History.

Baby hatches have existed in one form or another for centuries. The system was quite common in medieval times. From 1198 the first foundling wheels ("ruota dei trovatelli") were used in Italy; Pope Innocent III decreed that these should be installed in homes for foundlings so that women could leave their child in secret instead of killing them, a practice clearly evident from the numerous drowned infants found in the Tiber River. A foundling wheel was a cylinder set upright in the outside wall of the building, rather like a revolving door. Mothers placed the child in the cylinder, turned it around so that the baby was inside the church, and then rang a bell to alert caretakers. One example of this type which can still be seen today is in the "Santo Spirito" hospital at the Vatican City; this wheel was installed in medieval times and used until the 19th century. Another foundling wheel dating to at least 1601 is on display for visitors to Naples' Church of the Annunciata.  In Hamburg, Germany, a Dutch merchant set up a wheel ("Drehladen") in an orphanage in 1709. It closed after only five years in 1714 as the number of babies left there was too high for the orphanage to cope with financially. Other wheels are known to have existed in Kassel (1764) and Mainz (1811).  In France, foundling wheels ("tours d'abandon", abandonment wheel) were introduced by Saint Vincent de Paul who built the first foundling home in 1638 in Paris. Foundling wheels were legalised in an imperial decree of January 19, 1811, and at their height, there were 251 in France, according to author Anne Martin-Fugier. They were in hospitals such as the "Hôpital des Enfants-Trouvés" (Hospital for Foundling Children) in Paris. However, the number of children left there rose into the tens of thousands per year, as a result of the desperate economic situation at the time, and in 1863 they were closed down and replaced by "admissions offices" where mothers could give up their child anonymously but could also receive advice. The "tours d'abandon" were officially abolished in law of June 27, 1904. Today in France, women are allowed to give birth anonymously in hospitals ("accouchement sous X") and leave their baby there.  In Brazil and Portugal, foundling wheels ("roda dos expostos/enjeitados", literally "wheel for exposed/rejected ones") were also used after Queen Maria I proclaimed on May 24, 1783, that all towns should have a foundling hospital. One example was the wheel installed at the "Santa Casa de Misericordia" hospital in São Paulo on July 2, 1825. This was taken out of use on June 5, 1949, declared incompatible with the modern social system after five years' debate. A Brazilian film on this subject, "Roda Dos Expostos", directed by Maria Emília de Azevedo, won an award for "Best Photography" at the "Festival de Gramado" in 2001.  In Britain and Ireland, foundlings were brought up in orphanages financed by the Poor Tax. The home for foundlings in London was established in 1741; in Dublin the Foundling Hospital and Workhouse installed a foundling wheel in 1730, as this excerpt from the Minute Book of the Court of Governors of that year shows:  The foundling wheel in Dublin was taken out of use in 1826 when the Dublin hospital was closed because of the high death rate of children there.

Modern examples.

The first modern baby hatch was in South Africa in July 1999 and was installed by Door of Hope Children's Mission (Hole in the Wall) at a small mission church in Berea in Johannesburg. In 1999 the pastor, Cheryl Allen, and deacons learned with deep distress that a high number of newly born infants were abandoned. Pastor Allen realised that many of those desperate women and girls may well have acted differently if there had been an alternative. The church made a hole in their wall and a "baby bin" was installed allowing for mothers to leave their babies any time, day or night. The moment a baby is placed in the "baby bin" care workers on duty receive an electronic signal alerting them. The baby is taken in and the anonymity of the "donor" ensured. Baby M was the first baby that came through the "baby bin", arriving on 3 October 1999. To date (2013), Door of Hope has received over 1300 babies. 148 have come through the "baby bin" but most come from hospitals, police or community members and some babies have even been brought personally by the mothers.  The second modern baby hatch in Germany was installed in the Altona district of Hamburg on 11 April 2000, after a series of cases in 1999 where children were abandoned and found dead from exposure. It consisted of a warm bed in which the child could be placed from outside the building. After a short delay to allow the person who left the child to leave anonymously, a silent alarm was set off which alerted staff. By 2010, 38 babies had been left in the "Findelbaby" baby hatch in Hamburg, 14 of whom were later reclaimed by their mothers.  The Edhi Foundation in Pakistan offers a similar system.

Reasons for using baby hatches.

One reason many babies have been abandoned, especially in the past, was that they were born out of wedlock. Today, baby hatches are more often intended to be used by mothers who are unable to cope with looking after their own child and do not wish to divulge their identity. In some countries, it is not legal for mothers to give birth anonymously in a hospital, and the baby hatch is the only way they can safely and secretly leave their child to be cared for by others. In India and Pakistan, the purpose of baby hatches is mainly to provide an alternative to female infanticide, which occurs due to socio-economic factors including the high cost of dowries.

Legal aspects.

Some legal problems with baby hatches are connected to children's right to know their own identity, as guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child's Article 8.

Austria.

In Austria, the law treats babies found in baby hatches as foundlings. The local social services office for children and young people ("Jugendwohlfahrt") takes care of the child for the first six months and then it is given up for adoption. Women have had the right to give birth anonymously since 2001.

Czech Republic.

In the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Social Affairs confirmed in 2006 that baby hatches are legal under Czech law. In contradiction to this, in March 2006, Colonel Anna Piskova, a police officer, said on Czech television that the police would look for the mothers of abandoned children. The head of the Czech baby hatch organization Statim, Ludvik Hess, complained about this statement and was officially supported by the Save the Children Foundation., there are 76 baby hatches in the country, mostly in major cities. So far, they have helped to save 187 children. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has questioned the legality of baby boxes, criticizing the high number of children's group homes and claiming the boxes violate children's rights. Czech internet news server novinky.cz has reported that United Nations wants to ban baby hatches in the Czech Republic.

France.

In France, the Vichy government adopted the Legislative Decree of 2 September 1941 on the Protection of Births allowing children to be born anonymously. This law, somewhat modified, became the modern right to anonymous birth ("accouchement sous X") set down in the French Social Action and Families Code (Art. 222-6). It covers children up to one year of age. In 2003, the European Court of Human Rights upheld this law, ruling that it did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights.

Germany.

In Germany, the baby hatch system only just borders on the legal; normally a mother who abandons her child is committing a criminal act. However, according to the German social laws, parents are allowed to leave their child in the charge of a third party for up to eight weeks, for example if the parents need to go into hospital. After eight weeks, however, the youth welfare office must be called in.  German law considers babies left in the baby hatch as if they have been left in the charge of a third party. This loophole is extremely controversial as there have been some cases in Germany where the baby hatches have been used to abandon disabled children or babies already three months old. Several attempts have been made to clear up the legal basis for baby hatches and how to treat the children left in them, but as yet the situation is still not clearly regulated.

Japan.

In Japan, abandoning a baby is normally punished with up to five years in prison. In 2006 officials at Jikei Hospital applied to Kumamoto Prefecture government, Kumamoto city and other offices before opening a baby hatch were told that it would not count as abandonment, as the baby is under the hospital's protection. However, the Japanese ministry of health, labour and welfare would not comment on the issue, apart from saying that there was no precedent.

Belgium.

In Belgium the legal framework is absent, and abandoning babies is illegal, but in practice the babies are placed in foster care and become available for adoption after a few months.  The Belgium hatch operates in a legal vacuum under Belgian law. Even spreading the information is considered "Promoting child abandonment" and those responsible for the existence of the baby Hatch (babyschuif) sensu stricto remain punishable under Belgium law.

Russia.

Since 2011, ten baby hatches or so-called baby boxes have come into use in Russia. In less than one year of activity, the boxes helped to save three children.  The charity fund The Cradle of Hope (Колыбель надежды, www.babyboxrf.ru) established in Perm is the main project organizer. Along with installing and setting up baby hatches, the organization works to prevent infanticide, and helps families cope with crisis situations.  The baby hatches are installed in hospitals and run by the wardship and guardianship authority. The law treats babies found in baby boxes as foundlings, who are raised by the State while going through the legal process of adoption.  Senator Elena Mizulina proposed a law to ban baby boxes. In September 2016 it was approved by the Russian government stating that the special places for anonymous abandoning the newborns violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom there are no baby hatches, as they are illegal: under section 27 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 the law states that any mother who abandons a child less than two years of age is a criminal and can face up to five years' imprisonment. In practice, such prosecutions are extremely rare and would only occur if the circumstances of child abandonment showed actual malice, i.e. appeared deliberately intended to result in the death of the child. A mother who wishes to have her newborn baby adopted can do so. Counseling is designed to ensure that giving up the baby is her genuine, irrevocable wish.

