History.

Precolonial history.

According to oral traditions the Dinka originated from the Gezira in what is now Sudan. In medieval times this region was ruled by the kingdom of Alodia, a Christian, multi-ethnic empire dominated by Nubians. Living in its southern periphery and interacting with the Nubians, the Dinka absorbed a sizable amount of the Nubian vocabulary. From the 13th century, with the disintegration of Alodia, the Dinka began to migrate out of the Gezira, fleeing slave raids and other military conflicts as well as droughts.

As part of Sudan.

The Dinka's religions, beliefs and lifestyle have led to conflict with the Arab Muslim government in Khartoum. The Sudan People's Liberation Army, led by late Dr. John Garang De Mabior, a Dinka, took arms against the government in 1983. During the subsequent 21-year civil war, many thousands of Dinka, along with fellow non-Dinka southerners, were massacred by government forces. The Dinka, led by Salva Kiir Mayardit, have also engaged in a separate civil war with the Nuer and other groups who accuse them of monopolising power.

Christianity Among the Dinka.

In 1983 due to Sudan’s Second Civil war many young educated Dinka men were forced to flee from the cities where they were working, back to rural Dinka villages. Some of these men were Christians who had been converted by the Anglican Church Missionary Society and they took their faith with them when they fled. Among these men were ordained clergymen who began preaching in the villages. Songs and singing were used to teach the mostly illiterate Dinka about the faith and Biblical lessons. A large number of Dinka people have converted to Christianity in great numbers and are learning how to adapt or reject ancient religious practices and rituals to match Christian teachings. The Christian conversion of the Dinka people did not only happen in the rural villages but also among Dinka refugees as they fled the war-torn country. The Lost Boys of Sudan were converted in great numbers in the refugee camps of Ethiopia.

Bor massacre.

On November 15, 1991 the event known as the "Dinkas Massacre" commenced in South Sudan. Forces led by the breakaway faction of Riek Machar deliberately killed an estimated 2,000 civilians in Dinkas of Hol, Nyarweng, Twic, Bor and others in villages and wounded several thousand more over the course of two months. It is estimated that 100,000 people left the area following the attack.

Pastoral strategies.

The Dinka's migrations are determined by the local climate, their agro-pastoral lifestyle responding to the periodic flooding and dryness of the area in which they live. They begin moving around May–June at the onset of the rainy season to their “permanent settlements” of mud and thatch housing above flood level, where they plant their crops of millet and other grain products. These rainy season settlements usually contain other permanent structures such as cattle byres (luak) and granaries. During dry season (beginning about December–January), everyone except the aged, ill, and nursing mothers migrates to semi-permanent dwellings in the toic for cattle grazing. The cultivation of sorghum, millet, and other crops begins in the highlands in the early rainy season and the harvest of crops begins when the rains are heavy in June–August. Cattle are driven to the toic in September and November when the rainfall drops off and allowed to graze on harvested stalks of the crops.

Dinka Tribes.

The number of Dinka sub-divisions is hotly contested as the border or line between group, sub-division and sections is blurred and often difficult to determine. For example, one can divide the Atuot into Apak and Reel, Boor into Athooc and Gok, and Panaruu into Awet and Kuel and Ciec into Ador and Lou where Ador and Lou are sub-divided into Ciec Manyiel (Jieng). Malual is the largest of those groups, numbering over a million people.

Rek people.

The Rek is an ethnic group in South Sudan, a subgroup of the Dinka. Its members speak South-Western Dinka, also called Rek, a Nilotic language. Many members of this ethnicity are Christians. Some estimates put the Rek population at or exceeding 500,000 people.

Cultural and religious beliefs.

The Dinkas' pastoral lifestyle is also reflected in their religious beliefs and practices. Most revere one God, Nhialic, who speaks through spirits that take temporary possession of individuals in order to speak through them. The sacrificing of oxen by the "masters of the fishing spear" is a central component of Dinka religious practice. Age is an important factor in Dinka culture, with young men being inducted into adulthood through an initiation ordeal which includes marking the forehead with a sharp object. Also during this ceremony they acquire a second cow-colour name. The Dinka believe they derive religious power from nature and the world around them, rather than from a religious tome.

Dinka diaspora.

Sizable groups of Dinka refugees may be found in distant lands, including the United States (Jacksonville, Florida and Clarkston, a working-class suburb of Atlanta, Georgia and in the Midwest such as Omaha Nebraska, Des Moines Iowa, Sioux Falls South Dakota, and Kansas City, Missouri), as well as Edmonton and Calgary in Canada, and Melbourne and Sydney in Australia.  The experience of Dinka refugees was portrayed in the documentary movies "Lost Boys of Sudan" by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk and "God Grew Tired Of Us", Joan Hechts' book "The Journey of the Lost Boys" and the fictionalized autobiography of a Dinka refugee, Dave Eggers' "". Other books on and by the Lost Boys include "The Lost Boys of Sudan" by Mark Bixler, "God Grew Tired of Us" by John Bul Dau, "They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky" by Alephonsion Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak and, "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park. In 2004 the first volume of the graphic novel 'Echoes of the Lost Boys of Sudan' was released in Dallas, Texas, United States, chronicling in art and dialogue four lost boys' escapes from the destruction of their hometowns in South Sudan.

The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan, but also having a sizable diaspora population. They mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla to Renk, in regions of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (former two of three Southern Provinces in Sudan) and Abyei Area of the Ngok Dinka in South Sudan. The Dinka mainly live on traditional agriculture and pastoralism, relying on cattle husbandry as a cultural pride, not for commercial profit or for meat, but cultural demonstrations, rituals, marriages' dowries and milk feedings for all ages. The Dinka cultivate food crops and cash crops. The food crops are grains, mainly sorghum and millet. The cash crops include groundnuts, sesame and gum-arabic. Cattle are confined to riversides, the Sudd and grass areas during the dry season, but are taken to high grounds in order to avoid floods and water during the rainy season.


Childhood.

Malczewski was born in Radom, Congress Poland, under occupation of the Russian Empire. During his childhood and early youth he was greatly influenced by his father Julian, a Polish patriot and social activist who introduced him to the world of romantic literature inspired by the November Uprising. On his mother's side, he was related to the Szymanowski family whom they often visited on their Masovian country estate in Cygów. The attractiveness of the Polish landscape and associated folklore had been awakened in him by Feliks Karczewski, his uncle and long-time guardian, who had invited future novelist Adolf Dygasiński to his estate, to act as Jacek's home tutor.

Artistic career.

Malczewski moved to Kraków at age 17, and began his artistic education in 1872 under the watchful eye of Polish painter and draughtsman and attended his first art classes in the workshop of Władysław Łuszczkiewicz at the School of Fine Arts. A year later, in 1873, assessed by Jan Matejko himself, Malczewski formally enrolled at the School, and studied with Łuszczkiewicz, Feliks Szynalewski and Florian Cynk. In 1876 he went to Paris and studied for a year at the École des Beaux-Arts, in the studio of Henri Lehmann. He next moved to the Académie Suisse.  Malczewski had already begun master classes with Jan Matejko in 1875 before embarking on the trip to France, and completed them in 1879 after his return from abroad. In spite of considerable stylistic differences between them, Malczewski was greatly influenced by Matejko's historical painting filled with neo-romantic metaphor and patriotic themes. In 1879, Malczewski completed a course in composition under Matejko. He was equally impressed with the dramatic art of earlier Polish romantic painter Artur Grottger. His painting revolved around a few carefully selected motifs, constantly retold and expanded according to mythology and filled with national symbols. His own imagination enabled Malczewski to channel his creativity and let new aesthetic ideas emerge giving rise to what became Poland's school of Symbolism.

Inspiration.

Over the course of some 30 years between 1885 and 1916, Malczewski regularly visited Paris, Munich and Vienna. He made several trips to Italy, Greece and Turkey. He also took part in an archaeological expedition organized by his friend Karol Lanckoroński. He drew his inspiration from a wide variety of sources often exotic or biblical, and translated them back into Polish folklore, tradition and motifs in his own painting. His most famous canvases include "Błędne koło" (Vicious Circle, 1895–97), "Melancholia" (1890–1894), "Natchnienie malarza" (Painter's Muse, 1897), "Wizja" (A vision, 1912), the "Thanatos" series, and "Bajki" (Fables). Many of his paintings prominently feature self-portraits in elaborate costume, a trademark of his style, often displaying a great sense of self-mocking humour.  In 1897–1900 and 1912–1921 Malczewski served as professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. He was elected Rector of the Academy in 1912. His art has been compared to that of the Frenchman Gustave Moreau, the Swiss Arnold Böcklin, and even to the Spaniard Salvador Dalí. His paintings won numerous awards at international exhibitions including Berlin in 1891, Munich in 1892, and Paris in 1900.

Personal life.

Malczewski was married to Maria "née" Garlewska and they had two children, Julia (born 1888) and Rafał (born 1892), also a painter. His son later sold off all of his father's works left to him, to the National Museum in Warsaw before World War II. During the war he left Poland and after travels in Southern Europe and Brazil, finally settled in Montreal.  It is believed that the subject of numerous nude studies in Jacek Malczewski's paintings, Maria Bal (Balowa) "née" Brunicka, was also his long-time lover. He lost his sight towards the end of his life and died in Kraków on October 8, 1929. He was buried at Skałka, Poland's national "Panthéon".

Jacek Malczewski (; 15 July 1854 – 8 October 1929) is one of the most revered painters of Poland, associated with the patriotic Young Poland movement following a century of Partitions. He is regarded as the father of Polish Symbolism. His creative output combined the predominant style of his times, with historical motifs of Polish martyrdom, the romantic ideals of independence, Christian and Greek mythology, folk tales, as well as his love of the natural world. He was the father of painter Rafał Malczewski.


Early life.

