Biography.

Vera Margrethe Roscher Lund was born in Oslo and lived there until 1940, when she moved to Arendal. Her father was military officer, later Colonel Ragnvald Alfred Roscher Lund (1899–1975), the first commander of the Norwegian Military Intelligence Service, head of the Norwegian High Command's office FO II in exile in London during World War II. In 1944, she had to flee Norway during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany.  She continued her secondary education at the Norwegian gymnasium in Uppsala, Sweden, and graduated in 1945. The following year she traveled to the United States where her family lived in New Jersey. She studied architecture at Yale University from 1946 to 1948. From 1948 to 1949, she studied art history and journalism at Columbia University. She married shipping executive, Olav Gotfred Henriksen in 1948. In total, she lived in the United States from 1946 to 1963.  Her first novel, "Sølvhammeren" ("The Silver Hammer") was published in 1961. This novel was followed by "Jærtegn" ("Miracle") in 1962, and "Helgenkongen" ("The Saint King") in 1963. The trilogy is about Olaf II of Norway and his time. In the 1970s she wrote a novel series from the period after the Protestant Reformation, "Trollsteinen" from 1970, followed by "Pilegrimsferd", "Blåbreen", "Staupet" and "Skjærsild", the last from 1977. Among her historical plays are "Asbjørn Selsbane" from 1972, and "Sverdet", first staged in 1974. She has also written books for children and young adults.  Vera Henriksen has an unusually broad and extensive range of writings behind her. She has written or delivered contributions to nearly fifty books. Central is a series of historical novels, some in several volumes, but she has also written contemporary novels, plays and nonfiction. Inspired by her father she developed an early interest in history, especially Norse saga literature. Several of her books center on the problematic transition from Norse mythology to Christianity.  In addition to her fiction writing, Henriksen has written several non-fiction books. Among these are two volumes of the history of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, covering the period from 1912 until 1945.  She was decorated Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1997. She was awarded the Norwegian Booksellers' Prize in 1962, and the Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment in 1978.

Vera Margrethe Henriksen (née Roscher Lund; 22 March 1927 – 23 May 2016) was a Norwegian novelist, playwright, and non-fiction writer. She was particularly known for her historical novels and plays set in the Middle Ages.

Vera Henriksen (* 22. März 1927 in Oslo; † 23. Mai 2016) war eine norwegische Schriftstellerin. Zwischen 1946 und 1963 lebte Henriksen in den USA und studierte dort Architektur und Kunstgeschichte. Viele ihrer Bücher spielen im Mittelalter oder anderen historischen Epochen. Mehrere Bücher haben den problematischen Übergang zum Christentum zum Inhalt. 1961 erschien der erste Band ("Sølvhammeren"- Der silberne Hammer) der erfolgreichen Sigrid-Trilogie. Die folgenden Bände "Jærtegn" und "Helgekongen" erschienen 1962 und 1963.


Career.

Born in Camberwell, London, he was 5 ft 6 in and weighed less than 9 stone (126 lbs). He attended Sutton Valence School, Kent. At 18 he became the first British schoolboy to break 4min 30sec for the mile. He won the British mile title for the five years up to the outbreak of the war in 1939. In 1934 he won the silver medal in the one mile event at the British Empire Games.  At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, he suffered an ankle injury and failed to qualify for the 1500 metres final. However, in 1937, after surgery, his performance increased and culminated in his world mile record of 4:06.4 in 1937. In 1938 he set world records in the 800 m and 880 yards with times of 1:48.4 and 1:49.2, respectively.  Off the track Wooderson was a City of London solicitor and missed the 1938 Empire Games in Sydney because he was taking his law finals.  His poor eyesight ruled him out of active service during the Second World War. He joined the Royal Pioneer Corps and was a firefighter during the Blitz and then later, in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers as a radar operator. In 1944, he spent several months in hospital suffering from rheumatic fever and was warned by doctors he might never run again.  Immediately after the war, however, in 1945, he ran his fastest mile, 4:04.2, just behind Arne Andersson of Sweden. In Oslo at the 1946 European Championships, he won the 5,000 m in 14:08.6, the second-fastest time to that point. His versatility was demonstrated when he won the national cross-country title in 1948.  He was the natural choice to carry the Olympic torch into Wembley Stadium for the 1948 Summer Olympics. However he was turned away at the last minute because members of the organising committee wanted a more handsome final runner. They chose the relatively unknown John Mark instead.  He was awarded an MBE in the 2000 Birthday Honours List for services to Blackheath Harriers and athletics.  Wooderson lived in retirement in Dorset in the South of England. He remained a life member of Blackheath Harriers and was twice its president. He died on Thursday 21 December 2006 in a nursing home at Wareham, Dorset. His ashes are interred in the churchyard of Lady St. Mary's Church, Wareham.  In 2018 the first full-length biography of Wooderson was published - 'Sydney Wooderson: A Very British Hero' (Book Guild)- written by Rob Hadgraft, author of previous works on runners Alf Shrubb, Walter George, 'Deerfoot', Jim Peters and Arthur Newton. The Wooderson title runs to 400-plus pages and was highly acclaimed in the sporting press.

Further reading.

Obituaries  Other

Sydney Charles Wooderson MBE (30 August 1914 – 21 December 2006), dubbed "The Mighty Atom", was an English athlete whose peak career was in the 1930s and 1940s.

Sydney Wooderson (* 30. August 1914 in Camberwell; † 21. Dezember 2006 in Dorset) war ein britischer Leichtathlet, der in den Jahren vor und nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg über die Mittelstrecke erfolgreich war.


History.

Advanced Patent Technology.

Advanced Patent Technology was founded in 1968 by Jack Solomon and Alvin Snaper, entrepreneurs who held patents in fields including medicine, optics, and electronics. The company's stock was publicly offered the next year. Its first 12 years were spent in the development stage. It boasted a portfolio of over 80 patents, but generated considerable publicity for five in particular: an ultrasonic fluidic fuel system for combustion engines, an ultrasonic endodontics device, a "louvered television screen", an ultrasonic meat tenderizer, and an ultrasonic dry cleaning machine.

Entry into gaming.

Advanced Patent made its move into the gaming industry in 1979, acquiring United Coin Machine Company, one of the largest slot route operators in Nevada, and announcing plans for the Colorado Belle hotel and casino in Laughlin, the first of a series of hotels to be built in the Las Vegas area. An obstacle arose in July 1980 in the form of an SEC investigation, alleging inadequate financial disclosure and sale of unregistered stock. Under scrutiny from the Nevada Gaming Commission, Solomon was forced to step down as chairman, as a condition of licensing for the casino. Three new directors were added in November to the company's board as part of a settlement under discussion with the SEC, but by March 1981, regulators still had questions about the company's public disclosure, and trading in the stock was suspended for 10 days. The SEC investigation ended in 1983 with no further action against the company, while Solomon personally agreed to an injunction against any further securities violations, rather than fighting charges that he illegally sold stock in the company between 1975 and 1980 to raise money for its gaming ventures.  A management shake-up in the wake of the SEC probe saw C. Richard Iannone installed as president in 1981. According to Iannone, he was told the company "won't last six months", but he cut expenses and restructured debt, effecting a turnaround by 1983. The company changed its name to Gaming and Technology Inc. in March 1983 to better reflect its focus. The Colorado Belle, described as unprofitable, was sold the following year to Circus Circus Enterprises for $4 million.

Cal Omega takeover.

On January 1, 1985, the company merged with Omega Enterprises, a manufacturer of video slot machines through its Cal Omega subsidiary, in a "reverse acquisition". Gaming & Technology acquired Omega's assets, and Omega's shareholders received 72.5% of the company's stock. One of Omega's owners, Alfred Wilms, was named CEO of the combined company.  By 1986, machine sales were in a slump, and slot route operations accounted for 80 percent of the firm's revenue, so the Cal Omega plant in Carlsbad, California was closed. The company changed its name again in 1988, to United Gaming Inc., acknowledging United Coin as its principal asset.  In 1989, United outlined a plan to become a major casino operator. It opened a $40 million line of credit to finance the construction of five mini-casinos. It partnered with the developer of the under-construction Chaparral Casino to build and operate the property's casino and dining facilities, and with another developer on the planned Double Eagle hotel and casino. It leased the casino at the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada, bought the Plantation Casino in Sparks, Nevada for $9.5 million, and opened two small casinos in Downtown Las Vegas, Miss Lucy's and the Trolley Stop. Wilms pumped more money into the company, investing $10 million in June 1990 to raise his ownership stake to 54 percent.  The company began restructuring its operations in summer 1990. It abandoned the Double Eagle project after its development partner ran into financing difficulty, and withdrew from the Chaparral project because of its own financing problems. By the winter, it was missing payments to its creditors, but a debt restructuring was achieved in September 1991. United closed Miss Lucy's Casino in February 1992.  In 1992, United Gaming expanded to Louisiana, where video poker had been legalized the year before. In August, it began operation of 600 machines at two race tracks, the New Orleans Fair Grounds and Jefferson Downs, and their eight off-track betting parlors. United also planned to install 1,000 machines at bars and truck stops in the state.

Kirkland-Fort Worth takeover.

