text:
Turkish
Balıkesir
Bugle
Burhaniye
Greek
Turkish War of Independence
Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
Pelitköy
Burhaniye
WW1
Suez front
Tumen
Çanakkale
Tumen
Bugle
Onbaşı
bugle
Çanakkale
Turkish Liberation War
Kuva-yi Milliye
Burhaniye
Greeks
Burhaniye
Burhaniye
minaret
bugle
Çanakkale
war of indepenence
Burhaniye
Gürdal Duyar
Atatürk
Burhaniye
bugle
Pelitköy
Kuva-yi Milliye

categories: People from Burhaniye,Turkish military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922),Ottoman Army personnel,Military musicians,People of World War I,1893 births,1972 deaths

paragraph: Borazan İsmail Çavuş

paragraph: Borazan İsmail Çavuş (1893–1972) was a Turkish war hero from Balıkesir. He is known for playing the Bugle which played a part when he, as a volunteer, defended the city of Burhaniye against Greek forces on the western front of the Turkish War of Independence, also known as the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). He played an instrumental part in the defense of the coastal town against a large retreating Greek occupational force that was burning and destroying as they retreated.

paragraph: Section::::Early life and military service.

paragraph: İsmail was born in the Pelitköy village of Burhaniye. İsmail was his real name. He joined the army at the age of 20 and after 1 year of service, following the outbreak of WW1, is sent to the Suez front. Together with his unit, the 28'th Tumen, he fought against English and Arabs in the desert. Many of his brothers in arms fall casualty and his unit returns to Çanakkale afterwards. He is chosen as one of the exceptional men of the 28'th Tumen to become a Bugle player and is promoted to the rank of Onbaşı. He had learned to play the bugle during battles in Çanakkale. He soon became known as "Borazan" (Bugle).

paragraph: He joined the national struggle known as the Turkish Liberation War voluntarily. Together with a small detachment of volunteers, a Kuva-yi Milliye that he formed, he moved around the back of enemy units and severed their telephone communication lines and performed frequent raids on the enemy.

paragraph: Section::::Volunteering in the Turkish Liberation War.:Saving Burhaniye.

paragraph: İsmail Çavuş prevented the destruction and burning of Burhaniye by the Greeks using his military experience. The Greeks were retreating from Burhaniye which they had occupied in the beginning of the war, and as they retreated it was common of them to leave behind the defenseless towns burned and destroyed. They intended to do the same with the town center of Burhaniye.

paragraph: On the Greek occupying commander bans people from leaving their homes in the occupied town and threatens that those leaving their homes will be shot. They are preparing to burn and destroy the town. This was thwarted by İsmail Çavuş who with a few other men entered the occupied town undetected and positions his men in different places of the town also alerting the townsfolk of the situation and explains his plan. The plan is that when he plays his bugle everyone will create a yell and fire their guns at the same time. When it becomes dark he climbs up to the top of the minaret of the Hanay Mosque and keeps a lookout over the town.

paragraph: On in the early morning hours he spots the Greek enemy units approaching and he immediately starts playing the attack tune on his bugle. The other soldiers who had secretly entered the town with him and are ready and waiting in their positions start to fire their weapons and the townsfolk, who wake up from all that noise, now understand that the enemy has arrived and also begin to fire weapons and yell alongside the soldiers who are already firing. They trick the approaching Greek forces into thinking that the town has a large Turkish military presence that is about to ambush them and the Greeks flee from the town and continue their retreat to the west coast and the town is saved.

paragraph: Section::::Legacy.

paragraph: Having served valiantly at Çanakkale and in the war of indepenence he is considered a hero by the people and is offered worldly goods such as houses, plantations, gardens and olive tree fields, however refuses them all. He did not do it for the reward, he sacrificed his life unconditionally for the love of his country and his people. He died in 1972 in Burhaniye. Around this time the well known Turkish sculptor Gürdal Duyar created a sculpture depicting İsmail Çavuş for Burhaniye. Around 1992 this sculpture was removed by the mayor at the time. Another monument in honor of Borazan İsmail can be found in front of the Atatürk statue in Burhaniye. The monument features a bugle and a revolver sitting on a stone base next to a marble slab with black text on the front face explaining the meaning of the monument. He is remembered and honored as a hero for his service and heroic deeds in saving Burhaniye.

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pelitköy

paragraph: BULLET::::- Kuva-yi Milliye

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Nebil Özgentürk (12 November 1995). "Mekanini arayan heykeller!". BİR İNSAN BİN HAYAT. SABAH. Istanbul. p. 36.

wikidata_label: Borazan İsmail Çavuş

wikipedia_title: Borazan İsmail Çavuş


text: Northumbria

text: Rædwulf

text: Barbara Yorke

text: Eanred

text: David Rollason

text: Rædwulf

text: coinage

text: Vikings

text: styca

text: brass

text: zinc

text: York

text: moneyer

text: Eardwulf

text: Osberht

text: Yorke, Barbara

text: Fitzwilliam Museum

categories: 862 deaths,9th-century English monarchs,Anglo-Saxon warriors,Year of birth unknown,Northumbrian monarchs,9th-century murdered monarchs

paragraph: Æthelred II of Northumbria

paragraph: Æthelred was king of Northumbria in the middle of the ninth century, but his dates are uncertain. N. J. Higham gives 840 to 848, when he was killed, with an interruption in 844 when Rædwulf usurped the throne, but was killed the same year fighting against the Vikings. Barbara Yorke agrees, and adds that Æthelred was the son of his predecessor, Eanred, but dates his death 848 or 849. D. P. Kirby thinks that an accession date of 844 is more likely, but notes that a coin of Eanred dated stylistically no earlier than 850 may require a more radical revision of dates. David Rollason accepts the coin evidence, and dates Æthelred's reign from c.854 to c. 862, with Rædwulf's usurpation in 858.

paragraph: Relatively little is known of his reign from the surviving documentary record. He appears to have been expelled in favour of Rædwulf, whose reign is confirmed by the evidence of coinage. However, Rædwulf was killed the same year, fighting against Vikings, and Æthelred was restored to power. He was assassinated a few years later, but no further details are known of his murder.

paragraph: The new "styca" coinage, small brass coins containing very little silver and much zinc, which began in his father's reign, continued in Æthelred's. Large numbers of his "styca" coins have been found, again minted in York by a number of moneyers. A moneyer active in this period named Eardwulf was sometimes confused with Æthelred's grandfather King Eardwulf in older works on numismatics.

paragraph: Written and numismatic evidence agrees that Æthelred was succeeded by Osberht.

paragraph: Section::::Bibliography.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Higham, N.J., "The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350-1100." Stroud: Sutton, 1993.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Yorke, Barbara, "Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England." London: Seaby, 1990.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Fitzwilliam Museum's Corpus of Early Medieval Coin Finds website

alias:
Aethelred II of Northumbria
AEthelred II of Northumbria

description: king of Northumbria

wikidata_label: Æthelred II

wikipedia_title: Æthelred II of Northumbria


text: Major General

text: World War II

text: Natal Police

text: Union Defence Forces

text: World War I

text: German East Africa

text: Orange Free State Command

text: East African Campaign

text: 1st South African Infantry Brigade

text: North Africa Campaign

text: Sidi Rezegh

text: Gazala

text: GOC

text: 1st South African Infantry Division

text: Egypt

text: El Alamein

text: DSO

text: mentioned in dispatches

text: Companion of the Order of the Bath

text: Kenya

text: South Africa

text: Bloemfontein

text: 1st Infantry Division (South Africa)

text: East African Campaign (World War II)

text: Western Desert Campaign

text: Eric Rosenthal

categories: Companions of the Order of the Bath,Afrikaner people,People from Bloemfontein,1942 deaths,South African military personnel of World War I,White South African people,Western Desert Campaign,Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Kenya,Companions of the Distinguished Service Order,South African military personnel of World War II,1893 births,South African Army generals

paragraph: Dan Pienaar

paragraph: Major General Daniel Hermanus ("Dan") Pienaar (27 August 1893 – 19 December 1942) was a South African World War II military commander.

paragraph: Pienaar joined the artillery branch of the Natal Police (NP) in 1911, and transferred to the Union Defence Forces (UDF) when they took over the NP in 1913. In World War I, he served as an artilleryman with the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force in German East Africa and Palestine.

paragraph: Between the two world wars, Pienaar held various staff and command posts. He commanded Orange Free State Command from 1935 to 1937.

paragraph: Section::::World War 2.

paragraph: In 1940-1941, during the East African Campaign, Pienaar commanded the 1st South African Infantry Brigade. He fought in the battles of El Wak, The Juba, Combolcia, and Amba Alagi.

paragraph: In 1941-1942, during the North Africa Campaign, Pienaar fought in the battles of Sidi Rezegh and Gazala. On 10 March 1942, he was promoted to GOC 1st South African Infantry Division, which he led in the battle of Gazala, the retreat to Egypt, the defence of El Alamein, and the final battle of El Alamein. He was twice awarded the DSO and mentioned in dispatches twice for his service in North Africa.

paragraph: On 20 November 1942 he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) "in recognition of the supreme gallantry and magnificent achievements of British and Dominion Troops and their Commanders in the present operations in the Middle East".

paragraph: During the early stages of the North African campaign, the South African 5 Brigade had been destroyed on 23 November 1941, at Sidi Rezegh and on 21 June 1942, the 2 Division, with 4 and 6 Brigadees under command, surrendered at the fall of Tobruk. As a result of these heavy losses Pienaar, now commander of 1 Brigade, 1 Division, was cautious and increasingly reluctant to risk his troops, lost the confidence of his British commanders. It was felt, that he now lacked the necessary aggressiveness and drive for offensive operations. However the division played little part in the victory at El Alamein.

paragraph: On the other hand, Ronald Lewin, who took part in the entire campaign, writes: "what is striking . . . is how often the British would squander a complete armoured brigade in some useless assault on a fixed position." Pienaar simply did not buy into the "Up Guards and at 'em!" approach of the British, which led to the decimation of the Commonwealth and Indian divisions that bore the brunt of so much of the fighting in the Desert War. "You know the three things I hate in this world—British lords, British generals and these bloody Guards!" he told Brigadier E. P. Scrubbs Hartshorn. "The burden of blame" for the loss of Tobruk in 1942, Churchill wrote in volume 4 of his memoirs, "The Hinge of Fate", "falls upon the [British] High Command rather than on [the fortress commander South African] General [Hendrik] Klopper and still less on his troops."

paragraph: Section::::Death.

paragraph: In 1942, Pienaar was killed in an air crash in Kenya on his way back to South Africa.

paragraph: Major General Pienaar was arguably one of South Africa's most charismatic and popular military commanders. An infantry regiment, exhibition hall at the South African National Museum of Military History and a suburb of his home town, Bloemfontein, were later named after him.

paragraph: Sam Brewer, war correspondent for the "Chicago Tribune," wrote in an obituary that Pienaar was "acknowledged by all the military authorities . . . as one of the best fighting leaders the British have found in this war. He was every inch a soldier and a man, and on top of that had a quality not always found in a tough General--he was loved like a father by his men. . . . More than once he had hard words with higher authorities when he thought insufficient attention was being paid to the safety and comfort of the foot sloggers, who were bearing the brunt of the fight. Two points struck everybody who met Dan Pienaar--first his disregard for personal danger; second his solicitude for his men."