Koch was born Margarete Ilse Köhler in Dresden, Germany, the daughter of a former military commander. She was known as a polite and happy child in her elementary school. At the age of 15, she entered an accountancy school. Later, she entered employment as a bookkeeping clerk. At the time the economy of Germany had not yet recovered from defeat in World War I. In 1932, she became a member of the Nazi Party. Through some friends in the SA and SS, she met Karl-Otto Koch in 1934.  In 1936, she began working as a guard and secretary at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin, where her fiancé was the Commandant. The couple married the same year. In 1937, her husband was posted to Buchenwald.

War crimes.

While at Buchenwald, Koch allegedly engaged in a gruesome experiment, where it was claimed that she ordered selected tattooed prisoners to be murdered and skinned to retrieve the tattooed parts of their bodies. It was allegedly done to help a prison doctor,, in his dissertation on tattooing and criminality.  In 1940, she built an indoor sports arena, which cost over 250,000 reichsmarks (approximately $62,500), most of which had been seized from the inmates. In 1941, Karl-Otto Koch was transferred to Lublin, where he helped establish the Majdanek concentration and extermination camp. Ilse Koch remained at Buchenwald until 24 August 1943, when she and her husband were arrested on the orders of Josias von Waldeck-Pyrmont, SS and Police Leader for Weimar, who had supervisory authority over Buchenwald. The charges against the Kochs comprised private enrichment, embezzlement, and the murder of prisoners to prevent them from giving testimony.  Ilse Koch was imprisoned until 1944 when she was acquitted for lack of evidence. Her husband was found guilty and sentenced to death by an SS court in Munich, and was executed by firing squad on 5 April 1945 in the court of the camp he once commanded. She then lived with her surviving family in the town of Ludwigsburg, where she was arrested by U.S. authorities on 30 June 1945.

First trial.

Koch and 30 other accused were arraigned before the American military court at Dachau (General Military Government Court for the Trial of War Criminals) in 1947. Prosecuting her was future United States Court of Claims Judge Robert L. Kunzig. She was charged with "participating in a criminal plan for aiding, abetting and participating in the murders at Buchenwald".  Koch announced in the courtroom that she was eight months pregnant but on 19 August 1947, she was sentenced to life imprisonment for "violation of the laws and customs of war".

Reduction of sentence.

Gen. Lucius D. Clay was the interim military governor of the American Zone in Germany, and he reduced the judgment to four years' imprisonment on 8 June 1948, after she had served two years of her sentence, on the grounds that "there was no convincing evidence that she had selected inmates for extermination in order to secure tattooed skins, or that she possessed any articles made of human skin". News of the reduced sentence did not become public until 16 September 1948, and Clay stood firm despite the ensuing uproar. Jean Edward Smith reported in his biography "Lucius D. Clay: An American Life" that the general maintained that the leather lamp shades were really made out of goat skin. The book quotes a statement made by Clay years later:

Second trial.

Under the pressure of public opinion, Koch was re-arrested in 1949 and tried before a West German court. The hearing opened on 27 November 1950 before the District Court at Augsburg and lasted seven weeks, during which 250 witnesses were heard, including 50 for the defense. Koch collapsed and had to be carried from the court in late December 1950, and again on 11 January 1951. At least four witnesses for the prosecution testified that they had seen Koch choose tattooed prisoners, who were then killed, or had seen or been involved in the process of making human-skin lampshades from tattooed skin. However, this charge was dropped by the prosecution when they could not prove lampshades or any other items were actually made from human skin.  On 15 January 1951, the Court pronounced its verdict, in a 111-page-long decision, for which Koch was not present in court. It was concluded that the previous trials in 1944 and 1947 were not a bar to proceedings under the principle of "ne bis in idem", as at the 1944 trial Koch had only been charged with receiving, while in 1947 she had been accused of crimes against foreigners after 1 September 1939, and not with crimes against humanity of which Germans and Austrians had been defendants both before and after that date. She was convicted of charges of incitement to murder, incitement to attempted murder and incitement to the crime of committing grievous bodily harm, and on 15 January 1951 was sentenced to life imprisonment and permanent forfeiture of civil rights.  On 10 May 1950 Koch was indicted by Dr.Hans Ilkow, who served at the superior court in Augsburg as chief prosecutor. On 15 June 1951, also known as "German Judgement" day, Koch officially started her life imprisonment sentence. Koch appealed to have the judgment quashed, but the appeal was dismissed on 22 April 1952 by the Federal Court of Justice. She later made several petitions for a pardon, all of which were rejected by the Bavarian Ministry of Justice. Koch protested her life sentence, to no avail, to the International Human Rights Commission.

Family.

Karl and Ilse Koch had two sons, one of whom committed suicide after the war "because he couldn't live with the shame of the crimes of his parents." Another son, Uwe, conceived in her prison cell at Dachau with a fellow German prisoner, was born in the Aichach prison near Dachau where Koch was sent to serve her life sentence and was immediately taken from her. At the age of 19, Uwe Köhler learned that Koch was his mother and began visiting her regularly at Aichach.  Koch hanged herself at Aichach women's prison on 1 September 1967 at age 60. She suffered from delusions and had become convinced that concentration camp survivors would abuse her in her cell.  In 1971, her son Uwe sought posthumous rehabilitation for his mother. Uwe was determined to clear his mother's name after her death in 1967. Through his usage of the press, he used clemency documents from her former lawyer in 1957 and his impression of her based on their relationship in an attempt to rewrite people's attitude towards Koch.

Ilse Koch (22 September 1906 – 1 September 1967) was the wife of Karl-Otto Koch, commandant of the Nazi concentration camps Buchenwald (1937–1941) and Majdanek (1941–1943). In 1947, she became one of the first prominent Nazis tried by the U.S. military.


Geography and physical appearances.

Katla is one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland. It is situated to the north of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller glacier Eyjafjallajökull. Its peak reaches and is partially covered by the Mýrdalsjökull glacier. The system has an area of. The Eldgjá canyon is part of the same volcanic system.  The caldera of the Katla volcano has a diameter of and is covered with of ice. The volcano normally erupts every 40–80 years. The flood discharge at the peak of an eruption in 1755 has been estimated at 200,000–400,000 m/s (7.1–14.1 million cu ft/sec), comparable to the combined average discharge of the Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, and Yangtze rivers (about 266,000 m/s (9.4 million cu ft/sec)).

Etymology.

The name "Katla" derives from the word "ketill" ("kettle"), referring to the form of the volcano. "Katla" is also used as a female first name.

Prehistoric activity.

It is thought that Katla is the source of Vedde Ash, more than of tephra dated to 10,600 years BP found at a number of sites including Vedde in Norway, Denmark, Scotland and North Atlantic cores.

Historic activity.

Sixteen eruptions have been recorded for Katla since 930. The last major eruption started on 12 October 1918 and lasted for 24 days. It was likely a VEI-5 level eruption. The 1918 eruption resulted in extending the southern coast by 5 km due to laharic flood deposits. Its present dormancy is among the longest in known history.  Minor (VEI-1?) eruptions occurred in:

Katla () is a large volcano in southern Iceland. It is very active; twenty eruptions have been documented between 930 and 1918, at intervals of 20–90 years. It has not erupted violently for years, although there may have been small eruptions that did not break the ice cover, including ones in 1955, 1999, and 2011.


Summary.

Education and the value of military training.

Has military education a place in higher education? [178a–180a].

Lysimachus, son of Aristides, and Melesias, son of Thucydides (not the historian Thucydides), request advice from Laches and Nicias on whether or not they should have their sons (who are named after their famous grandfathers) trained to fight in armor. After each gives their opinion, Nicias for and Laches against, they seek Socrates for counsel.

Laches introduces Socrates to the discussion [180a–181d].

Socrates questions what the initial purpose of the training is meant to instill in the children. Once they determine that the purpose is to instill virtue, and more specifically courage, Socrates discusses with Laches and Nicias what exactly courage is. The bulk of the dialogue is then the three men (Laches, Nicias and Socrates) debating various definitions of courage.

Nicias on the advantages of fighting in armour [181e–182d].

Nicias argues in favor of an education in fighting in armour for young men. He mentions that it promotes physical fitness, prepares a man for military duties, gives an advantage over untrained opponents, helps one understand military strategy, makes one braver, and gives one a martial appearance.

Laches on the futility of fighting in armour [182e–184c].

Laches argues against the need for fighting in armour by claiming that the Spartans do not practice it; the instructors that Laches has seen are not brave soldiers and so have not benefitted from this knowledge; and it causes cowards to take foolish and damaging military risks.

The need for expert advice: are the generals qualified to speak about education? [184d–187d].

Melesias and Lysimachus ask Socrates to decide which side is correct. Socrates begins by trying to clarify what the actual topic is. He determines that the issue is the care of young men's character and asks if there are qualified teachers for this. Socrates confesses not to be skilled in this and assumes that Laches and Nicias are either versed in character building or else know of experts in that field. Socrates proposes to question them about this to see if they have qualified expertise.

The generals agree to cooperate with Socrates and put Their expertise to the test [187e–189d].

Nicias warns about Socrates' philosophical methods of getting the interlocuter to examine their own conscience. Laches states that he likes to hear discussions that are "musical", when a person's discourse is in tune with their actions. Paraphrasing Solon, Laches agrees to participate in Socrates' inquiry because he likes to learn from good men.

An inquiry into the nature of bravery.

The need to define bravery [189d–190d].

Socrates uses a medical analogy to help define goodness: If eyes can be improved by adding sight to them, then a boys' character can be improved by adding goodness to it. As knowledge of what sight is is necessary before it can be considered as an improvement, so too it is necessary to have knowledge of what good is before it is used to improve a character. Rather than try to define what the whole of goodness is, Socrates thinks it would be easier to define an aspect of goodness that is relevant to the question: bravery.

Laches' first definition: to be brave is to stand and fight [190e–192b].

Laches advances that to be brave is to be a soldier who can hold his position in combat without running away. Socrates explains that his definition is very specific to military infantry and what he was really looking for is a notion of bravery that pertains to all military situations and extends to all situations in life.

Laches' second definition: bravery is endurance [192b–193d].

Laches offers an opinion that courage is "a certain perseverance of the soul". However, Socrates challenges this idea by arguing that there are many instances in battle when the prudent thing to do is to withdraw or flee. Since courage is a virtue, Socrates argues, it cannot contradict prudence, and therefore the idea that courage always demands perseverance must be false. Laches is forced to admit this contradiction.

