The Television Sports Television Network, or TVS Television Network for short (commonly referred to as just TVS), was a syndicator of American sports programming. It was one of several "occasional" national television networks that sprang up in the early-to-mid-1960s to take advantage of the establishment of independent (mostly UHF) television stations and relaxation of the AT&T Long Lines usage rates.

History
Eddie Einhorn had begun broadcasting radio coverage of college basketball and built a network of radio stations that covered the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament games. He later moved into television coverage of college basketball games.

College basketball
Founded by Einhorn in 1968, and operated through TVS, Inc., the network originally telecast college basketball games to regional networks at a time when the sport was of no interest to the national networks. Taking advantage of intense regional collegiate rivalries, the network blossomed in the 1960s and developed into a full service sports network. Einhorn proceeded to put together a Saturday afternoon TVS "game of the week" concept that often featured some of the major midwestern independent teams such as Marquette, DePaul, and Notre Dame. These games were widely syndicated at least in the east and midwest.

On January 20, 1968, TVS put together the "Game of the Century" (see below) between the UCLA Bruins and Houston Cougars basketball teams at the Houston Astrodome. This was the game that made college basketball a television broadcast commodity. Six years later (January 26, 1974), TVS televised another historic basketball game as the Bruins fell to Notre Dame, 71-70, breaking the Bruins' 88-game winning streak. TVS proceeded to syndicate a few games nationally each year, often involving UCLA in the middle of their run of 10 national championships in a 12-year span. TVS often used late night time slots for its nationally syndicated games which were played on the west coast.

In addition to these individual games, TVS was a pioneer in bringing college basketball to a national scope-first by their own efforts in the early 1970s, primarily with Dick Enberg and Rod Hundley (sometimes Enberg and Hundley would call a Pac-8 game on a Friday night, fly to the midwest for the TVS game of the week on Saturday afternoon, and then head back to the west coast to call a Pac-8 game on Saturday night), then in 1975, teaming with NBC Sports in a cooperative effort to regionalize NBC's coverage on Saturday afternoons (NBC/local talent, TVS production crews). This partnership lasted through 1983, though it was hampered in later years by NBC losing the rights to the NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball Tournament to CBS Sports in 1982. After the NBC partnership ended and college sports telecasts underwent a court-ordered decentralization in 1984, TVS went back to regionalizing games on their own—a forerunner to the regionalization often seen today.

Besides Dick Enberg and Rod Hundley (who worked with Merle Harmon on the January 7, 1973, contest between Kansas and Notre Dame), other broadcast teams for TVS' college basketball coverage included John Ferguson and Joe Dean (who called the February 21, 1970 contest between Kentucky and LSU), Monte Moore and Ed Macauley (who called the January 2, 1971 contest between Dayton and UCLA), Charlie Jones and Elgin Baylor (who called the January 26, 1972 contest between Providence and USC), Ray Scott and Bill O'Donnell (who called the January 14, 1973 contest between SW Louisiana and Oral Roberts), Al Michaels and Tom Hawkins (who called the January 26, 1974, contest between Notre Dame and UCLA), Max Falkenstein and Paul Deweese (Big Eight Conference) and Jay Randolph and Billy Packer (who called the November 17, 1979 contest between Duke and  Kentucky, November 22, 1980 contest between DePaul and Louisville) and November 21, 1981 contest between BYU and Virginia).

"Game of the Century"

The game that really popularized televised college basketball was a prime time Saturday night broadcast on January 20, 1968 between two powerhouse teams that had met in the 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The undefeated, second-ranked Houston Cougars hosted the equally unbeaten, top-ranked UCLA Bruins at the Houston Astrodome. The Bruins were the defending national champions and riding a 47-game winning streak. Eddie Einhorn paid $27,000 for the broadcast rights on TVS. Altogether, Einhorn signed up 120 stations, many of whom were network affiliates that dropped or time-shifted their regular programming to show the game. Houston won, 71–69, in front of a then-record crowd of 52,693, and the contest was soon dubbed "The Game of the Century".

The "Game of the Century" showed that regular-season college basketball action was a viable nationwide product; previously, only NCAA post-season games were broadcast on national TV, but only on evidence that broadcasters were going to make a profit from the broadcasts.

Other sports on TVS
While college basketball remained the TVS Television Network's signature series, they also expanded into tennis, college football bowl games, NASL pro soccer, tennis, and golf. They also televised the NBA–ABA All-Star Game between the rival professional basketball leagues.

In 1974, the network became the official telecaster of the World Football League. (TVS dropped its coverage of the WFL prior to 1975, contributing to the league's already imminent demise; the league had no national television contract for their shortened second season.) TVS also aired World Championship Tennis.

Entertainment programming
In the 1970s, TVS began producing entertainment programming, including Sinatra: The Main Event for ABC in 1974. For many years, TVS produced sports and entertainment programming from Las Vegas including the Alan King Tennis Classic at Caesars Palace; Arm Wrestling at the Imperial Palace, Fun Moments in Sports at Bally's; Bowling from Sam's Town and the Showboat; The Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour (LPBT), and One Club Golf from the Desert Inn.

Transition
By 1973, Einhorn sold his interest in the network to the Corinthian Broadcasting Corporation for $5 million and later on became the head of CBS Sports, and later became an owner of the Chicago White Sox with Jerry Reinsdorf; he would also spend time as owner of the USFL's Chicago Blitz. The network stalled in the 1990s, with the trademark status for the network's branding expiring in 1993. It is presumed that the network itself would cease operations soon after.

According to a search on the website for the New York State Department of State Division of Corporations, TVS, Inc. itself would eventually ceased operations in 1995.

See also
 1968 in television
 Game of the Century (college basketball)

References

Defunct television networks in the United States
College sports television syndicators
Sports television networks in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 1965
NBC Sports
1965 establishments in the United States

TVS Television Network


David Rodger Hultgren (born April 30, 1951) is a former politician and judge in Illinois.

In 1986 he successfully ran for the Illinois House of Representatives, winning the 94th District seat. After serving three full terms, he moved into the judicial field as a judge in the 9th judicial circuit.

Hultgren retired on July 4, 2006. He has spent his retirement volunteering for a variety of conservation organizations and groups.

Early life and education
Hultgren was born at the Hammond Henry Hospital in Geneseo, Illinois, to parents Rodger and Marietta. He was the second of three sons. He was baptized on Easter Sunday of April, 1952.

During his adolescence he became very interested in the outdoors. This intrigue was due in large part to his neighbor, who was highly knowledgeable about nature, specifically birding and gardening. Also important in the development of his affection for the outdoors was his maternal grandfather, who sparked his interest in fishing. Hultgren, however, due to his love of plants and animals, refused to go hunting with his grandfather.

Hultgren attended both the Cambridge Community Grade School and Cambridge High School. His leadership and political aspirations became evident through his extra-curricular activities in high school, where he was nicknamed "Senator." His freshman year he was voted as the class president. He was highly active in Teenage Republicans throughout high school, both locally and statewide. He was the first treasurer of the Henry Country TARS chapter and the second treasurer of the Illinois TARS federation. Also while in high school, Hultgren was active on the Yearbook Club and the Student Council, serving as the Student Council president his senior year. During his junior and senior years he was a member of the National Honor Society. Other organizations which he was active with were the Library Club and Future Teachers. As a senior, he was voted by his classmates as "Most Likely to Succeed" and "Most Studious." He graduated a salutatorian in 1969.

He went to Augustana College and continued his strong participation in extra-curricular activities. He was president of the College Republicans at Augustana and was also involved with the Student Judiciary Committee and the school newspaper. During the fall of 1971 Hultgren represented the college as a member of American University's Washington Semester Honors Program in the nation's capitol. He received his Bachelor of Arts degrees in both economics and political science in 1973. He graduated cum laude. He was the fourth generation to attend Augustana, but the first to graduate. While studying there, he was a part of Pi Upsilon Gamma, a local fraternity. This fraternity has since been disbanded at the college.

Hultgren proceeded to work as a budget analyst for a credit card processing company in Raleigh, North Carolina for two years. In the fall of 1975, he began graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1978 he graduated with academic honor and received his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree.

Career
David Hultgren took and passed the Bar examination in 1978, and proceeded to acquire a job at the law firm of Stansell, Critser, and Whitman in Monmouth, Illinois. At this time he also served as a law clerk for justice Albert Scott of the Illinois Appellate Court.

Hultgren was elected into the Illinois General Assembly in 1986. He represented the Republican Party in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1987-1992. He replaced his close friend Carl Hawkinson, who decided to run for the senate. Hultgren was the spokesman for the Committee on Aging. He was also a member of numerous other committees, including:
 Elementary and Secondary Education
 Higher Education
 Transportation and Motor Vehicles

Hultgren chose to end his career in the legislature after three terms. Hoping that his skills could still be useful elsewhere, Hultgren chose to run for a circuit judge position. He won, and was sworn in on December 7, 1992. As a judge in the 9th judicial circuit, he held court in the following county seats:
 Macomb
 Carthage
 Lewistown
 Oquawka
 Monmouth
 Galesburg

Although he presided in all of these cities, he served mainly in Monmouth (1992–1999) and Lewistown (1999–2006). While in Monmouth, he served as the president of the local area Chamber of Commerce, which ultimately led to him winning the Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce "Man of the Year" in 1989. Upon his retirement in 2006, Hultgren was honored by having his portrait hung in the courthouse in Monmouth.