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1st Infantry Division (South Africa)

paragraph: BULLET::::- East African Campaign (World War II)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Western Desert Campaign

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Militaria" - Official Professional Journal of the SADF (Vol 12/2: 1982)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Eric Rosenthal, "General Dan Pienaar - His Life and His Battles", (Unie-Volkspers Beperk, Cape Town, 1943), pp. 3, 170

description: South African general

wikidata_label: Dan Pienaar

wikipedia_title: Dan Pienaar


text: Athenian

text: red-figure

text: Kleophrades

text: Euphronios

text: kylix

text: Onesimos

text: kalos inscription

text: John Beazley

text: John Boardman

text: online

text: The Getty Museum - Biography of Douris

text: The Getty Museum - Biography of Douris

text: Douris kylix in Kimbell Art Museum

categories: Ancient Greek vase painters,5th-century BC deaths,Ancient Athenians

paragraph: Douris (vase painter)

paragraph: Douris or Duris (, "Douris") was an ancient Athenian red-figure vase-painter and potter active to 460 BCE.

paragraph: Section::::Work.

paragraph: He began his career painting for the potters Kleophrades and Euphronios, before beginning a long collaboration with the potter Python. He signed 39 vases as a painter, also one as a potter and painter, and one vase as a potter only. Between 250 and 300 vases are ascribed to him. The majority of these vases are kylixes, i.e. cups. His name seems to have been popular, since one finds it on other vases: it is reproduced on a cup by Onesimos. On the basis of these signatures, his kalos inscriptions, and of the subsidiary decoration of the vases, the art historian John Beazley divided his career into four principal periods:

paragraph: Section::::Sources.

paragraph: BULLET::::- John Beazley, "Attic Red-figure Vase-painters". Second edition, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1963.

paragraph: BULLET::::- John Boardman. "Athenian Red Figure Vases: The Archaic Period: A Handbook". London: Thames and Hudson, 1975.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Diana Buitron-Oliver. "Douris. A Master-Painter of Athenian Red-Figure Vases." (in Kerameus, Vol. 9, 2005, online)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Edmond Pottier and Jane Ellen Harrison (translated by Bettina Kahnweiler). "Douris and the Painters of Greek Vases". London: J. Murray, 1908.

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Getty Museum - Biography of Douris: "One of the most prolific vase-painters known, Douris worked as a vase-painter and occasionally as a potter in Athens in the early 400s B.C. He is known from almost forty signed vases, two of which he also potted. Altogether, almost three hundred vases have been attributed to him. Given that scholars estimate a less than 0.5% survival rate for Greek vases, Douris may have decorated approximately 78,000 vases in his career. Douris primarily decorated red-figure cups, but he also painted a few vessels of other forms and in other techniques, including white-ground. His scenes are about evenly divided between mythology and depictions of everyday life. He worked with a number of potters, including Kleophrades and Euphronios, but he seems to have had a regular collaboration with Python. Onesimos depicted a cup signed by Douris on one of his vases, and there is even an ancient forgery of Douris's signature. These unusual references attest to Douris's significant influence among contemporary vase-painters."

paragraph: BULLET::::- "This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding Greek Wikipedia article".

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Douris kylix in Kimbell Art Museum

paragraph: BULLET::::- Douris collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

description: ancient Greek vase painter

wikidata_label: Douris

wikipedia_title: Douris (vase painter)


text:
American football
University of Cincinnati
University of Arizona
Tucson
1977
college football
Big Ten Conference
Michigan
Bump Elliott
Purdue
Niles McKinley High School
Niles, Ohio
Ohio High School Athletic Association
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Bob Davie
Notre Dame
New Mexico

categories: Arizona Wildcats football coaches,1928 births,Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches,1994 deaths,Purdue Boilermakers football coaches,Michigan Wolverines football coaches,High school football coaches in the United States

paragraph: Tony Mason (American football)

paragraph: Anthony J. Mason (March 2, 1928 – July 23, 1994) was an American football coach. He was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati from 1973 to 1976 and at the University of Arizona in Tucson from 1977 through compiling a career college football record of

paragraph: Prior to Cincinnati, Mason was an assistant coach for nine seasons in the Big Ten Conference, five at Michigan under Bump Elliott and four at Purdue. Earlier, he was the head coach at Niles McKinley High School in Niles, Ohio, where the Red Dragons won state championships in 1961 and 1963. Mason was elected to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2002; he died in 1994 at age 66, after collapsing at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

paragraph: Section::::Coaching tree.

paragraph: Assistant coaches under Tony Mason who became NCAA head coaches:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bob Davie: Notre Dame (1997–2001), New Mexico (2012–present)

description: American football coach

wikidata_label: Tony Mason

wikipedia_title: Tony Mason (American football)


text:
Hebrew
acronym
Algeria
Talmud
posek
halakha
Sefer Ha-halachot
"halakhic" literature
Fez
Arabic
Qalaat Beni Hammad
Algeria
Hammadid
Kairouan
Tunisia
Nissim ben Jacob
Chananel ben Chushiel
Halakha
Gemara
yeshiva
Judah Halevi
Kuzari
Joseph ibn Migash
Maimonides
Al-Andalus
head
yeshiva
Lucena
Isaac Albalia
Joseph ibn Migash
Talmud
Moed
Nashim
Nezikin
Aggadic
homiletic
halakha
Land of Israel
Maimonides
Joseph Karo
Arba'ah Turim
Shulkhan Arukh
Nissim of Gerona
yeshivot
Rashi
gemara
Middle Ages
Talmud was banned in Italy
Italian Jewish community
Sephardi
Ashkenazi
casuist
Chananel Ben Chushiel
responsa
Arabic
History of the Jews in Morocco
History of the Jews in Tunisia
History of the Jews in Kairouan
The Rif
Alfasi

categories: Medieval Moroccan Jews,Jewish Moroccan history,1013 births,Jewish Tunisian history,12th-century rabbis,11th-century Moroccan people,People from Fez, Morocco,Exponents of Jewish law,Moroccan writers,11th-century rabbis,12th-century Moroccan people,1103 deaths,Rishonim,Moroccan rabbis

paragraph: Isaac Alfasi

paragraph: Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen (1013–1103) (, ) - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif (Rabbi Isaac al-Fasi), was an Algerian Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of halakha - Jewish law). He is best known for his work of "halakha", the legal code Sefer Ha-halachot, considered the first fundamental work in "halakhic" literature. His name "Alfasi" means "of Fez" in Arabic, but opinions differ as to whether he ever lived in Fez.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: He was born in Qalaat Hammad, which is understood by most historians of the past 100 years to be Qalaat Beni Hammad in modern-day Algeria, capital city of the Hammadid rulers of central Maghreb. However, older sources believe Qalaat Hammad refers to a village near Fez. In the former case, Alfasi's name would indicate that his family had ancestry in Fez, an idea which is supported by the frequent reference to him as "ben Alfasi" or "ibn Alfasi" by the authorities closest to him in time and place. He studied in Kairouan, Tunisia under Rabbeinu Nissim ben Jacob, and Rabbeinu Chananel ben Chushiel the recognized rabbinical authorities of the age. Rabbeinu Chananel trained Alfasi to deduce and to clarify the Halakha from Talmudic sources, and Alfasi then conceived of the idea of compiling a comprehensive work that would present all of the practical conclusions of the Gemara in a clear, definitive manner. To achieve this goal, he worked for ten consecutive years in his father-in-law's attic.

paragraph: In 1045, Alfasi moved to Fez with his wife and two children. (However, Binyamin Ze'ev Benedict and other recent scholars argue that Alfasi was never active in Fez.) Fes' Jewish community undertook to support him and his family so that he could work on his "Sefer Ha-halachot" undisturbed. They also founded a yeshiva in his honor, and many students throughout Morocco came to study under his guidance. The most famous of his many students is Rabbi Judah Halevi, author of the Kuzari; he also taught Rabbi Joseph ibn Migash (the "Ri Migash"), who was in turn a teacher of Rabbi Maimon, father and teacher of Maimonides "(Rambam)".

paragraph: Alfasi remained in Fes for 40 years, during which time he completed his "Sefer Ha-halachot". In 1088, aged seventy-five, two informers denounced him to the government upon some unknown charge. He left Fes for Al-Andalus, eventually becoming head of the yeshiva in Lucena in 1089.

paragraph: His "magnanimous character" is illustrated by two incidents. When his opponent Rabbeinu Isaac Albalia died, Alfasi adopted Albalia's son. When Alfasi was himself on the point of death, he recommended as his successor in the Lucena rabbinate, not his own son, but his pupil Rabbi Joseph ibn Migash.

paragraph: br

paragraph: br

paragraph: br

paragraph: Section::::Works.

paragraph: Sefer ha-Halachot (ספר ההלכות; also referred to as "the "Hilchot" of the Rif") extracts all the pertinent legal decisions from the three Talmudic orders Moed, Nashim and Nezikin as well as the tractates of "Berachot" and "Chulin" - 24 tractates in all. Alfasi transcribed the Talmud's halakhic conclusions verbatim, without the surrounding deliberations; he also excludes all Aggadic (non-legal, homiletic) matter as well as discussion of the halakha practicable only in Land of Israel. Maimonides wrote that Alfasi's work "has superseded all the geonic codes…for it contains all the decisions and laws which we need in our day…".

paragraph: "Sefer ha-Halachot" plays a fundamental role in the development of Halakha. Firstly, "the Rif" succeeded in producing a "Digest", which became the object of close study, and led in its turn to the great "Codes" of Maimonides and of Rabbi Joseph Karo. Secondly, it served as one of the "Three Pillars of Halakha", as an authority underpinning both the Arba'ah Turim and the Shulkhan Arukh. Rabbi Nissim of Gerona (the "RaN") compiled a detailed and explicit commentary on this work; In yeshivot "the Rif and the RaN" are regularly studied as part of the daily Talmudic schedule.

paragraph: This work was published prior to the times of Rashi and other commentaries, and resulted in a profound change in the study practices of the scholarly Jewish public in that it opened the world of the gemara to the public at large. It soon became known as the "Talmud Katan" ("Little Talmud"). At the close of the Middle Ages, when the Talmud was banned in Italy, Alfasi's code was exempted so that from the 16th to the 19th centuries his work was the primary subject of study of the Italian Jewish community. Alfasi also occupies an important place in the development of the Sephardi method of studying the Talmud. In contradistinction to the Ashkenazi approach, the Sephardim sought to simplify the Talmud and free it from casuistical detail; see for example Chananel Ben Chushiel.

paragraph: Alfasi also left many responsa. These were originally written in Arabic, and were soon translated into Hebrew as "She'elot u-Teshuvot ha-Rif".

