The article about the French writer is at Madame de Lafayette

Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, madame de La Fayette (2 November 1759 – 24 December 1807). She was born in Paris at the family home, the Hôtel de Noailles. Known as Mademoiselle d'Ayen-she was the second daughter of the duc d'Ayen, a powerful French noble-prior to her marriage to Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, in the chapel of the Hôtel de Noailles on April 11, 1774. The couple lived there for the first few years of their marriage. They had four children.

Children

Adrienne Henriette Catherine Charlotte du Motier (Hôtel de Noailles 15 December 1775- Paris 3 October 1777) died young.
 Anastasie Louise Pauline Motier du Motier  (Paris 1 July 1777 - Turin  24 February 1863, Turin) married Jules César Charles de Fay, Count of La Tour Maubourg.
 George Washington Louis Gilbert du Motier (24 December 1779 - 29 November 1849) died childless but married Émilie d'Estutt de Tracy.
 Marie Antoinette Virginie du Motier (17 September 1782 - 23 July 1849) married Louis de Lasteyrie du Saillant, Marquis of Lasteyrie.

Her only son was named after George Washington and her youngest daughter was named in honour of Queen Marie Antoinette.

Titles

2 November 1759 - April 11 1774 Mademoiselle d'Ayen.
April 11 1774 - 24 December 1807 The Marquise o La Fayette.

References

3. Russel Freedman, Lafayette and the American Revolution (Johor Bahru, Malaysia, HOLIDAY HOUSE, 2010)

1759 births
1807 deaths
French nobility

Adrienne de La Fayette


For the American biographer, see Nancy Milford.

Nancy Freeman-Mitford  (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973), known as Nancy Mitford, was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London social scene in the inter-war period. She wrote several novels about upper-class life in England and France, and is considered a sharp and often provocative wit. She also has a reputation as a writer of popular historical biographies.

Mitford enjoyed a privileged childhood as the eldest daughter of David Freeman-Mitford, later 2nd Baron Redesdale. Educated privately, she had no training as a writer before publishing her first novel in 1931. This early effort and the three that followed it created little stir. Her two semi-autobiographical post-war novels, The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949), established her reputation.

Mitford's marriage to Peter Rodd (1933) proved unsatisfactory to both, and they divorced in 1957 after a lengthy separation. During the Second World War she formed a liaison with a Free French officer, Gaston Palewski, who was the love of her life. After the war, Mitford settled in France and lived there until her death, maintaining contact with her many English friends through letters and regular visits.

During the 1950s, Mitford developed the concept of "U" (upper) and "non-U" language, whereby social origins and standing were identified by words used in everyday speech. She had intended this as a joke, but many took it seriously, and Mitford was considered an authority on manners and breeding.

Her later years were bittersweet, as the success of her biographical studies of Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire and King Louis XIV contrasted with the ultimate failure of her relationship with Palewski. From the late 1960s onward, her health deteriorated, and she endured several years of painful illness before her death in 1973.

Family

The Mitford family dates from the Norman era, when Sir John de Mitford held the Castle of Mitford in Northumberland. A later Sir John held several important public offices during the late 14th and early 15th centuries, and the family maintained a tradition of public service for many generations. In the 18th century William Mitford was a leading classical historian, responsible for the definitive history of ancient Greece. His great-grandson Algernon Bertram Mitford, born in 1837 and known as "Bertie", was a diplomat and traveller who held minor office in Disraeli's second ministry, from 1874 to 1880. In 1874 he married Clementina, the second daughter of David Ogilvy, 10th Earl of Airlie, a union that linked the Mitfords to some of Britain's most prominent aristocratic families. Blanche Ogilvy, Clementina's elder sister, became the wife of Sir Henry Montague Hozier, a soldier turned businessman. Their four children included daughters Clementine ("Clemmie"), who in 1908 married the future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Nellie, who married Bertram Romilly. Both Hozier and Blanche were promiscuous, and it is generally accepted by historians and family members that Hozier was not Clemmie's father although he was registered as such. Blanche told her friend Lady Londonderry, shortly before Clemmie's birth, that the father of the expected child was her own brother-in-law, Bertie Mitford. Most historians believe that other candidates for the paternity are more likely.

Bertie Mitford's marriage produced five sons and four daughters. His career in government service ended in 1886 when, after the death of a cousin, he inherited a considerable fortune. A condition of the inheritance was that he adopt the surname "Freeman-Mitford". He rebuilt Batsford House in Gloucestershire, the family's country seat, served briefly as a Unionist MP in the 1890s and otherwise devoted himself to books, writings and travel. In 1902, he was raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Redesdale, a re-creation of a title that had previously been held in the family but had lapsed in 1886.

Selective Mitford family tree

Childhood

Parentage
Nancy Mitford's father, David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, was Bertie Mitford's second son, born on 13 March 1878. After several years as a tea planter in Ceylon he fought in the Boer War of 1899–1902 and was severely wounded. In 1903 he became engaged to Sydney Bowles, the elder daughter of Thomas Gibson Bowles, known as "Tap", a journalist, editor and magazine proprietor whose publications included Vanity Fair and The Lady. The couple were married on 16 February 1904, after which they rented a house in Graham Street in West London. Bowles provided his son-in-law with a job, as business manager of The Lady magazine. David had little interest in reading and knew nothing of business; thus, according to Nancy Mitford's biographer Selina Hastings, "a less congenial post ... could hardly have been imagined". He remained in this position for 10 years. The couple's first child, a daughter, was born on 28 November 1904; they had intended to call her Ruby, but after she was born they changed their minds and named her Nancy.

First years
Responsibility for Nancy Mitford's day-to-day upbringing was delegated to her nanny and nursemaid, within the framework of Sydney's short-lived belief that children should never be corrected or be spoken to in anger. Before this experiment was discontinued, the young Nancy Mitford had become self-centred and uncontrollable; Hastings writes that her first years were "characterised by roaring, red-faced rages". Just before her third birthday, a sister, Pamela, was born; the nanny's apparent change of loyalty in favour of the new arrival was a further source of outrage to Mitford, and throughout their childhood and into young adulthood she continued to vent her displeasure on her sister.

In January 1909 a brother, Tom was born, and in June 1910 another sister, Diana, followed. That summer, to relieve the pressure on what was becoming an overcrowded nursery, Nancy Mitford attended the nearby Francis Holland School. The few months she spent there represented almost the whole of her formal schooling; in the autumn the family moved to a larger house in Victoria Road, Kensington, after which Nancy was educated at home by successive governesses. Summers were spent at the family's cottage near High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, or with the children's Redesdale grandparents at Batsford Park. In the winter of 1913–14 David and Sydney visited Canada, prospecting for gold on a claim that David had purchased in Swastika, Ontario. It was here that their fifth child was conceived, a daughter born in London on 8 August 1914 and christened Unity.

War, Batsford Park and Asthall Manor
On the outbreak of the First World War on 4 August 1914, David re-joined his regiment and was soon in France. In May 1915, Clement, David's older brother, was killed while serving with the 10th Royal Hussars, which made David heir to the Redesdale title and lands. On 17 August 1916 Bertie Mitford died; David, still serving at the front, became the 2nd Baron Redesdale. Sydney quickly took possession of Batsford House, much of which had been shut up for many years, and occupied the portion of it that she could afford to heat. The children had the run of the house and grounds, and were taught together in the schoolroom. This was a source of frustration for Nancy, whose lively intelligence required greater stimulus. She spent many hours reading in the Batsford House library where, according to Hastings, the foundations of her intellectual life were laid.

The Redesdale estates were extensive, but uneconomical. At the end of the war Redesdale decided to sell Batsford Park and move his increasing family (a fifth daughter, Jessica, had been born in September 1917) to less extravagant accommodation. The house was sold early in 1919, together with much of its contents—including, to Nancy's great dismay, a large part of its library. The new family home was Asthall Manor, a Jacobean mansion near Swinbrook in Oxfordshire. This was intended as a short-term measure while a new house was built on land nearby. The family stayed in Asthall Manor for seven years, and it became the basis of many of the family scenes which Nancy was later to portray in her semi-autobiographical novels.

Growing up proved a difficult process for Nancy. Unable to form a relationship with Pamela, the sister nearest to her in age, she was bored and irritated by her younger siblings, and vented her feelings by teasing and tormenting them. Although there was undoubtedly cruelty in her taunting—the other children, led by Tom, formed a "Leag (sic) against Nancy"—her teasing was also, according to the later reflections of her nephew Alexander Mosley: "a highly-honed weapon to keep a lot of highly competitive, bright, energetic sisters in order. She used it ... as a form of self protection". Not all her interactions with her siblings were hostile; for their amusement she edited and produced a magazine, The Boiler, to which she contributed entertainingly gruesome murder stories.

In 1921, after years of pleading for proper schooling, Nancy was allowed a year's boarding at Hatherop Castle, an informal private establishment for young ladies of good family. Laura Thompson, in her biography of Nancy, describes Hatherop as not so much a school, "more a chaste foretaste of debutante life". Here Nancy learned French and other subjects, played organised games and joined a Girl Guide troop. It was her first extended experience of life away from home, and she enjoyed it. The following year she was allowed to accompany four other girls on a cultural trip to Paris, Florence and Venice; her letters home are full of expressions of wonder at the sights and treasures: "I had no idea I was so fond of pictures ... if only I had a room of my own I would make it a regular picture gallery".

Debutante and socialite
Nancy's eighteenth birthday in November 1922 was the occasion for a grand "coming-out" ball, which marked the beginning of her entry into Society. That was followed in June 1923 by her presentation at Court, a formal introduction to King George V at Buckingham Palace, after which she was officially "out" and could attend the balls and parties that constituted the London Season. She spent much of the next few years in a round of social events, making new friends and mixing with the "Bright Young People" of 1920s London. Nancy declared that "we hardly saw the light of day, except at dawn". In 1926 Asthall Manor was finally sold. While the new house at Swinbrook was made ready, the female members of the family were sent for three months to Paris, a period which, says Hastings, began Nancy's "lifelong love affair" with France.