Latvia.

In Latvia, unless the baby has been reported as missing, the law treats the babies as foundlings.  All baby hatches are located within a hospital's premises. After a baby is left in a baby hatch, the police and custody court are informed about the case and the baby is given a health evaluation and is inspected for signs of abuse. The police during a two day long process find out if the child has been reported as missing, after that the baby is given the status of a foundling and can be put up for adoption.  If the birth parents want to recover a child, they have the option to do so until the child has been officially adopted. The birth parents must prove their parentage by taking a DNA test, which they must pay for themselves. After that custody court reviews the parent's reasons for abandonment and decide whether to allow the parents guardianship of the child. As of May 2018, 5 out of 47 babies left in the baby hatch were returned to their birth parents.

A baby hatch or baby box is a place where people (typically mothers) can bring babies, usually newborn, and abandon them anonymously in a safe place to be found and cared for. This kind of arrangement was common in the Middle Ages and in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the device was known as a foundling wheel. Foundling wheels were taken out of use in the late 19th century but a modern form, the baby hatch, began to be introduced again from 1952 and since 2000 has come into use in many countries, notably in Germany, where there are around 100 hatches and in Pakistan where there are more than 300 as of 2006.

Babybox (čtěte [bejbyboks]) je název zařízení, kam mohou zejména matky zcela anonymně odložit své zpravidla novorozené dítě (Bylo odloženo ale již i dvouleté dítě.). Babybox je speciálně vybavená a vytápěná i klimatizovaná schránka umístěná na snadno přístupném místě většinou v blízkosti zdravotnického zařízení. Matka (či jiný příbuzný) má po odložení dítěte čas několik minut na bezpečný a anonymní odchod od babyboxu. Po několika minutách po odložení dítěte do babyboxu se ozve alarm ve zdravotnickém zařízení oznamující odložené dítě v babyboxu. O to se následně postará zdravotnický personál. Pokud se o odložené dítě rodiče již nepřihlásí, bývá nabídnuto k adopci. V České republice bylo v letech 2005–květen 2020 zřízeno 76 babyboxů, do nichž v téže době bylo uloženo 207 dětí. Dítě lze odložit do kteréhokoliv babyboxu.


Life.

Švejnar went into exile in 1970 and later on graduated from Cornell University with a B.S in Industrial and Labor Relations. At Cornell Švejnar resided at the Telluride House. He obtained a Ph.D. in Economics at Princeton University. His academic interests are in the areas of economic development and transition, labor economics and behavior of the firm. His research focuses on the determinants and effects of (a) government policies on firms and labor and capital markets, (b) corporate and national governance and performance, and (c) entrepreneurship. He is the author and editor of a number of books and has published widely in academic, policy and practitioner-oriented journals in advanced and emerging market economies, including "the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Economica, Economics of Transition, European Business Forum, European Economic Review, Journal of Comparative Economics, Journal of Development Economics", and many others.  In 2012, Švejnar was honored with a Neuron Prize for lifelong achievement from the Karel Janeček Endowment for Research and Science.

Run for Czech presidency.

On December 14, 2007 he announced his candidacy for the position of Czech president in the upcoming indirect presidential election. His nomination came from a proposal of 10 Senators (party affiliation - KDU-ČSL: 2, ČSSD: 3, SNK-ED: 1, independent: 4). In Parliament, his support was generally based on the Deputies and Senators elected for the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) and the Green Party.  On February 8, 2008, Švejnar faced Václav Klaus, at that time the incumbent Czech president, in the first round of presidential election held within the both chambers of the Czech Parliament. In a second round on February 9, 2008, neither candidate gained the required majority of 140 votes in both chambers together. Václav Klaus received 139 and Jan Švejnar 113 votes out of 278 votes cast in both chambers together.  In a third round on February 15, Klaus was re-elected with 141 votes out of 279 lawmakers present, one more than the required minimum, while Švejnar received 111 votes. Klaus' victory margin was supplied by 3 MPs who were elected for the ČSSD.

Jan Švejnar (born October 2, 1952) is a USA-based, Czech-born economist. He was a candidate for the 2008 election of the President of the Czech Republic.

Jan Švejnar (* 2. října 1952 Praha) je česko-americký ekonom a vysokoškolský učitel. V současnosti působící jako profesor a jako ředitel Centra pro globální hospodářskou politiku (Center on Global Economic Governance) na Kolumbijské univerzitě v New Yorku a jako vedoucí projektu think tanku IDEA. V roce 2008 kandidoval na post prezidenta České republiky.


Subspecies.

The two subspecies of this pig are:  As traditionally defined, the nominate is from Borneo. The species is widely ranging in Borneo. It is also found in Tawi-Tawi province at the tip of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines, although possibly has been extirpated, and "S. b. oi" is from the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. Genetic evidence suggests this is incorrect, and "S. b. oi" is better limited to Sumatra, leaving bearded pigs from both Borneo and the Malay Peninsula in the nominate subspecies. Those from Bangka Island appear somewhat intermediate between the two subspecies.  The Palawan bearded pig ("Sus ahoenobarbus") has formerly been considered a subspecies of the bearded pig. However, as indicated by its genetic and morphological distinctness, under the phylogenetic species concept (which does not use subspecies) it needs to be elevated to full species status; while the situation is less clear under other species concepts (as not all "S. barbatus" populations have been restudied in modern times), the presently available information seems to favor full species status for "S. ahoenobarbus" in any case.

In captivity.

The San Diego Zoo was the first zoo in the Western Hemisphere to breed them.  As of January 2016, it is held in the London Zoo, Berlin Zoo, Gladys Porter Zoo, National Zoo of Malaysia (Zoo Negara), Zoo Taiping, Singapore Zoo, Capital of Texas Zoo, and Southwick's Zoo. Unfortunately, the animals at Hellabrunn Zoo were euthanized in 2017 because of old age, and there is only one male left at Berlin Zoo, 3 individuals (1 castrated male and 2 females) left at London Zoo and one individual left at Gladys Porter Zoo and the individuals were replaced by red river hogs in Southwick's Zoo as of 2017, which means that the species will likely disappear soon from European and American zoos.

The Bornean bearded pig ("Sus barbatus"), also known ambiguously as the bearded pig, is a species in the pig genus, "Sus".

Prase vousaté, známé také jako bornejské prase nebo vepř vousatý ("Sus barbatus"), je velký druh prasete. Jeho největší charakteristikou je hustý, nejčastěji bílý vous, který vyrůstá na lících a nad čenichem. Prase vousaté má protáhlou hlavu, úzké tělo a nad každým okem má výrůstek pokrytý štětinami, které mívá občas i na konci ocasu. Srst je většinou šedá, končetiny bývají tmavší. Tělo dosahuje délky 1,6–1,8 m a ocas 20–30 cm. Obývá tropické deštné lesy, křoviny a mangrovové bažiny na území Jihovýchodní Asie, konkrétně v okolí Sumatry, Bornea a východních Filipínách. Živí se hlavně spadanými plody, výhonky, kořínky a larvami hmyzu. Žijí většinou v nevelkých skupinách, tvořených z rodin. Tyto skupiny podnikají i výpravy na pole se zemědělskými plodinami, kde dokáží ročně napáchat poměrně značné škody. Samice rodí zhruba po čtyřměsíční březosti 2 až 3 mláďata do zvláštně upraveného hnízda z rostlin. Se samicí zůstávají mláďata celý následující rok. Pohlavní dospělosti dosahují ve věku 18 měsíců a jsou schopny se křížit i s jinými druhy prasatovitých.


Early life.

Firth was born in the village of Grayshott, Hampshire, to parents who were both academics and teachers. His mother, Shirley Jean ("née" Rolles), was a comparative religion lecturer at King Alfred's College (now the University of Winchester), and his father, David Norman Lewis Firth, was a history lecturer at King Alfred's and education officer for the Nigerian Government. Firth is the eldest of three children; he has a sister, Kate, an actress and voice coach, and a brother, Jonathan, an actor. His maternal grandparents were Congregationalist ministers and his paternal grandfather was an Anglican priest; they performed overseas missionary work, and both of his parents spent part of their childhoods in India.  As a child, Firth frequently travelled due to his parents' work, spending some years in Nigeria. He also lived in St. Louis, Missouri, when he was 11, which he has described as "a difficult time". On returning to England, he attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School (now Kings' School), which at the time was a state comprehensive school in Winchester, Hampshire. He was still an outsider and was the target of bullying. To counter this, he adopted the local working class Hampshire accent and copied his schoolmates' lack of interest in schoolwork.  By the time he was 14, Firth had already decided to be a professional actor, having attended drama workshops from the age of 10. Until further education, he was not academically inclined, later saying in an interview, "I didn't like school. I just thought it was boring and mediocre and nothing they taught me seemed to be of any interest at all." However, at Barton Peveril Sixth Form College in Eastleigh, he was imbued with a love of English literature by an enthusiastic teacher, Penny Edwards, and has said that his two years at Barton Peveril were "among the two happiest years of my life".  After his sixth form years, Firth moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre. There, he made many contacts in the acting world, from which he got a job in the wardrobe department at the National Theatre. From there, he went on to study at Drama Centre London.

