was a bureaucrat  and politician who served in the Taishō and early Shōwa period Japanese government, and as an official in the Empire of Manchukuo.

Biography
Hoshino was born in Yokohama, where his father was involved in the textile industry. His paternal aunt was principal of the Tsuda College, a noted women's university.  After World War II he was prosecuted for war crimes in Manchukuo by the International Military Tribunal of the Far East and sentenced to life imprisonment.

A member of the ruling Nikisansuke Manchukuo clique (see zaibatsu), Hoshino graduated from the law school of Tokyo Imperial University, and on graduation was employed by the Ministry of Finance. He rose through the ranks in various capacities, ranging from bank regulation to taxation, and in 1932, became vice minister of industrial development.

Following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo he led a team of bureaucrats from the Ministry of Finance to provide an infrastructure for finances for the new territory in July 1932. From 1937 he served as Vice Minister of Financial Affairs of Manchukuo. To this capacity he oversaw the creation and personally directed the State Opium Monopoly Bureau that spread the mass use of the narcotic firstly in Manchuria and then in China as a way to soften public resistance to the Japanese occupation and expansion while generating huge profits. Under his authority tens of thousands of hectares were taken over by the Japanese underworld and put under poppy production, while dozens of laboratories were built to convert opium tars into various grades of morphine and heroin; thus the economy of Manchuria became inextricably bound to hard drugs. His administrating success there, made Japan by 1935 the biggest narcotics' producer accounted for approximately three tons or 10% of the world's total supply of morphine and 37% of total heroin production. According to the testimony of General Ryukichi Tanaka before the International Military Tribunal of the Far East during his post in Manchuria the revenue derived from the opium and other narcotics traffic became the chief source of revenue income for the Manchukuo government. Part of the narcotics was exported to Japan where they were used by a subsidiary tobacco industry of Mitsui of Mitsui zaibatsu in the production of special marketed cigarettes for the Chinese market bearing the then popular in the Far East trademark "Golden Bat". Including small doses of opium on their mouthpiece, apart from generating millions of addicted victims increasing the breakdown of Chinese society it also generated colossal profits for the Japanese economy that (according to testimony at the Tokyo War Crimes trials of 1948), Japanese military calculated to 300 million prewar dollars annually.

Considered successful in his mission to establish a profitable economy for the Japanese Empire in Manchuria, he was recalled to Japan in 1940 where he was selected to serve as chief of the "Project Department" inside the Finance Ministry to implement the economic reorganization of Japan under the Taisei Yokusankai in the second Konoe Cabinet. In 1941, he became a member of the House of Peers and at the same year he was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Tōjō administration with the task of moving the Japanese economy to a war economy footing with a state capitalist basis.

After the surrender of Japan, he was arrested by the American occupation authorities and tried before the International Military Tribunal of the Far East as a Class A war criminal on counts 1, 27, 29, 31, 32 together with other members of the Manchurian administration responsible for the Japanese policies there. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo while his close colleague general Kenji Doihara responsible for the smuggling of narcotics in the occupied and non-occupied areas was sentenced to death and hanged. According to the indictment, as tools of successive Japanese governments they "... pursued a systematic policy of weakening the native inhabitants' will to resist ... by directly and indirectly encouraging the increased production and importation of opium and other narcotics and by promoting the sale and consumption of such drugs among such people."

He was released from jail in 1958 and served as president or chairman of a number of companies, including the Tokyu Corporation. He published his memoirs in 1963, which created somewhat of a sensation for his undiminished admiration of Japanese accomplishments in Manchukuo, and his unexpected lack of respect for wartime leader Hideki Tōjō. He died in Tokyo in 1978.

References

Bibliography

External links

1892 births
1978 deaths
People from Yokohama
University of Tokyo alumni
Japanese people of World War II
People from Manchukuo
Members of the House of Peers (Japan)
Japanese politicians convicted of crimes
Japanese prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
People convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals
Imperial Rule Assistance Association politicians
20th-century Japanese politicians
People paroled from life sentence

Naoki Hoshino


The Parliaments of England () is a compendium of election results for all House of Commons constituencies of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1715 to 1847, compiled by Henry Stooks Smith.

The compendium was first published in three volumes by Simpkin, Marshall and Company, London, 1844 to 1850. A second edition, edited by F. W. S. Craig, was published in one volume by Political Reference Publications, 18 Lincoln Green, Chichester, Sussex, in 1973.

As compiled by Smith, The Parliaments of England appears to be the first reference work of its kind and, according to Craig, in his introduction to the second edition, "a random check of the book reveals relatively few errors and omissions considering the difficulty in collecting results during a period when no official records, other than the actual Writs, were preserved".

Craig describes the 1973 edition as a facsimile, "reproduced from the best available copy". This 'facsimile', however, is in one volume instead of three, with consecutive page numbering. Also, "a new and more detailed index to constituencies" is included, and lists showing the duration of each parliament and the names of Prime Ministers have been "revised and corrected".

External links
 Volume 1
 Volume 2

See also
 Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (), F. W. S. Craig 1972

Elections in the United Kingdom
1844 books
1973 non-fiction books
Books about politics of the United Kingdom
Non-fiction books about elections

The Parliaments of England


Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a luxury car made by Mercedes-Benz since 1993. It is currently in its fourth generation. The C-Class is the most popular Mercedes-Benz. It is the main competitor of the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4. The interior is made up of soft-touch leather and aluminium. It is priced in between the A-Class and the E–Class. To be more specific, a base model C-Class can be priced at around 41,000 dollars.

Gallery

Other websites

1990s automobiles
2000s automobiles
C-Class
2010s automobiles

Mercedes-Benz C-Class


Oliver Otis Howard (November 8, 1830 – October 26, 1909) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the Civil War. As a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, Howard lost his right arm while leading his men against Confederate forces at the Battle of Fair Oaks/Seven Pines in June 1862, an action which later earned him the Medal of Honor. As a corps commander, he suffered two major defeats at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg in May and July 1863, but recovered from the setbacks as a successful corps and later army commander in the Western Theater.

Known as the "Christian General" because he tried to base his policy decisions on his deep, evangelical piety, he was given charge of the Freedmen's Bureau in mid-1865, with the mission of integrating the former slaves into Southern society and politics during the second phase of the Reconstruction Era. Howard took charge of labor policy, setting up a system that required freed people to work on former plantation land under pay scales fixed by the Bureau, on terms negotiated by the Bureau with white land owners.  Howard's Bureau was primarily responsible for the legal affairs of the freedmen.  He attempted to protect freed blacks from hostile conditions, but lacked adequate power, and was repeatedly frustrated by President Andrew Johnson.

Howard's allies, the Radical Republicans, won control of Congress in the 1866 elections and imposed Radical Reconstruction, with the result that freedmen were given the vote. With the help and advice of the Bureau, freedmen joined Republican coalitions and won at the ballot boxes of most of the southern states.  Howard was also a leader in promoting higher education for freedmen, most notably in founding Howard University in Washington, D.C., and serving as its president 1867–73; and aided in the charter of Howard University and Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) in 1867.

After 1874, Howard commanded troops in the West, conducting a famous campaign against the Nez Perce tribe, led by Chief Joseph. Utley (1987) concludes that his leadership against the Apaches in 1872, Nez Perce in 1877, Bannocks and Paiutes in 1878, and the Sheepeaters in 1879 all add up to a lengthy record, although he did not fight as much as George Custer or Nelson Miles.

Early years
Oliver Howard was born in Leeds, Maine, the son of Rowland Bailey Howard and Eliza Otis Howard. His great-grandfather, Rogers Stinchfield and great-granduncle Thomas Stinchfield founded Leeds. Rowland, a farmer, died when Oliver was 9 years old. Oliver attended Monmouth Academy in Monmouth, North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, Kents Hill School in Readfield, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1850 at the age of 19. He then attended the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1854, fourth in his class of 46 cadets, as a brevet second lieutenant of ordnance. He served at the Watervliet Arsenal near Troy, New York, and was the temporary commander of the Kennebec Arsenal in Augusta, Maine. In 1855, he married Elizabeth Anne Waite, with whom he would have seven children. In 1857 he was transferred to Florida for the Seminole Wars. It was in Florida that he experienced a conversion to evangelical Christianity and considered resigning from the Army to become a minister. His religious proclivities would later earn him the nickname "the Christian general." Howard was promoted first lieutenant in July 1857, and returned to West Point the following September to become an instructor of mathematics. As the Civil War began with the surrender of Fort Sumter, thoughts of the ministry were put aside and he decided to remain in the service of his country.

