John Mraz (California, 1943)  is a pioneer in the representation of history in modern media (photography, cinema, video, digitalization).

Studies and academic work

Mraz has written books and articles that do history of and through photography. He has directed documentary films, videotapes and digital productions about historical subjects, and has analyzed the portrayal of history in feature films. He has also been curator of major historical photographic exhibits. Mraz received a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1986).

He moved to Mexico in 1981, and is a research professor in the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Puebla (Mexico). He has been named National Researcher Emeritus by the Secretary of Public Education. He has been a visiting professor and research fellow in Princeton, Oxford, Dartmouth College, Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Auckland, the Harry Ransom Center of U. Texas, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and other institutions.

Historian Paul Vanderwood asserted, "John Mraz is considered one of the history profession's most astute students of visual culture".

Mraz's books have focused largely on analyzing photographs taken in Mexico, and historian Jurgen Buchenau wrote that he is "widely considered the preeminent expert on the history of Mexican photography".

Historian John Lear attested to his pioneering status: "John Mraz began studying the modern visual culture of Latin America back when few historians took the field seriously". His first monograph, Nacho López, was said to "answer virtually all of the obvious (but difficult) questions that usually go not only frustratingly unanswered but unasked in photographic histories". Ignacio Sánchez Prado argued that Mraz's book, Looking for Mexico: Modern Visual Culture and National Identity, "Is without doubt the best introduction available on Mexican visual studies, and the necessary point of departure for any readers seeking to familiarize themselves with the body of work on that subject as it exists". That book was described by Rubén Gallo, Director of Latin American Studies at Princeton University, as "the definitive history of Mexican photography...brilliantly researched, passionately argued, and beautifully written;" on the back cover of another book by Mraz, Gallo affirmed "John Mraz is undoubtedly the world expert on Mexican photography".

Documentary
Mraz's work in documentary productions has received scholarly awards and recognition. Made on Rails was given the Hubert B. Herring Award for "Best Videotape, Film or Non-Print Media," by the Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies (1988). It was shown at a session of the American Historical Association convention in 1987 that was dedicated to Mraz's method of videohistory. Both Made on Rails and Innovating Nicaragua were awarded the Latin American Studies Association "Award of Merit in Film" for "excellence in the visual presentation of educational and artistic materials on Latin America." One reviewer said of the productions on Nicaragua and the Mexican railroad workers, "Historians can learn a lot from these films, and they can be viewed with admiration for a colleague who with little budget but with much ingenuity is 'writing' history through a medium which is generally appreciated but less well understood".

Curatorship
Mraz has curated a number of photographic exhibits, but three of them stand out

 In 2017, Mraz curated the exhibit, BRACEROS, photographed by the HermanosMayo/BRACEROS fotografiados por los Hermanos Mayo. It has been exhibited in variousU.S. universities, cultural centers, and libraries, 2017–present, and has been seen by more than 140,000 visitors.
When the centennial of the Mexican Revolution was celebrated in 2010, Mraz was invited to be the curator of the national exposition, "Testimonios de una guerra. Fotografìas de la Revolución Mexicana," which was exhibited throughout Mexico at more than 30 sites and at international venues.
In 1996, he curated La mirada inquieta: nuevo fotoperiodismo mexicano, 1976–1996, at the invitation of then-Director of the Centro de la Imagen, Patricia Mendoza.

Bibliography

Books
Memorias del subdesarrollo: Estudio crítico. Valencia: Contrabando, 2023. History and Modern Media: A Personal Journey, Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2021. Historiar fotografías. Oaxaca: Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, 2018. La coartada perfecta de Elsa Medina. Puebla: ICSyH-BUAP, 2016.Fotografía e historia en América Latina. Co-editor: Ana María Mauad. Montevideo, Centro de Fotografía Ediciones, 2015.México en sus imágenes. Mexico City and Puebla: Artes de México/Conaculta/Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, 2014.Photographing the Mexican Revolution: Commitments, Testimonies, Icons. Austin, University of Texas Press, 2012.Fotografiar la Revolución Mexicana: compromisos e íconos. Mexico City, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2010.Looking for Mexico: Modern Visual Culture and National Identity. Durham, Duke University Press, 2009.Trasterrados: braceros vistos por los Hermanos Mayo. Co-author: Jaime Vélez Storey. Mexico City, Archivo General de la Nación-Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, 2005.Nacho López, Mexican Photographer. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2003.La mirada inquieta: nuevo fotoperiodismo mexicano: 1976–1996. México City and Puebla, Conaculta/Centro de la Imagen/Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades-Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, 1996.Uprooted: Braceros in the Hermanos Mayo Lens. Co-author: Jaime Vélez Storey. Houston, Arte Público Press, 1996.11Ensayos en historia gráfica. Puebla, Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades-UAP, 1996.Tina Modotti: Photographien & Dokumente. Co-author: Reinhard Schultz. Berlin, Galerie Bilderwelt, 1996.Mexico, 1910–1960: Brehme, Casasola, Kahlo, López, Modotti. Co-author: Eleazar López Zamora and Reinhard Schultz. Berlin, Das Andere Amerika Archiv, 1992.Imágenes ferrocarrileras: una visión poblana. Lecturas Históricas de Puebla, Núm. 59, Puebla, Gobierno del Estado de Puebla, 1991.

 Academic journals
Guest Editor, Co-Editors: Nekane Parejo and Manuel Blanco. Cultura visual contemporánea en Latinoamérica, Palabra Clave, 26:1, 2023, Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia).
Guest editor, Cinema and History in Latin America, Film Historia, 9:2 (1999); Centro de Investigaciones Cinematográficas, Universidad de Barcelona.
Guest editor, Cultura Visual en América Latina, Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe, 9:1 (1998); Escuela de Historia, Universidad de Tel Aviv.
Guest editor, Mexican Photography, History of Photography, 20:3, (1996).
Author of more than 200 articles, book chapters, interviews, and review essays on the history of Mexico and Cuba recounted through photography, cinema, video, and digital imagery; published in English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Chinese, Portuguese, Catalan, Galician, and Korean.

 Interviews

Interview in Nathanial Gardner, The Study of Photography in Latin America: Critical Insights and Methodological Approaches, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 2023, 37-51.
"John Mraz y la alfabetización visual". Interviewed by Ana Cristina Ayala, Cerosetenta, no. 070, de la Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, 6 de septiembre de 2016. https://cerosetenta.uniandes.edu.co/john-mraz-y-la-alfabetizacion-visual/
"'We Have Entered a [Third] Visual Period of History': Thoughts on the Study of Photography by John Mraz." Interview by Nathanial Gardner, The Americas, 73:4 (October 2016): 459-475.

 Productions (films and audiovisuals)
Director of 11 films and 20 audiovisual productions on Latin American history. Two films have received international awards. The films are distributed in the United States, Europe, and Latin America in Spanish, English, French and Catalan.

Productions (selective listing):.
Director, Julio Mayo: Bracero with a camera/Julio Mayo: Bracero con cámara; Puebla, Museo Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Mexicanos, 2014.
Director, Magí Murià: un pioner diletant/Magí Murià: Pioneer and Dilettante,  Barcelona: TV Terrassa, 1993/94
Director and producer, Made on Rails: A History of the Mexican Railroad Workers / Hechos sobre los rieles: una historia de los ferrocarrileros mexicanos; Puebla y Santa Cruz, UAP y UCSC, 1987/88. Distribution:  E.U.A. y Canadá—The Cinema Guild, Nueva York. América Latina—Universidad Autónoma de Puebla.
Director, Innovating Nicaragua / Nicaragua innovando''; Nicaragua y México, Ministerio del Interior y UAP, 1986/87.  Distribution:  E.U.A. and Canadá—The Cinema Guild, Nueva York.  América Latina—Zafra/Latino Video, México.  Europe—La Médiathèque des Trois Mondes, París.

Awards

 Hubert B. Herring Award for "Best Videotape, Film or Non-Print Media", Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies, 1988.
 Latin American Studies Association "Award of Merit in Film" for "excellence in the visual presentation of educational and artistic materials on Latin America," Latin American Studies Association Invitational Film Festival, 1988.
Presented (selective listing):
	X Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, La Habana, 1988.
	Annual Congress of the American Historical Association, 1987.

Director, Innovating Nicaragua/Nicaragua innovando, Managua and Puebla: Ministerio del Interior and UAP, 1986/87.
	  Distribution:
		U.S. and Canada—The Cinema Guild (New York).
		 Latin America—Zafra/Latino Video (Mexico City).
		 Europe—La Médiathèque des Trois Mondes (Paris).

Award: Latin American Studies Association "Award of Merit in Film" for "excellence in the visual presentation of educational and artistic materials on Latin America," Latin American Studies Association Invitational Film Festival, 1986.
	Present	ed (selective listing):
	VIII Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, La Habana, 1986.
"Screening Days for Films from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific", Stockholm, 1987.

References

21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
American photographers
Living people
1943 births
Historians of photography
American male non-fiction writers

John Mraz


The Modern Style is a style of architecture, art, and design that first emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1880s. It was the first Art Nouveau style worldwide, and it represents the evolution of the Arts and Crafts movement which was native to Great Britain. The Modern Style provided the base and intellectual background for the Art Nouveau movement and was adapted by other countries, giving birth to local variants such as Jugendstil and the Vienna Secession. It was cultivated and disseminated through the Liberty department store and The Studio magazine.