Career.

1983–1994: "Brit Pack" boy.

Playing Hamlet in the Drama Centre end of year production, Firth was spotted by playwright Julian Mitchell, who cast him as the gay, ambitious public schoolboy Guy Bennett in the 1983 West End production of "Another Country". In 1984, Firth made his film debut in the role of Tommy Judd, Guy Bennett's straight, Marxist school friend in the screen adaptation of the play (opposite Rupert Everett as Guy Bennett). This was the start of a longstanding public feud between Firth and Everett, which was later resolved. He starred with Sir Laurence Olivier in "Lost Empires" (1986), a TV adaptation of J. B. Priestley's novel.  In 1987, Firth along with other up and coming British actors such as Tim Roth, Bruce Payne and Paul McGann were dubbed the 'Brit Pack'. That same year, he appeared alongside Kenneth Branagh in the film version of J. L. Carr's "A Month in the Country". Sheila Johnston observed a theme in his early works of playing those traumatised by war. Firth portrayed real-life British soldier Robert Lawrence MC in the 1988 BBC dramatisation "Tumbledown". Lawrence was severely injured at the Battle of Mount Tumbledown during the Falklands War, and the film details his struggles to adjust to his disability whilst confronted with indifference from the government and the public. The film attracted controversy at the time, with criticism coming from left and right ends of the political spectrum. Firth's performance led to a Royal TV Society Best Actor Award and he was nominated for the 1989 BAFTA Television Award. In 1989, he played the title role in Miloš Forman's "Valmont", based on "Les Liaisons dangereuses". This was released just a year after "Dangerous Liaisons" and did not make a big impact in comparison. The same year, he played a paranoid, socially awkward character in Argentinian psychological thriller "Apartment Zero".

1995–2002: English romantic ("Pride and Prejudice").

Firth finally became a household name through his role as the aloof and haughty aristocrat Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC television adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". He was producer Sue Birtwistle's first choice for the part, eventually being persuaded to take it despite initial reluctance as he was unfamiliar with Austen's writing. Firth and co-star Jennifer Ehle began a romantic relationship during the filming of the series, which only received media attention after the couple's separation. Sheila Johnston wrote that Firth's approach to the part "lent Darcy complex shades of coldness, even caddishness, in the early episodes." The series was an international success and unexpectedly elevated Firth to stardom, in some part due to an iconic scene in which he emerged in a wet shirt after swimming. Although Firth did not mind being recognised as "a romantic idol as a Darcy with smouldering sex appeal" in a role that "officially turned him into a heart-throb", he expressed the wish not to be associated with "Pride and Prejudice" forever. He was, therefore, reluctant to accept similar roles and risk becoming typecast. For a time, it did seem as if Mr. Darcy would overshadow the rest of his career, and there were humorous allusions to the role in his next five movies. The most notable of these was the casting of Firth as love interest Mark Darcy in the film adaptation of "Bridget Jones's Diary", itself a modern-day retelling of "Pride and Prejudice". Firth accepted the part as he saw it as an opportunity to lampoon his Mr. Darcy character. The film was very successful and critically well-liked. A in 2004 was mostly panned by critics but was still financially successful. Firth had a supporting role in "The English Patient" (1996) playing the husband of Kristin Scott Thomas's character, whose jealousy about her adultery leads to both their deaths. He had parts in light romantic period pieces such as "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), "Relative Values" (2000), and "The Importance of Being Earnest" (2002). He appeared in several television productions, including "Donovan Quick" (an updated version of "Don Quixote") (1999) and had a more serious and villainous role as Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart in "Conspiracy" (2001), concerning the Nazi Wannsee Conference; Firth was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role.

2003–2009: Ensemble films ("Love Actually" and "Mamma Mia!").

Firth featured in the ensemble all-star cast of Richard Curtis' "Love Actually" (2003), another financial success which divided critics. In contrast, that year Firth was also given solo billing as the romantic lead in "Hope Springs", but the film received very poor reviews and made little impact at the box office. Firth played the painter Johannes Vermeer opposite Scarlett Johansson in the 2003 release "Girl with a Pearl Earring". Some critics praised the film's gentle subtlety and sumptuous visuals, whilst others found it almost too restrained, tedious and bereft of emotion. Nevertheless, the film received mostly favorable reviews, was moderately successful with audiences and earned several awards and nominations. In 2005, Firth appeared in "Nanny McPhee" with Emma Thompson, a rare venture for Firth into the fantasy genre. Also in 2005, he appeared in "Where the Truth Lies", a return to some of Firth's darker, more intense early roles, that included a notorious scene featuring a bisexual orgy. Sheila Johnston wrote that it "confounded his fans" but despite that his character "draws knowingly on that suave, cultivated persona," which could be traced from Mr. Darcy. Other films from this time included "Then She Found Me" (2007) with Helen Hunt and "The Last Legion" (2007) with Aishwarya Rai. In 2008, he played the adult Blake Morrison reminiscing on his difficult relationship with his ailing father in the film adaptation of Morrison's memoir, "And When Did You Last See Your Father?" The film received generally favorable reviews. Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" rated the film four out of five stars. Manohla Dargis in "The New York Times" said: "It's a pleasure to watch Mr. Firth – a supremely controlled actor who makes each developing fissure visible – show the adult Blake coming to terms with his contradictory feelings, letting the love and the hurt pour out of him." Philip French of "The Observer" wrote that Firth "[does] quiet agonising to perfection." However, Derek Elley of "Variety" called the film "an unashamed tearjerker that's all wrapping and no center." While he conceded that it was "undeniably effective at a gut level despite its dramatic shortcomings," he added that "Things aren't helped any by Firth's dour perf, as his Blake comes across as a self-centered whiner, a latter-day Me Generation figure who's obsessed with finding problems when there really aren't any."  In 2009, he featured in "A Christmas Carol", an adaptation of Charles Dickens's novel, using the performance capture procedure, playing Scrooge's optimistic nephew Fred.

2009–2011: "The King's Speech" and awards success.

At the 66th Venice International Film Festival in 2009, Firth was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his role in Tom Ford's directorial debut "A Single Man" as a college professor grappling with solitude after the death of his longtime partner. His performance earned Firth career best reviews and Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors' Guild, BAFTA, and BFCA nominations; he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in February 2010.  Firth starred in the 2010 film "The King's Speech" as Prince Albert, Duke of York/King George VI. The film details his working to overcome his speech impediment while becoming monarch of the United Kingdom at the end of 1936. At the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the film was met with a standing ovation. The TIFF release of "The King's Speech" fell on Colin's 50th birthday and was called the "best 50th birthday gift". On 16 January 2011, he won a Golden Globe for his performance in "The King's Speech" in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. The Screen Actors Guild recognised Firth with the award for Best Male Actor for "The King's Speech" on 30 January 2011. In February 2011, he won his second consecutive best actor award at the 2011 BAFTA awards. He received an Academy Award for Best Actor in a motion picture for "The King's Speech" on 27 February 2011. It went on to gross $414,211,549 worldwide.  Firth appeared as senior British secret agent Bill Haydon in the 2011 adaptation of the John le Carré novel "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", directed by Tomas Alfredson, also starring Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy. The film gathered mostly excellent reviews. "The Independent" described Firth's performance as "suavely arrogant" and praised the film. Deborah Young in "The Hollywood Reporter" thought Firth got "all the best dialogue", which he delivered "sardonically". Leslie Felperin in "Variety" wrote that all the actors brought their "A game" and Firth was in "particularly choleric, amusing form."

2012–present.

