Etymology of "biology".

The word "biology" is formed by combining the Greek βίος (bios), meaning "life", and so the suffix '-logy', meaning "science of", "knowledge of", "study of", "about of", based on the Greek verb λέγειν, 'legein' "to select", "to gather" (cf. the noun λόγος, 'logos' "word"). The term "biology" in its modern sense appears to have been introduced independently by Thomas Beddoes (in 1799), Karl Friedrich Burdach (in 1800), Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus ("Biologie oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur", 1802) and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck ("Hydrogéologie", 1802). The word itself appears in the title of Volume 3 of Michael Christoph Hanow's "Philosophiae naturalis sive physicae dogmaticae: Geologia, biologia, phytologia

Ancient and medieval knowledge.

Early cultures.

The earliest humans must have had and passed on knowledge about plants and animals to increase their chances of survival. This may have included knowledge of human and animal anatomy and aspects of animal behavior (such as migration patterns). However, the first major turning point in biological knowledge came with the Neolithic Revolution about 10,000 years ago. Humans first domesticated plants for farming, then livestock animals to accompany the resulting sedentary societies.  The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indian subcontinent, and China, among others, produced renowned surgeons and students of the natural sciences such as Susruta and Zhang Zhongjing, reflecting independent sophisticated systems of natural philosophy. However, the roots of modern biology are usually traced back to the secular tradition of ancient Greek philosophy.

Ancient Mesopotamia.

The Mesopotamians seem to have had little interest in the natural world as such, preferring to study how the gods had ordered the universe. Animal physiology was studied for divination, including especially the anatomy of the liver, seen as an important organ in haruspicy. Animal behavior too was studied for divinatory purposes. Most information about the training and domestication of animals was probably transmitted orally, but one text dealing with the training of horses has survived.  The ancient Mesopotamians had no distinction between "rational science" and magic. When a person became ill, doctors prescribed both magical formulas to be

Ancient Chinese traditions.

In ancient China, biological topics can be found dispersed across several different disciplines, including the work of herbologists, physicians, alchemists, and philosophers. The Taoist tradition of Chinese alchemy, for example, can be considered part of the life sciences due to its emphasis on health

Ancient Indian traditions.

One of the oldest organised systems of medicine is known from the Indian subcontinent in the form of Ayurveda which originated around 1500 BCE from Atharvaveda (one of the four most ancient books of Indian knowledge, wisdom and culture).  The ancient Indian Ayurveda tradition independently developed the concept of three humours, resembling that of the four humours of ancient Greek medicine, though the Ayurvedic system included further complications, such

Ancient Egyptian traditions.

Over a dozen medical papyri have been preserved, most notably the Edwin Smith Papyrus (the oldest extant surgical handbook) and the Ebers Papyrus (a handbook of preparing and using materia medica for various diseases), both from the 16th century BCE.  Ancient Egypt is also known for developing embalming, which was used for mummification, in order to preserve human remains and forestall decomposition.

Ancient Greek and Roman traditions.

The pre-Socratic philosophers asked many questions about life but produced little systematic knowledge of specifically biological interest—though the attempts of the atomists to explain life in purely physical terms would recur periodically through the history of biology. However, the medical theories of Hippocrates and his followers, especially humorism, had a lasting impact.  The philosopher Aristotle was the most influential scholar of the living world from classical antiquity. Though his early work in natural philosophy was speculative, Aristotle's later biological writings were more empirical, focusing on biological causation and the diversity of life. He made countless observations of nature, especially the habits and attributes of plants and animals in the world around him, which he devoted considerable attention to categorizing. In all, Aristotle classified 540 animal species, and dissected at least 50. He believed that intellectual purposes, formal causes, guided all natural processes.  Aristotle, and nearly all Western scholars after him until the 18th century, believed that creatures were

Medieval and Islamic knowledge.

The decline of the Roman Empire led to the disappearance or destruction of much knowledge, though physicians still incorporated many aspects of the Greek tradition into training and practice. In Byzantium and the Islamic world, many of the Greek

Renaissance and early modern developments.

The European Renaissance brought expanded interest in both empirical natural history and physiology. In 1543, Andreas Vesalius inaugurated the modern era of Western medicine with his seminal human anatomy treatise "De humani corporis fabrica", which was based on dissection of corpses. Vesalius was the first in a series of anatomists who gradually replaced scholasticism with empiricism in physiology and medicine, relying on first-hand experience rather than authority and abstract reasoning. Via herbalism, medicine was also indirectly the source of renewed empiricism in the study of plants. Otto Brunfels, Hieronymus Bock and Leonhart Fuchs wrote extensively on wild plants, the beginning of a nature-based approach to the full range of plant life. Bestiaries—a genre that combines both the natural and figurative knowledge of animals—also became more sophisticated, especially with the work of William Turner, Pierre Belon, Guillaume Rondelet, Conrad Gessner, and Ulisse Aldrovandi.  Artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci, often working with naturalists, were also interested in the bodies of animals and humans, studying physiology in detail and contributing to the growth of anatomical knowledge. The traditions of alchemy and natural magic, especially in the work of Paracelsus, also laid claim to knowledge of the living world. Alchemists subjected organic matter to chemical analysis and experimented liberally with both biological and mineral pharmacology. This was part of a larger transition in world views (the rise of the mechanical philosophy) that continued into the 17th century, as the traditional metaphor of "nature as organism" was replaced by the "nature as machine" metaphor.

Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Systematizing, naming and classifying dominated natural history throughout much of the 17th and 18th centuries. Carl Linnaeus published a basic taxonomy for the natural world in 1735 (variations of which have been in use ever since), and in the 1750s introduced scientific names for all his species. While Linnaeus conceived of species as unchanging parts of a designed hierarchy, the other great naturalist of the 18th century, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, treated species as artificial categories and living forms as malleable—even suggesting the possibility of common descent. Though he was opposed to evolution, Buffon is a key figure in the history of evolutionary thought; his work would influence the evolutionary theories of both Lamarck and Darwin.  The discovery and description of new species and the collection of specimens became a passion of scientific gentlemen and a lucrative enterprise for entrepreneurs; many naturalists traveled the globe in search of scientific knowledge and adventure.  Extending the work of Vesalius into experiments on still living bodies (of both humans and animals), William Harvey and other natural philosophers investigated the roles of blood,

19th century: the emergence of biological disciplines.

Up through the 19th century, the scope of biology was largely divided between medicine, which investigated questions of form and function (i.e., physiology), and natural history, which was concerned with the diversity of life and interactions among different forms of life and between life and non-life. By 1900, much of these domains overlapped, while natural history (and its counterpart natural philosophy) had largely given way to more specialized scientific disciplines—cytology, bacteriology, morphology, embryology, geography, and geology.

Natural history and natural philosophy.

Widespread travel by naturalists in the early-to-mid-19th century resulted in a wealth of new information about the diversity and distribution of living organisms. Of particular importance was the work of Alexander von Humboldt, which analyzed the relationship between organisms and their environment (i.e., the domain of natural history) using the quantitative approaches of natural philosophy (i.e., physics and chemistry). Humboldt's work laid the foundations of biogeography and inspired several generations of scientists.

Geology and paleontology.

The emerging discipline of geology also brought natural history and natural philosophy closer together; the establishment of the stratigraphic column linked the spatial distribution of organisms to their temporal distribution, a key precursor to concepts of evolution. Georges Cuvier and others made great strides in comparative anatomy and paleontology in the late 1790s and early 19th century. In a series of lectures and papers that made detailed comparisons between living mammals and fossil remains

Evolution and biogeography.

The most significant evolutionary theory before Darwin's was that of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck; based on the inheritance of acquired characteristics (an inheritance mechanism that was widely accepted until the 20th century), it described a chain of development stretching from the lowliest microbe to humans. The British naturalist Charles Darwin, combining the biogeographical approach of Humboldt, the uniformitarian geology of Lyell, Thomas Malthus's writings on population growth, and his own morphological expertise, created a more successful evolutionary theory based on natural selection; similar evidence led Alfred Russel Wallace to independently reach the same conclusions.  The 1859 publication of Darwin's theory in "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" is often considered the central event in the history of modern biology. Darwin's established credibility as a naturalist, the sober tone of the work, and most of all the sheer strength and volume of evidence presented, allowed "Origin" to succeed where previous evolutionary works such as the anonymous "Vestiges of Creation" had failed. Most scientists were convinced of evolution and common descent by the end of the 19th century. However, natural selection would not be accepted as the primary mechanism of evolution until well into the 20th century, as most contemporary theories of heredity seemed

Physiology.

