Prelude.

During late 1943 and early 1944, the Wehrmacht was pressed back along its entire front line in the east. In October 1943, the 17th Army withdrew from the Kuban bridgehead across the Kerch Strait into the Crimea. During the following months, the Red Army pushed back the Wehrmacht in southern Ukraine, eventually cutting off the land-based connection of 17th Army through the Perekop Isthmus in November 1943.  The Wehrmacht was able to successfully hold on to the Crimea even after it had been cut off by land due to their ability to supply it via the Black Sea. Holding the Crimea was considered important as its loss would negatively affect the attitude of Turkey and put Romanian oilfields under risk of Soviet air attacks. Aside from Soviet landings across the Kerch Strait and in the north-eastern sector near Sivash at the end of 1943, the Soviet Army largely ignored the Crimea for the next five months.  Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was removed from the command of Army Group A on March 30, 1944. He was succeeded by Ferdinand Schörner.

Progress of the battle.

An assault across the Perekop Isthmus was launched on 8 April by elements of the 4th Ukrainian Front's 2nd Guards and 51st Armies. The 17th Army defended but was unable to stop the advance. Kerch was reached by the Separate Coastal Army on 11 April; Simferopol, about northeast of Sevastopol, followed two days later. The 17th Army was retreating toward Sevastopol by 16 April, with remaining Axis forces in the Crimea concentrating around the city by the end of the third week of April.  The OKH intended to hold Sevastopol as a fortress, as the Red Army had done during the first Crimean campaign in 1941–42. However, the fortifications of the city had never been restored and Sevastopol was not the strong defensive position that it had been in 1941. Fighting broke out in the city outskirts towards the end of April and the city fell on 9 May, less than a month after the start of the offensive. The Axis sea evacuation to Constanța was attacked by Soviet land-based bombers.

Evacuation of the Crimea.

The evacuation of the Crimea in April–May 1944 was the most complex and extensive operation of the Romanian Navy during the Second World War. From 15 April to 14 May, numerous German and Romanian warships escorted many convoys between Constanța and Sevastopol. The scale and importance of the operation can be attested by the usage in combat of all four Romanian destroyers, the largest Axis warships in the Black Sea. The last phase of the evacuation (10-14 May) saw the fiercest combat, as Axis ships transported, under constant attacks from Soviet aircraft and shore artillery, over 30,000 troops. Of these, 18,000 were transported by Romanian ships. On 11 May, the German tanker "Friederike" was torpedoed and heavily damaged by Soviet submarine L-4, preventing her participation. In total, Romanian and German convoys evacuated over 113,000 Axis troops from the Crimea, most of them (over 63,000) during the first phase of the evacuation (15–25 April). No Romanian Navy warships were lost during the evacuation, however the destroyer "Regele Ferdinand" came close to being sunk. She was struck by a large aerial bomb, which fell in her fuel tanks, but failed to detonate. The bomb was extracted several days after the end of the operation. Two naval actions involving the Romanian Navy took place during the second phase of the evacuation (25 April–10 May), near Sevastopol. On 18 April, the Soviet "Leninets"-class submarine "L-6" was twice attacked with depth charges and damaged by the Romanian gunboat "Ghiculescu", numerous bubbles emerged from the depths after each attack, before being finished off by the German submarine hunter "UJ-104". During the night of 27 April, a convoy escorted by the Romanian gunboat "Ghiculescu", the German submarine hunter "UJ-115", one R-boat, two KFK naval trawlers and 19 MFPs (including the Romanian "PTA-404" and "PTA-406") engaged the Soviet G-5-class motor torpedo boats "TKA-332", "TKA-343" and "TKA-344", after the three attacked and damaged the German submarine hunter "UJ-104". "Ghiculescu" opened fire with tracer rounds, enabling the entire escort group to locate the two Soviet MTBs and open fire. "TKA-332" was hit and sunk. Over 12 Soviet aircraft were also shot down during the evacuation, including two by the minelaying destroyer escort "Amiral Murgescu". The last Axis pockets in the Crimea were destroyed on 12 May. The last Axis warship to leave the peninsula was "Amiral Murgescu", carrying on board 1,000 Axis troops, including the German General Walter Hartmann.

Consequences.

In a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden, Jaenecke had insisted that Sevastopol should be evacuated and his cut off Army of 235,000 men withdrawn. After the loss of the Crimea, he was held responsible, arrested in Romania and court-martialed. Only the intervention of Heinz Guderian saved his life. He was dismissed from the army on 31 January 1945.  The German and Romanian formations suffered the loss of 57,000 men, many of whom drowned during the evacuation. The sinking of the "Totila" and "Teja" on 10 May alone caused up to 10,000 deaths. In total, the German losses at sea amounted to five cargo ships, one tanker, three tugs, three lighters, three motorboats and four submarine hunters, while the Romanians lost three cargo ships. The partially successful evacuation of Axis troops from the Crimea earned the commander of the Romanian Navy, Rear Admiral Horia Macellariu, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The table below is based on information from Glantz/House "When Titans Clashed".: Axis losses  German: Killed and missing: 31,700 Wounded: 33,400 Total: 65,100  Romanian: Killed and missing: 25,800 Wounded: 5,800 Total: 31,600  Total: Killed and missing: 57,500 Wounded: 39,200 Total: 96,700  Soviet losses  Killed and missing: 17,754 Wounded: 67,065 Total: 84,819  Tanks: 171 Artillery: 521 Aircraft: 179

The Crimean Offensive (8 April – 12 May 1944), known in German sources as the Battle of the Crimea, was a series of offensives by the Red Army directed at the German-held Crimea. The Red Army's 4th Ukrainian Front engaged the German 17th Army of Army Group A, which consisted of Wehrmacht and Romanian formations. The battles ended with the evacuation of the Crimea by the Germans. German and Romanian forces suffered considerable losses during the evacuation.


Types.

Bulk-forming agents.

Bulk-forming laxatives, also known as roughage, are substances, such as fiber in food and hydrophilic agents in over-the-counter drugs, that add bulk and water to stools so that they can pass more easily through the intestines (lower part of the digestive tract).  Properties Bulk-forming agents generally have the gentlest of effects among laxatives, making them ideal for long-term maintenance of regular bowel movements.

Dietary fiber.

Foods that help with laxation include fiber-rich foods. Dietary fiber includes insoluble fiber and soluble fiber, such as:

Emollient agents (stool softeners).

Emollient laxatives, also known as stool softeners, are anionic surfactants that enable additional water and fats to be incorporated in the stool, making it easier for them to move through the gastrointestinal tract.  Properties  Emollient agents prevent constipation rather than treating long-term constipation.

Lubricant agents.

Lubricant laxatives are substances that coat the stool with slippery lipids and retard colonic absorption of water so that the stool slides through the colon more easily. Lubricant laxatives also increase the weight of stool and decrease intestinal transit time.  Properties  Mineral oil is the only nonprescription lubricant. Mineral oil may decrease the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and some minerals.

Hyperosmotic agents.

Hyperosmotic laxatives are substances that cause the intestines to hold more water within and create an osmotic effect that stimulates a bowel movement.  Properties  Lactulose works by the osmotic effect, which retains water in the colon, lowering the pH through bacterial fermentation to lactic, formic and acetic acid, and increasing colonic peristalsis. Lactulose is also indicated in portal-systemic encephalopathy. Glycerin suppositories work mostly by hyperosmotic action, but the sodium stearate in the preparation also causes local irritation to the colon.  Solutions of polyethylene glycol and electrolytes (sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, potassium chloride, and sometimes sodium sulfate) are used for whole bowel irrigation, a process designed to prepare the bowel for surgery or colonoscopy and to treat certain types of poisoning. Brand names for these solutions include GoLytely, GlycoLax, CoLyte, Miralax, Movicol, NuLytely, Suprep, and Fortrans. Solutions of sorbitol (SoftLax) have similar effects.

Saline laxative agents.

Saline laxatives are non-absorbable osmotically active substances that attract and retain water in the intestinal lumen, increasing intraluminal pressure that mechanically stimulates evacuation of the bowel. Magnesium-containing agents also cause the release of cholecystokinin, which increases intestinal motility and fluid secretion. Saline laxatives may alter a patient's fluid and electrolyte balance.  Properties

Stimulant agents.

Stimulant laxatives are substances that act on the intestinal mucosa or nerve plexus, altering water and electrolyte secretion. They also stimulate peristaltic action and can be dangerous under certain circumstances.  Properties  Prolonged use of stimulant laxatives can create drug dependence by damaging the colon's haustral folds, making a user less able to move feces through the colon on their own. A study of patients with chronic constipation found that 28% of chronic stimulant laxative users lost haustral folds over the course of one year, while none of the control group did.

Miscellaneous.

Castor oil is a glyceride that is hydrolyzed by pancreatic lipase to ricinoleic acid, which produces laxative action by an unknown mechanism.  Properties  Long-term use of castor oil may result in loss of fluid, electrolytes, and nutrients.

Serotonin agonist.

These are motility stimulants that work through activation of 5-HT receptors of the enteric nervous system in the gastrointestinal tract. However, some have been discontinued or restricted due to potentially harmful cardiovascular side-effects.  Tegaserod (brand name Zelnorm) was removed from the general U.S. and Canadian markets in 2007, due to reports of increased risks of heart attack or stroke. It is still available to physicians for patients in emergency situations that are life-threatening or require hospitalization.  Prucalopride (brand name Resolor) is a current drug approved for use in the EU October 15, 2009 and in Canada (brand name Resotran) on December 7, 2011. It has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States, but it is in development by Shire PLC.

Chloride channel activators.

Lubiprostone is used in the management of chronic idiopathic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. It causes the intestines to produce a chloride-rich fluid secretion that softens the stool, increases motility, and promotes spontaneous bowel movements (SBM).

