texts:
 an attempt to enhance Belli's vernacular. Trilussa replaced popular Rome with bourgeois Rome, and historical satire with the humour of the daily chronicle.In particular, <mask> has the ability to highlight people's pettiness and weaknesses through incisive and biting metaphors, often based on episodes involving domestic animals. This is the case of the well-known sonnet Er cane moralista (The Judgemental Dog) in which the initial censorious and critical attitude towards reprehensible behaviour is followed by a finale in which accommodation and mutual interest recall common dynamics of human behaviour. Works
Between 1887 and 1950, <mask> initially published his poems in newspapers and later collected them in volumes. This allowed him to immediately gather the readers' opinions, as well as to show them the artistic rendering of his compositions at a first draft. It was only afterwards that he selected and refined his poems, discarding those that were less up-to-date and making stylistic, metrical, and linguistic interventions. This second phase made his collections not a simple re-proposition of poems scattered on the pages of newspapers, but real books of poems, perfected and, when necessary, renewed in relation to the social context. Stelle de Roma.Versi romaneschi, 1889. Er Mago de Bborgo. Lunario pe' 'r 1890, 1890. Er Mago de Bborgo. Lunario pe' 'r 1891, 1891. Quaranta sonetti romaneschi, 1894. Altri


type: original

texts: sonetti.Preceduti da una lettera di Isacco di David Spizzichino, strozzino, 1898. Favole romanesche, Roma, Enrico Voghera, 1901. Caffè-concerto, Roma, Enrico Voghera, 1901. Er serrajo, Roma, Enrico Voghera, 1903. Sonetti romaneschi, Roma, Enrico Voghera, 1909. Nove poesie, Roma, Enrico Voghera, 1910 (online). Roma nel 1911: l'Esposizione vista a volo di cornacchia: sestine umoristiche, Roma,1911.Le storie, Roma, Enrico Voghera, 1913. Ommini e bestie, Roma, Enrico Voghera, 1914. La vispa Teresa, Roma, Carra, 1917. ...A tozzi e bocconi: Poesie giovanili e disperse, Roma, Carra, 1918. Le finzioni della vita. Rocca San Casciano, Licinio Cappelli, 1918. Lupi e agnelli, Roma, Enrico Voghera, 1919.Le cose, Roma-Milano, A. Mondadori, 1922. I sonetti, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1922. La Gente, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1927. Picchiabbò, ossia La moje der ciambellano: spupazzata dall'autore stesso, Roma, Edizioni d'arte Fauno, 1927. Libro n. 9, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1930. Evviva Trastevere: poesie, bozzetti, storia della festa de nojantri, varietà, Trilussa e altri, Roma, Autocultura, 1930. La porchetta bianca, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1930.Giove e le bestie, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1932. Cento favole, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1934. Libro muto, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1935. Le favole, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1935. Duecento sonetti, A. Milano, Mondadori, 1936. Sei favole di Trilussa: commentate da Guglielmo Guasta Veglia (Guasta),


texts:
 Bari, Laterza e Polo, 1937. Mamma primavera: favole di Trilussa: con commento di Guglielmo Guasta Veglia: disegni di Giobbe, Bari, Laterza e Polo, 1937.Lo specchio e altre poesie, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1938. La sincerità e altre fiabe nove e antiche, Milano, A. Mondadori, 1939. Acqua e vino, Roma, A. Mondadori, 1945. Le prose del Rugantino e del Don Chisciotte e altre prose, Anne-Christine Faitrop Porta, Roma, Salerno, 1992. Citations and influences
Many of <mask>'s compositions have been used on several occasions by other artists as lyrics for their own songs, sometimes reinterpreting them. Some examples:

 Ninna nanna della guerra, revisited by Maria Monti, on popular music. Ninna nanna della guerra, for many years Claudio Baglioni's masterpiece under the title Ninna nanna nanna ninna, especially in live albums (see his discography).A reference to the satire on "chickens" can be found in the song Penelope by Jovanotti, in the line "Se io mangio due polli e tu nessuno, statisticamente noi ne abbiamo mangiato uno per uno" (If I eat two chickens and you none, statistically we have eaten one for one). Examples of the use of his verses can also be found in cólta music. Alfredo Casella, for instance, set some fables in Romanesco dialect to music (Er coccodrillo, La carità, Er gatto e er cane, L'elezzione der presidente). The poem La fede (Faith) was taken up and reused by Pope John Paul I to develop one of


texts:
 the letters contained in the book Illustrissimi. Luciani, as in the poem, asks himself about faith: about what it is and why some people feel it ardently, while others do not have it at all. Luciani then adds some references to Manzoni. Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani) recited one of his poems, La Fede, at a Wednesday audience during his brief pontificate in 1978.Musicals based on his texts

 Alipio Calzelli, Il balbuziente: versi di Trilussa, Napoli, Bideri. Angelo Vagnetti, Un cameriere filosofo: versi di Trilussa: musica di A. Vagnetti, Napoli, Bideri, 1903. Virgilio Brancali, La ninna nanna della guerra: canto e piano: versi di Trilussa, Roma, Casa Musicale Italiana, 1917. Costantino Lombardo, Voci lontane: Poemetto per voci e orchestra: versi di Trilussa, Roma, Tip. Danesi, 1917. Alfredo Casella, Quattro favole romanesche di Trilussa musicate per canto e pianoforte, Milano, G. Ricordi, 1924. Cesare Franco, Bolla de sapone: lirica per soprano o tenore con accompagnamento di pianoforte od orchestra: op.46: versi di Trilussa, Bari, Raffaello Leo, 1930. Agostino Zanchetta, Er chirichetto: per canto e pianoforte: parole di Trilussa, Bologna, U. Pizzi Edit. Tip., 1931. E. Sc. Skeletti, La felicità: per canto e pianoforte: versi di Trilussa, Milano, G. Ricordi, 1937. E. Sc. Skeletti, La quercia: per canto e pianoforte: versi di Trilussa, Milano, G. Ricordi, 1937.E. Sc. Skeletti, La bocca: per canto e


texts:
 pianoforte: versi di Trilussa, Milano, G. Ricordi, 1938. Mario Pilati, La tartaruga: per canto e pianoforte: poesia di Trilussa (da Le favole), Milano, G. Ricordi, 1940. Giuseppe Micheli, Trilussa aroma de Roma: testi di Trilussa: musiche originali di G. Micheli, Milano, Usignolo, 1976. Celestino Eccher, Sette canzoncine per bambini: su testi di Trilussa, Trento, Federazione cori del Trentino, 2000. TV miniseries
Rai 1 broadcast in the evenings of 11 and 12 March 2013 the miniseries in two episodes, starring Michele Placido, Trilussa - Storia d'amore e di poesia. References

 Corsi, M. (1968).Ecco <mask>. Cosmopolita. D'Arrigo, G. (1968). Trilussa: il tempo, i luoghi, l'opera. Arti Grafiche Scalia. Dell'Arco, M. (1951). Lunga vita di Trilussa.Bardi. Desiato, L. (2004) C'era una volta a Roma Trilussa. Mondadori. Di Massa, S. (1946). Trilussa lirico. Danesi. Escobar, M.(Ed.). (1957) Prosa e poesia romanesca: dalle origini a Trilussa. Cappelli. Faitrop-Porta, C. A. (1979). Trilussa: doppio volto di un uomo e di un'opera. Istituto di studi romani.Frapiselli, F. (2001). Trilussa con noi. Bardi. Jannattoni, L. (1979). Roma fine ottocento. Trilussa dal madrigale alla favola. Newton Compton.Luigi, C. (1945). Trilussa aneddotico. F. Mondini. Mariani, G. (1974). Trilussa: Storia di un poeta. Bonacci. Paratore, E. (1972).Trilussa: nel centenario della nascita. Istituto di studi romani. Pericoli Ridolfini, C.


texts:
 (1974). Disegni inediti di Trilussa. Galleria L'agostiniana. Pettinicchio, D. (2012). Concordanze delle poesie di Trilussa.il Cubo. Sorge, M. (1939). De Belli à Trilussa, la portée humaine de la poésie en dialecte romain. Droz. Trilussa. (1994). Poesie, (C. Rendina Ed.).Newton Compton, 1994. <mask>. (2012). Tutte le poesie. (C. Costa, L. Felici Eds.). Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. Vaccaro, G. (1994).Vocabolario romanesco trilussiano-italiano. il Cubo. External links

 Italian Wikisource has original text related to this article: Trilussa
 Italian Wikiquote has quotations related to Trilussa
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trilussa
 Trilussa Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Trilussa, Enciclopedia Italiana, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Trilussa, sapere.it, De Agostini. Trilussa Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Opere di Trilussa OpenMLOL, Horizons Unlimited srl.Opere di Trilussa Open Library, Internet Archive. <mask>, Senato della Repubblica. <mask>, Istituto centrale per i beni sonori ed audiovisivi. Spartiti o libretti di Trilussa in International Music Score Library Project, Project Petrucci LLC. Stanza di Trilussa al Museo di Roma in Trastevere
 Indici di dialettalità di Belli, Pascarella e Trilussa
 Poesie di Trilussa in poesiedautore.it
Trilussa Lyrics, in lyricstranslate.com

Notes

1871 births
1950 deaths
Italian poets
Italian male

masks: Trilussa Trilussa Trilussa


texts:
<mask> also known as Mrs. James Thomson, was the youngest daughter of <mask>, a supervisor of excise. Following the death of her 69-year-old father in 1789, <mask> was only 11 years old, when she and her brother John moved to a house in Millhole Brae (now Burns Street) that lay opposite that of Robert Burns in Dumfries. <mask> was a close Burns family friend and when nearly at the age of eighteen helped the family by nursing Robert in the days leading up to his death and doing the domestic chores. Life and character