Among Nancy's new London friends was Evelyn Gardner who, Nancy informed her brother Tom, was engaged "to a man called Evelyn Waugh who writes, I believe, very well". She and Waugh later developed a lasting friendship. Although she was now of age, her father maintained an aggressive hostility towards most of her male friends, particularly since, as Hastings remarks, these tended towards the frivolous, the aesthetic and the effeminate. Among them was Hamish St Clair Erskine, the second son of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn, an Oxford undergraduate four years Nancy's junior. He was, according to Hastings, the least suitable partner of all, "the most shimmering and narcissistic of all the beautiful butterflies"—and the one most likely to offend Lord Redesdale. The pair met in 1928 and became unofficially engaged, despite his homosexuality (of which Nancy may not have been aware). Against a backdrop of negativity from family and friends—Waugh advised her to "dress better and catch a better man"—the engagement endured sporadically for several years.

Incipient writer
As a means of augmenting the meagre allowance provided by her father, Mitford began writing, encouraged by Waugh. Her first efforts, anonymous contributions to gossip columns in society magazines, led to occasional signed articles, and in 1930 The Lady engaged her to write a regular column. That winter, she embarked on a full-length novel, Highland Fling, in which various characters—mostly identifiable among her friends, acquaintances and family—attend a Scottish house-party which develops chaotically. The book made little impact when it was published in March 1931, and she immediately began work on another, Christmas Pudding, illustrated by her close friend Mark Ogilvie-Grant. Like the earlier novel, the plot centres on a clash between the "Bright Young People" and the older generation. Hamish Erskine is clearly identifiable in the character of "Bobby Bobbin", and John Betjeman is the basis for the supporting role of Bobby's tutor. The thinly disguised caricatures pervading the book shocked Lady Redesdale, who thought it could not possibly be published under Mitford's own name.

The affair between Erskine and Mitford continued intermittently. While she often despaired of the relationship, she refused other offers of marriage, saying that she would "never marry anyone except Hamish." In 1932 her plight was overshadowed by a family scandal involving her younger sister Diana, who had married Bryan Guinness in 1928 and was the mother of two young sons. In 1932 Diana deserted her husband to become the mistress of Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists, himself married with three children. Almost alone of her family, Mitford offered her sister support, regularly visiting her and keeping her up to date with family news and social gossip. Her own love affair with Erskine came to an abrupt end when, in June 1933, he informed her that he intended to marry the daughter of a London banker. In a final letter after their parting, Mitford wrote to him: "I thought in your soul you loved me & that in the end we should have children & look back on life together when we are old".

Marriage, writing and politics

Within a month of Erskine's departure, Mitford announced her engagement to Peter Rodd, the second son of Sir Rennell Rodd, a diplomat and politician who was ennobled that year as Baron Rennell. According to Mitford's friend Harold Acton, Rodd was "a young man of boundless promise ... he had abundant qualifications for success in any profession he deigned to choose". Other biographers describe him as irresponsible, unfaithful, a bore and unable to hold down a regular job, and as the model for Waugh's unscrupulous, amoral character Basil Seal from Black Mischief. They were married on 4 December 1933, after which they settled into a cottage at Strand-on-the-Green on the western edges of London. Mitford's initial delight in the marriage was soon tempered by money worries, Rodd's fecklessness and her dislike of his family.

In 1934, Mitford began her third novel, Wigs on the Green, a satire on Sir Oswald Mosley's fascist "Blackshirt" movement. Mitford herself had briefly flirted with Mosley's New Party in 1931, although her enthusiasm was short-lived, and she soon became a vociferous opponent of the British Union of Fascists and of fascism. When the novel was published in 1935, its book cover illustrated by Bip Pares, it made little critical impact and seriously offended members of her own family, particularly her sisters Diana and Unity, both of whom were supporters of Mosley's movement and devotees of the German dictator Adolf Hitler. Diana eventually forgave Nancy, but Nancy's rift with Unity, who was outraged by her depiction in the book as the ridiculous "Eugenia Malmains", was never fully healed.

By 1936, Nancy Mitford's marriage was largely a sham. Rodd was engaged in an affair with the wife of a friend, a situation that continued into the new year, when the Mitford family was further shaken by the 19-year-old Jessica's elopement with her cousin Esmond Romilly. A rebellious ex-Wellington schoolboy and avowed Communist, Romilly fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. The young couple were traced to Bilbao, and Nancy was despatched to bring them home but failed to persuade them, and Jessica and Esmond were married in May 1937.

Through the winter of 1937–1938, Mitford's main literary task was editing the letters of her cousins the Stanleys of Alderley, with whom she was connected through her great-grandmother Blanche Airlie. Her preoccupation with the project, nine or ten hours a day, she informed her friend Robert Byron, further damaged her relationship with Rodd, who resented the time thus spent. Nevertheless, in the summer of 1938, she discovered that she was pregnant. She hoped for a girl: "2 Peter Rodds in 1 house is unthinkable", but in September, she miscarried. Early in 1939, Rodd left for southern France to work with the relief organisations assisting the thousands of Spanish refugees who had fled from General Franco's armies in the final stages of the civil war. In May, Mitford joined him and spent several weeks there as a relief worker. She was much affected by what she saw: "I have never cried so much in all my life". The experience hardened her antifascism to the extent that she wrote: "I would join hands with the devil himself to stop any further extension of the disease".

Having rejected the political extremes within her family, Nancy Mitford was a moderate socialist, but some of her works, such as her introductions to the Stanley letter collections, and her "U–non-U" essay of 1955, are staunch defences of the aristocratic traditions and values that she grew up with.

Second World War
The outbreak of war in September 1939 divided the Mitford family. Nancy and Rodd supported the Allies in the war. The Romillys had by this time departed for America, but the others either hoped for an Anglo-German détente or, as with Unity, were openly pro-Nazi. Unity was in Munich when war was declared. In despair, she attempted suicide by shooting herself in the head. She survived, and was sent home through neutral Switzerland. Mosley and Diana, who had married secretly in 1936, were detained under Defence Regulation 18B. Nancy, in full antifascist mode, had described her sister to the British Intelligence agency MI5 as "a ruthless and shrewd egotist, a devoted fascist and admirer of Hitler [who] sincerely desires the downfall of England and democracy in general". During the "Phoney War" of 1939–1940, Nancy was briefly an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) driver, and later worked shifts at a first-aid post in Paddington. She drew on those experiences in her fourth novel, Pigeon Pie, a comedy about spying. It was published by Hamish Hamilton in May 1940, while there was little public appetite for lighthearted war satire, and the book was a commercial failure.

In April 1940, Mitford suffered her second miscarriage. Shortly afterward, Rodd, who had been commissioned into the Welsh Guards, departed overseas. Alone in London, Mitford moved to the family's Rutland Gate house where she remained during the London Blitz. The main house had been requisitioned to provide a refuge for Jewish families evacuated from the bombed areas of the East End. Mitford spent much of her time looking after those families: "so hard-working, clean and grateful". A brief affair with a Free French officer, André Roy, resulted in a third pregnancy. Mitford again miscarried, with complications that led, in November 1941, to a hysterectomy. After convalescence, at loose ends, she began working as an assistant at the Heywood Hill bookshop in Curzon Street. The shop became the centre of Mitford's daily activities and was a favoured meeting place for London's literati. In September 1942, she met Gaston Palewski, a French colonel attached to General Charles de Gaulle's London staff. She found him fascinating, and he became the love of her life though her feelings were never fully reciprocated.  He was an inspiration for much of her future writing. For the sake of Mitford's reputation, the affair was pursued with discretion before Palewski left for Algeria in May 1943. Thereafter, the relationship was conducted mainly by letters and occasional phone calls since Palewski was only intermittently in England before the end of the war.

The failure of Pigeon Pie had cooled Mitford's desire to write, but in 1944, with Waugh's encouragement, she began planning a new novel. In March 1945, she was given three months' leave from the shop to write it. The Pursuit of Love is a heavily autobiographical romantic comedy in which many of her family and acquaintances appear in thin disguises. Despite the distraction of learning that her brother Tom had died fighting in Burma, she finished the book and, in September, went to Paris. Ostensibly, that was to establish a French branch of Heywood Hill, but in reality, she wished to be close to Palewski, who was now a member of de Gaulle's postwar provisional government. She was back in London in December 1945 for the publication of The Pursuit of Love which was, Hastings records, "an instant and phenomenal success ... the perfect antidote to the long war years of hardship and austerity, providing the undernourished public with its favourite ingredients: love, childhood and the English upper classes". The book sold 200,000 copies within a year of publication, and firmly established Mitford as a best-selling author.

Move to Paris
At the end of the war, Rodd returned home, but the marriage was essentially over. Although remaining on friendly terms, the couple led separate lives. Mitford's visit to France in late 1945 had revived her longing to be there, and in April 1946, having given up working in the shop the previous month, she left London to make her permanent home in Paris and never lived in England again. She was a prolific letter writer and kept contact with her large cohort of friends by a voluminous correspondence. According to Hastings, she developed many of her friendships far further on paper than she could have done through normal social intercourse.

Rue Monsieur

During her first 18 months in Paris, Mitford lived in several short-term lodgings while she enjoyed a hectic social life, the hub of which was the British Embassy under the regime of the ambassador, Duff Cooper, and his socialite wife, Lady Diana Cooper. Eventually Mitford found a comfortable apartment, with a maid, at No. 7 rue Monsieur on the Left Bank, close to Palewski's residence. Settled there in comfort, she established a pattern to her life that she mostly followed for the next 20 years, her precise timetable being determined by Palewski's varying availability. Her socialising, entertaining and working were interspersed with regular short visits to family and friends in England and summers generally spent in Venice.