The most important person in the field of design in general, and architecture in particular, was Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He created one of the key motifs of the movement, now known as the "Mackintosh rose" or "Glasgow rose". The Glasgow School circle was also of tremendous importance, particularly the group closely associated with Mackintosh known as "The Four". The Liberty store's nurturing of style gave birth to two metalware lines, Cymric and Tudric, designed by Archibald Knox. In the field of ceramic and glass Christopher Dresser is a standout figure: not only did he work with the most prominent ceramic manufacturers but became a crucial person behind James Couper & Sons' trademarking of Clutha glass, inspired by ancient Rome, in 1888. Aubrey Beardsley was a defining person in graphic design and drawing, and influenced painting and style in general. In textiles William Morris and C. F. A. Voysey are of huge importance, influencing them all to an extent, although most artists were versatile and worked in many mediums and fields. Because of the evolution of Arts and Crafts to Modern Style, lines can be blurred and many designers, artists, and craftspeople worked in both styles simultaneously. Important figures include Charles Robert Ashbee, Walter Crane, Léon-Victor Solon, George Skipper, Charles Harrison Townsend, Arthur Mackmurdo, William James Neatby.

History

Origins

Art Nouveau had its origins in Britain, mainly in the work of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement which was founded by Morris and his followers. Through Morris, a formative and essential influence was the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which was championed and sometimes financially supported by John Ruskin. Ruskin's influence on the formation of Arts and Crafts and the Modern Style is hard to overstate. The Arts and Crafts movement called for better treatment of decorative arts, believed all objects should be made beautiful, and took inspiration from folklore, medieval craftsmanship and design, and nature. An early prototype is Red House, Bexleyheath (1860), with architectural work by Philip Webb and interiors by William Morris. The work of Arthur Mackmurdo is the earliest fully realised form of Art Nouveau; his Mahogany chair from 1883 and design for a cover for the essay Wren's City Churches are recognised by art historians as the very first works in the new style. Mackmurdo's work shows the influence of another British illustrator William Blake, whose designs for Songs of Innocence and of Experience from 1789 point to an even earlier origin of Art Nouveau. Unlike in Europe, in Great Britain there had been no radical revolution, and artists and architects continued a spirit of innovation which was the essence of Arts and Crafts. Art Nouveau is a natural evolution of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Development
Fertile ground for this new style was in Scotland, and Glasgow in particular. The city already had significant artistic activity, with the Glasgow Art Institute founded in 1879. As with most other European style variations, it was influenced by Japonisme which was in vogue with the addition of the Celtic Revival trend and its nationalistic tone. Archibald Knox was a prominent figure in the formation of a new style, which built on the foundation of Arts and Crafts with the conscious addition of Celtic elements, as he was from the Isle of Man and interested in his Celtic roots. Christopher Dresser and his interest in Japanese design added an important ingredient to the Modern Style. The Style existed in England as well, but artists there gravitated slightly more towards Arts and Crafts. The most prominent figures would be Charles Rennie Mackintosh and people closely associated with him also known as "The Four", and the Glasgow School, so that the style was also known as the "Glasgow Style".

Pieces designed by William Morris, Archibald Knox, and Christopher Dresser were on sale in a newly opened department store called Liberty, in London's Regent Street, in 1875. Arthur Lasenby Liberty with his great business skills fused the Arts and Crafts and Celtic Britain aesthetics with popular demand for oriental design. He opened a  second store in Paris in 1890. In the 1890s, Liberty collaborated with many British designers and artists, mainly working in the Arts and Crafts style that was by then evolving into Art Nouveau. The store became synonymous with the new style, to the extent that Art Nouveau is sometimes called stile Liberty in Italy. The styles co-existed and numerous artists contributed to both styles and played roles in developing them. A good example of this blurring of lines and distinction is Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose architecture work was very much in the Glasgow style, but parts of the interior in those same buildings could lean more in the Arts and Crafts direction, particularly the furniture.

In 1900, "The Four" and some English artists including Charles Robert Ashbee with his Guild and School of Handicraft were invited to participate in the Vienna Secession's 8th exhibition. They were a huge influence on the artists of the Vienna Secession and the Viennese art scene. Modern Style artists strongly influenced Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann, and inspired them to establish the Wiener Werkstätte.

In 1901 the writer Jean Lahor stated that William Morris and John Ruskin were precursors to Art Nouveau. British design was enormously influential at that time, and this became unbearable for some: writer Charles Genuys declared in 1897 that it was time to shake it off.

Painting

An important influence on painting, and one of the formative influences on the Modern Style in general was Pre-Raphaelitism, which affected the Arts and Crafts movement, Symbolism, Aestheticism and the Modern Style. Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones were among the most important figures associated with Pre-Raphaelitism.

The group known as "The Four" made the biggest impact in the field of painting and the style in general. This group consisted of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his friend Herbert MacNair, and sisters Frances MacDonald and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. "The Four" met at painting classes at the Glasgow School of Art in 1891. Frances MacDonald and Herbert MacNair married in 1899, and Margaret MacDonald and Charles Rennie Mackintosh married in 1900. Although all were great artists in their own right, MacDonald Mackintosh stood out in the field of painting; she greatly influenced Mackintosh and he praised her as a genius. Both sisters were influenced by the work of William Blake and Aubrey Beardsley and this is reflected in their use of elongated figures and linear elements. MacDonald Mackintosh exhibited with her husband at the 1900 Vienna Secession, where they were an influence on Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffmann, and artists who would later form the Wiener Werkstätte. They continued to be popular in the Viennese art scene, with both exhibiting at the Viennese International Art Exhibit in 1909.

In 1902, the couple received a major Viennese commission: Fritz Waerndorfer, the initial financer of the Wiener Werkstätte, was building a new villa outside Vienna showcasing the work of many local architects. Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser were already designing two of its rooms. Waerndorfer invited the Mackintoshes to design the music room. That room was decorated with panels of MacDonald Mackintosh's art: the Opera of the Winds, the Opera of the Seas, and the Seven Princesses, a new wall-sized triptych considered by some to be her finest work. This collaboration was described by contemporary critic Amelia Levetus as "perhaps their greatest work, for they were allowed perfectly free scope".

Graphics and drawing
The first appearance of the curving, sinuous forms that came to be called Art Nouveau is traditionally attributed to Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo in 1883.  They were soon adopted in the 1890s by Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones and by Aesthetic movement illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, following the advice of the art historian and critic John Ruskin, who urged artists to "go to nature" for their inspiration.

In Britain, one of the first leading graphic artists in what became Art Nouveau style was Aubrey Beardsley. He began with engraved book illustrations for Le Morte d'Arthur, then black and white illustrations for Salome by Oscar Wilde in 1893, which brought him fame. In the same year, he began engraving illustrations and posters for the art magazine The Studio, which helped publicise European artists such as Fernand Khnopff in Britain. The curving lines and intricate floral patterns attracted as much attention as the text.

Architecture

The most prominent architect of the Modern Style was Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He was based in Glasgow and took inspiration from Scottish Baronial architecture fusing it with organic forms of plants and the simplicity of Japanese design. This unique blend gave birth to the modern and distinct style for which he is known. He considered Scottish Baronial to be the national style of Scotland, and in 1890 he delivered a lecture to the Glasgow Architectural Association on the subject of Scottish Baronial: "How different is the study of Scottish Baronial architecture. Its original examples are at our doors... the monuments of our forefathers, the works of men bearing our own name". Along with his most famous work, Glasgow School of Art, almost all buildings he created are notable and important such as Scotland Street School Museum, Queen's Cross Church, Glasgow, and Hill House, Helensburgh. Along with built designs, there were several which were not built. He was moderately successful as an architect but his significance was only fully understood after his death and he was brought to fame. One of his designs built posthumously is the House for an Art Lover. A recurring motif in his designs is what became known as the Mackintosh Rose or Glasgow Rose.

Another important architect was George Skipper, who had a great impact on the city of Norwich. His stand out work is the Royal Arcade, Norwich which has 24 wooden bow-fronted shops with faience details designed by W. J. Neatby. Writer and poet John Betjeman said of Skipper: "He is altogether remarkable and original. He was to Norwich what Gaudi was to Barcelona."

Everard's Printing Works in Bristol is another icon of Modern Style. Architectural work by Henry Williams celebrates the history of printing from Gutenberg to William Morris. The facade is decorated with tiles in designs by W. J. Neatby.

James Salmon, who was a native of Glasgow and attended Glasgow School of Art from 1888 until 1895, completing his apprenticeship in the office of William Leiper (1839–1916), also developed a remarkable style. "The Hatrack" (1899–1902) in St Vincent Street is his most famous work, with much glass, a highly detailed Modern Style facade and a distinctive cupola that gave the buildings its nickname.

Charles Harrison Townsend made a significant contribution to the style; some claim he was the only English architect to have worked in the new style. Like all architects and artists working in the new style he displayed an affinity for nature motifs but his motif of choice was the tree.

Leslie Green was a Londoner who designed a significant number of iconic London Underground stations in his home city. His use of oxblood glazed architectural terra-cotta on the exterior of stations gave them a distinct and somewhat flamboyant appearance. For the interiors he used a pleasant bottle-green terra-cotta.

Metalware and jewellery

Cymric was the name given to a range of original silver and jewellery that A. L. Liberty sponsored in 1898, and which was first exhibited at his shop in the spring of the following year. Although the mark registered at the Goldsmiths' Company was entered in his name, the majority of the silver and jewellery was made by W. H. Haseler of Birmingham, who became a joint partner in the project, after designs supplied by Oliver Baker and the Silver Studio. Archibald Knox, a Manxman who had worked for Christopher Dresser, was one of the most gifted designers employed by the Silver Studio; he supplied the majority of Liberty metalwork designs between 1899 and 1912.

Tudric was the range name for pewterware made by W.H. Haseler of Birmingham. The chief designer was Archibald Knox, together with David Veazey, Oliver Baker, and Rex Silver. Liberty & Co began producing Tudric in 1901 and continued to the 1930s. Tudric pewter was differentiated from other pewters by its better quality, it having a higher content of silver. Pewter is traditionally known as "the poor man's silver".