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- History of the Jews in Morocco

paragraph: BULLET::::- History of the Jews in Tunisia

paragraph: BULLET::::- History of the Jews in Kairouan

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Rif, tzemachdovid.org

paragraph: BULLET::::- Alfasi, jewishvirtuallibrary.org

paragraph: BULLET::::- jewishgates.com

alias:
ALFASI, ISAAC B. JACOB
Yitsḥaḳ ben Yaʻaḳov, Alfasi
Isaac ben Jacob, Alfasi
Alfasi, Isaac ben Jacob
Alfasi, Yitsḥaḳ ben Yaʻaḳov
Alfasi, Yitsḥaḳ
Alfasî, Yiṣḥāq Ben-Yaʿaqov

description: Talmudist and posek.

wikidata_label: Isaac Alfasi

wikipedia_title: Isaac Alfasi


text:
Anglo-Saxon
Christian
abbot
saint
Bede
Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey
Codex Amiatinus
Burgundy
Pope Gregory II
monastic community
Christian monasticism
Hexham
cloister
Gilling Abbey
Saint Wilfrid
Ripon
Benedict Biscop
Botolph
Benedict Biscop
Ecgfrith
Wearmouth
Easterwine
Jarrow
The Venerable Bede
Bede
Codex Amiatinus
Vulgate
Carolingian
calligraphy
Abbazia di San Salvatore
Mount Amiata
Tuscany
Laurentian Library
Nechtan mac Der-Ilei
Picts
Iona
Hwaetberht
Langres
The Ceolfrith Bible
Additional MS 45025
British Library

categories: Northumbrian saints,717 deaths,Abbots of Wearmouth,642 births,8th-century Christian saints,Abbots of Jarrow

paragraph: Ceolfrith

paragraph: Saint Ceolfrid (or Ceolfrith, ; c. 642 – 716) was an Anglo-Saxon Christian abbot and saint. He is best known as the warden of Bede from the age of seven until his death in 716. He was the Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, and a major contributor to the project Codex Amiatinus. He died in Burgundy while en route to deliver a copy of the codex to Pope Gregory II in Rome.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Not much is known about the earlier period of Ceolfrid's life. His desire to join the monastic community was likely due to his own brother Cynefrid's devotion to the traditions of Christian monasticism. Historians date Ceolfrid's induction into monastic tradition around the date of Cynefrid's death in 660. Ceolfrid is known to have a strong family connection to monastic tradition. In addition to his brother, his cousin Tunbert was the first Abbot of the Monastery of Hexham. His first four years in cloister took place at Gilling Abbey, which was also attended by Cynefrid, prior to his departure to Ireland. Ceolfrid is described as having "behaved of the greater devotion, giving his mind continually to reading, to labour, and monastic discipline". After these four years, Ceolfrid left Gilling as he "sought a monastery of a stricter character". He soon took in with a band of men, led by Wilfrid, later canonized as Saint Wilfrid. These monks are identified by Boutflower as being the Benedictines of Ripon at a monastery under the same name. During this time, he came to refine his own understanding of proper monastic principles. At the age of 27, Ceolfrid was ordained as a priest, and began to acquaint himself to the utmost with the practices of monastic life.

paragraph: Very little is revealed about the period between the end of his days at Ripon, and his appointment under Benedict Biscop, except that he spent some time in the institutions of Abbot Botolph, whom he describes as being filled with "the grace of spirit". While having been revered as an inspiration for the way of divine living, Botolph also served to inspire a greater sense of humility within Ceolfrid.

paragraph: Section::::Relationship with Benedict Biscop.

paragraph: In 674, Benedict Biscop received a land grant from King Ecgfrith for the explicit purpose of erecting a monastery. During the construction of his first monastery at Wearmouth, Biscop appointed Abbot Eosterwini (anglicized as "Easterwine") as his primary Abbot and Coadjutor. The monastery took eight years to build. This institute had left Ecgfrith so enamoured that soon after the completion of the Wearmouth Monastery, he granted Biscop another segment of land for the construction of a second monastery, Jarrow, with the intention that the two should be administered as one.

paragraph: It is during the construction of the Wearmouth Monastery that Benedict Biscop sought out Ceolfrid, who would become "his most zealous assistant from the first foundation of the former monastery", as well as a close friend. It appears that Biscop's invitation came at a most opportune time, for Ceolfrid had been contemplating the idea of leaving the post he held at the time. He had grown rather disenchanted with the power stratification within the institution (the name of which is unknown), and had had enough of the "jealousies and very bitter persecutions of certain men of rank", and had been looking to return to his own monastery (assumed to be Ripon).

paragraph: Upon the completion of the Jarrow Monastery, Ceolfrid became the Abbot of the St. Paul's Church on the monasterial grounds. Conflicting reports state that the presence of Ceolfrid during Jarrow's construction varied. Some papers state that Jarrow came into his hands after its completion, while another identified Ceolfrid as being paramount to the actual construction of the monastery; as the individual who directed the construction of the monastery itself.

paragraph: The friendship between the two was fairly close. When Benedict sailed across the English channel to Rome for the last time, he chose only Ceolfrid to join him in his journey. This trip was to be the very trip that would lead to both Abbot's immortalization in the works of Ceolfrid's ward and later contemporary, The Venerable Bede. Ceolfrid also used the trip as an opportunity to explore his role in Biscop's institution, feeling that Rome would be an opportune place to learn his position's responsibilities. Twelve years later, upon the death of Abbot Eosterwini, Ceolfrid was appointed as the sole Abbot for both Monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, an honour never heard of before. In 690, Benedict Biscop died, after being bedridden for a lengthy period of time, and Ceolfrid became the leading head of both monasteries, "[whose] libraries of both monasteries, which Abbot Benedict had so actively begun, under his zealous care became doubled in extant".

paragraph: Section::::Relationship with The Venerable Bede.

paragraph: Bede came into Ceolfrid's care at the young age of seven, and became the pupil of the Abbot as well as friend. In his early years at the twin Monasteries of Wearmouth – Jarrow (686), the Plague had struck Northumbria, and ravaged most of the countryside, including the twin Monasteries. Ceolfrid and Bede appeared to have remained untouched by the epidemic, and took the duties of caring for the infected and dying monks of the monasteries with unyielding fervour. They further worked together in maintaining the regular sermons when fear had gripped the population. When the Plague finally passed over, master and pupil began to rebuild the monastic foundations and succeeded effectively. Bede remained in Jarrow for the majority of his life, never straying more than 70 miles from the monastery at any time. He was a loyal pupil until Ceolfrid's death, and he died in Jarrow in 735.

paragraph: Section::::The Codex Amiatinus Project.

paragraph: The Codex Amiatinus is the oldest manuscript with a complete text of the Vulgate. The Codex Amiatinus is described as a brilliant display of the beauty that is Early British, Pre-Carolingian calligraphy. The composition of the Vulgate was part of the project to expand Wearmouth and Jarrow's extensive library, and Ceolfrid ordered three copies of this Bible manuscript to be composed; one of which would be dedicated to the Pope Gregory II, while the other two copies were meant to stay in the respective churches of Wearmouth and Jarrow. There are no official records that state that the text made it to Rome. It is said that instead, it made its way into Florence, where it was presented by the Lombard Abbot Peter to the Abbazia di San Salvatore at Mount Amiata in Tuscany. It is believed that he changed the dedicatory note inscribed within the leaves as donated to the monastery. This occurred in the 9th century. The document remained at Mount Amiata until 1786, when it was relocated to the Laurentian Library in Florence. There is some dispute over what consisted of this Vulgate Codex. Over the past few hundred years, additional leaves that appear to be related to this text have been located all over Britain, as some were disguised as book wrappings and other literary-based disguises. These new discoveries have led scholars to question the total length of the codex, as there are still fragments missing from it today.

paragraph: Section::::Ceolfrid and the Picts.

paragraph: Sometime after 711, Nechtan mac Der-Ilei, King of the Picts, sought authoritative advice from Abbot Ceolfrid on the reform of paschal cycles with a view to harmonising the celebration of Easter within his kingdom. By 716 both the Picts and the Columban clergy of Iona had adopted the "pascha catholica".

paragraph: Section::::Final Days.

paragraph: Ceolfrid apparently knew that he was coming to the end of his life, and so he resigned his post and was succeeded by Hwaetberht. He then set sail for Rome with the intent of delivering the Codex Amiatinus Bible to Pope Gregory II. He made it as far as Langres in Burgundy, where he died on 29 September 716.

paragraph: Section::::Further reading.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Davis, Ruby, "Bede's Early Readings", as appearing in Speculum Vol.8, No.2, 1933. PP.179–195.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Anon., "The Anonymous Life of Ceolfrith," in "Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow", ed. and trans. Christopher Grocock and I. N. Wood (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2013).

paragraph: BULLET::::- Anon., "Life of Ceolfrid, Abbot of Wearmouth and Jarrow." As translated by D.S. Boutflower. London: Sunderland Hills & Company, 1912. Pgs 10,56,57.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bede, "Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow" As appearing in The Medieval Sourcebook

paragraph: BULLET::::- Marsden, Richard, "The Text of Old Testament in Anglo-Saxon England" Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Book 15 of Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bell, H.I, "Leaves of an Early Bible Manuscript". As appearing in The British Museum quarterly, Vol.12, No.2 April 1938, Pp. 39–40

paragraph: BULLET::::- Laistner, M.L.W, "Bede as a Classical and Patristic Scholar" As appearing in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Fourth series, Vol. 33, (1933), Pp. 69–94

paragraph: BULLET::::- Lowe, E.A. "The Uncial Gospel Leaves attached to the Utrecht Psalter" As appearing in The Art Bulletin, Vol.34, No.3 (September 1952)

paragraph: BULLET::::- McGurk, Patrick "An Anglo-Saxon Bible fragment of the Late 8th Century" As appearing in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 25, No. 1/2 (January - June, 1962), pp. 18–34