<mask> had a brother and also an older sister, Mary, who married William Hyslop, a Dumfries builder. As teasingly predicted by Robert Burns, <mask> married James Thomson, a lawyer or solicitor, in Dumfries on 3 June 1799. The couple had five sons and two daughters. The sons were James (1800–1820); John (1802–1834), who worked with his father; William (1805–1858), who was a captain in the merchant service, and died at the Cape of Good Hope; Thomas (1810–1859); and Alexander (1814–1859.The elder daughter, Mary (1807–1843), married George Montgomery in 1840, a Dumfries merchant. They had a son, George, and a daughter,
<mask> Montgomery. <mask>, younger daughter of James Thomson and <mask>, was born on 16 June 1816 and died unmarried in September 1877. <mask> lived in Dumfries at Maxwelltown, for the remainder of her life, dying at the age of 77 on 26 May 1855; her husband, James Thomson, having died on 5 May 1849, aged 75. <mask> and her husband were buried in a grave situated opposite to the Robert Burn's mausoleum in Saint Michael's churchyard, Dumfries. For a time John, her brother, was one of Burns colleagues in the Excise, including John

masks:
Jessie Lewars
John Lewars
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie Lewars
Jessie
Jessie Lewars
Jessie
Jessie


texts:
 Gillespie, who were romantically linked with Jean Lorimer, Burns's 'Chloris'. Association with Robert Burns and his family

<mask>, <mask>'s brother, was a colleague of Robert Burns in Dunfriesshire until his death in 1796 and gave official instruction to the Poet on his joining the service.<mask> not only nursed Robert Burns during his final illness, but also looked after his young family of four boys until his wife, Jean, had recovered from the birth of her last child, Maxwell Burns. Young Robert actually remained living with her for nearly a year. <mask> played and sang to Robert whilst he lay in his sickbed, for Burns was rarely able to leave his room from April 1796, until his death in July of that year. She is said to have had a fine singing voice that Burns compared to a Linnet (Carduelis cannabina). He became very fond of <mask> and composed his very last song for her, namely "O wert thou in the cauld blast." after hearing <mask> sing a popular song, known as "The Robin cam' to the Wren's Nest. "; Felix Mendelssohn also set this to his own haunting music.He also addressed to <mask> the song "Altho' thou maun never be mine." When she was briefly ill or indisposed Robert offered to write an epitaph to her on a crystal goblet, saying in jest "In case of the worst, Jessy, let me provide you with an epithaph":-

He also wrote a rhymed toast to her on another crystal goblet containing wine and water using a diamond pen and requested that she regard it as a keepsake for life:-

Robert wrote the following tribute to <mask> on the back of a menagerie handbill that she kept for the rest of her life: –

<mask>s great granddaughter, <mask>s Dove, inherited

masks:
John Lewars
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie
Jessie Lewar
Jessie Lewar


texts:
 the handbill and it came back into the public sphere in Cambridge, around 1940. It was included as a reproduction in the 1940 Burns Chronicle. Burns also wrote to James Johnson in Edinburgh and requested a copy of "The Scots Musical Museum" for <mask>, saying "My wife has a very particular friend, a young lady who sings well, to whom she wishes to present the Scots Musical Museum, If you have a spare copy,
will you be so obliging as to send it by the very first fly, as I am anxious to have it soon." Johnson sent three, her copy being inscribed by the poet with a heartfelt expression of his appreciation for her kindness to him: -

Burns dedicated "O, Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast" to <mask>s, set to the tune "Lennox Love to Blantyre", first printed in Currie, 1800 but written in the spring or summer of 1795. {| border="0"
|-
| <div class="toccolours spoilercontents">
O wert thou in the cauld blast,
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee;
Or did Misfortune's bitter storms
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
Thy bield should be my bosom,
To share it a', to share it a'''. </div>
|}

A thin quarto volume by Dr. Wolcott was given by Burns to <mask>, entitled Pindarinia, by Peter Pindar, 1794," in-
scribed "Un petit gage de Vamitie.R. Burns." (a small token from a friend)

After Burns's death it was <mask> who wrote on behalf of Jean Armour Burns to several of Robert's close and intimate friends, such as James Burness in Montrose. <mask>'s friendship with Jean Armour Burns continued and she remained a support to the family, caring for the four small brothers. Years after his death she related to

masks:
Jessie
Jessie Lewar
Jessie
John Lewars
Jessie


texts:
 Robert Chambers regarding Burns that "When he chanced to come home and find no dinner ready, he was never in the least irritated , but would address himself with the greatest cheerfulness to any makeshift set before him. They generally had abundance of good Dunlop cheese, sent them by their Ayrshire friends. The poet would sit down to bread and cheese, with his book by his side and seem to the casual visitor as happy as a courtier at the feast of Kings."Micro-history
<mask> had her portrait painted by John Irvine. At a festival held in honour of the poet's sons in 1844, <mask> was given pride of place next to Robert Burns' relatives. References
Notes

Sources

 Adamson, Archibald R. (1879). Rambles through the Land of Burns. Kilmarnock : Dunlop & Drennan. Dougall, Charles S. (1911). The Burns Country.London: A & C Black. Douglas, William Scott (Edit.) (1938). The Kilmarnock Edition of the Poetical Works of Robert Burns. Glasgow : The Scottish Daily Express. Hill, John C. Rev. (1961).The Love Songs and Heroines of Robert Burns. London : J. M. Dent. Mackay, James (2004). Burns. A Biography of Robert Burns. Darvel : Alloway Publishing. .
 Purdie, David; McCue Kirsteen and Carruthers, Gerrard. (2013).Maurice Lindsay's The Burns Encyclopaedia. London : Robert Hale. .
 Westwood, Peter J. (1996). Jean Armour. Mrs. Robert Burns. An Illustrated Biography. Dumfries : Creedon Publications.Westwood, Peter J. (2001). Jean Armour. My Life and Times with Robert Burns. Dumfries : Creedon Publications. .
 Westwood, Peter J. (2008). Who's Who in the World of Burns.''Robert Burns World Federation. . External links

Robert Burns
18th-century Scottish women
1778

masks: Jessie Jessie


texts:
<mask> (1829 – 12 August 1871) was a Xhosa journalist, minister, translator, missionary evangelist, and composer of hymns. <mask> was the first black South African to be ordained and worked to translate the Bible and John Bunyan's classic work Pilgrim's Progress into his native Xhosa language. Background
Soga was Xhosa. When his mother Nosuthu became a Christian she sought and received release from her marriage to Jotello, a head advisor of Chief Ngqika, on the grounds that she wanted her son to be raised a Christian and receive formal education. Nosuthu's request was granted and she took Soga to the Thyume Mission. As a child in Thyume, Soga attended the school of the Revd John A. Chalmers. In 1844 at the age of 15 Soga received a scholarship to Lovedale Missionary Institution located  from Thyume.<mask>'s education was interrupted by the "War of the Axe" in 1846 and he and his mother were forced to take refuge in nearby Fort Armstrong. The principal of Lovedale, the Revd William Govan, decided to return home to Scotland and offered to pay the way for <mask> to come with him and seek higher education. Nosuthu agreed to let her son go. Not knowing if she would ever see him again, she said: "my son belongs to God; wherever he goes God is with him…he is as much in God's care in Scotland as he is here with me". <mask> attended the Normal School in Glasgow, Scotland and was "adopted" by the John Street United Presbyterian Church. During his stay in Scotland Soga made a formal profession of Christian faith and

masks:
Tiyo Soga
Soga
Soga
Soga
Soga


texts: was baptized in May 1848. During his time in Scotland Soga developed a sympathetic perspective for both the white and black races and his unique racial perspective remained with him for the rest of his life.After two years in Scotland, Soga returned to the Eastern Cape to work as an evangelist and teacher in Thyume. Soga was asked by the Rev. Robert Niven to help establish a new mission station in the Amatole Mountains and he faithfully planted the Uniondale Mission in Keiskammahoek. Because of its identification with the colonial authorities Uniondale mission was burnt to the ground by those at war with the colonial powers. Soga was almost killed in the incident and refused to side with the chief leading the war or to accept the position of translator offered him by the colonial government. Soga decided to pursue further theological education and accompanied Rev. Niven back to Scotland where he enrolled at the Theological Hall, Glasgow so that he might "learn better how to preach Christ as my known Saviour to my countrymen who know Him not".On 10 December 1856 <mask> <mask> became the first black South African to be ordained in the United Presbyterian Church. Two months after his ordination Soga married Janet Burnside, a Scotswoman who was "a most honourable, thrifty, frugal, and devoted woman who marched heroically and faithfully by her husband's side through all the chequered scenes of his short life". Throughout his life Soga faced racism as a "Kaffir" and was treated as a second-class citizen by

masks: Tiyo Soga


texts: many whites in Africa. Soga also faced opposition from black Africans, some of whom thought of him as trying to become a "black Englishman". In 1857 <mask> returned to the Eastern Cape with his wife where they eventually founded the Emgwali Mission where Soga worked among his native Ngqika people. During their years in Emgwali the Soga's had eight children, one of whom was stillborn. Two of their sons – William Anderson Soga and John Henderson Soga – followed their father and were ordained as ministers and missionaries, and two of their daughters – Isabella McFarlane <mask> and Francis Maria Anna Soga – were employed as teachers in mission.Kirkland <mask>, studied law at University of Glasgow and became the first black lawyer in South Africa, and a politician involved in the founding of the African National Congress. His fourth son was Jotello Festiri <mask>, the first black veterinary surgeon in South Africa. The youngest daughter born just a year before Soga died, Jessie Margaret <mask> became a classic contralto soloist and teacher studying in Milan and a licenciate of the Royal College of Music, London and a leading suffragist. <mask> returned to England for the births of all her children. <mask> Soga suffered from poor health and it was during one of these bouts of sickness that he used his time to translate Pilgrim's Progress (U-Hambo Iom-Hambi) into his native Xhosa language. Soga's translation and adaptation of Pilgrim's Progress has been called "the most important literary influence in 19th

masks:
Soga
Soga
Allan Soga
Soga
Soga
Janet Soga
Tiyo


texts:
 century South Africa after the Bible." He also worked to translate the Christian gospels and served on the advisory board to revise the Xhosa Bible.At the end of his short life <mask> was sent to open a new mission station in Tutuka (Somerville) in Kreli's country and the difficult work further deteriorated his health. It was the desire of <mask> that his children be educated in Scotland and before his death instructed his sons, "For your own sakes never appear ashamed that your father was a "Kaffir" and that you inherit some African blood. It is every whit as good and as pure as that which flows in the veins of my fairer brethren…you will ever cherish the memory of your mother as that of an upright, conscientious, thrifty, Christian Scots woman. You will ever be thankful for your connection by this tie with the white race". <mask> died of tuberculosis in August 1871. He died in the arms of fellow missionary Richard Ross with his mother, Nosuthu, by his side. He is considered by many to be the first major modern African intellectual and was among the first Christian leaders to assert the right of black Africans to have freedom and equality.Hymns and poetry