Impasse: Nicias is asked to help [193e–194c].

Socrates expresses his perplexity in trying to account for bravery. Laches wishes to pursue the conversation, saying that he has a sense of what bravery is, but is not able to express it properly. Socrates states that like a good huntsman pursuing a trail, they must persevere in the search for their quarry. They invite Nicias to give his definition of bravery.

Nicias' definition: bravery is a special kind of knowledge [194d–196c].

Nicias then offers another definition. He suggests that courage is "knowledge of what is to be feared and hoped for both in war and in all other matters".

Implications of Nicias' definition: can animals and children be brave? [196d–197e].

Since bravery is the knowledge of what is fearful and encouraging, Socrates asks if a pig could be brave. Nicias denies that animals can be brave as he believes that a certain amount of wisdom is necessary for bravery and that very few people can be considered brave. Socrates playfully suggest that Nicias is being influenced by a sophist named Damon and offers to respond to Nicias' assertion.

Nicias has defined goodness, not bravery [198a–199e].

Nicias agrees that something 'fearful' is the expectation of a future evil and something 'hopeful' is the expectation of a future good. Socrates then argues that full knowledge of any subject involves an understanding not only of future matters, but also of past and present. Thus if courage is the knowledge of future evils and goods, it must also necessarily be the knowledge of those of the present and past too. He then asserts that Nicias' definition actually amounts to a definition of all virtue (since it implies knowledge of all good and evil) and therefore, since courage is in fact only a part of virtue, a contradiction arises and the definition must be false.

The discussion breaks up: Socrates suggests they all have much to learn [200a–201a].

And so, in the end, Socrates finds both his companions' theories to be unsatisfactory, and the dialogue ends in aporia, an English term derived from the ancient Greek ἀπορία meaning "philosophical confusion".

Critical commentary.

There are many different interpretations as to why the dialogue ends in aporia. Certain commentators, such as Iain Lane, view the Socratic method of elenchus as an end in itself; that debate is the central premise and function of the dialogue. Others, such as Gregory Vlastos, see the dialogue ending because of the specific deficiencies of the characters' definitions.

The Laches (; Greek: Λάχης) is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. Participants in the discourse present competing definitions of the concept of courage.


Early life.

Grossman was born in Jerusalem. He is the elder of two brothers.  His mother, Michaella, was born in Mandatory Palestine; his father, Yitzhak, emigrated from Dynów in Poland with his widowed mother at the age of nine. His mother's family was Zionist and poor, his grandfather having paved roads in the Galilee and supplemented his income by buying and selling rugs. His maternal grandmother who was a manicurist left Poland after police harassments, never before having left her birthplace. Accompanying by her son and daughter, she migrated to Palestine where she worked cleaning residences in wealthy neighborhoods.  Grossman's father was a bus driver, then a librarian, and it was through him that David – "a reading child" – was able to build up an interest in literature, which would later become his career. Grossman recalled, "He gave me many things, but what he mostly gave me was Sholem Aleichem." Sholem Aleichem, who was born in Ukraine, is one of the greatest writers in Yiddish, though he is now best known as the man whose stories were the inspiration for "Fiddler on the Roof". At age 9, Grossman won a national competition on knowledge of the works of Sholem Aleichem, and subsequently worked as a child actor for the national radio. He continued working for Israel Broadcasting for nearly 25 years.  In 1971, Grossman began his national service working in military intelligence. Although he was in the army when the Yom Kippur War broke out in 1973, he saw no action.  Grossman studied philosophy and theater at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After university he started working in radio, where he'd once been a child actor. He eventually became an anchor on Kol Yisrael, Israel's national broadcasting service. In 1988 he was sacked for refusing to bury the news that the Palestinian leadership had declared its own state and conceded Israel's right to exist.

Personal life.

Grossman lives in Mevasseret Zion on the outskirts of Jerusalem. He is married to Michal Grossman, a child psychologist. They had three children, Yonatan, Ruthi, and Uri. Uri was a tank-commander in the Israel Defense Forces, and was killed in action in the 2006 Lebanon War. Uri's life was later celebrated in Grossman's book "Falling Out of Time".  In 2015, Grossman withdrew his candidacy for the Israel Prize for Literature after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to remove two of the judging panel whom he claimed were "anti-Zionist". He was awarded the prize in 2018.

Politics and activism.

Grossman is an outspoken left-wing peace activist. He has been described by "The Economist" as epitomising Israel's left-leaning cultural elite.  Initially supportive of Israel's action during the 2006 Lebanon War on the grounds of self-defense, on August 10, 2006, he and fellow authors Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua held a press conference at which they strongly urged the government to agree to a ceasefire that would create the basis for a negotiated solution, saying: "We had a right to go to war. But things got complicated.... I believe that there is more than one course of action available."  Two days later, Grossman's 20-year-old son Uri, a Staff Sergeant in the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed in southern Lebanon when his tank was hit by an anti-tank missile shortly before the ceasefire came into effect. Grossman explained that the death of his son did not change his opposition to Israel's policy towards the Palestinians. Although Grossman had carefully avoided writing about politics, in his stories, if not his journalism, the death of his son prompted him to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in greater detail. This appeared in his 2008 book "To The End of the Land".  Two months after his son's death, Grossman addressed a crowd of 100,000 Israelis who had gathered to mark the anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. He denounced Ehud Olmert's government for a failure of leadership and he argued that reaching out to the Palestinians was the best hope for progress in the region: Of course I am grieving, but my pain is greater than my anger. I am in pain for this country and for what you [Olmert] and your friends are doing to it.  About his personal link to the war, Grossman said: There were people who stereotyped me, who considered me this naive leftist who would never send his own children into the army, who didn't know what life was made of. I think those people were forced to realise that you can be very critical of Israel and yet still be an integral part of it; I speak as a reservist in the Israeli army myself.  In 2010 Grossman, his wife, and her family attended demonstrations against the spread of Israeli settlements. While attending weekly demonstrations in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem against Jewish settlers taking over houses in Palestinian neighbourhoods, he was assaulted by police. When asked by a reporter for "The Guardian" about how a renowned writer could be beaten, he replied: "I don't know if they know me at all."

David Grossman (; born January 25, 1954) is an Israeli author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages.


Season summary.

Mercedes drivers again dominated the championship, with Fangio taking four races, and his new teammate Stirling Moss the British Grand Prix. Ferrari won at Monaco after all of the Mercedes cars broke down and Lancia driver Alberto Ascari crashed into the harbour. Although Ascari was apparently unscathed, the double World Champion crashed fatally at Monza while testing sportscars four days later.  The disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11 June which killed Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators led to the cancellations of the French, German, Spanish and Swiss Grands Prix. The French round, which was supposed to be held at Reims between the Dutch and British rounds, on 3 July, was first rescheduled to 25 September and subsequently cancelled. Then the German event, scheduled for 31 July at the Nürburgring, the Swiss round at Bremgarten, planned to take place on 21 August, and the Spanish round, on 23 October at Pedralbes, followed suit. Pedralbes and Bremgarten were then abandoned and never used again for racing; motor racing was banned altogether in Switzerland and no motor-race was held in Switzerland until the 2018 Zürich ePrix. These cancellations effectively handed the Drivers' title to Fangio after he finished 2nd to Moss at the British Grand Prix; although he wasn't actually crowned champion until well after the British Grand Prix, because the German, Swiss and Spanish rounds were cancelled after the British Grand Prix took place.  1955 would be the final season for Mercedes Benz as a constructor until the team's revival in 2010. It would also mark the final win for Mercedes until the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix.  Aside from Ascari's death this year, Italian Mario Alborghetti died at the non-championship Pau Grand Prix in France driving a Maserati; and during the Indianapolis 500, two drivers were killed during the month-long event: Americans Manny Ayulo in practice and previous race winner Bill Vukovich during the race 2 weeks later.

Teams and drivers.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1955 FIA World Championship.

1955 Drivers' Championship – final standings.

Championship points were awarded on an 8–6–4–3–2 basis for the first five places at each race. One point was awarded for fastest race lap at each race. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Non-championship race results.

Other Formula One races also held in 1955, which did not count towards the World Championship.

The 1955 Formula One season was the ninth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1955 World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on 16 January 1955 and ended on September 11 after seven races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his second consecutive World Championship title in a season that was curtailed by tragedies.


History.

Football in Gaillard.

In 2003 "Football Croix-de-Savoie 74" was formed as a result of a merger between "FC Gaillard" and "FC Ville-la-Grand". Gaillard was founded in 1924 and spent most of its life playing in the Ligue Rhône-Alpes, while Ville-la-Grand was founded in 1928. The new club finished 3rd in the Championnat de France amateur (CFA) Groupe B section for the 2003–04 season. Normally, only the top club in each of the four amateur groups are promoted to the Championnat National; however, both the 1st and 2nd placed clubs in the group were reserve sides of professional teams, namely Lyon and Metz. As such, Croix-de-Savoie was promoted. The club's first season in National saw them narrowly avoid relegation, finishing 14th out of 20, two points above relegated 17th place Besançon. The 2005–06 season was less successful; Croix-de-Savoie finished 18th with 41 points, one point behind SO Châtellerault, thus falling back to the fourth division. Croix-de-Savoie's average attendance also dropped from 933 to 716.

The foundation.