References

Living people
1951 births
Augustana College (Illinois) alumni
College Republicans
Illinois Republicans
Members of the Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois state court judges
People from Henry County, Illinois
People from Monmouth, Illinois
Politicians from Peoria, Illinois
University of North Carolina School of Law alumni

David Hultgren


The Bad Seed is a 1956 American psychological thriller film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones and Eileen Heckart.

The film is based upon the 1954 play of the same name by Maxwell Anderson, which in turn is based upon William March's 1954 novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by John Lee Mahin.

Plot
Kenneth and Christine Penmark dote on their eight-year-old daughter Rhoda. Kenneth leaves on military duty. Monica Breedlove, the Penmarks' neighbor and landlady, visits. Rhoda, pristine and proper in her pinafore dress and blonde pigtails, tells her about a penmanship competition that she lost to her schoolmate Claude Daigle. Rhoda then leaves for her school picnic at the lake.

Christine is having lunch with friends when they hear a radio report that Claude has drowned in the lake. Christine worries that her daughter might be traumatized, but Rhoda is unfazed by the incident and goes about her life. Rhoda's teacher Miss Fern visits Christine, revealing that Rhoda had been seen grabbing at Claude's penmanship medal and was with the boy just prior to his death. She hints that Rhoda might have some connection to Claude's death and adds that Rhoda will not be welcome at the school after the current term ends. Claude's parents barge in, and Mrs. Daigle is distraught and drunk, accusing Miss Fern of withholding information. When Christine finds the medal in Rhoda's room, she demands an explanation. Rhoda tells Christine that Claude gave it to her.

Christine's father Richard visits. Haunted by confusing memories about her own childhood, Christine confronts him and he reveals that she was adopted. Christine is horrified to learn that she is actually the daughter of a notorious serial killer. She worries that her origin is the cause of Rhoda's sociopathy and that her behavior is genetic. Richard tries to convince her that it is nurture, not nature, that primarily influences such behavior.

Christine catches Rhoda trying to dispose of her tap shoes in the household incinerator and realizes that Rhoda must have hit Claude with the shoes, which had left odd crescent-shaped marks on his face and hands that could not be identified. Alternately feigning tears and angrily blaming Claude, Rhoda admits that she killed the boy for his medal and confirms Christine's suspicion that, to acquire a keepsake, she had previously murdered an elderly neighbor when they had lived in Wichita, Kansas. Christine orders Rhoda to burn the shoes in the incinerator.

The next day, the caretaker Leroy teasingly tells Rhoda that he believes that she killed Claude. After Rhoda angrily tells him that she burned her shoes, Leroy opens the incinerator and finds the remains. A drunk Mrs. Daigle returns and tells Christine that she believes that Rhoda knows what happened to her son.

Realizing that Leroy knows the truth, Rhoda sets his excelsior bedding ablaze and locks him in the basement. After some men break open the basement hatch, Leroy runs into the yard aflame, ultimately burning to death. From the window, Christine and Monica see him die, which makes Christine hysterical. That night, a strangely calm Christine tells Rhoda that she dropped the penmanship medal into the lake where Claude's body was found, then gives her daughter a lethal dose of sleeping pills. Christine attempts to kill herself with a gunshot to the head. However, the gunshot alerts the neighbors and Rhoda and Christine are taken to the hospital. They both survive, although Christine is in a coma. Kenneth arrives and takes Rhoda home.

At bedtime, Rhoda excitedly tells Kenneth that she will inherit Monica's pet lovebird. She also mentions that she and Monica plan to sunbathe on the roof soon. Christine regains consciousness and is expected to make a full recovery. She calls Kenneth and tells him that she must pay for her "dreadful sin" but Kenneth assures her that they will work on their problems together.

At night, Rhoda sneaks away during a thunderstorm and attempts to retrieve the medal from the lake using a dip net. A sudden bolt of lightning strikes her, presumably causing her death.

Cast
 Nancy Kelly as Christine Penmark
 Patty McCormack as Rhoda Penmark
 Henry Jones as Leroy Jessup
 Eileen Heckart as Hortense Daigle
 Evelyn Varden as Monica Breedlove
 William Hopper as Col. Kenneth Penmark
 Paul Fix as Richard Bravo
 Jesse White as Emory Wages
 Gage Clarke as Reginald 'Reggie' Tasker
 Joan Croydon as Claudia Fern (as Joan Croyden)
 Frank Cady as Henry Daigle
 Don C. Harvey as Guard in Hospital Corridor (uncredited)

Production

After the success of the book, Geoffrey Shurlock of the Production Code Administration (PCA) sent a letter to Jack Warner stating that "the property violated the spirit and letter of the Code." Shurlock's office wrote to Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures to caution them against the property. Although the studios had not yet formally inquired about it, Buddy Adler, Frank McCarthy and Dore Schary were interested in producing the film. After a bidding war, Warner purchased the film rights for $300,000 (equivalent to $ in 2021). United States Pictures stated that it would only produce the film for Warner Brothers Pictures upon approval by the PCA. Adler contacted Shurlock demanding to know why approval had been given. Shurlock responded that director Mervyn LeRoy had devised a treatment "that seemed to do what the office thought was impossible."

Although the novel and play conclude with Christine dying and Rhoda surviving, the Motion Picture Production Code did not permit perpetrators of crime to remain unpunished. The film's ending thus reverses the deaths of the mother and daughter, with Christine's life saved and Rhoda killed by a bolt of lightning. In another move to appease the censors, Warner Bros. added an "adults only" warning to the film's advertising. The film softens the shocking ending with a segment in which an announcer introduces the members of the cast. It concludes with Kelly lightheartedly spanking McCormack for her character's misdeeds.

Reception
The Bad Seed was one of the larger hits of 1956 for Warner Bros., earning the company $4.1 million in theatrical rentals in the U.S. against a $1 million budget. The film finished among the year's top 20 at the box office in the United States and among the ten most popular box-office draws in Britain in 1956.

The film received favorable reviews from critics, and review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 63% based on , with a rating average of 7.00/10.

Awards and nominations

Other honors
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
 2001: AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – Nominated

Influence and legacy
McCormack starred in the 1995 low-budget film Mommy as a psychopathic mother and in House of Deadly Secrets in 2018. Some consider both films as unofficial sequels to The Bad Seed.

The first act of the 1992 off-Broadway musical Ruthless! is inspired by the film.

The 1993 film The Good Son is partly inspired by The Bad Seed.

Remakes
The Bad Seed was remade for television in 1985, adapted by George Eckstein, directed by Paul Wendkos and starring Carrie Welles, Blair Brown, Lynn Redgrave, David Carradine, Richard Kiley and Chad Allen. The remake employs the original ending of the March novel and its stage production but was panned by critics and poorly received by its television audience.

In June 2015, it was announced that Lifetime would remake The Bad Seed. In December 2017, Deadline.com reported that Rob Lowe was to direct and star in the remake with Mckenna Grace, Sarah Dugdale, Marci T. House, Lorne Cardinal, Chris Shields, Cara Buono and a special appearance by McCormack as Dr. March. The film aired in September 2018.

See also
 List of American films of 1956

References

External links

1956 films
1950s psychological thriller films
American black-and-white films
American films based on plays
American horror thriller films
American psychological thriller films
Film noir
Films about juvenile delinquency
Films about children
Films about child death
Films based on adaptations
Films based on American novels
Films based on thriller novels
Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe-winning performance
Films scored by Alex North
Warner Bros. films
The Bad Seed
1956 horror films
American serial killer films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films

The Bad Seed (1956 film)


In spring 1947, an uprising against the Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir broke out in the Poonch jagir, an area bordering the Rawalpindi district of West Punjab and the Hazara district of the North-West Frontier Province in the future Pakistan. It was driven by grievances such as high taxes, the Maharaja's neglect of World War veterans, and above all, Muslim nationalism with a desire to join Pakistan. The leader of the rebellion, Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, escaped to Lahore by the end of August 1947 and persuaded the Pakistani authorities to back the rebellion. In addition to the backing, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan authorised an invasion of the state, by the ex-Indian National Army personnel in the south and a force led by Major Khurshid Anwar in the north. These invasions eventually led to the First Kashmir War fought between India and Pakistan, and the formation of Azad Kashmir provisional government. The Poonch jagir has since been divided across Azad Kashmir, administered by Pakistan and the state of Jammu and Kashmir, administered by India.

Background
Poonch was originally an internal jagir (autonomous principality), governed by an alternative family line of Maharaja Hari Singh. The Muslims of Poonch suffered from small landholdings and high taxation and nursed their grievances since 1905. They had also campaigned for the principality to be absorbed into the Punjab province of British India. In 1938, a notable disturbance occurred for religious reasons, but a settlement was reached. From then on, a garrison of State troops was established in Poonch to keep order.

After the death of Raja Jagatdev Singh of Poonch in 1940, Maharaja Hari Singh appointed a chosen guardian for his minor son, Shiv Ratandev Singh, and used the opportunity to integrate the Poonch jagir into the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Poonch came to be administered by the officers of Jammu and Kashmir as a district of the Jammu province. This resulted in loss of autonomy for Poonch and subjected its people to the increased taxation of the Kashmir state, both of which were resented by the people.

