Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, best known by her pen name George Sand, was a French novelist and memoirist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, being more renowned than both Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac in England in the 1830s and 1840s, Sand is recognised as one of the most notable writers of the European Romantic era. George Sand – known to her friends and family as "Aurore" – was born in Paris and was raised for much of her childhood by her grandmother, Marie-Aurore de Saxe, Madame Dupin de Francueil, at her grandmother's estate, Nohant, in the French province of Berry. Sand used the estate setting in many of her novels, her father, Maurice Dupin, was the grandson of the Marshal General of France, Comte de Saxe, an out-of-wedlock son of Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, a cousin to the sixth degree to Kings Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X of France. She was more distantly related to King Louis Philippe of France through common ancestors from German and Danish ruling families.

Sand's mother, Sophie-Victoire Delaborde, was a commoner. Sand was one of many notable 19th-century women. In 1800, the police issued an order requiring women to apply for a permit in order to wear male clothing; some women applied for health, occupational, or recreational reasons, but many women chose to wear pants and other traditional male attire in public without receiving a permit. They did so as well for practical reasons, but at times to subvert dominant stereotypes. Sand was one of the women who wore men's clothing without a permit, justifying them as being less expensive and far sturdier than the typical dress of a noblewoman at the time. In addition to being comfortable, Sand's male attire enabled her to circulate more in Paris than most of her female contemporaries, gave her increased access to venues from which women were barred women of her social standing. Scandalous was Sand's smoking tobacco in public. While there were many contemporary critics of her comportment, many people accepted her behaviour until they became shocked with the subversive tone of her novels.

Those who found her writing admirable were not bothered by her ambiguous or rebellious public behaviour. As Victor Hugo commented, "George Sand can not determine whether she is female. I entertain a high regard for all my colleagues, but it is not my place to decide whether she is my sister or my brother.” In 1822, at the age of eighteen, Sand married Casimir Dudevant, out-of-wedlock son of Baron Jean-François Dudevant. She and Dudevant had two children: Solange. In 1825 she had an intense but platonic affair with the young lawyer Aurélien de Sèze. In early 1831, she left her husband and entered upon a four- or five-year period of "romantic rebellion." In 1835, she was separated from Dudevant, took custody of their children. Sand had romantic affairs with Jules Sandeau, Prosper Mérimée, Alfred de Musset, Louis-Chrysostome Michel, Pierre-François Bocage, Charles Didier, Félicien Mallefille, Louis Blanc, composer Frédéric Chopin. In her life, she corresponded with Gustave Flaubert, despite their differences in temperament and aesthetic preference, they became close friends.

She engaged in an intimate friendship with actress Marie Dorval, which led to widespread but unconfirmed rumours of a romantic affair. Sand spent the winter of 1838–1839 with Chopin in Majorca at the Carthusian monastery of Valldemossa; the trip to Majorca was described in her Un hiver à Majorque, first published in 1841. Chopin was ill with incipient tuberculosis at the beginning of their relationship, spending a cold and wet winter in Majorca where they could not get proper lodgings exacerbated his symptoms, they separated two years before his death for a variety of reasons. In her novel Lucrezia Floriani, Sand used Chopin as a model for a sickly Eastern European prince named Karol, he is cared for by a middle-aged actress past her prime, who suffers a great deal through her affection for Karol. Though Sand claimed not to have made a cartoon out of Chopin, the book's publication and widespread readership may have exacerbated their antipathy towards each other; the tipping point in their relationship involved her daughter Solange.

Chopin continued to be cordial to Solange after she and her husband, Auguste Clésinger, had a falling out with Sand over money. Sand took Chopin's support of Solange to be disloyal, confirmation that Chopin had always "loved" Solange. Sand's son Maurice disliked Chopin. Maurice wanted to establish himself as the "man of the estate" and did not wish to have Chopin as a rival. Chopin was never asked back to Nohant. Chopin was penniless at that time; the funeral was attended by over 3,000 people, including Eugène Delacroix, Franz Liszt, Victor Hugo and other notables. George Sand was notably absent. Sand died at Nohant, near Châteauroux, in France's Indre département on 8 June 1876, at the age of 71, she was buried in the private graveyard behind the chapel at Nohant-Vic. In 2003, plans that her remains be m

Taggart Siegel is an American documentary filmmaker. For 30 years, he has produced and directed Emmy-nominated, award-winning documentaries and dramas that reflect cultural diversity, he is co-founder of Collective Eye Films, a nonprofit media production and distribution organization. The Real Dirt on Farmer John has won 31 international film festival awards, including the 2005 Nashville Film Festival Reel Current Award selected by Al Gore; the film was featured on Independent Lens. The Disenchanted Forest follows endangered orphan orangutans on the island of Borneo as they are rehabilitated and returned to their rainforest home, it centres on the three main Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation projects - Wanariset, Nyaru Menteng and Mawas. It is narrated by Brooke Shields; the Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America and Between Two Worlds follow the story of Hmong people adapting to life in America. Both films have aired on Public Broadcasting Corporation. Between Two Worlds was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2004.

Taggart Siegel on IMDb Collective Eye Real Dirt on Farmer John Filmmaker Q&A with Independent Lens Queen of the Sun review Seed.

Vodafone Ghana Ghana Telecom, is the national telecommunications company of Ghana. The company in Ghana operates under Vodafone Group Plc - the world's leading mobile telecommunications company, with a significant presence in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and the United States; as of April 2016, it had around 7,976,348 mobile voice subscribers, representing 21.92% of the Ghanaian market shares. Patricia Obo-Nai was appointed as the first Ghanaian female CEO of Vodafone Ghana. On 3 July 2008 it was announced that Vodafone had agreed to acquire 70% of Ghana Telecom from the Ghanaian government at a cost of US$900 million and a total enterprise value of US$1.3 billion. After the transaction closed, Vodafone had a 70% stake in the company, while the Ghanaian government retained a 30% stake; the acquisition was consummated on 17 August 2008. The sale was supported by president John Agyekum Kufuor but opposed by the opposition party which would win the presidential elections a few months later.

The new president John Atta Mills, head of the National Democratic Congress party launched an investigation into the deal after being elected president a claiming that the government "did not get value for money". Despite these claims, Vodafone a few months would write down the value of its stake in Ghana Telecom by £250m as the economic climate worsened, damaging the business's prospects. On 15 April 2009, Ghana Telecom, along with its mobile subsidiary OneTouch, was rebranded as Vodafone Ghana. In 2016, Vodafone Ghana was the country's second largest operator with a market share for April 2016 as 21.92% and 25.32% of data behind African communications giant MTN Ghana. In December 2019, Vodafone Ghana announced its acquisition of all of the Vodacom Group's stake in Vodacom Business Ghana. Vodafone Ghana was recognized as the top Philanthropic and Health Support Institution by Media Men Ghana at the 2017 People's Choice Practitioners Honours; the company, in collaboration with British Council, established the Vodafone Scholar Project which will provide full and partial scholarships to female high school and undergraduate students studying STEM subjects who don’t have the financial means to pursue continued study.

In 2016, Vodafone made a ground-breaking deal with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. In the GHS14m agreement spanning five years, the company will provide an enhanced high speed internet and Wi-Fi connectivity to all faculties across the University’s campuses in Ghana. Telecommunications in Ghana Vodafone Ghana https://www.graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/ghana-news-vodafone-ghana-appoints-patricia-obo-nai-as-first-ghanaian-ceo.html http://www.ghanatelecom.com.gh https://site.gtuc.edu.gh The latest news on the Ghana Telecom - Vodafone saga