One of <mask>'s hymns exemplifies his Xhosa heritage by setting the words of Ntsikana's "Great Hymn" to music. Ntsikana, a Xhosa chief, is remembered as the first important African convert to Christianity. Around 1815, Ntsikana started the first African Christian organization and went on to write four poetic hymns. His "Great Hymn" extols God as

masks: Soga Soga Soga Soga


texts:
 creator and redeemer, and still appears with <mask>'s music in modern hymnbooks. Although Ntisikana died before <mask>'s birth, Soga was clearly influenced by his predecessor's poetry and example. Soga's tribute to Ntsikana includes the lines:
What "thing" Ntsikana, was't that prompted thee
To preach to thy dark countrymen beneath yon tree'? What sacred vision did the mind enthral,
Whil'st thou lay dormant in thy cattle kraal?<mask>'s "Bell Hymn", used to call worshippers together, is also based on a Ntisikana poem. African poet and playwright H. I. E. Dhlomo's play The Girl Who Killed to Save: Nongqause the Liberator incorporates the music of the Bell Hymn. The character of <mask> himself appears at the end of the play, heralded by other characters singing another of <mask>'s hymns, "Fulfill Your Promise." Lizalis' idinga lakho
This hymn was sung long after <mask>'s death, to open the first meeting of the South African Native National Congress in 1912. "Fulfill Your Promise" may also have inspired the African National Congress anthem, "God Bless Africa". <mask> wrote the hymn in July 1857, when he returned to Africa. The last verse of "Fulfill Your Promise" may be translated as:
O Lord, bless
The teachings of our land;
Please revive us
That we may restore goodness.References

1829 births
1871 deaths
19th-century journalists
19th-century male writers
19th-century Presbyterian ministers
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Male journalists
South African journalists
Xhosa people
Recipients of the Order of

masks: Soga Soga Soga Soga Soga Soga Soga


texts:
<mask> (born 25 June 1985) is an Indian bureaucrat, civil servant and officer in the Uttar Pradesh cadre of the Indian Administrative Service. She came into public view after launching a massive drive against corruption and illegal sand mining within her jurisdiction of Gautam Budh Nagar. She was later suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government for allegedly demolishing an illegal mosque wall in a village in Greater Noida, which resulted in severe opposition as it was perceived to be based on flimsy grounds. There was a growing demand from various political parties, associations of Indian bureaucrats, and by the general public on online social media for her suspension to be revoked. Her suspension was revoked by the Uttar Pradesh government on 22 September 2013. <mask> was appointed in the Agriculture Ministry as OSD (Officer on Special Duty) to the Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh in January 2015. Since 19 July 2019, she is working as the Deputy Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.Background
<mask> <mask> was born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh on 25 June 1985. Her father is a retired government officer who was awarded the President's Medal for distinguished service at the Delhi Cantonment Board. Her grandfather was a police officer who was murdered in 1954 while on duty in Sadar Bazaar, Delhi. She graduated from the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University in 2007 with an undergraduate degree in computer engineering. She obtained an All India Rank of 20 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination in 2009, after which she joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). In her first attempt to pass the civil service exam, she was accepted into the Indian Revenue Service, but chose to take the UPSC exam another time. She is married to Abhishek Singh, who is also an IAS officer.She met Singh while preparing for the UPSC examinations in 2009. Career
<mask> began her career in the Punjab cadre of the IAS. She joined the Mohali district administration in June 2011, and served there for

masks:
Durga Shakti Nagpal
Nagpal
Durga
Nagpal
Nagpal


texts:
 fourteen months. As a trainee IAS officer in Punjab, she exposed a land scam in Mohali. In August 2012, she moved to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) cadre as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Sadar, Noida, after marrying Abhishek Singh. She was later appointed as the SDM in Gautam Budh Nagar. She came into public notice after acting against the "sand mafia" in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh by forming special investigation teams to stop the illegal sand-mining in the Yamuna and Hindon river banks.Under her leadership, the administration confiscated 24 dumper trucks and 300 trolleys used in illegal operations, and arrested 15 people who were fined . Crackdown on illegal mining

Most of the sand-mining activity in the NCR region, comprising Noida (Uttar Pradesh), Faridabad (Haryana) and Delhi, is illegal as no environment impact assessment (EIA) has been carried out, and it is estimated that about 250 to 350 truckloads of sand is illegally dredged every day. The cost of this sand varies from  per month to  per annum. According to environmentalists and engineers, the massive amount of mining is responsible for soil-erosion and changing the natural flow of the Hindon and Yamuna, which shifted its course by about 500 metres toward east and posed a threat to flood embankments in six sectors of Noida. A "Special Mining Squad" was established by the Noida district administration to curb sand mining and was expected to succeed, but high demand of sand for increased construction activity, police inaction and the political nexus with the "sand mafia" has ensured that various rules to safeguard the environment are regularly flouted. After receiving many complaints of dredging in the Yamuna and Hindon rivers banks, the UP Chief Minister's office in Lucknow asked the GB Nagar district administration to prevent further illegal activity. <mask>, as the SDM, oversaw a large operation to stop illegal sand mining in the district, and used surprise and secrecy to arrest illegal miners and to confiscate their machinery.On 23 July 2013, <mask> had said that she would take strict

masks: Nagpal Nagpal


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 action against dredgers engaged in illegal mining, adding that such activity could affect the environment adversely. Since April 2013, the Uttar Pradesh Police had filed 17 FIRs and the Chief Judicial magistrate had ordered the arrest of illegal sand miners in 22 cases. From April to June 2013, the police had impounded 297 vehicles and machinery used for illegal mining and collected Rs  in fines. Under <mask>, a joint operation involving the revenue, police and transport departments was launched and villages of Asgarpur, Nangla Wajidpur, Gulavli, Kambakshpur, Jaganpur Chaproli were monitored. On 25 July, the government transferred the mining officer of the GB Nagar district Ashish Kumar, who was assisting <mask>, to Bulandshahr. Before being transferred, Kumar survived three attempts on his life, the last one was on 9 February 2013. <mask> was also targeted on 26 April 2013, during a visit to the Kasna police station.These attacks were attributed to the "sand mafia" operating in the district. On the night of 29 July 2013, the Gautam Buddha Nagar police arrested 15 persons and confiscated 26 vehicles in the district and registered seven cases, some of which were in Dankaur and Greater Noida areas. Suspension
<mask> was suspended on 28 July 2013, a day after she allegedly demolished a wall of an under-construction mosque in Kadalpur village, in the Rabupura area of Greater Noida. The construction of the mosque had not been cleared by the state government. Whether <mask> was actually involved in the demolition of the wall, and whether she was justified in her actions even if she was, are disputed. Her supporters and most of the media sources claim that <mask> did not order the demolition of the wall and was not even present at the site when the incident happened. According to them, she was targeted due to her campaign against illegal sand-mining, and allegations of <mask>'s involvement in the demolition are false.However, there are other sources which quote residents of Kadalpur village claiming that <mask> personally supervised the demolition of the wall.

masks: Nagpal Nagpal Nagpal Nagpal Nagpal Nagpal Nagpal Nagpal


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 On 16 August, <mask> submitted her reply to the chargesheet filed by the UP government, in which she declared herself innocent and said that her action was within the rules of service and as per the directions of the Supreme Court. On 28 August, Noida district magistrate Ravikant Singh, who backed <mask>'s actions, was transferred from his post and was put on a wait list. Suspension revoked
<mask>, accompanied by her husband Abhishek Singh, met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on 21 September 2013 for the first time since her suspension. Her suspension was revoked by the UP government on 22 September 2013, and she joined as Joint Magistrate of Kanpur (Rural) on 5 October 2013. Targeting of Family
On 11 October 2014, <mask>'s husband, Abhishek Singh, also a bureaucrat was suspended. Abhishek Singh was the SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate) in Mahawan, Mathura, was suspended by the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, for allegedly treating a teacher, Fauran Singh, in an inhuman manner.Abhishek Singh denies the charges, while the government refuses to elaborate further on what inhuman actions he was guilty of. Reactions to her suspension

Public
The administrative actions and subsequent suspension of <mask> received widespread attention in India. She was widely praised for making efforts to clean up the corruption in the Indian political system. References were made with the Hindu goddess <mask> for taking action against the politically well-connected sand-mining mafia and real estate barons. According to Surinder S. Jodhka, professor and chair at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems in Jawaharlal Nehru University, the protest after <mask>'s suspension are due to the growing discontent within India's growing middle-class with criminalisation in politics. Due to the public protests, the UP government had to engage in damage control, highlighting its welfare schemes and announcing that it is considering to set up a task force to check illegal mining. Kiran Bedi and large number of people on social media like Facebook and Twitter protested against the IAS officer's

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 suspension.Several serving and retired IAS officers like former Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) N. Vittal, former cabinet secretaries T. S. R. Subramanian and Naresh Chandra, and former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai came out in support of <mask>, calling her actions bold and courageous, and asked the Chief Secretary to revoke her suspension. The All India IAS Association, a national body of IAS officers, termed the government's actions "wrong" and believes that <mask> was suspended due to her stringent actions which hurt the sand-mafia. It has demanded immediate revocation of her suspension, and called the incident "demoralising" for young IAS officers. The collective voicing of these concerns by the state's IAS officers was deemed unusual and surprised the ruling Samajwadi Party. Senior officers have attributed this backlash to the general feeling of discontentment in the officer cadre, which they say is due to increasing political interference in public administration. On 1 August, in a rare act, thousands of IAS officers filed a petition to the Department of personnel and training, demanding intervention by the Central government to direct the UP government to revoke <mask>'s suspension. On 5 August 2013, reacting to the suspension of <mask>, the National Green Tribunal ordered a pan-India suspension of all sand mining activity carried without a license from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.Political parties
Since <mask>'s suspension came to public view, it has been alleged that Samajwadi Party leader Narendra Bhati, who had cabinet-minister rank as the then chairperson of the UP State Agro Industrial Corporation Limited, was responsible for getting her abruptly suspended because he was frustrated by <mask>'s drive against illegal mining. Bhati was later recorded on video boasting about getting the officer suspended within 40 minutes. Other leaders of the Samajwadi party such as Azam Khan and Naresh Agarwal had issued statements supporting the suspension order. The then opposition parties in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya

masks: Nagpal Nagpal Durga Nagpal Nagpal Nagpal


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 Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party accused the state government of ignoring the rule of law and protecting criminals. The former president of the BJP Nitin Gadkari criticised the action as "... fanning communal and caste-based sentiments" and "harassing a good officer for vote bank politics..." The BJP in Uttar Pradesh asked the state's then Governor BL Joshi to intervene and revoke the suspension. On 2 August 2013, the Indian National Congress condemned the suspension order and said that public reactions of Samajwadi Party leaders supporting the suspension order, indicated that those orders were dictated by the sand mining mafia. However, it also criticised the  "arbitrary demolition" of the mosque's wall.UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding fair treatment of the officer. State government
The Samajwadi Party government said in a statement that <mask> was suspended for demolishing a mosque's wall and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav justified the order saying that <mask>'s actions "lacked foresight and disturbed communal harmony" and she was suspended due to "administrative compulsion to ease communal tension". This was later refuted by reports that the area had not reported any communal tension. The Station Officer of Rabupura police station said that since the demolition took place in night, most residents were not even aware of the incident. The demolition was reportedly executed in compliance to Supreme Court orders forbidding construction of illegal religious structures on public land. The court, in a judgement passed in 2009 had ruled that "no new temples, mosques, churches and gurdwaras can be constructed on public parks, public streets and public spaces" and "the ban must be enforced even if it gave rise to a law and order problem." According to the report on the demolition incident submitted by Ravikant Singh, District Magistrate (DM) of Greater Noida to the UP government, <mask> did not demolish a wall of any religious structure, in fact there was no

masks: Nagpal Nagpal Nagpal


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 religious structure in place.The construction of the wall had just begun, and on being warned by Ms. <mask> of the structure being constructed on government land, the local residents decided to dismantle the constructed wall themselves. The report called <mask>'s actions "blemish-free". The report also says that there was no communal tension or the possibility of any clashes between religious communities. The UP government appointed a committee to verify the DM's report. After the IAS officers' association protested on 29 July, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary said that the suspension order would be reviewed, but despite the assurances, no decision has been taken. After the suspension, <mask> was attached to the Board of Revenue in Lucknow, the state capital. Kadalpur
The residents of Kadalpur village however challenged the anti-corruption narrative in the media, and say that the suspension order was justified.They even threatened to protest if she is reinstated. They said that the mosque was being built on gram sabha land and they had got the panchayat's approval, adding that they were unaware about seeking permission for it. The construction of the mosque was started in 2011, hence they questioned the delayed response of the authorities. Stressing on <mask>'s "high-handedness" and getting the police to demolish it, they said they requested more time to obtain the construction permission, which she rejected. On the District Magistrate's report to the UP government, they claimed that he did not contact them or any of the panchayat officials. They said that donations for the construction of temples and mosques were given by everyone, and they aim to re-build the mosque. Dhirendra Singh, spokesperson for the Uttar Pradesh Congress party, said that the villagers were not aware of the Supreme Court rulings and it was the duty of the administration to direct them into getting permission and at least stop the construction temporarily.The majority of the villagers are Muslims and the rest are Hindus, and there is a minimal threat for communal violence there. A

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 month later the villagers said they felt cheated by the UP government since permission to build it was still not given; they blamed the Samajwadi Party leaders for unnecessarily punishing her. They said that the party leaders should have got them permission to build the mosque at that time, preventing this incident from happening. Public-interest litigations
The suspension order of <mask> was challenged in the Allahabad High Court on 30 July 2013 through a Public interest litigation (PIL). The petition was filed by social activist Nutan Thakur at the Lucknow bench of the court. It also requested the court to direct the central government to ask the state governments to prevent harassment of those officers who have ordered action against illegal construction of religious places, and illegal mining. On 1 August, the court ruled that the suspension is not a matter of a PIL, and the officer should directly approach the court.It however praised her work in preventing illegal sand mining and ordered both the central and the state government to report how they are tackling illegal mining and what security is being provided to the officers engaged in stopping it. On 8 August, the Supreme Court of India accepted a PIL filed by an advocate M. L. Sharma. The PIL sought to dismiss all charges against <mask> and argued that <mask> was suffering hardship for following the court's rulings in 2009 and 2010 regarding demolition of illegal religious structures. On 16 August, the court refused to accept the PIL, questioning the standing of the lawyer, but saying that "it may entertain the petition if she (<mask>) herself approaches the court." The court also sought an explanation from the UP government for arresting Kanwal Bharti, a scholar who allegedly wrote a post on Facebook in support of <mask>. The central government had passed an advisory notification based on an earlier order of the court which said that a person cannot be arrested for posting objectionable comments on social networking sites without taking permission from a high-ranking police official.

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 Intervention by central government
On 31 July, the central government said that they are awaiting a detailed report on her suspension from the state within 15 days.The Minister of State for Personnel V. Narayanasamy, during a meeting with a delegation from All India IAS Officers' Association assured that justice will be done to Ms. Nagpal. He later assured that both version of the incident will be taken into account before reaching a decision. As per the All India Services (Discipline And Appeal) Rules, 1969, the UP government cannot keep her under suspension for more than 90 days, pending disciplinary proceedings, without the consent of Central Government. On 5 August 2013, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the central government had asked the UP government to provide details of the case. On 19 August, associations of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) met with the Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) S K Sarkar and demanded that the central government should modify the rules related to suspension of bureaucrats by state governments, as those rules were widely abused. The three associations want the central government instead of various state governments to have the authority to suspend any All India Services officer. On 20 August, the central government decided not to intervene in the suspension of <mask>, as she did not appeal or challenge the suspension order given by the Uttar Pradesh government.Since <mask>'s suspension on 27 July, the centre had issued three reminders to the UP government, seeking a detailed report. On 4 August, the UP government had sent a report on <mask>'s suspension to the DoPT and had served a chargesheet to <mask>, which deemed her actions as unwarranted and in violation of rules. References

External links
 A view from behind of the under-construction mosque in Kadalpur village, which <mask> visited and allegedly demolished
 Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), India

Living people
1985 births
Indian civil servants
Indian


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Wallace Merle "<mask>" <mask>, (1896-1962) was an American inventor, engineer, developer and entrepreneur most famous as one of the pioneer manufacturers of the travel trailer. He founded the company, Airstream Inc. From the 1930s until his death in 1962, Byam was a leader in developing both a romance and enthusiasm associated with the automobile and recreational vehicle culture, as well as product features as the United States became increasingly focused on highways and automobile travel. Early years
Byam was born on July 4, 1896, in Baker City, Oregon and as a young child he traveled extensively with his grandfather, who led a mule train in Oregon. By the time he was three, his parents divorced and his mother married David Davis, a butcher. By 1910, the family had moved to Astoria, OR and Byam had taken the name of his stepfather, Davis. Later, as an adolescent, Byam worked as a shepherd while he lived in a two-wheeled shepherd's cart outfitted with a kerosene cook stove, a sleeping bag, and wash pail. In these early years, he also joined tugboats as an ablebodied seaman during summers on Astoria to Alaska trips which fostered his independence and love of travel.By the time <mask> ended high school both his mother and stepfather had died leaving him orphaned and with not much money he turned to college. In 1921, he graduated with a BA in History, registered under the name Wallace M. Davis at Stanford University. After graduating he traveled to Hollywood attempting a career but started a job at The Los Angeles Times. He married his first wife, Marion James, with whom he owned an advertisement mailer company. A do-it-yourself magazine he published featured an article describing how to build a

masks: Wally Byam Byam


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 travel trailer. When readers complained about the plans, <mask> tried them out for himself. Indeed, he discovered the plans were flawed.<mask> was inspired to build his own travel trailer, to accompany a model T<mask> and his wife went on a camping trip in the teardrop model type pop up "tent". <mask> wrote an article in Popular Mechanics describing how to build his trailer for under $100 — this time drawing an enthusiastic response from his readers. Byam sells leisure travel
During the late 1920s, Americans were beginning to take to the roads in greater numbers. <mask>'s new trailer was a perfect match for the increasingly popular mobile lifestyle. Byam thus began selling sets of his plans for five dollars. He also sold complete trailer kits and finished trailers he built in his Los Angeles backyard. His fledgling business survived the crash of 1929.By 1930, he had abandoned advertising and publishing to become a full-time builder of Masonite travel trailers. The Airstream Company was incorporated in 1931. In 1934, Hawley Bowlus developed the first riveted aluminum trailer, named the "Road Chief". <mask> was involved in sales of these trailers. Bowlus continued to produce his line of trailers, finally ending production in September 1936. William Hawley Bowlus was an aircraft designer who had worked on The Spirit of St. Louis. Airstream and World War II
On January 17, 1936, the Airstream Trailer Co. introduced the Clipper, and a well-known American brand was born.The Clipper was a similar shape and length to the Bowlus Road Chief but with the door now located on the side. With its semi monocoque, riveted aluminum body, it had more in common with the aircraft of its day than with its travel trailer

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Byam
Byam
. Byam
Byam
Byam
Wally Byam


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 predecessors. It could sleep four, thanks to its tubular steel-framed dinette, which could convert to a bed. It carried its own water supply, had an enclosed galley, and was fitted with electric lights. The Clipper boasted advanced insulation and a ventilation system, and even offered "air conditioning" that used dry ice. At $1200, the Clipper was considered an expensive travel trailer. However, market response to the product was strong and Byam's company could not build units fast enough to satisfy the deluge of orders.<mask>'s meticulous attention to quality and design helped guide the firm through tough economic times. Of more than 400 travel trailer builders operating in 1936, Airstream was the only one to survive the Great Depression years. With the onset of World War II, leisure travel and the materials necessary to build trailers became luxuries the country could not afford and in response to the war effort, Airstream Trailer Co. closed its doors. Byam decided that the best way to help America was to use his experience with aluminum fabricating in the aircraft industry. He took positions at Lockheed and Curtis Wright for the duration of the war. When World War II ended, the economy boomed and Americans once again turned their attention towards recreational travel. Byam reopened Airstream; by 1948, the demand for Airstream trailers seemed limitless.Like the Coca-Cola bottle and Zippo lighter, Airstream travel trailers became one of the most recognizable products in the world. The 1950s
In July 1952, the lease was signed for a facility in Jackson Center, Ohio, to serve the eastern market. By August 1954, the first Ohio-made Airstream rolled off the production line, and the California factory


texts:
 was moved to larger facilities in Santa Fe Springs. <mask> was one of the first to attempt this sort of travel on a global scale. In 1955, <mask> travelled to Europe with his wife Stella, in a one-of-a-kind Airstream Bubble to scout the 1956 caravan. Then in 1956, he travelled to Europe in a white 26' trailer towed by a Cadillac. Byam's globetrotting adventures were the inspiration for the formation of the nonprofit club, Wally Byam Caravan Club International, to promote the use of Airstreams to travel as much as possible.Founded in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1955, the club is still in existence today, with more than 6,000 member families. In 2007, the club held more than 1400 rallies and caravans. <mask> Death
On July 22, 1962, <mask> died at the age of 66 of a brain tumor. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA in the Columbarium Garden of Honor. Airstream is now owned by Thor Industries, Inc., the largest travel trailer manufacturer in the world. Caravans
Byam famously led caravans worldwide as publicity exercises for the Airstream brand. The Wally Byam Caravan Club's 50th International Rally took place in Perry, GA June 23-July 4, 2007.His most notable caravan was a 1959 excursion from Cape Town, South Africa, to Nairobi, Kenya. A recreation of <mask>'s legendary Cape Town to Nairobi caravan was scheduled to take place in 2009. However, the planned tour was canceled due to safety and political concerns, and the prohibitive insurance costs. References

