it was often disavowed by the bishops of France, and about twenty of them condemned Pierre Pithou's book when a new edition of it was published, in 1638, by the brothers Dupuy.
History
John Kilcullen wrote, in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, that "in France conciliarism was one of the sources of Gallicanism."
Proponents of Gallicanism presented a number of theories as to its origin.
The more moderate held that Gallican ideas and liberties were simply privileges – concessions made by the popes, who had been quite willing to divest themselves of a part of their authority in favour of the bishops or kings of France. Thus the extension of the king's authority ecclesiastical matters was not new. This idea appeared as early as the reign of King Philip IV, in some of the protests of that monarch against the policy of Pope Boniface VIII. In the view of some partisans of the theory, the popes had always thought fit to show especial consideration for the ancient customs of the Gallican Church, which in every age had distinguished itself by its exactitude in the preservation of the Faith and the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline.
Others dated the Gallican approach to the time of the early Carolingians, and explaining them somewhat differently, when the popes found it necessary to delegate certain prerogatives to the king in order that some control be exerted on the Frankish nobles who had taken possession of episcopal sees. The popes had, therefore, granted to Carloman, Pepin, and Charlemagne a spiritual authority which they were to exercise only under papal control; which authority had been inherited by their successors, the Kings of France.
The majority of Gallicans rejected the first theory that described the Gallican liberties as time-honored privileges, since a privilege can always be revoked by the authority which granted it. This was unacceptable, as they maintained that the pope had no power to revoke them. The Ultramontanes pointed out that in that case, such liberties would also be claimed by the German emperors, also heirs of Charlemagne, and that was not the case. Moreover, some privileges the pope cannot grant, such as allowing any kings the privilege of suppressing or curtailing his liberty of communicating with the faithful in a particular territory.
Most of its partisans regarded Gallicanism as a revival of the most ancient traditions of Christianity, found in the conciliar decrees of the earliest centuries or in canon laws of the general and local councils, and the decretals, ancient and modern, which were received in France. "Of all Christian countries", says Fleury, "France has been the most careful to conserve the liberty of her Church and oppose the novelties introduced by Ultramontane canonists". They argued that the popes had extended to their own primacy based upon the false Decretals rather than Divine law. What the Gallicans maintained in 1682 was said to be not a collection of novelties, but a body of beliefs as old as the Church, the discipline of the first centuries. The Church of France had upheld and practised them at all times; the Church Universal had believed and practised them in the past, until about the tenth century; St. Louis had supported, but not created, them by the Pragmatic Sanction; the Council of Constance had taught them with the pope's approbation. Gallican ideas, then, must have had no other origin than that of Christian dogma and ecclesiastical discipline.
The early Middle Ages
To the similarity of the historical vicissitudes through which they passed, their common political allegiance, and the early appearance of a national sentiment, the Churches of France owed it that they very soon formed an individual, compact, and homogeneous body. From the end of the fourth century the popes themselves recognized this solidarity. It was to the "Gallican" bishops that Pope Damasus I addressed the most ancient decretal which has been preserved to our times (Babut 1904). Two centuries later St. Gregory the Great pointed out the Gallican Church to his envoy Augustine, the Apostle of England, as one of those whose customs he might accept as of equal stability with those of the Roman Church or of any other whatsoever. But already (if we credit Babut's findings) a Council of Turin, at which bishops of the Gauls took part, had given the first manifestation of Gallican sentiment. Unfortunately for Babut's thesis, all the significance which he attaches to this council depends upon the date, 417, ascribed to it by him, on the mere strength of a personal conjecture, in opposition to the most competent historians. Besides, it is not at all plain how a council of the Province of Milan is to be taken as representing the ideas of the Gallican Church.
In truth, that Church, during the Merovingian period, testifies the same deference to the Holy See as do all the others. Ordinary questions of discipline are in the ordinary course settled in councils, often held with the assent of the kings, but on great occasions – the Council of Epaone (517), Vaison (529), Valence (529), Orléans (538), Tours (567) – the bishops declare that they are acting under the impulse of the Holy See, or defer to its admonitions; they take pride in the approbation of the pope; they cause his name to be read aloud in the churches, just as is done in Italy and in Africa they cite his decretals as a source of canon law; they show indignation at the mere idea that anyone should fail in consideration for them. Bishops condemned in councils (like Salonius of Embrun, Sagittarius of Gap, Contumeliosus of Riez) have no difficulty in appealing to the pope, who, after examination, either confirms or rectifies the sentence pronounced against them.
From Pepin to the Reformation
The accession of the Carolingian dynasty is marked by a splendid act of homage paid in France to the power of the papacy: before assuming the title of king, Pepin made the point of securing the assent of Pope Zachary. Without exaggerating the significance of this act, the bearing of which the Gallicans have done every thing to minimize, one may still see it as evidence that, even before Gregory VII, public opinion in France was not hostile to the intervention of the pope in political affairs. From that time on, the advances of the Roman primacy find no serious opponents in France before Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims. With him there appears the idea that the pope must limit his activity to ecclesiastical matters, and not intrude in those pertaining to the State, which concern kings only; that his supremacy is bound to respect the prescriptions of the ancient canons and the privileges of the Churches; and that his decretals must not be placed upon the same footing as the canons of the councils. His attitude stands out as isolated. The Council of Troyes (867) proclaims that no bishop can be deposed without reference to the Holy See, and the Council of Douzy (871) condemns Hincmar of Laon only under reserve of the rights of the pope.
With the first Capets the secular relations between the pope and the Gallican Church appeared to be momentarily strained. At the Councils of Saint-Basle de Verzy (991) and of Chelles (c. 993), in the discourses of Arnoul, Bishop of Orléans, in the letters of Gerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester II, sentiments of violent hostility to the Holy See are manifested, and an evident determination to elude the authority in matters of discipline which had until then been recognized as belonging to it. But the papacy at that period, given over to the tyranny of Crescentius and other local barons, was in a period of temporary decline. When it regained its independence, its old authority in France came back to it, the work of the Councils of Saint-Basle and of Chelles was undone; princes like Hugh Capet, bishops like Gerbert, held no attitude but that of submission. It has been said that during the early Capetian period the pope was more powerful in France than he had ever been. Under Gregory VII the pope's legates traversed France from north to south, they convoked and presided over numerous councils, and, in spite of sporadic and incoherent acts of resistance, they deposed bishops and excommunicated princes just as in Germany and Spain.
In the following two centuries we can still see no clear evidence of Gallicanism. The pontifical power attains its apogee in France as elsewhere, St. Bernard and St. Thomas Aquinas outline the theory of that power, and their opinion is that of the school in accepting the attitude of Gregory VII and his successors in regard to delinquent princes. St. Louis IX, whom some tried to represent as a patron of the Gallican system, is still ignorant of it – for the fact is now established that the Pragmatic Sanction of 1269, long attributed to him, was a wholesale fabrication put together (about 1445) in the purlieus of the Royal Chancellery of Charles VII to lend countenance to the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. (Löffler 1911)
At the opening of the fourteenth century, however, the conflict between Philip IV and Boniface VIII brought out the first glimmerings of the Gallican ideas. That king did not confine himself to maintaining that, as sovereign, he was the sole and independent master of his temporalities; he proclaimed that, in virtue of the concession made by the pope, with the assent of a general council to Charlemagne and his successors, he had the right to dispose of vacant ecclesiastical benefices. With the consent of the nobility, the Third Estate, and a great part of the clergy, he appealed in the matter from Boniface VIII to a future general council – the implication being that the council is superior to the pope. The same ideas and others still more hostile to the Holy See reappeared in the struggle of Fratricelles and Louis of Bavaria against Pope John XXII; they were expressed by the pens of William of Occam, of John of Jandun, and of Marsilius of Padua, professors in the University of Paris. Among other things, they denied the divine origin of the papal primacy, and subject the exercise of it to the good pleasure of the temporal ruler. Following the pope, the University of Paris condemned these views; but for all that they did not entirely disappear from the memory, or from the disputations, of the schools, for the principal work of Marsilius, Defensor Pacis, was translated into French in 1375, probably by a professor of the University of Paris. The Western Schism reawakened them suddenly.
The idea of a council naturally suggested itself as a means of healing that unfortunate division of Christendom. Upon that idea was soon grafted the conciliary theory, which sets the council above the pope, making it the sole representative of the Church, the sole organ of infallibility. Timidly sketched by two professors of the University of Paris, Conrad of Gelnhausen and Henry of Langenstein, this theory was completed and noisily interpreted to the public by Pierre d'Ailly and Gerson. At the same time the clergy of France, disgusted with Benedict XIII, withdrew from his obedience. It was in the assembly which voted on this measure (1398) that for the first time there was any question of bringing back the Church of France to its ancient liberties and customs – of giving its prelates once more the right of conferring and disposing of benefices. The same idea comes into the foreground in the claims put forward in 1406 by another assembly of the French clergy; to win the votes of the assembly, certain orators cited the example of what was happening in England. Johannes Haller concluded from this that these so-called Ancient Liberties were of English origin, that the Gallican Church really borrowed them from its neighbour, only imagining them to be a revival of its own past. This opinion does not seem well founded. The precedents cited by Haller go back to the parliament held at Carlisle in 1307, at which date the tendencies of reaction against papal reservations had already manifested themselves in the assemblies convoked by Philip the Fair in 1302 and 1303. The most that we can admit is, that the same ideas received parallel development from both sides of the channel.
Together with the restoration of the "Ancient Liberties" the assembly of the clergy in 1406 intended to maintain the superiority of the council to the pope, and the fallibility of the latter. However widely they may have been accepted at the time, these were only individual opinions or opinions of a school, when the Council of Constance came to give them the sanction of its high authority. In its fourth and fifth sessions it declared that the council represented the Church and that every person, no matter of what dignity, even the pope, was bound to obey it in what concerned the extirpation of the schism and the reform of the Church; that even the pope, if he resisted obstinately, might be constrained by process of law to obey it in the above-mentioned points. This was the birth or, if we prefer to call it so, the legitimation of Gallicanism. So far we had encountered in the history of the Gallican Church recriminations of malcontent bishops, or a violent gesture of some prince discomforted in his avaricious designs; but these were only fits of resentment or ill humor, accidents with no attendant consequences; this time the provisions made against exercise of the pontifical authority had a lasting effect. Gallicanism had implanted itself in the minds of men as a national doctrine and it only remained to apply it in practice. This is to be the work of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. In that instrument the clergy of France inserted the articles of Constance repeated at Basle, and upon that warrant assumed authority to regulate the collation of benefices and the temporal administration of the Churches on the sole basis of the common law, under the king's patronage, and independently of the pope's action. From Eugene IV to Leo X the popes did not cease to protest against the Pragmatic Sanction, until it was replaced by the Concordat of Bologna in 1516. But, if its provisions disappeared from the laws of France, the principles it embodied for a time nonetheless continued to inspire the schools of theology and parliamentary jurisprudence. Those principles even appeared at the Council of Trent, where the ambassadors, theologians, and bishops of France repeatedly championed them, notably when the council discussed whether episcopal jurisdiction comes immediately from God or through the pope, whether or not the council ought to ask confirmation of its decrees from the sovereign pontiff, etc. Then again, it was in the name of the Liberties of the Gallican Church that a part of the clergy and the Parlementaires opposed the publication of the Council of Trent; and the crown decided to detach from it and publish what seemed good, in the form of ordinances emanating from the royal authority.
After the Reformation
The assassination of Henry IV, which was exploited to move public opinion against Ultramontanism and the activity of Edmond Richer, syndic of the Sorbonne, brought about, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, a revival of Gallicanism. In 1663 the Sorbonne declared that it admitted no authority of the pope over the king's temporal dominion, nor his superiority to a general council, nor infallibility apart from the Church's consent.
In 1682, Louis XIV having decided to extend to all the Churches of his kingdom the droit de regale, or right of receiving the revenue of vacant sees, and of conferring the sees themselves at his pleasure, Pope Innocent XI opposed the king's designs. The king assembled the clergy of France and, on 19 March 1682, the thirty-six prelates and thirty-four deputies of the second order who constituted that assembly adopted the four articles summarized above and transmitted them to all the other bishops and archbishops of France. Three days later the king commanded the registration of the articles in all the schools and faculties of theology; no one could be admitted to degrees in theology without having maintained this doctrine in one of his theses and it was forbidden to write anything against them. Pope Innocent XI issued the Rescript of 11 April 1682, in which he voided and annulled all that the assembly had done in regard to the regale; he also refused Bulls to all members of the assembly who were proposed for vacant bishoprics.
In the same way Alexander VIII, by a Constitution dated 4 August 1690, quashed as detrimental to the Holy See the proceedings both in the matter of the regale and in that of the declaration on the ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction, which had been prejudicial to the clerical estate and order. The bishops designate to whom Bulls had been refused received them at length, in 1693, only after addressing to Pope Innocent XII a letter in which they disavowed everything that had been decreed in that assembly in regard to the ecclesiastical power and the pontifical authority. The king himself wrote to the pope (14 September 1693) to announce that a royal order had been issued against the execution of the edict of 23 March 1682.
In spite of these disavowals, the Declaration of 1682 remained thenceforward the living symbol of Gallicanism, professed by the great majority of the French clergy, obligatorily defended in the faculties of theology, schools, and seminaries, guarded from the lukewarmness of French theologians and the attacks of foreigners by the inquisitorial vigilance of the French parliaments, which never failed to condemn to suppression every work that seemed hostile to the principles of the Declaration.
From France Gallicanism spread, about the middle of the eighteenth century, into the Low Countries, thanks to the works of the jurisconsult Zeger Bernhard van Espen. Under the pseudonym of Febronius, Hontheim introduced it into Germany where it took the forms of Febronianism and Josephism. The Synod of Pistoia (1786) even tried to acclimatize it in Italy. But its diffusion was sharply arrested by the French Revolution, which took away its chief support by overturning the thrones of kings. Against the Revolution that drove them out and wrecked their sees, nothing was left to the bishops of France but to link themselves closely with the Holy See. After the Concordat of 1801 French Governments made some pretence of reviving, in the Organic Articles, the "Ancient Gallican Liberties" and the obligation of teaching the articles of 1682, but ecclesiastical Gallicanism was never again resuscitated except in the form of a vague mistrust of Rome. On the fall of Napoleon and the Bourbons, the work of Lamennais, of "L'Avenir" and other publications devoted to Roman ideas, the influence of Dom Guéranger, and the effects of religious teaching ever increasingly deprived it of its partisans.
When the First Vatican Council opened, in 1869, it had in France only timid defenders. When that council declared that the pope has in the Church the plenitude of jurisdiction in matters of faith, morals discipline, and in administration, that his decisions ex cathedra are of themselves, and without the assent of the Church, infallible and irreformable, it dealt Gallicanism a fatal blow. Three of the four articles were directly condemned. As to the remaining one, the first, the council made no specific declaration; but an important indication of the Catholic doctrine was given in the condemnation fulminated by Pope Pius IX against the 24th proposition of the Syllabus of Errors, in which it was asserted that the Church cannot have recourse to force and is without any temporal authority, direct or indirect. Pope Leo XIII shed more direct light upon the question in his Encyclical Immortale Dei (12 November 1885), where we read: "God has apportioned the government of the human race between two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the former set over things divine, the latter over things human. Each is restricted within limits which are perfectly determined and defined in conformity with its own nature and special aim. There is therefore, as it were a circumscribed sphere in which each exercises its functions jure proprio". And in the Encyclical Sapientiae Christianae (10 January 1890), the same pontiff adds: "The Church and the State have each its own power, and neither of the two powers is subject to the other."
See also
References
Sources
Website of the Gallican Church (l'Eglise Gallicane )
P. Babut, "La plus ancienne décrétale", Paris, 1904 (in French, referenced implicitly by the Catholic Encyclopedia article).
Cardinal Giovanni Battista De Luca: Nepotism in the Seventeenth-century Catholic Church and De Luca's Efforts to Prohibit the Practice
Rothrock, George A. "The French Crown and the Estates General of 1614". French Historical Studies, vol. 1, no. 3, 1960, pp. 295–318. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/285971.
Thompson, D. (1986). General Ricci and the Suppression of the Jesuit Order in France 1760–4. The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 37(3), 426–441. doi:10.1017/S0022046900021485
15th-century Catholicism
Religion in the Ancien Régime
History of Catholicism in France
Political history of the Ancien Régime
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Bible translations into English
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Partial Bible translations into languages of the English people can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into Old and Middle English. More than 100 complete translations into English have been produced. A number of translations have been prepared of parts of the Bible, some deliberately and some projects have been abandoned.
Old English
The Bible in its entirety was not translated into English until the Middle English period, with John Wycliffe's translation in 1382. In the centuries before this, however, many had translated large portions of the Bible into English. Parts of the Bible were first translated from the Latin Vulgate into Old English by a few monks and scholars. Such translations were generally in the form of prose or as interlinear glosses (literal translations above the Latin words).
Very few complete translations existed during that time. Most of the books of the Bible existed separately and were read as individual texts. Translations of the Bible often included the writer's own commentary on passages in addition to the literal translation.
Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne and Abbot of Malmesbury (639–709), is thought to have written an Old English translation of the Psalms.
Bede (c. 672–735) produced a translation of the Gospel of John into Old English, which he is said to have prepared shortly before his death. This translation is lost; we know of its existence from Cuthbert of Jarrow's account of Bede's death.
In the 10th century an Old English translation of the Gospels was made in the Lindisfarne Gospels: a word-for-word gloss inserted between the lines of the Latin text by Aldred, Provost of Chester-le-Street. This is the oldest extant translation of the Gospels into the English language.
The Wessex Gospels (also known as the West-Saxon Gospels) are a full translation of the four gospels into a West Saxon dialect of Old English. Produced in approximately 990, they are the first translation of all four gospels into English without the Latin text.
In the 11th century, Abbot Ælfric translated much of the Old Testament into Old English. The Old English Hexateuch is an illuminated manuscript of the first six books of the Old Testament (the Hexateuch).
Middle English
The Ormulum is in Middle English of the 12th century. Like its Old English precursor from Ælfric, an abbot of Eynsham, it includes very little Biblical text, and focuses more on personal commentary. This style was adopted by many of the original English translators. For example, the story of the Wedding at Cana is almost 800 lines long, but fewer than 40 lines are in the actual translation of the text. An unusual characteristic is that the translation mimics Latin verse, and so is similar to the better known and appreciated 14th-century English poem Cursor Mundi.
Richard Rolle (1290–1349) wrote an English Psalter. Many religious works are attributed to Rolle, but it has been questioned how many are genuinely from his hand. Many of his works were concerned with personal devotion, and some were used by the Lollards.
Theologian John Wycliffe (c. 1320s–1384) is credited with translating what is now known as Wycliffe's Bible, though it is not clear how much of the translation he himself did. This translation came out in two different versions. The earlier text is characterised by a strong adherence to the word order of Latin, and might have been difficult for the layperson to comprehend. The later text made more concessions to the native grammar of English.
Early Modern and Modern English
Early Modern English
Early Modern English Bible translations are of between about 1500 and 1800, the period of Early Modern English. This was the first major period of Bible translation into the English language.
This period began with the introduction of the Tyndale Bible. The first complete edition of his New Testament was in 1526. William Tyndale used the Greek and Hebrew texts of the New Testament (NT) and Old Testament (OT) in addition to Jerome's Latin translation. He was the first translator to use the printing press – this enabled the distribution of several thousand copies of his New Testament translation throughout England. Tyndale did not complete his Old Testament translation.
The first printed English translation of the whole Bible was produced by Miles Coverdale in 1535, using Tyndale's work together with his own translations from the Latin Vulgate or German text. After much scholarly debate it is concluded that this was printed in Antwerp and the colophon gives the date as 4 October 1535. This first edition was adapted by Coverdale for his first "authorised version", known as the Great Bible, of 1539.
Other early printed versions were the Geneva Bible published by Sir Rowland Hill in 1560. This version is notable for being the first Bible divided into verses and which negated the Divine Right of Kings; the Bishop's Bible (1568), which was an attempt by Elizabeth I to create a new authorised version; and the Authorized King James Version of 1611.
The first complete Catholic Bible in English was the Douay–Rheims Bible, of which the New Testament portion was published in Rheims in 1582 and the Old Testament somewhat later in Douay in Gallicant Flanders. The Old Testament was completed by the time the New Testament was published but, due to extenuating circumstances and financial issues, it was not published until nearly three decades later, in two editions: the first released in 1609, and the rest of the OT in 1610. In this version, the seven deuterocanonical books are amongst the other books, as in the Latin Vulgate, rather than kept separate in an appendix.
Modern English
While early English Bibles were generally based on a small number of Greek texts, or on Latin translations, modern English translations of the Bible are based on a wider variety of manuscripts in the original languages, mostly Greek and Hebrew.
The translators put much scholarly effort into cross-checking the various sources such as the Septuagint, Textus Receptus, and Masoretic Text. Relatively recent discoveries such as the Dead Sea scrolls provide additional reference information. Some controversy has existed over which texts should be used as a basis for translation, as some of the alternate sources do not include phrases (or sometimes entire verses) which are found only in the Textus Receptus.
Some say the alternate sources were poorly representative of the texts used in their time, whereas others claim the Textus Receptus includes passages that were added to the alternate texts improperly. These controversial passages are not the basis for disputed issues of doctrine: they tend to be additional stories or snippets of phrases. Many modern English translations, such as the New International Version, contain limited text notes indicating where differences occur in original sources.
A somewhat greater number of textual differences are noted in the New King James Bible, indicating hundreds of New Testament differences between the Nestle-Aland, the Textus Receptus, and the Hodges edition of the Majority Text. The differences in the Old Testament are less well documented, but they do contain some references to differences between consonantal interpretations in the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint. Even with these hundreds of differences, however, a more complete listing is beyond the scope of most single-volume Bibles.
Individual translations
While most Bible translations are made by committees of scholars in order to avoid bias or idiosyncrasy, translations are sometimes made by individuals. The following, selected translations are largely the work of individual translators:
Noah Webster's Bible Translation (1833),
Young's Literal Translation (1862),
Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson (1864),
Julia E. Smith Parker Translation (1876), "Translated Literally",
J.N. Darby's Darby Bible (1890),
Five Pauline Epistles, New Translation (1900) by William Gunion Rutherford,
Bryant Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (1902),
Modern Reader's Bible (1914) by Richard Green Moulton (1918)
Helen Barrett Montgomery's The Centenary Translation (1924)
George Lamsa translated The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts (1933)
S. H. Hooke's The Bible in Basic English (1949),
R.A. Knox (1950),
J.B. Phillips (1958),
Verkuyl's Berkeley Version (1959),
Holy Name Bible containing the Holy Name Version of the Old and New Testaments (1963) by Angelo Traina,
The Living Bible (1971) by Kenneth N. Taylor,
The Bible in Living English (1972) by Stephen T. Byington,
Jay P. Green's Literal Translation (1985),
Heinz Cassirer's translation (1989),
The Complete Jewish Bible (1998) by Dr. David H. Stern,
American King James Version (1999) by Michael Engelbrite,
Eugene H. Peterson's The Message (2002),
The Original Aramaic Bible in Plain English (2010) by David Bauscher,
Father Nicholas King's translation of the Greek Bible into English.
The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, by Robert Alter (2019)
Others, such as N. T. Wright, have translated portions of the Bible.
Jewish translations
Jewish English Bible translations are modern English Bible translations that include the books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) according to the Masoretic Text, and according to the traditional division and order of Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim.
Jewish translations often also reflect traditional Jewish interpretations of the Bible, as opposed to the Christian understanding that is often reflected in non-Jewish translations. For example, Jewish translations translate עלמה ‘almâh in Isaiah 7:14 as young woman, while many Christian translations render the word as virgin.
While modern biblical scholarship is similar for both Christians and Jews, there are distinctive features of Jewish translations, even those created by academic scholars. These include the avoidance of Christological interpretations, adherence to the Masoretic Text (at least in the main body of the text, as in the new Jewish Publication Society (JPS) translation) and greater use of classical Jewish exegesis. Some translations prefer names transliterated from the Hebrew, though the majority of Jewish translations use the Anglicized forms of biblical names.
The first English Jewish translation of the Bible into English was by Isaac Leeser in the 19th century.
The JPS produced two of the most popular Jewish translations, namely the JPS The Holy Scriptures of 1917 and the NJPS Tanakh (first printed in a single volume in 1985, second edition in 1999).
Since the 1980s there have been multiple efforts among Orthodox publishers to produce translations that are not only Jewish, but also adhere to Orthodox norms. Among these are The Living Torah and Nach by Aryeh Kaplan and others, the Torah and other portions in an ongoing project by Everett Fox, and the ArtScroll Tanakh.
Approaches to translation
Modern translations take different approaches to the rendering of the original languages of approaches. The approaches can usually be considered to be somewhere on a scale between the two extremes:
Formal equivalence (sometimes called literal translation) in which the greatest effort is made to preserve the meaning of individual words and phrases in the original, with relatively less regard for its understandability by modern readers. Examples include the King James Version, English Standard Version, Literal Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version and New American Standard Bible.
Dynamic equivalence (or functional equivalence, sometimes paraphrastic translation) in which the translator attempts to render the sense and intent of the original. Examples include The Living Bible and The Message.
Some translations have been motivated by a strong theological distinctive. In the Sacred Name Bibles the conviction that God's name be preserved in a Semitic form is followed. The Purified Translation of the Bible promotes the idea that Jesus and early Christians drink grape juice not wine. The Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures renders the tetragrammaton as Jehovah throughout the Old Testament, and it uses the form Jehovah in the New Testament including — but not limited to — passages quoting the Old Testament even though it does not appear in the Greek text.
Single source translations
While most translations attempt to synthesize the various texts in the original languages, some translations also translate one specific textual source, generally for scholarly reasons. A single volume example for the Old Testament is The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible () by Martin Abegg, Peter Flint and Eugene Ulrich.
The Comprehensive New Testament () by T. E. Clontz and J. Clontz presents a scholarly view of the New Testament text by conforming to the Nestle-Aland 27th edition and extensively annotating the translation to fully explain different textual sources and possible alternative translations.
A Comparative Psalter () edited by John Kohlenberger presents a comparative diglot translation of the Psalms of the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint, using the Revised Standard Version and the New English Translation of the Septuagint.
R. A. Knox's Translation of the Vulgate into English is another example of a single source translation.
Alternative approaches
Most translations make the translators' best attempt at a single rendering of the original, relying on footnotes where there might be alternative translations or textual variants. An alternative is taken by the Amplified Bible. In cases where a word or phrase admits of more than one meaning the Amplified Bible presents all the possible interpretations, allowing the reader to choose one. For example, the first two verses of the Amplified Bible read:
In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.
Popularity in US
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association release monthly and annual statistics regarding the popularity of different Bibles sold by their members in the United States. In October 2023, the top 10 best-selling translations were the following:
New International Version
King James Version
English Standard Version
New Living Translation
Christian Standard Bible
6 New King James Version
7 Reina-Valera (Spanish)
8 New International Reader's Version
9 New American Standard Bible
10 New Revised Standard Version
Sales are affected by denomination and religious affiliation. For example, the most popular Jewish version would not compete with rankings of a larger audience. Sales data can be affected by the method of marketing. Some translations are directly marketed to particular denominations or local churches, and many Christian booksellers only offer Protestant Bibles, so books in other biblical canons (such as Catholic and Orthodox Bibles) may not appear as high on the CBA rank.
A study published in 2014 by The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University and Purdue University found that Americans read versions of the Bible as follows:
King James Version (55%)
New International Version (19%)
New Revised Standard Version (7%)
New American Bible (6%)
The Living Bible (5%)
All other translations (8%)
See also
List of English Bible translations
References
Further reading
Esposito, Raffaele. “Translation of Hebrew in English Bible versions”. Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics. Ed. by Geoffrey Khan. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2013, vol. 3, pp. 847–850 .
Daniell, David. The Bible in English: Its History and Influence. Yale University Press, 2003 .
Fowler, David C. The Bible in Early English Literature. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1976.
Grabois, Aryeh. "Bible: Biblical Impact on Daily Life." Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Vol 2. Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983.
Lawton, David. “Englishing the Bible, 1066–1549.” The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999, pp. 454–482.
Levy, Bernard S. Preface. The Bible in the Middle Ages: Its Influence on Literature and Art. Ed. Bernard S. Levy. New York: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1992.
Maas, A.J.. "Versions of the Bible: English Versions" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912.
Paul, William. "Wycliffe, John.” English Language Bible Translators. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland and Company, 2003, pp. 263–264.
Muir, Laurence. "Translations and Paraphrases of the Bible and Commentaries." A Manual of the Writings in Middle English: 1050–1500. Ed. J. Burke Severs. Connecticut: The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1970, vol 2, pp. 381–409.
The New Testament Octapla: Eight English Versions of the New Testament, in the Tyndale-King James Tradition, ed. by Luther A. Weigle. New York: T. Nelson & Sons, 1962. N.B.: The eight English translations of the entire N.T. included (on quarter portions of facing pages) are those of the Bibles in English known as Tyndale's, Great Bible, Geneva Bible, Bishops' Bible, Douay-Rheims (the original Rheims N.T. thereof being included), Great Bible, Authorized "King James", Revised Version, and Revised Standard Version.
Spencer, Nick. Freedom and Order: History, politics and the English Bible. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2011.
Taliaferro, Bradford B. Bible Version Encyclopedia. Lulu Enterprises, 2006–2007.
Wills, Garry, "A Wild and Indecent Book" (review of David Bentley Hart, The New Testament: A Translation, Yale University Press, 577 pp.), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXV, no. 2 (8 February 2018), pp. 34–35. Discusses some pitfalls in interpreting and translating the New Testament.
Kunst, RC. “The Structure of Translation and Hermeneutics” (Oxford Articles 2015).
External links
Certified Translation Service
Great and Manifold: A Celebration of the Bible in English digital collection, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
A timeline and chart of various editions and translations of the Bible in GIF
A collection of links on the Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy, mainly from a perspective opposing Gender-Neutral translations.
"Why the English Standard Version ?", an article comparing literal and dynamically equivalent translations from a retailer of and with a bias for the English Standard Version
English Bible History, with links to historic bibles
modern World English Bible for iPhone and iPad
Biblical criticism
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler%20angles
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Euler angles
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The Euler angles are three angles introduced by Leonhard Euler to describe the orientation of a rigid body with respect to a fixed coordinate system.
They can also represent the orientation of a mobile frame of reference in physics or the orientation of a general basis in 3-dimensional linear algebra.
Classic Euler angles usually take the inclination angle in such a way that zero degrees represent the vertical orientation. Alternative forms were later introduced by Peter Guthrie Tait and George H. Bryan intended for use in aeronautics and engineering in which zero degrees represent the horizontal position.
Chained rotations equivalence
Euler angles can be defined by elemental geometry or by composition of rotations. The geometrical definition demonstrates that three composed elemental rotations (rotations about the axes of a coordinate system) are always sufficient to reach any target frame.
The three elemental rotations may be extrinsic (rotations about the axes xyz of the original coordinate system, which is assumed to remain motionless), or intrinsic (rotations about the axes of the rotating coordinate system XYZ, solidary with the moving body, which changes its orientation with respect to the extrinsic frame after each elemental rotation).
In the sections below, an axis designation with a prime mark superscript (e.g., z″) denotes the new axis after an elemental rotation.
Euler angles are typically denoted as α, β, γ, or ψ, θ, φ. Different authors may use different sets of rotation axes to define Euler angles, or different names for the same angles. Therefore, any discussion employing Euler angles should always be preceded by their definition.
Without considering the possibility of using two different conventions for the definition of the rotation axes (intrinsic or extrinsic), there exist twelve possible sequences of rotation axes, divided in two groups:
Proper Euler angles
Tait–Bryan angles .
Tait–Bryan angles are also called Cardan angles; nautical angles; heading, elevation, and bank; or yaw, pitch, and roll. Sometimes, both kinds of sequences are called "Euler angles". In that case, the sequences of the first group are called proper or classic Euler angles.
Classic Euler angles
Geometrical definition
The axes of the original frame are denoted as x, y, z and the axes of the rotated frame as X, Y, Z. The geometrical definition (sometimes referred to as static) begins by defining the line of nodes (N) as the intersection of the planes xy and XY (it can also be defined as the common perpendicular to the axes z and Z and then written as the vector product N = z × Z). Using it, the three Euler angles can be defined as follows:
(or ) is the signed angle between the x axis and the N axis (x-convention – it could also be defined between y and N, called y-convention).
(or ) is the angle between the z axis and the Z axis.
(or ) is the signed angle between the N axis and the X axis (x-convention).
Euler angles between two reference frames are defined only if both frames have the same handedness.
Conventions by intrinsic rotations
Intrinsic rotations are elemental rotations that occur about the axes of a coordinate system XYZ attached to a moving body. Therefore, they change their orientation after each elemental rotation. The XYZ system rotates, while xyz is fixed. Starting with XYZ overlapping xyz, a composition of three intrinsic rotations can be used to reach any target orientation for XYZ.
Euler angles can be defined by intrinsic rotations. The rotated frame XYZ may be imagined to be initially aligned with xyz, before undergoing the three elemental rotations represented by Euler angles. Its successive orientations may be denoted as follows:
x-y-z or x0-y0-z0 (initial)
x′-y′-z′ or x1-y1-z1 (after first rotation)
x″-y″-z″ or x2-y2-z2 (after second rotation)
X-Y-Z or x3-y3-z3 (final)
For the above-listed sequence of rotations, the line of nodes N can be simply defined as the orientation of X after the first elemental rotation. Hence, N can be simply denoted x′. Moreover, since the third elemental rotation occurs about Z, it does not change the orientation of Z. Hence Z coincides with z″. This allows us to simplify the definition of the Euler angles as follows:
α (or φ) represents a rotation around the z axis,
β (or θ) represents a rotation around the x′ axis,
γ (or ψ) represents a rotation around the z″ axis.
Conventions by extrinsic rotations
Extrinsic rotations are elemental rotations that occur about the axes of the fixed coordinate system xyz. The XYZ system rotates, while xyz is fixed. Starting with XYZ overlapping xyz, a composition of three extrinsic rotations can be used to reach any target orientation for XYZ. The Euler or Tait–Bryan angles (α, β, γ) are the amplitudes of these elemental rotations. For instance, the target orientation can be reached as follows (note the reversed order of Euler angle application):
The XYZ system rotates about the z axis by γ. The X axis is now at angle γ with respect to the x axis.
The XYZ system rotates again, but this time about the x axis by β. The Z axis is now at angle β with respect to the z axis.
The XYZ system rotates a third time, about the z axis again, by angle α.
In sum, the three elemental rotations occur about z, x and z. Indeed, this sequence is often denoted z-x-z (or 3-1-3). Sets of rotation axes associated with both proper Euler angles and Tait–Bryan angles are commonly named using this notation (see above for details).
If each step of the rotation acts on the rotating coordinate system XYZ, the rotation is intrinsic (Z-X'-Z''). Intrinsic rotation can also be denoted 3-1-3.
Signs, ranges and conventions
Angles are commonly defined according to the right-hand rule. Namely, they have positive values when they represent a rotation that appears clockwise when looking in the positive direction of the axis, and negative values when the rotation appears counter-clockwise. The opposite convention (left hand rule) is less frequently adopted.
About the ranges (using interval notation):
for α and γ, the range is defined modulo 2 radians. For instance, a valid range could be .
for β, the range covers radians (but can not be said to be modulo ). For example, it could be or .
The angles α, β and γ are uniquely determined except for the singular case that the xy and the XY planes are identical, i.e. when the z axis and the Z axis have the same or opposite directions. Indeed, if the z axis and the Z axis are the same, β = 0 and only (α + γ) is uniquely defined (not the individual values), and, similarly, if the z axis and the Z axis are opposite, β = and only (α − γ) is uniquely defined (not the individual values). These ambiguities are known as gimbal lock in applications.
There are six possibilities of choosing the rotation axes for proper Euler angles. In all of them, the first and third rotation axes are the same. The six possible sequences are:
z1-x′-z2″ (intrinsic rotations) or z2-x-z1 (extrinsic rotations)
x1-y′-x2″ (intrinsic rotations) or x2-y-x1 (extrinsic rotations)
y1-z′-y2″ (intrinsic rotations) or y2-z-y1 (extrinsic rotations)
z1-y′-z2″ (intrinsic rotations) or z2-y-z1 (extrinsic rotations)
x1-z′-x2″ (intrinsic rotations) or x2-z-x1 (extrinsic rotations)
y1-x′-y2″ (intrinsic rotations) or y2-x-y1 (extrinsic rotations)
Precession, nutation and intrinsic rotation
Precession, nutation, and intrinsic rotation (spin) are defined as the movements obtained by changing one of the Euler angles while leaving the other two constant. These motions are not expressed in terms of the external frame, or in terms of the co-moving rotated body frame, but in a mixture. They constitute a mixed axes of rotation system, where the first angle moves the line of nodes around the external axis z, the second rotates around the line of nodes N and the third one is an intrinsic rotation around Z, an axis fixed in the body that moves.
The static definition implies that:
α (precession) represents a rotation around the z axis,
β (nutation) represents a rotation around the N or x′ axis,
γ (intrinsic rotation) represents a rotation around the Z or z″ axis.
If β is zero, there is no rotation about N. As a consequence, Z coincides with z, α and γ represent rotations about the same axis (z), and the final orientation can be obtained with a single rotation about z, by an angle equal to .
As an example, consider a top. The top spins around its own axis of symmetry; this corresponds to its intrinsic rotation. It also rotates around its pivotal axis, with its center of mass orbiting the pivotal axis; this rotation is a precession. Finally, the top can wobble up and down; the inclination angle is the nutation angle. The same example can be seen with the movements of the earth.
Though all three movements can be represented by a rotation operator with constant coefficients in some frame, they cannot be represented by these operators all at the same time. Given a reference frame, at most one of them will be coefficient-free. Only precession can be expressed in general as a matrix in the basis of the space without dependencies of the other angles.
These movements also behave as a gimbal set. If we suppose a set of frames, able to move each with respect to the former according to just one angle, like a gimbal, there will exist an external fixed frame, one final frame and two frames in the middle, which are called "intermediate frames". The two in the middle work as two gimbal rings that allow the last frame to reach any orientation in space.
Tait–Bryan angles
[[Image:taitbrianzyx.svg|thumb|left|200px|Tait–Bryan angles. z-y′-x″ sequence (intrinsic rotations; N coincides with y). The angle rotation sequence is ψ, θ, φ. Note that in this case and θ is a negative angle.]]
The second type of formalism is called Tait–Bryan angles, after Peter Guthrie Tait and George H. Bryan. It is the convention normally used for aerospace applications, so that zero degrees elevation represents the horizontal attitude. Tait–Bryan angles represent the orientation of the aircraft with respect to the world frame. When dealing with other vehicles, different axes conventions are possible.
Definitions
The definitions and notations used for Tait–Bryan angles are similar to those described above for proper Euler angles (geometrical definition, intrinsic rotation definition, extrinsic rotation definition). The only difference is that Tait–Bryan angles represent rotations about three distinct axes (e.g. x-y-z, or x-y′-z″), while proper Euler angles use the same axis for both the first and third elemental rotations (e.g., z-x-z, or z-x′-z″).
This implies a different definition for the line of nodes in the geometrical construction. In the proper Euler angles case it was defined as the intersection between two homologous Cartesian planes (parallel when Euler angles are zero; e.g. xy and XY). In the Tait–Bryan angles case, it is defined as the intersection of two non-homologous planes (perpendicular when Euler angles are zero; e.g. xy and YZ).
Conventions
The three elemental rotations may occur either about the axes of the original coordinate system, which remains motionless (extrinsic rotations), or about the axes of the rotating coordinate system, which changes its orientation after each elemental rotation (intrinsic rotations).
There are six possibilities of choosing the rotation axes for Tait–Bryan angles. The six possible sequences are:
x-y′-z″ (intrinsic rotations) or z-y-x (extrinsic rotations)
y-z′-x″ (intrinsic rotations) or x-z-y (extrinsic rotations)
z-x′-y″ (intrinsic rotations) or y-x-z (extrinsic rotations)
x-z′-y″ (intrinsic rotations) or y-z-x (extrinsic rotations)
z-y′-x″ (intrinsic rotations) or x-y-z (extrinsic rotations): the intrinsic rotations are known as: yaw, pitch and roll
y-x′-z″ (intrinsic rotations) or z-x-y (extrinsic rotations)
Signs and ranges
Tait–Bryan convention is widely used in engineering with different purposes. There are several axes conventions in practice for choosing the mobile and fixed axes, and these conventions determine the signs of the angles. Therefore, signs must be studied in each case carefully.
The range for the angles ψ and φ covers 2 radians. For θ the range covers radians.
Alternative names
These angles are normally taken as one in the external reference frame (heading, bearing), one in the intrinsic moving frame (bank) and one in a middle frame, representing an elevation or inclination with respect to the horizontal plane, which is equivalent to the line of nodes for this purpose.
For an aircraft, they can be obtained with three rotations around its principal axes if done in the proper order. A yaw will obtain the bearing, a pitch will yield the elevation and a roll gives the bank angle. Therefore, in aerospace they are sometimes called yaw, pitch, and roll. Notice that this will not work if the rotations are applied in any other order or if the airplane axes start in any position non-equivalent to the reference frame.
Tait–Bryan angles, following z-y′-x″ (intrinsic rotations) convention, are also known as nautical angles, because they can be used to describe the orientation of a ship or aircraft, or Cardan angles, after the Italian mathematician and physicist Gerolamo Cardano, who first described in detail the Cardan suspension and the Cardan joint.
Angles of a given frame
A common problem is to find the Euler angles of a given frame. The fastest way to get them is to write the three given vectors as columns of a matrix and compare it with the expression of the theoretical matrix (see later table of matrices). Hence the three Euler Angles can be calculated. Nevertheless, the same result can be reached avoiding matrix algebra and using only elemental geometry. Here we present the results for the two most commonly used conventions: ZXZ for proper Euler angles and ZYX for Tait–Bryan. Notice that any other convention can be obtained just changing the name of the axes.
