Orphan
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An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition, defines the term: "One deprived by death of father or
Orphans by Thomas Kennington, oil on canvas, 1885
Orphan on mother's grave by Uroš Predić in 1888
In a painting by Félix Taunay, 9-year-old Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and his sisters, Princesses Francisca and Januária (aged 10 and 12 respectively), are depicted wearing mourning clothes for their late father Pedro I in 1834. Their mother, Maria Leopoldina, had died a couple of years before, in 1826.
Mime offers food to the young Siegfried, an orphan he is raising; Illustration by Arthur Rackham to Richard Wagner's Siegfried
Adoption
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Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and
Sister Irene of New York Foundling Hospital with children. Sister Irene is among the pioneers of modern adoption, establishing a system to board out children rather than institutionalize them.
Trajan became emperor of Rome through adoption by the previous emperor Nerva, and was in turn succeeded by his own adopted son Hadrian. Adoption was a customary practice of the Roman Empire that enabled peaceful transitions of power.
At the monastery gate (Am Klostertor) by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
Josephine Baker adopted 10 children in the 1960s. In this photo they are on a tour of Amsterdam in 1964.