Civil War
Howard was appointed colonel of the 3rd Maine Infantry regiment and temporarily commanded a brigade at the First Battle of Bull Run. He was promoted to brigadier general effective September 3, 1861, and given permanent command of his brigade. He then joined Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac for the Peninsula Campaign.
On June 1, 1862, while commanding a Union brigade in the Fair Oaks, Howard was wounded twice in his right arm, which was subsequently amputated. (He received the Medal of Honor in 1893 for his heroism at Fair Oaks.) Brig. Gen. Philip Kearny, who had lost his left arm, visited Howard and joked that they would be able to shop for gloves together. Howard recovered quickly enough to rejoin the army for the Battle of Antietam, in which he rose to division command in the II Corps. He was promoted to major general in November 1862 and assumed command of the XI Corps the following April, replacing Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel. Since the corps was composed largely of German immigrants, many of whom spoke no English, the soldiers were resentful of their new leader and openly called for Sigel's reinstatement.

Failure at Chancellorsville
At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Howard suffered the first of two significant military setbacks. On May 2, 1863, his corps was on the right flank of the Union line, northwest of the crossroads of Chancellorsville. Robert E. Lee and Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson devised an audacious plan in which Jackson's entire corps would march secretly around the Union flank and attack it. Howard was warned by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, now commanding the Army of the Potomac, that his flank was "in the air", not anchored by a natural obstacle, such as a river, and that Confederate forces might be on the move in his direction. Howard failed to heed the warning and Jackson struck before dark, routing the XI Corps and causing a serious disruption to the Union plans.

Gettysburg
At the Battle of Gettysburg, the XI Corps, still chastened by its humiliation in May, arrived on the field in the afternoon of July 1, 1863. Poor positioning of the defensive line by one of Howard's subordinate division commanders, Brig. Gen. Francis C. Barlow, was exploited by the Confederate corps of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell and once again the XI Corps collapsed, forcing it to retreat through the streets of Gettysburg, leaving many men behind to be taken prisoner. On Cemetery Hill, south of town, Howard quarreled with Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock about who was in command of the defense. Hancock had been sent by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade with written orders to take command, but Howard insisted that he was the ranking general present. Eventually he relented. Controversy centers on three points: 1) Howard's choice of Cemetery Hill as the key to defense; 2) the timing of Howard's mid-afternoon order to abandon positions north and west of town; and 3) Howard's reluctance to recognize that Hancock, his junior, had superseded him. Historian John A. Carpenter holds that Howard alone had wisely selected Cemetery Hill, that the order to withdraw was probably a sound one, and that the conflict between Howard and Hancock might have been avoided had Meade himself gotten onto the field.

Howard started circulating the story that his corps' failure had actually been triggered by the collapse of Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday's I Corps to the west, and this was a partial reason for Doubleday's removal from command of the corps. However, this excuse was not accepted by history—the reverse was actually true—and the reputation of the XI Corps was ruined. Some argue that Howard should get some credit for the eventual success at Gettysburg because he wisely stationed one of his divisions (Maj. Gen. Adolph von Steinwehr's) on Cemetery Hill as a reserve and critical subsequent defensive line. For the remainder of the three-day battle, the corps remained on the defensive around Cemetery Hill, withstanding assaults by Maj. Gen. Jubal Early on July 2 and participating at the margin of the defense against Pickett's Charge on July 3. Also at Gettysburg, Howard's younger brother, Major Charles Henry Howard, served as his aide-de-camp.

Western theater

Howard and XI Corps were transferred to the Western Theater with fellow general Henry Slocum's XII Corps to become part of the Army of the Cumberland in Tennessee; they were commanded once again by "Fighting Joe" Hooker. In the Battles for Chattanooga, the corps joined the impulsive assault that captured Missionary Ridge and forced the retreat of Gen. Braxton Bragg. In July 1864, following the death of Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, temporary command of the  Army of the Tennessee was given by order of William Tecumseh Sherman to the ranking officer on the field that day, Major General John A. Logan.   Shortly after the success at the Battle of Atlanta, Sherman (who favored granting command to a West Point graduate) appointed Howard to permanent command of the Army of the Tennessee. At the closing of his "After Action Report" filed by Major General John A. Logan on September 10, 1864, Logan referred to his having served as Commander of the Army of the Tennessee for a scant four days.  Logan's detailed report ended with:  "I withdrew the Army of the Tennessee the night of the 26th, and moved it along the rear of the center and right of the army to a position across Proctor's Creek. After putting the army in position that night I was relieved by Maj. Gen.    Howard."  Howard subsequently led the right wing of Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's famous March to the Sea, through Georgia and then the Carolinas. Sherman, having favored Howard over Logan for permanent command of the Army of the Tennessee, recognized Logan's success at Atlanta.  In recognition of the outstanding leadership Logan displayed at Atlanta, Sherman asked Howard to allow Logan to ceremonially lead the Army in the May 1865 Grand Review in Washington. Howard agreed when Sherman appealed to him as a Christian gentleman. Ultimately, by the war's end, Gen. Sherman would commend Howard as a corps commander of "the utmost skill, nicety and precision".

Postwar career

Freedmen's Bureau
From May 1865 to July 1874, General Howard was commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau (the Army's Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands), where he played a major role in the Reconstruction era, and had charge of integrating freedmen (former slaves) into American society. Howard devised far-reaching programs and guidelines including social welfare in the form of rations, schooling, courts, and medical care. Howard often clashed with President Andrew Johnson, who strongly disliked the welfare aspects of the Freedman's Bureau, and especially tried to return political power to Southern whites. However, Howard had the support of the Radical Republicans in Congress. When the Radical Republicans gained power in 1867, they gave blacks the right to vote in the South and set up new elections, which the Republican coalition of freedmen, northern Republicans who came south and were referred to derogatorily as carpetbaggers, and southerners who supported Reconstruction, nicknamed scalawags, won (except in Virginia).  The Bureau was very active in helping blacks organize themselves politically, and therefore it became a target of partisan hostility.

President Johnson called Howard a fanatic. Reconstruction's opponents alleged that, in abusing both civil and military power, the Bureau became a centralized dictatorship. Howard described the extent of his enormous powers as:

...Almost unlimited authority gave me scope and liberty of action... Legislative, judicial and executive powers were combined in my commission.

Andrew Johnson reacted to the meaning of such unlimited scope of action against civilians:

The power thus given to the commanding officer over all the people … is that of an absolute monarch … He alone is permitted to determine the rights of persons and property … It places at his free disposal all the lands and goods in his district, and he may distribute them without let or hindrance to whom he pleases. Being bound by no State law, and there being no other law to regulate the subject, he may make a criminal code of his own; and can make it as bloody as any in history … Everything is a crime which he chooses to call so, and all persons are condemned who he pronounces to be guilty.

The limited ideological framework of General Howard and his aides encouraged their attempt at radical reconstruction of southern society without realizing the need for essential legislation. They thought that the elimination of all statutory inequalities—for instance, Black court testimony—would be enough to assure protection. Southern states pretended to comply with this point in order to end the threat of the Freedmen's Bureau courts' system.

Military commands and Native American affairs

In 1872, Howard, accompanied by 1st Lt Joseph A. Sladen, who served as his aide, was ordered to Arizona Territory to negotiate a peace treaty with Cochise, resulting in a treaty on October 12.
He was placed in command of the Department of the Columbia in 1874, went west to Washington Territory's Fort Vancouver, where he fought in the Indian Wars, particularly against the Nez Perce in Idaho and Montana  territories in 1877, with the resultant surrender of Chief Joseph. He was criticized by Chief Joseph as precipitating the war by trying to rush the Nez Perce to a smaller reservation, with no advance notice, no discussion, and no time to prepare. Joseph said, "If General Howard had given me plenty of time to gather up my stock and treated Too-hool-hool-suit as a man should be treated, there would have been no war."

Subsequently, Howard was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1881–82. He served as commander of the Department of the Platte from 1882 to 1886 and the Military Division of the Pacific from 1886 to 1888. From 1888, his final command was of the Department of the East (Military Division of the Atlantic) at Fort Columbus on Governors Island in New York Harbor, encompassing the states east of the Mississippi River. He retired from the U.S. Army at that posting in 1894 with the rank of major general. The French government made him a chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1884 and he was subsequently promoted to the ranks of officer and commander.