The Poonchis had a tradition of military service. During the Second World War, over 60,000 Muslims from the Poonch and Mirpur districts enrolled in the British Indian Army. After the war, many of them retained their arms while returning. The Maharaja did not (or could not) absorb them into the State forces.
The absence of employment prospects coupled with high taxation caused displeasure among the Poonchis in 1947.

The context of Partition

At the beginning of 1947, the British Indian provinces of Punjab, to the south and southwest of Kashmir, and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to the northwest of Kashmir, were two of the most important provinces of the would-be Pakistan. However, the Muslim League was not in power in either of them. Punjab was held by the Unionists, and the NWFP by Indian National Congress Undeterred, the Muslim League decided to bring down both the governments, with the help of its private militia Muslim League National Guard in Punjab, and its leaders Pir of Manki Sharif and Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan in the NWFP. These efforts exacerbated Hindu-Sikh-Muslim communal tensions in the two provinces. The trauma was especially acute in the Hazara district, a Muslim League stronghold, which directly bordered the Poonch and Muzaffarabad districts,. Between November 1946 and January 1947, Hindu and Sikh refugees poured into Kashmir, with some 2,500 of them under the State care. The plight of these refugees did much to influence the Maharaja's future actions.

On 2 March 1947, the Unionist government in Punjab fell. Immediately, communal fires were set ablaze in Multan, Rawalpindi, Amritsar and Lahore, spreading to Campbellpur, Murree, Taxila and Attock in Punjab. In the NWFP, the Hazara and Peshawar districts were affected.

The Pir of Manki Sharif was also reported to have sent agents provocateurs to the frontier districts of Kashmir to prepare their Muslims for a 'holy crusade'. Kashmir responded by sealing the border with the provinces, and sending more troops to the border areas. The stream of Hindu and Sikh refugees coming from the Rawalpindi and Hazara districts also spread unease in the State. Drivers refused to use the Srinagar–Rawalpindi road because of reports of disturbances and raids.

Possibly as a result of the defensive measures, the Poonch district came to be militarised. A. H. Suharwardy, former Azad Kashmir civil servant, states that a 'Poonch Brigade' was established by the State Army and distributed at various locations in the Poonch district, such as Dothan, Mong, Tain, Kapaddar, Chirala, Dhirkot, Kohala, Azad Pattan, Pallandri and Trar Khel, in addition to its headquarters in the Poonch city. The militarisation gave rise to many hardships to the local populace and generated resentment. The rigorous restriction on the movement of goods and men between Pakistan and Poonch also generated shortages, causing prices to sky rocket.

Political environment in the State
The Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir were organised under two political parties: the National Conference led by Sheikh Abdullah, which was allied to the Indian National Congress, and the Muslim Conference led by Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas, which was allied to the Muslim League. The National Conference had almost total control in the Kashmir Valley whereas the Muslim Conference was dominant in the western districts of Jammu province, especially in Mirpur, Poonch and Muzaffarabad. Despite their alliances to the all-India parties, both the parties had ambiguous positions on the accession of the state. The National Conference demanded that the power should be devolved to the people and the people should decide on accession. The Muslim Conference was generally inclined to support accession to Pakistan. But in September 1946, they had passed a resolution in favour of an Azad Kashmir (free Kashmir), though the move came in for criticism within the party.

The Hindus, who were mostly confined to the Jammu province, were organised under Rajya Hindu Sabha led by Prem Nath Dogra, and were allied to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Jammu Hindus generally regarded the Maharaja as their natural leader and gave him total support.

Unrest prior to Partition

Spring 1947
Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan of the Bagh tehsil is credited with instigating the Poonchis of Bagh and Sudhnoti tehsils in February 1947 not to pay the 'excessive taxes' demanded by the State. This eventually came to be called a 'no tax' campaign. Towards the end of June, the State troops in Poonch ran out of rations and demanded the local populace to provide their supplies. When the populace eventually declared their inability to do so, the Revenue Minister of the State came down to Poonch to collect the tax arrears. This led to renewed repression.

Sardar Ibrahim, the member of Legislative Assembly from Bagh–Sudhnoti, returned to Poonch after attending the Assembly session in March–April. By his own account, he was thoroughly convinced that there was a conspiracy between the State forces and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and, so, he advised the people of Poonch to organise themselves politically. As a result of his exhortations, he states, people "got courage, became defiant, and started organising themselves exactly on military lines". On 15 June, he addressed a meeting in Rawalakot attended by 20,000 people, and gave a speech in "most 'seditious' terms". He told his audience that Pakistan, a Muslim state, was coming into being and the people of Jammu and Kashmir could not remain unaffected. After that day, he says, "a strange atmosphere took the place of the usually peaceful life in these parts". On 22 June, Chaudhary Hamidullah, the acting president of the Muslim Conference, visited Rawalakot and initiated secret plans to organise the ex-servicemen of the district for an eventual confrontation with the State Forces.

By the end of July, the Government had clamped Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons) and ordered all the Muslims of Poonch to surrender their arms. Muslims complained that the arms deposited by them were distributed by the police to Hindu and Sikh families for self-defence, raising communal fears and tensions.
Sardar Ibrahim, back in Srinagar, was confined to the city.

August 1947
Sometime in August 1947, the first signs of trouble broke out in Poonch, about which diverging views have been received.

According to state government sources, the demobilised soldiers were moved by the state government's failure to pay them remunerations promised by New Delhi. Rebellious militias gathered in the Palandri–Nowshera–Anantnag area, attacking the state troops and their supply trucks. The state troops were at this time thinly spread escorting refugees between India and Pakistan. A reserve battalion of Sikh troops was dispatched to Poonch, which cleared the roads and dispersed the militias. It also cut off Poonch from Pakistan by sealing the Jhelum river bridge for fear that the Pakistanis might come to aid the Poonch militias. The Army's Chief of Staff Henry Lawrence Scott also narrated an event towards the end of August, where a band of 30 Muslims from Pakistan entered Poonch and incited the Sattis to march to the capital city Poonch, demanding accession to Pakistan. About 10,000 Poonchies gathered mainly to air grievances regarding high prices, and wanted to pass through the town of Bagh.  The local officials at Bagh barred them from entering the town. Then the protesters surrounded the town and made attempts to attack it. Reinforcements of State troops were sent from Srinagar, which dispersed the protesters. The total casualties would not have exceeded 20 Muslim protesters, about a dozen Hindus and Sikhs and a few state troopers, according to Scott.

On the other hand, the Muslim Conference sources narrate that hundreds of people were killed in Bagh during flag hoisting around 15 August and that the Maharaja unleashed a 'reign of terror' on 24 August. Local Muslims also told Richard Symonds, a British Quaker relief worker, that the army fired on crowds, and burnt houses and villages indiscriminately. When a public meeting was held in August 1947 at Nila Bat, a village near Dhirkot, to support the demand for accession of the state to Pakistan, the Maharaja is said to have sent his forces to quell the unrest. The forces opened fire on the gathering. On 27 August, Sardar Abdul Qayuum Khan, a local zamindar (landlord), is said to have led an attack on a police-cum-military post in Dhirkot and captured it. The event then led the Maharaja to unleash the full force of his Dogra troops on the population. It is said that this created enmity between the Hindu ruler and the Muslim population. Villages were reportedly attacked and burned.

According to the Assistant British High Commissioner in northern Pakistan, H. S. Stephenson, "the Poonch affair... was greatly exaggerated". The state's army chief H. L. Scott's report on 31 August states that the army action targeted persons known or suspected of "rioting, looting, murder or inciting", but "exaggerated reports of events in Poonch circulated in these Pakistan districts in which State troops are cited as the aggressors." Scholar Srinath Raghavan states that, after the protests turned violent, the state carried out a "brutal crackdown" and the developing revolt was quickly "snuffed out".

Politics of accession

With the impending independence of India and Pakistan in August 1947, the Maharaja indicated his preference to remain independent of the new dominions. All the major political groups of the state supported the Maharaja's decision, except for the Muslim Conference, which eventually declared in favour of accession to Pakistan on 19 July 1947, after its earlier hesitations. The Muslim Conference was popular in the Jammu province of the state, with especial strength in the Poonch and Mirpur districts. It was closely allied with the All-India Muslim League, which was set to inherit Pakistan.

By the time of the independence of the new dominions, it is said that, many people in Poonch were identifying themselves with Pakistan. They reportedly raised Pakistan flags and supported the Muslim Conference's pro-Pakistan stance. Several Muslim officers of the State Army had conspired to overthrow the Maharaja's government on 14 August 1947. Chief among them was Captain Mirza Hassan Khan posted at Bhimber (Mirpur district), who claimed to have been elected as the chairman of a "revolutionary council". Major General Henry Lawrence Scott, the State's Army Chief, transferred the officers to new posts prior to that date, which foiled their attempts.

Scholar Srinath Raghavan states that the "gathering head of steam" in Poonch was utilised by the local Muslim Conference led by Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan to further its campaign for accession to Pakistan.

Towards the end of August, Muslim League activists from Pakistan joined to strengthen the protests. General Scott's report on 4 September stated that 500 hostile tribesmen in green and khaki uniforms entered Poonch and they were joined by 200–300 Sattis from Kahuta and Murree. Their purpose appeared to be to loot the Hindu and Sikh minorities in the district. Scott lodged a protest with the British commander of the Pakistan's 7th Infantry Division and the Government of Kashmir also followed it up with request to Government of Pakistan to prevent the raids.

