History.

Early history.

The town of St. Gallen grew around the Abbey of St Gall, founded in the 8th century.  The abbey is said to have been built at the site of the hermitage of Irish missionary Gallus, who according to legend had established himself by the river Steinach in AD 612.  The monastery itself was founded by Saint Othmar in c. 720.  The abbey prospered in the 9th century and became a site of pilgrimage and a center of trade, with associated guest houses, stables and other facilities, a hospital, one of the first monastery schools north of the Alps. By the tenth century, a settlement had grown up around the abbey.  In 926 Magyar raiders attacked the abbey and surrounding town. Saint Wiborada, the first woman formally canonized by the Vatican, reportedly saw a vision of the impending attack and warned the monks and citizens to flee. While the monks and the abbey treasure escaped, Wiborada chose to stay behind and was killed by the raiders. Between 924 and 933 the Magyars again threatened the abbey, and its books were removed for safekeeping to Reichenau. Not all the books were returned.  On 26 April 937 a fire consumed much of the abbey, spreading to the adjoining settlement. However, the library was spared. About 954 a protective wall was raised around the abbey; by 975 abbot Notker finished the wall, and the adjoining settlement began growing into the town of St Gall.  A wall with gates and towers was built in 953/954 under abbot Anno and 971-975 under abbot Notker, first establishing the abbey and its associated settlement as a town.

Independence from the Abbey.

From the later 12th century, the town of St. Gall increasingly pushed for independence from the abbey. In 1180, an imperial reeve, who was not answerable to the abbot, was installed in the town. In 1207, Abbot Ulrich von Sax was granted the rank of Imperial Prince ("Reichsfürst") by Philip of Swabia, King of the Germans. As an ecclesiastical principality, the Abbey of St. Gallen was to constitute an important territorial state and a major regional power in northern Switzerland.  The city of St. Gallen proper progressively freed itself from the rule of the abbot. Abbot Wilhelm von Montfort in 1291 granted special privileges to the citizens. By about 1353 the guilds, headed by the cloth-weavers guild, had gained control of the civic government. In 1415 the city bought its liberty from the German king Sigismund.

Ally of the Swiss Confederacy.

In 1405, the Appenzell estates of the abbot successfully rebelled and in 1411 they became allies of the Old Swiss Confederation. A few months later, the town of St. Gallen also became an ally. They joined the "everlasting alliance" as full members of the Confederation in 1454 and in 1457 became completely free from the abbot.  However, in 1451 the abbey became an ally of Zurich, Lucerne, Schwyz, and Glarus who were all members of the Confederation.  Ulrich Varnbüler was an early mayor of St. Gallen and perhaps one of the most colorful. Hans, the father of Ulrich, was prominent in city affairs in St. Gallen in the early 15th century. Ulrich entered public affairs in the early 1460s and attained the various offices and honours that are available to a talented and ambitious man. He demonstrated fine qualities as field commander of the St. Gallen troops in the Burgundian Wars.  In the Battle of Grandson (1476) his troops were part of the advance units of the Confederation and took part in their famous attack. A large painting of Ulrich returning triumphantly to a hero's welcome in St. Gallen is still displayed in St. Gallen.  After the war, Varnbüler often represented St. Gallen at the various parliaments of the Confederation. In December 1480, Varnbüler was offered the position of mayor for the first time. From that time on, he served in several leadership positions and was considered the city's intellectual and political leader.  According to Vadian, who understood his contemporaries well, "Ulrich was a very intelligent, observant, and eloquent man who enjoyed the trust of the citizenry to a high degree."  His reputation among the Confederates was also substantial. However, in the late 1480s, he became involved in a conflict that was to have serious negative consequences for him and for the city. In 1463, Ulrich Rösch had assumed the management of the abbey of Saint Gall. He was an ambitious prelate, whose goal was to return the abbey to prominence by every possible means, following the losses of the Appenzell War.  His restless ambition offended the political and material interests of his neighbours. When he arranged for the help of the Pope and the Emperor to carry out a plan to move the abbey to Rorschach on Lake Constance, he encountered stiff resistance from the St. Gallen citizenry, other clerics, and the Appenzell nobility in the Rhine Valley, who were concerned for their holdings.  At this point, Varnbüler entered the conflict against the prelate. He wanted to restrain the increase of the abbey's power and at the same time increase the power of the town that had been restricted in its development. For this purpose he established contact with farmers and Appenzell residents (led by the fanatical Hermann Schwendiner) who were seeking an opportunity to weaken the abbot.  Initially, he protested to the abbot and the representatives of the four sponsoring Confederate cantons (Zurich, Lucerne, Schwyz, and Glarus) against the construction of the new abbey in Rorschach. Then on 28 July 1489 he had armed troops from St. Gallen and Appenzell destroy the buildings already under construction, an attack known as the Rorschacher Klosterbruch.  When the Abbot complained to the Confederates about the damage and demanded full compensation, Ulrich responded with a countersuit, and in cooperation with Schwendiner rejected the arbitration efforts of the non-partisan Confederates. He motivated the clerics from Wil to Rorschach to abandon their loyalty to the abbey and spoke against the abbey at a meeting of the townspeople at Waldkirch, where the popular league was formed. He was confident that the four sponsoring cantons would not intervene with force, due to the prevailing tensions between the Confederation and the Swabian League. He was strengthened in his resolve when the people of St. Gallen re-elected him as their highest magistrate in 1490.

Invasion of 1490.

Ulrich Varnbüler had made a serious miscalculation. In early 1490, the four cantons decided to carry out their duty to the abbey and to invade the St. Gallen canton with an armed force. The people of Appenzell and the local clerics submitted to this force without significant resistance, while the city of St. Gallen braced itself for a fight to the finish. However, when they learned that their compatriots had given up the fight, they lost confidence, and they agreed to a settlement that greatly restricted the city's power and burdened the city with serious penalties and reparation payments.  Ulrich, overwhelmed by the responsibility for his political decisions, panicked in the face of the approaching enemy who wanted him apprehended. His life was in great danger, and he was forced to escape from the city disguised as a messenger. He made his way to Lindau and to Innsbruck and the court of King Maximilian. The victors confiscated those of his properties that lay outside of the city of St. Gallen and banned him from the Confederation. Ulrich then appealed to the imperial court (as did Schwendiner, who had fled with him) for the return of his property.  The suit had the support of Friedrich II and Maximilian and the trial threatened to drag on for years: it was continued by Ulrich's sons Hans and Ulrich after his death in 1496, and eventually the Varnbülers regained their properties. However, other political ramifications resulted from the court action, because the Confederation gained ownership of the city of St. Gallen and rejected the inroads of the empire. Thus, the conflict strengthened the relationship between the Confederation and the city of St. Gallen. On the other hand, the matter deepened the alienation between Switzerland and the German Holy Roman Empire, which eventually led to a total separation after the Swabian War.  Despite the unpropitious end of his career, Ulrich Varnbüler is immortalized in a famous woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, which is now part of the Smithsonian Institution's woodcut collection in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.  Among Varnbüler's sons, the eldest (Hans/Johann) became the mayor of Lindau. He is the patriarch of the Baden and Württemberg Varnbülers.

Reformation.

Starting in 1526 then-mayor and humanist Joachim von Watt (Vadian) introduced the Protestant Reformation into St. Gallen. The town converted to the new religion while the abbey remained Roman Catholic. While iconoclastic riots forced the monks to flee the city and remove images from the city's churches, the fortified abbey remained untouched. The abbey would remain a Catholic stronghold in the Protestant city until 1803.

Modern history.

In 1798 Napoleon invaded the Old Swiss Confederation, destroying the Ancien Régime. Under the Helvetic Republic both the abbey and the city lost their power and were combined with Appenzell into the Canton of Säntis. The Helvetic Republic was widely unpopular in Switzerland and was overthrown in 1803. Following the Act of Mediation the city of St. Gallen became the capital of the Protestant Canton of St. Gallen.  One of the first acts of the new canton was to suppress the abbey. The monks were driven from the abbey; the last abbot died in Muri in 1829. In 1846 a rearrangement in the local dioceses made St. Gall a separate diocese, with the abbey church as its cathedral and a portion of the monastic buildings designated the bishop's residence.  Gustav Adolf, former king of Sweden, spent the last years of his life in St. Gallen, and died there in 1837.  In the 15th century, St. Gallen became known for producing quality textiles. In 1714, the zenith was reached with a yearly production of 38,000 pieces of cloth. The first depression occurred in the middle of the 18th century, caused by strong foreign competition and reforms in methods of cotton production. But St. Gallen recovered and an even more prosperous era arrived.  At the beginning of the 19th century, the first embroidery machines were developed in St. Gallen. In 1910 the embroidery production constituted the largest export branch (18% of the total export value) in Switzerland and more than half of the worldwide production of embroidery originated in St. Gallen. One fifth of the population of the eastern part of Switzerland was involved with the textile industry. However, World War I and the Great Depression caused another severe crisis for St. Gallen embroidery. Only in the 1950s did the textile industry recover somewhat. Nowadays, because of competition and the prevalence of computer-operated embroidery machines, only a reduced textile industry has survived in St. Gallen; but its embroidered textiles are still popular with Parisian haute couture designers.

Geography and climate.

Topography.

St. Gallen is situated in the northeastern part of Switzerland in a valley about above sea level. It is one of the highest cities in Switzerland and thus receives abundant winter snow. The city lies between Lake Constance and the mountains of the Appenzell Alps (with the Säntis as the highest peak at ). It therefore offers excellent recreation areas nearby.  As the city center is built on an unstable turf ground (its founder Gallus was looking for a site for a hermitage, not for a city), all buildings on the valley floor must be built on piles. For example, the entire foundation of the train station and its plaza are based on hundreds of piles.  St. Gallen has an area,, of. Of this area, 31.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 38.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.7%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

Climate.