In May 2011, Firth began filming "Gambit" – a remake of a 1960s crime caper, taking a part played in the original by Michael Caine. It was released in the UK in November 2012 and was a financial and critical failure, attracting many negative reviews. Empire's Kim Newman wrote, "Firth starts out homaging Caine with his horn-rimmed cool but soon defaults to his usual repressed British cold mode", whilst Time Out London called his a "likeable performance", although criticised the film overall. Stephen Dalton writing in "The Hollywood Reporter" said "To his credit, Firth keeps his performance grounded in downbeat realism while all around are wildly mugging in desperate pursuit of thin, forced laughs. He will appear in Rupert Everett's directorial debut "The Happy Prince", an Oscar Wilde biopic. Firth will play Wilde's friend Reginald "Reggie" Turner. Shooting began in September 2016. In May 2013, it was announced that Firth had signed to co-star with Emma Stone in Woody Allen's romantic comedy "Magic in the Moonlight", set in the 1920s, shot on the French Riviera. In 2014, Firth starred as Harry Hart in the spy action film "". "Kingsman: The Secret Service" earned a gross of $414.4 million, against a budget of $81 million. In June 2015, he was reported to be filming the story of Donald Crowhurst in "The Mercy", in which he stars as the yachtsman alongside Rachel Weisz, David Thewlis, and Jonathan Bailey.  In 2016, Firth reprised his popular role as Mark Darcy in "Bridget Jones's Baby", which fared much better with audiences and critics than the second in the series ("Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason"). Also in 2016, Firth portrayed American editor Max Perkins in "Genius" alongside Jude Law as author Thomas Wolfe. The film, which is based on A. Scott Berg's biography "Max Perkins: Editor of Genius".  In 2017, he reprised his role as Jamie from 2003's "Love Actually" in the television short film "Red Nose Day Actually", by original writer and director Richard Curtis. Also that year, Firth returned as Harry Hart in the sequel "". In 2018, Firth again portrayed Harry Bright in the sequel to "Mamma Mia!", "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again". That year, he also appeared as William Weatherall Wilkins in the musical fantasy film "Mary Poppins Returns", starring Emily Blunt in the title role. He also played British naval commander David Russell in Thomas Vinterberg's "Kursk", a film about the true story of the 2000 Kursk submarine disaster, in which he starred alongside Matthias Schoenaerts. In 2019 he appeared as British General Erinmore in Sam Mendes’ World War I film "1917".

Other work.

Firth's first published work, "The Department of Nothing", appeared in "Speaking with the Angel" (2000). This collection of short stories was edited by Nick Hornby and was published to benefit the TreeHouse Trust, in aid of autistic children. Firth had previously met Hornby during the filming of the original "Fever Pitch". Colin Firth contributed with his writing for the book, "We Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples", released in 2009. The book explores the cultures of peoples around the world, portraying both their diversity and the threats that they face. It features contributions from many Western writers, such as Laurens van der Post, Noam Chomsky, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and also from indigenous people, such as Davi Kopenawa Yanomami and Roy Sesana. The royalties from the sale of this book go to the indigenous rights organisation, Survival International. Firth was an executive producer for the film "In Prison My Whole Life", featuring Noam Chomsky and Angela Davis. The film was selected to the 2007 London Film Festival and the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.  In December 2010, Firth was guest editor on BBC Radio 4's "Today" programme, during which he commissioned research to scan the brains of politicians to see if there were any differences depending on political leanings. He was then credited as one of four co-authors of an academic paper into human brains, the others being University College London researchers. The results of the study suggested that conservatives have greater amygdala volume and liberals have greater volume in their anterior cingulate cortex. In 2012, Firth's audiobook recording of Graham Greene's "The End of the Affair" was released at Audible.com. The production was awarded Audiobook of the Year at the 2013 Audie Awards.  In 2012, he co-founded Raindog Films with British music industry executive and entrepreneur Ged Doherty. its first feature, "Eye in the Sky", for which Firth was co-producer, was released theatrically in April 2016.

Activism.

Firth has been a long-standing supporter of Survival International, a non-governmental organisation that defends the rights of tribal peoples. Speaking in 2001, he said, "My interest in tribal peoples goes back many years... and I have supported [Survival] ever since." In 2003, during the promotion of the film "Love Actually", he spoke in defence of the tribal people of Botswana, condemning the Botswana government's eviction of the Gana and Gwi people (San) from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. He says of the San, "These people are not the remnants of a past era who need to be brought up to date. Those who are able to continue to live on the land that is rightfully theirs are facing the 21st century with a confidence that many of us in the so-called developed world can only envy." He has also backed a Survival International campaign to press the Brazilian government to take more decisive action in defence of the Awá-Guajá people, whose land and livelihood is critically threatened by the actions of loggers.  As a supporter of the Refugee Council, Firth was involved in a campaign to stop the deportation of a group of 42 Congolese asylum seekers, expressing concerns in open letters to "The Independent" and "The Guardian" that they faced being murdered on their return to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Firth said: "To me, it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the Middle-England xenophobes. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for". Four of the asylum seekers were given a last-minute reprieve from deportation.  Firth, along with other celebrities, has been involved in the Oxfam global campaign Make Trade Fair, focusing on trade practices seen as especially unfair to third world producers including dumping, high import tariffs, and labour rights. He has further contributed to this cause by opening (with a few collaborators) an eco-friendly shop in West London, Eco. The shop offers fair trade and eco-friendly goods, as well as expert advice on making spaces more energy efficient. In October 2009, at the London Film Festival, Firth launched a film and political activism website, Brightwide (since decommissioned), along with his wife Livia.  During the 2010 general election, Firth announced his support for the Liberal Democrats, having previously been a Labour supporter, citing asylum and refugees' rights as a key reason for his change in affiliation. In December 2010, Firth publicly dropped his support of the Liberal Democrats, citing their U-turn on tuition fees as one of the key reasons for his disillusionment. He also said that while he no longer supports the Liberal Democrats, he is currently unaffiliated. Firth appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing members of parliament to the House of Commons in the unsuccessful Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.  In 2009, Firth joined the project, supporting the movement calling for people to reduce their carbon footprint. In 2010, Colin endorsed the "Roots & Shoots" education programme in the UK run by the Jane Goodall Institute (UK).

Personal life.

In 1989, Firth began a relationship with Meg Tilly, his co-star in "Valmont". They had a son in 1990. The family moved to the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Firth's acting career slowed down until they broke up in 1994, and he returned to the UK. In 1997, Firth married Italian producer's assistant Livia Giuggioli. They have two sons. The family now live in both Chiswick, London, and Umbria, Italy. They separated in 2019, about two years after they revealed that Livia had an affair with an Italian journalist while the couple were briefly separated.  Firth was awarded an honorary doctorate on 19 October 2007 from the University of Winchester. On 13 January 2011, he was presented with the 2,429th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In April 2011, "Time" magazine included Firth in its list of the world's 100 Most Influential People. Firth was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama, and made a Freeman of the City of London on 8 March 2012. He also was awarded an honorary fellowship from the University of the Arts London in 2012.  A vocal opponent of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (Brexit), following the referendum result and ensuing uncertainty over rights of non EU citizens, Firth applied for "dual citizenship (British and Italian)" in 2017 to "have the same passports as his wife and children". The Italian interior minister, Marco Minniti, announced his application had been approved on 22 September 2017. Firth added, "I will always be extremely British (you only have to look at or listen to me)."

Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor who has received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. In 2010, Firth's portrayal of King George VI in Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Colin Andrew Firth (* 10. září 1960 Grayshott, Anglie, Spojené království) je britský herec, držitel Oscara, Zlatého glóbu a ceny BAFTA pro nejlepšího herce za výkon ve filmu "Králova řeč" (2010).


Etymology.

The region was originally called Sapta Sindhu, the Vedic land of the seven rivers flowing into the sea. The Sanskrit name for the region, as mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata for example, was "Panchanada" which means "Land of the Five Rivers", and was translated to Persian as "Punjab" after the Muslim conquests. The word "Punjab" is a compound of

History.

Ancient history.

During the period when the epic "Mahabharata" was written, around 800–400 BCE, Punjab was known as Trigarta and ruled by Katoch kings.

Sikhs in Punjab.

Sikhism originated in the Punjab Region during the 15th century. Approximately 75% of the total Sikh population of the world lives in Punjab. Sikhism began at the time of the conquest of northern India by Babur. His grandson, Akbar, supported religious freedom and after visiting the langar of Guru Amar Das had a favourable impression of Sikhism. As a result of his visit he donated land to the langar and had a positive relationship with the Sikh Gurus until his death in 1605. His successor, Jahangir, saw the Sikhs as a political threat. He arrested Guru Arjun Dev because of Sikh support for Khusrau Mirza and ordered him put to death by torture. Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom led

Cis-Sutlej states.

The Cis-Sutlej states were a group of states in modern Punjab and Haryana states lying between the Sutlej River on the north, the Himalayas on the east, the Yamuna River and Delhi District on the south, and Sirsa District

Sikh Empire.

