Botta, Paul-Emile
1802-1870
French archaeologist
Paul-Emile Botta (1802-1870) made the discovery of the palace of the Assyrian king Sargon I in 1843 that sparked other excavations in Mesopotamia. He was born in Turin, Italy, on December 6, 1802.
1802-1870
French archaeologist
Paul-Emile Botta (1802-1870) made the discovery of the palace of the Assyrian king Sargon I in 1843 that sparked other excavations in Mesopotamia. He was born in Turin, Italy, on December 6, 1802.
Broadus, Cordozar Calvin (Snoop Dogg)
b. 1971
American entertainer, rapper, record producer and actor.
Snoop Dogg, byname of Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr., also called Snoop Doggy Dogg (b. October 20, 1971, Long Beach, California), is an American rapper and songwriter who became one of the best-known figures in gangsta rap in the 1990s and was for many the epitome of West Coast hip-hop culture.
Snoop Dogg’s signature drawled lyrics took inspiration from his early encounters with the law. After high school he was in and out of prison for several years before seriously pursuing a career in hip-hop. Eventually he came to the attention of famed producer-rapper Dr. Dre, who featured him on his single “"Deep Cover"” and on his landmark album The Chronic (both 1992). Snoop’s prominent vocals on the hit singles “"Dre Day"” and “"Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang"” fueled a rapid ascent to stardom. His own album Doggystyle (1993) became the first debut record to enter the Billboard 200 at number one.
While recording Doggystyle, Snoop was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting. Although he was ultimately cleared of all charges, the incident entangled him in court for years, contributing to a long delay before the release of his next album, Tha Doggfather (1996). By that time the gangsta rap movement had begun to ebb. For a few years Snoop’s records failed to generate excitement comparable to that of his debut, but his carefully cultivated—and at times cartoonish—public persona made him a popular icon. His West Coast slang and exaggerated verbal tics entered the popular American vocabulary. Snoop was a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows and amassed a substantial number of film credits. In 2008 he starred in Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, a reality television series chronicling his home life.
Named after his step-father, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Sr. (December 10, 1948 - November 9, 1985, Los Angeles, California), Calvin Broadus was born October 20, 1971 at the Los Altos Hospital in Long Beach, California, the second of three sons of Beverly Broadus (née Tate; born April 27, 1951, McComb, Mississippi). His father, Vernall Varnado (born December 13, 1949, Magnolia, Mississippi), was a Vietnam veteran, singer, and mail carrier. Broadus' parents nicknamed him "Snoopy" as a child because of his appearance, but usually addressed him as Calvin at home. His mother and stepfather divorced in 1975. At an early age, Broadus began singing in Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church and playing piano. When he was in sixth grade, he began rapping. He attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and was convicted for cocaine trafficking and served six months at the Wayside County Jail.
Snoop Dogg was a member of the Rollin' 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach. Snoop Dogg's conviction for cocaine trafficking caused him to be in and out of prison for the first three years after he graduated from high school. Snoop, along with his cousins Nate Dogg and Lil' ½ Dead and friend Warren G, recorded home made tapes as a group called 213, named after the Long Beach area code at the time. One of his early solo freestyles over En Vogue's "Hold On" had made it to a mixtape which was heard by influential producer Dr. Dre, who phoned to invite him to an audition. Former N.W.A member The D.O.C. taught him how to structure his lyrics and separate the thematics into verses, hooks and chorus.
When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound. The huge success of Snoop Dogg's debut Doggystyle was partially because of this intense exposure.
To fuel the ascendance of West Coast G-funk hip hop, the singles "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" and "Gin and Juice" reached the top ten most-played songs in the United States, and the album stayed on the Billboard charts for several months. Gangsta rap became the center of arguments for censorship and labeling, with Snoop Dogg often used as an example of violent and misogynistic musicians. Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg and others. Rolling Stone music critic Touré asserted that Snoop had a relatively soft vocal delivery compared to other rappers: "Snoop's vocal style is part of what distinguishes him: where many rappers scream, figuratively and literally, he speaks softly."
While recording Doggystyle in August 1993, Snoop Dogg was arrested in connection with the death of Phillip Woldermarian, a member of a rival gang who was shot and killed by Snoop's bodyguard, McKinley Lee. Snoop was charged with murder along with Lee as he was driving the vehicle from which the shooting had commenced. Snoop and Lee were defended by Johnnie Cochran. Both Snoop and Lee would be acquitted. Lee was acquitted on grounds of self-defense, but Snoop Dogg remained entangled in the legal battles around the case for three years.
A short film about Snoop Dogg's murder trial called Murder Was The Case, was released in 1994, along with an accompanying soundtrack. On July 6, 1995, Doggy Style Records, Inc., a record label founded by Snoop Dogg, was registered with the California Secretary of State.
After Snoop Dogg was acquitted of murder charges on February 20, 1996, he and the mother of his son and their kennel of 20 pit bulls moved into a 5,000-square-foot home in the hills of Claremont, California and by August 1996 Doggy Style Records, a subsidiary of Death Row Records, signed The Gap Band's Charlie Wilson as one of the record label's first artists.
By the time Snoop Dogg's second album, Tha Doggfather, was released in November 1996, the price of living (or sometimes just imitating) the gangsta life had become very evident. Among the many notable hip hop industry deaths and convictions were the death of Snoop Dogg's friend and labelmate Tupac and the racketeering indictment of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight. Dr. Dre had left Death Row earlier in 1996 because of a contract dispute, so Snoop Dogg co-produced Tha Doggfather with Daz Dillinger and DJ Pooh.
Tha Doggfather featured a distinct change of style as compared to Doggystyle, and the leadoff single, "Snoop's Upside Ya Head", featured a collaboration with Gap Band frontman Charlie Wilson. While the album sold reasonably well, it was not as successful as its predecessor. The lack of success may be attributable to the perception that Tha Doggfather had a somewhat softer approach to the G-funk style.
In the immediate aftermath of Dr. Dre's withdrawal from Death Row Records, Snoop Dogg came to realize that he was subject to an iron-clad time-based contract (i.e., that Death Row practically owned anything he produced for a number of years). Once he came to this realization, Snoop Dogg refused to produce any more tracks for Suge Knight, until his contract expired.
After Tha Doggfather, Snoop Dogg began moving away from his gangsta roots toward a calmer lyrical aesthetic. Snoop participated in the 1997 Lollapalooza concert tour, which featured mainly alternative rock music.
Snoop signed with Master P's No Limit Records (distributed by Priority/EMI Records) in 1998 and debuted on the label with Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told that year. His other albums from No Limit were No Limit Top Dogg in 1999 (selling over 1,500,000 copies) and Tha Last Meal in 2000 (selling over 1,000,000). In 2001, his autobiography, Tha Doggfather, was published.
In 2002, Snoop released the album Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, on Priority/Capitol/EMI Records, selling over 1,300,000 copies. The album featured the hit singles "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" and "Beautiful", featuring guest vocals by Pharrell. By this point in his career, Snoop Dogg had left behind his "gangster" image and embraced a "pimp" image.
In 2004, Snoop signed to Geffen Records/Star Trak Entertainment both of which are distributed through Interscope Records. Star Trak was headed by producer duo The Neptunes, which produced several tracks for Snoop's 2004 release R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. "Drop It Like It's Hot" (featuring Pharrell), the first single released from the album, was a hit and became Snoop Dogg's first single to reach number one. His third release was "Signs", featuring Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson, which entered the UK chart at #2. This was his highest entry ever in the UK chart. The album sold 1,724,000 copies in the U.S. alone, and most of its singles were heavily played on radio and television. Snoop Dogg joined Warren G and Nate Dogg to form the group 213 and released album The Hard Way in 2004. Debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it included single "Groupie Luv". Together with fellow rappers Lil' Jon, Xzibit and David Banner, Snoop Dogg appeared in the music video for Korn's "Twisted Transistor".
Snoop Dogg's appeared on two tracks from Ice Cube's 2006 album Laugh Now, Cry Later, including the single "Go to Church", and on several tracks on Tha Dogg Pound's Cali Iz Active the same year. Also, his song, "Real Talk", was leaked over the Internet in the summer of 2006 and a video was later released on the Internet. "Real Talk" was a dedication to former Crips leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams and a diss to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California. Two other singles on which Snoop made a guest performance were "Keep Bouncing" by Too $hort (also with will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas) and "Gangsta Walk" by Coolio.
Snoop's 2006 album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #5 and sold over 850,000 copies. The album and the second single "That's That Shit" featuring R. Kelly were well received by critics. In the album, he collaborated in a video with E-40 and other West Coast rappers for his single "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)".
In July 2007, Snoop Dogg also made history by becoming the first artist to release a track as a ringtone prior to its release as a single, which was "It's the D.O.G." On July 7, 2007, Snoop Dogg performed at the Live Earth concert in Hamburg.
Snoop Dogg has ventured into singing for Bollywood with his first ever rap for an Indian movie Singh Is Kinng; the title of the song is also "Singh is Kinng". The album featuring the song was released on June 8, 2008 on Junglee Music Records.
Snoop released his ninth studio album, Ego Trippin' (selling 400,000 copies in the U.S.), along with the first single, "Sexual Eruption". The single peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100, featuring Snoop using autotune. The album featured production from QDT (Quik-Dogg-Teddy).
In 2009, Snoop was appointed an executive position at Priority Records. His tenth studio album, Malice n Wonderland, was released on December 8, 2009. The first single from the album, "Gangsta Luv", featuring The-Dream, peaked at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200, selling 61,000 copies its first week, making it his lowest charting album. His third single, "I Wanna Rock", peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. Snoop was featured on the Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach. The fourth single from Malice n Wonderland, titled "Pronto", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, was released on iTunes on December 1, 2009. Snoop re-released the album under the name More Malice.
Snoop collaborated with Katy Perry on the first single from her second mainstream album, "California Gurls", which was released on May 11, 2010. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks, giving Perry her second US number-one single and Snoop Dogg his third. The song reached number one in over 10 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand. On December 2nd, the song received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
Snoop can also be heard on the track "Flashing" by Dr. Dre and on Curren$y's song Seat Change. He was also featured on a new single from Australian singer Jessica Mauboy, titled "Get 'em Girls" (released September 2010). Snoop's latest effort was backing American recording artist, Emii, on her second single entitled "Mr. Romeo" (released October 26, 2010 as a follow-up to "Magic").
Snoop Dogg has appeared on television and in films throughout his career. In 1998, Snoop had a cameo appearance in the film Half Baked as the "Scavenger Smoker". In 2000, Snoop (as "Michael J. Corleone") directed Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, a pornographic film produced by Hustler. The film, combining hip hop with x-rated material, was a huge success and won "Top Selling Release of the Year" at the 2002 AVN (Adult Video News) Awards. Snoop then directed Snoop Dogg's Hustlaz: Diary of a Pimp in 2002 (using the nickname "Snoop Scorsese").
In 2001, Snoop lent his voice to the animated show King of the Hill, in which he played a white pimp named Alabaster Jones. He played a lead character in the movie The Wash with Dr. Dre. He portrayed a drug dealer in a wheelchair in the film Training Day, featuring Denzel Washington. In 2001, Snoop starred in the horror film Bones, with him playing a murdered mobster who returns from the dead to exact his revenge against those who murdered him.
In 2002, Snoop hosted, starred in, and produced his own MTV sketch comedy show entitled Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. Snoop was filmed for a brief cameo appearance in the television movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), but his performance was omitted from the final cut of the movie. On November 8, 2004, Snoop Dogg starred in the episode "Two of a Kind" of NBC's series Las Vegas.
In 2004, Snoop appeared on the Showtime series The L Word as the character "Slim Daddy". He also notably played the drug dealer-turned-informant character of Huggy Bear, in the 2004 remake film of the 1970s TV-series of the same name, Starsky & Hutch. He appeared as himself in the episode "MILF Money" of Weeds, and made an appearance on the TV shows Entourage and Monk, for which he recorded a version of the theme, in July 2007.
Snoop founded his own production company, Snoopadelic Films, in 2005. His debut film was Boss'n Up, a film inspired by Snoop Dogg's album R&G, starring Lil Jon and Trina.
In December 2007, his reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood premiered on the E! channel. Snoop Dogg also joined the NBA's Entertainment League. On March 30, 2008 he appeared at WrestleMania XXIV as a Master of Ceremonies for a tag team match between Maria and Ashley Massaro as they took on Beth Phoenix and Melina.
On May 8 and May 9, 2008, Snoop appeared as himself on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, with a new opening theme recorded by the artist presented for both episodes. In the episodes, Snoop performs at the bachelorette party for character Adriana Cramer, and credits Bo Buchanan with helping him get his start in show business. On February 24, 2010, Snoop Dogg reprised his role, performing his song "I Wanna Rock" from his new album, Malice n Wonderland, as well as once again performing a special remixed, vocal rendition of the show's opening theme. In recent interviews he has explained that, as a child, One Life to Live was one of his favorite shows, and he still regards the show fondly. He has also stated that he has always been a particular fan of Robert S. Woods, who has portrayed the character of Bo Buchanan since 1979.
In 2009, Snoop Dogg appeared in Sacha Baron Cohen's film Brüno as himself performing a rap addition to the song "Dove Of Peace". On October 19, 2009, Snoop Dogg was the guest host of WWE Raw.
In 2010, Snoop Dogg appeared in an episode of I Get That a Lot on CBS as a parking-lot attendant.
In June 2010, Snoop created a music video for True Blood accompanying a song he wrote for one of the main characters of the show entitled "Oh Sookie."
Snoop married his high school sweetheart, Shante Taylor, on June 12, 1997. On May 21, 2004, he filed for divorce from Shante, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple renewed their wedding vows on January 12, 2008. R&B singers Brandy and Ray J are his first cousins.
In 2009, it was revealed that Snoop Dogg was a member of the Nation of Islam. On March 1, 2009, he made an appearance at the Nation of Islam's annual Saviors' Day holiday, where he praised controversial minister Louis Farrakhan. Snoop claimed to be a member of the Nation of Islam, but he declined to give the date on which he joined. He also donated $1,000 to the organization.
Snoop Dogg popularized the catch-phrase suffix -izzle, which had been in use for decades, but not nearly to the extent that it is now, particularly in the pop and hip hop music industry.
Discography
* Doggystyle (1993)
* Tha Doggfather (1996)
* Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998)
* No Limit Top Dogg (1999)
* Tha Last Meal (2000)
* Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002)
* R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004)
* Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006)
* Ego Trippin' (2008)
* Malice n Wonderland (2009)
* Doggumentary (2011)
Filmography
* 1994: Murder Was the Case
* 1998: Caught Up
* 1998: Half Baked
* 1998: Da Game of Life
* 1998: Hot Boyz
* 1998: Ride
* 1999: Whiteboyz
* 1999: Urban Menace
* 2000: Tha Eastsidaz
* 2000: Up in Smoke Tour
* 2001: Baby Boy
* 2001: Training Day
* 2001: King of the Hill
* 2001: Bones
* 2001: The Wash
* 2003: Malibu's Most Wanted
* 2003: Old School
* 2004: Starsky & Hutch
* 2004: Soul Plane
* 2004: Volcano High
* 2005: Boss'n Up
* 2005: Racing Stripes
* 2006: The Tenants
* 2006: Weeds
* 2006: Hood of Horror
* 2007: Arthur and the Minimoys
* 2007: Monk
o During the opening credits, he covered the title song by Randy Newman "It's a Jungle out There".