In 1993, United Gaming and Wilms reached an agreement with Kirkland-Fort Worth Investment Partners, a group affiliated with Texas investor Richard Rainwater, for a $5 million investment in exchange for 11 percent of the company. Wilms owned 62 percent of the company, but agreed to give up control to Kirkland, allowing them to name 4 of the 7 directors, in exchange for the investment. Concurrently, the company sold $85 million in convertible debentures. Rainwater outlined a plan to "become a really large factor" in the gaming industry, looking for bargain-price casinos "in every jurisdiction".  Rainwater's level of involvement in United became a matter of some dispute. After George W. Bush's ties to Rainwater, a fellow member of the group that owned the Texas Rangers baseball team, became a campaign issue in the 1994 race for governor because of Rainwater's involvement in gambling, Kirkland head Joel Kirschbaum described Rainwater's interest in the company as "passive". But a later lawsuit by Bally Gaming alleged that United admitted downplaying Rainwater's level of control because Major League Baseball frowned on team owners being involved in the gaming industry.  Within months of the Kirkland investment, United partnered in a bid for a gaming license in Evansville, Indiana, to build the River City Casino, was in discussions to acquire a stake in the under-development Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, Iowa, agreed to buy a 45 percent stake in the under-construction Rainbow Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and agreed to invest $20 million for a 43 percent stake in Capital Gaming International, which was developing casinos with various Indian tribes and the Crescent City Queen casino in New Orleans.  The company came under scrutiny in November for its relationship with Antoine Saacks, Assistant Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, who had worked as a consultant for United's video poker operation in Louisiana. Saacks was suspended and later fired for violating a department policy against officers working for video poker companies, and for his connection to Frank Caracci, a nightclub owner tied to the New Orleans crime family. A week after the scandal broke, the company pulled out of its deal with Capital Gaming; United said the timing was coincidental, but a Capital Gaming insider said the situation could impact licensing of the New Orleans casino.  In March 1994, United bought 90 percent of USA Gaming of Native America, which had gaming development agreements with four Indian tribes. In June, United formed a joint venture with Casino Magic to build and operate a casino at Camptown Greyhound Racing in Frontenac, Kansas. In July, United agreed with Lone Star Casino Corp. to invest $15 million for a 50 percent stake in the Pine Hills Casino to be built in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.  Some plans did not pan out. In August, the River City Casino group withdrew its bid after receiving low marks from a local evaluation panel. The company announced plans in September to wind down some of its smaller operations, closing the Trolley Stop in December 1995, ending the Mizpah Hotel lease in April 1996, and selling the taverns it had acquired in the course of slot route operations. In December, the company decided, after performing due diligence, not to make an offer for the Diamond Jo.  With Kirkland's backing in place, analysts expected the company to execute a major merger. United was cited as a possible suitor to buy Casino Magic, Caesars World, or Circus Circus.  In December 1994, United changed its name to Alliance Gaming Corporation, to reflect the company's "revitalization and redefinition".

Bally Gaming acquisition.

Alliance began seeking ways to apply its marketing strength in the equipment business. Company executives felt there was a market opportunity in new riverboat and Indian casinos, where a slot maker could compete for "shelf space" without having to convince casino managers to switch from machines built by IGT, the market leader with a 70 percent share. CEO Steve Greathouse felt that machines could be made more fun, more interactive, and therefore more profitable, in contrast with IGT, whose executives believed that slot gamblers were "not playing to be entertained". Starting from scratch against such a dominant competitor was daunting though, so Alliance looked for an acquisition. The natural choice was Bally Gaming International, the number two player with a 15 to 20 percent share.  Kirschbaum had contacted Bally Entertainment about a merger as early as 1993, but Bally's CEO rebuffed him because of Alliance's heavy debt load and lack of earnings, suggesting they "develop their company a bit". Talks began again in October 1994, until Alliance broke them off in February 1995. Bally reached out to Alliance the next month through Rainwater, who discussed possibilities including a three-way merger with Autotote, a maker of lottery and pari-mutuel wagering technology.  In June 1995, with Bally already considering a buyout offer from WMS Industries, Alliance made an unsolicited offer of $210 million in cash, stock, and assumed debt. Days later, Bally's board of directors accepted WMS's offer of $120 million in stock, conditioned on Bally selling its German subsidiary, Bally Wulff, for at least $55 million. Bally called Alliance's offer "illusory and highly conditional" on financing, and said that WMS stock would give shareholders more long-term value than Alliance stock, and that a combination of Alliance and Bally would be so undercapitalized as to raise licensing concerns among gaming regulators.  Alliance undertook a hostile takeover effort, suing to block the WMS merger, announcing a tender offer of up to $55 million for 4.4 million shares of Bally, enough to give it a controlling interest, and seeking consent from Bally's shareholders to replace a majority of the board. Bally and WMS fired back with separate lawsuits seeking to block Alliance's tender offer. Alliance raised its offer to $70 million for 5.4 million shares, and WMS, in turn, raised its total bid to $142 million. In October, Alliance announced that it had been tendered 5.8 million shares, and alleged that Bally and WMS had reached an impasse over Bally's failure to find a buyer for Bally Wulff. The next day, Bally's board capitulated, canceling the deal with WMS and approving a merger with Alliance on terms similar to those of the tender offer, with a total value of $215 million.  After the two companies agreed to revise the deal down to $185 million to ensure the combined company would have enough cash to grow, and Alliance raised $166 million in financing, the acquisition was completed on June 18, 1996. Bally was organized as three divisions within Alliance Gaming: Bally Gaming, which made slot machines, Bally Systems, which made casino accounting and management systems, and Bally Wulff. Bally Gaming and Systems were combined into a single unit in 1998.  In 1999, Bally launched Thrillions, a wide-area progressive jackpot system, as part of a strategy to focus on games to be installed on a revenue-participation bonus instead of being sold outright to casinos. The game initially launched with a Betty Boop theme, and later added variants based on "Blondie" and Popeye.  This period also saw the introduction of the EVO VIDEO game platform and the EVO 3, which was created in partnership with Microsoft.  The company began seeking buyers for its slot route and casino operations in late 1999, to narrow its focus on gaming technology. After six months, no acceptable bids were received for the Rail City and Rainbow casinos. An agreement was reached to sell United Coin to a pair of Iowa riverboat casino operators for $118 million, but Alliance backed out of the sale a year later because of increased profits at the subsidiary.

The 2000s.

Bally took the publicly traded company from the brink of NASDAQ delisting in 2000 to record revenues and profits just two years later. On December 12, 2002, Alliance Gaming moved from NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker symbol “AGI”.  The effort to divest non-core assets resumed in July 2003, with agreements to sell United Coin for $127 million to Century Gaming, the largest slot route operator in Montana, Bally Wulff for $16.5 million to German company Orlando Management, and Alliance's 49 percent share in the Louisiana video poker operation to New Orleans-based Gentilly Gaming. In December, Alliance agreed to sell the Rail City casino to Sands Regent for $38 million.  Meanwhile, Alliance considered acquiring Multimedia Games, a leading maker of Class II machines for Indian casinos and bingo halls, but the asking price was too high. Instead, the company in 2004 acquired Sierra Design Group for $165 million, giving it a strong entry into the markets for Class II machines, video lottery terminals, and centrally linked progressive machines for Washington state.  Determining that its Evo platform lacked the horsepower to produce satisfying video games, Bally re-engineered its entire line of video and reel-spinning slot machines. Alpha, its new platform based on Sierra's operating system, dramatically improved Bally's entire portfolio of games, leading to the release of Hot Shot Progressives, a new series of video and reel machines. Overtaking the Blazing 7s line, Hot Shot Progressives quickly became the company's biggest seller and the most successful product launch in the company's history. Bally also introduced several new gaming platforms, including the V20 upright, the dual-screen V20/20 video slot, the S9E reel-spinner and the CineVision wide-screen video gaming device. As of July 2009, more than 550 casinos worldwide utilize Bally systems products running on more than 400,000 slot machines.  In 2006, Alliance changed its name to Bally Technologies, Inc., discontinuing the use of Bally Gaming and Systems as a subsidiary, to present a unified identity.  In 2007, Bally celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Bally trademark with a series of special customer events in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and Chicago. Also, the company commissioned Christian Marfels, author of the book "Bally - The World's Game Maker" to write an updated second edition, a copy of which was given to every Bally employee.  In 2008, Bally opened a new European sales/service hub in Amsterdam. It also operates two research and development centers in Chennai and Bangalore, India, employing approximately 1000 people.  In 2008, Bally acquired CoolSign, a multi-media management tool, from Planar. And, in 2009, the company's iVIEW Display Manager won Casino Journal Magazine's Platinum Award for the "Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products of 2008."  On the games side, in 2008 and 2009, Bally released a number of new gaming products, including its new Digital Tower Series, whose games feature dynamic, interactive and animated top-box displays. Additionally, in 2009 the company released its new "Jumbo" cabinets, which measure nearly eight feet high by over three feet wide. In late 2009, Bally displayed their new Pro Series V22/22 upright and Pro Series Slant Top slot featuring a 22" game display and a 26" top display. Bally engineered reduced power consumption in these new platforms. Bally also developed Ultimate Texas Hold'em in 2009.  In 2010, Bally sold the Rainbow Casino to Isle of Capri Casinos for $80 million.  On November 25, 2013, Bally acquired SHFL entertainment, a global gaming supplier operating in five primary categories: Utility products (including Deck Mate card shufflers and roulette chip sorters), proprietary table games, electronic table systems, electronic gaming machines (including video slot machines) and iGaming.  In 2014, Bally won four awards in the 'Slot Floor Technology Awards' as well as earning two spots in the annual ‘Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products' awards.  In August 2014, Bally agreed to be acquired by Scientific Games, maker of lottery and sports betting equipment, for $3.3 billion plus $1.8 billion in assumed debt. The acquisition was completed on November 21, 2014. Today, Bally constitute one of the four brands of Scientific Games, along with SG, WMS and Shuffle Master.

Today.

Bally Technologies is focused on the casino gaming industry. Acquisitions of such companies as Casino Marketplace, MindPlay and Advanced Casino Systems Corporation (ACSC) have allowed the Bally Systems division to increase its share of the rapidly expanding slot accounting market. However, the Legacy Unix SDS slot system is still the industry standard. The company’s past systems acquisitions include the former Honeyframe, Ltd. of Telford,Bally MultiConnect (BMC) is a distributed Enterprise-Wide Slot Management System designed for multi-property organizations. Centralized accounting and analysis functions are available together with asset management that allow your operations department to have complete control and a single view of the entire gaming operation, England and Micro Clever Consulting (MCC) of Nice, France. Both companies offer scalable suites of slot accounting and casino management systems.  The company's current executive management team consists of:  The company's current board of directors consists of:

Bally Technologies, Inc. is an American manufacturer of slot machines and other gaming technology based in Enterprise, Nevada. It is owned by Scientific Games Corporation.

Bally (ursprünglich "Bally Manufacturing Corporation", heute "Bally Technologies, Inc.") ist eine US-amerikanische Firma, die Einarmige Banditen, Spielkonsolen und Arcade-Spiele herstellt. Die Firma wurde 1932 von Raymond Moloney in Chicago gegründet und hat eine komplexe Geschichte an Umgestaltungen, Übernahmen und Aufteilungen der Firmenteile hinter sich. Die Wurzeln des Unternehmens liegen in der Herstellung von Flipperautomaten und Geldspielautomaten. Die meisten Spielautomaten der Casinos in Las Vegas sind noch heute von Bally.


Early life.

