1.
Senate of the Republic (Italy)
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The Senate of the Republic is a house of the bicameral Italian Parliament. The two houses form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Members of the Senate are styled Senator or The Honourable Senator and they meet at Palazzo Madama, the Senate consists of 315 elected members, and as of 2016 five senators for life. The elected senators must be over 40 years of age and are elected by Italian citizens aged 25 or older, the Senate is elected on a regional basis. The 309 senators are assigned to each region according to their population. However, Article 57 of the Constitution provides that no region can have fewer than seven senators representing it, except for the Aosta Valley and Molise. The five current life senators are, The current term of the Senate is five years, until a Constitutional change on February 9,1963, the Senate was elected for six-year terms. The Senate may be dissolved before the expiration of its normal term by the President of the Republic, in 2016, Italian Parliament passed a constitutional law that effectively abolishes the Senate as an elected chamber and sharply restricts its ability to veto legislation. The law was rejected on December 4,2016 by a referendum, the election of the Senate is still regulated by Law no. 270, December 21,2005, which however was judged to be partly unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in December 2013, in each Region, except for three, at least 55% of the seats are assigned to the coalition or list which received the most votes. The Aosta Valley elects one senator, so it uses a first past the post system, Molise elects two senators with a proportional system. Trentino-South Tyrol uses a mixed member system, it elects 6 senators in first past the post constituencies. That session, presided by the oldest senator, proceeds to elect the President of the Senate for the parliamentary period. On the first two attempts at voting, a majority of all senators is needed, if a third round is needed. If this third round fails to produce a winner, a ballot is held between the two senators with the highest votes in the previous ballot. In the case of a tie, the senator is deemed the winner. The current President of the Senate is Pietro Grasso, recent Presidents of the Italian Senate, Since 1871, the Senate has met in Palazzo Madama in Rome, an old patrician palace completed in 1505 for the Medici family. The palace takes its name from Madama Margherita of Austria, daughter of Charles V, after the extinction of the Medici, the palace was handed over to the House of Lorraine
2.
Catania
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Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea. It is the capital of the Metropolitan City of Catania, one of the ten biggest cities in Italy, the population of the city proper is 315,601 while the population of the conurbation is estimated to be 767,003. The metropolitan city has 1,115,310 inhabitants, Catania has had a long and eventful history, having been founded in the 8th century BC. In 1434, the first university in Sicily was founded in the city, in the 14th century and into the Renaissance period, Catania was one of Italys most important cultural, artistic and political centres. The city has a culture and history, hosting many museums, restaurants, churches, parks. Catania is well known for its street food, Catania is located on the east coast of the island of Sicily, at the foot of Mount Etna. As observed by Strabo, the location of Catania at the foot of Mount Etna has been both a curse and a blessing, two subterranean rivers run under the city, the Amenano, which surfaces at one single point south of Piazza Duomo, and the Longane. The ancient indigenous population of the Sicels named their villages after geographical attributes of their location, the Sicilian word, katane, means grater, flaying knife, skinning place or a crude tool apt to pare. Other translations of the name are harsh lands, uneven ground, sharp stones, the latter etymologies are easily justifiable since, for many centuries following an eruption, the city has always been rebuilt within its black-lava landscape. Around 729 BC, the ancient village of Katane became the Chalcidian colony of Katánē where the population was rapidly Hellenized. The Naxian founders, coming from the adjacent coast, later used the name for their new settlement along the River Amenano, around 263 BC, the city was variously known as Catĭna and Catăna. The former has been used for its supposed assonance with catina. Catinus has two meanings, a gulf, a basin or a bay and a bowl, a vessel or a trough, around 900, when Catania was part of the emirate of Sicily, it was known in Arabic as Balad al-fīl and Madinat al-fīl. The former means The Village of the Elephant, while the latter means The City of the Elephant, the Elephant is the lava sculpture over the fountain in Piazza Duomo. Another Arab toponym was Qaṭāniyyah, allegedly from the Arabic word for the leguminous plants, pulses like lentils, beans, peas, broad beans, and lupins were chiefly cultivated in the plains around the city well before the arrival of Aghlabids. Afterwards, many Arabic agronomists developed these crops and the orchards in the area around the city. The toponym Wadi Musa, or Valley of Moses, was rarely used, Catania was founded as a Greek colony named Κατάνη, of Chalcidic origin, under the guidance of a leader named Euarchos. The exact date of its foundation is not recorded, but it appears from Thucydides that it came into existence slightly later than Leontini, the only event of its early history that is known about is the legislation of Charondas, The exact date of which is uncertain
3.
Florence
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Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
4.
Tuscany
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Tuscany is a region in central Italy with an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, artistic legacy, Tuscany produces wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino. Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, it is considered a nation within a nation. Tuscany is traditionally a popular destination in Italy, and the main tourist destinations by number of tourist arrivals are Florence, Pisa, Montecatini Terme, Castiglione della Pescaia and Grosseto. The village of Castiglione della Pescaia is also the most visited destination in the region. Additionally, Siena, Lucca, the Chianti region, Versilia and Val dOrcia are also internationally renowned, Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves, making Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations that attract millions of tourists every year. In 2012, the city of Florence was the worlds 89th most visited city, roughly triangular in shape, Tuscany borders the regions of Liguria to the northwest, Emilia-Romagna to the north and east, Umbria to the east and Lazio to the southeast. The comune of Badia Tedalda, in the Tuscan Province of Arezzo, has an exclave named Ca Raffaello within Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany has a western coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea, containing the Tuscan Archipelago, of which the largest island is Elba. Tuscany has an area of approximately 22,993 square kilometres, surrounded and crossed by major mountain chains, and with few plains, the region has a relief that is dominated by hilly country used for agriculture. Hills make up nearly two-thirds of the total area, covering 15,292 square kilometres, and mountains. Plains occupy 8. 4% of the total area—1,930 square kilometres —mostly around the valley of the River Arno, many of Tuscanys largest cities lie on the banks of the Arno, including the capital Florence, Empoli and Pisa. The pre-Etruscan history of the area in the late Bronze and Iron Ages parallels that of the early Greeks, following this, the Villanovan culture saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms. City-states developed in the late Villanovan before Orientalization occurred and the Etruscan civilization rose, the Etruscans created the first major civilization in this region, large enough to establish a transport infrastructure, to implement agriculture and mining and to produce vibrant art. The Etruscans lived in Etruria well into prehistory, throughout their existence, they lost territory to Magna Graecia, Carthage and Celts. Despite being seen as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks, the cultures of Greece, one reason for its eventual demise was this increasing absorption by surrounding cultures, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans. Soon after absorbing Etruria, Rome established the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, endowed the area with new technologies and development, and ensured peace. These developments included extensions of existing roads, introduction of aqueducts and sewers, however, many of these structures have been destroyed by erosion due to weather. The Roman civilization in the West collapsed in the 5th century AD, in the years following 572, the Longobards arrived and designated Lucca the capital of their Duchy of Tuscia
5.
Kingdom of Italy
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The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, then came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king. However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, regional, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
6.