Over the course of the 19th century, the scope of physiology expanded greatly, from a primarily medically oriented field to a wide-ranging investigation of the physical and chemical processes of life—including plants, animals, and even microorganisms in addition to man. "Living things as machines" became a dominant metaphor in biological (and social) thinking.

Cell theory, embryology and germ theory.

Advances in microscopy also had a profound impact on biological thinking. In the early 19th century, a number of biologists pointed to the central importance of the cell. In 1838 and 1839, Schleiden and Schwann began promoting the ideas that (1) the basic unit of organisms is the cell and (2) that individual cells have all the characteristics of life, though they opposed the idea that (3) all cells come from the division of other cells. Thanks to the work of Robert Remak and Rudolf Virchow, however, by the 1860s most biologists accepted all three tenets of what came to be known as cell theory.  Cell theory led biologists to re-envision individual organisms as interdependent assemblages of individual cells. Scientists in the rising field of cytology, armed with increasingly powerful microscopes and new staining methods, soon found that even single cells were far more complex than the homogeneous fluid-filled chambers described by earlier microscopists. Robert Brown had described the nucleus in 1831, and by the

Rise of organic chemistry and experimental physiology.

In chemistry, one central issue was the distinction between organic and inorganic substances, especially in the context of organic transformations such as fermentation and putrefaction. Since Aristotle these had been considered essentially biological ("vital") processes. However, Friedrich Wöhler, Justus Liebig and other pioneers of the rising field of organic chemistry—building on the work of Lavoisier—showed that the organic world could often be analyzed by physical and chemical methods. In 1828 Wöhler showed that the organic substance urea could be created by chemical means that do not involve life, providing a powerful challenge to vitalism. Cell

Twentieth century biological sciences.

At the beginning of the 20th century, biological research was largely a professional endeavour. Most work was still done in the natural history mode, which emphasized morphological and phylogenetic analysis over experiment-based causal explanations. However, anti-vitalist experimental physiologists and embryologists, especially in Europe, were increasingly influential. The tremendous success of experimental approaches to development, heredity, and metabolism in the 1900s and 1910s demonstrated the power of experimentation in biology. In the following decades, experimental work replaced natural history as the dominant mode of research.

Ecology and environmental science.

In the early 20th century, naturalists were faced with increasing pressure to add rigor and preferably experimentation to their methods, as the newly prominent laboratory-based biological disciplines had done. Ecology had emerged as a combination of biogeography with the biogeochemical cycle concept pioneered by chemists; field biologists developed quantitative methods such as the quadrat and adapted laboratory instruments and cameras for the field to further set their work apart from traditional natural history. Zoologists and botanists did what they could to mitigate the unpredictability of the living world, performing laboratory experiments and studying semi-controlled natural environments such as gardens; new institutions like the Carnegie Station for Experimental Evolution and the Marine Biological Laboratory provided more controlled environments for studying organisms through their entire life cycles.  The ecological succession concept, pioneered in the 1900s and 1910s by Henry Chandler

Classical genetics, the modern synthesis, and evolutionary theory.

1900 marked the so-called "rediscovery of Mendel": Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns, and Erich von Tschermak independently arrived at Mendel's laws (which were not actually present in Mendel's work). Soon after, cytologists (cell biologists) proposed that chromosomes were the hereditary material. Between 1910 and 1915, Thomas Hunt Morgan and the "Drosophilists" in his fly lab forged these two ideas—both controversial—into the "Mendelian-chromosome theory" of heredity. They quantified the phenomenon of genetic linkage and postulated that genes reside on chromosomes like beads on string; they hypothesized crossing over to explain linkage and constructed genetic maps of the fruit fly "Drosophila melanogaster", which became a widely used model organism.  Hugo de Vries tried to link the new genetics with evolution; building on his work with heredity and hybridization, he proposed a theory of mutationism, which was widely accepted in the early 20th century. Lamarckism, or the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics also had many adherents. Darwinism was seen as incompatible with the continuously variable traits studied by biometricians, which seemed only partially heritable. In the 1920s and

Biochemistry, microbiology, and molecular biology.

By the end of the 19th century all of the major pathways of drug metabolism had been discovered, along with the outlines of protein and fatty acid metabolism and urea synthesis. In the early decades of the 20th century, the minor components of foods in human nutrition, the vitamins, began to be isolated and synthesized. Improved laboratory techniques such as chromatography and electrophoresis led to rapid advances in physiological chemistry, which—as "biochemistry"—began to achieve independence from its medical origins. In the 1920s and 1930s, biochemists—led by Hans Krebs and Carl and Gerty Cori—began to work out many of the central metabolic pathways of life: the citric acid cycle, glycogenesis and glycolysis, and the synthesis of steroids and porphyrins. Between the 1930s and 1950s, Fritz Lipmann and others established the role of ATP as the universal carrier of energy in the cell, and mitochondria as the powerhouse of the cell. Such traditionally biochemical work continued to be very actively pursued throughout the 20th century and into the 21st.

Origins of molecular biology.

Following the rise of classical genetics, many biologists—including a new wave of physical scientists in biology—pursued the question of the gene and its physical nature. Warren Weaver—head of the science division of the Rockefeller Foundation—issued grants to promote research that applied the methods of physics and chemistry to basic biological problems, coining the term "molecular biology" for this approach in 1938; many of the significant biological breakthroughs of the 1930s and 1940s were funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.  Like biochemistry, the overlapping disciplines of bacteriology and virology (later combined as "microbiology"), situated between science and medicine, developed rapidly in the early 20th century. Félix d'Herelle's isolation of bacteriophage during World War I initiated a long line of research focused on phage viruses and the bacteria they infect.  The development of standard, genetically uniform organisms that could produce repeatable experimental results was essential for the development of molecular genetics. After early work with "Drosophila" and maize, the adoption of simpler model systems like the bread mold "Neurospora crassa" made it possible to connect genetics to biochemistry, most

Expansion of molecular biology.

In addition to the Division of Biology at Caltech, the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (and its precursors) at Cambridge, and a handful of other institutions, the Pasteur Institute became a major center for molecular biology research in the late 1950s. Scientists at Cambridge, led by Max Perutz and John Kendrew, focused on the rapidly developing field of structural biology, combining X-ray crystallography with Molecular modelling and the new computational possibilities of digital computing (benefiting both directly and indirectly from the military funding of science). A number of biochemists led by Frederick Sanger later joined the Cambridge lab, bringing together the study of macromolecular structure and function. At the Pasteur Institute, François Jacob and Jacques Monod followed the 1959 PaJaMo experiment with a series of publications regarding the "lac" operon that established the concept of gene regulation and identified what came to be known as messenger RNA. By the mid-1960s, the intellectual core of molecular biology—a model for the molecular basis of metabolism and reproduction— was largely complete.  The late 1950s to the early 1970s was a period of intense

Biotechnology, genetic engineering, and genomics.

Biotechnology in the general sense has been an important part of biology since the late 19th century. With the industrialization of brewing and agriculture, chemists and biologists became aware of the great potential of human-controlled biological processes. In particular, fermentation proved a great boon to chemical industries. By the early 1970s, a wide range of biotechnologies were being developed, from drugs like penicillin and steroids to foods like "Chlorella" and single-cell protein to gasohol—as well as a wide range of hybrid high-yield crops and agricultural technologies, the basis for the Green Revolution.

Recombinant DNA.

Biotechnology in the modern sense of genetic engineering began in the 1970s, with the invention of recombinant DNA techniques. Restriction enzymes were discovered and characterized in the late 1960s, following on the heels of the isolation, then duplication, then synthesis of viral genes. Beginning with the lab of Paul Berg in 1972 (aided by "EcoRI" from Herbert Boyer's lab, building on work with ligase by Arthur Kornberg's lab), molecular biologists put these pieces together to produce the first transgenic organisms. Soon after, others began using plasmid vectors and adding genes for antibiotic resistance, greatly increasing the reach of the recombinant techniques.  Wary of the potential dangers (particularly the possibility of a prolific bacteria with a viral cancer-causing gene), the scientific community as well as a wide range of scientific outsiders reacted to these developments with

Molecular systematics and genomics.