In 1948, Mitford completed a new novel, a sequel to The Pursuit of Love that she called Love in a Cold Climate, with the same country house ambience as the earlier book and many of the same characters. The novel's reception was even warmer than that of its predecessor. Waugh was one of the few critics to qualify his praise; he thought that the descriptions were good but the conversations poor. In 1950 she translated and adapted André Roussin's play La petite hutte ("The Little Hut"), in preparation for its successful West End début in August, The Timess critic noted the "habit of speech at once colloquial and unexpected which instantly declares itself the creation of Miss Mitford." The play ran for 1,261 performances, and provided Mitford with a steady £300 per month in royalties. The same year The Sunday Times asked her to contribute a regular column, which she did for four years. The busy period in her writing life continued in 1951 with her third postwar novel, The Blessing, another semi-autobiographical romance this time set in Paris, in which an aristocratic young Englishwoman is married to a libidinous French marquis. Harold Acton deems it her most accomplished novel, "permeated with her joyous love of France". This time Waugh (to whom the book was dedicated) had no criticism; he found the book "admirable, deliciously funny, consistent and complete, by far the best of your writings".

Mitford then began her first serious non-fiction work, a biography of Madame de Pompadour. The general view of the critics when the book was published in March 1954 was that it was "marvelous entertainment, if hardly to be taken as history". The historian AJP Taylor likened Mitford's evocation of 18th-century Versailles to "Alconleigh", the fictitious country house that formed the background to her recent best-selling novels, a comparison that she found offensive.

Noblesse Oblige

In 1954 Alan Ross, a University of Birmingham professor of linguistics, devised the terms "U" and "Non-U" to differentiate the speech patterns of the social classes in England. "U" indicated upper-class usage, and "Non-U" the conventions of the lower strata of society. His article, in a learned Finnish journal and with an illustrative glossary, used  The Pursuit of Love  to exemplify upper-class speech patterns. In a spirit of mischief, Mitford incorporated the U and Non-U thesis into an article she was writing for Encounter on the English aristocracy. Although the aspect formed only a small section of Mitford's article, when it was published in September 1955 it caused a major stir. Few recognised the tongue-in-cheek aspect. Mitford received hundreds of letters from worried readers desperate to know if they were snobs or merely "common". The level of anxious or amused interest was sustained to such an extent that in 1956 Hamish Hamilton reproduced the article in a short book, Noblesse Oblige. The book also included an abbreviated version of Ross's original article, and contributions from Waugh, Betjeman, Peter Fleming and Christopher Sykes, It was a tremendous success; as Lovell records, "'U and Non-U' was the buzz phrase of the day ... Nancy's comments made her the arbiter of good manners for several generations". Thompson notes the irony that the U and Non-U labels, perhaps Mitford's best-known legacy, were not her own but were borrowed for the purpose of a "tease".

Later career
In October 1957 Palewski was appointed as France's ambassador to Italy. Mitford's meetings with him, which had become increasingly rare because of his many political and social commitments, were now reduced to a single visit a year, supplemented with occasional letters. Mitford mainly concealed her true feelings on this separation, although one acquaintance noted her increasingly "savage" teasing of friends, which was perhaps a safety valve: "If she would only tell one she is unhappy one would do what one could to comfort her". In March 1958 Mitford's father, Lord Redesdale, died. After the cremation, she informed her sister Jessica, "the ashes were done up in the sort of parcel he used to bring back from London, rich thick brown paper & incredibly neat knots".

Meanwhile Mitford had completed her latest book, Voltaire in Love, an account of the love affair between Voltaire and the Marquise du Châtelet. She considered it her first truly grown-up work, and her best. Published in 1957, it sold well, was taken seriously by the critics and was warmly praised by Mitford's friends. Its writing had been hampered by painful headaches arising from her apparently failing eyesight and worries that she might be going blind. The problem was resolved after a visit to the ophthalmic surgeon Patrick Trevor-Roper, who gave her new spectacles: "It is heavenly to be able to read for a long time on end & now I see how handicapped I was when doing Voltaire". She then returned to writing fiction, with Don't Tell Alfred, in which she revived Fanny Wincham, the narrator of The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, and placed her in a Paris setting as wife of the British ambassador. Several characters familiar from the earlier novels appear in minor roles. The book, published in October 1960, was popular with the public, but received indifferent reviews. Some of Mitford's friends disliked it, and she decided she would write no more fiction.

In August 1962 Palewski was appointed a minister in Georges Pompidou's government, and returned to Paris. This did not mean more regular or frequent meetings, and the affair with Mitford continued at arm's length. In April 1963 Mitford was in England for the wedding of her cousin Angus Ogilvy to Princess Alexandra. A month later she was back for the funeral of her mother, Lady Redesdale, who died on 25 May. Mitford's friends were dying, too, "in middle age", she informed her long-time friend Violet Hammersley. The premature deaths included that of Evelyn Waugh, who died on 10 April 1966. Mitford saw the kindness and humour concealed behind his hostile public image, and said after his death: "What nobody ever remembers about Evelyn is everything with him was jokes. Everything". Thompson calls their relationship "one of the great literary friendships of the twentieth century".

Amidst these personal upheavals Mitford continued writing. In 1964 she began work on The Sun King, a biography of King Louis XIV. Her publishers decided to issue it as a lavishly illustrated "coffee table" book. When it was published in August 1966, among the many tributes to the book was that of President de Gaulle, who recommended it to every member of his cabinet. By this time, Mitford's relationship with Palewski had become dormant, and she recognised that the best days would never return. Under pressure from her landlords to leave her rue Monsieur apartment—they had raised her rent "exorbitantly"— she decided to leave Paris and buy herself a house in Versailles.

Final years

Mitford moved to No. 4 rue d'Artois, Versailles, in January 1967. The modest house had a half-acre (0.2 hectare) garden, which soon became one of her chief delights. In 1968 she began work on her final book, a biography of Frederick the Great. While confined at home in March 1969 after a series of illnesses she learned from a newspaper announcement that Palewski had married the Duchesse de Sagan, a rich divorcée. Mitford had long accepted that Palewski would never marry her. Nevertheless, she was deeply hurt by the news, although she affected a typical nonchalance. Shortly after, she entered hospital for the removal of a tumour. After the operation she continued to suffer pain, although she was able to continue working on her book. In October 1969 she undertook a tour of East Germany, to visit former royal palaces and battlefields. She finished the book, but in April 1970 was back in hospital for further tests, which did not lead to either a diagnosis or effective treatment.

Frederick the Great was published later in 1970 to a muted reception. Mitford's remaining years were dominated by her illness, although for a time she enjoyed visits from her sisters and friends, and working in her garden. In April 1972 the French government made her a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur, and later that year the British government appointed her a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). She was delighted by the former honour, and amused by the latter—which she remembered Waugh had called an "insult" and turned down. At the end of 1972 she entered the Nuffield Clinic in London, where she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the blood. She lived for another six months, unable to look after herself and in almost constant pain, struggling to keep her spirits up. She wrote to her friend James Lees-Milne: "It's very curious, dying, and would have many a drôle amusing & charming side were it not for the pain". She died on 30 June 1973 at her home in the rue d'Artois and was cremated in Versailles, after which her ashes were taken to Swinbrook for burial alongside her sister Unity.

Writings

Fiction

Mitford had no training as a writer or journalist; her style, particularly in the pre-war novels, is chatty and informal, much as in her letters. She may have inherited some of her natural wit and sharpness of expression from her maternal grandfather Thomas Bowles, who in his youth during the Franco-Prussian War had provided dispatches which Acton describes as "extremely graphic and amusing". Mitford's fiction, based on upper-class family life and mores, belongs to the genre of the comedy of manners. Her protagonists—typically, intelligent women surrounded by eccentric characters determined to find life amusing—are broadly autobiographical. It is unsurprising, says Thompson, that Mitford should first attempt to write a novel in the early 1930s, since many of her friends were doing the same thing. What is surprising, Thompson adds, is the ease with which she found a publisher for this first book. Perhaps, says Thompson, her publishers Thornton Butterworth "liked the idea of this pretty, well-connected girl who wrote in the style du jour". Mitford was later embarrassed by her prewar novels; Rachel Cooke, writing on their reissue in 2011, believes she had no reason to be: "There is a special kind of energy here, and its engine is the admirable and irresistible commitment of a writer who would rather die than be boring".

Critics generally place the postwar novels in a different league from the earlier efforts; Cooke describes The Pursuit of Love as "an immaculate novel that soars many miles above what came before". In Acton's view it and its companion volume Love in a Cold Climate present an entirely authentic picture of country house life in England between the wars, and will long be consulted by historians of the period. In these later novels Zoë Heller of the Daily Telegraph hears in the prose, behind a new level of care and artfulness, "the unmistakeable Mitford trill, in whose light, bright cadences an entire hard-to-shock and easy-to-bore view of life is made manifest". At times a more serious undertone, contrasting with the "bright, brittle, essentially ephemeral" nature of her early works, becomes evident; Olivia Laing in the Guardian, discerns "a faint and beguiling pessimism about love's pursuit and its consequences" beneath the light superficiality.

The Blessing has provoked a more divided response. Waugh's judgement was that those who criticised the book were "lazy brutes ... [who] ... can't bear to see a writer grow up". More recently, Philip Hensher and others have argued that although the novel is immensely enjoyable and that Mitford's "marvellous voice" is undiminished, she is on less sure ground with her "Frenchness" than with the English country house ambience, and her picture of France as the embodiment of everything civilised is less than convincing. Similar mixed comments greeted Mitford's final novel, Don't Tell Alfred, Waugh again hailing it as her best, "clamouring for a sequel". In this judgement he was largely alone; other critics perceived in the anecdotal framework of the book an uncertainty as to what it was about. An American reviewer wondered what parts were to be taken seriously: "What exactly goes on? ... Can you always tell an Etonian, even when he goes beat? Is all modern architecture a fraud? Do U-people really talk this way?" Similar questions were raised in the Times Literary Supplements review, in relation to Mitford's fictional output as a whole: "Would she have been a better novelist if she had 'tried harder', gone in further, dropped the pose of amateurishness, cut the charm, looked beyond the worlds that she knew and, more importantly, loved?"