The Sikh Empire (1801–1849) was forged by Maharajah Ranjit Singh on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous Sikh misls, creating a unified political state. The empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west, to Kashmir in the north, to Sindh in the south, and Tibet in the east. The main geographical

Punjab Province (British India).

The Cis-Sutlej states, including Kaithal, Patiala, Jind, Thanesar, Maler Kotla, and Faridkot, were under the suzerainty of the Scindhia dynasty of the Maratha Empire, following the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803–1805, when Marathas lost this territory to the British. During the war, some of the states in the region gave their allegiance to British General Gerard Lake. At the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Maratha War, an 1809 agreement with Ranjit Singh, ruler of the Sikh Empire west of the Sutlej, brought these states under formal British protection.  Ranjit Singh's death in the summer of 1839 brought political chaos, and the subsequent battles of succession and the bloody infighting between the

Independence and its aftermath.

The undivided Punjab, of which Pakistani Punjab forms a major region today, was home to a large minority population of Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs until 1947, apart from the Muslim majority. In 1947 the Punjab Province of British India was partitioned along religious lines into West Punjab going to Pakistan and East Punjab going to India. Huge numbers of people were displaced, and there

Geography.

Punjab is in northwestern India and has a total area of. Punjab is bounded by Pakistan on the west, Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Himachal Pradesh on the northeast and Haryana and Rajasthan on the south. Most of the Punjab lies in a fertile, alluvial plain with many rivers and an extensive irrigation canal system. A belt of undulating hills extends along the northeastern part of the state at the foot of the Himalayas. Its average elevation is above sea level, with

Climate.

The geography and subtropical latitudinal location of Punjab lead to large variations in temperature from month to month. Even though only limited regions experience temperatures below, ground frost is commonly found in the majority of Punjab during the winter season. The temperature rises gradually with high humidity and overcast skies. However, the rise in temperature is steep when the sky is clear and humidity is low.  The maximum temperatures usually occur in mid-May and June. The temperature remains above in the entire region during this period. Ludhiana recorded the highest maximum temperature at with Patiala and Amritsar recording. The maximum temperature during the summer in Ludhiana remains above for a duration of one and a half months. These areas experience the lowest temperatures in January. The sun rays are oblique during these months and the cold winds control the temperature at daytime.  Punjab experiences its minimum temperature from December to February. The lowest temperature was recorded at Amritsar () and Ludhiana stood second with. The minimum temperature of the region remains below for almost two months during the winter season. The highest minimum temperature of these regions in June is more than the daytime maximum temperatures experienced in January and February. Ludhiana experiences minimum temperatures above for more than two months. The annual average temperature in the entire state is approximately. Further, the mean monthly temperature range varies between in July to approximately in November.

Seasons.

Punjab experiences three main seasons. They are:  Apart from these three, the state experiences transitional seasons like:

Summer.

Punjab starts experiencing mildly hot temperatures in February. However, the actual summer season commences in mid-April and heat continues till end of August. On extreme side,

Rainy season.

The monsoon brings joy to the agricultural sector as farmers become very busy. Punjab's

Winter.

Temperature variation is minimal in January. The

Post-Monsoon transitional season.

The monsoon begins to reduce by the second week of September. This brings a gradual change in climate

Post-Winter transitional season.

The effects of winter diminish by the first week of March. The hot summer season commences in mid-April. This period is marked by occasional showers with hail storms and squalls that cause extensive damage to crops. The winds remain dry and warm during the last week of March, commencing the harvest period.  Monsoon season provides most of the rainfall for the region. Punjab receives rainfall from the monsoon current of the Bay of Bengal. This monsoon current enters the state from the southeast in the first week of July.  The winter season remains very cool with temperatures falling below freezing at some places. Winter also brings in some western disturbances. Rainfall in the winter provides relief to the farmers as some of the winter crops in the region of Shivalik Hills are entirely dependent on this rainfall. As per meteorological statistics, the sub-Shivalik area receives more than of rainfall in the winter months.

Flora and fauna.

The fauna of the area is rich, with 396 types of birds, 214 kinds of Lepidoptera, 55 varieties of fish, 20 types of reptiles, and 19 kinds of mammals. The state of Punjab has large wetland areas, bird sanctuaries that house numerous species of birds, and many zoological parks. Wetlands include the national wetland Hari-Ke-Pattan, the wetland of Kanjli, and the wetlands of Kapurthala Sutlej. Wildlife sanctuaries include the Harike in the district of Tarn Taran Sahib, the Zoological Park in Rupnagar, Chhatbir Bansar Garden in Sangrur, Aam Khas Bagh in Sirhind, Amritsar's famous Ram Bagh, Shalimar Garden in Kapurthala, and the famous Baradari Garden in the city of Patiala.

Animals and birds.

A few of the rivers in Punjab have crocodiles. The extraction of silk from silkworms is another industry that flourishes in the state. Production of bee honey is done in some parts of Punjab. The southern plains are desert land; hence, camels can be seen. Buffaloes graze around the banks of rivers. The northeastern part is home to animals like horses. Wildlife sanctuaries have many more species of wild animals

Government and politics.

Punjab is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy. Each of the states of India possesses a parliamentary system of government, with a ceremonial state Governor, appointed by the President of India on the advice of the central government. The head of government is an indirectly elected Chief Minister who is vested with most of the executive powers. The term length of the government is five years. The state legislature, the Vidhan Sabha, is the unicameral Punjab Legislative Assembly, with 117 members elected from single-seat constituencies. The current government was elected in the 2017 Assembly elections as Congress won 77 out of 117 Assembly seats and Amarinder Singh is the current Chief Minister. The state of Punjab is divided into five

Administrative set-up.

Punjab has 22 districts which are geographically classified into Majha, Malwa, Doaba and Poadh regions. They are officially divided among 5 divisions: Patiala, Rupnagar, Jalandhar, Faridkot and Firozepur.  Each district under the administrative control of a District Collector. The districts are subdivided into 79 tehsils, which have fiscal and administrative powers over settlements within their borders, including maintenance of local land records comes under the administrative control of a Tehsildar. Each Tehsil consists of blocks which are total 143 in number. The blocks consist of revenue

Economy.

Punjab's GDP is ₹5.78 lakh crore (US$84 billion). Punjab is one of the most fertile regions in India. The region is ideal for wheat-growing. Rice, sugar cane, fruits and vegetables are also grown. Indian Punjab is called the "Granary of India" or "India's bread-basket". It produces 10.26% of India's cotton, 19.5% of India's wheat, and 11% of India's rice. The Firozpur and Fazilka Districts are the largest producers of wheat and rice in the state. In worldwide terms, Indian Punjab produces 2% of the world's cotton, 2% of its wheat and 1% of its rice.  The largest cultivated crop is wheat. Other important crops are rice, cotton, sugarcane, pearl

Transport.

Public transport in Punjab is provided by buses, auto rickshaws, Indian railways and an international rail connection to Pakistan (Samjhauta Express). The state has a large network of multi-modal transportation systems.  Punjab has six civil airports including two international airports: Amritsar International Airport and Chandigarh International Airport; and four domestic airports: Bathinda Airport, Pathankot Airport, Adampur Airport (Jalandhar) and Sahnewal Airport (Ludhiana).  The Indian Railways' Northern Railway line runs through the state connecting most of the major towns and cities. The railway network in the state is controlled by Northern Railway zone divisional headquarter: Firozpur railway division and Ambala railway division. The Shatabdi Express, India's fastest series of train connects Amritsar to New Delhi covering total distance of 449 km. Bathinda Junction is the

Demographics.

Punjab is home to 2.30% of India's population; with a density of 551 persons per km. According to the provisional results of the 2011 national census, Punjab has a population of 27,743,338, making it the 16th most populated state in India. Of which male and female are 14,639,465 and 13,103,873 respectively. 32% of Punjab's population consists of Dalits.  In the state, the rate of population growth is 13.89 percent (2011), lower than national average. Out of total population, 37.48% people live in urban regions. The total figure of population living in urban areas is 10,399,146 of which 5,545,989 are males and while remaining 4,853,157 are females. The urban population in the last 10 years has increased by 37.48 percent. Punjabi is the sole official language of Punjab and is spoken by the majority of the population (90%). Hindi is spoken by 9.33% of the population. The 2011 Census of India found Scheduled Castes to account for 31.9 percent of the state's population. The Other Backward Classes have 31.3 percent population in Punjab. The exact population of Forward castes is not known as their data from Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 is not made public as of 2019.  There has been a constant decline in the sex ratio of the state. The sex ratio in Punjab was 895 females per 1000 males, which was below the national average of 940. The literacy rate rose to 75.84 percent as per 2011 population census. Of that, male literacy stands at 80.44 percent while female literacy is at 70.73 percent. In actual numbers, total literates in Punjab stands at 18,707,137 of which males were 10,436,056 and females were 8,271,081.

