Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport

History.

The airport opened on 23 April 1954, replacing the much smaller Bir Hassan Airfield which was located a short distance north. At the time of its opening, the terminal was very modern and it featured an excellent spotters terrace with a café. The airport consisted of two asphalt runways at the time. Runway 18/36 at was used primarily for landings from the 18 end while runway 03/21 at was used primarily for take-offs from the 21 end and from the Sami end.

Premier Middle East hub.

The airport grew to become a premier hub in the Middle East, thanks to limited competition from neighbours, with fast and steady growth by the country's four carriers at the time, Middle East Airlines (MEA), Air Liban, Trans Mediterranean Airways (TMA), and Lebanese International Airways (LIA), and numerous other foreign carriers.

Israeli assault.

In response to an attack on El Al Flight 253 two days earlier in Athens, on the night of 28 December 1968, Israeli commandos mounted a surprise attack on the airport and destroyed 14 civilian aircraft operated by the Lebanese carriers, Middle East Airlines (Air Liban had merged with MEA by this time), Trans Mediterranean Airways, and Lebanese International Airways. This caused serious devastation to the Lebanese aviation industry. Middle East Airlines managed to rebound quickly, but Lebanese International Airways went bankrupt and its employees were transferred to MEA.

Lebanese Civil War.

The airport lost its status as one of the premier hubs of the Middle East with the start of the 15-year-long Lebanese Civil War in April 1975 and lost virtually all of its airline services with the exception of two Lebanese carriers, Middle East Airlines and Trans Mediterranean Airways. Both airlines continued operating with the exception of certain periods of time when the airport itself was completely closed. Despite the conflict, the terminal was renovated in 1977, only to be badly damaged five years later by Israeli shelling during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The airport was the site of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, in which 241 American servicemen were killed. The airport's runways were renovated in 1982 and 1984.

Reconstruction.

By the time war finally came to an end in 1990, the airport needed to launch a massive reconstruction program. A ten-year reconstruction program was launched in 1994 which included the construction of another terminal, two runways, a fire station, a power plant, a general aviation terminal, and an underground parking garage. Many structures, like the radar building, were rehabilitated.  In 1998 the first phase of the new terminal was completed. It was located immediately adjacent to the east of the old terminal and consists of gates 1–12. After it was inaugurated, the old terminal was demolished and construction on the western half began and was completed in 2000, however it was not inaugurated until 2002. This consists of gates 13–23. The new terminal can handle 6 million passengers annually and is expected to be expanded to handle 16 million passengers by 2035.  It was decided early on that the original runways were no longer sufficient. A new landing runway, 17/35 was constructed protruding at an angle out into the sea, with a length of. This seaward protrusion was built in order to move landing traffic away from the city in a bid to improve safety and reduce aircraft noise. A new take-off runway was constructed parallel to the old 03/21 at a length of making it the longest runway in the airport. The old 03/21 was converted to a taxiway for accessing the new runway 03/21. Unlike the old runways, the two new runways were constructed from concrete and feature more advanced lighting systems and instrument landing systems. In 2004, runway 17/35 was re-designated 16/34 and runway 18/36 was re-designated 17/35 after more accurate runway heading measurements were conducted. Despite being essentially replaced by and adjacent to the new runway 16/34, runway 17/35 is still open, although it is rarely used.  On 17 June 2005, the General Aviation Terminal was finally opened. It is located on the northwestern corner of the airport. All fixed-base operators and VIP charter providers have moved their operations to this state-of-the-art terminal.

More damage during the 2006 war.

On 13 July 2006 at approximately 6:00 a.m. local time, all three runways of the airport sustained significant damage from missile strikes directed at it by the Israeli Air Force as part of the 2006 Lebanon War. The Israeli Air Force claimed that the airport was a military target because Hezbollah was receiving weapons shipments there. The runways were rendered inoperative and the Lebanese Government declared that the airport was closed until further notice.  Shortly thereafter, MEA used one of the long taxiways at the airport to evacuate five of its aircraft (four Airbus A321 and one Airbus A330).

Limited activity at the airport.

The airport reopened to commercial flights on 17 August 2006, with the arrival of a Middle East Airlines (MEA) flight around 1:10 p.m. local time from Amman, followed by a Royal Jordanian flight also from Amman. This marked the first commercial flight arrival at Beirut International Airport since the airport's closure almost five weeks before. All runways and taxiways at the airport have been successfully repaired and the airport is operating as it was before the hostilities.

Israel ends air blockade.

On 7 September 2006, Israel ended its air blockade of Lebanon. The first plane to land at the airport after the end of the blockade was a Middle East Airlines flight at 6:06 p.m. local time. Soon after that, a Kuwait Airways flight landed at the airport. Over the next couple of days, more airlines resumed flights to the airport.

U.S. air traffic ban amended.

On 6 June 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush amended a ban on air traffic to Lebanon imposed since the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 to allow flights by the U.S. Government. A press release issued by the White House said that the "prohibition of transportation services to Lebanon...is hereby further amended to permit U.S. air carriers under contract to the United States Government to engage in foreign air transportation to and from Lebanon of passengers, including U.S. and non-U.S. citizens, and their accompanying baggage; of goods for humanitarian purposes; and of any other cargo or materiel.".

First Airbus A380 flight.

On 29 March 2018, Emirates operated a one-off Airbus A380 service to Beirut. It was a trial flight in order to test the airport's handling of the aircraft. The aircraft parked at gate 1, which is capable of handling the Airbus A380. This marked the first time the A380 had landed in Lebanon.

2019 renovation and minor expansion.

On 1 June 2019, the airport launched the new renovated and expanded departures and arrivals terminals. New customs counters were installed for both the departures and arrivals terminals. The airport is going to improve security by using newer equipment, relocate most of the security checkpoints, install an improved baggage handling system and inaugurate a fast track system for business and first class passengers by the end of the summer.

Passenger terminal.

The terminal consists of two wings, the East and West Wing, joined together by the main terminal, forming a U‐shaped building, with each wing being parallel to the other, and the main terminal connecting the wings. The modern terminal consists of 23 gates, 19 of which have jetways, two of which are dual jetway gates for large aircraft, and two are bus gates which have been decommissioned. Smoking is prohibited in almost all areas inside the terminal, with a few exceptions (see East and West Wing section below).

Main Terminal.

The main terminal includes the bulk of the duty-free, some other shops, a restaurant, and the lounges. The main terminal has four levels:

East and West Wing.

Each wing contains its own departure gates, as well as two cafés (one of which features a smoking section), a newsstand, a tourism shop, and smaller duty-free shopping areas in each wing. The East Wing, which opened in 1998, has gates 1–12 and the West Wing, which opened in 2002, has gates 13–23. Gates 2 and 3 are dual jetway gates for large aircraft. Gates 4 and 22 are bus boarding gates, however these are almost never used. The only way to move from one wing to the next is through the main terminal.

Passenger services.

The airport also includes banks, a post office, prayer rooms, and a tourist information centre (managed by the Ministry of Tourism). The airport is the first in the region to offer 5G wireless internet services available for free for 2 hours.

Lounges.

All of the lounges except for the Qatar Airways lounge and LAT lounge are also Priority Pass lounges.

Statistics.

Passenger use and aircraft movements have increased each year since 1990 with the exception of 2006, which saw a sharp decrease in both. Total cargo has trended upwards since 1990 but also experienced a significant decrease in 2006.

Ground transport.

The airport has a three-level car park with a total capacity of 2,350 cars.  Public transportation to the airport does not exist, except for taxis. These tend to be more expensive than regular service taxis, however.  LCC Bus Route 1 takes passengers from the airport roundabout, which is located one kilometer from the terminal, to Rue Sadat in Hamra, whereas Route 5 takes to the Charles Helou bus station. OCFTC buses number seven and ten also stop at the airport roundabout, en route to central Beirut.

Airport services.

Airport services, like much else in Lebanon, are often divided and delegated based upon sectarian allegiance. While, practically, the airport is mostly controlled by the Shia party Hezbollah, other groups, including Sunnis and Maronites, have their own fiefs within the airport's provision of services.

Ground handling providers.

The airport has two ground handling operators, Middle East Airlines Ground Handling (MEAG) Lebanese Air Transport (LAT).  Middle East Airlines Ground Handling (MEAG) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the national carrier, MEA. It provides ground handling services for the national carrier, MEA, as well as most of the carriers serving the airport, including the cargo carriers. MEAG handles nearly 80% of the traffic at the airport.  Lebanese Air Transport (LAT) is a smaller ground handling operator that conducts ground handling operations for a number of carriers serving the airport. LAT specialises in handling charter flights, but do have contracts with a number of scheduled carriers such as British Airways. Once upon a time, LAT was an airline that operated its own aircraft, however this was many years ago.

Fixed-base operators.