Wimmer was born January 14, 1809 in the hamlet of Thalmassing, Bavaria and christened Sebastian Wimmer. His parents, Peter Wimmer and Elizabeth (née Lang) Wimmer were tavern keepers. Sebastian believed he had a vocation to the priesthood from a young age. He studied law at the University of Regensburg (Ratisbon) and the University of Munich. He finished his theological studies at the Gregorianum after he won a competitive exam for a scholarship. Wimmer was ordained a priest on August 1, 1831.

Vocation.

Following his ordination to the Priesthood, Father Sebastian Wimmer served a year as curate at the Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting in Bavaria. It was also during this time that the King of Bavaria, Ludwig of the Royal House of Wittelsbach, began re-establishing, the Bavarian Benedictine Monasteries after their suppression by Napoleon. One such Abbey was the Benedictine foundation of Saint Michael Abbey in the town of Metten, Bavaria. Saint Michael Abbey, founded in 766 by Charlemagne with monks from the Archcenobium of Monte Cassino of the Italian province of Umbria, had been suppressed in 1803 by Napoleon. With its re-establishment, Father Sebastian Wimmer sought to enter the newly formed monastery and discern a vocation to the Benedictine monastic life.  Upon entering the community at Metten, Father Sebastian Wimmer was given the religious name, Boniface, after the great Apostle to Germany, Saint Boniface. He took solemn vows of obedience, stability and Conversatio Morum (conversion of life) on December 29, 1833. He was sent to teach at the Benedictine College of St. Stephen’s in Augsburg, also newly-established by Ludwig I of Bavaria. In 1842 as a professor in Munich, he saw first-hand the early emigration to the United States.  Father Boniface felt that he had an interior calling to be a missionary to those German people who had left their native land to pursue a better life in the United States. After reading about the condition of German immigrants in the United States, Wimmer took steps to transplant Benedictine missions there. He began by asking his superior for permission to go to the New World as a missionary. In 1846, he was granted permission to serve in a missionary capacity in the United States.

Evangelism.

Between 1830 and 1860 the majority of the 1.5 million German immigrants to the United States settled on the rural frontier. Wimmer came to serve these working class Catholic immigrants, and for the next forty years, his evangelization efforts expanded to include Irish, African Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants from Eastern Europe. Thus he demonstrated a traditional Benedictine preference to establish monasteries and religious centers in farming regions and to work in rural areas rather than urban.

Missionary.

Father Boniface Wimmer and a band of 18 young aspirants to the Benedictine life left Rotterdam, the Netherlands in July 1846. The passage across the Atlantic Ocean on the steamship, U.S. Iowa, was turbulent. Upon his arrival in New York City, Father Boniface was greeted with discouragement by several priests who tried to persuade him to abandon his plans.  Nevertheless, he went west to the newly organized Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, and accepted land which Father Peter Lemke, for years associated with the Rev. Prince Gallitzin, had offered. Conditions at this site in Carrolltown proved unfavorable. By late September, 1846, Father Boniface had received an invitation from Bishop Michael O'Connor, first Bishop of Pittsburgh, asking him to take the pastoral responsibility of a small parish named Saint Vincent, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Wimmer and his companions arrived at Saint Vincent on October 19, 1846. There they found only a small school house, a barn, a log cabin, and a small brick church. It was here that on October 24, 1846, Father Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B., was installed as pastor of Saint Vincent Parish and founded the first Benedictine Monastery in the United States.  By 1851, there were 100 professed monks at Saint Vincent. On August 24, 1855, Pope Pius IX, in his Apostolic Brief, "Inter Ceteras", elevated Saint Vincent to the status of Abbey. Within the nine years of his arrival in the United States, Wimmer had built up a strong monastic foundation with over 200 professed monks. Wimmer became Abbot in 1855, and in 1883, was granted the title, "Archabbot", by Pope Leo XIII. Abbot Wimmer was an active monk, rather than a contemplative. In addition to building up Saint Vincent, he developed a self-sufficient community that ground its own flour, raised its own crops, mined its own coal, and brewed its own beer.

Later years.

Boniface Wimmer died on December 8, 1887. At the time of his death, there were ten Benedictine Abbeys in the United States founded by him. In his lifetime, he founded 152 Roman Catholic Parishes, ten Abbeys and numerous schools. He was lauded by "Sadliers Catholic Encyclopedia" of 1888, as "The greatest American Missionary of the Nineteenth century. Today, there are over thirty Abbeys and monasteries that take their roots from Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B."  His nephew Sebastian Wimmer was a well-known Civil engineer who lived in St. Marys Pennsylvania. Sebastian kept a diary of his life daily for fifty years. The original diaries are at the St. Mary's historical society and were transcribed five years ago by Laura Woodrough Steneck.

Quotations.

"Forward, always forward, everywhere forward! We must not be held back by debts, bad years or by difficulties of the times. Man's adversity is God's opportunity."—Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B.  "We belong to the whole world."—Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B.  "People plant trees though they are certain that the fruit will benefit only the next generation."—Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B.

Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. (1809–1887) was a German monk who in 1846 founded the first Benedictine monastery in the United States, Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, forty miles southeast of Pittsburgh. In 1855 Wimmer founded the American-Cassinese Congregation of Benedictine Confederation.

Bonifaz Wimmer OSB (* 14. Januar 1809 in Thalmassing als "Sebastian Wimmer"; † 8. Dezember 1887 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA) war ein bayerischer Benediktiner und Begründer des benediktinischen Mönchtums in den USA. Dort war er Gründer und erster Abt der Abtei St. Vincent in Latrobe sowie Präses der Amerikanisch-Cassinensischen Benediktinerkongregation und schließlich Erzabt.


History.

Cumbel is first mentioned about 825 as "Cumble". Until 1983, the municipality was officially known as Cumbels.

Coat of arms.

The description of the municipal coats of arms is "Gules the Women's Gate Argent with roof and open portcullis Sable."  The women's gate ("Porclas Cumbel") is the most important monument of the valley. It owes its name to the legendary battle of the women of Lugnez, in the feud between Werdenberg and Belmont.

Geography.

Cumbel had an area,, of. Of this area, 46.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 45.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 5.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2.5%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).  The former municipality is located in the Lugnez sub-district of the Surselva district at the entrance to the Lugnez valley. It consists of the linear village of Cumbel.

Demographics.

Cumbel has a population (as of 2011) of 238., 2.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -6.6%. Most of the population () speaks Romansh(85.1%), with German being second most common (12.8%) and Portuguese being third ( 0.7%). , the gender distribution of the population was 51.3% male and 48.7% female. The age distribution,, in Cumbel is; 46 children or 16.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 25 teenagers or 8.7% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 18 people or 6.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 39 people or 13.5% are between 30 and 39, 30 people or 10.4% are between 40 and 49, and 21 people or 7.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 23 people or 8.0% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 45 people or 15.6% are between 70 and 79, there are 31 people or 10.8% who are between 80 and 89 there are 10 people or 3.5% who are between 90 and 99.  In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 51.7% of the vote. The next two most popular parties were the SVP (23.6%) and the FDP (10.2%).  In Cumbel about 56.1% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a "Fachhochschule").  Cumbel has an unemployment rate of 0.67%., there were 24 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 10 businesses involved in this sector. 24 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 3 businesses in this sector. 91 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 10 businesses in this sector.  The historical population is given in the following table:

Cumbel () is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The municipalities of Cumbel, Degen, Lumbrein, Morissen, Suraua, Vignogn, Vella, and Vrin merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Lumnezia.

Cumbel (, deutsch und bis 1983 offiziell "Cumbels") war bis am 31. Dezember 2012 eine eigenständige politische Gemeinde in der Val Lumnezia im ehemaligen Bezirk Surselva des Kantons Graubünden in der Schweiz. Das ehemalige autonome Gemeindegebiet von Cumbel grenzte an Duvin, Luven, Morissen, Pitasch, Sevgein, Suraua und Vella.


Taxonomic history and systematics.

Morphological features.

"O. sinensis" consists of two parts, a fungal endosclerotium (within the caterpillar) and stroma. The stroma is the upper fungal part and is dark brown or black, but can be a yellow color when fresh, and longer than the caterpillar itself, usually 4–10 cm. It grows singly from the larval head, and is clavate, sublanceolate or fusiform, and distinct from the stipe (stalk). The stipe is slender, glabrous, and longitudinally furrowed or ridged.  The fertile part of the stroma is the head. The head is granular because of the ostioles of the embedded perithecia. The perithecia are ordinally arranged and ovoid. The asci are cylindrical or slightly tapering at both ends, and may be straight or curved, with a capitate and hemispheroid apex, and may be two to four spored. Similarly, ascospores are hyaline, filiform, multiseptate at a length of 5-12 μm and subattenuated on both sides. Perithecial, ascus and ascospore characters in the fruiting bodies are the key identification characteristics of "O. sinensis".  "Ophiocordyceps" (Petch) Kobayasi species produce whole ascospores and do not separate into part spores. This is different from other "Cordyceps" species, which produce either immersed or superficial perithecia perpendicular to stromal surface, and the ascospores at maturity are disarticulated into part spores. Generally "Cordyceps" species possess brightly colored and fleshy stromata, but "O. sinensis" has dark pigments and tough to pliant stromata, a typical characteristic feature of most of the "Ophiocordyceps" species.

Developments in classification.

The species was first described scientifically by Miles Berkeley in 1843 as "Sphaeria sinensis"; Pier Andrea Saccardo transferred the species to the genus "Cordyceps" in 1878. The fungus was known as "Cordyceps sinensis" until 2007, when molecular analysis was used to amend the classification of the Cordycipitaceae and the Clavicipitaceae, resulting in the naming of a new family Ophiocordycipitaceae and the transfer of several "Cordyceps" species including "C. sinensis" to the genus "Ophiocordyceps".

Common names.

In Tibet it is known as (, "summer grass winter bug"). The name was first recorded in the 15th century by the Tibetan doctor Zurkhar Namnyi Dorje. In colloquial Tibetan yartsa gunbu is often shortened to simply "bu" or "yartsa". The Tibetan name is transliterated in Nepali as यार्चागुन्बू, yarshagumba, yarchagumba or yarsagumba. The transliteration in Bhutan is yartsa guenboob.  In India, it is known as keera jhar, keeda jadi, keeda ghas or ghaas fafoond in Nepali, Hindi and Garhwali.  It is known in Chinese as dōng chóng xià cǎo (冬蟲夏草), meaning "winter worm, summer grass", which is a literal translation of the original Tibetan name. In traditional Chinese medicine, its name is often abbreviated as chong cao (蟲草 "insect plant"), a name that also applies to other "Cordyceps" species, such as "C. militaris". In Japanese, it is known by the Japanese reading of the characters for the Chinese name,. Strangely, sometimes in Chinese English-language texts "Cordyceps sinensis" is referred to as aweto, which is the Māori name for "Ophiocordyceps robertsii", a species from New Zealand.  The English term "vegetable caterpillar" is a misnomer, as no plant is involved. "Caterpillar fungus" is a preferred term.