Forza Italia
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Forza Italia was a centre-right political party in Italy with liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic, liberal and populist tendencies, as well as a significant social-democratic minority. Its leader was Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy, the party was founded in December 1993 and won its first general election soon afterwards in March 1994. The partys organisation and ideology depended heavily on its leader and its appeal to voters was based on Berlusconis personality more than on its ideology or programme. Italy was shaken by a series of corruption known as Tangentopoli. This led to the disappearance of the five parties which governed Italy from 1947, DC, PSI, PSDI, PLI and PRI, the new partys campaigning was strongly dependent on Fininvests TV stations and PR resources. This earned Forza Italia labels like virtual, plastic or business-firm party, in her 2001 study of the party, political scientist Emanuela Poli described Forza Italia as a mere diversification of Fininvest in the political market. The case of Forza Italia was unprecedented as never before had a political party been launched by a business corporation. Only slowly it transformed into a mass-membership organisation and it took four years until the first party congress was held. In the 1994 European Parliament election held in June, Forza Italia was placed first nationally, with 30. 6% of the vote, electing 27 MEPs. The party did not join a group in the European Parliament, instead forming the new group Forza Europa. Forza Italias leader was replaced as Prime Minister by Lamberto Dini, no members of Forza Italia joined the new government and the party leader was relegated to opposition. Between 1996 and 1998, the party started to strengthen its organisation under Claudio Scajola, in December 1999, Forza Italia gained full membership in the European Peoples Party, of which Antonio Tajani, the party leader of Forza Italia in the European Parliament, became a Vice President. In the same year, the party scored well in the European Parliament election of 1999, the party regained power in the general election of 2001, gaining 29. In June 2001, after the success in May elections, Sivio Berlusconi was returned head of the Italian government. Again all key ministerial posts were given to Forza Italia members, Interior, Defence, Dinance, Industry, in 2004 European elections, Forza Italia was second place nationally, receiving 20. 1% of the vote and returning 16 MEPs. In national office, the popularity kept declining steadily year after year. After this disappointing performance the cabinet was reshuffled, due to the insistence of the Union of Christian and Centre Democratss leaders. In the 2006 general election the party was present with a different logo
7.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
8.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
9.
University of Florence
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The University of Florence is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has about 60,000 students enrolled, the first university in Florence was the Studium Generale, which was established by the Florentine Republic in 1321. The Studium was recognized by Pope Clement VI in 1349, the Pope also established that the first Italian faculty of theology would be in Florence. The Studium became a university in 1364, but was moved to Pisa in 1473 when Lorenzo the Magnificent gained control of Florence. Charles VIII moved it back from 1497–1515, but it was moved to Pisa again when the Medici family returned to power, in 1923, the Istituto was officially denominated as University by the Italian Parliament. Faculties are located in strategic areas based on their subject matter. The Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Political Sciences are in the Polo delle Scienze Sociali, in the Novoli district, near the new courthouse. The Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, the Faculty of Pharmacology, the Faculty of Engineering is located at the S. Marta Institute, whereas the Faculty of Agriculture is in front of the Parco delle Cascine. The Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences is located in Sesto Fiorentino, the Faculty of Architecture is in the center of the city, as the Accademia di Belle Arti, home of Michelangelos David. The Faculties of Literature, History, Philosophy, and Pedagogy are in the centre of Florence, leonardo da Vinci carried out studies on anatomy at the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in the center of town which is today a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Florence. Giovanni Sartori, political scientist, professor of Political Science, born in 1924 in Florence, giovanni Spadolini, historian and important Italian politician, professor of Contemporary History, born in 1925 in Florence. Mario Draghi, President of ECB, full professor of Monetary Economics and Monetary Policy in the faculty of Political Science from 1981 to 1991
10.
Film director
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A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a films artistic and dramatic aspects, the director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking. Under European Union law, the director is viewed as the author of the film, the film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized, or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions, there are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters, cinematographers, film editors or actors, other film directors have attended a film school. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors dialogue, while others control every aspect. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners, some directors edit or appear in their films, or compose the music score for their films. Film directors create a vision through which a film eventually becomes realized/noticed. Realizing this vision includes overseeing the artistic and technical elements of production, as well as directing the shooting timetable. This entails organizing the crew in such a way as to achieve their vision of the film. This requires skills of leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful. Moreover, it is necessary to have an eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew, thus. Thus the director ensures that all involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film. The set of varying challenges he or she has to tackle has been described as a jigsaw puzzle with egos. It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when, omnipresent are the boundaries of the films budget. Additionally, the director may also have to ensure an intended age rating, thus, the position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. It has been said that 20-hour days are not unusual, under European Union law, the film director is considered the author or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory. Auteur theory is a film criticism concept that holds that a directors film reflects the directors personal creative vision
11.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
12.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
13.
Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
14.
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
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The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951. The post-nominal letters for the order are OMRI, investiture takes place biannually on 2 June, anniversary of the foundation of the Republic and on 27 December, anniversary of the promulgation of the Italian Constitution. However, those awards on Presidential motu proprio, related to termination of service or granted to foreigners may be made at any time, except in exceptional circumstances, no one can be awarded for the first time a rank higher than Knight. The minimum age requirement is normally 35
15.
Italian opera
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Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day, many famous operas in Italian were written by foreign composers, including Handel, Gluck and Mozart. Dafne by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today, peris works, however, did not arise out of a creative vacuum in the area of sung drama. An underlying prerequisite for the creation of opera proper was the practice of monody, from this, it was only a small step to fully-fledged monody. Such spectacles were staged to commemorate significant state events, weddings, military victories, and the like. They were lavishly staged, and led the scenography of the half of the 16th century. Another popular court entertainment at this time was the madrigal comedy and this consisted of a series of madrigals strung together to suggest a dramatic narrative, but not staged. There were also two staged musical pastorals, Il Satiro and La Disperazione di Fileno, both produced in 1590 and written by Emilio de Cavalieri. Other pastoral plays had long included some musical numbers, one of the earliest, the music of Dafne is now lost. The first opera for which music has survived was performed in 1600 at the wedding of Henry IV of France, the opera, Euridice, with a libretto by Rinuccini, set to music by Peri and Giulio Caccini, recounted the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. The style of singing favored by Peri and Caccini was a form of natural speech. Recitative thus preceded the development of arias, though it became the custom to include separate songs. Both Dafne and Euridice also included choruses commenting on the action at the end of each act in the manner of Greek tragedy. The theme of Orpheus, the demi-god of music, was popular and attracted Claudio Monteverdi who wrote his first opera, La Favola dOrfeo. Monteverdi insisted on a relationship between the words and music. When Orfeo was performed in Mantua, an orchestra of 38 instruments, Opera had revealed its first stage of maturity in the hands of Monteverdi. LOrfeo also has the distinction of being the earliest surviving opera that is regularly performed today. Within a few decades opera had spread throughout Italy, in Rome, it found an advocate in the prelate and librettist Giulio Rospigliosi
16.
Romeo and Juliet (1968 film)
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Romeo and Juliet is a 1968 British-Italian romance film based on the tragic play of the same name by William Shakespeare. The film was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, and stars Leonard Whiting, sir Laurence Olivier spoke the films prologue and epilogue and reportedly dubbed the voice of the Italian actor playing Lord Montague, but was not credited in the film. Several critics also welcomed the film enthusiastically, in Verona, Italy, the longstanding feud between the Montague and the Capulet clans breaks out in a street brawl, broken up by the Prince of the city. The same night, two teenagers of the two families — Romeo and Juliet — meet at a Capulet masked ball and become deeply infatuated, later, Romeo stumbles into the secluded garden under Juliets bedroom balcony and the two exchange impassioned pledges. They are soon married by Romeos confessor and father figure, Friar Laurence. Unfortunately, another street duel breaks out between Juliets first cousin Tybalt and Romeos best friend Mercutio when Tybalt insults Romeo. Since Tybalt is Juliets cousin and Romeo has just been married to Juliet, he sees Tybalt as family and refuses to him, leading Mercutio to be a loyal friend. Romeo retaliates by fighting Tybalt and killing him, and is punished by the Prince with banishment instead of the death penalty. Romeo, however, sees his banishment as worse than death, as Verona is the home he has known. Friar Laurence eventually convinces Romeo that he is lucky and should be thankful for what he has. Romeo and Juliet secretly spend their night together and consummate their marriage. Unaware of Juliets secret marriage, her father has arranged for her to marry wealthy Count Paris, in order to escape this arranged marriage and remain faithful to Romeo, Juliet consumes a potion prepared by Friar Laurence intended to make her appear dead for forty-two hours. However, when Romeos servant, Balthasar, sees Juliet being buried, under the impression that she is dead, he goes to tell Romeo, in despair, Romeo goes to Juliets tomb and kills himself by drinking poison. Awakening shortly after he expires, Juliet discovers a dead Romeo and proceeds to stab herself with his dagger, later, the two families attend their joint funeral and agree to end the feud. Laurence Oliviers involvement in the production was by happenstance and he was in Rome to film The Shoes of the Fisherman and visited the studio where Romeo and Juliet was being shot. He asked Zeffirelli if there was anything he could do, and was given the Prologue to read, then ended up dubbing the voice of Lord Montague as well as other assorted roles. Set in a 14th-century Renaissance Italy in varying locations, The balcony scene, At the Palazzo Borghese, built by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 16th century, in Artena,20 miles south of Rome. The interior church scenes, At a Romanesque church named St. Pietro Somaldi in, Lucca, the tomb scene, Also in Tuscania
17.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
18.