Comparison of available agents.

Effectiveness.

For adults, a randomized controlled trial found PEG (MiraLax or GlycoLax) 17 grams once per day to be superior to tegaserod at 6 mg twice per day. A randomized controlled trial found greater improvement from two sachets (26 grams) of PEG versus two sachets (20 grams) of lactulose. 17 grams per day of PEG has been effective and safe in a randomized controlled trial for six months. Another randomized controlled trial found no difference between sorbitol and lactulose.  For children, PEG was found to be more effective than lactulose.

Problems with use.

Laxative abuse.

Some of the less significant adverse effects of laxative abuse include dehydration (which causes tremors, weakness, fainting, blurred vision, kidney damage), low blood pressure, fast heart rate, postural dizziness and fainting; however, laxative abuse can lead to potentially fatal acid-base and electrolyte imbalances. For example, severe hypokalaemia has been associated with distal renal tubular acidosis from laxative abuse. Metabolic alkalosis is the most common acid-base imbalance observed. Other significant adverse effects include rhabdomyolysis, steatorrhoea, inflammation and ulceration of colonic mucosa, pancreatitis, kidney failure, factitious diarrhea and other problems. Colon will need more quantities of laxatives to keep functioning, this will result in a lazy colon, infections, irritable bowel syndrome, and potential liver damages.  Although patients with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa frequently abuse laxatives in an attempt to lose weight, laxatives act to speed up the transit of feces through the large intestine, which occurs subsequent to the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. Thus, studies of laxative abuse have found that effects on body weight reflect primarily temporary losses of body water rather than energy (calorie) loss.

Laxative gut.

Physicians warn against the chronic use of stimulant laxatives due to concern that chronic use could cause the colonic tissues to get worn out over time and not be able to expel feces due to long-term overstimulation. A common finding in patients having used stimulant laxatives is a brown pigment deposited in the intestinal tissue, known as melanosis coli.

Historical and non-mainstream medical use.

Laxatives, then called "physicks" or "purgatives", were used extensively in pre-modern medicine to treat a wide range of conditions for which they are now generally regarded as ineffective in modern evidence-based medicine. Likewise, laxatives (often termed colon cleanses) continue to be promoted by practitioners of alternative medicine for a range of conditions, including conditions that are not medically recognized, such as "mucoid plaque".

Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation.


Recording.

"Painkiller" is the first Judas Priest album to feature drummer Scott Travis, who replaced long-time drummer Dave Holland in 1989. Travis was previously a member of Los Angeles band Racer X and with his heavy use of double pedals and blast beats, it gave Judas Priest a new sound and heavier edge.  The album was recorded at Miraval Studios, Brignoles, France in early 1990 and mixed at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands later that year. It was produced by the band and Chris Tsangarides, marking the first time since 1978's "Killing Machine" that Judas Priest had not worked with Tom Allom and the first time since 1976's "Sad Wings of Destiny" that Judas Priest and Tsangarides worked together.

Release.

Despite the album being finished in March 1990, the album's release was delayed due to the pending, much-publicized subliminal message trial that began on 16 July 1990. The band was the subject of a civil lawsuit alleging their recording was responsible for the suicide attempts of two young men in Reno, Nevada on 23 December 1985. The case was eventually dismissed on 24 August 1990. With the trial behind them, the band finally released the album on 3 September 1990 on LP, cassette and CD.  The album was certified Gold by RIAA in January 1991. A remastered CD was released in May 2001, including a live recording of "Leather Rebel" and a previously unreleased song, "Living Bad Dreams". The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, losing to Metallica's cover of the Queen song "Stone Cold Crazy".

Reception.

Critical reaction to "Painkiller" has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from the metal community. Steve Huey of Allmusic, praised the album, saying that it was one of Judas Priest's best albums in years adding that "Travis' thunderous (and crisp-sounding) percussive maelstrom lights an immediate fire under the bandmembers' asses; Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing tear through a crushing, diabolical riff; and Rob Halford starts shrieking like a wicked witch, giving perhaps the most malevolent-sounding performance of his career. It's a startling statement of musical purpose that arrived seemingly out of nowhere, heralding a comeback that rivals George Foreman's." Mikesn of Sputnikmusic gave the album a 5 out of 5, stating that "Painkiller is full of many memorable riffs and leads from Glenn and K.K. Among the finest moments of the album come from the intense riffing combined with Halford's wailing vocals. The songs found on Painkiller are very energetic from start to finish, and each member seems to feed off each other's performances." On metal-archives.com, the album holds an average score of 92% based on 26 reviews.  Most of the album's tracks were performed live on the Painkiller World Tour, with the title track becoming one of the band's concert staples. "Hell Patrol", "All Guns Blazing", "A Touch of Evil", "Night Crawler" and "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" have all returned to the setlist on later tours, while "Metal Meltdown" and "Leather Rebel" were retired after only a few performances in 1990. "One Shot at Glory" and the intro "Battle Hymn" are the only tracks not yet performed live from the album.

Halford's departure.

Following the tour for this album, singer Rob Halford left the band in May 1992 and maintained little contact with his former bandmates throughout the 1990s. The reason for this was growing tensions within the band, along with Halford's desire to explore new musical territory by creating a new band of his own, Fight, which forced him to legally leave Judas Priest to allow this creation to be sold. Judas Priest remained inactive for several years after Halford had gone; however, the band would eventually re-vamp, record, and tour, recruiting new singer Tim "Ripper" Owens in 1996, who would perform on the studio albums "Jugulator" and "Demolition".

Certifications.

!scope="row"| Worldwide sales:

Painkiller is the twelfth studio album by British heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in September 1990. It is the last Judas Priest album to feature lead singer Rob Halford until his return for the 2005 album "Angel of Retribution" and the first to feature drummer Scott Travis.


Plot.

A married mother (Edna Purviance) leaves a charity hospital with her newborn son; a short scene shows that the baby's apparent artist father (Carl Miller) has lost interest in her. With much anguish the mother abandons the child, placing him in an expensive automobile, with a handwritten note: "Please love and care for this orphan child". Two thieves steal the car and leave the baby in an alley, where he is found by The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin). After some slapstick attempts to hand the child off to various passersby, he finds the note and his heart melts. He takes the boy home, names him John and adjusts his household furniture for him. Meanwhile, the mother has a change of heart and returns for her baby but she learns that the car has been stolen and faints.  Five years pass. The Kid (Jackie Coogan) and the Tramp live in the same tiny room; they have little money but much love. They support themselves in a minor scheme: the Kid throws stones to break windows so that the Tramp, working as a glazier, can earn money repairing them. Meanwhile, the mother has become a wealthy actress. She does charity by giving presents to poor children. By chance, the mother and the Kid cross paths, but of course do not know each other.  The Kid later gets into a fight with another local boy as people in the area gather to watch the spectacle. The Kid wins, drawing the ire of the other boy's older brother, who attacks the Tramp as a result. The Mother breaks up the fight, though the Tramp still beats the "Big Brother" over the head with a brick repeatedly until he walks away.  Shortly afterward, the Mother advises the Tramp to call a doctor after the Kid falls ill. The doctor discovers that the Tramp is not the Kid's father, and notifies authorities. Two men come to take the boy to an orphanage, but after a fight and a chase, the Tramp and the boy remain side by side. When the Mother comes back to see how the boy is doing she encounters the doctor, who shows her the note (which he had taken from the Tramp); she recognizes it as the one she left with her baby years ago.  Now fugitives, the Tramp and the boy spend the night in a flophouse. Its proprietor learns of a $1000 reward offered by the authorities and takes the Kid to the police station, while the Tramp is asleep. As the tearful Mother is reunited with her long-lost child, the Tramp searches frantically for the missing boy. Unsuccessful, he returns to the doorway of their humble home, where he falls asleep. He enters "Dreamland," where his neighbors have turned into angels and devils. He is awakened by a policeman, who leads him away, taking him to a mansion. The door is opened by the Mother and the Kid, who jumps into the Tramp's arms. The policeman congratulates the Tramp and the Mother welcomes the Tramp into her home.

Production.

"The Kid" is notable for combining comedy and drama. As the opening title says: "A picture with a smile—and perhaps, a tear." Its most famous and enduring sequence is the Tramp's desperate rooftop pursuit of the truck taking the child to the orphanage, and their emotional reunion.  The film made Coogan, then a vaudeville performer, into the first major child star of the movies. Many of the Chaplin biographers have attributed the relationship portrayed in the film to have resulted from the death of Chaplin's firstborn infant son just ten days before the production began. The portrayal of poverty and the cruelty of welfare workers are also directly reminiscent of Chaplin's own childhood in London. Several of the street scenes were filmed on Los Angeles's famed Olvera Street, almost 10 years before it was converted into a Mexican-themed tourist attraction.  After production was completed in 1920, the film was caught up in the divorce actions of Chaplin's first wife Mildred Harris, who sought to attach Chaplin's assets. Chaplin and his associates smuggled the raw negative to Salt Lake City (reportedly packed in coffee cans) and edited the film in a room at the Hotel Utah. Before releasing the film Chaplin negotiated for and received an enhanced financial deal for the film with his distributor, First National Corporation, based on the success of the final film.  Twelve-year-old Lita Grey, who portrays an angel in the film, was Chaplin's second wife from 1924 to 1927.  In 1972, Chaplin edited and reissued the film and he composed a new musical score.  Chaplin and Coogan met for the last time in 1972, during Chaplin's brief return to America to receive an honorary Academy Award for his lifetime contribution to cinema.

Reception.