The airport is home to four fixed-base operators (FBOs) for private aircraft.  MEAG recently launched its own FBO services with the opening of the new General Aviation Terminal called the Cedar Jet Centre, now regarded as the airport's top FBO. Another leading FBO is Aircraft Support & Services, which specialises in fixed-base operator services for private and executive aircraft. In addition, they operate two executive jets that can be chartered to various places. JR Executive operates a fleet of small propeller aircraft that can be chartered or leased. They also have a flight school. They also conduct light maintenance on light aircraft and also offer fixed based operator services. Cirrus Middle East, a member of the German Cirrus Group, is partnering up with Universal Weather and Aviation to create a fixed-base operator and VIP charter service to be launched on 15 October 2012. The company will initially be called Universal/Cirrus Middle East, but will eventually become Universal Aviation Beirut. They aim to become one of the top FBOs in the Middle East and will cater aircraft as large as Boeing 747s.  LAT offers limited fixed-base operator services for private and executive aircraft. Executive Aircraft Services offers aircraft charter services, ground handling services, aircraft management, and aircraft acquisition and sales.

Aircraft maintenance providers.

The airport is the home base of MidEast Aircraft Services Company (MASCO), an aircraft maintenance provider that specialises in Airbus maintenance, particularly the A320 and A330 series. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the national carrier, MEA. MASCO has JAR 145 approval and as a result can maintain any aircraft registered in Europe.

Other facilities.

Middle East Airlines has its corporate headquarters and training centre at Beirut Airport.

Beirut International Airport (, "Maṭār Bayrūt ad-Dwaliyy") () () is located from the city center in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, and is the only operational commercial airport in the country. It is the hub for Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines (more commonly known as "MEA"). It is also the hub for the Lebanese charter carrier Wings of Lebanon, and was the hub for the Lebanese cargo carrier TMA cargo before its collapse.

Bejrútské mezinárodní letiště Rafíka Harírího (: مطار بيروت رفيق الحريري الدولي), dříve Bejrútské mezinárodní letiště, (IATA: BEY, ICAO: OLBA) je mezinárodní letiště, nacházející se asi 9 kilometrů jižně od centra libanonského hlavního města Bejrút. Otevřeno bylo 23. dubna 1954 a k roku 2013 je jediným libanonským komerčním letištěm. Je pojmenováno na počest zavražděného libanonského premiéra Rafíka Harírího, který zahynul v roce 2005.


History.

The stadium was opened in 1935 during the Soviet days as Dinamo Stadium. In 1999, after a major renovation, the name was changed to Republican Stadium ("Hanrapetakan" Stadium). By the end of 1999, after the assassination of the former prime minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan, the name of the stadium was officially changed to Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of the Armenian national team as well as the local teams Ararat Armenia and Pyunik who both play in the Armenian Premier League.  A major renovation of the stadium was envisaged to take place in 1995, but the process was delayed due to financial difficulties. In 1999, a large-scale renovation process was launched and more than US$3 million were spent on the development of the infrastructure, the seats and many other facilities, with the financial assistance of the UEFA Executive Committee. By the end of 2000, the stadium was completely renovated with a fully covered seating facilities.  The Republican Stadium was named after Vazgen Sargsyan by a presidential decree on December 28, 1999. Vazgen Sargsyan was the commander of the Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War and served as Defence Minister from 1995 to 1999 and Prime Minister from June to October 27, 1999, when he and other high-ranked officials were killed in the Armenian parliament shooting.  Another major renovation was carried on in 2008 through the Israeli company Green Diversified Ltd. The playing pitch was entirely replaced with a modern surface, the VIP sections were repaired and a modern security system was installed in the stadium to meet the UEFA standards. By the end of August 2008, the stadium was ready to host matches on the new pitch. As a result of the installment of new VIP sections, the seating capacity was reduced from 14,968 to 14,403.

Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium () also known as the Republican Stadium () is an all-seater multi-use stadium located on 65 Vardanants street, in the Armenian capital Yerevan. The stadium was built between 1933 and 1935. It was officially opened in 1935 as "Dinamo Stadium". Further developments were implemented in 1953, after the end of World War II. It is mainly used for association football and is the home ground of the Armenia national football team. The capacity of the stadium is 14,403 seats.

Stadion republiky pojmenovaný podle Vazgena Sargsjana (arménsky Վազգեն Սարգսյանի անվան Հանրապետական մարզադաշտ) zkráceně Stadion republiky nebo také stadion Hanrapetakan je víceúčelový sportovní stadion v hlavním městě Arménie Jerevanu, na němž hrají své domácí zápasy arménské kluby FC Pjunik Jerevan a Ulisses FC a také arménská fotbalová reprezentace. Byl postaven v roce 1953. Má kapacitu 14 968 diváků.


Distribution.

Currently, 1,515 Ultras have been identified above sea level: 637 in Asia, 353 in North America, 209 in South America, 119 in Europe (including the Caucasus), 84 in Africa, 69 in Australasia and 39 in Antarctica.  Many of the world's largest mountains are Ultras, including Mount Everest, K2, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, and Mount Olympus. On the other hand, others such as the Eiger and the Matterhorn are not Ultras because they do not have sufficient prominence. Many Ultras lie in rarely visited and inhospitable parts of the world, including 39 in Greenland, the high points of the Arctic islands of Novaya Zemlya, Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen, and many of the peaks of the Greater ranges of Asia. In British Columbia, some of the mountains listed do not even have generally recognized names.  Thirteen of the fourteen 8,000-metre summits are Ultras (the exception being Lhotse), and there are a further 64 Ultras over in height. There are 90 Ultras with a prominence of over, but only 22 with more than prominence.  A number of Ultras have yet to be climbed, with Sauyr Zhotasy, (possibly) Mount Siple, and Gangkar Puensum being the most likely candidates for the most prominent unclimbed mountain in the world.  All of the Seven Summits are Ultras by virtue of the fact that they are the high points of large landmasses. Each has its key col at or near sea level, resulting in a prominence value almost equal to its elevation.

An ultra-prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of or more; it is also called a P1500. There are approximately 1,524 such peaks on Earth. Some well-known peaks, such as the Matterhorn and Eiger, are not Ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high cols and therefore do not achieve enough topographic prominence.

Ultraprominentní vrchol () je hora s prominencí 1500 m (4921 ft) a vyšší. Takovýchto hor je na světě asi 1515. Některé z nich jsou dobře známé i ne-horolezcům, jako třeba Mount Everest, Aconcagua či Denali (tři nejprominentnější vrcholy), zatímco jiné jsou pro širokou veřejnost prakticky neznámé. Některé známé vrcholy, jako například Matterhorn či Eiger, se naopak mezi ultraprominentní neřadí, protože jsou s vyššími horami spojeny vysoko položenými sedly a tudíž nemají dostatečnou prominenci.


Early life.

Curtis Mayfield was born on June 3, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Marion Washington and Kenneth Mayfield, one of five children. Mayfield's father left the family when Curtis was five; his mother (and maternal grandmother) moved the family into several Chicago public housing projects before settling in Cabrini–Green during his teen years. Mayfield attended Wells Community Academy High School before dropping out his second year. His mother taught him piano and, along with his grandmother, encouraged him to enjoy gospel music. At the age of seven he sang publicly at his aunt's church with the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers.  Mayfield received his first guitar when he was ten, later recalling that he loved his guitar so much he used to sleep with it. He was a self-taught musician, but he grew up admiring blues singer Muddy Waters and Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia.  When he was 14 years old he formed the Alphatones when the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers decided to try their luck in downtown Chicago and Mayfield stayed behind. Fellow group member Sam Gooden was quoted "It would have been nice to have him there with us, but of course, your parents have the first say."  Later in 1956, he joined his high school friend Jerry Butler's group The Roosters with brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks. He wrote and composed songs for this group who would become The Impressions two years later.

Career.

The Impressions.