The Taming of the Shrew (1967 film)
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The Taming of the Shrew is a 1967 film based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare about a courtship between two strong-willed people. The film was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as Shakespeares Kate, baptista Minola is attempting to marry off his two daughters, however, he will marry off his youngest, Bianca only if someone will marry his eldest, Katharina. Katharina is a shrewish woman but a lusty young nobleman, Petruchio. A subplot involves the wooing of Bianca by several suitors including handsome Lucentio, foppish Hortensio, similar to Harold Bloom’s take on the play, Elizabeth Taylors Katherina is demonstrating that women may control men by appearing to obey them. The film was intended to be a vehicle for Sophia Loren. Taylor and Burton put over a million dollars into the production and, instead of a salary, the film made $12 million worldwide and was generally liked by the critics. The film received two Academy Award nominations, for Best Costume Design, and Best Art Direction, the Taming of the Shrew grossed $8 million in North America, earning $3,540,000 in theatrical rentals during 1967, making it the 25th highest grossing picture of 1967. The film grossed $12 million worldwide, the film received positive reviews from modern critics
19.
Elizabeth Taylor
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Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian. She began as an actress in the early 1940s, and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She continued her career successfully into the 1960s, and remained a well known figure for the rest of her life. The American Film Institute named her the seventh-greatest female screen legend in 1999, Born in London to wealthy, socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939, and she soon was given a film contract by Universal Pictures. Her screen debut was in a role in Theres One Born Every Minute. Taylor was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and had her breakthrough role in National Velvet, becoming one of the studios most popular teenaged stars. She made the transition to adult roles in the early 1950s, despite being one of MGMs most bankable stars, Taylor wished to end her career in the early 1950s, as she resented the studios control and disliked many of the films to which she was assigned. She began receiving roles in the mid-1950s, beginning with the epic drama Giant. These included two film adaptations of plays by Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly, Last Summer, although she disliked her role in BUtterfield 8, her last film for MGM, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. She was next paid a record-breaking $1 million to play the role in the historical epic Cleopatra. During the filming, Taylor and co-star Richard Burton began having an affair which caused a scandal. Despite public disapproval, Burton and she continued their relationship and were married the first time in 1964. Dubbed Liz and Dick by the media, they starred in 11 films together, including The V. I. P. s, The Sandpiper, The Taming of the Shrew, and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Taylor received the best reviews of her career for Woolf, winning her second Academy Award, in the 1980s, she acted in her first substantial stage roles and in several television films and series, and became the first celebrity to launch a perfume brand. Taylor was also one of the first celebrities to take part in HIV/AIDS activism and she co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991. From the early 1990s until her death, she dedicated her time to philanthropy and she received several accolades for it, including the Presidential Citizens Medal. Taylors personal life was subject to constant media attention throughout her life and she was married eight times to seven men, endured serious illnesses, and led a jet set lifestyle, including amassing one of the most expensive private collections of jewelry. After many years of ill health, Taylor died from heart failure at the age of 79 in 2011
20.
Richard Burton
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Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor who was noted for his mellifluous baritone voice. Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and he was called the natural successor to Olivier by critic and dramaturge Kenneth Tynan. An alcoholic, Burtons failure to live up to those expectations disappointed critics and colleagues, Burton was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, but never won an Oscar. He was a recipient of BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Tony Awards for Best Actor, Burton remains closely associated in the public consciousness with his second wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. The couples turbulent relationship was rarely out of the news, Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins, Jr. on 10 November 1925 in a house at 2 Dan-y-bont in Pontrhydyfen, Neath Port Talbot. He was the twelfth of thirteen born to Richard Walter Jenkins Sr. Jenkins Sr. called Daddy Ni by the family, was a miner, while his mother worked as a bartender at a pub called the Miners Arms. He remembered his mother to be a strong woman and a religious soul with fair hair. Richard was barely two years old when his mother died on 31 October, six days after the birth of Graham, Ediths death was a result of postpartum infections, Richard believed it occurred due to hygiene neglect. According to biographer Michael Munn, Edith was fastidiously clean, following Ediths death, Richards elder sister Cecilia, whom he affectionately addressed as Cis, and her husband Elfed James, also a miner, took him under their care. I was immensely proud of her and she felt all tragedies except her own. Daddy Ni would occasionally visit the homes of his daughters but was otherwise absent. Another important figure in Richards early life was Ifor, his brother,19 years his senior, a miner and rugby union player, Ifor ruled the household with the proverbial firm hand. He was also responsible for nurturing a passion for Rugby in young Richard, although Richard also played cricket, tennis, and table tennis, biographer Bragg notes rugby union football to be his greatest interest. On rugby, Richard said he would rather have played for Wales at Cardiff Arms Park than Hamlet at The Old Vic, the Welsh rugby union centre, Bleddyn Williams believed Richard had distinct possibilities as a player. From the age of five to eight, Richard was educated at the Eastern Primary School while he attended the Boys segment of the school from eight to twelve years old. He took an exam for admission into Port Talbot Secondary School in March 1937. Biographer Hollis Alpert notes that both Daddy Ni and Ifor considered Richards education to be of paramount importance and planned to send him to the University of Oxford, Richard became the first member of his family to go to secondary school
21.
The Taming of the Shrew
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The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The nobleman then has the play performed for Slys diversion, the main plot depicts the courtship of Petruchio and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew. The subplot features a competition between the suitors of Katherinas younger sister, Bianca, who is seen as the ideal woman, the question of whether the play is misogynistic or not has become the subject of considerable controversy, particularly among modern scholars, audiences, and readers. The 1999 high school comedy film 10 Things I Hate About You is also based on the play. Prior to the first act, an induction frames the play as a kind of history played in front of a drunkard named Christopher Sly who is tricked into believing he is a lord. The play is performed in order to distract Sly from his wife, who is actually Bartholomew, in the play performed for Sly, the shrew is Katherina, the eldest daughter of Baptista Minola, a lord in Padua. Numerous men, like Gremio and Tranio, deem Katherina an unworthy option for marriage because of her notorious assertiveness and willfulness, on the other hand, men, like Hortensio and Gremio, are eager to marry her younger sister Bianca. The plot thickens when Lucentio, who moved to Padua to attend university. In the meantime, Petruchio, accompanied by his servant Grumio and he explains to Hortensio, an old friend of his, that since his fathers death he has set out to enjoy life and wed. Hearing this, Hortensio recruits Petruchio as a suitor for Katherina and he also has Petruchio present Baptista a music tutor named Litio. Thus, Lucentio and Hortensio, attempt to woo Bianca while pretending to be the tutors Cambio and Litio, to counter Katherinas shrewish nature, Petruchio pretends that the harsh things she says or does are actually kind and gentle. After the wedding, Petruchio takes Katherina to his home against her will, once they are gone, Gremio and Tranio formally bid for Bianca, with Tranio easily outbidding Gremio, however, in his zeal to win, he promises much more than Lucentio actually possesses. When Baptista determines that once Lucentios father confirms the dowry, Bianca and Tranio can marry, Tranio decides they will need someone to pretend to be Vincentio, meanwhile, Tranio persuades Hortensio that Bianca is not worthy of his attentions, thus removing Lucentios remaining rival. In Verona, Petruchio begins the taming of his new wife, back in Padua, Lucentio and Tranio convince a passing pedant to pretend to be Vincentio and confirm the dowry for Bianca. The man does so, and Baptista is happy for Bianca to wed Lucentio, Bianca, aware of the deception, then secretly elopes with the real Lucentio to get married, however, when Vincentio reaches Padua he encounters the pedant, who claims to be Lucentios father. Tranio appears and the pedant acknowledges him to be his son Lucentio, in all the confusion, the real Vincentio is set to be arrested when the real Lucentio appears with his newly betrothed Bianca, revealing all to a bewildered Baptista and Vincentio. Lucentio explains everything, and all is forgiven by the two fathers, meanwhile, Hortensio has married a rich widow. In the final scene of the play there are three newly married couples, Bianca and Lucentio, the widow and Hortensio, and Katherina and Petruchio
22.