By the 1980s, protein sequencing had already transformed methods of scientific classification of organisms (especially cladistics) but biologists soon began to use RNA and DNA sequences as characters; this expanded the significance of molecular evolution within evolutionary biology, as the results of molecular systematics could be compared with traditional evolutionary trees based on morphology. Following the pioneering ideas of Lynn Margulis on endosymbiotic theory, which holds that some of the organelles of eukaryotic cells originated from free living prokaryotic organisms through symbiotic relationships, even the overall division of the tree of life was revised. Into the 1990s, the five domains (Plants, Animals, Fungi, Protists, and Monerans) became three (the Archaea, the Bacteria, and the Eukarya) based on Carl Woese's pioneering molecular systematics work with 16S rRNA sequencing.  The development and popularization of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in mid-1980s (by Kary

Twenty-first century biological sciences.

At the beginning of the 21st century, biological sciences converged with previously differentiated new and classic disciplines like Physics into research fields like Biophysics. Advances were made in analytical chemistry and physics instrumentation including improved sensors, optics, tracers, instrumentation, signal processing, networks, robots, satellites, and compute power for data collection, storage, analysis, modeling, visualization, and simulations. These technology advances allowed theoretical and experimental research including internet publication of molecular biochemistry, biological systems, and ecosystems science. This enabled worldwide access to better measurements, theoretical models, complex simulations, theory predictive model experimentation, analysis, worldwide internet observational data reporting, open peer-review, collaboration, and internet publication. New fields of biological sciences research emerged including Bioinformatics, Neuroscience, Theoretical biology, Computational genomics, Astrobiology and Synthetic Biology.

The history of biology traces the study of the living world from ancient to modern times. Although the concept of "biology" as a single coherent field arose in the 19th century, the biological sciences emerged from traditions of medicine and natural history reaching back to ayurveda, ancient Egyptian medicine and the works of Aristotle and Galen in the ancient Greco-Roman world. This ancient work was further developed in the Middle Ages by Muslim physicians and scholars such as Avicenna. During the European Renaissance and early modern period, biological thought was revolutionized in Europe by a renewed interest in empiricism and the discovery of many novel organisms. Prominent in this movement were Vesalius and Harvey, who used experimentation and careful observation in physiology, and naturalists such as Linnaeus and Buffon who began to classify the diversity of life and the fossil record, as well as the development and behavior of organisms. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek revealed by means of microscopy the previously unknown world of microorganisms, laying the groundwork for cell theory. The growing importance of natural theology, partly a response to the rise of mechanical philosophy, encouraged the growth of natural history (although it entrenched the argument from design).

Slovo biologie (řecky "βιολογία"; ze slov "βίος"-život a "λόγος"-slovo) bylo zřejmě poprvé použito v díle Michaela Christopha Hanowa "„Philosophiae naturalis sive physicae dogmaticae: Geologia, biologia, phytologia generalis et dendrologia“", publikovaném v roce 1766. Termín „biologie“ v současném kontextu byl zaveden Jeanem-Baptistou Lamarckem. Historii biologie lze ovšem hledat už v dobách dávných lidských civilizací a klasických filozofů, kdy byla biologie brána jako způsob chápání života.


Early life.

Abdulmejid was born on 25 April 1823 at the Beşiktaş Sahil Palace or at the Topkapı Palace, both in Istanbul. His mother was his father's first wife in 1839, Valide Sultan Bezmiâlem, originally named Suzi (1807–1853), either a Circassian or Georgian slave.  Abdulmejid received a European education and spoke fluent French, the first sultan to do so. Like Abdülaziz who succeeded him, he was interested in literature and classical music. Like his father Mahmud II, he was an advocate of reforms and was lucky enough to have the support of progressive viziers such as Mustafa Reşit Pasha, Mehmet Emin Ali Paşa and Fuad Pasha. Throughout his reign he had to struggle against conservatives who opposed his reforms. Abdulmejid was also the first sultan to directly listen to the public's complaints on special reception days, which were usually held every Friday without any middlemen. Abdulmejid toured the empire's territories to see in person how the Tanzimat reforms were being applied. He travelled to İzmit, Mudanya, Bursa, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Lemnos, Lesbos and Chios in 1844 and toured the Balkan provinces in 1846.

Reign.

When Abdulmejid succeeded to the throne, the affairs of the Ottoman Empire were in a critical state. At the time his father died, the news reached Istanbul that the empire's army had been defeated at Nizip by the army of the rebel Egyptian viceroy, Muhammad Ali. At the same time, the empire's fleet was on its way to Alexandria, where it was handed over to Muhammad Ali by its commander Ahmed Fevzi Pasha, on the pretext that the young sultan's advisers had sided with Russia. However, through the intervention of the European powers, Muhammad Ali was obliged to come to terms, and the Ottoman Empire was saved from further attacks while its territories in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine were restored. The terms were finalised at the Convention of London (1840).  In compliance with his father's express instructions, Abdulmejid immediately carried out the reforms to which Mahmud II had devoted himself. In November 1839 an edict known as the Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane, also known as Tanzimat Fermanı was proclaimed, consolidating and enforcing these reforms. The edict was supplemented at the close of the Crimean War by a similar statute issued in February 1856, named the Hatt-ı Hümayun. By these enactments it was provided that all classes of the sultan's subjects should have their lives and property protected; that taxes should be fairly imposed and justice impartially administered; and that all should have full religious liberty and equal civil rights. The scheme met with strong opposition from the Muslim governing classes and the "ulema," or religious authorities, and was only partially implemented, especially in the more remote parts of the empire. More than one conspiracy was formed against the sultan's life on account of it.  The most important reform measures promoted by Abdulmejid were:  Another notable reform was that the turban was officially outlawed for the first time during Abdulmejid's reign, in favour of the fez. European fashions were also adopted by the Court. (The fez would be banned in 1925 by the same Republican National Assembly that abolished the sultanate and proclaimed the Turkish Republic in 1923).  Samuel Morse received his first ever patent for the telegraph in 1847, at the old Beylerbeyi Palace (the present Beylerbeyi Palace was built in 1861–1865 on the same location) in Istanbul, which was issued by Sultan Abdulmejid who personally tested the new invention.  When Kossuth and others sought refuge in Turkey after the failure of the Hungarian uprising in 1849, the sultan was called on by Austria and Russia to surrender them, but he refused. He also would not allow the conspirators against his own life to be put to death. The 1911 "Encyclopædia Britannica" says of him, "He bore the character of being a kind and honourable man, if somewhat weak and easily led. Against this, however, must be set down his excessive extravagance, especially towards the end of his life."  In 1844 he created the Ottoman lira and in 1852 he instituted the Order of the Medjidie.  The Ottoman Empire received the first of its foreign loans on 25 August 1854 during the Crimean War. This major foreign loan was followed by those of 1855, 1858 and 1860, which culminated in default and led to the alienation of European sympathy from the Ottoman Empire and indirectly to the later dethronement and death of Abdulmejid's brother Abdülaziz.  On the one hand, financial imperfections, and on the other hand, the discontent caused by the wide privileges given to the non-Muslim subjects again led the country to confusion. Incidents took place in Jeddah in 1857 and in Montenegro in 1858. The major European states have taken the opportunity to intervene in their own interests. The Ottoman statesmen, who panicked in the face of this situation, started following a policy that fulfilled their every wish. The fact that Abdulmecid could not prevent this situation further increased the dissatisfaction caused by the Edict of Tanzimat.  The opponents decided to eliminate Abdulmejid and put Abdulaziz on the throne in order to prevent the European states from acting like a guardian. Upon a notice, this revolt attempt, which was referred to as the Kuleli Foundation in history, was suppressed before it even started on 14 September 1859. Meanwhile, the financial situation deteriorated and foreign debts, which were taken under heavy conditions to cover the costs of war, placed a burden on the treasury. All of the debts received from Beyoğlu consumers exceeded eighty million gold liras. Some of the debt securities and hostages were taken by foreign traders and bankers. The Grand Vizier who criticized this situation harshly, was dismissed by the sultan on 18 October 1859.  His success in foreign relations was not as notable as his domestic accomplishments. His reign started off with the defeat of his forces by the Viceroy of Egypt and the subsequent signing of the Convention of London (1840), which saved his empire from a greater embarrassment. The Ottomans successfully participated in the Crimean War and were winning signatories at the Treaty of Paris (1856). His attempts at strengthening his base in the Balkans failed in Bosnia and Montenegro, and in 1861 he was forced to give up Lebanon by the Concert of Europe.  Although he emphasized his commitment to the ceremonial rules imposed by his ancestors at the ceremonies reflected outside, he adopted radical changes in the life of the palace. For example, he completely abandoned the Topkapı Palace, which was a place for four centuries, about the Ottoman dynasty. The traditions of the British, French, Italian troops and officers and diplomats who came to Istanbul during the Crimean War (1853-1856) directed even middle-class families to consumerism and luxury.  He restored the Hagia Sophia between 1847 and 1849, and was responsible for the construction of the Dolmabahçe Palace. He also founded the first French Theatre in Istanbul.  He was made the 717th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1856 and the 52nd Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword.