Between 1981 and 2010 St. Gallen had an average of 141 days of rain or snow per year and on average received of precipitation. The wettest month was July during which time St. Gallen received an average of of rain. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 13.8 days. The month with the most days of precipitation were June and July May. The driest month of the year was February with an average of of precipitation over 9.1 days.

Radioactivity.

St. Gallen is notable for reporting the highest maximum radioactivity measurements of any Swiss city, as published in the 2009 yearly report by the Federal Office of Public Health. While the daily average level of gamma-ray radioactivity in the city is unremarkable at 105 nSv/h, the maximum can reach 195 nSv/h, as high as the average for Jungfraujoch, the location with the highest reported level of radioactivity in Switzerland, due to its high elevation and therefore greater exposure to cosmic rays. The same report explains that the unusually high spikes of radioactivity measured in St. Gallen are due to radioactive products of radon gas being washed to the ground during heavy storms, but does not explain where the sufficient quantities of radon gas and its products to account for the anomaly would come from. The yearly report for 2009 on risks associated with radon published by the same governmental agency shows St. Gallen to lie in an area of the lowest level of radon exposure. In addition to the measured gamma-radiation, the city may be subject to radioactive tritium pollution in Teufen, a satellite town situated 4 km south of the city in the canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes (this pollution is also covered in the report).

Politics.

Coat of arms.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is "Argent a Bear rampant Sable langued and in his virility Gules and armed and gorged Or."

Government.

The City Council (Stadtrat) constitutes the executive government of the City of St. Gallen and operates as a collegiate authority. It is composed of five councilors (), each presiding over a directorate. The president of the presidential directorate acts as mayor ("Stadtpräsident"). In the mandate period 2017–2020 ("Legislatur") the City Council is presided by "Stadtpräsident" Erich Fehr. Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by the City Parliament are carried by the City Council. The regular election of the City Council by any inhabitant valid to vote is held every four years. Any resident of St. Gallen allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Council. The current mandate period is from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2020. The mayor is elected as such by public election by means of a system of Majorz, while the heads of the other directorates are assigned by the collegiate. The delegates are elected by means of a system of Majorz. , St. Gallen's City Council is made up of two representatives of the SP (Social Democratic Party), one member of the FDP (FDP.The Liberals, who is also the mayor), one of the GLP (Green Liberal Party), and one independent. The last regular election was held on 25 September and 27. November 2016.  Manfred Linke is Town Chancellor ("Stadtschreiber") since for the Town Chancellary.

Parliament.

The City Parliament (Stadtparlament) holds legislative power. It is made up of 63 members, with elections held every four years. The City Parliament decrees regulations and by-laws that are executed by the City Council and the administration. The delegates are selected by means of a system of proportional representation (Proporz).  The sessions of the City Parliament are public. Unlike members of the City Council, members of the City Parliament are not politicians by profession, and they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of St. Gallen allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Parliament. The parliament holds its meetings in the "Waaghaus" once a week on Tuesdays.  The last regular election of the City Parliament was held on 25 September 2016 for the mandate period () from January 2017 to December 2020. Currently the City Parliament consists of 18 members of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS) and one of its junior section, the "JUSO", 12 The Liberals (FDP/PLR), 9 Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), 9 Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), 4 Green Party (GPS/PES) and 3 of its junior section, the "JungeGr", 5 Green Liberal Party (GLP/PVL), one representative of the Evangelical People's Party (EVP), and one member of the "Politische Frauengruppe (PFG)" (Political Women Group).

National elections.

National Council.

In the 2019 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the PS which received 24.4% (-3.8) of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the Green Party (17.5%, +8.3), the SVP (16.5%, -4.6), FDP (14.4%, +0.1), the CVP (12.6%, +0.4), and the GLP (10.9%, +4.4). In the federal election a total of 18,821 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.9%.  In the 2015 election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the SPS which received 28.1% of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the SVP (21.1%), the FDP (14.3%), the CVP (12.2%), the GPS (9.2%), and the GLP (6.6%). In the federal election, a total of 20,768 voters were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.0%.

International relations.

St. Gallen is twinned with:

Demographics.

Population.

St. Gallen has a population (as of ) of., about 28.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (), 5,118 are from Germany, 3,231 are from Serbia, 2,587 are from Italy, 1,093 are from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 952 are from Austria, 6,833 are from other countries. Over the last 5 years, the population has grown at 4.4% per year. Most of the population () speaks German (83.0%), with Italian being second most common (3.7%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (3.7%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 60,297 speak German, 575 people speak French, 2,722 people speak Italian, and 147 people speak Romansh.  The age distribution,, in St. Gallen is: 6,742 (9.3%) between 0 and 9 years old; 7,595 (10.5%) between 10 and 19; 12,574 (17.3%) between 20 and 29; 11,735 (16.2%) between 30 and 39; 9,535 (13.1%) between 40 and 49; 8,432 (11.6%) between 50 and 59; 6,461 (8.9%) between 60 and 69; 5,633 (7.8%) between 70 and 79; 3,255 (4.5%) between 80 and 89; 655 (0.9%) between 90 and 99; 9 people (0.0%) aged 100 or more.

Historical population.

The historical population is given in the following table:

Economy.

, St. Gallen had an unemployment rate of 2.69%., there were 336 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 95 businesses involved in this sector. 11,227 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 707 businesses in this sector. 48,729 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 4,035 businesses in this sector. the average unemployment rate was 4.5%. There were 4857 businesses in the municipality of which 689 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 4102 were involved in the third. there were 28,399 residents who worked in the municipality, while 8,927 residents worked outside St. Gallen and 31,543 people commuted into the municipality for work.  Helvetia Insurance is a major company headquartered in St. Gallen.

Religion.

According to the, 31,978 or 44.0% are Roman Catholic, while 19,578 or 27.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 112 individuals (or about 0.15% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 3,253 individuals (or about 4.48% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 1,502 individuals (or about 2.07% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 133 individuals (or about 0.18% of the population) who are Jewish, and 4,856 (or about 6.69% of the population) who are Muslim. There are 837 individuals (or about 1.15% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 7,221 (or about 9.94% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 3,156 individuals (or about 4.35% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education.

St. Gallen is known for its business school, now named the University of St. Gallen (HSG). It was ranked as the top business school in Europe by Wirtschaftswoche, a weekly German business news magazine and is highly ranked by several other sources. Recently, HSG has been building a reputation for Executive Education, with its International MBA recognised as one of Europe's leading programmes, and runs a PhD programme. HSG is a focused university that offers degrees in business and management, economics, political science and international relations as well as business law. The Master in Management course was Ranked number 1 in 2014 by The Financial Times ahead of HEC Paris. It is comparatively small, with about 6,500 students enrolled at present, has both EQUIS and AACSB accreditations, and is a member of CEMS (Community of European Management Schools). The university maintains student and faculty exchange programs around the world. The University of St. Gallen is also famous for its high density of clubs. Particularly well known is the International Students’ Committee, which has organised the St. Gallen Symposium for over forty years. The St. Gallen Symposium is the leading student-run economic conference of its kind worldwide and aims to foster the dialogue between generations.  St. Gallen's state school system contains 64 kindergartens, 21 primary schools and 7 secondary schools and about 6,800 students. In addition to the state system, St. Gallen is home to the Institut auf dem Rosenberg — an élite boarding school attracting students from all over the world. The Institut provides an education in English, German and Italian and prepares the students to enter: American, British, Swiss, Italian, German and other European university programmes.  The canton's "Gewerbliches Berufs- und Weiterbildungszentrum" is the largest occupational school in Switzerland with over 10,000 students and various specialty institutes. One for example, the "GBS Schule für Gestaltung" teaches students design fundamentals in the practice of graphic design. The school is located in Reitusli, a small section of the town of St. Gallen.  In St. Gallen about 68.8% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule"). Out of the total population in St. Gallen,, the highest education level completed by 15,035 people (20.7% of the population) was Primary, while 27,465 (37.8%) have completed their secondary education, 10,249 (14.1%) have attended a Tertiary school, and 2,910 (4.0%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.

Culture and sightseeing.

After the years of Gallus' death, the place became one of the centers of Germanic culture. This is because of the creative works of the monks who followed the footsteps of the city's founder Gallus. This resulted to numerous heritage sites of national significance of the country.  In 1992, St. Gallen was awarded the Wakker Prize for the city's effort to create a unified structure and appearance in current and future construction.

Heritage sites of national significance.

There are 28 sites in St. Gallen that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance, including four religious buildings; the Abbey of St. Gallen, the former Dominican Abbey of St. Katharina, the Reformed Church of St. Laurenzenkirche and the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Maria Neudorf.  There are six museums or archives in the inventory. This includes the "Textile museum", the "Historical and ethnographical museum", the Cantonal library and city archives, the "Art and Natural History museum", the Museum in Lagerhaus and the St. Gallen State Archive. The entire town of St. Gallen is the only archeological heritage site. Two bridges are listed, the Eisenbahnbrücke BT (railroad bridge) and the "Kräzern-Strassenbrücke" with a custom house.  The twelve other sites include the main train station, main post office, University of St. Gallen, Cantonal School, City Theatre and two towers; the "Lokremise" with "Wasserturm" and the "Tröckneturm".

Transportation.

The large urban area Zurich is 80 km south-west of St. Gallen, a 60-minute drive or train ride (ICN train).

Road transportation.

The A1 motorway links St. Gallen with St. Margrethen, Zurich, Bern and Geneva. In 1987 the city motorway was opened, which conveys the traffic through two tunnels (Rosenberg and Stefanshorn) almost directly below the town center.

Air transportation.

The Airport St. Gallen-Altenrhein, near Lake of Constance, provides scheduled airline flights to Vienna and other destinations.

Public transport.

By rail and tram.