* 2007: The Boondocks
* 2008: Singh Is Kinng
* 2008: Snoop Dogg's Father Hood
* 2009: Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
* 2009: Dogg After Dark
* 2009: Xavier: Renegade Angel
* 2009: Brüno
* 2009: Falling Up
* 2010: Down for Life
* 2010: One Life to Live
* 2010: Straight Outta L.A.
* 2010: Freaknik: The Musical
* 2010: Big Time Rush
b. 1971
American entertainer, rapper, record producer and actor.
Snoop Dogg, byname of Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr., also called Snoop Doggy Dogg (b. October 20, 1971, Long Beach, California), is an American rapper and songwriter who became one of the best-known figures in gangsta rap in the 1990s and was for many the epitome of West Coast hip-hop culture.
Snoop Dogg’s signature drawled lyrics took inspiration from his early encounters with the law. After high school he was in and out of prison for several years before seriously pursuing a career in hip-hop. Eventually he came to the attention of famed producer-rapper Dr. Dre, who featured him on his single “"Deep Cover"” and on his landmark album The Chronic (both 1992). Snoop’s prominent vocals on the hit singles “"Dre Day"” and “"Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang"” fueled a rapid ascent to stardom. His own album Doggystyle (1993) became the first debut record to enter the Billboard 200 at number one.
While recording Doggystyle, Snoop was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting. Although he was ultimately cleared of all charges, the incident entangled him in court for years, contributing to a long delay before the release of his next album, Tha Doggfather (1996). By that time the gangsta rap movement had begun to ebb. For a few years Snoop’s records failed to generate excitement comparable to that of his debut, but his carefully cultivated—and at times cartoonish—public persona made him a popular icon. His West Coast slang and exaggerated verbal tics entered the popular American vocabulary. Snoop was a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows and amassed a substantial number of film credits. In 2008 he starred in Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, a reality television series chronicling his home life.
Named after his step-father, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Sr. (December 10, 1948 - November 9, 1985, Los Angeles, California), Calvin Broadus was born October 20, 1971 at the Los Altos Hospital in Long Beach, California, the second of three sons of Beverly Broadus (née Tate; born April 27, 1951, McComb, Mississippi). His father, Vernall Varnado (born December 13, 1949, Magnolia, Mississippi), was a Vietnam veteran, singer, and mail carrier. Broadus' parents nicknamed him "Snoopy" as a child because of his appearance, but usually addressed him as Calvin at home. His mother and stepfather divorced in 1975. At an early age, Broadus began singing in Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church and playing piano. When he was in sixth grade, he began rapping. He attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and was convicted for cocaine trafficking and served six months at the Wayside County Jail.
Snoop Dogg was a member of the Rollin' 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach. Snoop Dogg's conviction for cocaine trafficking caused him to be in and out of prison for the first three years after he graduated from high school. Snoop, along with his cousins Nate Dogg and Lil' ½ Dead and friend Warren G, recorded home made tapes as a group called 213, named after the Long Beach area code at the time. One of his early solo freestyles over En Vogue's "Hold On" had made it to a mixtape which was heard by influential producer Dr. Dre, who phoned to invite him to an audition. Former N.W.A member The D.O.C. taught him how to structure his lyrics and separate the thematics into verses, hooks and chorus.
When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound. The huge success of Snoop Dogg's debut Doggystyle was partially because of this intense exposure.
To fuel the ascendance of West Coast G-funk hip hop, the singles "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" and "Gin and Juice" reached the top ten most-played songs in the United States, and the album stayed on the Billboard charts for several months. Gangsta rap became the center of arguments for censorship and labeling, with Snoop Dogg often used as an example of violent and misogynistic musicians. Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg and others. Rolling Stone music critic Touré asserted that Snoop had a relatively soft vocal delivery compared to other rappers: "Snoop's vocal style is part of what distinguishes him: where many rappers scream, figuratively and literally, he speaks softly."
While recording Doggystyle in August 1993, Snoop Dogg was arrested in connection with the death of Phillip Woldermarian, a member of a rival gang who was shot and killed by Snoop's bodyguard, McKinley Lee. Snoop was charged with murder along with Lee as he was driving the vehicle from which the shooting had commenced. Snoop and Lee were defended by Johnnie Cochran. Both Snoop and Lee would be acquitted. Lee was acquitted on grounds of self-defense, but Snoop Dogg remained entangled in the legal battles around the case for three years.
A short film about Snoop Dogg's murder trial called Murder Was The Case, was released in 1994, along with an accompanying soundtrack. On July 6, 1995, Doggy Style Records, Inc., a record label founded by Snoop Dogg, was registered with the California Secretary of State.
After Snoop Dogg was acquitted of murder charges on February 20, 1996, he and the mother of his son and their kennel of 20 pit bulls moved into a 5,000-square-foot home in the hills of Claremont, California and by August 1996 Doggy Style Records, a subsidiary of Death Row Records, signed The Gap Band's Charlie Wilson as one of the record label's first artists.
By the time Snoop Dogg's second album, Tha Doggfather, was released in November 1996, the price of living (or sometimes just imitating) the gangsta life had become very evident. Among the many notable hip hop industry deaths and convictions were the death of Snoop Dogg's friend and labelmate Tupac and the racketeering indictment of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight. Dr. Dre had left Death Row earlier in 1996 because of a contract dispute, so Snoop Dogg co-produced Tha Doggfather with Daz Dillinger and DJ Pooh.
Tha Doggfather featured a distinct change of style as compared to Doggystyle, and the leadoff single, "Snoop's Upside Ya Head", featured a collaboration with Gap Band frontman Charlie Wilson. While the album sold reasonably well, it was not as successful as its predecessor. The lack of success may be attributable to the perception that Tha Doggfather had a somewhat softer approach to the G-funk style.
In the immediate aftermath of Dr. Dre's withdrawal from Death Row Records, Snoop Dogg came to realize that he was subject to an iron-clad time-based contract (i.e., that Death Row practically owned anything he produced for a number of years). Once he came to this realization, Snoop Dogg refused to produce any more tracks for Suge Knight, until his contract expired.
After Tha Doggfather, Snoop Dogg began moving away from his gangsta roots toward a calmer lyrical aesthetic. Snoop participated in the 1997 Lollapalooza concert tour, which featured mainly alternative rock music.
Snoop signed with Master P's No Limit Records (distributed by Priority/EMI Records) in 1998 and debuted on the label with Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told that year. His other albums from No Limit were No Limit Top Dogg in 1999 (selling over 1,500,000 copies) and Tha Last Meal in 2000 (selling over 1,000,000). In 2001, his autobiography, Tha Doggfather, was published.
In 2002, Snoop released the album Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, on Priority/Capitol/EMI Records, selling over 1,300,000 copies. The album featured the hit singles "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" and "Beautiful", featuring guest vocals by Pharrell. By this point in his career, Snoop Dogg had left behind his "gangster" image and embraced a "pimp" image.
In 2004, Snoop signed to Geffen Records/Star Trak Entertainment both of which are distributed through Interscope Records. Star Trak was headed by producer duo The Neptunes, which produced several tracks for Snoop's 2004 release R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. "Drop It Like It's Hot" (featuring Pharrell), the first single released from the album, was a hit and became Snoop Dogg's first single to reach number one. His third release was "Signs", featuring Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson, which entered the UK chart at #2. This was his highest entry ever in the UK chart. The album sold 1,724,000 copies in the U.S. alone, and most of its singles were heavily played on radio and television. Snoop Dogg joined Warren G and Nate Dogg to form the group 213 and released album The Hard Way in 2004. Debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it included single "Groupie Luv". Together with fellow rappers Lil' Jon, Xzibit and David Banner, Snoop Dogg appeared in the music video for Korn's "Twisted Transistor".
Snoop Dogg's appeared on two tracks from Ice Cube's 2006 album Laugh Now, Cry Later, including the single "Go to Church", and on several tracks on Tha Dogg Pound's Cali Iz Active the same year. Also, his song, "Real Talk", was leaked over the Internet in the summer of 2006 and a video was later released on the Internet. "Real Talk" was a dedication to former Crips leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams and a diss to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California. Two other singles on which Snoop made a guest performance were "Keep Bouncing" by Too $hort (also with will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas) and "Gangsta Walk" by Coolio.
Snoop's 2006 album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #5 and sold over 850,000 copies. The album and the second single "That's That Shit" featuring R. Kelly were well received by critics. In the album, he collaborated in a video with E-40 and other West Coast rappers for his single "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)".
In July 2007, Snoop Dogg also made history by becoming the first artist to release a track as a ringtone prior to its release as a single, which was "It's the D.O.G." On July 7, 2007, Snoop Dogg performed at the Live Earth concert in Hamburg.
Snoop Dogg has ventured into singing for Bollywood with his first ever rap for an Indian movie Singh Is Kinng; the title of the song is also "Singh is Kinng". The album featuring the song was released on June 8, 2008 on Junglee Music Records.
Snoop released his ninth studio album, Ego Trippin' (selling 400,000 copies in the U.S.), along with the first single, "Sexual Eruption". The single peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100, featuring Snoop using autotune. The album featured production from QDT (Quik-Dogg-Teddy).
In 2009, Snoop was appointed an executive position at Priority Records. His tenth studio album, Malice n Wonderland, was released on December 8, 2009. The first single from the album, "Gangsta Luv", featuring The-Dream, peaked at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200, selling 61,000 copies its first week, making it his lowest charting album. His third single, "I Wanna Rock", peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. Snoop was featured on the Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach. The fourth single from Malice n Wonderland, titled "Pronto", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, was released on iTunes on December 1, 2009. Snoop re-released the album under the name More Malice.
Snoop collaborated with Katy Perry on the first single from her second mainstream album, "California Gurls", which was released on May 11, 2010. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks, giving Perry her second US number-one single and Snoop Dogg his third. The song reached number one in over 10 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand. On December 2nd, the song received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
Snoop can also be heard on the track "Flashing" by Dr. Dre and on Curren$y's song Seat Change. He was also featured on a new single from Australian singer Jessica Mauboy, titled "Get 'em Girls" (released September 2010). Snoop's latest effort was backing American recording artist, Emii, on her second single entitled "Mr. Romeo" (released October 26, 2010 as a follow-up to "Magic").
Snoop Dogg has appeared on television and in films throughout his career. In 1998, Snoop had a cameo appearance in the film Half Baked as the "Scavenger Smoker". In 2000, Snoop (as "Michael J. Corleone") directed Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, a pornographic film produced by Hustler. The film, combining hip hop with x-rated material, was a huge success and won "Top Selling Release of the Year" at the 2002 AVN (Adult Video News) Awards. Snoop then directed Snoop Dogg's Hustlaz: Diary of a Pimp in 2002 (using the nickname "Snoop Scorsese").
In 2001, Snoop lent his voice to the animated show King of the Hill, in which he played a white pimp named Alabaster Jones. He played a lead character in the movie The Wash with Dr. Dre. He portrayed a drug dealer in a wheelchair in the film Training Day, featuring Denzel Washington. In 2001, Snoop starred in the horror film Bones, with him playing a murdered mobster who returns from the dead to exact his revenge against those who murdered him.
In 2002, Snoop hosted, starred in, and produced his own MTV sketch comedy show entitled Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. Snoop was filmed for a brief cameo appearance in the television movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), but his performance was omitted from the final cut of the movie. On November 8, 2004, Snoop Dogg starred in the episode "Two of a Kind" of NBC's series Las Vegas.
In 2004, Snoop appeared on the Showtime series The L Word as the character "Slim Daddy". He also notably played the drug dealer-turned-informant character of Huggy Bear, in the 2004 remake film of the 1970s TV-series of the same name, Starsky & Hutch. He appeared as himself in the episode "MILF Money" of Weeds, and made an appearance on the TV shows Entourage and Monk, for which he recorded a version of the theme, in July 2007.
Snoop founded his own production company, Snoopadelic Films, in 2005. His debut film was Boss'n Up, a film inspired by Snoop Dogg's album R&G, starring Lil Jon and Trina.
In December 2007, his reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood premiered on the E! channel. Snoop Dogg also joined the NBA's Entertainment League. On March 30, 2008 he appeared at WrestleMania XXIV as a Master of Ceremonies for a tag team match between Maria and Ashley Massaro as they took on Beth Phoenix and Melina.
On May 8 and May 9, 2008, Snoop appeared as himself on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, with a new opening theme recorded by the artist presented for both episodes. In the episodes, Snoop performs at the bachelorette party for character Adriana Cramer, and credits Bo Buchanan with helping him get his start in show business. On February 24, 2010, Snoop Dogg reprised his role, performing his song "I Wanna Rock" from his new album, Malice n Wonderland, as well as once again performing a special remixed, vocal rendition of the show's opening theme. In recent interviews he has explained that, as a child, One Life to Live was one of his favorite shows, and he still regards the show fondly. He has also stated that he has always been a particular fan of Robert S. Woods, who has portrayed the character of Bo Buchanan since 1979.
In 2009, Snoop Dogg appeared in Sacha Baron Cohen's film Brüno as himself performing a rap addition to the song "Dove Of Peace". On October 19, 2009, Snoop Dogg was the guest host of WWE Raw.
In 2010, Snoop Dogg appeared in an episode of I Get That a Lot on CBS as a parking-lot attendant.
In June 2010, Snoop created a music video for True Blood accompanying a song he wrote for one of the main characters of the show entitled "Oh Sookie."
Snoop married his high school sweetheart, Shante Taylor, on June 12, 1997. On May 21, 2004, he filed for divorce from Shante, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple renewed their wedding vows on January 12, 2008. R&B singers Brandy and Ray J are his first cousins.
In 2009, it was revealed that Snoop Dogg was a member of the Nation of Islam. On March 1, 2009, he made an appearance at the Nation of Islam's annual Saviors' Day holiday, where he praised controversial minister Louis Farrakhan. Snoop claimed to be a member of the Nation of Islam, but he declined to give the date on which he joined. He also donated $1,000 to the organization.
Snoop Dogg popularized the catch-phrase suffix -izzle, which had been in use for decades, but not nearly to the extent that it is now, particularly in the pop and hip hop music industry.
Discography
* Doggystyle (1993)
* Tha Doggfather (1996)
* Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998)
* No Limit Top Dogg (1999)
* Tha Last Meal (2000)
* Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002)
* R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004)
* Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006)
* Ego Trippin' (2008)
* Malice n Wonderland (2009)
* Doggumentary (2011)
Filmography
* 1994: Murder Was the Case
* 1998: Caught Up
* 1998: Half Baked
* 1998: Da Game of Life
* 1998: Hot Boyz
* 1998: Ride
* 1999: Whiteboyz
* 1999: Urban Menace
* 2000: Tha Eastsidaz
* 2000: Up in Smoke Tour
* 2001: Baby Boy
* 2001: Training Day
* 2001: King of the Hill
* 2001: Bones
* 2001: The Wash
* 2003: Malibu's Most Wanted
* 2003: Old School
* 2004: Starsky & Hutch
* 2004: Soul Plane
* 2004: Volcano High
* 2005: Boss'n Up
* 2005: Racing Stripes
* 2006: The Tenants
* 2006: Weeds
* 2006: Hood of Horror
* 2007: Arthur and the Minimoys
* 2007: Monk
o During the opening credits, he covered the title song by Randy Newman "It's a Jungle out There".