In 2007, a merger between "Croix-de-Savoie 74" and "Olympique Thonon-Chablais" created "Olympique Croix-de-Savoie 74". Whilst the former club had been heavily associated with the commune of Gaillard, the new club moved to the nearby commune of Thonon-les-Bains because the stadium in Gaillard was, in August 2005, deemed unfit for use in the National division. The decision resulted in club being forced to move to Stade Joseph-Moynat in Thonon, a facility with 2,700 seats and a total capacity of 6,000. The club returned to the Championnat National as the CFA Group B winners (with a record 108 points) for the 2008–09 season. In the summer of 2009, the president of the Groupe Danone, Franck Riboud, was made honorary president of the football club. Riboud yet again changed the name of the team to "Evian Thonon Gaillard Football Club". He also put money into the team to improve the youth system of the club and harboured aspirations of the side achieving promotion to Ligue 2. On 16 April 2010, the club completed the feat in Riboud's first season presiding over the club achieving promotion to Ligue 2, for the first time, following its 1–0 victory over Amiens.  After earning promotion to Ligue 2 for the 2010–11 season, Evian was rumoured to be pursuing a move to play its home matches at the Stade de la Praille in Geneva, Switzerland after it was determined that the club's current facility, the Stade Joseph-Moynat, did not meet the Ligue de Football Professionnel's (LFP) standards. Thonon-les-Bains, the commune where the club situates itself, is a few kilometres from the Swiss border and is only, a 45-minute car drive, from the city of Geneva. It was reported that the club's president, Patrick Trotignon, had been advocating the move since the beginning of the 2009–10 Championnat National season just in case the club achieved promotion to the second division. The vice-president of Swiss club Servette FC, the regular occupant of the stadium, questioned the move citing possible schedule conflicts, as well as the health of the pitch if both clubs were to use the stadium on a weekly basis. However, Benoît Genecand, president of Fondation du Stade de Genève (FSG), which owned and operated the facility, disputed the claims of the Servette official. Servette responded immediately to Genecand's comments via a press release posted on the club's official website. Evian petitioned to the State Council of Geneva and obtained approval from the LFP for the move in early May. On 20 May 2010, Evian received a favourable ruling from the French Football Federation (FFF) with the Federal Council voting in favour of the move. According to the federation, the move now had to be agreed upon by a UEFA executive committee. On 8 June, UEFA officially denied Evian's request to play at the Stade de la Praille meaning the club would play its home matches at the Parc des Sports in nearby Annecy.  On 9 January 2011, Evian recorded an upset victory over the defending French champions Olympique de Marseille in the Coupe de France, defeating the Ligue 1 club 3–1 in the Round of 64. Strong form throughout the season saw Evian secure a second successive promotion as champions of Ligue 2.  In their first season in Ligue 1, "Les Roses" finished in a respectable ninth place, one place above French giants Marseille. In the following season, the club finished in sixteenth position, avoiding relegation by just two points. Evian also reached the Coupe de France final for the first time in the club's history, where they were beaten 3–2 by Bordeaux, falling victim to a last-minute winner by Cheick Diabaté.

Relegation and dissolution.

At the end of the 2015–16 Ligue 2 season, the club finished in the relegation places. The DNCG imposed an additional relegation for the subsequent season, which would place Evian in the fourth tier of the French football pyramid, the Championnat de France Amateur (CFA). On 2 August 2016 the club was placed in receivership, given a probationary period of two months to save itself, and assessed a further administrative relegation at the end of the 2016–17 season.  On 9 August, the French Football Federation confirmed Evian's decision to cease operation in the CFA. On 7 December 2016, Evian was renamed Thonon Evian Savoie Football Club.  In 2018, Thonon Evian Savoie FC and Union Sportive Evian Lugrin FC merged to form Thonon Évian FC.

Players.

First team squad.

"As of 22 September 2019."

Thonon Évian Grand Genève Football Club, formerly Thonon Évian F.C and Évian Thonon Gaillard Football Club (), commonly referred to as Evian TG or simply Evian, is a French association football club based in Thonon-les-Bains that was founded on 1 July 2007.


Dialogue summary.

Ion's skill: Is it genuine? (530a–533c).

Ion has just come from a festival of Asclepius at the city of Epidaurus, after having won first prize in the competition. Socrates engages him in discussion and Ion explains how his knowledge and skill is limited to Homer, whom he claims to understand better than anyone alive. Socrates finds this puzzling as to him it seems that Homer treats many of the same subjects as other poets like Hesiod, subjects such as war or divination, and that if someone is knowledgeable in any one of those he should be able to understand what "both" of these poets say. Furthermore, this man is probably not the poet, like Ion, but a specialist like a doctor, who knows better about nutrition.

The nature of poetic inspiration (533d–536d).

Socrates deduces from this observation that Ion has no real skill, but is like a soothsayer or prophet in being divinely possessed:  "For not by art do they utter these things, but by divine influence; since, if they had fully learned by art to speak on one kind of theme, they would know how to speak on all. And for this reason God takes away the mind of these men and uses them as his ministers, just as he does soothsayers and godly seers, in order that we who hear them may know that it is not they who utter these words of great price, when they are out of their wits, but that it is God himself who speaks and addresses us through them." (534b–d)  Socrates offers the metaphor of a magnet to explain how the rhapsode transmits the poet's original inspiration from the muse to the audience. He says that the god speaks first to the poet, then gives the rhapsode his skill, and thus, gods communicate to the people. Socrates posits that Ion must be out of his mind when he acts, because he can weep even though he has lost nothing, and recoil in fear when in front of an admiring audience. Ion says that the explanation for this is very simple: it is the promise of payment that inspires his deliberate disconnection from reality. Ion says that when he looks at the audience and sees them weeping, he knows he will laugh because it has made him richer, and that when they laugh, he will be weeping at losing the money (535e).

Ion's choice: To be skilled or inspired (536e–542a).

Ion tells Socrates that he cannot be convinced that he is possessed or mad when he performs (536d,e). Socrates then recites passages from Homer which concern various arts such as medicine, divining, fishing, and making war. He asks Ion if these skills are distinct from his art of recitation. Ion admits that while Homer discusses many different skills in his poetry, he never refers specifically to the rhapsode's craft, which is acting. Socrates presses him about the exact nature of his skill. Ion maintains that his knowledge makes him a capable military general but states that when he recites passages concerning military matters, he cannot tell whether he does it with a general's skill, or with a rhapsode's. Socrates notices that Ion changes his occupation. He was first a rhapsode and then has become a general. He gently berates the rhapsode for being Protean, which after all, is exactly what a rhapsode is: a man who is convincingly capable of being different people on stage.  Through his character Socrates, Plato argues that “Ion’s talent as an interpreter cannot be an art, a definable body of knowledge or an ordered system of skills,” but instead must come from the divine inspiration of the Muses.

Commentary.

Plato’s argument is supposed to be an early example of a so-called genetic fallacy since his conclusion arises from his famous lodestone (magnet) analogy. Ion, the rhapsode “dangles like a lodestone at the end of a chain of lodestones. The muse inspires the poet (Homer in Ion’s case) and the poet inspires the rhapsode.” Plato’s dialogues are themselves “examples of artistry that continue to be stageworthy;” it is a paradox that “Plato the supreme enemy of art is also the supreme artist.” Plato develops a more elaborate critique of poetry in other dialogues such as in "Phaedrus" 245a, "Symposium" 209a, "Republic" 398a, "Laws" 817 b–d. However, some researchers perceive it as a critique of unjustified belief rather than a critique of poetry in general.

In Plato's Ion (; ) Socrates discusses with the titular character, a professional rhapsode who also lectures on Homer, the question of whether the rhapsode, a performer of poetry, gives his performance on account of his skill and knowledge or by virtue of divine possession. It is one of the shortest of Plato's dialogues.


Early life and education.

Chernomyrdin was born in Chernyi Otrog, Orenburg Oblast, Russian SFSR. His father was a labourer and Viktor was one of five children. Chernomyrdin completed school education in 1957 and found employment as a mechanic in an oil refinery in Orsk. He worked there until 1962, except for his military service from 1957 to 1960. His other occupations on the plant during this period included machinist, operator and chief of technical installations.  He became a member of the CPSU in 1961. In 1962, he was admitted to Kuybyshev Industrial Institute (which was later renamed Samara Polytechnical Institute). In his entrance exams he performed very poorly. He failed the maths sections of the test and had to take the exam again, getting a C. He got only one B, in Russian language, and Cs in the other tests. He was admitted only because of very poor competition. In 1966, he graduated from the institute. In 1972, he completed further studies at the Department of Economics of the Union-wide Polytechnic Institute by correspondence.

Early career.

Chernomyrdin began developing his career as a politician when he worked for the CPSU in Orsk between 1967 and 1973. In 1973, he was appointed the director of the natural gas refining plant in Orenburg, a position which he held until 1978. Between 1978 and 1982, Chernomyrdin worked in the heavy industry arm of the CPSU Central Committee.  In 1982, he was appointed deputy Minister of the natural gas industries of the Soviet Union. Concurrently, beginning from 1983, he directed Glavtyumengazprom, an industry association for natural gas resource development in Tyumen Oblast. During 1985–1989 he was the minister of gas industries.

Founder of Gazprom.

In August 1989, under the leadership of Chernomyrdin, the Ministry of Gas Industry was transformed into the "State Gas Concern", Gazprom, which became the country's first state-corporate enterprise. Chernomyrdin was elected its first chairman. The company was still controlled by the state, but now the control was exercised through shares of stock, 100% of which were owned by the state.  When the Soviet Union dissolved in late 1991, assets of the former Soviet state in the gas sector were transferred to newly created national companies such as Ukrgazprom and Turkmengazprom. Gazprom kept assets located in the territory of Russia, and was able to secure a monopoly in the gas sector.  Gazprom's political influence increased markedly after Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed the company's chairman Chernomyrdin as his Prime Minister in 1992. Rem Viakhirev took Chernomyrdin's place as Chairman both of the Board of Directors and of the Managing Committee. Gazprom was one of the backbones of the country's economy in 1990s, though the company underperformed during that decade. In the 2000s, however, Gazprom became the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company.

Prime Minister of Russia.