The Guild and School of Handicraft, established in 1888 by Charles Robert Ashbee, made a significant contribution to the style in the medium. One of the founding members and first instructor in metalwork was John Pearson. Pearson is most famous for his work in copper, and his innovation of beating the copper out against a block of lead. Guild designs of belt buckles, jewellery, cutlery, and tableware were notable in influencing German and Austrian Art Nouveau artists.

Textiles and wallpaper
Thanks to William Morris, this medium had a renaissance. He did away with luxurious jacquard weaved silk furnishings at one end of the luxury scale, and with cheap roller printed textiles and wallpapers at the other. The focus of his attention, in Arts and Crafts spirit, was on traditional craft-based hand block printing and hand weaving. He fully utilised these mediums with new patterns and unleashed creativity in pattern design, shining a new light and changing people's perception of home furnishings. Morris's most iconic forms were unique plant-based compositions, in wallpaper from 1864 and printed textiles from 1874. Plants native to England were the essence of his design. C. F. A. Voysey made a huge contribution to the field. Although an architect by profession he was persuaded by his friend Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo to try designing wallpapers. One of his aphorisms was "To be simple is the end, not the beginning, of design". He was admired on the Continent by figures like Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde. In 1900 the Journal of Decorative Art called him "fountainhead" and "the prophet" of Art Nouveau.

Silver Studio, founded by Arthur Silver in 1880 and later inherited by his son Rex Silver, had its heyday roughly from 1890 to 1910 at the peak of Modern Style. The studio started with Japanese-inspired designs and established an important relationship with the Liberty department store, for which several designs were produced. Many talented designers worked for the studio, including John Illingworth Kay, Harry Napper, and Archibald Knox. In 1897 The Studio reported that le style Anglais was invading France, and that "the majority of designers and manufacturers are content to copy and disfigure English patterns." The huge popularity of these designs was reflected in that by 1906 the number of designs sold to European manufacturers was 40%.

Ceramics

Christopher Dresser was the most important ceramicist in England at the time. His interest in ceramics started in the 1860s and he worked for firms such as Linthorpe Art Pottery, Mintons, Wedgwood, Royal Worcester, Watcombe, Linthorpe, Old Hall at Hanley and Ault. He was inspired by nature (not surprising considering he was a botanist) but strongly rejected outright copying, instead arguing for a stylised approach: "If plants are employed as ornaments they must not be treated imitatively, but must be conventionally treated, or rendered into ornaments – a monkey can imitate, man can create." In contrast to those designs, he also made bold, bright coloured creations full of virility. In addition to Dressler, important designers working in the medium were John W. Wadsworth and Léon-Victor Solon. In 1901 Wadsworth, under the directorship of Solon, created a range called "Secessionist Ware". Named after the Vienna Secession which was very much in vogue post-1900, its stylised floral designs and strong use of line contributed significantly to the international movement. Even though Mackintosh did not create ceramics his design influence, both direct and indirect, is hard to overstate.

Architectural ceramics
William James Neatby started his foray into the ceramics at Burmantofts Potteries working as the architectural ceramics designer; he was previously working as an architect. He spent six years working for the company, from 1894 to 1890, and was its leading designer during that period. Neatby worked closely with the architects and designed numerous interiors and exteriors for hotels, hospitals, banks, restaurants and houses. The architects would only give Neatby the rough outline, and he was able to interpret the spirit of the undertaking and continue from there, due to both his artistic sensibility and his training as an architect. He moved to London in 1890 and worked for Doulton and Co. where he was in charge of Doulton's architectural department for the design and production of mural ceramics. He spent eleven years with the company, and it was during this period that he designed his most famous work, Meat Hall at Harrods department store.

Glass

From a legislative and political standpoint, a significant moment for glass in Britain was the abolition in 1851 of a tax on windows according to their size. This in turn led to larger windows, and greater use of glass in architecture and house design in general. The 19th century made important innovations when it comes to glass manufacturing. In the 1820s the technique for moulding glass was discovered, and in the 1870s for blown glass. Besides new techniques, new types of glass were also being explored. One of these was Clutha glass, trademarked by James Couper & Sons in 1888. This glass, unlike the previous type of glass, had air bubbes purposely left, as it imitated ancient Roman glass which was in vogue at the time. Clutha line was designed by Dresser from 1888 until 1896 and was retailed by the ever-present Liberty department store. Dresser focused on the form and practicality of his designs, and had a great understanding of manufacturing technique: "Glass has a molten state in which it can be blown into the most beautiful of shapes. This process is the work of but a few seconds. If material is worked in its most simple and befitting manner, the results are more beautiful than those which are arrived at by any roundabout method of production."

Gallery

References

Art movements in Europe
Art Nouveau
Decorative arts

Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style)


Arnold Forstmann (born 16 June 1842 in Düsseldorf; died 1914 or later), German landscape-painter. Besides the typical composed romantic landscapes in the tradition of the Düsseldorf school of painting Forstmann painted vedute of the Rhine Valley and the Alps.

Life

Arnold Forstmann entered the Düsseldorf Academy in the third quarter of 1867. He started his artistic education in a class of landscape-painters directed by Oswald Achenbach (1827–1905) until 1871. In February 1872 he left the art academy; his last teacher was Albert Flamm (1823–1906). In the list of students of the art academy Forstmann was remarked as deaf-mute. After his education Arnold Forstmann lived in Düsseldorf as a landscape-painter. In the year 1904 he moved from Düsseldorf to Köln. The date of the death of Arnold Forstmann is not known so far. The last record of his life is taken from a genre-portrait "In devotion", dated 1914.

Achievement

Typically, Arnold Forstmann's paintings are all very detailed. The basic composition (frequently medial section, rarely central view) is supported by the use of strong contrasts and a reduced palette which is mostly tuned on one basic tone. In the late-romantic painting tradition Forstmann frequently uses figures in the typical rear view position.

In the composed landscapes elements like mountains, single houses or huts, rivers or lakes are always present. The surface of the water is animated with small boats loaded with persons, one or more sailing vessel and sometimes a steamer far away.

Even Forstmann's vedute are no exact copies of the real landscapes. As a rule, Forstmann varies the dimensions of selected elements of landscape in order to intensify the artistic expression. But these variations will never destroy the original impression of the real landscape (compare for example the painting of the Königssee). Apart from landscape-paintings, some single hunting-paintings, still life paintings and one genre-portrait are known.

The signature "A. Forstmann", which never was altered, appears in two different writing variants. It is very likely that the signature version A is older than the signature version B. This fact can probably be used when the approximate period of the creation of a painting are estimated.

With some exceptions, the paintings of Arnold Forstmann are not dated. Known dated paintings are: Lake in the alps (Alpensee) from 1869, Oberwesel at the Rhine river (Oberwesel am Rhein) from 1883, Summerday in Altenahr (Sommertag in Altenahr) from 1904, Southern Marina (Südländische Marine) from 1905 (Köln), In Devotion (In Andacht) from 1914.

Artwork

The vedute of the Rhine river valley (Rolandseck, Nonnenwerth and Drachenfels, Stolzenfels Castel) and of the Alps (Chiemsee, Königssee) are well known and there are many of landscapes. Some dealing with the so-called "wild romantic" genre, showing wild mountain-streams bordered by watermills and crossed by staggering bridges. These scenes are frequently lighted by a full moon that is partially covered by clouds. Moonlight is also the favourite illumination for Forstmann's fishermen-scenes. On the other hand, Forstmann painted peaceful daylight scenes showing sunny alp-meadows with a brooklet or mountain lakes, animated by small boats or sailing vessels. Furthermore, Forstmann painted fjords and marinas.

As a common practice within the painters of the 19th century Forstmann painted his successful subjects more than once. There are up to 4 copies of a composition known. But every "copy" shows variations. Sometimes Forstmann only changes the size of the painting, or he mirrors the image or he alters the light (daylight/moonlight) or the season, sometimes he changes only some details.

Paintings in public exhibitions

 Rolandseck, Nonnenwerth und Drachenfels, Öl/Leinwand, um 1870 (Bonn, Stadtmuseum)

See also

 List of German painters

Bibliography

 Wend von Kalnein (Ed.): Die Düsseldorfer Malerschule. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Düsseldorf/Darmstadt/Mainz 1978,
 Haupt-Staatsarchiv Düsseldorf: Schülerlisten der Kunstakadenmie Düsseldorf
 Carsten Roth: Arnold Forstmann. In: Allgemeines Künstler Lexikon Band 42. K.G. Saur Verlag, München Leipzig 2004, S. 459

1842 births
Year of death missing
19th-century German painters
German male painters
20th-century German painters
20th-century German male artists
20th-century deaths
19th-century German male artists
Düsseldorf school of painting

Arnold Forstmann


Adalia bipunctata,  the two-spot ladybird, two-spotted ladybug or two-spotted lady beetle, is a carnivorous beetle of the family Coccinellidae that is found throughout the holarctic region. It is very common in western and central Europe. It is also native to North America but it has heavily declined in many states and provinces. It is commonly introduced and imported as a biological control agent.

Taxonomy
The two-spotted ladybird was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae; its original name was Coccinella bipunctata. Its specific name is from the Latin bi- "two", and punctata "spotted".

Description
Adalia bipunctata is a small Coccinellid that can feature any one of a large selection of red and black forms. Some forms are similar to Mulsantina picta, but the two white spots on the head of Adalia (in contrast with a large white region or more than two spots) readily separate it. Additionally Adalia is entirely black on the ventral surface with black legs, which helps rule out any other options.

The two-spotted ladybird is highly variable in many parts of its native range. The most familiar form, form typica with two black spots on a red base, is common throughout. A melanistic form that is black with four or six red spots is uncommon, but not rare, while the truly melanistic form purpurea is exceedingly rare. In North America the species shows the most variation, with several forms that do not occur elsewhere including a spotless form, a four-banded form, a nine to twelve spotted form, and a "cross-hatched" form. In addition, there are intermediate forms such as form annulata, but they occur rarely.