Proper Euler angles
Assuming a frame with unit vectors (X, Y, Z) given by their coordinates as in the main diagram, it can be seen that:
And, since
for we have
As is the double projection of a unitary vector,
There is a similar construction for , projecting it first over the plane defined by the axis z and the line of nodes. As the angle between the planes is and , this leads to:
and finally, using the inverse cosine function,
Tait–Bryan angles
Assuming a frame with unit vectors (X, Y, Z) given by their coordinates as in this new diagram (notice that the angle theta is negative), it can be seen that:
As before,
for we have
in a way analogous to the former one:
Looking for similar expressions to the former ones:
Last remarks
Note that the inverse sine and cosine functions yield two possible values for the argument. In this geometrical description, only one of the solutions is valid. When Euler angles are defined as a sequence of rotations, all the solutions can be valid, but there will be only one inside the angle ranges. This is because the sequence of rotations to reach the target frame is not unique if the ranges are not previously defined.
For computational purposes, it may be useful to represent the angles using . For example, in the case of proper Euler angles:
Conversion to other orientation representations
Euler angles are one way to represent orientations. There are others, and it is possible to change to and from other conventions. Three parameters are always required to describe orientations in a 3-dimensional Euclidean space. They can be given in several ways, Euler angles being one of them; see charts on SO(3) for others.
The most used orientation representation are the rotation matrices, the axis-angle and the quaternions, also known as Euler–Rodrigues parameters, which provide another mechanism for representing 3D rotations. This is equivalent to the special unitary group description.
Expressing rotations in 3D as unit quaternions instead of matrices has some advantages:
Concatenating rotations is computationally faster and numerically more stable.
Extracting the angle and axis of rotation is simpler.
Interpolation is more straightforward. See for example slerp.
Quaternions do not suffer from gimbal lock as Euler angles do.
Regardless, the rotation matrix calculation is the first step for obtaining the other two representations.
Rotation matrix
Any orientation can be achieved by composing three elemental rotations, starting from a known standard orientation. Equivalently, any rotation matrix R can be decomposed as a product of three elemental rotation matrices. For instance:
is a rotation matrix that may be used to represent a composition of extrinsic rotations about axes z, y, x, (in that order), or a composition of intrinsic rotations about axes x-y′-z″ (in that order). However, both the definition of the elemental rotation matrices X, Y, Z, and their multiplication order depend on the choices taken by the user about the definition of both rotation matrices and Euler angles (see, for instance, Ambiguities in the definition of rotation matrices). Unfortunately, different sets of conventions are adopted by users in different contexts. The following table was built according to this set of conventions:
Each matrix is meant to operate by pre-multiplying column vectors (see Ambiguities in the definition of rotation matrices)
Each matrix is meant to represent an active rotation (the composing and composed matrices are supposed to act on the coordinates of vectors defined in the initial fixed reference frame and give as a result the coordinates of a rotated vector defined in the same reference frame).
Each matrix is meant to represent, primarily, a composition of intrinsic rotations (around the axes of the rotating reference frame) and, secondarily, the composition of three extrinsic rotations (which corresponds to the constructive evaluation of the R matrix by the multiplication of three truly elemental matrices, in reverse order).
Right handed reference frames are adopted, and the right hand rule is used to determine the sign of the angles α, β, γ.
For the sake of simplicity, the following table of matrix products uses the following nomenclature:
1, 2, 3 represent the angles α, β and γ, i.e. the angles corresponding to the first, second and third elemental rotations respectively.
X, Y, Z are the matrices representing the elemental rotations about the axes x, y, z of the fixed frame (e.g., X1 represents a rotation about x by an angle α).
s and c represent sine and cosine (e.g., s1 represents the sine of α).
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These tabular results are available in numerous textbooks. For each column the last row constitutes the most commonly used convention.
To change the formulas for passive rotations (or find reverse active rotation), transpose the matrices (then each matrix transforms the initial coordinates of a vector remaining fixed to the coordinates of the same vector measured in the rotated reference system; same rotation axis, same angles, but now the coordinate system rotates, rather than the vector).
The following table contains formulas for angles α, β and γ from elements of a rotation matrix .
Properties
The Euler angles form a chart on all of SO(3), the special orthogonal group of rotations in 3D space. The chart is smooth except for a polar coordinate style singularity along . See charts on SO(3) for a more complete treatment.
The space of rotations is called in general "The Hypersphere of rotations", though this is a misnomer: the group Spin(3) is isometric to the hypersphere S3, but the rotation space SO(3) is instead isometric to the real projective space RP'''3 which is a 2-fold quotient space of the hypersphere. This 2-to-1 ambiguity is the mathematical origin of spin in physics.
A similar three angle decomposition applies to SU(2), the special unitary group of rotations in complex 2D space, with the difference that β ranges from 0 to 2. These are also called Euler angles.
The Haar measure for SO(3) in Euler angles is given by the Hopf angle parametrisation of SO(3), , where parametrise , the space of rotation axes.
For example, to generate uniformly randomized orientations, let α and γ be uniform from 0 to 2, let z be uniform from −1 to 1, and let .
Geometric algebra
Other properties of Euler angles and rotations in general can be found from the geometric algebra, a higher level abstraction, in which the quaternions are an even subalgebra. The principal tool in geometric algebra is the rotor where angle of rotation, is the rotation axis (unitary vector) and is the pseudoscalar (trivector in )
Higher dimensions
It is possible to define parameters analogous to the Euler angles in dimensions higher than three. In four dimensions and above, the concept of "rotation about an axis" loses meaning and instead becomes "rotation in a plane." The number of Euler angles needed to represent the group is , equal to the number of planes containing two distinct coordinate axes in n-dimensional Euclidean space.
In SO(4) a rotation matrix is defined by two unit quaternions, and therefore has six degrees of freedom, three from each quaternion.
Applications
Vehicles and moving frames
Their main advantage over other orientation descriptions is that they are directly measurable from a gimbal mounted in a vehicle. As gyroscopes keep their rotation axis constant, angles measured in a gyro frame are equivalent to angles measured in the lab frame. Therefore, gyros are used to know the actual orientation of moving spacecraft, and Euler angles are directly measurable. Intrinsic rotation angle cannot be read from a single gimbal, so there has to be more than one gimbal in a spacecraft. Normally there are at least three for redundancy. There is also a relation to the well-known gimbal lock problem of mechanical engineering.
When studying rigid bodies in general, one calls the xyz system space coordinates, and the XYZ system body coordinates. The space coordinates are treated as unmoving, while the body coordinates are considered embedded in the moving body. Calculations involving acceleration, angular acceleration, angular velocity, angular momentum, and kinetic energy are often easiest in body coordinates, because then the moment of inertia tensor does not change in time. If one also diagonalizes the rigid body's moment of inertia tensor (with nine components, six of which are independent), then one has a set of coordinates (called the principal axes) in which the moment of inertia tensor has only three components.
The angular velocity of a rigid body takes a simple form using Euler angles in the moving frame. Also the Euler's rigid body equations are simpler because the inertia tensor is constant in that frame.
Crystallographic texture
In materials science, crystallographic texture (or preferred orientation) can be described using Euler angles. In texture analysis, the Euler angles provide a mathematical depiction of the orientation of individual crystallites within a polycrystalline material, allowing for the quantitative description of the macroscopic material.
The most common definition of the angles is due to Bunge and corresponds to the ZXZ convention. It is important to note, however, that the application generally involves axis transformations of tensor quantities, i.e. passive rotations. Thus the matrix that corresponds to the Bunge Euler angles is the transpose of that shown in the table above.
Others
Euler angles, normally in the Tait–Bryan convention, are also used in robotics for speaking about the degrees of freedom of a wrist. They are also used in electronic stability control in a similar way.
Gun fire control systems require corrections to gun-order angles (bearing and elevation) to compensate for deck tilt (pitch and roll). In traditional systems, a stabilizing gyroscope with a vertical spin axis corrects for deck tilt, and stabilizes the optical sights and radar antenna. However, gun barrels point in a direction different from the line of sight to the target, to anticipate target movement and fall of the projectile due to gravity, among other factors. Gun mounts roll and pitch with the deck plane, but also require stabilization. Gun orders include angles computed from the vertical gyro data, and those computations involve Euler angles.
Euler angles are also used extensively in the quantum mechanics of angular momentum. In quantum mechanics, explicit descriptions of the representations of SO(3) are very important for calculations, and almost all the work has been done using Euler angles. In the early history of quantum mechanics, when physicists and chemists had a sharply negative reaction towards abstract group theoretic methods (called the Gruppenpest''), reliance on Euler angles was also essential for basic theoretical work.
Many mobile computing devices contain accelerometers which can determine these devices' Euler angles with respect to the earth's gravitational attraction. These are used in applications such as games, bubble level simulations, and kaleidoscopes.
See also
3D projection
Axis-angle representation
Conversion between quaternions and Euler angles
Davenport chained rotations
Euler's rotation theorem
Gimbal lock
Quaternion
Quaternions and spatial rotation
Rotation formalisms in three dimensions
Spherical coordinate system
References
Bibliography
External links
David Eberly. Euler Angle Formulas, Geometric Tools
An interactive tutorial on Euler angles available at https://www.mecademic.com/en/how-is-orientation-in-space-represented-with-euler-angles
EulerAngles an iOS app for visualizing in 3D the three rotations associated with Euler angles
Orientation Library "orilib", a collection of routines for rotation / orientation manipulation, including special tools for crystal orientations
Online tool to convert rotation matrices available at rotation converter (numerical conversion)
Online tool to convert symbolic rotation matrices (dead, but still available from the Wayback Machine) symbolic rotation converter
Rotation, Reflection, and Frame Change: Orthogonal tensors in computational engineering mechanics, IOP Publishing
Euler Angles, Quaternions, and Transformation Matrices for Space Shuttle Analysis, NASA
Rotation in three dimensions
Euclidean symmetries
Angle
Analytic geometry
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411523
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20Intel%20chipsets
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List of Intel chipsets
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This article provides a list of motherboard chipsets made by Intel, divided into three main categories: those that use the PCI bus for interconnection (the 4xx series), those that connect using specialized "hub links" (the 8xx series), and those that connect using PCI Express (the 9xx series). The chipsets are listed in chronological order.
Pre-chipset situation
An earlier chipset support for Intel 8085 microprocessor can be found at MCS-85 family section.
Early IBM XT-compatible mainboards did not yet have a chipset, but relied instead on a collection of discrete TTL chips by Intel:
the 8284 clock generator
the 8288 bus controller
the 8254 Programmable Interval Timer
the 8255 parallel I/O interface
the 8259 Programmable Interrupt Controller
the 8237 DMA controller
Early chipsets
To integrate the functions needed on a mainboard into a smaller number of ICs, Intel licensed the ZyMOS POACH chipset for its Intel 80286 and Intel 80386SX processors (the 82230/82231 High Integration AT-Compatible Chip Set). The 82230 covers this combination of chips: 82C284 clock, 82288 bus controller, and dual 8259A interrupt controllers among with other components. The 82231 covers this combination of chips: 8254 interrupt timer, 74LS612 memory mapper and dual 8237A DMA controller among with other components. Both set are available USD $60 for 10 MHz version and USD $90 for 12 MHz version in quantities of 100. This chipset can be used with an 82335 High-integration Interface Device to provide support for the Intel 386SX.
List of early Intel chipset includes:
82091AA EISA/ISA - Advanced Integrated Peripheral (AIP), includes: floppy disk controller, 2× UARTs, parallel port, IDE controller, oscillator, etc.
82310 MCA family chipset - announced in April 1988. This chipset also supports the 80386SX based machines as well. Which it does includes:
82306 Local Channel Support Chip
82307 DMA Controller/Central Arbiter
82308 Micro Channel Bus Controller
82309 Address Bus Controller
82706 VGA Graphics Controller
82350 EISA - announced in September 1988. This chipset supports the i486 microprocessor. It was expected to be available in the later half of 1989.
82311 MCA - announced in November 1988. Includes: 82303 and 82304 Local I/O Channel Support Chips, 82307 DMA Controller/Central Arbiter, 82308 Micro Channel Bus Controller, 82309 Address Bus Controller, 82706 VGA Graphics Controller, 82077 Floppy Disk Controller.
82320 MCA - announced in April 1989. This chipset supports the i486 microprocessor. It was expected to be available in the later half of 1989.
82340SX PC AT - announced in January 1990, it is the Topcat chipset licensed from VLSI.
82340DX PC AT - announced in January 1990, it is the Topcat chipset licensed from VLSI.
82360SL - announced in October 1990. It was a chipset for the mobile 80386SL and 80486SL processors. It integrated DMA controller, an interrupt controller PIC, serial and parallel ports, and power-management logic for the processor.
82350DT EISA - announced in April 1991.
82380 - High Performance 32-Bit DMA Controller with Integrated System Support Peripherals. This chipset has 20-level programmable interrupt controller a superset of Intel's 82C59 PIC. It also has four (x4) 16-bit programmable internal timers which its superset Intel's 82C54 PIT. It also has built-in DRAM refresh controller as well. It is available for USD $149 and USD $299 for 16 MHz and 20 MHz respectfully in quantities of 100. The Intel M82380 met under MIL-STD-883 Rev. C standard. This military device was tested which includes temperature cycling between -55 and 125 °C, hermeticity and extended burn-in. This military version can have transfer rate of 32 Mbytes per seconds at 16 MHz. This military version were available in 132-lead CPGA and 164-lead CQPK. This military version were available for USD $520 100-unit of quantities for the PGA version.
82384 - Clock Generator. The available version for USD $15 in quantities of 100.
82385 - High Performance 32-Bit Cache Controller. This chipset was introduced in February 1987. It was available for 20 MHz version. There is 33 MHz version available for the 386DX processor. Paired with 33 MHz 386 CPU and 64-Kbyte memory subsystem, it performed up to 7.8 MIPS. There is 82385SX version for the 386SX microprocessor.
82395DX - High Performance Smart Cache. This chipset contains internal 16-Kbye of SRAM and 1,000 cache tags. This controller supports up to 128-Kbytes of cache memory subsystem which it features four-way set associativity; a 16-byte line size; a four, double-word write buffer; and concurrent line-buffer caching. This also support write-buffer memory update protocol and maintains cache coherency during bus snooping. Paired with 33 MHz 386 CPU and the controller can perform up to 8.3 MIPS. This was available in 196-pin PQFP for USD $90 and $109 for 25- and 33-MHZ version in quantites of 1000 respectively.
4xx chipsets
80486 chipsets
Pentium chipsets
While not an actual Intel chipset bug, the Mercury and Neptune chipsets could be found paired with RZ1000 and CMD640 IDE controllers with data corruption bugs. L2 caches are direct-mapped with SRAM tag RAM, write-back for 430FX, HX, VX, and TX.
Pentium Pro/II/III chipsets
Southbridge 4xx chipsets
8xx chipsets
Pentium II/III chipsets
Pentium III mobile chipsets
Pentium 4 chipsets
Summary:
845 (Brookdale)
two distinct versions 845 MCH for SDR and 845 MCH for DDR
875P (Canterwood)
Similar to E7205, but adds support for 800 MHz bus, DDR at 400 MHz, Communication Streaming Architecture (CSA), Serial ATA (with RAID in certain configurations) and Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT), a mode purported to cut down memory latency.
SMP capability exists only on Xeon-based (socket 604) motherboards using the 875P chipset. FSB is rated at on these motherboards.
865PE (Springdale)
875P without PAT, though it was possible to enable PAT in some early revisions. Also lacks ECC Memory support.
Sub-versions:
865P - Similar to 865PE, but supports only 400/533 MHz bus and 333 MHz memory.
848P - Single memory channel version of 865PE.
865G (Springdale-G)
865PE with integrated graphics (Intel Extreme Graphics 2). PAT never supported in any revisions.
Sub-versions:
865GV - 865G without external AGP slot.
E7221 (Copper River)
Designed for Pentium 4-based server.
Supports only one physical processor.
A basic SVGA controller is integrated for analog video.
One PCI-X slot can be bridged to the PCI-e ×8 using the Intel® 6702PXH 64-bit PCI Hub.
E7230 (Mukilteo)
Similar to the Intel 3000 MCH, but mainly designed for Pentium D-based server.
Supports only one physical processor.
DDR2-667 4-4-4 is not supported.
No integrated graphics.
One PCI-X slot can be bridged to the PCI-e ×8 using Intel® 6700PXH 64-bit PCI Hub/Intel® 6702PXH 64-bit PCI Hub.
Pentium 4-M/Pentium M/Celeron M mobile chipsets
Southbridge 8xx chipsets
9xx chipsets and 3/4 Series chipsets
Pentium 4/Pentium D/Pentium XE chipsets
All Chipsets listed in the table below:
Do not support SMP
Support (-R and -DH) variants for South Bridges
[*] Remapping of PCIE/APIC memory ranges not supported, some physical memory might not be accessible (e.g. limited to 3.5 GB or similar).
[1] Some later revisions of motherboards based on 945P,945G and 945PL chipset usually supports some Core 2 processors (with later BIOSes). Core 2 Quad is not supported. Only Core 2 Duo, Pentium Dual-Core, and Core2 based Celerons.
Summary:
915P (Grantsdale)
Supports Pentium 4 on an 800 MT/s bus. Uses DDR memory up to 400 MHz, or DDR2 at 533 MHz. Replaces AGP and CSA with PCI Express, and also supports "Matrix RAID", a RAID mode designed to allow the usage of RAID levels 0 and 1 simultaneously with two hard drives. (Normally RAID1+0 would have required four hard drives)
Sub-versions:
915PL - Cut-down version of 915P with no support for DDR2 and only supporting 2 GB of memory.
915G (Grantsdale-G)
915P with an integrated GMA 900. This core contains Pixel Shader version 2.0 only, it does not contain Vertex Shaders nor does it feature Transform & Lighting (T&L) capabilities and therefore is not Direct X 8.1 or 9.0 compliant.
Sub-versions:
915GL - Same feature reductions as 915PL, but supports 4 GB of memory. No support for external graphics cards.
915GV - Same as 915G, but has no way of adding an external graphics card.
910GL - No support for external graphics cards or 800 MT/s bus.
925X (Alderwood)
Higher end version of 915. Supports another PAT-like mode and ECC memory, and exclusively uses DDR-II RAM.
Sub-versions:
925XE - Supports a 1066 MT/s bus.
945P (Lakeport)
Update on 915P, with support for Serial ATA II, RAID mode 5, an improved memory controller with support for DDR-II at 667 MHz and additional PCI Express lanes. Support for DDR-I is dropped. Formal dual-core support was added to this chipset.
Sub-versions:
945PL - No support for 1066 MT/s bus, only supports 2 GB of memory.
945G (Lakeport-G)
A version of the 945P that has a GMA 950 integrated, supports a 1066 MT/s bus.
Sub-versions:
945GC - Same feature reductions as 945PL but with an integrated GMA 950.
945GZ - Same as 945GC but only supports DDR2 memory at 400/533 MT/s. No support for external graphics cards (some boards, like Asus P5GZ-MX, support through ICH7 on PCIe ×16 @4 lanes mode).
955X (Lakeport)
Update for 925X, with additional features of "Lakeport" (e.g., PAT features and ECC memory), and uses DDR2.
Pentium M/Celeron M mobile chipsets
Core/Core 2 mobile chipsets
Core 2 chipsets
All Core 2 Duo chipsets support the Pentium Dual-Core and Celeron processors based on the Core architecture. Support for all NetBurst based processors was officially dropped starting with the Bearlake chipset family. However, some motherboards still support the older processors.
[*] Remapping of PCIE/APIC memory ranges not supported, some physical memory might not be accessible (e.g. limited to 3.5 GB or similar). Operational configuration is 4 ranks - 2× 2 GB dual rank modules or 4× 1 GB single rank modules - depends on number of motherboard DDR2 slots.
Summary:
946PL (Lakeport)
Update on 945PL, supports 4 GB of memory.
946GZ (Lakeport-G)
A version of 946PL with GMA 3000 graphics core.
P965 (Broadwater)
Update on 945P, no native PATA support, improved memory controller with support for DDR2 memory up to 800 MHz and official Core 2 Duo support.
G965 (BroadwaterG)
A version of P965 that has a GMA X3000 integrated graphics core.
Q965 (Broadwater)
Expected G965 intended for Intel's vPro office computing brand, with GMA 3000 graphics instead of GMA X3000 graphics. Supports an ADD2 card to add a second display.
Sub-versions:
Q963 - Q965 without an external graphics interface or support for ADD2.
975X (Glenwood)
Update of 955, with support for ATI Crossfire Dual Graphics systems and 65 nm processors, including Core 2 Duo.
P35 (Bearlake)
The P35 chipset provides updated support for the new Core 2 Duo E6550, E6750, E6800, and E6850. Processors with a number ending in "50" have a 1333 MT/s FSB. Support for all NetBurst based processors is dropped with this chipset.
G33 (BearlakeG)
A version of P35 with a GMA 3100 integrated graphics core and uses an ICH9 South Bridge.
Sub-versions:
G35 - G33 with a GMA x3500 integrated graphics core and uses an ICH8 South Bridge, no DDR3 support.
Q35 (BearlakeG)
Expected G33 intended for Intel's vPro office computing brand, no DDR3 Support.
Sub-versions:
Q33 - Q35 without vPro support.
P31 (BearlakeG)
A version of P35 with an ICH7 South Bridge, supports only 4 GB of DDR2 memory and does not support DDR3 memory.
Operational configuration is 4 ranks - 2× 2 GB dual rank modules or 4 × 1 GB single rank modules - depends on number of motherboard DDR2 slots. 4GBs modules are not supported.
G31 (BearlakeG)
A version of P31 with a GMA 3100 integrated graphics core. It supports a 1333 MT/s FSB with Core 2 Duo processors, but Core 2 Quad processors are only supported up to 1066 MT/s.
G41 (EaglelakeG)
Update of G31 with a GMA X4500 integrated graphics core and DDR3 800/1066 support.
P45 (Eaglelake)
Update of P35, with PCIe 2.0 support, Hardware Virtualization, Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) and support for ATI Crossfire (x8+x8).
Sub-versions:
P43 - P45 without Crossfire support.
G45 (EaglelakeG)
A version of P45 that has a GMA X4500HD integrated graphics core and lacks Crossfire support.
Sub-versions:
G43 - Same feature reductions as P43, but with a GMA X4500 integrated graphics core.
Q45 (EaglelakeQ)
Expected G43 intended for Intel's vPro office computing brand. Also supports Hardware Virtualization Technology and Intel Trusted Platform Module 1.2 feature.
Sub-versions:
Q43 - Q45 without vPro support. Also lacks Intel Trusted Platform Module 1.2 support.
B43 - Q43 with an ICH10D South Bridge.
[1] The 975X chipset supports only ×16 PCI Express (electrically) in the top slot when the slot below it is unpopulated. Otherwise it and the lower slot (both attached to the Memory Controller Hub) operate at ×8 electrically.
[2] Only later revisions of the 975X chipset boards support Core 2 processors. See MSI 975X Platinum (MS-7246) rev 1.0 (first release), and MSI 975X Platinum Powerup revision (MS-7246) rev 2.1 (released autumn 2006) as example. source: https://web.archive.org/web/20210515170458/http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/mainboard/msi-975x-platinum-powerup-edition-i975x.html
Officially 975X supports a maximum of 1066 MT/s FSB. Unofficially, third-party motherboards (Asus, Gigabyte) support certain 1333FSB 45 nm Core2 processors, usually with later BIOS updates.
As for Celeron and Celeron D support, some boards and revisions support it, some not. (see upper example, MSI Powerup Edition has reintroduced back Celeron support, probably due to later released Core2-based Celerons, which were often more powerful than higher clocked Netburst Pentiums 4.
[3] The 975X chipset technical specification shows only DDR2-533/667 memory support. Actual implementations of 975X do support DDR2 800.
[4] VT-d is inherently supported on these chipsets, but may not be enabled by individual OEMs. Always read the motherboard manual and check for BIOS updates. X38/X48 VT-d support is limited to certain Intel, Supermicro, DFI (LanParty) and Tyan boards. VT-d is broken or non existent on some boards until the BIOS is updated. Note that VT-d is a chipset Memory Controller Hub technology, not a processor feature, but this is complicated by later processor generations (Core i3/i5/i7) moving the MCH from the motherboard to the processor package, making only certain I series CPUs support VT-d.
Core 2 mobile chipsets
1 Unofficially this chipset support 5GB.
2 Officially only 4GB is supported. Unofficially many laptops with this chipset support 8GB.
3 Low power mode, HD playback mode and Full performance mode respectively.
Southbridge 9xx and 3/4 Series chipsets
5/6/7/8/9 Series chipsets
The Nehalem microarchitecture moves the memory controller into the processor. For high-end Nehalem processors, the X58 IOH acts as a bridge from the QPI to PCI Express peripherals and DMI to the ICH10 southbridge. For mainstream and lower-end Nehalem processors, the integrated memory controller (IMC) is an entire northbridge (some even having GPUs), and the PCH (Platform Controller Hub) acts as a southbridge.
Not listed below is the 3450 chipset (see Xeon chipsets) which is compatible with Nehalem mainstream and high-end processors but does not claim core iX-compatibility. With either a Core i5 or i3 processor, the 3400-series chipsets enable the ECC functionality of unbuffered ECC memory. Otherwise these chipsets do not enable unbuffered ECC functionality.
The Cougar Point Intel 6 series chipsets with stepping B2 were recalled due to a hardware bug that causes their 3 Gbit/s Serial ATA to degrade over time until they become unusable. Stepping B3 of the Intel 6 series chipsets will have the fix for this. The Z68 chipset which supports CPU overclocking and use of the integrated graphics does not have this hardware bug, however all other ones with B2 did. The Z68 also added support for transparently caching hard disk data on to solid-state drives (up to 64 GB), a technology called Smart Response Technology.
LGA 1156
Chipsets supporting LGA 1156 CPUs (Lynnfield and Clarkdale).
LGA 1155
Chipsets supporting LGA 1155 CPUs (Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge). The PCIe 2.0 lanes from the PCH ran at 5 GT/s in this series, unlike in the previous LGA 1156 chips.
1 For Sandy Bridge mainstream desktop and business platforms. Sandy Bridge CPUs provide 16 PCIe 2.0 lanes for direct GPU connectivity.
2 For Ivy Bridge mainstream desktop platform. Ivy Bridge CPUs provide 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes for direct GPU connectivity and additional 4 PCIe 2.0 lanes.
LGA 1150
Chipsets that support LGA 1150 CPUs are listed below. Haswell and Haswell Refresh CPUs are supported by all listed chipsets; however, a BIOS update is usually required for 8-Series Lynx Point motherboards to support Haswell Refresh CPUs. Broadwell CPUs are supported only by 9-Series chipsets, which are usually referred to as Wildcat Point.
The C1 stepping of the Lynx Point chipset contains a bug a system could lose connectivity with USB devices plugged into USB 3.0 ports provided by the chipset if the system enters the S3 sleep mode.
LGA 1366, LGA 2011, and LGA 2011-v3
Single socket chipsets supporting LGA 1366, LGA 2011, and LGA 2011-v3 CPUs. Please consult List of Intel Xeon chipsets for further, multi-socket, chipsets for these sockets.
1 X58 South Bridge is ICH10/ICH10R.
2 X58 TDP includes the X58 IOH TDP in addition to the ICH10/ICH10R TDP.
3 For Sandy Bridge enthusiast desktop platform. Sandy Bridge CPUs will provide up to 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes for direct GPU connectivity and additional 4 PCIe 2.0 lanes. NOTE : This reference number 4 is on X79, which is a Sandy bridge -E, not Sandy Bridge, and PCIe 3.0 only is enabled when an Ivy Bridge-E CPU or Xeon E-5 series is used.
4 For Haswell enthusiast desktop platform. Haswell CPUs will provide up to 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes for direct GPU connectivity and additional 4 PCIe 2.0 lanes.
LGA 2066
Chipsets supporting LGA 2066 socket for Skylake-X processors and Kaby Lake-X processors.
The C621 Chipset also supports FCLGA3647 socket for Skylake-SP as well as Cascade Lake-W and Cascade Lake-SP processors.
Dedicated mobile chipsets
All Core-i series mobile chipsets have an integrated south bridge.
On-package mobile chipsets
Every 4th Generation Intel Core and 5th Generation Intel Core processor based on Mobile U-Processor and Y-Processor Lines has an on-package Platform Controller Hub.
100/200/300 Series chipsets
All support Intel VT-d and do not support PCI.
LGA 1151 rev 1
The 100 Series chipsets (codenamed Sunrise Point), for Skylake processors using the LGA 1151 socket, were released in the third quarter of 2015.
The 200 Series chipsets (codenamed Union Point) were introduced along with Kaby Lake processors, which also use the LGA 1151 socket; these were released in the first quarter of 2017.
LGA 1151 rev 2
While Coffee Lake shares the same socket as Skylake and Kaby Lake, this revision of LGA 1151 is electrically incompatible with 100 and 200 series CPUs.
The 300 Series chipsets were introduced along with Coffee Lake processors, which use the LGA 1151 socket; the enthusiast model was released in the last quarter of 2017, the rest of the line was released in 2018.
Xeon chipsets
C232 and C242 chipsets do not support CPU integrated GPUs, as they lack FDI support. Officially they support only Xeon processors, but some motherboards also support consumer processors (6/7th generation Core for C230 series, 8/9th generation Core for C240 series and its Pentium/Celeron derivatives).
Dedicated mobile chipsets
On-package mobile chipsets
400/500 Series chipsets
LGA 1200
LGA 1200 is a CPU socket designed for Comet Lake and Rocket Lake desktop CPUs. Like its predecessors, LGA 1200 has the same amount of pins its name would suggest: 1200. Under the hood, LGA 1200 is a modified version of LGA 1151, its predecessor. It features 49 additional protruding pins that are used to improve power delivery and provide support for eventual updates with I/O features.
† Connection to the CPU will be reduced to DMI 3.0 ×4 if a Comet Lake CPU is installed. DMI 3.0 ×8 is only available with Rocket Lake CPUs.
‡ Mainboards advertised as H410 and B460 with Rocket Lake support use other 400-series chipsets. (such as H470)
Dedicated mobile and embedded chipsets
On-package mobile chipsets
600/700 Series chipsets
LGA 1700
Dedicated mobile chipsets
Every 12th Gen Intel Core-i mobile CPU excluding HX-series has an on-package Platform Controller Hub.
On-package mobile chipsets
See also
ALi Corporation – for ALi chipsets
Chips and Technologies
List of AMD chipsets
List of ATI chipsets
Comparison of Nvidia nForce chipsets
List of Intel Xeon chipsets
List of Intel processors
Silicon Integrated Systems – for SiS motherboard chipsets
List of VIA chipsets
Notes
References
External links
Official website
Chipsets
Lists of computer hardware
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary%20of%20ballet
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Glossary of ballet
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Because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language.
A
À la seconde
() (Literally "to second") If a step is done "à la seconde," it is done to the side. 'Second position'. It can also be a balance extending one foot off the ground in ‘Second Position’.
À la quatrième
() One of the directions of body, facing the audience (en face), arms in second position, with one leg extended either to fourth position in front (quatrième devant) or fourth position behind (quatrième derrière).
À terre
() Touching the floor; on the floor.
Adagio
Italian, or French adage, meaning 'slowly, at ease.'
Slow movements performed with fluidity and grace.
One of the typical exercises of a traditional ballet class, done both at barre and in center, featuring slow, controlled movements.
The section of a grand pas (e.g., grand pas de deux), often referred to as grand adage, that features dance partnering.
Allegro
(; meaning 'happy')
Brisk, lively motion. An attribute of many movements, including those in which a dancer is airborne (e.g., assemblé, changement, entrechat, sauté, sissonne, soubresaut).
Used in ballet to refer to all jumps, regardless of tempo.
A category of exercises found in a traditional ballet class, e.g. petit allegro (small, generally fast jumps) and grand allegro (large, generally slower jumps).
Allongé
(; meaning 'elongated.') Refers to a foot and leg position when the toes and knees are extended and elongated, rather than forming the usual soft curve. Can also refer to a similar arm position.
Aplomb
The apparent elegance and precision exhibited by a confident, accomplished dancer.
Arabesque
In dance (particularly ballet), arabesque (French: [aʁabɛsk]; literally, "in Arabic fashion") is a body position in which a dancer stands on one leg (the supporting leg) with the other leg (the working leg) extended, straight, behind the body. The arm positions can vary and are generally allongé. The foot of the supporting leg may be flat on the floor, on the ball of the foot (demi-pointe/relevé), or on the tips of the toes (en pointe).
Arrondi
(; meaning 'rounded') A position of the hand. Rounded, in contrast with allongé ('stretched out', as in arabesque).
Assemblé
(; literally 'assembled') Sometimes also pas assemblé. A jump that takes off from one foot and lands on two feet. When initiated with two feet on the ground (e.g. from fifth position) the working leg performs a battement glissé/dégagé, brushing out. The dancer launches into a jump, with the second foot then meeting the first foot before landing. A petit assemblé is when a dancer is standing on one foot with the other extended. The dancer then does a small jump to meet the first foot.
Attitude
() A position in which a dancer stands on one leg (the supporting leg) while the other leg (working leg) is raised and turned out with knee bent to form an angle of approximately 90° between the thigh and the lower leg. The height of the knee versus the foot and the angle of the knee flexion will vary depending on the techniques. The working leg can be held behind (derrière), in front (devant), or to the side (à la seconde) of the body. The alignment of the thigh compared to the midline in Attitude derrière will vary depending on the techniques. The foot of the supporting leg may be flat on the floor, en demi-pointe (ball of the foot), or en pointe (tips of the toes). The standing leg can be straight or bent ("fondu").
Avant, en
(; meaning 'forwards') A movement towards the front, as opposed to en arrière, which is conversely a movement towards the back. For example, a step travelling en avant moves forwards towards the audience, as in sissonne en avant.
Arrière, en
(; meaning 'backwards') A movement towards the back, as opposed to en avant.
B
Balancé
(; "balanced") A rocking sequence of three steps—fondu, relevé, fondu (down, up, down)—executed in three counts. Before the first count, one foot extends in a dégagé to second position (balancé de côté) or to the front (balancé en avant) or rear (balancé en arrière). The second foot in the sequence (in any direction) assembles behind the first to relevé in fifth or fourth position.
Balançoire
(; "swing [children's toy]") Swinging the working leg between front (devant) and back (derrière) through first position, usually in conjunction with grands battements or attitudes and involving seesaw like shifting of the upper body in opposition to the legs. Similar to en cloche.
Ballerina
(Italian) A principal female ballet dancer in a ballet company. Ballerinas get more lead roles, which are referred to as principal roles as they are generally danced by principal dancers. Soloists also often dance in principal roles, but most of the time not in the first cast of the show (i.e. the cast that performs the most shows)
Ballerino
An informal term for male dancers in a ballet company in Italy.
Ballet
French word meaning dance.
Ballet technique
The foundational principles of body movement and form used in ballet.
Balletomane
A ballet fan or enthusiast. The word is of Russian origin c. 1930, with the suffix -mane coming from maniya (mania).
Ballon
Showing lightness of movement in leaps and jumps. A dancer exhibiting ballon will appear to spring effortlessly, float in mid-air, and land softly like a balloon.
Ballonné
In classical ballet, the term ballonné is a step where the leg is extended (can be front, side, or back) at 45 degrees. The knee is then bent and the foot brought to a sur le cou-de-pied position. This can also be done as a relevé or jump.
Ballotté
A ballotté is a jumping step in classical ballet that consists of coupé dessous and small developpés performed with a rocking and swinging movement. The step can be performed with the leg extensions at 45 or 90 degrees.
Barre
A sturdy horizontal bar, approximately waist height, used during ballet warm-up exercises and training. Fixed barres are typically mounted on
-covered walls; portable barres can be relocated as needed. Used for balance, not support. A barre is a tool, not a necessary item to dance.
Battement
An alternating side-to-side movement of the working (non-supporting) leg. Typically performed in multiples, quickly and in rapid succession so that the working foot appears to be fluttering or vibrating.
Batterie
() A general term for jumps in which the legs open slightly sideways and close (crossed in fifth position) multiple times, alternating feet. (See "Battu.)
Battu
(; meaning 'beaten') A movement with an extra beating of the feet included, as in jeté battu.
Brisé
(; literally 'broken') A jump consisting of an assemblé traveling either forward (en avant) or backward (en arrière), with an extra beat that "breaks" the jump in its travel. To execute a brisé en avant, the dancer demi-pliés in fifth position and brushes the back leg (through first position) to the front, then springs into the air and brings the second foot to meet it in the back before switching to the front to land, creating a beating action with the legs. In a brisé en arrière, the process is reversed, with the front leg brushing to the back and beating to land in front.
Bras croisé
(; literally 'crossed arms') Arm placement in which one arm is extended in second position away from the audience while the other is curved in first position (Cecchetti fourth position en avant or RAD/French third position).
Bravura
() A flashy, showy and elaborate style of dance that involves a lot of elaborate steps and style to similar music. Usually during a key solo.
Bourree
Quick movement of the feet, can be performed on pointe or on demi-pointe. The dancer straightens one leg (the leg in back) and bends a leg and picks it up(the leg in front). Then the bent leg is straighted on the floor and the straight leg is picked off the floor and bent. These steps are repeated over and over again. The dancer looks as if he or she is flying across the floor.
C
Cabriole
(; meaning 'caper.') An allegro step in which the extended legs are beaten in the air. Cabrioles are divided into two categories: petite, which are executed at 45 degrees, and grande, which are executed at 90 degrees. The working leg is thrust into the air, the underneath leg follows and beats against the first leg, sending it higher. The landing is then made on the underneath leg. Cabriole may be done devant, derrière and à la seconde in any given position of the body such as croisé, effacé, écarté, and so on.
Cambré
(; literally 'arched.') A bending at the waist in any direction, forward, backward, or to the side.
Chaînés
(; 'chained', plural.) Also known as "chaînés turns," a common abbreviation for tours chaînés déboulés, a series of quick, 360 degree turns that alternate the feet while traveling along a straight line or in a circular path. Each foot performs a half turn, with feet held in a tight first position en pointe or demi-pointe.
Changement de pied
(; literally 'change, changing.') A jump in which the feet change positions in the air. For example, beginning in fifth position with the right foot front, plié, jump switching the right leg to the back, and land in fifth position with the left foot front. In the Vaganova vocabulary, petit changement de pieds indicates a changement where the feet barely leave the floor.
Chassé
(Literally 'chased.')
A sliding movement forward, backward, or sideways with both legs bent, then springing into the air with legs straight and together. It can be done either in a gallop or by pushing the leading foot along the floor in a plié to cause an upward spring. It is typically performed in a series or as part of a combination of other movements.
A sliding movement as described above, but without the jump aspect. Instead, the leading foot is pushed along the floor in plié as described above, as a transition into another movement or position.
Cloche, en
(; meaning 'like a bell.') Refers to brushing through first position from fourth devant or fourth derrière to the opposite fourth with the upper body held upright. Can be done continuously, as is often done with grands battements and attitudes. Similar to Balançoire, which additionally allows seesaw like upper-body shifting in counterpoint to the legs.
The Vaganova system may refer to en cloche as "passé la jambe" or "battement passé la jambe".
Coda
(); literally 'tail'). The concluding segment of a performance or suite of dances comprising a grand pas (e.g., grand pas de deux). A particularly large or complex coda may be called a grand coda. If a large group of dancers participate, the terms coda générale or grand coda générale may be used.
Corps de ballet
The ensemble of a ballet company, especially the ensemble apart from the featured dancers. Being a part of the corps means one is neither a soloist nor a principal dancer.
Coryphée
() In some systems, a dancer of higher rank than a member of the corps de ballet, performing in small ensembles and small solo roles but not ranked as a soloist.
Côté, de
(; 'sideways.') A movement traveling to the side.
Cou-de-pied
(; 'neck of the foot.') Position of the arched working foot raised to, and resting on, the ankle. This could be in front (["conditional"] devant), behind (derrière), or wrapped (sur le cou-de-pied: arch of the foot wrapped around the ankle with the heel in front of the ankle and the toes behind, often interchangeable with the devant/conditional position), depending on the activity and the school/method of ballet.
Coupé
(; meaning 'cut.') Coupé is both a step and action. It is commonly executed from cou-de-pied front to cou-de-pied back or vice versa. It may also be done from an extended leg position into fondu or directly through fifth position (as in concluding a jeté). Coupé can only be performed through a closed leg position.
The Vaganova School rarely uses the term coupé except as the preparation for specific allegros. Rather, "tombé through fifth position" is more commonly used.
In the United States, "coupé" may be used to denote the position cou-de-pied, not unlike "passé" is used to denote the position retiré in addition to the action of passing through retiré.
Couru
(; 'run,' past participle, as in 'making small quick steps.') In most cases, this holds the calves together and the feet in a tight fifth position en pointe or demi-pointe and travels forward, backward, or to either side. E.g. pas de bourrée couru (also called bourrée for short).
,
(; meaning 'crossed.') One of the positions of the body or épaulement. Facing one of the corners of the stage, the body presents at an oblique angle to the audience, such that the audience can see still both shoulders and hips. The working leg may be crossed to the front (devant) or to the back (derrière).
Croisé is used in the third, fourth, and fifth positions of the legs. A dancer is in croisé devant if at a 45 angle to the audience, the downstage leg (closest to the audience) is working to the front and the arms are open in third or fourth with the downstage arm being the one in second. A dancer is in croisé derrière if at a 45 degree angle to the audience, the upstage leg (farthest from the audience) is working to the back and the arms are open in third, fourth, or allongé in arabesque with the upstage arm being the one out towards second, e.g. arabesque croisée or Russian fourth arabesque. Croisé derrière in the Russian school alternatively has the upstage leg working to the back, but the downstage arm out to second.
Examples of croisé: the front leg is the right leg and the dancer is facing the front-left corner of the stage; or the front leg is the left, and the dancer is facing his/her front-right corner.