Death.

Abdulmejid died of tuberculosis (like his father) at the age of 38 on 25 June 1861 in Istanbul, and was buried in Yavuz Selim Mosque, and was succeeded by his younger half-brother Sultan Abdülaziz, son of Pertevniyal Sultan.

Family.

Abdulmejid married nineteen times, two of which were his legal wives. They were Perestu Kadın and Bezmiara Kadın. He also had forty-four children. He left several sons, of whom four eventually succeeded to the throne. His marriages were:

Abdulmejid I (, ; 25 April 182325 June 1861), was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories. Abdulmejid wanted to encourage Ottomanism among the secessionist subject nations and stop the rise of nationalist movements within the empire, but failed to succeed despite trying to integrate non-Muslims and non-Turks more thoroughly into Ottoman society with new laws and reforms. He tried to forge alliances with the major powers of Western Europe, namely the United Kingdom and France, who fought alongside the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War against Russia.

Abdülmecid I. (osmansky: عبد المجيد اول "‘Abdü’l-Medžíd-i evvel"; 25. dubna 1823, Konstantinopol – 25. června 1861, Konstantinopol) byl turecký sultán. Je považován za reformního vládce a prvního sultána období reformy Osmanské říše (tanzimat). Jeho edikty zrovnoprávnily všechny občany říše a zaručovaly práva křesťanům. Zreformoval armádu i státní správu, zavedl nové územní členění říše a založil první ministerstva. Udržoval dobré vztahy ze západní Evropou a po boku Francie a Spojeného království bojoval proti Rusku v Krymské válce. Jeho cílem bylo přiblížit do té doby spíše orientální Osmanskou říši více k západní Evropě, v té době již daleko vyspělejší. Dokonce se snažil oblékat a upravovat svůj vzhled více evropsky.


Description.

The spined loach typically reaches an adult length of, although females may grow up to. Adults weigh between. Their backs feature a yellow-brown colouring interspersed with many small grey or brown scales on the spinal ridge. The scales on the belly are pale yellow or orange. The body overall is long and thin. There are 6 barbels around the mouth. Under the eyes there is a two-pointed spike, with which the fish can inflict a painful sting.

Distribution and relationships.

It is found from the Volga River basin to France. Generally it occurs across much of temperate Europe north of the Alpide belt, with the exceptions of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and northern Scandinavia. Some populations are also found just south of the Alpides. In the UK, the spined loach appears to be restricted to five east-flowing river systems in eastern England – the Rivers Trent, Welland, Witham, Nene and Great Ouse.  Populations of southwestern Europe were formerly included in this species, but actually represent distinct branches of "Cobitis". A member of subgenus "Cobitis", close relatives of the spined loach are "C. elongatoides", "C. fahirae", "C. tanaitica" or "C. vardarensis" which replace it in northern Greece, much of Romania, and western Turkey.

Ecology and behaviour.

Clear oxygen-rich water is preferred by the spined loach, be it slowly flowing brooks, rivers or still water. They are found near flat and sandy or stony areas, frequently in large numbers. The spined loach is often kept as an ornamental fish in aquaria.  During the day, they bury themselves in the bed of the body of water, leaving only the head and tail exposed. At night, when the loach is most active, sand on the riverbed is consumed, and with it small animals and other organic material. Sand, stripped of nutrients, is ejected through the gills. This process must continue all night for the fish to get enough calories to survive.  Spined loaches possess the ability of intestinal breathing. This stop-gap measure sustains the spined loach when the water around it is oxygen-poor. At the water's surface swallowed air brings oxygen into the intestine. The expended air is expelled through the anus.  The spawning season is from April to June. The females produce between 300 and 1,500 eggs close to the ground: on stones, roots or plants. The eggs are then fertilized by the males. The larvae hatch in 4 to 6 days.  The spined loach's lifespan is between 3 and 5 years, with the maximum reached in captivity being 10 years.

The spined loach ("Cobitis taenia") is a common freshwater fish in Europe. It is sometimes known as spotted weather loach, not to be confused with the "typical" weather loaches of the genus "Misgurnus". This is the type species of the spiny loach genus ("Cobitis") and the true loach family (Cobitidae).

Sekavec písečný ("Cobitis taenia") je ryba z čeledi sekavcovití. Žije obvykle v pomalu tekoucích a mělkých vodách s písečným, méně častěji pak s balvanitým dnem. Zdržuje se celý život u dna, kde se zahrabává do substrátu a vystrkuje jen hlavu a ocas. Pokud se dostane do vody s nedostatkem rozpuštěného kyslíku, je schopný střevního dýchání, kdy pomocí silně prokrvené sliznice střeva vstřebává kyslík z vody. Živí se drobnými bezobratlými živočichy žijícími na dně. Jedná se o poměrně krátkověkou rybu, dožívající se maximálně 4–5 let.


Personal life.

Almazbek Atambaev was born in 1956 in the Northern region of Chui. His father, Sharshen Atambayev, was a veteran of World War II (Great Patriotic War) who served on the front lines in Eastern Europe.  Atambaev received his degree in economics while studying at the Moscow Institute of Management. He has four children from his marriage to his first wife Buazhar. In 1988 he married his second wife, Raisa, with whom he has six children: daughters Aliya (born 1997), Diana, and Dinara, and sons Seyit, Seytek, and Khadyrbek (born 1993). Raisa is an ethnic Tatar, born in the Urals in Russia, who moved to Osh as a child, with her parents. She is a doctor.  In January 2018, he published a song he authored called "Kyrgyzstan", which was later rewritten by Azerbaijani performer Araz Elses.

Political career under Akayev and Bakiyev.

Atambayev was an unsuccessful candidate in the October 2000 presidential election, receiving 6% of the vote. He served as the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism in the government from 20 December 2005 until he resigned on 21 April 2006.  In November 2006 he was one of the leaders of anti-government protests in Bishkek, under the umbrella of the movement 'For Reform!' (За Реформы). He was also involved in earlier protests in late April 2006.  On 26 December 2006 Atambayev rejected calls from other lawmakers for a dissolution of the Supreme Council, saying, "It is impossible for this Parliament to be dissolved at least until May [2007], and it has to adopt all the laws. Otherwise there will be a war in Kyrgyzstan, because even if Parliament adopts the [proposed] authoritarian constitution, I will tell you openly, we will not accept it. It would be a constitution adopted illegally. Then we would take every [possible protest action]. We are ready for that."  Following the resignation of Prime Minister Azim Isabekov on 29 March 2007, Atambayev was appointed acting Prime Minister by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. He was then confirmed in parliament by a vote of 48-3 on 30 March. He is the first prime minister in Central Asia to come from an opposition party. On 11 April, he tried to address a large protest in Bishkek demanding Bakiyev's resignation, but was booed by the protesters.  Bakiyev announced the resignation of Atambayev's government on 24 October 2007, following a constitutional referendum. The government was to remain in office until after a parliamentary election in December. Nonetheless, Atambayev resigned on 28 November 2007; Bakiyev accepted the resignation, while praising Atambayev for his performance in office, and appointed Acting First Deputy Prime Minister Iskenderbek Aidaraliyev in his place as Acting Prime Minister. Edil Baisalov of the Social Democratic Party claimed that Atambayev was forced out of office because he was an obstacle to alleged government interference in the parliamentary election.