Prey
Two-spotted lady beetles feed on aphids and other small insects. However, the sterile soldiers within colonies of aphids such as the gall-forming Pemphigus spyrothecae, can attempt to protect the aphid colony by fighting this species.

Life cycle
The two-spotted lady beetle's life cycle starts with eggs that are usually laid in clutches. The larva hatches from the egg by biting a hole in it. The larva looks very different from an adult; it has an elongated, grey, soft body with six legs but no wings. They are cannibalistic. A larva goes through four larval stages: by eating it grows and at some point it sheds its old skin and appears in a new one in which it can grow more. The last larval stage is approximately the size of an adult beetle. Once it has eaten enough, the larva attaches itself to a substrate and moults into a pupa. Inside the pupa, the adult develops. Finally the adult ecloses from the pupa.

Sex ratio anomalies

Symbiosis
In some populations, the majority of the beetles are female. In these populations, 80-90% of the offspring are female. The cause of this anomaly is the presence of symbiotic bacteria living within the gametic cells of the female lady beetles. The bacterium is too large to live in the male gametes (sperm), so the bacterium can be transmitted to the next generation only through female gametes. When it ends up in a male, it will die when the male dies. Therefore, it kills most of the male embryos in the newly laid eggs. These dead embryos then serve as food for their sisters when they emerge from their eggs. This trait is associated with a variety of bacteria (Wolbachia, Rickettsia, and Spiroplasma) which are present in between 0 and 20% of females, depending on locality.

Parasitism
The two-spot ladybird also carries a sexually transmitted infection in Central and Eastern Europe. The infection is an ectoparasitic mite Coccipolipus hippodamiae that transfers between male and female (and female and male) during copulation. The infection sterilizes female two-spot ladybirds, and at some points of the year, up to 90% of adult two spots become infected.

As biological control agent
A. bipunctata is used as a localised biological control agent against aphids in, for example, greenhouses.. The two-spotted lady beetle was introduced into Australia specifically as a biological control agent.

References

External links

Biological pest control beetles
Insects used as insect pest control agents
Beetles of New Zealand
Coccinellidae
Beetles described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
National symbols of Latvia

Adalia bipunctata


Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa (; born 17 June 1982), known as Alex, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He was known for his physical strength and the power of his shot, which has gained him the nicknames of "The Tank" and Canhão da Vila ("Cannon of Vila Belmiro").

Having been bought by the Premier League club Chelsea in 2004, Alex was loaned to Dutch team PSV and he won 3 Eredivisie titles with them. Alex finally joined the Chelsea squad in the summer of 2007 after three years in the Netherlands. In his time at Chelsea, he won the FA Cup in 2009 and a league and FA Cup "double" in 2010, as well as reaching the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final. He joined Paris Saint-Germain for £4.2 million in January 2012 and won Ligue 1 twice with the club, moving to A.C. Milan on the expiration of his contract in 2014 and retiring two years later.

Alex earned 17 caps for Brazil between 2003 and 2008, winning the 2007 Copa América and finishing as runner-up at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Club career

Santos
Alex began his career with Santos of Brazil, making his first team debut in 2002 before later becoming part of the club's central pillars. Alex made his professional league debut in the 1–1 draw against Fluminense. Less than a month after his debut, Alex scored his first goal for the club in a match against Vasco da Gama on 18 September 2002. After multiple impressive performances, Alex secured his place in the team's regular starting lineup. In his first season playing, in
2002, Santos won the Série A title, their first since 1968.

In the 2003 season, Alex participated in 34 matches and, despite playing defense, managed to score nine goals. Also in 2003, Alex helped Santos reach the final of the Copa Libertadores, where Santos lost 5–1 on aggregate against Argentine side Boca Juniors. In the second leg of Copa Libertadores Finals, Alex scored the only goal for Santos in a 3–1 loss.

Chelsea
Alex was signed by English Premier League club Chelsea in 2004 on the recommendation of famed PSV and Chelsea scout Piet de Visser, but because of potential problems in attaining a work permit, he was loaned out to Dutch Eredivisie club PSV.

PSV (loan)

The joint contract of Chelsea and PSV loaned Alex to the latter, with Chelsea having a €1 million buy-out clause. Alex eventually played three years at PSV, donning the number 4 jersey for the Eindhoven club. While playing for PSV, he earned himself the nickname "The Tank" due to his cannonball-like free kicks and his strong physical stature.

He formally joined PSV in the 2004–05 season, helping the club win a domestic double of both the Eredivisie championship and Dutch Cup that year. In the Champions League, Alex played a key role in the PSV team that was eliminated in the semi-finals against A.C. Milan on away goals (PSV won their home game 3–1 but had previously lost 0–2 at the San Siro). The team eliminated AS Monaco and Olympique Lyonnais on their way to the semi-finals.

Alex won a second straight Dutch league championship in the 2005–06 season with PSV. Chelsea did not recall Alex, even though Piet de Visser and Chelsea Head of Scouting Frank Arnesen recommended that Alex be brought over to solve the club's defensive problems. Instead, Chelsea manager José Mourinho insisted on the signing of Khalid Boulahrouz in place of Alex. Therefore, Alex stayed a third season at PSV on loan in 2006–07. He won a third straight Eredivisie title with PSV, after a dramatic final-day finish to the season in which PSV sensationally trumped both AFC Ajax and AZ. Alex scored in a UEFA Champions League first knockout round against Arsenal for both teams in the second half, turning in an own goal past his own goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, but compensating for it with a storming headed goal with eight minutes left to play to redeem himself and in the process ensure PSV a place in the quarter-finals. He was later injured, however, and played no part in PSV's UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool, which PSV lost 4–0 on aggregate.

2007–08

In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Alex confirmed that Chelsea were in the process of getting him a work permit and that the possibilities of him joining Chelsea next season were very high. Alex later confirmed that Chelsea had almost completed the process of acquiring him a work permit and that he would start the season as a Chelsea player.

Alex was granted a work permit on 2 August 2007, and completed his transfer to Chelsea after agreeing to personal terms and passing a medical, where he then signed a three-year deal with the London club on 10 August.

On 14 August 2007, Alex was presented to the English media in a press conference with manager José Mourinho, where he was given shirt number 33. He made his debut on 19 August when he came on as a substitute for Florent Malouda against Liverpool in the 85th minute, with the teams tied at 1–1. He also played in the 0–2 defeat away at Aston Villa and the 4–0 victory over Hull City in the League Cup.

Alex scored his first goal for Chelsea on 20 October 2007, a 30-yard free kick against Middlesbrough. He scored from another free kick on 28 November in a Champions League game against Rosenborg BK. He then scored in Chelsea's 4–4 draw with Aston Villa, scoring his first goal at Stamford Bridge from an Andriy Shevchenko pass, taking his tally for the season to three goals.

2008–09
Alex enjoyed his longest spell in the first team during the 2008–09 season. He was given his chance due to regular starter Ricardo Carvalho being injured for long periods of the campaign. He scored Chelsea's 1,000th Premier League goal against Sunderland on 1 November 2008. Alex started every game for Chelsea under Guus Hiddink, who managed Alex at PSV, and also scored in an FA Cup quarter-final victory away to Coventry City.

In the Champions League quarter-finals second leg at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool, Alex scored a free-kick from 30 yards out to level the score at 2–2. The game eventually ended 4–4 and Chelsea won 7–5 on aggregate, but Chelsea were infamously eliminated by Barcelona in the semi-finals. On 10 May, Alex scored a header in Chelsea's 4–1 Premier League win over Arsenal from a Didier Drogba free-kick.

2009–10
Alex played his first pre-season match against Milan in the World Football Challenge.

On 13 October 2009, Alex signed a new four-year contract with Chelsea, keeping him at Stamford Bridge until the summer of 2013.

Alex missed the start of the season, having sustained a groin injury on 15 August 2009. He started his first game of the season in a League Cup match against Bolton Wanderers on 28 October 2009, playing the full 90 minutes. He made his first Premier League start of the season against Portsmouth on 16 December 2009.

On 13 March 2010, he scored his first goal of the season at Stamford Bridge giving Chelsea the lead in a 4–1 league win over West Ham United.

2010–11

In light of Ricardo Carvalho's departure to Real Madrid, Alex started the 2010–11 season as first-choice centre-back for Chelsea, alongside John Terry. On 3 October 2010, he scored a 25-yard freekick in a 2–0 victory over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. On 5 October, he was ruled out for up to three weeks after picking up a thigh injury in the final stages of Sunday's 2–0 win over Arsenal, and subsequently withdrew from the Brazil squad for the friendly matches against Iran, and Ukraine. Alex made his return for Chelsea where he made his return on 30 October 2010 and played 90 minutes against Blackburn Rovers in a 2–1 win. On 1 December 2010, Alex suffered a knee injury and was out of action about three months. While rehabilitation on his injury, Manager Carlo Ancelotti would consider signing a new defender if Alex fails to recover from knee surgery before the end of January but Alex failed to do so and Chelsea went on to sign David Luiz from Benfica. By mid March 2011, Alex made his return to training with the first-team squad.

After he recovered from the injury, Alex made his return on 9 April 2011 in a match against Wigan Athletic in a 1–0 win, where he came on for Paulo Ferreira in the 75th minute. On 8 May 2011, it took a goal-costing mistake from David Luiz against Manchester United in the season-deciding match for Alex to break back into the starting line-up, getting substituted on at half time that match, and then starting and playing the full 90 minutes the following match against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on 15 May 2011, where he scored a headed goal in the 82nd minute in a 2–2 draw. In the last league game of the season against Everton, Alex started the match alongside John Terry but was substituted on 70 minutes for Ferreira in their 1–0 defeat at Goodison Park. At the end of the campaign, Alex made 20 appearances and scored 2 goals in all competitions.