Croix, en
(; meaning 'in the shape of a cross.') Term often used during barre exercises to indicate that a step is done to the front, to the side, to the back, and then again to the side (as in the shape of a cross), finishing closed in either first or fifth position.
D
Danseur
() A male ballet dancer.
Danseur noble
() A male ballet dancer who excels in refined classical roles, often playing the prince or other royalty in a classical ballet.
Danseuse
() A female ballet dancer.
Déboulés
(); literally 'hurtled,' as in 'with great speed.') Another name denoting the same move as a chaîné (i.e. les tours chaînés déboulés). Small, very quick half-turns performed by stepping onto one leg, and completing the turn by stepping onto the other, performed on the balls of the feet or high on the toes, with the legs held very close together.
Dedans, en
(; 'inwards.') Inside movement.
Circular movement where a leg that starts at the back or the side moves towards the front. For the right leg, this is a counter-clockwise circle. For the left leg, this is a clockwise circle. For example, in a rond de jambe en dedans, starting from first position, the foot first extends to tendu back, then moves to tendu to the side, and then tendu front, and back in again to first position.
Turning motion in the direction of the supporting leg. In a pirouette en dedans, the dancer would turn to their right if their left leg was lifted, or vice versa. Opposite of en dehors.
Dégagé
(; 'disengaged.') Common abbreviation for battement dégagé, the foot of the working leg sharply brushes through the floor through tendu pointed in the air 45 degrees or lower. Dégagé is part of the (initiating) execution of jumps such as jeté, assemblé, brisé, and glissade.
Primarily a Cecchetti/RAD term, this is known as battement tendu jeté in the Russian School or battement glissé in the French School.
Dehors, en
(; 'outwards.') Circular movement where a leg that starts at the front or the side moves towards the back. For a right working leg, this is a clockwise circle. For example, in a rond de jambe en dehors, starting from first position, the foot (either left or right) would first extend tendu front, move to tendu to the side, and then tendu back, and back in again to first position. In a pirouette en dehors, the body turns in the direction of the working leg (the leg raised in retiré passé). Opposite of en dedans.
Demi
(; meaning 'half.') Applied to plié, pointe, and other movements or positions to indicate a smaller or lesser version.
Demi-détourné
() A pivoted half turn executed on both feet. For example, if starting right foot front in fifth position, demi-plié and relevé onto demi-pointe while pivoting a half turn inwards/en dedans towards the direction of the back foot (here left). The feet will have now changed position with the left foot in front in fifth position.
Demi-pointe
() Supporting one's body weight on the balls of one or both feet, heels raised off the floor.
Derrière
(; literally 'behind.') At or to the back. For example, a battement tendu derrière is a battement tendu to the rear.
Dessous
(; literally 'under.') Used to indicate that the front leg should be brought to close behind the other leg during a step. For example, assemblé, pas de bourrée, and glissade can be designated as under or dessous.
Dessus
(; literally 'over.') Used to indicate that the back leg should be brought to close in front of the other leg during a step. For example, assemblé, pas de bourrée, and glissade can be designated as over or dessus.
Devant
(; literally 'front.') Facing or moving to the front, as in tendu devant or attitude devant.
Développé
() Common abbreviation for temps développé. A movement in which the leg is lifted to cou-de-pied or retiré and then fully extended outward, passing through attitude. It can be done to the front (devant), to the side (à la seconde), or to the back (derrière).
Double
(; 'double.') Making two of a movement, such as in double rond de jambe en l'air.
E
Écarté
(; literally 'spread,' as in 'separated.') One of the basic positions of the body facing the audience at an oblique angle and with the downstage leg open to the side of the body, along the other diagonal, either touching the floor or en l'air. The arm on the same side as the working leg (i.e. the downstage arm) is raised en haut and the other arm is in second position. The gaze is directed to the raised arm along the same diagonal
In schools that recognize an écarté derrière, such as the French school, écarté devant is described above, and écarté derrière differs in having the working leg in second being on the same side as the corner the body is facing, i.e. the upstage leg is the working leg; the upstage arm is en haut, and the gaze is directed down the length of the arm in second.
Échappé
(; literally 'escaped.') A movement done from a closed (first or fifth) position to an open (second or fourth) position. There are two kinds of échappés: échappé sauté and échappé sur les pointes or demi-pointes. In an échappé sauté, a dancer takes a deep plié followed by a jump in which the legs "escape" into either second (usually when initiating from first position) or fourth position (usually when initiating from fifth position) landing in demi-plié. In échappé sur le pointes/demi-pointes a dancer begins with a deep plié, springs onto les pointes or demi-pointes, ending in either second position (when starting from first position) or fourth (when starting from fifth) with knees straight. The dancer may or may not return to the initial position, depending on the choreography.
Élevé
(; 'raised, lifted.') Rising to pointe or demi-pointe from straight legs and flat feet. This term is used in some schools in contrast with relevé (in effect, 'relifted'), which is taken to indicate a rise from plié (bent knees). In other schools (French, Russian, textbook Cecchetti), relevé covers both these concepts.
Emboîté
()
A small traveling step (en avant or en arrière) where each leg is alternately brought to cou-de-pied, passing the previous standing leg in doing so. Both legs shoot straight downward in the air, and land on one foot in cou-de-pied. This step is often done turning ("en tournant"), where each jump rotates 1/2 turn.
A traveling series of jumps where each leg is alternately brought to attitude devant in the air, each foot passing the previous one in alternating.
A series of small walks done on pointe or demi-pointe, traveling either forward (en avant) or backward (en arrière); the dancer stands in sous-sus and brushes one leg to the side, then closes it in the opposite position (front or back) of where it started, and repeats this motion several times in succession, alternating legs.
A variation on the typical tour piqué/piqué turn, where the dancer does 1/2 piqué turn as usual, then, without coming off relevé, steps onto the previously working leg and lifts the previously supporting leg to retiré to finish the turn. This can be done several times in succession. (See "Piqué turn.")
En
(; meaning 'in.') A preposition used in description of a dancer's position (e.g., en plié, en relevé, en pointe) or holding the meaning 'towards' when describing direction of a movement (en avant, en arrière, en dedans, en dehors = 'to the front,' 'to the back', 'to the inside,' 'to the outside').
En avant
See Avant
En arrière
See Arrière
En cloche
See Cloche
En croix
See Croix
Front side back side ( in the shape of a cross )
En dedans
See Dedans
Movement of the leg in an inwards rotation direction
En dehors
See Dehors
En face
See Face
En pointe
See Pointe
Entrechat
(; from Italian intrecciata, 'intertwined.') "A step of beating in which the dancer jumps into the air and rapidly crosses the legs before and behind." In an entrechat quatre ('four'), starting from fifth position, right foot front, a dancer will jump up with legs crossed, execute a changement beating the right thigh at the back of the left thigh, then bring the right leg in front again beating the front of the left thigh, and land in the same position as started. In an entrechat six ('six'), three changes of the feet are made in the air, ultimately changing which foot is in front. Even-numbered entrechats indicate the number of times the legs cross in and out in the air: a regular changement is two (one out, one in), entrechat quatre is two outs, two ins; six is three and three; huit is four and four. Odd-numbered entrechats refer to the previous number, but done landing on one foot with the other in cou-de-pied: for example, an entrechat cinq (five) is the same as an entrechat-quatre, but done landing on one leg.
Entrée
()
The initial part of a grand pas, which serves as an introduction for the suite of dances comprising the grand pas.
The initial appearance of a lead character or characters of a ballet on stage.
Entrée de ballet
An autonomous scene of ballet de cour, divertissement, comédie-ballet, opéra-ballet, even tragédie lyrique, which brings together several dancers in and out of the scenario.
Épaulé
(; 'shouldered.') One of the positions of the body or épaulement where the body is at an oblique angle to the audience, the downstage arm is allongé in front and the downstage shoulder appears prominent to the audience as the downstage leg works to the back (e.g. second arabesque).
Épaulement
(; 'shouldering.') Rotation of the shoulders and head relative to the hips in a pose or a step. This term relates only to the movement of the body from the waist up. The head generally looks over shoulder that is forward (downstage).
F
Face, en
(; 'facing, in front of.') En face indicates facing something directly, generally the audience.
Failli
( 'given way', past participle.) A slide or brush-through transition step following a preceding jump or position. Failli is often used as shorthand for a sissonne (ouverte +pas) failli, indicating a jump from two feet landing on one (sissonne) with the back foot then sliding through to the front (chassé passé), and this is often done in conjunction with an assemblé: (sissonne) failli assemblé. E.g. From croisé, the upstage leg opens behind on the sissonne as the body changes direction in the air to land ouverte effacé; the back leg which is now downstage slides through in a chassé passé to fourth in front, ending the dancer croisé the corner opposite the original. This chassé passé is the (pas) failli. An assemblé (dessus/over) to the opposite corner would reorient the body back to its original position. Failli phrased with arabesque indicates the brushed follow-through of an arabesqued leg from elevated behind to fourth in front as lead-in to a following step.
First position (feet)
Turned out legs with the feet pointing in opposite directions, heels touching.
Fermé, fermée
(; 'closed.') Converse of ouvert(e) ('open'). Fermé may refer to positions (the first, fifth, and third positions of the feet are positions fermées), limbs, directions, or certain exercises or steps. Example: a sissonne fermée ends with closed legs, as opposed to a sissonne ouverte, which lands on one leg with the other (generally) extended.
Fish dive
A partnering dance lift, often performed as part of a pas de deux, in which the male dancer supports the female in a poisson position.
Flic flac
() Familiar French term for battement fouetté à terre. A step where the foot of the working leg sweeps flexed across the floor from pointed à la seconde (en l'air, as in dégagé) to pointed at cou-de-pied devant or derrière.
Fondu
(; literally 'melted.')
Abbreviation for battement fondu, a lowering of the body made by bending the knee of the supporting leg, the working leg extending out à terre or in the air. Saint-Léon wrote, "Fondu is on one leg what a plié is on two." Fondu at the barre often refers to battement fondu développé, where the supporting leg begins fondu with the foot of the working leg at cou-de-pied; the working leg extends out through a petit développé as the supporting leg straightens.
A term used to modify any one-legged position in order to indicate a bent supporting leg (e.g. arabesque fondu).
Fouetté
(; literally 'whipped.') Fouetté itself refers to a move where a quick pivot on the supporting leg changes the orientation of the body and the working leg. E.g. A 180-degree or 90-degree fouetté could involve a working leg beginning extended elevated in front; the supporting leg rising onto demi-pointe or pointe quickly executing a "half" turn inside/en dedans, leading to the working leg ending in arabesque and the body now facing the opposite direction or stage direction. (This brand of action can be seen in both tour jetés and waltz turns (pas de valse en tournant).) A fouetté could also change the leg/body orientation from, for example, en face à la seconde to épaulé (second) arabesque/croisé first arabesque or effacé devant, if outside/en dehors, via a 45-degree turn.
Fouetté is also common shorthand for fouetté rond de jambe en tournant (pictured here en dehors). A fouetté turn is a turn that begins with the supporting leg in plié. As the supporting foot transitions to demi-pointe or pointe, in an en dehors turn, the working leg extends forward and then whips around to the side as the working foot is retracted to the supporting knee in retiré, creating the impetus to rotate one turn. The working leg returns out of retiré nearing the end of a single rotation to restart the entire leg motion for successive rotations.
Fouetté jeté
() A leap that begins with a fouetté.
Frappé
(; 'struck.') Abbreviation of battement frappé. Action of extending the working foot out from cou-de-pied. In Cecchetti, RAD, and American ballet, on flat, this action involves brushing a flexed (or non-pointed relaxed) foot from cou-de-pied through the floor, the ball of the foot (lightly) striking as extending out pointed through dégagé. In the Russian school, a pointed foot at cou-de-pied extends directly out to dégagé height without brushing through the floor. On demi-pointe, Cecchetti employs the Russian style of non-brushed pointed foot directly out. Other schools may use a flexed foot without the strike or a non-brushed pointed foot on demi-pointe.
Frappés are commonly done in singles, doubles, or triples. Double and triple frappés involve tapping the foot (flexed or pointed) at both cou-de-pied devant (or wrapped) and derrière before extending out. (E.g. Double frappé front would be cou-de-pied back, cou-de-pied front, dégagé front. Double frappé back would be front, back, [dégagé] back. Triple frappé front would be front, back, front, [dégagé] front.)
Fifth position
A posture in which the feet are turned outward. With one foot in the front and one in the back, you will make fifth position. The front foot is usually facing horizontal while the back foot is diagonal. It does not matter which foot is in the front or back, as long as they are turned out. You can do pirouettes, changements, frappés, plies, and much more with fifth position.
G
Gargouillade
A complicated jump involving a pas de chat with a double rond de jambe.
Glissade
(; literally 'glide.') A traveling step starting in fifth position from demi-plié. The leading foot brushes out to dégagé as weight bears on the trailing leg, weight is shifted to the leading leg via a jump and the trailing foot extends out of plié into degagé. The leading foot lands tombé and the trailing foot slides in to meet the leading foot in fifth position demi-plié. A glissade can be done en avant, en arrière, dessous (leading front foot ends back), dessus (leading back foot ends front), or without a changement of feet.
Glissade précipitée
(; "precipitated glide".) A quick glissade generally done leading into a following step, such as with glissade jeté or glissade assemblé.
Grand écart
(; literally "big gap".) Opening the legs to 180°, front or sideways. Known as 'spagat' in German or 'the splits' or 'jump splits' in English.
Grand plié
() A full plié or bending of the knees. Throughout the movement, the pelvis should be kept neutral, the back straight and aligned with the heels, the legs turned out, and the knees over the feet. From standing to bent this should be fluid. A purpose of the grand plié is to warm up the ankles and stretch the calves. In a grande plié your heels come off the ground in first, fourth, and fifth position.
Grand jeté
() A long horizontal jump, starting from one leg and landing on the other. Known as a split in the air. It is most often done forward and usually involves doing full leg splits in mid-air. It consists basically of a grand écart with a moving jump. The front leg brushes straight into the air in a grand battement, as opposed to from développé (or an unfolding motion). The back leg follows making the splits in the air. It can be performed en avant (forward), à la seconde (to the side), en arrière (backward), and en tournant (turning en dedans). The dancer must remember to hit the fullest split at the height of the jump, with weight pushed slightly forward, giving the dancer a gliding appearance.
Grand pas
A suite of individual dances that serves as a showpiece for lead dancers, demi-soloists, and in some cases the corps de ballet. Often regarded as the pièce de résistance of a ballet. It usually consists of an entrée, a grand adage, and a coda, which brings the suite to a conclusion. After the adage, it may include a dance for the corps de ballet (often referred to as the ballabile), variations for demi-soloists, variations for lead ballerina and danseur, or some combinations of these.
Various types of "grand pas" are found in ballet, including:
A grand pas d'action is one that contributes to a ballet's story.
In a grand pas classique, classical ballet technique prevails and no character dances are included.
A grand pas de deux serves as the pièce de résistance for the principal male and female characters of a full-length ballet.
A grand pas danced by three or four dancers is a grand pas de trois or grand pas de quatre, respectively.
H
Hortensia
"A male dancer's step in which the dancer jumps into the air with the legs drawn up, one in front of the other, then reverses their position [...] several times before landing with the feet apart again." This step can look akin to swimming in air.
J
Jeté
(; 'thrown.') A leap in which one leg appears to be thrown in the direction of the movement (en avant, en arrière, or sideways). There are several kinds of jetés, including jeté / jeté ordinaire (RAD) / pas jeté (Rus.), grand jeté, and tour jeté (ABT) / grand jeté en tournant (Fr./Cecc.) / jeté entrelacé (Rus.), or the common compound step coupé jeté (en tournant).
Jeté (jeté ordinaire/pas jeté) refers to a jump initiated en plié, with the pointed working foot brushing out in dégagé from cou-de-pied (derrière) to seconde (action similar to a non-Russian-style flat frappé), weight being transferred via a jump propelled by pushing off the standing leg from plié, the leading leg landing tombé and the foot of the other/former standing leg ending cou-de-pied (derrière). Some schools (including ABT at one point) may still refer to this as a petit jeté.
Grand jeté: see grand jeté, a jump initiated with a grand battement en avant of the leading leg while pushing off the trailing leg from plié (usually led into by some moving step such as chassé, glissade en avant, or pas couru), the trailing leg brushing to grand battement derrière while in the air, the jump ultimately landing on the leading leg. Resembles the splits (en l'air).
Tour jeté / jeté en tournant ('turn'/'interlaced') is a grand jeté done turning: a jump initiated with a grand battement en avant of the leading leg, followed by a fouetté turning the direction of the body 180 degrees and the trailing leg brushing through to a grand battement derrière, the jump landing arabesque with the leading leg now the standing (landing) leg.
Coupé jeté en tournant is a compound step, usually done in multiples en manège ('in a circle'), of a coupé (changing the supporting foot) initiating the first quarter of a turn leading into a grand jeté completing the 360-degree rotation of the turn.
Petit jeté in RAD and the French school refers to a one-footed changement passing through cou-de-pied and is what other schools refer to as a changement emboîté.
M
Manèges
Manèges is a classical ballet term meaning “circular.” It describes when a dancer does steps in a circular pattern around the stage.
Usually, manèges will be a repetition of one or two steps, but can also be a combination of several. For example, a coupé jeté manèges is typically done by a male dancer in a coda of a classical pas de deux. Ballerinas will often do piqué manèges in a variation or also in a coda.
O
Ouvert, ouverte
(; 'open, opened.') Converse of fermé(e) ('closed'). Ouvert may refer to positions (the second and fourth positions of the feet are positions ouvertes), limbs, directions, or certain exercises or steps. In the French School, this term is used to indicate a position or direction of the body similar to
P
Partnering
Dancing performed by a pair of dancers, typically a male and a female, in which the pair strives to achieve a harmony of coordinated movements so that the audience remains unaware of the mechanics. A dance that is focused on a single pair of partnering dancers is a pas de deux. For a male dancer, partnering may involve lifting, catching, and carrying a partner, and providing assistance and support for leaps, promenades and pirouettes.
Pas
(; literally 'step.') A dance, or a suite of dances as in grand pas.
Pas de basque
(; 'step of the Basques.') Halfway between a step and a leap, taken on the floor (glissé) or with a jump (sauté); it can be done moving toward the front or toward the back. This step can also be found in Scottish highland dance.
Starting in fifth position croisé, a dancer executes a plié while brushing the downstage leg out to tendu front. The downstage leg does a demi rond de jambe to the opposite corner while the body turns to face that corner. Weight is quickly transferred to that brushed leg, now upstage, allowing the dancer to pass the newly downstage leg through first position via a chassé passé to fourth devant, ending croisé the new corner, and finishing by bringing the upstage leg in to close fifth.
Pas de bourrée
(; 'step of bourrée.') A quick sequence of movements beginning with extension of the first leg while demi-plié, closing the first leg to the second as both transition to relevé (demi-pointe or pointe), extending the second leg to an open position while relevé, and closing the first leg to the second in demi-plié (or optionally with legs straight if performed quickly or as the final step of an enchainement). Variants include:
pas de bourrée derrière – 'behind' / pas de bourrée devant – 'front'
pas de bourrée dessus – 'over,' initially closing the working foot in front / pas de bourrée dessous – 'under,' initially closing the working foot behind
pas de bourrée en arriere – 'traveling backward' / pas be bourrée en avant – 'traveling forward'
pas be bourrée en tournant en dedans – 'turning inward' / pas de bourrée en tournant en dehors – 'turning outward'
pas de bourrée ouvert – 'open,' an open->closed->open sequence
pas de bourrée piqué – 'pricked,' with working leg quickly lifted after pricking the floor
pas de bourrée couru – 'running,' also 'flowing like a river'
Pas de chat
(; 'step of the cat.') A traveling sideways jump where while mid-air the legs are successively bent, brought to retiré, feet as high up as possible, knees apart. The Dance of the Cygnets from Swan Lake involves sixteen pas de chat performed by four dancers holding hands, arms interlaced.
In the Cecchetti and French schools, this may be referred to as a saut de chat ('jump of the cat').
Grand pas de chat
A jump where the leading leg extends forward through grand battement (a "French pas de chat") or développé (an "Italian pas de chat") and the trailing leg remains in retiré until landing.
"Russian" pas de chat
A jump where the legs are successively brought to attitude derrière instead of retiré. This variant of the pas de chat appears in several Petipa ballets (e.g. the fourth variation in Paquita).
Pas de cheval
(; 'step of the horse.') A movement of the leg (when extended) through first or fifth position, to cou-de-pied and then energetically out to a pointe tendue through a petit développé.
Pas de deux
('Step of two.') A dance duet, usually performed by a female and a male dancer.
Pas de poisson
(; 'step of the fish.') A type of soubresaut, or a jump without a change of feet. From fifth position, a dancer executes a deep demi-plié and then jumps arching the back with straight legs behind, so that the body is curved like a fish jumping out of water. Also called temps de poisson.
Pas de quatre
('Step of four.') A dance by four dancers.
Pas de trois
('Step of three.') A dance by three dancers.
Pas de valse
(; 'waltz step.') A sequence of three steps—fondu, relevé, elevé (down, up, up)—always advancing (like a march), done in three counts to music generally in time, traveling in any direction or while turning (en tournant). The feet do not assemble (or "cross each other") on any step as occurs in a balancé; each step instead passes the last.
Passé
(; literally 'passed.') Passing the working foot through from back to front or vice versa. Generally used to refer to retiré passé, indicating passing the foot of the working leg past the knee of the supporting leg (on, below, or above) from back to front or front to back. Retiré passé may initiate or complete by sliding the working foot up or down the supporting leg from or to the floor, may be executed directly from an open position such as in pirouette from fourth, or may transition from knee to another position such as arabesque or attitude (as in développé). A chassé can also pass through from back to front as in (sissonne) failli: chassé passé.
Penché
(; 'tilted'.) Tilting the body forward about the hip of the supporting leg so that the head is lower than the working leg, as in arabesque penché. Doing a split while standing on one foot. The dancer lifts the leg more than 90 degrees.
Petit saut
(; 'small jump.') A small jump, in which the feet do not change positions in mid-air; also called temps levé sauté in the Vaganova vocabulary.
Piqué
(; meaning 'pricked.') A movement in which the raised, pointed foot of the working leg is lowered so that it pricks the floor and then either rebounds upward (as in battement piqué) or becomes a supporting foot. In the latter case, it may be used to transfer a stance from one leg to the other by stepping out directly onto an en pointe or demi-pointe foot and often immediately precedes a movement that entails elevating the new working leg, such as a piqué arabesque.
In Cecchetti and RAD, the term posé is used instead of piqué outside of the battement: piqué arabesque and ABT piqué turn/tour piqué (en dedans) / Rus. tour dégagé = RAD/Cecc. posé arabesque and posé turn/posé en tournant.
Piqué turn
A tour piqué or piqué turn is a traveling turn executed by the leg stepping out onto an en pointe or demi-pointe foot becoming the supporting leg while the working leg moves from plié to retiré derrière, if an en dedans turn, or retiré devant, if an en dehors turn. In fast piqué turns, petit retiré may be executed instead (i.e. working foot at cou-de-pied). Most commonly done en dedans, piqué turns en dehors are also referred to as lame ducks.
Pirouette
() A non-traveling turn on one leg, of one or more rotations, often starting with one or both legs in plié and rising onto demi-pointe or pointe. The non-supporting leg is generally held in retiré devant ('front')—when initiated from fourth, this would be a retiré passé—but could also be held in other positions such as seconde. Pirouettes are most often executed en dehors, turning outwards in the direction of the working leg, but can also be done en dedans, turning inwards in the direction of the supporting leg. (e.g. En dehors turns clockwise (to the right) if the right leg is working and the left leg supporting/standing.) Spotting is employed to help maintain balance. A pirouette may return to its starting position or finish in arabesque or attitude.
In other genres of dance, such as jazz or modern, it is common to see pirouettes performed with legs parallel (i.e. sixth position) instead of turned out as in ballet.
Plié
(; literally 'bent.') A smooth and continuous bending of the knees outward with the upper body held upright.
In demi-plié, (in a first, second, fourth, and fifth position) a dancer bends the knees while maintaining turnout. While in a demi-plie position one must remember to have proper alignment. Head over shoulders, shoulders over hips over knees and knees over feet. When initiating a demi-plie one must pull up and resist against going down. Lengthening from the center and back of the head and pressing down through the floor through the balls of the feet. As you are bending your knees you have to maintain the proper alignment and make sure that the knees are going over the big toe. Creating proper turn out by rotating the inner thighs forward and you go down. Making sure to keep the pelvis in line as you go down and up so that you do not release your seat and stick your chest forward. at the same time engaging your core,(stomach) by pressing your naval towards your spine. The knees bending directly above the line of the toes without releasing the heels from the floor. As soon as the bottom of the bend is reached, the bend is reversed and the legs are straightened.
In grand plié, (in first, second, fourth, and fifth position) While doing a grand-plie position one must remember to have proper alignment. Head over shoulders, shoulders over hips over knees and knees over feet. When initiating a grand-plie one must pull up and resist against going down. Lengthening from the center and back of the head and pressing down through the floor through the balls of the feet. As you are bending your knees you have to maintain the proper alignment and make sure that the knees are going over the big toe. Heels come off the ground past demi-plié with the feet ending in a demi-pointe at the bottom of the bend. Making sure to create proper turn out by rotating the inner thighs forward and you go down. Making sure to keep the pelvis in line as you go down and up so that you do not release your seat and stick your chest forward, and at the same time engaging your core,(stomach) by pressing your navel towards your spine. As soon as the bottom of the bend is reached, the bend is reversed and the legs are straightened. *Note: Heels do not come up off the floor in a second position.
Pointe, en
() Supporting one's body weight on the tips of the toes, usually while wearing structurally reinforced pointe shoes.
Pointe technique
The part of classical ballet technique that concerns pointe work (dancing on the tips of the toes).
Pointe work
Performing steps while on the tips of the toes, with feet fully extended and wearing pointe shoes, a structurally reinforced type of shoe designed specifically for this purpose. Most often performed by women.
Poisson
(; literally 'fish.') A body position in which the back is arched and legs are crossed in fifth position or the working leg is held retiré. This position may be assumed while jumping or in partnering lifts, as in a fish dive.
Port de bras
(; 'carriage of the arms.') An exercise for the movement of the arms (and in some schools, the upper body) to different positions. For example, a basic port de bras exercise could move from fifth en bas ('low') (i.e. bras bas or preparatory position) to first arm position, to second arm position, back down to fifth en bas. A full port de bras could move from en bas to en haut ('high', i.e. overhead) and back down. Port de bras movements vary by school and by action.
The phrase port de bras is used in some schools and parts of the world to indicate a bending forward, backward, or circularly of the body at the waist, generally to be followed by bringing the upper body back to center/upright again, e.g. "port de bras forward," "port de bras back," "circular port de bras/grand port de bras." Bending at the waist is otherwise known as cambré.
Posé
; A term of the Cecchetti school and RAD. From a fondu, a dancer steps with a straight leg onto an en pointe or demi-pointe foot, then brings the working leg to cou-de-pied, so that if the step is repeated, the working leg will execute a petit développé. This can be done in any direction or turning (the later also known as tour piqué).
Positions of the arms
There are two basic positions of the arms. In one, the dancer keeps the fingers of both arms almost touching to form an oval/round shape, either near the hips, at navel level, or raised above the dancer's head. In the other, the arms are extended to the sides with the elbows slightly bent. These positions may be combined to give other positions.
Different schools, such as Vaganova, French, and Cecchetti, Russian often use different names for similar arm positions. The Russian school names three arm positions while the other schools name five.
Bras bas ('arms low') (RAD)/bras au repos ('at rest') (French), preparatory position (Rus.), or fifth en bas (Cecc.) holds the arms low and slightly rounded near the hip.
First position holds the arms round or oval in front of the body somewhere between the naval and breastbone (depending on the school and movement), the fingertips of the hands approaching each other. In Cecchetti, the hands stay a little lower at tutu height.
Second position in all schools holds the arms extended out to the side, the inner part of the upper arm parallel to the ground with the forearms and palms facing the audience. The roundness and shoulder height of the arms varies by school.
Third position in the French/RAD schools holds one arm in second with the other arm in first. The Russian equivalent of this may be petit bras.
Third position in Cecchetti holds one arm in a Cecchetti first and the other arm in demi-seconde.
Third position in the Russian school holds both arms slightly rounded overhead. This is equivalent to fifth position (en haut) in other schools.
Fourth position or fourth ouvert ('open') consists of one arm en haut ('high,' i.e. raised overhead) and the other open to second position. This is called fourth en haut in Cecchetti. The Russian school does not designate a fourth position; the Russian equivalent may be grand bras.
Fourth position croisé ('crossed') or Spanish fourth in Cecchetti consists of one arm en haut and the other held in first position/Cecchetti fifth en avant.
Fifth position in the French/RAD schools and fifth en haut in Cecchetti holds the arms en haut slightly rounded, fingertips approaching each other. This is called third position in the Russian school, which does not designate a fifth (or fourth) position. Cecchetti also recognizes a fifth en bas, the preparatory/bras bas position in other schools, and a fifth en avant, arms rounded between naval/chest height, known as first position in other schools.
Additionally:
Demi-bras ('half arms') holds the arms between first and second position, outstretched with palms presented towards the audience.
Demi-seconde ('half second') holds the arms low out to the side as if grazing the tutu, palms generally down.
Positions of the body
There are eight to eleven positions of the body in ballet, eight in Cecchetti and RAD and ten or eleven in the Russian and French schools. The general positions are croisé, à la quatrième, effacé, à la seconde, écarté, and épaulé. Cecchetti and RAD's eight include croisé devant, à la quatrième devant, effacé (devant), à la seconde, croisé derrière, écarté, épaulé, and à la quatrième derrière. The Russian school further divides effacé and épaulé into effacé devant, effacé derrière, épaulé devant, and épaulé derrière, and the Russian arm positions on croisé derrière are the converse of Cecchetti/RAD's. In addition, the French school further divides écarté into écarté devant and écarté derrière.
Positions of the feet
The standard, basic placements of feet on the floor. Modern-day classical ballet employs five positions, known as the first position, second position, third position, fourth position, and fifth position.
Pulling Up
Pulling up is critical to the simple act of rising up on balance and involves the use of the entire body. The feeling of being simultaneously grounded and "pulled up" is necessary for many steps in ballet. To pull up, a dancer must lift the ribcage and sternum but keep the shoulders down, relaxed and centered over the hips, which requires use of the abdominal muscles. In addition, the dancer must stabilize the pelvis, maintaining a neutral position, and keep the back straight to avoid arching and going off balance.
Petit Battement
Petit battement is when a ballet dancer swiftly moves his/her leg in front then behind their calf. This motion is normally done at the barre during warm-up. A more advanced dancer would only move their knee, to complete this action.
Q
Quatre
() Four of something, as in pas de quatre (a dance by four dancers).
Quatrième
() Meaning 'fourth'.
R
Renversé
() An attitude presented on a turn.
Relevé
(; 'raised, lifted.') Rising onto the balls (demi-pointe) or toes (pointe) of one or both feet. See also élevé.
Relevé lent
(; 'lifted slowly.') Abbreviation of battement relevé lent. Term from the Russian school indicating raising the leg slowly from pointe tendue to 45 degrees or higher off the ground. Contrasts with (battement) tendu jeté, aka dégagé, in which the leg brushes out propulsively from a high position through tendu to elevated off the ground, and (temps) développé, in which the leg passes through retiré (or petit retiré) to à la hauteur or demi-hauteur, i.e. elevated off the ground.
Retiré
() A position of the working leg in which the leg is raised turned out and bent at the knee to the side so that the toe is located directly in front of (retiré devant) or behind (retiré derrière) the supporting knee. This is commonly used in pirouettes and as an intermediate position in other movements such as développé front.
Révérence
(; 'reverence, bow.') A bow, curtsy, or grand gesture of respect to acknowledge the teacher and the pianist after class or the audience and orchestra after a performance. After a classical ballet, a bow or choreographed révérence may be performed in character.
Revoltade
() A bravura jump in which one lands on the leg from which one pushes off after that leg travels around the other leg which is lifted to a level that is parallel with the floor. There are several variants, the passing leg may pass around the lifted leg in a passé position, or it may be extended and parallel to the lifted leg, or it may be extended and close to perpendicular to the lifted leg. This last variant is also known as a 540.
Rond de jambe
(; meaning 'leg circle.') Half-circle made by the pointed foot, from fourth front or back through second position to the opposite fourth and returning through first position again to repeat, in effect tracing out the letter "D". Starting front going back is called rond de jambe en dehors while starting back and going front is called rond de jambe en dedans.
Rond de jambe à terre/par terre: ('on the ground.') The extended leg with pointed toe remains on the ground to sweep around in a semi-circle.
Rond de jambe attitude: the leg is swung around from front to side and into attitude position behind as the supporting foot goes en pointe. (See also attitude.)
Rond de jambe en l'air: ('in the air.') The leg is lifted and sustained to the side (à la seconde), with movement being limited to below the knee. If the thigh is held at 90 degrees from the body, the toe draws a circle approximately between the knee of the supporting leg and second position in the air. If the thigh is held lower (e.g. 45 degrees), the circle is drawn to the calf of the supporting leg. This is commonly done in singles, doubles, and/or sauté.
Grand rond de jambe (en l'air): the leg is extended and sustained at grand battement height to draw a semi-circle in the air.
Demi-grand rond de jambe (en l'air): the leg is extended and sustained off the ground while moving from fourth devant or derrière to second or vice versa, thus drawing only half of the full semi-circle.
Royale
() Another name for changement battu. A changement with a beating of the legs preceding the foot change. Example: with the right foot in front in fifth position, plié, jump, beat the right thigh against the left (back thigh) and continue with a changement moving the right leg to behind the left, landing fifth position left foot front.
S
Sauté
(; literally 'jumped.') Used to indicate a step executed jumping, e.g. sauté arabesque is an arabesque performed while jumping on the supporting leg.
Saut de chat
() In RAD and American ballet, saut de chat refers to a jump similar to a grande jété differing in that the front leg extends through a développé instead of a grand battement. This is called a grande jété développé in other schools.
In the French and Cecchetti schools, saut de chat refers to what RAD/ABT call a pas de chat.
Scáfuri
A rise, from flat to demi-pointe (from the balls to the tips of both feet), usually done multiple times in quick succession where the legs are turned out in a grand pas position.
Second position (feet)
Legs turned out with feet pointing in opposite directions and heels at least shoulder-width apart.
Sickle
A term that refers to the reverse of a winging, indicating a foot where the heel is too far back so the toes are in front of the ankle and heel, breaking the line of the leg at the ankle. If a dancer sickles an en pointe or demi-pointe foot, the ankle could collapse to the outside, resulting in a sprain. A working foot should be straight to the side and mildly winged to the front or back.
Sissonne
() Although commonly thought to mean a scissor step, sissonnes are in fact named after the originator of the step.
There are many types of sissonne, but all push off the floor with two feet and land on one.
A sissone simple/ ordinaire devant starts in fifth position, shows fifth position in the air and lands in cou-de-pied devant. A sissonne fermée (close) has the dancer perform a medium to large jump from two feet, springing in any direction and leaving an extended leg behind, the ‘fermé’ is then a fast closing of the extended leg back into fifth position. A sissonne ouverte (open) will finish in the extended position.
Advanced dancers can often be seen splitting their legs in a sissonne fermée and ouverte, this has perhaps led to some believing sissonne to be a ‘scissor step’. For reference, ‘scissors’ in French is ‘Ciseaux’ [see-ZOH].
Pas de ciseaux [pah duh see-ZOH] - a scissor step, is in advanced step in which following a temps levé from the left leg with the right leg devant, the legs pass each other at the height of the jump and the left leg is then immediately thrust backwards to land on the right leg with the left leg in arabesque (en fondue).
Soubresaut
() A sudden spring or small jump from both feet, traveling forward in either first, third, or fifth position and landing on both feet in the same position as they started.
Sous-sous
(; literally 'under-under.') A relevé, or rise, into a tight fifth position, feet touching and ankles crossed, giving the appearance of one foot with two heels. A term from the Cecchetti school, sus-sous ('over-under') is the equivalent term in the French and Russian schools.
Soutenu en tournant
(; 'sustained.') Similar to tours chaînés (déboulés), a soutenu turn is a turn usually done in multiples in quick succession. The dancer first executes a demi-plié while extending the leading leg in tendu, stepping onto that leg en pointe/demi-pointe (making it the standing leg), then bringing the other leg to fifth position in front of the standing leg and finally turning (effectively, an unwinding motion). At the end of the rotation, the originally crossed-over foot in front should now be in fifth position behind.
Common abbreviation of assemblé soutenu en tournant (Cecc.). This is known as a glissade en tourant in the Russian school.
When done at the barre en demi-pointe to switch sides, only half a turn is done instead of a full turn, and the foot does not extend out into tendu. Differs from a détourné in that there is a repositioning of the feet on finishing (and a crossing action, if not initiated in fifth) vs. just a pivot to half turn.
Split
A configuration of the legs in which the legs are extended in opposite directions, either to the side (straddle split) or with one leg forward and the other back (front split). This is employed in various movements, including grand jeté and arabesque penchée.
Sur le cou-de-pied
(; literally 'on the neck of the foot.') The arched working foot is placed wrapped at the part of the leg between the base of the calf and the beginning of the ankle. On the accent devant (front), the heel of the working foot is placed in front of the leg, while the toes point to the back, allowing the instep (cou-de-pied in French) of the working foot to hug the lower leg. On the accent derrière (back), the heel of the working leg is placed behind the leg with the toes pointing to the back. The action of alternating between devant and derrière is seen in a petit battement.
T
Tendu
(; literally 'stretched.') Gradually extending the working leg to the front (tendu devant), side, or back, passing from flat to demi-pointe to point where only the toes are touching the floor (tendu à terre), or only the pointed toes are elevated (en l'air). A common abbreviation for battement tendu.
Tights
Most ballet dancers wear tights in practices and performances unless in some contemporary and character dances or variations.
Temps levé
(; literally 'time raised.') A term from the Cecchetti school indicating a hop on one foot while the other is raised in any position. The instep is fully arched when leaving the ground and the spring must come from the pointing of the toe and the extension of the leg after the demi-plié.
In the Cecchetti method, the specifically indicates a spring from fifth position while raising one foot to sur le cou-de-pied. In the Russian and French schools, this is known as sissonne simple.
Temps levé sauté
(; literally 'time raised jumped.') A term from the Russian school. This can be executed with both feet from first, second, third, fourth, or fifth position starting with a demi-plié, leading to a jump in the air that lands with the feet in the same position as they started. (Otherwise known as simply a saut or sauté.) This can also be performed from one foot, while the other maintains the same position it had before starting the jump (i.e. the same as temps levé).
Temps lié
(; 'time linked.') A term indicating the transfer of weight from one leg to another by shifting through to the position without any sort of gliding or sliding movement.
Tours en l'air
(; literally 'turn in the air.') A jump, typically done by males, with a full rotation in the air. The landing can be on both feet, on one leg with the other extended in attitude or arabesque, or down on one knee as at the end of a variation. A single tour is a 360° rotation, a double is 720°. Vaslav Nijinsky was known to perform triple tours en l'air.
Tombé
(; literally 'fallen.') The action of falling, typically used as a lead-in movement to a traveling step, e.g. pas de bourrée. A tombé en avant begins with a coupé to the front moving to a dégagé to fourth position devant, the extended foot coming down to the floor with the leg en plié, shifting the weight of the body onto the front leg and lifting the back leg off the floor in dégagé (to fourth derrière). A tombé through second starts with a dégagé of the leading leg to second position, the leading foot coming to the floor with the leg in plié, and the trailing leg lifting off the floor in dégagé to (the opposite-side) second position. A tombé en avant can also be initiated with a small sliding hop instead of a coupé.
In the Vaganova school, the full term is sissonne ouverte tombée.
Triple Runs
One big step, followed by two little steps, that can be done in a circle.
Turnout
Rotation of the legs at the hips, resulting in knees and feet facing away from each other.
Tutu
A classic ballet skirt, typically flat at the waist or hip level, made of several layers of tulle or tarlatan.
Tendu Passe
V
Variation
A dance typically done solo.
Virtuoso
A dancer with great technical ability and skill.
W
Waltz
A sequence of steps performed in sync with waltz music, as in pas de waltz en tournant.
See also
Dance basic topics
Glossary of dance moves
Citations
General sources
American Ballet Theatre's Online Ballet Dictionary
External links
Ballet Terms and Vocabulary at Esmeree
French Ballet terms pronunciation in video with illustrations
Articles containing video clips
Ballet
Human positions
Wikipedia glossaries using subheadings
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narmer
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Narmer
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Narmer (, may mean "painful catfish", "stinging catfish", "harsh catfish", or "fierce catfish;" reign beginning at a date estimated to fall in the range 3273–2987 BC) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period. He was the successor to the Protodynastic king Ka. Many scholars consider him the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt. He also had a prominently noticeable presence in Canaan, compared to his predecessors and successors. A majority of Egyptologists believe that Narmer was the same person as Menes. Neithhotep is thought to be his queen consort or his daughter.
Historical identity
Although highly interrelated, the questions of "who was Menes?" and "who unified Egypt?" are actually two separate issues. Narmer is often credited with the unification of Egypt by means of the conquest of Lower Egypt by Upper Egypt. While Menes is traditionally considered the first king/pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, Narmer has been identified by the majority of Egyptologists as the same person as Menes. Although vigorously debated (Hor-Aha, Narmer's successor, is the primary alternative identified as Menes by many authorities), the predominant opinion is that Narmer was Menes.
The issue is confusing because "Narmer" is a Horus name while "Menes" is a Sedge and Bee name (personal or birth name). All of the King Lists which began to appear in the New Kingdom era list the personal names of the kings, and almost all begin with Menes, or begin with divine and/or semi-divine rulers, with Menes as the first "human king". The difficulty is aligning the contemporary archaeological evidence which lists Horus Names with the King Lists that list personal names.
