Mikhail Shaevich Stern was a Soviet endocrinologist and dissident. Stern was born in a Jewish family in a small Ukrainian town of Zhmerynka. In 1944 he received his doctor degree, in 1947 organized in Chernovtsy the first endocrinological center in Ukraine. In 1952 he moved to Vinnitsa; the same year he was discharged because of the Doctors' plot, an imaginary conspiracy of Jewish doctors to poison Soviet leaders. He was reinstated in a year after Stalin's death. In 1963, Stern became a section head in a newly established endocrinological center in Vinnitsa. In 1974, after his sons and August, applied for asylum in Israel, Stern was questioned at the Vinnitsa visa office and his flat was searched. Two weeks he was arrested for swindling and bribery, in December sentenced to eight years of hard labor in Kharkiv. Meanwhile, his sons campaigned for the release of their father. In 1976, August published a transcript of his father's trial, the first time the transcript of a dissident trial was leaked to the public.

The transcript revealed various inconsistencies between witness accounts recorded behind closed doors and in the open trial, implying that the case was fabricated. The trial transcript was published in English translation by Urizen Books in 1978 https://www.amazon.com/USSR-vs-Dr-Mikhail-Stern/dp/091635461X In 1977, an international tribunal was organized in Stern's defense in Amsterdam, attended by Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Stern was released a week before the opening of the tribunal, he immigrated to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where in 1979 he wrote a book describing taboos, sexual ignorance, suppression of sexual freedoms in the Soviet Union. The book documents Stern's professional communications with patients. Stern's medical files were confiscated during his trial, therefore the book is written from memory, supported by photographs and personal letters. Stern died in 2005 in Amsterdam, two months after being beaten by burglars

Great Island is an island in Cork Harbour, at the mouth of the River Lee in Ireland. The largest town on the island is Cobh, the island's economic and social history has been linked to the naval, ship-building, shipping activities in the town's environs. Located close to Cork city, as of the 21st century, a key economic driver is tourism – including the cruise tourism attracted by the Port of Cork berthing facilities on the island; the ancient name of the island was Oilean Ard na Neimheadh, the "High island of Neimheadh". Neimheadh was, according to the 11th century Lebor Gabála Érenn, the leader of a group who invaded the area in prehistoric times. Archaeological evidence of prehistoric and early medieval settlement on Great Island is recorded on the Record of Monuments and Places of the National Monuments Service; this includes records of fulacht fiadh, holy well and bee bole structures. By the early 13th century, the island was under the control of the Anglo-Norman Hodnett family; the Hodnetts built several structures, including Belvelly Castle, to defend the island and its approaches.

The island and its defenses were taken by the de Barra family in the 14th century. The Barry family retained power in the area for several centuries, the island became known as Oileán Mór an Barraigh, meaning "Great island of the Barrys". In the 18th and 19th centuries, due to the strategic importance of the island within Cork Harbour, several coastal defence fortifications were built on Great Island; these included the construction of Cove Fort in the 18th century and several Martello towers in the 19th century. The largest settlement on Great Island, saw significant development during the 19th century and early 20th century, coinciding with additional expansion in shipping and naval activity in the area. Great Island is located in Cork Harbour on Ireland's south coast, is made-up of the civil parishes of'Clonmel' and'Templerobin'; the island is connected by road bridge to Fota Island to the north – which, in turn, connects via a causeway to the mainland. This road bridge, Belvelly Bridge, was built in 1803 at one of the narrowest points in the channels around Great Island.

At more than 200 years old, it is the only road bridge to the island. A railway bridge and rail line runs out through Fota Island to Great Island. Railway stations on Great Island include Carrigaloe station and Rushbrooke station, the terminus at Cobh. A ferry service connects the island to the mainland. During regional windstorms in 2017, downed trees and high winds resulted in the closure of the only road bridge to Great Island, as well as the cancellation of ferry and rail services, leaving 12,000 residents "stranded"; this plans for the island. In the 19th century Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Great Island is described as "very fertile" with its "light productive soil" supporting agricultural uses with "two-thirds under tillage, the remainder in pasture or included in demesnes". Lewis describes the island's location and climate as factors "induc many genteel families to settle here"; as of the 21st century, land use on Great Island remains agricultural and residential in nature, the island has a population of between 12,000 and 14,000.

While some of this population work on the island, as of the early 21st century, an increasing percentage of the island's residents fall within the commuter area for Cork city, connect via road, Cork Commuter Rail and bus services to Cork. Residential developments are concentrated around Cobh, with other populated townlands and settlements on the island including Ballymore and Belvelly. Prior to the 21st century, land use included industrial zones, such as the former Irish Fertilizer Industries plant at Marino Point, the Verolme Cork Dockyard at Rushbrooke; the latter was involved in the construction of vessels for the Irish Naval Service, such as the LÉ Eithne. Many of these heavy industries have since closed, though some smaller boatbuilding companies are still based at Cobh. Tourism is now an economic driver on this island, Great Island is the location of Ireland's only dedicated berth for visiting cruise ships. There are green areas on and around the island; these include Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve, Marlogue Wood, the Great Island Channel Special Area of Conservation.

The latter, the Great Island Special Area of Conservation, proposes conservation controls to protect the animal and bird habitats of the area's salt marshes. While larger fish species are less common in the Great Island Special Area of Conservation, a large blue shark was recorded just off the island in mid-2018. List of coastal fortifications of County Cork