In May 1992, Boris Yeltsin appointed Chernomyrdin as Deputy Prime Minister in charge of fuel and energy. On 14 December 1992, Chernomyrdin was confirmed by the VII Congress of People's Deputies of Russia as Prime Minister.  While he had been critical of his predecessor Gaidar, Chernomyrdin largely continued Gaidar's policies.  In April 1995, he formed a political bloc called Our Home – Russia, which was aimed at becoming the central force in the parliament, but failed in this, gaining only 10% of the votes.  In 1995, Chernomyrdin signed a decree calling for the development of a national strategy for tiger conservation  On 18 June 1995, as a result of Shamil Basayev-led terrorists taking over 1500 people hostage in Budyonnovsk, negotiations between Chernomyrdin and Basayev led to a compromise which became a turning point for the First Chechen War. In exchange for the hostages, the Russian government agreed to halt military actions in Chechnya and begin a series of negotiations.  When Boris Yeltsin was undergoing a heart operation on 6 November 1996, Chernomyrdin served as Acting President for 23 hours.  Chernomyrdin remained Prime Minister until his sudden dismissal on 23 March 1998. Following the 1998 Russian financial crisis in August, Yeltsin re-appointed Chernomyrdin as Prime Minister, and attempted to groom him as his successor. However, the Duma twice refused to confirm Chernomyrdin as the head of the government. Rather than risking a third rejection and thus forcing the dissolution of the State Duma and political crisis, Chernomyrdin withdrew his nomination and the President asked the more popular Yevgeny Primakov to form a new cabinet.

Diplomatic career.

During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 Chernomyrdin was a special representative of Russia in Yugoslavia.  In December 1999 Chernomyrdin was elected a member of the State Duma. In May 2001, Vladimir Putin appointed Chernomyrdin Ambassador of Russia to Ukraine. This action was interpreted by some Russian media agencies as a move to distance Chernomyrdin from the centre of Russian politics. In 2003, he dismissed talk of an apology for the Holodomor Famine made by the Soviet Union.  In February 2009 Chernomyrdin again strained the relations between Ukraine and Russia when he in an interview said "It is impossible to come to an agreement on anything with the Ukrainian leadership. If different people come in, we'll see". The Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a response it could declare Chernomyrdin "persona non grata" over the row.  On 11 June 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev relieved Chernomyrdin as Russian Ambassador in Kiev, and appointed him as "presidential adviser and special presidential representative on economic cooperation with CIS member countries". In a parting shot at the Ukrainian government, Chernomyrdin stated that Russia should not apologise to Ukraine over voicing its suspicions about Ukraine being unable to pay for its natural gas, and further stated that Russia wants Ukraine to pay for the gas it consumes, and hence Russia is right to be concerned about the solvency of the Ukrainian state.

Death.

Chernomyrdin died on the morning of 3 November 2010 after a long illness. According to people close to Chernomyrdin, such as singer Lev Leshchenko, the former Prime Minister was deeply affected by the death of his wife Valentina, seven and a half months earlier.  Chernomyrdin was buried beside his wife in Novodevichy Cemetery on 5 November 2010. On 3 November Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an order to show Chernomyrdin's funeral in a live broadcast on Russian federal TV channels (only the funerals of the former President Boris Yeltsin and Patriarch Alexy II were granted the same right in recent years). The head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Naryshkin, supervised the funeral ceremony. Condolences on the death of Chernomyrdin were voiced on 3 November 2010 by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, other state figures in Russia and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.

Sayings.

In Russian-speaking countries, Chernomyrdin is known for his numerous malapropisms and syntactically incorrect speech. His idioms received the name "Chernomyrdinki", and are somewhat comparable to Bushisms in style and effect. One of his expressions "We wanted it as good as possible, but it turned out as always" ("Хотели как лучше, а получилось как всегда" in Russian) about the economic reforms in Russia was widely quoted. The phrase was uttered after a highly unsuccessful monetary exchange performed by the Russian Central Bank in July 1993.

Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin (, ; 9 April 19383 November 2010) was a Russian politician. He was the first chairman of the Gazprom energy company and the second-longest-serving Prime Minister of Russia (1992–1998) based on consecutive years. He was a key figure in Russian politics in the 1990s, and a participant in the transition from a planned to a market economy. From 2001 to 2009, he was Russia's ambassador to Ukraine. After that he was designated as a presidential adviser.


Development.

Just after World War II, Ryan engineers wondered whether the Ryan/U.S. Navy FR-1 Fireball, which had a thrust-to-weight ratio of 1 at low fuel quantities, would take off vertically. The United States Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics in 1947 awarded Ryan a contract, originally under the designation F3R, to investigate the development of a vertically launched jet fighter. This was part of a program to evaluate the feasibility of submarine-based aircraft. Ryan conducted remote controlled VTOL tethered rig tests from 1947 to 1950 and a flying rig in 1951. Ryan was awarded an Air Force contract in 1953 to develop an actual flying jet-powered VTOL aircraft, which was given the designation X-13. Two prototypes were built.  The Ryan X-13 Vertijet was long. It was just large enough to accommodate the single-place cockpit with a tilting seat and the thrust Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet. The high-mounted delta wing of the aircraft had a wingspan of only and was capped with flat endplates. The nose of the aircraft had a hook on the underside and a short pole for gauging distance from the trailer. The hook was used to hang the Vertijet from the vertical trailer bed landing platform. After the aircraft was secured vertically, the trailer was lowered to horizontal and then used to transport the aircraft on the ground. Pitch and yaw control in hover were provided by vectored engine thrust. Roll control was provided by "puffer" jets (also known as "jet reaction control") mounted outboard of the wingtip endplates. The first prototype (#54-1619) was fitted with temporary landing gear and made its first horizontal flight on December 10, 1955. Later, it made full horizontal to vertical attitude conversions and back again at altitude. The first prototype then had the landing gear replaced with a tail-mounted framework that held it in a vertical attitude on the ground. Using this rig, hooking practice was conducted. The second prototype (#54-1620), on April 11, 1957, made a vertical take-off from the vertically raised trailer, transitioned to horizontal flight and back again. It then returned to the vertical trailer and landed by hooking the landing wire. Flight tests were performed by two test pilots: Ryan's Chief Test Pilot Peter F. "Pete" Girard, and Ryan Test Pilot W. L. "Lou" Everett.  On July 28–29, 1957, the X-13 was demonstrated in Washington, D.C. It crossed the Potomac River and landed at the Pentagon.  The Air Force chose not to continue development of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet because of the lack of an operational requirement.

Operational history.

The X-13 was designed to investigate vertical takeoff, horizontal flight transition, and return to vertical flight for landing. The first prototype of the X-13 was equipped with temporary tricycle landing gear. The X-13 was flown conventionally on December 10, 1955 to test its aerodynamic characteristics. The Vertijet was then fitted with a temporary "tail sitting" rig. On May 28, 1956, it was flown from the ground in a vertical position to test its hovering qualities. The X-13 VertiJet completed its first full-cycle flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on April 11, 1957, when it took off vertically from its mobile trailer, angled over into a horizontal attitude, and flew for several minutes. The X-13 then transitioned to vertical flight and slowly descended back onto its trailer and landed.

Survivors.

Only two X-13 aircraft were built and both are on public display:

The Ryan X-13 Vertijet (company designation Model 69) was an experimental vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet aircraft built by Ryan Aeronautical and flown in the United States in the 1950s. The main objective of the project was to demonstrate the ability of a pure jet to vertically takeoff, hover, transition to horizontal forward flight, and vertically land.


Life.

Born the son of a bank clerk in Náchod, Czechoslovakia, Škvorecký graduated in 1943 from the Reálné "gymnasium" in his native Náchod. For two years in the Second World War he was a slave labourer in a Messerschmitt aircraft factory in Náchod.  After the war, he began to study at the Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague, but after his first term he moved to the Faculty of Arts, where he studied philosophy and graduated in 1949. In 1951 he gained a PhD in philosophy. He then taught for two years at the Social School for Girls in Hořice v Podkrkonoší. Between 1952 and 1954 he performed his military service in the Czechoslovak Army.  He worked briefly as a teacher, editor and translator in the 1950s. In this period he completed several novels including his first novel "The Cowards" (written 1948–49, published 1958) and "The End of the Nylon Age" (1956). They were condemned and banned by the Communist authorities after their publication. His prose style, open-ended and improvisational, was an innovation, but this and his democratic ideals were a challenge to the Communist regime. As a result, he lost his job as editor of the magazine "Světová literatura" ("World Literature"). Škvorecký kept writing, and helped nurture the democratic movement that culminated in the Prague Spring in 1968.  After the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia that year, Škvorecký and his wife, writer and actress Zdena Salivarová, fled to Canada.  In 1971, he and his wife founded 68 Publishers which, over the next 20 years, published banned Czech and Slovak books. The imprint became an important mouthpiece for dissident writers, such as Václav Havel, Milan Kundera, and Ludvík Vaculík, among many others. For providing this critical literary outlet, the president of post-Communist Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel, later awarded the couple the Order of the White Lion in 1990.  He taught at the Department of English at the University of Toronto where he was eventually appointed Professor Emeritus of English and Film. He retired in 1990. In Canada, he is considered to be a Canadian author despite the fact that he is mostly published in Czech.

Literary works.

Most of Škvorecký's novels are available in English: the novels "The Cowards", "Miss Silver's Past", "The Republic of Whores", "The Miracle Game", "The Swell Season", "The Engineer of Human Souls" which won a Canadian Governor General's Award, "The Bride of Texas", "Dvořák in Love", "The Tenor Saxophonist's Story", "Two Murders in My Double Life", "An Inexplicable Story or The Narrative of Questus Firmus Siculus", his selected short stories "When Eve Was Naked" and the two short novels "The Bass Saxophone" and "Emöke". A recurring character in several of his novels is Danny Smiricky, who is a partial self-portrait of the author.  He wrote four books of detective stories featuring Lieutenant Boruvka of the Prague Homicide Bureau: "The Mournful Demeanor of Lieutenant Boruvka", "Sins for Father Knox", "The End of Lieutenant Boruvka" and "The Return of Lieutenant Boruvka".  His poetry was published as a collection in 1999 as "...there's no remedy for this pain" (..."na tuhle bolest nejsou prášky").  His non-fiction works include "Talkin' Moscow Blues", a book of essays on jazz, literature and politics, an autobiography "Headed for the Blues", and two books on the Czech cinema including "All the Bright Young Men and Women".  Škvorecký wrote for films and television. The feature film "The Tank Battalion" was adapted from his novel "The Republic of Whores". Other features, written for Prague TV, include "Eine kleine Jazzmusik", adapted from his story of the same name, "The Emöke Legend" from a novella of the same name, and a two-hour TV drama "Poe and the Murder of a Beautiful Girl", based on Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Mystery of Marie Roget". Three very successful TV serials were made from his stories: "Sins for Father Knox", "The Swell Season" and "Murders for Luck".  A film version of the novel "Pastor's End" was produced in 1968, but was never shown and went straight into locked Communist archives due to the fact that its author "illegally" fled the country. In the spring and summer of 1968 Škvorecký and the Czech film director Miloš Forman jointly wrote a script synopsis to make a film version of "The Cowards". After Škvorecký fled the Warsaw Pact invasion the synopsis was translated into English, but no film was made. In the 21st century the English translation was translated back into Czech and has been published.  Prominent in his writing for radio was a long-running monthly series on literature for Voice of America. From 1973 to 1990 he wrote more than 200 of these shows covering notable literary works and discussing literary themes.  He died on January 3, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario from cancer; he was 87 years old.