St. Gallen railway station is part of the national Swiss Federal Railways network and has InterCity connections to Zurich and the Zurich Airport every half-hour. St. Gallen is the hub for many private railways such as the Südostbahn (SOB), connecting St. Gallen with Lucerne, the Appenzeller Bahnen, which operates the Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway, connecting to Appenzell and Trogen, and also serves as a tram in downtown.

By bus.

The town has a dense local bus system, including the town's trolleybus network, which is operated by the VBSG and is well established on the valley floor, but less so on the hills. As St. Gallen is located near the Appenzell mountain area, it offers also many Postauto (post bus) connections. The agglomeration also has its own St. Gallen S-Bahn system (overground local trains).

Expansion - St. Gallen 2013.

The "St. Gallen 2013" project aimed to improve local rail services, with infrastructure upgrades and new rolling stock. By December 2013, S-Bahn services would run on six lines, at intervals of 15 to 30 minutes.

St. Gallen or traditionally St Gall, in German sometimes Sankt Gallen (; ; ; ; ) is a Swiss town and the capital of the canton of St. Gallen. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration (with around 167,000 inhabitants in 2019) and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. Its economy consists mainly of the service sector. The town is home of the University of St. Gallen, one of the best business schools in Europe.

Sankt Gallen (švýc. němčinou "Sanggale", francouzsky "Saint-Gall", italsky "San Gallo", rétorománsky "Sogn Gagl", doslovný český a zastaralý název je Svatý Havel), zpravidla a převážně uváděno oficiální zkráceninou St. Gallen, je metropole stejnojmenného švýcarského kantonu pojmenovaná po Svatém Havlu.


Nomenclature.

"Cenozoic," meaning "new life," is derived from Greek "kainós" "new," and "zōḗ" "life." The era is also known as the "Cænozoic", "Caenozoic", or "Cainozoic" (). The name "Cenozoic" (originally: "Kainozoic") was proposed in 1840 by the British geologist John Phillips (1800–1874).

Divisions.

The Cenozoic is divided into three periods: the Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary; and seven epochs: the Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene. The Quaternary Period was officially recognized by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June 2009, and the former term, Tertiary Period, became officially disused in 2004 due to the need to divide the Cenozoic into periods more like those of the earlier Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. The common use of epochs during the Cenozoic helps paleontologists better organize and group the many significant events that occurred during this comparatively short interval of time. Knowledge of this era is more detailed than any other era because of the relatively young, well-preserved rocks associated with it.

Paleogene.

The Paleogene spans from the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs, 66 million years ago, to the dawn of the Neogene, 23.03 million years ago. It features three epochs: the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene.  The Paleocene epoch lasted from 66 million to 56 million years ago. Modern placental mammals originated during this time. The Paleocene is a transitional point between the devastation that is the K-T extinction, and the rich jungle environment that is the Early Eocene. The Early Paleocene saw the recovery of the earth. The continents began to take their modern shape, but all the continents and the subcontinent of India were separated from each other. Afro-Eurasia was separated by the Tethys Sea, and the Americas were separated by the strait of Panama, as the isthmus had not yet formed. This epoch featured a general warming trend, with jungles eventually reaching the poles. The oceans were dominated by sharks as the large reptiles that had once predominated were extinct. Archaic mammals filled the world such as creodonts (extinct carnivores, unrelated to existing Carnivora).  The Eocene Epoch ranged from 56 million years to 33.9 million years ago. In the Early-Eocene, species living in dense forest were unable to evolve into larger forms, as in the Paleocene. All known mammals were under 10 kilograms. Among them were early primates, whales and horses along with many other early forms of mammals. At the top of the food chains were huge birds, such as Paracrax. The temperature was 30 degrees Celsius with little temperature gradient from pole to pole. In the Mid-Eocene, the Circumpolar-Antarctic current between Australia and Antarctica formed. This disrupted ocean currents worldwide and as a result caused a global cooling effect, shrinking the jungles. This allowed mammals to grow to mammoth proportions, such as whales which, by that time, had become almost fully aquatic. Mammals like "Andrewsarchus" were at the top of the food-chain. The Late Eocene saw the rebirth of seasons, which caused the expansion of savanna-like areas, along with the evolution of grass. The end of the Eocene was marked by the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event, the European face of which is known as the Grande Coupure.  The Oligocene Epoch spans from 33.9 million to 23.03 million years ago. The Oligocene featured the expansion of grass which had led to many new species to evolve, including the first elephants, cats, dogs, marsupials and many other species still prevalent today. Many other species of plants evolved in this period too. A cooling period featuring seasonal rains was still in effect. Mammals still continued to grow larger and larger.

Neogene.

The Neogene spans from 23.03 million to 2.58 million years ago. It features 2 epochs: the Miocene, and the Pliocene.  The Miocene epoch spans from 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago and is a period in which grass spread further, dominating a large portion of the world, at the expense of forests. Kelp forests evolved, encouraging the evolution of new species, such as sea otters. During this time, perissodactyla thrived, and evolved into many different varieties. Apes evolved into 30 species. The Tethys Sea finally closed with the creation of the Arabian Peninsula, leaving only remnants as the Black, Red, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas. This increased aridity. Many new plants evolved: 95% of modern seed plants evolved in the mid-Miocene.  The Pliocene epoch lasted from 5.333 to 2.58 million years ago. The Pliocene featured dramatic climactic changes, which ultimately led to modern species of flora and fauna. The Mediterranean Sea dried up for several million years (because the ice ages reduced sea levels, disconnecting the Atlantic from the Mediterranean, and evaporation rates exceeded inflow from rivers). "Australopithecus" evolved in Africa, beginning the human branch. The isthmus of Panama formed, and animals migrated between North and South America during the great American interchange, wreaking havoc on local ecologies. Climatic changes brought: savannas that are still continuing to spread across the world; Indian monsoons; deserts in central Asia; and the beginnings of the Sahara desert. The world map has not changed much since, save for changes brought about by the glaciations of the Quaternary, such as the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Baltic sea.

Quaternary.

The Quaternary spans from 2.58 million years ago to present day, and is the shortest geological period in the Phanerozoic Eon. It features modern animals, and dramatic changes in the climate. It is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene. The Pleistocene lasted from 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago. This epoch was marked by ice ages as a result of the cooling trend that started in the Mid-Eocene. There were at least four separate glaciation periods marked by the advance of ice caps as far south as 40° N in mountainous areas. Meanwhile, Africa experienced a trend of desiccation which resulted in the creation of the Sahara, Namib, and Kalahari deserts. Many animals evolved including mammoths, giant ground sloths, dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, and most famously "Homo sapiens". 100,000 years ago marked the end of one of the worst droughts in Africa, and led to the expansion of primitive humans. As the Pleistocene drew to a close, a major extinction wiped out much of the world's megafauna, including some of the hominid species, such as Neanderthals. All the continents were affected, but Africa to a lesser extent. It still retains many large animals, such as hippos.  The Holocene began 11,700 years ago and lasts to the present day. All recorded history and "the Human history" lies within the boundaries of the Holocene epoch. Human activity is blamed for a mass extinction that began roughly 10,000 years ago, though the species becoming extinct have only been recorded since the Industrial Revolution. This is sometimes referred to as the "Sixth Extinction". It is often cited that over 322 recorded species have become extinct due to human activity since the Industrial Revolution, but the rate may be as high as 500 veterbrate species alone, the majority of which have occurred after 1900.

Animal life.

Early in the Cenozoic, following the K-Pg event, the planet was dominated by relatively small fauna, including small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. From a geological perspective, it did not take long for mammals and birds to greatly diversify in the absence of the dinosaurs that had dominated during the Mesozoic. Some flightless birds grew larger than humans. These species are sometimes referred to as "terror birds," and were formidable predators. Mammals came to occupy almost every available niche (both marine and terrestrial), and some also grew very large, attaining sizes not seen in most of today's terrestrial mammals.  Early animals were the Entelodon, Paraceratherium (a hornless rhinoceros relative) and Basilosaurus (an early whale). The extinction of many large diapsid groups, such as flightless dinosaurs, Plesiosauria and Pterosauria allowed mammals and birds to greatly diversify and become the world's predominant fauna.

Tectonics.

Geologically, the Cenozoic is the era when the continents moved into their current positions. Australia-New Guinea, having split from Pangea during the early Cretaceous, drifted north and, eventually, collided with South-east Asia; Antarctica moved into its current position over the South Pole; the Atlantic Ocean widened and, later in the era (2.8 million years ago), South America became attached to North America with the isthmus of Panama.  India collided with Asia creating the Himalayas; Arabia collided with Eurasia, closing the Tethys Ocean and creating the Zagros Mountains, around.  The break-up of Gondwana in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic times led to a shift in the river courses of various large African rivers including the Congo, Niger, Nile, Orange, Limpopo and Zambezi.

Climate.

In the Cretaceous, the climate was hot and humid with lush forests at the poles, there was no permanent ice and sea levels were around 300 metres higher than today. This continued for the first 10 million years of the Paleocene, culminating in the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum about. Around the earth entered a period of long term cooling. This was mainly due to the collision of India with Eurasia, which caused the rise of the Himalayas: the upraised rocks eroded and reacted with in the air, causing a long-term reduction in the proportion of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Around permanent ice began to build up on Antarctica. The cooling trend continued in the Miocene, with relatively short warmer periods. When South America became attached to North America creating the Isthmus of Panama around, the Arctic region cooled due to the strengthening of the Humboldt and Gulf Stream currents, eventually leading to the glaciations of the Quaternary ice age, the current interglacial of which is the Holocene Epoch. Recent analysis of the geomagnetic reversal frequency, oxygen isotope record, and tectonic plate subduction rate, which are indicators of the changes in the heat flux at the core mantle boundary, climate and plate tectonic activity, shows that all these changes indicate similar rhythms on million years' timescale in the Cenozoic Era occurring with the common fundamental periodicity of ∼13 Myr during most of the time.