Jesus of Nazareth (miniseries)
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It stars Robert Powell as Jesus. Extra-biblical traditions were used in the writing of the screenplay and some characters, notably, Jesus of Nazareth depicts Judas Iscariot as a well-intentioned man initially, but later as a dupe of Zerah who betrays Jesus largely as a result of Zerahs false platitudes and pretexts. However, in accordance with the Gospels, the film depicts Nicodemus, Jesus of Nazareth premiered on the Italian channel Rai 1 on 27 March 1977 and was first aired in the United Kingdom on the ITV Network on 3 April 1977. It is generally well-praised, but was not received without controversy, the storyline of Jesus of Nazareth is a kind of cinematic Diatessaron, or Gospel harmony, blending the narratives of all four New Testament accounts. It takes a fairly naturalistic approach, de-emphasising special effects when miracles are depicted and presenting Jesus as more or less evenly divine, the film’s storyline concludes with the non-Biblical character Zerah and his colleagues gazing despairingly into the empty tomb. At the end of the interview, the Pope told him he hoped his next project would be about the life of Jesus, two weeks later, while dining with an RAI executive, Grade told him he intended their companies to prepare such a film. The director rejected the proposal at first, but Grade finally convinced him to agree, the project struck some as blasphemous, others as ecumenical. Fired by this announcement, the Romans laid on a great, as it were, First Supper, sir Lew Grade was made a Cavaliere of the Republic. Both Grade and Zeffirelli insisted their adaptation of Jesuss life should be ecumenical, coherent, even to non-believers, to ensure the films accuracy, the producers consulted experts from the Vatican, the Leo Baeck Rabbinical College of London, and the Koranic School at Meknes, Morocco. However, when Zeffirelli asked Rabbi Albert Friedlander to help him create Jesuss Bar Mitzvah scene, principal photography was carried out in Morocco and Tunisia from September 1975 to May 1976. The synagogue scenes were shot with extras from the Jewish community in the island of Djerba, the city of Monastir served as 1st Century Jerusalem. Ernest Borgnine, who portrayed Cornelius the Centurion, recalled that since regulations required hiring local extras—most with poor English—for many of the smaller roles, they had to be dubbed. Zeffirelli decided to avoid recording sound altogether in many parts, the standing sets of the film were later used by the British comedy troupe Monty Python for their religious satire Life of Brian. Other sources give the sum of $18 million, in his autobiography, Lew Grade wrote that in the final accounting, Jesus of Nazareth took $45 million. The producers at first considered choosing a well-known star, who would draw a large audience, the first actor thought of was Dustin Hoffman, and Al Pacino was also a candidate. However, the filmmakers feared that their looks would not match the popular perception of Jesus held by the American public, the Virgin Mary, too, was depicted without regard to historical or ethnographic accuracy by the definitely Caucasian Olivia Hussey. Powell came under criticism from religious groups for living in sin with his companion. The couple married shortly before production began, Powell almost never blinks throughout the entire film, he mimics H. B
23.
Christmas
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In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family. Although the month and date of Jesus birth are unknown, by the fourth century the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar and this is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the day that is December 25. Although it is not known why December 25 became a date of celebration, December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year. Jesus was identified with the Sun based on an Old Testament verse, the date is exactly nine months following Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated. Finally, the Romans had a series of pagan festivals near the end of the year, so Christmas may have been scheduled at this time to appropriate, or compete with, one or more of these festivals. The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, the economic impact of Christmas has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. Christmas is a form of Christs mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, Messiah, meaning anointed, and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal, it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse. In addition to Christmas, the holiday has been known by other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, Nativity, meaning birth, is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the corresponding to December and January. Noel entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis, the canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census and it says that angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. In the Matthew account, magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke are prominent in the gospels, the first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century, the feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day
24.
Easter
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It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the season of Pascha begins on Pascha and ends with the coming of the fortieth day, the Feast of the Ascension. The First Council of Nicaea established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the council. No details for the computation were specified, these were worked out in practice and it has come to be the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March, but calculations vary. Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, in many languages, the words for Easter and Passover are identical or very similar. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church. The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection, traditionally decorates the area of churches on this day. Additional customs that have associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades. There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally, however, it is possible that Bede was only speculating about the origin of the term since there is no firm evidence that such a goddess actually existed. In Greek and Latin, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Πάσχα, Pascha, the word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt. In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek, Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration. The New Testament states that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith, the resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God and is cited as proof that God will judge the world in righteousness. For those who trust in Jesus death and resurrection, death is swallowed up in victory, any person who chooses to follow Jesus receives a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Through faith in the working of God those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation. Easter is linked to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as in the room during the Last Supper he prepared himself. He identified the matzah and cup of wine as his soon to be sacrificed
25.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, he showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood, already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, while visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame, during his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons and he composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote, posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria, née Pertl and this was the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastic principality in what is now Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy and his elder sister was Maria Anna Mozart, nicknamed Nannerl. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth, at St. Ruperts Cathedral in Salzburg, the baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form, as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He generally called himself Wolfgang Amadè Mozart as an adult, Leopold Mozart, a native of Augsburg, Germany, was a minor composer and an experienced teacher. In 1743, he was appointed as fourth violinist in the establishment of Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. Four years later, he married Anna Maria in Salzburg, Leopold became the orchestras deputy Kapellmeister in 1763. During the year of his sons birth, Leopold published a textbook, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule. When Nannerl was 7, she began lessons with her father. Years later, after her brothers death, she reminisced, He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and he could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. At the age of five, he was composing little pieces
26.