Religion.

Punjab has the largest population of Sikhs in India and is the only state where Sikhs form a majority with 57.69% of the state population practising Sikhism. Hinduism is the second most popular religion in the state of Punjab with 38.49% following it. Islam is followed by 1.93%, in contrast to the predominant Islam following (roughly 97% of the population) in Punjabi Pakistan. Christianity by 1.26%, Jainism by 0.16%, Buddhism by 0.12% and others 0.36%.Sikhs form a majority in 17 districts out of the total 22 districts while Hindus form the majority in five districts namely, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Fazilka and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts.  The Sikh shrine,

Education.

Primary and Secondary education is mainly affiliated to Punjab School Education Board. Punjab is served by several institutions of higher education, including 23 universities that provide undergraduate and postgraduate courses in all the major arts, humanities, science, engineering, law, medicine, veterinary science, and business. Reading and writing Punjabi language is compulsory till matriculation for every student failing which the schools attract fine or cancellation of license.  Punjab Agricultural University is a leading institution globally for the study of agriculture and played a significant role in Punjab's Green Revolution in the 1960s–70s. Alumni of the Panjab

Media.

Daily Ajit, Jagbani, Desh ka sooraj, Punjabi Tribune and The Tribune are the largest-selling Punjabi and English newspapers respectively. A vast number of weekly, biweekly and monthly magazines are under publication in Punjabi. Other main newspapers are "Daily Punjab Times, Rozana Spokesman, Nawan Zamana", etc.  Doordarshan is the broadcaster of the Government of India and its channel DD Punjabi is dedicated to Punjabi. Prominent Punjabi channels include

Culture.

The culture of Punjab has many elements including music such as bhangra, an extensive religious and non-religious dance tradition, a long history of poetry in the Punjabi language, a significant Punjabi film industry that dates back to before Partition, a vast range of cuisine, which has become widely popular abroad, and a number of seasonal and harvest festivals such as Lohri, Basant, Vaisakhi and Teeyan, all of which are celebrated in addition to the religious festivals of India.  A kissa is a Punjabi language oral story-telling tradition that has a mixture of origins ranging from the Arabian peninsula to Iran and Afghanistan.  Punjabi wedding traditions and ceremonies are a strong reflection of Punjabi culture. Marriage ceremonies are known for their rich rituals, songs, dances, food and dresses, which have evolved over many centuries.

Bhangra.

Bhangra (; pronounced ) and Giddha are forms of dance and music that originated in the Punjab region.  "Bhangra" dance began as a folk dance conducted by Punjabi farmers to celebrate the coming of the harvest season. The specific moves of "Bhangra" reflect the manner in which

Punjabi folklore.

The folk heritage of the Punjab reflects its thousands of years of history. While Majhi is considered to be the standard dialect of Punjabi language, there are a number of Punjabi dialects through which the people communicate. These include Malwai, Doabi and Puadhi. The songs, ballads, epics and romances are generally written and sung in these

Literature.

Most early Punjabi literary works are in verse form, with prose not becoming more common until later periods. Throughout its history,

Music.

Punjabi Folk Music is the traditional music on the traditional musical instruments of Punjab region.  Bhangra music of

Film industry.

Punjab is home to the Punjabi film industry, often colloquially referred to as 'Pollywood'. It is known for being the fastest growing film industry in India. It

Crafts.

The city of Amritsar is home to the craft of brass and copper metalwork done by the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, which is enlisted

Cuisine.

One of the main features of Punjabi cuisine is its diverse range of dishes. Home cooked and restaurant cuisine sometimes vary in taste. Restaurant style uses large amounts of ghee. Some food

Festivals and traditions.

Punjabis celebrate a number of festivals, which have taken a semi-secular meaning and are regarded as cultural festivals

Sports.

Kabbadi (Circle Style), a team contact sport originated in rural Punjab is recognised as the state game. Field hockey is also a popular sport in the state. Kila Raipur Sports Festival, popularly known as the Rural Olympics, is held annually in Kila Raipur (near Ludhiana). Competition

Tourism.

Tourism in Indian Punjab centres around the historic palaces, battle sites, and the great Sikh architecture of the state and the surrounding region. Examples include various sites of the Indus Valley Civilization, the ancient fort of Bathinda, the architectural monuments of Kapurthala, Patiala, and Chandigarh, the modern capital designed by Le Corbusier.  The Golden Temple in Amritsar is one of the major tourist destinations of Punjab and indeed India, attracting more visitors than the Taj Mahal. Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008 has voted the Harmandir Sahib as one of the world's best spiritual sites. Moreover, there is a rapidly expanding array of international hotels in the holy city that can be booked for overnight stays. Devi Talab Mandir is a Hindu temple located in Jalandhar. This temple is devoted to Goddess Durga and is believed to be at least 200 years old. Another main tourist destination is religious and historic city of Sri Anandpur Sahib where large number of tourists come to see the Virasat-e-Khalsa (Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex) and also take part in Hola Mohalla festival. Kila Raipur Sports Festival is also popular tourist attraction in Kila Raipur near Ludhiana. Shahpur kandi fort, Ranjit Sagar lake and Sikh Temple in Sri Muktsar Sahib are also popular attractions in Punjab. Punjab also has the world's first museum based on the Indian Partition of 1947, in Amritsar, called the Partition Museum.

Punjab (, ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the north, and the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast, and Rajasthan to the southwest. It is bordered by the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west. The state covers an area of 50,362 square kilometres (19,445 square miles), 1.53% of India's total geographical area. It is the 20th-largest Indian state by area. With 27,704,236 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Punjab is the 16th-largest state by population, comprising 22 districts. Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script, is the most widely spoken and official language of the state. The main ethnic group are the Punjabis, with Sikhs (57.7%) and Hindus (38.5%) as the dominant religious groups. The state capital is Chandigarh, a Union Territory and also the capital of the neighbouring state of Haryana. The five tributary rivers of the Indus river from which the region took its name are the Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, Chenab and Jhelum rivers; the Sutlej, Ravi and Beas rivers flow through the Indian Punjab.

Paňdžáb (paňdžábsky ਪੰਜਾਬ, hindsky पंजाब, anglicky "Punjab)" je stát v severozápadní Indii. Na západě sousedí s pákistánskou provincií Paňdžáb, na severu s indickým státem Džammú a Kašmír, na východě s Himáčalpradéšem, na jihovýchodě se teritoriem Čandígarh, na jihu a jihovýchodě s Harijánou a konečně na jihozápadě s Rádžasthánem. Celková rozloha státu je 50 362 km2. Populace v roce 2000 dosáhla 24 289 296 obyvatel.


Description.

"Agapanthus praecox" is a variable species with open-faced flowers. It is a perennial plant that can survive up to 75 years. Its evergreen leaves are 2 cm wide and 50 cm long. Its inflorescence is in umbel. The flowers of the agapanthus are blue, purple or white and bloom in the summer. They give capsules filled with fine black seeds (to be kept cool in sand until sowing). Its stem reaches one meter high. Its roots are very powerful and can break concrete.  This subspecies occurs in Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It usually grows to between 0.8 and 1 metre tall and has 10-11 leathery leaves. The blue flowers, appear from December to February. These have perianth segments which are greater than 50 mm in length.  This subspecies occurs in Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal. Although it is about the same height as subsp. "praecox", it has up to 20 poisonous, strap-like leaves per plant which are arching and are not leathery. These range in length from 20 to 70 cm long and 3 to 5 cm wide. Flower colour ranges from blue to white. Shiny black seeds are produced in three-sided capsules. These have perianth segments which are less than 50 mm in length.  Occurring in the southeastern Western Cape and Eastern Cape, this subspecies is the smallest, ranging in height from 300 to 600 mm. It has a longer flowering season, from November to March. Flower colour includes white and various shades of blue.

Cultivation.

The plant prefers a well-drained soil, but supports a poor soil. Exposure to full sun is preferable, but it supports partial shade. It does not like to be moved. It can be multiplied by sowing (flowering under 3 to 4 years) or division of tufts. It tolerates drought once well installed, but watering is preferable in case of long dry periods. It overwinters as a stump and therefore completely disappears during the cold months. Contrary to popular belief, this species can withstand wind, frost and cold up to −15 °C provided that the strains are protected for the first two years with mulching.  Young shoots need to be protected from slugs and snails. A contribution of 2 or 3 handfuls of wood ash around the stump in the spring will push the gastropods a few days and make a good contribution of potash.