Two documents have been put forward as proof either that Narmer was Menes or alternatively Hor-Aha was Menes. The first is the "Naqada Label" found at the site of Naqada, in the tomb of Queen Neithhotep, often assumed to have been the mother of Horus Aha. The label shows a serekh of Hor-Aha next to an enclosure inside of which are symbols that have been interpreted by some scholars as the name "Menes". The second is the seal impression from Abydos that alternates between a serekh of Narmer and the chessboard symbol, "mn", which is interpreted as an abbreviation of Menes. Arguments have been made with regard to each of these documents in favour of Narmer or Hor-Aha being Menes, but in neither case is the argument conclusive.
The second document, the seal impression from Abydos, shows the serekh of Narmer alternating with the gameboard sign (mn), together with its phonetic complement, the n sign, which is always shown when the full name of Menes is written, again representing the name “Menes”. At first glance, this would seem to be strong evidence that Narmer was Menes. However, based on an analysis of other early First Dynasty seal impressions, which contain the name of one or more princes, the seal impression has been interpreted by other scholars as showing the name of a prince of Narmer named Menes, hence Menes was Narmer's successor, Hor-Aha, and thus Hor-Aha was Menes. This was refuted by ; but opinions still vary, and the seal impression cannot be said to definitively support either theory.
Two necropolis sealings, found in 1985 and 1991 in Abydos (Umm el-Qa'ab), in or near the tombs of Den and Qa'a, show Narmer as the first king on each list, followed by Hor-Aha. The Qa'a sealing lists all eight of the kings of what scholars now call the First Dynasty in the correct order, starting with Narmer. These necropolis sealings are strong evidence that Narmer was the first king of the First Dynasty, hence the same person as Menes.
Name
The complete spelling of Narmer's name consists of the hieroglyphs for a catfish (nꜥr){{efn| Although the catfish portrayed in Narmer's name has sometimes been described as an "electric catfish", based on its fin configuration, it is actually of the non-electric Heterobranchus genus.}} and a chisel (mr), hence the reading "Narmer" (using the rebus principle). This word is sometimes translated as "raging catfish". However, there is no consensus on this reading. Other translations of the adjective before "catfish" include "angry", "fighting", "fierce", "painful", "furious", "bad", "evil", "biting", "menacing", and "stinging". Some scholars have taken entirely different approaches to reading the name that do not include "catfish" in the name at all, but these approaches have not been generally accepted.
Rather than incorporating both hieroglyphs, Narmer's name is often shown in an abbreviated form with just the catfish symbol, sometimes stylized, even, in some cases, represented by just a horizontal line. This simplified spelling appears to be related to the formality of the context. In every case that a serekh is shown on a work of stone or an official seal impression, it has both symbols. But, in most cases, where the name is shown on a piece of pottery or a rock inscription, just the catfish, or a simplified version of it appears.
Two alternative spellings of Narmer's name have also been found. On a mud sealing from Tarkhan, the symbol for the ṯꜣj-bird (Gardiner sign G47 "duckling") has been added to the two symbols for ″Narmer″ within the serekh. This has been interpreted as meaning "Narmer the masculine"; however, according to Ilona Regulski, "The third sign (the [ṯꜣj]-bird) is not an integral part of the royal name since it occurs so infrequently." Godron suggested that the extra sign is not part of the name, but was put inside the serekh for compositional convenience.
In addition, two necropolis seals from Abydos show the name in a unique way: While the chisel is shown conventionally where the catfish would be expected, there is a symbol that has been interpreted by several scholars as an animal skin. According to Dreyer, it is probably a catfish with a bull's tail, similar to the image of Narmer on the Narmer Palette in which he is shown wearing a bull's tail as a symbol of power.
Reign
The date commonly given for the beginning of Narmer's reign is c. 3100 BC. Other mainstream estimates, using both the historical method and radiocarbon dating, are in the range c. 3273–2987 BC.
Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
The famous Narmer Palette, discovered by James E. Quibell in the 1897–1898 season at Hierakonpolis, shows Narmer wearing the crown of Upper Egypt on one side of the palette, and the crown of Lower Egypt on the other side, giving rise to the theory that Narmer unified the two lands. Since its discovery, however, it has been debated whether the Narmer Palette represents an actual historic event or is purely symbolic. Of course, the Narmer Palette could represent an actual historical event while at the same time having a symbolic significance.
In 1993, Günter Dreyer discovered a "year label" of Narmer at Abydos, depicting the same event that is depicted on the Narmer Palette. In the First Dynasty, years were identified by the name of the king and an important event that occurred in that year. A "year label" was typically attached to a container of goods and included the name of the king, a description or representation of the event that identified the year, and a description of the attached goods. This year label shows that the Narmer Palette depicts an actual historical event. Support for this conclusion (in addition to Dreyer) includes Wilkinson and Davies & Friedman. Although this interpretation of the year label is the dominant opinion among Egyptologists, there are exceptions including Baines and Wengrow.
Archaeological evidence suggests that Egypt was at least partially unified during the reigns of Ka and Iry-Hor (Narmer's immediate predecessors), and perhaps as early as Scorpion I (several generations before Iry-Hor). Tax collection is probably documented for Ka and Iry-Hor. The evidence for a role for Scorpion I in Lower Egypt comes from his tomb Uj in Abydos (Upper Egypt), where labels were found identifying goods from Lower Egypt. These are not tax documents, however, so they are probably indications of trade rather than subjugation. There is a substantial difference in the quantity and distribution of inscriptions with the names of those earlier kings in Lower Egypt and Canaan (which was reached through Lower Egypt), compared to the inscriptions of Narmer. Ka's inscriptions have been found in three sites in Lower Egypt and one in Canaan. Iry-Hor inscriptions have also been found in two sites in Lower Egypt and one in Canaan. This must be compared to Narmer, whose serekhs have been found in ten sites in Lower Egypt and nine sites in Canaan (see discussion in "Tomb and Artefacts" section). This demonstrates a qualitative difference between Narmer's role in Lower Egypt compared to his two immediate predecessors. There is no evidence in Lower Egypt of any Upper Egyptian king's presence before Iry-Hor. The archaeological evidence suggest that the unification began before Narmer, but was completed by him through the conquest of a polity in the North-West Delta as depicted on the Narmer Palette.
The importance that Narmer attached to his "unification" of Egypt is shown by the fact that it is commemorated not only on the Narmer Palette, but on a cylinder seal, the Narmer Year Label, and the Narmer Boxes; and the consequences of the event are commemorated on the Narmer Macehead. The importance of the unification to ancient Egyptians is shown by the fact that Narmer is shown as the first king on the two necropolis seals, and under the name Menes, the first king in the later King Lists. Although there is archaeological evidence of a few kings before Narmer, none of them are mentioned in any of those sources. It can be accurately said that from the point of view of Ancient Egyptians, history began with Narmer and the unification of Egypt, and that everything before him was relegated to the realm of myth.
Peak of Egyptian presence in Canaan
According to (quoted in Eusebius (Fr. 7(a))), "Menes made a foreign expedition and won renown." If this is correct (and assuming it refers to Narmer), it was undoubtedly to the land of Canaan where Narmer's serekh has been identified at nine different sites. An Egyptian presence in Canaan predates Narmer, but after about 200 years of active presence in Canaan, Egyptian presence peaked during Narmer's reign and quickly declined afterwards. The relationship between Egypt and Canaan "began around the end of the fifth millennium and apparently came to an end sometime during the Second Dynasty when it ceased altogether." It peaked during Dynasty 0 through the reign of Narmer. Dating to this period are 33 Egyptian serekhs found in Canaan, among which 20 have been attributed to Narmer. Prior to Narmer, only one serekh of Ka and one inscription with Iry-Hor's name have been found in Canaan. The serekhs earlier than Iry-Hor are either generic serekhs that do not refer to a specific king, or are for kings not attested in Abydos. Indicative of the decline of Egyptian presence in the region after Narmer, only one serekh attributed to his successor, Hor-Aha, has been found in Canaan. Even this one example is questionable, Wilkinson does not believe there are any serekhs of Hor-Aha outside Egypt and very few serekhs of kings for the rest of the first two dynasties have been found in Canaan.
The Egyptian presence in Canaan is best demonstrated by the presence of pottery made from Egyptian Nile clay and found in Canaan, as well as pottery made from local clay, but in the Egyptian style. The latter suggests the existence of Egyptian colonies rather than just trade.
The nature of Egypt's role in Canaan has been vigorously debated, between scholars who suggest a military invasion and others proposing that only trade and colonization were involved. Although the latter has gained predominance, the presence of fortifications at Tell es-Sakan dating to Dynasty 0 through early Dynasty 1 period, and built almost entirely using an Egyptian style of construction, demonstrate that there must have also been some kind of Egyptian military presence.
Regardless of the nature of Egypt's presence in Canaan, control of trade to (and through) Canaan was important to Ancient Egypt. Narmer probably did not establish Egypt's initial influence in Canaan by a military invasion, but a military campaign by Narmer to re-assert Egyptian authority, or to increase its sphere of influence in the region, is certainly plausible. In addition to the quote by Manetho, and the large number of Narmer serekhs found in Canaan, a recent reconstruction of a box of Narmer's by Dreyer may have commemorated a military campaign in Canaan. It may also represent just the presentation of tribute to Narmer by Canaanites.
Neithhotep
Narmer and Hor-Aha's names were both found in what is believed to be Neithhotep's tomb, which led Egyptologists to conclude that she was Narmer's queen and mother of Hor-Aha. Neithhotep's name means "Neith is satisfied". This suggests that she was a princess of Lower Egypt (based on the fact that Neith is the patron goddess of Sais in the Western Delta, exactly the area Narmer conquered to complete the unification of Egypt), and that this was a marriage to consolidate the two regions of Egypt. The fact that her tomb is in Naqada, in Upper Egypt, has led some to the conclusion that she was a descendant of the predynastic rulers of Naqada who ruled prior to its incorporation into a united Upper Egypt. It has also been suggested that the Narmer Macehead commemorates this wedding. However, the discovery in 2012 of rock inscriptions in Sinai by Pierre Tallet raise questions about whether she was really Narmer's wife. Neithhotep is probably the earliest non-mythical woman in history whose name is known to us today.
Tomb and artifacts
Tomb
Narmer's tomb in Umm el-Qa'ab near Abydos in Upper Egypt consists of two joined chambers (B17 and B18), lined in mud brick. Although both Émile Amélineau and Petrie excavated tombs B17 and B18, it was only in 1964 that Kaiser identified them as being Narmer's. Narmer's tomb is located next to the tombs of Ka, who likely ruled Upper Egypt just before Narmer, and Hor-Aha, who was his immediate successor.
As the tomb dates back more than 5,000 years, and has been pillaged, repeatedly, from antiquity to modern times, it is amazing that anything useful could be discovered in it. Because of the repeated disturbances in Umm el-Qa'ab, many articles of Narmer's were found in other graves, and objects of other kings, were recovered in Narmer's grave. However, Flinders Petrie during the period 1899–1903, and, starting in the 1970s, the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) have made discoveries of the greatest importance to the history of Early Egypt by their re-excavation of the tombs of Umm el-Qa'ab.
Despite the chaotic condition of the cemetery, inscriptions on both wood and bone, seal impressions, as well as dozens of flint arrowheads were found. (Petrie says with dismay that "hundreds" of arrowheads were discovered by "the French", presumably Amélineau. What happened to them is not clear, but none ended up in the Cairo Museum.) Flint knives and a fragment of an ebony chair leg were also discovered in Narmer's tomb, all of which might be part of the original funerary assemblage. The flint knives and fragment of a chair leg were not included in any of Petrie's publications, but are now at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology (University College London), registration numbers UC35679, UC52786, and UC35682. According to Dreyer, these arrowheads are probably from the tomb of Djer, where similar arrowheads were found.
It is likely that all of the kings of Ancient Egypt buried in Umm el-Qa'ab had funerary enclosures in Abydos' northern cemetery, near the cultivation line. These were characterized by large mud brick walls that enclosed space in which funerary ceremonies are believed to have taken place. Eight enclosures have been excavated, two of which have not been definitely identified. While it has yet to be confirmed, one of these unidentified funerary enclosures may have belonged to Narmer.
Artifacts
Narmer is well attested throughout Egypt, southern Canaan and Sinai: altogether 98 inscriptions at 26 sites. At Abydos and Hierakonpolis Narmer's name appears both within a serekh and without reference to a serekh. At every other site except Coptos, Narmer's name appears in a serekh. In Egypt, his name has been found at 17 sites: 4 in Upper Egypt (Hierakonpolis, Naqada, Abydos, and Coptos); ten in Lower Egypt (Tarkhan, Helwan, Zawyet el'Aryan, Tell Ibrahim Awad, Ezbet el-Tell, Minshat Abu Omar, Saqqara, Buto, Tell el-Farkha, and Kafr Hassan Dawood); one in the Eastern Desert (Wadi el-Qaash); and two in the Western Desert (Kharga Oasis and Gebel Tjauti).
During Narmer's reign, Egypt had an active economic presence in southern Canaan. Pottery sherds have been discovered at several sites, both from pots made in Egypt and imported to Canaan and others made in the Egyptian style out of local materials. Twenty serekhs have been found in Canaan that may belong to Narmer, but seven of those are uncertain or controversial. These serekhs came from eight different sites: Tel Arad, En Besor (Ein HaBesor), Tel es-Sakan, Nahal Tillah (Halif Terrace), Tel Erani (Tel Gat), Small Tel Malhata, Tel Ma'ahaz, and Tel Lod,
Narmer's serekh, along with those of other Predynastic and Early Dynastic kings, has been found at the Wadi 'Ameyra in the southern Sinai, where inscriptions commemorate Egyptian mining expeditions to the area.
Nag el-Hamdulab
First recorded at the end of the 19th century, an important series of rock carvings at Nag el-Hamdulab near Aswan was rediscovered in 2009, and its importance only realized then. Among the many inscriptions, tableau 7a shows a man wearing a headdress similar to the White Crown of Upper Egypt and carrying a scepter. He is followed by a man with a fan. He is then preceded by two men with standards, and accompanied by a dog. Apart from the dog motif, this scene is similar to scenes on the Scorpion Macehead and the recto of the Narmer Palette. The man, equipped with pharaonic regalia (the crown and scepter), can clearly be identified as a king. Although no name appears in the tableau, Darnell attributes it to Narmer, based on the iconography, and suggests that it might represent an actual visit to the region by Narmer for a "Following of Horus" ritual. In an interview in 2012, Gatto also describes the king in the inscription as Narmer. However, Hendricks (2016) places the scene slightly before Narmer, based, in part on the uncharacteristic absence of Narmer's royal name in the inscription.
Popular culture
The First Pharaoh (The First Dynasty Book 1) by Lester Picker is a fictionalized biography of Narmer. The author consulted with Egyptologist Günter Dreyer to achieve authenticity.
Murder by the Gods: An Ancient Egyptian Mystery by William G. Collins is a thriller about Prince Aha (later king Hor-Aha), with Narmer included in a secondary role.
Pharaoh: The Boy who Conquered the Nile by Jackie French is a children's book (ages 10–14) about the adventures of Prince Narmer.
The Third Gate by Lincoln Child is the third book in the Jeremy Logan series and revolves primarily around the discovery and exploration of a fictional secret burial place of Narmer.
Warframe uses Narmer's name for a faction added in The New War update that shares some similarities to the Pharaoh's reign.
In The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, one of siblings Carter and Sadie's parents comes from Narmer's lineage, the other from Ramses the Great (book one, The Red Pyramid, page 195)
Gallery
See also
First Dynasty of Egypt
List of Pharaohs
Protodynastic Period
Scorpion II
Upper Egypt
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
Davis, Whitney. 1992. Masking the Blow: The Scene of Representation In Late Prehistoric Egyptian Art. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Goldwasser, Orly. 1992. "The Narmer Palette and the 'Triumph of Metaphor'." Lingua Aegyptia 2: 67–85.
Muhlestein, Kerry. 2011. Violence In the Service of Order: The Religious Framework for Sanctioned Killing In Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Ray, John D. 2003. "The Name of King Narmer." Lingua Aegyptia 11: 131–38.
Shaw, Ian. 2004. Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Takacs, Gabor. 1997. "Note on the Name of King Narmer." Linguistica 37, no. 1: 53–58.
Wengrow, David. 2001. "Rethinking 'Cattle Cults' in Early Egypt: Towards a Prehistoric Perspective on the Narmer Palette." Cambridge Archaeological Journal 11, no. 1: 91–104.
Wilkinson, Toby A. H. 2000. "What a King Is This: Narmer and the Concept of the Ruler." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 86: 24–32.
Williams, Bruce, Thomas J. Logan, and William J. Murnane. 1987. "The Metropolitan Museum Knife Handle and Aspects of Pharaonic Imagery before Narmer." Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' 46, no. 4: 245–85.
External links
The Narmer Catalog
Database of Early Dynastic Inscriptions
Early Egyptian Queen Revealed in 5,000-Year Old Hieroglyphs
Photos: 5,000-Year Old Hieroglyphs Discovered in Sinai Desert.
Hierakonpolis: City of the Hawk
32nd-century BC Pharaohs
31st-century BC Pharaohs
Pharaohs of the First Dynasty of Egypt
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New%20Lanark
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New Lanark
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New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housing for the mill workers. Dale built the mills there in a brief partnership with the English inventor and entrepreneur Richard Arkwright to take advantage of the water power provided by the only waterfalls on the River Clyde. Under the ownership of a partnership that included Dale's son-in-law, Robert Owen, a Welsh utopian socialist and philanthropist, New Lanark became a successful business and an early example of a planned settlement and so an important milestone in the historical development of urban planning.
The New Lanark mills operated until 1968. After a period of decline, the New Lanark Conservation Trust (NLCT) was founded in 1974 (now known as the New Lanark Trust (NLT)) to prevent demolition of the village. By 2006 most of the buildings have been restored and the village has become a major tourist attraction. It is one of six UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland and an Anchor Point of ERIH – the European Route of Industrial Heritage.
History
The New Lanark cotton mills were founded in 1786 by David Dale in a brief partnership with Richard Arkwright. Dale was one of the self-made "Burgher Gentry" of Glasgow who, like most of this gentry, had a summer retreat, an estate at Rosebank, Cambuslang, not far from the Falls of Clyde, which have been painted by J. M. W. Turner and many other artists. The mills used the recently developed water-powered cotton spinning machinery invented by Richard Arkwright. Dale sold the mills, lands and village in the early 19th century for £60,000, payable over 20 years, to a partnership that included his son-in-law Robert Owen. Owen, who became mill manager in 1800, was an industrialist who carried on his father-in-law's philanthropic approach to industrial working and who subsequently became an influential social reformer. New Lanark, with its social and welfare programmes, epitomised his Utopian socialism (see also Owenism). The town and mills are important historically through their connection with Owen's ideas, but also because of their role in the developing industrial revolution in the UK and their place in the history of urban planning.
The New Lanark mills depended upon water power. A dam was constructed on the Clyde above New Lanark and water was drawn off the river to power the mill machinery. The water first travelled through a tunnel, then through an open channel called the lade. It then went to a number of water wheels in each mill building. It was not until 1929 that the last waterwheel was replaced by a water turbine. Water power is still used in New Lanark. A new water turbine has been installed in Mill Number Three to provide electricity for the tourist areas of the village.
In Owen's time some 2,500 people lived at New Lanark, many from the poorhouses of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Although not the grimmest of mills by far, Owen found the conditions unsatisfactory and resolved to improve the workers' lot. He paid particular attention to the needs of the 500 or so children living in the village (one of the tenement blocks is named Nursery Buildings) and working at the mills, and opened the first infants' school in Britain in 1817, although the previous year he had completed the Institute for the Formation of Character.
The mills thrived commercially, but Owen's partners were unhappy at the extra expense incurred by his welfare programmes. Unwilling to allow the mills to revert to the old ways of operating, Owen bought out his partners. In 1813 the Board forced an auction, hoping to obtain the town and mills at a low price but Owen and a new board (including the economist Jeremy Bentham) that was sympathetic to his reforming ideas won out.
New Lanark became celebrated throughout Europe, with many statesmen, reformers and royalty visiting the mills. They were astonished to find a clean, healthy industrial environment with a content, vibrant workforce and a prosperous, viable business venture all rolled into one. Owen's philosophy was contrary to contemporary thinking, but he was able to demonstrate that it was not necessary for an industrial enterprise to treat its workers badly to be profitable. Owen was able to show visitors the village's excellent housing and amenities, and the accounts showing the profitability of the mills.
As well as the mills' connections with reform, socialism and welfare, they are also representative of the Industrial Revolution that occurred in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries and which fundamentally altered the shape of the world. The planning of employment in the mills alongside housing for the workers and services such as a school also makes the settlement iconic in the development of urban planning in the UK.
In 1825, control of New Lanark passed to the Walker family when Owen left Britain to start settlement of New Harmony in the US. The Walkers managed the village until 1881, when it was sold to Birkmyre and Sommerville and the Gourock Ropeworks (although they tried unsuccessfully to sell the mills and the town in 1851). They and their successor companies remained in control until the mills closed in 1968.
The town and the industrial activity had been in decline before then, but after the mills closed migration away from the village accelerated, and the buildings began to deteriorate. The top two floors of Mill Number 1 were removed in 1945 but the building has since been restored and is now the New Lanark Mill Hotel. In 1963 the New Lanark Association (NLA) was formed as a housing association and commenced the restoration of Caithness Row and Nursery Buildings. In 1970 the mills, other industrial buildings and the houses used by Dale and Owen were sold to Metal Extractions Limited, a scrap metal company. In 1974 the NLCT (now the NLT) was founded to prevent demolition of the village. A compulsory purchase order was used in 1983 to recover the mills and other buildings from Metal Extractions after a repairs notice had been served in 1979. This was because of the state of repair of the buildings despite their listing as historic buildings that required their legal preservation in 1971. They are now controlled by the NLT, either directly through the Trust or through wholly owned companies (New Lanark Trading Ltd, New Lanark Hotel Ltd and New Lanark Homes). By 2005 most of the buildings had been restored and the village has become a major tourist attraction.
Living conditions
In the mid 19th century, an entire family would have been housed in a single room. Some sense of such living conditions can be obtained by visiting the reconstructed Millworkers House at New Lanark World Heritage Site or the David Livingstone Centre at Blantyre.
David Dale, who founded New Lanark, was also involved in the mills at Blantyre. Only one tenement row has survived in Blantyre, and that building is now a museum. This is mostly devoted to David Livingstone, who was born there in 1813, both examples include re-creations of the single-room living conditions of the time at New Lanark, featuring trundle beds for children such as Livingstone would have used. The David Livingstone Centre is 18 miles by road from New Lanark, between Glasgow and Hamilton.
The living conditions in the village gradually improved, and by the early 20th century families would have had the use of several rooms. It was not until 1933 that the houses had interior cold water taps for sinks and the communal outside toilets were replaced by inside facilities.
From 1938 the village proprietors provided free electricity to all the homes in New Lanark, but only enough power was available for one dim bulb in each room. The power was switched off at 10 pm Sunday-Friday, 11 pm Saturday. In 1955 New Lanark was connected to the National Grid.
New Lanark today
It has been estimated that over 400,000 people visit the village each year. The importance of New Lanark has been recognised by UNESCO as one of Scotland's six World Heritage Sites, the others being Edinburgh Old and New Towns, Heart of Neolithic Orkney, St Kilda, the Antonine Wall and the Forth Bridge. The mills and town were listed in 2001 after an unsuccessful application for World Heritage listing in 1986.
About 130 people live in New Lanark. Of the residential buildings, only Mantilla Row has not been restored. Some of the restoration work was undertaken by the NLA and the NLCT. Braxfield Row and most of Long Row were restored by private individuals who bought the houses as derelict shells and restored them as private houses. Seven houses in Double Row have been externally restored by the NLCT and are being sold for private ownership. In addition to the 21 owner-occupied properties in the village there are 45 rented properties which were let by the NLA, which was a registered housing association. The NLA also owned other buildings in the village. In 2009 the NLA was wound up as being financially and administratively unviable, and responsibility for the village's tenanted properties passed to the NLCT.
In 2009 Clydesdale Bank released a new series of Scottish banknotes, of which the 20-pound note features New Lanark on its reverse.
Considerable attention has been given to maintaining the historical authenticity of the village. No television aerials or satellite dishes are allowed in the village, and services such as telephone, television and electricity are delivered though buried cables. To provide a consistent appearance all external woodwork is painted white, and doors and windows follow a consistent design. Householders used to be banned from owning dogs, but this rule is no longer enforced.
Some features introduced by the NLT, such as commercial signage and a glass bridge connecting the Engine House and Mill Number Three, have been criticised. The retention of a 1924-pattern red telephone box in the village square has also been seen as inappropriate.
The mills, the hotel and most of the non-residential buildings in the village are owned and operated by the NLT through wholly owned companies.
Historic maps
A 1911 Ordnance Survey map is available from the National Library of Scotland is available.
Buildings
Braxfield Row, built c1790 – a tenement block converted to ten owner-occupied houses, nine are four-storey and one five-storey.
Long Row, built c1790 – a tenement block converted to 14 three-storey houses. Ten are owner occupied and four are tenanted.
Double Row, built c1795 – a tenement block of seven four-storey houses and one five-storey that were occupied from the 1790s to the 1970s. They originally contained back-to-back apartments. The side facing the river was also known as Water Row. Seven of the houses have been externally renovated to be sold as single occupancy homes. Number seven is known as the 'Museum Stair' and is designated a Scheduled Monument, due to the remarkable survival of original artefacts and materials such as fireplaces, sinks, 'set-in' beds, remnants of wallpaper and linoleum.
Mantilla Row, built c1795 – a tenement block demolished when it became structurally unsafe. New foundations and some walls have been laid, but the row has not been completely rebuilt.
Wee Row, built c1795 – a tenement block converted to a youth hostel in 1994. It was once operated by the Scottish Youth Hostels Association but is now managed by the New Lanark Mill Hotel. Closed and to be sold
New Buildings, built 1798 – a four-storey building containing the bell tower. The bell, which once summoned the workers to the mills, is now sounded at midnight on the last day of the year. The building contains a museum and tenanted flats.
Nursery Buildings, built 1809 – a three-storey building that has been converted to tenanted flats. It was once used to house the orphan children who worked in the mills.
Caithness Row, built 1792 – a three-storey tenement block that has been converted to tenanted flats. Caithness is a district in the Scottish Highlands and the row was supposedly named after a group of Highlanders recruited to work in the mills.
Village Church, built 1898 – now used for social purposes and named the Community Hall. Has since fallen into disrepair and has become structurally unsafe.
Mill Number One, built 1789 – originally built in 1785 and started spinning in March 1786. It burnt down on 9 October 1788 and was rebuilt in 1789. In 1802 the mill had three waterwheels driving 6556 spindles. In 1811 558 people, 408 of them female, worked in the mill. In 1945 it had its top two floors removed. The building became derelict and was renovated and rebuilt as the New Lanark Mill Hotel. The hotel opened in 1998.
Waterhouses, built c1799-1818 – a row of one- and two-storey buildings next to Mill Number One, converted into holiday flats.
Mill Number Two, built 1788 – in 1811 it had three waterwheels and employed 486 people, 283 of them women. It was widened in 1884–5 to accommodate ring frames. The extension is the only brick faced building in the village. It is now used for tourist purposes.
Mill Number Three, built 1790–92 – known as 'the jeanies house' and contained a large number of water powered jennies. It burned down in 1819 and was rebuilt circa 1826–33. In 1811 it employed 398 people, 286 of them women. It is now used for tourist purposes. It also contains a water turbine that generates electricity for parts of the village.
Mill Number Four, built circa 1791-3 – initially used as a storeroom and workshop. It also housed '275 children who have no parents' (Donnachie and G. Hewitt). It was destroyed by fire in 1883 and has not been rebuilt. In 1990 a waterwheel was brought from Hole Mill Farm, Fife, and installed on the site of the mill.
Institute for the Formation of Character, built 1816 – a four-storey building that is now used for tourism and business purposes.
Engine House, built 1881 – attached to the Institute for the Formation of Character and contains a restored steam engine.
School, built 1817 – a three-storey building that is now a museum. It housed the first school for working-class children in Scotland.
Mechanics Workshop, built 1809 – a three-storey building that once housed the craftsmen who built and maintained the mill machinery.
Dyeworks, built ? – originally a brass and iron foundry with its own waterwheel. It now contains shops and a visitor centre.
Gasworks with octagonal chimney, built by 1851 – used as a store.
Owens House, built 1790 – used as a museum.
Dales House, built 1790 – used as business premises.
Mill Lade – dug to carry water from the River Clyde to power the mill machinery.
Graveyard – on the hill above New Lanark, between the village and the visitors' car park. Many of the first villagers are buried there.
1 & 2 New Lanark Road (locally known as the twin houses) – two opposing two-storey gatehouses some distance from the village. These marked the entrance to New Lanark. They are now in private ownership.
Visiting New Lanark
There is a large paid parking car park on the outskirts of the village. Only disabled visitors may park in the village. The walk from the car park down to the mill village provides a worthwhile panoramic view. There is a bus service [Number 135] from Lanark station bus stance. The railway station has half-hourly services from Glasgow. New Lanark is just over one mile from the Lanark rail and bus stations. The walk is mainly downhill and well signposted.
The village has a four-star hotel [the New Lanark Mill Hotel], holiday flats [the Waterhouses], and Wee Row which provides hostel type accommodation. There are restaurants and shops in the village, and a visitors' centre. All are owned and operated by the New Lanark Conservation Trust.
The Clyde walkway long-distance footpath passes through the village and the Scottish Wildlife Trust's visitor centre for the Falls of Clyde Nature reserve is based in a group of mill buildings.
See also
Banknotes of Scotland (featured on design)
Saltaire
Crespi d'Adda
Bonnington pavilion, Falls of Clyde
Catrine
Stanley, Perthshire
Owenstown
Company Town
References
General
Historic New Lanark, I. Donnachie and G. Hewitt. Edinburgh University Press, 1993. .
Historical Tours in the Clyde Valley. Published by the Clyde Valley Tourist Association and the Lanark & District Archaeological Association. Printed by Robert MacLehose and Company Limited, Renfrew, Scotland. 1982.
David Dale: A Life. Stenlake Publishing Ltd. D.J. MacLaren, 2015
David Dale, Robert Owen and the story of New Lanark. Moubray House Press, Edinburgh, Scotland. 1986. .
New Lanark World Heritage Site Management Plan 2003–2008.
City Fathers: The early history of town planning in Britain, C. Bell and R. Bell, Penguin, Harmondsworth
Robert Owen's Experiment at New Lanark. From Paternalism to Socialism, O. Siméon. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
External links
New Lanark World Heritage site – official site
Photographs of New Lanark
New Lanark residents association.
Model villages
Populated places established in 1786
World Heritage Sites in Scotland
Planned communities in Scotland
New Lanark
European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points
Museums in South Lanarkshire
Open-air museums in Scotland
Industry museums in Scotland
Textile museums in the United Kingdom
Villages in South Lanarkshire
Category A listed buildings in South Lanarkshire
Co-operatives in Scotland
1786 establishments in Scotland
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science%20and%20technology%20studies
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Science and technology studies
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Science and technology studies (STS) or science, technology, and society is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts.
History
Like most interdisciplinary fields of study, STS emerged from the confluence of a variety of disciplines and disciplinary subfields, all of which had developed an interest—typically, during the 1960s or 1970s—in viewing science and technology as socially embedded enterprises. The key disciplinary components of STS took shape independently, beginning in the 1960s, and developed in isolation from each other well into the 1980s, although Ludwik Fleck's (1935) monograph Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact anticipated many of STS's key themes. In the 1970s Elting E. Morison founded the STS program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which served as a model. By 2011, 111 STS research centers and academic programs were counted worldwide.
Key themes
History of technology, that examines technology in its social and historical context. Starting in the 1960s, some historians questioned technological determinism, a doctrine that can induce public passivity to technologic and scientific "natural" development. At the same time, some historians began to develop similarly contextual approaches to the history of medicine.
History and philosophy of science (1960s). After the publication of Thomas Kuhn's well-known The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), which attributed changes in scientific theories to changes in underlying intellectual paradigms, programs were founded at the University of California, Berkeley and elsewhere that brought historians of science and philosophers together in unified programs.
Science, technology, and society. In the mid-to-late-1960s, student and faculty social movements in the U.S., UK, and European universities helped to launch a range of new interdisciplinary fields (such as women's studies) that were seen to address relevant topics that the traditional curriculum ignored. One such development was the rise of "science, technology, and society" programs, which are also—confusingly—known by the STS acronym. Drawn from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, history, political science, and sociology, scholars in these programs created undergraduate curricula devoted to exploring the issues raised by science and technology. Feminist scholars in this and other emerging STS areas addressed themselves to the exclusion of women from science and engineering, focusing instead on critiquing gendered power dynamics in prior STS research.
Science, engineering, and public policy studies emerged in the 1970s from the same concerns that motivated the founders of the science, technology, and society movement: A sense that science and technology were developing in ways that were increasingly at odds with the public's best interests. The science, technology, and society movement tried to humanize those who would make tomorrow's science and technology, but this discipline took a different approach: It would train students with the professional skills needed to become players in science and technology policy. Some programs came to emphasize quantitative methodologies, and most of these were eventually absorbed into systems engineering. Others emphasized sociological and qualitative approaches, and found that their closest kin could be found among scholars in science, technology, and society departments.
During the 1970s and 1980s, universities in the US, UK, and Europe began drawing these various components together in new, interdisciplinary programs. For example, in the 1970s, Cornell University developed a new program that united science studies and policy-oriented scholars with historians and philosophers of science and technology. Each of these programs developed unique identities due to variations in the components that were drawn together, as well as their location within the various universities. For example, the University of Virginia's STS program united scholars drawn from a variety of fields (with particular strength in the history of technology); however, the program's teaching responsibilities—it is located within an engineering school and teaches ethics to undergraduate engineering students—means that all of its faculty share a strong interest in engineering ethics.
The "turn to technology" (and beyond)
A decisive moment in the development of STS was the mid-1980s addition of technology studies to the range of interests reflected in science. During that decade, two works appeared en seriatim that signaled what Steve Woolgar was to call the "turn to technology". In a seminal 1984 article, Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker showed how the sociology of technology could proceed along the theoretical and methodological lines established by the sociology of scientific knowledge. This was the intellectual foundation of the field they called the social construction of technology. Donald MacKenzie and Judy Wajcman primed the pump by publishing a collection of articles attesting to the influence of society on technological design (Social Shaping of Technology, 1985). Social science research continued to interrogate STS research from this point onward as researchers moved from post-modern to post-structural frameworks of thought, Bijker and Pinch contributing to SCOT knowledge and Wajcman providing boundary work through a feminist lens.
The "turn to technology" helped to cement an already growing awareness of underlying unity among the various emerging STS programs. More recently, there has been an associated turn to ecology, nature, and materiality in general, whereby the socio-technical and natural/material co-produce each other. This is especially evident in work in STS analyses of biomedicine (such as Carl May and Annemarie Mol) and ecological interventions (such as Bruno Latour, Sheila Jasanoff, Matthias Gross, and S. Lochlann Jain).
Important concepts
Social construction(s)
Social constructions are human-created ideas, objects, or events created by a series of choices and interactions. These interactions have consequences that change the perception that different groups of people have on these constructs. Some examples of social construction include class, race, money, and citizenship.
The following also alludes to the notion that not everything is set, a circumstance or result could potentially be one way or the other. According to the article "What is Social Construction?" by Laura Flores, "Social construction work is critical of the status quo. Social constructionists about X tend to hold that:
X need not have existed, or need not be at all as it is. X, or X as it is at present, is not determined by the nature of things; it is not inevitable
Very often they go further, and urge that:
X is quite as bad as it is.
We would be much better off if X were done away with, or at least radically transformed."
In the past, there have been viewpoints that were widely regarded as fact until being called to question due to the introduction of new knowledge. Such viewpoints include the past concept of a correlation between intelligence and the nature of a human's ethnicity or race (X may not be at all as it is).
An example of the evolution and interaction of various social constructions within science and technology can be found in the development of both the high-wheel bicycle, or velocipede, and then of the bicycle. The velocipede was widely used in the latter half of the 19th century. In the latter half of the 19th century, a social need was first recognized for a more efficient and rapid means of transportation. Consequently, the velocipede was first developed, which was able to reach higher translational velocities than the smaller non-geared bicycles of the day, by replacing the front wheel with a larger radius wheel. One notable trade-off was a certain decreased stability leading to a greater risk of falling. This trade-off resulted in many riders getting into accidents by losing balance while riding the bicycle or being thrown over the handlebars.
The first "social construction" or progress of the velocipede caused the need for a newer "social construction" to be recognized and developed into a safer bicycle design. Consequently, the velocipede was then developed into what is now commonly known as the "bicycle" to fit within society's newer "social construction," the newer standards of higher vehicle safety. Thus the popularity of the modern geared bicycle design came as a response to the first social construction, the original need for greater speed, which had caused the high-wheel bicycle to be designed in the first place. The popularity of the modern geared bicycle design ultimately ended the widespread use of the velocipede itself, as eventually it was found to best accomplish the social needs/ social constructions of both greater speed and of greater safety.
Material semiotics
With methodology from ANT, feminist STS theorists built upon SCOT's theory of co-construction to explore the relationship between gender and technology, proposing one cannot exist separately from the other. This approach suggests the material and social are not separate, reality being produced through interactions and studied through representations of those realities. Building on Woolgar's boundary work on user configuration, feminist critiques shifted the focus away from users of technology and science towards whether technology and science represent a fixed, unified reality. According to this approach, identity could no longer be treated as causal in human interactions with technology as it cannot exist prior to that interaction, feminist STS researchers proposing a "double-constructivist" approach to account for this contradiction. John Law credits feminist STS scholars for contributing material-semiotic approaches to the broader discipline of STS, stating that research not only attempts to describe reality, but enacts it through the research process.
Sociotechnical imaginaries (STIs)
Sociotechnical imaginaries are what certain communities, societies, and nations envision as achievable through the combination of scientific innovation and social changes. These visions can be based on what is possible to achieve for a certain society, and can also show what a certain state or nation desires. STIs are often bound with ideologies and ambitions of those who create and circulate them. Sociotechnical imaginaries can be created by states and policymakers, smaller groups within society, or can be a result of the interaction of both.
The term was coined in 2009 by Sheila Jasanoff and Sang-Hyun Kim who compared and contrasted sociotechnical imaginaries of nuclear energy in the USA with those of South Korea over the second half of the 20th century. Jasanoff and Kim analyzed the discourse of government representatives, national policies, and civil society organizations, looked at the technological and infrastructural developments, and social protests, and conducted interviews with experts. They concluded that in South Korea nuclear energy was imagined mostly as the means of national development, while in the US the dominant sociotechnical imaginary framed nuclear energy as risky and in need of containment.
The concept has been applied to several objects of study including biomedical research, nanotechnology development and energy systems and climate change. Within energy systems, research has focused on nuclear energy, fossil fuels, renewables as well as broader topics of energy transitions, and the development of new technologies to address climate change.
Sociotechnical systems theory
Social technical systems are an interplay between technologies and humans, this is clearly expressed in the sociotechnical systems theory. To expound on this interplay, humans fulfill and define tasks, then humans in companies use IT and IT supports people, and finally, IT processes tasks and new IT generates new tasks. This IT redefines work practices. This is what we call the sociotechnical systems. In socio-technical systems, there are two principles to internalize, that is joint optimization and complementarity. Joint optimization puts an emphasis on developing both systems in parallel and it is only in the interaction of both systems that the success of an organization arises. The principle of complementarity means that both systems have to be optimized. If you focus on one system and have bias over the other it will likely lead to the failure of the organization or jeopardize the success of a system. Although the above socio-technical system theory is focused on an organization, it is undoubtedly imperative to correlate this theory and its principles to society today and in science and technology studies.
According to Barley and Bailey, there is a tendency for AI designers and scholars of design studies to privilege the technical over the social, focusing more on taking "humans out of the loop" paradigm than the "augmented intelligence" paradigm.
Recent work on artificial intelligence considers large sociotechnical systems, such as social networks and online marketplaces, as agents whose behavior can be purposeful and adaptive. The behavior of recommender systems can therefore be analyzed in the language and framework of sociotechnical systems, leading also to a new perspective for their legal regulation.
Technoscience
Technoscience is a subset of Science, Technology, and Society studies that focuses on the inseparable connection between science and technology. It states that fields are linked and grow together, and scientific knowledge requires an infrastructure of technology in order to remain stationary or move forward. Both technological development and scientific discovery drive one another towards more advancement. Technoscience excels at shaping human thoughts and behavior by opening up new possibilities that gradually or quickly come to be perceived as necessities.
Technosocial
"Technological action is a social process." Social factors and technology are intertwined so that they are dependent upon each other. This includes the aspect that social, political, and economic factors are inherent in technology and that social structure influences what technologies are pursued. In other words, "technoscientific phenomena combined inextricably with social/political/ economic/psychological phenomena, so 'technology' includes a spectrum of artifacts, techniques, organizations, and systems." Winner expands on this idea by saying "in the late twentieth-century technology and society, technology and culture, technology and politics are by no means separate."
Examples
Ford Pinto – Ford Motor Company sold and produced the Pinto during the 1970s. A flaw in the automobile design of the rear gas tank caused a fiery explosion upon impact. The exploding fuel tank killed and injured hundreds of people. Internal documents of test results proved Ford CEO Lee Iacocca and engineers were aware of the flaw. The company decided to ignore improving its technology because of profit-driven motives, strict internal control, and competition from foreign competitors such as Volkswagen. Ford Motor Company conducted a cost-benefit analysis to determine if altering the Ford Pinto model was feasible. An analysis conducted by Ford employees argued against a new design because of increased cost. Employees were also under tight control by the CEO who rushed the Pinto through production lines to increase profits. Ford finally changed after public scrutiny. Safety organizations later influenced this technology by requiring stricter safety standards for motor vehicles.