Biographical works
The gift for vivid characterisation, which Mitford developed in her fiction, was used to full effect in her four biographical works. In the first of these, Madame de Pompadour, she followed Waugh's advice not to write for experts but to fashion "a popular life like Strachey's Queen Victoria", with "plenty of period prettiness". This remained her yardstick in her subsequent biographical writings. Her own description of Voltaire in Love is "a Kinsey report of his romps with Mme de Châtelet and her romps with Saint-Lambert and his romps with Mme de Boufflers ... I could go on for pages". Acton thought The Sun King the most entertaining introduction to the subject in the English language. Mitford's informal style was remarked on by the literary critic Cyril Connolly, who wrote that her facility for transforming unpromising source material into readable form was a skill that any professional historian might envy. The historian Antonia Fraser considered Mitford an important contributor to the "remorseless process by which historical and biographical sales have soared since 1950".

Journalism, letters and other works
Mitford did not regard herself as a journalist: nevertheless, her articles were popular, particularly those she contributed on Paris life to The Sunday Times. Thompson describes this series as "a more sophisticated version of A Year in Provence, bringing France to the English in just the way that they most like it". Thompson adds that although Mitford was always a competent writer, it is in her letters, with their freedom of expression and flights of fancy, that her true character emerges. Many have been published within collections; they are, according to The Independents reviewer: "a delight, full of the sparks of an abrasive and entertaining wit, refreshingly free from politeness".

List of works
(Publisher details are for first publication only)

Novels

Biographies
 Illustrated edition (1968)

Translation
 (play translated and adapted from André Roussin's La petite hutte)

As editor

 The book includes Mitford's essay "The English Aristocracy", first published in Encounter, September 1955.

Collections of letters

Other works
Mitford was a prolific writer of articles, reviews, essays and prefaces, some of which were published in two collections: The Water Beetle (Hamish Hamilton, 1962) and A Talent to Annoy (Hamish Hamilton, 1986). Her translation of Madame Lafayette's romantic novel La Princesse de Clèves was published in America in 1950, but was heavily criticised.

References
Informational notes

Citations

Bibliography

  Ebook, first published by Cassell, London 1979.

External links

 BBC Radio 4 Great Lives Programme on Nancy Mitford

1904 births
1973 deaths
Writers from London
Writers from Paris
English biographers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Daughters of barons
Officers of the Legion of Honour
Nancy
English women novelists
English socialites
20th-century English women writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century British biographers
English women non-fiction writers
British women biographers
British emigrants to France

Nancy Mitford


Primož Ramovš (March 20, 1921 – January 10, 1999) was a Slovenian composer and librarian.

Life
Ramovš was born in Ljubljana, then the administrative centre of the Slovenian part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He studied at the Ljubljana Academy of Music from 1935 to 1941 under Slavko Osterc. Afterwards, he studied in Siena under Vito Frazzi in 1941 and in Rome with Goffredo Petrassi and Alfredo Casella from 1941 to 1943. From 1945, he worked as a librarian at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and was the director of its library from 1952 until 1987. He also taught at the Ljubljana Conservatory from 1948 to 1964. He died in Ljubljana at the age of 78 years.

Musical style
Ramovš was a pioneer of Slovenian musical avant-garde and one of the most prolific Slovenian composers. His early works are neoclassical in style, but later works employ serialism and other modernist techniques.  He wrote almost exclusively instrumental music, which he found inspiration for in the abstract world. He often experimented, even in very extreme sense. "If the result is negative, it will fall away by itself, but if it is positive, then it will be a new step in the development of music, which should never stop, but must go hand in hand with the times to build up our culture."

Works
6 symphonies (1940, 1943, 1948, Simfonija 68 1968, Simfonija med klavirjem in orkestrom [Symphony between piano and orchestra] 1970, Simfonija Pietà 1995) and a sinfonietta (1951)
Kolovrat, string orchestra (1986)
Contrasts, flute and orchestra (1966)
Syntheses, horn and ensemble (1971)
Concerto profano, organ and orchestra (1984)
Concerto for violin, viola and orchestra (1961)
Trumpet concerto (1985)
Transformacije (Transformations) for 2 violas and 10 string instruments (1963)
Tryptychon, string quartet (1969)
3 Nocturnes, double bass (1972)
Improvisations, harp (1973)
Aforizmi (Aphorisms) for viola and piano (1964)
Nokturno for viola and piano (1959)
Skice (Sketches) for viola and piano (1958)
 Za harmoniko (For Accordion) for solo accordion (1983), performed by Dean Delgiusto
Viribus unitis for violin, guitar and accordion (1983)
Ernönek for classical accordion (1986)
Izpolnjena želja (Fulfilled Wish) for two accordions (1997)
Film music

References
Footnotes

Sources
Don Randel, The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard, 1996, p. 725.

1921 births
1999 deaths
20th-century classical composers
Musicians from Ljubljana
Prešeren Award laureates
Slovenian classical composers
Slovenian male musicians
Slovenian librarians
University of Ljubljana alumni
Male classical composers
20th-century male musicians
Yugoslav musicians

Primož Ramovš


Boeraans is a dialect of Afrikaans which is one of the 11 official languages in South Africa, and is one of the youngest Germanic languages with official status and it is only spoken in South Africa.

Boeraans was also known as "Die Taal" (meaning "The Language). The Border Boers moved from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape, and stayed there.

In 1820, the Boers moved to the region known as the Free State Province in South Africa and Transvaal (now the provinces of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and a part of North West) in South Africa.

References

Afrikaans

Boeraans


The Aiguille du Grépon (literally the Needle of Grépon), informally known as The Grepon, is a mountain in the Mont Blanc Massif in Haute-Savoie, France. The Grepon has a Southern (3,482 m) and Northern (3,478 m) peak, which are the highest points of a sharp granite ridge to the east of the Glacier des Nantillons above Chamonix and northeast of the Aiguille du Midi. A madonna statue is situated on the Southern peak.

Climbing history
The first ascent was made in 1881 by the Swiss climbers Alexander Burgener and Benedikt Venetz guiding Albert F. Mummery from England. This team had climbed one of the peaks of the neighboring Aiguille des Grands Charmoz the previous year. Two days after an attempt on the East face was found too challenging, they climbed up the couloir separating the Charmoz and Grepon from the Nantillons site to climb the Grepon over the north ridge. The party took a very difficult narrow chimney from just below the col between the peaks. Though Venetz discovered the route and was the lead climber through it, this vertical crevice became famous as Mummery's crack. The party reached the Northern summit, built a cairn and returned, but Mummery wondered at night if the Southern summit they had seen may have been higher. Thus the party came back over the same route two days later and completed a traverse to the highest crag, which involved some abseiling, "a broad road suitable for carriages, bicycles, or other similar conveyances",  and more spectacular final lead climbing by Venetz, who hauled Mummery to the top after he slipped halfway. The second ascent leader, François Henri Dunod, partly brought up three ladders as he had heard stories of the difficulty of this last pitch, though it turned out there was an easier crack to the top. More than 20 years later this rock climb was still considered to be one of the most difficult in the Alps.

Other climbing events:
 2 September 1885: After a month of persistent effort, François Henri Dunod, François et Gaspard Simond and Auguste Tairraz climb the main summit from the south west. This route is slightly less difficult and is the normal route of descent.
 before 1887: An unknown party reached at least the Northern peak via the first ascent route, but avoiding the Mummery crack by driving wooden wedges into a crack on the East side of the ridge.
 18 August 1892: Albert F. Mummery, John Norman Collie, Geoffrey Hastings and Henri Pasteur do the first north–south traverse.
 4 August 1893: Lily Bristow is the first woman to climb the Grépon, traversing it with Mummery and William Cecil Slingsby, while taking pictures on the way
 19 August 1911: First ascent East face (from the Mer de Glace) by Alexis Brocherel and Josef Knubel guiding Humphrey Owen Jones, Ralph Todhunter and Geoffrey Winthrop Young. This route contains the "Knubel crack", which was the first V+ pitch in the Mont Blanc region.
 16 April 1927: First winter ascent by Camille Devouassoux and Armand Charlet
 25 July 1947: First ascent West face by Robert Gabriel, Georges Livanos, Roger Duchier and Charles Magol

Statue
Since 1927, at the top of the needle stands a statue of Our Lady of La Salette, 1.20 m high. With its weight of 44 kg, it was mounted on the back of a man on June 22, 1927, by eight guides of Chamonix members of the Jeunesse catholique.

References
 François Labande, La Chaîne Du Mont-Blanc, sélection de voies. Tome 1, A L'Ouest Du Col Du Géant., Arthaud Guide Vallot GHM 2005,

External links

Alpine three-thousanders
Mountains of Haute-Savoie
Mountains of the Alps
Mont Blanc massif

Aiguille du Grépon


Joe Aska (born July 14, 1972) is a former American football running back who played for the Oakland Raiders and the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL.

High school and college career
Aska was an all-district tailback at Putnam City High School, where he also lettered in basketball and track & field. He won state titles in the 100 meters and 200 meters races. He then attended the University of Central Oklahoma. In 1994, as a junior, he led the Lone Star Conference in rushing with 1,629 yards and 15 touchdowns.  He was also a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the award given to the best football player in Division II.

National Football League career
Aska was drafted in the third round (86th overall) of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. After sitting out most of his rookie season, he played in the last game of the 1995 NFL season against the Denver Broncos. He was the primary backup to Napoleon Kaufman the following season, and started two games.  After one more season with the Raiders, he signed with the Indianapolis Colts for the 1999 season.  However, he did not see any playing time with the Colts, and was subsequently cut.  He finished his NFL career with 74 carries for 326 yards and a touchdown.  He later joined the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL.  He led the team in rushing with 329 yards on 82 carries, and posted 5 touchdowns.

References

External links
 Joe Aska at Pro-football-reference.com
 Joe Aska at All-XFL.com

1972 births
Living people
People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
American football running backs
Coffeyville Red Ravens football players
Oakland Raiders players
United States Virgin Islands players of American football
New York/New Jersey Hitmen players
Central Oklahoma Bronchos football players
Amsterdam Admirals players

Joe Aska


Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (; born 5 May 2003) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Alcaraz has won twelve ATP Tour-level singles titles, including two major titles (at the 2022 US Open and 2023 Wimbledon Championships) and four Masters 1000 titles. Following his win at the 2022 US Open, Alcaraz became the youngest man and the first teenager in the Open Era to top the singles rankings, at 19 years, 4 months, and 6 days old.