Nomenclature of the anamorph.

Since the 1980s, 22 species in 13 genera have been attributed to the anamorph (asexually reproducing mold-like form) of "O. sinensis". Of the 22 species, "Cephalosporium acreomonium" is the zygomycetous species of "Umbelopsis", "Chrysosporium sinense" has very low similarity in RAPD polymorphism, hence it is not the anamorph. Likewise, "Cephalosporium dongchongxiacae", "C. sp." "sensu", "Hirsutella sinensis" and "H. hepiali" and "Synnematium sinnense" are synonymous and only "H. sinensis" is only validly published in articles. "Cephalosporium sinensis" possibly might be synonymous to "H. sinensis" but there is lack of valid information. "Isaria farinosa" is combined to "Paecilomyces farinosus" and is not the anamorph. Several isolates of "Isaria sp., Verticella sp., Scydalium sp." and "Stachybotrys sp." were identified only up to generic level, and it is dubious that they are anamorph. "Mortierella hepiali" is discarded as anamorph as it belongs to Zygomycota. "Paecilomyces sinensis" and "Sporothrix insectorum" are discarded based on the molecular evidence. "P. lingi" appeared only in one article and thus is discarded because of incomplete information. "Tolypocladium sinense, P. hepiali", and "Scydalium hepiali", have no valid information and thus are not considered as anamorph to "Ophiocordyceps sinensis. V. sinensis" is not considered anamorph as there is no valid published information. Similarly, "Metarhizium anisopliae" is not considered anamorph as it has widely distributed host range, and is not restricted only in high altitude.  Thus "Hirsutella sinensis" is considered the validly published anamorph of "O. sinensis, Cordyceps nepalensis" and "C. multiaxialis" which had similar morphological characteristics to "O. sinensis", also had almost identical or identical ITS sequences and its presumed anamorph, "H. sinensis". This also confirms "H. sinensis" to be anamorph of "O. sinensis" and suggests "C. nepalensis" and "C. multiaxialis" are synonyms. Evidence based on microcyclic conidiation from ascospores and molecular studies support "H. sinensis" as the anamorph of the caterpillar fungus, "O. sinensis".

Ecology and life cycle.

The caterpillars prone to infection by "O. sinensis" generally live underground in alpine grass and shrub-lands on the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas at an altitude between. The fungus is reported from the northern range of Nepal, Bhutan, and also from the northern states of India, apart from northern Yunnan, eastern Qinghai, eastern Tibet, western Sichuan, southwestern Gansu provinces. Fifty-seven taxa from several genera (37 "Thitarodes", 1 "Bipectilus", 1 "Endoclita", 1 "Gazoryctra", 3 "Pharmacis", and 14 others not correctly identified to genus) are recognized as potential hosts of "O. sinensis".  The stalk-like dark brown to black fruiting body (or mushroom) grows out of the head of the dead caterpillar and emerges from the soil in alpine meadows by early spring. During late summer, the fruiting body disperses spores. The caterpillars, which live underground feeding on roots, are most vulnerable to the fungus after shedding their skin, during late summer. In late autumn, chemicals on the skin of the caterpillar interact with the fungal spores and release the fungal mycelia, which then infects the caterpillar.  The infected larvae tend to remain underground vertical to the soil surface with their heads up. After invading a host larva, the fungus ramifies throughout the host and eventually kills it. Gradually the host larvae become rigid because of the production of fungal sclerotia. Fungal sclerotia are multihyphal structures that can remain dormant and then germinate to produce spores. After over-wintering, the fungus ruptures the host body, forming the fruiting body, a sexual sporulating structure (a perithecial stroma) from the larval head that is connected to the sclerotia (dead larva) below ground and grows upward to emerge from the soil to complete the cycle.  The slow growing "O. sinensis" grows at a comparatively low temperature, i.e., below 21 °C. Temperature requirements and growth rates are crucial factors that distinguish "O. sinensis" from other similar fungi. Climate change is suspected to be negatively affecting the mountain organism.

Use in traditional Asian medicines.

The use of caterpillar fungus as folk medicine apparently originated in Tibet and Nepal. So far the oldest known text documenting its use was written in the late 15th century by the Tibetan doctor Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorje (Wylie: "Zur mkhar mnyam nyid rdo rje")[1439-1475]) in his text: "Man ngag bye ba ring bsrel" ("Instructions on a Myriad of Medicines"). A translation is available at Winkler.  The first mention of "Ophiocordyceps sinensis" in traditional Chinese medicine was in Wang Ang’s 1694 compendium of materia medica, "Ben Cao Bei Yao". In the 18th century it was listed in Wu Yiluo's "Ben cao cong xin" ("New compilation of materia medica"). The ethno-mycological knowledge on caterpillar fungus among the Nepalese people is documented. The entire fungus-caterpillar combination is hand-collected for medicinal use. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is regarded as having an excellent balance of yin and yang as it is considered to be composed of both an animal and a vegetable. They are now cultivated on an industrial scale for their use in TCM. However, no one has succeeded so far in rearing the fungus by infecting cultivated caterpillars; all products derived from cultured "Ophiocordyceps" are derived from mycelia grown on grains or in liquids.

Economics and impact.

In rural Tibet, "yartsa gunbu" has become the most important source of cash income. The fungi contributed 40% of the annual cash income to local households and 8.5% to the GDP in 2004. For some households in Kangding County, Sichuan, the fungi comprise 100% of their cash income. Prices have increased continuously, especially since the late 1990s. In 2008, one kilogram traded for US$3,000 (lowest quality) to over US$18,000 (best quality, largest larvae). The annual production on the Tibetan Plateau was estimated in 2009 at 80–175 tons. The Himalayan "Ophiocordyceps" production might not exceed a few tons.  In 2004 the value of a kilogram of caterpillars was estimated at about 30,000 to 60,000 Nepali rupees in Nepal, and about Rs 100,000 in India. In 2011 the value of a kilogram of caterpillars was estimated at about 350,000 to 450,000 Nepali rupees in Nepal. A 2012 BBC article indicated that in north Indian villages a single fungus was worth Rs 150 (about £2 or $3), which is more than the daily wage of a manual labourer. In 2012, a pound of top-quality yartsa had reached retail prices of $50,000. The price of "Ophiocordyceps sinensis" is reported to have increased dramatically on the Tibetan Plateau, about 900% between 1998 and 2008, an annual average of over 20% (after inflation). However, the value of large caterpillar fungus has increased more dramatically than small "Cordyceps", regarded as lower quality. Because of its high value, inter-village conflicts over access to its grassland habitats has become a headache for the local governing bodies and in several cases people were killed. In November 2011, a court in Nepal convicted 19 villagers over the murder of a group of farmers during a fight over the prized aphrodisiac fungus. Seven farmers were killed in the remote northern district of Manang in June 2009 after going to forage for Yarchagumba.  Its value gave it a role in the Nepalese Civil War, as the Nepalese Maoists and government forces fought for control of the lucrative export trade during the June–July harvest season. Collecting "yarchagumba" in Nepal had only been legalised in 2001, and now demand is highest in countries such as China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. By 2002, the 'herb' was valued at R 105,000 ($1,435) per kilogram, allowing the government to charge a royalty of R 20,000 ($280) per kilogram.  The search for "Ophiocordyceps sinensis" is often perceived to threaten the environment of the Tibetan Plateau where it grows. While it has been collected for centuries and is still common in such areas, current collection rates are much higher than in historical times.  In the Kingdom of Bhutan "Ophiocordyceps sinensis" is recently also being harvested. The quality of the Bhutanese variety has been shown to be equal to the Tibetan one.  Cultivated "O. sinensis" mycelium is an alternative to wild-harvested "O. sinensis", and producers claim it may offer improved consistency. Artificial culture of "O. sinensis" is typically by growth of pure mycelia in liquid culture (in China) or on grains (in the West).

Ophiocordyceps sinensis (formerly known as Cordyceps sinensis), is known in English colloquially as caterpillar fungus, or by its more prominent names yartsa gunbu (, literally "summer grass, winter worm"), or dōng chóng xià cǎo () or Yarsha-gumba or Yarcha-gumba, यार्सागुम्बा (in Nepali language) or Keeda Jadi, कीड़ा जड़ी (in Hindi and Garhwali) or ရှီးပတီး (in Burmese language). It is an entomopathogenic fungus (a fungus that grows on insects) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is mainly found in the meadows above 3,500 meters (11,483 feet) in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Tibet. It parasitizes larvae of ghost moths and produces a fruiting body which used to be valued as a herbal remedy and in traditional Chinese medicine. However, the fruiting bodies harvested in nature usually contain high amounts of arsenic and other heavy metals so they are potentially toxic and sales have been strictly regulated by the CFDA (China Food and Drug Administration) since 2016.

Der Chinesische Raupenpilz ("Ophiocordyceps sinensis"), auch "Tibetischer Raupenpilz" oder "Tibetischer Raupenkeulenpilz," ist ein Schlauchpilz (Ascomycota) aus der Gruppe der Kernkeulen, der Raupen befällt. Er ist im Hochland von Tibet endemisch. Der Pilz spielt in der traditionellen chinesischen Medizin eine Rolle und ist ein begehrter Heilpilz. Die Nebenfruchtform ist "Paecilomyces hepiali".


History.