Life.

During the Cenozoic, mammals proliferated from a few small, simple, generalized forms into a diverse collection of terrestrial, marine, and flying animals, giving this period its other name, the Age of Mammals, despite the fact that there are more than twice as many bird species as mammal species. The Cenozoic is just as much the age of savannas, the age of co-dependent flowering plants and insects, and the age of birds. Grass also played a very important role in this era, shaping the evolution of the birds and mammals that fed on it. One group that diversified significantly in the Cenozoic as well were the snakes. Evolving in the Cenozoic, the variety of snakes increased tremendously, resulting in many colubrids, following the evolution of their current primary prey source, the rodents.  In the earlier part of the Cenozoic, the world was dominated by the gastornithid birds, terrestrial crocodiles like "Pristichampsus", and a handful of primitive large mammal groups like uintatheres, mesonychids, and pantodonts. But as the forests began to recede and the climate began to cool, other mammals took over.  The Cenozoic is full of mammals both strange and familiar, including chalicotheres, creodonts, whales, primates, entelodonts, saber-toothed cats, mastodons and mammoths, three-toed horses, giant rhinoceros like "Indricotherium", the rhinoceros-like brontotheres, various bizarre groups of mammals from South America, such as the vaguely elephant-like pyrotheres and the dog-like marsupial relatives called borhyaenids and the monotremes and marsupials of Australia.

The Cenozoic Era ( ) meaning "new life" is the current and most recent of the three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. It follows the Mesozoic Era and extends from 66 million years ago to the present day. It is generally believed to have started on the first day of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (also referred to as the K-Pg, or K-T, extinction event) when an asteroid hit the Earth.

Kenozoikum (z řec. "καινός kainos", nový, nedávný a "ζωή zóé", život) je nejmladší geologická éra. Začala před 65,5 miliony let (± 0,3 m. l.) po velkém vymírání živočišných a rostlinných druhů na konci křídy, kterou se skončila éra druhohor – mezozoikum.


Genetic analysis.

"Paeonia suffruticosa" is the name used for most tree peony cultivars, but is not a naturally occurring species. So it can be regarded as the name for a man-made hybrid swarm. Genetic analysis has shown that five species of the subsection "Vaginatae" together make up the parentage of the tree peony cultivars created before World War II. In over three quarters of the almost fifty studied cultivars, the DNA of their chloroplasts is identical to that in "Paeonia cathayana", indicating that this species is the original maternal parent. Almost all of the remaining cultivars has chloroplast DNA identical to that in "P. qiui", and rarely from "P. ostii" and partially from "Paeonia rotundiloba". In the nuclear DNA however, homology with "Paeonia rockii" is largest, with lesser contributions from "P. qiui", "P. ostii", "P. cathayana" and "P. jishanensis". "Paeonia decomposita" is the only species from the "Vaginatae" that has not contributed to these cultivars.

Lemoine hybrids.

Crossbreeding of yellow-flowered "P. delavayi" with traditional double-flowered "P. suffruticosa" cultivars by Victor Lemoine in Nancy has led to the introduction of the color yellow into the cultivated double-flowered tree-peonies. These hybrids are known as the "Paeonia" × "lemoinei" group, and include double-flowered ‘Chromatella’ (1928), ‘Alice Harding’ (1935) and semidouble-flowered ‘Sang Lorraine’ (1939). The semi-double, lemon-yellow "P." × "lemoinei" cultivar ‘High Noon’ has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

Itoh cultivars.

In 1948 horticultulturist Toichi Itoh from Tokyo used pollen from ‘Alice Harding’ to fertilize the herbaceous "P. lactiflora" ‘Katoden’, which resulted in a new category of peonies, the Itoh or intersectional cultivars. These are herbaceous, have leaves like tree peonies, with many large flowers from late spring to early autumn, and good peony wilt resistance. Some of the early Itoh cultivars are ‘Yellow Crown’, ‘Yellow Dream’, ‘Yellow Emperor’ and ‘Yellow Heaven’.  Cultivated hybrid tree peonies originate from China and its surrounding areas, possessing significant cultural meaning throughout Chinese history. Currently there are about 600 Chinese tree peony cultivars. Since its introduction abroad, a few unique cultivar groups have been bred in France, Britain, the United States, and some other countries. This species is less common in U.S, but it can generally be found in plant nurseries.

Comparison with other peonies.

"Paeonia suffruticosa", also known as the tree peony, originates from China. Sometimes, people refer to these tree peonies as “Chinese tree peonies.”  "Paeonia suffruticosa" belongs to the peony family. The most distinctive feature is that "Paeonia suffruticosa" is a bush or a tree, whereas most peonies are herbaceous. Despite their classification as trees, it is the flowers that attract people's attention. Peonies are generally slow to grow and have flowers that only last briefly and are fragile under weather conditions such as wind, rain or hot temperatures. In comparison, "Paeonia suffruticosa", as a tree, survives longer than the rest of the peonies. The woody stems of tree peonies allow the plant to survive in winter. In general, the plant is long-lived, and the flowers bloom longer in the early spring.

Etymology of scientific name.

The name "Paeonia suffruticosa" is derived from two different sources. The genus name "Paeonia" derives from the name Paeon. In Greek mythology, Paeon was a disciple of the god of medicine, Ascleplus. The species name "suffruticosa" is composed of two parts. The first part "suf-" is only a prefix; the second part "fruticosa", means shrub-like.

Cultivation.

In order to propagate the bush, the seeds are collected in June when the seed pods split. They are air-dried for a few days and are then stored in moist soil before planting out during autumn. If the pods are fully dried out, it is more difficult for the seeds to sprout. Seeds that are harvested late or allowed to dry completely will not produce roots until the following spring and then do not send up shoots for another year. Ideally, the plant should be planted in fertile, humus-rich soil with plenty of organic matter (in USDA zones 3 to 8).  "Paeonia suffruticosa" grows in both full sun to dappled shade. However, the plant blooms best in dappled shade with 3 to 4 hours of sunlight. When grown in full sun, it is essential to provide adequate moisture to the plant. Generally, the tree requires very little pruning, but it is necessary to cut off dead branches, and to cut off any sprouts that are suckers from the herbaceous root stock.  Potential cultivating diseases include "Ca. Phytoplasma solani", the causal agent of the Black wood disease of grapevine. This is associated with tree peony yellows disease in China.

Significance in Chinese culture.

"Paeonia suffruticosa" has always had an important status in both Chinese politics and culture. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 -1911), the government in 1903 appointed "Paeonia suffruticosa" as China’s national flower. However, with political shifts and other factors, its title as the national flower was later replaced. In 1929, the plum tree was granted the title of national flower by the government at the time.  Despite its loss of status of being the national flower, "Paeonia suffruticosa" maintains cultural significance. In China, it is generally known as the “king of flowers”, symbolizing honor, wealth, and aristocracy, as well as love, affection, and feminine beauty. The tree peony has been frequently portrayed in significant Chinese works of literature and art.

China’s debate on the national flower.

The People’s Republic of China has not yet chosen a national flower. Potential candidates include "Paeonia suffruticosa", as well as the plum blossom, the chrysanthemum, the orchid, and the lotus. "Paeonia suffruticosa" and the plum blossom are currently the front-runners. Comparisons by cultural importance are inconclusive as to which flower is the most symbolic of China, as all these flowers have been portrayed with roughly equal frequency through centuries of literature and art.  Elections for the national tree and national flower were held in the 1980s and 1994, but both elections ended with no final conclusion. Prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the Chinese government again attempted to determine a national flower. Many Chinese citizens suggested copying the practices of countries such as France, Japan, and Thailand, by selecting two national flowers. 62 scholars from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering have proposed a “dual national flower” plan to name both "Paeonia suffruticosa" and plum blossom to the position.  With the Olympics and Expo approaching, the ongoing uncertainty over choosing a national flower led to the Chinese government publishing "The Recommendation Concerning Setting the Peony and Plum Blossom as National Flowers as Early as Possible." The "Recommendation" pointed out that the lack of a flower is hindering the expansion of China’s flower culture and industry. This proposal was only one of several potential plans; other plans included choosing one, four, or five national flowers. The five flowers suggestion, known as “One Country, Five Flowers”, proposed establishing "Paeonia suffruticosa" as the primary national flower, with four supplementary flowers representing each season of the year: the chrysanthemum would represent autumn, the plum blossom would represent winter, the orchid would represent spring, and the lotus would represent summer. Despite the proposals, China was not able to make a decision before the Olympics and Expo. The decision remains undecided.

As medicine.

"Paeonia suffruticosa" has a long history of being used in Chinese medicine. There are more than 1000 Chinese tree peony cultivars with various flower colors and flower forms that have been selected artificially for medicinal uses for more than 2000 years. The root bark, often referred to as Mu Dan Pi or Cortex Moutan, is the main part that is used in Chinese medicine. Mu Dan Pi’s main functions include reducing heat, cooling the blood, improving liver function, and mildly invigorating the blood. Mu Dan Pi of the best quality should be very fragrant, thick, white and starchy. The flower is now mostly cultivated for medicinal uses. Due to over-harvesting, the wild plant is threatened with extinction.

Chemistry.

"P. suffruticosa" contains paeonol, galloyl-paeoniflorin, galloyl-oxypaeoniflorin, suffruticoside A, B, C, D and E.

Paeonia" × "suffruticosa is a name used for a group of culture varieties of tree peonies that are the result of hybridisation with species exclusively belonging to the subsection Vaginatae. The common name used in China is (). Plants belonging to this group have been cultivated for millennia in China, initially only as a source of traditional Chinese medicine particularly the skin of its roots (). Already early on the plant was also cultivated for its ornamental value, and it is highly revered in Chinese culture.