Scholar Prem Shankar Jha states that the Maharaja had decided, as early as April 1947, that he would accede to India if it was not possible to stay independent. The rebellion in Poonch possibly unnerved the Maharaja. Accordingly, on 11 August, he dismissed his pro-Pakistan Prime Minister, Ram Chandra Kak, and appointed a pro-India, retired Major Janak Singh in his place. On 25 August, he sent an invitation to Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan, with known ties to the Indian National Congress, to come as the Prime Minister. On the same day, the Muslim Conference wrote to the Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan warning him that "if, God forbid, the Pakistan Government or the Muslim League do not act, Kashmir might be lost to them".  The acting president Chaudhry Hamidullah sent word to the NWFP premier, Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, to arrange for the Kashmir borders to be attacked from Pakistan to draw out State Forces, so that the Poonch rebels can advance to Srinagar.

Jha believes that the Maharaja made up his mind to accede to India around 10 September, as reported by the Pakistan Times later in the month.

Entry of Pakistan (September 1947)

At the end of August, Sardar Ibrahim had escaped to West Punjab, along with dozens of rebels, and established a base in Murree across the border from Poonch in northern Punjab, which also served as a hill station for Punjab's civil and army officers. Ibrahim attracted a core group of supporters, including retired military officers and the former members of the Indian National Army (INA). From Murree, the rebels attempted to acquire arms and ammunition for the rebellion and smuggle them into Kashmir. Attempts were also made to purchase weapons from the neighbouring NWFP arms bazaars.

Before settling to work in Murree, Sardar Ibrahim went to Lahore to seek the help of Pakistan. Jinnah refused to see him, for he did not wish to be involved in the happenings of the state at that time. However, Ibrahim was able to get the attention of Mian Iftikharuddin, a Punjab politician serving as the Minister for Refugee Rehabilitation. Ibrahim told him that the Muslims of Kashmir were facing grave danger from the Maharaja's administration and they needed Pakistan's help. Iftikhar promised to make enquiries. According to other accounts, Iftikharuddin was "deputed" to go to Srinagar and explore Pakistan's prospects for Kashmir's accession.

On his way to Kashmir, Iftikharuddin stopped in Murree and met Colonel Akbar Khan, one of a handful of high-ranking Pakistani military officers, who was vacationing in the hill station. According to Akbar Khan's account, Iftikharuddin asked him to prepare a plan for action by Pakistan in case he was to find the political situation in Kashmir unpromising. He told him, however, that the action had to be "unofficial" in nature and not involve the senior British officers in the Army.

Sardar Ibrahim found his way to Akbar Khan and requested arms from the military. Ibrahim thought that "the time for peaceful negotiations was gone because every protest was being met with repressions and, therefore, in certain areas the people were virtually in a state of revolt...if they were to protect themselves and to prevent the Maharaja from handing them over to India, they needed weapons." The quantity of weapons requested was 500 rifles.

Akbar Khan discussed the issues with Ibrahim and others, and returned to Rawalpindi to develop a plan. Titled Armed Revolt inside Kashmir, his plan involved diverting to the Poonch rebels, 4000 rifles which were being given by the Army to the Punjab police. Condemned ammunition, scheduled to be discarded, would be diverted to the rebels. Colonel Azam Khanzada, in charge of the Army stores, promised cooperation. The plan strategised for irregular warfare, assuming that 2000 Muslim troops of the State Army (out of a total 9000) would join the rebels. It proposed that, in addition, former officers of the Indian National Army (INA) be used to provide military leadership to the rebels. The armed action was to focus on severing the road and air links between Kashmir and India (the road link near Jammu and the airport at Srinagar). Akbar Khan made 12 copies of his plan and gave it to Mian Iftikharuddin, who returned from Kashmir with the assessment that the National Conference held strong and it did not support accession to Pakistan.

12 September meeting

On 12 September, the Pakistan Prime Minister held a meeting with Mian Iftikharuddin, Colonel Akbar Khan, West Punjab Minister Shaukat Hayat Khan and Muslim League National Guard's chief Khurshid Anwar. The finance minister Ghulam Muhammad and other officials were also present. In addition to Akbar Khan's plan, Shaukat Hayat Khan had another plan involving the Muslim League National Guard (MLNG) and the former soldiers of the Indian National Army (INA). The Prime Minister approved both the plans, and allocated responsibilities. In the eventual shape of the action, two major forces from Pakistan were to be organised, a northern force led by Khurshid Anwar from Abbottabad, which would attack the Kashmir Valley via Muzaffarabad, and a southern force led by former INA officer Major General Zaman Kiani operating from Gujrat, which would attack Poonch and Nowshera valley. General Kiani proposed a three-tier plan: (1) preparation of armed bands in Poonch who were to advance to Srinagar, (2) organisation of a network of underground movements in the Kashmir Valley to rise at an appropriate time, and (3) harassment of the Kathua-Jammu road in order to inhibit potential aid from India. Colonel Akbar Khan too emphasised the importance of the Kathua road. General Kiani also recommended the appointment of Khawaja Abdur Rahim as the Divisional Commissioner of Rawalpindi in order to control the border districts of Jhelum, Gujrat and Rawalpindi.

Another meeting was called around 20 September, to which the Muslim Conference leaders Chaudhry Hamidullah and Muhammad Ishaque Khan were summoned from Srinagar. This meeting was also attended by Abdul Qayyum Khan, the premier of the NWFP, and Colonel Sher Khan, the Director of Military Intelligence. The Muslim Conference leaders were briefed on the invasion plans  and told to communicate them Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas, the jailed president of the Muslim Conference. Ishaque Qureshi  was made part of a committee comprising himself, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad and Mian Iftikharuddin for drafting a "Declaration of Freedom".

GHQ Azad
By 23 September, General Kiani established a headquarters at Gujrat, which came to be called 'GHQ Azad'. Brigadier Habibur Rehman served as the Chief of Staff (both former INA officers). This command post was responsible for directing all the fighters in Poonch. Several sectoral headquarters were also established: (i) one at Rawalpindi for supporting operations in Poonch, headed by Col. Taj Muhammad Khanzada, (ii) one at Jhelum for supporting operations in Mirpur, headed by Col. R. M. Arshad, and (iii) one at Sialkot for supporting operations in Jammu, headed by Col. Kiani. The 4000 rifles promised by Akbar Khan via Punjab Police were made available a few days later. However, it is said that the Punjab Police substituted the Army rifles by Frontier-made rifles, which were inferior. General Kiani approached Abul A'la Maududi of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, the head of Ahamdiyyas, and other officials in Lahore for providing supplies like shoes, haversacks, water bottles and other provisions.

By 2 October, Col. Kiani, in charge of the Sialkot sector, started operations south of Samba. State Forces have described these operations as "hit-and-run raids by Pakistani gangs", armed with rifles, bren guns and light automatics running 5 to 10 miles into the state. They engaged in burning of villages, looting towns, molesting and killing civilians.

Operation Gulmarg
According to Indian military sources, the Pakistani Army prepared a plan called Operation Gulmarg as early as 20 August, apparently independently of the political leadership. On that day, orders were issued via demi-official letters to various brigade headquarters in the North-West Pakistan to operationalise the plan. According to the plan, 20 lashkars (tribal militias), consisting of 1000 Pashtun tribesmen each, were to be recruited and armed at various brigade headquarters in the North-West Pakistan. Ten lashkars were to be launched into the Kashmir Valley via Muzaffarabad and another ten lashkars were to join the rebels in Poonch, Bhimber and Rawalakot with a view to advance to Jammu. The plan also consisted of detailed arrangements for the military leadership and armaments. Scholar Robin James Moore states that, by 13 September, armed Pashtuns drifted into Lahore and Rawalpindi. He also adds: during September–October, there is "little doubt" that Pashtuns were involved in border raids all along the Punjab border, from the Indus to the Ravi.

The regimental records show that, by the last week of August, the Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (PAVO Cavalry) regiment was briefed about the invasion plan. Colonel Sher Khan,  the Director of Military Intelligence, was in charge of the briefing, along with Colonels Akbar Khan and  Khanzadah. The Cavalry regiment was tasked with procuring arms and ammunition for the 'freedom fighters' and establishing three wings of the insurgent forces: the South Wing commanded by General Kiani, a Central Wing based at Rawalpindi and a North Wing based at Abbottabad. By 1 October, the Cavalry regiment completed the task of arming the insurgent forces. "Throughout the war there was no shortage of small arms, ammunitions, or explosives at any time." The regiment was also told to be on stand by for induction into fighting at an appropriate time.

Rebellion (October 1947)
Muslim Conference leaders proclaimed a provisional Azad Jammu and Kashmir government in Rawalpindi on 3 October 1947. The proclamation of a similar provisional government of Junagadh in Bombay is said to have provided the impetus. Khwaja Ghulam Nabi Gilkar took on the post of president under the assumed name "Mr. Anwar". Sardar Ibrahim Khan was chosen as the prime minister. The headquarters of the government was declared to be in Muzaffarabad. However, this government quickly fizzled out with the arrest of Gilkar in Srinagar. Sardar Ibrahim continued to provide political leadership to the rebels. Thousands of rebels were organised into a people's militia dubbed the 'Azad Army'. On 24 October, the provisional government was reconstituted with Sardar Ibrahim as the President, under directions from the Rawalpindi Commissioner. Pallandri, a small town in the liberated area of the Poonch district was declared as the nominal headquarters of the provisional government.
However, in practice, the 'real capital' of the new government continued to be in Rawalpindi.