External links
 Airstream Camping  Video produced by Oregon Field Guide

Recreational vehicles
1896 births
1962 deaths
People from Baker City, Oregon
Stanford University alumni
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park

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Wally Byam
Wally
Wally Byam
Wally Byam
Byam


texts: Theodora Megale Komnene (), also known as <mask>hatun (; from the Greek title despoina and Turco-Mongol title khatun, both meaning "lady, princess, queen"), was the daughter of John IV of Trebizond and Bagrationi who married the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan in 1458. She became the mother of Martha (Halima) who became the mother of first Safavid king, Shah Ismail I. Some older writers refer to her as "Catherine". Charles Diehl has shown that it was based on Du Cange’s misunderstanding of the Mongol title "Khatun" as "Catherine". John IV agreed to the marriage only if his daughter was allowed to continue her Orthodox Christian religion, a condition which Uzun Hasan agreed upon. <mask> was famous for her extreme beauty amongst the Greek women. She was accompanied by a group of Orthodox Christian priests and was allowed to build Orthodox churches in Iran.Uzun Hasan strengthened his anti-Ottoman alliance by this marriage and gained the support of many Greek, Armenian and Georgians. Marriage between Christians and Muslim rulers, although uncommon, was not unprecedented. Speros Vryonis provides several examples from the Sultanate of the Seljuk Turks, beginning with Kilij Arslan II. A later example is Michael VIII Palaiologos marrying off his illegitimate daughters Euphrosyne and Maria to Nogai Khan and Abaqa Khan respectively. Previous Emperors of Trebizond had married off his female relatives, most notably Alexios III, during whose reign two of his sisters and two of his daughters were married to rulers of neighboring Muslim states. In Western Europe, Theodora inspired the myth of the

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Despina K
Despina


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 "Princess of Trebizond", a fixture of tales of damsels in distress as well as of a possible grand Crusade against the Ottoman Turks. The legend inspired several artists, including Pisanello and Jacques Offenbach.Early life
Theodora was acknowledged as the daughter of John IV, but there is some mystery about who her mother was: no primary source names her mother, and John IV had two wives, Bagrationi, a daughter of King Alexander I, and the daughter of a Turkish sultan, whom John married sometime before November 1437. Because the first allusion to Theodora is dated to February 1451, when the Byzantine diplomat George Sphrantzes came to Trebizond seeking a bride for his Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos and we do not know how old she was at the time, either woman could be her mother. In 1458 she was married to Uzun Hasan, Khan of the Turkoman tribe of Aq Qoyunlu; her uncle David gave her away at the marriage. Political marriage
At the time of marriage, the Empire of her father John faced a serious threat. Constantinople had fallen to the Ottoman sultan, Mehmet II in 1453. In 1456, Mehmet ordered his governor Chetir, to capture Trebizond; the attack failed, but John was forced to pay tribute to Mehmet to prevent further attacks. Mehmet gradually annexed the last Palaiologian possessions in the Morea, completing the task with the conquest of Mistra on 29 May 1460.An alliance with the powerful Aq Qoyunlu tribe, who were the Ottomans' most powerful rival, appeared more than beneficial. Trebziond and the Aq Qoyunlu had a history of co-operation, for they had concluded a political


texts:
 marriage in the past: Theodora's great-great aunt had married Qara Osman, emir of the Aq Qoyunlu. Theodora was famed for her beauty. An unknown Venetian traveller wrote, "it was common opinion that there was at that time no woman of greater beauty; and throughout all Persia the fame of her great beauty and supreme charm spread." Uzun Hassan eagerly agreed to be the protector of Trebizond, as well as making other concessions, in return for Theodora's hand. News of Theodora as the Princess of Trebizond who was married to the powerful Uzun Hassan spread to the West, and helped to foster stories of Princess of Trebizond. However this alliance failed to help John's successor, his brother David.Mehmed II, the Ottoman ruler, marched on the imperial city of Trebizond in 1461. Uzun Hassan initially supported the Trapuzentines, but he was persuaded by the Ottomans to abandon Trebizond. After securing the eastern border, Mehmed attacked Trebizond, which surrendered 15 August 1461, ending the polity. Late life
After the fall of Trebizond, David was put in house arrest. In 1463, David was discovered attempting to send a secret letter to Theodora, which gave Mehmed II the needed excuse to get rid of David once and for all. He considered this letter a conspiracy to recapture the land of Trebizond with the help of Aq Qoyunlu and had David, his sons and his nephew executed on 1 November 1463. Despite the death of her uncle, Theodora continued to influence her husband in foreign affairs.According to Anthony Bryer, she was the moving force behind diplomatic overtures to Venice in 1465-1466, and to


texts:
 Stephen III of Moldavia in 1474. When the Venetian diplomat Caterino Zeno came to the court of Uzun Hassan in 1473, one of the first persons he met was Theodora. He revealed to the woman that they were related, and on the basis of this she provided him unparalleled access to her and Uzun Hassan during his stay. Franz Babinger states she was present at the Battle of Erzincan, where she urged her husband to pursue the defeated army of Mehmed II in order to utterly destroy him. After the death of Uzun Hassan in 1478, not much is known about her. She was buried at St. Georges Church in Diyarbakr, where her tomb was shown to an Italian visitor in 1507. However the structure was damaged in 1883 and no longer can be seen.Family
By Uzun Hasan, Theodora had several children:
 Yakub, who is not the son of Uzun Hasan who succeeded him as ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu; Bryer believes he was killed by another wife of Uzun Hasan soon after his death in 1478;
 Marta (also called Halima), who married Shaykh Haydar in 1471/1472; Martha became the mother of first Safavid king, Shah Ismail I, who established Shia Islam as the state religion. Two other daughters whom Caterino Zeno met in Damascus, where they conversed in Pontic Greek. See also
 Safavid dynasty family tree
 List of the mothers of the Safavid Shahs
 Pontic Greeks
 Saint George and the Princess of Trebizond by Pisanello. References

Bibliography

15th-century births
15th-century Byzantine women
Princesses of Trebizond
Grand Komnenos dynasty
Iranian Christians
Persian queens consort
15th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians
People of the Aq


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<mask> (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres. <mask>'s breakout role came in 2003, when he was hired as a cast member on the Fox sketch comedy series Mad TV, where he spent five seasons, leaving the show in 2008. In the following years, he and his frequent Mad TV collaborator, Keegan-Michael Key, created and starred in their own Comedy Central sketch comedy series Key & Peele (2012–2015). In 2014, they appeared together as FBI agents in the first season of FX's anthology series Fargo. Peele co-created the TBS comedy series The Last O.G. (2018–present) and the YouTube Premium comedy series Weird City (2019).He has also served as the host and producer of the CBS All Access revival of the anthology series The Twilight Zone (2019–2020). <mask> and Key wrote, produced, and starred in Keanu (2016) and <mask> has voice acted in Storks (2016), Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), Big Mouth (2017–present) and Toy Story 4 (2019). His 2017 directorial debut, the horror film Get Out, was a critical and box office success, for which he received numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, along with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. He received another Academy Award nomination for Best Picture for producing Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman (2018). He directed, wrote, and produced the acclaimed horror film Us (2019). He is the founder of film and television production company Monkeypaw Productions. In 2017, Peele was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.Early life
<mask> <mask> was born in New York City on February 21, 1979. His mother, Lucinda Williams, is white, from Maryland, with deep roots in the Colonial United States. His father, <mask>, Jr., was Black, and originally from North Carolina. He was raised by his single

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Jordan Haworth Peele
Peele
Peele
Peele
Jordan Haworth
Peele
Hayward Peele


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 mother on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He attended the Computer School in Manhattan, graduated from The Calhoun School on Manhattan's Upper West Side in 1997, and went on to Sarah Lawrence College. After two years, Peele dropped out to form a comedy duo with Sarah Lawrence classmate and future Key & Peele writer Rebecca Drysdale. Career

2002–2009: Early beginnings and Mad TV

Peele regularly performed at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and The Second City in Chicago.He and Nicole Parker were well known for their musical duets at Boom Chicago. He portrayed a popular character called "Danish Supermodel Ute" during his time at Boom Chicago and hosted MTV's Comedy Weekend in 2002. In 2003, <mask> joined the cast of Mad TV for its ninth season. Around the time Keegan-Michael Key joined the cast as a featured performer, it was assumed that Key would be chosen over Peele. The two of them ultimately were cast together after showing great comedic chemistry. Peele performed celebrity impersonations, which included favorites Caroll Spinney (as the voice of Big Bird from Sesame Street), Ja Rule, James Brown, Flavor Flav, Justin Guarini, Montel Williams, Morgan Freeman, Timbaland, and Forest Whitaker. Peele was absent from the first four episodes of his second season on Mad TV.He made a cameo in "Weird Al" Yankovic's video "White & Nerdy" with Mad TV co-star Keegan-Michael Key. Peele was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award for his song "Sad Fitty Cent", a music video parody about 50 Cent lamenting over his rivalry with Kanye West. The lyrics were, according to the music video, written by Peele, and he was involved in arranging its music. In 2009, he appeared in Little Fockers. Peele appeared in a viral video titled "Hillary vs Obama" (which was shown as a Mad TV sketch) where he and a Hillary Clinton supporter (played by short-term cast member Lisa Donovan) argue over whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would make a better president,