Idomeneo
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Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, Mozart and Varesco were commissioned in 1780 by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria for a court carnival. He probably chose the subject, though it might have been Mozart, the work premiered on 29 January 1781 at the Cuvilliés Theatre in Munich, Germany. The sacrifice and oracle scenes are similar to Glucks Iphigénie en Aulide and it was first performed at the Cuvilliés Theatre of the Munich Residenz on 29 January 1781, under the musical direction of its 25-year-old composer. Idomeneo was Mozarts first mature opera, with it he demonstrated a mastery of orchestral color, accompanied recitatives, and melodic line. Mozart fought with the librettist, the court chaplain Varesco, making cuts and changes, even down to specific words. Idomeneo was performed three times in Munich, later in 1781 Mozart considered revisions that would have brought the work closer into line with Glucks style, this would have meant a bass Idomeneo and a tenor Idamante. A concert performance was given in 1786 at the Palais Auersperg in Vienna, for this, Mozart wrote some new music, made some cuts, and changed Idamante from a castrato to a tenor. The British premiere was given by the amateur Glasgow Grand Opera Society in 1934, the first performance in the United States was produced by Boris Goldovsky at the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood during the summer of 1947. Today Idomeneo is part of the operatic repertoire. There are several recordings of it, and it is regularly performed, in 2006 there was a controversy over the cancelling of a 2003 production directed by Hans Neuenfels at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Strauss replaced about 1/3 of Mozarts score with some of his own music, a few major changes to the plot were made as well, such as changing princess Elettra to priestess Ismene. Critics have noted that Strausss additions contain a blend of the classical style of composition. In 1984, New Yorks Mostly Mozart Festival presented Strausss version with Jerry Hadley in the role, Delores Ziegler as Idamante. The instrumentation is, Woodwinds,2 flutes, piccolo,2 oboes,2 clarinets,2 bassoons, B clarinets are used in No.15 and No.19. Other conventional hallmarks of the form are apparent, the exposition modulates from the tonic to the dominant. The overture concludes with an ending in D major chords. These chords, soft and tentative, turn out not to be a resolution of the overture in the tonic but chords in the dominant of G minor, island of Crete, shortly after the Trojan War
27.
The Scorpioni
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The Scorpioni was a small group of elderly English ladies who lived in Florence in the 1930s and 1940s. They were given the name Scorpioni because they were known for their arch humour, one of them was an English governess called Mary ONeill. When World War II began, the ladies were put under arrest in San Gimignano, the ladies spent their days in Gran Caffé Doney which was a very English cafeteria on Via Tornabuoni. They also liked visiting the Uffizi Gallery and English Cemetery of Florence and this group of women is mentioned in the memoirs of writer Violet Trefusis and also in those of director Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli describes the Scorpioni looking after him as an orphan in Florence. The ladies were taken to an internment camp by Italian forces. Zeffirelli recalled that the leader of colony was an old dowager who often acted selfishly. The film Tea with Mussolini was based on group of ladies
28.
Tea with Mussolini
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The film begins in 1935 in Florence, Italy, where a group of cultured expatriate English women – called the Scorpioni by the Italians – meet for tea every afternoon. Young Luca is the son of an Italian businessman who shows little interest in his sons upbringing, the boys mother. Mary Wallace, who works as the secretary, steps in to care for him, turning for support to her Scorpioni friends. Together, they teach Luca many lessons about life and especially the arts, one day when the ladies are in a restaurant for afternoon tea, it is vandalised by Fascists, reflecting the increasingly uncertain position of the expatriate community. But the political situation continues to deteriorate and the Scorpioni find their status, lucas father decides that Italys future is with Germany rather than Britain and sends Luca to an Austrian boarding school. Five years later, Luca returns to Florence with the intention of using Elsas trust fund to study art. He finds that most British nationals are fleeing the country, anticipating Mussolinis declaration of war on Great Britain, and that Mary has moved in with Lady Hester and the other English hold-outs. Because the United States is not at war, Elsa and her American compatriot Georgie Rockwell, Elsa uses Luca to deliver forged orders and funds to have the ladies moved from their distressingly barracks-like quarters to an upper class hotel. Believing that Mussolini himself issued the orders, Lady Hester is delighted, however Luca becomes jealous when she forms a romantic alliance with Vittorio, a shrewd Italian lawyer. When the United States enters the war in 1941, Elsa, Elsa falls for Vittorios scheme to embezzle her art collection and money, which would deliver her to the German Gestapo in a phony escape to Switzerland. Luca is aware of the deception but does not tell anyone out of spite against Elsa. Mary learns of it from Elsas art dealer, and scolds Luca and his attitude changes and he gives his trust fund money to members of the Italian resistance movement, which Wilfred has joined. Elsa consents to a plan hatched by Mary, Luca. Before she departs, Elsa tells Luca how she helped his young mother choose to go through with her pregnancy. They are saved when the Germans receive orders to retreat, leaving the women, the city rejoices as the Scots arrive, with Luca now serving as their commanders Italian interpreter. The major has orders to evacuate the Scorpioni but Lady Hester refuses to cooperate, Mary is delighted to see that Luca – now in British uniform – has become the English gentleman his father wished him to become. This film marks his last on-screen appearance, Lady Hester Random is based upon a real resident of Florence whom Zeffirelli knew in his childhood. Zeffirelli mentions her and a couple of ladies of the Scorpioni in his autobiography
29.
Leonardo da Vinci
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He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the Universal Genius or Renaissance Man, an individual of unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination. Much of his working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, and he spent his last years in France at the home awarded to him by Francis I of France, Leonardo was, and is, renowned primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait, Leonardos drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on items as varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings have survived, Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised flying machines, a type of armoured fighting vehicle, concentrated power, an adding machine. Some of his inventions, however, such as an automated bobbin winder. A number of Leonardos most practical inventions are nowadays displayed as working models at the Museum of Vinci. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, geology, optics, and hydrodynamics, today, Leonardo is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452 at the hour of the night in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci. He was the son of the wealthy Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine legal notary, and Caterina. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense – da Vinci simply meaning of Vinci, his birth name was Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci, meaning Leonardo. The inclusion of the title ser indicated that Leonardos father was a gentleman, little is known about Leonardos early life. He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother and his father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera Amadori, who loved Leonardo but died young in 1465 without children. When Leonardo was sixteen, his father married again to twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini, pieros legitimate heirs were born from his third wife Margherita di Guglielmo and his fourth and final wife, Lucrezia Cortigiani. Leonardo received an education in Latin, geometry and mathematics. In later life, Leonardo recorded only two childhood incidents, one, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face
30.
Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze
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The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy. It was founded by Cosimo I de Medici in 1563, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Benvenuto Cellini and other significant artists have been associated with it. The adjacent Galleria dellAccademia houses the original David by Michelangelo, the Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno, or academy and company of the arts of drawing, was founded on 13 January 1563 by Cosimo I de Medici, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. At first, the Academy met in the cloisters of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, artists including Michelangelo Buonarroti, Lazzaro Donati, Francesco da Sangallo, Agnolo Bronzino, Benvenuto Cellini, Giorgio Vasari, Bartolomeo Ammannati, and Giambologna were members. Most members of the Accademia were male and it was housed in a former convent in via Ricasoli, premises which it still occupies. The Galleria dellAccademia was founded in 1784, it adjoins the Accademia di Belle Arti in via Ricasoli and it has housed the original David by Michelangelo since 1873. List of academies of art in Italy
31.