Mayfield's career began in 1956 when he joined the Roosters with Arthur and Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler. Two years later the Roosters, now including Sam Gooden, became the Impressions. The band had two hit singles with Butler, "For Your Precious Love" and "Come Back My Love", then Butler left. Mayfield temporarily went with him, co-writing and performing on Butler's next hit, "He Will Break Your Heart", before returning to the Impressions with the group signing for ABC Records and working with the label's Chicago-based producer/A&R manager, Johnny Pate.  Butler was replaced by Fred Cash, a returning original Roosters member, and Mayfield became lead singer, frequently composing for the band, starting with "Gypsy Woman", a Top 20 Pop hit. Their hit "Amen" (Top 10), an updated version of an old gospel tune, was included in the soundtrack of the 1963 United Artists film "Lilies of the Field", which starred Sidney Poitier. The Impressions reached the height of their popularity in the mid-to-late-'60s with a string of Mayfield compositions that included "Keep On Pushing," "People Get Ready", "It's All Right" (Top 10), the up-tempo "Talking about My Baby"(Top 20) and "Woman's Got Soul".  He formed his own label, Curtom Records in Chicago in 1968 and the Impressions joined him to continue their run of hits including "Fool For You," "This is My Country", "Choice Of Colors" and "Check Out Your Mind." Mayfield had written much of the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s, but by the end of the decade, he was a pioneering voice in the black pride movement along with James Brown and Sly Stone. Mayfield's "We're a Winner" was their last major hit for ABC. A Number 1 soul hit which also reached the Top 20 on "Billboard" s pop chart, it became an anthem of the black power and black pride movements when it was released in late 1967, much as his earlier "Keep on Pushing" (whose title is quoted in the lyrics of "We're a Winner" and also in "Move On Up") had been an anthem for Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.  Mayfield was a prolific songwriter in Chicago even outside his work for the Impressions, writing and producing scores of hits for many other artists. He also owned the Mayfield and Windy C labels which were distributed by Cameo-Parkway, and was a partner in the Curtom (first independent, then distributed by Buddah then Warner Bros and finally RSO) and Thomas labels (first independent, then distributed by Atlantic, then independent again and finally Buddah).  Among Mayfield's greatest songwriting successes were three hits that he wrote for Jerry Butler on Vee Jay ("He Will Break Your Heart", "Find Another Girl" and "I'm A-Tellin' You"). His harmony vocals are very prominent. He also had great success writing and arranging Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie". Starting in 1963, he was heavily involved in writing and arranging for OKeh Records (with Carl Davis producing), which included hits by Major Lance's "Um,Um,Um,Um,Um,Um", "The Monkey Time, Walter Jackson, Billy Butler and the Artistics. This arrangement ran through 1965.

Solo career.

In 1970, Mayfield left the Impressions and began a solo career. Curtom released many of Mayfield's 1970s records, as well as records by the Impressions, Leroy Hutson, the Five Stairsteps, the Staples Singers, Mavis Staples, Linda Clifford, Natural Four, The Notations and Baby Huey and the Babysitters. Gene Chandler and Major Lance, who had worked with Mayfield during the 1960s, also signed for short stays at Curtom. Many of the label's recordings were produced by Mayfield.  Mayfield's first solo album, "Curtis", was released in 1970, and hit the top 20, as well as being a critical success. It pre-dated Marvin Gaye's album, "What's Going On", to which it has been compared in addressing social change. The commercial and critical peak of his solo career came with "Super Fly", the soundtrack to the blaxploitation "Super Fly" film, which sold over 12 million copies. Unlike the soundtracks to other blaxploitation films (most notably Isaac Hayes' score for "Shaft"), which glorified the ghetto excesses of the characters, Mayfield's lyrics consisted of hard-hitting commentary on the state of affairs in black, urban ghettos at the time, as well as direct criticisms of several characters in the film. Bob Donat wrote in "Rolling Stone" magazine in 1972 that while the film's message "was diluted by schizoid cross-purposes" because it "glamorizes machismo-cocaine consciousness... the anti-drug message on [Mayfield's soundtrack] is far stronger and more definite than in the film." Because of the tendency of these blaxploitation films to glorify the criminal life of dealers and pimps to target a mostly black lower class audience, Mayfield's album set this movie apart. With songs like "Freddie's Dead", a song that focuses on the demise of Freddie, a junkie that was forced into "pushin' dope for the man" because of a debt that he owed to his dealer, and "Pusherman", a song that reveals how many people in the ghetto fell victim to drug abuse, and therefore became dependent upon their dealers, Mayfield illuminated a darker side of life in the ghetto that these blaxploitation films often failed to criticize. However, although Mayfield's soundtrack criticized the glorification of dealers and pimps, he in no way denied that this glorification was occurring. When asked about the subject matter of these films he was quoted stating "I don't see why people are complaining about the subject of these films", and "The way you clean up the films is by cleaning up the streets."  Along with "What's Going On" and Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions", this album ushered in a new socially conscious, funky style of popular soul music. He was dubbed 'The Gentle Genius'. The single releases "Freddie's Dead" and "Super Fly" each sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs by the R.I.A.A.  "Super Fly" brought success that resulted in Mayfield being tapped for additional soundtracks, some of which he wrote and produced while having others perform the vocals. Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded Mayfield's soundtrack for "Claudine" in 1974, while Aretha Franklin recorded the soundtrack for "Sparkle" in 1976. Mayfield also worked with The Staples Singers on the soundtrack for the 1975 film "Let's Do It Again", and teamed up with Mavis Staples exclusively on the 1977 film soundtrack "A Piece of the Action" (both movies were part of a trilogy of films that featured the acting and comedic exploits of Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier and were directed by Poitier).  In 1973 Mayfield released the anti-war album "Back to the World", a concept album that dealt with the social aftermath of the Vietnam War and criticized the United States' involvement in wars across the planet. One of Mayfield's most successful funk-disco meldings was the 1977 hit "Do Do Wap is Strong in Here" from his soundtrack to the Robert M. Young film of Miguel Piñero's play "Short Eyes". In his 2003 biography of Curtis Mayfield, "People Never Give Up", author Peter Burns noted that Mayfield has 140 songs in the Curtom vaults. Burns indicated that the songs were maybe already completed or in the stages of completion, so that they could then be released commercially. These recordings include "The Great Escape", "In The News", "Turn up the Radio", "What's The Situation?" and one recording labelled "Curtis at Montreux Jazz Festival 87." Two other albums featuring Curtis Mayfield present in the Curtom vaults and as yet unissued are a 1982/83 live recording titled "25th Silver Anniversary" (which features performances by Mayfield, the Impressions and Jerry Butler) and a live performance, recorded in September 1966 by the Impressions titled "Live at the Club Chicago".  In 1980, Mayfield decided to move to Atlanta with his family, closing down his recording operation in Chicago. The label had gradually reduced in size in its final two years or so with releases on the main RSO imprint and Curtom credited as the production company. Mayfield continued to record occasionally, keeping the Curtom name alive for a few more years, and to tour worldwide. Mayfields song "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" has been included as an entrance song on every episode of the drama series "The Deuce". "The Deuce" tells of the germination of the sex-trade industry in the heart of New York's Times Square in the 1970s.

Later years.

Mayfield remained active in the 1970s. Then his career began to slow down during the 1980s.  In later years, Mayfield's music was included in the movies "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka", "Hollywood Shuffle", "Friday" (though not on the soundtrack album), "Bend It Like Beckham", "The Hangover Part II" and "Short Eyes", where he had a cameo role as a prisoner.  On August 13, 1990, Mayfield became paralyzed from the neck down, after stage lighting equipment fell on him at an outdoor concert at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. Afterwards, though he was unable to play guitar, he continued to compose and sing. He also directed the recording of his last album, "New World Order" (1996).  Mayfield's vocals were recorded, usually line-by-line, while he was lying on his back.  Mayfield received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. In February 1998, he had to have his right leg amputated due to diabetes. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 1999. Health reasons prevented him from attending the ceremony, which included fellow inductees Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Dusty Springfield, George Martin, and 1970s Curtom signees and labelmates the Staple Singers.  Mayfield's last appearance on record was with the group Bran Van 3000 on the song "Astounded" for their 2000 album "Discosis", recorded just before his death and released in 2001. However, his health had steadily declined following his paralysis, so the vocals weren't new. Rather, they were lifted from archive recordings, including "Move On Up."

Social activism.

Mayfield sang openly about civil rights and black pride, and was known for introducing social consciousness into African-American music. Having been raised in the Cabrini-Green projects of Chicago, he witnessed many of the tragedies of the urban ghetto first hand, and was quoted saying "With everything I saw on the streets as a young black kid, it wasn't hard during the later fifties and sixties for me to write my heartfelt way of how I visualized things, how I thought things ought to be.”  Following the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his group the Impressions produced music that became the soundtrack to a summer of revolution. It is even said that "Keep On Pushing" became the number one sing along during the Freedom Rides. Black students sang their songs as they marched to jail or protested outside their universities, while King often used "Keep On Pushing", "People Get Ready" and "We're A Winner" because of their ability to motivate and inspire marchers. Mayfield had quickly become a civil rights hero with his ability to inspire hope and courage.  Mayfield was unique in his ability to fuse relevant social commentary with melodies and lyrics that instilled a hopefulness for a better future in his listeners. He wrote and recorded the soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film "Super Fly" with the help of producer Johnny Pate. The soundtrack for "Super Fly" is regarded as an all-time great body of work that captured the essence of life in the ghetto while criticizing the tendency of young people to glorify the "glamorous" lifestyles of drug dealers and pimps, and illuminating the dark realities of drugs, addiction, and exploitation.  Mayfield, along with several other soul and funk musicians, spread messages of hope in the face of oppression, pride in being a member of the black race and gave courage to a generation of people who were demanding their human rights. He has been compared to Martin Luther King, Jr. for making a lasting impact in the civil rights struggle with his inspirational music. By the end of the decade Mayfield was a pioneering voice in the black pride movement, along with James Brown and Sly Stone. Paving the way for a future generation of rebel thinkers, Mayfield paid the price, artistically and commercially, for his politically charged music. Mayfield's "Keep On Pushing" was actually banned from several radio stations, including WLS in his hometown of Chicago. Regardless of the persistent radio bans and loss of revenue, he continued his quest for equality right until his death.  Mayfield was also a descriptive social commentator. As the influx of drugs ravaged through black America in the late 1960s and 1970s his bittersweet descriptions of the ghetto would serve as warnings to the impressionable. "Freddie's Dead" is a graphic tale of street life, while "Pusherman" revealed the role of drug dealers in the urban ghettos.