Howard University
General Howard is also remembered for playing a role in founding Howard University, which was incorporated by Congress in 1867. The school is nonsectarian and is open to both sexes without regard to race.  On November 20, 1866, Howard was among ten members of various socially-concerned groups of the time who met in Washington, D.C., to discuss plans for a theological seminary to train black ministers. Interest was sufficient, however, to create an educational institute for areas other than the ministry. The result was the Howard Normal and Theological Institute for the Education of Preachers and Teachers. On January 8, 1867, the board of trustees voted to change the name of the institution to Howard University. Howard served as president from 1869 to 1874. He was quoted as saying "[t]he opposition to Negro education made itself felt everywhere in a combination not to allow the freed men any room or building in which a school might be taught. In 1865, 1866, and 1867, mobs of the baser classes at intervals and in all parts of the South occasionally burned school buildings and churches used as schools, flogged teachers or drove them away, and in a number of instances murdered them." He also founded Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, in 1895, for the education of the "mountain whites."

Memberships
General Howard was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the Grand Army of the Republic.

Death and burial
Oliver Howard died in Burlington, Vermont on October 26, 1909, and is buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington. At his death, Howard was the last surviving Union Army general to have held the permanent rank of a general in the regular U.S. Army.

Legacy
A bust of Howard designed by artist James E. Kelly is on display at Howard University. An equestrian statue is on East Cemetery Hill on the Gettysburg Battlefield. A dormitory at Bowdoin College is named for Howard.

The Oliver O. Howard Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic provided funds to help destitute former Union soldiers and to support worthy public causes. It contributed money and the design for the State Flag of Utah in 1920. An Army Reserve Center was named after him in Auburn, Maine, and is still used today by several U.S. Army Reserve units.

Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, Delaware, is named in his honor, as is Howard County, Nebraska and the Howard School of Academics and Technology, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Howard, Kansas is named in his honor.

The O. O. Howard House, located on Officer's Row within the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site was built in 1878 upon General Howard's order at a cost of $6,938.20 (~$ in ). Completed in 1879, the building suffered a fire in 1986 and was left vacant until renovated by the City of Vancouver in 1998. The building serves as the headquarters of the Fort Vancouver National Trust.

In Portland, Oregon, on the 150th Anniversary of Howard's acts of valor on June 1, 1862, while leading his troops at the Battle of Fair Oaks, a commemorative wreath was laid by the Oregon Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission at the site of General Howard's former residence in downtown Portland at the corner of SW 10th and Morrison. The month of June 2012 will be dedicated to Howard with a lecture and programs by the Oregon Civil War Sesquicentennial spotlighting General Howard's activities in Portland and at Fort Vancouver, Washington;  and his post-war achievements at the Freedmen's Bureau, Howard University and Lincoln Memorial University and the Indian Wars. In a New York Times interview given the day after Howard retired from the Army on November 8, 1894, at the age of 64, it was reported that he was traveling West to stay at his daughter's house in Portland, Oregon, where he planned to start writing his memoirs.

Selected works
Howard was the author of numerous books after the war, including:
 Donald's School Days (1878)
 Nez Perce Joseph (1881)
 General Taylor (1892)
 Isabella of Castile (1894)
 Fighting For Humanity, or Camp and Quarterdeck (1898)
 Henry in the War: Or the Model Volunteer (1899)
 Autobiography (1907)
 My Life and Experiences among Our Hostile Indians (1907)
He wrote an account of the Civil War's Atlanta campaign in Century Magazine for July 1887.

He translated:
 Théodore Borel, Count Agénor de Gasparin, Life of Count Agénor de Gasparin (New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1881)

In popular media
In the 1950 film Broken Arrow, Howard is played by Basil Ruysdael opposite James Stewart, who portrays Tom Jeffords. In the 1956 film The Last Wagon, he was portrayed by Carl Benton Reid. Both of these films were written and directed by Delmer Daves.

James Whitmore portrayed General Howard in the 1975 television film, I Will Fight No More Forever, about the U.S. Army campaign against the Nez Perce and the surrender of Chief Joseph in 1877. In episode 6 of The West, he was portrayed in voiceovers by Eli Wallach and is the protagonist of William T. Vollmann's novel The Dying Grass (2015).

Dates of rank

Awards
Medal of Honor
Thanks of Congress
Civil War Campaign Medal
Indian Campaign Medal
Commander, Legion of Honor (France)

Medal of Honor citation
In the citation for Howard's Medal of Honor – issued June 1, 1862, at Fair Oaks, Virginia – he was described as "Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers". The citation reads:

See also

List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: G–L
List of American Civil War generals (Union)

 Sherman's March (2007, documentary)
Charles Henry Howard (brother)

Notes

External links
Elizabeth Howard, Wife Of Union General Oliver Otis Howard

References
 Carpenter, John A. "General O. O. Howard at Gettysburg." Civil War History. September 1963.
 Carpenter, John A. "Sword and Olive Branch: Oliver Otis Howard." Bronx, NY, Fordham Univ. Press, 1999. .
 Cimbala, Paul A. "Oliver Otis Howard." In Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. .
 Cox, John, and LaWanda Cox. "General O. O. Howard and the 'Misrepresented Bureau'." Journal of Southern History 19, no. 3 (November 1953): 427–56.
 Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. .
 McFeely, William S. Yankee Stepfather: General O.O. Howard and the Freedmen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968. .
 Sweeney, Edward R. Making Peace with Cochise: the 1872 Journal of Captain Joseph Alton Sladen. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008. .
 Tagg, Larry. The Generals of Gettysburg, Campbell, CA: Savas Publishing, 1998. .
 Thomson, David. "Oliver Otis Howard: Reassessing the Legacy of the 'Christian General'." American Nineteenth Century History, 10 (September 2009), 273–98.
 Utley, Robert M. "Oliver Otis Howard." New Mexico Historical Review 62, no. 1 (Winter 1987): 55–63.
 Weil, Gordon L. "The Good Man: The Civil War's "Christian General" and His Fight for Racial Equality". Harpswell, ME: Arthur McAllister Publishers, 2013. .

External links

 Howard, Oliver O. "Lincoln's Monument in the Mountains". National Magazine, June 1905 (with photos)

 Oliver Otis Howard and Lincoln Memorial University (PDF)

Army of Georgia Historical Society

People of Maine in the American Civil War
1830 births
1909 deaths
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
19th-century male writers
American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor
American amputees
American biographers
American military personnel of the Indian Wars
American people of English descent
Bowdoin College alumni
Burials at Lakeview Cemetery (Burlington, Vermont)
Knights of the Legion of Honour
Freedmen's Bureau
Maine Republicans
American male biographers
Nez Perce War
North Yarmouth Academy alumni
People from Leeds, Maine
Philadelphia Brigade
Presidents of Howard University
Superintendents of the United States Military Academy
Union Army generals
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Military Academy alumni
Writers from Maine
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century African-American people
University and college founders
American evangelicals

Oliver Otis Howard


William Marlow (1740 – 14 January 1813) was an English landscape and marine painter and etcher.

Life

Marlow was born in Southwark, London. He spent five years as a pupil of the marine painter Samuel Scott,  and also  studied at the St. Martin's Lane Academy.

He became a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists, and from 1762 to 1764 contributed to their exhibitions in Spring Gardens.  He was employed in painting views of country houses. From 1765 to 1768, on the advice of the Duchess of Northumberland, he travelled in France and Italy. On his return to London he  took up residence in Leicester Square, and renewed his contributions to the Society of Artists, of which was made a Fellow in 1771. In 1788 he moved to Twickenham, and began to exhibit at the Royal Academy, where he showed regularly until 1796, and then again, for the last time, in 1807, when he exhibited Twickenham Ferry by Moonlight.

He died in Twickenham on 14 January 1813.

Work
Marlow painted in both oils and watercolours, and drew marine and landscape scenes. He was influenced by Richard Wilson and Canaletto. According to one critic, "his drawings are graceful but of no great power, and his method in water-colour did not advance beyond tinting", and "he realised a moderate competence". Another writer commented, "his watercolours are rather feeble in the stained manner, but his views of the Thames are truthful and delicate in colour".

His subjects were generally British country scenes, but he painted some pictures from his Italian sketches, and etched some of the latter, as well as some views on the Thames. His views of the bridges at Westminster and Blackfriars in London were engraved.

Marlow contributed to an album of watercolours illustrating William Chambers's designs for buildings and improvements at Kew Gardens. In 1763 the pictures were engraved and published in a volume entitled Plans, Elevations, Sections and Perspective Views of the Gardens and Buildings of Kew in Surrey, the Seat of Her Royal Highness, the Princess Dowager of Wales. In 1795 his former pupil, John Curtis, published a set of six Italian views by Marlow.

In an oil painting entitled Capriccio: St Paul's and a Venetian Canal (c.1795), now in the collection of the Tate Gallery, Marlow created an architectural fantasy in which Wren's cathedral was transferred to the Italian city.

Marlow exhibited a total of 152 works – 125 at the Society of Artists, two at the Free Society of Artists, and 25 at the Royal Academy.