Awards.

Among his numerous literary awards are the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (1980), the Canadian Governor General's Award for English-language fiction (1984), the Czech Republic State Prize for Literature (1999), the Prize of the Comenius Pangea Foundation "For Improvement of Human Affairs" (2001) which he received with the Polish film director Andrzej Wajda as well as the Angelus Award (2009).  Nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1982.  Awarded the Order of the White Lion by the President of Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel, 1990.  In 1992 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.  Škvorecký was a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.  Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, République Française, 1996.

Selected bibliography.

Novels  Novellas  Collections of short stories  Collections of essays

Josef Škvorecký, (; September 27, 1924 – January 3, 2012) was a Czech-Canadian writer and publisher. He spent half of his life in Canada, publishing and supporting banned Czech literature during the communist era. Škvorecký was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1980. He and his wife were long-time supporters of Czech dissident writers before the fall of communism in that country. Škvorecký's fiction deals with several themes: the horrors of totalitarianism and repression, the expatriate experience, and the miracle of jazz.


Description.

They are usually small trees or shrubs with a short lifespan, though the famous "Samán del Guère" near Maracay in Venezuela is a huge "Albizia saman" specimen several hundred years old. The leaves are pinnately or bipinnately compound. The small flowers are in bundles, with stamens much longer than the petals. The stamens are usually showy, although in some species such as "A. canescens" the flowers are inconspicuous.  Unlike those of "Mimosa", "Albizia" flowers have many more than 10 stamens. "Albizia" can also be told apart from another large related genus, "Acacia", by its stamens, which are joined at the bases instead of separate.

Taxonomy.

Numerous species placed in "Albizia" by early authors were eventually moved to other genera, most notably "Archidendron". Other genera of Ingeae ("Abarema", "Archidendropsis", "Blanchetiodendron", "Calliandra", "Cathormion", "Enterolobium", "Havardia", "Hesperalbizia", "Hydrochorea", "Pararchidendron", "Paraserianthes", "Pseudosamanea" and "Serianthes") have also received their share of former "Albizia" species, as have the Mimoseae "Newtonia" and "Schleinitzia". Some presumed "silk trees" are in fact misidentified members of the not very closely related genus "Erythrophleum" from the Caesalpinioideae and "Lebeckia" from the Faboideae.  The delimitation of "Falcataria" and "Pithecellobium", close relatives of "Albizia", is notoriously complex, with species having been moved between the genera time and again, and this will likely continue. These include "Falcataria moluccana" (the Moluccan albizia, formerly named "Albizia moluccana"), a common shade tree on tea plantations. Other closely related genera like "Chloroleucon" and "Samanea" are often merged with "Albizia" entirely.

Uses.

Albizias are important forage, timber, and medicinal plants, and many are cultivated as ornamentals for their attractive flowers - notably "Albizia julibrissin".  Some species are used as food plants by the larvae of moths in the genus "Endoclita", including "E. damor", "E. malabaricus", and "E. sericeus".

Invasiveness.

Molucca albizia ("Falcataria moluccana" (synonyms: "Adenanthera falcataria, Albizia falcataria, Paraserianthes falcataria")) is considered an invasive species in Hawaii and on many other Pacific Islands. The tree grows very rapidly and can quickly colonize disturbed areas in wet environments. It tends to shed large branches, damaging power lines, houses, and other infrastructure in Hawaii.

Albizia is a genus of more than 160 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, America and Australia, but mostly in the Old World tropics. In some locations, some species are considered weeds.


Names.

"Albizia julibrissin" is known by a wide variety of common names, such as Persian silk tree and pink siris. It is also called Lenkoran acacia or bastard tamarind, though it is not too closely related to either genus. The species is called Chinese silk tree, silk tree or mimosa in the United States, which is misleading - the former name can refer to any species of "Albizia" which is most common in any one locale. And, although once included in "Mimosa", neither is it very close to the Mimoseae. To add to the confusion, several species of "Acacia", notably "Acacia baileyana" and "Acacia dealbata", are also known as "mimosa" (especially in floristry), and many Fabaceae trees with highly divided leaves are called thus in horticulture.  Its leaves slowly close during the night and during periods of rain, the leaflets bowing downward; thus its modern Persian name shabkhosb (شب خسب) means "night sleeper". In Japan its common names are nemunoki, nemurinoki and nenenoki which all mean "sleeping tree". Nemu tree is a partial translation of "nemunoki".

Description.

"A. julibrissin" is a small deciduous tree growing to tall, with a broad crown of level or arching branches. The bark is dark greenish grey in colour and striped vertically as it gets older. The leaves are bipinnate, long and broad, divided into 6–12 pairs of pinnae, each with 20–30 pairs of leaflets; the leaflets are oblong, long and broad. The flowers are produced throughout the summer in dense inflorescences, the individual flowers with small calyx and corolla (except the central ones), and a tight cluster of stamens 2–3 cm long, white or pink with a white base, looking like silky threads. They have been observed to be attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. The fruit is a flat brown pod long and broad, containing several seeds inside.  There are two varieties:

Habitat, cultivation and uses.

Original habitats of the tree include regions from Iran (Persia) and the Republic of Azerbaijan to China and Korea.  "A. julibrissin" is widely planted as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens, grown for its fine leaf texture, flowers and attractive horizontal canopy. Other positive attributes are a fast growth rate, low water requirements and the ability to thrive planted in full sun in hot summer climates. It is very frequently planted in semi-arid areas like California's Central Valley, central Texas and Oklahoma. Although capable of surviving drought, growth will be stunted and the tree tends to look sickly. As such it should be given infrequent, deep waterings during the summer, which will benefit growth and flowering.  The broad crown of a mature tree makes it useful for providing dappled shade. The flower colour varies from white in "A. julibrissin" f. "alba", to rich red-tipped flowers. Variants with cream or pale yellow flowers are also reported. Other cultivars are becoming available: 'Summer Chocolate' has red foliage ageing to dark bronze, with pale pink flowers; 'Ishii Weeping' (or 'Pendula') has a drooping growth habit.

"A. julibrissin" f. "rosea".

There is also a form, "A. julibrissin" f. "rosea" (pink silk tree) which has, in the past, been classed either as a variety or as a cultivar. This is a smaller tree, only growing to 5–7 m (15-25 ft) tall, with the flowers always pink. Native to the northeast of the species' range in Korea and Northern China, it is more cold-tolerant than the typical form, surviving temperatures down to at least -25 °C. The selected cultivar "A. julibrissin" 'Ernest Wilson' (also known as 'E.H.Wilson' or 'Rosea') is a cold-tolerant tree with deep pink flower colour. In Japan, "A. julibrissin" f. "rosea" is often used for non-traditional bonsai. The name "nemunoki"*(Jap. ねむの木, Kanji: 合歓木) and its variants is a "kigo" representing the summer in haiku, especially a sleepy summer evening.  "A. julibrissin" f. "rosea" has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit; likewise the cultivar 'Summer Chocolate'.

Other uses.

The sweet-scented flowers are a good nectar source for honeybees and butterflies.  There is conflicting information on the toxicity of pods and seeds to humans and animals; some parts of the plant may contain neurotoxin. Consult with a medical professional expert before eating or feeding.

Invasive species.

In the wild, the tree tends to grow in dry plains, sandy valleys, and uplands. It has become an invasive species in the United States. It has spread from southern New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, west to Missouri and Illinois, and south to Florida and Texas. It is cultivated in California and Oregon. Its seeds are numerous and they are fertile even over long periods of drought. Each pod, which resembles a flattened bean pod made of paper, contains an average of 8 seeds. The pods burst in strong winds, and the seeds carry over surprisingly long distances.  Breeding work is currently under way in the United States to produce ornamental plants which will not set seed and can therefore be planted without risk. However, in the eastern United States it is generally a short-lived tree, being highly susceptible to mimosa vascular wilt, a fungal disease caused by a species of "Fusarium", though the disease does not seem to have seriously impacted its populations. Because of its invasive tendencies and disease susceptibility, it is rarely recommended as an ornamental plant in the US, though it is still widely planted in parts of Europe.

Albizia julibrissin, the Persian silk tree or pink silk tree, is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, native to southwestern and eastern Asia.


Symbolism and mythology.

Damavand is a significant mountain in Persian mythology. It is the symbol of Iranian resistance against despotism and foreign rule in Persian poetry and literature. In Zoroastrian texts and mythology, the three-headed dragon Aži Dahāka was chained within Mount Damāvand, there to remain until the end of the world. In a later version of the same legend, the tyrant Zahhāk was also chained in a cave somewhere in Mount Damāvand after being defeated by Kāveh and Fereydūn. Persian poet Ferdowsi depicts this event in his masterpiece, the "Shahnameh":  "biyâvarad Zahhâk râ čon navand "be kuh-e Damâvand krdš beband"  He brought Zahhak like a horse to mount Damavand, And tied him at the peak tight and bound  The mountain is said to hold magical powers in the "Shahnameh". Damāvand has also been named in the Iranian legend of Arash (as recounted by Bal'ami) as the location from which the hero shot his magical arrow to mark the border of Iran, during the border dispute between Iran and Turan. The poem Damāvand by Mohammad Taqī Bahār is also one fine example of the mountain's significance in Persian literature. The first verse of this poem reads:  "Ey div-e sepid-e pâyi dar band, "Ey gonbad-e giti, ey Damāvand"  O white giant with feet in chains O dome of the world, O Damāvand  Mount Damavand is depicted on the reverse of the Iranian 10,000 rials banknote.  The origins and meaning of the word "Damavand" is unclear, yet some prominent researchers have speculated that it probably means "The mountain from which smoke and ash arises", alluding to the volcanic nature of the mountain.