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Ceolfrith Bible, Additional MS 45025, British Library

alias:
Ceolfrid
Saint Ceolfrith
Saint Ceolfrid

description: Anglo-Saxon Christian abbot

wikidata_label: Ceolfrith

wikipedia_title: Ceolfrith


text: Old Norse

text: Norwegian

text: King of Norway

text: Sigurd the Crusader

text: Olaf Magnusson

text: three-year crusade

text: Holy Land

text: saga

text: Western Norway

text: Trøndelag

text: Bergen

text: Lofoten

text: Munkeliv Abbey

text: Magnus Barefoot

text: Ireland

text: saga

text: Snorri Sturluson

text: Iceland

text: Heimskringla

text: Theodoric the Monk

text: Western Norway

text: Trøndelag

text: Viken

text: Danish

text: Sweyn Knutsson

text: Ælfgifu

text: Cnut the Great

text: a crusade

text: Holy Land

text: Claus Krag

text: Jämtland

text: Sverre

text: Finnmark

text: Northern Norway

text: Bergen

text: Grimsby

text: England

text: Vågan

text: Lofoten

text: Trondenes

text: Agdenes

text: Trondheimsfjord

text: Augustus Caesar

text: Brundisium

text: Latinised

text: Pope Callixtus II

text: Nidaros

text: Ormen Lange

text: Olaf Tryggvason

text: Hjerkinn

text: Dovre

text: bluemen

text: Serkland

text: Olaf Kyrre

text: Alrekstad

text: Holmen

text: Vågen

text: stave church

text: Benedictine

text: Munkeliv Abbey

text: Nordnes

text: tithe

text: Hustad

text: Fræna

text: Møre og Romsdal

text: Nidaros Cathedral

text: Magnus the Good

text: Ingebjørg Guttormsdatter

text: Gudbrandsdalen

text: Eastern Norway

text: Olaf Ugjæva

text: lendmann

text: Norwegian civil war era

text: Magnus Erlingsson

text: German Imperial crown

text: Byzantine type

text: Bergen Museum

text: Vågan

text: Harald Sund

text: Hjerkinn

text: Magnus Poulsson

text: Sturluson, Snorri

text: Theodoric the Monk

text: Regesta Norvegica

text: Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar

categories: Christians of the Norwegian Crusade,1080s births,Norwegian monarchs,1123 deaths,Burials at Nidaros Cathedral,House of Hardrada

paragraph: Eystein I of Norway

paragraph: Eystein Magnusson (Old Norse: "Eysteinn Magnússon", Norwegian: "Øystein Magnusson"; c. 1088 – 29 August 1123) was King of Norway (as Eystein I) from 1103 to 1123 together with his brothers Sigurd the Crusader and Olaf Magnusson, although since Olaf died before adulthood, only Eystein and Sigurd were effective rulers of the country.

paragraph: While Sigurd gained fame as the "warrior king" (although owed almost exclusively to his three-year crusade to the Holy Land), Eystein was in contrast portrayed in the sagas as the "peace king" who stayed home in Norway and improved the country. As Eystein never engaged in warfare, considerably less information is written and known about him than about his brother Sigurd, despite his twenty-year-long reign, just a few years short of Sigurd. Eystein nonetheless gained the affection of his people, and was highly regarded by the saga writers for his deeds. Eystein and Sigurd's reign became the longest joint rule in Norwegian history.

paragraph: Although the later saga literature narrates stereotypical accounts about the two kings, Eystein is known to have improved the infrastructure and raised buildings and churches, particularly across the coast in Western Norway and Trøndelag, from Bergen to the fishing centre of Lofoten in the north. Eystein's activities were especially centered in Bergen, which became an important international trade hub for fish at the time, helped by his construction projects. His activities in Bergen included moving the royal seat to a more central location in the city and building a new royal palace, as well as constructing churches and the Munkeliv Abbey.

paragraph: Eystein died of illness in August 1123, and his brother Sigurd thereby became the sole Norwegian king.

paragraph: Section::::Background.

paragraph: Eystein was born in 1088 or 1089 as the first son of the future king Magnus Barefoot, born to an otherwise unknown mother who is only recorded to have been of "low birth". Upon the death of his father in 1103 during one of his campaigns in Ireland, Eystein became king together with his two brothers Olaf and Sigurd, all of whom had different mothers. Sigurd was about a year younger than Eystein, while Olaf was more than ten years younger than him. Sigurd was the only son who had accompanied their father Magnus on his campaign in the West, but he returned to Norway after Magnus' death.

paragraph: Many accounts concerning Eystein in later sagas are characterized by literary motifs, and have little value as sources on his life. Snorri Sturluson, the Icelandic author of the early 13th century "Heimskringla" mastered this literary style particularly well, stylistically and psychologically. His stories includes a so-called "mannjevning" (literally "comparison of men") between Eystein and Sigurd, in which the two boast about their skills and deeds in an attempt to outdo each other. In a similar fashion, Snorri also tells a story about how Eystein managed to cure the melancholy of a friend, by agreeing to regularly clear time to talk with him about what troubled him. On his physical appearance, Snorri wrote that Eystein "was the handsomest man that could be seen. He had blue open eyes; his hair yellow and curling; his stature not tall, but of the middle size." More reliable information, particularly about Eystein's building-projects, is offered in earlier sagas such as the work of Theodoric the Monk, a Norwegian chronicler who wrote in the late 12th century.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.

paragraph: The co-rule between Eystein, Sigurd and Olaf entailed a shared kingship, and the kingdom itself was not divided into fixed borders. During the early years of their reign, Eystein is nonetheless said to have stayed mostly in Western Norway and Trøndelag, while Sigurd was in Viken. In practice, only Eystein and Sigurd ever ruled as kings, as Olaf was considerably younger and died when he was only seventeen years old, and virtually nothing is known about him beyond his name. One of the earliest acts by the kings was passing a "retterbot", a special law ordained by the king, which among other things abolished various royal taxes that originated from the Danish rule of Sweyn Knutsson and Ælfgifu (under Cnut the Great) in the early 1030s. The kings became very popular because of this. According to some sources, the main motivation for abolishing the taxes was to gain the support of the population for Sigurd's planned crusade.

paragraph: In 1107 or 1108, after years of preparations, Sigurd sailed with a large fleet on a crusade to the Holy Land, the first European king ever to do so. Sigurd arrived back in Norway in 1111. Eystein, on the other hand, did not engage in any warfare, and considerably less information is thus written about him than about Sigurd, although Snorri notes that he "had also effected much in the country that was useful while King Sigurd was on his journey." While Sigurd gained fame in posterity as the "warrior king", although mainly because of his one-time crusade, Eystein was portrayed by the saga writers as the "peace king" who stayed at home and improved the country. Since Sigurd remained king for nineteen years after his crusade with little controversy, historian Claus Krag has considered that the domestic peace probably could be attributed equally to Sigurd. In order to contrast Eystein with Sigurd, Snorri tells a story that Eystein instead subdued Jämtland to the Norwegian crown peacefully through the use of gifts and diplomacy. Despite Snorri's account, historical records indicate that Jämtland did not succumb to Norwegian rule until much later, during the reign of King Sverre in 1178. Eystein and Sigurd are, however, known to have claimed monopoly on the trade and taxation in Finnmarken.

paragraph: Fish became an increasingly important commodity during Eystein's reign, as more cod was fished in Northern Norway and the demand for stockfish soared in Europe. As the most suitable port, Bergen became the main trade hub for exporting stockfish, including trade connections with Grimsby in England, while it also served to import much needed goods such as grain and flour. To further the trade, Eystein had fishing booths and a church built in the fishing centre at Vågan in Lofoten in Northern Norway, and he sailed north to Lofoten and Trondenes himself in 1114. He also secured the route along the coast by constructing a port in Agdenes on the mouth of the Trondheimsfjord, as well as smaller beacons along the coast. Eystein's port construction in Agdenes was compared by Theodoric the Monk to that of Augustus Caesar at Brundisium, an association readily reflected by Theodoric's use of the Latinised name form "Augustinus" for Eystein. (Otherwise, Pope Callixtus II calls Eystein "Aistano" in a letter.) The existence of a now lost port in Agdenes dated to around Eystein's reign has been supported by recent archaeological surveys in the area. Snorri also says that Eystein had several large dry-docks built in Nidaros, and that he had a large ship built which "in size and shape" resembled the great ship "Ormen Lange" once built by King Olaf Tryggvason. Eystein also improved the shelters in the mountain passes, notably at Hjerkinn in Dovre, to more comfortable houses with permanent supervision.

paragraph: In Snorri's "mannjevning" between Eystein and Sigurd, Eystein allegedly maintains that his own building-projects in Norway were "more useful for the country," than "you [Sigurd] killing bluemen for the devil in Serkland." Eystein was particularly active in Bergen, and his role in the development of the city was probably more important than that of King Olaf Kyrre, the founder of the city according to the sagas. He moved the royal seat in the city from Alrekstad to Holmen on the eastern shore of Vågen, in the city core, thereby rationalising the bureaucracy. At Holmen, he built a Church of the Apostles (probably a stave church) and a St. Nicholas Church, as well as a royal palace which according to Snorri Sturluson was the most imposing wooden building ever raised in Norway (although Theodoric the Monk who wrote earlier already noted it was "now almost collapsed from excessive age"). He also built a St. Michael's Church and founded the Benedictine abbey Munkeliv Abbey at Nordnes, and the tithe to the church was introduced during the reign of Eystein and Sigurd.

paragraph: Eystein died on 29 August 1123, not long after he was "seized with an illness" during a feast at Hustad in Fræna, Møre og Romsdal. Snorri tells that his body thereafter was taken to Nidaros, and buried in the Nidaros Cathedral. According to Snorri, it was "generally said that so many mourners never stood over any man's grave in Norway as over King Eystein's," at least since the death of Magnus the Good. The reign of Eystein and Sigurd was the longest joint rule in Norwegian history. Sigurd ruled alone after Eystein's death, until Sigurd's own death in 1130.

paragraph: Section::::Family.

paragraph: Eystein married Ingebjørg Guttormsdatter, from a prominent noble family of Gudbrandsdalen. Their marriage was part of Eystein's strategy of building alliances in Eastern Norway. They had a daughter, Maria, who became the mother of the future royal pretender Olaf Ugjæva by her marriage to the "lendmann" Gudbrand Skavhoggsson. Olaf was named king in 1165, during the Norwegian civil war era, but was subsequently defeated by Magnus Erlingsson and forced to flee the country.

paragraph: Section::::Legacy.