Much of Marlow's work is to be found in the Government Art Collection and Tate Gallery in London, and some in regional galleries in Britain including Derby Art Gallery.

References

Attribution

External links

William Marlow online (ArtCyclopedia)
William Marlow biography ("Grove Dictionary of Art" at artnet.com)
Works by Marlow (Government Art Collection)
Works by Marlow (Tate Gallery)
View of the Lake and the Island from the Lawn at Kew (1763, watercolour – The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
View of the Wilderness at Kew (1763, watercolour – The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Strawberry Hill (V & A)
A View of the Château de Pierre Scize on the river Saône at Lyon (oil on canvas – National Galleries of Scotland)

English printmakers
1740 births
1813 deaths
18th-century English painters
19th-century English painters
18th-century English male artists
19th-century English male artists
Artists from London
English male painters
English etchers
English watercolourists
English landscape painters
British marine artists
People from Southwark

William Marlow


I.K.U. (pronounced ai-kei-ju, abbreviated as iku?) is a 2001 independent film directed by Taiwanese-American experimental filmmaker Shu Lea Cheang. It was marketed as "a Japanese Sci-Fi Porn Feature". The film was partially inspired by Blade Runner (1982). I.K.U.'''s premise involves a futuristic corporation sending shapeshifting cyborgs out into New Tokyo to collect "orgasm data" by means of sexual intercourse. The title is a pun on the Japanese word  which, in sexual slang, is used to express an orgasm.I.K.U. premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. It was the first pornographic film ever screened in the festival. Critical reception was poor.

Plot
The film is set in or about the year 2030. The multinational Genom Corporation is developing a product called the "I.K.U. Chip", which is plugged into a portable device allowing consumers to download and experience orgasms from the I.K.U. server without need of physical contact. The corporation sends their cybernetic shapeshifter Reiko, known as an I.K.U. Coder or replicant, to collect orgasm-related information catering to various sexual orientations. To collect the data Reiko transforms into an appearance pleasing to an individual or couple, engages the target(s) in sexual relations and transforms her right hand and forearm into a penis which is inserted into the recipient's vagina or anus during climax.

Reiko is directed on her missions by Genom employee Dizzy, known as an I.K.U. Runner. She has sex with various people such as a salaryman and a stripper, a young couple, a drug dealer and a hustler named Akira and a former museum curator–cum-hobo. She meets and is helped along the way by a retired I.K.U. Coder named Mash. Reiko is lured to a night club and seduced by Tokyo Rose, an agent of the rival Bio Link Corporation, who shuts her down with a computer virus and steals her data. Mash recovers Reiko and teaches her how to reboot herself through masturbation. Reiko manages to obtain enough data to complete her mission by having sex with Akira the Hustler, a sushi shop patron and Mash. Dizzy then extracts the data with a retrieval device called a Dildo Gun. Afterward, Reiko is retired and shut down. The Genom Corporation begins selling I.K.U. Chips in vending machines everywhere. Reiko reboots herself.

The DVD edition of the film has two endings which may be selected via an onscreen menu. In the first ending, Mash takes Reiko to meet Dizzy. The two profess their love and drive away. In the second, Mash takes Akira to meet Dizzy and they proceed similarly.

Production
Producer Takashi Asai, founder of the underground and independent film production company Uplink, commissioned director and media artist Shu Lea Cheang to "make a sci-fi porn film". Cheang began writing the script with the intention of addressing Japanese censorship. Conflicts between the two began during the initial script writing process and lasted throughout production. Takashi wanted a traditional Japanese pink film, which integrated storyline and softcore sex, where Cheang aimed towards genre-defining American pornographic films along the lines of Behind the Green Door (1972), with hardcore sex throughout. Daily debates ranged from issues such as foreplay and sexual positions to fist fucking and penis size.

Pornographic actress Mai Hoshino was hired for the lead role, Reiko, but disappeared three days before shooting began. Of the subsequent actresses auditioned, Cheang was unable to find one who was both able to act and willing to perform all of the sexual acts outlined in the script. Instead, seven actresses were selected and the lead role modified to incorporate the shapeshifting element, allowing the contentious hardcore scenes to be meted out between the seven. Even so, the hardcore acts were continually renegotiated throughout filming.

The film was shot mainly in studio with some location shooting throughout Tokyo over a three-week period. Location shooting included scenes on the metropolitan highways where Andrei Tarkovsky shot the famous driving scene in Solaris (1972). During shooting Cheang came into further conflict with crew members and the police. Cinematographer Tetsuya Kamoto, well known for his music video photography, refused to include himself in the onscreen action, hamedori style. Editor Kazuhiro Shirao, also a film director, stated that "if it becomes a real porno film, I stop working on it". A Tokyo vice squad raided the set.

Post-production took more than six months although the visual effects company, VJ E-MALE, spent eight months on the film. I.K.U. was completed in July 2000.

Cast
 Ayumi Tokito as Reiko number one
 Maria Yumeno as Reiko number two
 Yumeka Sasaki as Reiko number three
 Miho Ariga as Reiko number four
 Myu Asou as Reiko number five
 Etuyo Tsuchida as Reiko number six
 Tsousie as Reiko number seven
 Zachery Nataf as Dizzy
 Mash as Mash
 Aja as Tokyo Rose
 Akira the Hustler as Akira

Reception
According to director Shu Lea Cheang, approximately 40 percent of the audience walked out over the course of the film, predominately during the sex scenes. The exodus was not repeated at subsequent screenings when Cheang "spelled [the film] out and challenged the audience to stay."

Critics generally disliked the film.

Phil Freeman wrote: "It's clear that the filmmakers felt the addition of a high-tech sheen would somehow vault their little movie (it's only 74 minutes long) above the morass of mainstream porn. They were wrong, though. Porn is porn, and in this case the extra effort expended only serves to make the final product vaguely embarrassing. It's as if the producers were ashamed of what they were up to, and thought they could disguise it by blanketing the thing with the trappings of science fiction."

ReleaseI.K.U. premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight program on January 29, 2000. It was the festival's first-ever pornographic film selected for competition.

The movie was released as a DVD in Japan in June 2006 by  and in the United States by Music Video Distributors with the title I.K.U. (This Is Not Love This Is Sex).References

External links

 I.K.U.''  at the Japanese Movie Database

2001 films
2000s Japanese-language films
2001 science fiction films
2000s erotic films
Alt porn
Cyberpunk films
Japanese independent films
2000s pornographic films
Films set in 2030
Films shot in Tokyo
Films set in Japan
2000s English-language films

I.K.U.


Dracaena is a genus of about 40 trees and succulent shrubs.

The name comes from Ancient Greek drakaina, meaning female dragon. Most of them are native to tropical Africa, some occur in Southeast Asia, and tropical South America. They are usually classified into Dragon trees and shrubby dracenas according to how they grow. The latter are also often grown as house plants.

Asparagales
Trees

Dracaena


Botillo (), Butiellu () or Botelo (, ; also known as  in Portuguese) is a dish of meat-stuffed pork intestine. It is a culinary specialty of El Bierzo, a county in the Spanish province of León and also of the region of Trás-os-Montes, in Portugal. The Spanish term botillo, the Portuguese term botelo and Leonese term butiellu derive from the Latin word botellus, meaning intestine.

It's also found in Extremadura, where it is known as buche or buche de costillas.

This type of Embutido/Enchido is a meat product made from different pieces left over from the butchering of a pig, including the ribs, tail, and bones with a little meat left on them. These are chopped; seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and other spices; stuffed in the cecum of the pig; and partly cured via smoking. It can also include the pig's tongue, shoulder blade, jaw, and backbone, but never exceeding 20% of the total volume. It is normally consumed cooked, covered with a sheet. Flavored with Chorizo/Chouriço/Chourizu, the pig's ear and snout together with very tender cabbage makes a tasty and substantial stew.

The preparation and curing of botillo occurs over a period of at least five days and consists of four phases:

Selection and butchering of the raw material.
Seasoning and stuffing proceeding to the mixing and knead of the gut. Afterwards the cecum is stuffed as before, in its place, were cured and seasoned to achieve the color and the ideal preserving of the tripe.
Smoking, with smoke from natural oak or holm oak (encina) wood.
Dried over two days in drying rooms prepared to ensure that the moisture is finally eliminated and that the product achieves a superior consistency.

See also
Androlla
 List of stuffed dishes

External links
Official web about "Botillo del Bierzo"

Spanish sausages
Botelo
Offal
Leonese cuisine
Stuffed dishes

Botillo


Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth ( ), is an Indian actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 169 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, and Malayalam. He is widely regarded to be one of the most successful and popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. Known for his uniquely styled lines and idiosyncrasies in films, he has a huge fan base internationally and has a cult following. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan in 2000, Padma Vibhushan in 2016, India's third and second highest civilian honours, and highest award in the field of cinema Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2019 for his contributions to Indian cinema.