Personal life.

Mayfield was married twice. He had 10 children from different relationships. At the time of his death he was married to Altheida Mayfield, together they had six children.

Death.

Mayfield died from complications of type 2 diabetes on December 26, 1999, at the North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell, Georgia. He was survived by his wife Altheida Mayfield, his mother Mariam Jackson; 10 children; two sisters, Carolyn Falls and Judy Mayfield; a brother, Kenneth Mayfield; and seven grandchildren.

Musical legacy.

Influence.

Mayfield was among the first of a new wave of mainstream black R&B performing artists and composers injecting social commentary into their work. This "message music" proved immensely popular during the 1960s and 1970s.  Mayfield taught himself how to play guitar, tuning it to the black keys of the piano, giving the guitar an open F-sharp tuning that he used throughout his career. He primarily sang in falsetto register, adding another flavor to his music. This was not unique in itself, but most singers sing primarily in the modal register. His guitar playing, singing, and socially aware song-writing influenced a range of artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Tracy Chapman, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Sinead O'Connor.  In 2017, it was reported that Lionel Richie had secured the rights to produce a Curtis Mayfield biographical film. In a statement he said, "I'm so grateful to be working closely with [Mayfield's widow] Altheida Mayfield, [son] Cheaa Mayfield and the Curtis Mayfield Estate and couldn't be happier to be moving forward on this amazing project about a one-of-a-kind music genius." Altheida Mayfield added, "It's time to celebrate and re-evaluate Curtis' legacy. For years, too many others have tried to claim what he alone did. He was a genius, always stood on his own."

Awards and nominations.

In 1972, the French Academy of Jazz awarded Mayfied's debut solo album "Curtis" the Prix Otis Redding for best R&B record.

Grammy Awards.

Mayfield was nominated for eight Grammy Awards during his career. He is a winner of the prestigious Grammy Legend Award and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  Johnny Adams

Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. He first achieved success and recognition with The Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist.

Curtis Mayfield (3. června 1942 Chicago, Illinois, USA − 26. prosince 1999 Roswell, Georgie, USA) byl americký zpěvák a kytarista. V roce 1958 spoluzaložil skupinu The Impressions, ve které působil následujících dvanáct let. Následně se vydal na sólovou dráhu, během které vydal sedmnáct studiových alb.


Early life.

Colin Mochrie was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, the oldest of three children. His father was an airline maintenance executive. He was shy as a child, stating that neighbours would have commented that he "watched way too much television." In 1964, his family moved to a French neighbourhood just outside Montreal, Quebec, and five years later moved again to Vancouver, British Columbia. Mochrie attended Killarney Secondary School, where he was a self-proclaimed loner who wanted to become a marine biologist. He was persuaded by a friend to try out for a play titled "The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch" in which Mochrie played the role of the undertaker. He was hooked when he got his first laugh, which paved the way for a career in entertainment. After graduating from high school as valedictorian, Mochrie attended the Studio 58 theatre school in Vancouver for four years, where he discovered the art of improvisational comedy.

Career.

Improvisational beginnings.

Upon graduation from Studio 58, Mochrie found his first line of work as a member of the Vancouver TheatreSports League. He started working with the group in 1980. Fame was slow to start, as Mochrie "literally had to pull people out of McDonald's to come see the shows." Mochrie originally had parts in plays while working for the group, though after a time working for the TheatreSports League became a full-time job for Mochrie. He met fellow improvisor Ryan Stiles during this time. He was visiting a mutual friend in New Zealand when Stiles was doing comedy at Punchlines. After the two met, Stiles and Mochrie began working at TheatreSports together. Though it has been stated that the two met while members of The Second City, the pair were already close friends, according to both Mochrie and Susan Trimbee, the former manager of The Second City Toronto (1985–1988).  Following Expo '86, Mochrie ended his tenure with the Vancouver TheatreSports League and moved to Toronto. Once there, Mochrie auditioned for The Second City comedy troupe, where Stiles was working. He began performing with the Second City National Touring Company where he met Debra McGrath, who was the director of the company at the time. The two were married in 1989 and had a child, Kinley, in 1990.  Mochrie worked for The Second City for three years, co-writing and starring in three productions and directing three seasons of their national touring company. As a member of the touring company, he performed in many skits, including one where he and two others are at a bar, and they help him to rewrite an anecdote from his youth involving his father taking him to a baseball game; and a five-minute version of a James Bond movie, complete with Mochrie in a downhill ski chase and parachuting off a cliff.

1988–1998.

Upon finishing his stint with Second City in 1988, Mochrie's career was quiet for a while as he spent some time with his new wife and child. In 1989, he auditioned for the new British Channel 4 improv show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", but did not make the cut. Mochrie has stated that the audition was a good learning experience because while improv is about setting other people up to be funny, auditions should be about giving yourself the chance to stand out. He moved to Los Angeles the following year, but again auditioned for the British "Whose Line", this time making the cut and being asked to fly to London. He appeared on one episode and was again let go. The third time he auditioned, he earned a regular spot on the show. He spent seven years as a regular on the UK version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and remained a cast member until the show's end in 1998.  After the British version of the show ended its run, Mochrie joined the American version of "Whose Line?" hosted by Drew Carey on ABC. He was brought on alongside Ryan Stiles, who was also a regular member of the UK cast. Mochrie appeared on every episode from its debut in August 1998 to its finale in 2006. He noted his favourite games as "Scenes From a Hat", where he would have to act out scenes based on suggestions by audience members, and "Whose Line" where he and Stiles would act out a scene and have to add in lines written on pieces of paper. He felt that his weak spots were the musical segments and the "Hoedown" game, which he said was the only time during the show when he felt total fear. Mochrie, who cannot sing, usually spoke his lines instead of singing them.  Mochrie's co-stars on the show would frequently mock him for being Canadian, and for his receding hairline. Very early on in the UK version however, Mochrie still had a fairly full head of hair, and the bald jokes were done at the expense of the UK host, Clive Anderson. In the American version, he would often perform the female role in certain frequently-performed skits, such as "Whose Line" and "Two Line Vocabulary". In the few times he played the man in the scene, the producers were making further fun of his baldness (e.g. Colin was Samson, and Ryan was his girlfriend, and Samson had lost all his strength because Ryan had cut off his hair).  According to Mochrie's agent, Jeff Andrews, during the show's run Mochrie was better known in Canada as a "commercial king", performing as characters such the Detergent Crusader for Sunlight detergent. In March 2005, a Nabisco advertising campaign starred Mochrie as the "Snack Fairy", in which he wears a ballet tutu over ordinary slacks and a shirt. At the end of each commercial, he declares "Snack happy!" and waves his scepter while sporting a smile.  Mochrie remained active elsewhere during his tenure as a "Whose Line" cast member. In early 1994, he played the role of Mike Brady in a musical version of "The Brady Bunch", directed by fellow Second City member Bruce Pirrie. In the production, Mochrie plays the character as caffeine-fuelled, jittery, and neurotic, an exaggeration of the Mike Brady television character, who often had a coffee in his hand on the show. Shortly before his move to the US version of "Whose Line" in 1998, Mochrie starred in "Supertown Challenge" as the host of game shows, which the show spoofed. He also appeared in several episodes of the Canadian improvisational comedy series "Improv Heaven and Hell".

1999–2009.