Naturalisation.

The species is naturalised in Australia, New Zealand and the Isles of Scilly. It is reportedly naturalized in Madeira, the Canary Islands, Eritrea, Ethiopia, St. Helena, Norfolk Island, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and Tristan da Cunha.  "Agapanthus praecox" subsp. "orientalis" is highly regarded for being tough in sun and heat, long-flowering, and is a favourite for many councils in Australia for the landscaping of roads and other public areas which do not get watered. The plant is still widely planted but in some areas it is considered a weed, and planting has been discontinued, although it is not generally regarded as highly invasive.

Agapanthus praecox (common agapanthus, blue lily, African lily, or lily of the Nile) is a popular garden plant around the world, especially in Mediterranean climates. It is native of Natal and Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, local names include "agapant", "bloulelie", "isicakathi" and "ubani". Most of the cultivated plants of the genus "Agapanthus" are hybrids or cultivars of this species. It is divided into three subspecies: subsp."praecox", subsp. "orientalis" and subsp. "minimus."

Kalokvět africký ("Agapanthus praecox"), česky též kalokvět časný, je druh jednoděložné rostliny z rodu kalokvět ("Agapanthus") a čeledi amarylkovité ("Amaryllidaceae"). Pochází z jižní Afriky. Jde o trvalku vyskytující se v bezmrazých oblastech s bohatými dešťovými srážkami (KwaZulu-Natal, Swazijsko, Lesotho, Limpopo a Mosambik). Květy mají stonek kolem 60 cm a průměr až 14 cm. Kalokvět byl podle systému APG II řazen do samostatné čeledi kalokvětovité ("Agapanthaceae"), která je v systému APG III vřazena do čeledi amarylkovité ("Amaryllidaceae"). Starší taxonomické systémy ho řadily do čeledi česnekovité ("Alliaceae") nebo do liliovitých v širším pojetí ("Liliaceae" s.l.)


Legend.

The earliest mention of a female pope appears in the Dominican Jean de Mailly's chronicle of Metz, "Chronica Universalis Mettensis", written in the early 13th century. In his telling, the female pope is not named, and the events are set in 1099. According to Jean:  Jean de Mailly's story was picked up by his fellow Dominican Stephen of Bourbon, who adapted it for his work on the "Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost". However, the legend gained its greatest prominence when it appeared in the third "recension" (edited revision) of Martin of Opava's "Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum" later in the 13th century. This version, which may have been by Martin himself, is the first to attach a name to the figure, indicating that she was known as "John Anglicus" or "John of Mainz." It also changes the date from the 11th to the 9th century, indicating that Joan reigned between Leo IV and Benedict III in the 850s. According to the "Chronicon":  One version of the "Chronicon" gives an alternative fate for the female pope. According to this, she did not die immediately after her exposure, but was confined and deposed, after which she did many years of penance. Her son from the affair eventually became Bishop of Ostia, and ordered her entombment in his cathedral when she died.  Other references to the female pope are attributed to earlier writers, though none appears in manuscripts that predate the "Chronicon". The one most commonly cited is Anastasius Bibliothecarius (d. 886), a compiler of "Liber Pontificalis", who was a contemporary of the female Pope by the "Chronicon"'s dating. However, the story is found in only one unreliable manuscript of Anastasius. This manuscript, in the Vatican Library, bears the relevant passage inserted as a footnote at the bottom of a page. It is out of sequence, and in a different hand, one that dates from after the time of Martin of Opava. This "witness" to the female pope is likely to be based upon Martin's account, and not a possible source for it. The same is true of Marianus Scotus's "Chronicle of the Popes", a text written in the 11th century. Some of its manuscripts contain a brief mention of a female pope named Johanna (the earliest source to attach to her the female form of the name), but all these manuscripts are later than Martin's work. Earlier manuscripts do not contain the legend.  Some versions of the legend suggest that subsequent popes were subjected to an examination whereby, having sat on a so-called "sedia stercoraria" or "dung chair" containing a hole, a cardinal had to reach up and establish that the new pope had testicles, before announcing ""Duos habet et bene pendentes"" ("He has two, and they dangle nicely"), or ""habet"" ("he has them") for short.  There were associated legends as well. In the 1290s, the Dominican Robert of Uzès recounted a vision in which he saw the seat "where, it is said, the pope is proved to be a man". Pope Joan has been associated with marvelous happenings. Petrarch (1304–74) wrote in his "Chronica de le Vite de Pontefici et Imperadori Romani" that after Pope Joan had been revealed as a woman:  However, the attribution of this work to Petrarch may be incorrect.

Later development.

From the mid-13th century onward, the legend was widely disseminated and believed. Joan was used as an "exemplum" in Dominican preaching. Bartolomeo Platina, the scholar who was prefect of the Vatican Library, wrote his "Vitæ Pontificum Platinæ historici liber de vita Christi ac omnium pontificum qui hactenus ducenti fuere et XX" in 1479 at the behest of his patron, Pope Sixtus IV. The book contains the following account of the female Pope: Pope John VIII: John, of English extraction, was born at Mentz (Mainz) and is said to have arrived at popedom by evil art; for disguising herself like a man, whereas she was a woman, she went when young with her paramour, a learned man, to Athens, and made such progress in learning under the professors there that, coming to Rome, she met with few that could equal, much less go beyond her, even in the knowledge of the scriptures; and by her learned and ingenious readings and disputations, she acquired so great respect and authority that upon the death of Pope Leo IV (as Martin says) by common consent she was chosen pope in his room. As she was going to the Lateran Church between the Colossean Theatre (so called from Nero's Colossus) and St. Clement's her travail came upon her, and she died upon the place, having sat two years, one month, and four days, and was buried there without any pomp. This story is vulgarly told, but by very uncertain and obscure authors, and therefore I have related it barely and in short, lest I should seem obstinate and pertinacious if I had admitted what is so generally talked. I had better mistake with the rest of the world, though it be certain, that what I have related may be thought not altogether incredible. References to the female Pope abound in the later Middle Ages and Renaissance. Giovanni Boccaccio wrote about her in "De Mulieribus Claris" (1353). The "Chronicon" of Adam of Usk (1404) gives her a name, Agnes, and furthermore mentions a statue in Rome that is said to be of her. This statue had never been mentioned by any earlier writer anywhere; presumably it was an actual statue that came to be taken to be of the female pope. A late-14th-century edition of the "Mirabilia Urbis Romae", a guidebook for pilgrims to Rome, tells readers that the female Pope's remains are buried at St. Peter's. It was around this time that a long series of busts of past Popes was made for the Duomo of Siena, which included one of the female pope, named as "Johannes VIII, Foemina de Anglia" and included between Leo IV and Benedict III.  At his trial in 1415, Jan Hus argued that the Church does not necessarily need a pope, because, during the pontificate of "Pope Agnes" (as he also called her), it got on quite well. Hus's opponents at this trial insisted that his argument proved no such thing about the independence of the Church, but they did not dispute that there had been a female pope at all.

During the Reformation.