Pivoňka keřovitá ("Paeonia suffruticosa") je na jaře kvetoucí opadavý vzpřímený keř s ohromnými bílými, růžovými, červenými i zelenými květy. Květy můžou být jednoduché, poloplné či plné. Kvete v dubnu až květnu. Listy má dělené, 2x trojčetné, lístky široce vejčité až vejčitě kopinaté, hrubě zubaté středně zelené. Na podzim výrazně barví. Dorůstá do výšky i šířky okolo 2 metrů.


History.

William F. Albright has dated his reign to 786–746 BC, while E. R. Thiele says he was coregent with Jehoash 793 to 782 BC and sole ruler 782 to 753 BC.  He was victorious over the Arameans (), conquered Damascus (), and extended Israel to its former limits, from "the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain".  In 1910, G. A. Reisner found sixty-three inscribed potsherds while excavating the royal palace at Samaria, which were later dated to the reign of Jeroboam II and mention regnal years extending from the ninth to the 17th of his reign. These ostraca, while unremarkable in themselves, contain valuable information about the script, language, religion and administrative system of the period.  Archaeological evidence confirms the biblical account of his reign as the most prosperous that Israel had yet known. By the late 8th century BC, the territory of Israel was the most densely settled in the entire Levant, with a population of about 350,000. This prosperity was built on trade in olive oil, wine, and possibly horses, with Egypt and especially Assyria providing the markets. According to the prophet Amos, the triumphs of the king had engendered a haughty spirit of boastful overconfidence at home (). Oppression and exploitation of the poor by the mighty, luxury in palaces of unheard-of splendor, and a craving for amusement were some of the internal fruits of these external triumphs.  Under Jeroboam II, the God of Israel was worshiped at Dan and Beth-el and at other old Israelite shrines, through actual images, such as the golden calf. These services at Dan and Beth-el, at Gilgal and Beer-sheba, were of a nature to arouse the indignation of the prophets, and the foreign cults (Amos 5), both numerous and degrading, contributed still further to arousing of the prophetic spirit. Jeroboam's reign was the period of the prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos and Jonah, all of whom condemned the materialism and selfishness of the Israelite elite of their day: "Woe unto those who lie upon beds of ivory... eat lambs from the flock and calves... [and] sing idle songs..." (). The book of Kings, written a century later, condemns Jeroboam for doing "evil in the eyes of the Lord", meaning both the oppression of the poor and his continuing support of the cult centres of Dan and Bethel, in opposition to the temple in Jerusalem.

Earthquake in Israel c. 760 BC.

A major earthquake had occurred in Israel c. 760 BC, which may have been during the time of Jeroboam II, towards the end of his rule. This earthquake is mentioned in the Book of Amos as having occurred during the rule of "Jeroboam son of Jehoash" ().  Geologists believe they have found evidence of this big earthquake in sites throughout Israel and Jordan. Archeologists Yigael Yadin and Israel Finkelstein date the earthquake level at Tel Hazor to 760 BC based on stratigraphic analysis of the destruction debris. Similarly, David Ussishkin arrives at the same date based on the "sudden destruction" level at Lachish.  According to Steven A. Austin, the magnitude of this earthquake may have been at least 7.8, but more likely as high as 8.2. "This magnitude 8 event of 750 B.C. appears to be the largest yet documented on the Dead Sea transform fault zone during the last four millennia."  The epicenter of this earthquake may have been 200–300 km north of present-day Israel.  Multiple biblical references exist to this earthquake in the Book of Amos (,,, ), and also in Zechariah.  Recent excavations by Aren Maeir in ancient Gath have revealed evidence of a major earthquake. "Based on the tight stratigraphic context, this can be dated to the mid-8th cent. BCE"...

In the Bible.

His name occurs in the Old Testament only in ; ; ; 1 Chronicles ; Book of Hosea ; and Book of Amos ;. In all other passages it is Jeroboam I, the son of Nebat that is meant.

Jeroboam II ( "Yarov‘am"; ; ) was the son and successor of Jehoash (alternatively spelled Joash) and the thirteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, over which he ruled for forty-one years in the eighth century BC. His reign was contemporary with those of Amaziah () and Uzziah (), kings of Judah.

Jarobeám II. patřil k nejvýznamnějším králům Severního izraelského království. Jméno Jarobeám (hebrejsky: "Jarov'am"), v českých překladech Bible přepisováno též jako Jeroboám či Jeroboam, se vykládá různě, a to od "„Ať se Příbuzný ukáže velkým“" až po "„Svár lidu“". Dle názoru moderních historiků a archeologů král Jarobeám II. vládl asi v letech 788 až 747 př. n. l., z toho prvních 5 let jako spoluvládce se svým otcem Jóašem. Podle kroniky Davida Ganse by však jeho kralování mělo spadat do let 3115–3153 od stvoření světa neboli do rozmezí let 647–608 před naším letopočtem, což má odpovídat 41 letům vlády, jak je uvedeno v Druhé knize králů.


Geography.

Some northwest of the French Guianese capital Cayenne the Kourou River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. At the mouth of this river sits the town of Kourou, which is ringed by four hills: Carapa, Pariacabo, Café and Lombard, with the Singes and Condamine mountains not far behind. There are three lakes within the town's city limits: Lake Bois Diable (where one can take lessons in jetski and other aquatic sports), Lake Marie-Claire (the smallest and calmest), and Lake Bois Chaudat (the biggest of the three; also open to sport lovers, especially canoers and kayakers). Long white sand beaches and some rocky outcrops line the town's ocean coast, the riverbank and all points inland consisting mostly of mangrove and dense tropical rainforest.  The town had a population of 25,685 inhabitants at the 2017 census. Its inhabitants can be classified into three ethnic groups of roughly equal size:  The Saramaka mostly settled in the "quartier Saramaka", along the river. Much of it burned down in a fire in 2006, and hasn't yet fully recovered.  Guiana in general has a high level of crime compared to the rest of France's "départements"; Kourou has an average of two armed robberies a day. A march protesting the high level of insecurity felt by most of the population was held in Kourou on 27 October 2006. Shopkeepers of Chinese descent in particular are often targeted by armed robbers, their cash registers emptied and some products stolen.  Kourou is the port of departure for those going to the îles du Salut, of which the most famous is Devil's Island. It is also common for many to go up the river in canoes on weekends to camp in the forest.  The Guiana Space Centre, where the European Space Agency starts missions, is located a little behind and outside the town. Part of the town and the islands are closed during rocket launches.

Climate.

Like most of French Guiana, Kourou has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen "Am") with a short dry season centred around the months of September and October when the Intertropical Convergence Zone is furthest north. During the remainder of the year rainfall is always heavy. Between December and June a total of can be expected in seven months, with rain on most days and very cloudy skies.

History.

Before the Europeans.

Not much is known of the pre-colonial era. The area was mostly populated by Kalina, or Galibi before the arrival of the French in the late 17th century.  There is a place not far from the town called "les Roches Gravées" ("The Carved Rocks"), where indigenous art can be seen on the rock walls.

Early colonization.

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón sailed along most of the north coast of South America and passed by the current location of Kourou in 1500.  The Jesuits Lombard and Creuilly baptised a few Galibis at the church of Saint Nicholas in Cayenne in December 1710 and returned with them soon after to farm the land at Guatémala, across the river from Kourou. The Society of Jesus was disbanded (in Guiana) in 1762, however, and Kourou was nothing more than a small village until the arrival of the Expedition.  In 1744, La Condamine, in charge of the expedition sent to Peru in 1735 to determine the length of a degree of the meridian arc in the neighbourhood of the equator, passed by and gave his name to one of the mountains behind Kourou.

Expedition.

The mission at Kourou being abandoned by the Jesuits, the engineers Mentelle and Tugny designed the layout of the future town. This resulted in the neighbourhood called the "Bourg", around the Church of Saint Catherine and next to the port on the river.  That same year, 1763, as agreed in the Treaty of Paris, Great Britain took control of New France. Having lost their largest and richest colony, the French decided to send a large expedition to Guiana, commanded by Choiseul. Around 10,000 to 12,000 people, mostly Frenchmen, tempted by stories of an El Dorado on the other side of the ocean, settled in Kourou.  The small town, surrounded by marshes and rainforest, was unprepared for such a massive influx of people, and around 6,000 of the pioneers died within the year due to fevers and other illnesses. Those remaining fled to the îles du Salut, free of mosquitoes due to constant winds, to recover before being repatriated to Metropolitan France. Hence the name, "Salvation Islands." Previously they had been known as the "îles du Diable" ("Devil's Islands"), and one of the islands retains the name to this day.  The failure of the Expedition only served to discourage settling in Guiana. The colony earned the nickname "Enfer Vert" ("Green Hell"), which it is still trying to shake. No other project of mass colonisation was undertaken, and the population of Whites was always drastically lower than that of the slaves. The population of the colony, of all races, did not rise above 20,000 until the gold rush (starting in 1855), the second abolition of slavery in 1848 and the founding of the prisons.

Prisons.

Kourou was formerly the home of the "Kourou Prison" which was one of the main prisons in French Guiana, and which was also a part of the notorious Devil's Island Prison System. The Kourou Prison was dedicated mostly to agriculture.  In 1852 the three main islands off of Kourou's coast, the Salut island group (which included Devil's Island) also became prisons. These island prisons held mostly political prisoners, as well as some of France's toughest criminals. The first prisoners arrived in 1862.  In 1938, a law was passed prohibiting the transport of any new prisoners from France to French Guyana. In 1946 eight years later, the Kourou Prison was finally shut down, while some prisoners were kept in other Guyanese prisons until as late as 1953.  After the closing of the prison, most of the prison buildings were demolished to make room for the "Hôtel des Roches", but some vestiges of that period remain. One notable remnant of the prison is the Dreyfus Tower, which stands where the river meets the ocean. This tower was used in pre-radio days to communicate with the islands via Semaphore. Other prison ruins that remain are the prison bakery — now on private property, but still visible from a cul-de-sac — and an old prison fountain near the moucaya palm trees.