The "Stockholm" Class Corvette started as a study for a ship with increased endurance, a project called "Ytattack-81" (Surface combatant-81), which was built on the torpedo boats of Spica and Spica II classes, but with an increased displacement from 230 tons to 350 tons. The engine was to be a CODAG-concept, two diesels and one gas turbine. However, the class looked to become just another desktop project.  In the early 1980s a series of submarine incidents occurred within Swedish territorial waters, the most famous of which was U 137 which ran aground outside Karlskrona 1981. These incidents showed that the Swedish Navy was seriously lacking in its anti-submarine (ASW) capacity. Specifically, it needed new hulls designed to anti-submarine warfare, and it needed them fast. The decision was to use the "Ytattack-81" project and modify it for ASW operations, as designing a completely new ship is a time-consuming and costly task. It was given a towed array sonar, ASW torpedoes and the ELMA anti-submarine mortar system. HMS "Stockholm" was launched 22 August 1984 closely followed by HMS "Malmö" 23 March 1985, both ships entered service 1 May 1986.  In the middle of the 1990s the ships started to show their age, mainly because of their high mileage and the latest few years explosive development of electronics. The "Stockholm" class was a successful design and the ships' basic status was good despite a hard life so the Swedish Defence Administration decided to give the ships a second life. HMS "Malmö" was the first to be modernised in 1999 with HMS "Stockholm" following in 2000. The modernisation included new engines, combat control systems, fire control systems, SIGINT and navigational systems. The ships both went through extensive modification of the mast, hull and superstructure to reduce their radar cross-section. Much of the modification was also made with low maintenance in mind to minimise the need for expensive repairs in the future. The guiding principle for the project was to update as much of the systems as possible to the same level as the Visby Corvettes. Both ships are back in operational condition now, attached to the 31'st Corvette Division of the 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla.  In early 2009 the Swedish government decided that the two ships in the class was to join the EU-led taskforce outside Somalia, where it would fight piracy. In May 2009 the ships started their first patrol off the Somali coast. On May 26, HMS "Malmö" responded to a pirate attack on the Greek ship M/V Antonis. The Corvette fired warning shots with its 57mm cannon and arrested seven pirates.  In 2015, Saab was awarded a contract to overhaul the Swedish Navy’s Stockholm-class corvettes and the ships were redesignated as patrolboats. The ships retain most of their weaponry and will continue to be stationed at the Carlskrona naval base.

"Stockholm" class is a patrol boat in the Swedish Navy. Built as corvettes in Karlskrona 1984–1985, it was armed with four RBS15 anti-ship missiles, one 57mm cannon and several machine guns. In 2017 the two units in the class were rebuilt and are now serving as patrol boats. The option to carry anti-ship missiles does however remain.

Die "Stockholm"-Klasse ist nach dem ersten Schiff einer Serie von zwei Schiffen, "Stockholm" und "Malmö", benannt, die von Kockums in Malmö gebaut wurden. Die "Stockholm"-Klasse bildet die vierte Generation einer Fahrzeugserie, die in den 1960ern mit dem Torpedoboot "Spica" begonnen wurde. Die Schwedische Marine bezeichnet sie als Korvetten, nach deutschen Maßstäben müsste man sie als Schnellboote klassifizieren.


Early years.

Dileita was born in 1958 in the coastal eastern city of Tadjoura, Djibouti, to an Afar family. He studied in Cairo and Reims, then went to the Centre for Vocational Education in Médéa, Algeria, from which he graduated in 1981.

Political career.

Upon graduation, Dileita returned to Djibouti, where he worked at the Directorate-General of Protocol under the Presidency. He became the second ranking diplomat at the embassy of Djibouti in France in early 1990, and subsequently he became Ambassador to Ethiopia in 1997. He also represented Djibouti at the Organization of African Unity, headquartered in Addis Ababa, while serving as Ambassador to Ethiopia, and assisted in the peace talks that ended the 1998–2000 war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.  In December 1999, Dileita was charged with negotiating a peace agreement with a faction of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD); the negotiations led to the signing of an agreement in February 2000. He became Ambassador to Uganda in mid-2000. After long-time Prime Minister Barkat Gourad Hamadou resigned for health reasons in February 2001, President Ismail Omar Guelleh appointed Dileita as Prime Minister on March 4, 2001, and he took office on March 7. He had no prior experience as a minister.  Dileita was elected as the Vice-President of the RPP on July 3, 2003, succeeding Hamadou in that post. Dileita led the ruling coalition, the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), in the January 2003 parliamentary election, standing as the first candidate on the coalition's list for the District of Djibouti.  On May 21, 2005, Dileita was reappointed as Prime Minister after Guelleh's re-election in the April 2005 presidential election; a new government under Dileita was named on May 22.  As of 2008, Dileita was the President of the UMP coalition, and he headed the UMP list for the District of Djibouti in the February 2008 parliamentary election. Following the election, in which the UMP won all seats amidst an opposition boycott, he resigned as Prime Minister on March 25, 2008. Guelleh promptly reappointed him on March 26 and named a new government under Dileita on March 27.  After Guelleh won a third term in the April 2011 presidential election, he reappointed Dileita as Prime Minister on 11 May 2011. Guelleh retained Dileita in his post even though various other long-serving ministers were dropped from the new government that was announced on 12 May. He was replaced as RPP Vice-President by Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed in September 2012, as part of an extensive shake-up of the RPP leadership.  On 31 March 2013, Dileita was succeeded by Kamil as Prime Minister.  Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, announced on 11 June 2014 that Dileita was appointed as the African Union's Special Envoy for Libya. He was head of the African Union observer mission for the March 2016 Congolese presidential election.

Dileita Mohamed Dileita () (born March 12, 1958) is a Djiboutian politician who was the Prime Minister of Djibouti from 7 March 2001 to 1 April 2013. He was Vice-President of the People's Rally for Progress (RPP), the governing political party, until 2012. He also served as President of the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), the governing coalition. In June 2014, Dileita was appointed as the African Union's Special Envoy for Libya.

Dileita Mohamed Dileita (* 12. März 1958 in Tadjoura) ist ein Politiker und ehemaliger Ministerpräsident von Dschibuti. Er übernahm das Amt am 4. März 2001 von Barkat Gourad Hamadou und wurde am 1. April 2013 von Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed abgelöst.


Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory

Geography.

Yarralumla is located in the central Canberra district of South Canberra. It is bordered by Lake Burley Griffin to the north, Commonwealth Avenue and Capital Hill to the east, Adelaide Avenue and the Cotter Road to the south, and Scrivener Dam, Lady Denman Drive and part of the Molonglo River to the west.  Although Yarralumla is one of the largest suburbs in Canberra by area, its population remains quite small because more than half of its area consists of open space or non-residential development, including Weston and Stirling Parks, the Royal Canberra Golf Club, and the grounds of Government House. A relatively high proportion of houses are occupied by diplomatic missions. The embassy area of Yarralumla is located towards the eastern end of the suburb next to Stirling Park. It is the hilliest area of Yarralumla; Parliament House and the Parliamentary Triangle are located nearby.  The streets in Yarralumla are named after Australian governors and botanists. Most of the older streets in the suburb are laid out on an approximately rectangular grid with some curved sections, while the more hilly eastern end of the suburb, including the embassy district, is set out with contour-guided roads. Major roads in Yarralumla include Banks Street, Novar Street and Hopetoun Circuit in a north-south direction and Schlich Street, Loftus Street and Weston Street running east-west. Being a dormitory suburb, there are no major through roads. Access to the rest of the city can be made from Adelaide Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue, Lady Denman Drive and Cotter Road, all of which run along the borders of the suburb. From these roads, entry to the suburb can be gained by turning into roads such as Coronation Drive, Hopetoun Circuit and Novar Street.  Yarralumla is located on the Yarralumla Formation which is a mudstone/siltstone formation that was formed around 425 million years ago during the Silurian Period. The formation extends from Red Hill and Woden in the South to Lake Burley Griffin in to the north, passing under the suburb of Yarralumla. The formation is evidence of the last major marine sedimentary period when eastern Australia was still covered by shallow seas. It shows fossil evidence of trilobites, coral and primitive crinoids. The Yarralumla brickworks quarry and the Deakin anticline are places where the formation is exposed and easily studied.

History.

Settlement.

The area now called Yarralumla is part of two original land grants, which were granted to free settlers for the establishment of farms. In 1828 Henry Donnison, a Sydney merchant who had arrived with his wife and family on the brig "Ellen" on 29–30 July 1828, was granted an allotment on the western side of Stirling Ridge. A second grant was made to William Klensendorlffe (a German who had served in the British Navy and arrived free in the Colony in 1818), who had bought the land from John Stephen, on 7 March 1839. Donnison's land was named "Yarralumla" in a survey of the area conducted in 1834. "Yarralumla" was a name for the area used by the local people, apparently meaning "echo". An area to the west of what is now the suburb was the Yarrolumla parish.  The prominent New South Wales parliamentarian Sir Terence Aubrey Murray (1810–1873) purchased Yarralumla in 1837. He lived there with his wife Mary Murray (née Gibbes, 1817–1858), the second daughter of the Collector of Customs for NSW, Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes (1787–1873), MLC. In 1859, Murray sold Yarralumla to his brother-in-law, Augustus Onslow Manby Gibbes (1828–1897). Later that same year, Augustus' parents came to live with him at Yarralumla homestead.  Augustus Gibbes improved the estate and acquired additional land by purchase and lease. However, In 1881, he sold Yarralumla for 40,000 pounds to Frederick Campbell, a descendant of Robert Campbell, in order to travel overseas. Frederick Campbell erected a new, three-storey, brick house on the site of the former Yarralumla homestead at the beginning of the 1890s. Campbell's house would later form the basis of what is now the Governor-General of Australia's official Canberra residence, known colloquially as "Yarralumla" or "Government House". Campbell also built a large wooden woolshed nearby in 1904. It remains standing to this day.  In 1908, the Limestone Plains area, including Yarralumla, was selected as the site for the capital city of the newly established Commonwealth of Australia. Soon afterwards in 1913, the Commonwealth Government purchased the property. Tenant farmers were allowed to stay on the land on annual leases, some remaining until 1963 when the Molonglo River was dammed to form Lake Burley Griffin.

Development.