"The Kid" was acclaimed by film critics upon its release.  A reviewer from "Theatre Magazine" glowingly wrote, "[Chaplin's] new picture, "The Kid", certainly outdoes in humor and the special brand of Chaplin pathos anything this popular film star has yet produced. There are almost as many tears as laughs in the new First National release--which proves the contention that Chaplin as almost as good a tragedian as he is a comedian. "The Kid" may be counted as a screen masterpiece."

Legacy.

Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance writes, of the legacy of Chaplin's "The Kid": ""The Kid" remains an important contribution to the art of film, not only because of Chaplin’s innovative use of dramatic sequences within a feature-length comedy, but also because of the revelations "The Kid" provides about its creator. Undoubtedly, when Chaplin penned the preface to "The Kid", “A picture with a smile--and perhaps, a tear,” he had his own artistic credo—and life—in mind." Mary Pickford said of the film, ""The Kid" is one of the finest examples of the screen language, depending upon its actions rather than upon subtitles".  In December 2011, "The Kid" was chosen to be preserved in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. The Registry said that the film is "an artful melding of touching drama, social commentary and inventive comedy" and praised Chaplin's ability to "sustain his artistry beyond the length of his usual short subjects and could deftly elicit a variety of emotions from his audiences by skillfully blending slapstick and pathos."  As of June 2019, "The Kid" has earned a rare 100% perfect rating on film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.51/10. and a 8.3 user rating on the Internet Movie Database, placing it at #103 among the site's Top 250 Titles.

Remakes.

In 1989, Charles Lane directed and starred in "Sidewalk Stories", a remake of the film, updated to 1980s New York.  Some have called the 1999 comedy "Big Daddy" a loose remake of the film as well.  In May 2017, it was announced that FilmNation Entertainment is remaking "The Kid" as an animated sci-fi movie. "The Kid, an animated adventure" will be directed by Christian Volckman and Rupert Wyatt and is "inspired by the characters and themes in "The Kid"." As of 2019 it was still in development.

The Kid is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film written, produced, directed and starring Charlie Chaplin, and features Jackie Coogan as his foundling baby, adopted son and sidekick. This was Chaplin's first full-length film as a director (he had been a co-star in 1914's "Tillie's Punctured Romance"). It was a huge success, and was the second-highest-grossing film in 1921, behind "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse". In 2011, "The Kid" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Innovative in its combination of comedic and dramatic elements, "The Kid" is widely considered one of the greatest films of the silent era.


Composition history.

During World War I, the Opéra de Paris director Jacques Rouché asked Colette to provide the text for a fairy ballet. Colette originally wrote the story under the title "Divertissements pour ma fille". After Colette chose Ravel to set the text to music, a copy was sent to him in 1916 while he was still serving in the war; however, the mailed script was lost. In 1917, Ravel finally received a copy and agreed to compose the score, humorously replying to Colette, "I would like to compose this, but I have no daughter." It was eventually agreed that the composition would be more of an operetta, but retain the ballet dance elements. Colette accordingly revised the text and developed a libretto.  Ravel stopped composition of the work in the spring of 1920, suffering from physical exhaustion and poor health. In the next few years he was compelled to complete the work by Raoul Gunsbourg, director of the Monte Carlo Opera, who had insisted Ravel write a sequel to "L'Heure espagnole". By this time Ravel had become newly inspired by the stage presentations of American musicals and revues by composers such as George Gershwin. Ravel's work on the composition began to incorporate the musical style of these productions.  By early 1925 he had finally completed it. Colette, who had believed that the work would never be completed, expressed her extreme pleasure, believing that her modest writing had been raised beyond its initial scope. Now officially under the title of "L'enfant et les sortilèges", the first performance took place on 21 March 1925 in Monte Carlo, conducted by Victor de Sabata, with ballet sequences choreographed by George Balanchine. Ravel said of the premiere production:

Performance history.

Marie-Thérèse Gauley sang the part of the child at both the premiere in Monte-Carlo and the first performance at the Opéra-Comique on 1 February 1926. The original cast also included Henri Fabert as Vieillard Arithmétique, Warnerey as the clock and cat, while at the Opéra-Comique, conducted by Albert Wolff and with choreography by Louise Virard, the cast included Germaine Féraldy, Mathilde Calvet, Madeleine Sibille, Roger Bourdin, René Hérent and Louis Guenot.  The opera was then seen in Prague (17 February 1927), Leipzig (6 May 1927) and Vienna (14 March 1929). The US premiere was given on 19 September 1930 by the San Francisco Opera. The Canadian premiere of the work was a film version made by CBC Television in 1950 with conductor Wilfrid Pelletier. It was not until 3 December 1958 that the opera was given its UK premiere, in the Town Hall in Oxford.

Roles.

The score specifies that fire / the princess / nightingale must be sung by the same singer, and the little old man and frog by the same singer. It is also specified that the following groups or pairs of roles can be sung by the same singer: mother / china cup / dragonfly; the bergère / owl; the female cat / the squirrel; the male cat / grandfather clock; the armchair / tree.

Synopsis.

Part 1  This is the story of a rude child who is reprimanded by the objects in his room, which he has been destroying. After being scolded by his mother in the beginning of the opera, the child throws a tantrum, destroying the room around him and harming the animals nearby. He is then surprised to find that the unhappy objects in his room come to life. The furniture and decorations begin to talk; even his homework takes shape as it becomes an old man and a chorus of numbers. They all sing out the pain and misery that the child inflicts on them and their wishes to punish him for his misdeeds.  Part 2  The bedroom becomes a garden filled with singing animals and plants which have been tortured by the child. The child attempts to make friends with the animals and plants, but they shun him because of the injuries he did to them earlier, before they could talk. They leave him aside, and in his loneliness, he eventually cries out "Maman". At this, the animals turn on him and attack him in an act of vengeance, but they wind up jostling among each other as the child is tossed aside. At the culmination, a squirrel is hurt, which causes the other animals to stop fighting. The child bandages the squirrel's wound and collapses exhausted. Seeing this act of kindness, the animals have a change of heart toward the child, and decide to try to help him home. They mimic the cry of "Maman", carry the child back to his house, and sing in praise of the child. The opera ends with the child singing "Maman", as he greets his mother, in the very last bar of the score.

Music.

The opera calls for a large orchestra, a mixed chorus of adults, a chorus of children and eight soloists, most of whom individually play a number of characters. The scale of the cast and fantastic setting make the opera difficult to stage, which helps to explain why the work is not performed often. Ravel uses various subtle leitmotifs throughout the work, and there is considerable virtuosity in the instrumental writing. Yet the orchestra plays a mostly secondary role to the sung melodies: Ravel explained that he was following the style of Gershwin and American operettas of the time. Ravel contrasted the work to his previous opera, "L'heure espagnole":  The opera was initially well received in Monte Carlo, but in a Paris production the following year it was less successful. André Messager criticized the purposely imitative nature of the music, but Francis Poulenc and Les six were impressed. His cat duet "Duo miaulé" is often seen as a parody of Wagner, which was quite controversial, although Arthur Honegger praised this piece in particular. The use of pentatonic music and parallel fourths in the depiction of the Chinese tea cup is an example of "orientalism" in orchestral music.

L'enfant et les sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties ("The Child and the Spells: A Lyric Fantasy in Two Parts") is an opera in one act, with music by Maurice Ravel to a libretto by Colette. It is Ravel's second opera, his first being "L'heure espagnole". Written from 1917 to 1925, "L'enfant et les sortilèges" was first performed in Monte Carlo in 1925 conducted by Victor de Sabata.


Music and film career.

In the course of his career Bators was involved with a variety of bands beyond those for which he was best known, including Hormones, with Dennis Comeau and Andre Siva, Frankenstein, The Wanderers and The Whores of Babylon (with Dee Dee Ramone and Johnny Thunders). He also recorded as a solo artist with Bomp! Records.  As the lead singer and driving force of the Cleveland, Ohio–based Dead Boys, Bators helped pioneer the punk rock sound, look and attitude. The band quickly became a popular staple at "CBGB", a music club in New York City's East Village. The Dead Boys were featured in the punk rock films "Punking Out" (1978), "Live at CBGB's" (1977) and "Crash 'n' Burn" (1977).  Following the demise of Dead Boys in 1979, Bators began a tumultuous relationship with Bomp! Records and its president, Greg Shaw. According to Shaw: "[W]hat he craved most was to escape the fetters of his Dead Boy image and win respect as a singer of contemporary pop rock.... in other words, he wanted to be 'the thinking punk's Eric Carmen.'" To this end, and usually with first-wave punk rock veterans in tow, he recorded several singles, many of which were unreleased, and an LP, "Disconnected", which was released in 1980. A retrospective album released in 1994, "L.A. L.A." documented Bators' efforts as a pop-punk singer.  After Sham 69 disbanded, Bators, now located in London, formed The Wanderers with Dave Tregunna, the Sham 69 ex-bass-player. The band came up with a concept album, called "Only Lovers Left Alive" (released in May 1981), along with two singles.  Bators formed The Lords of the New Church later in 1981 with Brian James of The Damned and Dave Tregunna of Sham 69. The Lords became notorious for their live shows. A devotee of Iggy Pop, Bators had developed a fearless reputation in his Dead Boys days and continued such antics with The Lords, the most famous being the time he reportedly hanged himself during a show. Bator's stunt went awry and he was pronounced clinically dead for several minutes. Nonetheless, Bator survived and The Lords recorded two more successful albums.  Later, the punk vocalist gained additional exposure through more mainstream film. In 1981, Bators had a small role as "Bobo" in the satirical John Waters film, "Polyester". Seven years later, Bators made a memorable cameo appearance as "Dick Slammer", lead singer of "The Blender Children", in the offbeat comedy, "Tapeheads", starring John Cusack and Tim Robbins.  In summer 1985, Bators contributed backing vocals to "Sun City" by Artists United Against Apartheid and also appeared in its music video, shot in October.  The Lords of the New Church broke up in 1989, when Bators injured his back and guitarist Brian James secretly began advertising for a replacement singer.