CSG and the French Foreign Legion Arrive.

In 1965, the "Centre Spatial Guyanais" (CSG) was founded a little behind the town by the CNES. With the launch facility being used by the European Space Agency (ESA) since 1975, the urbanisation of Kourou began in earnest. The population of the town grew rapidly, and has not shown any signs of slowing since.  The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion, whose mission is to protect the CSG, has had a base in the "Forget" neighbourhood since 1973. They clashed with the Creoles in 1985 and 2006.

Demographics.

Historical population.

Average population growth of Kourou:

Migrations.

The places of birth of the 26,221 residents in the commune of Kourou at the 2015 census were the following:  These were the countries of birth of the immigrants living in the commune of Kourou at the 2009 census:

Economy.

Kourou's economy is largely dominated by the CSG, from which the European Ariane rockets are launched, as well as the Russian Soyuz and the Italian Vega rockets.

Transportations.

Kourou is served by the Kourou Airport, located at the west of the city.

Politics.

Kourou is the main town on an "administrative district" of French Guyana. Such a district is equivalent to a county in the United States.

Kourou is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. In addition to being an administrative district in French Guiana, it is also the main town in that district.

Kourou je město a obec v Jižní Americe, ve Francouzské Guyaně, kde se nachází jediný francouzský kosmodrom – Guyanské kosmické centrum ("Centre Spatial Guyanais"); město samotné má asi 20 000 obyvatel.


Background.

Baptist work in the territory of the present Czech Republic began in the 1850s. The area was part of Austria-Hungary until the end of World War I, and was known as Czechoslovakia from 1918 until 1992. In 1858 Magnus Knappe, a German minister, began to travel regularly to the Broumov area and preach to the German-speaking people there. The first Czech Baptist congregation was established on March 15, 1884 in the village of Hledsebe in Central Bohemia. This body called itself the "Congregation of Christians Baptized in Faith". This work moved to Prague and continued to grow, and other works were established. Meeting in Vavrišovo in 1919, 15 Baptist congregations formed an association with the name "The Chelčicky Unity of Brethren". Later the name "The Chelčicky Unity of Brethren Baptists" replaced the original, and in the early 1950s it was changed to "The Unity of Brethren Baptists". Though in the 1960s two regional groups (Bohemian-Moravian and Slovak) were formed, the Unity included all Baptists in the territory of Czechoslovakia until 1993. After Czechoslovakia was split into two republics on January 1, 1993, the "Unity of Brethren Baptists" was divided on January 1, 1994, forming the "Unity of Brethren Baptists in the Czech Republic" and the "Unity of Brethren Baptists in the Slovak Republic". These two bodies maintain fellowship, use the same hymn book, and publish a common magazine, the "Rozsievač" (meaning "The Sower").

Beliefs.

The "Unity of Brethren Baptists" is a Trinitarian body, holding a belief in one God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The highest example, criteria and authority is Jesus. The Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments are held to be the word of God - God's revelation of Jesus Christ. Salvation comes to persons who exercise faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, which is prerequisite to becoming church members. Baptism of believers is performed by immersion in water. Since each person is believed to be responsible to God, the "Unity of Brethren Baptists" practice and defend liberty of conscience of everyone. Local congregations should be independent and autonomous, but not isolated from other Baptist congregations.

Status.

The highest body in the "Unity of Brethren Baptists" is a "convention of delegates", which generally holds sessions once a year. The Convention elects a five-member executive committee for a four-year term, which functions in matters of administration. The "Unity of Brethren Baptists" is a member of the European Baptist Federation, the Baptist World Alliance, and the "Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic". The college or Bible school in Olomouc (founded 1992) offers a three-year study, focusing on theological activities. Those who are interested in specific theological degrees often study at the "Evangelic Theological Seminary" in Prague. Currently the union has 2335 members in 26 congregations. The office of the Executive Committee is located at Prague.

Widely known as the Baptist Union in the Czech Republic among English-speakers, the Bratrská Jednota Baptistů v České republice is an association serving Baptist Christians in the Czech Republic. They are also known in English as the Unity of Brethren Baptists.

Bratrská jednota baptistů (ve zkratce BJB) je křesťanská reformační církev konzervativně evangelikální orientace, která se vyznačuje kongregační strukturou. Každý sbor BJB je hospodářsky a finančně nezávislý na církevním vedení a své majetkové záležitosti si spravuje zcela samostatně. Bratrská jednota baptistů sestává vedle českých také z řady cizojazyčných (zejména rusky mluvících) sborů. Hlásí se k duchovnímu a biblickému odkazu anabaptistů z doby reformační a též k zásadám staré Jednoty bratrské. Název baptisté má svůj původ v řeckém slově βαπτίζειν ("baptizein" křtít) označujícím “ponoření” neboli křest.


Biography.

Early life and education.

Miguel Ángel Asturias was born in Guatemala City on October 19, 1899, the first child of Ernesto Asturias Girón, a lawyer and judge, and María Rosales de Asturias, a schoolteacher. Two years later, his brother, Marco Antonio, was born. Asturias's parents were of Spanish descent, and reasonably distinguished: his father could trace his family line back to colonists who had arrived in Guatemala in the 1660s; his mother, whose ancestry was more mixed, was the daughter of a colonel. In 1905, when the writer was six years old, the Asturias family moved to the house of Asturias' grandparents, where they lived a more comfortable lifestyle.  Despite his relative privilege, Asturias's father opposed the dictatorship of Manuel Estrada Cabrera, who had come to power in February 1898. As Asturias later recalled, "My parents were quite persecuted, though they were not imprisoned or anything of the sort". Following an incident in 1904 which, in his capacity as judge, Asturias Sr. set free some students arrested for causing a disturbance, he clashed directly with the dictator, lost his job, and he and his family were forced to move in 1905 to the town of Salamá, the departmental capital of Baja Verapaz, where Miguel Ángel Asturias lived on his grandparents' farm. It was here that Asturias first came into contact with Guatemala's indigenous people; his nanny, Lola Reyes, was a young indigenous woman who told him stories of their myths and legends that would later have a great influence on his work.  In 1908, when Asturias was nine, his family returned to the suburbs of Guatemala City. Here they established a supply store where Asturias spent his adolescence. Asturias first attended "Colegio del Padre Pedro" and then, "Colegio del Padre Solís". Asturias began writing as a student and wrote the first draft of a story that would later become his novel "El Señor Presidente."  In 1920, Asturias participated in the uprising against the dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera. While enrolled in El Instituto Nacional de Varones (The National Institute for Boys) he took an active role, such as organizing strikes in his high school, in the overthrow of the dictatorship of Estrada Cabrera. He and his classmates formed what is now known to be “La Generación del 20” (The Generation of 20).  In 1922, Asturias and other students founded the Popular University, a community project whereby "the middle class was encouraged to contribute to the general welfare by teaching free courses to the underprivileged." Asturias spent a year studying medicine before switching to the faculty of law at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala in Guatemala City. He obtained his law degree in 1923 and received the Gálvez Prize for his thesis on Indian problems. Asturias was also awarded the "Premio Falla" for being the top student in his faculty. It was at this university that he founded the "Asociación de Estudiantes Universitarios" (Association of University Students) and the "Asociación de estudiantes El Derecho" (Association of Law Students), in addition to actively participating in La Tribuna del Partido Unionista (Platform of the Unionist Party). It was ultimately the latter group which derailed the dictatorship of Estrada Cabrera. Both of the associations he founded have been recognized as being positively associated with Guatemalan patriotism. In reference to literature, Asturias' involvement in all of these organizations influenced many of his scenes in "El Señor Presidente". Asturias was thus involved in politics; working as a representative of the Asociación General de Estudiantes Universitarios (General Association of University Students), and traveling to El Salvador and Honduras for his new job.  Asturias' university thesis, "The Social Problem of the Indian," was published in 1923. After receiving his law degree the same year, Asturias moved to Europe. He had originally planned to live in England and study political economy, but changed his mind. He soon transferred to Paris, where he studied ethnology at the Sorbonne (University of Paris) and became a dedicated surrealist under the influence of the French poet and literary theorist André Breton. While there, he was influenced by the gathering of writers and artists in Montparnasse, and began writing poetry and fiction. During this time, Asturias developed a deep concern for Mayan culture and in 1925 he worked to translate the Mayan sacred text, the "Popol Vuh", into Spanish, a project which he spent 40 years on. He also founded a magazine while in Paris called "Tiempos Nuevos" or "New Times". In 1930, Asturias published his first novel "Leyendas de Guatemala". Two years later, in Paris, Asturias received the Sylla Monsegur Prize for the French translations of "Leyendas de Guatemala". On July 14, 1933, he returned to Guatemala after ten years in Paris.

Exile and rehabilitation.

Asturias devoted much of his political energy towards supporting the government of Jacobo Árbenz, successor to Juan José Arévalo Bermejo. Asturias was asked following his work as an ambassador to help suppress the threat of rebels from El Salvador. While his efforts were backed by the U.S. and Salvadoran governments, the rebels succeeded in invading Guatemala and overthrew Jacobo Árbenz' rule in 1954. When the government of Jacobo Árbenz fell Asturias was expelled from the country by Carlos Castillo Armas because of his support for Árbenz. He was stripped of his Guatemalan citizenship and went to live in Buenos Aires and Chile, where he spent the next eight years of his life. When another change of government in Argentina meant that he once more had to seek a new home, Asturias moved to Europe. While living in exile in Genoa his reputation grew as an author with the release of his novel, "Mulata de Tal" (1963).  In 1966, democratically elected President Julio César Méndez Montenegro achieved power and Asturias was given back his Guatemalan citizenship. Montenegro appointed Asturias as ambassador to France, where he served until 1970, taking up a permanent residence in Paris. A year later, in 1967, English translations of "Mulata de Tal" were published in Boston.  Later in Asturias' life he helped found the Popular University of Guatemala. Asturias spent his final years in Madrid, where he died in 1974. He is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Family.