As a junior, Alcaraz was ranked as high as world No. 22 and won two titles on the ITF Junior Circuit. After turning professional in 2018, he won three titles on the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour and four on the ATP Challenger Tour and broke into the top 100 in rankings in May 2021. Two months later, Alcaraz won his first ATP title at the Croatia Open, an ATP 250 tournament. He later entered the top 50 after reaching the quarterfinals at the following US Open and won the year-end Next Generation ATP Finals in Milan. After winning his first ATP 500 title at the Rio Open in February 2022, Alcaraz won his first Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open and his second ATP 500 title at the Barcelona Open in April, propelling him into the top 10. In September 2022, Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud in the US Open final to win his first major singles title. In May 2023, he was awarded the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award. In July 2023, Alcaraz won Wimbledon, defeating seven-time and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final to claim his second major singles title.

Early life
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia was born on 5 May 2003, in El Palmar, Murcia, Spain, to parents Carlos Alcaraz González and Virginia Garfia Escandón. He has three siblings. He started playing tennis at the age of four at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia (Royal Society Murciashire Club) where his father was the tennis academy director. In 2018, he began playing at Juan Carlos Ferrero's Equelite JC Ferrero Sport Academy in Villena.

Professional career

2020: ATP debut
In February 2020, at the age of 16, Alcaraz made his ATP main-draw debut at the Rio Open after receiving a wildcard for the singles main draw. There, he defeated Albert Ramos Viñolas. Alcaraz was defeated in the second round by Federico Coria.

2021: First title, Next-Gen Finals champion, top 35

At age 17, Alcaraz made it to the main draw of the Australian Open, making him the youngest participant in the men's singles. He won his Grand Slam tournament debut defeating fellow qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets before losing in the second round to Mikael Ymer.

Alcaraz became the youngest match winner in the Madrid Open's history, defeating Adrian Mannarino as a wildcard and breaking then-18-year-old Rafael Nadal's record from 2004. In the second round, he lost to five-time champion Nadal on Alcaraz's 18th birthday.
By winning the biggest title of his career until then at the 2021 Open de Oeiras III Challenger tournament, he entered the top 100 as the youngest player at the age of 18 on 24 May 2021.

At the French Open, Alcaraz reached the third round of a major for the first time in his career by defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili.

In July 2021, he reached his first ATP final at the 2021 Croatia Open Umag, defeating top seed Albert Ramos Viñolas. He then won his maiden ATP title by defeating Richard Gasquet and becoming the youngest tour-level champion since 18-year-old Kei Nishikori won the Delray Beach Open in 2008. Alcaraz was the youngest Spaniard to win an ATP Tour title since Nadal claimed his first trophy in Sopot in 2004.

At Wimbledon, he lost in the second round to Daniil Medvedev. At the Winston-Salem Open, Alcaraz reached the round of 16 defeating qualifier Alexei Popyrin, and his second tour-level quarterfinal of the season defeating fourth seed Márton Fucsovics. He defeated Marcos Giron to reach the semifinals, where he lost to Mikael Ymer.

At the US Open, Alcaraz defeated world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in a fifth-set tiebreak to reach the fourth round in the biggest win of his career. At 18 years of age, Alcaraz became the youngest man in a major fourth round since 17-year-old Andrei Medvedev at the 1992 French Open, and the youngest man in the US Open fourth round since 17-year-old Michael Chang and 18-year-old Pete Sampras in 1989. He then reached the quarterfinals by defeating qualifier Peter Gojowczyk. Alcaraz became the youngest US Open men's quarterfinalist in the Open Era, the youngest at the tournament since 18-year-old Thomaz Koch in 1963, and the youngest Grand Slam tournament men's singles quarterfinalist since 18-year-old Michael Chang at the 1990 French Open. He then lost to Félix Auger-Aliassime via retirement in the second set in the quarterfinals after injuring his leg.

At the Erste Bank Open, Alcaraz defeated world No. 7 Matteo Berrettini, his second win over a top-10 player, and became the youngest player in the top 35 on 1 November. During his Paris Masters run, Alcaraz defeated French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert in three thrilling sets in the first round. He then defeated Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the second round, his third win over a top-10 player. In the third round, he was defeated by Hugo Gaston in straight sets.

At the Next Gen ATP Finals, Alcaraz defeated Brandon Nakashima, Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, and Holger Rune in the round-robin stage. He beat Sebastian Baez in the semifinal, and Sebastian Korda in the final.

2022: First major, youngest world No. 1, and year-end No. 1

Seeded for the first time in a major at No. 31, Alcaraz reached the third round of the Australian Open before losing in five sets to Matteo Berrettini.

Seeded seventh at the Rio Open, Alcaraz won his first ATP 500 title by defeating Diego Schwartzman in the final. He entered the top 20 in the singles rankings on 21 February 2022. In Indian Wells, Alcaraz reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal and semifinal, defeating defending champion Cameron Norrie before losing to Rafael Nadal.

Seeded 14th at the Miami Open, Alcaraz defeated 6th seed Casper Ruud to win his first Masters 1000 title, the youngest men's champion in the tournament's history and the third-youngest ATP Masters 1000 titlist in history.

At the Monte-Carlo Masters, Alcaraz lost in the second round to Sebastian Korda. At the Barcelona Open, Alcaraz defeated top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals to enter the top 10 in rankings for the first time on 25 April. He became the 20th teen to break into top 10 overall since rankings were established in 1973, and the youngest since Rafael Nadal also on 25 April 2005. Alcaraz later defeated Pablo Carreño Busta to win the title.

A day after his 19th birthday at the Madrid Open, he defeated 5-time Madrid champion, world No. 4 and third seed Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals to become the first teenager to defeat him on clay. The following day, he beat the world No. 1 and top seed Novak Djokovic in the semifinals for his 6th straight top-10 win, and became the youngest player to win a match against a world No. 1 since 2004. He also became the first player to ever beat Djokovic and Nadal back-to-back on clay. In the final, he won his fourth title for the season (and second Masters 1000), by defeating defending champion and world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, thereby defeating the top three seeds in three consecutive matches. He also became the youngest champion in tournament history. As a result, he climbed to a career-high of world No. 6 in the rankings on 9 May 2022.

Following his withdrawal from the Italian Open due to an ankle injury, Alcaraz made his seeded debut at the French Open as No. 6. Having won two of the tour's biggest titles on clay coming into the Slam, he was widely projected to be one of the favorites for the title. He defeated Juan Ignacio Londero in straight sets before saving a match point in a second round five-setter against Albert Ramos Viñolas. He then defeated Korda and Karen Khachanov in straight sets before losing to Zverev, in the second major quarterfinal of his career.

At Wimbledon, Alcaraz beat Jan-Lennard Struff in a close five set match before defeating Tallon Griekspoor and Oscar Otte in straight sets, reaching the round of 16 for the first time at this major. He lost to Jannik Sinner in the fourth round.

At the Hamburg Open, he reached the final, resulting in a new career-high of world No. 5 on 25 July 2022. Alcaraz became the youngest player to enter the top 5 in rankings since Nadal in 2005. He was defeated in the final by Lorenzo Musetti, resulting in the first loss in a tournament final of his career. At the Croatia Open, he reached his second consecutive final, resulting in another ranking jump to world No. 4 on 1 August.

Alcaraz entered the 2022 US Open as the No. 3 seed. He defeated Sebastian Baez, Federico Coria and Jenson Brooksby without dropping a set to reach the fourth round. Next he defeated 15th seed Marin Čilić in five sets, becoming the youngest man to reach back-to-back quarterfinals at this Major in the Open Era. In his quarterfinal match he defeated Jannik Sinner, saving a match point in the fourth set. The match set the record as the latest finish (at 2:50AM EST) and second longest match (5 hours and 15 minutes) in US Open history. He defeated Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals for his third consecutive five-set match victory. He defeated 5th seed Casper Ruud in the final, where both players were in contention for the world No. 1 ranking, to win the title. Alcaraz became the youngest No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings at the age of 19 years, 4 months and 6 days, breaking Lleyton Hewitt's record. He also became the first teenager in the Open Era to top the men's rankings and the youngest men's US Open champion since Pete Sampras in 1990.

In his first match as world No. 1, Alcaraz lost his singles match at the 2022 Davis Cup Finals to Félix Auger-Aliassime. Next, he lost to David Goffin at the Astana Open in his opening round. Alcaraz reached the semifinals in Basel, where he was defeated by the eventual champion Auger-Aliassime for a second time in the season. At the Paris Masters, Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals after defeating Yoshihito Nishioka and Grigor Dimitrov, but retired while being a set down against Holger Rune. A day later, Alcaraz announced he had suffered an abdominal tear requiring a six-week layoff, forcing him to end his season early. Alcaraz withdrew from the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals. Alcaraz, at the age of 19 years and 214 days, ended the year as youngest and first teenager world No. 1.

2023: 100th career win and Wimbledon champion

On 7 January, Alcaraz announced his withdrawal from the Australian Open due to a hamstring injury he suffered in his right leg while training. Following the tournament, he lost the world No. 1 ranking to the champion Novak Djokovic. He held the ranking for a total of 20 weeks.

In his first tournament for the 2023 season at the Golden Swing in South America, Alcaraz won his seventh title at the Argentina Open, defeating second seed Cameron Norrie. Defending his title at the Rio Open, he reached back to back finals where he played against Norrie again, but lost in three sets. Alcaraz was additionally scheduled to play in Acapulco in the month of February, but withdrew prior to the tournament after suffering another hamstring injury.