Death.

In mid-1990, Bators died in Paris after being hit by a car. He was taken to a hospital but reportedly left before seeing a doctor, after waiting several hours and assuming he was not injured. Reports indicate that he died in his sleep as the result of a traumatic brain injury. Dave Tregunna said that Bators, a fan of Jim Morrison, had earlier requested that his ashes be spread over Morrison's Paris grave and that his girlfriend complied.  In the director's commentary of the film "Polyester", in which Bators had a small role, director/producer John Waters stated that Bators' girlfriend Caroline confessed to him that she snorted a portion of Stiv's ashes so that she could be closer to him.

CBGB movie.

In 2013, an American made motion picture titled "CBGB" was released to theaters. Dead Boys were featured as one of the seminal punk bands that got their start at the CBGB club, and were first managed by Hilly Kristal. Bators is portrayed by actor Justin Bartha, best known for his role in "The Hangover" films.

Steven John Bator (October 22, 1949 – June 4, 1990), better known by his stage name Stiv Bators, was an American punk rock vocalist and guitarist from Girard, Ohio. He is best remembered for his bands Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church.


Overview.

Implementation-specific details of storage drivers are generally wrapped in an API in the programming language in use, exposing methods to interact with the storage medium in a way which is simpler and more in line with the paradigms of surrounding code.  The following is a simple example, written in C# code, to execute a query written in SQL using a database engine. var sql = "SELECT id, first_name, last_name, phone, birth_date, sex, age FROM persons WHERE id = 10"; var result = context.Persons.FromSqlRaw(sql).ToList(); var name = result[0]["first_name"]; In contrast, the following makes use of an ORM-job API, allowing the writing of code which naturally makes use of the features of the language. var person = repository.GetPerson(10); var firstName = person.GetFirstName(); The case above makes use of an object representing the storage repository and methods of that object. Other frameworks might provide code as static methods, as in the below, and yet other methods may not implement an object-oriented system at all. Often the choice of paradigm is made to fit the ORM best into the surrounding language's design principles. var person = Person.Get(10); Usually, the framework will expose some filtering and querying functionality, allowing subsets of the storage base to be accessed and modified. The code below queries for people in the database whose ID value is '10'. var person = Person.Get(Person.Properties.Id == 10);

Comparison with traditional data access techniques.

Compared to traditional techniques of exchange between an object-oriented language and a relational database, ORM often reduces the amount of code that needs to be written.  Disadvantages of ORM tools generally stem from the high level of abstraction obscuring what is actually happening in the implementation code. Also, heavy reliance on ORM software has been cited as a major factor in producing poorly designed databases.

Object-oriented databases.

Another approach is to use an object-oriented database management system (OODBMS) or document-oriented databases such as native XML databases that provide more flexibility in data modeling. OODBMSs are databases designed specifically for working with object-oriented values. Using an OODBMS eliminates the need for converting data to and from its SQL form, as the data is stored in its original object representation and relationships are directly represented, rather than requiring join tables/operations. The equivalent of ORMs for document-oriented databases are called object-document mappers (ODMs).  Document-oriented databases also prevent the user from having to "shred" objects into table rows. Many of these systems also support the XQuery query language to retrieve datasets.  Object-oriented databases tend to be used in complex, niche applications. One of the arguments against using an OODBMS is that it may not be able to execute ad-hoc, application-independent queries. For this reason, many programmers find themselves more at home with an object-SQL mapping system, even though most object-oriented databases are able to process SQL queries to a limited extent. Other OODBMS provide replication to SQL databases, as a means of addressing the need for ad-hoc queries, while preserving well-known query patterns.

Challenges.

A variety of difficulties arise when considering how to match an object system to a relational database. These difficulties are referred to as the object-relational impedance mismatch.  An alternative to implementing ORM is use of the native procedural languages provided with every major database. These can be called from the client using SQL statements. The Data Access Object (DAO) design pattern is used to abstract these statements and offer a lightweight object-oriented interface to the rest of the application.

Object-relational mapping (ORM, O/RM, and O/R mapping tool) in computer science is a programming technique for converting data between incompatible type systems using object-oriented programming languages. This creates, in effect, a "virtual object database" that can be used from within the programming language. There are both free and commercial packages available that perform object-relational mapping, although some programmers opt to construct their own ORM tools.


Sporting career.

Fencer.

Laura Flessel began fencing at age six and quickly became a very talented fencer. She progressed quickly and became champion of Guadeloupe. Then, she gained solid experience on the Caribbean, Central American and Pan American circuits, winning in 1990 the Pan American Championships in foil and épée. The same year, she joined the metropolis, to train with the Racing Club de France. She also trains within the INSEP, which allows her to face the best French fencers.  She won her first world stage success in 1995, finishing in third place at the Hague World Championships. This bronze medal is accompanied by a silver medal in the team event, which was defeated 45 to 44 by Hungary. Her teammates were Valérie Barlois, Sophie Moressee and Sangita Tripathi.  After her gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and her victory at 1998 World Cup, she became the eighth French fencer, and first woman, to win the Olympic and World Champion titles. She is one of the favorites for the 2000 Summer Olympics title. She finally fails in the semi-final against Timea Nagy. At the 2006 World Championships in Turin, she gets a new individual bronze medal, beaten again by Timea Nagy  The 2008 Summer Olympics, her fourth Olympic Games, marks a turning point as it is the first Olympics where she does not get a medal after being eliminated by Li Na (15-9) in the quarter-finals. The year 2009 sees again Laura Flessel at the top but still without success with a third place at the European Championships in Plovdiv and a failure at the World Championships in Antalya where she lost f in quarter final against Lyubov Shutova after a close match that ends in sudden death on the score of 7 to 8.  On 21 April 2012, she qualifies for the individual event of the London Olympics by defeating Emma Samuelsson in the semifinals of the European Zone Qualifying Championship in Bratislava. On May 14, 2012, Laura Flessel is officially designated flag bearer of the French delegation for the London Olympics. In her final competition, she defeated Courtney Hurley (15-12) before losing to Simona Gherman (No. 4 worldwide) 15-13. She ends her career at the age of 40.

Controversy.

Laura Flessel was banned for three months in 2002 after failing a doping test. She tested positive for the banned substance coramine glucose, blaming the French team doctors for giving her a drug that is available over the counter in France.

Sports management.

In 2012, she took over the management of Nathalie Moellhausen, a native of Italy and competing under the colors of Brazil, forming a group also composed of two fencing masters, Daniel Levavasseur and Michel Sicard, the latter having both coached Flessel.

Sports consultant and other activities.

Media and television.

In 2008, Laura Flessel was a columnist for the daily newspaper Aujourd'hui Sport.  She was a contestant on the third season of "Danse avec les stars".  During the 2016 Summer Olympics she commented, on Canal +, the opening ceremony with Stéphane Guy and Joris Sabi, the fencing events with Frédéric Roullier and the closing ceremony with Julien Fébreau and Jean Galfione.

Community life.

She is ambassador of the AMREF Flying Doctors' Stand Up for African Mothers campaign, the godmother of Handicap International, and Ambassador of Plan France. His long-term project is to bring fencing to disadvantaged cities and places. She is also a goodwill ambassador for UNESCO where she promotes tolerance in sports.  She founded the association Ti'Colibri which aims to promote fencing. Thanks to its action, it has been able to offer means and equipment to clubs with few resources.

Political career.

During the two-rounds of the French presidential election of 2017, she was one of the sixty active or retired sportsmen who signed a call to vote for Emmanuel Macron on May 7, 2017 in the second round of the presidential election "so that sport remains an area of freedom, equality and fraternity."  On May 17, 2017, she was appointed Minister of Sports in the First Philippe government, under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, a position she held in the Second Philippe government, which was formed on June 21, 2017.  The government's second most popular minister at the end of 2017, she is notably responsible for preparing the organization of the 2024 Summer Olympics. At the beginning of 2018, she launched a campaign against discrimination in the sporting world, with as ambassadors Antoine Griezmann, Estelle Mossely, Marie-Amélie Le Fur, Frédéric Michalak, Emmeline Ndongue and Florent Manaudou.

Laura Flessel-Colovic (born 6 November 1971) is a French politician and épée fencer who served as Minister of Sports from 2017 to 2018. Born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, she has won the most Olympic medals of any French sportswoman, with five. Before 2007, she was a member of the Levallois Sporting Club Escrime, and now works with Lagardère Paris Racing. She is married and has one daughter.


Early life.

She was born in Stuttgart, as Princess Charlotte of Württemberg, eldest daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg and of Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen. As a child, Charlotte lived in Paris with her father and her younger sister Pauline. Their home was quite modest by royal standards. In Paris Charlotte came under the tutelage of several intellectuals.

Marriage.

In 1822, she became engaged to Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia, her first cousin once removed (Mikhail's mother was her father's aunt). It was said that Charlotte was an exceptional girl, highly intelligent and mature for her age of 15. The Grand Duke was obviously impressed by her beauty and her poise, and during a reception held in her honor, she charmed all the guests with her conversations. On 17 December 1823, she was received into the Russian Orthodox Church and was given the name Elena Pavlovna. On 20 February 1824, the couple married in Saint Petersburg and settled in the Mikhailovsky Palace. When the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna died in 1828, the palace of Pavlovsk passed on to Mikhail and he and Elena visited it often. Their marriage was not a happy one: Mikhail's only passion was for the army and he neglected Elena. Nevertheless, he and Elena had five daughters.

Influence at the Russian court.