In an interview, it was revealed that in 1999 Mochrie worked on the Miloš Forman film "Man on the Moon", but his scenes were deleted from the final movie. Mochrie was a guest star in three episodes of "The Drew Carey Show": "She's Gotta Have It" (1999), "Drew Live" (1999), and "Drew Live II" (2000). He also appeared on Nickelodeon's "Figure It Out" as a celebrity guest panelist; in one segment of the show, he was slimed. He had a one-liner in the "Bad Hare Day" episode of "Goosebumps", and he made special guest appearances in several episodes of "The Red Green Show".  From 2001 through 2002, Mochrie co-starred in the Canadian comedy series "Blackfly" for the series' two seasons. He appeared in "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" on CBC Television from 2001 through 2003, and on the WB Television Network series "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show" in 2004.  In 2003, Mochrie, Leslie Nielsen, Wayne Gretzky, and Roy Halladay appeared in print and television advertisements to encourage people to visit Toronto after the SARS outbreak that struck the city.  In May 2004, he hosted a tongue-in-cheek guide to surviving animal attacks on Animal Planet known as "Wild Survival Guide". He has done a commercial supporting Habitat For Humanity. He appeared briefly in a commercial for Buckley's Cough Syrup, and he was featured in a commercial for New York Fries, manning a steamroller. He appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" as the superhero Overly Sensitive Man (inspired from "Whose Line").  By 2004, Mochrie was appearing in so many media spots that a new Canadian television series, "Corner Gas", made light of it by having him do a cameo appearance in the tenth episode. In 2005, Mochrie appeared in "Burnt Toast", a series of eight comedic mini-operas, each depicting a different stage of a romantic relationship in a contemporary setting, produced by Canada's Rhombus Media. He also appeared in an episode of "The Surreal Gourmet". Along with Rosie O'Donnell, Mochrie hosts a video introduction to a tour of the bakery in the Pacific Wharf area of Disney California Adventure Park. In the video, he helps explain how sourdough bread is made. On December 25, 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation premièred the TV movie "The Magical Gathering". Mochrie starred in this, and his daughter Kinley co-starred as Mochrie's character at a younger age.  Mochrie starred in "Getting Along Famously" in 2006. In February 2007, he made a guest appearance as a priest in the seventh episode of "Little Mosque on the Prairie", a Canadian television comedy series.  On March 28, 2007, Mochrie and his "Whose Line" costar Brad Sherwood hosted part of the Press Correspondents' Dinner with the President. At that event, Sherwood and Mochrie featured Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove rapping. Rove's only line was "MC Rove". On August 29, 2007, it was announced that Mochrie would host the Canadian version of the game show "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?". The first of five episodes aired on October 25, 2007. As a result, Mochrie became the fifth member of the American "Whose Line?" cast to become a game show host, after colleagues Brad Sherwood ("The Dating Game" and "The Big Moment"), Greg Proops ("VS.", "Head Games" and "Rendez-View"), Wayne Brady ("Don't Forget the Lyrics! and Let's Make A Deal"), and Drew Carey ("Power of 10" and "The Price Is Right").  The image of Mochrie's face is used extensively in Animutation, a style of Flash animation. Neil Cicierega, the father of Animutation, would place Mochrie in almost every Animutation he made, making the inclusion of him in Animutation somewhat of a running gag. Mochrie is aware of his status among Animutation artists and fans, having been quoted, "It was very odd when I first saw the animutations. Obviously, the animators are more than a little crazy, but I am very proud of my standing in the animutation arena and hope that some day I can make millions off of it."

2010–present.

In 2010, he acted in the Canadian television sitcom "She's the Mayor", which debuted in 2011. On July 19, 2010, Mochrie starred as the divorce lawyer working on the case of Spinner and Emma in "Degrassi Takes Manhattan".  In 2011, Mochrie appeared as a regular cast member on "Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza" on GSN. In 2012, Mochrie starred in the ABC improv comedy series "Trust Us with Your Life".  Mochrie returned for the CW network's revival of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" in the summer of 2013. He had a recurring role in the short-lived television comedy series "Working the Engels".  In 2017 Mochrie made a cameo appearance complete with his trademark dry humour, as Ralph Fellows a hotel detective in an episode (11/3) of the Canadian detective TV series "Murdoch Mysteries".

Ongoing two-man show with Brad Sherwood.

Mochrie and "Whose Line" co-star Brad Sherwood have intermittently toured North America as a two-man stage show since 2002. Initially called "An Evening with Colin and Brad", they played primarily in small theatre venues. A DVD of their performances, "Colin & Brad: Two Man Group" was released on March 8, 2011.  As of 2018, Mochrie and Sherwood have continued their performances, currently billed as the "Scared Scriptless Tour", and playing in larger venues such as the Sydney Opera House, and Royal Albert Hall in London.

Personal life.

Mochrie lives with his wife, Canadian actress Debra McGrath, in Toronto. The two have been married since January 8, 1989 and together, they have a daughter, Kinley Mochrie (b. September 3, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada). In 2017, with her permission, Mochrie revealed on Twitter that Kinley is transgender.

Awards and nominations.

Mochrie has been nominated for five Canadian Comedy Awards and has won two. He has also won a Gemini Award and a Writers Guild of Canada award for "This Hour Has 22 Minutes". In 2013, Mochrie was awarded Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the Canadian Comedy Awards.

Colin Andrew Mochrie (; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and US versions of the improvisational TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

Colin Andrew Mochrie (* 30. listopadu 1957, Kilmarnock) je kanadský herec, improvizační komik, režisér a scenárista skotského původu, známý pro své působení v britské a americké verzi improvizační show Whose Line Is It Anyway?


Early life.

Davidtz was born in Lafayette, Indiana, while her father was studying chemical engineering at Purdue University. Her parents, John and Jean, later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and then back to their native South Africa when Davidtz was nine years old. Davidtz has Dutch, English, and French ancestry. She had to learn Afrikaans before attending school classes in South Africa, where her father took up a teaching post at Potchefstroom University. Davidtz graduated from The Glen High School in Pretoria in 1983 and studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.

Debut and early career.

Davidtz made her acting debut at age 21 with CAPAB (Cape Performing Arts Board, now known as Artscape) in Cape Town, playing Juliet in a stage production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre. Performing in English and Afrikaans, she also starred in other local plays, including "Stille Nag" (Silent Night) and "A Chain of Voices", both earning her nominations for the South African equivalent of the Tony Award.  Her film debut came in 1988 with a small role in South African-filmed American horror "Mutator". Shortly after, she won a bigger part in South African short telemovie "A Private Life", as the daughter of an interracial couple. Davidtz won a DALRO Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the 1990 play "Houd-den-bek". For the same play, she was nominated in 1991 for the Esther Roos Award for Best Actress in a Supporting role in Afrikaans film. Steven Spielberg noticed her performance in the 1992 South African film, "Nag van die Negentiende" and offered her the role of Helen Hirsch in "Schindler's List".

Hollywood career.

In 1993, Davidtz played the role of Helen Hirsch in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List".  Davidtz had a central role in the fact-based film "Murder in the First" (1995), followed by the Merchant Ivory production "Feast of July" (also 1995). In "Matilda" (1996), a feature based on Roald Dahl's children's fantasy, she played the role of Miss Honey, the grade-one teacher of the title character.  In 1998, Davidtz played a theologian helping Denzel Washington crack a supernatural wave of crimes in the mystery drama "Fallen" and a femme fatale linked to Kenneth Branagh in Robert Altman's take on a previously unused John Grisham manuscript, "The Gingerbread Man". The following year, Davidtz portrayed a 19th-century woman of the world in Patricia Rozema's reworking of the Jane Austen comedy "Mansfield Park" and played a dual role opposite Robin Williams in the futuristic fable "Bicentennial Man".  A supporting role in the film adaptation of "Bridget Jones' Diary" (2001) saw Davidtz play Natasha, a colleague and one of the love interests of Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). That year, she began her run on the CBS drama "Citizen Baines", playing the daughter of a defeated United States Senate incumbent (James Cromwell) who is herself leaning towards a career in politics. Other roles included horror thrillers like 2001's "Thir13en Ghosts" alongside Tony Shalhoub. In 2002, she appeared in the Michael Hoffman drama "The Emperor's Club", which co-starred Kevin Kline and Emile Hirsch.  In "Junebug" (2005), Davidtz played an outsider art dealer from Chicago brought to North Carolina by her husband (Alessandro Nivola) to meet his family for the first time. Davidtz has also guest-starred on the hit ABC drama series "Grey's Anatomy" as Dr. Derek Shepherd's sister Nancy in the Season 3 episode "Let the Angels Commit". In 2008, she had a regular role on HBO's "In Treatment" as Amy, part of a fractious couple alongside Josh Charles's Jake.  She portrayed the unfaithful and unfortunate wife of Anthony Hopkins's character in the 2007 drama "Fracture".  From 2009 to 2012, she played Rebecca Pryce, wife of Lane Pryce, in the hit AMC television show "Mad Men". She also played Felicia Koons, the wife of the dean and the mother of Becca's best friend, Chelsea, on Showtime's "Californication".  Davidtz played Annika Blomkvist in David Fincher's adaptation of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". She also appeared in Marc Webb's Spider-Man reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man" as Mary Parker, Peter Parker's mother who vanished under mysterious circumstances along with Richard Parker.

Personal life.

Davidtz married entertainment attorney Jason Sloane on June 22, 2002, and they have two children.  Davidtz has a younger sister who is a psychologist at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  In an interview regarding her guest appearances on "Ray Donovan", in which she portrayed a breast-cancer survivor, Davidtz revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, which had caused her to stop working and for which she underwent a mastectomy. The role was Davidtz's first after undergoing treatment, and when informed that it required nudity, Davidtz worked with producer David Hollander to incorporate her partially-reconstructed right breast into the story, turning down the use of a prosthetic as a substitute for her right nipple that was due to be restored through surgery. "Somebody might not believe it if an actress pretended to have their nipple gone and said, 'Look, I'm still sexual and pretty.' But when it's real, I hope it makes someone feel beautiful. I still feel beautiful," said Davidtz regarding the message she wished to convey by taking the role.