Presidential candidate.

On 20 April 2009, Atambayev was announced as a candidate for the July 2009 presidential elections. But on polling day Atambayev withdrew his candidacy claiming "widespread fraud": "Due to massive, unprecedented violations, we consider these elections illegitimate and a new election should be held".

Political career (2010-2011).

Following the 2010 parliamentary election, he was chosen to be Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government with his SDPK, Respublika, and Ata-Zhurt (which won a plurality in the election).  Atambayev ran in 2011 to succeed Roza Otunbayeva as President of Kyrgyzstan. On election day, 30 October 2011, he won in a landslide, defeating Adakhan Madumarov from the Butun Kyrgyzstan party and Kamchybek Tashiev from the Ata-Zhurt party with 63% of the vote from about 60% of the eligible Kyrgyz population voting.

Presidency (2011–2017).

Inauguration.

He was inaugurated on 1 December 2011. It took place in the National Philarmonic Hall in Bishkek. The ceremony was attended by the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Artur Rasizade and President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. The attendance of the head of the Presidential Administration of Russia Sergey Naryshkin and the Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov was expected, however they could not and instead sent lower level Russian Foreign Ministry officials in their place. During his inaugural speech, he said the following about the future of Kyrgyzstan:  The ceremony budget cost less than half of what was spent for inauguration ceremony of Kurmanbek Bakiev in August 2009, costing about 10 million Soms ($217,000 in US Dollars). Unlike the breastplates used for the inaugurations of Akaev, Bakiyev and Otunbayeva, which were framed with diamonds and pearls, the jewelers decided not to use the gems in the 108 centimeter long breastplate as it was considered to be an "imported" element in the national culture.

Domestic policy.

In November 2015, the Ministry of Defense was re-branded as the State Committee for Defense Affairs on Atambayev's orders while transferring authority over the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan to the General Staff, with the Chief of the General Staff excersing his/her authority as the paramount leader of the military and the second in command to the president. In December 2016, Atambayev signed a decree officially abolishing the use of military courts in Kyrgyzstan. This was done on a recommendation made by the Commission for the Reform of the Judicial System, which said that the state budget couldn't fund these institutions anymore. Earlier that month, he presided over a constitutional referendum which proposed that the increasing the powers of the Prime Minister and his/her government, as well as reforms to the judicial system. It also established that marriage could be only "between a man and a woman" rather of "between two persons" as laid out by the previous constitution. The changes were approved with a landslide majority of close to 80% of the Kyrgyz population.  The final year of Atambayev's presidency was marred by numerous civil and criminal trials against journalists, activists and opposition politicians. In many of those trials, the Prosecutor General's Office of Kyrgyzstan has often acted on Atambayev's behalf to represents his interests.

Foreign policy.

In 2011 soon after becoming President, Atambayev travelled to Turkey and signed an agreement with the Turkish President agreeing to increase trade from $300 million in 2011 to $1 billion by 2015, with Turkey also agreeing to attract Turkish investment to Kyrgyzstan to the amount of $450 million within the next few years. Atambayev has repeatedly presented himself as a pro-Russian politician. He has announced Kyrgyzstan's entry into the Customs Union, secured the withdrawal of the American military base from the country in 2014, and has spoken of the need for closer economic relations with the Russian Federation, which employs at least 500,000 citizens of Kyrgyzstan; however, he also expressed his wish to achieve greater economic and energy independence from it.  In early 2012 Atambayev travelled to Moscow, where in his meeting with Medvedev he called for the $15 million owed by Russia to Kyrgyzstan for their use of the Kant airbase.  In 2013, he launched a tirade against the United Kingdom, accusing it undermined democracy by allowing a Bakiyev's son, Maxim to live in London:  In February 2015, tension with Belarus arose over the death of Almanbet Anapiyaev, aged 41, whose death Atambayev said lied solely in former Security Service chief Janish Bakiyev, who was being sheltered in Minsk alongside his father. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry responded by saying that it "makes no sense" to comment on his statement. In May 2015, during a Victory Day meeting of CSTO leaders in Moscow, Atambayev took part in an argument with President Islam Karimov over which who was being more patriotic during the 70th anniversary celebrations.  During the Kyrgyz presidential election in 2017, Atambayev accused Kazakhstan of sponsoring Ömürbek Babanov, who was one of the presidential candidates. He also accused Kazakhstan officials for being corrupt by looting the pensioners income. On 9 October 2017, Atambayev announced that he wouldn't attend the CIS heads of state summit in Sochi, which would have required the Kyrgyz leader to meet president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. That same month, he visited the Uzbek capital of Tashkent in a breakthrough visit for a Kyrgyz leader.

Post-Presidency (2017–present).

Since he left office on 24 November 2017 and handed the presidency to his successor and former prime minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov, he has served as head of the SDPK. He has also has used his post presidency to get back in the political arena, most notably by criticizing his successor. This criticism, which began in the spring of 2018, has mostly revolved around Jeenbekov's criticism of the government corruption that took place under his rule. One of Atambayev's main points of criticism of Jeenbekov is that is that he is a victim of a smear campaign by his former ally and his government, saying the following to the April Television Agency about the Jeenbekov government:  On 17 March, he expressed regret by saying: "I apologize to everyone for bringing this person to power". In June 2019, MPs voted to strip Atambayev of his presidential immunity and called for the pursuement of criminal charges on him. In response, Atambayev told reporters at his residence in Koy-Tash that he would "stand to the end" against the parliament and that he is "not afraid of anything in this world". Since then, he remained in his compound while publicly stating that he has weapons at his disposal to "fight back" if police come. On 3 July, Atambaev left his compound for the first time in weeks to speak at a rally of 1,000 of his supporters who called for all the charges to be dropped. On 24 July, he began a two-day visit to Russia with a delegation from the SDPK after departing on a Sukhoi Superjet 100 at Kant Air Base (operated by the Russian Air Force) at 1:48 pm that day. During the visit, he met with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

Arrest.

On 7 August 2019, the Special Forces of Kyrgyzstan attacked Atambayev's residence in Bishkek, supposedly based on charges of corruption made against him. As a result of the attack, 36 people were injured and one soldier died In a meeting of the Security Council, Jeenbekov accused Atambayev of "rudely violating the constitution". A second raid was launched the next day, after which Atambayev surrendered to security forces.  On 13 August, Orozbek Opumbayev, the head of the State Committee of National Security (SCNS), said Atambayev was plotting to topple the government before he was taken into custody.

Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev (, "Almazbek Şarşenoviç (Şarşen uulu) Atambayev"; born 17 September 1956) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 1 December 2011 to 24 November 2017. He was Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from 17 December 2010 to 1 December 2011, and from 29 March 2007 to 28 November 2007. He served as Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) from 30 July 1999 to 23 September 2011. Currently he is imprisoned, facing charges of corruption and manslaughter.

Almazbek Šaršenovič Atambajev, cyrilicí "Алмазбек Шаршенович Атамбаев" (* 17. září 1956) je kyrgyzský politik, mezi lety 2011 a 2017 prezident Kyrgyzstánu. V letech 2010–2011 a krátce roku 2007 byl premiérem Kyrgyzstánu. V letech 2005–2006 byl ministrem průmyslu, obchodu a turismu. Je představitelem Sociálnědemokratické strany Kyrgyzstánu, jejímž předsedou byl v letech 1999–2011.


Early life.