With the construction of Australia's capital city underway, the Yarralumla brickworks were established in 1913 to supply building material. The bricks were used for many of Canberra's buildings, including the provisional Parliament House. In 1917, Walter Burley Griffin named the area surrounding the brickworks "Westridge". A narrow gauge goods railway was constructed for the transportation of bricks to some of the major building sites in central Canberra. This linked the brickworks to places such as Parliament House, and the Kingston Power House. Construction on the Commonwealth nursery and Westbourne Woods arboretum was started in 1914, and a temporary camp was built near the brickworks to accommodate the workers. Thomas Charles Weston was Officer-in-Charge (Afforestation Branch) in the years 1913 to 1926, and later became Director of City Planting and the Superintendent of Parks and Gardens. Weston was responsible for testing and selecting plant species at the arboretum for their suitability to Canberra's environment; from 1913 through to 1924 Weston oversaw the propagation of more than two million trees which were then planted in the Canberra area. Most of the original Westbourne Woods arboretum is now leased to the Royal Canberra Golf Club, with the remainder forming part of Weston Park. The Yarralumla nursery is still active, albeit on a smaller scale and functioning as a retail nursery selling both wholesale and direct to the public.  In 1922, a workers' tent camp was erected on the eastern side of Stirling Ridge to house the men working on the main intercepting sewer. The following year saw the start of the construction of 62 small, four-room, unlined timber cottages, to be used as housing for the married tradesmen involved in the construction of the provisional Parliament House. Other camps were established at the eastern end of Stirling Park on the hills opposite modern Lotus Bay. The first of these was contractor John Howie's settlement (1922–30), consisting of 25 timber cottages for his married men and timber barracks (Hostel Camp) for his single men. Two other single men's tent camps were established nearby—Old Tradesmen's Camp (1923–27) and No 1 Labourers Camp (1924–27). The men from Howie's worked on the Hotel Canberra and the others on the construction of the provisional Parliament House and nearby administrative buildings. The Stirling Park camps were known as Westlake to their new inhabitants, and previously "Gura Bung Dhaura" (stony ground) to the local Aboriginal people. In 1925, the population of this temporary suburb was 700. This represented roughly one-fifth of the total population of the Federal Capital Territory at the time; in the region, only Molonglo Settlement had a larger population, at 750. The site was chosen so that it was near to Parliament House but hidden from direct line of sight from anywhere "important". The small cottages at Westlake were removed starting in the mid-1950s, with the last one removed in 1965. Many of the Westlake workers' cottages were moved to Queanbeyan and are still used as housing today. The Stirling Park near the embassy area of Yarralumla now covers the historic Westlake settlement area.  The Commonwealth Forestry School was established in Westridge near the brickworks and Westbourne Woods in 1926. It opened with its first intake of students in the following year. Today the heritage-listed Forestry School and the associated principal's residence Westridge House are located on Banks Street, Yarralumla. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Forestry and Forestry Products subsumed the school in 1975. Westridge House, an impressive Tudor-style structure, underwent a A$500,000 refurbishment and is used as a residence for the chief officer of the CSIRO.  By 1928, there were over 130 people on the electoral roll for Westridge. The majority of the population consisted of men working at the brickworks and nursery. Westridge was gazetted as a Canberra suburb in 1928.

After World War II.

Westridge was renamed Yarralumla in the 1950s. In 1963, Lake Burley Griffin was filled and Yarralumla was expanded to include Westlake, which had up until then been part of Acton.  After the Second World War, the suburb began to expand rapidly with the construction of many private homes. Yarralumla's image as a lower-class suburb would persist into the 1960s and 1970s. This general perception began to alter once Lake Burley Griffin had been created and its surrounds landscaped into parklands; the area soon gained a reputation for its attractive lakeside location. During the 1980s, house prices began to rise coincident with a rejuvenation of the suburb. Many of the original government-built monocrete, brick, and weatherboard houses have been demolished and replaced by larger dwellings of a variety of more modern styles and materials.

Demographics.

The population of the Westridge area on the 1928 electoral roll numbered over 130. At the, Yarralumla had a population of 2,890 people. Of these 46.9% were male. The suburb had only 1.0% indigenous Australians, substantially below the national average of 2.8%. The percentage of married people in the suburb was nine points higher than the national average, and the proportion of residents who had never married was 9 points lower. Despite the higher level of marriage, this did not translate into a higher level of children; 49.6% of families consisted of a couple without children in the household, compared to the national average of 37.8%. Yarralumla residents had a median age of 49, compared to a Canberra average of 35. The suburb had an older population for a city of young people; the median national age is 38 and 41.7% of Yarralumla residents were 55 or over, compared to the national figure of 27.6%.  Yarralumla is a comparatively wealthy suburb with a 2016 median weekly personal income of $1,347; this compares to an ACT-wide figure of $998 and an Australia-wide figure of $662. The public service or defence force employed around 21.7% of the workforce, somewhat less than the ACT average of 23.6%. This compared to 1.9% for Australia as a whole. The higher incomes were derived from the suburb's white-collar base; 63.5% of Yarralumla's workforce was employed as professionals or in managerial posts, compared to 35.2% nationally. In contrast, only 3.4% were engaged in blue-collar occupations, compared with 15.8% for the nation as a whole. The proportion of the population working as tradesmen and technicians was almost four times lower than average across Australia.  The median monthly housing loan repayments in Yarralumla in 2016 were $2,700, compared to the ACT-wide figure of $2,058 and a federal average of $1,755. At $450, the weekly rent was more than 50% higher than the national average. Yarralumla's median house price was $1m in 2011 versus $530,000 for the whole of the ACT in 2013. The rate of home ownership in the suburb was 46.9%—much higher than the national average of 31.0%. 25.4% of the households rented. Accommodation was mostly separate houses (64.2%), although the number of residences in the suburb has been increasing through conversion of blocks to dual occupancy and other medium-density-type developments. Despite this, only 5.9% of residences were apartments or units, slightly less than half of the national average.  The population of Yarralumla in 2016 was predominantly Australian-born, with some 69.3% of its residents being born in Australia. The second most prevalent birthplace was England at 6.0%, followed by New Zealand and United States with 1.6 and 1.5% respectively. The suburb was more oriented towards the Anglo-Celtic majority than the rest of Australia; English was spoken at home by 80.3% of the population, compared to the national average of 72.7%. Every other language was spoken by less than 2% of the population. Italian, Mandarin, Greek, German and French were all spoken by at least 0.8% of the population. The most popular religious affiliations in descending order were no religion, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Uniting and Presbyterian and Reformed. The proportion of the population professing to having no religion was 34.6%, higher than the national average of 29.6%.

Suburb amenities.

The Yarralumla local shopping centre is located on the corner of Bentham and Novar Streets. The centre contains a supermarket, dry-cleaners, chemist, gift shop as well as several restaurants and speciality shops.  Weston Park is situated on a peninsula near the western end of Lake Burley Griffin. The park includes swimming areas, children's play equipment and wading pools, and a miniature railway, and is a popular barbecue spot on weekends. Weston Park forms part of a string of parks that line the southern shore of Lake Burley Griffin; other parks include Yarralumla Bay, Lennox Gardens (incorporating a Japanese garden named Canberra Nara Park) and Stirling Park.  Like most of Canberra, Yarralumla's only scheduled public transport is provided by ACTION buses. Route 57 provides a service from Yarralumla to Woden and City Interchanges along Novar Street, Schlich Street and Hopetoun Circuit.

Education.

Yarralumla's first school, the Catholic St Peter Chanel's Primary School, opened in 1956; it closed in the 1990s. Yarralumla Primary School, a public school, opened a year after St Peter Chanel's in 1957. Half of the original primary school is now used as a behavioural centre catering to problem students. Preschools in Yarralumla include the Montessori preschool on Loftus Street. There is also a day care facility called Little Lodge on Macgillivray Street.  The Canberra Japanese Supplementary School Inc., a Japanese weekend educational programme, has its school office in the Japanese Embassy Consular Section in Yarralumla, while it holds its classes at Deakin High School in Deakin. It was established on 1 August 1988.

Politics.

Yarralumla is located within the federal electorate of Canberra, which is currently represented by Alicia Payne in the House of Representatives. In the ACT Legislative Assembly, Yarralumla is part of the electorate of Kurrajong, which elects five members on the basis of proportional representation, currently two Labor, two Liberal and one Greens. Polling place statistics are shown to the right for the "Yarralumla" polling place at Yarralumla Primary School in the 2019 federal and 2016 ACT elections.  The Yarralumla Residents Association (YRA) is a registered organisation formed to represent the views of Yarralumla residents and business. The group stands against government plans for urban consolidation, supporting open space and the conservation of low-density housing. The organisation has been very vocal in opposing government plans for further development of Yarralumla and is also vocal about any plans for the Yarralumla brickworks site.

Notable places.

Yarralumla is notable among Canberra suburbs for its large number of landmarks and places of historical interest. The Governor-General's residence Government House, which shares the name "Yarralumla", is located at the western end of the suburb in of parkland. It sits alongside Lake Burley Griffin, next to the Royal Canberra Golf Club and Scrivener Dam. The house was built in 1891 as the headquarters for the "Yarralumla" property. Also located alongside Scrivener Dam is the National Zoo & Aquarium. The nearby Yarralumla woolshed is available for event hire, often playing host to parties and bush dances. The land surrounding the woolshed has been developed as an equestrian park, including areas for showjumping, eventing and endurance riding. The Yarralumla brickworks are notable as the first industrial manufacturing facility in the ACT. The brickworks were closed temporarily several times due to the Great Depression and both World Wars. Proposals to modernise the brickworks were rejected by the National Capital Development Commission in the early 1970s and they closed permanently in 1976. Presently the site is closed to the public and is in a state of disrepair. The unfenced parkland around the brickworks is a popular recreation area for Yarralumla residents. Residential development is proposed for the 42-hectare site, initially including 1,600 new dwellings, although this is now likely to be significantly reduced.  The eastern end of Yarralumla is home to many of the diplomatic missions in Canberra, many of which are built in a traditional style reflecting that of their respective home countries. Examples of regionally styled chanceries include the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Thailand, and the High Commissions of India and Papua New Guinea. The United States embassy was the first embassy built in Canberra, with the foundation stone laid on the Fourth of July, 1942. The embassy is an impressive compound of buildings built in a Georgian style, inspired by several buildings designed by Christopher Wren for Virginia at the beginning of the 18th century. The French embassy includes the French-Australian War Memorial opened in 1961, which has a sculpture by André Bizette-Lindet called Winged Victory. Canberra tourist drive six takes tourists on a car-based tour past many of Canberra's embassies including those located in Yarralumla. It zig-zags through the eastern side of Yarralumla past many of the missions.  Also located in the eastern end of the suburb are Lennox Gardens, the Yarralumla Yacht Club, the Albert Hall and the Hotel Canberra. The Hotel Canberra opened in 1924 to accommodate politicians when Parliament was in session. The hotel was closed in 1974 and the buildings served as an annexe for Parliament House between 1976 and 1984. The Hyatt Hotel Group re-opened the hotel in 1987.