paragraph: Opinions on Eystein have been strongly favourable. Theodoric the Monk wrote about Eystein that he "was a paragon of honesty who governed himself no less than his subjects with moderation and wisdom. He was a king who loved peace, an assiduous manager of public affairs, and above all a fosterer of the Christian religion." Snorri Sturluson later wrote that Eystein "was wise, intelligent, and acquainted with the laws and history. He had much knowledge of mankind, was quick in counsel, prudent in words, and very eloquent and very generous. He was very merry, yet modest; and was liked and beloved, indeed, by all the people." The view of Eystein as a peaceful and domestically active king has been supported by modern historians such as Claus Krag, although noting that the literary embellishments should be disregarded.

paragraph: A stylized marble bust of Eystein, dated to before the middle of the 12th century, was found during excavations at Munkeliv Abbey in 1853, and it represents the oldest known preserved portrait of a Norwegian king. The bust has the inscription "EYSTEIN REX", and was originally probably part of a full figure statue built into the wall. The headpiece worn on the bust has been said to resemble a German Imperial crown, or to be of a Byzantine type. According to Snorri Sturluson, Eystein had "somewhat large eyes", which seems to correspond with the bust. Since Snorri may have seen the bust in Bergen himself, it is unclear if his account represents an independent source on Eystein's physical appearance. Today, the bust is located in the collections of Bergen Museum.

paragraph: To commemorate his status as founder of the fishing town Vågan (although it had been an important centre for at least a century), a huge statue of Eystein ("Øysteinstatuen") by Arthur Gustavson was raised at Breidablikk in Vågan in 1935, after an idea of architect Harald Sund. At Hjerkinn in Dovre, a church dedicated to Eystein ("Eysteinskyrkja") was constructed in 1969 according to a design by Magnus Poulsson, in commemoration of Eystein's construction of a "sælehus" or shelter near the village.

paragraph: Section::::Bibliography.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Primary sources

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sturluson, Snorri (c. 1230). "Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and his brothers Eystein and Olaf" (in "Heimskringla"). English translation: Samuel Laing (London, 1844).

paragraph: BULLET::::- Theodoric the Monk (c. 1180). "The Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings". English translation: David and Ian McDougall (London, 1998).

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Retterbot fra kongene Sigurd, Øystein og Olav Magnussønner" [1103 - 1107], summary in Norwegian. "Regesta Norvegica".

paragraph: BULLET::::- Modern literature

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- (retelling of "Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar").

description: King of Norway

wikidata_label: Eystein I of Norway

wikipedia_title: Eystein I of Norway


text:
VC
Scottish
Victoria Cross
British
Commonwealth
private
42nd Regiment of Foot
Black Watch
British Army
Indian Mutiny
Fort Ruhya
India
Alexander Thompson
captain
William Martin Cafe
lieutenant
glacis
Black Watch Museum
Perth, Scotland
Monuments to Courage
The Register of the Victoria Cross
Scotland's Forgotten Valour

categories: British recipients of the Victoria Cross,People from Dumfries,Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross,British military personnel killed in the Indian Rebellion of 1857,1830 births,British Army personnel of the Crimean War,1858 deaths,Black Watch soldiers

paragraph: Edward Spence (VC)

paragraph: Edward Spence VC (28 December 1830 – 17 April 1858) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

paragraph: Section::::Details.

paragraph: Spence was 27 years old, and a private in the 42nd Regiment of Foot (later The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)), British Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 15 April 1858 during the attack on Fort Ruhya, India, Private Spence volunteered along with Lance-Corporal Alexander Thompson, to assist captain William Martin Cafe in bringing in the body of a lieutenant from the top of the glacis. His citation read:

paragraph: Section::::The medal.

paragraph: His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Black Watch Museum, Perth, Scotland.

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)

description: Recipient of the Victoria Cross

wikidata_label: Edward Spence

wikipedia_title: Edward Spence (VC)


text: AVM Productions

text: Vadapalani

text: Chennai

text: Tamil cinema

text: moguls

text: S. S. Vasan

text: L. V. Prasad

text: AVM Productions

text: Kollywood

text: Karaikudi

text: Nagarathar

text: Nam Iruvar

text: AVM Productions

text: Chennai

text: Santhome

text: Kodambakkam

text: Bahar

text: Vyjayanthimala

text: Vazhkai

text: Bahar

text: Parasakthi

text: Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke

text: Bhookailas

text: Kalathur Kannamma

text: Server Sundaram

text: Major Chandrakanth

text: Alli Arjuna

text: Bhookailas

text: Sabapathy

text: Sri Valli

text: Nam Iruvar

text: Karaikudi

text: Nagarathar

text: Narayan Iyengar

text: Thoothukudi Govindachari Raghavachari

text: Ramayana

text: talkies

text: Marathi film

text: Lord Krishna

text: T. R. Mahalingam

text: playback singing

text: Bhookailas

text: Ramayana

text: Telugu

text: Kannada cinema

text: Mangalore

text: K. Sarangkapani

text: Kannada

text: dubbed

text: Tamil

text: Karaikkudi

text: AVM Productions

text: Santhome

text: Chennai

text: Kodambakkam

text: Nam Iruvar

text: S. V. Sahasranamam

text: Subramania Bharati

text: Vazhkai

text: Vyjayanthimala

text: Jeevitham

text: Telugu

text: Bahar

text: Tamil

text: Telugu

text: Kannada

text: Bengali

text: Sinhalese

text: Hindi film industry

text: Madras

text: Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

text: M. Karunanidhi

text: Sivaji Ganesan

text: Kollywood

text: Andha Naal

text: Sundaram Balachander

text: Akira Kurosawa

text: Rashomon

text: Jatakam

text: Bhookailas

text: A. Bhimsingh

text: Gemini Ganesan

text: Kalathur Kannamma

text: Kamal Hassan

text: Nagesh

text: Bhakta Prahalada

text: Narasimha

text: Avatar

text: Hindu mythology

text: S. V. Ranga Rao

text: Bhakta Prahlada

text: M. G. Ramachandran

text: Saroja Devi

text: Nagesh

text: G. P. Sippy

text: Bhookailas

text: Bahar

text: Vyjayanthimala

text: Pandari Bai

text: Tabassum

text: Vazhkai

text: Vyjayanthimala

text: Ladki

text: Vyjayanthimala

text: Kishore Kumar

text: Bhabhi

text: Balraj Sahni

text: Pandari Bai

text: Nanda

text: Jagdeep

text: Nirupa Roy

text: K. Balachander

text: Jayalalithaa

text: A.V.M Kumaran

text: M. Saravanan

text: Kollywood

text: C. N. Annadurai

text: M. Karunanidhi

text: Parasakthi

text: M. G. Ramachandran

text: J. Jayalalithaa

text: N. T. Rama Rao

text: T. R. Mahalingam

text: Vyjayanthimala

text: Sivaji Ganesan

text: Kamal Hassan

text: M. Saravanan

text: Punnami Naagu

text: Murattu Kalai

text: Rajnikanth

text: Minsara Kanavu

text: Gemini

text: Sivaji the Boss

text: Rajnikanth

text: Shreya

text: tele serials

text: M. S. Guhan

text: B. Gurunath

text: M. Karunanidhi

text: Mylapore

text: Virugambakkam

text: AVM Productions

text: Website of AVM Productions

text: Website of AVM Rajeswari School

categories: 1979 deaths,Tamil film producers,Film directors from Chennai,Tamil film directors,Film producers from Chennai,1907 births,20th-century Indian film directors

paragraph: A. V. Meiyappan

paragraph: Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar (28 July 1907 – 12 August 1979), also known as A. V. Meiyappan or AVM, was an Indian film producer, director and philanthropist who established AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Tamil cinema, and one of three movie moguls of the South Indian film industry along with S. S. Vasan and L. V. Prasad. His production company AVM Productions is the only production company in Kollywood (Tamil film industry) to run successfully for five decades and three generations.

paragraph: AVM was born in Karaikudi in a well-to-do Nagarathar family. He moved to Chennai (then known as Madras) at an early age and established Saraswathi Stores which sold gramophone records. Subsequently, he entered the film industry and started directing his own films. After some initial setbacks, AVM delivered a string of hits in the early 1940s. Following the immense success of his 1947 film "Nam Iruvar", AVM moved to film production and established AVM Productions in Chennai, first at Santhome and then at Kodambakkam. In 1951, AVM entered the Hindi film industry with the film "Bahar" starring Vyjayanthimala. By the time he died in 1979, he had produced 167 films.

paragraph: Notable films produced by AVM Productions are "Vazhkai", "Bahar", "Parasakthi", "Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke", "Bhookailas", "Kalathur Kannamma", "Server Sundaram" and "Major Chandrakanth". AVM also directed a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s, the notable ones being "Alli Arjuna", "Bhookailas", "Sabapathy", "Sri Valli" and "Nam Iruvar".

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: AVM was born in Karaikudi on 28 July 1907 to father Avichi Chettiar and mother Lakshmi Achi. Avichi Chettiar owned a department store called AV & Sons which sold gramophone records. AVM was born in the Nagarathar community whose members had gained a fine reputation in the mercantile and money-lending business in the later half of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century. At an early age, AVM envisioned better prospects in the trade of manufacturing records than simply selling them. Hence, he moved to Madras with his friends K.S. Narayan Iyengar and Subbaiah Chettiar and established a new firm called "Saraswathi Stores" on 9 September 1932. This new firm also manufactured gramophone records apart from selling them. In this new venture, he got excellent support from the manager K.P. Varadachari and his lawyer friend Thoothukudi Govindachari Raghavachari. Some of AVM's early productions were dramas on mythological subjects like "Ramayanam".

paragraph: Section::::Early film career.

paragraph: With the dawn of the talkies, AVM established the "Saraswathi Sound Productions". In 1935, AVM made his debut as a producer with the Tamil film "Alli Arjuna" which performed miserably at the box-office. His next venture "Ratnavali" was another failure. He then teamed up with Jayanthilal, a cinema house owner and promoted a new company, Pragati Pictures Ltd.

paragraph: In 1938, AVM bought the rights for the Tamil remake of a Marathi film on the boyhood of Lord Krishna. This film "Nandakumar" was an average grosser. AVM introduced a 14-year-old boy, T. R. Mahalingam, for the part of the young Lord Krishna. This young boy would later become an efficient singer turning in a number of melodious hits. Lalitha Venkataraman sang for the character Devaki making "Nandakumar" the first film to introduce the concept of playback singing in the Tamil film industry. Nandakumar was also one of the first Tamil movies to be shot on location as AVM leased the Club House off Mount Road in Chennai to shoot scenes without erecting sets.