Following his debut in K. Balachander's 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal, Rajinikanth's acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic characters in Tamil films. His major positive role as a scorned lover in S. P. Muthuraman's Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri (1977), 1978's Mullum Malarum and Aval Appadithan received him critical acclaim; the former earned him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for Best Actor. By the end of the decade, he had worked in all South Indian film industries and established a career in Tamil cinema. He then played dual roles in the action thriller Billa (1980), a remake of the Hindi film Don (1978). It was his biggest commercial success to that point, earned him stardom and gave him the action hero image. He starred in triple role in Moondru Mugam (1982), which earned him a special prize at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards ceremony. The following year, he made his Bollywood debut with T. Rama Rao's top grossing Andhaa Kaanoon (1983). Nallavanukku Nallavan (1984) won him that year's Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor. In the latter half of the 1980s, he starred in several successful films in Tamil and Hindi, including Geraftaar (1985), Bewafai (1985), Padikkadavan (1985), Mr. Bharath (1986), Velaikaran (1987), Manithan (1987), Dharmathin Thalaivan (1988), ChaalBaaz (1989), Hum (1991) and Phool Bane Angaray (1991).

In 1991, Mani Ratnam's Tamil crime film Thalapathi, earned him major critical acclaim for his performance. He collaborated with Suresh Krissna for many films including Annaamalai (1992) and Baashha (1995); the latter was the biggest commercial success in his career yet as well as the highest-grossing film in Tamil for many years.  His other success includes P. Vasu's Mannan (1992), Uzhaippali (1993) and K. S. Ravikumar's Muthu (1995) and Padayappa (1999); the latter which went on to become his and Tamil cinema's highest-grossing movie, exceeding Baashha.

After a few years of hiatus, he returned to acting with the comedy horror film Chandramukhi (2005); it went on to become again the highest-grossing Tamil film. His next, S. Shankar's Sivaji (2007) was the third Indian film to enter the 100 Crore Club. He played dual roles, as a scientist and an andro-humanoid robot, in the science fiction film Enthiran (2010) and its sequel 2.0 (2018), both being India's most expensive productions at the time of their release, and among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time. In 2023, his most recent blockbuster Jailer, made a significant impact in the Tamil film industry, earning over 600 crores and establishing him as the sole actor with two 500 crores movies in the industry. He also once again became the highest paid actor in India with Jailer, earning a total of 210 crores for the single film.

He has won many awards, including a National Film Award, seven Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, a Nandi Award and a Filmfare Award. Rajinikanth was also named one of the most influential persons in South Asia by Asiaweek. He was also named by Forbes India as the most influential Indian of the year 2010.

Early life and background

Rajinikanth was born as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad on 12 December 1950 in a Marathi Hindu family in Bangalore, Mysore State (present day Karnataka). His mother was a homemaker, and his father Ramoji Rao Gaekwad was a police constable. His ancestors hailed from Mavadi Kadepathar, Pune, Maharashtra. He is the youngest of four siblings in a family consisting of two elder brothers (Satyanarayana Rao and Nageshwara Rao) and a sister (Aswath Balubhai). After his father's retirement from work in 1956, the family moved to the suburb of Hanumantha Nagar in Bangalore and built a house there. He lost his mother at the age of nine.

Rajinikanth had his primary education at the Gavipuram Government Kannada Model Primary School in Bangalore. As a child, he was "studious and mischievous" with a great interest in cricket, football and basketball. During this time, his brother enrolled him at the Ramakrishna Math, a Hindu monastery set up by the Ramakrishna Mission. In the math, he was taught Vedas, tradition and history, which eventually instilled a sense of spirituality in him. In addition to spiritual lessons, he also began acting in plays at the math. His aspiration towards theatre grew at the math and was once given an opportunity to enact the role of Ekalavya's friend from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. His performance in the play received praise from the Kannada poet D. R. Bendre. After sixth grade, Rajinikanth was enrolled at the Acharya Pathasala Public School and studied there till completion of his pre-university course. During his schooling at the Acharya Pathasala, he spent a lot of time acting in plays.

Upon completion of his school education, Rajinikanth performed several jobs including that of a coolie, before getting a job in the Bangalore Transport Service as a bus conductor. He continued to take part in plays after the Kannada playwright Topi Muniappa offered him a chance to act in one of his mythological plays. He decided to take up an acting course in the newly formed Madras Film Institute after coming across an advertisement. Though his family was not fully supportive of his decision to join the institute, his friend and co-worker Raj Bahadur motivated him to join the institute and financially supported him during this phase. During his stay at the institute, he was noticed by the Tamil film director K. Balachander. Balachander provided Rajinikanth with his stage name to avoid confusion with fellow actor Sivaji Ganesan, having taken it from a character's name in his earlier film Major Chandrakanth. The director advised him to learn to speak Tamil, a recommendation that Rajinikanth quickly followed. Though he can read the language, he cannot write in it.

Acting career

1975–1977: Early career

Rajinikanth began his film career with the Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal (1975), directed by K. Balachander. He was cast in a small role as the ex-husband of the female lead played by Srividya. The film explored relationships between people with wide age differences and was deemed controversial upon release. However, it received critical acclaim and won three National Film Awards including the Award for the Best Tamil Feature at the 23rd National Film Awards in 1976. A review from The Hindu noted that: "Newcomer Rajinikanth is dignified and impressive". His next release was Puttanna Kanagal's Kannada anthology film Katha Sangama (1976). Rajinikanth appeared in the last segment of the film; he played the role as a village ruffian who rapes a blind woman in the absence of her husband. Balachander cast him in a pivotal role in Anthuleni Katha (1976), the Telugu remake of his own Tamil film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974). In Moondru Mudichuthe first Tamil film to feature him in a prominent rolehe played a character that "blithely row[s] away" when his friend drowns accidentally in the lake only to fulfill his desire to marry the former's girlfriend. His style of flipping the cigarette in the film made him popular among the audience. In his final release of the year, Baalu Jenu, he was cast as the main antagonist who troubles the female lead. He played similar roles in Balachander's Avargal (1977), and Bharathiraja's 16 Vayadhinile (1977). The same year, he made his first-ever appearance as a lead actor in the Telugu film Chilakamma Cheppindi (1977), which earned him his only nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. S. P. Muthuraman experimented Rajinikanth in a positive role in Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri (1977). The success of the film brought the duo together for 24 more films till the 1990s. Rajinikanth played supporting and "villainous" roles in most of the films released during the year. In Gaayathri he was cast as a pornographer who secretly films his relationship with his wife without her knowledge and in Galate Samsara he played the role of a married man who develops an affair with a cabaret dancer. He had 15 of his films released during the year.

1978–1989: Experimentation and breakthrough
In 1978, Rajinikanth had 20 releases across Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. His first film of the year was P. Madhavan's Shankar Salim Simon, in which he was among the three leads. Following that, he co-starred alongside Vishnuvardhan in the Kannada film Kiladi Kittu. He played the second lead in Annadammula Savaal, which starred Krishna; Rajinikanth reprised his role from the Kannada original. He then played an important role in the supernatural thriller Aayiram Jenmangal. In Maathu Tappada Maga, he was the main antagonist. Bairavi, directed by M.Bhaskar, was the first Tamil film to cast Rajinikanth as a solo hero. It was for this film that he earned the sobriquet "Superstar". S. Thanu, one of the film's distributors, set up a  high cut-out of Rajinikanth. His next appearance Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu, a quadrangular love story written and directed by C. V. Sridhar, saw him play the role of a man who sacrifices his love for his friend, played by Kamal Haasan. The film's success prompted Sridhar to remake the film in Telugu, Vayasu Pilichindi, which retained the original cast of the Tamil film.

His next film, Vanakkatukuriya Kathaliye, had an introductory song to mark his entry, a trend that would soon catch on in with his later films. Mullum Malarum, released during the same period, received critical acclaim, and earned him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil nomination. The film marked the directional debut of Mahendran, with a screenplay adapted from a novel of the same name published in Kalki. It won the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Film and a Special Prize (Best Actor) for Rajinikanth at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Following this, he made a foray into Malayalam cinema with I. V. Sasi's fantasy film Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum, which was based on a story from the Arabian Nights. The same year, he acted in Dharma Yuddam, in which he played a mentally-ill person avenging the death of his parents. He then co-starred with N. T. Rama Rao in Tiger. Upon completion of Tiger, Rajinikanth had acted in 50 films over a period of four years, and in four languages. Some other popular films released during this period are the youthful entertainer Ninaithale Inikkum, the Tamil–Kannada bilingual Priya, the Telugu film Amma Evarikkaina Amma and the melodrama Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai. Priya, based on a detective novel by Sujatha, had the distinction of being the first film of Rajinikanth to be shot mostly outside India, mainly in Southeast Asia. Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.