Yarralumla is a large inner south suburb of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately south-west of the city, Yarralumla extends along the south-west bank of Lake Burley Griffin. (The lake was created after the Second World War through the blocking, with a dam, of the Molonglo River.)

Yarralumla ist ein Stadtteil von Canberra, der Hauptstadt Australiens. Er liegt etwa 3,5 km südwestlich des Stadtzentrums am Südufer des Lake Burley Griffin.


Early life and career beginnings.

Leroy's parents left Saint-Renan (Finistère) when she was four years old. After living in Paris, Lille, and Guingamp, her mother, Muriel Leroy, and her younger sister, Kay, settled with Leroy's grandparents in Saint-Yorre. Her mother divorced from her father, professional footballer Jean-Luc Le Magueresse, in 1993.  Nolwenn studied at the ""Collège des Célestins"" in Vichy. When Leroy was eleven, her music teacher noticed her musical talents and encouraged her to learn the violin. At the age of thirteen she won ""Les écoles du désert"", a contest sponsored by the Cora supermarket chain, which allowed her to travel with a humanitarian mission from Gao to Timbuktu, Mali; she later claimed this had a profound influence on her.  In July 1998, Leroy was awarded a scholarship by the Vichy Rotary Club to travel to Hamilton, Ohio, United States, as an exchange student. While attending Hamilton High School, she took music lessons at the Performing Arts School and became fluent in English during her stay there. When she returned to France, she began classical singing classes at the Vichy music conservatory. In 2001, she enrolled in the University of Clermont-Ferrand to study law for a potential alternative career to music.

Career.

2002: "Star Academy".

After watching the first series of "Star Academy" broadcast on TF1 in 2001, Leroy was impressed by Armande Altaï, a singing teacher and one of the show's judges, and decided to join Altaï's singing classes in Paris for over six months. In 2002, Nolwenn was selected for the second season of the show, but she was also given the part of Scarlett O'Hara in the French stage musical "Autant en emporte le vent" ("Gone with the Wind") by Gérard Presgurvic. Leroy finally chose the television singing competition over the musical and joined the Dammarie-lès-Lys castle in late August 2002, where she followed acting, dancing and singing classes for four months. She was declared the overall winner, ahead of her fellow finalist, Houcine Camara, on 21 December 2002.

2003–04: Eponymous debut album.

Leroy's first album, "Nolwenn", was released in March 2003 and was certified platinum by November for sales exceeding 300,000 copies. In 2006, the album was certified two times platinum by the Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (SNEP) for more than 600,000 copies sold. Both the album and the hit single "Cassé" topped the charts in France and Belgium. Three further songs from the album were released as singles: "Une Femme cachée", "Suivre une étoile" and "Inévitablement". Leroy went on tour in France, Belgium and Switzerland in late 2003 to promote songs from the album.

2005–08: "Histoires Naturelles".

Leroy's second album, "Histoires Naturelles", was released on 5 December 2005. It was produced by Laurent Voulzy and Frank Eulry. The album's lead single "Nolwenn Ohwo!", co-written by Alain Souchon, Voulzy and Leroy herself, topped the French charts. The second single was the title track, "Histoire Naturelle". Music videos were made for both songs; the video for "Histoire Naturelle" expressed the main theme of the album with Leroy being portrayed as natural history museum exhibits. Of the other single releases, "Mon Ange" was distributed digitally while "J'aimais tant l'aimer" and "Reste Encore" were promotional-only. The album reached platinum status with 400,000 copies sold. Songs from "Histoires Naturelles" and "Nolwenn" were performed on Leroy's second tour entitled "Histoires Naturelles Tour", which started in September 2006. It was followed by a Summer Tour in 2007. Leroy's first live album was subsequently released in late October 2007.

2009–10: "Le Cheshire Cat et Moi".

"Le Cheshire Cat & Moi" was a project that began in 2007, co-written by Leroy and Teitur Lassen, with contributions from Jonatha Brooke, Michelle Featherstone, Mike Errico and Rupert Hine. It was arranged and produced by Lassen, and recorded in Sweden and the Faroe Islands. The album's lead single, "Faut-il, faut-il pas?", was released in November 2009 along with a music video directed by Yoann Lemoine. Leroy was observed to feature "a lighter sound than on previous releases" and the album gave the opportunity for her to write all the lyrics. The album was released on 7 December 2009 and was later certified gold. A tour entitled "Le Cheshire Cat & Vous" to promote the record was held in 2010.

2010–12: "Bretonne".

Leroy released a fourth studio album, "Bretonne", on 6 December 2010. Cover versions of traditional Celtic songs such as "Mná na h-Éireann", "Tri Martolod", "La Jument de Michao", and contemporary songs such as Christophe Miossec's "Brest" were included on the album. Most of the songs related to Brittany, the singer's birthplace, four sung in Breton ("Tri Martolod", "Suite Sudarmoricaine", "Bro Gozh ma Zadoù", "Karantez Vro"), one in Irish ("Mná na h-Éireann"), and the others in French and English. Leroy collaborated with Jon Kelly for the musical arrangements. The album topped the French album charts for 7 weeks and the Belgian album charts for 5 weeks. It was certified double diamond by the SNEP for sales exceeding one million copies.  The album was re-released in November 2011 as a "Deluxe Edition" which added 7 English language tracks, including "Amazing Grace", "Scarborough Fair" and two Mike Oldfield tracks, "Moonlight Shadow" and "To France". The American version of the album, retitled "Nolwenn", was released on 8 January 2013 with a different track listing. The album peaked at number 10 on the "Billboard"'s World Album chart. Leroy made her New York City debut at Drom.  As part of the Bretonne Tour, Leroy played over 100 dates in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. In June 2012, she performed as a special guest with The Chieftains in Paris.

2012–16: "Ô Filles de l'Eau".

Leroy's fifth album, "Ô Filles de l'eau", was released on 26 November 2012, preceded by the lead single "Juste pour me souvenir". The album was produced by Jon Kelly and recorded in London. The title reads 'O Daughters of the Water' but is phonetically similar to 'au fil de l'eau' ('with the current/flow'). Like "Bretonne", it contains Celtic inspired music but with more ocean themed lyrics. It includes two tracks in English ("Homeland" and "Limitless"). "Homeland" contains the James Horner composed theme of the film "Braveheart". "Ahès" is the only Breton-language song of the album. Leroy wrote and co-composed 9 songs, including the singles "Juste pour me souvenir", "Sixième continent", "J'ai volé le lit de la mer" and "Ophélia". The album cover was created by Australian artist Vee Speers, inspired by her portrait series, "Immortal". Reviews of the album were strong, with some praising Leroy's vocal ability and Celtic music and lyrics, noting that her singing in English and Breton was brave and proved her to be an evolving artist, with strong sales to match. Two months after its release, the album was certified triple platinum by the SNEP. Furthermore, it was named RTL's Album of the Year 2013.  In 2013, Leroy toured France, Belgium and Switzerland in support of the album. Additionally, she was a special guest soloist on Vladimir Cosma's symphonic tour in France. In early 2014, she was nominated at the World Music Awards for the first time, in four categories: World's Best Album ("Bretonne"), World's Best Entertainer, World's Best Female Artist, and World's Best Live Act.  In 2014, she provided several songs in English and French for the Academy Awards-nominated animated film "Song of the Sea", and voiced the character of Bronagh in the film's French version. On 3 May 2014, Leroy performed the Breton anthem "Bro Gozh ma Zadoù" at the Stade de France before 80,000 spectators, for the 2014 Coupe de France Final (aired on France 2) opposing two Breton clubs, the Stade Rennais to EA Guingamp.  Leroy's second live CD/DVD, "Ô Tour de L'Eau", recorded in Saint-Brieuc, was released on 1 December 2014. In March 2015, she embarked on an acoustic tour in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, New Caledonia and French Polynesia.  On 11 June 2015, she was invited to talk about her career at Oxford University. In November 2015, Leroy announced that she would perform at Celtic Connections in Glasgow's City Halls on 30 January 2016, along with Karen Matheson.

2017–present: "Gemme".

On 13 May 2017, she released "Gemme", the first single from her sixth studio album "Gemme" (English: "Gem"), produced in London by Jamie Ellis. The album was released on 1 September 2017. Leroy wrote and co-composed most of the songs. The album features three songs in English: "Run It Down" and two poems by Edgar Allan Poe set to music ("A Dream" and "The Lake"). The other songs are in French. "Stephen" refers to a theory by Stephen Hawking. A Limited Edition was released on 8 December 2017, including two remixes and two acoustic versions. In March 2018, Leroy embarked on the 55-date Gemme Tour through France, Belgium and Switzerland.

Medical research.

Leroy's music was studied for its neurological impact in geriatric populations. Researchers found that Leroy's recordings might have a more beneficial effect than other music, noting that: "the music of Nolwenn Leroy was found to be significantly superior to other music tested". To describe the phenomenon they coined the term "the Nolwenn Effect", saying: "the music of Nolwenn Leroy appears to have a different effect on brain-based modulation of gait and stance than other music tested to date".  Mozart and Dutch and French singers were tested; only Mozart and Leroy's music were specified. The U.S. study was completed in February 2008, but no substantial results appear to be published.

Endorsements.

In 2011, Leroy appeared in two television commercials for the Nintendo 3DS and she became the face of Pantene for France and Belgium.

Philanthropy.

In 2006, she joined the Les Enfoirés charity ensemble and she became one of the Abbé Pierre Foundation's patrons for housing people in need.  On 27 November 2015, she participated together with Camélia Jordana and Yael Naim at the national memorial day for the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks singing the song "Quand on n'a que l'amour" from Jacques Brel.

Personal life.

Since 2008 she has been in a relationship with Arnaud Clément, former French professional tennis player and captain of the France Davis Cup team.

Horse riding.

Leroy owns a horse named El Aberkan. She showed her horse riding and jumping skills on unfamiliar horses a couple of times for French TV shows broadcast on France 2, including the 50th Gala de l'Union des Artistes charity in 2011, alongside Alexis Gruss.

Honours.

The main belt asteroid 353232 Nolwenn was named after Leroy.  In 2012, her wax figure was unveiled at the Musée Grévin in Paris.

Nolwenn Le Magueresse (born 28 September 1982 in Saint-Renan, Brittany, France), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy ( ), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and voice actress.