paragraph: AVM started his own studios in 1940 and named it "Pragathi Studios". In the same year, AVM produced "Bhookailas" which became one of the most popular film versions of the Ramayana. The film was made in Telugu, its lead actors were from Kannada cinema and it was directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni, a Mangalorean who had received his training in Bombay. AVM's comedy flick "Sabapathy"(1941) starring T.R. Ramachandran, K. Sarangkapani and Kali N. Ratnam was a runaway hit as also "Poli Panchali", another comedy. "Sabapathy" eventually emerged as one of the greatest comedy films of the era. He followed this with another hit "En Manaivi".

paragraph: In 1943, he produced the film "Harischandra" in Kannada based on the legend of a king who attempted to kill his own son to defend justice. The next year, the film was dubbed into Tamil making it the first Indian film to be dubbed from one language to another. During the making of "Sri Valli" in 1945, he employed singer Periyanayaki to sing for actress Rukmini. This was AVM's second film to make use of playback. Pragati technicians worked round the clock to synchronise voice and lip. Reels were shipped back and forth in cars and trains between Madras and Karaikkudi to ensure good quality.

paragraph: Section::::AVM Productions.

paragraph: On 14 November 1945, riding on the phenomenal success of his first few films, AVM established his new production company, AVM Productions at Santhome, Chennai. He wanted to start his studio in Kodambakkam but was unable to, due to the acute power shortage during the Second World War. Left with no other choice, AVM established his studio at his hometown of Karaikudi. AVM's first film under the banner of "AVM Productions" was "Vedhala Ulagam".

paragraph: In 1947, AVM produced the film "Nam Iruvar" based on S. V. Sahasranamam's play of the same name. Reflecting the intense patriotic fervour and hope which engulfed the newborn nation, the film released in January 1947 after six months of shooting and was "a thundering success". The story begins with a Subramania Bharati anniversary and ends with Gandhi's 77th birthday celebrations. The success of "Naam Iruvar" was followed by the success of "Vedhala Ulagam" in 1948 and "Vazhkai" in 1949. "Vazhkai" saw the introduction of Vyjayanthimala who would later emerge as one of the top film stars of India. The film ran for 25 weeks and was released as "Jeevitham" (1949) in Telugu and "Bahar" in Hindi. With the success of "Vazhkai", AVM Productions began to produce films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and even Sinhalese. Following India's independence, the power shortages had been met and AVM studios shifted to the sprawling location in Kodambakkam chosen by AVM, in the year 1948.

paragraph: Section::::The 1950s.

paragraph: The decade of the 1950s was a honeymoon period for AVM Productions which turned out a series of hits. The early years were marked by AVM's attempts to conquer the Hindi film industry.

paragraph: In 1952, AVM's Tamil film "Parasakthi" released in theatres all over Madras and was an instant success. With a powerful storyline and fiery dialogues by a future Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, the film preached social revolution and questioned the authority of Hindu temple priests. Sivaji Ganesan, then a newcomer, was cast in the lead role. By the mid-1950s, he had emerged as one of the top-stars in Kollywood.

paragraph: Sivaji also starred in AVM's next Tamil film "Andha Naal" (1954) directed by Sundaram Balachander. The film, the first film without any songs to be released in any Indian language, was about a radio engineer who intrigues with the invading Japanese during the Second World War and is eventually killed by his wife. The style of narration had been heavily borrowed from Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon.

paragraph: In 1953, AVM produced the Kannada film "Jatakaphala" which was dubbed into "Jatakam" in Tamil and "Jatakaphalam" in Telugu. In 1958, AVM made "Bhookailas" in Telugu, which triggered the "golden age of Telugu cinema". It was subsequently remade as "Bhakta Ravana" in Tamil and "Bhakti Mahima" in Hindi.

paragraph: Section::::The 1960s.

paragraph: In 1961, AVM produced the Telugu film "Papa Pariharam" which was a remake of the Tamil film "Pavamanippu" which released in the same year. Both were directed by eminent director A. Bhimsingh and starred Shivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Savitri and Devika. Like most of AVM's early films, "Pavamanippu" too had a storyline based on the Second World War.

paragraph: "Kalathur Kannamma" in 1960 saw the introduction of another star in Tamil cinema, the thespian Kamal Hassan who played an unforgettable supporting role as a young orphan. He was barely six years old at the time.

paragraph: His next Tamil venture "Server Sundaram" (1964) featuring Nagesh, who was a budding comedian then and debutant Major Sundarrajan was a roaring success. "Server Sundaram" was one of Nagesh's early hits which set the pace for an illustrious career. It also launched Major Sundarrajan as a character actor in the Tamil film industry. Sundarrajan's second hit, "Major Chandrakanth" where his famous portrayal of title role earned him the screen name "Major" Sundarrajan was also produced by AVM.

paragraph: "Pavithra Prema", "Penchina Prema", "Naadi Aada Janme", "Chitti Chellelu", "Letha Manasulu" and "Mooga Nomu" were some good Telugu films which were produced by AVM during the period. However, AVM's greatest success of the 1960s was "Bhakta Prahalada" which was produced in Telugu and subsequently dubbed into Tamil and Hindi. The film was based on the story of Narasimha Avatar from Hindu mythology. It was directed by Chitrapu Narayana Murthy and starred S. V. Ranga Rao as "Hiranyakasyapu" and Baby Rojaramani as "Prahlada". Narayanmurthy had earlier directed a black-and-white version of Bhakta Prahlada in 1942 which had failed at the box-office. However, the colour version which was produced a quarter of a century later under the banner of AVM Productions was a resounding success. Of the 10 different filmised versions of the "Prahlada" story, the 1967 colour version remains the most famous and remembered.

paragraph: Another successful film by AVM in the 1960s was the 1966 film "Anbe Vaa" featuring the legendary M. G. Ramachandran, Saroja Devi and Nagesh. The film was a major success and the song "Rajavin Paarvai" topped the charts for a long time. In 1970, AVM produced "Enga Mama" featuring Sivaji Ganesan. '"Enga Mama" was a Tamil remake of the Hindi film "Brahmachari" produced by G. P. Sippy and performed moderately at the box-office.

paragraph: Section::::Films in Hindi.

paragraph: From the initial phase of his career, AVM was associated with a number of producers and directors from North India. His 1938 film "Nandakumar" was the Tamil remake of a Marathi film. His 1940 film "Bhookailas" was directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni who had received his training in Bombay.

paragraph: In 1951, AVM made his entry into the Hindi film industry with "Bahar". Starring Vyjayanthimala, Karan Dewan, Pandari Bai, Pran, Om Prakash and Tabassum, it was a remake of the 1948 Tamil film "Vazhkai". Apart from being AVM's first film in Hindi, it also marked the launch of Vyjayanthimala in the Hindi film industry. In 1954, he made "Ladki", his second film in Hindi, with Vyjayanthimala again in the lead. Both these films were directed by M. V. Raman.

paragraph: After enjoying moderate successes in his first two films in Hindi which went unnoticed, AVM ascended the heights of Bollywood with the third one "Hum Panchi Ek Daal Ke"(1957). It was a children's film based on the theme of national integration and won him the prime minister's gold medal.

paragraph: After the phenomenal success of "Hum Panchi Ek Dal Ke", AVM produced some good films like "Bhai Bhai"(1956), which was popular for the song "Mera Naam Abdul Rehman" sung by Kishore Kumar and "Miss Mary"(1957), the dubbed version of the Tamil film "Missiamma". "Bhabhi" (1957) featured Balraj Sahni, Pandari Bai and Nanda, apart from comedian Jagdeep in his first romantic role. Jagdeep also acted in other films produced by AVM as "Hum Panchi Ek Dal Ke" and "Barkha".

paragraph: The Hindi films "Miss Mary", "Bhakti Mahima" and "Bhakt Prahlad" were dubbed versions of AVM's Tamil or Telugu hits.

paragraph: The 1961 film "Chhaya" won Nirupa Roy the Filmfare Award for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Other notable Hindi films made by AVM during the 1960s were "Man Mauji", "Main Chup Rahungi", "Pooja Ke Phool" and "Mehrban".

paragraph: AVM's last Hindi film was "Jaise Ko Taisa" directed by Krishnan-Panju in 1973.

paragraph: Section::::Family.

paragraph: The Family Of AV. Meiyappa Chettiar is a large one. He has 5 sons and 6 daughters born to his 2 wives Mrs Alamelu Meiyappan and Mrs Rajeswari Meiyappan

paragraph: For Mrs Alamelu Meiyappan who died in 1946 has 1 son and 5 daughters they are A.V.M.Palaniappan(late), Mrs Lakshmi(late), Mrs Valli (late), Mrs Sarasu, Mrs Muthu, Mrs Rukmani.

paragraph: For Mrs Rajeswari Meiyappan who died on 9 November 2008, has 4 sons and 1 daughter they are A.V.M Murugan(late), A.V.M Kumaran, A.V.M saravanan, A.V.M Balasubramanian and daughter Mrs Meena Veerappan.

paragraph: Section::::Later years and death.

paragraph: With dawn of the 1970s, production had slowed down considerably. This was due to the fact that AVM himself was aging. Moreover, the AVM family chose to focus their attention upon social activities other than filming. AVM Productions produced not more than four films during the decade: "Bomma Borusa", "Dil Ka Raja","Akka Thamudu" and "Jaise Ko Taisa". "Bomma Borusa" made in Telugu by K. Balachander was an average grosser as was the Hindi film "Dil Ka Raja" which released in 1972. "Akka Thamudu" directed by the successful partnership of Krishnan-Panju was AVM's last film in Telugu. It was also AVM's only Telugu film featuring Jayalalithaa. In 1973, AVM produced his last film "Jaise Ko Taisa" starring Jitendra in the lead role.

paragraph: AVM did not produce any movies following "Jaise Ko Taisa" in 1973. He spent his time on social activities and the charitable institutions he had built as well as looking after his massive business empire.

paragraph: AVM died on 12 August 1979 at the age of 72. In 1980, as per AVM's last wishes, AVM Studios commenced film production under Meiyappan's sons A.V.M Kumaran and M. Saravanan, after a seven-year hiatus.

paragraph: Section::::Legacy.

paragraph: During a career spanning four decades, AVM had produced 167 movies in all. He also directed most of his early movies. He is credited with having introduced Kollywood's first playback singers, made India's first dubbed film and Kollywood's first film shot on location. He has also had the distinction of having had five chief ministers work in his films – C. N. Annadurai wrote the script for AVM's "Ore Iravu", M. Karunanidhi scripted the dialogues for "Parasakthi", M. G. Ramachandran played the hero in "Anbe Vaa", J. Jayalalithaa was the heroine in AVM's "Major Chandrakanth" and "Akka Thamudu" and N. T. Rama Rao starred in AVM's "Jeevitham", "Ramu" and "Bhookailas". During his four decades in the Indian film industry, he also introduced actors as T. R. Mahalingam, Vyjayanthimala, Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Hassan and Major Sundarrajan who later became top stars in Kollywood. But his greatest achievement is undoubtedly his massive business empire which comprises a production company, a cinema, a movie studio and a string of educational institutions and charities.