* 2007: The Boondocks
* 2008: Singh Is Kinng
* 2008: Snoop Dogg's Father Hood
* 2009: Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
* 2009: Dogg After Dark
* 2009: Xavier: Renegade Angel
* 2009: Brüno
* 2009: Falling Up
* 2010: Down for Life
* 2010: One Life to Live
* 2010: Straight Outta L.A.
* 2010: Freaknik: The Musical
* 2010: Big Time Rush
Brooke, James
1803-1868
A governor of Sarawak.
James Brooke (1803-1868) was an English traveler who, on his way to Maluku in 1839, arrived at the Sarawak River (Old Sarawak). There he found a Brunei prince, Pengiran Raja Muda Hassim, struggling to suppress a rebellion led by the local Sarawak Malays and Land Dayaks. Raja Muda Hassim requested James Brooke’s help in quelling the uprising, whereupon, James was bestowed the governorship of the Sarawak River in 1841. Raja Muda Hassim then returned to the Brunei capital to resume his post as Bendahara (Chief Minister), but his alliance with James Brooke created suspicion and Raja Muda Hassim, together with his family, was exterminated by the Sultan’s faction in 1846. As a result, James Brooke declared himself as an independent ruler and initiated a policy of territorial expansion at Brunei’s expense. James Brooke’s expansionist policies witnessed the annexation of several important rivers, such as the Samarahan, Batang Lupar, Skrang, Saribas, Rejang, Oya, Mukah and Bintulu. As such, he is considered the founder of modern-day Sarawak. On his death in 1868, and due to the fact that James Brooke had no children, the throne of Sarawak was bestowed upon his nephew Charles Brooke.
1803-1868
A governor of Sarawak.
James Brooke (1803-1868) was an English traveler who, on his way to Maluku in 1839, arrived at the Sarawak River (Old Sarawak). There he found a Brunei prince, Pengiran Raja Muda Hassim, struggling to suppress a rebellion led by the local Sarawak Malays and Land Dayaks. Raja Muda Hassim requested James Brooke’s help in quelling the uprising, whereupon, James was bestowed the governorship of the Sarawak River in 1841. Raja Muda Hassim then returned to the Brunei capital to resume his post as Bendahara (Chief Minister), but his alliance with James Brooke created suspicion and Raja Muda Hassim, together with his family, was exterminated by the Sultan’s faction in 1846. As a result, James Brooke declared himself as an independent ruler and initiated a policy of territorial expansion at Brunei’s expense. James Brooke’s expansionist policies witnessed the annexation of several important rivers, such as the Samarahan, Batang Lupar, Skrang, Saribas, Rejang, Oya, Mukah and Bintulu. As such, he is considered the founder of modern-day Sarawak. On his death in 1868, and due to the fact that James Brooke had no children, the throne of Sarawak was bestowed upon his nephew Charles Brooke.
Bushati, Kara Mahmud
d.1796
Noble of the Bushati family in Ottoman controlled Albania near the city of Shkoder.
In the 1780s, the rebellious character of Kara Mahmud Bushati brought him into conflict with the Ottomans. This conflict is regarded in Albanian historiography as a bid to create an independent principality. However, the immediate cause of the conflict with the Ottomans was his clash with the Tosk Pashas of Southern Albania, namely Ali Pasha and Kurd Ahmet Pasha. His major quarrels were with Montenegrin, which he attacked in 1785. During his attacks in Montenegro he burned even Cetinje.
During his conflict with the Southern Albanian Pashas he was approached by the Austrians and Russians who wanted to use him against the Ottomans .They offered to convert Bushati to Christianity, thus recognizing him as king of Albania. Bushati accepted this proposal. However, upon learning that they wanted to hand his lands to the Montenegrin state, he rejected their offers in 1788, and beheaded the delegation instead, sending their heads as trophies to the Ottoman Sultan who pardoned him for his quarrels with the local Pashas.
Bushati continued to quarrel with the Ottoman Empire, however, by annexing Kosovo and large parts of Montenegro and by instituting military and political reforms in his state without permission from the Porte. Through these efforts, he hoped to create an independent Albanian state free from Ottoman control. To prevent these efforts, the Ottomans sent an expedition into Bushati's realm and besieged Shkodër, which was garrisoned by Bushati's most faithful men. The siege was lifted and the Ottoman expedition retreated. The Ottomans sent another expedition into Albania, besieging Shkodër, but again failed to subdue it.
Kara Mahmud Pasha was defeated in his attempt to subdue again Montenegro in 1796. He was defeated by the Montenegrins in the Battle of Krusi and was beheaded by Bogdan Vukov from village Zalaz. His skull is still on display in Cetinjski manastir.
Kara Mahmud Bushati's is also known as Kara Mahmut Bushatlliu.
d.1796
Noble of the Bushati family in Ottoman controlled Albania near the city of Shkoder.
In the 1780s, the rebellious character of Kara Mahmud Bushati brought him into conflict with the Ottomans. This conflict is regarded in Albanian historiography as a bid to create an independent principality. However, the immediate cause of the conflict with the Ottomans was his clash with the Tosk Pashas of Southern Albania, namely Ali Pasha and Kurd Ahmet Pasha. His major quarrels were with Montenegrin, which he attacked in 1785. During his attacks in Montenegro he burned even Cetinje.
During his conflict with the Southern Albanian Pashas he was approached by the Austrians and Russians who wanted to use him against the Ottomans .They offered to convert Bushati to Christianity, thus recognizing him as king of Albania. Bushati accepted this proposal. However, upon learning that they wanted to hand his lands to the Montenegrin state, he rejected their offers in 1788, and beheaded the delegation instead, sending their heads as trophies to the Ottoman Sultan who pardoned him for his quarrels with the local Pashas.
Bushati continued to quarrel with the Ottoman Empire, however, by annexing Kosovo and large parts of Montenegro and by instituting military and political reforms in his state without permission from the Porte. Through these efforts, he hoped to create an independent Albanian state free from Ottoman control. To prevent these efforts, the Ottomans sent an expedition into Bushati's realm and besieged Shkodër, which was garrisoned by Bushati's most faithful men. The siege was lifted and the Ottoman expedition retreated. The Ottomans sent another expedition into Albania, besieging Shkodër, but again failed to subdue it.
Kara Mahmud Pasha was defeated in his attempt to subdue again Montenegro in 1796. He was defeated by the Montenegrins in the Battle of Krusi and was beheaded by Bogdan Vukov from village Zalaz. His skull is still on display in Cetinjski manastir.
Kara Mahmud Bushati's is also known as Kara Mahmut Bushatlliu.
cavusbasi
Office responsible for protocol and discipline in palace ceremonies and meetings of the Ottoman Imperial Council.
The cavusbasi also commanded the cavuses, who enforced military discipline during campaigns and acted as couriers between Istanbul and the provinces. In the 18th century, when effective government shifted from the palace to the grand vizier’s residence, the cavusbasi became responsible for judicial matters. In 1836, the office of cavusbasi was transformed into that of minister of justice.
Office responsible for protocol and discipline in palace ceremonies and meetings of the Ottoman Imperial Council.
The cavusbasi also commanded the cavuses, who enforced military discipline during campaigns and acted as couriers between Istanbul and the provinces. In the 18th century, when effective government shifted from the palace to the grand vizier’s residence, the cavusbasi became responsible for judicial matters. In 1836, the office of cavusbasi was transformed into that of minister of justice.
Celebi, Katip
1609-1657
Turkish historian, geographer, and bibliographer.
Kâtip Çelebi, byname Haci Halife, Arabic Khaṭīb Shalabī, or Ḥajjī Khalīfa, original name Muṣṭafa Ibn ʿabd Allāh was born in February 1609, in Istanbul. He died in October 1657 in Istanbul), Turkish historian, geographer, and bibliographer.
Kâtip became an army clerk and took part in many campaigns in the east, meanwhile collecting material for his historical works. As a child, he was taught the Qurʾān and Arabic grammar and calligraphy, but his later education was irregular. He attended lectures between military campaigns. An inheritance allowed him to settle permanently in Istanbul, where, except for his duties as government clerk, he was able to devote all his time to collecting books, studying, and writing.
Katip Celebi was an avid bibliophile, an industrious scholar, and a prolific and straightforward writer. Among his chief works is: Kashf al-ẓunūnʿan asāmi al-kutub wa al-funūn (“The Removal of Doubt from the Names of Books and the Sciences”). This work is his masterpiece. It is a bibliographical encyclopaedia in Arabic giving information on 15,000 Arabic, Persian, and Turkish books published up to his time. His Jihannuma (“View of the World”) is a geographical work that makes the first use, in Turkey, of European atlases and other sources. Tuhfat al-Kibar fi Asfar il-Bahar (Eng. trans. of chapters I-IV, The Maritime Wars of the Turks) is a history of the Ottoman navy; Dustūr al-amal li islah al-khalal (“Instructions for the Reform of Abuses”) is a treatise suggesting remedies for the economic crisis in the Ottoman Empire of his day; and Mizan al-ḥaqq fi ikhtijārī al-ahaqq (The Balance of Truth) defends positive sciences and Islāmic doctrine and criticizes fanaticism.
Katip Celebi published all his works in coordination with his life long friend Ibrahim Muteferrika a Hungarian convert to Islam
1609-1657
Turkish historian, geographer, and bibliographer.
Kâtip Çelebi, byname Haci Halife, Arabic Khaṭīb Shalabī, or Ḥajjī Khalīfa, original name Muṣṭafa Ibn ʿabd Allāh was born in February 1609, in Istanbul. He died in October 1657 in Istanbul), Turkish historian, geographer, and bibliographer.
Kâtip became an army clerk and took part in many campaigns in the east, meanwhile collecting material for his historical works. As a child, he was taught the Qurʾān and Arabic grammar and calligraphy, but his later education was irregular. He attended lectures between military campaigns. An inheritance allowed him to settle permanently in Istanbul, where, except for his duties as government clerk, he was able to devote all his time to collecting books, studying, and writing.
Katip Celebi was an avid bibliophile, an industrious scholar, and a prolific and straightforward writer. Among his chief works is: Kashf al-ẓunūnʿan asāmi al-kutub wa al-funūn (“The Removal of Doubt from the Names of Books and the Sciences”). This work is his masterpiece. It is a bibliographical encyclopaedia in Arabic giving information on 15,000 Arabic, Persian, and Turkish books published up to his time. His Jihannuma (“View of the World”) is a geographical work that makes the first use, in Turkey, of European atlases and other sources. Tuhfat al-Kibar fi Asfar il-Bahar (Eng. trans. of chapters I-IV, The Maritime Wars of the Turks) is a history of the Ottoman navy; Dustūr al-amal li islah al-khalal (“Instructions for the Reform of Abuses”) is a treatise suggesting remedies for the economic crisis in the Ottoman Empire of his day; and Mizan al-ḥaqq fi ikhtijārī al-ahaqq (The Balance of Truth) defends positive sciences and Islāmic doctrine and criticizes fanaticism.
Katip Celebi published all his works in coordination with his life long friend Ibrahim Muteferrika a Hungarian convert to Islam
Cem, Ismail
1940-2007
Turkish politician, journalist, statesman, and former minister of foreign affairs.
Cem was born Ismail Cem Ipekci in Istanbul to an elite family. He finished high school at Robert College in Istanbul in 1959 and graduated from the Law School at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 1963. Cem earned a master's degree in sociology of politics at the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris, France.
Returning home to Turkey in 1963, Cem started his professional career as a journalist. He worked in some major newspapers and became editor-in-chief of Milliyet. Between 1971-1974, Cem served as the chief of the Istanbul office of the Turkish Newspaper Workers Union. In 1974-1975, he acted as the Chief Executive Officer of the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT).
Cem entered politics after being elected deputy of Istanbul in the general elections held in 1987. He was re-elected in 1991 again from Istanbul and in 1995 from Kayseri. After the death of President Turgut Ozal in 1993, Cem ran for president without success. In 1995, he left the Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi - CHP) and joined the Democratic Left Party (DSP). He was then appointed Minister of Culture. He served as minister of foreign affairs from June 30, 1997 until July 10, 2002. He was the fourth longest serving minister of this position in Turkey.
In 1999, Cem negotiated candidate status for Turkey's bid to join the European Union as foreign minister. Also in 1999, Cem and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou worked to improve Turkish-Greek relations. In a famous scene which made headlines in both countries, Cem and Papandreou joined in Greek dancing and singing on the Greek Island of Samos. The meeting was followed up with a much photographed holiday in Turkey of the two men and their families.
After a dispute with the party leader Bulent Ecevit, Cem resigned from the Democratic Left Party (DSP) ahead of 2002 parliamentary elections and formed the New Turkey Party (YTP) on July 20, 2002 together with his former party colleague Husamettin Ozkan. Ismail Cem was elected leader of YTP, which did not do well in the elections.
Returning from the United States, where he was undergoing medical treatment for cancer, Cem closed YTP on October 24, 2004, joining the the CHP. Ismail Cem was acting as the chief advisor to Deniz Baykal, the leader of CHP, and lectured in Applied Foreign Politics of Turkey at the Istanbul Bilgi University until his death. He was married to Elcin Cem, and the couple had a daughter, Ipek Cem Taha, and a son, Ihsan Kerim Cem.
Ismail Cem died on January 24, 2007, in Istanbul after suffering two years long from lung cancer. He was honored with a state funeral, at which Speaker of Parliament Bulent Arinc, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, current and former leaders of the political parties, his close friend former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, George Papandreou and Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodoros Kasimis attended. Papandreou laid a branch from the olive tree they had planted in 2000 in Greece as a symbol of peace.
1940-2007
Turkish politician, journalist, statesman, and former minister of foreign affairs.
Cem was born Ismail Cem Ipekci in Istanbul to an elite family. He finished high school at Robert College in Istanbul in 1959 and graduated from the Law School at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 1963. Cem earned a master's degree in sociology of politics at the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris, France.
Returning home to Turkey in 1963, Cem started his professional career as a journalist. He worked in some major newspapers and became editor-in-chief of Milliyet. Between 1971-1974, Cem served as the chief of the Istanbul office of the Turkish Newspaper Workers Union. In 1974-1975, he acted as the Chief Executive Officer of the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT).
Cem entered politics after being elected deputy of Istanbul in the general elections held in 1987. He was re-elected in 1991 again from Istanbul and in 1995 from Kayseri. After the death of President Turgut Ozal in 1993, Cem ran for president without success. In 1995, he left the Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi - CHP) and joined the Democratic Left Party (DSP). He was then appointed Minister of Culture. He served as minister of foreign affairs from June 30, 1997 until July 10, 2002. He was the fourth longest serving minister of this position in Turkey.
In 1999, Cem negotiated candidate status for Turkey's bid to join the European Union as foreign minister. Also in 1999, Cem and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou worked to improve Turkish-Greek relations. In a famous scene which made headlines in both countries, Cem and Papandreou joined in Greek dancing and singing on the Greek Island of Samos. The meeting was followed up with a much photographed holiday in Turkey of the two men and their families.
After a dispute with the party leader Bulent Ecevit, Cem resigned from the Democratic Left Party (DSP) ahead of 2002 parliamentary elections and formed the New Turkey Party (YTP) on July 20, 2002 together with his former party colleague Husamettin Ozkan. Ismail Cem was elected leader of YTP, which did not do well in the elections.
Returning from the United States, where he was undergoing medical treatment for cancer, Cem closed YTP on October 24, 2004, joining the the CHP. Ismail Cem was acting as the chief advisor to Deniz Baykal, the leader of CHP, and lectured in Applied Foreign Politics of Turkey at the Istanbul Bilgi University until his death. He was married to Elcin Cem, and the couple had a daughter, Ipek Cem Taha, and a son, Ihsan Kerim Cem.