Asturias married his first wife, Clemencia Amado, in 1939. They had two sons, Miguel and Rodrigo Ángel, before divorcing in 1947. Asturias then met and married his second wife, Blanca Mora y Araujo (1903–2000), in 1950. Mora y Araujo was Argentinian, and so when Asturias was deported from Guatemala in 1954, he went to live in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires. He lived in his wife's homeland for eight years. Asturias dedicated his novel "Week-end en Guatemala" to his wife, Blanca, after it was published in 1956. They remained married until Asturias' death in 1974.  Asturias' son from his first marriage, Rodrigo Asturias, under the "nom de guerre" Gaspar Ilom, the name of an indigenous rebel in his father's own novel, "Men of Maize", was President of the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG). The URNG was a rebel group active in the 1980s, during the Guatemalan Civil War, and after the peace accords in 1996.

Major works.

"Leyendas de Guatemala".

Asturias' first book to be published, "Leyendas de Guatemala" ("Legends of Guatemala"; 1930), is a collection of nine stories that explore Mayan myths from before the Spanish conquest as well as themes that relate to the development of a Guatemalan national identity. Asturias' fascination with pre-Columbian texts such as Popul Vuh and Anales de los Xahil, as well as his beliefs in popular myths and legends, have heavily influenced the work. Academic Jean Franco describes the book as, "lyrical recreations of Guatemalan folk-lore gaining inspiration from pre-Columbian and colonial sources." For Latin American literature critic Gerald Martin, "Leyendas de Guatemala" is, "The first major anthropological contribution to Spanish American literature." According to academic Francisco Solares-Larrave, the stories are a precursor to the magical realism movement. Asturias used conventional writing and lyrical prose to tell a story about birds and other animals conversing with other archetypal human beings. Asturias' writing style in "Leyendas de Guatemala" has been described by some as "historia-sueño-poemas" (history-dream-poem). In each legend, Asturias draws the reader in with a fury of beauty and mystery without being able to comprehend the sense of space and time. "Leyendas de Guatemala" brought Asturias critical praise in France as well as in Guatemala. The noted French poet and essayist Paul Valéry wrote of the book, "I found it brought about a tropical dream, which I experienced with singular delight."

"El Señor Presidente".

One of Asturias' most critically acclaimed novels, "El Señor Presidente" was completed in 1933 but remained unpublished until 1946, where it was privately released in Mexico. As one of his earliest works, "El Señor Presidente" showcased Asturias's talent and influence as a novelist. Zimmerman and Rojas describe his work as an "impassioned denunciation of the Guatemalan dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera." The novel was written during Asturias's exile in Paris. While completing the novel, Asturias associated with members of the Surrealist movement as well as fellow future Latin American writers, such as Arturo Uslar Pietri and the Cuban Alejo Carpentier. "El Señor Presidente" is one of many novels to explore life under a Latin American dictator and in fact, has been heralded by some as the first real novel exploring the subject of dictatorship. The book has also been called a study of fear because fear is the climate in which it unfolds.  "El Señor Presidente" uses surrealistic techniques and reflects Asturias' notion that Indian's non-rational awareness of reality is an expression of subconscious forces. Although the author never specifies where the novel takes place, it is clear that the plot is influenced by Guatemalan president, and well-known dictator, Manuel Estrada Cabrera's rule. Asturias's novel examines how evil spreads downward from a powerful political leader, into the streets and homes of the citizens. Many themes, such as justice and love, are mocked in the novel, and escape from the dictator's tyranny is seemingly impossible. Each character within the novel is deeply affected by the dictatorship and must struggle to survive in a terrifying reality. The story opens with the accidental murder of a high official, Colonel Parrales Sonriente. The President uses the Colonel's death to dispose of two men as he decides to frame them both for the murder. The tactics of the President are often viewed as sadistic, as he believes his word is the law which no one shall question. The novel then travels with several characters, some close to the President and some seeking escape from his regime. The dictator's trusted adviser, whom the reader knows as "Angel Face", falls in love with a General Canales's daughter, Camila. Also, Angel Face, under the direct order of the President, convinces General Canales that immediate flight is imperative. Unfortunately, the General is one of the two men the President is trying to frame for murder; the President's plan to make General Canales appear guilty is to have him shot while fleeing. The General is hunted for execution while his daughter is held under house arrest by Angel Face. Angel Face is torn between his love for her and his duty to the President. While the Dictator is never named, he has striking similarities to Manuel Estrada Cabrera.  Playwright Hugo Carrillo adapted "El Señor Presidente" into a play in 1974.

"Men of Maize".

"Men of Maize" ("Hombres de maíz", 1949) is usually considered to be Asturias's masterpiece, yet remains one of the least understood novels produced by Asturias. The title "Hombres de maíz" refers to the Maya Indians' belief that their flesh was made of corn. The novel is written in six parts, each exploring the contrast of traditional Indian customs and a progressive, modernizing society. Asturias's book explores the magical world of indigenous communities, a subject about which the author was both passionate and knowledgeable. The novel draws on traditional legend, but the story is of Asturias's own creation. The plot revolves around an isolated Indian community (the men of maize or "people of corn") whose land is under threat by outsiders, with the intent of commercial exploitation. An indigenous leader, Gaspar Ilom, leads the community's resistance to the planters, who kill him in the hope of thwarting the rebellion. Beyond the grave Ilom lives on as a "folk-hero"; despite his efforts, the people still lose their land. In the second half of the novel, the central character is a postman, Nicho, and the story revolves around his search for his lost wife. In the course of his quest he abandons his duties, tied as they are to "white society", and transforms himself into a coyote, which represents his guardian spirit. This transformation is yet another reference to Mayan culture; the belief of nahualism, or a man's ability to assume the shape of his guardian animal, is one of the many essential aspects to understanding the hidden meanings in the novel. Through allegory, Asturias shows how European imperialism dominates and transforms native traditions in the Americas. By the novel's end, as Jean Franco notes, "the magic world of Indian legend has been lost"; but it concludes on a "Utopian note," as the people become ants to transport the maize they have harvested.  Written in the form of a myth, the novel is experimental, ambitious, and difficult to follow. For instance, its "time scheme is a mythic time in which many thousands of years may be compressed and seen as a single moment", and the book's language is also "structured so as to be analogous to Indian languages". Because of its unusual approach, it was some time before the novel was accepted by critics and the public.

"The Banana Trilogy".

Asturias wrote an epic trilogy about the exploitation of the native Indians on banana plantations. This trilogy comprises three novels: "Viento fuerte" ("Strong Wind"; 1950), "El Papa Verde" ("The Green Pope"; 1954), and "Los ojos de los enterrados" ("The Eyes of the Interred"; 1960). It is a fictional account of the results of foreign control over the Central American banana industry. At first, the volumes were only published in small quantities in his native Guatemala. His critique of foreign control of the banana industry and how Guatemalan natives were exploited eventually earned him the Soviet Union's highest prize, the Lenin Peace Prize. This recognition marked Asturias as one of the few authors recognized in both the West and the Communist bloc during the period of the Cold War for his literary works.

"Mulata de tal".

Asturias published his novel "Mulata de tal" while he and his wife were living in Genoa in 1963. His novel received many positive reviews; "Ideologies and Literature" described it as "a carnival incarnated in the novel. It represents a collision between Mayan Mardi Gras and Hispanic baroque." The novel emerged as a major novel during the 1960s. The plot revolves around the battle between Catalina and Yumí to control Mulata (the moon spirit). Yumí and Catalina become experts in sorcery and are criticized by the Church for their practices. The novel uses Mayan mythology and Catholic tradition to form a distinctive allegory of belief.  Gerald Martin in the "Hispanic Review" commented that it is "sufficiently obvious that the whole art of this novel rests upon its language". In general, Asturias matches the visual freedom of the cartoon by using every resource the Spanish language offers him. His use of color is striking and immeasurably more liberal than in earlier novels." Asturias built the novel with this unique use of color, liberal theory, and his distinctive use of the Spanish language. His novel also received the Silla Monsegur Prize for the best Spanish-American novel published in France.

Themes.

Identity.

Postcolonial Guatemalan identity is influenced by a mixture of Mayan and European culture. Asturias, himself a mestizo, proposed a hybrid national soul for Guatemala (ladino in its language, Mayan in its mythology). His quest to create an authentic Guatemalan national identity is central to his first published novel, "Leyendas de Guatemala," and is a pervasive theme throughout his works. When asked by interviewer Günter W. Lorenz how he perceives his role as a Latin American writer, he responds, “...I felt it was my calling and my duty to write about America, which would someday be of interest to the world.” Later in the interview Asturias identifies himself as a spokesman for Guatemala, saying, "...Among the Indians there's a belief in the Gran Lengua (Big Tongue). The Gran Lengua is the spokesman for the tribe. And in a way that's what I've been: the spokesman for my tribe."

Politics.