Geology.

Mount Damavand first erupted in the Pleistocene almost 1.78 million years ago. After several known eruptions around 600,000 and 280,000 years ago, its last eruption was around 5300 BC in the Holocene. Its steep cone is formed of ash and lava flows mainly of trachyte, andesite and basalt. The Quaternary lavas are directly on the Jurassic sediments. The volcano is crowned by a small crater with sulfuric deposits. There are also fumaroles, hot springs, and mineral deposits of travertine. Mount Damavand could be considered as a potentially active volcano, because there are fumaroles near the summit crater emitting sulfur, which were known to be active on July 6, 2007.

Thermal springs.

Mineral hot springs are mainly located on the volcano's flanks and at the base, giving evidence of volcanic heat comparatively near the surface of the earth. While no historic eruptions have been recorded, hot springs at the base and on the flanks, and fumaroles and solfatara near the summit, indicate a hot or cooling magma body still present beneath the volcano.  The most important of these hot springs are located in "Abe Garm Larijan" in a village by the name Larijan in the district of Larijan in Lar Valley. The water from this spring is useful in the treatment of chronic wounds and skin diseases. Near these springs there are public baths with small pools for public use.

Routes to the summit.

A major settlement for mountain climbers is the new Iranian Mountain Federation Camp in the village of Polour, located on the south of the mountain.  There are at least 16 known routes to the summit, with varying levels of difficulty. Some of them are dangerous and require ice climbing. The most popular route is the southern route which has steps and a camp midway called Bargah Sevom Camp/Shelter at. The longest route is the Northeastern and it takes two days to reach the summit starting from downhill village of Nāndal and a night stay at Takht-e Fereydoun (elevation, a two-story shelter. The western route is noted for its sunset view. Sīmorgh shelter in this route at is a newly constructed two story shelter. There is a frozen waterfall/icefall (Persian name Ābshār Yakhī) about tall and the elevation of is the highest fall in Iran and Middle East.

Wildlife.

Fish.

Damavand rivers and slopes are famous for brown trout ("Salmo trutta").

Mammals.

Armenian mouflon ("Ovis orientalis") and wild goat ("Capra aegagrus") live in the region of Damavand Mts. Persian leopard ("Panthera pardus saxicolor") and Syrian brown bear ("Ursus arctos syriacus") live in this region. Some smaller mammals are the snow vole ("Chionomys nivalis"), mouse-like hamster ("Calomyscus bailwardi") and Afghan pika ("Ochoton rufescens").

Birds.

The attractive and unreachable Caspian snowcock ("Tetraogallus caspius") lives at high altitudes. Golden eagle ("Aquila chrysaetos") breeds in this area. Griffon vultures ("Gyps fulvus") are common. Chukar partridge ("Alectoris chukar") has a high population and nests between stone and shrubs. Red-fronted serin ("Serinus pusillus"), linnet ("Carduelis cannabina"), snow finch ("Montifringilla nivalis"), rock sparrow ("Petronia petronia"), rock bunting ("Emberiza cia") and horned lark ("Eremophila alpestris") are native; in winter they come to the lower hillsides. In spring wheatear ("Oenanthe oenanthe"), rock thrush ("Monticola saxatilis"), and nightingale ("Luscinia megarhynchos") come from Africa for breeding. Grey-necked bunting ("Emberiza buchanani"), black-headed bunting ("Emberiza melanocephala") and common rosefinch ("Carpodacus erythrinus") come from India.

Reptiles and amphibians.

Marsh frogs ("Rana ridibunda") live in Lar riversides. Meadow viper ("Vipera ursinii"), blunt-nosed viper ("Macrovipera lebetina"), Iranian valley viper ("Vipera latifii") and Caucasian agama ("Laudakia caucasia") are among the reptiles of this mountainous region.

Flora.

On the southern slope of Damavand, there are remnants of wild pistachia trees ("Pistacia atlantica"). Along its riversides different kinds of "Salix" trees like willow ("Salix acomphylla") and oleaster ("Elaeagnus angustifolia") are found. Greek juniper ("Juniperus excelsa") is common in the higher altitudes. On northern slopes, because of higher humidity, there are wild oak, beech and hazel trees like: Persian Oak ("Quercus macranthera"), Eastern Hornbean ("Carpinus orientalis"), and Oriental beech ("Fagus orientalis"). There are also many wild flowers such as mountain tulip ("Tulipa montana") and Persian stone cress ("Aethionema grandiflorum"). At higher altitudes, shrubs tend to be sphere and cushion like, examples are : "Astragalus" species ("Astragalus microcephalus"), mountain sainfoin ("Onobrychis cornuta") and prickly ("Acantholimon erinaceum"). Different kinds of grasses complete this alpine scene. "Iris barnumiae demawendica" (formerly "Iris demawendica"), is found and named after the mountain.  Between mid-May to mid-June the foothills of.This unique type of poppy, growing in areas between 2000 to 3500 meters high, is mentioned as Lar poppy or Rineh poppy in valid botany books. (Rineh and Lar are villages located in the foothills of Damavand).

National Heritage Site.

An anthropologist of Mazandaran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department, Touba Osanlou, has said that a proposal has been made by a group of Iranian mountaineers to register the highest peak in the Middle East, Mount Damavand as a national heritage site. Mazandaran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department has accepted the proposal, the Persian daily Jam-e Jam reported. Osanlou noted that the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization is presently in the process of renaming an upcoming ancient festivity after Mount Damavand. "We have proposed Tirgan Festivity, Tabari Nowruz, to be named as Damavand National Day," she added. Tirgan Festivity is held in Amol County's Rineh region in Mazandaran province.

Mount Damavand ( ), a potentially active volcano 5600-m high, is a stratovolcano which is the highest peak in Iran and the highest volcano in Asia. Damāvand has a special place in Persian mythology and folklore. It is in the middle of the Alborz range, adjacent to "Varārū", "Sesang", "Gol-e Zard", and "Mīānrūd". It is near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, in Amol County, Mazandaran Province, 66 kilometres (41 miles) northeast of the city of Tehran.


Biography.

Uzi Narkiss was born in Jerusalem to Polish Jewish parents. His first memory was of going into hiding during the 1929 Arab riots. Narkiss attended high school at Gymnasia Rehavia. He joined the Palmach at the age of 16 and was involved in Haganah operations against British Mandatory forces in Palestine.

Military career.

In April 1948, Narkiss headed the assault on Katamon with the Fourth Battalion of the Harel Brigade, during which time they captured the monastery at San Simon — a key strategic position. Following the final departure of the British in May 1948 and the Israeli Declaration of Independence, Narkiss was appointed to assist those besieged in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. Narkiss' unit, dubbed a "diversionary force," succeeded in penetrating Zion Gate, bringing in supplies and evacuating the wounded from those under siege. When military reinforcements failed to appear, however, Narkiss ordered his men to retreat, with the Old City falling to Jordanian forces shortly thereafter.  Narkiss spent several years in France during the formative years of Israel, seconded to study at the École de Guerre (the French Military Academy) and later in the capacity of Israeli military attaché, having been awarded the Légion d’honneur by the French government. Narkiss returned to Israel to continue his military career and in 1965 became the first director of the Israel National Defense College.  During the Six-Day War on June 5, 1967, with seven brigades under his command known as Central Command, Narkiss was responsible for combating any possible Jordanian offensive. Capturing the Old City was not part of the plan. Israeli units moved effectively to take key positions in east Jerusalem, where one key location was Ammunition Hill. Still, to Narkiss' dismay, the politicians would still not allow the Old City to be taken. But with a looming cease fire approaching after an emergency meeting of the UN, Moshe Dayan gave the order to Narkiss who quickly capitalised on the opportunity to capture the city before any cease fire prevented this as an option. Under his direction, the Old City was captured on June 7 and Jerusalem was reunified under Israeli control. From Narkiss' viewpoint, this completed the campaign he had begun 19 years earlier, and whose previous failure had haunted him.  After the war the Palestinian village of Beit Awwa was completely destroyed. Moshe Dayan claimed the destruction was carried out under the orders of an officer who wished to expel the residents; Brigadier General Uzi Narkiss claimed the credit for the action.  Narkiss retired from the IDF in 1968, subsequently holding key positions in the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization. In 1948 Uzi Narkiss searched the body of the dead Palestinian commander Abdul Kader Husseini for his Koran on the battlefield. In the 1980s he wanted to give it to Kader's son Faisal Husseini but only "in the presence of journalists and TV cameras – otherwise I am not interested". Husseini was not interested under such terms, therefore Narkiss kept it in his library.

Personal Life.

He died in Jerusalem at the age of 72.

Uzi Narkiss (; January 6, 1925 – December 17, 1997) was an Israeli general. Narkiss was commander of the Israel Defense Forces units in the Central Region during the 1967 Six-Day War. Narkiss appears in the famous photograph of Defense Minister Moshe Dayan flanked by Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin and himself, taken in the Old City of Jerusalem shortly after its capture from Jordanian forces in the war.


Life and work.

Early life.

Tranströmer was born in Stockholm in 1931 and raised by his mother Helmy, a schoolteacher, following her divorce from his father, Gösta Tranströmer, an editor. He received his secondary education at the Södra Latin Gymnasium in Stockholm, where he began writing poetry. In addition to selected journal publications, his first collection of poems, "17 Poems", was published in 1954. He continued his education at Stockholm University, graduating as a psychologist in 1956 with additional studies in history, religion and literature. Between 1960 and 1966, Tranströmer split his time between working as a psychologist at the Roxtuna center for juvenile offenders and writing poetry.