Ismail Cem died on January 24, 2007, in Istanbul after suffering two years long from lung cancer. He was honored with a state funeral, at which Speaker of Parliament Bulent Arinc, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, current and former leaders of the political parties, his close friend former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, George Papandreou and Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodoros Kasimis attended. Papandreou laid a branch from the olive tree they had planted in 2000 in Greece as a symbol of peace.
Chahine, Youssef
1926-2008
Egyptian filmmaker.
Chahine was born into a Christian Lebanese family in Alexandria, Egypt, on January 25, 1926. His mother was of Greek descent, his father Lebanese, a mixed heritage representative of Alexandria's long history as a Mediterranean melting pot where various faiths and languages mingled and flourished.
Chahine began his education at a freres school and continued his studies at the Victoria College. After one year at Alexandria University, he moved to the United States to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse.
After returning to Egypt, he turned his attention to directing. Cinematographer Alvise Orfanelli helped Chahine into the film business. His film debut was Baba Amin (1950). One year later, with Nile Boy, he was first invited to the Cannes Film Festival. In 1970, he was awarded a Golden Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival. With The Sparrow (1973), in which he showed his political opinions after the Six Day War with Israel, he directed the first Egypt-Algeria co-production. He won a Silver Bear in Berlin for Alexandria ... Why? (1978), the first installment in what would prove to be an autobiographic quartet, completed with An Egyptian Story (1982), Alexandria, Again and Again (1990), and Alexandria ... New York (2004).
In one of his films, The Sixth Day, an adaptation of a novel written in French by Lebanese writer Andre Chedid, the famous Egyptian singer Dalida was the protagonist in the role of a poor Egyptian woman. Chahine also acted in a few of his films.
In 1992, Jacques Lassalle approached him to stage a piece of his choice for Comedie-Francaise: Chahine chose to adapt Albert Camus' Caligula, which proved hugely successful. The same year he started writing The Emigrant (1994), a story inspired by the Biblical character of Joseph, son of Jacob. This had long been a dream project and he finally go to shoot it in 1994. This film created a controversy in Egypt between the enlightened wing and the fundamentalists who opposed the depiction of religious characters in films. In 1997, 46 years and 5 invitations later, his work was acknowledged at the Cannes Film Festival with a lifetime achievement award on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the festival. He is also credited with discovering Omar Sharif, whose first starring role was in Chahine's film The Blazing Sun (1954). He also provided Hend Rustum with a very early role as a murder victim in Bab al-Hadid (Cairo Station).
Youssef Chahine was awarded the 50th annual lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.
Chanine was hospitalized at Ach-Chourouq hospital in Cairo in a coma following an apparent cerebral hemorrhage on Sunday, June 15, 2008. On Monday, June 16, 2008, Chahine was flown to Paris on an emergency flight and admitted to the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of Paris, where his niece told AFP his condition was "critical but stable."
Youssef Chahine died in his Cairo home on Sunday, July 27, 2008. He was survived by his wife Collette.
Youssef Chahine was an eclectic and exuberant storyteller who could move easily across a range of styles and genres. In 28 movies, he shifted deftly from urban realisim to florid melodrama, from historical allegory to musical comedy, from social criticism to autobiography.
Whether his subject was the domestic struggles of poor and middle class Cairenes, his own youth in Alexandria, the building of the Aswan Dam or the life of the medieval philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Chahine's films reflected a cosmopolitan, humanistici sensibility, as well as his deep interest in Egyptiand and Middle Eastern history and society.
An early supporter of the nationalist revolution of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Chahine became a critic of the policies of Nasser and his successors and was often at odds both with Egypt's ruling party and with its increasingly powerful religious conservatives. The Emigrant, Chahine's 1994 film about the Old Testament figure Joseph, was banned after being denounced by militant Islamists, and he frequently did battle with censors and government bureaucrats.
Nevertheless, over time, Chahine became a fixture of Egyptian cultural life. His importance was well recognized. Indeed, by the time of his death, even Egypt's political leaders came to recognize and honor Youssef Chahine.
1926-2008
Egyptian filmmaker.
Chahine was born into a Christian Lebanese family in Alexandria, Egypt, on January 25, 1926. His mother was of Greek descent, his father Lebanese, a mixed heritage representative of Alexandria's long history as a Mediterranean melting pot where various faiths and languages mingled and flourished.
Chahine began his education at a freres school and continued his studies at the Victoria College. After one year at Alexandria University, he moved to the United States to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse.
After returning to Egypt, he turned his attention to directing. Cinematographer Alvise Orfanelli helped Chahine into the film business. His film debut was Baba Amin (1950). One year later, with Nile Boy, he was first invited to the Cannes Film Festival. In 1970, he was awarded a Golden Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival. With The Sparrow (1973), in which he showed his political opinions after the Six Day War with Israel, he directed the first Egypt-Algeria co-production. He won a Silver Bear in Berlin for Alexandria ... Why? (1978), the first installment in what would prove to be an autobiographic quartet, completed with An Egyptian Story (1982), Alexandria, Again and Again (1990), and Alexandria ... New York (2004).
In one of his films, The Sixth Day, an adaptation of a novel written in French by Lebanese writer Andre Chedid, the famous Egyptian singer Dalida was the protagonist in the role of a poor Egyptian woman. Chahine also acted in a few of his films.
In 1992, Jacques Lassalle approached him to stage a piece of his choice for Comedie-Francaise: Chahine chose to adapt Albert Camus' Caligula, which proved hugely successful. The same year he started writing The Emigrant (1994), a story inspired by the Biblical character of Joseph, son of Jacob. This had long been a dream project and he finally go to shoot it in 1994. This film created a controversy in Egypt between the enlightened wing and the fundamentalists who opposed the depiction of religious characters in films. In 1997, 46 years and 5 invitations later, his work was acknowledged at the Cannes Film Festival with a lifetime achievement award on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the festival. He is also credited with discovering Omar Sharif, whose first starring role was in Chahine's film The Blazing Sun (1954). He also provided Hend Rustum with a very early role as a murder victim in Bab al-Hadid (Cairo Station).
Youssef Chahine was awarded the 50th annual lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.
Chanine was hospitalized at Ach-Chourouq hospital in Cairo in a coma following an apparent cerebral hemorrhage on Sunday, June 15, 2008. On Monday, June 16, 2008, Chahine was flown to Paris on an emergency flight and admitted to the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of Paris, where his niece told AFP his condition was "critical but stable."
Youssef Chahine died in his Cairo home on Sunday, July 27, 2008. He was survived by his wife Collette.
Youssef Chahine was an eclectic and exuberant storyteller who could move easily across a range of styles and genres. In 28 movies, he shifted deftly from urban realisim to florid melodrama, from historical allegory to musical comedy, from social criticism to autobiography.
Whether his subject was the domestic struggles of poor and middle class Cairenes, his own youth in Alexandria, the building of the Aswan Dam or the life of the medieval philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Chahine's films reflected a cosmopolitan, humanistici sensibility, as well as his deep interest in Egyptiand and Middle Eastern history and society.
An early supporter of the nationalist revolution of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Chahine became a critic of the policies of Nasser and his successors and was often at odds both with Egypt's ruling party and with its increasingly powerful religious conservatives. The Emigrant, Chahine's 1994 film about the Old Testament figure Joseph, was banned after being denounced by militant Islamists, and he frequently did battle with censors and government bureaucrats.
Nevertheless, over time, Chahine became a fixture of Egyptian cultural life. His importance was well recognized. Indeed, by the time of his death, even Egypt's political leaders came to recognize and honor Youssef Chahine.
Chavis, Benjamin
1948-
African American civil rights leader.
Benjamin Chavis, formerly Benjamin Chavis Muhammad, was born Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Jr. on January 22, 1948 in Oxford, North Carolina. As a twelve year old, Chavis effectively desegregated his hometown's public library for whites, becoming the first African American with a library card there.
Chavis was a 1965 graduate of Mary Potter High School in Oxford, and entered St. Augustine College as a freshman. In 1965, while a college freshman, Chavis became a statewide youth coordinator in North Carolina for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He also joined CORE, SNCC and AFSCME.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1969), a Master of Divinity (magna cum laude) from Duke University (1980), and a Doctor of Ministry from Howard University (1981). He was a graduate student at Union Theological Seminary.
Dr. Chavis worked for the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He then returned to Oxford and taught at the then all-black Mary Potter High School.
Chavis was appointed a field officer in the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice in 1968. (The commission had been established in 1963 to coordinate justice strategies, community organization, and the like.)
In 1969, he was appointed Southern Regional Program Director of the 1.7 million member United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice (UCC-CRJ) and by 1985 was named the Executive Director and CEO of the UCC-CRJ.
Chavis went to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1971 to help desegregate the public school system. He and nine others were arrested for a firebombing, charged with conspiracy and arson, and convicted in 1976. Chavis drew the longest sentence, 34 years. They were incarcerated for nearly ten years, receiving international attention, until the conviction was overturned in 1980.
Benjamin Chavis and nine others in 1978 were referred to as “American political prisoners” by Amnesty International as members of the Wilmington Ten. Although Chavis and his teenage co-defendants were unjustly imprisoned in North Carolina for most of the 1970s because of their challenge to racial segregation in the Wilmington public school system, the Wilmington Ten emerged victorious after nearly a ten-year international political and legal battle when the 4th Circuit United States Court of Appeals overturned their convictions and cleared their names.
From this experience Chavis wrote two books: An American Political Prisoner Appeals for Human Rights (while still in prison) and Psalms from Prison.
In 1978, Chavis was named one of the first winners of the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award.
Because of Dr. Chavis' scientific background, in 1981, he was the first person to coin the term environmental racism. Chavis defined environmental racism as “Racial discrimination in the deliberated targeting of ethnic and minority communities for exposure to toxic and hazardous waste sites and facilities, coupled with the systematic exclusion of minorities in environmental policy making, enforcement, and remediation.” To prove the validity of his definition, Chavis, in 1986, conducted and published the landmark national study: Toxic Waste and Race in the United States of America. This study statistically revealed the direct correlation between race and the location of toxic waste sites throughout the United States. Benjamin Chavis is considered by many environmental grassroots activists to be the “father of the post-modern environmental justice movement” that steadily grew throughout the nation and world after the early 1980s.
In 1988, Dr. Chavis was elected Vice President of the National Council of Churches. He also served as chairman of its Prophetic Justice unit.
In 1993, Dr. Chavis became the youngest Executive Director and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Dr. Chavis was a life member of the NAACP and first joined at the age of 12 as a youth leader of the Granville County Branch of the NAACP, in his home town of Oxford, North Carolina. In 1994, he was also the first person fired from the NAACP after spending $64,000 from the then debt ridden organization to pay a breach of contract claim layered with allegations of sexual harassment.
Dr. Chavis was the National Director of 1995 Million Man March. He drew upon his years of experience as an advocate for African-American equality to help this political march reach its goals of increased political activity and awareness of issues by African Americans.
Chavis wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column Civil Rights Journal from 1985 to 1993. At the same time, he produced and hosted a radio program of the same name.
Chavis was Executive Director and CEO of the National African American Leadership Summit (NAALS) from 1995 to 1997.
Chavis was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1980. He was suspended from regional association from the church, when (in 1997) he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Benjamin Chavis Muhammad.
Chavis joined the Nation of Islam in 1997. He was then appointed East Coast Regional Minister of the Nation of Islam and Minister of the historic Mosque Number Seven in Harlem, New York because of its association with Malcolm X. However, later, Chavis concentrated on working with Inter-Face efforts and ecumenical movements to establish wholesome relations between Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
In 2001 Chavis became the CEO and Co-Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network in New York City which he cofounded with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.
Chavis' journey into the Hip-Hop culture actually had its beginnings dating back to 1969 when he was the proprietor and regular “DJ” and “MC” for The Soul Kitchen Disco in his hometown of Oxford, North Carolina. In the 1970s, Chavis envisioned that there was a direct connection between the urban underground music and the post-civil rights era. During the 1980s, Chavis witnessed the growing popularity of hip-hop with disenfranchised youth entrapped into urban poverty.
While serving as a mentor to Sister Souljah, Kevin Powell, Little Rob, Ras Baraka and other hip-hop activists, Chavis met Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen in 1986 at Def Jam Records. As head of the NAACP in 1993, he worked with Run DMC to mobilize youth voters. Thus, it made perfect sense when hip-hop's premier video director, Hype Williams, cast Chavis in the pivotal role as the “Rev. Saviour” in the 1998 hip-hop classic movie “Belly,” which starred superstar hip-hop artists Nas, Method Man and DMX.
Later he performed the Intro and Outro to Jim Jones and the Diplomats 2004 hip-hop album, “On My Way to Church.” In 2005, he was the spoken word artist featured in Cassidy's platinum selling album ”I'm A Hustler.” When Chavis helped organize both the Million Man March (1995) and Million Family March (2000), Russell Simmons worked with him to mobilize hip-hop leaders to support the marches. Ultimately, the two men realized they had a similar vision for this generation of hip-hop youth, and to that end, they created the first national "Hip-Hop Summit" in New York City, from which grew the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN).
One-and-a-half years later, the HSAN became the largest and broadest national coalition of hip-hop artists, recording industry executives, youth activists and civil rights leaders. With the support of the major hip-hop labels, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and others, the HSAN has sponsored successful "Hip-Hop Summits" in New York, New York; Kansas City, Missouri; Oakland, California; Los Angeles, California; Washington, D.C.; Miami, Florida; Seattle, Washington; and Dallas, Texas. A 2004 event in Cleveland, Ohio was not so successful.
Meetings with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), vocal stands before the United States Congress on the unconstitutionality of censoring rap lyrics, the development of literacy programs, Youth Councils, voter registration drives in conjunction with Rap The Vote, the voice for the poor, and the fight for children's public education, filled Chavis' days (and nights).
In 2002 Dr. Chavis and the HSAN joined the United Federation of Teachers and the New York Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) to organize the largest public demonstration held after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office.
Later Chavis joined “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon, actor Bruce Willis and Russell Simmons to demand adequate funding for education across the state of New York.
Chavis also was a spokesperson for TI's Respect my vote campaign, and introduced TI's performance at the 2008 FAMU Homecoming Concert in Tallahassee Florida, that was hosted by FAMU and Blazin 102.3.
Chavis joined with Ezell Brown in 2009 to establish Education Online Services Corporation which is headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida.
Chavis married Martha Rivera Chavis and is the father of eight children, three of whom are by his first wife the late Jackie Bullock Chavis.
Chavis has authored a number of publications including:
* An African American Political Prisoner: Appeals for Human Rights (1979)
* Psalms from Prison (1983)
* Toxic Wastes and Race In The United States: A National Report On The Racial and Socioeconomic Characteristics of Communities With Hazardous Waste Sites (1987).
1948-
African American civil rights leader.
Benjamin Chavis, formerly Benjamin Chavis Muhammad, was born Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Jr. on January 22, 1948 in Oxford, North Carolina. As a twelve year old, Chavis effectively desegregated his hometown's public library for whites, becoming the first African American with a library card there.
Chavis was a 1965 graduate of Mary Potter High School in Oxford, and entered St. Augustine College as a freshman. In 1965, while a college freshman, Chavis became a statewide youth coordinator in North Carolina for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He also joined CORE, SNCC and AFSCME.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1969), a Master of Divinity (magna cum laude) from Duke University (1980), and a Doctor of Ministry from Howard University (1981). He was a graduate student at Union Theological Seminary.