Elena was a close friend of her brother-in-law, Alexander I of Russia and his wife the Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna. She was also quick to befriend the shy Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of the then Tsarevich Alexander. When Princess Charlotte's husband died, in 1849, she became a patron of several charitable organizations and the arts. She founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatoire as well as a group of nursing sisters which would eventually become the forerunners of the Red Cross in Russia. During her time in Russia, she became known as the "family intellectual", and was considered the most exceptional woman in the family since Catherine the Great. She founded the Russian Musical Society and the Conservatoire, and was also liberal on serfdom. She helped to push Alexander II to abolish serfdom while he stayed with her.  As a patroness of the composer Anton Rubinstein, she commissioned his first three operas: "Fomka the Fool" (1853), "The Siberian Hunters", and "Vengeance."  Elena died in Stuttgart, at the age of 66.

Princess Charlotte of Württemberg (9 January 1807 – 2 February 1873) was later known as Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, the wife of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia. He was the youngest son of Emperor Paul I of Russia and Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.


Composition.

Seeger found inspiration for the song in October 1955 while he was on a plane bound for a concert at Oberlin College, one of the few venues which would hire him during the McCarthy era. Leafing through his notebook he saw the passage, "Where are the flowers, the girls have plucked them. Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army." These lines were taken from the traditional Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", referenced in the Mikhail Sholokhov novel "And Quiet Flows the Don" (1934), which Seeger had read "at least a year or two before". In a 2013 interview, Seeger explained that he borrowed the melody from an Irish lumberjack song with the words 'Johnson says he'll load more hay.' He simply slowed the tune and incorporated it to the lines.  Seeger created a song which was subsequently published in "Sing Out" in 1962. He recorded a version with three verses on "The Rainbow Quest" album (Folkways LP FA 2454) released in July 1960. Later, Joe Hickerson added two more verses with a recapitulation of the first in May 1960 in Bloomington, Indiana.  In 2010, the "New Statesman" listed it as one of the "Top 20 Political Songs".  The song appeared on the compilation album "Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits" (1967) released by Columbia Records as CS 9416.  Pete Seeger's recording from the Columbia album "The Bitter and the Sweet" (November 1962), CL 1916, produced by John H. Hammond was also released as a Columbia Hall of Fame 45 single as 13-33088 backed by "Little Boxes" in August, 1965.

Grammy Hall of Fame.

Pete Seeger's recording of his composition was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a modern folk-style song. The melody and the first three verses were written by Pete Seeger in 1955 and published in "Sing Out!" magazine. Additional verses were added in May 1960 by Joe Hickerson, who turned it into a circular song. Its rhetorical "where?" and meditation on death place the song in the "ubi sunt" tradition. In 2010, the "New Statesman" listed it as one of the "Top 20 Political Songs".


Development.

The MB.210 derived from the MB.200 and differs in particular by having its cantilever wing set at the bottom of the fuselage, and in having a retractable undercarriage.  Developed as a private venture, the prototype MB.210 accomplished its first flight on 23 November 1934, powered by two 596 kW (800 hp) Gnome-Rhône 14Kdrs / Gnome-Rhône 14Kgrs air-cooled radial engines and having a fixed undercarriage. This was followed by a second prototype, the MB.211 Verdun, powered by 641 kW (860 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Y V-12 liquid-cooled inlines and fitted with a retractable undercarriage, this flying on 29 August 1935. Initial flight testing of this version was somewhat disappointing, so no further examples were built. Further progress with the MB.210, however, convinced the "Armée de l'Air" to order series production, the first example of which flew on 12 December 1936.  The satisfaction did not last very long, however, since it was underpowered and the engines of production aircraft were inclined to overheating. The type was grounded until its engines could be replaced by the more powerful and reliable Gnome-Rhône 14N, these engines first being tested in summer 1937 and had to be replaced. Altogether, 257 units were manufactured amongst companies as diverse as Les Mureaux over Potez-CAMS, Breguet, Hanriot, and Renault.

Operational history.

In September 1939, the Bloch MB.210 equipped 12 bomber units of the "Armée de l'Air". At the time of Nazi Germany's attack on France in spring 1940, these squadrons were in the middle of a restructuring aimed at removing outdated aircraft from the front line. Up to the armistice on 25 June of the same year, the MB.210 was used still for nighttime bombing missions and shifted then to North Africa.

The MB.210 and MB.211 were the successors of the French Bloch MB.200 bomber built by Societé des Avions Marcel Bloch in the 1930s and differed primarily in being low wing monoplanes rather than high wing monoplanes.


Definition.

Stages are primarily defined by a consistent set of fossils (biostratigraphy) or a consistent magnetic polarity (see paleomagnetism) in the rock. Usually one or more index fossils that are common, found worldwide, easily recognized, and limited to a single, or at most a few, stages are used to define the stage's bottom.  Thus, for example in the local North American subdivision, a paleontologist finding fragments of the trilobite "Olenellus" would identify the beds as being from the Waucoban Stage whereas fragments of a later trilobite such as "Elrathia" would identify the stage as Albertan.  Stages were important in the 19th and early 20th centuries as they were the major tool available for dating and correlating rock units prior to the development of seismology and radioactive dating in the second half of the 20th Century. Microscopic analysis of the rock (petrology) is also sometimes useful in confirming that a given segment of rock is from a particular age.  Originally, faunal stages were only defined regionally; however, as additional stratigraphic and geochonologic tools were developed, stages were defined over broader and broader areas. More recently, the adjective "faunal" has been dropped as regional and global correlations of rock sequences have become relatively certain and there is less need for faunal labels to define the age of formations. A tendency developed to use European and, to a lesser extent, Asian stage names for the same time period worldwide, even though the faunas in other regions often had little in common with the stage as originally defined.

International standardization.

Boundaries and names are established by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) of the International Union of Geological Sciences. As of 2008, the ICS is nearly finished a task begun in 1974, subdividing the Phanerozoic eonothem into internationally accepted stages using two types of benchmark. For younger stages, a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), a physical outcrop clearly demonstrates the boundary. For older stages, a Global Standard Stratigraphic Age (GSSA) is an absolute date. The benchmarks will give a much greater certainty that results can be compared with confidence in the date determinations, and such results will have farther scope than any evaluation based solely on local knowledge and conditions.  In many regions local subdivisions and classification criteria are still used along with the newer internationally coordinated uniform system, but once the research establishes a more complete international system, it is expected that local systems will be abandoned.

Stages and lithostratigraphy.

Stages can include many lithostratigraphic units (for example formations, beds, members, etc.) of differing rock types that were being laid down in different environments at the same time. In the same way, a lithostratigraphic unit can include a number of stages or parts of them.

In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition. A given stage of rock and the corresponding age of time will by convention have the same name, and the same boundaries.


Design and development.

In 1936, the Ministry for the Air initiated a programme of modernisation of French aviation which included a request concerning a two- or three-seat multi-role aircraft that could be used as a light-bomber or attack aircraft or for reconnaissance. A design team at the former Bloch factory at Courbevoie (which had recently become part of the nationalised SNCASO), led by Henri Deplante, proposed the MB.170, a twin-engined, low-winged cantilever monoplane.  The first prototype, the MB 170 AB2-A3 No.01, equipped as a two-seat attack bomber or a three-seat reconnaissance aircraft, made its maiden flight on 15 February 1938. It was powered by two Gnome-Rhône 14N radial engines and was armed with a 20 mm Hispano-Suiza cannon in the nose, two 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns in the wing, with another machine gun flexibly mounted in the rear cockpit, with a ventral cupola housing either a rearward firing machine gun or a camera. The second prototype, the MB 170 B3 No.2 was a three seat bomber, with the ventral cupola removed, a revised canopy and larger tail fins.  After many modifications it became the definitive MB.174. After the 50th example was delivered in May 1940, the MB.175 succeeded the MB.174 on the assembly lines in full flow. This bomber version, had a redesigned bomb bay capable of carrying bombs of 100–200 kg (220-440 lb), where the MB.174 was limited to 50 kg (110 lb) bombs. The MB.175's fuselage was lengthened and widened to accommodate this greater capacity but only 25 were delivered before the armistice. They were eventually used in the same reconnaissance units as the MB.174s. The MB.176 was a version with Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radials which proved to have poorer performance than the MB.175. It was ordered into production to ease demand on the French engine manufacturers.

Operational history.

The Bloch MB.174 flew for the first time in July 1939 and entered service in March 1940 with strategic reconnaissance units where it replaced the Potez 637 that had proved too vulnerable during the Phoney war. Its first operational mission was flown by the famed pilot and writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, of II/33, on 29 March 1940. The Bloch 174 appeared extremely effective in these missions as its speed and manoeuvrability at altitude allowed it to escape from most modern fighters. Only three examples were lost to enemy fire during the Battle of France. Like the majority of the modern equipment of the during the campaign, they were too little and too late. At the time of the armistice, most surviving MB.174s and 175s had been evacuated to North Africa. A few were recovered by the Germans and then used for pilot training. During the Vichy period, MB.174s frequently flew over Gibraltar to monitor the British fleet.  In March 1941, German engineers used engines taken from MB.175s (as well as other captured aircraft) to propel the Messerschmitt Me 323 cargo aircraft, some of which flew with parts taken from completed MB.175s. After Operation Torch, French forces defected again from Vichy back to the Allies and surviving examples of the MB.170 flew their final combat missions during the Battle of Tunisia. They were replaced by reconnaissance variants of the P-38 Lightning and used as transports and target tugs. A final version designed for torpedo bombing, the MB.175T, was built in small series in 1947 and served with the until 1950.