Italian resistance movement
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It was formed by pro-Allied Italians, following the Allied invasion of the country, the armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces, and German military occupation of northern Italy. The movement is known as the Italian resistance and the Italian partisans. The brutal conflict they took part in is referred to as the Italian Liberation War or as the Italian Civil War, the modern Italian Republic was declared to be founded on the struggle of the resistance. The periods best-known battle broke out in Rome the day the armistice was announced, outnumbered German Fallschirmjäger and Panzergrenadiere were initially repelled and endured heavy losses, but slowly gained the upper hand, aided by their experience and superior Panzer component. The Italian Centauro II Divisions absence from the battle contributed to the German defeat given its German-made tanks and it was composed primarily of ex-Blackshirts and was not trusted. By 10 September, the Germans had penetrated downtown Rome and the Granatieri made their last stand at Porta San Paolo, at 4 pm, General Giorgio Carlo Calvi di Bergolo signed the order of surrender, the Italian divisions were disbanded, and their members taken prisoner. Generals Raffaele Cadorna, Jr. and Giuseppe Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo joined the underground, one of the most important episodes of resistance by Italian armed forces after the armistice was the battle of Piombino, Tuscany. Battle broke out at 21,15 on 10 September, between the German landing forces and the Italian coastal batteries, tanks, and civilian population, sauro and Carbet were scuttled because of the damage they had suffered. The German attack was repelled, by the dawn of 11 September,120 Germans had been killed, Italian casualties had been 4 killed and a dozen wounded, four Italian submarine chasers were also sunk during the fightning. Later in the morning, however, De Vecchi ordered the prisoners to be released, many of the sailors, soldiers and citizens who had fought in the battle of Piombino retreated to the surrounding woods and formed the first partisan formations in the area. In the days following 8 September 1943 most servicemen, left without orders from higher echelons, were disarmed and shipped to POW camps in the Third Reich, however, some garrisons stationed in occupied Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia and Italy fought the Germans. Admirals Inigo Campioni and Luigi Mascherpa led an attempt to defend Rhodes, Kos, Leros, with reinforcements from SAS, SBS and British Army troops under the command of Generals Francis Gerrard, Russell Brittorous and Robert Tilney, the defenders held on for a month. However, the Wehrmacht took the islands air and sea landings by infantry. Both Campioni and Mascherpa were captured and executed at Verona for high treason, on 13 September 1943, the Acqui Division stationed in Cefalonia was ordered by Italian High Command to attack the Germans, despite ongoing negotiations. After a ten-day battle, the Germans executed thousands of officers and those killed in the massacre of the Acqui Division included division commander General Antonio Gandin. Other Italian forces remained trapped in Yugoslavia following the armistice and some decided to fight alongside the local resistance, when the unit finally returned to Italy at the end of the war, half its members had been killed or were listed as missing in action. Bastia, in Corsica, was the setting of a battle between Italian torpedo boats and an attacking German flotilla. Italian soldiers captured by the Germans numbered around 650, 000-700,000, most refused cooperation with the Third Reich despite hardship, chiefly to maintain their oath of fidelity to the King
32.
Laurence Olivier
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Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM, was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles, late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. His family had no connections, but Oliviers father, a clergyman. After attending a school in London, Olivier learned his craft in a succession of acting jobs during the late 1920s. In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Cowards Private Lives, in 1935 he played in a celebrated production of Romeo and Juliet alongside Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft, and by the end of the decade he was an established star. In the 1940s, together with Richardson and John Burrell, Olivier was the co-director of the Old Vic, there his most celebrated roles included Shakespeares Richard III and Sophocless Oedipus. From 1963 to 1973 he was the director of Britains National Theatre. His own parts there included the role in Othello and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Among Oliviers films are Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director, Henry V, Hamlet and his later films included Sleuth, Marathon Man, and The Boys from Brazil. His television appearances included an adaptation of The Moon and Sixpence, Long Days Journey into Night, Love Among the Ruins, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brideshead Revisited, Oliviers honours included a knighthood, a life peerage and the Order of Merit. For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatres largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre. He was married three times, to the actresses Jill Esmond from 1930 to 1940, Vivien Leigh from 1940 to 1960, Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, the youngest of the three children of the Revd Gerard Kerr Olivier and his wife Agnes Louise, née Crookenden. Their elder children were Sybille and Gerard Dacres Dickie and his great-great-grandfather was of French Huguenot descent, and Olivier came from a long line of Protestant clergymen. Gerard Olivier had begun a career as a schoolmaster, but in his thirties he discovered a strong religious vocation and was ordained as a priest of the Church of England and he practised extremely high church, ritualist Anglicanism and liked to be addressed as Father Olivier. This made him unacceptable to most Anglican congregations, and the church posts he was offered were temporary. This meant a nomadic existence, and for Laurences first few years, in 1912, when Olivier was five, his father secured a permanent appointment as assistant priest at St Saviours, Pimlico. He held the post for six years, and a family life was at last possible
33.
Henry V (1944 film)
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Henry V is a 1944 British Technicolor film adaptation of William Shakespeares play of the same name. The on-screen title is The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France and it stars Laurence Olivier, who also directed. The play was adapted for the screen by Olivier, Dallas Bower, the score is by William Walton. It follows the pattern of Shakespeares play, depicting Henrys campaign in France. The film then shows the Battle of Agincourt in a real setting and we then see the negotiations for Treaty of Troyes and Henrys courtship of Princess Katherine followed by their marriage. At the end of the scene, the setting reverts to the Globe Playhouse, the film was made near the end of World War II and was intended as a morale booster for Britain. Consequently, the film was funded by the British government. Oliviers Henry V is widely considered the first Shakespeare film to be artistically and commercially successful. We see a panorama of London in 1600 and travel to the Globe Theatre where the audience is being seated, the Chorus enters and implores the audience to use their imagination to visualise the setting of the play. We then see, up on a balcony, two clergymen, The Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishop of Ely discussing the current affairs of state, Henry then enters, and discusses with his nobles the state of France. A gift is delivered to Henry from the French Dauphin, the gift turns out to be tennis balls, a jibe at Henrys youth and inexperience. Offended, Henry sends the French ambassador away, and prepares to claim the French throne and we then see characters from Shakespeares Henry IV plays, Corporal Nym, Bardolph, and Pistol. These characters resolve to join Henrys army, however, before they do, Falstaff, another returning character, and one of the Kings former mentors, dies. At this point, the film gradually ceases to be located in the Globe Theatre, at Southampton, the fleet embarks, and lands in France, beginning a campaign that tears through France to Harfleur, where Henrys forces lay siege. At the siege, Henry delivers his first rousing speech to his troops, the troops charge on Harfleur, and take it as their own. The troops then march to Agincourt, meeting the French forces, before the impending battle, Henry wanders around the camp in disguise, to find out what the men think of him. The next day, before the battle, Henry delivers his famous Saint Crispins Day speech, the Battle of Agincourt then commences. The English archers let forth a volley of arrows that cuts deeply into the French numbers, Henry is angered by this and rides out to meet the French Constable
34.
Luchino Visconti
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Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo, was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice, Luchino Visconti was born into a prominent noble family in Milan, one of seven children of Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone, Duke of Grazzano Visconti and Count of Lonate Pozzolo, and his wife Carla. He was formally known as Count don Luchino Visconti di Modrone, during World War II, Visconti joined the Italian Communist Party. Visconti made no secret of his homosexuality and his last partner was the Austrian actor Helmut Berger, who played Martin in Viscontis film The Damned. Berger also appeared in Viscontis Ludwig in 1972 and Conversation Piece in 1974, Visconti suffered a stroke in 1972, but continued to smoke heavily. He died in Rome of another stroke at the age of 69, there is a museum dedicated to the directors work in Ischia. He began his career as an assistant director on Jean Renoirs Toni and Partie de campagne, thanks to the intercession of their common friend. Together with Roberto Rossellini, Visconti joined the salotto of Vittorio Mussolini, here he presumably also met Federico Fellini. In 1948, he wrote and directed La terra trema, based on the novel I Malavoglia by Giovanni Verga, Visconti continued working throughout the 1950s, although he veered away from the neorealist path with his 1954 film, Senso, shot in colour. Based on the novella by Camillo Boito, it is set in Austrian-occupied Venice in 1866, in this film, Visconti combines realism and romanticism as a way to break away from neorealism. However, as one biographer notes, Visconti without neorealism is like Lang without expressionism and he describes the film as the most Viscontian of all Viscontis films. Visconti returned to once more with Rocco e i suoi fratelli. In 1961, he was a member of the jury at the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival, throughout the 1960s, Viscontis films became more personal. Il Gattopardo, is based on Lampedusas novel of the name about the decline of the Sicilian aristocracy at the time of the Risorgimento. It starred American actor Burt Lancaster in the role of Prince Don Fabrizio and this film was distributed in America and Britain by Twentieth-Century Fox, which deleted important scenes. Visconti repudiated the Twentieth-Century Fox version and it was not until The Damned that Visconti received a nomination for an Academy Award, for Best Screenplay. The film, one of Viscontis best-known works, concerns a German industrialists family which slowly begins to disintegrate during the Nazi consolidation of power in the 30s and its decadence and lavish beauty are characteristic of Viscontis aesthetic. Viscontis final film was The Innocent, in which he returns to his recurring interest in infidelity, Visconti was also a celebrated theatre and opera director
35.