Throughout Asturias' literary career, he was continually involved in politics. He was openly opposed to the Cabrera Dictatorship and worked as an ambassador in various Latin American countries. His political opinions come through in a number of his works. Some political themes found in his books are the following: Spanish colonization of Latin America and the decline of the Maya civilization; the effects of political dictatorships on society; and the exploitation of the Guatemala people by foreign-owned agricultural companies.  Asturias' collection of short stories, "Leyendas de Guatemala", is loosely based on Maya mythology and legends. The author chose legends spanning from the creation of the Maya people to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors hundreds of years later. Asturias introduces the Spanish colonizers in his story "Leyenda del tesoro del Lugar Florido" (Legend of the Treasure from the Flowering Place). In this story, a sacrificial ritual is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of "the white man" ("los hombres blancos"). The tribe scatters in fright of the intruders and their treasure is left behind in the hands of the white man. Jimena Sáenz argues that this story represents the fall of the Maya civilization at the hands of the Spanish conquistadors.  "El Señor Presidente" does not explicitly identify its setting as early twentieth-century Guatemala, however, the novel's title character was inspired by the 1898–1920 presidency of Manuel Estrada Cabrera. The character of the President rarely appears in the story but Asturias employs a number of other characters to show the terrible effects of living under a dictatorship. This book was a notable contribution to the dictator novel genre. Asturias was unable to publish the book in Guatemala for thirteen years because of the strict censorship laws of the Ubico government, a dictatorship that ruled Guatemala from 1931 to 1944.  Following the Second World War, the United States continually increased its presence in Latin American economies. Companies such as the United Fruit Company manipulated Latin American politicians and exploited land, resources, and Guatemalan laborers. The effects of American companies in Guatemala inspired Asturias to write "The Banana Trilogy," a series of three novels published in 1950, 1954, and 1960 that revolve around the exploitation of indigenous farm laborers and the monopoly presence of the United Fruit Company in Guatemala.  Asturias was very concerned with the marginalization and poverty of the Maya people in Guatemala. He believed that socio-economic development in Guatemala depended on better integration of indigenous communities, a more equal distribution of wealth in the country, and working to lower the rates of illiteracy amongst other prevalent issues. Asturias' choice to publicize some of the political problems of Guatemala in his novels brought international attention to them. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature because of the political criticisms included in his books.

Nature.

Guatemala and America are, for Asturias, a country and a continent of nature. Nahum Megged in her article “Artificio y naturaleza en las obras de Miguel Angel Asturias,” writes on how his work embodies the “captivating totality of nature” and how it does not use nature solely as a backdrop for the drama. She explains that the characters in his books who are most in harmony with nature are the protagonists and those who disrupt the balance of nature are the antagonists. The theme of the erotic personification of nature in his novels is pervasive throughout his novels. An example being in "Leyendas de Guatemala" in which he writes, “El tropico es el sexo de la tierra.”

Writing style.

Asturias was greatly inspired by the Maya culture of Central America. It is an overarching theme in many of his works and greatly influenced the style of this writing.

Mayan influence.

The Guatemala that exists today was founded on top of a substratus of Mayan culture. Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, this civilization was very advanced politically, economically, and socially. This rich Mayan culture has had an undeniable influence on Asturias' literary works. He believed in the sacredness of the Mayan traditions and worked to bring life back into its culture by integrating the Indian imagery and tradition into his novels. Asturias studied at the Sorbonne (the University of Paris at that time) with Georges Raynaud, an expert in the culture of the Quiché Maya. In 1926, he finished a translation of the "Popol Vuh", the sacred book of the Mayas. Fascinated by the mythology of the indigenous people of Guatemala, he wrote "Leyendas de Guatemala" ("Legends of Guatemala"). This fictional work re-tells some of the Mayan folkloric stories of his homeland.  Certain aspects of indigenous life were of a unique interest to Asturias. Commonly known as corn, maize is an integral part of Mayan culture. It is not only a main staple in their diet but plays an important role in the Mayan creation story found in the "Popul Vuh". This particular story was the influence for Asturias' novel "Hombres de maíz" ("Men of Maize"), a mythological fable that introduces readers to the life, customs, and psyche of a Maya Indian.  Asturias did not speak any Mayan language and admitted that his interpretations of the indigenous psyche were intuitive and speculative. In taking such liberties, there are many possibilities for error. However, Lourdes Royano Gutiérrez argues that his work remains valid because in this literary situation, intuition served as a better tool than scientific analysis. In accordance, Jean Franco categorizes Asturias along with Rosario Castellanos and José María Arguedas as "Indianist" authors. She argues that all three of these writers were led to "break with realism precisely because of the limitations of the genre when it came to representing the Indian". For example, Asturias used a lyrical and experimental style in "Men of Maize", which Franco believed to be a more authentic way of representing the indigenous mind than traditional prose.  When asked about his method of interpreting the Mayan psyche, Asturias was quoted saying "I listened a lot, I imagined a little, and invented the rest" (Oí mucho, supuse un poco más e inventé el resto). In spite of his inventions, his ability to incorporate his knowledge in Mayan ethnology into his novels make his work authentic and convincing.

Surrealism and magical realism.

Surrealism has contributed greatly to the works of Asturias. Characterized by its exploration of the subconscious mind, the genre allowed Asturias to cross boundaries of fantasy and reality. Although Asturias' works were seen as preceding magical realism, the author saw many similarities between the two genres. Asturias discussed the idea of magical realism in his own works linking it explicitly to surrealism. He did not, however, use the term to describe his own material. He used it instead in reference to the Mayan stories written before the conquest of America by the Europeans, stories such as "Popul Vuh" or "Los Anales de los Xahil". In an interview with his friend and biographer Günter W. Lorenz, Asturias discusses how these stories fit his view of magical realism and relate to surrealism, saying, "Between the "real" and the "magic" there is a third sort of reality. It is a melting of the visible and the tangible, the hallucination and the dream. It is similar to what the surrealists around [André] Breton wanted and it is what we could call "magic realism." Although the two genres shared much in common, magical realism is often considered as having been born in Latin America.  As mentioned above, Maya culture was an important inspiration for Asturias. He saw a direct relationship between magical realism and Indigenous mentality, saying, “...an Indian or a mestizo in a small village might describe how he saw an enormous stone turn into a person or a giant, or a cloud turn into a stone. That is not a tangible reality but one that involves an understanding of supernatural forces. That is why when I have to give it a literary label I call it "magic realism." Similarly, scholar Lourdes Royano Gutiérrez argues that surrealist thought is not entirely different from the indigenous or mestizo worldview. Royano Gutiérrez describes this worldview as one in which the border between reality and dream is porous and not concrete. It is clear from both Asturias' and Gutiérrez' quotes that magical realism was seen as a suitable genre to represent an indigenous character's thoughts. The surrealist/magical realist style is exemplified in Asturias' works "Mulata de tal" and "El señor Presidente".

Use of language.

Asturias was one of the first Latin American novelists to realize the enormous potential of language in literature. He had a very profound linguistic style that he employed to convey his literary vision. In his works, language is more than a form of expression or a means to an end and can be quite abstract. Language does not give life to his work, rather the organic language Asturias uses has a life of its own within his work ("El lenguage tiene vida propia").  For example, in his novel "Leyendas de Guatemala", there is a rhythmic, musical style to writing. In many of his works, he is known to have frequently used onomatopoeias, repetitions and symbolism, techniques which are also prevalent in pre-Columbian texts. His modern interpretation of the Mayan writing style later became his trademark. Asturias synthesized the liturgic diction found in the ancient "Popul Vuh" with colourful, exuberant vocabulary. This unique style has been called "tropical baroque" ("barroquismo tropical") by scholar Lourdes Royano Gutiérrez in her analysis of his major works.  In "Mulata de tal", Asturias fuses surrealism with indigenous tradition in something called the "great language" ("la gran lengua"). In this Maya tradition, the people bestow magical power to certain words and phrases; similar to a witch's chant or curse. In his stories, Asturias restores this power to words and lets them speak for themselves: "Los toros toronegros, los toros torobravos, los toros torotumbos, los torostorostoros" ("the bulls bullsblack, the bulls bullsbrave, the bulls bullsshake, the bullsbullsbulls").  Asturias uses a significant amount of Mayan vocabulary in his works. A glossary can be found at the end of "Hombres de maíz", "Leyendas de Guatemala", "El Señor Presidente", "Viento Fuerte", and "El Papa verde" in order to better understand the rich combination of colloquial Guatemalan and indigenous words.

Legacy.

After his death in 1974, his home country acknowledged his contribution to Guatemalan literature by establishing literary awards and scholarships in his name. One of these is the country's most distinguished literary prize, the Miguel Ángel Asturias National Prize in Literature. In addition, Guatemala City's national theatre, the Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias, is named after him.  Asturias is remembered as a man who believed strongly in recognizing indigenous culture in Guatemala. For Gerald Martin, Asturias is one of what he terms "the ABC writers—Asturias, Borges, Carpentier" who, he argues, "really initiated Latin American modernism." His experimentation with style and language is considered by some scholars as a precursor to the magical realism genre.  Critics compare his fiction to that of Franz Kafka, James Joyce, and William Faulkner because of the stream-of-consciousness style he employed. His work has been translated into numerous languages such as English, French, German, Swedish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and many more.

Awards.

Asturias received many honors and literary awards over the course of his career. One of the more notable awards was the Nobel Prize for Literature, which he received in 1967 for "Hombres de maiz". This award caused some controversy at the time because of his relative anonymity outside of Latin America. Robert G. Mead criticized the choice because he thought that there were more well-known deserving candidates. In 1966, Asturias was awarded the Soviet Union's Lenin Peace Prize. He received this recognition for "La trilogía bananera" ("The Banana Trilogy") in which he criticizes the presence of aggressive American companies such as The United Fruit Company in Latin American countries.  Other prizes for Asturias' work include: el Premio Galvez (1923); Chavez Prize (1923); and the Prix Sylla Monsegur (1931), for "Leyendas de Guatemala" ; as well as the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger for "El señor presidente" (1952).

Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (; October 19, 1899 – June 9, 1974) was a Nobel Prize-winning Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright and journalist. Asturias helped establish Latin American literature's contribution to mainstream Western culture, and at the same time drew attention to the importance of indigenous cultures, especially those of his native Guatemala.

Miguel Ángel Asturias (19. října 1899 Guatemala – 9. června 1974 Madrid, Španělsko) byl guatemalský spisovatel a diplomat, nositel Nobelovy ceny za literaturu (1967).