Nolwenn Leroy [] (* 28. September 1982 in Saint-Renan, Bretagne, als "Nolwenn Le Magueresse") ist eine französische Sängerin, Songwriterin und Musikerin.


Professional wrestling career.

Early career (1974–1985).

Martel was first introduced to professional wrestling as a child, when her mother took her and her sister to shows in Mississippi. In 1974, Martel approached Grizzly Smith for advice on becoming a wrestler, but he questioned her conviction and told her to come back to him in five years when she was an adult. She eventually married her second husband and gave birth to a son named Jared, but she soon divorced her husband. During this time, she again became interested in becoming a professional wrestler and sought training from "Mr. Personality" Butch Moore in Memphis, Tennessee. She started wrestling as Sherri Martine, but decided she needed more training. She continued to train at The Fabulous Moolah's school, where Moolah changed her name to Sherri Martel and sent her to wrestle in Japan in 1981. Moolah claims that Martel frequented night clubs and liked to party, which resulted in Moolah kicking her out of the school.  After leaving the school, she traveled back to Tennessee. In Memphis, she was managed by Jim Cornette. During a mixed battle royal, Martel suffered an injury that removed her from wrestling temporarily. She then worked as both a wrestler and manager for Pat Rose and Tom Prichard.

American Wrestling Association (1985–1987).

After recovering, Larry Zbyszko helped her join the American Wrestling Association (AWA). She eventually debuted in the AWA and, on September 28, 1985, at "SuperClash" in Chicago, she defeated Candi Devine for the AWA World Women's Championship. She traded the belt with Devine, and on June 28, 1986, at "Battle by the Bay," Martel defeated Devine to win the AWA World Women's Championship for a third and final time. Martel, however, only held the title briefly before vacating it.  During this time, in addition to wrestling, Martel acted as the manager for the team of "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers, whom she managed to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship. Rose and Somers then engaged in a lengthy feud with The Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty), who defeated Rose and Somers for the tag team title on January 27, 1987, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

World Wrestling Federation (1987–1993).

Debut & Women's Champion (1987–1988).

After former AWA wrestler Jesse Ventura referred her to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), she debuted on July 24, 1987, defeating The Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Women's Championship. Renaming herself Sensational Sherri, she reigned as WWF Women's Champion for fifteen months before losing it to Rockin' Robin on October 8, 1988 in Paris, France. At the Survivor Series in 1987, Martel's team consisting of Martel, Women's World Tag Team Champions The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin), Dawn Marie, and Donna Christanello lost to The Fabulous Moolah's team consisting of Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin' Robin, and the Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki). When the WWF phased out its women's division in 1990, Martel remained with the company and turned her attention to managing male wrestlers.  Concurrent with her reign as WWF Women's Champion, Martel made several appearances in costume as "Peggy Sue," the girlfriend of The Honky Tonk Man, who was in the midst of a run as Intercontinental Champion. Her primary role was to irritate Honky's opponents—namely, Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake—and interfere in his matches.

Managing Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase (1989–1992).

After WrestleMania V, Martel confronted Miss Elizabeth, manager of newly-dethroned former WWF World champion Randy Savage, during an interview, leading to a confrontation between the two in which Savage fired Miss Elizabeth and repeatedly threatened to hit her. Martel then attacked Hulk Hogan from behind as he came to Miss Elizabeth's rescue, leaving him open to a chair attack from Savage, Throughout the remainder of 1989, Martel and Savage feuded with Hogan and Miss Elizabeth. At SummerSlam, Hogan and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake defeated the team of Savage and Zeus. After the match, Miss Elizabeth knocked out Martel with Martel's purse, and she, Hogan, and Beefcake cut Martel's hair.  At WrestleMania VI in 1990, Martel and Savage lost a mixed tag-team match against Sapphire and Dusty Rhodes after Miss Elizabeth, who was in the corner of Sapphire and Rhodes, interfered and shoved Martel. During that same year, Martel and Savage appeared on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" with Robin Leach. During a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden, The Ultimate Warrior pulled off an escaping Martel's miniskirt to reveal matching black garter belts and lace underpants. Practically in tears, Martel raced back to the locker room. At WrestleMania VII, Savage lost a "retirement match" against The Ultimate Warrior, in which the loser would be forced (Kayfabe) to retire. After Savage lost the match, an irate Martel attacked Savage but was thrown from the ring by Miss Elizabeth, who had been watching from the audience. Later on the WM7 card after she and Savage parted ways following the career match, Martel came to the ring to help "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase in his assault on an injured Rowdy Roddy Piper, following which she managed DiBiase until 1992.

Pairing and feuding with Shawn Michaels (1992–1993).

Subsequently, Martel began managing Shawn Michaels after Pat Patterson convinced Michaels to participate in the storyline. She also sang Michaels' theme song called "Sexy Boy". As part of his gimmick, Michaels would admire himself in a full-length mirror before his matches. In 1992, before a match, his former partner Marty Jannetty grabbed the mirror and attempted to hit Michaels with it, but Michaels pulled Martel in front of him. After being hit with the mirror, she was absent from television until the Royal Rumble in January 1993. At the Rumble, she was in a neutral corner for the match between Michaels and Jannetty but eventually turned on Michaels during the match. Backstage, Michaels confronted her and Jannetty came to her rescue. The storyline, however, was cut short as Jannetty was released from the company in the midst of the feud. Martel spent the remainder of the year aligned with Tatanka, who aided her in her feud with Luna Vachon and Bam Bam Bigelow. She was released from the World Wrestling Federation during the summer.

USWA (1993).

Towards the end of her time in the WWF, Martel participated in a WWF invasion angle in the USWA, reuniting with Savage. Martel would suffer a similar embarrassment to that which she had suffered at the hands of Warrior when she ran in the ring to aid Savage in a steel cage match in Memphis against his old enemy in the area, Jerry "The King" Lawler, but after accidentally knocking Savage from the ring, she had her dress yanked off by Lawler as she climbed the cage to escape.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1993).

After her WWF release, Martel had a brief spell in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, siding with Tracy Smothers in a feud with Tammy Sytch, Brian Lee, as well as several intergender matches with Jim Cornette.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1994).

She began working in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 1993, managing Shane Douglas. Sherri turned on Douglas in a tag match with Brian Pillman, costing Douglas the match on behalf of Ric Flair. At November to Remember on November 13, Martel faced Malia Hosaka in a match.

World Championship Wrestling (1994–1997).

Managing with Ric Flair (1994).

Martel signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. The original plan for her was to manage Kevin and Dave Sullivan against Missy Hyatt and The Nasty Boys, but after Hyatt was fired in February 1994, the proposed rivalry went on with no managers for either team.  Martel made her debut on the April 23 edition of "WCW Saturday Night", under the name Sensuous Sherri. In an interview with Gene Okerlund, she said her goal was to find a man that can bring her the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. She was at ringside during at Slamboree on May 22, during the WCW World Heavyweight Championship match between Ric Flair and Barry Windham. On June 24, a title unification match took place at the "Clash of the Champions XXVII" between WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair and the WCW International World Heavyweight Champion Sting. Although she revealed in the beginning of the match she sided with Sting (including wearing his signature face paint), it turned out to be a double cross, as she sided with Flair, who won the match and unified the titles, double-teaming Sting, until the newly signed Hulk Hogan made the save.  At Bash at the Beach, Martel tried to help Flair to defeat Hogan in a match by giving him brass knuckles but failed. At the feud's climactic battle, a steel cage match at Halloween Havoc, Martel climbed the cage to aid Flair and in the process had her dress pulled off by Jimmy Hart, Hogan's manager, leaving her dangling from the cage in black lingerie.

Managing with Harlem Heat and departure (1994–1997).

Next, Martel began managing Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) using the name Sister Sherri. She managed the team to seven WCW World Tag Team Championship reigns. In late 1994 (while still managing Harlem Heat in WCW), Martel made a return appearance in ECW managing Shane Douglas and Brian Pillman against Ron Simmons and 2 Cold Scorpio. Back in WCW, Martel had a brief on-screen romance with Col. Robert Parker until October 1996 when Harlem Heat fired him and Martel had a match with him at World War 3 in November. She continued to manage Harlem Heat until she got fired from the group on the July 7, 1997 edition of "Nitro".

Later career (1999–2006).

Early in 1999, Martel competed in a mixed-tag team match for the Apocalypse Wrestling Federation's Heavyweight Championship, a title held predominately by men. Missy Hyatt pinned Martel to win the title. In October 1999, she appeared on the "Heroes of Wrestling" pay-per-view managing Greg Valentine in a match against George Steele. Also in 1999, she was awarded the AWA Superstars Women's Championship.  In 2000, she made three wrestling television appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The first was at the Souled Out 2000 pay-per-view event, watching at ringside along with other superstars, the Chris Benoit vs. Sid Vicious matchup for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The second was on the January 19, 2000 edition of "WCW Thunder" where she had a match with Madusa, which she lost. In her third and final appearance in World Championship Wrestling, she had a match with Mona, which she also lost.  In 2005, she took part in a World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the WWF) storyline with Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle shortly before WrestleMania 21. She made a return to "SmackDown!", singing a parody of Michaels' theme song with Angle.  She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Ted DiBiase in April 2006. Later that year, she worked for TNA Wrestling, taping a backstage vignette trying to offer her managerial services to "free agent" Bobby Roode that aired on the September 21, 2006 "TNA Impact!"; it was her last wrestling television appearance.

Personal life.

By 2003, she and her husband Robert Schrull lived in Tennessee, where she helped him renovate homes. She was married and divorced at least twice during her life. She had one son.

Death.

On June 15, 2007, Martel died at her mother's residence in McCalla, Alabama, near Birmingham. She was 49 years old. On September 11, 2007, homicide investigators in Tuscaloosa, Alabama released the toxicology report stating that she died of an overdose with multiple drugs in her system, including high amounts of oxycodone. She was cremated after her death.

Sherri Schrull (née Russell; born February 8, 1958 – June 15, 2007) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by her ring names, Sherri Martel and Sensational Sherri.

Sherri Russel (* 8. Februar 1958 in New Orleans, Louisiana; † 15. Juni 2007 in Birmingham, Alabama) war eine US-amerikanische Wrestlerin. Sie wurde vor allem unter ihrem Ringnamen Sherri Martel bekannt und war zuletzt in vielen Independent-Ligen aktiv.