Fanfani was born in Pieve Santo Stefano, in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany, in a middle-class family. His father, Giuseppe Fanfani (1878–1943), was a carpenter's son who succeeded in studying and graduating in law, starting the profession of lawyer and notary; while his mother Annita Leo (1884–1968) was a housewife. Fanfani, who was the first of nine children, grew up in an observant Catholic family.  In 1920, at only 12 years old, Fanfani joined Catholic Action (AC), of which he became a local leader after few years. After attending the scientific lyceum of Arezzo, he graduated in Political and Economic Sciences in 1930 at the Catholic University in Milan, with the thesis "Economic repercussions and effects of the English Schism". He was the author of a number of important works on economic history dealing with religion and the development of capitalism in the Renaissance and Reformation in Europe. His thesis was published in Italian and then in English as "Catholicism, Capitalism and Protestantism" in 1935.  Under the regime of Benito Mussolini, he joined the National Fascist Party (PNF) supporting the corporatist ideas of the regime promoting collaboration between the classes, which he defended in many articles. "Some day," he once wrote, "the European continent will be organized into a vast supranational area guided by Italy and Germany. Those areas will take authoritarian governments and synchronize their constitutions with Fascist principles."  He also wrote for the official magazine of racism in Fascist Italy, "The Defence of the Race" (Italian: "La difesa della razza"). In 1938, he was among the 330 that signed the antisemitic Manifesto of Race (Italian: "Manifesto della razza") – culminating in laws that stripped the Italian Jews of any position in the government, university or professions which many previous had. Fanfani also became a professor at the School of Fascist Mysticism in Milan.  On 22 April 1939, Fanfani married Biancarosa Provasoli, a 25 year old lady grown up in a bourgeois family from Milan. The couple will have two sons and five daughters, born between 1940 and 1955.  In Milan, Fanfani wrote "Catholicism and Protestantism in the historical development of Capitalism", in which he proposed a bold interpretation of the phenomena of capitalism, with particular reference to the conditioning of the religious factors and fundamentally disagree with the thesis of Max Weber. This work brought him to the forefront among US Catholics, especially was much appreciated by John F. Kennedy. At the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Kennedy called with megaphone Fanfani, who was in court, pointing to the audience and acknowledged that the influence of Fanfani and of his words were a major cause of his entry into politics.  During the years he spent in Milan, he knew Giuseppe Dossetti and Giorgio La Pira. They formed a group known as the "little professors" who lived ascetically in monastery cells and walked barefoot. They formed the nucleus of Democratic Initiative, an intensely Catholic but economically reformist wing of the post-war Christian Democratic Party, holding meetings to discuss Catholicism and society. After the surrender of Italy with the Allied armed forces on 8 September 1943, the group disbanded. Until the Liberation in April 1945, Fanfani fled to Switzerland dodging military service, and organized university courses for Italian refugees.

Early political career.

Upon his return to Italy, he joined the newly founded Christian Democracy (DC), of which his friend Dossetti was serving as deputy secretary. He was as one of the youngest party leaders and a protégé of Alcide De Gasperi, the undisputed leader of the party for the following decade. Fanfani represented a particular ideological position, that of conservative Catholics who favoured socio-economic interventionism, which was very influential in the 1950s and 1960s but which gradually lost its appeal. "Capitalism requires such a dread of loss," he once wrote, "such a forgetfulness of human brotherhood, such a certainty that a man's neighbour is merely a customer to be gained or a rival to be overthrown, and all these are inconceivable in the Catholic conception [...] There is an unbridgeable gulf between the Catholic and the capitalist conception of life." Private economic initiative, in his view, was justifiable only if harnessed to the common good.  In the 1946 election, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly for the constituency of Siena–Arezzo–Grosseto, which would remain his political stronghold for all his career. As a constituent, he was appointed in the Commission that drafted the text of the new Republican Constitution. The first article of the new constitution reflected Fanfani's philosophy. He proposed an article, which read: "Italy is a democratic republic founded on labor." After two years, in the 1948 general election, he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies, with more than 35,000 votes.  Under De Gasperi, Fanfani took on a succession of ministries. From June 1947 until January 1950, he served as Minister of Labour; while from July 1951 to July 1953, he was Minister of Agriculture, and from July 1953 to January 1954 he served as Minister of the Interior in the caretaker government of Giuseppe Pella. As Minister of Labour, he developed the so-called "Fanfani house" program for government-built workers' homes and put 200,000 of Italy's unemployed to work on a reforestation program. As Minister of Agriculture, he set in motion much of the Christian Democrats' land reform program. On 28 February 1949, Fanfani launched a seven-year plan for popular housing to increase the stock of economic housing by means of construction or purchase of economic accommodation. The law also established a special housing fund, the so-called "INA-Casa", within the National Institute for Insurance (Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni, or INA).  "He can keep going for 36 hours on catnaps, apples and a few sips of water," according to a news report in Time Magazine. Once, when someone proposed Fanfani for yet another ministry, De Gasperi refused. "If I keep on appointing Fanfani to various ministries," he said, "I am sure that one of these days I will open the door to my study and find Fanfani sitting at my desk."

Leader of the party and Prime Minister.

First government.

On 12 January 1954, after only 5 months in power, Prime Minister Giuseppe Pella was forced to resign, after a strong confrontation with many members of DC, regarding the appointment of Salvatore Aldisio as new Minister of Agriculture. Fanfani was then appointed by President Luigi Einaudi as new head of the government. Fanfani formed a one-party government composed only by members of the Christian Democracy. He chose, among others, Giulio Andreotti, another protégé of De Gasperi, as Minister of the Interior, Adone Zoli as Minister of Finance and Paolo Emilio Taviani as Minister of Defence.  However, the cabinet lasted only 23 days when it failed to win approval in the Parliament, being rejected by the Chamber of Deputies with 260 votes in favor, 303 votes against and 12 abstentions out of 563 present. On 10 February, Mario Scelba sworn in as new Prime Minister. Fanfani's first government was the shortest-lived cabinet in the history of the Italian Republic. Since De Gasperi's retirement in 1953 Fanfani emerged as the most probable successor, a role confirmed by his appointment as party secretary in June 1954, a position that he would held until March 1959.

Secretary of the Christian Democracy.

As secretary, he reorganized and rejuvenated the national party organization of the Christian Democrats, decreasing its strong dependence on the Catholic Church and the national government which had typified the De Gasperi period. During his tenure, he built a close relation with Enrico Mattei, the CEO of Eni. They will remain key allies until Mattei's assassination in October 1962.  However, his activist and sometimes authoritarian style, as well as his reputation as an economic reformer, ensured that the moderate and the right-wingers within the DC, who opposed the state’s intrusion into the country’s economic life, regarded him with distrust. His indefatigable energy and his passion for efficiency carried him far in politics, but he was rarely able to exploit fully the opportunities that he created. As an anonymous Christian Democrat bigwig once remarked: "Fanfani has colleagues, associates, acquaintances and subordinates, but I have never heard much about his friends."  In May 1955, Einaudi's term as President of the Italian Republic came to an end, and Parliament had to choose his successor. Fanfani was promoting for the office the liberal Cesare Merzagora, who was then President of the Senate. However the right-wing of the party, led by Giuseppe Pella and Giulio Andreotti, organized an internal coup in order to get the Christian Democrat Giovanni Gronchi elected instead. The move received the surprising support of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and Italian Socialist Party (PSI), and also of the Monarchist National Party (PNM) and the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). After a bitter battle and the final crumbling of the centrist front, on April 29, 1955 Gronchi was elected President of the Republic with 658 votes out of 883.  During hi secretariat, he built good relations both with United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, culminated to a state visit to Washington D.C. in August 1956. The brutal suppression of 1956 Hungarian Revolution, saw him coordinating a strong anti-communist propaganda in the country.

General election in 1958 and second government.