DDT/toxins – DDT was a common and highly effective insecticide used during the 1940s until its ban in the early 1970s. It was utilized during World War 2 to combat insect-borne human diseases that plagued military members and civilian populations. People and companies soon realized other benefits of DDT for agricultural purposes. Rachel Carson became worried about widespread use on public health and the environment. Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring left an imprint on the industry by claiming the linkage of DDT to many serious illnesses such as cancer. Carson's book drew criticism from chemical companies who felt their reputation and business threatened by such claims.. DDT was eventually banned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after a long and arduous process of research on the chemical substance. The main cause for the removal of DDT was the public deciding that any benefits were outweighed by the potential health risk.
Autopilots/computer-aided tasks (CATs) – From a security point of view the effects of making a task more computer-driven is in the favor of technological advance because there is less reaction time required and computational error than a human pilot. Due to reduced error and reaction times flights on average, using autopilot, have been shown to be safer. Thus technology has a direct impact on people by increasing their safety, and society affects technology because people want to be safer so they are constantly trying to improve the autopilot systems.
Cell phones – Cell phone technology emerged in the early 1920s after advancements were made in radio technology. Engineers at Bell Laboratories, the research, and development division of AT&T discovered that cell towers can transmit and receive signals to and from many directions. The discovery by Bell Labs revolutionized the capabilities and outcomes of cellular technology. Technology only improved once mobile phone users could communicate outside of a designated area. First-generation mobile phones were first created and sold by Motorola. Their phone was only intended for use in cars. Second-generation mobile phone capabilities continued to improve because of the switch to digital. Phones were faster which enhanced the communication capabilities of customers. They were also sleeker and weighed less than bulky first-generation technology. Technological advances boosted customer satisfaction and broadened cell phone companies' customer base. Third-generation technology changed the way people interact with others. Now customers had access to Wi-Fi, texting and other applications. Mobile phones are now entering into the fourth generation. Cellular and mobile phones revolutionized the way people socialize and communicate in order to establish a modern social structure. People have affected the development of this technology by demanding features such as larger screens, touch capabilities, and internet accessibility.
Internet – The internet arose because of extensive research on ARPANET between various universities, corporations, and ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency), an agency of the Department of Defense. Scientists theorized a network of computers connected to each other. Computing capabilities contributed to developments and the creation of the modern-day computer or laptop. The internet has become a normal part of life and business, to such a degree that the United Nations views it as a basic human right. The internet is becoming larger, one way is that more things are being moved into the digital world due to demand, for example, online banking. It has drastically changed the way most people go about daily habits.
Deliberative democracy
Deliberative democracy is a reform of representative or direct democracies which mandates discussion and debate of popular topics which affect society. Deliberative democracy is a tool for making decisions. Deliberative democracy can be traced back all the way to Aristotle's writings. More recently, the term was coined by Joseph Bessette in his 1980 work Deliberative Democracy: The Majority Principle in Republican Government, where he uses the idea in opposition to the elitist interpretations of the United States Constitution with emphasis on public discussion.
Deliberative democracy can lead to more legitimate, credible, and trustworthy outcomes. Deliberative democracy allows for "a wider range of public knowledge", and it has been argued that this can lead to "more socially intelligent and robust" science. One major shortcoming of deliberative democracy is that many models insufficiently ensure critical interaction.
According to Ryfe, there are five mechanisms that stand out as critical to the successful design of deliberative democracy:
Rules of equality, civility, and inclusivity may prompt deliberation even when our first impulse is to avoid it.
Stories anchor reality by organizing experience and instilling a normative commitment to civic identities and values, and function as a medium for framing discussions.
Leadership provides important cues to individuals in deliberative settings and can keep groups on a deliberative track when their members slip into routine and habit.
Individuals are more likely to sustain deliberative reasoning when they have a stake in the outcomes.
Apprenticeship teaches citizens to deliberate well. We might do well to imagine education as a form of apprenticeship learning, in which individuals learn to deliberate by doing it in concert with others more skilled in the activity.
Importance
Recently, there has been a movement towards greater transparency in the fields of policy and technology. Jasanoff comes to the conclusion that there is no longer a question of if there needs to be increased public participation in making decisions about science and technology, but now there need to be ways to make a more meaningful conversation between the public and those developing the technology.
In practice
Bruce Ackerman and James S. Fishkin offered an example of a reform in their paper "Deliberation Day." The deliberation is to enhance public understanding of popular, complex and controversial issues through devices such as Fishkin's deliberative polling, through implementation of these reforms is unlikely in a large government such as that of the United States. However, things similar to this have been implemented in small, local governments like New England towns and villages. New England town hall meetings are a good example of deliberative democracy in a realistic setting.
An ideal deliberative democracy balances the voice and influence of all participants. While the main aim is to reach consensus, deliberative democracy should encourage the voices of those with opposing viewpoints, concerns due to uncertainties, and questions about assumptions made by other participants. It should take its time and ensure that those participating understand the topics on which they debate. Independent managers of debates should also have a substantial grasp of the concepts discussed, but must "[remain] independent and impartial as to the outcomes of the process."
Tragedy of the commons
In 1968, Garrett Hardin popularised the phrase "tragedy of the commons." It is an economic theory where rational people act against the best interest of the group by consuming a common resource. Since then, the tragedy of the commons has been used to symbolize the degradation of the environment whenever many individuals use a common resource. Although Garrett Hardin was not an STS scholar, the concept of the tragedy of the commons still applies to science, technology, and society.
In a contemporary setting, the Internet acts as an example of the tragedy of the commons through the exploitation of digital resources and private information. Data and internet passwords can be stolen much more easily than physical documents. Virtual spying is almost free compared to the costs of physical spying. Additionally, net neutrality can be seen as an example of tragedy of the commons in an STS context. The movement for net neutrality argues that the Internet should not be a resource that is dominated by one particular group, specifically those with more money to spend on Internet access.
A counterexample to the tragedy of the commons is offered by Andrew Kahrl. Privatization can be a way to deal with the tragedy of the commons. However, Kahrl suggests that the privatization of beaches on Long Island, in an attempt to combat the overuse of Long Island beaches, made the residents of Long Island more susceptible to flood damage from Hurricane Sandy. The privatization of these beaches took away from the protection offered by the natural landscape. Tidal lands that offer natural protection were drained and developed. This attempt to combat the tragedy of the commons by privatization was counter-productive. Privatization actually destroyed the public good of natural protection from the landscape.
Alternative modernity
Alternative modernity is a conceptual tool conventionally used to represent the state of present western society. Modernity represents the political and social structures of society, the sum of interpersonal discourse, and ultimately a snapshot of society's direction at a point in time. Unfortunately, conventional modernity is incapable of modeling alternative directions for further growth within our society. Also, this concept is ineffective at analyzing similar but unique modern societies such as those found in the diverse cultures of the developing world. Problems can be summarized into two elements: inward failure to analyze the growth potentials of a given society, and outward failure to model different cultures and social structures and predict their growth potentials.
Previously, modernity carried a connotation of the current state of being modern, and its evolution through European colonialism. The process of becoming "modern" is believed to occur in a linear, pre-determined way, and is seen by Philip Brey as a way to interpret and evaluate social and cultural formations. This thought ties in with modernization theory, the thought that societies progress from "pre-modern" to "modern" societies.
Within the field of science and technology, there are two main lenses with which to view modernity. The first is as a way for society to quantify what it wants to move towards. In effect, we can discuss the notion of "alternative modernity" (as described by Andrew Feenberg) and which of these we would like to move towards. Alternatively, modernity can be used to analyze the differences in interactions between cultures and individuals. From this perspective, alternative modernities exist simultaneously, based on differing cultural and societal expectations of how a society (or an individual within society) should function. Because of different types of interactions across different cultures, each culture will have a different modernity.
Pace of innovation
The pace of innovation is the speed at which technological innovation or advancement is occurring, with the most apparent instances being too slow or too rapid. Both these rates of innovation are extreme and therefore have effects on the people that get to use this technology.
No innovation without representation
"No innovation without representation" is a democratic ideal of ensuring that everyone involved gets a chance to be represented fairly in technological developments.
Langdon Winner states that groups and social interests likely to be affected by a particular kind of technological change ought to be represented at an early stage in defining exactly what that technology will be. It is the idea that relevant parties have a say in technological developments and are not left in the dark.
Spoken about by Massimiano Bucchi
This ideal does not require the public to become experts on the topics of science and engineering, it only asks that the opinions and ideas be heard before making drastic decisions, as talked about by Steven L. Goldman.
Legacy thinking
Legacy thinking is defined as an inherited method of thinking imposed from an external source without objection by the individual because it is already widely accepted by society.
Legacy thinking can impair the ability to drive technology for the betterment of society by blinding people to innovations that do not fit into their accepted model of how society works. By accepting ideas without questioning them, people often see all solutions that contradict these accepted ideas as impossible or impractical. Legacy thinking tends to advantage the wealthy, who have the means to project their ideas on the public. It may be used by the wealthy as a vehicle to drive technology in their favor rather than for the greater good.
Examining the role of citizen participation and representation in politics provides an excellent example of legacy thinking in society. The belief that one can spend money freely to gain influence has been popularized, leading to public acceptance of corporate lobbying. As a result, a self-established role in politics has been cemented where the public does not exercise the power ensured to them by the Constitution to the fullest extent. This can become a barrier to political progress as corporations who have the capital to spend have the potential to wield great influence over policy. Legacy thinking, however, keeps the population from acting to change this, despite polls from Harris Interactive that report over 80% of Americans to feel that big business holds too much power in government. Therefore, Americans are beginning to try to steer away from this line of thought, rejecting legacy thinking, and demanding less corporate, and more public, participation in political decision-making.
Additionally, an examination of net neutrality functions as a separate example of legacy thinking. Starting with dial-up, the internet has always been viewed as a private luxury good. Internet today is a vital part of modern-day society members. They use it in and out of life every day. Corporations are able to mislabel and greatly overcharge for their internet resources. Since the American public is so dependent upon the internet there is little for them to do. Legacy thinking has kept this pattern on track despite growing movements arguing that the internet should be considered a utility. Legacy thinking prevents progress because it was widely accepted by others before us through advertising that the internet is a luxury and not a utility. Due to pressure from grassroots movements the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has redefined the requirements for broadband and internet in general as a utility. Now AT&T and other major internet providers are lobbying against this action and are in large able to delay the onset of this movement due to legacy thinking's grip on American culture and politics.
For example, those who cannot overcome the barrier of legacy thinking may not consider the privatization of clean drinking water as an issue. This is partial because access to water has become such a given fact of the matter to them. For a person living in such circumstances, it may be widely accepted to not concern themselves with drinking water because they have not needed to be concerned with it in the past. Additionally, a person living within an area that does not need to worry about their water supply or the sanitation of their water supply is less likely to be concerned with the privatization of water.
This notion can be examined through the thought experiment of "veil of ignorance". Legacy thinking causes people to be particularly ignorant about the implications behind the "you get what you pay for" mentality applied to a life necessity. By utilizing the "veil of ignorance", one can overcome the barrier of legacy thinking as it requires a person to imagine that they are unaware of their own circumstances, allowing them to free themselves from externally imposed thoughts or widely accepted ideas.
Related concepts
Technoscience – The perception that science and technology are intertwined and depend on each other.
Technosociety – An industrially developed society with a reliance on technology.
Technological utopianism – A positive outlook on the effect technology has on social welfare. Includes the perception that technology will one day enable society to reach a utopian state.
Technosocial systems – people and technologies that combine to work as heterogeneous but functional wholes.
Critical Technical Practice – the practice of technological creation while simultaneously critiquing and maintaining awareness of the inherent biases and value systems which become embedded in those technologies.
Classifications
Technological optimism – The opinion that technology has positive effects on society and should be used in order to improve the welfare of people.
Technological pessimism – The opinion that technology has negative effects on society and should be discouraged from use.
Technological neutrality – "maintains that a given technology has no systematic effects on society: individuals are perceived as ultimately responsible, for better or worse, because technologies are merely tools people use for their own ends."
Technological determinism – "maintains that technologies are understood as simply and directly causing particular societal outcomes."
Scientism – The belief in the total separation of facts and values.
Technological progressivism – technology is a means to an end itself and an inherently positive pursuit.
Academic programs
STS is taught in several countries. According to the STS wiki, STS programs can be found in twenty countries, including 45 programs in the United States, three programs in India, and eleven programs in the UK. STS programs can be found in Canada, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Some examples of institutions offering STS programs are Stanford University, University College London, Harvard University, the University of Oxford, Mines ParisTech, Bar-Ilan University, and York University. In Europe the European Inter-University Association on Society, Science and Technology (ESST) offers an MA degree in STS through study programs and student exchanges with over a dozen specializations.
Professional associations
The field has professional associations in regions and countries around the world.
In Europe
In Europe, the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) was founded in 1981 to "improve scholarly communication and exchange in the field", "increase the visibility of the subject to policy-makers and to the general public", and "stimulate and support teaching on the subject at all levels". Similarly, the European Inter-University Association on Society, Science and Technology (ESST) researches and studies science and technology in society, in both historical and contemporary perspectives.
In European nation states and language communities, a range of STS associations exist, including in the UK, Spain, Germany, Austria, Turkey. In some states, several formal associations exist.
For instance, in 2015, the UK-based Association for Studies in Innovation, Science and Technology (AsSIST-UK) was established, chaired by Andrew Webster (York) and Robin Williams (Edinburgh) principally to foster stronger integration between the innovation studies and STS fields. In 2021 it had a membership of 380. It holds annual conferences and has built strong links to policy practitioners in Westminster.
In Italy, STS Italia – The Italian Society for Social Studies of Science and Technology was founded in 2005. Its mission is "to build up an Italian network of researchers oriented to study Science and Technology starting from the social dynamics which characterize and interweave science and technology themselves".
In Sweden, the Swedish Network for Science and Technology Studies was founded in 2006, at the first national Swedish Conference for STS, STS Dagarna.
In Germany several STS associations exist, including the Gesellschaft für Wissenschafts- und Technikforschung, founded in 1987 or the stsing network, labelled "Doing Science and Technology Studies in and through Germany", founded 2020.
In Asia
The Asia Pacific Science Technology & Society Network (APSTSN) primarily had members from Australasia, Southeast and East Asia and Oceania. APSTSN is not currently active.
In Japan, the Japanese Society for Science and Technology Studies (JSSTS) was founded in 2001.
The Australasian Science and Technology Studies Network (AusSTS) was founded in 2017 based at Deakin University. AusSTS now has several nodes in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and holds an annual workshop.
In Latin America
Estudios Sociales de la Ciencia y la Tecnología (ESOCITE) is the biggest association of Science and Technology studies. The study of STS (CyT in Spanish, CTS in Portuguese) here was shaped by authors like and Jorge Sabato and in Argentina, José Leite Lopes in Brazil, Miguel Wionczek in Mexico, Francisco Sagasti in Peru, Máximo Halty Carrere in Uruguay and Marcel Roche in Venezuela.
In North America
Founded in 1975, the Society for Social Studies of Science initially provided scholarly communication facilities, including a journal (Science, Technology, and Human Values) and annual meetings that were mainly attended by science studies scholars. The society has since grown into the most important professional association of science and technology studies scholars worldwide. The Society for Social Studies of Science members also include government and industry officials concerned with research and development as well as science and technology policy; scientists and engineers who wish to better understand the social embeddedness of their professional practice; and citizens concerned about the impact of science and technology in their lives.
Founded in 1958, the Society for the History of Technology initially attracted members from the history profession who had interests in the contextual history of technology. After the "turn to technology" in the mid-1980s, the society's well-regarded journal (Technology and Culture) and its annual meetings began to attract considerable interest from non-historians with technology studies interests.
Less identified with STS, but also of importance to many STS scholars, are the History of Science Society, the Philosophy of Science Association, and the American Association for the History of Medicine.
Additionally, within the US there are significant STS-oriented special interest groups within major disciplinary associations, including the American Anthropological Association, the American Political Science Association, the National Women's Studies Association, and the American Sociological Association.
Journals
Notable peer-reviewed journals in STS include:
Student journals in STS include:
Notable scholars
Karen Barad
S. Barry Barnes
Wiebe Bijker
David Bloor
Barry Bozeman
Massimiano Bucchi
Michel Callon
Harry Collins
Andrew Feenberg
Ulrike Felt
Ludwik Fleck
Steve Fuller
Steven L. Goldman
Matthias Gross
Ian Hacking
Donna Haraway
Sandra Harding
S. Lochlann Jain
Sheila Jasanoff
Emma Kowal
Thomas Kuhn
Bruno Latour
John Law (sociologist)
Donald Angus MacKenzie
Carl May
Annemarie Mol
Elting E. Morison
Michelle Murphy
David F. Noble
Shobita Parthasarathy
Trevor Pinch
Arie Rip
Simon Schaffer
Johan Schot
Bernard Stiegler
Lucy Suchman
Helen Verran
Judy Wajcman
Robin Williams (academic)
Langdon Winner
Steve Woolgar
See also
Actor–network theory
Anthropology of technology
Critique of technology
Cultural lag
Cyborg anthropology
Engineering studies
Historical materialism
Innovation system
Metascience
Mode 2
Normalization process theory
Public awareness of science
Science studies
Science of team science
Science and technology in Israel
Science and technology studies in India
Scientometrics
Social shaping of technology
Sociology of scientific knowledge
Sociotechnical system
Technological innovation system
Technology and society
References
Further reading
(2nd edition, with James H. Collier, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004)
Guglielmo Rinzivillo (2020), Raccontare la tecnoscienza. Storia di macchine, strumenti e idee per fare funzionare il mondo, Roma, Edizioni Nuova Cultura; ; ISSN 2284-0567).
External links
Argentinean Network for Science and Technology Studies
Instituto de Estudios sobre la Ciencia y la Tecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes
Science and Technology Studies Department - University College London
Journals
Science studies
Social epistemology
Social sciences
Sociology of science
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle%20of%20Magdhaba
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Battle of Magdhaba
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The Battle of Magdhaba took place on 23 December 1916 during the Defence of Egypt section of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War. The attack by the Anzac Mounted Division took place against an entrenched Ottoman Army garrison to the south and east of Bir Lahfan in the Sinai desert, some inland from the Mediterranean coast. This Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory against the Ottoman Empire garrison also secured the town of El Arish after the Ottoman garrison withdrew.
In August 1916, a combined Ottoman and German Empire army had been forced to retreat to Bir el Abd, after the British victory in the Battle of Romani. During the following three months the defeated force retired further eastwards to El Arish, while the captured territory stretching from the Suez Canal was consolidated and garrisoned by the EEF. Patrols and reconnaissances were carried out by British forces, to protect the continuing construction of the railway and water pipeline and to deny passage across the Sinai desert to the Ottoman forces by destroying water cisterns and wells.
By December 1916, construction of the infrastructure and supply lines had sufficiently progressed to enable the British advance to recommence, during the evening of 20 December. By the following morning a mounted force had reached El Arish to find it abandoned. An Ottoman Army garrison in a strong defensive position was located at Magdhaba, some inland to the south east, on the Wadi el Arish. After a second night march by the Anzac Mounted Division (Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division), the attack on Magdhaba was launched by Australian, British and New Zealand troops against well-entrenched Ottoman forces defending a series of six redoubts. During the day's fierce fighting, the mounted infantry tactics of riding as close to the front line as possible and then dismounting to make their attack with the bayonet supported by artillery and machine guns prevailed, assisted by aircraft reconnaissances. All of the well-camouflaged redoubts were eventually located and captured and the Ottoman defenders surrendered in the late afternoon.
Background
At the beginning of the First World War, the Egyptian police who had controlled the Sinai Desert were withdrawn, leaving the area largely unprotected. In February 1915, a German and Ottoman force unsuccessfully attacked the Suez Canal. After the Gallipoli Campaign, a second joint German and Ottoman force again advanced across the desert to threaten the canal, during July 1916. This force was defeated in August at the Battle of Romani, after which the Anzac Mounted Division, also known as the A. & N. Z. Mounted Division, under the command of the Australian major general Harry Chauvel, pushed the Ottoman Army's Desert Force commanded by the German general Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein out of Bir el Abd and across the Sinai to El Arish.
By mid-September 1916 the Anzac Mounted Division had pursued the retreating Ottoman and German forces from Bir el Salmana along the northern route across the Sinai Peninsula to the outpost at Bir el Mazar. The Maghara Hills, south west of Romani, in the interior of the Sinai Desert, were also attacked in mid-October by a British force based on the Suez Canal. Although not captured at the time, all these positions were eventually abandoned by their Ottoman garrisons in the face of growing British Empire strength.
Consolidation of British territorial gains
The British then established garrisons along their supply lines, which stretched across the Sinai from the Suez Canal. Patrols and reconnaissances were regularly carried out to protect the advance of the railway and water pipeline, built by the Egyptian Labour Corps. These supply lines were marked by railway stations and sidings, airfields, signal installations and standing camps where troops could be accommodated in tents and huts. At this time the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) had a ration strength of 156,000 soldiers, plus 13,000 Egyptian labourers.
Ottoman positions in the Sinai
The Ottoman Army's Desert Force commanded by Kress von Kressenstein which operated in the Sinai region was sustained and supported by their principal desert base at Hafir El Auja, located on the Ottoman side of the Egyptian-Ottoman frontier. Hafir el Auja was linked to Beersheba, Gaza, and northern Palestine by road and railway.
This major German and Ottoman base in the central Sinai desert, supplied and supported smaller garrisons in the area with reinforcements, ammunition and rations, medical support, and periods of rest away from the front line. If left intact, the Ottoman forces at Magdhaba and Hafir el Auja could seriously threaten the advance of the EEF along the north route towards Southern Palestine.
Problems of an advance to El Arish
Water
The area of oases which extended from Dueidar, from Kantara along the Darb es Sultani, along the old caravan route, and on to Salmana from Kantara could sustain life. But from Salmana to Bir el Mazar, ( from Kantara) there was little water, and beyond the Mazar area there was no water, until El Arish was reached on the coast from Kantara.
Before the British advance to El Arish could begin, the stretch without a water supply between El Mazar and El Arish had to be thoroughly explored. By mid-December 1916, the pipeline's eastward progress made it possible to store sufficient water at Maadan (Kilo. 128) and it was also possible to concentrate sufficiently large numbers of Egyptian Camel Transport Corps camels and camel-drivers to carry water forward from Maadan in support of an attacking force.
Conditions
The campaign across the Sinai desert required great determination, as well as conscientious attention to detail by all involved, to ensure that ammunition, rations and every required pint of water and bale of horse fodder was available when needed. While the Ottoman Empire's main desert base at Hafir el Auja was more centrally located, the British Empire base was some to the west of El Arish; almost at the limits of their lines of communication. Mounted operations so far from base in such barren country were extremely hazardous and difficult.
For these long-range desert operations, it was necessary for all supplies to be well-organised and suitably packaged for transportation on camels, moving with the column or following closely behind. It was vital that the soldiers were well trained for these conditions. If a man was left behind in the inhospitable Sinai, he might die in the burning desert sun during the day, or bitter cold at night. If a water bottle was accidentally tipped up or leaked, it could mean no water for its owner, for perhaps 24 hours in extreme temperatures.
In these extreme and difficult conditions, mounted troops of the EEF worked to provide protective screens for the construction of the infrastructure, patrolling the newly occupied areas and carrying out ground reconnaissance to augment and verify aerial photographs, used to improve maps of the newly occupied areas.
British War Office policy
The British War Office's stated policy in October 1916 was to maintain offensive operations on the Western Front, while remaining on the defensive everywhere else. However, the battle of attrition on the Somme, coupled with a change of Britain's prime minister, with David Lloyd George succeeding H. H. Asquith on 7 December, destabilised the status quo sufficiently to bring about a policy reversal, making attacks on the Central Powers' weak points away from the Western Front desirable. The commander of the EEF, General Sir Archibald Murray, was encouraged to seek success on his eastern frontier, but without any reinforcements. He thought that an advance to El Arish was possible, and that such an advance would threaten forces in the southern Ottoman Empire and, if not prevent, at least slow the transfer of German and Ottoman units to other theatres of war from the Levant.
Creation of Eastern Force and Desert Column
After the victory at Romani, Murray moved his headquarters back from Ismailia on the canal to Cairo. This move to Cairo was to enable him to be in a more central position to carry out his duties and responsibilities which extended from the Western Frontier Force, waging a continuing campaign against the Senussi in Egypt's Western Desert, to the Eastern Force in the Sinai. Another consequence of the victory was that Major General H. A. Lawrence, who had been in command of the Northern Sector of the Suez Canal defences and Romani during the battle, was transferred to the Western Front.
As a consequence of pushing the German and Ottoman forces eastwards away from the canal, during October, Lieutenant General Charles Dobell was appointed to command the newly created Eastern Force. With his headquarters at Kantara, Dobell became responsible for the security of the Suez Canal and the Sinai Peninsula.
Dobell's Eastern Force consisted of two infantry divisions, the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division commanded by Major General W. Douglas and the 52nd (Lowland) Division commanded by Major General W. E. B. Smith, as well as the Anzac Mounted Division, a mounted infantry division commanded by Chauvel, the 5th Mounted Brigade commanded by Brigadier General E. A. Wiggin and the Imperial Camel Brigade commanded by Brigadier General Clement Leslie Smith. Murray considered this force to be under strength by at least a division for an advance to Beersheba, but felt he could gain El Arish and form an effective base on the coast, from which further operations eastwards could be supplied.
In October Chauvel was granted six weeks' leave, and he travelled to Britain on 25 October, returning to duty on 12 December 1916. While he was away Desert Column was formed and on 7 December 1916, five days before Chauvel's return, Murray appointed the newly promoted Lieutenant General Sir Phillip Chetwode commander of the column. As a major general, Chetwode had been in command of cavalry on the Western Front, where he was involved in pursuing retreating Germans after the First Battle of the Marne.
On formation, Chetwode's Desert Column consisted of three infantry divisions, the 53rd (Welsh) Division, currently serving in the Suez Canal Defences and commanded by A. E. Dallas, and the 42nd (East Lancashire) and the 52nd (Lowland) divisions. Chetwode's mounted force consisted of the Anzac Mounted Division, the 5th Mounted Brigade and the Imperial Camel Brigade.
Prelude
By early December 1916, construction of the railway had reached the wells at Bir el Mazar, the last water sources available to the EEF before El Arish. Bir el Mazar was about halfway between Kantara on the Suez Canal and the Egyptian-Ottoman territorial border. British intelligence had reported Ottoman Army plans to strengthen the garrison at Magdhaba, by extending the railway (or light rail) south east from Beersheba (and Hafir el Auja) towards Magdhaba.
Advance to El Arish
Mounted patrols to the outskirts of El Arish discovered 1,600 well-entrenched Ottoman troops holding the town, supported by forces based to the south-east on the banks of the Wadi el Arish at Magdhaba and Abu Aweigila.
On 20 December, a week after Chauvel returned from leave, the advance to El Arish began when the Anzac Mounted Division left Bir Gympie at 21:45. They moved out without the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, which was in the rear assisting with patrolling the lines of communication stretching back to Kantara on the Suez Canal. So it was the 1st and 3rd Light Horse Brigades, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, the 5th Mounted Brigade and the newly formed battalions of the Imperial Camel Brigade with the mountain guns of the Hong Kong and Singapore Camel Battery which made the trek to El Arish.
On the day they set out, Australian airmen reported that the garrisons at El Arish and Maghara Hills, in the centre of the Sinai, appeared to have been withdrawn.
As the Anzac Mounted Division approached Um Zughla at 02:00 on 21 December, a halt was called until 03:30 when the column continued on to El Arish. At 07:45, the advanced troops entered the town, unopposed, to contact the civil population and arrange water supplies for the mounted force. One prisoner was captured, while lines of observation were set up, which maintained a close watch over the country east and south of the town. By 16:00 the 1st and 3rd Light Horse, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles and the Imperial Camel Brigades were in bivouac at El Arish, the only casualties during the day being two members of the 1st Light Horse Brigade, who were blown up by a stranded mine on the beach.
The day after El Arish was occupied, on 22 December, the leading infantry brigade of the 52nd (Lowland) Division reached the town and, together with the 5th Mounted Brigade, garrisoned the town and began fortifying the area. At 10:00, Chetwode landed on the beach opposite the Anzac Mounted Division Headquarters to begin his appointment as commander of Desert Column. Chetwode reported that he had arranged a special camel convoy with rations and horse feed to arrive at El Arish at 16:30 that day, with a view to the Anzac Mounted Division advancing on Magdhaba, away. (On the following day 23 December, the first supplies to be transported to El Arish by ship from Port Said were landed.) With essential rations organised, Chauvel led the mounted division out of El Arish at 00:45 on the night of 22/23 December towards Magdhaba, after reconnaissances had established that the retreating Ottoman force from El Arish had moved to the south east along the Wadi el Arish towards Magdhaba.
Ottoman force
After their retreat from El Arish, the Ottoman garrison withdrew down the Wadi el Arish south east of El Arish, to Magdhaba and Abu Aweigila, about another further away from the coast, on the banks of the wadi. At Magdhaba the garrison had increased from 500 to about 1,400 Ottoman soldiers; there may have been as many as 2,000, consisting of two battalions of the 80th Infantry Regiment (27th Ottoman Infantry Division but attached to the 3rd Ottoman Infantry Division for most of 1916). These two battalions, the 2nd Battalion, commanded by Izzet Bey, of about 600 men and the 3rd Battalion, commanded by Rushti Bey, were supported by a dismounted camel company and two squads from the 80th Machine Gun Company. (The remainder squads of the 80th Machine Gun Company had been moved north to Shellal.) The defending force was also supported by a battery of four Krupp 7.5 cm Gebirgskanone M 1873 guns (on loan from the 1st Mountain Regiment), since the 80th Regiment's own artillery battery was stationed at Nekhl. Also attached to the Ottoman garrison at Magdhaba were a number of support units, including elements of the 3rd Company of the 8th Engineer Battalion, 27th Medical Company, 43rd Mobile Hospital and the 46th Cooking Unit. The garrison was under the command of Kadri Bey, the commanding officer of the 80th Infantry Regiment.
The series of six well-situated and developed redoubts making up the strong Ottoman garrison position at Magdhaba reflected considerable planning; the redoubts were almost impossible to locate on the flat ground on both sides of the Wadi el Arish. Clearly, the move of the Ottoman garrison from El Arish had not been a sudden, panicked reaction; indeed it was first noticed by Allied aerial reconnaissance planes as early as 25 October.
These fortified redoubts, which were situated on both sides of the wadi, were linked by a series of trenches. The whole position, extending over an area of about from east to west, was more narrow from north to south. On 22 December 1916, the day before the attack, the garrison had been inspected by Kress von Kressenstein, commander of the Ottoman Desert Force, who drove from his base at Hafir el Auja. At the time he expressed satisfaction with the garrison's ability to withstand any assault.
Von Kressenstein's satisfaction that the garrison could withstand any assault may have had something to do with its remoteness. Magdhaba was about from the British railhead and from El Arish. There were two other important pieces of information von Kressenstein did not have. Firstly, he would have been unaware of the speed, flexibility and determination of the Australian, British and New Zealand mounted force, which they were about to demonstrate. Secondly, the arrival of the new British commander, Chetwode, and his staff and their vital forward planning to organise the necessary logistical support for an immediate long range attack by the Anzac Mounted Division.
British Empire force
Chauvel's force for the attack on Magdhaba consisted of three brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division; 1st Light Horse Brigade (1st, 2nd and 3rd Light Horse Regiments), the 3rd Light Horse Brigade (8th, 9th and 10th Light Horse Regiments), the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade (Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiments), together with three battalions from the Imperial Camel Brigade in place of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. These nine regiments and three battalions were supported by the Inverness and Somerset Artillery Batteries, Royal Horse Artillery, and the Hong Kong and Singapore Artillery Battery.
This force, which may have been 7,000 strong, moved out from El Arish just after midnight, following an unexpected delay caused by incoming infantry columns of the 52nd (Lowland) Division, which crossed the long camel train carrying water which followed the mounted division. Nevertheless, the Anzac Mounted Division (riding for forty minutes, dismounting and leading their horse for ten minutes and halting for ten minutes every hour) reached the plain from Magdhaba, at about 05:00 on 23 December. The column had been successfully guided by brigade scouts, until the garrison's fires had become visible for about an hour during their trek, indicating the Ottomans did not expect an attacking force to set out on a second night march, after their ride to El Arish.
Aerial support
Aerial reconnaissances were routinely carried out; one carried out on 15 November by the Australian Flying Corps made a detailed reconnaissance behind enemy lines over the areas of El Kossaima, Hafir el Auja and Abu Aweigila, taking 24 photographs of all camps and dumps.
The Royal Flying Corps's 5th Wing under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel P B Joubert de la Ferté stationed at Mustabig supported the Anzac Mounted Division. The Wing was a composite formation of the No. 14 Squadron and the Australian Flying Corps's No. 1 Squadron. It was ordered to provide close air support, long-range scouting and long-range bombing. One British and ten Australian planes had dropped a hundred bombs on Magdhaba on 22 December and during the battle bombed and machine gunned the area, but targets were difficult to find.
Medical support
The evacuation of wounded had been reviewed following the problems encountered during the Battle of Romani, with particular attention given to the development of transport by railway. By the time the advance to El Arish occurred in December 1916, two additional hospital trains were available on the Sinai railway, and medical sections had been deployed at the following:
close to the battlefield at railhead, where the immobile sections of divisional field ambulances could accommodation 700 casualties,
at Bir el Abd No. 24 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS), which could accommodate 400 cases, and Nos. 53 and 54 CCS could each accommodate 200,
at Bir el Mazar No. 26 CCS, which could accommodate 400 cases,
at Mahamdiyah No. 2 (Australian) Stationary Hospital with 800 beds,
at Kantara East No. 24 Stationary Hospital with 800 beds.
Battle
At 06:30 the No. 5 Wing attacked the Ottoman defences, drawing some fire which revealed the locations of machine guns, trenches and five redoubts. The redoubts were arranged around the village, which protected the only available water supply in the area. During the day, pilots and their observers provided frequent reports; fourteen were received between 07:50 and 15:15, giving estimated positions, strength, and movements of the Ottoman garrison. These were most often given verbally by the observer, after the pilot landed near Chauvel's headquarters, as the aircraft did not at this time have wireless communication.
The main attack, from the north and east, was to be made by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Edward Chaytor, which moved in line of troop columns. The New Zealanders were supported by a machine gun squadron armed with Vickers and Lewis guns, and the 3rd Light Horse Brigade all under the command of Chaytor. This attack began near the village of Magdhaba and the Wadi El Arish, on the virtually featureless battleground, when the British Empire artillery opened fire at the same time as Chaytor's group moved towards the Ottoman garrison's right and rear.
Chauvel's plan of envelopment quickly began to develop. Despite heavy Ottoman fire, Chaytor's attacking mounted troops found cover and dismounted, some about from the redoubts and entrenchments, while others got as close as . At the same time, units of the Imperial Camel Brigade were moving straight on Magdhaba, in a south easterly direction, following the telegraph line, and by 08:45 were slowly advancing on foot, followed by the 1st Light Horse Brigade, in reserve.
Chauvel's envelopment was extended at 09:25, when Chaytor ordered a regiment to circle the entrenched positions and move through Aulad Ali, to cut off a possible line of retreat to the south and south east. The 10th Light Horse Regiment with two sections of the brigade Machine Gun Squadron, led by Brigadier General J. R. Royston, commander of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, succeeded in capturing Aulad Ali and 300 prisoners.
The Ottoman artillery batteries and trenches were difficult to locate, but by 10:00 the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was advancing towards the firing line. At this time, an aerial report described small groups of the Magdhaba garrison beginning to retreat, and as a result the still-mounted reserve, the 1st Light Horse Brigade, was ordered to move directly on the town, passing the dismounted Imperial Camel Brigade battalions on their way. After meeting severe shrapnel fire as they trotted over the open plain, they were forced to take cover in the Wadi el Arish where they dismounted, continuing their advance at 10:30 against the Ottoman left. Meanwhile, the battalions of the Imperial Camel Brigade, continued their advance over the flat ground for , section by section, covering fire provided by each section in turn.
By 12:00 all brigades were hotly engaged, as the 3rd Light Horse Brigade's 10th Light Horse Regiment continued their sweep round the garrison's right flank. An hour later, the right of the Imperial Camel Brigade battalions had advanced to reach the 1st Light Horse Brigade and 55 minutes afterwards, fierce fighting was beginning to make an impact on the Ottoman garrison. Reports continued of small numbers of Ottoman troops retreating, but by 14:15 the 10th Light Horse Regiment was continuing its trek after capturing Aulad Ali; moving across the Wadi el Arish, round Hill 345 to attack the rear of Redoubt No. 4. By 14:55 the frontal attack by the Imperial Camel Brigade was within of the Ottoman defences and, together with the 1st Light Horse Brigade, at 15:20, they attacked No. 2 redoubt. Ten minutes later the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, with fixed bayonets, attacked the trenches to the east of some houses and the 10th Light Horse Regiment, by now advancing from the south, captured two trenches on that side, effectively cutting off any retreat for the Ottoman garrison.
By 16:00 the 1st Light Horse Brigade had captured No. 2 redoubt, and Chaytor reported capturing buildings and redoubts on the left. After a telephone call between Chauvel and Chetwode, pressure continued to be exerted and an attack by all units took place at 16:30. The Ottoman garrison held on until the dismounted attackers were within , but by that time, there was no doubt that the Ottoman garrison was losing the fight, and they began to surrender in small groups. All organised resistance ceased ten minutes later and as darkness fell, sporadic firing petered out, while prisoners were rounded up, horses collected and watered at the captured wells. Then Chauvel rode into Magdhaba and gave the order to clear the battlefield.
At 23:30 the Anzac Mounted Division's headquarters left Magdhaba with an escort and arrived in El Arish at 04:10 on 24 December 1916.
Casualties and captures
Of the 146 known British Empire casualties, 22 were killed and 124 were wounded. Five officers were killed and seven wounded, and 17 other ranks were killed and 117 wounded. Included in the 146 figure, which may have been as high as 163, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade suffered the loss of two officers and seven other ranks killed and 36 other ranks wounded.
No more than 200 Ottoman soldiers escaped before the surviving garrison of between 1,242 and 1,282 men were captured. The prisoners included the 80th Regiment's commander Khadir Bey, and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions commanders, Izzat Bey, Rushti Bey among 43 officers. Over 300 Ottoman soldiers were killed; 97 were buried on the battlefield, and 40 wounded were cared for.
Aftermath
With the victory at Magdhaba the occupation of El Arish was secure. This was the first town captured on the Mediterranean coast and infantry from the 52nd (Lowland) Division and the 5th Mounted Yeomanry Brigade quickly began to fortify the town. The Royal Navy arrived on 22 December 1916, and supplies began landing on the beaches near El Arish on 24 December. After the arrival of the railway on 4 January 1917 followed by the water pipeline, El Arish quickly developed into a major base for the EEF.
Aerial reconnaissance found Ottoman forces moving their headquarters north from Beersheba, while the garrison at their main desert base of Hafir El Auja was slightly increased. Other Ottoman outposts at El Kossaima and Nekhl remained, along with their strong defensive system of trenches and redoubts at El Magruntein defending Rafa on the frontier between Egypt and the southern Ottoman Empire.
Return to El Arish
Chauvel's force had left El Arish the previous night, carrying one water bottle per man. Additional water was organised by Desert Column staff and sent from El Arish to Lahfan, and a water convoy from Lahfan, ordered to move to Magdhaba at 15:10 on the day of battle, was reported to be on its way at 15:20.
After filling up from the water convoy after its arrival at Magdhaba, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles and 3rd Light Horse Brigades left to ride back to El Arish in their own time.
Material assistance was given to the returning columns by the 52nd (Lowland) Division, in form of the loan of camels, water fantasses, sandcarts and gun horse teams, the latter going out on the commanding generals' initiative to meet the returning teams.
Clearing the battleground
At a dressing station set up west of Magdhaba, by the New Zealand Field Ambulance Mobile Section and the 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance, 80 wounded were treated during the day of battle. Field ambulances performed urgent surgery, gave tetanus inoculations, and fed patients. On the night after the battle, treated wounded were evacuated in sandcarts and on torturous cacolets to El Arish, with the No. 1 Ambulance Convoy assisting.
Part of the 1st Light Horse Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel C. H. Granville, with two squadrons of the Auckland Mounted Rifle Regiment plus one squadron from the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, bivouacked for the night at Magdhaba. A convoy of supplies was ordered from El Arish to support these troops, who continued clearing the battlefield the following morning. The remaining 44 British Empire and 66 Ottoman Empire wounded, collected on 23 and 24 December, were taken to an Ottoman hospital within the Magdhaba fortifications, before being sent to the dressing station. From there, at 17:00 the ambulance convoy set out on its march to the receiving station.
The convoys of wounded were met a few miles from El Arish by infantry with sandcarts lent by the 52nd (Lowland) Division, so the wounded who had endured the cacolets travelled in comfort to the receiving station, arriving at 04:00 on 25 December. The 52nd (Lowland) Division supplied medical stores and personnel to assist, but although arrangements were made for evacuation to the railhead two days later, evacuation by sea was planned. This had to be postponed due to a gale with rain and hail on 27 December and it was not until 29 December that the largest single ambulance convoy organised in the campaign, 77 sandcarts, nine sledges and a number of cacolet camels, moved out in three lines along the beach with 150 wounded. A few serious cases, who had not been ready to be moved, were evacuated the following day to begin their journey to Kantara on the Suez Canal.
Recognition
In an address to the troops after the battle, Chetwode expressed his appreciation for the mounted rifle and light horse method of attack. He said that in the history of warfare he had never known cavalry to not only locate and surround the opponent's position, but to dismount and fight as infantry with rifle and bayonet.