paragraph: Of AVM's creations, AVM Productions is the most prominent. The production company is into its sixty-second year with three generations of the AVM family into the film production business. After AVM's death, the company passed into the hands of his sons M. Balasubramanian and M. Saravanan. Under the able leadership of M. Saravanan, AVM Productions has continued producing hits as "Punnami Naagu" (launchpad for chiranjeevi as most notable actor), "Murattu Kalai" (which launched Rajnikanth into superstardom), "Samsaram Adhu Minsaram" (1989), "Minsara Kanavu" (1997), "Gemini" (2002), and "Perazhagan" (2004). In 2007 (which was also AVM's birth centenary year), AVM Productions released "Sivaji the Boss" starring Rajnikanth and Shreya. Made at enormous cost of Rs. 60 to 960 million (15 to 20 million dollars), it is the costliest Tamil film made to date and had earned a critical reception worldwide. In recent times, AVM Productions has significant lessened film production making only one or two films a year. Instead, the production house is concentrating on making tele serials and documentaries Currently, Saravanan's son M. S. Guhan and Balasubramanian's son, B. Gurunath are also into show business forming the family's third generation in the business.

paragraph: In 1955, AVM won the president's gold medal for the Hindi film "Hum Panchi Ek Dal Ke". In 2006, the Government of India issued a stamp commemorating the achievements of AVM. On the 24th death anniversary of Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar, in 2003, AVM Productions released a VCD on the life of its founder. Starting with his early childhood in Karaikudi, the 2-hour long documentary told the story of AVM's entry into the film industry and his rise to greatness.

paragraph: On 30 July 2006, in commemoration of AVM's centenary year, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, unveiled a statue of A. V. Meiyappan at the campus of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce.

paragraph: Section::::Philanthropy.

paragraph: Apart from his contributions to the growth of motion picture industry in Tamil Nadu, AVM has also donated extensively for charitable causes. The charitable activities of the AVM group were channelled through an organisation called AVM Charities established at Mylapore in Chennai. This trust has been managed by the descendants of AVM since his death in 1979. The AVM Charities had provided land for old age homes and organising social events. The AVM family also owns a marriage hall, AVM Rajeswari Kalyana Mandapam which is generally rented for Hindu marriages. This marriage hall is controlled by the AVM family through AVM Charities. Following the astounding success of the 2007 Tamil film "Sivaji", AVM Productions declared publicly that it would offer 25% of the revenues from the film as charity.

paragraph: The AVM Group owns a string of educational institutions all over Chennai. On 10 June 1963, AVM inaugurated Avichi High School in Virugambakkam in memory of his father Avichi Chettiar. The motive behind the founding was to provide good quality education to the poorer sections of society. Later, Avichi High School was upgraded to Avichi Higher Secondary School. A number of schools have been established since the creation of "Avichi School". In 1994, AVM's son Kumaran established the "Avichi High School for girls". This was followed by the establishment of AVM Rajeswari Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Virugambakkam in 1995. These schools which are run by the AVM Group as a part of AVM Charities are regarded as some of the best in Chennai.

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- AVM Productions

paragraph: Section::::Further reading.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Enatu Valkkai Anuppavangal" (English: My Experiences in Life), Autobiography by A. V. Meiyappan.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Website of AVM Productions

paragraph: BULLET::::- Website of AVM Rajeswari School

paragraph: BULLET::::- Website of "Avichi Higher Secondary School for girls"

alias:
AVM
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar

description: Tamil film producer, director and philanthropist

wikidata_label: A. V. Meiyappan

wikipedia_title: A. V. Meiyappan


text: Medieval Greek

text: Byzantine

text: ALA-LC

text: monk

text: priest

text: Damascus

text: Mar Saba

text: Jerusalem

text: polymath

text: law

text: theology

text: philosophy

text: music

text: Muslim

text: caliph

text: liturgically

text: Eastern Christian

text: Lutheranism

text: Eastern Orthodox Church

text: icon

text: Catholic Church

text: Doctor of the Church

text: Assumption of Mary

text: Patriarch of Jerusalem

text: Barlaam and Josaphat

text: Damascus

text: Heraclius

text: Khalid ibn al-Walid

text: Eutychius

text: Melkite

text: Kalb

text: Taghlib

text: Umayyad

text: Yazid I

text: al-Akhtal

text: Syria was conquered by the Muslim Arab

text: Sarjun (Sergius)

text: caliph

text: Mar Saba

text: Quran

text: Christianity and Islam

text: Hellenic education

text: Sicily

text: Cosmas of Maiuma

text: astronomy

text: Pythagoras

text: Euclid

text: geometry

text: Western Christianity

text: Caliph

text: Mar Saba

text: al-Walid I

text: Siege of Constantinople (717-718)

text: Umayyad Caliphate

text: Le Quien

text: iconoclasm

text: Byzantine

text: St. Germanus

text: Patriarch of Constantinople

text: Leo III

text: veneration

text: Second Council of Nicaea

text: Damascus

text: Theotokos

text: Tricheirousa

text: saint

text: Church Fathers

text: Roman Catholic Church

text: Doctor of the Church

text: Pope Leo XIII

text: General Roman Calendar

text: Byzantine Rite

text: Sergei Taneyev

text: canon

text: Byzantine Rite

text: Leo III

text: Islam

text: Muhammad

text: Early Church Fathers

text: systematic theology

text: Eastern Christianity

text: Monothelite

text: University of Durham

text: Barlaam and Josaphat

text: Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

text: Catholic Online Saints

text: Details of his work

text: Internet Archive

text: St John of Damascus

text: "Five Doctrinal Works"

categories: Syrian Christian saints,676 births,Byzantine saints,People from Damascus,Church Fathers,Christian anti-Gnosticism,7th-century Byzantine scientists,Systematic theologians,Byzantine composers,Byzantine astronomers,Doctors of the Church,Byzantine philosophers,8th-century composers,8th-century Byzantine writers,7th-century Christian theologians,8th-century Byzantine scientists,Catholic philosophers,7th-century Byzantine writers,8th-century astronomers,Byzantine hymnographers,7th-century astronomers,Arab Christians,8th-century Christian theologians,Christian critics of Islam,8th-century Christian saints,8th-century philosophers,749 deaths,Byzantine Iconoclasm,7th-century composers

paragraph: John of Damascus

paragraph: Saint John of Damascus (Medieval Greek , "Ioánnis o Damaskinós", Byzantine ; , , ALA-LC: "Yūḥannā ad-Dimashqī"), also known as John Damascene and as Χρυσορρόας / "Chrysorrhoas" (literally "streaming with gold"—i.e., "the golden speaker"), was a Byzantine monk and priest. Born and raised in Damascus c. 675 or 676, he died at his monastery, Mar Saba, near Jerusalem on 4 December 749.

paragraph: A polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law, theology, philosophy, and music, he is said by some sources to have served as a Chief Administrator to the Muslim caliph of Damascus before his ordination. He wrote works expounding the Christian faith, and composed hymns which are still used both liturgically in Eastern Christian practice throughout the world as well as in western Lutheranism at Easter. He is one of the Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is best known for his strong defence of icons. The Catholic Church regards him as a Doctor of the Church, often referred to as the "Doctor of the Assumption" due to his writings on the Assumption of Mary.

paragraph: The most common source of information for the life of John of Damascus is a work attributed to one John of Jerusalem, identified therein as the Patriarch of Jerusalem. This is an excerpted translation into Greek of an earlier Arabic text. The Arabic original contains a prologue not found in most other translations, and was written by an Arab monk, Michael. Michael explained that he decided to write his biography in 1084 because none was available in his day. However, the main Arabic text seems to have been written by an earlier author sometime between the early 9th and late 10th centuries AD. Written from a hagiographical point of view and prone to exaggeration and some legendary details, it is not the best historical source for his life, but is widely reproduced and considered to contain elements of some value. The hagiographic novel "Barlaam and Josaphat", traditionally attributed to John, is in fact a work of the 10th century.

paragraph: Section::::Family background.

paragraph: John was born in Damascus in the third quarter of the 7th century AD, to a prominent Damascene Christian family known as "Mansoūr". The family was named after John's grandfather, Mansour ibn Sarjun, who had been responsible for the taxes of the region during the reign of Emperor Heraclius. Mansur seems to have played a role in the capitulation of Damascus to the troops of Khalid ibn al-Walid in 635 after securing favorable conditions of surrender. Eutychius, a 10th-century Melkite patriarch, mentions him as one high-ranking official involved in the surrender of the city to the Muslims.

paragraph: Though information about the tribal background of the Mansour family are absent in contemporary sources, biographer Daniel Sahas speculates the name Mansour could have implied that they belonged to the Arab Christian tribes of Kalb or Taghlib. Moreover, the family name was common among Syrian Christians of Arab origins, and Eutychius noted that the governor of Damascus, who was likely Mansour ibn Sarjun, was an Arab. However, Sahas also asserts that the name does not necessarily imply an Arab background and could have been used by non-Arab, Semitic Syrians. While Sahas and biographers F. H. Chase and Andrew Louth assert that "Mansūr" was an Arabic name, Raymond le Coz asserts that the "family was without doubt of Syrian origin"; indeed, according to historian Daniel J. Janosik, "Both aspects could be true, for if his family ancestry were indeed Syrian, his grandfather [Mansour] could have been given an Arabic name when the Arabs took over the government." John was raised in Damascus, and Arab Christian folklore holds that during his adolescence, John associated with the future Umayyad caliph Yazid I and the Taghlibi Christian court poet al-Akhtal.

paragraph: When Syria was conquered by the Muslim Arabs in the 630s, the court at Damascus retained its large complement of Christian civil servants, John's grandfather among them. John's father, Sarjun (Sergius), went on to serve the Umayyad caliphs. According to John of Jerusalem and some later versions of his life, after his father's death, John also served as an official to the caliphal court before leaving to become a monk. This claim, that John actually served in a Muslim court, has been questioned since he is never mentioned in Muslim sources, which however do refer to his father Sarjun (Sergius) as a secretary in the caliphal administration. In addition, John's own writings never refer to any experience in a Muslim court. It is believed that John became a monk at Mar Saba, and that he was ordained as a priest in 735.

paragraph: Section::::Education.