In the 1958 general election, Fanfani run as secretary of the Christian Democrats and main candidate to become the next Prime Minister. The electoral result was similar to the one of five years before. The Christian Democracy gained 42.4% of votes, nearly doubling Palmiro Togliatti's Communist Party, which arrived second. However, the poor results of the other small centrist and secular parties kept the same problems of political instability within the centrist coalition, which characterised the previous legislature.  The Christian Democracy resulted even more polarized between Fanfani's leftist faction and the opposite one which urged for a rightist policy; Fanfani relaunched his reformist agenda, advocating for a dialogue with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), which had stopped its ties with the communists after the Hungarian Revolution. However, a government between DC and PSI was probably too premature due to the strong opposition of DC's right-wing, so, on 1 July 1958, Fanfani sworn in as new Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government with the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI), and a case-by-case support of the Italian Republican Party (PRI).  He then decided not to resign immediately as secretary of the DC, wanting to bring the party behind him, at least until a new congress. He started an active foreign policy, along the lines of the so-called "neo-atlantism", implementing a more autonomous foreign policy from the United States, presenting Italy as the main regional power of the Mediterranean Basin, trying to avoid the increase of Soviet Union's sphere of influence over the Arab countries. However, he failed to leave a mark in domestic politics, despite his ambitious proposal of a 10-year plan for the development of public school, which was approved by the Parliament but not implemented. His economic policy was characterized by an increasing public spending.  The unprecedented concentration of power that he had achieved was also the main reason of his second government's decline. The outrageous conservative opposition resulted in a progressive breakdown of the internal majority faction, "Democratic Initiative". In January 1959, a conspicuous group of Christian Democrats started voting against their own government, forcing Fanfani to resign on 26 January 1959, after only six months in power. On 16 February, Antonio Segni sworn in as new Prime Minister. In March 1959, Fanfani resigned as party's secretary too, and Aldo Moro became the new leader. After few weeks, he founded a new faction, known as ""Nuove Cronache"" ("New Chronicles").  In party's congress in October 1959, Moro was slightly confirmed secretary, after a thought battle with Fanfani, who was defeated thanks to the decisive vote of the right-wing faction of Mario Scelba and Giulio Andreotti.  When the Italian Liberal Party (PLI) withdrew its support to Segni's government, Fanfani cooperated with Moro, attempting to establish a new centre-left government, with a case-by-case socialist support. However, this pact was strongly opposed by ecclesiastical hierarchies as well as the usual opposition of the DC's right-wing. After Fanfani's failure, Fernando Tambroni was appointed new Prime Minister. Tambroni, a right-wing conservative, received a decisive vote of confidence by the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). The MSI had been banned by any type of political power since its birth under the theory of the "Constitutional Arch", which stated that any government or party which had voted the Italian Constitution, had to refuse any relationship with fascist and monarchist forces, seen as anti-constitutional groups. Strikes and revolts causing some casualties erupted through the country, and Tambroni had to resign within few months. On 26 July 1960, Fanfani returned to the premiership, this time with an openly centre-left program supported by the PSI abstention.

Third and fourth government.

His third government was formed only by DC ministers, and included also members of the party's right-wing, like Giulio Andreotti, Giuseppe Pella, Mario Scelba and Guido Gonella, who served respectively as ministers of Defence, Budget Interior and Justice. The cabinet was externally supported by PSDI, PRI and PLI. With Fanfani as Prime Minister and Moro as Secretary of the party, the so-called Organic Centre-left period officially began. In February 1962, after the national congress of the Christian Democracy, Fanfani reorganised his cabinet and gained the benign abstention of the socialist leader Pietro Nenni.  During this term as Prime Minister Fanfani carried out a number of reforms in areas such as health, education, and social security. On 8 April 1962 the cabinet introduced broad provisions covering building areas. Local governments were obliged to provide plans of areas suitable for economic housing, while strict price controls for building areas were introduced to prevent speculation.  On 31 December 1962, the Parliament approved a law that extended compulsory education to the age of 14 and introduced a single unified curriculum, lasting for a 3-year period after primary education. On 12 August 1962, Fanfani introduced a supplementary pension payment, equal to one-twelfth of the annual amount of pension minima, while also introducing child supplements for pensioners. Moreover, on 5 March 1963, he introduced a voluntary pension insurance scheme for housewives.  On 19 January 1963, the government proposed a bill that extended the insurance against occupational diseases to artisans, while general improvements to cash benefits were carried out: all pensions were to be adjusted every third year to the minimum contractual wage in the respective industrial sector, while earnings-replacement rates were raised to correspond to contractual disability rates. In February 1963, improved health benefits for agricultural workers, with the introduction of free pharmaceutical assistance and the flat-rate sickness indemnity replaced by an earnings-related indemnity equal to 50% of minimum contractual pay (in each province) for a maximum of 180 days.  In his three years rule, thanks to the key support of the PSI, Fanfani approved the nationalization of Enel, the national electric company and the establishment of middle school, the introduction of share taxation. Only the implementation of the ordinary statute regions and the urban reform remained uncompleted, due to a strong internal opposition within the DC. Moreover, the new international balance of power marked by the presidency of John F. Kennedy, influenced Western politics in favor of reformism, as the best alternative to defeat communism. During his premiership, Fanfani built up a good relation with President Kennedy. The two leaders met the first time during 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and in 1963, Fanfani was invited at the White House. Some analysts reported that Kennedy considered Fanfani as an example of Catholic reformism. During the Cuban missile crisis, according to Ettore Bernabei, it was Fanfani who proposed the withdraw of medium-range US missiles from Apulia, which than resulted in a peaceful ending of the crisis.

General election in 1963 and resignation.

Despite a good approval in public opinion, his reformist policy produced a significant mistrust of the Italian industrial class and the right-wing of the Christian Democracy; multinational potentates opposed the opening to the Arab countries led by Fanfani's ally Enrico Mattei, founder of Eni.  In the 1963 general election, the Christian Democrats lost almost one million votes, gaining nearly 38%, while the PCI arrived second with 25%. However the liberals surged to 7%, their best results ever, receiving many votes from former Christian Democratic supporters, who were against Fanfani's centre-left policies. With the decline of electoral support, on 22 June 1963, the majority of DC members decided to replace Fanfani with a provisional government led by impartial President of the Chamber of Deputies, Giovanni Leone; however in autumn, when the congress of the Socialist Party authorized a full engagement of the party into the government, Leone resigned and Aldo Moro, secretary of the DC and leader of the more leftist wing of the party, became the new Prime Minister and ruled Italy for more than four years.

Minister and President of the Senate.

In August 1964, President Antonio Segni suffered a serious cerebral hemorrhage while he was working at the presidential palace; he only partially recovered and decided to resign. Fanfani tried to be elected president, running against DC's official candidate, Giovanni Leone. However, neither Fanfani nor Leone succeeded in being elected, in fact, during the 1964 presidential election, the social-democratic leader Giuseppe Saragat succeeded in gaining the majority of votes. Fanfani's reckless action against Leone caused him even more enmities.  In March 1965, Fanfani was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the second government of Aldo Moro. In December 1965, he was forced to resign after the publication of an unauthorized interview, in which he harshly criticised the government and the United States. However, after only two months, he returned to the office in Moro's third cabinet. During his ministry, he implemented a strong pro-European politics, advocating a strengthen of the European Economic Community (EEC). Moreover, he was a vocal opponent of US bombing on civilians during the Vietnam War. Fanfani also continued implementing his pro-Arab policies in the Mediterranean Sea, and tried to built a closer relation with China. From 1965 to 1966, he also served as President of the United Nations General Assembly, becoming the only Italian to have held this office.  In the 1968 general election, Fanfani ran for the Senate of the Republic, being elected in the constituency of Arezzo, with 41,070 votes. On 5 June 1968, he was elected President of the Senate and remained in office until 26 June 1973.  On 26 September 1968, Fanfani lost his wife, Biancarosa, who died in a car accident, at only 54 year old. In March 1970, after the fall of Mariano Rumor's second cabinet, President Saragat gave Fanfani the task of forming a new center-left government, but his proposal to bring in the cabinet, all the parties' secretaries was not accepted, because was seen as an excessive way to strengthen the government, in contrast to the particracy which dominated Italian politics. On 27 March, Rumor sworn in as Prime Minister again.  In the 1971 presidential election, Fanfani was proposed as Christian Democracy's candidate for the Presidency of the Republic. Once again the move failed, being weakened by the divisions within his own party and the candidacy of the socialist Francesco De Martino, who received votes from PCI, PSI and some PSDI members. Fanfani retired after several unsuccessful ballots and, at the twenty-third round, Giovanni Leone, who was Fanfani's rival in the 1964 election, was finally elected with a centre-right majority. On 10 March 1972, Leone appointed Fanfani Senator for life.

Second term as secretary.