Poetry.

Tranströmer is considered to be one of the "most influential Scandinavian poet[s] of recent decades". Tranströmer published 15 collected works over his extensive career, which have been translated into over 60 languages. An English translation by Robin Fulton of his entire body of work, "New Collected Poems", was published in the UK in 1987 and expanded in 1997. Following the publication of "The Great Enigma", Fulton's edition was further expanded into "The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems," published in the US in 2006 and as an updated edition of "New Collected Poems" in the UK in 2011. He published a short autobiography, "Minnena ser mig" "(The Memories see me)", in 1993.  By the mid-1960s, Tranströmer became close friends with poet Robert Bly. The two corresponded frequently, and Bly would translate Tranströmer's poems into English. In 2001 Bonniers, Tranströmer's publisher, released "Air Mail", a work consisting of Tranströmer's and Bly's day-to-day correspondence on personal, contemporary and literary matters c. 1965–1991 – in a style that vividly conveyed how close friends the two had soon become. Bly also helped arrange readings for his fellow poet in America. The Syrian poet Adunis helped spread Tranströmer's fame in the Arab world, accompanying him on reading tours.  In the 1970s, other poets accused Tranströmer of being detached from his own age, since he did not deal overtly with social and political issues in his poems and novels. His work, though, lies within and further develops the Modernist and Expressionist/Surrealist language of 20th-century poetry; his clear, seemingly simple pictures from everyday life and nature in particular reveals a mystic insight to the universal aspects of the human mind. A poem of his was read at Anna Lindh's memorial service in 2003.  Tranströmer went to Bhopal immediately after the gas tragedy in 1984, and alongside Indian poets such as K. Satchidanandan, took part in a poetry reading session outside the plant.  Tranströmer suffered a stroke in 1990 that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak; however, he continued to write and publish poetry through the early 2000s. One of his final original volumes of poetry, "Den stora gåtan", was published in 2004, translated into English in 2006 as "The Great Enigma".

Music.

Tranströmer played the piano throughout his life; after his stroke, which paralyzed the right side of his body, he taught himself to play only with his left hand. He often said that the playing was a way for him to continue living after the stroke.  Tranströmer's daughter is a concert singer. In 2011 she released the album "Dagsmeja", containing songs based on Tranströmer's poems.  Many composers and musicians have worked with his poems. Among these are Jan Garbarek, Torbjörn Nilsson, Maurice Karkoff, Lennart Hedwall, Håkan Parkman, Fredrik Jakobsson, Gustav Alexandrie, Ulf Grahn, Stig Gustav Schönberg, Madeleine Isaksson, Per Gunnar Petersson, Margareta Hallin, Lars Edlund, Sven-David Sandström, Johan-Magnus Sjöberg, Jan Sandström, Andrea Tarrodi, Maria Löfberg, Anders Eliasson and Bo Hansson.

Death.

Tranströmer died in Stockholm on 26 March 2015 at 83, less than 3 weeks before his 84th birthday.

Awards and honours.

Other awards include the Övralid Prize, the Petrarca-Preis in Germany and the Swedish Award from International Poetry Forum.

Nobel Prize in Literature, 2011.

Tranströmer was announced as the recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the 108th winner of the award and the first Swede to win since 1974. Tranströmer had been considered a perennial frontrunner for the award in years past, with reporters waiting near his residence on the day of the announcement in prior years. The Swedish Academy revealed that he had been nominated every single year since 1993.  Tranströmer's wife, Monica, said he had been notified by telephone four minutes before the announcement was made. The Nobel Committee stated that Tranströmer's work received the prize “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality."  Permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy Peter Englund said, "He's been writing poetry since 1951 when he made his debut. And has quite a small production, really. He's writing about big questions. He's writing about death, he's writing about history and memory, and nature." Prime Minister of Sweden Fredrik Reinfeldt said he was ”happy and proud” at the news of Tranströmer's achievement. Meanwhile, international response to the award has been mixed. The prize announcement led to the immediate reissuing of at least two volumes of Tranströmer's poetry.

Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (; 15 April 1931 – 26 March 2015) was a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems captured the long Swedish winters, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature. Tranströmer's work is also characterized by a sense of mystery and wonder underlying the routine of everyday life, a quality which often gives his poems a religious dimension. He has been described as a Christian poet.


Archaeological work.

The culture was concentrated around the main settlement site of 25 hectares in the West delta of the Nile in Lower Egypt 45 km northwest of Cairo. The site was discovered by German archaeologist and former Roman Catholic priest Hermann Junker, who excavated 6,400 m2 of the site during his West Nile Delta expedition in 1928. The expedition was financed by Albert Rothbart from New York City for the account of the Vienna Academy.  Later excavations in the 1970s performed by the Egyptian Antiquities Organization and the German Institute of Archaeology led to the establishment of the stratigraphical sequence.

Characteristics.

Merimde shows a sequence of occupations which lasted almost a millennium according to some estimates. While Junker identified three sequences, others such as Joseph Eiwanger established in 1977 that there are five with significantly different levels of development. Artifacts such as ceramics were quite primitive during phase I —a phase characterized by a light occupation. Eiwanger documented that storage areas appeared during phase II when the intensity of the occupation increased.

Economy.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the Merimde economy was dominated by agriculture although some fishing and hunting were practiced to a lesser degree. The settlement consisted of small huts made of wattle and reed with a round or elliptical ground plan. Merimde pottery lacked rippled marks.

Burials.

Burials had unique characteristics, different from those practiced in Upper Egyptian Predynastic Egypt and later Dynastic Egypt. There were no separate areas for cemeteries and the dead were buried within the settlement in a contracted position in oval pits without grave goods and offerings.  In the time of the Maadi culture, the place was used as a cemetery.  Excavations of Merimde burials have yielded a number of skeletons, chiefly those of females. The fossils are generally taller and more robust than later predynastic Egyptian specimens. In this regard, the Merimde skeletons are most similar to those associated with the Tasian culture. Furthermore, although the Merimde crania are dolichocephalic (long-headed) like many of the other predynastic skulls, they have a large and wide vault like the Tasian crania. Skulls excavated from Badarian, Amratian sites tend instead to be smaller and narrow.

The Merimde culture (also Merimde Beni-Salame or Benisalam) () was a Neolithic culture in the West Nile Delta in Lower Egypt, which corresponds in its later phase to the Faiyum A culture and the Badari culture in Predynastic Egypt. It is estimated that the culture evolved between 4800 and 4300 BC. Merimde also refers to the archaeological site of the same name.


Biography.

Pietro Pomponazzi was born in Mantua and began his education there. He completed his studies at Padua, where he became a medical doctor in 1487. In 1488 he was elected extraordinary professor of philosophy at Padua, where he was a colleague of Alessandro Achillini, the Averroist. From about 1495 to 1509 he occupied the chair of natural philosophy until the closing of the schools of Padua, when he took a professorship at Ferrara where he lectured on the Aristotle's "De anima" (the soul) and entelechy. In 1512 he was invited to Bologna where he remained until his death and where he produced all his important works.  The predominance of medical science at Padua had cramped his energies, but at Ferrara, and even more at Bologna, the study of psychology and theological speculation were more important. In 1516 he produced his great work "De immortalitate animae" ("On the Immortality of the Soul"), which gave rise to a storm of controversy between the orthodox Thomists of the Catholic Church, the Averroists headed by Agostino Nifo, and the so-called Alexandrist School. The treatise was burned at Venice, and Pomponazzi himself ran serious risk of death at the hands of the Catholics. Two pamphlets followed, the "Apologia" and the "Defensorium," wherein he explained his paradoxical position as Catholic and philosophic materialist. His last two treatises, the "De incantationibus" and the "De fato", were posthumously published in an edition of his works printed at Basel.  Pomponazzi is profoundly interesting as the herald of the Renaissance. He was born in the period of transition when scholastic formalism was losing its hold over men both in the Church and outside. Hitherto the dogma of the Church had been based on Aristotle as interpreted by Thomas Aquinas. So close was this identification that any attack on Aristotle, or even an attempt to reopen the old discussions on the Aristotelian problems, was regarded as a dangerous heresy. Pomponazzi claimed the right to study Aristotle for himself, and devoted himself to the "De anima" with the view of showing that Thomas Aquinas had entirely misconceived the Aristotelian theory of the active and the passive intellect.  In "On the Immortality of the Soul" Pomponazzi argued specifically that Aquinas and Aristotle clash over the question of the immortality of the soul. While Pomponazzi himself does not follow Aristotle in this respect, he argues that Aristotle very clearly argues for the absolute mortality of the soul, with only limited features of immortality. He was not the first to make this claim, and appears to have been influenced by the Greek commentator on Aristotle, Alexander of Aphrodisias. He further claims that the immortality of the soul cannot be determined through reason, and thus must be left to the powers of God. Since the scriptures reveal that God has made the soul immortal, argued Pomponazzi, we too can accept as true the immortality of the soul and thereby go beyond the limits of reason. (This debate influenced his 1591-1631 successor in the chair Cesare Cremonini, whose adherence to Aristotle led to the opposite conclusion of the mortality of the soul.)  Pomponazzi declared his adherence to the Catholic faith, and despite the controversy over his initial work, it was not condemned by the Church. Again it was established that the principle that religion and philosophy, faith and knowledge, may be diametrically opposed and yet coexist for the same thinker. This curious paradox he exemplifies in the "De incantatione", where he sums up against the existence of demons and spirits on the basis of the Aristotelian theory of the cosmos, and, as a believing Christian, asserts his faith in their existence. In this work he insists emphatically upon the orderly sequence of nature, cause and effect. They grow to maturity and then decay; so religions have their day and succumb. Even Christianity, he added (with the proviso that he is speaking as a philosopher) was showing indications of decline.  He died in Bologna.

Pietro Pomponazzi (16 September 1462 – 18 May 1525) was an Italian philosopher. He is sometimes known by his Latin name, "Petrus Pomponatius".