Raijinikanth, who credited Hindi film star Amitabh Bachchan as his inspiration, began playing Amitabh Bachchan's roles in Tamil remakes of his films. This began with Shankar Salim Simon (1978), a remake of Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), followed by Naan Vazhavaippen (1979), a remake of Majboor (1974). He was subsequently cast in a series of roles modelled after Amitabh Bachchan in Tamil remakes of his films. Rajinikanth starred in eleven Tamil remakes of Amitabh Bachchan films, as well as a Telugu remake of Amar Akbar Anthony, Ram Robert Rahim (1980), alongside Sridevi. The most successful of these were remakes of Salim–Javed films, such as Billa (1980), Thee (1981) and Mr. Bharath (1986).

During this phase of his career, Rajinikanth abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed to return with the Tamil film Billa (1980), a remake of the Bollywood blockbuster Don (1978), written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan. Billa had Rajinikanth playing dual roles and eventually became his first ever commercial success. His pairing with Sridevi continued in Johnny, where he was once again cast in a double role, earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. He also starred in Murattu Kaalai which was a commercial success. The success of Billa was a turning point in Rajinikanth's career, disproving detractors that claimed Rajnikanth was "finished" and which saw him accepted as a full-fledged hero. The success of Billa established Rajinikanth as the top star of Tamil cinema, overtaking Kamal Haasan.

In 1981, he appeared in Garjanai which was shot simultaneously in Kannada and Malayalam, making it his last film in those two languages up until 2023. In K. Balachander's first home production, Netrikan, he played dual roles as a womanising father and a responsible son. His first full-length comedy was Thillu Mullu, directed by K. Balachander. He agreed to it solely due to the strong suggestion by his mentor that he should do non-commercial roles, to break the stereotyped action-hero mould by which he was getting famous at the time. Thillu Mullu earned him his fourth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. 1981 also saw the release of Thee, a remake of the 1975 Bollywood blockbuster Deewaar, also originally written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan; in Thee, Rajinikanth reprised the role of Bachchan in the original. In 1982, he starred in Pokkiri Raja, Moondru Mugam, Thanikattu Raja, Puthukavithai and Enkeyo Ketta Kural. Moondru Mugam which starred Rajinikanth playing three different roles for the first time, earned him his fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.

By 1983, he was a popular actor across South Indian cinema, including Telugu and Kannada films. In 1983, he starred in his first Bollywood film, Andha Kanoon, alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini. The film went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of that time. His 1984 film Naan Mahaan Alla, was directed by Muturaman and produced by K. Balachander. He acted in his first cameo role in the film Anbulla Rajinikanth. He played a triple role in John Jani Janardhan. His performance in Nallavanuku Nallavan earned him his first and only Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. In his 100th film Sri Raghavendra (1985), he played the Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami. His greatest success in Hindi films was his 101st film Bewafai. Released in 1985 with Rajesh Khanna as the lead hero and Rajinikanth as villain, it became a success and grossed  at the box office that year.

In the second half of the 1980s, Rajinikanth acted in commercially successful films such as Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985), Padikkathavan (1985), Mr. Bharath (1986), Velaikaran (1987), Manithan (1987), Guru Sishyan (1988) and Dharmathin Thalaivan (1988), with Velaikaran earning him his seventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. In 1988, he made his only American film appearance in Bloodstone, directed by Dwight Little, in which he played an English-speaking Indian taxi driver. Rajinikanth finished the decade with films including Rajadhi Raja, Siva, Raja Chinna Roja and Mappillai while also starring in a few Bollywood productions. Raja Chinna Roja was the first Indian film to feature live action and animation.

1990–2001: Commercial stardom

By the 1990s, Rajinikanth established himself as a commercial entertainer. Almost all the films released during this period were highly successful at the box office.

He began the decade with a blockbuster in Panakkaran (1990), which was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan's 1981 film Laawaris. The film earned him his eighth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. His next two Tamil films, the fantasy comedy Athisaya Piravi, (a remake of Chiranjeevi's 1988 film Yamudiki Mogudu) which also released in 1990 and the family drama Dharmadorai (1991), did above-average business at the box office. His stint with Bollywood continued since the past decade as he went on to star in more Hindi films. Hum released in 1991 saw him doing the second main lead with Amitabh Bachchan became an inspiration for Baashha. In 1991, he worked with Mani Ratnam in Thalapathi, which was heavily inspired by the Mahabharata. in which he co-starred with actor Mammooty; the film dealt with the friendship between two unknown characters based on Karna and Duryodhana, respectively, and was set in a more contemporary milieu and was both critically acclaimed and successful upon release. He received his ninth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for the film. He went on to appear in remakes of films from other languages, mostly from Hindi and Telugu. Annamalai, which released in 1992, was yet another friendship-centric film and was loosely based on the 1987 Bollywood film Khudgarz. The film was the first to have a Super Star Title Graphic Card. He received his tenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for the film. Mannan, directed by P. Vasu, a remake of Kannada actor Rajkumar's 1986 blockbuster Anuraga Aralithu, also was released in 1992 and became a box office success. Rajinikanth wrote his first screenplay for the film Valli (1993), in which he also made a special appearance. He also starred in the film Yajaman, in which he played the role of Vaanavaraayan, a village chieftain. His romantic-comedy Veera (1994) was controversial for its climax but went on to become one of the highest-grossing films in 1994. That year, he earned his eleventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for the action-drama Uzhaippali.

He joined hands with Suresh Krishna for Baashha (1995), which emerged as an industry record, and is routinely touted by fans and critics alike as a major-hit, as the film elevated him from being just another very popular actor to nearly demigod status among the masses. He made a cameo in Peddarayudu for his friend Mohan Babu and also helped him in obtaining the remake rights. The same year, he acted in yet another gangster film, Aatank Hi Aatank with Aamir Khan which was also his last Hindi film in a major role till date. His film Muthu, a remake of Mohanlal's blockbuster Malayalam film Thenmavin Kombathu, was another commercial success, directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by K. Balachander, and became the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese, as Mutu: Odoru Maharaja. The film grossed a record US$1.6 million in Japan in 1998 and was responsible for creating a large Japanese fan-base for the actor. Muthus success in Japan led American news magazine Newsweek to comment in a 1999 article that Rajinikanth had "supplanted Leonardo DiCaprio as Japan's trendiest heartthrob". During a visit to Japan in 2006, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged the success of Muthu in the country during a speech, justifying the positive relationship between the two nations. He received his twelfth and thirteenth nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performances in Baashha and Muthu.

He also entered Bengali cinema through Bhagya Debata, which was released at the end of 1995. 1997's Arunachalam, another commercial success, earned him his fourteenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. Rajinikanth released his last film of the millennium with Padayappa (1999), which went on to become a blockbuster success, and earned him his fifteenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. It starred Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya, the former critically acclaimed for her performance. It was also the last prominent role for veteran Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan.

2002–2010: Struggles, resurgence and acclaim
After a brief pause, Rajinikanth starred in Baba in 2002, for which he had also written the screenplay. Released with much fanfare and hype at the time, the film featured a story revolving around the reforming of a gangster, later revealed to be the reincarnation of the Hindu saint Mahavatar Babaji, and fights against political corruption. It fell short of market expectations and the high bids reportedly translated to heavy losses for the distributors. Rajinikanth himself repaid the losses incurred by the distributors. The film was received with comments such as "the bloom was off the rose" and that "the gold does not glitter any more". Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss condemned him for smoking and posing with beedis in the film. He was criticised for spoiling the Tamil youth by glorifying smoking and drinking. PMK volunteers attacked the theatres which screened the film and usurped film rolls and burned them.

Two years later, Rajinikanth signed up for P. Vasu's Chandramukhi (2005), a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu. Upon release the film was highly successful at the box office, and in 2007 it set the record of being the longest running Tamil film. Chandramukhi was also dubbed in Turkish and in German as Der Geisterjäger and released in the respective nations. Following Chandramukhis release, it was reported that AVM Productions was set to produce a film directed by Shankar starring Rajinikanth – the largest collaboration yet for a Tamil film. The film was titled Sivaji and was released in the summer of 2007, following two years of filming and production. It became the first Tamil film to be charted as one of the "top-ten best films" of the United Kingdom and South Africa box offices upon release. Rajinikanth received a salary of , for his role in the film highest in his film career at that time. He received his sixteenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance in the film. During the production of Sivaji, Soundarya Rajinikanth announced her intention of producing a computer-generated imagery film starring an animated version of her father titled Sultan: The Warrior. The film was set for release in 2008, however, it entered development hell, and its development status would become unknown over the next few years.