Embeth Jean Davidtz (born August 11, 1965) is a South African-American actress. Her screen roles include movies such as "Army of Darkness", "Schindler's List, ""Matilda", "Mansfield Park", "Bicentennial Man", "Fallen," "Junebug," and "Fracture", and the television series "Mad Men," "Californication, In Treatment," "and Ray Donovan".

Embeth Jean Davidtz (* 11. srpna 1965, Lafayette, Indiana, USA) je americká herečka. Většinu svého mládí strávila v Jižní Africe.


Biography.

Sims was born in 1925 in Inglewood, California to vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. His father was a vaudeville hoofer, and Sims prided himself on remembering many of the steps his father taught him. Growing up in a performing family, he learned to play drums and clarinet at an early age. His brother was the trombonist Ray Sims.  Following in the footsteps of Lester Young, Sims developed into an innovative tenor saxophonist. Throughout his career, he played with big bands, starting with those of Kenny Baker and Bobby Sherwood after dropping out of high school after one year. He played with Benny Goodman's band in 1943 and replaced his idol Ben Webster in Sid Catlett's Quartet in 1944.  Sims served as a corporal in the United States Army Air Force from 1944 to 1946, then returned to music in the bands of Artie Shaw, Stan Kenton, and Buddy Rich. He was one of Woody Herman's "Four Brothers". He frequently led his own combos and toured with his friend Gerry Mulligan's sextet, and later with Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band. Sims rejoined Goodman in 1962 for a tour of the Soviet Union. Sims played on some of Jack Kerouac's recordings.  Sims acquired the nickname "Zoot" early in his career while he was in the Kenny Baker band in California. "When he joined Kenny Baker's band as a fifteen-year-old tenor saxophonist, each of the music stands was embellished with a nonsense word. The one he sat behind said "Zoot." That became his name."  Sims played a 30-second solo on the song "Poetry Man", written by singer Phoebe Snow on her debut eponymous album in 1974. He also played on Laura Nyro's "Lonely Women", on her album "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession".  Zoot Sims died of cancer on March 23, 1985 in New York City, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, in Nyack, New York.  On June 25, 2019, "The New York Times Magazine" listed Zoot Sims among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Discography.

As sideman.

With Pepper Adams With Trigger Alpert With Chet Baker With Count Basie With Louie Bellson With Clifford Brown With Ray Charles With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band With Al Cohn With Chris Connor With Miles Davis With Kenny Dorham With Jon Eardley With Booker Ervin With Bill Evans With Art Farmer With Curtis Fuller With Benny Goodman With Bobby Hackett With Coleman Hawkins With Woody Herman With Jutta Hipp With Chubby Jackson With Quincy Jones With Stan Kenton With Jack Kerouac With Irene Kral With Elliot Lawrence With Michel Legrand With Stan Levey and Red Mitchell With The Manhattan Transfer With Gary McFarland With Ted McNabb With Carmen McRae With the Metronome All-Stars With Charles Mingus With Red Mitchell With Jack Montrose With Gerry Mulligan With Oliver Nelson With Anita O'Day With Bob Prince With Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton With Shorty Rogers With Jimmy Rushing With Lalo Schifrin and Bob Brookmeyer With Johnny Smith With Phoebe Snow With Sonny Stitt With Clark Terry With Sarah Vaughan With Joe Venuti With Chuck Wayne With Joe Williams

John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big band, afterward enjoying a long solo career, often in partnership with fellow saxmen Gerry Mulligan and Al Cohn.

Zoot Sims (29. října 1925 Inglewood, Kalifornie, USA − 23. března 1985 New York City, New York, USA) byl americký jazzový saxofonista. V roce 1943 hrál ve skupině Bennyho Goodmana a o rok později nahradil Bena Webstera v kvartetu Sida Catletta. Hrál například na albu "Blues and Haikus" básníka Jacka Kerouaca. Rovněž spolupracoval s dalšími hudebníky, mezi které patří Gerry Mulligan, Al Cohn, Charles Mingus, Bob Brookmeyer, Trigger Alpert, Lalo Schifrin, Sonny Stitt nebo Sarah Vaughan.


Biography.

Carneades, the son of Epicomus or Philocomiis, was born at Cyrene, North Africa in 214/213 BC. He migrated early to Athens, and attended the lectures of the Stoics, and learned their logic from Diogenes. He studied the works of Chrysippus, and exerted his energy of a very acute and original mind in their refutation.  He attached himself to the Academy, which had suffered from the attacks of the Stoics; and on the death of Hegesinus, he was chosen to preside at the meetings of Academy, and was the fourth in succession from Arcesilaus. His great eloquence and skill in argument revived the glories of his school; and, defending himself in the negative vacancy of asserting nothing (not even that nothing can be asserted), carried on a vigorous war against every position that had been maintained by other sects.  In the year 155 BC, when he was fifty-eight years old, he was chosen with Diogenes the Stoic and Critolaus the Peripatetic to go as ambassador to Rome to deprecate the fine of 500 talents which had been imposed on the Athenians for the destruction of Oropus. During his stay at Rome, he attracted great notice from his eloquent speeches on philosophical subjects, and it was here that, in the presence of Cato the Elder, he delivered his several orations on Justice. The first oration was in commendation of the virtue of Roman justice, and the next day the second was delivered, in which all the arguments he'd made on the first were refuted, as he persuasively attempted to prove that justice was inevitably problematic, and not a given when it came to virtue, but merely a compact device deemed necessary for the maintenance of a well-ordered society. Recognizing the potential danger of the argument, Cato was shocked at this and he moved the Roman Senate to send the philosopher home to his school, and prevent exposure of Roman youth to the threat of re-examining all Roman doctrines. Carneades lived twenty-seven years after this at Athens.  Carneades was succeeded (137/136 BC) by Polemarchus of Nicomedia, but he died 131/0 BC and was succeeded by Crates of Tarsus. Carneades died at the advanced age of 85 (although Cicero says 90), in 129/128 BC. After the death of Crates of Tarsus in 127/126 BC Clitomachus became head of the Academy.  Carneades is described as a man of unwearied industry. He was so engrossed in his studies, that he let his hair and nails grow to an immoderate length, and was so absent at his own table (for he would never dine out), that his servant and concubine, Melissa, was constantly obliged to feed him. Latin writer and author Valerius Maximus, to whom we owe the last anecdote, tells us that Carneades, before discussing with Chrysippus, was wont to purge himself with hellebore, to have a sharper mind. In his old age, he suffered from cataract in his eyes, which he bore with great impatience, and was so little resigned to the decay of nature, that he used to ask angrily, if this was the way in which nature undid what she had done, and sometimes expressed a wish to poison himself.

Philosophy.

Carneades is known as an Academic skeptic. Academic skeptics (so called because this was the type of skepticism taught in Plato's Academy in Athens) hold that all knowledge is impossible, except for the knowledge that all other knowledge is impossible.  Carneades left no writings, and all that is known of his lectures is derived from his intimate friend and pupil, Clitomachus; but so true was he to his own principles of withholding assent, that Clitomachus confesses he never could ascertain what his master really thought on any subject. In ethics, which more particularly were the subject of his long and laborious study, he seems to have denied the conformity of the moral ideas with nature. This he particularly insisted on in the second oration on Justice, in which he manifestly wished to convey his own notions on the subject; and he there maintains that ideas of justice are not derived from nature, but that they are purely artificial for purposes of expediency.  All this, however, was nothing but the special application of his general theory, that people did not possess, and never could possess, any criterion of truth.  Carneades argued that, if there were a criterion, it must exist either in reason ("logos"), or sensation ("aisthêsis"), or conception ("phantasia"). But then reason itself depends on conception, and this again on sensation; and we have no means of judging whether our sensations are true or false, whether they correspond to the objects that produce them, or carry wrong impressions to the mind, producing false conceptions and ideas, and leading reason also into error. Therefore, sensation, conception, and reason, are alike disqualified for being the criterion of truth.  But after all, people must live and act, and must have some rule of practical life; therefore, although it is impossible to pronounce anything as absolutely true, we may yet establish probabilities of various degrees. For, although we cannot say that any given conception or sensation is in itself true, yet some sensations appear to us more true than others, and we must be guided by that which seems the most true. Again, sensations are not single, but generally combined with others, which either confirm or contradict them; and the greater this combination the greater is the probability of that being true which the rest combine to confirm; and the case in which the greatest number of conceptions, each in themselves apparently most true, should combine to affirm that which also in itself appears most true, would present to Carneades the highest probability, and his nearest approach to truth.