In June 1973 Fanfani was elected secretary of the Christian Democracy for a second term, replacing his former protegé Arnaldo Forlani, who was now a supporter of centrist policies. As such, he led the campaign for the referendum on repealing the law allowing divorce, which was approved by the parliament in 1970. Those voting "yes" wanted to outlaw divorce as had been the case before the law came into effect, and those voting "no" wanted to retain the law and their newly gained right to divorce. The voting method caused significant confusion with many people not understanding that they had to vote "no" to be able to divorce or vote "yes" to outlaw divorce.  The DC and the neo-fascist MSI intensely campaigned for a yes vote to abolish the law and make divorce illegal again. Their main themes were the safeguarding of the traditional nuclear family model and the Roman Catechism; while most left-wing political forces, including PCI and PSI, supported the "no" faction. Fanfani thought that a "no" victory could have given him the control of in his own party again; in fact other key figures like Moro, Rumor, Emilio Colombo and Francesco Cossiga, who believed in the defeat at the referendum, kept a low profile during the campaign.  Despite Fanfani's activism, the "no" front was defeated by margin of 59.3% to 40.7% on a voter turnout of 87.7%, thus allowing the divorce laws to remain in force. The soundly defeat in the divorce referendum forced his resignation as party secretary in July 1975. The new secretary of the party was Benigno Zaccagnini, a Christian leftist who was initially supported by Fanfani, but after his ideas of starting a cooperation with the Communist Party, Fanfani, Andreotti and Flaminio Piccoli, tried to forced Zaccagnini to resignation, but they failed.  On 3 August 1975, Fanfani married his second wife, Maria Pia Tavazzani, a widow and strong-willed woman engaged in multiple voluntary activities, nationally and internationally.  On 5 July 1976, Fanfani was elected President of the Senate for a second term, a position that he held until 1 December 1982. In that new political phase he had to significantly reduce his ambitions of holding an active political role, acting like sober and low-profile statesman. Meanwhile, on 30 July 1976, Moro reached an agreement with the Communist leader, Enrico Berlinguer, to start a government composed only by Christian Democrats but with the abstention of the PCI. The cabinet, who was led by Andreotti, was nicknamed "Government of the non no-confidence".

Kidnapping of Aldo Moro.

In January 1978, Andreotti's government fell due to the withdrawal of support from the PCI, which wanted to be directly involved in the government, an hypothesis however rejected by the Christian Democracy.  In March 1978, the political crisis was overcome by the intervention of Aldo Moro, who proposed a new cabinet, again formed only by Christian Democratic politicians, but with positive confidence votes from the other parties, including Berlinguer's PCI. This cabinet was formed on 16 March 1978, the day on which Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the left wing terrorist group known as Red Brigades (BR). The dramatic situation which followed brought PCI to vote for Andreotti's cabinet for the sake of what was called "national solidarity", despite its refusal to accept several previous requests.  During the kidnapping of his long-time friend but also rival, despite Andreotti and Cossiga's positions, Fanfani did not refuse every possibility of negotiations with the terrorists. Moro was killed by the Red Brigades in May 1978. Fanfani was the only Christian Democratic leader to be allowed by Moro's family to participate to the funeral.

Last terms as Prime Minister.

In June 1981, Giovanni Spadolini, a member of the Republican Party, was appointed Prime Minister, becoming the first non-Christian Democrat to hold the office since the foundation of the republic.  In November 1982, Spadolini was forced to resign due to the so-called "godmothers' quarrel", a political conflict between ministers Beniamino Andreatta and Rino Formica about the separation between Ministry of Treasury and Bank of Italy. Fanfani, who was still serving as President of the Senate, received the task from President Sandro Pertini of forming a new government and sworn in on 1 December 1982. The cabinet was composed by members of DC, PSI, PSDI, and PLI. Fanfani resigned on 29 April 1983, when, after months of tense relations in the majority, the central committee of the Socialist Party, meeting on 22 April, decided the withdrew its support to the government, calling for new elections.  The 1983 general election resulted in a big loss for DC and its new secretary, Ciriaco De Mita. The Christian Democrats in fact lost more than five percentage points from the previous election, while the PSI gained ground. On 4 August 1983, the socialist leader Bettino Craxi succeeded Fanfani at the head of the government. De Mita accused Fanfani for the electoral defeat and did not candidate him as President of the Senate, preferring Francesco Cossiga. After this fact, it was even clearer how Fanfani had by then lost much of his political power and control over the party. In the 1985 presidential election, Cossiga was elected as President with 752 votes out of 977. His candidacy was endorsed by the DC, but supported also by communists, socialists, social democrats, liberals and republicans. This was the first time an Italian presidential candidate had won the election on the first ballot, where a two thirds majority is necessary. On 9 July 1985, Fanfani was re-elected President of the Senate, for a third term.  In April 1987, De Mita decided to drop his support for Craxi's government. This caused the immediate fall of the cabinet and the formation of a new government led again by Fanfani. Even though he was a close friend of Craxi, the socialist leader did not participate in the swearing in ceremony, sending the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Giuliano Amato, to protest against De Mita's decision. Fanfani's sixth government, composed only of DC ministers with some independent ministers, did not gain the confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, following a surreal vote: it gained the confidence from PSI, PSDI and Radicals, that were excluded from the government, while the Christian Democrats abstained. Fanfani presented his resignation after only 11 days as head of government, causing the early dissolution of the houses. He would remain in office until 29 July 1987, when after a general election, a new government was formed with Giovanni Goria at its head.

After the premiership.

In Goria's cabinet, Fanfani was appointed Minister of the Interior, however the government fell in April 1988, after the PSI withdrew its support in opposition to the reopening of the Montalto di Castro nuclear power plant, decided by the government.  Ciriaco De Mita became the new Prime Minister and Fanfani held the office of Minister of Budget and Economic Planning. However, tensions between Christian Democrats and Socialists continued growing and De Mita was forced to resign in July 1989.  In 1992, Fanfani was elected to the prestigious office of chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate and held the role until 1994. In January 1994, he supported the dissolution of the Christian Democracy, which had been overwhelmed by "Tangentopoli" corruption scandal, and the formation of the Italian People's Party (PPI).

Death and legacy.

Amintore Fanfani died in Rome on 20 November 1999, at the age 91.  Fanfani is still a controversial figure in Italian politics. Admirers emphasize his reformist agenda and his ambition to cooperate with socialists, laying the groundwork for the born of modern centre-left, of which is widely considered one the main founding fathers. Critics condemn his centralized and often authoritarian political style, which was probably the main reason of his decline.  He had always believed in the corporate state, considering Fascism only as a "temporary aberration" of corporatism. He never tried to hide his fascist past, but unlike many Italians, he freely admitted that he was wrong.  Fanfani held all positions and offices that a politician could possibly aspire to, except the one he craved most, the presidency of the Republic. His authoritarian nature and factionalism within the Christian Democracy turned out to be the biggest obstacles to the emergence of "Fanfanism", the Italian version of Gaullism, and one by one he lost all his offices.

Amintore Fanfani (; 6 February 1908 – 20 November 1999) was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as 32nd Prime Minister of Italy for five separate terms. He was one of the best-known Italian politicians after the Second World War, and a historical figure of the left-wing faction of Christian Democracy. He is also considered as one of the founders of modern Italian centre-left.

Amintore Fanfani (6. února 1908, Pieve Santo Stefano, Itálie – 20. listopadu 1999, Řím) byl italský křesťanskodemokratický politik, jedna z klíčových postav italského politického života 2. poloviny 20. století. Pětkrát usedl do křesla premiéra Itálie (1954, 1958–1959, 1960–1963, 1982–1983, 1987). Krom toho zastával řadu vládních funkcí: 1947–1950 ministr práce, 1951–1953 ministr zemědělství, 1953–1954 a 1987–1988 ministr vnitra, 1958–1959, 1962, 1965 a 1966–1968 ministr zahraničí, 1988–1989 ministr rozpočtu. Třikrát byl též prezidentem italského Senátu (1968–1973, 1976–1982, 1985–1987). Byl představitelem Křesťanskodemokratické strany ("Democrazia Cristiana"), jejímž předsedou byl v letech 1954–1959 a 1973–1975. Svými idejemi, které jsou někdy přirovnávány ke gaullismu (a hovoří se o „fanfanismu“), určil charakter italské pravice a italského státu po druhé světové válce. Ještě za jeho života se však systém, který budoval, rozpadl pod tlakem obřích korupčních skandálů. To otevřelo cestu specifické berlusconiovské pravici, která formuje Itálii dodnes.