On 28 September 1917 Chauvel, who by this time had been promoted by Allenby to command three mounted divisions in Desert Mounted Corps, wrote to General Headquarters:
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
External links
Australian Light Horse Studies Centre
El Arish and El Magdhaba
Comparison of Maps – Australian, British and Turkish Histories
Conflicts in 1916
1916 in Egypt
Battles of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
Battles of World War I involving Australia
Battles of World War I involving New Zealand
Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom
Battles of World War I involving the Ottoman Empire
Battles of World War I involving Germany
History of the Royal Air Force during World War I
20th century in the Sinai Peninsula
December 1916 events
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einbeck
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Einbeck
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Einbeck (; Eastphalian: Aimbeck) is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, on the German Timber-Frame Road.
History
Prehistory
The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Various artifacts have been unearthed in the city of Einbeck itself and in the little villages and lost villages around it over the years. They date back to the Paleolithic Era.
Medieval period
In the Early Middle Ages a number of villages existed along the river Ilme in the middle Leine valley before Einbeck was founded. On January 1, 1158 Einbeck was first mentioned in a deed of Friedrich Barbarossa, which mentioned … in loco qui Einbike vocatur …. and related to a transfer of an estate in the 11th century. Count Udo of Katlenburg owned an estate on the bank of a brook, the Krummes Wasser (crooked water). His grandson founded the stift Sankt Alexandri, that subsequently developed into an important sanctuary. On the other side of this brook a market town developed at the end of the 12th century, mainly due to convenient access for traffic. A church was built there as well, the market church (St. Jacob). The floodplain between market and stift was filled in and covered with buildings. The market and stift were walled in and a moat was built. In 1252 Einbeck received a town charter and a town council was established. In 1279 the town received through its sovereign, Heinrich Mirabilis, an extension of its town charter. Einbeck was topographically extended and a town wall is mentioned that enclosed the market church St. Jacob and the stift St. Alexandri. St Jacob was (and is) located in the center of the city around the 'old market', St. Alexandri was built only some hundred meters away. Extensions were called the 'new market', first mentioned 1389 as was the 'new town'. The new town received its own church, St. Mary, first mentioned 1318.
Beer
The city gained importance during the reign of the dukes of Grubenhagen. Smaller villages as Oldendorf or Tiedexen were deserted and inhabitants moved inside the city walls. Written evidence about the export of Einbecker beer dates back to 1351. The beer was brewed in larger houses that had the entitlement to brew. These houses are still easily identified through their arched wide doors, necessary to move in the brewing kettle, called a brewing pan. The organization of the process and the marketing of the beer was led by the city council. Einbeck joined the Hanse in 1368 thus broadening the distribution area which now reached from Antwerp in the west to Riga in the east and from Stockholm in the north to Munich in the south. In Munich the name Einbeck was mispronounced as "oan bock" (a billy goat), and when the ducal brewhouse copied the taste, Bock style beer was born.
Monasteries
In the 14th and 15th centuries a number of monasteries were created: Sisters of Maria and Magdalen, an Austin hermit monastery, and a monastery of the Order of the Poor Ladies. A system of sconces and towers were built outside the city walls as an early warning system against enemies. This time was a golden age for Einbeck and it was one of the largest cities in Northern Germany.
Modern period
In July 1540 the city of Einbeck was nearly completely destroyed by a fire, which was started by an arsonist. What role the religious upheaval following the very recently introduced reformation played is unknown. Convicted of the crime, the arsonist, Heinrich Diek, was tortured and died while being publicly displayed in an iron cage. This cage is still on display in the town hall. As the town had been quite wealthy before the fire, it was rebuilt very fast. Einbeck joined the Schmalkaldic League, a system of military defence of Lutheran princes and cities, which was a very costly exercise. In 1549 a fire once again swept through the city. This time the southern part of the city was mainly affected and 580 houses burned down. In 1580 the city council signed the Formula of Concord which completed reformation. In 1597 the plague took a huge death toll. During the Thirty Years' War the city was occupied by enemy troops during 1632 and 1641 and some hundred houses destroyed. During the Seven Years' War, (known as the French and Indian War in North America), the city gates were taken down and most of the city walls were destroyed.
This all led to times of economic and political vulnerability. As the neighbouring village Rotenkirchen developed into the administrative seat of the area, its sovereign was able to curb the autonomy of Einbeck. Later Einbeck became a garrison for infantry units, which eased its economic difficulties. During the Napoleonic Wars it became the administrative seat of the district of Einbeck from 1807 to 1813. In 1826 the area around St. Maria burned down, replaced by a new county courthouse “Amtsgericht”. After Prussia won the war against the Kingdom of Hannover in 1866, barracks for the Prussian Army were built, now the 'New Town Hall' and administrative building of the city council. Einbeck initially resisted plans to connect itself to the railway line Hannover – Kassel, but in 1879 a line between Salzderhelden and Einbeck was built. In 1885 Einbeck was made seat of the newly formed county of Einbeck. Beginning in 1890 the bicycle manufacturing and trading company of August Stukenbrok developed into the largest mail order business in Germany, although it later went into receivership during The Great Depression in 1931. In 1896 the garrison was closed and the building used as a technical college until 1907.
Einbeck was hit hard by the economic difficulties following the end of World War I, and from 1930 on, its citizens leaned toward non-democratic parties. During the last free vote before Hitler took power, the National Socialists (NSDAP) had a share of 40.9% of the electorate in Einbeck. During the pogrom of November 1938 NSDAP followers set fire to the Synagogue in the Bismarckstraße. Of the 58 Jewish citizens of Einbeck; 21 emigrated outside of Germany, 32 were killed or died of disease in concentration camps, three committed suicide, and five have not been able to be traced. A month before German surrender, the city manager of Einbeck (without permission from his superiors) gave over the city to United States troops on April 9, 1945. This helped Einbeck to survive the war physically undamaged.
In 1946, the population of Einbeck doubled through the influx of displaced persons from the former Eastern territories of Germany, mainly from Silesia. This led to a boom in the construction of new residential houses and later, industrial buildings as well. Residential housing expanded the city in an easterly direction, while industrial building grew to the south. Some substantial companies did set up shop in Einbeck, the largest today (2023) being KWS.
In 1971 the villages Holtensen, Hullersen, Immensen, and Odagsen were incorporated into the city of Einbeck, while the county of Einbeck was disbanded in 1974. At the same time Einbeck incorporated further 27 villages from the old counties of Einbeck, Gandersheim, and Northeim. Einbeck is administratively a 'Medium Centre', which means it provides services like high school, hospital‚ notary public, local court, etc. In 2005 a fire destroyed one historical building and damaged five more. Seven years later two more heritage-listed buildings were destroyed by fire.
On October 19, 2011, the city council adopted a resolution to incorporate the neighbouring community of Kreiensen beginning January 1, 2013.
Einbeck therefore is the legal successor of Kreiensen and it grew substantially again in terms of territory and population.
Geography
Einbeck has 46 municipalities, which were previously independent villages. The city lies directly south of the Hube (hills), where the Ilme flows into the Leine. In January 2013, the former municipality Kreiensen joined Einbeck.
Climate
Economy
Einbeck had various industries over time that came and went. Yet from very early on beer has been the product Einbeck is famous for over many centuries, still sold under the brand Einbecker Bier. Einbeck is the birthplace of bock beer, a beer with a high alcohol content. In medieval times a brewmaster from Einbeck was hired to brew „Einpöckisch Bier“ in Munich. The name was corrupted and developed into „Oanpock“, and subsequently into „Bock“. The export of beer was a very important business so that in the harbour city of Hamburg Einbeck had its own distribution center (and pub), called the Eimbeck'sches Haus. A brewery is still operating in Einbeck under the name Einbecker Brewery. The company is listed on the Hanover Stock Exchange.
Another business in Einbeck has a very long tradition: Einbecker Blaudruck, a traditional way to print on fabric. The privately owned business was founded in 1638 and is the oldest business of the kind still in existence in Europe.
A worldwide business headquartered in Einbeck is KWS SAAT AG, listed in the German SDAX. It grew out of breeding seed for sugar beet and is now a full line seed supplier to the farming industry worldwide. KWS operates more than 60 subsidiaries worldwide with sales of close to 1 billion € and a total of 3,800 employees. The main research and development activities are based in Einbeck.
Kayser Automotive Systems is an international supplier of components for the car industry. Kayser is a family business headquartered in Einbeck. A branch of the car component supplier Dura Automotive Systems is active in Einbeck. E. Oppermann is a family controlled international belt webbing manufacturer. The chain manufacturer Renold has its German subsidiary in Einbeck. Kurt König is a service and sales company for building and construction machinery.
Politics
City council
A by-election was held on 20 January 2013 for the city council and all village councils due to the incorporation of the former community of Kreiensen into the city of Einbeck. The results were as follows:
Former city managers
1948–1981 Heinrich Keim
1981–1992 Georg Lampe
1992–1997 Bernd Röll
Full-time mayors
1 January 1998 until 31 October 2006: Martin Wehner (SPD)
1 November 2006 until 24 January 2013: Ulrich Minkner (SPD)
since 24 January 2013: Sabine Michalek (CDU)
Suburbs
Of the 32,000 inhabitants of Einbeck only about 15.000 live in the city of Einbeck, the next largest suburb is Kreiensen with about 2,500 inhabitants. The city of Einbeck began to incorporate the first neighbouring villages in 1971, a larger batch followed in 1974. In 2013 Einbeck incorporated Kreiensen which itself had previously incorporated 15 villages. So the geographical size of Einbeck is unusually large. In total Einbeck has 46 suburbs since 2013:
Ahlshausen-Sievershausen
Andershausen
Avendshausen
Bartshausen
Bentierode
Beulshausen
Billerbeck
Bruchhof
Brunsen
Buensen
Dassensen
Dörrigsen
Drüber
Edemissen
Erzhausen
Garlebsen
Greene
Haieshausen
Hallensen
Holtensen
Holtershausen
Hullersen
Iber
Immensen
Ippensen
Kohnsen
Kreiensen
Kuventhal
Naensen
Negenborn
Odagsen
Olxheim
Opperhausen
Orxhausen
Rengershausen
Rittierode
Rotenkirchen
Salzderhelden
Strodthagen
Stroit
Sülbeck
Vardeilsen
Vogelbeck
Voldagsen
Volksen
Wenzen
Culture
The historical center of Einbeck provides a nearly complete example of a late medieval town built in the half-timbered construction method. This is why Einbeck was made part of the German Timber-Frame Road.
After the fire of July 1540, that nearly destroyed all residential buildings, the city was very swiftly rebuilt during the next 15 years. The year of construction is very often carved into the frames. This is why a very similar style of buildings is found in the center of the city. The old cellars or basements below the buildings, not affected by the fire, were re-used to build the new houses in the same place. A very pretty example is the northern side of Tiedexer Straße, The wide arched doors, necessary to go in out with a wagon, can be seen here. More than half of these buildings had entitlements to brew.
Einbeck is famous for its piano stage. Every winter it hosts the international piano academy „Feuerwerk“, every spring young pianists from all Germany compete in the Einbecker Klavierfrühling competition. Both events are established and led by the Lithuanian concert pianist and pedagogue Gintaras Januševičius. There are plenty of piano recitals hosted around the year, with both professional and amateur performers on stage. Since 2019 the city brands itself as "Klavierstadt“ (“Piano City“).
Houses and halls
Market Square, the very center of the town, with
Old Town Hall built in the 16th century, with its three towers, a historic hallmark of Einbeck
Brodhaus (breadhouse) built in 1552; the site was used since 1333 as seat of the bakers' guild.
The Ratsapotheke (pharmacy), dated 1590.
Eicke's House has a rich sculptural façade ornamentation of Renaissance style, and is listed as a “Historical landmark of special national and cultural importance”.
Tiedexer Straße, a line of houses build at approximately the same time and in the same style, middle of the 16th century.
The New Town Hall was built in 1868 as Prussian Barracks. It is currently (2013) used as administrative building of the city council since 1996. The carillon in the clocktower plays the same chime as Big Ben.
Concert and culture house TangoBrücke started its concert series in 2008. Every Thursday the audience is treated to a classical recital, a jazz concert, or a tango event.
Churches
Market church Sankt Jacobi (St James's), Lutheran, has a strong presence in the city center through its church tower, 65 meters high. It has a Romanesque baptismal font of sandstone, the oldest artifact in Einbeck
Minster church Sankt Alexandri (St Alexander's), Lutheran, one of the largest gothic hall churches in the north of Germany
St. Marien (St Mary's) Lutheran, consecrated 1968 (Old Building New Town Church Sankt Marien rebuild after a fire 1840 − 1846, demolished 1963)
Jugendkirche Marie (Youth Church Marie),
Parish Church “St. Josef” (St Joseph's), Roman Catholic
Chapel „St. Spiritus“, a medieval chapel, is now Greek Orthodox
Theater
Wilhelm-Bendow-Theater (Regular annual programmes through Kulturring Einbeck)
Museums, archives and library
Town Museum: Stadtmuseum Einbeck, Steinweg 11/13, with newly designed „RadHaus“ (bicycle museum). The historic archives of the town of Einbeck are stored in the building of the museum
The Public Library is located adjacent to Stukenbrokpark
The building of the old synagogue was restored by a local initiative and is a museum.
Salzderhelden saltworks
Kunsthaus
PS Speicher („Horsepower Storage“). A local initiative has started in 2011 to rebuild and restore a former granary to form a museum which does exhibit the largest collection of German motorcycles. The opening ceremony was on July 23, 2014.
Media
The local daily newspaper "Einbecker Morgenpost" is published Monday through Saturday. Einbecker Morgenpost has its own staff and content for local news and takes international and national pages from "Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung". There is an advertising paper for the Einbeck region called "Die Eule" distributed Wednesday and Sunday.
Schools
Primary
Geschwister-Scholl-School Einbeck, All-day School
Pestalozzischule Einbeck
Primary School Teichenweg (Teichenwegschule), Einbeck
Primary School Salzderhelden/Vogelbeck
Leinetalschulen Drüber; Primary and Special School
Primary School Dassensen/Holtensen
Primary School Wenzen
Primary School Kreiensen
Primary School Greene
Secondary
Geschwister-Scholl-Schule (Secondary Modern)
Wilhelm-Bendow-Schule (Secondary Modern)
Löns-Realschule (Secondary)
Goetheschule Einbeck, Grammar School, All-day School
Vocational
Berufsbildende Schulen Einbeck, with Grammar School for Economies, Technology, and Nutrition Science
Krankenpflegeschule, Nurse's Training School
Parks
Stiftsgarten north of the city center, used as garden by stift Sankt Alexandri. Located inside this park is the „Garden of many Generations“. On the eastern side of the Stiftsgarten is the Mendelssohn music school using the Stukenbrokvilla, a residential building in the art nouveau fashion.
Stukenbrokpark is an area northeast of the city center between city library and central coach terminal.
The historic city walls are best preserved west of the city center in the areas Bäckerwall, Krähengraben, and Mühlenwall.
The officers garden is located south of the city center close to the Diek Tower (remains of one of the city gates).
Monuments and memorials
The Stukenbrok Memorial was built in memory of the founder of the mail order business August Stukenbrok. It is located in the east of the Stiftsgartens, which was an area once owned by Stukenbrok, next to the little pond.
Memorial for Till Eulenspiegel, who is said to have lived in Einbeck for a while, on Market Square. As Eulenspiegel is a fictional person that is a surprising fact.
War Memorial for the Franco-Prussian War 1870/1871 designed by Conrad Wilhelm Hase
In 1998 locals erected a big concrete block called Stein des Anstoßes (Stumbling Stone) close to the Market Church on Market Square to remind everybody that the number of unemployed in Einbeck (2341 people) was far too high. The stone was to remain in place until the number of unemployed would be half its 1998 number. The stone could have been removed in October 2007.
The Gasometer is a technical memorial in the city area.
Recurring events
May 1: Einbecker Bluesfestival & Bock-Beer-Tapping
May: Open Cross Country Race “Einbecker Bierstadtlauf”
June: Foodfestival
September: Vat-Pushing-Contest “Fassrollen”
September: Pub-Music-Night
October: City Festival „Eulenfest”
November/December: Christmas Market on Market Square
December: New Year's Eve Cross Country Race „Auf der Hube”
Notable people
Conrad Wilhelm Hase (1818–1902), architect and conservationist, was honorary citizen
Henry Mühlenberg, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1742 and became the patriarch of the Muhlenberg family dynasty as well as the founder of the Lutheran church in the American colonies
Friedrich Sertürner, discoverer of morphine (1804), opened his first pharmacy here
Sons and daughters of the city
Wilhelm Bendow (1884–1950), actor
Walter Bock (1895–1948), chemist
Emil Reinecke (1933–2011), cyclist
Friedrich Uhde (1880–1966), engineer and entrepreneur
Ilse Everlien Berardo (born 1955), emigrated to the Autonomous Region of Madeira and became the Lutheran theologian and pastor of German-speaking Protestant Church on the archipelago. Member of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Workers
Gintaras Januševičius (born 1985), pianist and music director
Georg Knorr (1859–1911) student in Einbeck, engineer
Georg Schambach (1811–1879), Germanist, high school director in Einbeck
Johann Friedrich Unger (1716–1781), mayor of Einbeck and inventor
GAPP
For many years, the city's high school has had an exchange programme, known as GAPP or German-American Partnership Program, with Roy High School and Ogden High School (Utah) in Utah. Every other year Einbeck students fly to Roy in October to spend two weeks with host families and attend Roy and Ogden High Schools. After their two-week stay the German students travel to places in the US such as Moab, Las Vegas and California. The Roy and Ogden High students visit Einbeck every other year during their summer break.
Since 2002, Einbeck has been a twin town with Keene, New Hampshire, USA. A delegation of high school football (soccer) players, coaches and city officials visited Keene on July 1, 2010 and spent a week touring the city, playing exhibition games and watching the World Cup with the locals.
Twin towns
Einbeck is twinned with:
Thiais, France (1962)
Artern, Germany (1990)
Patschkau, Paczków, Poland (1992)
Keene, United States (2002)
Wieselburg, Austria (1987)
Transport
Road
There is direct access to Federal Highway “B 3” Bundesstraße 3 running in a north–south direction, connecting Hannover to Kassel, each about away. Until the 1994 “B 3” ran through the city centre, but there is now a bypass open.
Access to National Motorway “A 7” Bundesautobahn 7 is about away. “A 7” connects Flensburg, on the German/Danish border, with Reutte in Austria and roughly runs in a north–south direction as well.
Rail
The Einbeck-Salzderhelden station is located on the Hanoverian Southern Railway part of the main North–South railway between Hanover and Kassel. Services run at approximately hourly intervals.
The larger railway station in Einbeck is Kreiensen, which provides in addition to the services mentioned above, train connections to the West (Holzminden, Altenbeken) and North East (Seesen, Goslar, Brunswick).
In 2018 the railway station Einbeck Mitte in the city centre of Einbeck reopened after 34 years. Today there is an hourly train service between Einbeck Mitte and Salzderhelden and six additional through services between Einbeck Mitte and Göttingen in both directions.
The closest high speed train station is Göttingen, about away. Göttingen can be reached from Salzderhelden in hourly intervals.
Einbeck has a small railway company, Ilmebahn, which runs rail freight services.
Bus
Einbeck is part of a transport association in the South of Lower Saxony, VSN, which connects virtually all smaller villages with the cities in South Lower Saxony. Ilmebahn, the local transport company runs local bus services, as does RBB (Regionalbus Braunschweig).
Air
The next international airport is Hannover Airport, with connections to major European cities. This airport can be reached by train. A smaller airport mainly for holiday travelers Kassel-Calden is about away.
References
External links
Official site
Website of the brewery
Website of Einbecker Blaudruck
Website of KWS Saat
Website of Kayser Automotive
800 photos of Einbeck
Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg
Towns in Lower Saxony
Northeim (district)
Members of the Hanseatic League
Holocaust locations in Germany
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtship
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Courtship
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Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage or committed romantic, de facto relationship. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private matter between two people or may be a public affair, or a formal arrangement with family approval. Traditionally, in the case of a formal engagement, it is the role of a male to actively "court" or "woo" a female, thus encouraging her to understand him and her receptiveness to a marriage proposal.
Courtship as a social practice is a relatively recent phenomenon, emerging only within the last few centuries. From the standpoint of anthropology and sociology, courtship is linked with other institutions such as marriage and the family which have changed rapidly, having been subject to the effects of advances in technology and medicine.
History
In the past, marriages in most societies were arranged by parents and older relatives with the goal not being love but legacy and "economic stability and political alliances", according to anthropologists. Accordingly, there was little need for a temporary trial period such as courtship before a permanent community-recognized union was formed between a man and a woman. While pair-bonds of varying forms were recognized by most societies as acceptable social arrangements, marriage was reserved for heterosexual pairings and had a transactional nature, where wives were in many cases a form of property being exchanged between father and husband, and who would have to serve the function of reproduction. Communities exerted pressure on people to form pair-bonds in places such as Europe; in China, society "demanded people get married before having a sexual relationship" and many societies found that some formally recognized bond between a man and a woman was the best way of rearing and educating children as well as helping to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings regarding competition for mates.
Generally, during much of recorded history of humans in civilization, and into the Middle Ages in Europe, marriages were seen as business arrangements between families, while romance was something that happened outside of marriage discreetly, such as covert meetings. The 12th-century book The Art of Courtly Love advised that "True love can have no place between husband and wife." According to one view, clandestine meetings between men and women, generally outside of marriage or before marriage, were the precursors to today's courtship.
From about 1700 a worldwide movement perhaps described as the "empowerment of the individual" took hold, leading towards greater emancipation of women and equality of individuals. Men and women became more equal politically, financially, and socially in many nations. In the early 20th centuries, women gradually won the right to vote starting in the first sovereign nation Norway in 1913, and to own property and receive equal treatment by the law, and these changes had profound impacts on the relationships between men and women and parental influence declined. In many societies, individuals could decide—on their own—whether they should marry, whom they should marry, and when they should marry in a "courtship ritual where young women entertained gentleman callers, usually in the home, under the watchful eye of a chaperone," but increasingly, in many Western countries, it became a self-initiated activity with two young people going out as a couple in public together. Still, courtship varies considerably by nation, custom, religious upbringing, technology, and social class, and important exceptions with regards to individual freedoms remain as many countries today still practice arranged marriages, request dowries, and forbid same-sex pairings. Although in many countries, movies, meals, and meeting in coffeehouses and other places is now popular, as are advice books suggesting various strategies for men and women, in other parts of the world, such as in South Asia and many parts of the Middle East, being alone in public as a couple is not only frowned upon but can even lead to either person being socially ostracized.
The 1849 book The Whole Art of Polite Courtship; Or the Ladies & Gentlemen's Love Letter Writer exemplifies the importance of love letters in 19th century courtship with a goal of marriage. The book contains 31 love letter samples for men and women in different careers, presumably for readers to draw inspiration when writing their own romantic correspondences. Etiquette books, such as the 1852 Etiquette of Courtship and Matrimony, detail socially appropriate ways to meet lovers, court, arrange a wedding, honeymoon, and avoid arguments.
In the twentieth century, courtship was sometimes seen as a precursor to marriage but it could also be considered as an end-in-itself, that is, an informal social activity akin to friendship. It generally happened in that portion of a person's life before the age of marriage, but as marriage became less permanent with the advent of divorce, courtship could happen at other times in peoples lives as well. People became more mobile. Rapidly developing technology played a huge role: new communication technology such as the telephone, Internet and text messaging enabled rendezvous to be arranged without face-to-face contact. Cars extended the range of courtship as well as enabled back-seat sexual exploration.
In the mid-twentieth century, the advent of birth control as well as safer procedures for abortion changed the equation considerably, and there was less pressure to marry as a means for satisfying sexual urges. New types of relationships formed; it was possible for people to live together without marrying and without children. Information about human sexuality grew, and with it an acceptance of all types of consensual sexual orientations is becoming more common. Today, the institution of courtship continues to evolve at a rapid rate with new possibilities and choices opening up particularly through online courtship.
Humans have been compared to other species in terms of sexual behavior. Neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky constructed a reproductive spectrum with opposite poles being tournament species, in which males compete fiercely for reproductive privileges with females, and pair bond arrangements, in which a male and female will bond for life. According to Sapolsky, humans are somewhat in the middle of this spectrum, in the sense that humans form pair bonds, but there is the possibility of cheating or changing partners. These species-particular behavior patterns provide a context for aspects of human reproduction, including courtship. However, one particularity of the human species is that pair bonds are often formed without necessarily having the intention of reproduction. In modern times, emphasis on the institution of marriage, traditionally described as a male-female bond, has obscured pair bonds formed by same-sex and transgender couples, and that many heterosexual couples also bond for life without offspring, or that often pairs that do have offspring separate. Thus, the concept of marriage is changing widely in many countries.
Duration
The average duration of courtship varies considerably throughout the world. Furthermore, there is vast individual variation between couples. Courtship may be completely omitted, as in cases of some arranged marriages where the couple do not meet before the wedding.
In the United Kingdom, a poll of 3,000 engaged or married couples resulted in an average duration between first meeting and accepted proposal of marriage of 2 years and 11 months, with the women feeling ready to accept at an average of 2 years and 7 months. Regarding duration between proposal and wedding, the UK poll above gave an average of 2 years and 3 months.
Traditions
Fairly casual in most European-influenced cultures, in some traditional societies, courtship is a highly structured activity with very specific formal rules.
In some societies, the parents or community propose potential partners and then allow limited courtship to determine whether the parties are suited. In Japan, there is such a type of courtship called Omiai, with similar practices called "Xiangqin" () in the Greater China Area. Parents will hire a matchmaker to provide pictures and résumés of potential mates, and if the couple agrees, there will be a formal meeting with the matchmaker and often parents in attendance. The matchmaker and parents will often exert pressure on the couple to decide whether they want to marry after a few meetings.
Courtship in the Philippines is one complex form of courtship. Unlike other societies, it takes a far more subdued and indirect approach. Its complexity involves stages, and it is considered normal for courtship to last a year or longer. It is common to see a man showing off by sending love letters and love poems, singing romantic songs, and buying gifts for a woman. The parents are also seen as part of the courtship practice, as their approval is commonly needed before courtship may begin or before the woman gives the man an answer to his advances.
In more closed societies, courtship is virtually eliminated by the practice of arranged marriages in which partners are chosen for young people, typically by their parents. Forbidding experimental and serial courtship and sanctioning only arranged matches is partly a means of guarding the chastity of young people and partly a matter of furthering family interests, which, in such cultures, may be considered more important than individual romantic preferences.
Throughout history, courtship has often included traditions such as exchanging valentines, written correspondence (facilitated by the creation of the postal service in the nineteenth century), and similar communication-based courting. Over recent decades, though, the concept of arranged marriage has changed or simply been mixed with other forms of courtship, including Eastern and Indian ones. Potential couples have the opportunity to meet and socialise with each other before deciding whether to continue the relationship.
Courtship in social theory
Courtship is used by a number of theorists to explain gendering processes and sexual identity. Scientific research into courtship began in the 1980s, after which time academic researchers started to generate theories about modern courtship practices and norms. Researchers have found that, contrary to popular beliefs, courtship is normally triggered and controlled by women, driven mainly by non-verbal behaviours, to which men respond. One of the functions of romantic love is courtship.
This is generally supported by other theorists who specialise in the study of body language. There are some feminist scholars, however, who regard courtship as a socially constructed (and male-led) process organised to subjugate women. Farrell reports, for example, that magazines about marriage and romantic fiction continue to attract a 98% female readership. Systematic research into courtship processes inside the workplace as well two ten-year studies examining norms in different international settings continue to support a view that courtship is a social process that socialises both sexes into accepting forms of relationship that maximise the chances of successfully raising children.
Commercial courtship services
As technology has progressed, so too have the methods of courtship. In online courtship, individuals create profiles where they disclose personal information, photographs, hobbies, interests, religion and expectations. Then the user can search through hundreds of thousands of accounts and connect with multiple people at once which in return, gives the user more options and more opportunity to find what meets their standards. Online courtship has influenced the idea of choice. In Modern Romance: An Investigation, Aziz Ansari states that one third of marriages in the United States between 2005 and 2012 met through online courtship services. Today there are hundreds of sites to choose from and websites designed to fit specific needs such as Match, eHarmony, OkCupid, Zoosk, and ChristianMingle. Mobile apps, such as Grindr and Tinder allow users to upload profiles that are then judged by others on the service; one can either swipe right on a profile (indicating interest) or swipe left (which presents another possible mate).
Technology
The Internet is shaping the way new generations meet; Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, and other applications have made remote connections possible.
Online courtship tools are an alternate way to meet potential mates. Many people use smartphone apps such as Tinder, Grindr, or Bumble which allow a user to accept or reject another user with a single swipe of a finger. Some critics have suggested that matchmaking algorithms are imperfect and are "no better than chance" for the task of identifying acceptable partners. Others have suggested that the speed and availability of emerging technologies may be undermining the possibility for couples to have long-term meaningful relationships when finding a replacement partner has potentially become too easy.
Worldwide
Courtship customs and habits vary considerably throughout the world. The average duration of courtship before proceeding to engagement or marriage varies considerably throughout the world.
Africa
Ethiopia
According to one source, there are four ways that marriage can happen among the Nyangatom people: (1) arranged marriage, when well-respected elders are sent to the girl's family on behalf of the boy's family; (2) courtship after a friendly meeting between boy and girl such as at a market place or holiday where there's dancing; (3) abduction, such as during a blood feud between families; (4) inheritance. All the above are interesting ways for courtship to happen in Ethiopia
North Africa
In North Africa like in many parts of the Middle East, sex without marriage is considered unacceptable. Courtship in North Africa is predominantly done under family supervision, usually in a public place.
Asia
Asia is a mix of traditional approaches with involvement by parents and extended families such as arranged marriages as well as modern courtship. In many cultural traditions, including some in South Asia, and the Middle East and to some extent East Asia, as in the case of Omiai in Japan and the similar "Xiangqin" (相親) practiced in the Greater China Area, a date may be arranged by a third party, who may be a family member, acquaintance, or professional matchmaker.
China
Patterns of courtship are changing in China, with increased modernization bumping into traditional ways.
A 2003 report in China Daily suggested that courtship for most Chinese university women was "difficult", required work, stole time away from academic advancement, and placed women in a precarious position of having to balance personal success against traditional Chinese relationships. Many women were reported to have high standards for men they sought, but also worried that their academic credentials could "scare away more traditional Chinese men." It was reportedly difficult finding places to have privacy, since many dormitory rooms had eight or more pupils in one suite, while courtship in restaurants tended to be expensive. One student remarked: "American couples drink and dance together. But in China, we study together."
Romantic love is more difficult during times of financial stress, and economic forces can encourage singles, particularly women, to select a partner primarily on financial considerations. Some men postpone marriage until their financial position is more secure and use wealth to help attract women. One trend is towards exclusive matchmaking events for the 'rich and powerful'; for example, an annual June event in Wuhan with expensive entry-ticket prices for men (99,999 RMB) lets financially secure men choose so-called bikini brides based on their beauty and education, and the financial exclusivity of the event was criticized by the official news outlet China Daily. Surveys though from 2015 to 2018 suggest that the majority of Chinese respondents (especially college students) would place the character and personality of their partners above material assets, with also increasing acceptance towards evenly splitting bills or going Dutch.
There have been conflicting reports on expatriate courtship in China's capital city. One account in 2006 suggested the courtship scene in Beijing to be "sad" with particular difficulties for foreign women hoping to find romance. It was reportedly due to the cold, uninterested, or unappealing attitudes of the male expats and the shyness and cultural differences of the Chinese men, and another account in 2010 documented similar, if slightly improved results. A different report in 2010, though, suggested that some Chinese men preferred Western women, viewing them as less girlish and materialistic, and also more independent and straightforward than Chinese women. A 2016 survey of Chinese students abroad, however, imply there have been significant barriers to foreign courtship, and the intermarriage rate of Chinese women in Shanghai has been decreasing.
A new format of Internet "QQ" chat rooms is gaining ground against so-called "traditional courtship agencies" in Changsha (Hunan Province); the QQ rooms have 20,000 members, and service is much less expensive than courtship agencies which can charge 100 to 200 yuan ($13 to US$26) per introduction. Internet courtship, with computer-assisted matchmaking, is becoming more prevalent; one site supposedly has 23 million registered users. Speed dating has come to Shanghai and other cities. Worldwide online matchmakers have explored entering the Chinese market via partnerships or acquisitions.
Each year, November 11 has become an unofficial holiday known as China's Singles' Day when singles are encouraged to make an extra effort to find a partner. Worried parents of unmarried children often arrange dates for their offspring on this day as well as others. Before the day approaches, thousands of college students and young workers post messages describing their plans for this day. In Arabic numerals, the day looks like "1111", that is, "like four single people standing together", and there was speculation that it originated in the late 1990s when college students celebrated being single with "a little self-mockery" but a differing explanation dates it back to events in the Roman Empire. For many, Singles' Day offers people a way to "demonstrate their stance on love and marriage". In 2005, a government-sponsored agency called Shanghai Women's Activities Centre (Chinese: Jinguoyuan) organized periodic matchmaking events often attended by parents.
There has been concern that young people's views of marriage have changed because of economic opportunities, with many choosing deliberately not to get married, as well as young marrieds who have decided not to have children, or to postpone having them. Cohabiting relationships are tolerated more often. Communities where people live but do not know each other well are becoming more common in China like elsewhere, leading to fewer opportunities to meet somebody locally without assistance. Divorce rates are rising in cities such as Shanghai, which recorded 27,376 divorces in 2004, an increase of 30% from 2003.
Relationships between students preparing for college are frowned upon by many parents in China. There was a report that sexual relations among middle schoolers in Guangzhou sometimes resulted in abortions. There have been reports of scams involving get-rich-quick schemes; a forty-year-old migrant worker was one of a thousand seduced by an advertisement which read "Rich woman willing to pay 3 million yuan for sperm donor" but the worker was cheated out of his savings of 190,000 yuan (US$27,500).
The game show If You Are the One, titled after Chinese personal ads, featured some provocative contestants making sexual allusions and the show reportedly ran afoul of authorities and had to change its approach. The two-host format involves a panel of 24 single women questioning a man to decide if he'll remain on the show; if he survives, he can choose a girl to date; the show gained notoriety for controversial remarks and opinions such as model Ma Nuo saying she prefer to "weep in a BMW than laugh on a bike", who was later banned from making appearances.
India
Indian courtship is heavily influenced by the custom of arranged marriages which require little courtship, although there are strong indications that the institution is undergoing change, and that love marriages are becoming more accepted as India becomes more intertwined with the rest of the world. In the cities at least, it is becoming more accepted for two people to meet and try to find if there is compatibility.
The majority of Indian marriages are arranged by parents and relatives, and one estimate is that 7 of every 10 marriages are arranged. Sometimes the bride and groom don't meet until the wedding, and there is no courtship or wooing before the joining. In the past, it meant that couples were chosen from the same caste and religion and economic status. There is widespread support for arranged marriages generally. Writer Lavina Melwani described a happy marriage which had been arranged by the bride's father, and noted that during the engagement, the woman was allowed to go out with him before they were married on only one occasion; the couple married and found happiness. Supporters of arranged marriage suggest that there is a risk of having the marriage fall apart whether it was arranged by relatives or by the couple themselves, and that what's important is not how the marriage came to be but what the couple does after being married. Parents and relatives exert considerable influence, sometimes posting matrimonial ads in newspapers and online. Customs encourage families to put people together, and discourage sexual experimentation as well as so-called serial courtship in which a prospective bride or groom meets but continually rejects possible partners, since the interests of the family are seen as more important than the romantic needs of the people marrying. Indian writers, such as Mistry in his book Family Matters, sometimes depict arranged marriages as unhappy. Writer Sarita Sarvate of India Currents thinks people calculate their "value" on the "Indian marriage market" according to measures such as family status, and that arranged marriages typically united spouses who often didn't love each other. She suggested love was out of place in this world because it risked passion and "sordid" sexual liaisons. Love, as she sees it, is "Waking up in the morning and thinking about someone." Writer Jennifer Marshall described the wife in an arranged marriage as living in a world of solitude without much happiness, and feeling pressured by relatives to conceive a son so she wouldn't be considered as "barren" by her husband's family; in this sense, the arranged marriage didn't bring "love, happiness, and companionship." Writer Vijaysree Venkatraman believes arranged marriages are unlikely to disappear soon, commenting in his book review of Shoba Narayan's Monsoon Diary, which has a detailed description of the steps involved in a present-day arranged marriage. There are indications that even the institution of arranged marriages is changing, with marriages increasingly being arranged by "unknown, unfamiliar sources" and less based on local families who know each other. Writer Lavina Melwani in Little India compared Indian marriages to business deals:
Relationships in which courtship is undertaken by two people without parental involvement and sometimes carry on clandestine get-togethers, has become increasingly common. When this leads to a wedding, the resulting unions are sometimes called love marriages. There are increasing instances when couples initiate contact on their own, particularly if they live in a foreign country; in one case, a couple met surreptitiously over a game of cards. Indians who move abroad to Britain or America often follow the cultural patterns of their new country: for example, one Indian woman met a white American man while skiing, and married him, and the formerly "all-important relatives" were reduced to bystanders trying to influence things ineffectively. Factors operating worldwide, such as increased affluence, the need for longer education, and greater mobility have lessened the appeal for arranged marriages, and these trends have affected criteria about which possible partners are acceptable, making it more likely that pairings will cross previously impenetrable barriers such as caste or ethnic background. Indian Americans in the U.S. sometimes participate in Singles Meets organized by websites which happen about once a month, with 100 participants at each event; an organizer did not have firm statistics about the success rate leading to a long-term relationship but estimated about one in every ten members finds a partner through the site.
Courtship websites are gaining ground in India. Writer Rupa Dev preferred websites which emphasized authenticity and screened people before entering their names into their databases, making it a safer environment overall, so that site users can have greater trust that it is safe to meet others on the site. Dev suggested that such websites were much better than the anonymous chatrooms of the 1990s.
During the interval before marriage, whether it is an arranged or a love marriage, private detectives have been hired to check up on a prospective bride or groom, or to verify claims about a potential spouse made in newspaper advertising, and there are reports that such snooping is increasing. Detectives investigate former amorous relationships and can include fellow college students, former police officers skilled in investigations, and medical workers "with access to health records."
Transsexuals and eunuchs have begun using Internet services in some states in India.
The practice of courtship runs against some religious traditions, and one particular Hindu group Sri Ram Sena threatened to "force unwed couples" to marry, if they were discovered courtship on Valentine's Day; a fundamentalist leader said "drinking and dancing in bars and celebrating this day has nothing to do with Hindu traditions." The threat sparked a protest via the Internet which resulted in cartloads of pink panties being sent to the fundamentalist leader's office. as part of the Pink Chaddi Campaign (Pink Underwear/Panties Campaign). Another group, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, threatened to do the same, for which it was severely mocked online and on the day after Valentine's Day, had protesters outside its Delhi headquarters, with people (mockingly) complaining that it did not fulfill its "promise", with some having come with materials for the wedding rituals.
In India, parents sometimes participate in websites designed to match couples, with some offering to organize double or group socialising.
Japan
There is a type of courtship called Omiai in which parents hire a matchmaker to give resumes and pictures to potential mates for their approval, leading to a formal meeting with parents and matchmaker attending. If the couple has a few rendezvous, they're often pressured by the matchmaker and parents to decide whether or not to marry.
Korea
The reasons for courtship in Korea are various. Research conducted by Saegye Daily showed that teenagers choose to keep company for reasons such as "to become more mature," "to gain consultation on worries, or troubles," or "to learn the difference between boys and girls," etc. Similarly, a news report in MK Daily showed that the primary reasons for courtship for workers of around ages 20–30 are "emotional stability," "marriage," "someone to spend time with," etc. An interesting feature in the reasons for courtship in Korea is that many Koreans are somewhat motivated to find a partner due to the societal pressure that often views single persons as incompetent.
Present Korean courtship shows a changing attitude due to the influence of tradition and modernization. There are a lot of Confucian ideas and practices that still saturate South Korean culture and daily life as traditional values. Patriarchy in Korea has been grounded on Confucian culture that postulated hierarchical social orders according to age and sex. Patriarchy is "a system of social structure and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women” which is well reflected in the ways of courtship in Korea. Adding to it, there is an old saying that says a boy and a girl should not sit together after they have reached the age of seven. It is one of the old teachings of Confucianism and reveals its inclination toward conservatism.
Most Koreans tend to regard courtship as a precursor to marriage. According to a survey conducted by Gyeonggi-do Family Women's Researcher on people of age 26–44, 85.7% of respondents replied as ‘willing to get married’. The market for marriage agencies are growing continuously. DUO and Gayeon are one of the major marriage agencies in Korea. Also, "Mat-sun", the blind date which is usually based on the premise of marriage, is held often among ages of late 20s to 30s. But the late trend is leaning towards the separation between courtship and marriage unlike the conservative ways of the past. In the survey conducted by a marriage agency, of 300 single males and females who were asked of their opinions on marrying their lovers, about only 42% of the males and 39% of the females said yes. There are also cases of courtship without the premise of marriage. However, the majority still takes getting into a relationship seriously.
Courtship in Korea is also considered a necessary activity supported by society. Korean adults are constantly questioned whether or not they are courting by the people around them. During family gatherings on holidays one of the questions that people hate getting asked the most is related to marriage. According to a survey it was the highest ranked at 47.3 percent.
College students in their sophomore to junior year who have not been in a relationship feel anxious that they are falling behind amongst their peers. Most of them try "sogaeting", going out on a blind date, for the first time to get into a relationship. Courtship is a duty that most people feel they must take on to not seem incompetent.
In recent trends, even dramas such as “”Shining Romance” (“빛나는 로맨스”), and “Jang Bo-ri is Here!” (“왔다 장보리”), and in a variety show called, “Dad! Where Are We Going?” (“아빠 어디가?”) there are elementary children confessing their love.
courtship has also been depicted to be an activity of fun and happiness. There are Korean TV programs that film celebrities together as married couples supporting this depiction of courtship such as “We Got Married” (“우리 결혼했어요”), “With You” (“님과 함께”) and “The Man Who Gets Married Daily” (“매일 결혼 하는 남자.”)