At the Indian Wells Open he recorded his 100th career win, defeating 31st seed Tallon Griekspoor to reach the fourth round, making him the second fastest player to reach this milestone after John McEnroe, and faster than the Big 3. After reaching the semifinals, Alcaraz defeated eleventh seed Jannik Sinner in straight sets in an anticipated match. Defeating fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in the final, he won his eighth career title and third Masters 1000 title, breaking Medvedev's 19-match winning streak, and becoming the first player to win the tournament without dropping a set since Roger Federer in 2017. He additionally became the ninth and youngest man to win both legs of the Sunshine Double. As a result, he returned to world No. 1 on 20 March 2023.
In Miami where Alcaraz was the defending champion, he reached the semifinals having not dropped a set defeating Facundo Bagnis, Dušan Lajović, 16th seed Tommy Paul and ninth seed Taylor Fritz. This time he lost to Jannik Sinner in three sets. He dropped to No. 2 in the rankings having not been able to defend his previous year title points.

Alcaraz was scheduled to play at the Monte-Carlo Masters the following week, but withdrew due to post-traumatic arthritis in his left hand and muscular discomfort in his spine. He began the European clay court swing at the Barcelona Open; defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, he successfully defended his title without dropping a set. He won his tenth career title at the Madrid Open again as the defending champion, defeating lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff. At the next clay court tournament, the Rome Masters, Alcaraz earned the opportunity to clinch the No. 1 ranking just by playing his second round match. Following his victory, he regained the top ranking from Novak Djokovic. However, he was upset in the next round by the world No. 135 Fabian Marozsan in straight sets, in what Jon Wertheim labelled the biggest upset of the year.

At the 2023 French Open, Alcaraz advanced to the semifinals. In a highly anticipated match, he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in four sets, after suffering cramps at the onset of the third. Alcaraz and Djokovic had not played against each other in over a year, despite alternating between the world no. 1 ranking throughout 2023; Alcaraz would later claim the nerves of the occasion had partially led to his cramping. Djokovic regained the No. 1 ranking from Alcaraz, after he ultimately went on to win the tournament.

 At the Queen's Club Championships, he recorded his first title on grass in only his third career grass court tournament, beating Alex de Minaur in the final. The tournament win in London also returned him to the world No. 1 in rankings. At the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, as the top seed, he reached the final following wins over Jérémy Chardy, Alexandre Müller, Nicolas Jarry, Matteo Berrettini, Holger Rune, and Daniil Medvedev. In a monumental match, Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic in five sets, ending Djokovic's run to win a fifth consecutive title, and securing the No. 1 ranking. With this win, Alcaraz became the second player, after Andy Murray, to defeat Djokovic in a Wimbledon final. Additionally, Alcaraz became the first non-"Big 4" player to win Wimbledon since Lleyton Hewitt's victory in 2002.

Alcaraz lost to Djokovic in a rematch of their Wimbledon final at the Cincinnati final. He lost in three sets, despite winning the first set, being 4–2 up in the second set, and having a championship point in the second-set tiebreak. It was the longest ever best-of-three-sets ATP Masters final and the longest match in the tournament's history, at 3 hours and 49 minutes. At the 2023 US Open, where Alcaraz was looking to defend his grand slam title, he reached the semifinals having only dropped one set. However, he lost to 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev in four sets. Alcaraz dropped to No. 2 in the rankings following the tournament, as Novak Djokovic was not defending any points.

Starting the Asian swing at the China Open he reached on his debut the quarterfinals defeating Lorenzo Musetti to record his 60th win of the season.

Endorsements
Alcaraz is sponsored by Nike for clothing and shoes, and by Babolat for racquets, using the Babolat Pure Aero 98 racquet. In January 2022, he became a brand ambassador for Rolex. He is also a brand ambassador for dermocosmetics company Isdin, Spanish food company ElPozo, and German automobile manufacturer BMW under their BMW Spain division. In January 2023, he became ambassador for the American clothing brand Calvin Klein especially for their 1996 underwear campaign. In June 2023, Alcaraz became a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton.

Playing style
Alcaraz is an all-court, all-round tennis player, but primarily employs an aggressive baseline style of play, with an emphasis on a high winner count from his forehand, typically his most reliable and potent shot. He can either hit his forehand flat and fast for winners from every court position, or add a great amount of topspin and margin over the net. He also possesses a well-rounded and more flat and lower net-clearance backhand groundstroke that he is able to redirect down the line for clean winners. His greatly disguised drop shot is key to his game, as he often combines the heaviness of his groundstrokes that pushes his opponents back into the court into a defensive position, with a drop shot that is often too well-placed and disguised to deal with. He has an impressive net-game with great drop volleys and drive volleys, and frequently serves-and-volleys on crucial points.

Alcaraz has a strong first serve for his mid-sized frame which is commonly around 115 to 120 mph and hit with average placement. Alcaraz has a reliable second serve to which he can add topspin, in order to get a high bounce off the court and either push back or get a weak return from closer-returning opponents. This serve typically reaches 150 to 170 km/h (93 to 106 mph).

Alcaraz has earned acclaim for his athletic and physical traits. In particular, his direct sprints, counterattacking abilities, and an extremely high peak footspeed have garnered him comparisons to a young Rafael Nadal. He has been compared to Novak Djokovic for his assured lateral movement and court-coverage aided by physical splits and sliding through the court on defense, particularly on his backhand side where he is often able to neutralize his opponent's groundstroke aggression or drop shot attempts. Court coverage and exceptional touch have also been crucial in his success.

Career statistics

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Current through the 2023 US Open.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 2 (2 titles)

Records

Open Era records

Awards
ATP Newcomer of the Year (2020)
ATP Player of the Year (2022)
ATP Most Improved Player (2022)
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year (2023)

See also
List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players (since 1973)
Top ten ranked male tennis players
List of Grand Slam men's singles champions
World number 1 ranked male tennis players (all time, based on recognized tennis authorities)
ATP Awards

Explanatory notes

References

External links

2003 births
Living people
Spanish male tennis players
Sportspeople from Murcia
Tennis players from the Region of Murcia
US Open (tennis) champions
Wimbledon champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players
21st-century Spanish people

Carlos Alcaraz


The Emeishan Traps is a flood basalt volcanic province in Southwestern China, around Sichuan province. Many igneous rock types can be found there. This is known as large igneous province in geology. Other names for the traps include Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province, and other variations. The Traps are the step-like rock made up of many layers of basalt, which were laid down by successive eruptions of magma.

The eruptions that lead to the Emeshian traps began about 260 million years ago. The traps are much smaller than the Siberian Traps, which occurred not long afterwards, about 251 million years ago. Despite this, the Emeshian traps were large enough to have an impact on the ecology of the time, and on paleontology. They are part of the mass extinction events towards the end of the Permian period.

The Emeishan Traps are part of the scientific debate on the causes of mass extictions. The end-Guadalupian extinction occurred at almost the same time as the Emeshian Traps were formed. This supports the argument, that volcanism is the main driving force behind mass extinctions. Another theory that has been proposed to explain mass extinctions is that meteor or comet impact events caused them. In this context, the hypothesis is that impact events cause flood basalt eruptions, such as those which generated the Emeshian Traps. This hypothesis is not widely supported.

References

 Dobretsov N.L. 2005. Large igneous provinces of Asia (250 Ma): Siberian and Emeishan traps (plateau basalts) and associated granitoids. Geologiya i geofizika. 46, 870-890.
 He, Bin et al 2003. Sedimentary evidence for a rapid kilometer-scale crustal doming prior to the eruption of the Emeishan flood basalts. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 213, 391-405.
Extinction events
Flood basalts
Large igneous provinces
Geography of the People's Republic of China

Emeishan Traps


Soltvadkert (; ; ) is a town in Bács-Kiskun County in Hungary with approximately 8,000 inhabitants. The former name of the town is Vadkert. It is surrounded by several areas of Kiskunság National Park and Lake Vadkert.

History
The town has been called Soltvadkert since 1900. Before that, it was called Vadkert, which is a reference to the region's active wildlife in Hungary. It was founded in 1376. While Hungary was occupied by the Turkish army, Soltvadkert lost much of its population. In the beginning of the 1740s, Baron Orczy moved German settlers to Soltvadkert. The town has quickly developed its main center of tourism in the county.

Lake Vadkert (also called Büdös-tó), is nearby Soltvadkert. It attracts many tourists every year from all over Europe.

Soltvadkert is well known throughout Europe for its wine production which goes back centuries in history. Its multicultural past, present, and future mainly depends on the grape and wine industry.

According to the 1910 census, Soltvadkert had 7,836 residents. The religious make-up of the town was as follows:

Roman Catholic: 3,176 people (41%)
Lutheran: 2,983 people (38%)
Calvinist: 1,220 people (16%)
Jewish: 312 people (4%)
Other denomination: 145 people (2%)

Jewish history
Soltvadkert was home to a thriving Orthodox Jewish community numbering approximately 400 people before World War II. The community had a synagogue located on the main street, a cheder with one melamed and about 60 students, and a yeshiva with 20-25 students, which was bigger than the Kiskőrös yeshiva. From 1905, the Vodkerter Rav (town rabbi) was Rabbi Yeshaya Pollak (1871-1941), who was the son of Rabbi Baruch Pollak and Perl Rivka Pollak (née Grünfeld). Rabbi Yeshaya Pollak was born in Senta and studied Torah from Rabbi Yeshaya Zilberstein (died 1930), the Chief Rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Vietzen and the Shevet Sofer. He was also the son-in-law of Rabbi Yehuda Grünfeld, the rabbi of Bűdszentmihály. He wrote and published many books by leading Torah scholars of many eras with his comments. After his death, his son, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Pollak (1900-1949) became the town rabbi. Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Pollak's son-in-law, Rabbi Asher Anshel Katz, is the rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Vien community in Brooklyn.