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 only to get upstaged by a Rudy Giuliani supporter (played by Donovan's brother, Ben). Peele auditioned to be a cast member for Saturday Night Live when SNL producers were looking for someone to play Barack Obama (around the time when SNL and Mad TV — and other scripted shows — were put on hiatus due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike). <mask> remained at Mad TV and the role went to Fred Armisen until September 2012, when Jay Pharoah took over the role.After five seasons on Mad TV, Peele left the cast at the end of the 13th season. 2010–2016: Key & Peele
In 2010, Peele co-starred in the Fox comedy pilot The Station, and appeared with a recurring role in the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital. He had a supporting role in the David Wain-directed comedy Wanderlust, which was released in 2012. <mask> and his former Mad TV castmate and friend Keegan-Michael Key starred in their own Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele, from 2012 to 2015. The series was a success with viewers, and spawned several skits and videos that went viral online. In 2014, Peele played an FBI agent in the first season of the FX anthology series Fargo, based on the 1996 film of the same name. In 2016, Peele starred in and produced, with Key, the first feature film in which the two both had leading roles, Keanu (they had previously both appeared in Wanderlust).The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. 2017–present: Success as a filmmaker
In February 2017, <mask>'s first film, Get Out, was released to critical acclaim, eventually scoring a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film received universal acclaim for Peele's screenplay and direction, as well as the performance of its lead, Daniel Kaluuya, and was chosen by the National Board of Review, the American Film Institute, and Time magazine as one of the top 10 films of the year. The Atlantic called the film "a subversive horror masterpiece." Get Out proved to be

masks: Peele Peele Peele


texts: popular with movie audiences, and it eventually became one of the most profitable horror films, and films of 2017, and grossed over $255 million on a budget of $4.5 million. For his work on the film, Peele received significant attention, as well as numerous accolades, including the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award at the 2017 Gotham Independent Film Awards. The film also received four nominations at the 90th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nominations for Peele, as well as a Best Actor nomination for Kaluuya.<mask> won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, becoming the first African-American screenwriter to win in this category. He became the third person, after Warren Beatty and James L. Brooks, to be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for a debut film, and the first black person to receive them for any one film. Get Out also earned him the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as nominations for a Directors Guild of America Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. The success prompted his Monkeypaw Productions company to a first look deal with Universal Pictures. In early 2018 <mask> announced his intention to retire from acting, stating in an interview with CBS "Acting is just nowhere near as fun for me as directing". In 2018, Peele co-created the TBS comedy series The Last O.G., starring Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish. Also in 2018, Peele co-produced the Spike Lee film, BlacKkKlansman which was released to critical acclaim and was a box office success.The film received six nominations at the 91st Academy Awards including the Best Picture nomination for Peele. On June 28, 2018, it was announced that YouTube Premium would be releasing Weird City, co-created by <mask> and Charlie Sanders. The show was released on February 13, 2019 to critical acclaim. On April 5, 2018, it was


texts: announced that Amazon Video had given a series order to the docuseries Lorena consisting of four episodes. The series was set to be directed by Joshua Rofé who would also executive produce alongside <mask>, Win Rosenfeld, Steven J. Berger, Jenna Santoianni, and Tom Lesinski. Production companies involved with the series include Monkeypaw Productions, Sonar Entertainment, and Number 19. It ultimately premiered on February 15, 2019.<mask>'s second film as director was Us, a horror-thriller film which he also wrote and produced, starring Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker. After having its world premiere on March 8, the film was released in the United States on March 22, 2019 by Universal Pictures, Monkeypaw Productions, and QC Entertainment. Peele developed and is narrator for the science fiction web television series The Twilight Zone, the third revival of the original 1959-64 anthology series that aired on CBS, for CBS All Access. The show premiered on April 1, 2019, with <mask>, Simon Kinberg and Marco Ramirez as executive producers. In February 2020, Peele produced a 10 episode series about hunting down Nazis called Hunters. Peele produced the HBO series Lovecraft Country written by Underground co-creator Misha Green. Peele co-produced and co-wrote the 2021 sequel to Candyman, through his Monkeypaw Productions, of which Candyman star Tony Todd stated in a 2018 interview with Nightmare on Film Street, "I’d rather have him do it, someone with intelligence, who’s going to be thoughtful and dig into the whole racial makeup of who Candyman is and why he existed in the first place."Universal and MGM partnered with Win Rosenfeld to co-produce the film with <mask>, and Nia DaCosta directed. The new Candyman serves as a "spiritual sequel," taking place back in the gentrified Cabrini Green, where housing projects once stood in Chicago. After multiple delays, the movie was theatrically released on

masks: Peele Peele Peele Peele


texts:
 August 27, 2021, to positive reviews. Future projects
On November 3, 2015, it was reported that Henry Selick was developing Wendell and Wild, a new stop-motion feature with <mask> and Keegan-Michael Key based on an original story by Selick. In March 2018, the film was picked up by Netflix. There have been several films floated based on Peele's sketch comedy series Key & Peele. In March 2015, it was announced that Key would reprise the role of Mr. Garvey in a feature-length film Substitute Teacher with Peele portraying a rival teacher.In March 2017 in a Reddit AMA, <mask> expressed interest in developing a film around his Key & Peele character Wendell Sanders based on the music video "The Power of Wings". The film, titled Wendell Meets Middle-Earth, would follow Wendell's existence in the fantasy world that he likes to see his life in. In October 2020, Rosenfeld and <mask> signed on to produce the remake of Wes Craven's 1991 comedy horror film The People Under the Stairs. <mask>'s next film, Nope is scheduled to be released on July 22, 2022. It is reported that his Monkeypaw Productions company has struck a deal with Universal Television. Influences
In February 2017, Peele curated the Brooklyn Academy of Music film series "The Art of the Social Thriller", comprising 12 films that inspired the making of Get Out, including the horror films Rosemary's Baby, Night of the Living Dead, The Shining, Candyman, The People Under the Stairs, Scream, The Silence of the Lambs, Funny Games, Misery, the thrillers Rear Window and The 'Burbs, and the comedy-drama Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. As a comedian, Peele counts among his influences In Living Color, Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle.He also has listed Steve Martin and Martin Lawrence as arguably his two biggest influences. Personal life
Through his mother, Lucinda Williams, Peele is descended from the colonial Woodhull family, whose prominent members include Brigadier General

masks:
Jordan Peele
Peele
Peele
Peele


texts:
 Nathaniel Woodhull and Culper Ring Spy Abraham Woodhull (the latter of whom is his first cousin, 8 times removed). Peele began dating Chelsea Peretti in 2013. They became engaged in November 2015, and Peretti announced in April 2016 that she and <mask> had eloped. They have a son named Beaumont (born July 1, 2017). Filmography

As Filmmaker

Awards and nominations

Peele has been nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Get Out (2017), winning the latter, and another Best Picture nomination for BlacKkKlansman (2018). He has also been nominated for two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and won one Primetime Emmy Award.References

External links

Peele's production practice Monkeypaw Productions

1979 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American male writers
African-American male comedians
African-American film directors
African-American film producers
African-American male actors
African-American screenwriters
American film production company founders
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American sketch comedians
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
Comedians from New York City
Directors Guild of America Award winners
Film directors from New York City
Film producers from New York (state)
Horror film directors
Independent Spirit Award for Best Director winners
Male actors from New York City
Peabody Award winners
People from the Upper West Side
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Sarah Lawrence College alumni
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Television producers from New York City
Time 100
Woodhull family
Writers Guild of America Award


texts:
<mask> (19 August 1935 - 16 June 2016) was the author of 14 plays, three books, writer-director of scores of television programmes, many articles and columns, and is best known for his dramatic version of the great epic, The Ramayana, written in English for the Royal Shakespeare Company of Great Britain, which subsequently has been presented on stage more than 2000 times to the highest acclaim in India and the theatre capitals of the West. <mask>n was modern India's maverick artist par excellence! 80 million watched his TV series India Alive. On Broadway, his epic play The Ramayana earned rave reviews. He composed his own music. The Akshara Theatre, situated on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, was constructed (including the furniture and lights) by him in the early 1970s. It is a hub of cultural activity in New Delhi and is studied by architecture students.His political satires pack a deadly punch and his poetry reminded President Radhakrishnan of the Upanishads. Early life and career
Born in Calcutta, India, on 19 August 1935, <mask> was the sixth child  of Dr. Buddhidhan <mask>, a medical doctor of repute, and his wife Savitri. Both parents were Sanskrit scholars and ardent fighters in the cause of India's independence from British rule. Sharman started his working life as a journalist in Lucknow and Calcutta but shifted to Delhi in 1958, where he began writing on the performing arts for several major Indian newspapers. He later moved to London where he wrote on the arts for The Times, London and The Sunday Times  . His highly acclaimed book on India music, Filigree in Sound was published in London by Andre Deutsch. He has also written columns for

masks:
Gopal Sharman
Gopal Sharma
Gopal
Sharman


texts:
 the Washington Post in the United States.His theatrical career was launched by Professor Radhakrishnan, President of India with a reading of <mask>'s poems and stories at the Rashtrapati Bavan by his wife Jalabala. Shortly after the couple embarked on a tour that took them to Europe and international high praise from critics and audiences alike. This first production, Full Circle, was followed by an invitation from the Royal Shakespeare Company of Great Britain to bring a play to their World Theatre Season. The play in question was <mask>'s The Ramayana, a play in English in four acts that retold the epic story from a contemporary viewpoint, but without any loss of reverence. Poetry & Plays
<mask> rose to prominence as a playwright and director with his very first production, Full Circle, a collection of his stories and poems dramatically performed by his actress wife, Jalabala Vaidya . Full Circle had its London premiere at the Mercury Theatre, where T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral and Christopher Fry's Ascent of F6 had also had their world premieres.The Sunday Times hailed Sharman as a new major poet and said of Jalabala Vaidya: she performs exquisitely . The Guardian described Sharman as a Renaissance man who would leave any Medici panting well in the rear. The production, an inspired view of contemporary India with its mixture of pointless poverty, classical Indian thought, comic asides on cobweb-shrouded government departments, and pure lyricism is obviously inspired by Sharman's early life. Sharman returned to India to write his dramatic, contemporary version of the 5000-year-old Indian epic, The Ramayana, for the RSC. The Ramayana