The Bloch MB.170 and its derivatives were French reconnaissance bombers designed and built shortly before the Second World War. They were the best aircraft of this type available to the at the outbreak of the war, with speed, altitude and manoeuvrability that allowed them to evade interception by the German fighters. Although the aircraft could have been in service by 1937, debate over what role to give the aircraft delayed deliveries until 1940.


Biography.

He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Prussia, the son of a Lutheran clergyman, and was baptised in St. Mary's Church. He studied philosophy and history at the University of Königsberg, but immediately on taking the degree of "Magister" in 1723, he fled to Leipzig in order to avoid being drafted into the Prussian army. In Leipzig, he enjoyed the protection of J. B. Mencke, who, under the name of "Philander von der Linde," was a well-known poet and president of the "Deutschübende poetische Gesellschaft" in Leipzig. Of this society, Gottsched was elected "Senior" in 1726, and in the next year reorganized it under the title of the "Deutsche Gesellschaft".  As editor of the weeklies "Die vernünftigen Tadlerinnen" (1725–26) and "Der Biedermann" (1727), Gottsched started on his career of untiring critical activity, continued later in other literary journals. Directing his criticism at first chiefly against the bombast and absurd affectations of the Second Silesian School, he proceeded to lay down strict laws for the composition of poetry. He insisted on German literature being subordinated to the laws of French classicism. He enunciated rules by which the playwright must be bound (such as the Ständeklausel), and abolished bombast and buffoonery from the serious stage. He insisted on the observance of the dramatic unities.  In his efforts toward the reformation of the German drama, Gottsched was aided by his wife, Luise, a prolific writer and translator, and had the cooperation of the theatrical manager Johann Neuber and his wife, Caroline. They succeeded indeed in bringing about a considerable change in the condition of the German stage by substituting for the prevailing operatic performances translations of French dramas and original plays, and by banishing from it forever the coarse buffooneries of Hanswurst (Jack Pudding).  In 1730, Gottsched was appointed an extraordinary professor of poetry, and, in 1734, ordinary professor of logic and metaphysics at the University of Leipzig. He was also a corresponding member of the first learned society of the Habsburg monarchy, the Societas eruditorum incognitorum in Olmütz (Olomouc), and was published in the Society's journal, which was the first scientific journal in the Habsburg monarchy.  Eventually, Gottsched went too far in his criticism. He refused to recognize the work of Klopstock and Lessing. In 1740, he came into conflict with the Swiss writers Johann Jakob Bodmer and Johann Jakob Breitinger. Under the influence of Addison and contemporary Italian critics, they demanded that the poetic imagination should not be hampered by artificial rules. As examples, they pointed to English poets, especially Milton. Gottsched, although not blind to the beauties of the English writers, clung the more tenaciously to his principle that poetry must be the product of rules, and, in the fierce controversy which for a time raged between Leipzig and Zürich, he was ultimately defeated.  In 1741, he fell out with Caroline Neuber regarding practical stage matters, and even placed himself in opposition to his wife. His influence speedily declined, and before his death his name became proverbial for pedantic folly. He died in Leipzig at the age of 66.

Works.

Gottsched's chief work was his "Versuch einer kritischen Dichtkunst für die Deutschen" (1730), the first systematic treatise in German on the art of poetry from the standpoint of Boileau. His "Ausführliche Redekunst" (1728) and his "Grundlegung einer deutschen Sprachkunst" (1748) were of importance for the development of German style and the purification of the language. He wrote several plays, of which "Der sterbende Cato" (1732), an adaptation of Joseph Addison's tragedy and a French play on the same theme, was long popular on the stage. His "Deutsche Schaubühne" (6 volumes, 1740–1745) contained mainly translations from the French, but also some works written by himself, his wife, and others. With this, he provided the German stage with a classical repertory. His bibliography of the German drama, "Nötiger Vorrat zur Geschichte der deutschen dramatischen Dichtkunst" (1757–1765), intended to contain an account of all previous German plays, though not complete is still valuable. He was also the editor of several journals devoted to literary criticism.  Gottsched wrote the texts of two secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach: "Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl" (BWV 198) and "Willkommen! Ihr herrschenden Götter der Erden" (BWV Anh. 13, music lost).

Family.

His first wife, Luise Kulmus, was also a prominent author. She died in 1762. After a three-year mourning period, in 1765 in Camburg, Saale, Gottsched married his 19-year-old second wife, Ernestine Susanne Katharina Neunes (1746–1811).

Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author, and critic. For about thirty years, he exercised an almost undisputed literary dictatorship in Germany. But by his later years, his name had become a by-word for foolish pedantry.


The East Prussian Offensive.

The main thrust of the offensive was to be conducted by the 3rd Belorussian Front under Ivan Chernyakhovsky. His forces were tasked with driving westwards towards Königsberg, against the defensive positions of the 3rd Panzer Army and 4th Army, the northern armies of General Georg-Hans Reinhardt's Army Group Centre.  From the north, on Chernyakhovsky's right flank, General Hovhannes Bagramyan's 1st Baltic Front would attack the positions of the 3rd Panzer Army on the Neman, as well as crushing its small bridgehead at Memel. Chernyakhovsky's left flank would be supported by the 2nd Belorussian Front of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, which was initially ordered to push north-west to the Vistula, through the lines of the 2nd Army, thereby sealing off the whole of East Prussia.

Opening of the offensive.

The Soviet offensive began on 13 January with a heavy preparatory bombardment. At first, the Red Army made disappointing progress; the 3rd Belorussian Front gained just 1.5 km on the first day. Over the next five days, the Soviets managed to advance only a further 20 km, at the cost of very high casualties. Eventually, after almost two weeks of severe fighting, the Red Army began making steady progress, although again, this came at the price of high losses; the defenders having the advantage of substantial fortifications in the Insterburg Gap east of Königsberg, and around Heilsberg. Over the next few days, the 3rd Panzer Army of General Erhard Raus was largely destroyed or withdrew into Königsberg, while General Friedrich Hossbach′s 4th Army began to find itself outflanked.  Against fierce resistance, Rokossovsky attacked across the Narew on 14 January; on 20 January, he received orders to swing the axis of his advance northward toward Elbing. This sudden change of direction caught Reinhardt and Hossbach by surprise; on Rokossovsky's right flank, the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps captured the major town of Allenstein on 22 January, threatening the rear of Hossbach's formation. On 24 January, Rokossovsky's leading tank units had reached the shore of the Vistula Lagoon, severing land communications with the rest of German armed forces for the entire 4th Army along with several divisions of the 2nd Army which were now trapped in a pocket centered on East Prussia. On the same day, Hossbach began to pull his units back from the fortified town of Lötzen—a center of the East Prussian defence system—and through a series of forced marches attempted to break out westward.  In the meantime, Chernyakhovsky had succeeded in rolling up the defences from the East, pushing the remnants of the 3rd Panzer Army into Königsberg and Samland. On 28 January, Bagramyan's forces captured Memel; the remnants of the three divisions defending the town were evacuated and redeployed in Samland to reinforce the defence there.

The Siege of Königsberg and the Heiligenbeil pocket.

With the remnants of Army Group Centre effectively contained, Soviet forces could concentrate on reducing the German forces in Pomerania and eliminating any possible threat to the northern flank of their eventual advance on Berlin. Reinhardt and Hossbach—who had attempted to break out of East Prussia and save their troops—were relieved of command, and the Army Group (redesignated Army Group North) was placed under the command of General Lothar Rendulic. Reinhardt gave up his command with the words "There is nothing more to say". Raus and the staff of the destroyed 3rd Panzer Army were assigned to a new formation. The defending forces, in the meantime, were besieged in three pockets by Chernyakhovsky's armies:  Even after this time, German forces continued to resist on the Vistula Spit, the long sandbar enclosing the Vistula Lagoon, until the end of the war.

Further reading.

Memoirs:

The East Prussian Offensive was a strategic offensive by the Soviet Red Army against the German "Wehrmacht" on the Eastern Front (World War II). It lasted from 13 January to 25 April 1945, though some German units did not surrender until 9 May. The Battle of Königsberg was a major part of the offensive, which ended in victory for the Red Army.


History.

Originally, the Château d'Angers was built as a fortress at a site inhabited by the Romans because of its strategic defensive location.  In the 9th century, the Bishop of Angers gave the Counts of Anjou permission to build a castle in Angers. The construction of the first castle begun under Count Fulk III (970–1040), celebrated for his construction of dozens of castles, who built it to protect Anjou from the Normans. It became part of the Angevin Empire of the Plantagenet Kings of England during the 12th century. In 1204, the region was conquered by Philip II and the new castle was constructed during the minority of his grandson, Louis IX ("Saint Louis") in the early part of the 13th century. Louis IX rebuilt the castle in whitestone and black slate, with 17 semicircular towers. The construction undertaken in 1234 cost 4,422 livres, roughly one per cent of the estimated royal revenue at the time. Louis gave the castle to his brother, Charles in 1246.  In 1352, King John II "le Bon", gave the castle to his second son, Louis who later became count of Anjou. Married to the daughter of the wealthy Duke of Brittany, Louis had the castle modified, and in 1373 commissioned the famous "Apocalypse Tapestry" from the painter Hennequin de Bruges and the Parisian tapestry-weaver Nicolas Bataille. Louis II (Louis I's son) and Yolande d'Aragon added a chapel (1405–12) and royal apartments to the complex. The chapel is a "sainte chapelle", the name given to churches which enshrined a relic of the Passion. The relic at Angers was a splinter of the fragment of the True Cross which had been acquired by Louis IX.  In the early 15th century, the hapless dauphin who, with the assistance of Joan of Arc would become King Charles VII, had to flee Paris and was given sanctuary at the Château d' Angers. In 1562, Catherine de' Medici had the castle restored as a powerful fortress, but, her son, Henry III, reduced the height of the towers and had the towers and walls stripped of their embattlements; Henry III used the castle stones to build streets and develop the village of Angers. Nonetheless, under threat of attacks from the Huguenots, the king maintained the castle's defensive capabilities by making it a military outpost and by installing artillery on the château's upper terraces. At the end of the 18th century, as a military garrison, it showed its worth when its thick walls withstood a massive bombardment by cannons from the Vendean army. Unable to do anything else, the invaders simply gave up.  A military academy was established in the castle to train young officers in the strategies of war. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, best known for taking part in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo, was trained at the Military Academy of Angers. The academy was moved to Saumur and the castle was used for the rest of the 19th century as a prison, powder magazine, and barracks.