Rav Yehuda ("Reb Yiddel") Weber (1920–2006) was born in Soltvadkert to Rav Yisoscher (Berman) Weber, a descendant of the Bach, and Rebbetzin Chana, a niece of the Arugas HaBosem. After his Bar Mitzvah, Yehuda was sent to learn in Pupa under Rav Yaakov Yechezkiye Grünwald (the Vayaged Yaakov and Pupa Rebbe), who was his rebbi muvhak for 7 years. When he died at the age of 58, he was succeeded by his son, Rav Yosef Grünwald, the Vayechi Yosef. Rav Yehuda then served as mashgiach of Pupa. When the yeshiva was closed in 1944, Rav Yehuda spent 6 months in the local work camps before being deported to Bergen-Belsen. In 1946, his sister introduced him to his Rebbetzin, Batsheva. A year later, his sister, Miriam (1918-2019), who was also born in Soltvadkert, married the Rebbe, Rav Yosef Grünwald. Both families settled in Antwerp, then moved to Williamsburg, New York, in 1950. In 1952, Rav Yehuda was appointed as a Maggid Shiur in the newly established Pupa Yeshiva, first located in Queens, then in Ossining, Westchester County. Although his family stayed in Williamsburg, Reb Yiddel made the 40-mile drive for sixteen years.

By 1935, antisemitism was present in Soltvadkert. According to Jozsef Faludi, a student at the Soltvadkert yeshiva, there were often fights. The Christian children waited for Jewish students after lessons and threw rocks at them. At the end of May 1944, the Soltvadkert Jews were concentrated in the ghetto located by the market square. According to the Kiskőrös District chief judge's 23 May 1944 proclamation, 308 Soltvadkert Jews were in the ghetto. The chief judge ordered the Jewish community to form a Judenrat consisting of 3 individuals and permitted leaving the ghetto for only 2 people and only for 2 hours each day to purchase food for the ghetto residents. In June 1944, the ghetto was liquidated and Jews were forced to march 26 kilometers to a copper sulfide factory near Kecskemét, from where they were deported to Auschwitz. Upon arrival, one Soltvadkert resident, Isabella Bernath, was separated from her mother and sister by the infamous Josef Mengele.

After the war, Soltvadkert became home to the last active yeshiva in Hungary under Rabbi Simon Yechezkel Jakobovics's (1902–1983) leadership with about 50 students. Among the students was Rav Yitzchak Schlesinger (died 2001), who became an advocate for the preservation of Jewish cemeteries in Hungary with a blessing from the Berach Moshe, the Satmarer Rebbe. The yeshiva eventually closed in 1956 when the students and rabbis emigrated abroad. Today, the Jewish cemetery remains the only sign that Jews ever lived in Soltvadkert, which is also the resting place of rabbis Yeshaya and Moshe Mordechai Pollak.

Geography and environment
Soltvadkert is located at 46°34'41" North, 19°23'45" East.
The village of Selymes located south of the town towards Kiskunhalas is administratively part of Soltvadkert.

Climate
Soltvadkert is known nationally for its long and warm summers.

Demographics
As the census of 2001 the people of Soltvadkert identified themselves as:

 Hungarian - 98.0%
 Romani - 0.7%
 Mixed/Other - 1.3%

Economy
Soltvadkert is the center of one of the biggest wine regions in Hungary. There are grapes on over 8,000 ha in the area. Soltvadkert is home to a variety of grapes. The town annually produces about 250-300 thousand hl of wine .

Education
Soltvadkert is home to the Lajos Kossuth Elementary and Middle School (in Hungarian: Kossuth Lajos Általános és Művészeti Alapiskola), but does not have any high schools.

Religion
Soltvadkert is among the rare Hungarian towns that have a Lutheran church in the center. This is due to the high number of German immigrants in the 18th century who built the church. Freedom of religion was, however, forbidden, and the Roman Catholic archbishop and his servants of Kalocsa have many times destroyed the church. A new Lutheran church was built in 1837, which is still in a very good shape. During the centuries, schools and other church-oriented buildings were constructed around it. The church currently has three bells in use. Inside the church there is a historical Rieger organ, which was installed in 1908. On the side of the church wall is a German sign which states: "Dies ist der Denckstein der evangelica Kirche in Vadkert" (This is the cornerstone of the Lutheran church of Vadkert). After 40 years of persecution, the Lutheran community is still active in Soltvadkert.

The Roman Catholic Church has been represented in Soltvadkert since 1737. It is currently the biggest Christian denomination in town by population. The first church was built in the 18th century for Baron Lőrinc Orczy. Since 1908, a larger church has also been in use.

In 1722, seven Calvinist families moved to Vadkert from Germany. Others followed them in the 1740s. After years of religious persecution, they were finally allowed to build a church, which was finished at noon on September 26, 1794.

The Baptist mission started in 1891 in Soltvadkert. As of 2000, there are over 200 followers of the church.

The history of the Pentecostal church in Soltvadkert goes back to 1935. The Pentecostal movement, which started in 1900 in the United States, reached Soltvadkert after World War I.

Government
The city of Soltvadkert is managed by the city council. After the 2019 election, its members include:

 Temerini Ferencz, Mayor of Soltvadkert, FIDESZ 2,063 votes (67.84%)
 Galántai Norbert, FIDESZ,
 Kárász András, FIDESZ,
 Lantosné Dr. Mayer Zsuzsanna, FIDESZ,
 Medgyes Attila Jenő, independent representative
 Dr. Pozsgai Boglárka, FIDESZ
 Weppert Sándor, independent representative
 Zsikla Győző, independent representative
 Zsikla Tamás, FIDESZ

Tourism
Soltvadkert is one of Hungary's most visited towns. The city center has numerous specialty shops and restaurants offering fine food. Soltvadkert offers a variety of community programs every month. The nearby Lake Vadkert is visited by many people all year long. In the summer, it hosts a number of concerts and festivals. The town center is also home to a nationally renowned confectionery and coffee shop, famous for housing the "National Cake of the Year" competition every year, held on August 20, Hungary's King Day.

Sports
Vadkert FC is a professional football team from Soltvadkert. They are widely known in the region and their games attract many fans. Soltvadkert is the hometown of retired tennis player Ágnes Szávay.

Twin towns
 Bodelshausen, Germany
 Sărmășag, Romania

See also
 List of mayors of Soltvadkert

References

External links
  in Hungarian
 2006 election results in Hungarian
 Vadkertinfo Local News in Hungarian

Populated places in Bács-Kiskun County
Populated places established in the 1370s
1376 establishments in Europe
14th-century establishments in Hungary
Towns in Hungary

Soltvadkert


Sir George Rowland Hill (21 January 1855 – 25 April 1928) was an English sporting administrator, official and referee, who is most notable for his role as the Secretary and later President of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). Hill gave 49 years service to the RFU, and in 1927 became the first person to be knighted for services to the sport of rugby union.

Sporting career

Hill first came to prominence when in 1881 he became one of the first secretaries of the Rugby Football Union, the official union to the game of rugby football in England. He held this post until 1904, a period which saw two of the most important events in the sport of rugby, and Hill was at the centre of both. The first of these events was the attempt by the Irish, Scottish and Welsh Rugby Unions in the 1880s to form an international union. The cause was a simple scoring dispute between England and Scotland during an international match. The Rugby Football Union, believing itself to be the voice of the game, refused to enter negotiations, and found itself frozen out of the international game when the other three unions formed the International Rugby Football Board.

The second event saw the greatest and most damaging change to the sport. Prior to 1893, rugby football was strictly amateur, and Hill was a strict advocate of the sport staying so at all costs. The RFU refused to allow the working men of the North of England to accept 'broken time' payments, roughly six shillings a week to cover a player's lost earnings for playing rugby. Even when the Northern clubs threatened to break away from the RFU, Hill and his union refused to capitulate, resulting in what is now known as the 'Great Schism' which resulted in the formation of rugby league, the professional form of rugby.

In 1898, Hill, along with RFU President Roger Walker and Cambridge Blue G R Joyce formed 'Berkshire Wanderers', the team that would become Reading RFC. In 1889 Hill officiated over an international rugby game between England and the New Zealand Natives.

Personal life
Hill was educated at Christ's Hospital School between 1865 and 1870, becoming the school's rugby club president in 1919.

Outside sport, Hill was a keen public servant. For 37 years he held the post as the chairman of the Greenwich Conservative Association and from 1922 to 1925 he served on the London County Council as a representative of Greenwich.

Hill died on 25 April 1928. His funeral service was held at Greenwich Parish Church, and was attended by over 500 people.

References

English rugby union administrators
English rugby union referees
1855 births
1928 deaths
Knights Bachelor
Rugby football people awarded knighthoods
Sportspeople from Greenwich, London
People educated at Christ's Hospital
Members of London County Council

George Rowland Hill


The Locked Door is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice, and starring Rod LaRocque, Barbara Stanwyck, William "Stage" Boyd and Betty Bronson. It is based on the 1919 play The Sign on the Door by Channing Pollock. The play was first adapted for the screen in 1921 as The Sign on the Door, starring Norma Talmadge. It was Stanwyck's first starring role and first talking film.

Plot

Ann Carter, an inexperienced young woman, accepts an invitation to dinner from her employer's son, Frank Devereaux. The date turns out to be far from what she expects. It is aboard a "rum boat", a ship sailing beyond the 12 mile limit to get around the restrictions of Prohibition. Worse, Frank turns out to be a cad. When she tries to leave, he locks the door and tries to force himself on her, tearing her dress. The ship drifts back into U.S. waters and a police raid stops him from going any further. When a photographer takes a picture of the two under arrest, Frank buys it from him.

Eighteen months later, Ann is happily married to wealthy Lawrence Reagan. They are about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary when Frank resurfaces in Ann's life, this time as the boyfriend of her naive young sister-in-law, Helen. Though both Ann and her husband tell Helen that Frank is bad, as Lawrence knows that Frank is having an affair with the wife of one of his friends, it is clear to Ann that Helen does not believe them.

Ann goes to the apartment to stop him from taking advantage of Helen. She hides when Lawrence shows up unexpectedly. He warns Frank to leave town before Lawrence's friend catches up with him and shoots him. Frank had already planned to go, but when Lawrence declares that he intends to administer a beating first, Frank draws a gun. He is shot in the ensuing struggle. Lawrence leaves without being seen, unaware that his wife has heard the whole thing. To protect her husband, Ann phones the switchboard operator and reenacts her earlier assault, ending with her firing two shots. When the police arrive, the district attorney soon pokes holes in her story. Also, the photograph is found, providing a motive for murder. However, Frank lives long enough to explain what happened, exonerating both Ann and Lawrence.