2011–12
In the summer transfer window, Alex was the subject of a bid from local rivals Arsenal. On 20 August 2011, in a home game against West Bromwich Albion, a defensive mistake from Alex allowed striker Shane Long through to score four minutes into the game. In the end, however, Chelsea won 2–1. On 21 September 2011, in a League Cup tie against Fulham, Alex received a straight red card in the 49th minute after a foul on Kerim Frei, which also resulted a penalty. Pajtim Kasami, however, missed Fulham's penalty after his kick was saved by back-up goalkeeper Ross Turnbull. In the end, Chelsea later won 4–3 on penalties to progress to the next round. In November 2011, Alex made his last Chelsea appearance in a League Cup in a quarter-final against Liverpool, which Chelsea lost 2–0. He started the match but committed a handball in the penalty area, which Turnbull again saved from Andy Carroll.

On 3 December 2011, Alex submitted a transfer request, which was accepted. He had been the subject of a bid from Queens Park Rangers in the first transfer activity under their new manager Mark Hughes. The move, however, broke down after both parties reportedly failed to agree personal terms; QPR could not match his wage demands and Alex stated he did not want to stay in England.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 27 January 2012, Alex joined Paris Saint-Germain for £4.2 million to reunite with his former manager Carlo Ancelotti. On his move, he publicly stated that the reason for it was that Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas had not given him enough playing time at the club. He was given the number 13 shirt, free since the departure of Sammy Traoré.

On 12 February 2012, Alex made his debut for PSG in a 0–0 draw against Nice, where he made his first start before coming off for Christophe Jallet at half-time. The following week, on 19 February 2012, Alex scored a 30-yard goal from a lay-off free kick, his first goal for PSG, against Montpellier on a free-kick combination with compatriot Nenê, which the result was 2–2. On 8 April 2012, Alex scored the winning goal in the 61st minute in a 2–1 win over Olympique de Marseille. On 6 November 2012, in a Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb, Alex scored the first goal of the match, a half-volley that evaded the reach of Dinamo goalkeeper Ivan Kelava after 16 minutes.

On 3 August 2013, Alex scored the game-winning goal with the last kick of the game in PSG's 2–1 defeat of Bordeaux in the Trophée des Champions at the Stade d'Angondjé in Libreville, Gabon.

A.C. Milan
On 5 June 2014, Alex signed for Milan on free transfer when his contract with PSG expired. He made his competitive debut on 31 August in their first match of the new Serie A season, a 3–1 home win over Lazio in which he deflected Antonio Candreva's shot into his own net. Alex scored his first Milan goal in a 3–2 loss to Sassuolo on 17 May 2015. On 31 January 2016, Alex scored a diving header in the Derby della Madonnina.

On 25 May 2016, club owner Silvio Berlusconi announced his departure, along with those of Phillippe Mexes, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mario Balotelli.

In December 2016, Alex announced his retirement as a player.

International career
Alex made his debut for Brazil on 17 July 2003 against Mexico in 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Although he played under Brazil U-23 team at the tournament, the tournament was a full international tournament, hence the international cap gained was fully recognized by FIFA.

He was overlooked for the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. However, after the World Cup, he earned regular call-ups with the new head coach, Dunga. He was a member of the Brazil squad that won the 2007 Copa América with a 3–0 victory over arch-rivals Argentina in the final. He was dropped from the Brazilian squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup due to injuries.

On 11 May, he was called up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad as one of the seven back-up players.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours
Santos
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2002

PSV
Eredivisie: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07
KNVB Cup: 2004–05

Chelsea
Premier League: 2009–10
FA Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10
FA Community Shield: 2009

Paris Saint-Germain
Ligue 1: 2012–13, 2013–14
Coupe de la Ligue: 2013–14
Trophée des Champions: 2013

Brazil
Copa América: 2007

Individual
Bola de Prata: 2002, 2003

References

External links

1982 births
Living people
Footballers from Niterói
Brazilian men's footballers
Brazil men's international footballers
Men's association football defenders
Santos FC players
Chelsea F.C. players
PSV Eindhoven players
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players
AC Milan players
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Eredivisie players
Premier League players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Copa América-winning players
2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2007 Copa América players
Brazilian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands

Alex (footballer, born June 1982)


Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each post. Following defeat in 2015, she announced that she would step down as both Danish Prime Minister and Social Democratic party leader. Ending her political career in April 2016, she was the chief executive of the NGO Save the Children until June 2019.

Thorning-Schmidt served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Denmark from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the Danish Parliament in 2005. She was elected to replace Mogens Lykketoft as Leader of the Social Democrats after the 2005 parliamentary election, leading her party through the 2007 parliamentary election, which was won by the centre-right alliance, and the 2011 parliamentary election, after which she was appointed Prime Minister by Queen Margrethe II and the 2015 election. Thorning-Schmidt holds degrees in political science from the University of Copenhagen and a graduate degree from the College of Europe.

Since 2020, Thorning-Schmidt has served as a Co-Chair of the Facebook Oversight Board.

Early life and education
Helle Thorning-Schmidt was born in Rødovre to Holger Thorning-Schmidt, a lecturer in mathematics and national economics at the University of Copenhagen, and his wife Grete. Her father was politically conservative and she grew up in the Copenhagen suburb of Ishøj. She attended Ishøj Gymnasium from which she graduated in 1985. Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old.

Thorning-Schmidt studied political science at University of Copenhagen, earning a cand.scient.pol. degree in 1994. She also holds a master's degree in European studies specialising in policy and public administration from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, where she studied from 1992 to 1993 (she is an alumna of the Charles IV promotion). At the time, Denmark had a quota administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of one student at this prestigious institution, and Thorning-Schmidt was selected. In addition to her native Danish, she speaks fluent English and French.

She became a social democrat during her studies in Belgium and joined the Social Democratic Party in 1993.

Political career

European Parliament
From 1994 to 1997, Thorning-Schmidt led the secretariat of the Danish delegation of Social Democrats in the European Parliament. After her time in Brussels she worked as an international consultant with the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions until being elected MEP in 1999.

Thorning-Schmidt was elected to the European Parliament as a member of the Party of European Socialists. During the five-year term, she was a member of the Employment and Social Committee and served as a substitute on the Constitutional Committee. She co-founded the Campaign for Parliament Reform (CPR).

Member of the Folketing
In the 2005 Danish parliamentary election Thorning-Schmidt was elected to the Folketing.

After the defeat in the 2005 election, in which the Social Democrats lost five seats and failed to regain the majority it had lost in the 2001 election, former Minister of Finance and party leader Mogens Lykketoft resigned his post, taking responsibility for the poor election results. In his speech of resignation on election night, 8 February 2005, he called for a leadership election in order to determine who should lead the party into the next election.

Thorning-Schmidt campaigned for the party leadership as a moderate candidate and was elected by the party members on 12 April 2005, ahead of the other candidate, Frank Jensen. She led the Social Democrats in the 2007 election, in which her party suffered modest losses and was forced into a third term in opposition. The party was also unable to regain its position as the largest party in the Folketing.

She was against holding a referendum on the European Reform Treaty. During her 2007 campaign she promised to relax restrictions on asylum seekers and immigrants. She also opposed tax cuts announced by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, instead stating she would like to see more funding for welfare. The party also campaigned on a platform of combating increased inequalities in society, and fighting global warming by supplying 45% of Denmark's energy from renewable sources by 2025.

Although her party again lost two seats in the 2007 election reducing the total to 45 seats, her leadership was not questioned by her party. In June 2008, according to a Gallup poll, the opposition centre-left was at 49.8% compared to 49.6% for the centre-right. This would leave the centre-left with 88 seats, two short of a majority, discounting the Faroe Island and Greenland seats. Since late 2009 the opposition enjoyed large majorities in the polls, and according to polls carried out in January 2011 the opposition led the governing coalition under Lars Løkke Rasmussen by 5–7 points and the Social Democrats led Venstre by 7–10 points which would make the Social Democrats the largest party by far in the Folketing.

Both Margrethe Vestager (Social Liberal Party) and Villy Søvndal (Socialist People's Party) have pledged their support to Thorning-Schmidt after a potential election victory. After the last election Helle Thorning-Schmidt started working towards forming a centre-left government coalition consisting of the Socialist People's Party and the Social Liberal Party with parliamentary support from the small Red-Green Alliance. As the leader of the largest opposition party in Denmark, she was described by the media as the leader of the Danish opposition.

Prime Minister of Denmark

2011 Danish election

In the 2011 parliamentary election, she was re-elected to parliament. Although the ruling Liberal Party became the largest party and gained a seat and the Social Democrats lost a seat, the opposition parties combined obtained more seats than the government coalition. Her four-party bloc gained a majority of 89 seats in the 179-seat parliament against 86 for the sitting Prime Minister and his center-right parliamentary supporters. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen formally tendered his resignation to Queen Margrethe on 16 September 2011. Rasmussen's cabinet remained in office as a caretaker government until 3 October, when Helle Thorning-Schmidt was appointed Prime Minister by the Queen following negotiations with the other opposition parties.

First Cabinet

Helle Thorning-Schmidt officially began her first term as Prime Minister on 3 October 2011, after having presented her cabinet to the Queen and having received her official appointment. Thorning-Schmidt has pursued a centrist compromise agenda, building several reforms with support from both sides of the Folketing. This has caused friction with the supporting Red-Green Alliance, which has been kept outside of influence.

Thorning-Schmidt presided over the successful conclusion of NATO's strike missions in Libya, to which Denmark was a contributor, less than three weeks after taking office.

During the first year in office her government rolled back anti-immigration legislation enacted by the previous government, and passed a tax-reform with support from the liberal-conservative opposition. The tax reform raised the top tax threshold, effectively lowering tax rates for high income earners. The aim of the tax reform has been to increase labour output to fend off a projected shortage within the next decades. The stated goal is to entice Danes to work more in order to compensate for the decreasing workforce, by lowering tax on wages and gradually lowering welfare payments to those outside of the labour market to increase the economic benefit of working relative to receiving welfare. Despite effectively lowering tax rates on high income earners, tax revenue continued to increase from 831,172 million Krone in 2011, to 901,001 million Krone in 2013, and eventually reached 954,473 million Krone in 2015 by the end of her time in office. These effective reductions were in line with the 2009 tax reforms of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a Venstre prime minister preceding her, which is likely why she received liberal-conservative support.