masks: Gopal Sharman Sharman


texts:
 on Broadway
The power and beauty of Sharman's play, widely acclaimed and applauded by purists and modernists alike in India, Jalabala's 'tour de force' performance, and Sharman's superb direction and production design have made The Ramayana, with more than 2000 performances to date, something of a legend in contemporary world theatre. It has played on Broadway in New York, on London's West End, the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where it received a standing ovation, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the National Theatres of Finland and Canada — even in the Bahamas and the Fiji Islands — and in more cities and towns in India than any other theatrical production since after Independence. Robert A. Hendrickson first produced the play on Broadway, New York in 1975.When The Ramayana played in New York, the New York Times hailed <mask>'s play as "India's Gift to Broadway"  On the U.S. West Coast, poet Gene Detro wrote in Portland's Oregon Journal: "Both poet playwright <mask> Sharman and his actress wife Jalabala Vaidya are possessed of genius … Sharman's script fuses poetic power with the pacing of a very fine film editor". The Akshara Theatre, New Delhi
<mask> Sharman has also created an exquisite arts complex in an old Lutyen's bungalow in New Delhi called the Akshara National Classical Theatre, built and designed by himself, and embellished by his own stone carvings. This complex houses three theatres, television production studios and a gallery. Here the couple work and live. From the mid-‘80s, Sharman has also made a series of outstanding television programmes and documentaries for television. These include the popular

masks: Sharman Gopal Gopal


texts:
 India Alive series, The Kashmir Story, The Sufi Way, Music Alive and My Life is My Song, all telecast nationally. His 11-part series India was telecast on PBS, USA.<mask>'s Akshara Theatre  combines theatre production, television production, a training programme for the classical arts and a publishing division. Sharman's Plays
Gopal's plays include Full Circle, Larflarflarf, The Ramayana, Let's Laugh Again, India Alive, Karma, Jeevan Geet, The Bhagavad Gita, In Goethe's Magical World, I, Galileo Galilei, Alice& Humpty Dumpty, This and That, etc. His television work has been viewed by millions of Indians and includes the 31-part series India Alive two and a half hour documentary The Kashmir Story,   the 6-part Sufi Way, the 8-part Music Alive, My Life Is My Song, his musical documentary, and the five-part Kathanjali based in his own stories as well as Tagore's Gitanjali and The Kabuliwala. Sharman has written four books: Filigree in Sound on Indian music, published by Andre Deutsch of London; The Ramayana, the epic as a play in English, published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan; Don’t Miss It, the story of the Akshara Theatre's beginnings, published by the Akshara Press; and Karma, an Upanishadic musical also published by the Akshara Press. <mask> and Jalabala have two children, Anasuya and Jai, and three grandchildren; Nisa, Dhruv and Yashna. All of them (including the cats) are involved in theatre, music and film. References

1935 births
2016 deaths
Indian male poets
Indian male dramatists and playwrights
Dramatists and playwrights from West Bengal
Writers from Kolkata
20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Indian male

masks: Sharman Gopal


texts: Harry Relph (21 July 186710 February 1928), professionally known as <mask>, was a  English music hall comedian and dancer during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was best known for his acrobatic and comedic "Big-Boot Dance", which he performed in Europe and for which he wore boots with soles  long. Aside from his music hall appearances, he was also a popular performer in Christmas pantomimes and appeared in them annually at theatres throughout the English provinces. He repeated this success in London, where he appeared in three pantomimes at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, between 1891 and 1893 alongside Dan Leno and Marie Lloyd. Born in Cudham, Kent, <mask> began performing aged ten when he developed a dance and tin-whistle act which he showcased at public houses in Sevenoaks. In the early 1880s he formed a blackface act and gained popularity with performances at the nearby Rosherville Pleasure Gardens and Barnard's Music Hall in Chatham. He travelled to London and appeared at the Forester's Music Hall in 1884.Later that year, he adopted the stage name "<mask>", which he based on his childhood nickname of "<mask>", acquired through his portly stature and physical likeness to the suspected Tichborne Claimant Arthur Orton. The terms "titchy" or "titch" were later derived from "<mask> Tich" and are used to describe things that are small. <mask>'s act further developed during a tour of the United States between 1887 and 1889 where he established the Big-Boot Dance and impressed audiences with his ability to stand on the tips of the shoes and to lean at extraordinary angles. In the 1890s he developed the Serpentine Dance

masks:
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Tichborne
Little
Little Tich


texts:
 and had a major success with the Christmas pantomime Babes in the Wood in Manchester during the 1889–90 season. In 1891, he was recruited by the impresario Augustus Harris to appear in that year's spectacular Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Christmas pantomime Humpty Dumpty. He starred in a further two productions at the theatre including Little Bo Peep (1892) and Robinson Crusoe (1893). Between 1896 and 1902 <mask> performed in his own musical theatre company, and spent much of his time in Paris, where he became a popular variety artist.For his music hall acts, he created characters based on everyday observations. The characterisations used were "The Gas Inspector", "The Spanish Señora" and "The Waiter"; all three were later recorded onto shellac discs, of which he made twenty in total. He was married three times and fathered two children. In 1927 he suffered a stroke, which was partly triggered by a blow to the head which he had accidentally received during an evening performance at the Alhambra Theatre. He never recovered fully from the injury, and died the following year at his house in Hendon, aged 60. Biography

Family background and early life

<mask>ich was born Harry Relph in Cudham, Kent (now in the London Borough of Bromley). He was the last of eight children born to Richard Relph (1790–1881), a farmer and publican, and his wife Mary, née Moorefield (1835–1893).The Relph family were close and lived in relative affluence. Richard Relph was a committed family man and was known in the village for his sharp business acumen. His early wealth, which was attributed to a series of successful horse-trading deals, enabled him to

masks:
Little Tich
Little T


texts: purchase his first public house, the Rising Sun in Fawkham. In 1818 he married Sarah Ashenden and they had eight children; she died in 1845. In 1851 he moved to Cudham, bought the Blacksmith's Arms and an adjoining farm, and started a new family with Mary Moorefield, a nurse-maid governess from Dublin. <mask>ich was born with an extra digit on each hand, webbed from the little finger to the centre joint. He also experienced stunted growth.He reached  in height by the age of ten, but grew no taller. His physical differences from other children caused him to become socially withdrawn and lonely. Nevertheless, his disabilities earned him fame and were an asset to his parents' business. Patrons would travel from neighbouring counties to witness his peculiarities, and the youngster revelled in the attention, dancing comically on his father's saloon bar to curious guests. <mask> was educated at Knockholt, a three-mile walk from Cudham. From an early age, he displayed considerable academic ability and also excelled in art; by the time he was five, his drawings were being sold to patrons of the Blacksmith's Arms by his father. <mask> became interested in the travelling performers whom his father often employed to entertain guests at the inn.He would mimic the dancers, singers and conjurors, causing much amusement to both his family and his patrons. So good were his impersonations that his siblings frequently took him to neighbouring public houses where they would get him to perform in exchange for money. These experiences prepared <mask>ich for his future career. As a result of what he saw, he, like his father, became a strict

masks:
Little T
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little T


texts:
 teetotaller in later years, and showed a deep loathing for boisterous and intoxicated people. <mask>ich revelled in his local celebrity status; however, the older he got the more self-conscious he became and wrongly interpreted the audience's laughter as being aimed more at his disabilities rather than his comical performances. Move to Gravesend and early performances

Richard Relph sold the Blacksmith's Arms and the adjoining farm in 1875 and moved his family to Gravesend. The socially withdrawn <mask>ich was forced to adapt to much busier surroundings; day-trippers, holidaymakers and fishermen often frequented the streets and occupied the plethora of public houses which adorned the port and neighbouring roads.He resumed his education, this time at Christ Church School, where he spent the next three years. In 1878 the headmaster deemed him too educationally advanced for the school, and Richard Relph was advised to secure for his young son a watchmaking apprenticeship instead; Relph ignored the advice. By 1878 <mask>ich's parents were unable to financially provide for him further and he sought full-time employment as a lather boy in a barber's shop in Gravesend. One evening, together with a friend whose brother was appearing in a talent contest, he visited a music hall for the first time and quickly became "hooked" on the idea of being able to perform. Thanks largely to his local celebrity status of being a "freak", he was welcomed into the many public houses which catered for soldiers, sailors, merchant seamen and day-trippers from London. By 1878, <mask>ich had saved enough money to buy himself a tin whistle which he used

masks:
Little T
Little T
Little T
Little T


texts:
 to "amuse [him]self by playing all the jolly and sentimental pantomime songs of the day". To earn money, he began busking to local theatre goers who were waiting in the outside queues.On the way home from his busking performances, he devised eccentric dances, much to the amusement of his onlooking neighbours. <mask> made his stage debut as Harry Relph at the age of 12 in 1879. The venue—although unidentified—was described by his daughter Mary as being a "back-street, free-and-easy" where the acts were predominantly made up of amateurs and beginners. The audiences were often harsh and they would display their displeasure by throwing objects onto the stage. One evening, having exhausted the list of amateur talent, the compere called on <mask> and his tin-whistle to take up the next turn. The performance was a success and <mask> returned every night, often accompanying his tin-whistle piece with impromptu dance routines. News of his performances spread, and he was soon signed up by the proprietor of the neighbouring Royal Exchange music hall, who bought his new signing a pair of clogs.<mask> became a popular draw at the hall and often sang thirty songs a night. It was here that he discovered the art of blackface, a popular type of entertainment widely performed around the British Isles at the time. 1880s

Early London engagements

At the start of the 1880s, <mask>ich assumed the stage name "The Infant Mackney" and graduated to the world of open-air theatre. The following year, he joined a blackface troupe who performed regularly at the Rosherville Pleasure Gardens; the local historian J.R.S. Clifford described them as "a band of

masks:
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little T


texts: minstrel darkies of a superior type". <mask>ich's transition from amateur to professional performer came when he appeared in a weekly spot at Barnard's Music Hall in Chatham. Lew Barnard, the hall's proprietor, offered him 35 shillings a week.Thrilled at the prospect of appearing in a proper music hall, <mask> changed his name from The Infant Mackney to <mask>, a nickname he had gained while living in Cudham years earlier. He enjoyed initial success at Barnard's, but audience numbers soon diminished and his pay was reduced to 15 shillings a week as a result. To supplement his income, he resumed his position in the barber's shop and took on a string of menial jobs that lasted six months. In 1881 <mask> left home with his sister Agnes, who chaperoned her young brother around the music halls and variety clubs throughout England. By now, he had swapped the tin-whistle for a picco pipe which he used to accompany his clog dancing routine. He despised his early experiences of provincial touring as he was often forced to sleep in dosshouses with very little money or food. To survive, he would often return to busking outside music halls to the waiting audiences.In the early months of 1884, he secured an engagement at a rundown public house called The Dolphin in Kidderminster, where he was paid £2 a week. He also hired his first agent who, unbeknown to <mask>ich, had advertised him as a "freak" and a "six-fingered novelty". The comedian was furious with the description and quickly dispensed with the agent's services. By the summer months, his engagements had become infrequent so he used the long periods of unemployment constructively.