According to a survey by wedding consulting agency, men consider a physical relation as a catalyst of love, otherwise, women regard it as a confirmation of affection. Adding to it, both 79.2% of men and 71.0% of women stated that how deep their physical relation in courtship is concerned in the decision of whether to marry.
Pakistan
Marriages and courtship in Pakistan are influenced by traditional cultural practices similar to those elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent as well as Muslim norms and manners. Illegitimate relationships before marriage are considered a social taboo and social interaction between unmarried men and women is encouraged at a modest and healthy level. Couples are usually wedded through either an arranged marriage or love marriage. Love marriages are those in which the individuals have chosen a partner whom they like by their own choice prior to marriage, and usually occur with the consent of parents and family. Arranged marriages on the other hand are marriages which are set and agreed by the families or guardians of the two individuals where the couple may not have met before. In either cases and in consistency with traditional marital practices, individuals who marry are persuaded to meet and talk to each other for some time before considering marrying so that they can check their compatibility.
Singapore
Singapore's largest courtship service, SDU, Social Development Unit, is government-run. The original SDU, which controversially promoted marriages among university graduate singles, no longer exists today. On 28 January 2009, it was merged with SDS [Social Development Services], which just as controversially promoted marriages among non-graduate singles. The merged unit, SDN Social Development Network seeks to promote meaningful relationships, with marriage touted as a top life goal, among all resident [Singapore] singles within a conducive network environment of singles, relevant commercial and public entities.
Taiwan
One report suggested that in southern Taiwan, "traditional rules of courtship" still apply despite the influence of popular culture; for example, men continue to take the initiative in forming relationships. A poll in 2009 of students at high schools and vocational schools found that over 90% admitted that they had "no clear idea of how to approach someone of the opposite sex who interested them". What caused relationships to break up? 60% said "changes of heart" or "cheating". Courtship with more than one person at a time was not permissible, agreed 70%.
Iran
Legally people of different sexes are not allowed to "mix freely" in public. Since 1979, the state has become a religious autocracy, and imposes Islamic edicts on matters such as courtship. Clerics run officially sanctioned internet courtship agencies with strict rules. Prospective couples can have three meetings: two with strict supervision inside the center, and the third being a "brief encounter on their own"; afterwards, they can either (1) choose to marry or (2) agree to never see each other again. This has become the subject of a film by Iranian filmmaker Leila Lak. Iran has a large population of young people with 70 percent of the 83-million population being under the age of thirty. However, economic hardship discourages marriage, and divorce rates have increased in Tehran to around a quarter of marriages, even though divorce is taboo. While the Iranian government "condemns courtship and relationships", it promotes marriage with (1) online courses (2) "courtship classes" where students can "earn a diploma" after sitting through weekly tests and "hundreds of hours of education" (3) "marriage diplomas" (4) matchmaking and arranged marriages. Authorities push a conservative approach and shun unmarried romantic relationships and encourage "traditional match-making". But young people have disobeyed the restrictions; one said "It is wiser to have different relationships" and believed in defying religious rules which suggest "short-term illegitimate relationships harm dignity." Adultery can be punished by death. While youths can flout selected restrictions, there are almost no instances in which unmarried people move in together. There have been efforts to promote Sigheh (temporary marriage).
Whilst the practice of so-called "white marriage" (cohabitation) is trending, it is illegal.
Israel
In Israel, in the secular community, courtship is very common amongst both heterosexual and homosexual couples. However, because of the religious community, there are some religious exceptions to the courtship process. In the Haredi and Chasidic communities (Ultra-Orthodox Judaism) most couples are paired through a matchmaker.
Lebanon
One report suggests courtship is hampered by "the weight of family demands upon individual choice" and that there were difficulties, particularly for people seeking to marry across religious lines, such as a Christian seeking to marry a Muslim.
Saudi Arabia
The Saudi Gazette quoted a Wikipedia article on domestic violence, suggesting it was an issue for Saudis, including abusive behavior while courting by one or both partners.
North America
United States
One report suggested the United States as well as other western-oriented countries were different from the rest of the world because "love is the reason for mating," as opposed to marriages being arranged to cement economic and class ties between families and promote political stability. Courtship–known there as 'dating'–by mutual consent of two single people, is the norm. British writer Kira Cochrane, after moving to the U.S., found herself grappling with the American approach to courtship. She wondered why it was acceptable to juggle "10 potential partners" while weighing different attributes; she found American-style dating to be "exhausting and strange." She found courtship in America to be "organized in a fairly formal fashion" with men approaching women and asking point blank for a date; she found this to be "awkward." She described the "third date rule" which was that women weren't supposed to have sex until the third date even if they desired it, although men were supposed to try for sex. She wrote: "Dating rules almost always cast the man as aggressor, and the woman as prey, which frankly makes me feel nauseous." Canadian writer Danielle Crittenden, however, chronicling female angst, criticized a tendency not to take courtship seriously and suggested that postponing marriage into one's thirties was problematic:
Journalist Emily Witt in 2016 wrote that while "social mores had changed to accept a wider range of sexual practices", there was still much "loneliness and anxiety". She traveled to San Francisco and began dating a lot, using Internet dating services and apps, and sometimes going to singles' bars alone, only to find that the "romantic-comedy concept of love" with a "perfect, permanent, tea-for-two ending" was not going to happen to her.
There is evidence that couples differ in the pace and timing with which they initiate sex in their relationships. Studies show that approximately 50% of premarital young adult couples become sexually involved within the first month of dating, while 25% initiate sex one to three months after beginning to date and a small proportion of couples wait until marriage before initiating sexual relations.
Teenagers and college-aged students tend to avoid the more formal activity of dating, and prefer casual no-strings-attached experiments sometimes described as 'hookups'. It permits young women to "go out and fit into the social scene, get attention from young men, and learn about sexuality", according to one report by sociologists. The term hookup can describe a wide variety of behavior ranging from kissing to non-genital touching; according to one report, only about one third of people had sexual intercourse. A contrary report, however, suggested there has been no "sea change" in sexual behavior regarding college students from 1988 onwards, and that the term hookup itself continued to be used to describe a variety of relationships, including merely socializing or passionate kissing as well as sexual intercourse.
Muslims living in the United States can choose whether to use traditional Islamic methods, or date American-style; Muslims choosing to stick to Islamic tradition can "only marry another Muslim", according to one Malaysian account. Mosques have been known to try to bring people together––one in California has a dating service for Muslims.
Europe
United Kingdom
In Britain, if two people are 'going out together' their relationship has normally advanced to a relatively long-standing and sexual boyfriend-girlfriend relationship although they're not cohabiting. Writer Kira Cochrane advises to "get out there and meet people" while noting a trend of temporary suspension of marriage until an individual reaches his or her thirties. She sees a trend for developing new ways of meeting people. In contrast, writer Bibi van der Zee found etiquette rules to be helpful, and found that supposedly liberated advice such as "just be yourself" to be the "most useless advice in history." She expresses frustration following fruitless sexual relationships, and that her mid twenties saw relationships with partners who were less willing to return phone calls or display interest in long-term commitment. She felt "clueless and unwanted", she wrote, and found advice books such as The Rules helpful. British writer Henry Castiglione signed up for a "weekend flirting course" and found the experience helpful; he was advised to talk to and smile at everyone he met. Emailing back-and-forth, after meeting on a website, is one way to get to know people in Britain, and elsewhere.
In the UK, one estimate from 2009 was that 15 million people are single, and half of these are seeking a long-term relationship; three-quarters of them have not been in a relationship for more than 18 months. A Pew study in 2005 which examined Internet users in long-term relationships including marriage, found that many met by contacts at work or at school.In a twelve-month period, the average number of assignations that a single person will have is four. When courting, 43% of people 'google' potential partners ahead of time. Almost five million Britons used websites in the past twelve months. A third admitting to lying on their profile. A fifth of married individuals between 19 and 25 met their spouse online. One poll in 2009 of 3,000 couples suggested that the average duration of their courtship period, between first meeting to the acceptance of a marriage proposal, was three years. In 2017 Britain online fraud victim numbers were at record high. According to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, there were 3,889 victims of so-called romance fraud in 2016. who handed over a record £39m. Online safety in the UK is a concern for authorities and individuals.
German-speaking countries
While analysts such as Harald Martenstein and others suggest that it is easier for persons to initiate contact in America, many Germans view the American dating habits as "unspontaneous", "ridiculous" and "rigid". Until the 1960s, countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Austria had a more formal approach for first contacts that was eased during seasonal festivals like carnival and festivals and funfairs like the Oktoberfest, which allowed for more casual flirts.
Membership in voluntary associations is relatively high in German-speaking countries and these provided further chances for possible partners to meet. Strolling on Esplanades and Promenade walkways such as the one in Hamburg called the Jungfernstieg (maidens way), have been another venue for introductions as early as the 19th century. Analyst Geoffrey Gorer described 'dating' as an American idiosyncrasy focusing on youth of college age and expressed in activities such as American 'proms'. In contrast German speaking countries and the longstanding musical tradition there provided ample opportunity of persons of varying ages enjoying social dances, such as the Vienna Opera Ball and other occasions.
Romantic encounters were often described with French terms like rendezvous or tête-à-tête. The German term of Stelldichein (as translated by Joachim Heinrich Campes) is used to signify courtship when the age of consent to marriage was relatively high. German traditions to signify lovers who met in hiding were described with terms like Fensterln (windowing) or Kiltgang (dawn stroll) used in Bavaria and Switzerland. Analyst Sebastian Heinzel sees a major cultural divide between American courtship habits and European informality, and leads to instances in which European expatriates in cities such as New York keep to themselves.
Today, most German couples in long-term relationships get to know each other through mutual friends, at work or while going out at night; the first few months of courtship often involve sexual intercourse, but are still rather casual and do not imply a serious wish to get married.
Italy
Italians maintain a conservative approach to courtship. Also, inviting friends or relatives during a rendezvous is not uncommon. More modern approaches such as 'blind dates,' 'speed dating' and websites are not as popular as abroad, and are not considered very effective by the majority of the population.
Spain
One report suggested Spanish women were the "greatest flirts", based on an unofficial study which ranked countries based on initiations of contact.
Oceania
Australia
A recent study revealed that 50% of Australians agreed it was permissible to request to 'go out' via a text message but not acceptable to break up this way. Flirting while texting, dubbed flirtext, was more likely to be done by girls after a relationship was started. A survey of newspaper readers suggested it was time to abandon the "old fashioned rule" of men paying for the first outing, based on women's greater earning capacity.
South America
Brazil
In Brazil there is a longer time interval before children move out of the house, which affects courtship. As a result, parents offer advice about courtship although it may not be heeded.
LGBT+
Courtship behavior of non-heterosexual individuals doesn't always reflect their self-ascribed sexual orientation. Some of them recognized from early age that they're attracted to the same sex or both/all sexes, but may initially adhere to heterosexual norms in their courtship behaviors. Some individuals who identify as LGBT+ in one way or another but are questioning or haven't come out to their peers and family may wait years before they start courting their preferred sex.
According to a Psychology Today report, men who identify as homosexual recognize their same-sex attraction in their late teens or early twenties, and they tend to care more about physical attractiveness than the status of a prospective partner. Men who identify as homosexual, on average, tend to have more sexual partners, while women who identify as lesbian tend to form steadier one-on-one relationships, and tend to be less promiscuous than heterosexual women.
In India, transgender individuals and eunuchs have used internet dating to help them find partners, but there continue to be strong societal pressures which marginalize them.
Matchmakers
People can meet other people on their own or the get-together can be arranged by someone else. Matchmaking is an art based entirely on hunches, since it is impossible to predict with certainty whether two people will like each other or not. "All you should ever try and do is make two people be in the same room at the same time," advised matchmaker Sarah Beeny in 2009, and the only rule is to make sure the people involved want to be set up. One matchmaker advised it was good to match "brains as well as beauty" and try to find people with similar religious and political viewpoints and thinks that like-minded people result in more matches, although acknowledging that opposites sometimes attract. It is easier to put several people together at the same time, so there are other candidates possible if one doesn't work out. And, after introducing people, don't meddle.
Friends as matchmakers
Friends remain a common way for people to meet. However, the Internet promises to overtake friends in the future, if present trends continue. A friend can introduce two people who do not know each other, and the friend may play matchmaker and send them on a blind date.
Family as matchmakers
Parents, via their contacts with associates or neighbors or friends, can introduce their children to each other. In India, parents often place matrimonial ads in newspapers or online, and may post the resumes of the prospective bride or groom.
Matchmaking systems and services
Matchmaking systems can be systematic and organized ways to improve matchmaking by using rules or technology. The meeting can be in-person or live as well as separated by time or space such as by telephone or email or chat-based. The purpose of the meeting is for the two persons to decide whether to go out together in the future.
See also
Arranged marriage
Bekisa
Courtship disorder
Dating
Haptic communication
Human mating strategies
Hypergamy
Love letter
Flash marriage
References
Further reading
External links
Stevenson-Hamilton, J (1912) Animal Life in Africa. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company.
Mason, k. 2013. "Hippopotamus amphibius", Animal Diversity Web. Accessed 8 December 2015.
Sandigeo Zoo library (2001). Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibious, & Pygmy Hippopotamus, Cheoropsis liberiensis. Revised 2011. Archived 8 December 2015.
Fletscher, D. J. C.; Tribe, G. D. Natural emergency queen rearing by apis mellifera adansonii ii. In African Bees: Taxonomy, Biology and Economic Use; Fletscher, D. J. C., Ed.; Apimondia: Pretoria, South Africa, 1977; pp. 132–140.
Dating
Philosophy of love
Social constructionism
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offenbach%20am%20Main
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Offenbach am Main
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Offenbach am Main () is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It has a population of 138,335 (December 2018).
In the 20th century, the city's economy was built on machine-building, leather-making, typography and design, and the automobile and pharmaceutical industries.
Geography
Subdivision
The inner city area of Offenbach is quite large and consists of the historic center of the city and its expansions of the 1800s. Three formerly independent suburbs were incorporated in the first half of the 20th century: Bürgel being the first in 1908, then Bieber and Rumpenheim in 1938 and 1942.
South of the inner city area are the suburbs Lauterborn, Rosenhöhe and Tempelsee. Kaiserlei is a commercial district in the far west of the city bordering Frankfurt. In the west Waldheim is a residential neighborhood on the city limits with Mühlheim am Main. In 2010 the eastern part of the city center was officially named Mathildenviertel, as the area was already unofficially called by the locals.
Unlike most larger cities in Germany, Offenbach was not completely divided into districts. Only the nine neighborhoods mentioned above were officially districts, leaving the largest parts of the city officially unnamed. Although specific names for neighborhoods and areas were already in use among the locals and residents.
In June 2019 the city council approved a new act that subdivides the city's area entirely into 21 districts. The nine existing districts largely remained the same, most of them were even expanded. The new districts were laid out after the already by locals commonly known neighborhoods, such as the Westend, the Nordend or Buchhügel. A completely new name was only needed to be found for one neighborhood south of the city center, which never had commonly used name before: Lindenfeld. The name derived from an old name of a land lot in this area, when it was still fields in agricultural use prior to the 1800s.
As of July 2019 there are the following 21 districts:
Bieber
Bieberer Berg
Buchhügel
Buchrain
Bürgel
Carl-Ulrich-Siedlung
Hafen
Kaiserlei
Lauterborn
Lindenfeld
Mathildenviertel
Musikerviertel
Nordend
Offenbach-Ost
Rosenhöhe
Rumpenheim
Senefelderquartier
Tempelsee
Waldheim
Westend
Zentrum
Climate
Offenbach experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). There are subtropical summers with warm to hot temperatures ranging from 29.8 °C at daytime and 6.9 °C at night. Winters are temperate cool and mild with temperatures ranging from 17.9 °C at daytime and 2.5 °C at night. Due to its location in the Upper Rhine Plain, the whole Rhein-Main Metropolitan Region generally experiences one of the warmest climates in Germany, making it possible to grow plants from the subtropics such as vineyards, palm trees and olive trees.
History
The first documented reference to a suburb of Offenbach appears in 770. In a document of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II dating to 977 exists the first mention of the place of Offenbach. During the Middle Ages Offenbach passed through many hands. Only in 1486 could the Count Ludwig of Isenburg finally take control of city for his family, and 1556 Count Reinhard of Isenburg relocated his Residence to Offenbach, building a palace, the Isenburger Schloß (Isenburg Palace), which was completed in 1559. It was destroyed by fire in 1564 and rebuilt in 1578.
In 1635, Offenbach was given to the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt, but it was returned to the Isenburg-Birstein Count (later Prince) in 1642. It remained in that principality until 1815, when the Congress of Vienna gave the city to the Austrian Emperor, Francis I. A year later it was given to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Always very close to the city centre of Frankfurt, Offenbach was a popular location for business. The town has its own trade fair, and many companies have opened facilities here because there are fewer restrictions and no closed businesses. French Protestants (Huguenots) came in the 17th century and settled in Offenbach and contributed to making Offenbach a prosperous city, e.g., bringing knowledge of tobacco with them and turning Offenbach into a centre for rolling cigars. The town was more cosmopolitan than Frankfurt; famous people such as Goethe and Mozart visited it several times.
The Rumpenheim Palace and its park were a popular destination for monarchs in the 19th century. The city was thereafter ruled by Grand Dukes of Hesse and by Rhine until the monarchy was abolished in 1918. Offenbach became the center of the traditional design with figures such as the architect Hugo Eberhardt, the typographer Rudolf Koch, the bookbinder and designer Ignatz Wiemeler and Ernst Engel and the painter Karl Friedrich Lippmann.
During the Second World War a third of the city was destroyed by Allied bombing, which claimed 467 lives. With the new district Lauterborn the city was expanded to the south in the 1960s. On the border with Frankfurt, the office district Kaiserlei was built. Offenbach is a so-called "Sozialer Brennpunkt" (deprived area) because of unemployment, poverty, gang related crime and migration.
Before its eradication in the Holocaust, the city had a Jewish population. Jews settled in the city as late as the late 16th century, and it is believed that out of the 871 residents of the town as of 1829, the 40 Jewish families accounted for nearly a quarter of the town's population. They also established their own cemetery.
Governance
Mayor
The current mayor of Offenbach is Felix Schwenke of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was elected in 2017.
The most recent mayoral election was held on 10 September 2017, with a runoff held on 24 September, and the results were as follows:
! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate
! rowspan=2| Party
! colspan=2| First round
! colspan=2| Second round
|-
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Felix Schwenke
| align=left| Social Democratic Party
| 12,076
| 43.3
| 26,408
| 66.9
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Peter Freier
| align=left| Christian Democratic Union
| 7,918
| 28.4
| 13,062
| 33.1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Peter Schneider
| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens
| 3,963
| 14.2
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Christin Thüne
| align=left| Alternative for Germany
| 1,476
| 5.3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Elke Kreiß
| align=left| The Left
| 1,032
| 3.7
|-
|
| align=left| Muhsin Senol
| align=left| Forum New Offenbach
| 916
| 3.3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Helge Herget
| align=left| Pirate Party Germany
| 520
| 1.9
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 27,901
! 99.3
! 39,470
! 97.4
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 209
! 0.7
! 1,061
! 2.6
|-
! colspan=3| Total
! 28,110
! 100.0
! 40,531
! 100.0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 91,924
! 30.6
! 92,115
! 44.0
|-
| colspan=7| Source: City of Offenbach (1st round, 2nd round)
|}
The following is a list of mayors since 1824:
1824–1826: Peter Georg d'Orville
1826–1834: Heinrich Philipp Schwaner
1834–1837: Peter Georg d'Orville
1837–1849: Jonas Budden
1849–1859: Friedrich August Schäfer
1859–1867: Johann Heinrich Dick
1867–1874: Johann Martin Hirschmann
1874–1882: Hermann Stölting
1883–1907: Wilhelm Brink
1907–1919: Andreas Dullo
1919–1933: Max Granzin
1947–1949: Johannes Rebholz
1950–1957: Hans Klüber
1957–1974: Georg Dietrich
1974–1980: Walter Buckpesch
1980–1986: Walter Suermann
1986–1994: Wolfgang Reuter
1994–2006: Gerhard Grandtke
2006–2018: Horst Schneider
2018–: Felix Schwenke
City council
The Offenbach city council (Stadtverordnetenversammlung) governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 March 2021, and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2| Party
! Lead candidate
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)
| align=left| Felix Schwenke
| 610,508
| 28.4
| 3.6
| 20
| 2
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
| align=left| Sybille Schumann
| 390,305
| 18.1
| 3.6
| 13
| 3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
| align=left| Roland Walter
| 389,099
| 18.1
| 6.0
| 13
| 4
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| The Left ()
| align=left| Sven Malsy
| 183,773
| 8.5
| 0.7
| 6
| ±0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)
| align=left| Christin Thüne
| 157,125
| 7.3
| 1.7
| 5
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)
| align=left| Dominik Schwagereit
| 134,284
| 6.2
| 3.3
| 4
| 3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Free Voters (FW)
| align=left| Dennis Lehmann
| 91,446
| 4.2
| 1.5
| 3
| 1
|-
|
| align=left| Forum New Offenbach (FNO)
| align=left| Muhsin Senol
| 57,626
| 2.7
| 0.2
| 2
| ±0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)
| align=left| Gregory Engels
| 46,459
| 2.2
| 0.5
| 2
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Die PARTEI (PARTEI)
| align=left| Daniel Pfeiffer
| 34,957
| 1.6
| 1.1
| 1
| 1
|-
|
| align=left| Young Offenbach (JO)
| align=left| Dominik Imeraj
| 28,525
| 1.3
| 0.0
| 1
| ±0
|-
|
| align=left| Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG)
| align=left| Fikri Türet
| 27,574
| 1.3
| New
| 1
| New
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 32,424
! 96.1
!
!
!
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 1,308
! 3.9
!
!
!
|-
! colspan=3| Total
! 33,732
! 100.0
!
! 71
! ±0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 94,827
! 35.6
! 2.7
!
!
|-
| colspan=8| Source: Statistics Hesse
|}
Twin towns – sister cities
Offenbach am Main is twinned with:
Puteaux, France (1955)
Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg (1956)
Mödling, Austria (1956)
Saint-Gilles, Belgium (1956)
Tower Hamlets, England, United Kingdom (1956)
Zemun (Belgrade), Serbia (1956)
Velletri, Italy (1957)
Rivas, Nicaragua (1986)
Kawagoe, Japan (1983)
Oryol, Russia (1988)
Yangzhou, China (1997)
Demographics
Offenbach has a large non-German population. In 2016, foreign nationals made up 37% of the population. The largest communities are, in that order, from Turkey, Greece, Romania, Poland and Italy.
As of 2019, residents with a migration background enumerated 88,608, or 63.4% of the population, while Germans without a migration background enumerated 51,241 residents. Nearly one-in-three, 29.5%, of foreign residents originate from Europe, particularly from countries like Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia and Italy.
According to census data, Offenbach and Duisburg had the highest share of Muslim migrants of all German districts in 2011. Muslims were between 14% and 17% of the city's population as of 2011. Turks made up 11% of the city's population in 2019.
Population history
Until the end of the 17th century, Offenbach remained a small town with less than a thousand inhabitants. With the coming into power of the count Johann Philipp in 1685, the city began to develop and the population rose steadily. In the 19th century the city became industrialized and the population increased even tenfold.
Offenbach is one of the German cities where Germans without migrant background make up a minority of the population. As of 31 December 2012, approx. 44.3% of residents or 55,047 people had no foreign background. In contrast to that, there were 55.7% or 69,214 people with at least one non-German grandparent. The largest of those groups are:
Economy
Until the early 1970s Offenbach was dominated by the machine-building and leather industries. The city hosts the German Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies to this day. The Deutscher Wetterdienst, commonly abbreviated as DWD, (translated from German as German Meteorological Service), residing in the Westend district.
Offenbach was also the European center of typography, with Gebr. Klingspor and Linotype (inventors of Optima or Palatino typeface) moving to nearby Eschborn in the 1970s and MAN Roland printing machines still a major employer today. Typography and design still remain important with a cluster of graphic design and industrial design companies, as well as the university level Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main (HfG) design school and the Klingspor Museum.
In recent years Offenbach has become a popular location for a wide array of services, especially from the transport sectors. Offenbach is the host to the European headquarters of Honda, Hyundai Motors and Kumho Tires.
Arts and culture
Attractions
In Offenbach there is no specific Old Town, but there are several buildings which survived bombing during the war and have been restored. One of them is the Neo-baroque palace Büsingpalais with the Büsingpark, reconstructed in the 1980s. Today it is used as a congress center close to the Sheraton hotel. Between the shopping area and the Main, is the Lilipark and the Lilitemple, named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's fiancée Lili Schönemann. The most important building is the (Isenburg Palace), a renaissance palace from 1576. It is today used by the Offenbach Design University which is next to it. There is also a neoclassic palace in the borough Rumpenheim, the Rumpenheimer Schloss it now serves exclusively as domestic dwellings but the park is public.
Isenburger Schloss, a Renaissance building, now used by the Offenbach Design University
Büsingpalais with Büsingpark
Wilhelmsplatz a square with coffee houses and three times a week a market.
Buildings of the French Protestant Church and the French Protestant Community.
Rumpenheim Palace.
Former Synagogue "Capitol" (now a concert hall next to the new Synagogue).
The Westend Quarter (19th century).
Several art deco apartment houses.
Buildings by early 20th century architect Hugo Eberhardt: "Heyne" Factory, main building of the Design University, AOK Insurance building.
Prefabricated houses by Egon Eiermann in Lauterborn
Events
There are several festivals in Offenbach, some of these are:
Lichterfest im Büsing-Park (festival of lights in the park of the Büsing palais)
Nacht der Museen (with Frankfurt)
Mainuferfest
Cross Media Night
Museums
German Leather Museum
Klingspor Museum, museum of typography and calligraphy
Haus der Stadtgeschichte, municipal historical museum
Rosenheim-Museum for the painter Bernd Rosenheim
Sports
Kickers Offenbach football club was founded in 1901.
Infrastructure
Transport
Roads
The streets of central Offenbach are usually congested with cars during the rush hour. Some areas, especially around the shopping streets, are pedestrian-only streets. There are numerous car parks located throughout the city. The Offenbacher Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange where the Autobahnen A 3 (Cologne-Würzburg) and A 661 meet. The A661 crosses the A 3 (Cologne-Würzburg) and A 5 (Basel-Hannover).
Public transport
The city is connected by a major line of the S-Bahn railway system to Frankfurt. The station in the city center is Marktplatz. In general, six stations are located in Offenbach: Offenbach-Kaiserlei, Offenbach-Ledermuseum, Offenbach-Marktplatz, Offenbach-Ost, Offenbach-Bieber, Offenbach-Waldhof. Trains run every 5–10 minutes between Offenbach and Frankfurt. A 24 hours Service between both cities was introduced in 2013. The journey from Offenbach Marktplatz to Frankfurt Main Station takes 15 minutes, Frankfurt Airport can be reached within 26 minutes.
Suburban trains run underground in downtown Offenbach. The city tunnel was opened in 1996. Services split up at Offenbach-Ost Station to Hanau (S8 and S9 trains), Rödermark (S1) and Dietzenbach (S2).
An often-addressed problem is that there is no direct interchange between regional and suburban trains in Offenbach, since the lines were separated when the tunnel was built. Therefore, residents and city officials have proposed several times that platforms for regional trains should be added to the Offenbach-Ost Station.
The city's municipal public transportation services are operated by the "Offenbacher Verkehrsbetriebe" (OVB) and its subcontractors.
Nine routes (numbered 101–108 and 120) connect all boroughs with the major train stations at Marktplatz, Offenbach-Ost and Kaiserlei as well as the Central Station. The bus network has a very good coverage and frequency of service. All routes except for number 102 and number 107 busses stop at Marktplatz station, making it the most important transit hub in the city. Buses usually run with a 15-minute headway on working days and a 30-minute headway on Sundays, public holidays and after 8:00 pm.
Exemptions are routes 103, 107 and 120 which run every 30 minutes. Although number 103 and 120 buses share most of their route, creating a 15-minute headway on the shared section in downtown Offenbach. Those two routes also connect the city of Offenbach with its surrounding towns, Frankfurt am Main, Mühlheim am Main and Obertshausen.
Out of all municipal bus services the number 101 bus is the most frequented route. It runs every 7 or 8 minutes Mondays through Fridays. Service on the other most frequented routes (104 and 105) is also increased to a 7/8-minute headway during rush hours.
In addition to the municipal bus services there are regional buses that serve the city. Two express bus routes connect Offenbach to the city of Langen (route X83) and Bad Vilbel (X97). Other services are the number OF-30 bus to Heusenstamm, the 41 bus to Fechenheim as well as the 551 to Gravenbruch, Enkheim and Bad Vilbel.
Regional trains stop at the Offenbach Central Station in the city's center. The station is on the Frankfurt-Hanau main line which is one of railway with the most traffic in Germany. Mostly hourly service for Wächsersbach, Fulda, Würzburg and Erbach call at the Offenbach Central Station.
There is no long-distance train service at central station, although many high-speed trains pass through on their way from Frankfurt to Munich, Berlin or Hamburg.
The station lost most of its importance when the suburban trains were re-routed through the newly build tunnel beneath Berliner Straße. Nonetheless a train ride from Offenbach Central Station to Frankfurt Central Station takes only ten minutes which makes it a much-appreciated route for commuters.
Frankfurt Airport
The city is accessed from around the world via the Frankfurt Airport, (Flughafen Frankfurt am Main) which is located from Offenbach. The airport can be reached by car or bus and has two train stations, one for regional and one for long-distance traffic. The S-Bahn lines S8 and S9 (direction "Offenbach Ost or "Hanau"), departing from the regional traffic station, take 25 minutes from the airport to get to Offenbach.
Notable people
Johann André (1741–1799), founder of the music publishing firm named after him
Moritz Wilhelm August Breidenbach (1796–1857), jurist
Salomon Formstecher (1808–1889), rabbi and philosopher
Philipp Mainländer (1841–1876), poet and philosopher
Siegfried Guggenheim (1873–1961), lawyer, notary and art collector
Richard Heyne (1882–1961), member of Landtag and producer
Christian Dell (1882–1974), industrial designer, factory designer on Bauhaus
Hans Halberstadt (1885–1966), American fencer
Prince Philipp of Hesse (1896–1980), prince and governor
Bernard von Brentano (1901–1964), writer, essayist and journalist
Heinrich von Brentano (1904–1964), conservative politician
Berthold Wolpe (1905–1989), typographer and type designer
Hans Hotter (1909–2003), opera singer
Helene Mayer (1910–1953), fencer, Olympic champion
Edith Schloss (1919–2011), artist, writer
Gottfried Böhm (1920–2021), architect who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1986
Hermann Nuber (1935–2022), footballer
Ray Bumatai (1952–2005), musician, actor and singer
Jimmy Hartwig (born 1954), football player, manager and actor
Olli Dittrich (born 1956), actor and comedian
Smudo (born 1968), musician and rapper
Sven Beckert (born 1969), history professor at Harvard, winner of 2015 Bancroft Prize for Empire of Cotton
Helma Wennemers (born 1969), German organic chemist and professor
Christian Lammert (born 1969), political scientist
Christian Sievers (born 1969), journalist
Tarek Al-Wazir (born 1971), politician, Deputy of the Hessian Minister-President
Aykut Anhan (born 1985), musician and rapper
Notable residents
Jacob Frank (1726–1791), Jewish religious leader
Abraham Bing (1752–1841), rabbi
Rudolf Koch (1876–1934), typeface designer, calligrapher and university professor
Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970), official and justice inspector, attended Goethschule here
Heinrich Kaminski (1886–1946), composer, worked here
Ignatz Wiemeler (1895–1952), bookbinder and university professor
Fritz Kredel (1900–1973), German-American artist and graphic designer, studied here
Regina Jonas (1902–1944), first female Rabbi, ordained in Offenbach
Karlgeorg Hoefer (1914–2000), calligrapher and typographer
Cornelia Hanisch (born 1952), fencer, Olympic winner
Dieter Müller (born 1954), footballer
Rudi Völler (born 1960), football player and manager
Götz Otto (born 1967), actor
Anthony Rother (born 1972), electronic musician
Gallery
References
External links
Cities in Hesse
Populated places on the Main basin
Populated riverside places in Germany
Historic Jewish communities
Grand Duchy of Hesse
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida%20albicans
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Candida albicans
|
Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogenic yeast that is a common member of the human gut flora. It can also survive outside the human body. It is detected in the gastrointestinal tract and mouth in 40–60% of healthy adults. It is usually a commensal organism, but it can become pathogenic in immunocompromised individuals under a variety of conditions. It is one of the few species of the genus Candida that cause the human infection candidiasis, which results from an overgrowth of the fungus. Candidiasis is, for example, often observed in HIV-infected patients.
C. albicans is the most common fungal species isolated from biofilms either formed on (permanent) implanted medical devices or on human tissue. C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, and C. glabrata are together responsible for 50–90% of all cases of candidiasis in humans. A mortality rate of 40% has been reported for patients with systemic candidiasis due to C. albicans. By one estimate, invasive candidiasis contracted in a hospital causes 2,800 to 11,200 deaths yearly in the US. Nevertheless, these numbers may not truly reflect the true extent of damage this organism causes, given new studies indicating that C. albicans can cross the blood–brain barrier in mice.
C. albicans is commonly used as a model organism for fungal pathogens. It is generally referred to as a dimorphic fungus since it grows both as yeast and filamentous cells. However, it has several different morphological phenotypes including opaque, GUT, and pseudohyphal forms. C. albicans was for a long time considered an obligate diploid organism without a haploid stage. This is, however, not the case. Next to a haploid stage C. albicans can also exist in a tetraploid stage. The latter is formed when diploid C. albicans cells mate when they are in the opaque form. The diploid genome size is approximately 29 Mb, and up to 70% of the protein coding genes have not yet been characterized.
C. albicans is easily cultured in the lab and can be studied both in vivo and in vitro. Depending on the media different studies can be done as the media influences the morphological state of C. albicans. A special type of medium is CHROMagar Candida, which can be used to identify different Candida species.
Etymology
Candida albicans can be seen as a tautology. Candida comes from the Latin word candidus, meaning white. Albicans itself is the present participle of the Latin word albicō, meaning becoming white. This leads to white becoming white, making it a tautology.
It is often shortly referred to as thrush, candidiasis, or candida.
More than a hundred synonyms have been used to describe C. albicans.
Over 200 species have been described within the candida genus. The oldest reference to thrush, most likely caused by C. albicans, dates back to 400 BC in Hippocrates' work Of the Epidemics describing oral candidiasis.
Genome
The genome of C. albicans is almost 16Mb for the haploid size (28Mb for the diploid stage) and consists of 8 sets of chromosome pairs called chr1A, chr2A, chr3A, chr4A, chr5A, chr6A, chr7A and . The second set (C. albicans is diploid) has similar names but with a B at the end. Chr1B, chr2B, ... and chrRB. The whole genome contains 6,198 open reading frames (ORFs). Seventy percent of these ORFs have not yet been characterized. The whole genome has been sequenced making it one of the first fungi to be completely sequenced (next to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe). All open reading frames (ORFs) are also available in Gateway-adapted vectors. Next to this ORFeome there is also the availability of a GRACE (gene replacement and conditional expression) library to study essential genes in the genome of C. albicans. The most commonly used strains to study C. albicans are the WO-1 and SC5314 strains. The WO-1 strain is known to switch between white-opaque form with higher frequency while the SC5314 strain is the strain used for gene sequence reference.
One of the most important features of the C. albicans genome is the high heterozygosity. At the base of this heterozygosity lies the occurrence of numeric and structural chromosomal rearrangements and changes as means of generating genetic diversity by chromosome length polymorphisms (contraction/expansion of repeats), reciprocal translocations, chromosome deletions, Nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms and trisomy of individual chromosomes. These karyotypic alterations lead to changes in the phenotype, which is an adaptation strategy of this fungus. These mechanisms are further being explored with the availability of the complete analysis of the C. albicans genome.
An unusual feature of the genus Candida is that in many of its species (including C. albicans and C. tropicalis, but not, for instance, C. glabrata) the CUG codon, which normally specifies leucine, specifies serine in these species. This is an unusual example of a departure from the standard genetic code, and most such departures are in start codons or, for eukaryotes, mitochondrial genetic codes. This alteration may, in some environments, help these Candida species by inducing a permanent stress response, a more generalized form of the heat shock response. However, this different codon usage makes it more difficult to study C. albicans protein-protein interactions in the model organism S. cerevisiae. To overcome this problem a C. albicans specific two-hybrid system was developed.
The genome of C. albicans is highly dynamic, contributed by the different CUG translation, and this variability has been used advantageously for molecular epidemiological studies and population studies in this species. The genome sequence has allowed for identifying the presence of a parasexual cycle (no detected meiotic division) in C. albicans. This study of the evolution of sexual reproduction in six Candida species found recent losses in components of the major meiotic crossover-formation pathway, but retention of a minor pathway. The authors suggested that if Candida species undergo meiosis it is with reduced machinery, or different machinery, and indicated that unrecognized meiotic cycles may exist in many species. In another evolutionary study, introduction of partial CUG identity redefinition (from Candida species) into Saccharomyces cerevisiae clones caused a stress response that negatively affected sexual reproduction. This CUG identity redefinition, occurring in ancestors of Candida species, was thought to lock these species into a diploid or polyploid state with possible blockage of sexual reproduction.
Morphology
C. albicans exhibits a wide range of morphological phenotypes due to phenotypic switching and bud to hypha transition. The yeast-to-hyphae transition (filamentation) is a rapid process and induced by environmental factors. Phenotypic switching is spontaneous, happens at lower rates and in certain strains up to seven different phenotypes are known. The best studied switching mechanism is the white to opaque switching (an epigenetic process). Other systems have been described as well. Two systems (the high-frequency switching system and white to opaque switching) were discover by David R. Soll and colleagues. Switching in C. albicans is often, but not always, influenced by environmental conditions such as the level of CO2, anaerobic conditions, medium used and temperature.
In its yeast form C. albicans ranges from 10 to 12 microns. Spores can form on the pseudohyphae called chlamydospores which survive when put in unfavorable conditions such as dry or hot seasons.
Yeast-to-hypha switching
Although often referred to as dimorphic, C. albicans is, in fact, polyphenic (often also referred to as pleomorphic). When cultured in standard yeast laboratory medium, C. albicans grows as ovoid "yeast" cells. However, mild environmental changes in temperature, CO2, nutrients and pH can result in a morphological shift to filamentous growth. Filamentous cells share many similarities with yeast cells. Both cell types seem to play a specific, distinctive role in the survival and pathogenicity of C. albicans. Yeast cells seem to be better suited for the dissemination in the bloodstream while hyphal cells have been proposed as a virulence factor. Hyphal cells are invasive and speculated to be important for tissue penetration, colonization of organs and surviving plus escaping macrophages. The transition from yeast to hyphal cells is termed to be one of the key factors in the virulence of C. albicans; however, it is not deemed necessary. When C. albicans cells are grown in a medium that mimics the physiological environment of a human host, they grow as filamentous cells (both true hyphae and pseudohyphae). C. albicans can also form chlamydospores, the function of which remains unknown, but it is speculated they play a role in surviving harsh environments as they are most often formed under unfavorable conditions.
The cAMP-PKA signaling cascade is crucial for the morphogenesis and an important transcriptional regulator for the switch from yeast like cells to filamentous cells is EFG1.
High-frequency switching
Besides the well-studied yeast-to-hyphae transition other switching systems have been described. One such system is the "high-frequency switching" system. During this switching different cellular morphologies (phenotypes) are generated spontaneously. This type of switching does not occur en masse, represents a variability system and it happens independently from environmental conditions. The strain 3153A produces at least seven different colony morphologies. In many strains the different phases convert spontaneously to the other(s) at a low frequency. The switching is reversible, and colony type can be inherited from one generation to another.
Being able to switch through so many different (morphological) phenotypes makes C. albicans able to grow in different environments, both as a commensal and as a pathogen.
In the 3153A strain, a gene called SIR2 (for silent information regulator), which seems to be important for phenotypic switching, has been found. SIR2 was originally found in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (brewer's yeast), where it is involved in chromosomal silencing—a form of transcriptional regulation, in which regions of the genome are reversibly inactivated by changes in chromatin structure (chromatin is the complex of DNA and proteins that make chromosomes). In yeast, genes involved in the control of mating type are found in these silent regions, and SIR2 represses their expression by maintaining a silent-competent chromatin structure in this region. The discovery of a C. albicans SIR2 implicated in phenotypic switching suggests it, too, has silent regions controlled by SIR2, in which the phenotype-specific genes may reside. How SIR2 itself is regulated in S. cerevisiae may yet provide more clues as to the switching mechanisms of C. albicans.
White-opaque switching
Next to the dimorphism and the first described high-frequency switching system C. albicans undergoes another high-frequency switching process called white-opaque switching, which is another phenotypic switching process in C. albicans. It was the second high-frequency switching system discovered in C. albicans. The white-opaque switch is an epigenetic switching system. Phenotypic switching is often used to refer to white-opaque switching, which consists of two phases: one that grows as round cells in smooth, white colonies (referred to as white form) and one that is rod-like and grows as flat, gray colonies (called opaque form). This switch between white cells and opaque cells is important for the virulence and the mating process of C. albicans as the opaque form is the mating competent form, being a million times more efficient in mating compared to the white type. This switching between white and opaque form is regulated by the WOR1 regulator (White to Opaque Regulator 1) which is controlled by the mating type locus (MTL) repressor (a1-α2) that inhibits the expression of WOR1. Besides the white and opaque phase there is also a third one: the gray phenotype. This phenotype shows the highest ability to cause cutaneous infections. The white, opaque, and gray phenotypes form a phenotypic switching system where white cells switch to and from the opaque phase, white cells can irreversibly switch to the gray phase, and both white and gray cells can switch to and from the opaque/an opaque-like phase, respectively. Since it is often difficult to differentiate between white, opaque and gray cells phloxine B, a dye, can be added to the medium.