Dr. Chavis worked for the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He then returned to Oxford and taught at the then all-black Mary Potter High School.
Chavis was appointed a field officer in the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice in 1968. (The commission had been established in 1963 to coordinate justice strategies, community organization, and the like.)
In 1969, he was appointed Southern Regional Program Director of the 1.7 million member United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice (UCC-CRJ) and by 1985 was named the Executive Director and CEO of the UCC-CRJ.
Chavis went to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1971 to help desegregate the public school system. He and nine others were arrested for a firebombing, charged with conspiracy and arson, and convicted in 1976. Chavis drew the longest sentence, 34 years. They were incarcerated for nearly ten years, receiving international attention, until the conviction was overturned in 1980.
Benjamin Chavis and nine others in 1978 were referred to as “American political prisoners” by Amnesty International as members of the Wilmington Ten. Although Chavis and his teenage co-defendants were unjustly imprisoned in North Carolina for most of the 1970s because of their challenge to racial segregation in the Wilmington public school system, the Wilmington Ten emerged victorious after nearly a ten-year international political and legal battle when the 4th Circuit United States Court of Appeals overturned their convictions and cleared their names.
From this experience Chavis wrote two books: An American Political Prisoner Appeals for Human Rights (while still in prison) and Psalms from Prison.
In 1978, Chavis was named one of the first winners of the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award.
Because of Dr. Chavis' scientific background, in 1981, he was the first person to coin the term environmental racism. Chavis defined environmental racism as “Racial discrimination in the deliberated targeting of ethnic and minority communities for exposure to toxic and hazardous waste sites and facilities, coupled with the systematic exclusion of minorities in environmental policy making, enforcement, and remediation.” To prove the validity of his definition, Chavis, in 1986, conducted and published the landmark national study: Toxic Waste and Race in the United States of America. This study statistically revealed the direct correlation between race and the location of toxic waste sites throughout the United States. Benjamin Chavis is considered by many environmental grassroots activists to be the “father of the post-modern environmental justice movement” that steadily grew throughout the nation and world after the early 1980s.
In 1988, Dr. Chavis was elected Vice President of the National Council of Churches. He also served as chairman of its Prophetic Justice unit.
In 1993, Dr. Chavis became the youngest Executive Director and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Dr. Chavis was a life member of the NAACP and first joined at the age of 12 as a youth leader of the Granville County Branch of the NAACP, in his home town of Oxford, North Carolina. In 1994, he was also the first person fired from the NAACP after spending $64,000 from the then debt ridden organization to pay a breach of contract claim layered with allegations of sexual harassment.
Dr. Chavis was the National Director of 1995 Million Man March. He drew upon his years of experience as an advocate for African-American equality to help this political march reach its goals of increased political activity and awareness of issues by African Americans.
Chavis wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column Civil Rights Journal from 1985 to 1993. At the same time, he produced and hosted a radio program of the same name.
Chavis was Executive Director and CEO of the National African American Leadership Summit (NAALS) from 1995 to 1997.
Chavis was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1980. He was suspended from regional association from the church, when (in 1997) he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Benjamin Chavis Muhammad.
Chavis joined the Nation of Islam in 1997. He was then appointed East Coast Regional Minister of the Nation of Islam and Minister of the historic Mosque Number Seven in Harlem, New York because of its association with Malcolm X. However, later, Chavis concentrated on working with Inter-Face efforts and ecumenical movements to establish wholesome relations between Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
In 2001 Chavis became the CEO and Co-Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network in New York City which he cofounded with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.
Chavis' journey into the Hip-Hop culture actually had its beginnings dating back to 1969 when he was the proprietor and regular “DJ” and “MC” for The Soul Kitchen Disco in his hometown of Oxford, North Carolina. In the 1970s, Chavis envisioned that there was a direct connection between the urban underground music and the post-civil rights era. During the 1980s, Chavis witnessed the growing popularity of hip-hop with disenfranchised youth entrapped into urban poverty.
While serving as a mentor to Sister Souljah, Kevin Powell, Little Rob, Ras Baraka and other hip-hop activists, Chavis met Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen in 1986 at Def Jam Records. As head of the NAACP in 1993, he worked with Run DMC to mobilize youth voters. Thus, it made perfect sense when hip-hop's premier video director, Hype Williams, cast Chavis in the pivotal role as the “Rev. Saviour” in the 1998 hip-hop classic movie “Belly,” which starred superstar hip-hop artists Nas, Method Man and DMX.
Later he performed the Intro and Outro to Jim Jones and the Diplomats 2004 hip-hop album, “On My Way to Church.” In 2005, he was the spoken word artist featured in Cassidy's platinum selling album ”I'm A Hustler.” When Chavis helped organize both the Million Man March (1995) and Million Family March (2000), Russell Simmons worked with him to mobilize hip-hop leaders to support the marches. Ultimately, the two men realized they had a similar vision for this generation of hip-hop youth, and to that end, they created the first national "Hip-Hop Summit" in New York City, from which grew the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN).
One-and-a-half years later, the HSAN became the largest and broadest national coalition of hip-hop artists, recording industry executives, youth activists and civil rights leaders. With the support of the major hip-hop labels, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and others, the HSAN has sponsored successful "Hip-Hop Summits" in New York, New York; Kansas City, Missouri; Oakland, California; Los Angeles, California; Washington, D.C.; Miami, Florida; Seattle, Washington; and Dallas, Texas. A 2004 event in Cleveland, Ohio was not so successful.
Meetings with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), vocal stands before the United States Congress on the unconstitutionality of censoring rap lyrics, the development of literacy programs, Youth Councils, voter registration drives in conjunction with Rap The Vote, the voice for the poor, and the fight for children's public education, filled Chavis' days (and nights).
In 2002 Dr. Chavis and the HSAN joined the United Federation of Teachers and the New York Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) to organize the largest public demonstration held after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office.
Later Chavis joined “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon, actor Bruce Willis and Russell Simmons to demand adequate funding for education across the state of New York.
Chavis also was a spokesperson for TI's Respect my vote campaign, and introduced TI's performance at the 2008 FAMU Homecoming Concert in Tallahassee Florida, that was hosted by FAMU and Blazin 102.3.
Chavis joined with Ezell Brown in 2009 to establish Education Online Services Corporation which is headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida.
Chavis married Martha Rivera Chavis and is the father of eight children, three of whom are by his first wife the late Jackie Bullock Chavis.
Chavis has authored a number of publications including:
* An African American Political Prisoner: Appeals for Human Rights (1979)
* Psalms from Prison (1983)
* Toxic Wastes and Race In The United States: A National Report On The Racial and Socioeconomic Characteristics of Communities With Hazardous Waste Sites (1987).
Cheikha Rimitti
1923-2006
Pioneer of the Algerian music called rai.
Cheikha Rimitti was born Saadia El Ghizania on May 8, 1923, Tessala, Algeria, a small village in Western Algeria. Named "Saadia," meaning "joyful," her name did not match the reality of her early life as she had been orphaned as a child and began to live rough, earning a few francs working in the fields and doing other menial jobs.
At 15, she joined a troupe of traditional Algerian musicians and learned to sing and dance. In 1943, she moved to the rural town of Relizane and began writing her own songs. Her songs described the tough life endured by the Algerian poor, focusing on everyday struggle of living, pleasures of sex, love, alcohol and friendship and the realities of war.
Traditionally, songs of lust had been sung privately by Algerian women at rural wedding celebrations but were considered crude and unfit to be heard in polite society. Rimitti was one of the first to sing them in public and id so in the earthy language of the street, using a rich blend of slang and patois. She eventually composed more than 200 songs but remained illiterate all her life.
Rimitti's fame spread by word of mouth across Algeria during the Second World War until she was taken under the patronage of a well-known Algerian musician of the time, Cheikh Mohammed Ould Ennems, who took her to Algiers where she made her first radio broadcasts. Soon after, she adopted the name Cheikha Rimitti.
She made her first record in 1952, a three track on Pathe Records under the name "Cheikha Remettez Reliziana," which included the famous Er-Rai Er-Rai. This was not to be the record that launched her career, however. That came two years later when Rimitti caused a sensation with the release of Charrak Gatta a daring hit record, which encouraged young women to lose their virginity and which scandalised Muslim orthodoxy. Her outlook and songs did not endear her to the nationalist forces fighting for freedom from French rule during the Algerian War of Independence who denounced her for singing "folklore perverted by colonialism."
By the 1970s, Rimitti was performing mostly for the Algerian immigrant community in France. Briefly returning to Algeria in 1971, she was badly hurt in a car crash in which three of her musicians were killed.
Four years later, she went on a hajj to Mecca, after which her lifestyle (though not her songs or subject matter) changed. She stopped smoking and drinking, but continued her singing and dancing, and by the mid-1980s, when rai was becoming established as the rousing dance music of angry young Algerians, Rimitti was being hailed as "la mamie du Rai," -- the mother of the style.
In the 1980s, Cheikha Rimitti moved to Paris, loosening her ties with the Algerian authorities but never cutting herself off from the Algerian people, her first fans.
Rimitti's music crossed over to the West and she undertook prestigious concerts in big cities and worldwide capitals as well as collaborating with Robert Fripp and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the "Sidi Mansour" album in 1994, inaugurating a new electric form of rai.
Rimitti's back catalog was rediscovered by a new generation of rai successors including Cheb Khaled whom had covered "The Camel." Many singers of the new generation venerated her as "The Mother of the Genre" and Rachid Taha dedicated a song to her entitled "Rimitti."
Officially banned in Algeria, Rimitti marked rai history by taking the defiant step of recording her last album at the Boussif Studios in Oran, the city where rai music was born over a century ago.
Rimitti continued performing until the end of her life. Two days before she died she was rapturously received by an audience of 4,500 at the Zenith in Paris.
Rimitti died in Paris from a heart attack on May 15, 2006.
A selected discography for Cheikha Rimitti includes "Sidi Mansour" (1994); "Ghir al Baroud" (1996); "Cheikha" (1996); "Trab Music" (2000); "Nouar" (2000); "L'etoile du Rai" (2001); "Live European Tour 2000" (2001); "Salam Maghreb" (2001); and "N'ta Goudami" (2006).
1923-2006
Pioneer of the Algerian music called rai.
Cheikha Rimitti was born Saadia El Ghizania on May 8, 1923, Tessala, Algeria, a small village in Western Algeria. Named "Saadia," meaning "joyful," her name did not match the reality of her early life as she had been orphaned as a child and began to live rough, earning a few francs working in the fields and doing other menial jobs.
At 15, she joined a troupe of traditional Algerian musicians and learned to sing and dance. In 1943, she moved to the rural town of Relizane and began writing her own songs. Her songs described the tough life endured by the Algerian poor, focusing on everyday struggle of living, pleasures of sex, love, alcohol and friendship and the realities of war.
Traditionally, songs of lust had been sung privately by Algerian women at rural wedding celebrations but were considered crude and unfit to be heard in polite society. Rimitti was one of the first to sing them in public and id so in the earthy language of the street, using a rich blend of slang and patois. She eventually composed more than 200 songs but remained illiterate all her life.
Rimitti's fame spread by word of mouth across Algeria during the Second World War until she was taken under the patronage of a well-known Algerian musician of the time, Cheikh Mohammed Ould Ennems, who took her to Algiers where she made her first radio broadcasts. Soon after, she adopted the name Cheikha Rimitti.
She made her first record in 1952, a three track on Pathe Records under the name "Cheikha Remettez Reliziana," which included the famous Er-Rai Er-Rai. This was not to be the record that launched her career, however. That came two years later when Rimitti caused a sensation with the release of Charrak Gatta a daring hit record, which encouraged young women to lose their virginity and which scandalised Muslim orthodoxy. Her outlook and songs did not endear her to the nationalist forces fighting for freedom from French rule during the Algerian War of Independence who denounced her for singing "folklore perverted by colonialism."
By the 1970s, Rimitti was performing mostly for the Algerian immigrant community in France. Briefly returning to Algeria in 1971, she was badly hurt in a car crash in which three of her musicians were killed.
Four years later, she went on a hajj to Mecca, after which her lifestyle (though not her songs or subject matter) changed. She stopped smoking and drinking, but continued her singing and dancing, and by the mid-1980s, when rai was becoming established as the rousing dance music of angry young Algerians, Rimitti was being hailed as "la mamie du Rai," -- the mother of the style.
In the 1980s, Cheikha Rimitti moved to Paris, loosening her ties with the Algerian authorities but never cutting herself off from the Algerian people, her first fans.
Rimitti's music crossed over to the West and she undertook prestigious concerts in big cities and worldwide capitals as well as collaborating with Robert Fripp and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the "Sidi Mansour" album in 1994, inaugurating a new electric form of rai.
Rimitti's back catalog was rediscovered by a new generation of rai successors including Cheb Khaled whom had covered "The Camel." Many singers of the new generation venerated her as "The Mother of the Genre" and Rachid Taha dedicated a song to her entitled "Rimitti."
Officially banned in Algeria, Rimitti marked rai history by taking the defiant step of recording her last album at the Boussif Studios in Oran, the city where rai music was born over a century ago.
Rimitti continued performing until the end of her life. Two days before she died she was rapturously received by an audience of 4,500 at the Zenith in Paris.
Rimitti died in Paris from a heart attack on May 15, 2006.
A selected discography for Cheikha Rimitti includes "Sidi Mansour" (1994); "Ghir al Baroud" (1996); "Cheikha" (1996); "Trab Music" (2000); "Nouar" (2000); "L'etoile du Rai" (2001); "Live European Tour 2000" (2001); "Salam Maghreb" (2001); and "N'ta Goudami" (2006).
Chrakian, Artin
1804-1859
An Armenian Ottoman minister of commerce and foreign affairs in Egypt.
Artin Pasha Chrakian (1804-1859) was the minister of commerce and foreign affairs in Egypt. Artin was born in Istanbul. His father, Sukias Chrakian, managed the commercial affairs of one of the older sons of Muhammad Ali, the vali of Egypt. Sukias emigrated to Egypt in 1812 and, two years later, his son followed him there. Artin Chrakian, his brother Khosrov, and a third Armenian, Aristakes Altunian, were allowed to attend school in the palace, where the young prince Abbas, later to inherit the governorship of Egypt, was one of their classmates. Sent to Paris, he studied civil administration. His education completed, Artin returned to Egypt and began working at the war ministry at the mundane chore of translating French military manuals into Turkish. In succeeding years, however, Artin, along with other Armenian colleagues, were entrusted with the responsibility of reorganizing the educational system in the country. In May 1834, he opened the school of translation in the citadel of Cairo. In 1836, he was appointed a member of the school council, a body that subsequently became the ministry of education.
By this time Artin was a full-fledged member of the administrative machinery governing Egypt. His appointment as a member of the Majlis al-Ali, the state council for civil affairs, brought him in direct contact with the person of the viceroy. From then on his promotion was rapid. Muhammad Ali chose him as his first secretary in 1839 and sent him as an envoy to Paris and London in 1841.
Upon the death of Boghos Bey Yusufian in 1844, Artin succeeded as minister of commerce and foreign affairs. He remained in that post during the reign of Ibrahim. Along with many other Armenians in the employ of the Egyptian government, he fell out of favor after Abbas assumed the post of viceroy. He was removed from office in 1850 and went into exile in Europe. He returned after Said, the succeeding viceroy, invited him back to Egypt. Artin Chrakian was the first Armenian in Egypt bestowed the hereditary title of Pasha, the near equivalent of prince in Turkish titulature.