He worked with P. Vasu again for Kuselan, a remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol, which was made simultaneously in Telugu as Kathanayakudu, in which Rajinikanth played an extended cameo role as Ashok Kumar, a film star in the Indian cinema, and as a best friend to the film's protagonist. According to Rajinikanth, the film somewhat narrated his early life. The film, however, performed poorly at box offices and led to many distributors incurring major losses. Rajinikanth also stated that he would work with Pyramid Saimira again to compensate for Kuselan."Is there anything left to be said about a man who, at 61, still manages to star in one of the most successful films of the year, not just in the south, but across India? Superstar Rajni once again proved that he is the actor with the Midas touch with the sci-fi flick Enthiran, where he played an ambitious scientist, a naive robot and an evil android bent on destroying the world [...] He did it with such aplomb that he's been the talk of the town for months. He might do one film in two years, but when he does, he pulls out all the stops."

Rajinikanth worked again with Shankar for the science fiction film Enthiran. The film was released worldwide in 2010 as the most expensive Indian film ever made, ultimately becoming the second highest-grossing film in India of its time. Rajinikanth was paid a remuneration of  for the film. He received his seventeenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance in the film. The film's success lead to the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to use the film as a case study to analyse the business of cinema and its success story in a post-graduate elective management course called Contemporary Film Industry: A Business Perspective. The course would also study Muthu.

2011–present: Hospitalisation, return and continued success
In January 2011, Rajinikanth was slated to appear in Rana, a period film to be produced by Soundarya Rajinikanth and directed by K. S. Ravikumar, who would work with the actor for a third time. During the principal photography of the film on 29 April 2011, he suffered a mild foodborne illness on the sets, which led to vomiting, dehydration, and exhaustion. He was treated at St. Isabel's Hospital for a day before being discharged. Five days later, he was rushed to the same hospital again after suffering from breathlessness and fever. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and was kept at the hospital for a week, while also spending a few days in an intensive care unit. Several conflicting reports of discharge dates arose, as well as claims of Rajinikanth's health deteriorating. Two days after his last discharge, Rajinikanth was admitted to the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute on 16 May 2011 for recurring respiratory and gastrointestinal problems. The hospital maintained that Rajinikanth was in stable condition and showed positive response to treatment. It was widely reported that he required a kidney transplantation, which was later denied by Dhanush.

On 21 May 2011, Aishwarya Rajinikanth released a photo of her and Rajinikanth in his hospital ward, both posing with a thumbs signal, responding to fans' negative reaction to news reports. The hospital restricted unauthorised visitors. Rajinikanth's brother, Sathyanarayana Rao Gaekwad, reported that the cause of the sudden illness was due to stress from rapid weight-loss and changes in diet, as well as withdrawal of alcohol consumption and smoking cessation. After addressing fans in a 4-minute digitally recorded voice message to the media, Rajinikanth, under the advice of Amitabh Bachchan, travelled from Chennai to Singapore with his family on 21 May 2011, where he was to undergo further treatment for nephropathy at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. After spending over two weeks at the hospital, he was finally discharged on 15 June 2011 and continued to recuperate in Singapore, before returning to Chennai on 13 July 2011.

Despite several failed attempts to restart Rana upon his return, Rajinikanth reprised his Enthiran character, Chitti, in the Bollywood science-fiction film Ra.One (2011) in a guest appearance alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor. In November 2011, it was decided that Rana would be shelved in favour of a new project, titled Kochadaiiyaan. The film became a huge disaster at the box office. The motion capture film, which is the first of its kind in India, was released in 2014 to positive reviews. Kochadaiiyaan, and the 3D release of Sivaji in 2012, made Rajinikanth the first Indian actor to have appeared in four different forms of world cinema: black-and-white, colour, 3D and motion capture. Following the completion of Kochadaiiyaan, Rajinikanth began work in Ravikumar's next directorial venture, titled Lingaa.  The film was released on 12 December 2014, coinciding with his birthday, and received mixed reviews from critics.

After a two-year absence from big screen, Rajinikanth's next film was director Pa. Ranjith's crime drama Kabali, produced by S. Thanu. The film was released in July 2016. The film became the highest grossing Tamil film of the year grossing over  and became the fifth highest-grossing Tamil film of all time before being surpassed by his another film 2.0. Also, at the Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards, the film was nominated at five categories winning all of them, and also won five awards, at the Edison Awards, and two nominations at the 6th South Indian International Movie Awards. He also received his eighteenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance in the film.

In August 2016, it was announced that Rajinikanth and director Ranjith would work together again for a film with Dhanush as producer, titled Kaala, in which Rajinikanth plays a Dharavi-dwelling gangster who fights against corporate takeover of the slum. The film was officially released on 7 June 2018 and received positive reviews from critics. In 2018 he also appeared in S. Shankar's 2.0 reprising the roles of Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti, alongside Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. The film was released on 29 November 2018 and was commercially successful at the box office. The film earned over  worldwide on its first day, which was the second-highest ever for an Indian film. The film crossed  in its opening weekend to be the highest-grossing film worldwide for that week. The film also grossed over  at the box office became the highest-grossing Tamil film of the year and second highest grossing Tamil film of all time. 2.0 is the fourth highest-grossing film in India and is the seventh highest-grossing Indian film worldwide. In 2019, Rajinikanth starred in Karthik Subbaraj's Petta, in which his performance received praise for his return to his vintage stereotypical style of acting and grossed over , becoming the second highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019. The combined gross earnings of Kaala, 2.0 and Petta by the end of January 2019 was determined to be over 1000 crore according to trade analysts. Rajinikanth worked with AR Murugadoss in the film Darbar, alongside Nayanthara which released in 2020. He played the role of a police officer after 27 years since his last film as a police officer was the Tamil film Pandian. Despite the film receiving mixed reviews, the film grossed  crore at the box office, making it one of Rajinikanth's highest-grossing films and the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2020. His 168th film of Rajinikanth was with director Siva, the film titled Annaatthe alongside Nayanthara and Keerthy Suresh and where he played role of a protective brother. The film was released on 4 November 2021. The film became a commercial success at the box office by grossing around  beating the collections made by other Tamil films like Master and Maanaadu.

After a two-year absence from big screen, his 169th film is Jailer, which was directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. He played a retired jailer in the film and it was released on 10 August 2023. The film received predominantly positive reviews upon its release and achieved tremendous commercial success, grossing over 600 crores worldwide.

Upcoming projects

As of October 2023, Rajinikanth will be appearing an extended cameo appearance in his daughter, Aishwarya Rajinikanth's directorial comeback, Lal Salaam. The movie is scheduled for release during the Pongal festival in 2024. It also features Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth in prominent lead roles. His 170th film is set to be produced by Subaskaran Allirajah of Lyca Productions and directed by T. J. Gnanavel which is tentatively titled Thalaivar 170. He will be playing a police officer. Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, Rana Daggubati, Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh and Dushara Vijayan have been reported as part of the cast and there are expectations that Anirudh Ravichander will be composing the music for the film. The film shooting finally began on 4 October 2023. Sun Pictures officially announced Thalaivar 171 with Lokesh Kanagaraj as the director, confirming the rumors of his collaboration with Rajinikanth on 11 September 2023. The music will be composed by Anirudh Ravichander. In a recent interview, Lokesh Kanagaraj disclosed that the principal photography of the film is scheduled to begin either in the last week of March 2024 or in early April 2024.

Political career

It was speculated that Rajinikanth would enter politics in 1995. He decided against it and declared if he took the plunge into politics now, it would result in a lot of confusion and that he would not be able to serve the people and fulfil their expectations. However, he added that if Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's party returns to power in the 1996 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, "even God cannot save the people of the State." Rajinikanth went on to wholeheartedly supported the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Tamil Maanila Congress alliance and asked the people of Tamil Nadu and his fans to vote for that alliance. This alliance had a complete victory in the elections. He also supported the same alliance in the 1996 and 1998 Indian general elections.

Later in 2004, Rajinikanth said he would personally vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but would not extend his support to any front during the upcoming Indian general election. The party, however, failed to win any seats in Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha.

Rajinikanth canceled his visit to Sri Lanka in March 2017 at the urging of Tamil Nadu politicians. Leaders of the BJP criticized this choice. In June 2017, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleged that Rajinikanth was illiterate and unfit for politics. He also accused Rajinikanth of financial fraud, claiming that he has strong proof of financial irregularities by Rajinikanth that will bring down Rajinikanth's political aspirations.