Cast
Rod LaRocque as Frank Devereaux
Barbara Stanwyck as Ann Carter
William "Stage" Boyd as Lawrence Reagan
Betty Bronson as Helen Reagan
Harry Stubbs as the Waiter
Harry Mestayer as the District Attorney
Mack Swain as the Hotel Proprietor
ZaSu Pitts as the Telephone Girl
George Bunny as the Valet
Purnell Pratt as Police officer
Edgar Dearing as Policeman
Lita Chevret as Rum boat girl

See also
 List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)

References

External links

Progressive Silent Film List: The Locked Door at silentera.com

Stills at barbara-stanwyck.com

1929 films
1929 drama films
American drama films
American black-and-white films
American films based on plays
Films directed by George Fitzmaurice
United Artists films
1920s English-language films
1920s American films

The Locked Door


Deen Hergott (born October 23, 1962, in Kitchener, Ontario) is a Canadian International Master of Chess. By profession, he is a mathematician, computer programmer, and chess journalist.

Early years

Deen Hergott learned chess in his hometown of Kitchener, Ontario, and by his mid-teens was approaching National Master strength. He was selected to play for Canada at the World U26 Team Championship, Graz 1981. Hergott won the Junior Canadian Chess Championship, 1981–82, and represented Canada in the 1982 World Junior Chess Championship at Copenhagen, scoring a respectable 6/13.

Hergott studied mathematics at the University of Waterloo, graduating with an honours bachelor's degree in 1986. He also successfully represented the University in team chess competition, for example at the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, held in Kitchener, 1984, where he played board one. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) awarded him the FM title in 1988, and the International Master title in 1991. Hergott played in the Toronto Closed in 1981, 1982 and 1987, but moved to Ottawa after that, and has resided there since.

Canadian Olympian

Hergott was chosen for the Canadian Olympiad team for Thessaloniki 1984, the first of his seven national selections. He was on the second reserve board, and scored 1/3. For Dubai 1986, he was on board four, and scored 6/10. At Thessaloniki 1988, he was first reserve, and scored 5/9. For Novi Sad 1990, he was again first reserve, and scored an undefeated 7/9 to win the bronze medal on that board. For Manila 1992, he was on board three, and made 5.5/10. At Moscow 1994, he ascended to board two, and scored 6.5/11. Not selected in 1996, he returned on board four at Elista 1998, and scored 5.5/11. His aggregate over seven Olympiads is 36.5/63 (+26 =21 -16), for 57.9 per cent, according to olimpbase.org.

Hergott made his first appearance in the Closed Canadian Chess Championship at Winnipeg 1986, also a Zonal year, where he scored 6.5/15 in a strong field. He tied for third the next year in the Closed at Baie-Comeau, with 5.5/9. He played in the British Championship, Swansea 1987, scoring 6/11 in a powerful field headed by Grandmaster Nigel Short; Canadian Masters, as Commonwealth citizens, are eligible to play in the British Championship. The next Canadian Zonal was Windsor 1989, where he made an even score with 7.5/15. He tied for fourth in the 1992 Zonal at Kingston, with 6.5/11. His best Zonal performance was Hamilton 1994, where he finished clear second, with 10.5/15, a point behind Grandmaster Kevin Spraggett. In the controversy-marred Closed at Ottawa 1995, Hergott tied for third place with 5/8. Hergott placed seventh in the 1996 Zonal at Toronto with 8/15.

International successes

Hergott has achieved some significant successes in international events outside Canada. At the strong Linares 1993 round-robin in Mexico, he tied for third with 9.5/15. That same year in an International Open at Sitges, Spain, he tied for first with 7/9, along with Liuben Spassov and Luis Comes Fabrego. Perhaps the best result of his career was a clear first place at the 1994 Marshall Enhance tournament in New York, with 7/10.

Hergott tied for first place in the 1995 Canadian Open Chess Championship in Toronto with 8/10. A few weeks later, he shared first at the North Bay International Open on 6/8, along with Bent Larsen and Alexandre Lesiege (En Passant magazine, October 1995, p. 13). The next year in 1996, at the Canadian Open in Calgary, he tied for third with 7.5/10. In a very strong field in the Canadian Open at Winnipeg 1997, Hergott made 7/10 to finish tied for 9th place. At home in Ottawa for the Canadian Open in 1998, Hergott made a fine 7.5/10 to tie for fifth place. Later in 1998 at the North Bay International Open, Hergott tied for sixth with 6/9.

At home in Canada, Hergott has won the Grand Prix series championship for the Eastern Ontario Chess Association nine times, and has been victorious in several dozen weekend tournaments in Eastern Canada, often with dominant scores, including several perfect scores. Included among the perfect scores were a 7/7 to win the RA Club Championship in 1997, and a 5/5 to win the Ottawa / Hull Championship in 1998. Hergott reached his peak Canadian rating of 2580 in 1995, and this is the third highest ever recorded, behind only Grandmasters Kevin Spraggett and Alexandre Le Siege. His International rating crested at 2485 around the same time.

Health problems, semi-retirement

Hergott's health problems in the early 2000s (decade) prevented further progress towards the Grandmaster title, and he has been virtually retired from serious play for several years, since 2002. Hergott did return to captain the victorious Ottawa team to a win in the Four Cities' Chess'n Math Association 20th Anniversary event, held in Kingston, 2005, where Ottawa defeated all-Master teams from Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City. He won the RA Spring Open in March 2007, and served as live games commentator at the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship at Ottawa.

Writings, style

Hergott became the chess columnist for the well-respected Ottawa Citizen newspaper in 1994, and has held that post since. His weekly Saturday column features an annotated game from either Canadian or international play, along with some news and insightful commentary. Hergott has  been a successful writer for Canada's national chess magazine Chess Canada, with his topics having included instruction by annotating amateur games, international tournament reports, and intensive master games analysis.

Hergott is also a ranked Master in bridge and a rated expert in Scrabble.

Hergott's chess style tends to be tactical in nature, sometimes exceptionally sharp. It encompasses a wide range of openings. He can play solidly, or tend on occasion towards the bizarre; this makes him difficult to prepare for. He sometimes favours unusual defences with the Black pieces; these have included the Modern Defence, Owen's Defence, and the English Defence. From the late 1980s, he had success against strong competition with a highly eccentric, virtually unbooked Modern Defence line, which has been also variously named the Dutch Benoni, the Dzindzhi-Indian (for Grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili), and the Beefeater; the line runs 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 f5!? With the White pieces, Hergott has mostly favoured the Closed openings. There is a selection of 550 of his games at chessbase.com.

Notable chess games
Deen Hergott vs Sergio Mariotti, Dubai Olympiad 1986, Queen's Gambit Declined (D52), 1-0 Young Hergott knocks off the experienced Italian Grandmaster.
Deen Hergott vs Anthony Miles, Groningen Open 1988, Reti Opening (A04), 1-0 Two chess improvisors get together, and the young Canadian comes out on top.
Deen Hergott vs Sergei Kudrin, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1988, Grunfeld Defence (D93), 1-0 Hergott emerges triumphant after a very tough endgame.
Deen Hergott vs Lawrence Day, Canadian Zonal Championship, Kingston 1992, King's Indian Defence, Saemisch Variation (E80), 1-0 When these two original players clash, you know some weirdness will soon arise.
Deen Hergott vs Mihai Suba, Sitges 1993, English Opening, Symmetrical Variation (A30), 1-0 A booked opening variation for a change, and Hergott trumps the creative Romanian.
Todd Southam vs Deen Hergott, Toronto Remembrance Day Open 1994, Keres / Owen's Defence (A40), 0-1 Another highly unusual game.
Deen Hergott vs Kevin Spraggett, Toronto International Open 1995, Queen's Indian Defence (E13), 1-0 Among Canadians, there is no bigger scalp than Spraggett.
Lawrence Day vs Deen Hergott, North Bay International Open 1995, Modern Defence (B06), 0-1 Yet another strange game filled with sacrifices and some bizarre ideas.
Deen Hergott vs Gerard Welling, Den Bosch 1999, Queen's Pawn Game (D02), 1-0 Welling never stints his imagination, but winning usually takes more than that.

See also
 List of University of Waterloo people

External links

1962 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Kitchener, Ontario
Writers from Kitchener, Ontario
Canadian chess players
Chess International Masters
University of Waterloo alumni
Canadian chess writers
Canadian non-fiction writers

Deen Hergott


Pretty Little Liars is an American television series based on several books written by Sara Shepard. The show began on June 8, 2010 on the ABC Family channel. The show has been aired for seven seasons. A spin-off show called Ravenswood was created because the series was so populary.

The series involves a group of 5 teenage girls; Spencer (Troian Bellisario), Aria (Lucy Hale), Emily (Shay Mitchell), Hanna (Ashley Benson) and their disappeared friend Alison (Sasha Pieterse). Also, their love intrests; Ezra (Ian Harding), Caleb (Tyler Blackburn), Toby (Keegan Allen) and Paige (Lindsey Shaw).

The four main relationships are Ezria (Ezra and Aria), Emison (Emily and Alison), Haleb (Hanna and Caleb) and Spoby (Spencer and Toby).

2010 American television series debuts
2017 American television series endings
2010s American drama television series
2010s mystery television series
2010s teen television series
American LGBT television programs
American mystery television series
American teen drama television series
English-language television programs

Pretty Little Liars


Estero Island is an island located in Lee County, Florida, on the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida.  It is bordered by San Carlos Island to the north and Big Carlos Pass to the south.  The Matanzas Pass Bridge is on the northern end of the island and connects Estero Island over Matanzas Pass to San Carlos Island.  The Big Carlos Bridge (part of the Bonita Beach Causeway) connects the southern end of the island to Black Island (the northern limit of the city of Bonita Springs).

Communities
The island is part of the town of Fort Myers Beach.

References

External links

Gulf Coast barrier islands of Florida
Islands of Lee County, Florida
Beaches of Lee County, Florida
Beaches of Florida
Islands of Florida

Estero Island