1804-1859
An Armenian Ottoman minister of commerce and foreign affairs in Egypt.
Artin Pasha Chrakian (1804-1859) was the minister of commerce and foreign affairs in Egypt. Artin was born in Istanbul. His father, Sukias Chrakian, managed the commercial affairs of one of the older sons of Muhammad Ali, the vali of Egypt. Sukias emigrated to Egypt in 1812 and, two years later, his son followed him there. Artin Chrakian, his brother Khosrov, and a third Armenian, Aristakes Altunian, were allowed to attend school in the palace, where the young prince Abbas, later to inherit the governorship of Egypt, was one of their classmates. Sent to Paris, he studied civil administration. His education completed, Artin returned to Egypt and began working at the war ministry at the mundane chore of translating French military manuals into Turkish. In succeeding years, however, Artin, along with other Armenian colleagues, were entrusted with the responsibility of reorganizing the educational system in the country. In May 1834, he opened the school of translation in the citadel of Cairo. In 1836, he was appointed a member of the school council, a body that subsequently became the ministry of education.
By this time Artin was a full-fledged member of the administrative machinery governing Egypt. His appointment as a member of the Majlis al-Ali, the state council for civil affairs, brought him in direct contact with the person of the viceroy. From then on his promotion was rapid. Muhammad Ali chose him as his first secretary in 1839 and sent him as an envoy to Paris and London in 1841.
Upon the death of Boghos Bey Yusufian in 1844, Artin succeeded as minister of commerce and foreign affairs. He remained in that post during the reign of Ibrahim. Along with many other Armenians in the employ of the Egyptian government, he fell out of favor after Abbas assumed the post of viceroy. He was removed from office in 1850 and went into exile in Europe. He returned after Said, the succeeding viceroy, invited him back to Egypt. Artin Chrakian was the first Armenian in Egypt bestowed the hereditary title of Pasha, the near equivalent of prince in Turkish titulature.
Ebadi, Shirin
1947-
2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Shirin Ebadi (Persian: Širin Ebâdi) is an Iranian lawyer, human rights activist and founder of Centre for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran. On October 10, 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's, children's, and refugee rights. She was the first ever Iranian, and the first Muslim woman to receive the award.
Ebadi was born on June 21, 1947, in Hamadan, Iran. Her father, Mohammad Ali Ebadi, was the city's chief notary public and professor of commercial law. The family moved to Tehran in 1948.
Ebadi was admitted to the law department of the University of Tehran in 1965 and upon graduation in 1969 passed the qualification exams to become a judge. After a six-month internship period, she officially started her judicial career in March 1969. She continued her studies at the University of Tehran and received a master's degree in law in 1971. In 1975, she became the first woman to preside over a legislative court.
Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, conservative clerics insisted that Islam prohibits women from becoming judges and Ebadi was demoted to a secretarial position at the branch where she had previously presided. She and other female judges protested and were assigned to the slightly higher position of "law expert." She eventually requested early retirement as the situation remained unchanged.
As her applications were repeatedly rejected, Ebadi was not able to practice as a lawyer until 1993, even though she already held a law office permit. She used this free time to write books and many articles in Iranian periodicals, which made her widely known.
Ebadi became a lecturer law at the University of Tehran and a campaigner for strengthening the legal status of children and women, the latter of which played a key role in the May 1997 landslide presidential election of the reformist Mohammad Khatami.
As a lawyer, she became known for taking up cases of dissident figures who had fallen foul of the judiciary. She represented the family of Dariush Forouhar, a dissident intellectual and politician who was found stabbed to death at his home. His wife, Parvaneh Eskandari, was also killed at the same time.
The couple were among several dissidents who died in a spate of grisly murders that terrorized Iran's intellectual community. Suspicion fell on extremist hard-liners determined to put a stop to the more liberal climate fostered by President Khatami, who championed freedom of speech. The murders were found to be committed by a team of the employees of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, whose head, Saeed Emami, allegedly committed suicide in jail before being brought to court.
Ebadi also represented the family of Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad, the only person (a conscript soldier) killed in the Iranian student protests of July 1999. In the process, in 2000 Ebadi was accused of distributing the videotaped confession of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a former member of the Ansar-e Hezbollah. Ebrahimi accused his former associates of attacking members of President Khatami's cabinet on orders of high-level conservative authorities. Ebadi claimed that she had only videotaped Amir Farshad Ebrahimi's confessions in order to present them to the court. This case was named "Tape makers" by hardliners who questioned the credibility of his videotaped deposition as well as his motives. Ebadi and Rohami were sentenced to five years in jail and suspension of their law licenses for sending Ebrahimi's videotaped deposition to Islamic President Khatami and the head of the Islamic judiciary. The sentences were later vacated by the Islamic judiciary's supreme court, but they did not forgive Ebarahimi's videotaped confession and sentenced him to 48 months in jail, including 16 months in solitary confinement. This case brought increased focus on Iran from human rights groups abroad.
Ebadi also defended various child abuse cases and a few cases dealing with bans of periodicals (including the cases of Habibollah Peyman, Abbas Marufi, and Faraj Sarkouhi). She also established two non-governmental organizations in Iran with western funding, the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (SPRC) and the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC).
Ebadi helped in the drafting of the original text of a law against physical abuse of children, which was passed by the Iranian parliament in 2002.
The decision of the Nobel committee naming Shirin Ebadi the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner surprised some observers worldwide. Then Pope John Paul II was the favorite to scoop the prestigious award amid feverish speculation that he was nearing death. Some observers, mostly supporters of Pope John Paul II, viewed Ebadi's selection as a calculated and political one, along the lines of the selection of Lech Wałęsa and Mikhail Gorbachev, among others, for the Peace Award. Detractors claimed that none of Ebadi's previous activities were directly related to the stated goals for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize, as originally stated by Alfred Nobel, and that according to the will of Alfred Nobel the prize should have been awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
Ebadi presented a book entitled Democracy, human rights, and Islam in modern Iran: Psychological, social and cultural perspectives, to the Nobel Committee. The volume documents the historical and cultural basis of democracy and human rights from Cyrus and Darius, 2,500 years ago to Muhammad Mossadeq, the popular Prime Minister of modern Iran who nationalized the oil industry.
In Iran, officials of the Islamic Republic were either silent or critical of the selection of Ebadi, calling it a political act by a pro-western institution. They were also critical when Ebadi did not cover her hair at the Nobel award ceremony Iranian state media waited hours to report the Nobel committee's decision—and then only as the last item on the radio news update. Reformist officials were said to have generally welcomed the award, but came under attack for doing so. Reformist president Mohammad Khatami did not officially congratulate Ms. Ebadi and stated that although the scientific Nobels are important, the Peace Prize is "not very important" and was awarded to Ebadi on the basis of "totally political criteria".
Since the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize award, Ebadi's Post-Nobel Prize timeline reads as follows:
* 2003 November - Ebadi declared that she would provide legal representation for the family of the murdered freelance photographer Zahra Kazemi.
* 2004 - During the World Social Forum- Bombay, January 2004 - Ebadi, speaking at a small girls' school run by the NGO, Sahyog, proposed that January 30 (the day Mahatma Gandhi fell to a Hindu extremist's bullets) be observed as International Day of Non-Violence. This proposal was brought to her from school children in Paris by their Indian teacher Akshay Bakaya. 3 years later Sonia Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu relayed the idea at the Delhi Satyagraha Convention in January 2007, preferring however to propose Gandhi's birthday October 2. The UN General Assembly on June 15 2007 adopted October 2 as the International Day of Non-Violence.
* 2005 Spring - Ebadi taught a course on "Islam and Human Rights" at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law in Tucson, Arizona.
* 2005 - Ebadi was voted the world's 12th leading public intellectual in The 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll by Prospect magazine (UK).
* 2006 - Random House released Ebadi's first book for a Western audience, Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope, with Azadeh Moaveni. A reading of the book was serialized as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in September 2006. American novelist David Ebershoff served as the book's editor.
* 2006 - Ebadi was one of the founders of The Nobel Women's Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace Laureates Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Wangari Maathai, Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Six women representing North America and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa decided to bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. It is the goal of the Nobel Women's Initiative to help strengthen work being done in support of women's rights around the world.
* 2006 May - Ebadi delivered the Commencement Address at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a speech at the University of California at Berkeley.
* 2006 September - Ebadi's presentation of a lecture entitled "Iran Awakening: Human Rights, Women and Islam" drew a sold-out crowd at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series.
* 2007 April 30 - Ebadi gave a presentation on "True Islam: Human Rights and The Roles of Faith" at Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL. She also received an honorary doctorate from the university.
* 2007 May 1 - Ebadi appeared at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, at the request of the Persian Students of Cal Poly to give a lecture which mainly dealt with Democracy, Women's Rights, and American relations in Iran.
* 2007 May 17 - Ebadi announced that she would defend the Iranian American scholar Haleh Esfandiari, who was jailed in Tehran.
* 2007 May 18 - Ebadi presided over the Commencement ceremony of The New School at Madison Square Garden in New York. She gave a speech in Persian which was translated by a translator and she also received an honorary doctorate from The New School.
* 2008 March - Ebadi informed Reuters news agency that Iran's human rights record had regressed in the previous two years.
* 2008 April 14 - Ebadi released a statement saying "Threats against my life and security and those of my family, which began some time ago, have intensified," and that the threats warned her against making speeches abroad, and defending Iran's minority Baha'i community.
* 2008 June - Ebadi volunteered to be the lawyer for the arrested Bahá'í leadership of Iran in June.
* 2008 August 7 - Ebadi announced via the Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights that she would defend in court the seven Bahá'í leaders arrested in the spring.
* 2008 September 1 - Ebadi published her book Refugee Rights in Iran exposing the lack of rights given to Afghan refugees living in Iran.
* 2008 October 16- Ebadi was a keynote presenter at Emory University School of Law for Advancing the Consensus conference celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
* 2008 December 21 Ebadi's office of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights was raided and closed.
* 2008 December 29 - Islamic authorities close Ebadi's Center for Defenders of Human Rights, raiding her private office, seizing her computers and files. Worldwide condemnation of the raid followed.
* 2009 January 1- Pro-regime "demonstrators" attacked Ebadi's home and office.
* 2009 February 24 - Ebadi spoke on the "Empowering women" plenary session at ISFiT.
* 2009 June 12 - Ebadi was at a seminar in Spain at the time of the Iranian presidential election. When the crackdown began colleagues told her not to return home.
* 2009 June 16 - In the midst of nationwide protests against the very surprising and highly suspect election results giving incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory, Ebadi called for new elections in an interview with Radio Free Europe.
* 2009 September 24 - Touring abroad to lobby international leaders and highlight the Islamic regime's human rights abuses since June, Ebadi criticized the British government for putting talks on the Islamic regime's nuclear program ahead of protesting its brutal suppression of opposition.
Shirin Ebadi is the author of a number of publications including: History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (New York, 2000); The Rights of the Child. A Study of Legal Aspects of Children's Rights in Iran (Tehran, 1994); Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope (New York, 2006); Democracy, human rights, and Islam in modern Iran: Psychological, social and cultural perspectives (Bergen, 2003); and Refugee Rights in Iran (Saqi Books, 2008).
In 2004, Shirin Ebadi filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Treasury because of restrictions she faced over publishing her memoir in the United States. American trade laws include prohibitions on writers from embargoed countries. The law also banned American literary agent Wendy Strothman from working with Ebadi. Azar Nafisi wrote a letter in support of Shirin Ebadi. Nafisi said that the law infringes on the First Amendment. After a long legal battle, Shirin Ebadi won and was able to publish her memoir in the United States.
Shirin Ebadi has received the following awards and honors in her career:
* Awarded plate by Human Rights Watch, 1996
* Official spectator of Human Rights Watch, 1996
* Awarded Rafto Prize, Human Rights Prize in Norway, 2001
* Nobel Peace Prize in October, 2003
* International Democracy Award, 2004
* ‘Lawyer of the Year’ award, 2004
* Doctor of Laws, Williams College, 2004
* Doctor of Laws, Brown University, 2004
* Doctor of Laws, University of British Columbia, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, University of Maryland, College Park, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, University of Toronto, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, Simon Fraser University, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, University of Akureyri, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, Australian Catholic University, 2005
* Honorary doctorate, University of San Francisco, 2005
* Honorary doctorate, Concordia University, 2005
* Honorary doctorate, The University of York, The University of Canada, 2005
* Honorary doctorate, Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, 2005
* UCI Citizen Peacebuilding Award, 2005
* The Golden Plate Award by the Academy of Achievement, 2005
* Legion of Honor award, 2006
* Honorary doctorate, Loyola University Chicago, 2007
* Honorary Doctorate The New School University, 2007
* One of A Different View's 15 Champions of World Democracy, 2008
1947-
2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Shirin Ebadi (Persian: Širin Ebâdi) is an Iranian lawyer, human rights activist and founder of Centre for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran. On October 10, 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's, children's, and refugee rights. She was the first ever Iranian, and the first Muslim woman to receive the award.
Ebadi was born on June 21, 1947, in Hamadan, Iran. Her father, Mohammad Ali Ebadi, was the city's chief notary public and professor of commercial law. The family moved to Tehran in 1948.
Ebadi was admitted to the law department of the University of Tehran in 1965 and upon graduation in 1969 passed the qualification exams to become a judge. After a six-month internship period, she officially started her judicial career in March 1969. She continued her studies at the University of Tehran and received a master's degree in law in 1971. In 1975, she became the first woman to preside over a legislative court.
Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, conservative clerics insisted that Islam prohibits women from becoming judges and Ebadi was demoted to a secretarial position at the branch where she had previously presided. She and other female judges protested and were assigned to the slightly higher position of "law expert." She eventually requested early retirement as the situation remained unchanged.
As her applications were repeatedly rejected, Ebadi was not able to practice as a lawyer until 1993, even though she already held a law office permit. She used this free time to write books and many articles in Iranian periodicals, which made her widely known.
Ebadi became a lecturer law at the University of Tehran and a campaigner for strengthening the legal status of children and women, the latter of which played a key role in the May 1997 landslide presidential election of the reformist Mohammad Khatami.
As a lawyer, she became known for taking up cases of dissident figures who had fallen foul of the judiciary. She represented the family of Dariush Forouhar, a dissident intellectual and politician who was found stabbed to death at his home. His wife, Parvaneh Eskandari, was also killed at the same time.
The couple were among several dissidents who died in a spate of grisly murders that terrorized Iran's intellectual community. Suspicion fell on extremist hard-liners determined to put a stop to the more liberal climate fostered by President Khatami, who championed freedom of speech. The murders were found to be committed by a team of the employees of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, whose head, Saeed Emami, allegedly committed suicide in jail before being brought to court.
Ebadi also represented the family of Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad, the only person (a conscript soldier) killed in the Iranian student protests of July 1999. In the process, in 2000 Ebadi was accused of distributing the videotaped confession of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a former member of the Ansar-e Hezbollah. Ebrahimi accused his former associates of attacking members of President Khatami's cabinet on orders of high-level conservative authorities. Ebadi claimed that she had only videotaped Amir Farshad Ebrahimi's confessions in order to present them to the court. This case was named "Tape makers" by hardliners who questioned the credibility of his videotaped deposition as well as his motives. Ebadi and Rohami were sentenced to five years in jail and suspension of their law licenses for sending Ebrahimi's videotaped deposition to Islamic President Khatami and the head of the Islamic judiciary. The sentences were later vacated by the Islamic judiciary's supreme court, but they did not forgive Ebarahimi's videotaped confession and sentenced him to 48 months in jail, including 16 months in solitary confinement. This case brought increased focus on Iran from human rights groups abroad.