La Terra Trema
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La Terra Trema is a 1948 Italian dramatic film directed by Luchino Visconti. The movie is adapted from Giovanni Vergas novel I Malavoglia for the screen. The picture features, as non-credited non-professional actors, Antonio Arcidiacono, Giuseppe Arcidiacono and it is a docufiction played using the Sicilian language. The story takes place in Aci Trezza, a fishing village on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. It tells about the exploitation of fishermen, specifically that of the eldest son of a very traditional village family. Everything goes well until a storm ruins the familys boat, leaving them with nothing to keep the new business going, the film can be divided into five sections, a prologue, three main phases and an epilogue. Its first phase tells us about the attempt to improve their economic circumstances. In setting the scene, a pig is slaughtered on-camera near the outset, the fishermen demand a better price for their fish, urged by Ntoni, the eldest son of Valastros family, to throw the wholesalers scales into the ocean. The fishermen end up in jail, the wholesalers realize it is more profitable to have Ntoni and his friends fishing, so they have the fishermen released. Ntoni, who lived on the mainland for a time, had some new, open-minded ideas back to Sicily, and he tries to form a cooperative. In deciding to do it on his own, he convinces his family to mortgage their house to buy a boat, a festive mood is present in this sequence, with all the village joining the Valastro family salting fish in laughter and joy. The second part shows the Valastros vulnerability, when they go out in a particularly bad storm, their new boat is severely damaged, and the Valastros have no money to get it repaired. At this point in the film, we see the other fishermen, the third phase of the film affirms the Valastros vulnerability and traces their decline. The social and psychological consequences of the Valastros attempt to change things are gradually revealed and they go out of work, no one wants to give them any opportunities, and the wholesalers are able to set the price for their fish. In the scene showing the increasing the prices yet again. This was quite a feature in neorealist films, and one almost sees this as an awakening of consciousness. The family unit, so strong in the beginning of the film, only the elder sister Mara remains strong, although she loses all hope of ever getting married because her family is now poorer than before. The entire mood of the film becomes oppressive since the camera never leaves Aci Trezza, except in the scenes at sea at the beginning, some allusions to modern Italian history are also there
36.
Vittorio De Sica
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Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Indeed, the critical success of Sciuscià and Bicycle Thieves helped establish the permanent Best Foreign Film Oscar. These two films generally are considered part of the canon of classic cinema, Bicycle Thieves was cited by Turner Classic Movies as one of the 15 most influential films in cinema history. De Sicas acting was considered the highlight of the film, born into poverty in Sora, Lazio, he began his career as a theatre actor in the early 1920s and joined Tatiana Pavlovas theatre company in 1923. In 1933 he founded his own company with his wife Giuditta Rissone, the company performed mostly light comedies, but they also staged plays by Beaumarchais and worked with famous directors like Luchino Visconti. De Sica appeared in the British television series The Four Just Men and his passion for gambling was well known. Because of it, he often lost large sums of money, in 1937 Vittorio De Sica married the actress Giuditta Rissone, who gave birth to their daughter, Emi. In 1942, on the set of Un garibaldino al convento, he met Spanish actress Maria Mercader, after divorcing Rissone in France in 1954, he married Mercader in 1959 in Mexico, but this union was not considered valid under Italian law. In 1968 he obtained French citizenship and married Mercader in Paris, meanwhile, he had already had two sons with her, Manuel, in 1949, a musician, and Christian, in 1951, who would follow his fathers path as an actor and director. Although divorced, De Sica never parted from his first family and he led a double family life, with double celebrations on holidays. It is said that, at Christmas and on New Years Eve and his first wife agreed to keep up the facade of a marriage so as not to leave her daughter without a father. Vittorio De Sica died at 73 after a surgery at the Neuilly-sur-Seine hospital in Paris, Vittorio De Sica was given the Interfilm Grand Prix in 1971 by the Berlin International Film Festival. Miracolo a Milano Cannes Film Festival Palme DOr Winner Umberto D
37.
Roberto Rossellini
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Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema and his mother was of part French descent, from immigrants who had arrived in Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. He lived on the Via Ludovisi, where Benito Mussolini had his first Roman hotel in 1922 when Fascism obtained power in Italy. When his father died, he worked as a soundmaker for films and for a time he experienced all the accessory jobs related to the creation of a film. Rossellini had a brother, Renzo, who scored many of his films. On 26 September 1936, he married Marcella De Marchis, a designer with whom he collaborated even after their marriage was over. This was after a quick annulment from Assia Noris, a Russian actress who worked in Italian films, De Marchis and Rossellini had two sons, Marco Romano, and Renzo. Rossellini and De Marchis separated in 1950, in 1937, Rossellini made his first documentary, Prélude à laprès-midi dun faune. After this essay, he was called to assist Goffredo Alessandrini in making Luciano Serra pilota, in 1940 he was called to assist Francesco De Robertis on Uomini sul Fondo. His close friendship with Vittorio Mussolini, son of Il Duce, has interpreted as a possible reason for having been preferred to other apprentices. Some authors describe the first part of his career as a sequence of trilogies, to this period belongs his friendship and cooperation with Federico Fellini and Aldo Fabrizi. The Fascist regime collapsed in 1943 and just two months after the liberation of Rome, Rossellini was already preparing the anti-fascist Roma città aperta, Fellini assisted on the script and Fabrizi played the role of the priest, while Rossellini self-produced. Most of the came from credits and loans, and film had to be found on the black market. This dramatic film was an immediate success, since I do not have the desire to waste my energy in a battle like this, I only use professional actors occasionally. One of the reasons for success is supposed to be Rossellinis rewriting of the according to the non-professional actors feelings. Regional accent, dialect, and costumes were shown in the film as they were in real life, after his Neorealist Trilogy, Rossellini produced two films now classified as the Transitional films, LAmore and La macchina ammazzacattivi, on the capability of cinema to portray reality and truth. In 1948, Rossellini received a letter from a foreign actress proposing a collaboration, Dear Mr. Rossellini, I saw your films Open City and Paisan. Ingrid Bergman With this letter began one of the best known stories in film history, with Bergman
38.