On or around 6 October, the armed rebellion started in the Poonch district.
The fighting elements consisted of "bands of deserters from the State Army, serving soldiers of the Pakistan Army on leave, ex-servicemen, and other volunteers who had risen spontaneously." The rebels quickly gained control of almost the entire Poonch district. The State Forces garrison at Poonch came under heavy siege.

In the Mirpur district, the border posts at Saligram and Owen Pattan on Jhelum river were captured by rebels around 8 October. Sehnsa and Throchi were abandoned by State Forces after attack.

On 21 October, the Pakistani Army's public relations officer issued a press release to the API about the impending Pashtun tribal invasion, but instructed that the news be published as coming from the Azad Kashmir headquarters at Pallandri. On the night of 21 October, Khurshid Anwar crossed into Jammu and Kashmir near Muzaffarabad, heading a lashkar of 4,000 Pashtun tribesmen. In the next few days the tribal force swelled to over 12,000 men. Facing an impending collapse, the Maharaja acceded to the Indian Union, following which India air-lifted troops to defend Srinagar on 27 October. From this point on the tribal invasion and the Poonch rebellion proceeded in parallel.

On 27 October, a Kashmir Liberation Committee was established, headed by the Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. Colonel Akbar Khan, as the military member, and Sardar Ibrahim, as the representative of Azad Kashmir were included, as were the finance officer Ghulam Mohammad and a political officer Major Yusuf. The 'GHQ Azad' of General Kiani was asked to report to this committee. In due course, Justice Din Muhammad, a retired judge of the Lahore High Court, was appointed as a "trusted agent" of the Pakistan government to liaise with the Azad Kashmir government, who also doubled as the chair of the Liberation Committee.

The PAVO Cavalry commanded by Col. "Tommy" Masud was now called into action. Under the cover of the rebellion, the regiment attacked the border town of Bhimber with armoured cars during the night of 23 October. The town, guarded by only a company of Dogra troops, supported by half-trained civilians of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, easily succumbed. In the morning, the Azad rebels moved in and looted the town, possibly organised by INA personnel. After the fall of the fort, the PAVO Cavalry withdrew to their base and allowed the rebels to take the credit.

Rebels gained momentum after the fall of Bhimber. On 7 November, Rajouri was captured. The remaining garrisons of State Forces at Mirpur, Jhangar, Kotli and Poonch were surrounded.

Commentary
Jammu political activist and journalist Ved Bhasin states that the harsh attempts of Maharaja Hari Singh and his armed forces to crush the rebellion in Poonch turned the political movement into a communal struggle.

Scholar Christopher Snedden opines that the Jammu massacres motivated some Muslims to join the movement against Maharaja, for self-defence. He also remarked:"The reaction of the ruler's predominantly Hindu army to Poonch Muslims' pro-Pakistan activities boosted the anti-Maharaja 'cause' in Poonch and incited Poonchis to take further action. In response to incidents around Poonch that invariably involved Muslims, the Maharaja's army fired on crowds, burned houses and villages indiscriminately, plundered, arrested people, and imposed local martial law. Indeed, because 'trouble continued … the State forces were compelled to deal with it with a heavy hand'. Until such oppressive actions, the anti-Maharaja cause probably had little backing. 'Substantial men' told Symonds that 'they would never have joined such a rash enterprise' opposing the Maharaja 'but for the folly of the Dogras who burnt whole villages where only a single family was involved in the revolt'. Such 'folly' motivated some Poonch Muslims to organise a people's resistance movement."Referring to the events in Poonch, Sheikh Abdullah, according to a New Delhi report circulated by the Associated Press of India, on 21 October said:The present troubles in Poonch, a feudatory of Kashmir, were because of the policy adopted by the State. The people of Poonch who suffered under the local ruler, and his overlord, the Kashmir durbar, had started a people's movement to redress their grievances. It was not communal. The Kashmir State sent their troops and there was panic in Poonch. Most of the adult population in Poonch was ex-servicemen of the Indian Army, who had close connections with the people in Jhelum and Rawalpindi. They evacuated their women and children, crossed the frontier and returned with arms supplied to them by willing people. The Kashmir State forces were thus forced to withdraw from certain areas.

Aftermath
After the Indian forces entered the war, Pakistan officially intervened subsequently. Fighting ensued between the Indian and Pakistani armies, with the two areas of control more or less stabilized around what is now known as the "Line of Control".

Azad Jammu and Kashmir became a self-governing administrative division of Pakistan. Poonch District of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani part of Poonch District is part of its Azad Kashmir territory, whilst the Indian Poonch is part of the Jammu and Kashmir union territory.

According to scholar Ian Copland, the Jammu massacres were undertaken by the administration against the Muslims in Jammu, partly out of revenge for the Poonch uprising.

Many Hindus and Sikhs, on and after 25 November 1947 gathered in Mirpur for shelter and protection were killed by the Pakistani troops and tribesmen. "A 'greatly shocked' Sardar Ibrahim painfully confirmed that Hindus were 'disposed of' in Mirpur in November 1947, although he does not mention any figures." The death toll was estimated to be over 20,000.

See also
 1955 Poonch Uprising
 History of Poonch District
 History of Azad Kashmir
 Azad Kashmir
 Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)
 Kashmir conflict
 Siege of Skardu

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Kashmir conflict
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948
History of Azad Kashmir
Battles of Indo-Pakistani wars
Battles involving Pakistan
Military history of Pakistan

1947 Poonch rebellion


Life of Esther or Scenes from the Story of Esther is the title of a series of six panel paintings by Sandro Botticelli and Filippino Lippi, showing scenes from the story of Esther and produced in the 1470s. They originally decorated the sides of a pair of cassoni or marriage chests, the two long panels on the fronts, and the smaller ones on the ends. They are now split between five museums in Europe and Canada.

The authorship of the panels has been much discussed, without firm conclusions being reached.  Many accounts divide the works between the two artists, either in terms of the different paintings, or different stages of the work, or both.  After his father's death in 1469, Filippino Lippi completed his apprenticeship with Botticelli, and in 1472 was recorded as his assistant.  Whether the panel known as La Derelitta, probably by Botticelli, and perhaps rather later than the others, forms part of the series, has also puzzled scholars.  The figure is often thought to be female, and a scene of Mordecai weeping is already shown in the Louvre's wide panel.

A recent (2010) study, based on infrared reflectography and x-ray images, shows differences between the style and techniques of the underdrawing, and also differences in the handling of the vanishing points in the perspective of the architecture.  There may well have been more than two artists involved. The author concludes that La Derelitta  and The Triumph of Mordecai are entirely by Botticelli, and Esther at the Palace Gate perhaps entirely by Lippi.  The two wide front panels suggest a design by Botticelli, and some underdrawing, but are probably mostly by Lippi, assisted by another painter in the draperies.  Vashti Rejected may be painted by a third, less expert, painter after a cartoon by Botticelli.

Collections
The division between the two cassoni is conjectural, based on the order of events in the biblical story, with the first one mostly covering Esther's part in the story, and the second that of Mordecai.  Cassoni were typical wedding gifts, and this partial division into a female and male story would be appropriate for this.  Theologians saw the relationship between Esther and Ashuerus as a prefiguration of that between Christ and his church.

First cassone
Esther's Arrival in Susa (Esther at the Palace Gate), 48,4 × 43,2 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Inv.60856
Ahasuerus Chooses Esther, with the feasts of the king (left) and queen (right) in the background.  47 × 131 cm, musée Condé, Chantilly, PE 19, attributed by the museum to Lippi.
Vashti Rejected, 48,5 × 43,2, Museo Horne, Florence, inv.417

Second cassone
La Derelitta, possibly Mordecai Weeping, 47 × 43 cm, Palazzo Pallavicini Rospigliosi, Rome, inv.271
Three scenes from the story of Esther – Mordecai Lamenting ; Esther Faints Before Ahasuerus ; Haman Begs For Mercy In Vain, and Haman is hung in the background.  48 × 132 cm, musée du Louvre, Paris, inv.RF1972-138
The Triumph of Mordecai, 48,3 × 43,2 cm, National Gallery of Canada, inv.60869

Provenance
The original patron and context of the paintings is unknown.  The La Derelitta, possibly Mordecai Weeping is first recorded in 1816 in the collection of Prince Giuseppe Rospigliosi (as a work by Masaccio).  The other panels were recorded in the 1850s in the Torrigiani collection, and published by Jacob Burckhardt, who attributed them to Lippi, using the designs, and perhaps the underdrawing, of Botticelli.

See also
 List of works by Sandro Botticelli

Notes

References
Markevicius, Tomas, "The Triumph of Mordecai at The National Gallery of Canada: New Findings on Botticelli's Role and Direct Involvement in Extraordinary Collaboration with Filippino Lippi in the c.1475 Cycle Depicting the Story of Ester", Conference: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) 2010 Annual Meeting, Volume: Postprints, Researchgate.net PDF  [accessed Jul 14 2018]
Wind, Edgar, "The Subject of Botticelli's 'Derelitta.'", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vol. 4, no. 1/2, 1940, pp. 114–117,  JSTOR

Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists
Paintings in the Musée Condé
1470s paintings
Paintings by Sandro Botticelli
Paintings by Filippino Lippi
Collections of the National Gallery of Canada
Paintings in the Museo Horne
Paintings of Esther

Life of Esther


August Hermann Niemeyer (1 September 1754 in Halle (Saale) – 7 July 1828 in Magdeburg) was a German Protestant theologian, teacher, a librettist, a poet, a travel writer, a Protestant church song poet and a Prussian political educator. He was professor of theology in 1780, then vice-chancellor of the University of Halle-Wittenberg.