Ebadi also defended various child abuse cases and a few cases dealing with bans of periodicals (including the cases of Habibollah Peyman, Abbas Marufi, and Faraj Sarkouhi). She also established two non-governmental organizations in Iran with western funding, the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (SPRC) and the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC).
Ebadi helped in the drafting of the original text of a law against physical abuse of children, which was passed by the Iranian parliament in 2002.
The decision of the Nobel committee naming Shirin Ebadi the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner surprised some observers worldwide. Then Pope John Paul II was the favorite to scoop the prestigious award amid feverish speculation that he was nearing death. Some observers, mostly supporters of Pope John Paul II, viewed Ebadi's selection as a calculated and political one, along the lines of the selection of Lech Wałęsa and Mikhail Gorbachev, among others, for the Peace Award. Detractors claimed that none of Ebadi's previous activities were directly related to the stated goals for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize, as originally stated by Alfred Nobel, and that according to the will of Alfred Nobel the prize should have been awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
Ebadi presented a book entitled Democracy, human rights, and Islam in modern Iran: Psychological, social and cultural perspectives, to the Nobel Committee. The volume documents the historical and cultural basis of democracy and human rights from Cyrus and Darius, 2,500 years ago to Muhammad Mossadeq, the popular Prime Minister of modern Iran who nationalized the oil industry.
In Iran, officials of the Islamic Republic were either silent or critical of the selection of Ebadi, calling it a political act by a pro-western institution. They were also critical when Ebadi did not cover her hair at the Nobel award ceremony Iranian state media waited hours to report the Nobel committee's decision—and then only as the last item on the radio news update. Reformist officials were said to have generally welcomed the award, but came under attack for doing so. Reformist president Mohammad Khatami did not officially congratulate Ms. Ebadi and stated that although the scientific Nobels are important, the Peace Prize is "not very important" and was awarded to Ebadi on the basis of "totally political criteria".
Since the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize award, Ebadi's Post-Nobel Prize timeline reads as follows:
* 2003 November - Ebadi declared that she would provide legal representation for the family of the murdered freelance photographer Zahra Kazemi.
* 2004 - During the World Social Forum- Bombay, January 2004 - Ebadi, speaking at a small girls' school run by the NGO, Sahyog, proposed that January 30 (the day Mahatma Gandhi fell to a Hindu extremist's bullets) be observed as International Day of Non-Violence. This proposal was brought to her from school children in Paris by their Indian teacher Akshay Bakaya. 3 years later Sonia Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu relayed the idea at the Delhi Satyagraha Convention in January 2007, preferring however to propose Gandhi's birthday October 2. The UN General Assembly on June 15 2007 adopted October 2 as the International Day of Non-Violence.
* 2005 Spring - Ebadi taught a course on "Islam and Human Rights" at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law in Tucson, Arizona.
* 2005 - Ebadi was voted the world's 12th leading public intellectual in The 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll by Prospect magazine (UK).
* 2006 - Random House released Ebadi's first book for a Western audience, Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope, with Azadeh Moaveni. A reading of the book was serialized as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in September 2006. American novelist David Ebershoff served as the book's editor.
* 2006 - Ebadi was one of the founders of The Nobel Women's Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace Laureates Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Wangari Maathai, Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Six women representing North America and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa decided to bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. It is the goal of the Nobel Women's Initiative to help strengthen work being done in support of women's rights around the world.
* 2006 May - Ebadi delivered the Commencement Address at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a speech at the University of California at Berkeley.
* 2006 September - Ebadi's presentation of a lecture entitled "Iran Awakening: Human Rights, Women and Islam" drew a sold-out crowd at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series.
* 2007 April 30 - Ebadi gave a presentation on "True Islam: Human Rights and The Roles of Faith" at Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL. She also received an honorary doctorate from the university.
* 2007 May 1 - Ebadi appeared at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, at the request of the Persian Students of Cal Poly to give a lecture which mainly dealt with Democracy, Women's Rights, and American relations in Iran.
* 2007 May 17 - Ebadi announced that she would defend the Iranian American scholar Haleh Esfandiari, who was jailed in Tehran.
* 2007 May 18 - Ebadi presided over the Commencement ceremony of The New School at Madison Square Garden in New York. She gave a speech in Persian which was translated by a translator and she also received an honorary doctorate from The New School.
* 2008 March - Ebadi informed Reuters news agency that Iran's human rights record had regressed in the previous two years.
* 2008 April 14 - Ebadi released a statement saying "Threats against my life and security and those of my family, which began some time ago, have intensified," and that the threats warned her against making speeches abroad, and defending Iran's minority Baha'i community.
* 2008 June - Ebadi volunteered to be the lawyer for the arrested Bahá'í leadership of Iran in June.
* 2008 August 7 - Ebadi announced via the Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights that she would defend in court the seven Bahá'í leaders arrested in the spring.
* 2008 September 1 - Ebadi published her book Refugee Rights in Iran exposing the lack of rights given to Afghan refugees living in Iran.
* 2008 October 16- Ebadi was a keynote presenter at Emory University School of Law for Advancing the Consensus conference celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
* 2008 December 21 Ebadi's office of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights was raided and closed.
* 2008 December 29 - Islamic authorities close Ebadi's Center for Defenders of Human Rights, raiding her private office, seizing her computers and files. Worldwide condemnation of the raid followed.
* 2009 January 1- Pro-regime "demonstrators" attacked Ebadi's home and office.
* 2009 February 24 - Ebadi spoke on the "Empowering women" plenary session at ISFiT.
* 2009 June 12 - Ebadi was at a seminar in Spain at the time of the Iranian presidential election. When the crackdown began colleagues told her not to return home.
* 2009 June 16 - In the midst of nationwide protests against the very surprising and highly suspect election results giving incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory, Ebadi called for new elections in an interview with Radio Free Europe.
* 2009 September 24 - Touring abroad to lobby international leaders and highlight the Islamic regime's human rights abuses since June, Ebadi criticized the British government for putting talks on the Islamic regime's nuclear program ahead of protesting its brutal suppression of opposition.
Shirin Ebadi is the author of a number of publications including: History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (New York, 2000); The Rights of the Child. A Study of Legal Aspects of Children's Rights in Iran (Tehran, 1994); Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope (New York, 2006); Democracy, human rights, and Islam in modern Iran: Psychological, social and cultural perspectives (Bergen, 2003); and Refugee Rights in Iran (Saqi Books, 2008).
In 2004, Shirin Ebadi filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Treasury because of restrictions she faced over publishing her memoir in the United States. American trade laws include prohibitions on writers from embargoed countries. The law also banned American literary agent Wendy Strothman from working with Ebadi. Azar Nafisi wrote a letter in support of Shirin Ebadi. Nafisi said that the law infringes on the First Amendment. After a long legal battle, Shirin Ebadi won and was able to publish her memoir in the United States.
Shirin Ebadi has received the following awards and honors in her career:
* Awarded plate by Human Rights Watch, 1996
* Official spectator of Human Rights Watch, 1996
* Awarded Rafto Prize, Human Rights Prize in Norway, 2001
* Nobel Peace Prize in October, 2003
* International Democracy Award, 2004
* ‘Lawyer of the Year’ award, 2004
* Doctor of Laws, Williams College, 2004
* Doctor of Laws, Brown University, 2004
* Doctor of Laws, University of British Columbia, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, University of Maryland, College Park, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, University of Toronto, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, Simon Fraser University, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, University of Akureyri, 2004
* Honorary doctorate, Australian Catholic University, 2005
* Honorary doctorate, University of San Francisco, 2005
* Honorary doctorate, Concordia University, 2005
* Honorary doctorate, The University of York, The University of Canada, 2005
* Honorary doctorate, Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, 2005
* UCI Citizen Peacebuilding Award, 2005
* The Golden Plate Award by the Academy of Achievement, 2005
* Legion of Honor award, 2006
* Honorary doctorate, Loyola University Chicago, 2007
* Honorary Doctorate The New School University, 2007
* One of A Different View's 15 Champions of World Democracy, 2008
Ebubekir Ratib Efendi
? - 1799
Ottoman diplomat and writer.
Born in Tosya (Anatolia), Ebubekir Ratib Efendi entered the civil service in Istanbul and rose to the rank of acting reisulkuttab (Chief of Scribes) in 1789. Ebubekir Ratib Efendi was appointed special envoy to Vienna between 1791 and 1792. In 1794, he became reisulkuttab but was dismissed in 1796 and later executed. His detailed reports on the administrative, social, and military institutions of the Habsburg Empire in the reign of Joseph II and on European political philosophers had a considerable effect on the development of the Nizam-I Cedid reforms of Selim III.
? - 1799
Ottoman diplomat and writer.
Born in Tosya (Anatolia), Ebubekir Ratib Efendi entered the civil service in Istanbul and rose to the rank of acting reisulkuttab (Chief of Scribes) in 1789. Ebubekir Ratib Efendi was appointed special envoy to Vienna between 1791 and 1792. In 1794, he became reisulkuttab but was dismissed in 1796 and later executed. His detailed reports on the administrative, social, and military institutions of the Habsburg Empire in the reign of Joseph II and on European political philosophers had a considerable effect on the development of the Nizam-I Cedid reforms of Selim III.
Ellison, Keith Maurice
b. 1963
First Muslim elected to the United States Congress.
Keith Maurice Ellison (b. August 4, 1963) was first elected to serve as the United States Representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district in the elections held in 2006. He was a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. His district centered on Minneapolis. He was re-elected in 2010. Ellison served as a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
He was the first Muslim to be elected to the United States Congress. He was also the first African American elected to the House from Minnesota.
b. 1963
First Muslim elected to the United States Congress.
Keith Maurice Ellison (b. August 4, 1963) was first elected to serve as the United States Representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district in the elections held in 2006. He was a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. His district centered on Minneapolis. He was re-elected in 2010. Ellison served as a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
He was the first Muslim to be elected to the United States Congress. He was also the first African American elected to the House from Minnesota.
Erbakan, Necmettin
1926-2011
Turkish engineer, academic, politician (eventually political party leader), who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997. He was Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister. In 1997 he was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and later banned from politics by the constitutional court.
Necmettin Erbakan was born on October 29, 1926 in Sinop, on the coast of the Black Sea in northern Turkey. His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoğlu clan of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.
After receiving a high school education in İstanbul Lisesi, he graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in 1948, and received a doctorate degree from the RWTH Aachen University, Germany. After returning to Turkey, Erbakan became lecturer at the İTÜ and was appointed professor in 1965 at the same university. After working some time in a leading position in the industry, he switched over to politics, and was elected deputy of Konya in 1969.
Erbakan's ideology is set forth in a manifesto, entitled Millî Görüş (National View), which he published in 1969. The Islamist organization of the same name, which he founded and of which he was the leader, advocated that the word "national" was to be understood in the sense of monotheistic ecumenism.
A mainstay of the religious wing of Turkish politics since the 1970s, Erbakan was the leader of a series of Islamist political parties that he founded or inspired that have risen to prominence only to be banned by Turkey's secular authorities. In the 1970s, Erbakan was chairman of the National Salvation Party which, at its peak, served in coalition with the Republican People's Party of Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit during the Cyprus crisis of 1974.
In the wake of the 1980 military coup, Erbakan and his party were banned from politics. He re-emerged following a referendum to lift the ban in 1987 and became the leader of Refah Partisi (Welfare Party). His party benefited in the 1990s from the acrimony between the leaders of Turkey's two most prominent conservative parties, Mesut Yılmaz and Tansu Çiller. He led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995.
Erbakan became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Çiller's Doğru Yol Partisi (Correct Path Party), becoming the first devout Muslim to hold the office in modern Turkey. As prime minister, Erbakan attempted to further Turkey's relations with the Arab nations. In addition to trying to follow an economic welfare program, which was supposedly intended to increase welfare among Turkish citizens, the government tried to implement a multi-dimensional political approach to relations with the neighboring countries.
Erbakan's image was damaged by his famous speech making fun of the nightly demonstrations against the Susurluk scandal. Even though his government had no responsibility for the scandal, he was nevertheless criticized at the time for his indifference. The Turkish military gradually increased the frequency of its public criticisms of Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down in 1997.
At the time of his resignation, there was a formal deal between Prime Minister Erbakan, and the leader of Doğru Yol, Tansu Ciller, for a "period based premiership". Pursuant to the deal, Erbakan was to act as the Prime Minister for a fixed amount of time, which was not publicized, then he would step down in favor of Tansu Ciller. However, Ciller's party was the third in the parliament, and when Erbakan stepped down, President Süleyman Demirel asked Mesut Yılmaz, leader of the second-biggest party, to form a new government.
Erbakan's ruling Welfare Party was subsequently banned by the courts, who judged that the party had an agenda to promote Islamic fundamentalism in the state, and Erbakan was barred once again from active politics.
Despite often being under political ban, Erbakan nonetheless acted as a mentor and informal advisor to former Refah members who founded the Virtue Party in 1997. The Virtue Party was found unconstitutional in 2001 and banned. By that time, Erbakan's ban on political activities had ended and he founded the Felicity Party, of which he was the leader in 2003–2004 and again from 2010 until his death.
Necmettin Erbakan died at Güven Hospital in Çankaya, Ankara on 27 February 27, 2011 of heart failure.
Erbakan's foreign policy had two main pillars: Close cooperation and unity among Muslim countries and struggle against Zionism. He created "D-8" or The Developing Eight, to achieve a strong economic and political unity among Muslim countries. It has eight members including Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria. These countries constitute around fourteen percent (14%) of the world's population, with a total of more than 800 million people.
1926-2011
Turkish engineer, academic, politician (eventually political party leader), who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997. He was Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister. In 1997 he was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and later banned from politics by the constitutional court.
Necmettin Erbakan was born on October 29, 1926 in Sinop, on the coast of the Black Sea in northern Turkey. His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoğlu clan of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.
After receiving a high school education in İstanbul Lisesi, he graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in 1948, and received a doctorate degree from the RWTH Aachen University, Germany. After returning to Turkey, Erbakan became lecturer at the İTÜ and was appointed professor in 1965 at the same university. After working some time in a leading position in the industry, he switched over to politics, and was elected deputy of Konya in 1969.
Erbakan's ideology is set forth in a manifesto, entitled Millî Görüş (National View), which he published in 1969. The Islamist organization of the same name, which he founded and of which he was the leader, advocated that the word "national" was to be understood in the sense of monotheistic ecumenism.
A mainstay of the religious wing of Turkish politics since the 1970s, Erbakan was the leader of a series of Islamist political parties that he founded or inspired that have risen to prominence only to be banned by Turkey's secular authorities. In the 1970s, Erbakan was chairman of the National Salvation Party which, at its peak, served in coalition with the Republican People's Party of Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit during the Cyprus crisis of 1974.
In the wake of the 1980 military coup, Erbakan and his party were banned from politics. He re-emerged following a referendum to lift the ban in 1987 and became the leader of Refah Partisi (Welfare Party). His party benefited in the 1990s from the acrimony between the leaders of Turkey's two most prominent conservative parties, Mesut Yılmaz and Tansu Çiller. He led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995.