masks:
Little T
Little Tich
Young Tichborne
Little Tich
Little T


texts: He learned how to read and write music and taught himself to play various musical instruments including the piano, fiddle and cello. He also mastered dancing in big boots. In November 1884 he changed his stage name for the third time to <mask>ich, which derived from Tichborne, and "Tich" or "Tichy" became a common term meaning small.His reasoning for the name change was to capitalise on the release of the Tichborne claimant fraudster Arthur Orton who was then touring the British Isles in the hope of reopening the case. The change of name also coincided with the signing of a new agent who was known in London for being "one of the brightest and youngest in [show]business". The agent, Edward Colley (1859–1889), was equally thrilled with the acquisition of a new star and secured him a double engagement at the Marylebone Music Hall where he appeared as "<mask>, The Most Curious Comique in Creation" and immediately after at the Forester's Music Hall, where he was billed as "<mask>, the Funny Little Nigger". A reporter for The Era predicted "We shall probably hear a great deal more about <mask>, as he seems to be one of the few that can invest the business of the Negro comedian with any humour." By Christmas 1884, <mask> was a resident performer in four London music halls: the Middlesex Music Hall where he had an 8 pm billing, the Marylebone (at 9 pm), the Star Palace of Varieties in Bermondsey (at 10 pm), and Crowders Music Hall in Mile End (at 11 pm). Out of the four halls, he had the most success at the Marylebone and fulfilled a ten-week run. A critic for The Era who witnessed him perform at the Marylebone thought that he was "a

masks:
Little T
Little Titch
Little Titch
Little Titch
Little Tich


texts:
 curious comic" and that "his antics, his sayings and his business generally [were] very amusing, and he will doubtless improve in his singing, which is weak at present, even for a Negro delineator".The commentator further noted that "he appear[ed] to be quite a young man at present; but his dancing is peculiarly funny, though his dress in one of his characters is vulgar and suggestive; this should be altered". Having been a success in London for nearly a year, <mask> travelled to Scotland to appear in pantomime for the first time during the 1885–86 Christmas season. Robinson Crusoe opened at the Royal Princess Theatre in Glasgow and he appeared in the small role of Chillingowadaborie, a black-faced attendant for one of the main characters King Tum-tum. The following Christmas, <mask> starred for a second time in pantomime, this time at the Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel in a production of Cinderella in which he played "King Mischief". American success

The American impresario Tony Pastor came to England in 1886 and signed <mask> for a tour of the United States. Pastor had seen the comedian perform at a small music hall called Gatti's-in-the-Road near to Westminster Bridge and was recruiting for his Gaiety Theatre Company. <mask> left for America in the early months of 1887 and assumed his first role for Pastor in a burlesque version of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, playing the lead character for a fee of £10 a week.Later, during a successful run in a parody of Louis Bertin's opera La Esmeralda, he impressed audiences with his "Big-Boot Dance", and Pastor engaged his new star for a further two seasons in the mock-opera which had

masks:
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich


texts: a total run of nine months. To show his appreciation for the record profits and huge audience attendances, Pastor presented <mask> with a gold medal and a rare white Bohemian Shepherd dog which the comedian called Cheri. <mask>ich's success under Pastor brought him to the attention of the Chicago State Opera Company, who secured him on a two-year contract for a fee of $150 a week. Before the contract commenced, he was allowed to travel back to England where he honoured a pantomime commitment by appearing in Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. In the piece he took the billing of "Tiny Titch" and played the Emperor Muley. In June 1888, at the Chicago Opera House, <mask> starred in The Crystal Slipper, a burlesque loosely based on Cinderella; the production was a hit for the comedian and completed a run of over ten months. The Era described him as "the quaint little Negro comedian" and called his American engagement "brilliantly successful".During The Crystal Slipper, <mask> met the English dancer Laurie Brooks, whom he married in Cook County, Illinois on 20 January 1889. That year marked the end of <mask>'s "blacking up" routine, which he had performed in between his commitments for the Chicago State Opera Company. He was told by a producer that the American audiences would find the black face and English accent too much of a contrast and opined "a deaf mute with one eye could see you aint a coon". <mask> initially became worried at the prospect of appearing on stage without make-up, but found that the audience approved of the change. As the months progressed, the tour matured and news of his performances

masks:
Little Tich
Little T
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich


texts:
 travelled across America. To compensate for the loss of his blackface act, <mask> perfected his Big-Boot Dance instead and swapped from  boots which he found more suitable for his size. He had also mastered a quick change into the novelty footwear which he could perform in minutes.One stage director became concerned that the pause was too long for the audience to wait, and he threw the boots onto the stage causing the star to run back out in front of the waiting audience to put the boots on in front of them. While he did this, the orchestra provided an accompaniment of "till ready" music. For the audience, this provided much hilarity and they assumed it was part of the act. The unintentional sketch was "an instant hit" and the comedian incorporated this into his future Big-Boot Dance routine. In April 1889 <mask> briefly returned to London to star at the Empire Theatre in Leicester Square where he was poorly received by audiences. As a result, the manager of the theatre reduced the comedian's wages to £6 a week. The experience left him bitter towards the English entertainment industry and he returned to America to appear in a new production for the Chicago State Opera.The production, Bluebeard Junior, was not as successful as its predecessor, but toured for seven months. Despite his bad reviews back in England, <mask> began to feel homesick and he was allowed to return home a few months short of his contract expiration. Once back, he and his wife set up home at 182 Kennington Road, Lambeth; Laurie later gave birth to the couple's son Paul on 7 November 1889. 1890s

Return to London and West End debut

In the later months of

masks:
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich


texts: 1889 <mask> secured an engagement at the London Pavilion in Piccadilly Circus. This time, he found his English critics to be complimentary about his talent, but as their praise was largely about his success in America, he considered them hypocritical. News of his much-improved performances travelled throughout the country and he was visited by Thomas W. Charles, manager of Manchester's Prince's Theatre. Charles offered <mask> a leading role in his forthcoming pantomime Babes in the Wood.The 1889–90 production was a huge success for the comedian and his performance reportedly earned him "the heartiest applause of the evening". By the early months of 1890, Augustus Harris, the influential manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, had travelled to Manchester to look for new talent for his theatre's forthcoming 1890–91 pantomime. Impressed with what he saw, he offered the comedian a theatrical residency at Drury Lane but he was forced to withdraw it as <mask> was contracted to Charles for a further year; Harris instead signed <mask> for a two-year contract starting the following season. The deal required <mask> to star in two pantomimes for a wage of £36 a week. Following on from his success in Babes in the Wood which culminated in April 1890, the theatre manager Rollo Balmain cast him as Quasimodo in a production of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. The show featured a burlesque centrepiece which required <mask> to dress as a ballerina and gave him the opportunity to perform two of his earliest songs, "Smiles" and "I Could Do, Could Do, Could Do with a Bit", both written for him by Walter Tilbury. In

masks:
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich


texts:
 1890 <mask> continued to impress his London music hall audiences and appeared on the front covers of both the Entr'acte and the Music Hall magazines, with the latter being widely available in the majority of London music hall auditoriums.Towards the end of the year, <mask> appeared at the opening of the Tivoli Music Hall, before returning to Manchester at Christmas to fulfil the second of his two pantomime engagements for Thomas Charles in Little Bo-peep, in which he played Toddlekins. The following year he reprised his role of Quasimodo and toured the provinces in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame with Balmain's company. Life at Drury Lane

The year 1891 signalled a new era in the career of <mask>. The Drury Lane pantomimes were known for their extravagance and splendour and featured lavish sets and big budgets. The first of the Drury Lane pantomimes in which <mask> appeared was Humpty Dumpty in 1891 which also starred Drury Lane regulars Marie Lloyd, Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell. As well as the title role, <mask> also played the minor part of the Yellow Dwarf in the harlequinade. It was during the latter characterisation that he revived his Big-Boot Dance, which was a hit with audiences.The following Christmas, he equalled this success with his second pantomime <mask> Bo-Peep in which he played the part of "Hop of my Thumb". As well as Leno, Lloyd and Campbell, Harris recruited the singers Ada Blanche and Cecilia Loftus as principal boy and girl respectively. Harris was thrilled with <mask> and signed him for the 1893–94 pantomime Robinson Crusoe in which he played Man Friday. The Derby Daily Telegraph called the comedian "one

masks:
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Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little Tich
Little
Little Tich


texts:
 of the most amusing pantomime dames of all time". Despite a budget of £30,000, Robinson Crusoe failed to equal the success of the previous two shows, which caused Harris to rethink his cast. Unaware of Harris's plans, <mask>ich approached him with a view of a pay rise; the proposition angered the manager and not only was his request refused, but he was also ruled out of any future production. New theatrical ventures and international engagements

In the early months of 1891, <mask>ich completed a successful tour of Germany.Two years later he developed the character Miss Turpentine for his self-choreographed sketch The Serpentine Dance, which he performed over the next three years in Hamburg, Geneva, Rotterdam, Brussels, Nice, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Budapest; the tour also enabled him to become fluent in French, German, Italian and Spanish. He portrayed Miss Turpentine as an eccentric ballerina who wore an ill-fitting tutu. The dance was a comic variation of the well-known skirt dance belonging to Loie Fuller, which had been popular in France years earlier. Another successful characterisation was that of an eccentric Spanish dancer, which <mask> devised while touring Europe, and like The Serpentine Dance, relied heavily on acrobatic choreography and comic miming rather than eccentric singing and joke reciting. It was around this period when <mask> was inducted into the fledgling entertainers' fraternity, the Grand Order of Water Rats. In 1906, he would serve as "King Rat" for the order. In 1894, free from his contractual obligations at Drury Lane, he took a three-year break from the English music hall scene and travelled

masks:
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