Carneades (;, "Karneadēs", "of Carnea"; 214/3–129/8 BC) was an Academic Skeptic born in Cyrene. By the year 159 BC, he had started to refute all previous dogmatic doctrines, especially Stoicism and even the Epicureans whom previous skeptics had spared. As scholarch (leader) of the Academy, he was one of three philosophers sent to Rome in 155 BC where his lectures on the uncertainty of justice caused consternation among leading politicians. He left no writings. Many of his opinions are known only via his successor Clitomachus. He seems to have doubted the ability not just of the senses but of reason too in acquiring truth. His skepticism was, however, moderated by the belief that we can, nevertheless, ascertain probabilities of truth, to enable us to live and act correctly.

Karneadés z Kyrény, řecky Καρνεάδης (214 př. n. l., Kyréna – 129 př. n. l., Atény) byl starořecký filozof narozený na území dnešní Libye. Stál v čele tzv. Nové Akademie. Navázal zejména na Arkesiláa. Údajně byl nejoblíbenějším a nejvěhlasnějším scholarchou a „přivedl Akademii k obecnému respektu mezi občanstvem.“ Respekt mu vysloužilo i údajné narození ve stejný den v měsíci jako Platón a smrt při zatmění měsíce, což se označilo jako smutek nebes. Byl tak vytížený studiem a výukou, že si dokonce neměl čas stříhat vlasy ani nehty.


New Testament.

The sole mention in the New Testament of Simeon is as follows: The text suggests that Simeon was the officiating priest. Some writers have identified this Simeon with Shimon ben Hillel, although Hillel was not a priest.

In Christian tradition.

Age.

According to a tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Simeon had been one of the seventy-two translators of the Septuagint. As he hesitated over the translation of (LXX: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive...") and was going to correct it to γυνή (woman), an angel appeared to him and told him that he would not die until he had seen the Christ born of a virgin. This would make him well over two hundred years old at the time of the meeting described in Luke, and therefore miraculously long-lived.

Festal observances.

The events in the life of Saint Simeon the Righteous are observed on both February 2 and 3. The observances of the first day center around memorializing the act of Mary undergoing an act of ritual purification, and presenting Jesus, her child, to the Temple, a feast day known as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Since this day focuses more on Jesus and Mary, the observation on February 3 is specific to St. Simeon, who was allowed to die after seeing the Christ (or Messiah) born of a virgin. In Christian tradition, the day of a saint's death is often celebrated as the saint's feast day.  Under Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain for three and thirty days "in the blood of her purification", which makes a total of 40 days. The Christian Feast of the Purification therefore corresponds to the day on which Mary, according to Jewish law (see ), should have attended a ceremony of ritual purification. The Gospel of Luke relates that Mary was purified according to the religious law, followed by Jesus's presentation in the Jerusalem temple, and this explains the formal names given to the festival.  In the liturgy of Evening prayer in the Anglican communion, Anglicans recite the – or sing it in "Evensong" in the canticle known as "the Song of Simeon" – traditionally, every evening. It is also used in the Roman Catholic Compline and Orthodox Vespers. The has been set to music by many notable composers, such as Rachmaninoff ("All-Night Vigil").  The feast on February 2 is often referred to as "Candlemas", as in honor of the ritual purification of the Virgin Mary, candles (of beeswax) which will be used for the entire year are brought into a church and blessed. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Presentation is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. In the Church of England, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple is a Principal Feast. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts.

February 2.

This feast day has a number of different names:

February 3.

Simeon the Righteous is commemorated in his own right on February 3. In the Anglican Communion, Simeon is not venerated with a festal observance, and February 3 is set aside to recognize Anskar (801–865), a missionary, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen and first Bishop in Sweden, 864.  In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Simeon is commemorated with Anna the Prophetess on February 3 on the "Feast of the Holy and Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess".

February 16.

While both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches agree on the setting of the date of Candlemas on the 40th day after Christmas (in accordance with the Mosaic Law), the difference in the marking of Christmas – December 25 results over a theological dispute related to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar over the older Julian Calendar. December 25 currently occurs 13 days later on the Julian Calendar than on the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian revision of the calendar occurred in 1582, well after the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Christian churches in 1054.  As a result, many Orthodox Christians celebrate St. Simeon's feast day on February 16. As mentioned above, the Orthodox Church celebrates St. Simeon on the day after the Feast of the Presentation, that is to say, February 3. However, for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, February 3 falls on February 16 of the modern Gregorian Calendar.  The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Nativity of Christ on January 6, and so their celebration of the Presentation, which they call "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple" is on February 14.

Simeon (Greek Συμεών, Simeon the God-receiver) at the Temple is the "just and devout" man of Jerusalem who, according to, met Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as they entered the Temple to fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses on the 40th day from Jesus' birth at the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

Simeon je postava zmiňovaná v Novém zákoně jako prorok, který v jeruzalémském chrámu v malém Ježíšovi rozpoznal Mesiáše, kterého měl dle předpovědi před svou smrtí spatřit.


Theological basis.

Queen of Heaven () is one of many Queen titles used of Mary, mother of Jesus. The title derived in part from the ancient Catholic teaching that Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was bodily and spiritually assumed into heaven, and that she is there honored as Queen.  Pius XII explained on the theological reasons for her title of Queen in a radio message to Fatima of May 13, 1946, "Bendito seja": He, the Son of God, reflects on His heavenly Mother the glory, the majesty and the dominion of His kingship, for, having been associated to the King of Martyrs in the... work of human Redemption as Mother and cooperator, she remains forever associated to Him, with a practically unlimited power, in the distribution of the graces which flow from the Redemption. Jesus is King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest: through Him, with Him, and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by right of conquest, and by singular choice [of the Father].  In his 1954 encyclical "Ad caeli reginam" ("To the Queen of Heaven"), Pius XII asserts that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus' redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power. "Ad caeli reginam" states that the main principle on which the royal dignity of Mary rests is her Divine Motherhood.... So with complete justice St. John Damascene could write: "When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature.".

Biblical basis.

In the Hebrew Bible, under some Davidic kings, the gebirah, the "Great Lady", usually the Mother of the King, held great power as advocate with the king. In 1 Kings 2:20, Solomon said to his Mother Bathsheba, seated on a throne at his right, "Make your request, Mother, for I will not refuse you." William G. Most sees here a sort of type of Mary.  In the New Testament, the title has several biblical sources. At the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel announces that [Jesus] "... will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will be without end."(Luke 1:32) The biblical precedent in ancient Israel is that the mother of the king becomes the queen mother. Mary's queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship.  The Roman Catholic Church views Mary as the woman clothed with the sun in the Book of Revelation 12:1–3: "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads." The Church accepts Revelation 12 as a reference to Mary, Israel, and the Church as a three-fold symbolism through the Book of Isaiah and affirms Mary as the mother of Jesus as the prophetic fulfilment described in Revelation 12 (cf. Isaiah 7:14, 26:17, 54:1, 66:7).  In the Hebrew Bible, the term "queen of heaven" appears in a context unrelated to Mary. The prophet Jeremiah writing circa 628 BC refers to a "queen of heaven" in chapters 7 and 44 of the Book of Jeremiah when he scolds the people for having "sinned against the Lord" due to their idolatrous practices of burning incense, making cakes, and pouring out drink offerings to her. This title was probably given to Asherah, a Canaanite idol and goddess worshipped in ancient Israel and Judah. For a discussion of "queen of heaven" in the Hebrew Bible, see Queen of heaven (Antiquity).

Historical practice.

In the fourth century St. Ephrem called Mary "Lady" and "Queen". Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. A text probably coming from Origen (died ) gives her the title domina, the feminine form of Latin dominus, Lord. That same title also appears in many other early writers, e.g., Jerome, and Peter Chrysologus. The first Mariological definition and basis for the title of "Mary Queen of Heaven" developed at the Council of Ephesus, where Mary was defined to be the Mother of God. The Council fathers specifically approved this version against the opinion, that Mary is "only" the mother of Jesus. Nobody had participated in the life of her son more, than Mary, who gave birth to the Son of God.  The word "Queen" is common during and after the sixth century. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her queenship. For centuries she has been invoked as the Queen of Heaven.

Litany of Loreto.

She is invoked in the Litany of Loreto as:

Other titles.

The Second Vatican Council in 1964 referred to Mary as "Queen of the Universe".

Liturgy of the Hours.

The four ancient Marian antiphons of the Liturgy of the Hours express the queenship of Mary: the "Salve Regina", the "Ave Regina caelorum", the "Alma Redemptoris Mater", and the "Regina Caeli". These are prayed at different times of the year, at the end of Compline.

"Salve Regina".