He studied at the University of Halle, where his teachers included Johann August Nösselt (1734-1807), Johann Jakob Griesbach (1745-1812) and Johann Salomo Semler (1725-1791). In 1775 he published a highly regarded work, titled Charakteristik der Bibel (Characteristics of the Bible). In 1778 he met with Johann von Goethe, with whom he established a friendship that lasted until Niemeyer's death in 1828. Around 1802, Niemeyer translated Terence's Andria for Goethe under the title Die Fremde aus Andros. Soon afterwards the play was performed by the Weimar theatre.

In 1807, after Halle fell to French forces, Napoleon ordered the closure of the university, with Niemeyer being deported to Paris. During this time, the city of Halle was incorporated into the Kingdom of Westphalia. On 1 January 1808, Jérôme Bonaparte re-opened the University of Halle and appointed Niemeyer chancellor.

Among Niemeyer's 125 known publications is Grundsätze der Erziehung und des Unterrichts für Eltern, Hauslehrer und Erzieher (Principles of education and teaching for  parents, tutors and schoolteachers), being published over numerous editions and translated into several languages.

References

Further reading
August Jacobs, Johann Gottfried Gruber: August Hermann Niemeyer: Zur Erinnerung an dessen Leben und Wirken. 1831, S. 408.

External links
August Hermann Niemeyer (1754-1828) by Gilbert de Landsheere

1754 births
1828 deaths
Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
German poets
18th-century German Protestant theologians
German male non-fiction writers
Writers from Halle (Saale)
German male poets
18th-century German male writers
Heads of universities in Germany

August Hermann Niemeyer


Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy PC (Ire) (7 February 1745 – 5 June 1798) was an Irish landowner and politician.

Biography
He was the son of Charles Gardiner by his wife Florinda, daughter of Robert Norman. His sister Anne later became Countess of Clancarty. On 3 July 1773 he married Elizabeth, daughter of William Montgomery, an MP for Ballynakill and later a Baronet. Their children included a son, Charles John, and a daughter Margaret, who later became Countess of Donoughmore. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge.

From 1773 to 1789 he represented County Dublin in the Irish House of Commons. He was appointed to the Irish Privy Council on 29 December 1780 and created Baron Mountjoy on 19 September 1789 and Viscount Mountjoy on 30 September 1795, both in the Peerage of Ireland.

Lord Mountjoy was killed in action at the age of 53, leading his regiment at the Battle of New Ross.

He was succeeded by his son Charles, who was later created Earl of Blessington.

References

|-

1745 births
1798 deaths
Gardiner, Luke
Gardiner, Luke
Gardiner, Luke
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Dublin constituencies
Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland
Peers of Ireland created by George III

Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy


McKinley James Millet, Jr. (October 25, 1935 – June 29, 1997) was an American rhythm and blues pianist, bass player, singer and songwriter, best known for co-writing and first performing the songs "Rich Woman" and "All Around the World" with his group, Li'l Millet and His Creoles.

Life and career
He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  At the age of 10, he played in a band with his brothers, performing pop hits of the day.  By about 1952, he had joined the Hawkettes, but left before they recorded, being replaced in the group by Art Neville.  He then formed his own band, Li'l Millet and His Creoles, who played clubs in Louisiana and Mississippi.   The band comprised Millet (vocals, bass), Edgar Myles (vocals, trombone), Lee Allen (tenor sax), Ernest Mare (guitar), Bartholomew Smith (drums), James Victor Lewis (tenor sax) and Warren Myles (piano). They were heard playing at a club in Thibodaux, Louisiana by Bumps Blackwell of Specialty Records, who signed them to a contract and first recorded them at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in September 1955.

Their first single, "Rich Woman" / "Hopeless Love", was released in November 1955.  "Rich Woman" was co-written by Millet with Dorothy LaBostrie, and was later recorded by Canned Heat, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, for whom it won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Millet recorded again in 1956, but the results were unissued until the 1980s or later. He also worked as a songwriter, co-writing "All Around the World", which was recorded by Little Richard as the B-side of his 1956 hit "The Girl Can't Help It". Millet's demo version of the song was unissued until 1993.

Li'l Millet and His Creoles continued to perform locally until the 1980s. After the dissolution of his band, Millet worked as a bus driver in the 1990s and played a few charity events.  He died of cancer in 1997.

References

1935 births
1997 deaths
Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans
Specialty Records artists
20th-century American musicians

Li'l Millet


José Vicente de Faria Lima (7 October 1909 — 4 September 1969) was a Brazilian military engineer and later politician.

Biography
Lima was born in Rio de Janeiro.

At the age of 21 Faria Lima started his military career in the Brazilian Air Force. There, he acquired the experience needed to join the Brazilian Mail Airlines, where he met his companion Eduardo Gomes, with whom he flew across the country. At the Brazilian Air Force, Faria Lima graduated as a military pilot, observer and aeronautical engineer, specializing in engineering at the Superior College of Aeronautics in France. By 1958 he held the rank of Brigadeiro do Ar

While working as a technical assistant for Minister Salgado Filho, he helped create the Ministry of Aeronautics. Faria Lima was also chief of the Brazilian Aeronautical Commission in the United States and commander of the Campo de Marte in São Paulo. He was also invited by Jânio Quadros to become the president of VASP, a national airline company.

In March 1965, Faria Lima was elected mayor of São Paulo. His administration distinguished itself by the number of construction projects initiated, among the most notable were: Marginais Tietê and Pinheiros, Avenida Sumaré, Radial Leste, 23 de Maio and Rubem Berta. During his administration, the tram service discontinued its operation while the subway system, the "Metrô," was initiated. His term also contributed to improvements in the health system, education, and social services of the city.

From the Portuguese version

References

|-

1909 births
1969 deaths
People from Rio de Janeiro (city)
National Renewal Alliance politicians
Mayors of São Paulo

José Vicente Faria Lima


Teo González (born August 7, 1964 in Quinto, Spain) is a Spanish postminimalist painter.

Life and work
González was born in Quinto and reared in Zaragoza, Spain. During his youth he won numerous distinctions in drawing awarded by the Spanish government. In 1991 he moved to California, where he attended California State University of Bakersfield. He graduated magna cum laude in 1997, receiving a bachelor's degree in fine art.

Teo González's first solo show was with Brian Gross Fine Art in San Francisco, CA in 1996. Currently he works and lives in Brooklyn, NY. Known for his work using drops of pigment and grids, González's work is frequently compared to that of Agnes Martin, Jackson Pollock and Sol LeWitt.

Museums and Public Collections
The Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, C.A., National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Museo Pablo Serrano, Zaragoza, Spain, Ayuntamiento de Miego, Santander, Spain, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, N.H., San Diego Museum of Art, C.A., New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe N.M., Museo de Dibujo Julio Gavin-Castillo de Larrés, Spain, Fifth Floor Foundation, N.Y., The Judith Rothschild Foundation, N.Y., Achenbach Foundation Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, C.A., The Progressive Art Collection O.H., Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul, Turkey, Circa XX, Madrid Spain

References
 Teo González on Artnet
 Brian Gross Fine Art
 Art ltd. Magazine May 2013
 New Beginnings, The Albuquerque Journal October 2010
 Artnews, December 2010
 Artnews, January 2007
 Artforum, December 2006
 Artnews August 2005

20th-century Spanish painters
20th-century Spanish male artists
Spanish male painters
21st-century Spanish painters
1964 births
Living people
21st-century Spanish male artists

Teo González


Tsung-Dao Lee (; born November 24, 1926) is a Chinese-American physicist, known for his work on parity violation, the Lee–Yang theorem, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion (RHIC) physics, nontopological solitons, and soliton stars. He was a University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University in New York City, where he taught from 1953 until his retirement in 2012.

In 1957, at the age of 30, Lee won the Nobel Prize in Physics with Chen Ning Yang for their work on the violation of the parity law in weak interactions, which Chien-Shiung Wu experimentally proved from 1956 to 1957, with her well known Wu experiment.

Lee remains the youngest Nobel laureate in the science fields after World War II. He is the third-youngest Nobel laureate in sciences in history after William L. Bragg (who won the prize at 25 with his father William H. Bragg in 1915) and Werner Heisenberg (who won in 1932 also at 30). Lee and Yang were the first Chinese laureates. Since he became a naturalized American citizen in 1962, Lee is also the youngest American ever to have won a Nobel Prize.

Biography

Family
Lee was born in Shanghai, China, with his ancestral home in nearby Suzhou. His father Chun-kang Lee (), one of the first graduates of the University of Nanking, was a chemical industrialist and merchant who was involved in China's early development of modern synthesized fertilizer. Lee's grandfather Chong-tan Lee () was the first Chinese Methodist Episcopal senior pastor of St. John's Church in Suzhou (蘇州聖約翰堂).