paragraph: One of the "vitae" describes his father's desire for him to "learn not only the books of the Muslims, but those of the Greeks as well." From this it has been suggested that John may have grown up bilingual. John does indeed show some knowledge of the Quran, which he criticizes harshly. (see Christianity and Islam).

paragraph: Other sources describe his education in Damascus as having been conducted in accordance with the principles of Hellenic education, termed "secular" by one source and "Classical Christian" by another. One account identifies his tutor as a monk by the name of Cosmas, who had been kidnapped by Arabs from his home in Sicily, and for whom John's father paid a great price. Under the instruction of Cosmas, who also taught John's orphan friend (the future St. Cosmas of Maiuma), John is said to have made great advances in music, astronomy and theology, soon rivalling Pythagoras in arithmetic and Euclid in geometry. As a refugee from Italy, Cosmas brought with him the scholarly traditions of Western Christianity.

paragraph: Section::::Career.

paragraph: John had at least one and possibly two careers: one (less well-documented) as a civil servant for the Caliph in Damascus, and the other (better-attested) as a priest and monk at the Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem. One source believes John left Damascus to become a monk around 706, when al-Walid I increased the Islamicisation of the Caliphate's administration. However, Muslim sources only mention that his father Sarjun (Sergius) left the administration around this time, and fail to name John at all. During the next two decades, culminating in the Siege of Constantinople (717-718), the Umayyad Caliphate progressively occupied the borderlands of the Byzantine Empire. An editor of John's works, Father Le Quien, has shown that John was already a monk at Mar Saba before the dispute over iconoclasm, explained below.

paragraph: In the early 8th century AD, iconoclasm, a movement opposed to the veneration of icons, gained acceptance in the Byzantine court. In 726, despite the protests of St. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, Emperor Leo III (who had forced the emperor to abdicate and himself assumed the throne in 717 immediately before the great siege) issued his first edict against the veneration of images and their exhibition in public places.

paragraph: All agree that John of Damascus undertook a spirited defence of holy images in three separate publications. The earliest of these works, his ""Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images"", secured his reputation. He not only attacked the Byzantine emperor, but adopted a simplified style that allowed the controversy to be followed by the common people, stirring rebellion among the iconoclasts. Decades after his death, John's writings would play an important role during the Second Council of Nicaea (787), which convened to settle the icon dispute.

paragraph: John's biography recounts at least one episode deemed improbable or legendary. Leo III reportedly sent forged documents to the caliph which implicated John in a plot to attack Damascus. The caliph then ordered John's right hand be cut off and hung up in public view. Some days afterwards, John asked for the restitution of his hand, and prayed fervently to the Theotokos before her icon: thereupon, his hand is said to have been miraculously restored. In gratitude for this miraculous healing, he attached a silver hand to the icon, which thereafter became known as the "Three-handed", or Tricheirousa.

paragraph: Section::::Last days.

paragraph: John died in 749 as a revered Father of the Church, and is recognized as a saint. He is sometimes called the last of the Church Fathers by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1890 he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII.

paragraph: Section::::Veneration.

paragraph: When the name of Saint John of Damascus was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in 1890, it was assigned to 27 March. The feast day was moved in 1969 to the day of the saint's death, 4 December, the day on which his feast day is celebrated also in the Byzantine Rite calendar, Lutheran Commemorations, and the Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church.

paragraph: The 1884 choral work "John of Damascus" ("A Russian Requiem"), Op. 1, for four-part mixed chorus and orchestra, by Russian composer Sergei Taneyev, is dedicated to Saint John.

paragraph: Section::::List of works.

paragraph: Besides his purely textual works, many of which are listed below, John of Damascus also composed hymns, perfecting the canon, a structured hymn form used in Byzantine Rite liturgies.

paragraph: Section::::List of works.:Early works.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Three "Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images" – These treatises were among his earliest expositions in response to the edict by the Byzantine Emperor Leo III, banning the veneration or exhibition of holy images.

paragraph: Section::::List of works.:Teachings and dogmatic works.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Fountain of Knowledge" or "The Fountain of Wisdom", is divided into three parts:

paragraph: BULLET::::1. "Philosophical Chapters" ("Kefálea filosofiká") – commonly called 'Dialectic', it deals mostly with logic, its primary purpose being to prepare the reader for a better understanding of the rest of the book.

paragraph: BULLET::::2. "Concerning Heresy" ("Perì eréseon") – the last chapter of this part (Chapter 101) deals with the "Heresy of the Ishmaelites". Unlike earlier sections devoted to other heresies, which are disposed of succinctly in just a few lines, this chapter runs into several pages. It constitutes one of the first Christian refutations of Islam. One of the most dominant translations his polemical work "Peri haireseon", translated from Greek into Latin. His manuscript is one of the first Orthodox Christian refutations of Islam which has influenced the Western Catholic Church's attitude. It was among the first sources representing the Prophet of Islam Muhammad to the West as "false prophet," and "Antichrist."

paragraph: BULLET::::3. "An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith" ("Ékdosis akribès tēs Orthodóxou Písteōs") – a summary of the dogmatic writings of the Early Church Fathers. This writing was the first work of systematic theology in Eastern Christianity and an important influence on later Scholastic works.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Against the Jacobites"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Against the Nestorians"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Dialogue against the Manichees"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Elementary Introduction into Dogmas"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Letter on the Thrice-Holy Hymn"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "On Right Thinking"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "On the Faith, Against the Nestorians"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "On the Two Wills in Christ (Against the Monothelites)"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Sacred Parallels" (dubious)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Octoechos" (the Church's liturgical book of eight tones)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "On Dragons and Ghosts"

paragraph: Section::::Arabic translation.

paragraph: It is believed that the homily on the Annunciation was the first work to be translated into Arabic. Much of this text is found in Manuscript 4226 of the Library of Strasbourg (France), dating to 885 AD.

paragraph: Later in the 10th century, Antony, superior of the monastery of St. Simon (near Antioch) translated a corpus of Saint John Damascene. In his introduction to John's work, Sylvestre patriarch of Antioch (1724–1766) said that Antony was monk at Saint Saba. This could be a misunderstanding of the title Superior of Saint Simon probably because Saint Simon's monastery was in ruins in the 18th century.

paragraph: Most manuscripts give the text of the letter to Cosmas, the philosophical chapters, the theological chapters and five other small works.

paragraph: In 1085, Mikhael, a monk from Antioch wrote the Arabic life of the Chrysorrhoas. This work was first edited by Bacha in 1912 and then translated in many languages (German, Russian and English).

paragraph: Section::::Modern English translations.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "On holy images; followed by three sermons on the Assumption", translated by Mary H. Allies, (London: Thomas Baker, 1898).

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Exposition of the Orthodox faith", translated by the Reverend SDF Salmond, in Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. 2nd Series vol 9. (Oxford: Parker, 1899) [reprint Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1963.]

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Writings", translated by Frederic H. Chase. Fathers of the Church vol 37, (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1958) [ET of "The fount of knowledge"; "On heresies"; "The orthodox faith"]

paragraph: BULLET::::- Daniel J. Sahas (ed.), "John of Damascus on Islam: The "Heresy of the Ishmaelites"", (Leiden: Brill, 1972)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "On the divine images: the apologies against those who attack the divine images", translated by David Anderson, (New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1980)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Louth, who also wrote the introduction, was at the University of Durham as Professor of Patristics and Byzantine Studies.

paragraph: Two translations exist of the 10th century hagiographic novel "Barlaam and Josaphat", traditionally attributed to John:

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Barlaam and Ioasaph", with an English translation by G.R. Woodward and H. Mattingly, (London: Heinemann, 1914)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "The precious pearl: the lives of Saints Barlaam and Ioasaph, "notes and comments by Augoustinos N Kantiotes; preface, introduction, and new translation by Asterios Gerostergios, et al., (Belmont, MA: Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1997)

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Michiel Op de Coul en Marcel Poorthuis, 2011.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- 131 Christians Everyone Should Know- John of Damascus

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Catholic Encyclopedia": St. John Damascene

paragraph: BULLET::::- Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

paragraph: BULLET::::- Catholic Online Saints

paragraph: BULLET::::- Details of his work

paragraph: BULLET::::- also available through the Internet Archive.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "St. John of Damascus' Critique of Islam" at the Orthodox Christian Information Center

paragraph: BULLET::::- Greek "Opera Omnia" by Migne, "Patrologia Graeca" with Analytical Indexes

paragraph: BULLET::::- St John of Damascus Orthodox Icon and Synaxarion (December 4)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Five Doctrinal Works" is a 17th-century manuscript including three works by John of Damascus

alias:
Saint John of Damascus
John Damascene
Ioannes Damascenus

description: hymnodist at Mar Saba, Greek Church father, Eastern Orthodox Saint

enwikiquote_title: John of Damascus

wikidata_label: John of Damascus

wikipedia_title: John of Damascus


text:
character actor
D. W. Griffith
The Birth of a Nation
African American
blackface
Intolerance
Rudolph Valentino
The Sheik
Moran of the Lady Letty
Blood and Sand
Laurel and Hardy
Spanish influenza epidemic
World War I
World War II
lieutenant colonel
The Coliseum

categories: American male silent film actors,American military personnel of World War I,1952 deaths,Hal Roach Studios actors,American military personnel of World War II,1879 births,People from Nashua, New Hampshire,Male actors from New Hampshire

paragraph: Walter Long (actor)

paragraph: Walter Huntley Long (March 5, 1879 – July 4, 1952) was an American character actor in films from the 1910s.

paragraph: Section::::Career.

paragraph: He appeared in many D. W. Griffith films, notably "The Birth of a Nation" (1915), where he appeared as Gus, an African American, in blackface make-up, and "Intolerance" (1916).

paragraph: Long also supported Rudolph Valentino in the films "The Sheik," "Moran of the Lady Letty," and "Blood and Sand." He later appeared as a comic villain in four Laurel and Hardy films during the early 1930s.

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.

paragraph: In 1908, Long married Luray Roble, a stenographer from Wisconsin who later became an actress at Triangle/Fine Arts. They had a son named John. She died in 1918 at age 28, due to the Spanish influenza epidemic. Long never remarried.

paragraph: Walter Long served during World War I and World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel before receiving an honorable discharge at the end of World War II.

paragraph: Although he was often called upon to play antagonists and villains because of his gravel voice and rugged appearance, many people reported that he was actually a warm, kindhearted man off-camera.

paragraph: Section::::Death.

paragraph: Long died of a heart attack on July 4, 1952 in Los Angeles, California, while watching the fireworks display at The Coliseum, during Fourth of July celebrations.

description: American actor

wikidata_label: Walter Long

wikipedia_title: Walter Long (actor)