Mary as Queen of Heaven is praised in the "Salve Regina" "(Hail Queen)", which is sung in the time from Trinity Sunday until the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. In the vernacular, as a prayer to the Virgin Mary, the Hail Holy Queen is the final prayer of the Rosary. A German Benedictine monk, Hermann of Reichenau (1013–1054), allegedly composed it and it originally appeared in Latin, the prevalent language of the Catholic Church until Vatican II. Traditionally it has been sung in Latin, though many translations exist. In the Middle Ages, "Salve Regina" offices were held every Saturday. In the 13th century, the custom developed to greet the Queen of Heaven with the "Salve Regina", which is considered the oldest of the four Marian antiphons. As a part of the Catholic Reformation, the "Salve Regina" was prayed every Saturday by members of the Sodality of Our Lady, a Jesuit Marian congregation. The "Hail Holy Queen" is also the final prayer of the Rosary.

"Ave Regina caelorum".

The "Ave Regina caelorum" (Hail, Queen of Heaven) is an early Marian antiphon, praising Mary, the Queen of Heaven. It is traditionally said or sung after each of the canonical hours of the Liturgy of the Hours. The prayer is used especially after Compline, the final canonical hour of prayer before going to sleep. It is prayed from the Feast of the Presentation (February 2) through the Wednesday of Holy Week. It used to be sung on the feast of the Assumption of Mary. The "Ave Regina caelorum" dates back in a different musical intonation to the 12th century. Today's version is slightly different from a 12th-century intonation. The "Ave Regina caelorum" has four parts: "Ave", "Salve", "Gaude" and "Vale" (in English: hail, rejoice, farewell). It was used for processions in honour of the "Queen of Heaven." The "Ave Regina caelorum" received numerous musical versions, a famous one of which was composed in 1773 by Joseph Haydn.

"Alma Redemptoris Mater".

The "Alma Redemptoris Mater" (Loving Mother of our Savior) is recited in the Catholic Church at Compline only from the first Sunday in Advent until the Feast of the Purification (February 2). Continuing theological discussions exist as to the origin and exact timing of this Marian antiphon. It has two equal parts: The Virgin Mary is the loving Mother of the Savior, the ever-virgin with a very high position in heaven. May she listen to her people with mercy in their need for her help.

"Regina Caeli".

The "Regina Caeli" (Queen of Heaven) is an anthem of the Roman Catholic Church which replaces the "Angelus" during Eastertide, the fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. It is named for its opening words in Latin. Different musical settings of the words were composed throughout the centuries by known and unknown composers. Not all attributions are correct, as an often quoted "Regina Caeli" by Joseph Haydn was not by him. The anthem is of unknown authorship, and was in Franciscan use in the first half of the 13th century. Together with three other Marian anthems, it was incorporated in the Minorite Roman Curia Office, which the Franciscans soon popularized everywhere, and which by order of Pope Nicholas III (1277–1280) replaced all the older breviaries in the churches of Rome.

Veneration.

The Catholic faith states, as a dogma, that Mary was assumed into heaven and is with Jesus Christ, her divine son. Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood of Jesus Christ, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of eternal salvation. Roman Catholicism employs the liturgical Latin phrase "Ora Pro Nobis", meaning "pray for us", and does not teach adherents to worship saints, but rather ask (asking is a form of prayer) those saints to pray for them. The encyclical "Ad Caeli Reginam" maintains that Christ as redeemer is Lord and King. The Blessed Virgin is Queen, because of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest. Mary was chosen Mother of Christ so she might help fulfill God's plan in the redemption of humankind; The Catholic Church from the earliest times venerated the Queen of Heaven, according to Pius XII: The Queenship of Mary is commemorated in the last of the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary—the Coronation of the Virgin as Queen of Heaven and Earth.  Parishes and private groups often process and crown an image of Mary with flowers. This often is referred to as a "May Crowning". This rite may be done on solemnities and feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or other festive days, and offers the Church a chance to reflect on Mary’s role in the history of salvation.  The Virgin has been called "Queen of France" since 1638 when, partly in thanksgiving for a victory over the Huguenots and also in hope of the birth of an heir after years of childless marriage, Louis XIII officially gave her that title. Siena, Tuscany, hails the Virgin as Queen of Siena, and annually observes the race and pageant called the "palio" in her honor.  Mary was declared "Queen of Poland" by king John II Casimir during the Lwów Oath in the 17th century. Since then she is believed to save the country miraculously during Deluge, Partitions of Poland, Polish-Soviet War, World War II and the Polish People's Republic. The solemnity of Our Lady Queen of Poland is celebrated on 3 May.

Feast of Queenship of Mary.

"Queenship of Mary" is a Marian feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, created by Pope Pius XII. On 11 October 1954, the pontiff pronounced the new feast in his encyclical "Ad caeli reginam". The feast was celebrated on May 31, the last day of the Marian month. The initial ceremony for this feast involved the crowning of the "Salus Populi Romani" icon of Mary in Rome by Pius XII as part of a procession in Rome.  In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to August 22, replacing the octave day of the Assumption in order to emphasize the close bond between Mary's queenship and her glorification in body and soul next to her Son. The Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church states that "Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son" ("Lumen gentium", 59).  The movement to officially recognise the Queenship of Mary was initially promoted by several Catholic Mariological congresses in Lyon, France; Freiburg, Germany; and Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Gabriel Roschini founded in Rome, Italy, an international society to promote the Queenship of Mary, "Pro Regalitate Mariae". Several popes had described Mary as Queen and Queen of Heaven, which was documented by Gabriel Roschini. Pope Pius XII repeated the title in numerous encyclicals and apostolic letters, especially during World War II.

Marian Processions.

In Los Angeles, California, a Marian procession took place annually for roughly the first 100 years following the founding of the city. In an attempt to revive the custom of religious processions, in September 2011 the Queen of Angels Foundation, founded by Mark Anchor Albert, inaugurated an annual "Grand Marian Procession" in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles' historic core. This yearly procession, intended to coincide with the anniversary of the founding of the City of Los Angeles, begins outside of the parish of La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles which is part of the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, better known as "La Placita". By way of city streets, the procession eventually terminates at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels where a public Rosary and Mass in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary are offered. Subsequent years have seen the involvement and participation of numerous chivalric, fraternal, and religious orders, parishes, lay groups, political figures, as well as other religious and civic organizations.

Art.

Early Christian art shows Mary in an elevated position. She carries her divine son in her hands, or holds him. After he ascended into heaven, he reigns in divine glory. Mary, his mother, assumed into heaven by her son, participates in his heavenly glory.  The earliest known Roman depiction of "Santa Maria Regina" depicting Mary as a queen dates to the 6th century and is found in the modest church of Santa Maria Antiqua (i.e., ancient St. Mary) built in the 5th century in the Forum Romanum. Here Mary is unequivocally depicted as an empress. As one of the earliest Roman Catholic Marian churches, this church was used by Pope John VII in the early 8th century as the "see of the bishop of Rome". Also in the 8th century, the Second Council of Nicaea decreed that such pictures of Mary should be venerated.  In the early 16th century, Protestant reformers began to discourage Marian art, and some like John Calvin or Zwingli even encouraged its destruction. But after the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century confirmed the veneration of Marian paintings for Catholics, Mary was often painted as a Madonna with crown, surrounded by stars, standing on top of the world or the partly visible moon. After the victory against the Turks at Lepanto, Mary is depicted as the Queen of Victory, sometimes wearing the crown of the Habsburg empire. National interpretations existed in France as well, where Jean Fouquet painted the Queen of Heaven in 1450 with the face of the mistress of King Charles VII Statues and pictures of Mary were crowned by kings in Poland, France, Bavaria, Hungary and Austria, sometimes apparently using crowns previously worn by earthly monarchs. A surviving small crown presented by Margaret of York seems to have been that worn by her at her wedding to Charles the Bold in 1463. A recent coronation was that of the picture of the "Salus Populi Romani" in 1954 by Pius XII. The veneration of Mary as queen continues into the 21st Century, but artistic expressions do not have the leading role as in previous times  Artworks, including paintings, mosaics and carvings of the coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven, became increasingly popular from the 13th century onward. Works follow a set pattern, showing Mary kneeling in the heavenly court, and being crowned either by Jesus alone, or else by Jesus and God the Father together, with the Holy Spirit, usually in the form of a dove, completing the Trinity. The Coronation of Mary is almost entirely a theme of western art. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, although Mary is often shown wearing a crown, the coronation itself never became an accepted artistic subject.

Queen of Heaven ("Regina Caeli" in Latin) is a title given to Mary, mother of Jesus, by Christians mainly of the Catholic Church and, to a lesser extent, in Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. The title is a consequence of the First Council of Ephesus in the fifth century, in which Mary was proclaimed "Theotokos", a title rendered in Latin as "", in English "Mother of God".

Maria, Ježíšova matka, je v katolické a pravoslavné církvi titulována jako Královna či Královna nebes. Katolíci slaví liturgickou památku Panny Marie Královny 22. srpna. Tento titul neuznávají protestanti a katolíkům jej vytýkají. Tyto výtky jdou tak daleko, že je obviňují z modloslužby.