On 9 August and 12 December 2013, amid tensions between coalition partners, Thorning-Schmidt made cabinet reshuffles.

Second Cabinet

On 30 January 2014, the Socialist People's Party announced their departure from Thorning-Schmidt's government due to a conflict over the proposed sale of DONG Energy shares to Goldman Sachs. Before departure, they also announced they will support Thorning-Schmidt although not being a part of her government.

Thorning-Schmidt led her party into the 2015 general election in which her party increased its share of votes and seats. However, the Social Liberals lost nine seats, leaving the left bloc without enough support to remain in office. Within an hour of the results being declared, she announced her resignation as both Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democrats.

Electoral history
Thorning was the leader of the Social Democrats through seven electoral campaigns.

Life after politics

Having lost the Danish general election of 2015, Thorning-Schmidt stepped down as Prime Minister and as leader of the Social Democratic Party. It was announced that she would become her party's member of the Presidium of the Folketing, and she served as the Presidium's 1st Vice-President. On 4 September 2015, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced that the Danish government had nominated Thorning-Schmidt as Denmark's official candidate to the position as new United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

After her retirement from Danish politics, Thorning-Schmidt served as the CEO of Save the Children from 2016 until 2019.

Following the resignation of Ghassan Salamé as head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) in 2020, the American Government proposed Thorning-Schmidt as special envoy to focus on mediating peace in Libya; according to media reports, however, she withdrew herself shortly after.

In May 2020, Thorning-Schmidt joined the Facebook Oversight Group, established as an independent entity within Facebook, Inc. She was appointed as a full board member (one of twenty) who as a board have initially adjudicated on deleted Facebook posts in 2021.

Also in 2020, Thorning-Schmidt was appointed by the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe to serve as a member of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, chaired by Mario Monti. From 2021 to 2022, she was a member of the Trilateral Commission's Task Force on Global Capitalism in Transition, chaired by Carl Bildt, Kelly Grier and Takeshi Niinami.

In addition, Thorning-Schmidt has held several other paid and unpaid positions, including:

 Friends of Europe, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020)
 Vestas, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2019)
 DBU's Women Commission to promote women's football in Denmark, Chairperson of the commission (since 2016)
 International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (led by Gordon Brown), Member (since 2015)
 United Nations High-level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child, Member (since 2016)
 International Crisis Group, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2016)
 Atlantic Council, Member of the International Advisory Board
 Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Member of the Global Board of Advisors
 Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, Member of the Lead Group (since 2016, appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon)
 Berggruen Institute, Member of the 21st Century Council
 European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member
 Center for Global Development, Member of the European Advisory Group
 Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Member of the Board
 Progressives Zentrum, Member of the Circle of Friends

Personal life
Thorning-Schmidt married Welsh politician Stephen Kinnock in 1996, becoming the daughter-in-law of Neil Kinnock, former Leader of the Opposition and leader of the British Labour Party and European Commissioner, and Glenys Kinnock, former British Minister for Europe. She met her husband while they were both attending the College of Europe. They have two children, daughter Johanna and son Milo. Thorning-Schmidt lived in Copenhagen with their children, while her husband partly resided in Davos, Switzerland, where he worked as a director for the World Economic Forum. In 2014, he worked for London-based Xyntéo as managing director for the "Global Leadership and Technology Exchange", but was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberavon at the 2015 United Kingdom general election. The family have been living in Kilburn, London since Thorning-Schmidt became CEO of Save the Children, whilst also spending time at Kinnock's constituency in Port Talbot. Thorning-Schmidt has also campaigned for her husband and for the British Labour Party.

Although Thorning-Schmidt has been baptized into the Church of Denmark, she is not confirmed. She occasionally goes to church but does not believe in eternal life, salvation, heaven, or hell.

Controversies

Tax affairs
In August 2010, the Danish tax authorities (SKAT) investigated reports that Thorning-Schmidt's husband, Stephen Kinnock, was guilty of tax evasion. Kinnock had declared that he was not a resident of Denmark and thus not subject to Danish taxes, while at the same time Thorning-Schmidt had declared, in an application for dispensation for Kinnock to own property in Denmark, that he resided in Denmark "every weekend of the year from Friday through to Monday". Thorning-Schmidt attributed the discrepancy to a "big and sloppy error". On 16 September 2010, Danish tax authorities acquitted the couple and the charges of tax evasion were dropped.

A week before 15 September 2011 elections to the Danish Parliament, the 2010 decision from SKAT (the taxation department) surfaced in the Danish tabloid B.T. The case had been leaked to the newspaper several months previously. It turned out that from 2000 to 2008 Thorning-Schmidt had made use of tax deductions applicable to her husband, even though he was not subject to Danish taxes and had no income in Denmark. The mistake was corrected by SKAT for the three years from 2006 to 2008, and Thorning-Schmidt paid the amount she had saved due to the error. She was however not required to pay the amounts saved for the six years from 2000 to 2005, because of the statutory time limit for liability in such cases.

In November 2011, the daily Politiken disclosed that the Tax Ministry deputy chief Peter Loft had attended several meetings attending to the Thorning-Schmidt case and had tried to insert comments into the final resolution text. This would be unlawful under Danish law as the Tax Ministry may not interfere with the decisions taken in individual tax cases. This set off a flurry of speculation in the press, as to whether there had been any political pressure from the then government to pursue a stricter course in the tax case. The Tax Minister in the new government, Thor Möger Pedersen, subsequently asked Peter Loft and the director of the revenue service's Copenhagen branch, Erling Andersen, to give a report on the happenings. On 2 December, Pedersen disclosed that he had found such big discrepancies in the two reports that he would set up a commission of inquiry to determine the actual course of events.

Further controversy erupted when two days later the tabloid daily, Ekstra Bladet, reported that they had also been offered the confidential information that was made public during the election campaign. The source of the leak was determined to be Peter Arnfeldt, spin doctor for then Minister for Taxation Troels Lund Poulsen. This led to intense media speculation that the former government, and specifically Troels Lund Poulsen, were engaged in leaking confidential tax information and trying to pressure the revenue service into changing its decision in the case, in an active attempt to discredit the opposition leader in the then imminent election. This would constitute a hitherto unseen level of abuse of power in Danish political life. The commission of inquiry that had already been announced two days previously, was broadly supported by the Danish Parliament to also look into whether the former government was involved in, or knew of, the leak. On the same day, Troels Lund Poulsen announced he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Danish Parliament. Peter Arnfeldt has been reported to the police by the Ministry for Taxation. In March 2012, Peter Loft was suspended from his post as deputy chief, for the duration of the two-year investigation period.

Selfie controversy

In December 2013, Thorning-Schmidt, British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama faced criticism on social media that they had behaved inappropriately after posing for a "selfie" taken with Thorning-Schmidt's mobile phone during the memorial service for the former South African President Nelson Mandela. Defending her actions, Thorning-Schmidt said, "There were lots of pictures taken that day, and I just thought it was a bit fun. Maybe it also shows that when we meet heads of state and government, we too are just people who have fun." Cameron said he was being polite when Thorning-Schmidt asked him to take part in the picture. On a previous occasion, Thorning-Schmidt had stopped her car to ask for a picture with the actress Sarah Jessica Parker after spotting her signing autographs in Oslo.

References

External links

Prime Minister's website

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1966 births
Living people
College of Europe alumni
Danish expatriates in Belgium
Kinnock family
MEPs for Denmark 1999–2004
20th-century women MEPs for Denmark
21st-century women MEPs for Denmark
People from Rødovre
Prime Ministers of Denmark
Social Democrats (Denmark) MEPs
Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians
University of Copenhagen alumni
Women prime ministers in Europe
Women members of the Folketing
Women government ministers of Denmark
Members of the Folketing 2005–2007
Members of the Folketing 2007–2011
Members of the Folketing 2011–2015
Members of the Folketing 2015–2019
Facebook Oversight Board members
Leaders of the Social Democrats (Denmark)
Spouses of British politicians

Helle Thorning-Schmidt


The Dr. Moses Mason House is a historic house museum at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Mason Street in Bethel, Maine.  Built c. 1813–15, it is notable as the home of one of Bethel's early doctors and first postmaster, Moses Mason (1789-1866), and for the murals drawn on some of its walls by the itinerant artist (among other professions he engaged) Rufus Porter.  The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972; it is now owned by the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society, and is open year-round for tours (by appointment only in the colder months).

Description
The Mason House is a -story wood-frame structure, five bays wide and one deep, with two interior chimneys.  It stands facing the Bethel Green as one of a number of graceful Federal period houses.  The house is finished in white clapboards and rests on a granite foundation.  A rear leanto addition extends the house to the rear.  The main entrance is centered on the front (west-facing) facade; it features sidelight windows and a broad elliptical fanlight, framed by pilasters and topped by a cornice.

The interior of house has been modernized, but its principal showcase, murals in the central hall and stairwell, have been preserved, as has some of its woodwork.  These were painted, probably c. 1830, by the itinerant artist Rufus Porter, and show harbor and woodland scenes typical of his work.

Dr. Moses Mason, for whom the house was built c. 1813, was apprenticed to a local doctor before beginning his practice.  He served as Bethel's first postmaster, and as a town selectman, trustee of the Gould Academy, and as a two-term representative in the United States Congress.  After his death the house passed to Ada Durrell, a daughter of cousins, who the Masons had raised.  Her descendants gave the house to the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society in 1971.

The society now maintains the property as a historic house museum, open for regular tours in the summer and by appointment at other times.