In 1587, Florimond de Raemond, a magistrate in the parlement de Bordeaux and an antiquary, published his first attempt to deconstruct the legend, "Erreur Populaire de la Papesse Jeanne" (also subsequently published under the title "L'Anti-Papesse"). The tract applied humanist techniques of textual criticism to the Pope Joan legend, with the broader intent of supplying sound historical principles to ecclesiastical history, and the legend began to come apart, detail by detail. Raemond's "Erreur Populaire" went through successive editions, reaching a fifteenth as late as 1691.  In 1601, Pope Clement VIII declared the legend of the female pope to be untrue. The famous bust of her, inscribed "Johannes VIII, Femina ex Anglia," which had been carved for the series of papal figures in the Duomo di Siena about 1400 and was noted by travelers, was either destroyed or recarved and relabeled, replaced by a male figure, that of Pope Zachary.  The legend of Pope Joan was "effectively demolished" by David Blondel, a mid-17th-century Protestant historian, who suggested that Pope Joan's tale may have originated in a satire against Pope John XI, who died in his early 20s. Blondel, through detailed analysis of the claims and suggested timings, argued that no such events could have happened.  The 16th-century Italian historian Onofrio Panvinio, commenting on one of Bartolomeo Platina's works that refer to Pope Joan, theorized that the story of Pope Joan may have originated from tales of Pope John XII; John reportedly had many mistresses, including one called Joan, who was very influential in Rome during his pontificate.  At the time of the Reformation, various Protestant writers took up the Pope Joan legend in their anti-Catholic writings, and the Catholics responded with their own polemic. According to Pierre Gustave Brunet, Various authors, in the 16th and 17th centuries, occupied themselves with Pope Joan, but it was from the point of view of the polemic engaged in between the partisans of Lutheran or Calvinist reform and the apologists of Catholicism. An English writer, Alexander Cooke, wrote a book entitled "Pope Joane: A Dialogue between a Protestant and a Papist", which purported to prove the existence of Pope Joan by reference to Catholic traditions. It was republished in 1675 as "A Present for a Papist: Or the Life and Death of Pope Joan, Plainly Proving Out of the Printed Copies, and Manscriptes of Popish Writers and Others, That a Woman called Joan, Was Really Pope of Rome, and Was There Deliver'd of a Bastard Son in the Open Street as She Went in Solemn Procession". The book gives an account of Pope Joan giving birth to a son in plain view of all those around, accompanied by a detailed engraving showing a rather surprised looking baby peeking out from under the Pope's robes. Even in the 19th century, authors such as Ewaldus Kist and Karl Hase discussed the story as a real occurrence. However, other Protestant writers, such as David Blondel and Gottfried Leibniz, rejected the story.

Modern analysis and critique.

Most modern scholars dismiss Pope Joan as a medieval legend. British historian John Julius Norwich dismissed the myth with a logical assessment of evidence. The "Oxford Dictionary of Popes" declares that there is "no contemporary evidence for a female Pope at any of the dates suggested for her reign", but nonetheless acknowledges that Pope Joan's legend was widely believed for centuries, even by Catholics.  The 1910 "Catholic Encyclopedia" elaborated on the historical timeline problem:  Between Leo IV and Benedict III, where Martinus Polonus places her, she cannot be inserted, because Leo IV died 17 July 855, and immediately after his death Benedict III was elected by the clergy and people of Rome; but, owing to the setting up of an Antipope, in the person of the deposed Cardinal Anastasius, he was not consecrated until 29 September. Coins exist which bear both the image of Benedict III and of Emperor Lothair, who died 28 September 855; therefore Benedict must have been recognized as pope before the last-mentioned date. On 7 October 855, Benedict III issued a charter for the Abbey of Corvey. Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims, informed Nicholas I that a messenger whom he had sent to Leo IV learned on his way of the death of this Pope, and therefore handed his petition to Benedict III, who decided it (Hincmar, ep. xl in P.L., CXXXVI, 85). All these witnesses prove the correctness of the dates given in the lives of Leo IV and Benedict III, and there was no interregnum between these two Popes, so that at this place there is no room for the alleged Popess.  It has also been noted that enemies of the papacy in the 9th century make no mention of a female pope. For example, Photios I of Constantinople, who became Patriarch in 858 and was deposed by Pope Nicholas I in 863, was an enemy of the pope. He vehemently asserted his own authority as patriarch over that of the pope in Rome, and would have made the most of any scandal of that time regarding the papacy; but he never mentions the story once in any of his voluminous writings. Indeed, at one point he mentions "Leo and Benedict, successively great priests of the Roman Church".  Rosemary and Darroll Pardoe, authors of "The Female Pope: The Mystery of Pope Joan", theorize that if a female pope did exist, a more plausible time frame is 1086 and 1108, when there were several antipopes; during this time the reign of the legitimate popes Victor III, Urban II, and Paschal II was not always established in Rome, since the city was occupied by Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and later sacked by the Normans. This also agrees with the earliest known version of the legend, by Jean de Mailly, as he places the story in the year 1099. De Mailly's account was acknowledged by his companion Stephen of Bourbon.  Peter Stanford, a British writer and former editor of "The Catholic Herald", concluded in "The Legend of Pope Joan: In Search of the Truth" (2000) "Weighing all th[e] evidence, I am convinced that Pope Joan was an historical figure, though perhaps not all the details about her that have been passed on down the centuries are true". Stanford's work has been criticised as "credulous" by one mainstream historian. Against the lack of historical evidence to her existence, the question remains as to why the Pope Joan story has been popular and widely believed. Philip Jenkins in "" suggests that the periodic revival of what he calls this "anti-papal legend" has more to do with feminist and anti-Catholic wishful thinking than historical accuracy.  The "sede stercoraria", the throne with a hole in the seat, now at St. John Lateran (the formal residence of the popes and center of Catholicism), is to be considered. This and other toilet-like chairs were used in the consecration of Pope Pascal II in 1099. In fact, one is still in the Vatican Museums, another at the Musée du Louvre. The reason for the configuration of the chair is disputed. It has been speculated that they originally were Roman bidets or imperial birthing stools, which because of their age and imperial links were used in ceremonies by Popes intent on highlighting their own imperial claims (as they did also with their Latin title, "Pontifex Maximus").  Alain Boureau quotes the humanist Jacopo d'Angelo de Scarparia, who visited Rome in 1406 for the enthronement of Gregory XII. The pope sat briefly on two "pierced chairs" at the Lateran: "... the vulgar tell the insane fable that he is touched to verify that he is indeed a man", a sign that this corollary of the Pope Joan legend was still current in the Roman street. Medieval popes, from the 13th century onward, did indeed avoid the direct route between the Lateran and St Peter's, as Martin of Opava claimed. However, there is no evidence that this practice dated back any earlier. The origin of the practice is uncertain, but it is quite likely that it was maintained because of widespread belief in the Joan legend, and it was thought genuinely to date back to that period.  Although some medieval writers referred to the female pope as "John VIII", a genuine Pope John VIII reigned between 872 and 882. Due to the Dark Ages' lack of records, confusion often reigns in the evaluation of events. The Pope Joan legend is also conflated with the gap in the numbering of the Johns. In the 11th century, Pope John XIV was mistakenly counted as two popes. When Petrus Hispanus was elected pope in 1276, he believed that there had already been twenty popes named John, so he skipped the number XX and numbered himself John XXI.

In fiction.

Pope Joan has remained a popular subject for fictional works. Plays include Ludwig Achim von Arnim's "Päpstin Johanna" (1813), a fragment by Bertolt Brecht (in "Werke". Bd. 10), and a monodrama, "Pausin Johanna" by Cees van der Pluijm (1996).  The Greek author Emmanuel Rhoides' 1866 novel, "The Papess Joanne", was admired by Mark Twain and Alfred Jarry and freely translated by Lawrence Durrell as "The Curious History of Pope Joan" (1954). The American Donna Woolfolk Cross's 1996 historical romance, "Pope Joan", was recently made into a German musical as well as the movie described below. Other novels include Wilhelm Smets's "Das Mährchen von der Päpstin Johanna auf’s Neue erörtert" (1829), Marjorie Bowen's "Black Magic" (1909), Ludwig Gorm's "Päpstin Johanna" (1912), Yves Bichet's "La Papesse Jeanne" (2005), and Hugo N. Gerstl's "Scribe: The Story of the Only Female Pope" (2005). Howard Pyle's "The Merry Adventures of Robbin Hood" contains a reference"."  There have been two films based on the story of Pope Joan: "Pope Joan" (1972), directed by Michael Anderson, was titled "The Devil's Imposter" in the US. In 2009, it was recut to include more of John Briley's original script and released as "She... who would be Pope". Also in 2009, another film with the title "Pope Joan" was released, this one a German, British, Italian and Spanish production directed by Sönke Wortmann and produced by Bernd Eichinger, based on Cross's novel.  The play "Top Girls" by Caryl Churchill featured Pope Joan as a character, who was invited to a restaurant along with other historically important women in the past by a modern-day woman, Marlene, to discuss the restriction of feminism in the past.  Pope Joan is referenced in the video game "Persona 5", as the inspiration for Johanna, one of the titular personas (cognitive beings used by humans to battle demons) belonging to Makoto Niijima.  In July 2019, a theatric show was held in Malta at Mdina ditch featuring Pope Joan as the main character.

Pope Joan ("Ioannes Anglicus"; 855–857) was, according to legend, a woman who reigned as pope for a few years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The story was widely believed for centuries, but most modern scholars regard it as fictional.

Papežka Jana, také "La Papessa", byla podle středověké legendy žena, která měla v období 855–857 zastávat papežský úřad. Až do 17. století byla její existence brána jako fakt, současnými historiky a religionisty je však považovaná za fiktivní osobu, jejíž původ lze hledat v anti-papežské satiře.