A potential regulatory molecule in the white to opaque switching is Efg1p, a transcription factor found in the WO-1 strain that regulates dimorphism, and more recently has been suggested to help regulate phenotypic switching. Efg1p is expressed only in the white and not in the gray cell-type, and overexpression of Efg1p in the gray form causes a rapid conversion to the white form.
Environmental stress
Glucose starvation is a likely common environmental stress encountered by C. albicans in its natural habitat. Glucose starvation causes an increase in intracellular reactive oxygen. This stress can lead to mating between two individuals of the same mating type, an interaction that may be frequent in nature under stressful conditions.
White-GUT switch
A very special type of phenotypic switch is the white-GUT switch (Gastrointestinally-IndUced Transition). GUT cells are extremely adapted to survival in the digestive tract by metabolic adaptations to available nutrients in the digestive tract. The GUT cells live as commensal organisms and outcompete other phenotypes. The transition from white to GUT cells is driven by passage through the gut where environmental parameters trigger this transition by increasing the WOR1 expression.
Role in disease
Candida is found worldwide but most commonly compromises immunocompromised individuals diagnosed with serious diseases such as HIV and cancer. Candida are ranked as one of the most common groups of organisms that cause hospital-acquired infections. Especially high-risk individuals are patients that have recently undergone surgery, a transplant or are in the Intensive Care Units (ICU), C. albicans infections is the top source of fungal infections in critically ill or otherwise immunocompromised patients. These patients predominantly develop oropharyngeal or thrush candidiasis, which can lead to malnutrition and interfere with the absorption of medication. Methods of transmission include mother to infant through childbirth, people-to-people acquired infections that most commonly occur in hospital settings where immunocompromised patients acquire the yeast from healthcare workers and has a 40% incident rate. People can become infected after having sex with a woman that has an existing vaginal yeast infection. Parts of the body that are commonly infected include the skin, genitals, throat, mouth, and blood. Distinguishing features of vaginal infection include discharge, and dry and red appearance of vaginal mucosa or skin. Candida continues to be the fourth most commonly isolated organism in bloodstream infections. Healthy people usually do not suffer (severely) from superficial infections caused by a local alteration in cellular immunity as seen by asthma patients that use oral corticosteroids.
Superficial and local infections
It commonly occurs as a superficial infection on mucous membranes in the mouth or vagina. Once in their lives around 75% of women will suffer from vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and about 90% of these infections are caused by C. albicans. It may also affect a number of other regions. For example, higher prevalence of colonization of C. albicans was reported in young individuals with tongue piercing, in comparison to unpierced matched individuals, but not in healthy young individuals who use intraoral orthodontic acrylic appliances. To infect host tissue, the usual unicellular yeast-like form of C. albicans reacts to environmental cues and switches into an invasive, multicellular filamentous form, a phenomenon called dimorphism. In addition, an overgrowth infection is considered a superinfection, the term usually applied when an infection becomes opportunistic and very resistant to antifungals. It then becomes suppressible by antibiotics. The infection is prolonged when the original sensitive strain is replaced by the antibiotic-resistant strain.
Candidiasis is known to cause gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms particularly in immunocompromised patients or those receiving steroids (e.g. to treat asthma) or antibiotics. Recently, there is an emerging literature that an overgrowth of fungus in the small intestine of non-immunocompromised subjects may cause unexplained GI symptoms. Small intestinal fungal overgrowth (SIFO) is characterized by the presence of an excessive number of fungal organisms in the small intestine associated with gastrointestinal symptoms. The most common symptoms observed in these patients were belching, bloating, indigestion, nausea, diarrhea, and gas. The underlying mechanism(s) that predisposes to SIFO is unclear. Further studies are needed; both to confirm these observations and to examine the clinical relevance of fungal overgrowth.
Systemic infections
Systemic fungal infections (fungemias) including those by C. albicans have emerged as important causes of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients (e.g., AIDS, cancer chemotherapy, organ or bone marrow transplantation). C. albicans often forms biofilms inside the body. Such C. albicans biofilms may form on the surface of implantable medical devices or organs. In these biofilms it is often found together with Staphylococcus aureus. Such multispecies infections lead to higher mortalities. In addition hospital-acquired infections by C. albicans have become a cause of major health concerns. Especially once candida cells are introduced in the bloodstream a high mortality, up to 40–60% can occur.
Although Candida albicans is the most common cause of candidemia, there has been a decrease in the incidence and an increased isolation of non-albicans species of Candida in recent years. Preventive measures include maintaining a good oral hygiene, keeping a healthy lifestyle including good nutrition, the careful use of antibiotics, treatment of infected areas and keeping skin dry and clean, free from open wounds.
Role of C. albicans in Crohn's disease
The link between C. albicans and Crohn's disease has been investigated in a large cohort. This study demonstrated that members of families with multiple cases of Crohn's disease were more likely to be colonized by C. albicans than members of control families. Experimental studies show that chemically induced colitis promotes C. albicans colonization. In turn, C. albicans colonization generates anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA), increases inflammation, histological scores and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression.
Diagnosis
A United States study in 2022 showed that most cases of candidiasis are treated empirically (without culture, pending culture or by symptoms in cases where culture did not show candida), thus not knowing whether the subtype is Candida albicans or any other candida species. For subtyping of candidiasis, a fungal culture can be performed, followed by a germ tube test in which a sample of fungal spores are suspended in animal serum and examined by microscopy for the detection of any germ tubes. Colonies of white or cream color on fungal culture having a positive germ tube test is strongly indicative of Candida albicans.
Treatment
There are relatively few drugs that can successfully treat Candidiasis. Treatment commonly includes:
amphotericin B, echinocandin, or fluconazole for systemic infections
nystatin for oral and esophageal infections
clotrimazole for skin and genital yeast infections
Similarly to antibiotic resistance, resistance to many anti-fungals is becoming a problem. New anti-fungals have to be developed to cope with this problem since only a limited number of anti-fungals are available. A general problem is that in contrast to bacteria, fungi are often overlooked as a potential health problem.
Economic implications
Given the fact that candidiasis is the fourth- (to third-) most frequent hospital acquired infection worldwide it leads to immense financial implications. Approximately 60,000 cases of systemic candidiasis each year in the USA alone lead up to a cost to be between $2–4 billion. The total costs for candidiasis are among the highest compared to other fungal infections due to the high prevalence. The immense costs are partly explained by a longer stay in the intensive care unit or hospital in general. An extended stay for up to 21 more days compared to non-infected patients is not uncommon.
Role of GSDMD in C.albicans infection
Gasdermin D (GSDMD) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GSDMD gene and is a known target of the inflammasome and acts as an effector molecule of programmed cell death known as pyroptosis. This protein determines cell lysis to prevent pathogen replication and results in the release of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) into the extracellular space to recruit and activate immune cells at the site of infection. Inflammasome activation due to C.albicans infection triggers the release of a cytokine storm necessary to fight the pathogen. Excessive release of these pro-inflammatory mediators has been shown to exaggerate systemic inflammation leading to vascular injury and damage to vital organs. Unfortunately, Candida albicans therapy is often ineffective despite the availability of many antifungal drugs, mainly because of resistance phenomena. During conventional pyroptosis controlled by the inflammasome-GSDMD axis is hijacked by C. albicans to facilitate escape from macrophages through unfolding of hyphae and candidalysin, a fungal toxin released from hyphae. It has been shown that disruption of GSDMD in macrophages infected with Candida albicans reduces the fungal load. In addition, the presence of hyphae and candidalysin are key factors in the activation of GSDMD and the release of Candida from macrophages. Also using Candida-infected mice, inhibition of GSDMD has been shown to paradoxically improve prognosis and survival, indicating that this protein may be a potential therapeutic target in C. albicans-induced sepsis.
Biofilm development
Biofilm formation steps
The biofilm of C. albicans is formed in four steps. First, there is the initial adherence step, where the yeast-form cells adhere to the substrate. The second step is called Intermediate step, where the cells propagate to form microcolonies, and germ tubes form to yield hyphae. In the maturation step, the biofilm biomass expands, the extracellular matrix accumulates and drug resistance increases. In the last step of biofilm formation, the yeast-form cells are released to colonize the surrounding environment (dispersion). Yeast cells released from a biofilm have novel properties, including increased virulence and drug tolerance.
Zap1
Zap1, also known as Csr1 and Sur1 (zinc-responsive activator protein), is a transcription factor which is required for the hypha formation in C. albicans biofilms. Zap1 controls the equilibrium of yeast and hyphal cells, the zinc transporters and zinc regulated genes in biofilms of C. albicans.
Zinc
Zinc (Zn2+) is important for cell function of C. albicans and Zap1 controls the Zinc levels in the cells through the zinc transporters Zrt1 and Zrt2. The regulation of zinc concentration in the cells is important for the cell viability and if the zinc levels get too high, it is toxic for the cells. The Zrt1 is transporting the zinc ions with high affinity and the Zrt2 is transporting the zinc ions with low affinity.
Mechanisms and proteins important for pathogenesis
Filamentation
The ability to switch between yeast cells and hyphal cells is an important virulence factor. Many proteins play a role in this process.
Filamentation in C. albicans is a very complex process. The formation of hyphae can for example help Candida albicans to escape from macrophages in the human body. Moreover, C. albicans undergo yeast-to-hyphal transition within the acidic macrophage phagosome. This initially causes phagosome membrane distension which eventually leads to phagosomal alkalinization by physical rupture, followed by escape.
Hwp1
Hwp1 stands for Hyphal wall protein 1. Hwp1 is a mannoprotein located on the surface of the hyphae in the hyphal form of C. albicans. Hwp1 is a mammalian transglutaminase substrate. This host enzyme allows Candida albicans to attach stably to host epithelial cells. Adhesion of C. albicans to host cells is an essential first step in the infection process for colonization and subsequent induction of mucosal infection.
Slr1
The RNA-binding protein Slr1 plays a role in instigating hyphal formation and virulence in C. albicans.
Candidalysin
Candidalysin is a cytolytic 31-amino acid α-helical peptide toxin that is released by C. albicans during hyphal formation. It contributes to virulence during mucosal infections.
Genetic and genomic tools
Due to its nature as a model organism, being an important human pathogen and the alternative codon usage (CUG translated into serine rather than leucine), several specific projects and tools have been created to study C. albicans. The diploid nature and the absence of a sexual cycle, however, makes it a hard to study organism. In the last 20 years, however, many systems have been developed to study C. albicans in a more in depth genetic level.
Selection markers
The most used selection markers in C. albicans are the CaNAT1 resistance marker (confers resistance against nourseothricin) and MPAr or IMH3r (confers resistance to mycophenolic acid).
Next to the above-mentioned selection makers a few auxotrophic strains were generated to work with auxotrophic makers. The URA3 marker (URA3 blaster method) is an often-used strategy in uridine auxotrophic strains; however, studies have shown that differences in URA3 position in the genome can be involved in the pathogeny of C. albicans. Besides the URA3 selection one can also use the histidine, leucine and arginine autotrophy. The advantage of using those autotrophies lies in the fact that they exhibit wild-type or nearly wild-type virulence in a mouse model compared to the URA3 system. One application of the leucine, arginine and histidine autotrophy is for example the candida two-hybrid system.
Full sequence genome
The full genome of C. albicans has been sequenced and made publicly available in a Candida database. The heterozygous diploid strain used for this full genome sequence project is the laboratory strain SC5314. The sequencing was done using a whole-genome shotgun approach.
ORFeome project
Every predicted ORF has been created in a gateway adapted vector (pDONR207) and made publicly available. The vectors (plasmids) can be propagated in E.coli and grown on LB+gentamicin medium. This way every ORF is readily available in an easy to use vector. Using the gateway system it is possible to transfer the ORF of interest to any other gateway adapted vector for further studies of the specific ORF.
CIp10 integrative plasmid
Contrary to the yeast S. cerevisiae episomal plasmids do not stay stable in C. albicans. In order to work with plasmids in C. albicans an integrative approach (plasmid integration into the genome) thus has to be used. A second problem is that most plasmid transformations are rather inefficient in C. albicans; however, the CIp10 plasmid overcomes these problems and can be used with ease to transform C. albicans in a very efficient way. The plasmid integrates inside the RP10 locus as disruption of one RP10 allele does not seem to affect the viability and growth of C. albicans. Several adaptations of this plasmid have been made after the original became available.
Candida two-hybrid (C2H) system
Due to the aberrant codon usage of C. albicans it is less feasible to use the common host organism (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) for two-hybrid studies. To overcome this problem a C. albicans two-hybrid (C2H) system was created. The strain SN152 that is auxotrophic for leucine, arginine and histidine was used to create this C2H system. It was adapted by integrating a HIS1 reporter gene preceded by five LexAOp sequences.
In the C2H system the bait plasmid (pC2HB) contains the Staphylococcus aureus LexA BD, while the prey plasmid (pC2HP) harbors the viral AD VP16. Both plasmids are integrative plasmids since episomal plasmids do not stay stable in C. albicans. The reporter gene used in the system is the HIS1 gene. When proteins interact, the cells will be able to grow on medium lacking histidine due to the activation of the HIS1 reporter gene. Several interactions have thus far been detected using this system in a low scale set up. A first high-throughput screening has also been performed. Interacting proteins can be found at the BioGRID.
Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC)
Besides the C2H system, a BiFC system has been developed to study protein-protein interactions in C. albicans. With this systems protein interactions can be studied in their native sub cellular location contrary to a C2H system in which the proteins are forced into the nucleus. With BiFC one can study for example protein interactions that take place at the cell membrane or vacuolar membrane.
Microarrays
Both DNA and protein microarrays were designed to study DNA expression profiles and antibody production in patients against C. albicans cell wall proteins.
GRACE library
Using a tetracycline-regulatable promoter system a gene replacement and conditional expression (GRACE) library was created for 1,152 genes. By using the regulatable promoter and having deleted 1 of the alleles of the specific gene it was possible to discriminate between non-essential and essential genes. Of the tested 1,152 genes 567 showed to be essential. The knowledge on essential genes can be used to discover novel antifungals.
CRISPR/Cas9
CRISPR/Cas9 has been adapted to be used in C. albicans. Several studies have been performed using this system.
Application in engineering
C. albicans has been used in combination with carbon nanotubes (CNT) to produce stable electrically conductive bio-nano-composite tissue materials that have been used as temperature-sensing elements.
Notable C. albicans researchers
Neil A. R. Gow
Alexander D. Johnson
Frank C. Odds
Charles Philippe Robin
Fred Sherman
David R. Soll
See also
Intestinal permeability
Torula yeast (Candida utilis)
Neonatal infection
Codon usage
References
Further reading
External links
Candida Genome Database
U.S. National Institutes of Health on the Candida albicans genome
Mycobank data on Candida albicans
Labs working on Candida
Protein-protein interactions for Candida albicans
albicans
Gut flora
Organisms with an alternative genetic code
Pathogenic microbes
Fungal pathogens of humans
Yeasts
Fungi described in 1923
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack%20Kingston
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Jack Kingston
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John Heddens Kingston (born April 24, 1955) is an American politician who served as U.S. representative for in southeast Georgia, serving from 1993 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party and was part of the House leadership (2002–06) when he served as vice-chair of the Republican Conference. In 2014, he ran for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by retiring senator Saxby Chambliss and advanced beyond the May 20 primary to the July 22 runoff, where he was defeated by David Perdue.
Early life and education
Kingston was born on April 24, 1955, in Bryan, Texas. He is the son of Martha Ann (née Heddens) and Albert James Kingston Jr., a widely published university professor, who co-founded the National Reading Conference. His father was born in Brooklyn and his mother in Los Angeles. As a child, Kingston lived briefly in Ethiopia. He grew up in Athens, Georgia. Kingston received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Georgia in 1978, where he also joined Lambda Chi Alpha and the Demosthenian Literary Society.
Early career
He has lived in Savannah since 1977. Before entering politics in 1982, he sold insurance and worked in agribusiness throughout southeastern Georgia. He was vice president of Palmer, Cay and Carswell from 1979 to 1992.
Georgia House of Representatives
Elections
In 1984, he defeated Democratic candidate Bobby Phillips 62%–38%. He won re-election in 1986, 1988, and 1990 all unopposed.
Committee assignments
House Committee on Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2015)
Elections
In 1992, Kingston gave up his seat in the state house to pursue a congressional run in Georgia's 1st congressional district after five-term Democratic incumbent Lindsay Thomas announced his retirement. The district had been one of the first areas of Georgia where the old-line conservative Democratic Party voters had begun splitting their tickets and voting Republican at the national level. While conservative Democrats represented much of this area in the state legislature well into the 1990s, the district has only supported a Democratic nominee for president once since 1960, when Jimmy Carter swept every county in the state during his successful run for the presidency in 1976.
Kingston won the election with 58% of the vote, becoming the first Republican to represent this district since Reconstruction, and the first to win an undisputed election in the district in 118 years. Kingston was helped by the 1990s round of redistricting, which significantly altered the district. The 1st had been based in Savannah for over a century. However, redistricting shifted most of Savannah's African-American residents to the newly created 12th District.
Kingston was reelected 10 times, never dropping below 63% of the vote and even running unopposed in 1998 and 2004. Even when the district included all of Savannah (as was the case from 1996 to 2002 and again after the 2010s round of redistricting), Kingston was reelected without serious difficulty.
Tenure
From 2003 through the end of 2006, Kingston served as vice-chairman of the House Republican Conference, the sixth-ranking post among House Republicans. An early attempt to become chair of the influential House Appropriations Committee in the 112th Congress (2011–2013) was unsuccessful. Kingston was an early supporter of earmark reforms and spending reductions. Throughout his tenure, Kingston has received over 40 awards on a diversity of issues from various interest groups.
Taxes
Kingston signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge by the Americans for Tax Reform, and in 2009 he was named a "Taxpayer Hero" by the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste for his votes to reduce government spending and taxes.
In 2010 Kingston signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any Global Warming legislation that would raise taxes.
Healthcare
Kingston is a supporter of Medicare prescription drug coverage. He has voted to allow HMOs to be sued, and also to limit damages and shorten time limits for medical lawsuits. In 2010, he voted against the Affordable Care Act, asserting the bill would raise premiums, taxes, and cut Medicare.
Energy
Kingston has voted to bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, and voted to add pollutants to the Clean Water Act. He has voted against tax incentives for renewable energy and in favor of opening the Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling.
Gun control
Kingston voted to loosen restrictions on interstate gun purchases and to allow veterans to register unlicensed guns acquired abroad.
Clinton impeachment
In November 1997, Kingston was one of eighteen Republicans in the House to co-sponsor a resolution by Bob Barr that sought to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton. The resolution did not specify any charges or allegations. This was an early effort to impeach Clinton, predating the eruption of the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal. The eruption of that scandal would ultimately lead to a more serious effort to impeach Clinton in 1998. On October 8, 1998, Kingston voted in favor of legislation that was passed to open an impeachment inquiry. On December 19, 1998, Kingston voted in favor of all four proposed articles of impeachment against Clinton (only two of which received the needed majority of votes to be adopted).
Savannah Harbor Expansion Project
Kingston sponsored legislation in 1999 to authorize the expansion of the Savannah harbor in order to accommodate larger vessels.
Washington work week
Regarding the extension of the House work week from 3 days to 5 in 2006, Kingston commented, "Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families – that's what this says." He added, "Time away from Washington is just as important to being an effective member of Congress as time spent in the Capitol. When I'm here, people call me Mr. Congressman. When I'm home, people call me 'Jack, you stupid SOB, why did you vote that way?' It keeps me grounded."
School Lunch Program
In an address to the Jackson County Republican Party, on December 14, 2013, Kingston, who is on the House Agricultural Committee, which oversees the federal school lunch program for the underprivileged, commented that it may be beneficial for students to "...sweep the floor in the cafeteria" to promote a work ethic and "instill in them that there is, in fact, no such thing as a free lunch."
Kingston has said he was not "allegedly" advocating that poor children be singled out but rather that all children should perform chores to learn work ethic but emphasised those students specifically that were getting free lunches as the ones that should be working. "This is not targeted to any one group. It would be very helpful for kids in any socio-economic group to do chores and learn the work ethic. Those kids aren't there because of any fault of their own and I never suggested that they were," Kingston said on CNN.
Legislation
Kingston has sponsored 103 bills and resolutions, including:
103rd Congress (1993–1994)
H.R. 3563, a bill to exempt U.S. ships from the radio and equipment requirements of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, introduced November 19, 1993
H.R. 4743, a bill to provide that carriage of an item of equipment to be used under a federal contract for cleaning up radioactive waste from the production of nuclear weapons is not coastwise trade, introduced July 13, 1994
105th Congress (1997–1998)
H.R. 2658, a bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from using the threat of audit to compel a taxpayer to agree to or sign the Tip Reporting Commitment Agreement or the Tip Rate Determination Agreement, introduced October 9, 1997
H.R. 4144, a bill to restore and maintain property on Cumberland Island, introduced June 25, 1998
106th Congress (1999–2000)
H.R. 4793, a bill to waive the requirement that hospitals have an obstetrician in order to be designated as a Disproportionate share hospital for certain critical access hospitals or essential rural health care providers, introduced June 29, 2000, reintroduced in the 107th Congress as H.R. 2553
107th Congress (2001–2002)
H.R. 5176, a bill to permit individuals who are not in the prescription drug business to import drugs if they appear to be approved, non-narcotic, and produced by a registered producer, and to create a program to allow for physicians to import drugs that meet the foregoing requirements if no drugs are otherwise available, excluding controlled substances and biological agents, introduced July 23, 2002
109th Congress (2005–2006)
H.R. 4409, a bill to reduce national oil consumption, to reduce fuel consumed by the United States Postal Service by eliminating Saturday mail delivery, to create a tire efficiency program, to create a tax credit for reducing idling, to create a research and development program for electric cars, to create a loan program for the development of hybrid technology, to create an advanced technology motor vehicles manufacturing credit, to create a qualified flexible fuel hybrid and plug-in hybrid motor vehicle credit, to reduce petroleum consumed by federal vehicles by 20%, to create a fuel efficiency tax credit, to include ethanol as at least 10% of ground transportation fuel, to increase the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit, to establish the Alternative Fueling Infrastructure Trust Fund, to promote the development of public transit in urban areas, and to promote the use of biofuels, introduced November 18, 2005. Versions of many of this bill's provisions were later included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
110th Congress (2007–2008)
H.R. 6404, a bill to create a 350,000 $1 commemorative coins celebrating 100 years since Girl Scouts of the USA's founding with a $10 surcharge on the purchase of the coins, with purchasing being restricted to 2011, and with all revenue generated to be allocated to Girl Scouts of the USA, introduced June 26, 2008. A modified version of this bill that restricted purchases to 2013 was introduced in the 111th Congress as H.R. 621, and was signed into law October 29, 2009.
111th Congress (2009–2010)
H.R. 3226, a bill to prohibit any federal funds from being used to pay salary to or support the activities of czars if they aren't approved by the Senate, if they are excepted from the competitive service by reason of the confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character of the position, and perform functions that could be performed by someone approved by the Senate, introduced July 15, 2009
H.R. 5958, a bill to allow for members of the armed services above the age of 18 but below 21 to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages on military installations if the beverage is intended to be consumed on-site, introduced July 29, 2010
112th Congress (2011–2012)
H.R. 3444, a bill to require individuals claiming the tax credit to include the names and identification numbers of qualifying children, introduced November 16, 2011, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H.R. 2778
H.R. 3601, a bill to require individuals receiving unemployment compensation to test negative for drug tests prior to receiving such compensation, introduced December 7, 2011, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H.R. 3454
113th Congress (2013–2014)
H.R. 2779, a bill to create an Inspector General for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, introduced July 22, 2013
H.R. 3104, a bill to exclude all federal employees, including members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President, from receiving any federally funded health care premium subsidies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), introduced September 16, 2013. A modified version of this bill that also prohibits federal employees from enrolling in any plans that aren't offered in the PPACA's exchanges was later introduced as H.R. 3164 and reintroduced as H.R. 3562.
H.R. 3277, a bill to prohibit the U.S. federal government from making any voluntary contributions to the United Nations and any agencies of the United Nations, introduced October 8, 2013
H.R. 3340, a bill to require that profits made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be allocated to reducing the federal government's debt, introduced October 24, 2013
H.R. 3339, a bill to prohibit the Department of Education from developing, implementing, or evaluating any multi-state education standards, or from providing financial assistance to any entity that requires or authorizes such activity, and to prohibit the Secretary of Education from requiring states to implement multi-state standards as a condition of being eligible for federal education funds, introduced October 24, 2013
H.R. 3420, a bill to require that any information disseminated by the federal government using public funds for the purpose of advertising or educating the public about the PPACA is to be accompanied by a statement that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has concluded that the PPACA costs $1.76 trillion over the next decade, introduced October 30, 2013. If signed into law, individuals may be misled about the PPACA, as the $1.76 trillion figure is an estimate of the gross costs of the law's insurance coverage provisions, not the net costs of the entire law. On net, the CBO projects the PPACA to reduce the federal government's budget deficit by more than $100 billion over the next ten years;
H.R. 3419, a bill to exempt small businesses with a small business concern, as defined by the Small Business Act, from the PPACA's employer mandate, and to redefine a full-time employee, for the purpose of such mandate, as an individual who works for at least 40 hours a week, introduced October 30, 2013
H.R. 3523, a bill to allow for audits of IRS employees to determine compliance with tax laws, and to allow for the termination of any individual's employment at the IRS if he or she is found to be willfully not paying taxes or is found to have willfully understated his or her tax liability, introduced November 18, 2013
H.R. 3703, a bill to approve the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, introduced December 11, 2013
Committee assignments
Kingston's committee assignments in the 113th Congress (2011–2013) were:
Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies
Subcommittee on Defense
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Chairman)
Caucus memberships
Balanced Budget Amendment Caucus
Congressional Caucus on Unfunded Mandates
International Conservation Caucus
Liberty Caucus
Republican Study Committee
Later career
Kingston works as a public policy principal at the firm of Squire Patton Boggs in Washington. Since August 2015, he has been chairman of the Georgia Republican Party Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Georgia GOP. In 2016, he endorsed Ted Cruz for president, but later he served as senior advisor and spokesperson for the Donald Trump campaign. In 2017, he became a CNN political commentator. He was dropped from the network in February 2019.
2014 U.S. Senate election
In May 2013, Kingston officially announced he would run for the open U.S. senate seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss.
In the third quarter of 2013, Kingston outpaced his House colleagues in campaign fundraising for the open Senate seat. He was endorsed in the race by Sean Hannity and Neal Boortz, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
After advancing past the May 20 primary to the July 22 runoff, Kingston lost to David Perdue with 49% of the vote.
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
On February 18, 2018, four days after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting which left 17 people dead, in an interview with CNN, Kingston suggested that the survivors of the massacre, who had organized to oppose gun violence, were being taken advantage of by "left wing activists" and funded by George Soros. His comments angered the survivors of the shooting who described them as "despicable" and called on Kingston to apologize.
Electoral history
References
External links
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1955 births
21st-century American politicians
Living people
Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives
Politicians from Athens, Georgia
People from Bryan, Texas
Politicians from Savannah, Georgia
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
University of Georgia alumni
CNN people
American conspiracy theorists
People associated with Squire Patton Boggs
Members of Congress who became lobbyists
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clwyd
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Clwyd
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Clwyd ( , ) is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to the east and Shropshire to the south-east. Powys and Gwynedd lie to the south and west respectively. Clwyd also shares a maritime boundary with Merseyside along the River Dee. Between 1974 and 1996, a slightly different area had a county council, with local government functions shared with six district councils. In 1996, Clwyd was abolished, and the new principal areas of Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough were created; under this reorganisation, "Clwyd" became a preserved county, with the name being retained for certain ceremonial functions.
This area of north-eastern Wales has been settled since prehistoric times; the Romans built a fort beside a ford on the River Conwy, and the Normans and Welsh disputed the territory. They built their castles at strategic locations as they advanced and retreated, but in the end England prevailed, and Edward I conquered the country in 1282. The Act of Union in 1535 incorporated Wales under the English Crown and made it subject to English law.
Traditionally, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy of this part of Wales, but with the Industrial Revolution, the North Wales Coalfield was developed and parts of eastern Clwyd around the Dee estuary and Wrexham became industrialised. The advent of the railway running from Chester along the North Wales coast in the mid-19th century made it easy for urban dwellers from Lancashire and Cheshire to visit the seaside towns of North Wales.
History
North Wales has had human settlements since prehistoric times. By the time the Romans reached Britain, the area that is now Clwyd was occupied by the Celtic Deceangli tribe. They lived in a chain of hill forts running through the Clwydian Range and their tribal capital was Canovium, at an important crossing of the River Conwy. This fell to the Romans, who built their own fort here, in about AD 75; and the whole of Wales was soon under their control. After the Roman departure from Britain in AD 410, the successor states of Gwynedd and Powys controlled the area. From about 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to Rhodri Mawr inheriting the kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys. After his death, this kingdom was divided among his three sons and further strife followed: not only Welsh battles were fought, but there were also many raids by Danes and Saxons.
The Normans conquest of England at first had little effect on North Wales. This was to change as the city of Chester on the River Dee became the base for successive campaigns against the country in the 13th century. The coastal plain of Clwyd was the main invasion route, and a number of castles were built there to assist these advances. The castles at Flint and Rhuddlan date from this period, and were the first to be built by Edward I of England in North Wales during his successful conquest in 1282. After this, the rule of the Welsh princes was at an end and Wales was annexed to England. This area was known as the Principality of Wales from 1216 to 1536. From 1301, the Crown's lands in north and west Wales formed part of the appanage of England's heir apparent, who was given the title "Prince of Wales". Under the Laws in Wales Act of 1535, Wales became permanently incorporated under the English Crown and subject to English law.
Although the Industrial Revolution did not much affect the rural parts of the area, there was considerable industrial activity in the North Wales Coalfield, particularly around Wrexham. The Bersham Ironworks at Bersham, in the same area, was at the forefront of technological advances and was most famous for being the original working site of the industrialist John Wilkinson who invented new processes for boring cannons. The Williams-Wynn family of Wynnstay had become rich after the dissolution of the monasteries and owned vast estates in Clwyd with resources including lead, tin and copper as well as corn and timber.
Geography
Clwyd is in the northeastern corner of Wales. It is bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, the Welsh preserved counties of Gwynedd to the west and Powys to the south, and the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire and Cheshire to the southeast and east respectively; much of the eastern boundary follows the course of the River Dee and its estuary. Other large rivers in the area include the River Alyn, a tributary of the Dee, the River Clwyd and the River Conwy in the west. The northern coastal strip is heavily developed for tourism and has many resorts, including Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, Colwyn, Abergele, Rhyl and Prestatyn. In the northeast lies Deeside, the coastal plain beside the Dee estuary, and this part of Clwyd is heavily developed for industry. The area around Wrexham and the commuter settlements close to Chester are also heavily built up.
To the west of this is a ridge of mountains with a steep scarp slope to the west, the Clwydian Range. The highest point of these hills is Moel Famau at . The north-central part is the broad Vale of Clwyd, and the best agricultural land lies here. To the south of this, the land is much higher and more rugged, the Denbigh Moors and the Berwyn range are here. The central and western parts are much more rural than the coastal area and the east, with part of the Snowdonia National Park lying in the western part. The population as of 2007 is estimated at 491,100, based on figures for the four component unitary authority areas.
Since the 2003 boundary changes, its coastline has extended from the Dee Estuary in Flintshire through to Llanfairfechan.
Clwyd consists of the whole of the historic county of Flintshire, and most of Denbighshire. Since 2003 it has also included the former district of Aberconwy, which lies in the historic county of Caernarfonshire, and also the former Edeyrnion Rural District in the historic county of Merionethshire.
Economy
The land uses of any region depend on the underlying geology which influences the soil types. In the Clwydian Range, lead and spar minerals have been mined in the past, and limestone quarried from Llantysilio Mountain, Ruabon Mountain and Minera Mountain near Wrexham. The Minera Limeworks were once the largest lime workings in North Wales. Later, road building stone was extracted but the quarries closed in 1992. Coal mining in the North Wales Coalfield ceased in the second half of the twentieth century but used to be a large source of employment in the area. The main products being manufactured in industrial east Clwyd include aircraft components (Airbus), engines (Toyota), paper (Shotton Paper) and steel processing, and the port of Mostyn builds and supports offshore windfarms.
Agriculture, largely based on livestock, has traditionally been the main occupation in the central and western parts. There are a mix of large and small farm businesses, and a thriving dairy sector in the Vale of Clwyd. Many of the towns have livestock markets and the farming industry supports farm machinery merchants, vets, feed merchants, contractors and all the ancillary trades connected with agriculture. With their incomes on the decline, farmers have found opportunities in tourism, rural crafts, specialist food shops, farmers' markets and value-added food products.
The upland areas with their sheep farms and small, stone-walled fields are attractive to visitors, and redundant farm buildings are often converted to self-catering accommodation while the farmhouses themselves supply bed-and-breakfast opportunities. The arrival of the railway on the coast in the mid-nineteenth century opened up travel from Merseyside and caused a boom in tourism, with guesthouses in seaside towns offering board and lodging for the urban visitors. More recently caravan sites and holiday villages have blossomed and there has been an increase in the ownership of "second homes".
Various initiatives designed to boost the economy of North Wales are being attempted in 2016. These include the Northern Gateway project on the former Sealand RAF site on Deeside, and a redevelopment project for the former Rhyl seafront and funfair.
Administrative history
The Local Government Commission for Wales set up in 1958 was the first to recommend wholesale amalgamation of the administrative counties outside Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, with extensive boundary changes; however the then Minister of Housing and Local Government Sir Keith Joseph decided not to accept the report, noting that county amalgamations in England had been highly unpopular when proposed.
In 1967, after a change of government, the Secretary of State for Wales Cledwyn Hughes published a white paper which revived the idea of amalgamation, but instead of the boundary changes proposed in the previous report, treated each county as a whole. The report recommended a single new Gwynedd incorporating Denbighshire, Flintshire, Caernarfonshire, Merionethshire and Anglesey. The white paper stated that "the need for early action is particularly urgent in Wales", and so the issue was not referred to a Royal Commission as in England. Opponents criticised the proposed new council for being too large, and in November 1968 a new Secretary of State announced that Gwynedd would be divided into two.
This revised proposal was continued in a further white paper in March 1970, although this proposed that the councils be unitary authorities which would have no district councils below them. The incoming Conservative government resurrected two-tier local government in a consultative document published in February 1971, again with the same upper-tier boundaries. Some minor changes having been made to the existing boundaries due to special local factors, the Local Government Act 1972 duly created Clwyd as a merger of Flintshire with most of Denbighshire, along with the Edeyrnion Rural District from Merionethshire. The 1970 white paper had introduced the name of Clwyd by reference to the River Clwyd and the Clwydian range of hills; Clwyd was the only new Welsh county which did not take its name from an ancient kingdom.
For second-tier local government purposes, Clwyd was divided into six districts: Alyn and Deeside, Colwyn, Delyn, Glyndŵr, Rhuddlan and Wrexham Maelor, each being operated by a district or borough council. These were abolished, along with the county itself, on 1 April 1996. Clwyd County Council's coat of arms was granted in December 1974. The design of the shield, crest and motto includes elements taken from the arms of the former councils of Flintshire and Denbighshire. The green and white wave represents the Vale of Clwyd and the Clwydian Range lying between the two parts. The cross and choughs come from Flintshire's shield, which itself incorporated the traditional arms of Edwin of Tegeingl, while the black lion of the Princes of Powys Fadog is taken from Denbighshire's shield. The motto, Tarian Cyfiawnder Duw can be translated as "The shield of Justice is God".
Clwyd County Council and its districts were abolished by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, and local government would be replaced by the four unitary authorities of Flintshire, Wrexham County Borough, Denbighshire, and parts of Conwy (along with some smaller communities moving to Powys). The Act also abolished the County, and states the term "county" would be synonymous with the "principal areas" created by the 1994 Act. However the Act then created a further set of "preserved counties", which were based on the eight created by the 1972 Act. These Preserved Counties, similar in respect to English Ceremonial counties, would be retained for a variety of purposes, including Lieutenancy and Shrievalty.
Clwyd County Council and its six districts ceased operations at midnight on 1 April 1996, and local government was immediately transferred to the new principal areas of Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham. However, although bearing the same names, the boundaries of Flintshire and Denbighshire were substantially different from those of the historic counties. As it happened, the county records for historic Flintshire had been retained at the Hawarden branch of the Clwyd Records Office while those for historic Denbighshire had continued to be held at the Ruthin branch, so there was no problem in segregating the records.
The Preserved County of Clwyd came into effect on the same day that Clwyd County Council was abolished. The preserved county was almost identical to the 1974–96 county, but had a few minor changes in line with changes to local government boundaries, the communities of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Llansilin and Llangedwyn being transferred from Clwyd to Powys.
2003 boundary review
In 2003, the borders of Clwyd were changed to cover the remainder of Conwy (which had previously been part of Gwynedd), which was part of a Wales-wide re-organisation of the preserved counties, so that boundaries of the preserved counties would contain whole current principal areas only.
This led to some areas, such as the Aberconwy district, moving to a preserved county it had never been administered by in the past, and therefore these moves went generally unreported due to the preserved county's limited status. The Boundary Commission proceeded to retain the eight preserved counties, and modified their borders in 2003 to match with the incumbent principal area boundaries. The 2003 arrangement brings towns such as Llandudno and Conwy into the preserved county of Clwyd.
Legacy
Some local organisations still make use of the word "Clwyd" in their name, often because their membership covers a wider area than their present unitary authority. These organisations include the Theatr Clwyd, which is based in Mold and is the largest producing arts centre in Wales. It provides young people the opportunity to get involved in drama. The Clwyd Family History Society can help its members to access many historical documents concerning northeastern Wales, and the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust is one of four archaeological trusts covering the whole of Wales. The Clwyd County Darts Association organises tournaments and takes part in inter-county matches. The Clwyd East Football League was created in 2011 to represent the North East Wales area at the fifth tier of Welsh Football. It has subsequently changed its name to the North East Wales Football League. The Clwyd Pension Fund is the Local Government pension scheme inherited from Clwyd County Council, now providing pension schemes for Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire unitary authorities and former districts.
The position of Lord Lieutenant of Clwyd also continues as the Monarch's personal representative, as with the other seven preserved counties of Wales. The current Lord Lieutenant is Henry George Fetherstonhaugh, who was appointed in 2013.
Landmarks
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was built by Thomas Telford in 1805 and is the largest aqueduct in the United Kingdom; it carries the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee and is a World Heritage Site, being considered a masterpiece of civil engineering. The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley constitute an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, one of just five in the whole of Wales. Denbigh, Colwyn and Ruthin are historic towns and Llangollen hosts the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in July each year.
The Gop is a Neolithic mound, the second largest such structure in Britain being only superseded by Silbury Hill. Caer Drewyn is one of many Iron Age hill forts in Clwyd that attest to human occupation of this area for millennia. Maen Achwyfan Cross is a carved 10th century wheel cross depicting Celtic and Viking symbols. The castles of Rhuddlan and Flint were built by the Normans during their invasion of North Wales and Castell Dinas Brân was a Welsh fortress of the same period. St Asaph Cathedral also dates from the thirteenth century as does the medieval Cistercian abbey of Valle Crucis.
Bodnant Garden is a formal garden in a landscaped setting, and Erddig Hall is a stately home, both owned by the National Trust. Other fine country houses in Clwyd include Trevor Hall and Faenol Fawr, Bodelwyddan, while Plas Mawr and Aberconwy House are historic town houses in Conwy. Also in Conwy is the Conwy Suspension Bridge, one of the first such bridges in the world.
Transport
The North Wales Coast Line is the railway line from Crewe to Holyhead, served by Transport for Wales and Avanti West Coast services. Trains leaving Crewe pass through Chester, cross the River Dee into Wales, and continue through stations such as: Shotton, Flint, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno Junction, Conwy and Bangor, to Holyhead, from where there is a ferry service to Ireland. Passengers can change at Shotton for the Borderlands Line, which links Wrexham with Bidston on the Wirral Peninsula in England. The Conwy Valley Line links Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog via Betws-y-Coed and was constructed mainly for use as a freight line for the transport of slate to the quay at Deganwy for export by sea. It is a scenic route with a number of request stops. The Shrewsbury–Chester line connects , northwards to Chester and southwards to other stations in the present-day county borough and to .
There are no motorways in Clwyd. The A55 dual carriageway road passes from Chester through St Asaph to the North Wales coast at Abergele, after which it runs parallel to the railway line through Conwy and Bangor to terminate at Holyhead. The A483 connects Wrexham northwards to Chester, and southwards to Ruabon and Chirk. The A548 passes from Chester to Abergele through Deeside and along the coast, before leaving the coast and terminating at Llanrwst. The main road from London is the A5 which enters Clwyd at Chirk and passes northwestwards through Llangollen, Corwen and Betws-y-Coed to join the A55 and terminate at Bangor. The A543 crosses the Denbigh Moors from southeast to northwest, and the A525 links Ruthin with St Asaph. There are local bus services between the main centres of population. Several services by Arriva Buses Wales run along the main coast road between Chester and Holyhead, linking the coastal resorts. Other routes include: Llandudno to Llanrwst and Betws-y-Coed via Conwy and Dolgarrog; Rhyl to Denbigh; Wrexham to Chester; and Wrexham to Mold.
See also
List of Lord Lieutenants of Clwyd
List of High Sheriffs of Clwyd
List of places in Denbighshire
List of places in Flintshire
List of places in Conwy County Borough
List of places in Wrexham County Borough
Further reading
Gordon Emery – Curious Clwyd (1994)
References
Preserved counties of Wales
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