However several political analysts state Rajinikanth has missed his chance and unlike 1996 when he was at his peak it will be very difficult for him to make a significant impact in 2019.

Rajinikanth announced entry into politics on 31 December 2017 and confirmed his intention to contest in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections in all 234 constituencies. He stated that his party would resign if it was unable to fulfill its electoral promises within three years of coming into power. Rajinikanth dissolved his organisation Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) on 12 July 2021 and also said that he has no plans to enter politics in the future.

Public image

Rajinikanth is widely regarded as one of the most popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. His popularity has been attributed to his distinctively delivered dialogue and eccentricates showcased in his movies, alongside his political pronouncements and charitable work. Many also cite reasons for Rajinikanth's popularity as coming from his larger-than-life super-hero appearance in many films, supported by gravity-defying stunts and charismatic expressions, all while attempting to maintain modesty in real-life. Almost every film of Rajinikanth has punchlines delivered by him in an inimitable style, and these punchlines often have a message or even warn the film's antagonists. These lines are usually fabricated to create new ones or even be taken in a comical way, but do not fail to create a sense of entertainment among viewers.

Rajinikanth is one of the highest-grossing actors in Tamil cinema history. After opening his first official Twitter account in 2014, Rajinikanth received over 210,000 followers within 24 hours, which according to The Economic Times was deemed by social media research firms as the fastest rate of followers for any Indian celebrity, as well as among the top-10 in the world. In 2015, a film about his fandom, For the Love of a Man, premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

Comments on social issues

In 2002, Rajinikanth undertook a day-long fast to protest the Government of Karnataka's decision to not release Kaveri River water into Tamil Nadu, and announced that he would contribute  toward a plan to interlink Indian rivers. He met with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many experts to canvass support for the project. His hunger strike was independent of the Nadigar Sangam, who organised their own solidarity protest for the same cause. Film director Bharathi Raja lashed out against Rajinikanth, alleging that he is dividing the film industry and saying that he was a "traitor who had a tacit understanding with the Karnataka government".

In 2008, Rajinikanth took part in a hunger strike organised by the Nadigar Sangam against Karnataka's stance on the Hogenakkal Falls water dispute, during which he gave a speech against politicians in Karnataka. It led to the state announcing a ban on him and his film Kuselan (2008). The ban was lifted after Rajinikanth appeared on TV9 Kannada and issued an apology for his speech. He later thanked the Government of Karnataka for lifting the ban and allowing the film's release in the state. The apology and subsequent gratitude towards Karnataka led to strong reactions from Nadigar Sangam members R. Sarathkumar, Sathyaraj and Radha Ravi, who called the apology a disgrace to Tamils and opined that his speech never provoked the sentiments of the Kannada people. Rajinikanth's support toward fellow actor Ajith Kumar, who in 2010 condemned the forceful inclusion of Tamil cinema personae in political affairs, broke into a controversy.

In 2020, Rajinikanth quoted a 2017 article from Outlook, which reported that Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar E. V. Ramasamy garlanded the idols of Hindu deities Rama and Sita with footwear at an atheist rally in 1971. His remarks were criticized by supporters of Periyar. In response to the backlash, Rajinikanth stated, "I did not speak on something that didn't happen. I've only spoken on what was reported. It was reported in Outlook also. Sorry, I will not apologise". A report on Thoothukudi police firing criticized Rajnikanth's comment on the incident that the whole anti-Sterlite protest was engineered by "anti-social" elements.

Personal life

Relationships
While he was working as a bus conductor in Bangalore, Rajinikanth met a medical student named Nirmala and started a relationship. After seeing him perform in a stage play, she encouraged him to pursue an acting career and sent an application to the Adyar Film Institute on his behalf and unbeknownst to him. Although he took up the offer and proceeded with his acting career, Rajinikanth has since lost contact with her.

Family
Rajinikanth married Latha Rangachari, a student of Ethiraj College for Women who interviewed him for her college magazine. The marriage took place on 26 February 1981, in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. The couple has two daughters: Aishwarya and Soundarya. He has four grandchildren through his daughters.

Views
Rajinikanth is a practicing Hindu and is a strong believer of spirituality. He is also a practitioner of yoga and meditation. Rajinikanth has religiously visited major Hindu temples prior to the release of each of his films; for instance he visited the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple before the release of Sivaji in 2007 and visited Sathya Sai Baba at Prasanthi Nilayam in Andhra Pradesh before the release of Kuselan the following year. He also occasionally leaves for pilgrimage to the Himalayas.

He has often referred to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Satchidananda, Ragavendra Swami, Mahavatar Babaji, and Ramana Maharshi as his favourite spiritual leaders.

Philanthropy
According to Naman Ramachandran, the author of Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography, most of Rajinikanth's philanthropic activities went unpublicised because he chose to keep them undisclosed. In the 1980s, when superstitious beliefs in Tamil Nadu created a stigma towards eye donation, Rajinikanth took the case of campaigning in support of corneal transplantation via television and public speeches. In 2011, Rajinikanth announced his support for the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and offered his commercial wedding venue, the Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam, in Chennai free of cost for the India Against Corruption members to hold their fast. He also provided lodging in the venue for sanitary workers hired to clean up after the 2015 South India floods. Rajinikanth's fan associations regularly organise blood donation and eye donation camps and distribute food during his birthday.

Money lending allegation
Rajinikanth declared ,  and  as earnings for the years 2002–2003, 2003–2004 and 2004–2005, respectively. However, the Income Tax Department observed that he had claimed a considerable sum of professional expenses and thus carried out a survey in 2005 at his residence at Poes Garden. During the survey, the IT-Department found out that he had accounted for a lost of costs as his professional costs and it was also discovered that not even one-tenth of the residential property was allocated to professional purposes. Moreover, when Rajinikanth was questioned by the I-T department if he's in the money lending business, he initially denied it. Later, though, he admitted to the IT-Department that he was indeed a money lender, and that he had loaned money as a source of profit at an interest rate of 18 percent. Later, for all three years in dispute, Rajinikanth was forced to submit revised reports, confessing he had earned more than what was reported in the initial report on 14 February 2005. But the I-T department penalized him , since he filed revised returns only after they surveyed him.

This was challenged by Rajinikanth and his lawyers, and in January 2020 the I-T department wrote off the fine, due to its recent decision to withdraw from appeals in cases below . The news that Rajinikanth told the Income Tax department that he was lending money at an 18 per cent interest rate has earned outrage and criticism for his high interest rate loans, which is a big problem in Tamil Nadu.

Filmography

Rajinikanth appeared in over 169 films, predominantly in Tamil cinema. He began his film career by playing antagonistic and supporting roles before graduating to a lead actor. He has also worked in other Indian film industries such as Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali.

Awards, honours and recognition

Rajinikanth has received numerous awards for many of his films, mostly in Tamil. He received his first and only Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor in 1984 for Nallavanuku Nallavan. Later he received Filmfare Award nominations for his performances in Sivaji (2007) and Enthiran (2010). As of 2014, Rajinikanth has received six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for his performances in various films. He also received numerous awards from Cinema Express and Filmfans' Association for his on-screen performances and off-screen contributions in writing and producing.

Rajinikanth received the Kalaimamani award in 1984 and the M. G. R. Award in 1989, both from the Government of Tamil Nadu. In 1995, the South Indian Film Artistes' Association presented him with the Kalaichelvam Award. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016) by the Government of India. He was selected as the Indian Entertainer of the Year for 2007 by NDTV, competing against the likes of Shahrukh Khan. The Government of Maharashtra honoured him with the Raj Kapoor Award the same year. He received the Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Award for Excellence in Indian Cinema at the 4th Vijay Awards. Rajinikanth was also named one of the most influential persons in South Asia by Asiaweek.

He was named by Forbes India as the most influential Indian of the year 2010. In 2011, he was awarded the Entertainer of the Decade Award by NDTV for the year 2010 by the then Indian Minister for Home Affairs P. Chidambaram. In December 2013, he was honoured by NDTV as one among the "25 Greatest Global Living Legends". In 2014, he was presented with the Indian Film Personality of the Year Award at the 45th IFFI. Rajinikanth received Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the 67th National Film Awards presentation ceremony, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Monday, 25 October 2021.

See also
Rajinikanth facts

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

1950 births
Indian male film actors
Living people
Male actors from Bangalore
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Tamil screenwriters
Male actors in Malayalam cinema
Film producers from Bangalore
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
Filmfare Awards South winners
M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute alumni
Marathi people
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors
Male actors in Telugu cinema
Screenwriters from Bangalore
Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients

Rajinikanth