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Oxford County, Maine

References

External links
Museums of the Bethel Historical Society - Dr. Moses Mason House

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Federal architecture in Maine
Houses completed in 1813
Houses in Oxford County, Maine
Buildings and structures in Bethel, Maine
Historic house museums in Maine
Historical society museums in the United States
Museums in Oxford County, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Oxford County, Maine
Historic district contributing properties in Maine

Dr. Moses Mason House


Monte Saldo (1879 – 23 February 1949) (born as Alfred Montague Woollaston) was an early bodybuilder who later, with his brothers Frank Saldo and Edwin Woollaston, formed the stage act The Montague Brothers, in which they displayed acts of strength including supporting a heavy motor car complete with passengers. With Maxick, he developed the Maxalding system of muscle control.

Early years
Born in Highgate in London, the son of George Frederick Woollaston (1828–1896), a shoe manufacturer who was medically documented for having 19 inch forearms, Methodist preacher and faith healer, and Adelaide Mary (née Green) (1849–1923), a woman who stood well over 6 feet tall. Saldo was interested in strength athletics as a youth, and in his teens joined the London Weightlifting Club in Regent Street in London. From May 1895 he worked as a booking clerk for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at their office in Brighton's Grand Hotel.

An uncle with connections in the theatrical profession arranged for the 18-year-old Saldo to be apprenticed to Eugen Sandow in 1897. His first public appearance was at the Coliseum in Leeds as a demonstrator of the Sandow Exerciser. A fellow-apprentice at Sandow's gym was Italian bodybuilder Ronco, and having gained stage experience while helping Sandow in his act Saldo and Ronco decided to go it alone, creating their own strongman stage act. Billed as "Ronco & Monte", the duo first appeared in 1900 at the Cafe Chantant at The Crystal Palace. This was followed soon after by a tour of Europe; on their return to Britain they appeared for six months at the Royal Aquarium in London.

Strongman Act

In common with many strongman acts of the period, part of their routine was to offer money to any member of the public who could copy their feats of strength; no one was ever successful in duplicating them.  Saldo and Ronco's appearance at the Royal Aquarium was so successful that their contract was extended, but when this came to an end they separated. Saldo then teamed up with his younger brother Frank Harold Woollaston, and the new strongman act opened at the Hippodrome in London, followed by a European tour during which Saldo posed for the Dutch artist Jozef Israëls, who, impressed by his physique, painted him in a classical pose. During the tour the brothers appeared in Amsterdam, Dresden, Hamburg, Saxony, Prague and Paris, at the latter city regularly working out in the gymnasium of Edmond Desbonnet. On their return they appeared for a season at the London Pavilion.

In 1903 Saldo added a new routine to the act which was designed to draw in large audiences, during which he supported a heavy motor car in the "Tomb of Hercules" position. Having prepared and rehearsed carefully, on stage a Darracq full of passengers was driven up a ramp and onto a bridge, where the ramp and supports were removed leaving Saldo supporting the entire weight of the vehicle and its contents on a section of the bridge. Later, the act was refined, with Saldo supporting the car on top of a ten-foot high revolving platform. This act was taken on another international tour, for which Saldo received the largest salary ever paid to a one-man strongman act.

Monte Saldo weighed 144 pounds, stood 5′5″, had a 17″ neck, 45.5″ chest, 16″ arms, 13″ forearms, 30″ waist, 23″ thighs and 15,5″ calves.  He could bent press 230 pounds and was the first man in England to do a one arm swing with more than body weight, doing 150 pounds.  He is credited with showing for the first time that the swing was best done with a dumbbell loaded unevenly, with more weight on the back end of the bell.

The Sculptor's Dream
In 1906 Saldo refined the act even further, teaming up with his brothers Frank (now known as Frank Saldo) and Edwin, the three of them billing themselves as "The Montague Brothers", and performing a new routine called "The Sculptor's Dream".

The act was described by Alexander Zass thus:
"... a real strongman, and a clever weightlifter to boot was Monte Saldo, whose stage showmanship was best displayed, perhaps, in a turn which he presented with his brother Frank, entitled "the Sculptor's Dream," certainly of the most artistic and impressive of any ever given.

The curtain rose disclosing a sculptor's studio, with the sculptor at work on a reproduction of a well known classical statue. The figure was Monte himself, painted and garbed in an excellent imitation of marble, and behind him was a mirror, in which the statue could be seen reproduced. After working a while, the sculpture wearied, and concealing his masterpiece behind curtains, stretched himself at length upon a couch, soon to be ostensibly asleep. The curtains thereupon parted on their own account, revealing the statue in another classical pose, again reflected in the mirror. Then once more they closed, only to re-open and repeat their re-opening to revelation of ever fresh poses and reflections, until finally the statue and the mirror reflection confront each other in a famous wrestler's attitude.

A pause, and then the mirror crashing as the 'reflection' – brother Frank, to be more explicit – leapt out to grapple with Monte, and execute on stage a variety of wrestling postures. This unique opening was followed by a series of equally novel strength feats in which both iron and human weights figured, closured by Monte pressing Frank aloft with one hand, and a twirl round of the supported performer. This twirl, by the way, was very smartly done. As Frank leant back to be supported on Monte's palm, the lifter would interpose a revolving disc on which his brother's back rested. Thus when Frank had been pressed aloft, it enabled Monte to spin him.

At this juncture, the sculptor would commence to stir, whereupon both statue and 'reflection' would leap back and, resuming their original poses, thus satisfying the now awakened chiseller of marble that all which had transpired was actually nothing but a dream.

Monte Saldo was one of the few men who have enhanced a reputation made on the stage as a strongman by feats performed away from its atmosphere of glamour and make-believe. The first man in the world to 'swing' over his own bodyweight with one hand, and one of the most successful trainers of strong men ever known..."

The Entr'acte said of this new routine, "An absolutely original athletic act is given by the Montague Brothers. Their performance is entitled 'The Sculptor's Dream' and provides the most original setting we have ever seen, being athletic and at the same time effective when it comes to feats of strength pure and simple. Their work is simply amazing." The sculptor was played by Edwin John Woollaston (1874–1918), the duo's older brother.

Later years

Later, with William Bankier, who at this time was a wrestling promoter known professionally as Apollo the Scottish Hercules, Saldo opened the Apollo-Saldo Academy in London, which attracted many of the famous lifters and wrestlers of the day, including George Hackenschmidt, Ferdy Gruhen, Maurice Deriaz, Zbysco, and the winner of over 1,000 contests and Lightweight Wrestling Champion of the World, gold and silver medalist in the 1908 Olympics, London born George de Relwyskow. In 1909, as a result of the success of the Academy, Saldo became a founder of the Maxaldo method of exercise system of muscle control along with German strongman Max Sick (Maxick) (a name created from those of the founders, Maxick and Saldo). The name was later changed to Maxalding, and the postal course was sold into the 1970s.

In 1914 Saldo published a book, How to Pose, which had a great influence on athletic, aesthetic and muscular posing. He was also active in organising the British Amateur Weightlifter's Association, (BAWLA) and was a Committee member for professional weightlifters.

Largely self-taught, Saldo was an accomplished musician and was fluent in several languages.  His wife Florence Annie Woollaston (née Bryant) (1878–1941) was killed during a bombing raid on London during World War II, and Saldo and his daughter Florence were seriously injured. His youngest son Charles was killed during the invasion of Europe in 1944.

Monte Saldo lived in Hythe in Kent during his later years, and died on 23 February 1949 at The County Hospital in Ashford in Kent aged 70. In his will he left £249 13s 4d. He was survived by his daughter Florence Theresa Montague Wilson (née Woollaston) (1907–1990) and a son, Frederick Harold Courtlandt Woollaston (1910–1983), also known as Court Saldo.

References

External links
Saldo on the Maxalding website
Article on Monte Saldo in Iron Game History – January 1992

1879 births
1949 deaths
English bodybuilders
Professional bodybuilders
British strength athletes
Music hall performers
British entertainers
People associated with physical culture

Monte Saldo


Münster is a municipality in the Kufstein district in the Austrian state of Tyrol located 20 km west of Wörgl and 34 km southwest of Kufstein. It is the westernmost community of the district and lies at the northern side of the Inn River. The main sources of income are tourism, agriculture and a bottling factory for mineral water.

References

External links
 Official website

Cities and towns in Kufstein District

Münster, Tyrol


The Supermarine S.6B is a British racing seaplane developed by R.J. Mitchell for the Supermarine company to take part in the Schneider Trophy competition of 1931. The S.6B marked the culmination of Mitchell's quest to "perfect the design of the racing seaplane" and represented the cutting edge of aerodynamic technology for the era.

The S.6B was last in a line of racing seaplanes to be developed by Supermarine, following the S.4, S.5 and the S.6. Despite these predecessors having   previously won the Schneider Trophy competition twice, the development of the S.6B was hampered by wavering government support, which was first promised then withdrawn, and then given once more after a high-profile public campaign encouraged by Lord Rothermere and backed by a substantial donation by Lady Houston. Once government backing had been secured, there were only nine months before the race, so Mitchell's only realistic option was to refine the existing S.6, rather than attempting a new design.

The principal  differences between the S.6 and the S.6B were the increased power of the Rolls-Royce R engine and redesigned floats:  minor aerodynamic refinements typically aimed at drag reduction were also made. A pair of S.6Bs, serials S1595 and S1596, were built for the competition. Flown by members of RAF High Speed Flight, the type competed successfully, winning the Schneider Trophy for Britain. Shortly after the race, S.6B S1596, flown by Flt Lt. George Stainforth, broke the world air speed record, attaining a peak speed of 407.5 mph (655.67 km/h).