Olivia Hussey
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Olivia Hussey is an English-Argentinian actress, voice actress, singer and activist. After appearing in theatre in London, Hussey was chosen to play the role of Juliet in Franco Zeffirellis 1968 film version of Romeo, the role lent her international recognition, and she won a Golden Globe and also the David di Donatello Award for her performance. In 1974, she appeared as the character, Jess. She would reunite with Zeffereli in the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, as Mary, mother of Jesus and she would appear in several international productions throughout the 1980s, including the Japanese production Virus, and the Australian horror film Turkey Shoot. In 1990, she appeared in two other productions, Psycho IV, The Beginning, and Stephen Kings It. Hussey was born Olivia Osuna in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the first child of Andreas Osuna, an Argentine opera singer, and Joy Hussey, a secretary originally from England. Her parents divorced when she was two old, and at age seven, Hussey relocated with her mother and younger brother to London. In London, she attended the Italia Conti Academy drama school for five years, at age thirteen, she began acting professionally in theatre. Assuming her mothers name as her stage name, Hussey appeared, at age thirteen, on the London stage as Jenny in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It was during the run of play that Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli first spotted her because of her beauty. At age fifteen, she was out of 500 actresses to star as Juliet in Zeffirellis 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. Prior to her role in Romeo and Juliet, she had appeared in roles in two films, The Battle of the Villa Fiorita and Cup Fever, and an episode of the television series Drama 61-67. In 1969, she won a special David di Donatello Award, in 1974, she played the leading role of Jess in the Canadian horror film, Black Christmas, which became influential as a forerunner of the slasher film genre of horror films. She played Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television production of Jesus of Nazareth, in 1978 she played Rosalie Otterbourne in Death on the Nile with Peter Ustinov, and appeared in The Cat and the Canary. She also starred as Marit in the Japanese film Virus, and played Rebecca of York in the 1982 remake of Ivanhoe, the same year, she had a lead role in the Australian horror film Turkey Shoot. In 2003 she played the lead in an adaptation of the life of Mother Teresa. She stated in an interview that it had been her dream, in 2015 Hussey and Leonard Whiting reunited as on-screen partners in the film Social Suicide, the only film that they both appeared in since Romeo and Juliet. She also lent her voice to Star Wars, Force Commander in 2000 and she quit acting for two years following the success of Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet due to an ongoing struggle with agoraphobia
39.
Sophia Loren
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Sophia Loren is an Italian film actress. Encouraged to enroll in acting lessons after entering a beauty pageant and she appeared in several bit parts and minor roles in the early part of the decade, until her five-picture contract with Paramount in 1956 launched her international career. Notable film appearances around this time include The Pride and the Passion, Houseboat, after starting her family in the early 1970s, Loren spent less time on her acting career and chose to make only occasional film appearances. In later years, she has appeared in American films such as Grumpier Old Men, in 1995, she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievements, one of such awards. In 1999, Loren was acknowledged as one of the top 25 female American Screen Legends in the American Film Institutes survey, AFIs 100 Years.100 Stars. Loren was born Sofia Villani Scicolone in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, Italy, the daughter of Romilda Villani and Riccardo Scicolone, Riccardo Scicolone refused to marry Villani, leaving the piano teacher and aspiring actress without support. Lorens parents had another child together, her sister Maria, in 1938, Loren has two younger paternal half-brothers, Giuliano and Giuseppe. Romilda, Sofia, and Maria lived with Lorens grandmother in Pozzuoli, during World War II, the harbour and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the Allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel, after that, the family moved to Naples, where they were taken in by distant relatives. After the war, Loren and her returned to Pozzuoli. Lorens grandmother Luisa opened a pub in their room, selling homemade cherry liquor. Romilda Villani played the piano, Maria sang, and Loren waited on tables, the place was popular with the American GIs stationed nearby. When she was 14, Sofia entered a beauty pageant, Miss Italia 1950 and, later, she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an uncredited extra in Mervyn LeRoys film Quo Vadis, at the age of 15. In 1951, she appeared in Italian film Era lui. sì. sì. where she played an odalisque. She appeared in bit parts and minor roles in the early part of the decade. She began using her current stage name in La Favorita, the new name being a twist on the name of the Swedish actress Märta Torén and was suggested by Goffredo Lombardo or Carlo Ponti and her first starring role was in Aida, for which she received critical acclaim. After playing the role in Two Nights with Cleopatra, her breakthrough role was in The Gold of Naples
40.
Marcello Mastroianni
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Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Mastroianni was born in Fontana Liri, a small village in the Apennines in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, and grew up in Turin and Rome. He was the son of Ida and Ottone Mastroianni, who ran a shop. During World War II, after the division into Axis and Allied Italy, he was interned in a loosely guarded German prison camp, from which he escaped to hide in Venice. Mastroianni made his debut as an uncredited extra in Marionette when he was fourteen. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, for Divorce Italian Style, A Special Day and Dark Eyes, Mastroianni, Dean Stockwell and Jack Lemmon are the only actors to have been twice awarded the Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. Mastroianni won it in 1970 for The Pizza Triangle and in 1987 for Dark Eyes, Mastroianni starred alongside his daughter, Chiara Mastroianni, in Raúl Ruizs Three Lives and Only One Death in 1996. For this performance he won the Silver Wave Award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival and his final film, Voyage to the Beginning of the World, was released posthumously. Mastroianni married Flora Carabella on August 12,1950 and they had one daughter together, Barbara, but eventually separated because of his affairs with younger women. Mastroiannis first serious relationship after the separation was with Faye Dunaway, Dunaway wanted to marry and have children, but Mastroianni, a Catholic, refused to divorce Carabella. In 1971, after three years of waiting for Mastroianni to change his mind, Dunaway left him, Mastroianni had a daughter, Chiara Mastroianni, with French actress Catherine Deneuve, who was nearly 20 years his junior and lived with him for four years in the 1970s. During that time, the couple made four movies together, It Only Happens to Others, La cagna, A Slightly Pregnant Man, according to People magazine, Mastroiannis other lovers included actresses Anouk Aimee, Ursula Andress, Claudia Cardinale and Lauren Hutton. Around 1976, he involved with Anna Maria Tatò, an author. They remained together until his death, Mastroianni died of pancreatic cancer on 19 December 1996 at the age of 72. Both of his daughters, as well as Deneuve and Tatò, were at his bedside, the Trevi Fountain in Rome, associated with his role in Fellinis La Dolce Vita, was symbolically turned off and draped in black as a tribute. At the 1997 Venice Film Festival, Chiara, Carabella and Deneuve tried to block the screening of Tatòs four-hour documentary, Marcello Mastroianni, the festival refused and the movie was shown. The three women reportedly tried to do the thing at Cannes. Tatò said Mastroianni had willed her all rights to his image. com
41.
1966 flood of the Arno
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The 1966 flood of the Arno in Florence killed 101 people and damaged or destroyed millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. It is considered the worst flood in the history since 1557. With the combined effort of Italian and foreign alike, or angeli del fango. New methods in conservation were devised and restoration laboratories established, however, even decades later, much work remains to be done. Located in the Tuscany region of Central Italy, the Arno river is approximately 240 kilometres long and it flows from the Mount Falterona hills of the Apennine Mountains to the Ligurian Sea, just 11 kilometres west of Pisa. Lush vineyards and olive groves line the rivers course to the west. Principally utilized for irrigation purposes, only 32 kilometres of the river is used for navigation, the highest flows of the river generally occur in spring and autumn of every year, when rainfall in the Apennines is at its greatest. The intensity of the 1966 flood was further increased by both the orography of the Apennines, which contributed to the high rates and river discharges. After a long period of rain, the Levane and La Penna dams in Valdarno began to discharge more than 2,000 cubic metres of water per second toward Florence. At 14,30, the Civil Engineering Department reported an exceptional quantity of water, cellars in the Santa Croce and San Frediano areas began to flood. Police received calls for assistance from villagers up the Arno Valley, the floods first victim, a 52-year-old worker, died at the Anconella water treatment plant. At 04,00, engineers, fearing that the Valdarno dam would burst, at 07,26, the Lungarno delle Grazie cut off gas, electricity and water supplies to affected areas. By 08,00, army barracks were flooded, by 09,00, hospital emergency generators failed. Landslides obstructed roads leading to Florence, while narrow streets within city limits funneled floodwaters, increasing their height, by 09,45, the Piazza del Duomo was flooded. The powerful waters ruptured central heating oil tanks, and the oil mixed with the water and mud, Florence was divided in two, and officials were unable to immediately reach citizens of the city past the Piazza Michelangelo. At its highest, the water reached over 6.7 metres in the Santa Croce area, by 20,00, the water began to lower. The flood has had a impact on Florence, economically and culturally. City officials and citizens were extremely unprepared for the storm and the devastation that it caused
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