Lee has four brothers and one sister. Educator Robert C.T. Lee is one of T. D.'s brothers. Lee's mother Chang and brother Robert C. T. moved to Taiwan in the 1950s.

Early life
Lee received his secondary education in Shanghai (High School Affiliated to Soochow University, 東吳大學附屬中學) and Jiangxi (Jiangxi Joint High School, 江西聯合中學). Due to the Second Sino-Japanese war, Lee's high school education was interrupted, thus he did not obtain his secondary diploma. Nevertheless, in 1943, Lee directly applied to and was admitted by the National Che Kiang University (now Zhejiang University). Initially, Lee registered as a student in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Very quickly, Lee's talent was discovered and his interest in physics grew rapidly. Several physics professors, including Shu Xingbei and Wang Ganchang, largely guided Lee, and he soon transferred into the Department of Physics of National Che Kiang University, where he studied in 1943–1944.

However, again disrupted by a further Japanese invasion, Lee continued at the National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming the next year in 1945, where he studied with Professor Wu Ta-You.

Life and research in US

Professor Wu nominated Lee for a Chinese government fellowship for graduate study in the US. In 1946, Lee went to the University of Chicago and was selected by Professor Enrico Fermi to become his PhD student. Lee received his Ph.D. under Fermi in 1950 for his research work Hydrogen Content of White Dwarf Stars. Lee served as research associate and lecturer in physics at the University of California at Berkeley from 1950 to 1951.

In 1953, Lee joined Columbia University, where he remained until retirement. His first work at Columbia was on a solvable model of quantum field theory better known as the Lee model. Soon, his focus turned to particle physics and the developing puzzle of K meson decays. Lee realized in early 1956 that the key to the puzzle was parity non-conservation.  At Lee's suggestion, the first experimental test was on hyperion decay by the Steinberger group. At that time, the experimental result gave only an indication of a 2 standard deviation effect of possible parity violation. Encouraged by this feasibility study, Lee made a systematic study of possible Time reversal (T), Parity (P), Charge Conjugation (C), and CP violations in weak interactions with collaborators, including C. N. Yang. After the definitive experimental confirmation by Chien-Shiung Wu and her assistants that showed that parity was not conserved, Lee and Yang were awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics. Unfortunately Wu was not awarded the Nobel prize, which is considered one of the largest controversies in Nobel committee history.

In the early 1960s, Lee and collaborators initiated the important field of high-energy neutrino physics. In 1964, Lee, with M. Nauenberg, analyzed the divergences connected with particles of zero rest mass, and described a general method known as the KLN theorem for dealing with these divergences, which still plays an important role in contemporary work in QCD, with its massless, self-interacting gluons. In 1974–75, Lee published several papers on "A New Form of Matter in High Density", which led to the modern field of RHIC physics, now dominating the entire high-energy nuclear physics field.

Besides particle physics, Lee has been active in statistical mechanics, astrophysics, hydrodynamics, many body system, solid state, lattice QCD. In 1983, Lee wrote a paper entitled, "Can Time Be a Discrete Dynamical Variable?"; which led to a series of publications by Lee and collaborators on the formulation of fundamental physics in terms of difference equations, but with exact invariance under continuous groups of translational and rotational transformations.  Beginning in 1975, Lee and collaborators established the field of non-topological solitons, which led to his work on soliton stars and black holes throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

From 1997 to 2003, Lee was director of the RIKEN-BNL Research Center (now director emeritus), which together with other researchers from Columbia, completed a 1 teraflops supercomputer QCDSP for lattice QCD in 1998 and a 10 teraflops QCDOC machine in 2001.  Most recently, Lee and Richard M. Friedberg have developed a new method to solve the Schrödinger equation, leading to convergent iterative solutions for the long-standing quantum degenerate double-wall potential and other instanton problems.  They have also done work on the neutrino mapping matrix.

Lee is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President George W. Bush in May 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Educational activities
Soon after the re-establishment of China-American relations with the PRC, Lee and his wife, Jeannette Hui-Chun Chin (), were able to go to China, where Lee gave a series of lectures and seminars, and organized the CUSPEA (China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application).

In 1998, Lee established the Chun-Tsung Endowment (秦惠䇹—李政道中国大学生见习基金) in memory of his wife, who had died three years earlier. The Chun-Tsung scholarships, supervised by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (New York), are awarded to undergraduates, usually in their 2nd or 3rd year, at six universities, which are Shanghai Jiaotong University, Fudan University, Lanzhou University, Soochow University, Peking University and Tsinghua University. Students selected for such scholarships are named "Chun-Tsung Scholars" (䇹政学者).

Personal life
Chin and Lee were married in 1950 and have two sons: James Lee (; born 1952) and Stephen Lee (; born 1956).

Honours and awards
 Awards
 Nobel Prize in Physics (1957)
 G. Bude Medal, Collège de France (1969, 1977)
 Galileo Galilei Medal (1979)
 Order of Merit, Grande Ufficiale, Italy (1986)
 Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture and Medal (1993)
 Science for Peace Prize (1994)
 China National-International Cooperation Award (1995)
 Matteucci Medal (1995)
 Naming of Small Planet 3443 as the 3443 Leetsungdao (1997)
 New York City Science Award (1997)
 Pope Joannes Paulus Medal (1999)
 Ministero dell'Interno Medal of the Government of Italy (1999)
 New York Academy of Science Award (2000)
 The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, Japan (2007)

 Memberships
 National Academy of Sciences
 American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 American Philosophical Society
 Academia Sinica
 Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
 Chinese Academy of Sciences
 Third World Academy of Sciences
 Pontifical Academy of Sciences

Selected publications
 Technical Reports
 "Conservation Laws in Weak Interactions," Columbia University, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy Commission, March 1957).
 "Weak Interactions," Columbia University, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy Commission, June 1957).
 (with C.N. Yang) "Elementary Particles and Weak Interactions," Brookhaven National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy Commission, October 1957).
 "History of Weak Interactions," Columbia University, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy Commission), July 1970).
 "High Energy Electromagnetic and Weak Interaction Processes," Brookhaven National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy Commission, January 11, 1972).

 Books

See also

 Chinese people in New York City

References

External links

 T.D. Lee's English homepage
 T.D. Lee Digital Resource Center
 T.D. Lee's Home Page at Columbia University
  including his Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1957 Weak Interactions and Nonconservation of Parity
 Brookhaven National Laboratory: Tsung-Dao Lee Appointed as Member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
 Celebration of T.D. Lee's 80th Birthday and the 50th Anniversary of the Discovery of Parity Non-conservation

Related archival collections

 Haskell A. Reich collection of student notes, circa 1945-1954, Niels Bohr Library & Archives (includes lecture notes from Tsung-Dao Lee's courses at Columbia University)

1926 births
Living people
American Nobel laureates
21st-century American physicists
Brookhaven National Laboratory Nobel laureates
Chinese emigrants to the United States
Columbia University faculty
Institute for Advanced Study faculty
Members of Academia Sinica
Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nankai University alumni
Nobel laureates in Physics
Nobel laureates from the Republic of China
Particle physicists
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class
Scientists from Shanghai
Scientists from Suzhou
Shanghai Nobel laureates
Theoretical physicists
University of Chicago alumni
Zhejiang University alumni
Academic staff of Zhejiang University
National Southwestern Associated University alumni
People with acquired American citizenship
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal

Tsung-Dao Lee


In formal semantics, a predicate is quantized if it being true of an entity requires that it is not true of any proper subparts of that entity. For example, if something is an "apple", then no proper subpart of that thing is an "apple". If something is "water", then many of its subparts will also be "water". Hence, the predicate "apple" is quantized, while "water" is not.

Formally, a quantization predicate QUA can be defined as follows, where  is the universe of discourse,  is a variable over sets, and  is a mereological part structure on  with  the mereological part-of relation:

Quantization was first proposed by Manfred Krifka as part of his mereological approach to the semantics of nominals. It has since been applied to other phenomena such as telicity.

See also
 Fewer vs. less
 Mass noun
 Mereology
 Telicity

References

Logic
Semantics
Grammar

Quantization (linguistics)


Mortality rate is a measurement.  It measures the number of deaths in a population.

It is often reported as a number of deaths per 1000 individuals per year.  For example, a mortality rate of 9 in a population of 1,000 would mean 9 deaths per year in that entire population.

The World Bank calculated the death rate for the whole world was 8 deaths per 1,000 people in 2020.  The mortality rate has been going down during the last hundred years, but the COVID-19 pandemic increased mortality rates in many countries.  This is not only people who have died from Covid, though there were more than 6.8 million deaths directly due to COVID-19. The number of people dying of other causes has increased. Excess mortality rates - that is more than expected -  across the European Union rose by 19% in December 2022, compared to the average number of deaths in the same period between 2016 and 2019.  In Germany, 37.3% more people died in December 2022 than the average for December.  This is thought to be partly because of weakened immune systems and partly because healthcare systems have been badly affected.  There are also effects of climate change.

Related pages
 Life expectancy

References

Demography

Death

Mortality rate


Amihan is a genderless
deity that is depicted as a bird in the Philippine mythology. According to the Tagalog folklore, Amihan is the first creature to inhabit the universe, along with the gods called Bathala and Aman Sinaya. In the legend Amihan is described as a bird who saves the first human beings, Malakas and Maganda from a bamboo plant.