Modern.

The castle continued to be used as an armory through the First and Second World Wars. It was severely damaged during World War II by the Nazis when an ammunition storage dump inside the castle exploded.  On 10 January 2009, the castle suffered severe damage from an accidental fire due to short-circuiting. The Royal Logis, which contains old tomes and administrative offices, was the most heavily damaged part of the chateau, resulting in of the roof being completely burnt. The Tapestries of the Apocalypse were not damaged. Total damages have been estimated at 2 million Euros. According to Christine Albanel, the Minister of Culture, the expected date of completion for the restoration was the second trimester of 2009.  Today, owned by the City of Angers, the massive, austere castle has been converted to a museum housing the oldest and largest collection of medieval tapestries in the world, with the 14th-century "Apocalypse Tapestry" as one of its priceless treasures. As a tribute to its fortitude, the castle has never been taken by any invading force in history.

Layout.

The outer wall is thick, extends for about and is protected by seventeen massive towers. Each of the perimeter towers measures in diameter. The château covers an area of. Two pairs of towers form the city and landward entrances of the château. Each of the towers was once in height, but they were later cut down for the use of artillery pieces. The Tour du Moulin is the only tower which conserves the original elevation.

The Château d'Angers is a castle in the city of Angers in the Loire Valley, in the "département" of Maine-et-Loire, in France. Founded in the 9th century by the Counts of Anjou, it was expanded to its current size in the 13th century. It is located overhanging the river Maine. It is a listed historical monument since 1875. Now open to the public, the Château d'Angers is home of the Apocalypse Tapestry.


Synopsis.

Setting.

"The City and the Stars" takes place one billion years in the future, in the city of Diaspar. By this time, the Earth is so old that the oceans have gone and humanity has all but left. As far as the people of Diaspar know, theirs is the only city left on the planet. The city of Diaspar is completely enclosed. Nobody has come in or left the city for as long as anybody can remember, and everybody in Diaspar has an instinctive insular conservatism. The story behind this fear of venturing outside the city tells of a race of ruthless invaders which beat humanity back from the stars to Earth, and then made a deal that humanity could live—if they never left the planet.  In Diaspar, the entire city is run by the Central Computer. Not only is the city repaired by machines, but the people themselves are created by the machines as well. The computer creates bodies for the people of Diaspar to live in and stores their minds in its memory at the end of their lives. At any time, only a small number of these people are actually living in Diaspar; the rest are retained in the computer's memory banks.  All the currently existent people of Diaspar have had past "lives" within Diaspar except one person—Alvin, the main character of this story. He is one of only a very small number of "Uniques", different from everybody else in Diaspar, not only because he does not have any past lives to remember, but because instead of fearing the outside, he feels compelled to leave. Alvin has just come to the age where he is considered grown up, and is putting all his energies into trying to find a way out. Eventually, a character called Khedron the Jester helps Alvin use the central computer to find a way out of the city of Diaspar. This involves the discovery that in the remote past, Diaspar was linked to other cities by an underground transport system. This system still exists although its terminal was covered over and sealed with only a secret entrance left.

Alvin's quest.

Once out of Diaspar, Alvin finds that one other human habitation remains on Earth. In contrast to technological Diaspar, Lys is a vast green oasis shielded by mountains from the worldwide desert. Its people are not stored and recreated technologically, but naturally conceive, are born, age, and die. They have rejected the hyper-advanced technology of Diaspar in favor of an almost agrarian existence, with machines used only for labor-saving purposes. The people of Lys have instead worked to perfect the arts of the mind; they are telepaths, capable of communicating with each other over great distances and without words.  Alvin continues his quest until he finds out the truth of why the people of Diaspar are so frightened of the external universe and why Lys is so scared of space travel and mechanical things. In Lys he goes on a trip with a young man named Hilvar who becomes his friend, and they see a signal light, which they decide to investigate. It leads them to Shalmirane, the remains of the fortress where the Invaders were fought off with unimaginable weapons, and there they encounter an extraterrestrial creature with a strange robot. The creature is the last survivor of a religious cult dating back to the days of the Galactic Empire. The robot was the companion of the founder, the "Master", who came with his followers to Earth at the end of his life. Alvin and Hilvar are unable to understand the content of the religion except that it refers to "Great Ones" who have left, but will someday return. Alvin persuades the creature to lend him the robot, arguing that the Master would want it to see how things were developing in the world. The Master had, however, forbidden the robot to give out any information at all, so Alvin does not learn anything.  Alvin instructs the robot to ignore his entreaties to take him back to Lys which he knew the people of Lys would induce in him with their great telepathic powers—the previous 14 Uniques had stayed. Alvin had originally been told he would be free to choose whether to stay or return, but because the people of Lys had their own insular failure, just like Diaspar, this option was no longer available. Back in Diaspar, he seeks the help of the Central Computer, which overcomes the Master's block on the robot by producing an illusion of an apocalyptic return of the Great Ones.

Discoveries.

Alvin now learns that the Master's ship is still functional, buried outside Diaspar. He manages to retrieve it, fetches Hilvar from Lys, and travels into deep space. They encounter Vanamonde, a being of pure intellect, with whom Hilvar, being telepathic like other Lys people, can communicate and bring him back to Earth. From him the truth of history finally emerges.  The fearsome Invaders, it turns out, were a myth: Shalmirane was actually used to destroy the Moon when this became necessary to prevent it from colliding with the Earth. Instead, the people of Diaspar and Lys are the descendants of those humans who deliberately turned away from the universe in rejection of history's greatest scientific project: the creation of a disembodied intellect. The first attempt had created a powerful but insane being, the Mad Mind. The Mad Mind had devastated the galaxy and its civilizations before being imprisoned in a "strange artificial star" called the Black Sun.  Vanamonde is the second, successful experiment of the ancient empire: a being of pure intellect, immensely old, immensely powerful, able to move instantly to any point in space—but entirely childlike and unsophisticated. Vanamonde's ultimate destiny, Hilvar realizes, is to battle the Mad Mind, when it escapes its prison at the end of Time.  After this, most of the Galactic Empire had left our galaxy, leaving only a scattered few. This departure from the galaxy, leaving it to Vanamonde, was because contact had been made with a "very strange and very great" intelligent, extraterrestrial species, which called them urgently to the other side of the universe.  Alvin's discoveries reunite Diaspar with Lys. He then sends the ship, under the command of the robot, to search for the long-lost people of the Empire. He does not wish to search himself—even if there are human remnants in the Galaxy, they are probably decadent—and he has work to do on Earth. Even the environment, he hopes, can be revived.

The City and the Stars is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1956. This novel is a complete rewrite of his earlier "Against the Fall of Night", Clarke's first novel, which had been published in "Startling Stories" magazine in 1948 after John W. Campbell, Jr., editor of "Astounding Science-Fiction", had rejected it, according to Clarke.


Early career.

Broten, like his two brothers, attended Roseau High School, a perennial hockey contender in the state of Minnesota, where he appeared with the Rams in the state tournament in three consecutive years (1977–79). His 1978 achievement of four assists in a single period still stands as a Roseau Rams' record today.  As a college freshman playing for Herb Brooks and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Broten scored 21 goals, had 50 assists, and was named WCHA Rookie of the Year His final goal of that season was the game winner that clinched the 1979 NCAA Championship in which the Gophers defeated the University of North Dakota by a score of 4–3. Broten would later win the inaugural Hobey Baker award in 1981, which honors the US collegiate hockey's best player.  Broten is one of a few players to have played on teams that won the NCAA hockey championship (University of Minnesota in 1979), the Olympic Gold Medal (Team USA, 1980), and the Stanley Cup (New Jersey Devils, 1995). He is the only player to have won the Hobey Baker, the Olympic Gold Medal and the Stanley Cup. In addition Neal Broten and Ed Belfour are the only players to have won an NCAA championship, an Olympic Gold medal and the Stanley Cup.

NHL/International career.

Broten was member of the United States Olympic team that won a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in an event known as the "Miracle on Ice". He was also a member of Team USA at the 1981 Canada Cup and 1984 Canada Cup tournaments as well as the 1990 Ice Hockey World Championship.  Broten played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League. Highlights of his long NHL career include the first American to score more than 100 points in a single season (1985–86) as well as two NHL All-Star Game appearances in 1983 and 1986.  He won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995, scoring the game-winning goal in Game Four against the Detroit Red Wings to clinch the title. Coincidentally, his 1980 Soviet counterpart Viacheslav Fetisov was on the ice for the heavily favored Red Wings when Broten scored the clincher. Broten became the first American to score a Cup-winning goal. Fellow Americans Brett Hull, Mike Rupp, Patrick Kane, and Alec Martinez have done it since.  Broten served as the captain of the Dallas Stars for two months during the lockout-shortened 1994–95 NHL season after the trade of previous captain Mark Tinordi, serving as captain for a month prior to his trade to New Jersey. He had previously served as an alternate captain on a number of occasions.  During the 1982–83 NHL season, Broten participated in a rare fight against Wayne Gretzky. It was one of only a handful of fights during both his and Gretzky's careers. Broten later recalled how he and his teammates would later have to deal with Gretzky's enforcers, Marty McSorley and Dave Semenko.  Broten initially refused to play for the North Stars in 1991–92 due to a contract dispute, instead playing in Germany for BSC Preussen Berlin where he filled in for his former U.S. Olympic teammate Dave Silk who was on temporary leave in the U.S. with his pregnant wife.