Development

Financing
Despite the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald's pledge that government support would be provided for the next British race entrant immediately after Britain's 1929 victory, official funding was withdrawn less than two months later following the Wall Street Crash; the official reason given for the withdrawal that the previous two contests had collected sufficient data on high speed flight, so further expenditure of public money was unwarranted. A further rationale given for the government's revised position was that that original purpose in pioneering high speed seaplanes had been satisfied by this point. A committee established by the Royal Aero Club, responsible for organising the 1931 race, and which included representatives from both the aircraft and aero engine industries, was formed to discuss the feasibility of a privately funded entry, but concluded that not only would this be beyond their financial reach, but that the lack of the highly skilled RAF pilots of the High-Speed Flight would pose a severe problem.

The withdrawal of backing resulted in enormous public disappointment: having won two successive races, a British victory in a third race would secure the trophy outright. As ever active in aviation affairs, Lord Rothermere's Daily Mail group of newspapers launched a public appeal for money to support a British race entrant; in response, several thousand pounds were raised. Lady Houston publicly pledged £100,000. The British government also changed its position and announced its support for an entry in January 1931; however, by this point, there were less than nine months left to design, produce and prepare any race entrant. The RAF High Speed Flight was reformed while Mitchell and Rolls-Royce set to work.

Redesign and refinement

Mitchell, with limited time to prepare an entry, knew that there was not enough time left to design a new aircraft from scratch. The obvious means of improving the S.6's performance was by obtaining more power from the R-Type engine. Engineers at Rolls-Royce had managed to increase the available power of the engine by 400 hp (298 kW), enabling it to now provide up to 2,300 hp (1,715 kW); however, this level of performance was only guaranteed for a short time. To improve the engine performance, the use of an exotic fuel mix was necessary, as well as the adoption of sodium-cooled valves. Instead, he refined the design of the existing Supermarine S.6, the new variant being referred to as the Supermarine S.6B.  Mitchell retained the majority of the S.6's design, his efforts being principally focused on improving the prospective aircraft's heat dissipation; speaking on a radio broadcast, he later referred to the S.6B as a "flying radiator". Mitchell decided to use the aircraft's floats as an additional radiator area; these were longer than those of the S.6, their design being supported by a series of wind tunnel tests performed at the National Physical Laboratory, which was also an area in which government support was helpful to the project. The floats were extended forward by some three feet (0.9 m); while longer than their predecessors, they were streamlined and had a smaller frontal area.

Other modifications to the airframe design were mostly limited to minor improvements and some strengthening in order to cope with the increased weight of the aircraft.

Operational history

Competition and records

Although the British team faced no competitors, due to misfortunes and delays suffered by other intending participants, the RAF High Speed Flight brought a total of six Supermarine Schneider racers to Calshot Spit on Southampton Water for training and practice. These aircraft were: S.5 serial number N219, second at Venice in 1927, S.5 N220, winner at Venice in 1927, two S.6s with new engines and redesignated as S.6As (N247 that won at Calshot in 1929 and S.6A N248, disqualified at Calshot in 1929), and the newly built S.6Bs, S1595 and S1596.

For the competition itself, only the S.6Bs and S.6As were intended to participate. The British plan for the Schneider contest was to have S1595 fly the course alone and, if its speed was not high enough, or the aircraft encountered mechanical failure, then the more-proven S.6A N248 would fly the course. If both S1595 and N248 failed in their attempts, then N247, which was planned to be held in reserve, would be used. The S.6B S1596 was then to attempt the world air speed record. During practice, N247 was destroyed in a takeoff accident, resulting in the death of the pilot, Lieut. G. L. Brinton, R.N., precluding any other plans with only the two S.6Bs and the sole surviving S.6A prepared to conduct the final Schneider run.

On 13 September 1931, the Schneider flight was performed by S.6B S1595, piloted by Flt. Lt. John Boothman, attaining a recorded top speed of 340.08 mph (547.19 km/h) and flying seven perfect laps of the triangular course over the Solent, the strait between the Isle of Wight and the British mainland. As the only contender it necessarily won, and the British record of wins entitled them to retain the Schneider trophy permanently. Seventeen days later, another historic flight was performed by S.6B S1596, flown by Flt Lt. George Stainforth, having broken the world air speed record by reaching a peak speed of 407.5 mph (655.67 km/h).

Legacy

The performance of the S.6B and its forerunners caused Mitchell to be recognised as a great designer of performance aircraft. The S.6B has been hailed as giving the impetus to the development of both the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft and the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that powered it. Neither Mitchell nor Supermarine would produce further racing aircraft for successive competitions as work on the development of a new fighter aircraft at the British government's behest had taken precedence.

Only 18 days after the S.6B's Schneider triumph the British Air Ministry issued Specification F7/30, which called for an all-metal land-based fighter aircraft and sought innovative solutions aiming at a major improvement in British fighter aircraft. The Ministry specifically invited Supermarine to participate. Accordingly, Mitchell's next endeavour after the S.6B was the design of the company's submission to meet this specification, designated the Type 224. While the Type 224 was a disappointment and was not selected for production, Supermarine's next project led to the development of the legendary Spitfire.

The outstanding performance of the S.6B had drawn the attention of not only British military officials and aircraft designers, but internationally as well, influencing new fighter projects in, amongst other nations, both Nazi Germany and the United States.

Aircraft on display
After the completion of the record-breaking flights, both S.6Bs were retired. The Schneider Trophy winning S.6B S1595 was donated to the Science Museum in London, where it is displayed in an unrestored state.

The ultimate fate of S1596 is presently unknown. For a short period of time, S1596 did undergo testing at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE) at Felixstowe. Until the 1960s, S.6A N248 was displayed incorrectly as S1596 at Southampton Royal Pier as a visitor attraction.

Operators

 Royal Air Force
 High Speed Flight

Specifications (S.6B)

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

 Anderson, John D. Jr. "The Grand Designers." Cambridge University Press, 2018. .
 Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. Supermarine Aircraft since 1914, 2nd edition. London: Putnam, 1987. .
 Bader, Douglas. "Fight for the Sky: the Story of the Spitfire and the Hurricane." Doubleday, 1973. .
 Ferdinand Andrews, Charles and Eric B. Morgan. "Supermarine aircraft since 1914." Putnam, 1981. .
 Green, William, ed. "Supermarine's Schneider Seaplanes." Flying Review International, Volume 10, No. 11, July 1967.
 Lionel Robert James, Cyril. "Letters from London: Seven Essays by C.L.R. James." Signal Books, 2003. .
 Matthews, Birch. "Race with the Wind: How Air Racing Advanced Aviation." MBI Publishing Company, 2001. .
 McKinstry, Leo. Spitfire – Portrait of a Legend. London: John Murray, 2007. .
 Nichols, Mark, ed. Spitfire 70: Invaluable Reference to Britain's Greatest Fighter, Flypast Special. Stamford, Linc, UK: Key Publishing, 1996.
 Price, Alfred. Spitfire: A Documentary History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1997. .
 Robertson, Bruce. Spitfire: Story of a Famous Fighter. London: Harleyford, 1962. .

 Spick, Mike. Supermarine Spitfire. New York: Gallery Books, 1990. .
 Stephens, Philip H. Industrial design: a practising professional. Hard Pressed Pub., 2002. .
 Winchester, Jim. "Supermarine S.6B". Concept Aircraft: Prototypes, X-Planes and Experimental Aircraft. Kent, UK: Grange Books plc., 2005. .

External links

 Air racing history
 RJ Mitchell: A life in aviation, 1931 Schneider Trophy, Cowes
 16mm B&W Newsreel footage of 1931 Schneider Trophy
 "The Supermarine S.6b", Popular Mechanics, December 1931, complete detailed cutaway drawings of S.6B
 Photo walk around by Don Busack of the actual Schneider Trophy winning Supermarine S.6B displayed at the Science Museum, London.
 "The Supermarine S.6B Monoplane." Flight,'' 2 October 1931, pp. 981–982.
 Further information about a replica S.6B at the Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, California

1930s British sport aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1931
Floatplanes
Low-wing aircraft
Schneider Trophy
Single-engined tractor aircraft
S.6B

Supermarine S.6B


Loloka Block 29E is a small larger beautiful Village under Dzumeri Tribal Authority in Greater Giyani Municipality Mopani District in Limpopo Province

Loloka Block 29E yi wela eka ward 24 laha ehansi ka vurhangeri bya Giyani naswona ku fumaka vandla ra ANC

were known as Ka- Gidiya or
 GIJA  it changed its name to Loloka  its under the leadership of cheif Dzumeri

Loloka Block 29E is very beautiful small place to live in it has Bvuma Primary School and Health Centre

Ti phurojeke

Loloka Block 29E has many projects. Ti phurojete to fana na

 □ Loloka Drop in Centre
 □ Loloka Poultry farm
 □ Loloka Feeding Skeam
 □ Bvuma Old age well known as 'Avakheguleni'

na ti n'wani ti phurojete to tala to hambana hambana

Eka ti phurojete hinkwato ti sunguriwile hi vamanana va muganga wa Loloka

 the involvement of women in these projects is making Loloka a good big village .

It has a small larger population

▪ Yi tsariwe hi Benny Makamu eLoloka Block 29E

Loloka Block 29E ka Dzumeri , Giyani


A dressmaker is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. A dressmaker is also known as a mantua-maker (trivial), modiste, or fabricia.

Notable dressmakers
 Laura Ashley
 Cristóbal Balenciaga
 Pierre Balmain
 Coco Chanel
 Christian Dior
 David Emanuel
 Jean Muir, fashion designer
 Bruce Oldfield
 Anna and Laura Tirocchi, Providence, Rhode Island
 Isabel Toledo
 Mary Quant
 Madeleine Vionnet
 Charles Frederick Worth
 Elizabeth Keckley, modiste and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln
 Janet Walker, costumier and dress making bust inventor
 Madame Palmyre, a favorite designer and dressmaker of the empress of France, Eugénie de Montijo

References

Dressmaker