Amihan is also depicted with Habagat which explains the wind patterns in the country. In one legend they are depicted as children of the supreme deity Bathala. They are allowed by their father to play in turns per half a year since having the two play together causes destruction in the land. Amihan is depicted as the gentler sister while Habagat is depicted as the more active brother. In another legend, Amihan is depicted as a giant who is at war with another giant Habagat.

References

Sky and weather deities
Bird deities
Creator deities
Tagalog deities
Legendary birds
Androgynous and hermaphroditic deities

Amihan (mythology)


Mohit Sen (born 24 March 1929, in Calcutta, and died in Hyderabad on 3 May 2003) was a communist intellectual. He was general secretary of the United Communist Party of India at the time of his death.

Early life and education
Sen was born into a progressive and westernised Brahmo Samaj family. His father, Justice Amarendra Nath Sen, was a judge of the Calcutta High Court and his mother, Mrinalini Sen (née Sinha), was an eminent dancer. His paternal grandfather was an Advocate General of Burma. His maternal grandfather was Major N.P. Sinha, a member of the Indian Medical Service and his mother's elder uncle was Lord Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, the first Indian Governor of Bihar. On his mother's side he came from the zamindari family of Raipur in Birbhum, a district in present-day West Bengal. He had five other brothers, the eldest of whom was Sh. Pratap Chandra Sen, a student of history at Presidency College, Calcutta, who rose to a high position in a mercantile firm in Calcutta in spite of remaining a closet communist. Mohit Sen had his early education at the Presidency College, Calcutta, where he was a student of Professor Susobhan Sarkar. Later he studied at the University of Cambridge, UK.

In communist movement
While in Cambridge, in 1948, he joined the Communist Party of India (CPI) as a 'candidate-member'. Also in Cambridge he met and married Vanaja Iyengar, who became an eminent mathematician later, in 1950. After marriage the couple moved to the People's Republic of China.
Sen went to the China International Communist School in Beijing between 1950 and 1953. After his return to India, Mohit Sen worked in the CPI central office in New Delhi and also for its publishing house during 1953–62. Later he became party organiser and teacher in Andhra Pradesh.

Political life
Mohit Sen arrived in India during a period when India had won her independence. The appraisal of the CPI at that time was that the country had not really got freedom, but was still a 'semi-colony' of Britain. The following words of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was then prime minister, to visiting Soviet leaders Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev in 1955, aptly summarises the CPI's position then:
Until this year (1955) the Communist Party was saying that Indian people were not independent; they even opposed our National Day celebrations.... They also said that when they were in doubt about the right line of action, they had to get directions from the Soviet Union. Early in 1951–52, some principal leaders of the Communist Party went to Moscow secretly, that is without passports. They came back and said that they had got directions from Mr. Joseph Stalin. At least this is what they said. The line then laid down was one of full opposition (to the Government) and, where possible, petty insurrections.
Mohit Sen stood for collaboration with Congress for fighting against imperialist forces. When the CPI split, and gave rise to a new party, the Communist Party of India, Sen remained with the original CPI, under chairmanship of S.A. Dange, which was following nationalist line. He became a national council member of CPI in 1966 and was elected to party central executive committee in 1971.
Sen parted ways with the CPI, following its anti-Congress stand, in 1978, following Indira Gandhi's emergency and subsequent failure in the election.
In 1985, Sen joined the Indian Communist Party and when it merged with the All India Communist Party in 1988 to become United Communist Party of India, Sen became its general secretary, a post he held for 15 years till his death. He was married to Vanaja Iyengar, a mathematician, Padma Shri awardee and founder vice chancellor of Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam and at the time of his death, Sen, 74, was a widower and had no children.

Writer
Sen was a prolific writer; credited to him are following books:
 Revolution in India — Problems and Perspectives
 Glimpses of the History of the Communist movement in India
 Maoism and Chinese Revolution
 Congress and socialism
 Naxalites and the Communists, and
 A Traveller And The Road: A Journey Of An Indian Communist.

A Traveller and the Road: A Journey of an Indian Communist
He published his autobiography A Traveller and the Road: A Journey of an Indian Communist in March 2003, few months before his death. The book brought out Sen's evolution as an independent leftist thinker. Eric Hobsbawm, the historian, had opined about the book that

"… it is a most remarkable book, written with unremitting passion and love, with acute observation of those who gave their lives to the case, but with sceptical judgment. In my view no more illuminating first-hand book on the history of Indian Communism has been written, nor is likely to be written… India was lucky to enter independence with people as honest, as selfless, and as devoted to service of the people as he."

See also
Indian Communist Party (Sen)

Notes

External links
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030704231544/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2003/05/18/stories/2003051800530600.htm Satchidanda Mohany: A Man called Mohit Sen] An obituary in The Hindu, Chennai.
 Kanwalpreet: The memoirs of a Communist A review of A Traveller and the Road: The Journey of an Indian Communist'' appearing in The Sunday Tribune, Chandigarh
 Blog on Mohit Sen

1929 births
2003 deaths
Presidency University, Kolkata alumni
University of Calcutta alumni
Brahmos
Politicians from Kolkata
Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal
20th-century Indian politicians

Mohit Sen


Aleksey Mikhailovich Zhemchuzhnikov (, 23 February 1821 - 7 April 1908) was a Russian poet, dramatist, essayist and literary critic, co-creator of Kozma Prutkov, the famous comical literary character.

Biography
Aleksey Zhemchuzhnikov was born in Pochep, Chernigov Governorate (present-day Bryansk Oblast), a son of senator Mikhail Zhemchuzhnikov (1788—1865) and Olga Perovskaya (1799—1833), a sister of Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy's mother. Another well-known writer, Antony Pogorelsky, was his nephew.

Up until the age of fourteen Aleksey stayed at home, receiving private education. In 1835, after a short stint at the Saint Petersburg's First Gymnasium he joined the College of Law, that of which Prince Oldenburg was a trustee. It was "the set of high ideals and honourable aspirations" he's got in this college, that formed the basis of his outlook and life philosophy.

After the graduation in 1841 Zhemchuzhnikov joined the Russian Senate as an official; in 1847 he moved to the Ministry of Justice and in 1849 to the State Chancellery, all the while suffering greatly from "stupid mechanical routine" of these offices, seeking solace partly in high society's frivolous pleasures but more and more in literary exercises and numerous intellectual circles, including that of Mikhail Petrashevsky.

In the late 1840s Aleksey Zhemchuzhnikov alongside brothers Vladimir and Alexander, as well as Aleksey K. Tolstoy, created the Kozma Prutkov character which soon became famous. The Fantasy, a comedy he co-wrote with Tolstoy, was premiered on 8 January 1851 and was a spectacular flop. Nikolay I demonstratively left the theatre, outraged "with the absurdity of what's been going on stage," and the play was promptly banned. Not long before this, in 1850, Aleksey Zhemchuzhnikov made a debut in Sovremenniks February issue with his own comedy The Strange Night (Странная ночь). In 1852 another comedy of his, The Madman (Cумасшедший) appeared in Sovremennik (No. 11). In the 1850s his poems were published by Svistok (The Whistle), Otechestvennye Zapiski, Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya and Iskra magazines. On 1 January 1858, Zhemchuzhnikov quit the state service and started to enjoy "total private freedom," striking friendships with Sergey Aksakov, Ivan Turgenev, Vladimir Odoyevsky and Fyodor Tyutchev, among others.

Creative crisis made Zhemchuzhnikov (who felt he was beginning to evolve into a sub-Nekrasov type of a poet) stop writing, leave the capital and move first to Kaluga, then Moscow. From the mid-1860s he lived mostly in Europe - Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Southern France. In the late 1860s he returned to literature and started to contribute again to Otechestvennye Zapisky. Another long gap in Aleksey Zhemchuzhnikov's career was caused by his wife Yelizaveta's illness. She died in 1875. In 1880s he again started publishing poems, mainly in Vestnik Evropy, a magazine whose editorship and authors he had friendly relations with. In 1892 in Saint Petersburg Aleksey Zhemchuzhnikov's first volume of Select Poems came out in two volumes which received exceedingly warm reviews.

From 1884 Zhemchuzhnikov lived mostly in Pavlovka village in the Oryol Governorate, from 1890 - in Tambov and Ilyinovka village. Another collection, critically acclaimed Songs of the Old Age (Песни старости, 1900), made Zhemchuzhnikov one of Russia's most respected authors of the early 1900s. In 1899 he became the Honorary member of the Lovers of Russian Literature society and in 1900 an Honorary member of the Saint Petersburg Academy. Aleksey Mikhailovich Zhemchuzhnikov died in Tambov in 1908.

Private life
In 1858 Alexey Zhemchuzhnikov married Yelizaveta Dyakova (1833—1875), a daughter of colonel Alexey Dyakov (1790—1837) and Baroness Maria D'Alheim (d. 1833). They had four children: Olga (1859-1920), Lydia (1860-1887), Anastasia and Vladimir.

References

1821 births
1908 deaths
People from Pochepsky District
People from Chernigov Governorate
Journalists from the Russian Empire
Russian male journalists
Male writers from the Russian Empire
Male poets from the Russian Empire
Russian male poets
Literary critics from the Russian Empire
19th-century writers from the Russian Empire
19th-century poets from the Russian Empire
19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire

Aleksey Zhemchuzhnikov