Post career.

Broten briefly came out of retirement in 1999 to once again play for the US national team in the 1999 Ice Hockey World Championship qualifying tournament (the U.S. team featuring several NHL players had surprisingly finished among the bottom four in the previous 1998 world championship tournament) when no active NHL players were available. He scored six points in three games as the U.S. won the tournament, before retiring from hockey for good. He lives in River Falls, WI. In 2014, Broten's nephew, Shane Gersich, was drafted by the Washington Capitals.

In popular culture.

Broten is not featured in the 1981 TV movie about the 1980 U.S. hockey team called "Miracle on Ice" except in archival footage of the gold medal ceremony.  In the 2004 Disney movie "Miracle", he is portrayed by Trevor Alto. Alto played college hockey for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.  In the 2008 documentary, "Pond Hockey", he reflects on his youth growing up playing hockey in his hometown of Roseau, MN.

Awards and honors.

Transactions

Neal LaMoy Broten (born November 29, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey player. A member of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal at Lake Placid in 1980, Broten was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000 having appeared in 1,099 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season games from 1981 to 1997 with the Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings. He is the older brother of Aaron and Paul Broten.


Early life.

Princess Mary was born on 25 April 1776, at Buckingham Palace, London. Her father was the reigning British monarch, George III. Her mother was Queen Charlotte, the daughter of Charles, reigning Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  Mary was baptized on 19 May 1776, in the Great Council Chamber at St. James's Palace, by Frederick Cornwallis, The Archbishop of Canterbury. Her godparents were: The King was a devoted father, finding time to regularly visit the royal nursery. Engaging in active play with his young children, he behaved quite informally in contrast to the dignified Queen Charlotte, who had more difficulty abandoning the formal behaviour expected of their class. Despite her outer reserve, however, Charlotte took a role as conscientious as her husband in their children's upbringing. For the royal princesses, the Queen carefully oversaw their welfare, education, and development of moral values. Faced with less time due to her public duties and close marriage to the King, she appointed Lady Charlotte Finch to manage the royal nursery and administer her ideas.  According to Flora Fraser, Mary was considered to be the most beautiful daughter of George III; Fraser calls her a "bland beauty". Mary danced a minuet for the first time in public at the age of sixteen in June 1791, during a court ball given for the king's birthday. In the spring of 1792 she officially debuted at court. Around 1796 Mary fell in love with the Dutch Prince Frederick, while he and his family lived in exile in London. Frederik was a son of William V, Prince of Orange, the Dutch stadholder, and younger brother to the future King William I of the Netherlands. However Frederik and Mary never wed because George III stipulated that her elder sisters should marry first. In 1799 Prince Frederik died of an infection while serving in the army, and Mary was allowed to go into official mourning.  Mary's youngest sister and beloved companion Princess Amelia called her "Mama's tool" because of her obedient nature. Amelia's premature death in 1810 devastated her sister, who had nursed her devotedly during her painful illness.

Marriage.

Mary's upbringing was very sheltered and she spent most of her time with her parents and sisters. King George and Queen Charlotte were keen to shelter their children, particularly the girls. Mary, however, married on 22 July 1816, to her first cousin, Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the son of George III's brother, Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. On their wedding day, Mary's brother, The Prince Regent, raised the bridegroom's style from "Highness" to "Royal Highness", an attribute to which Mary's rank as daughter of the King already entitled her.  William Frederick had initially sought to marry Mary's niece Princess Charlotte of Wales. The historian A. W. Purdue suggests that Mary's motive for marrying her cousin sprang from her dislike of Queen Charlotte's restrictive household. Princess Charlotte observed that the duke "is much in love, & and tells me he is the happiest creature on earth. I won't say [Mary] does as much, but being her own mistress, having her own house, & being able to walk in the streets all delights her in their several ways."  The couple lived at Bagshot Park, but after William's death she moved to White Lodge in Richmond Park. They had no children together. Mary was the last surviving child of George III, and was said to be the favourite aunt of her niece, Queen Victoria.  Princess Mary was quite close to her eldest brother, and she shared his dislike toward his wife, their cousin Caroline of Brunswick. When the latter left for Italy, Princess Mary congratulated her brother "on the prospect of a good riddance. Heaven grant that she may not return again and that we may never see more of her."

Death.

Princess Mary died on 30 April 1857 at Gloucester House, London, aged 81. She was the last surviving child as well as the longest-lived child of King George III and Queen Charlotte.

Titles, styles and arms.

Arms.

As of 1789, as a daughter of the sovereign, Mary had use of the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a "label argent of three points, the centre point bearing a rose gules, the outer points each bearing a canton gules".

Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (25 April 1776 – 30 April 1857) was the eleventh child and fourth daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.


Biography.

Schuré was the son of a doctor in the Alsatian town of Strasbourg, who died when Édouard was fourteen years old. Schuré mastered French as well as German, and was influenced by German and French culture in his formative years. He received his degree in law at the University of Strasbourg, but he never entered into practice. Schuré called the three most significant of his friendships those with Richard Wagner, Marguerita Albana Mignaty and Rudolf Steiner.  Schuré's interest and studies led to an extensive knowledge of German literature. The discovery of Wagner's "music drama" "Tristan and Isolde" impressed him sufficiently to seek—and obtain—Wagner's personal acquaintance.  In France, he published his first work "Histoire du Lied"—a history of the German folk song, which earned him some recognition in the country of his family. With the publication of the essay "Richard Wagner et le Drame Musical", he established himself as a major French Wagner expert and advocate of the time.  When the Franco-German war of 1870-71 poisoned the German arts for many French, it would seem that Schuré was not immune from this influence. His nationalism is reflected in his remarks of this time—and later in his life—in a comparison of glorified Celtism (France) and a negatively viewed "Teutonism" (Germany).  On a trip to Italy during this time he met, twenty years his senior, a Greek woman, Marguerita Albana Mignaty, whom he subsequently described as his "muse", although he himself was married.  After the tide of war had ebbed, Schuré reestablished his relationship with Wagner. In 1873, he met the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche; with frequent contact they shared enthusiasm for Wagner. The cultist veneration of Wagner, however, seeded Schuré's alienation from the composer.  Schuré now turned increasingly to the esoteric and the occult, his major influence being the famous French occultist-scholar Fabre d'Olivet. In 1884, he met the founder of the Theosophical Society Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Although unwelcome in the Theosophical Society, he nevertheless entered. In 1889, he published, after some smaller works on similar topics, his major work "Les Grands Initiés" ("The Great Initiates").  In 1900, the actress Marie von Sivers came into contact with him because she intended to translate his works into German ("The Great Initiates", "The Sacred Drama of Eleusis" and "The Children of Lucifer"). At the German Section of the Theosophical Society, he met the Austrian philosopher and later founder of Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner. In 1906, Sivers brought about a meeting between Schuré and Steiner. Schuré was deeply impressed and thought of Steiner as an authentic 'initiate' in line with his "The Great Initiates". After hearing Steiner lecture in Paris for the first time in 1906, Schuré in an ecstatic state ran home and wrote down the entirety of the lecture from memory. This first lecture, and the other lectures in the series (which Schuré wrote down) were published as "Esoteric Cosmology". Subsequently, Steiner and von Sivers staged Schuré's esoteric dramas at the following Theosophical Congresses in Berlin and Munich. Schuré's "The Children of Lucifer", served as a precursor of Rudolf Steiner's own esoteric dramas.  In 1908 Schuré brought out "Le Mystère Chrétien et les Mystères Antiques", a French translation of Steiner's work "Christianity as Mystical Fact and the Mysteries of Antiquity". With the outbreak of World War I, Schuré's relationship with Steiner and his wife became strained. Schuré threw in the two secret intentions about Germanic and Pan and stepped out of Steiner's Anthroposophical Society. Four years after the war, Schuré re-consolidated his friendship with Steiner.  In subsequent years, Schuré published his autobiography.

Esoteric and literary meaning.

Schuré's "The Great Initiates" is described by some as a masterpiece. In it, he describes the path allegedly followed by some of the ancient philosophers in search of profound esoteric knowledge, often called the "initiation", as describing the process of becoming a mystic master or spiritual healer.  Those familiar with Rama, Hermes Trismegistus, Socrates, Jesus, Orpheus will find frequent references in Schuré's work. Although having no knowledge of the 'druid' Rama, Schuré pursued the notion that a secret esoteric knowledge was known to them all, that this group were among the pillars of civilization and represented the founders of spiritual and philosophical ways of being as well as in some cases—though contrary to their message—religions. Schuré recognized that the path to a harmonious world was not to be found through a bigoted denial of the value found by other civilizations by their own sages. He wanted people to recognize the value of democracy in spiritual, philosophical, and religious ways.  Schuré wrote a considerable number of books and plays. In his 1912 "From Sphinx to Christ (Treatise on Occult History)" he admires the racist basis of the hereditary caste system in India. He believed the Brahmans had to protect their pure Aryan blood from admixtures with the blood of the other - inferior - races of India after the 'invasion' of India by the Aryans.  His plays enjoyed relative fame in his days in Europe, and some of them were put on stage by Steiner. He also influenced Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev.

Eduard (Édouard) Schuré (January 21, 1841 in Strasbourg – April 7, 1929 in Paris) was a French philosopher, poet, playwright, novelist, music critic, and publicist of esoteric literature.