Erbakan became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Çiller's Doğru Yol Partisi (Correct Path Party), becoming the first devout Muslim to hold the office in modern Turkey. As prime minister, Erbakan attempted to further Turkey's relations with the Arab nations. In addition to trying to follow an economic welfare program, which was supposedly intended to increase welfare among Turkish citizens, the government tried to implement a multi-dimensional political approach to relations with the neighboring countries.
Erbakan's image was damaged by his famous speech making fun of the nightly demonstrations against the Susurluk scandal. Even though his government had no responsibility for the scandal, he was nevertheless criticized at the time for his indifference. The Turkish military gradually increased the frequency of its public criticisms of Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down in 1997.
At the time of his resignation, there was a formal deal between Prime Minister Erbakan, and the leader of Doğru Yol, Tansu Ciller, for a "period based premiership". Pursuant to the deal, Erbakan was to act as the Prime Minister for a fixed amount of time, which was not publicized, then he would step down in favor of Tansu Ciller. However, Ciller's party was the third in the parliament, and when Erbakan stepped down, President Süleyman Demirel asked Mesut Yılmaz, leader of the second-biggest party, to form a new government.
Erbakan's ruling Welfare Party was subsequently banned by the courts, who judged that the party had an agenda to promote Islamic fundamentalism in the state, and Erbakan was barred once again from active politics.
Despite often being under political ban, Erbakan nonetheless acted as a mentor and informal advisor to former Refah members who founded the Virtue Party in 1997. The Virtue Party was found unconstitutional in 2001 and banned. By that time, Erbakan's ban on political activities had ended and he founded the Felicity Party, of which he was the leader in 2003–2004 and again from 2010 until his death.
Necmettin Erbakan died at Güven Hospital in Çankaya, Ankara on 27 February 27, 2011 of heart failure.
Erbakan's foreign policy had two main pillars: Close cooperation and unity among Muslim countries and struggle against Zionism. He created "D-8" or The Developing Eight, to achieve a strong economic and political unity among Muslim countries. It has eight members including Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria. These countries constitute around fourteen percent (14%) of the world's population, with a total of more than 800 million people.
Ersoy, Bulent
1952-
Transgender Turkish celebrity and popular singer of Ottoman classical music who became a symbol for the increased tolerance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) figures in Turkish media.
Bulent Ersoy was born on June 9, 1952. She began her career as a male singer, in the genre of Turkish Classical Music, and became an actor early on. Already one of Turkey's most popular male singers and actors, Bülent Ersoy gained international notoriety in 1981 after having sex reassignment surgery in London by a British plastic surgeon. Ersoy kept the name "Bülent" even though it is a male name.
After the operation, Bülent found herself in opposition to the regime of Kenan Evren. In a crackdown on "social deviance," Ersoy's public performances were banned along with those of other transsexual and transgendered people.
From Ersoy's standpoint, the ban should not have even applied to her, as she was an actual woman and not simply a man dressed as one. To circumvent the ban, she petitioned the Turkish courts to legally recognize her as a woman. The petition was rejected in January 1982. Days later, Ersoy attempted suicide. In 1983 she left the entertainment industry in protest of the Evren regime's repressive policies. Later that same year, Evren left office and many of his policies were rescinded.
Ersoy continued her career mostly in Germany in addition to Turkey. Along with her musical career, she made several Turkish movies in Germany. During that time she also started having a relationship with Birol Gürkanlı.
Finally, in 1988, the Turkish Civil Code was revised so that those who completed sex reassignment surgery could apply for a pink or blue (pink for female, blue for male) identity card by which they were legally recognized in their new sex. Ersoy soon returned to singing and acting, becoming more popular as a woman than she had been as a man. Her public even took to calling her "Abla," or "elder sister," an affectionate sign of their total acceptance of her gender.
Despite her personal victory and acceptance of her fans, Bülent Ersoy continued to court controversy. On her 1995 album, Alatürka, she sang the adhan as part of the piece, "Aziz İstanbul," an act which, because of her transsexual status, angered many Muslim clerics. In 1998, a further storm of controversy was created when Bülent married her companion, Cem Adler. Interestingly, the public outrage that resulted had nothing to do with Ersoy's transsexual status but rather that her husband was over twenty years younger than she was.
Bülent Ersoy was badly injured in January 1999 while driving with her husband, but recovered after surgery. Later that year, she divorced Adler after learning of his tryst with a call girl. In semi-retirement, she continued to perform in many TV shows and served as jury member on one of Turkey's most popular television shows, "Popstar Alaturka".
Ersoy married "Popstar Alaturka" contestant Armağan Uzun in July 2007, however filed for divorce in January 2008.
Ersoy sparked a major controversy in February 2008 when she publicly criticised Turkey's incursion into Northern Iraq and said she "would not send her sons to war" if she were a mother. An Istanbul public prosecutor subsequently filed charges against her for "turning Turks against compulsory military service." The Turkish Human Rights Foundation (IHD) stood up for Ersoy's defence. On December 19, 2008, Ersoy was pronounced not guilty.
1952-
Transgender Turkish celebrity and popular singer of Ottoman classical music who became a symbol for the increased tolerance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) figures in Turkish media.
Bulent Ersoy was born on June 9, 1952. She began her career as a male singer, in the genre of Turkish Classical Music, and became an actor early on. Already one of Turkey's most popular male singers and actors, Bülent Ersoy gained international notoriety in 1981 after having sex reassignment surgery in London by a British plastic surgeon. Ersoy kept the name "Bülent" even though it is a male name.
After the operation, Bülent found herself in opposition to the regime of Kenan Evren. In a crackdown on "social deviance," Ersoy's public performances were banned along with those of other transsexual and transgendered people.
From Ersoy's standpoint, the ban should not have even applied to her, as she was an actual woman and not simply a man dressed as one. To circumvent the ban, she petitioned the Turkish courts to legally recognize her as a woman. The petition was rejected in January 1982. Days later, Ersoy attempted suicide. In 1983 she left the entertainment industry in protest of the Evren regime's repressive policies. Later that same year, Evren left office and many of his policies were rescinded.
Ersoy continued her career mostly in Germany in addition to Turkey. Along with her musical career, she made several Turkish movies in Germany. During that time she also started having a relationship with Birol Gürkanlı.
Finally, in 1988, the Turkish Civil Code was revised so that those who completed sex reassignment surgery could apply for a pink or blue (pink for female, blue for male) identity card by which they were legally recognized in their new sex. Ersoy soon returned to singing and acting, becoming more popular as a woman than she had been as a man. Her public even took to calling her "Abla," or "elder sister," an affectionate sign of their total acceptance of her gender.
Despite her personal victory and acceptance of her fans, Bülent Ersoy continued to court controversy. On her 1995 album, Alatürka, she sang the adhan as part of the piece, "Aziz İstanbul," an act which, because of her transsexual status, angered many Muslim clerics. In 1998, a further storm of controversy was created when Bülent married her companion, Cem Adler. Interestingly, the public outrage that resulted had nothing to do with Ersoy's transsexual status but rather that her husband was over twenty years younger than she was.
Bülent Ersoy was badly injured in January 1999 while driving with her husband, but recovered after surgery. Later that year, she divorced Adler after learning of his tryst with a call girl. In semi-retirement, she continued to perform in many TV shows and served as jury member on one of Turkey's most popular television shows, "Popstar Alaturka".
Ersoy married "Popstar Alaturka" contestant Armağan Uzun in July 2007, however filed for divorce in January 2008.
Ersoy sparked a major controversy in February 2008 when she publicly criticised Turkey's incursion into Northern Iraq and said she "would not send her sons to war" if she were a mother. An Istanbul public prosecutor subsequently filed charges against her for "turning Turks against compulsory military service." The Turkish Human Rights Foundation (IHD) stood up for Ersoy's defence. On December 19, 2008, Ersoy was pronounced not guilty.
Ertegun, Ahmet
1923-2006
Executive with Atlantic Records and co-founder of the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 31, 1923, Ahmet Ertegun and his brother, Nesuhi, moved to Washington, D. C. with their father M. Munir Ertegun, who was then the Turkish Ambassador to the United States.
The Ertegun brothers acquired their taste for black music while growing up in Washington, D. C., where Nesuhi and Ahmet would frequent the Howard Theater and scour the community for records by their favorite musicians.
In 1947, Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson founded Atlantic Records as an independent record company that became a jazz and pop empire in the 1960s. Their first success came in rhythm and blues, with such artists as Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, The Clovers, The Drifters, and Ray Charles. Indeed, Ahmet wrote Ray Charles' first hit "Mess Around."
Ahmet brought a jazz sensibility (and many jazz artists) into R&B and participated in turning the genre from a minority interest into a major part of the musical scene. Ahmet wrote a number of classic blues songs, including "Chains of Love" and "Sweet Sixteen" under the pseudonym "A. Nugetre" (Ertegun backwards).
Nesuhi was persuaded to join Atlantic in 1955 and became vice-president in charge of the jazz and LP department. He produced records for artists like John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman and Hank Crawford. Both Nesuhi and Ahmet promoted jazz concerts, founded jazz record companies, and organized jazz bands, such as the Modern Jazz Quartet. Nevertheless, they were also open to more modern popular sytles and worked with such famous artists as Bobby Darin, Sonny and Cher, and Roberta Flack.
During the 1960s, Ahmet heard Led Zeppelin's demo and knew they would be a smash hit after hearing the first few songs. He quickly signed them. He also convinced Crosby, Stills and Nash to allow Neil Young to join them on one of their tours, thereby founding Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Ahmet also used his considerable personal skills in negotiations with major stars, such as when The Rolling Stones were shopping for a record company to distribute their independent Rolling Stones Records label. Ahmet personally conducted the negotiations with Mick Jagger, successfully completing the deal between The Stones and Atlantic, when other labels had actually offered the band more money.
In the 1970s, the Ertegun brothers co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team and brought in such soccer legends as Pele, Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer, thereby creating a soccer "dream team."
Ever conscious of the roots of music and its heritage, Ertegun was also a prime mover in starting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. In a music career marked by numerous lifetime achievements, Ahmet Ertegun was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
He received an honorary doctorate in music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1991 and was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1993. The United States Library of Congress honored Ahmet as a "Living Legend" in 2000, and in 2005, the Recording Academy presented him with the first "President's Merit Award Salute to Industry Icons." Finally, for their contributions to soccer, Nesuhi and Ahmet were both inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.
Ahmet Ertegun was injured after a fall at a Rolling Stones performance on October 29, 2006. Ertegun slipped and hit his head backstage while the band was playing at former United States President Bill Clinton's 60th birthday party in New York. After being in a positive stable situation, he slipped into a coma and died with his family by his side on December 14, 2006 at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
1923-2006
Executive with Atlantic Records and co-founder of the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 31, 1923, Ahmet Ertegun and his brother, Nesuhi, moved to Washington, D. C. with their father M. Munir Ertegun, who was then the Turkish Ambassador to the United States.
The Ertegun brothers acquired their taste for black music while growing up in Washington, D. C., where Nesuhi and Ahmet would frequent the Howard Theater and scour the community for records by their favorite musicians.
In 1947, Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson founded Atlantic Records as an independent record company that became a jazz and pop empire in the 1960s. Their first success came in rhythm and blues, with such artists as Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, The Clovers, The Drifters, and Ray Charles. Indeed, Ahmet wrote Ray Charles' first hit "Mess Around."
Ahmet brought a jazz sensibility (and many jazz artists) into R&B and participated in turning the genre from a minority interest into a major part of the musical scene. Ahmet wrote a number of classic blues songs, including "Chains of Love" and "Sweet Sixteen" under the pseudonym "A. Nugetre" (Ertegun backwards).
Nesuhi was persuaded to join Atlantic in 1955 and became vice-president in charge of the jazz and LP department. He produced records for artists like John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman and Hank Crawford. Both Nesuhi and Ahmet promoted jazz concerts, founded jazz record companies, and organized jazz bands, such as the Modern Jazz Quartet. Nevertheless, they were also open to more modern popular sytles and worked with such famous artists as Bobby Darin, Sonny and Cher, and Roberta Flack.
During the 1960s, Ahmet heard Led Zeppelin's demo and knew they would be a smash hit after hearing the first few songs. He quickly signed them. He also convinced Crosby, Stills and Nash to allow Neil Young to join them on one of their tours, thereby founding Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Ahmet also used his considerable personal skills in negotiations with major stars, such as when The Rolling Stones were shopping for a record company to distribute their independent Rolling Stones Records label. Ahmet personally conducted the negotiations with Mick Jagger, successfully completing the deal between The Stones and Atlantic, when other labels had actually offered the band more money.
In the 1970s, the Ertegun brothers co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team and brought in such soccer legends as Pele, Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer, thereby creating a soccer "dream team."
Ever conscious of the roots of music and its heritage, Ertegun was also a prime mover in starting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. In a music career marked by numerous lifetime achievements, Ahmet Ertegun was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
He received an honorary doctorate in music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1991 and was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1993. The United States Library of Congress honored Ahmet as a "Living Legend" in 2000, and in 2005, the Recording Academy presented him with the first "President's Merit Award Salute to Industry Icons." Finally, for their contributions to soccer, Nesuhi and Ahmet were both inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.
Ahmet Ertegun was injured after a fall at a Rolling Stones performance on October 29, 2006. Ertegun slipped and hit his head backstage while the band was playing at former United States President Bill Clinton's 60th birthday party in New York. After being in a positive stable situation, he slipped into a coma and died with his family by his side on December 14, 2006 at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Ertegun, Nesuhi
1917-1989
Executive with Atlantic Records and co-founder of the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 26, 1917, Nesuhi Ertegun and his brother, Ahmet, moved to Washington, D. C. with their father M. Munir Ertegun, who was then the Turkish Ambassador to the United States.
The Ertegun brothers acquired their taste for black music while growing up in Washington, D. C., where Nesuhi and Ahmet would frequent the Howard Theater and scour the community for records by their favorite musicians. In 1944, Nesuhi moved to Los Angeles to run the Jazzman Record Shop. While there he created his own label, Crescent Records (later Jazzman), on which he recorded the likes of Kid Ory and Jelly Roll Morton. Nesuhi also served as editor of Record Changer magazine and taught, at UCLA, the first accredited course in jazz offered in the United States
Ahmet Ertegun, producer Tom Dowd, Herb Abramson and others created Atlantic Records in the late 1940s as an independent record company that became a jazz and pop empire in the 1960s. Their first success came in rhythm and blues, with such artists as Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, The Clovers, The Drifters, and Ray Charles. Indeed, Ahmet wrote Ray Charles' first hit "Mess Around."
Nesuhi was persuaded to join Atlantic in 1955 and became vice-president in charge of the jazz and LP department. He produced records for artists like John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman and Hank Crawford. Both Nesuhi and Ahmet promoted jazz concerts, founded jazz record companies, and organized jazz bands, such as the Modern Jazz Quartet. Nevertheless, they were also open to more modern popular sytles and worked with such famous artists as Bobby Darin, Sonny and Cher, and Roberta Flack.
In addition to founding the jazz division at Atlantic, Nesuhi later went on to spearhead the label's international operations expanding the business and opening up new markets overseas. After the merger of the Warner Brothers, Elektra, and Atlantic labels in 1971, Nesuhi the new WEA International, now known as Warner Music International. Nesuhi later oversaw the special projects division of Warner Communications and launched East/West, an Atlantic distributed label, in 1988.
In the 1970s, the Ertegun brothers co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team and brought in such soccer legends as Pele, Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer, thereby creating a soccer "dream team."
Nesuhi Ertegun died on April 15, 1989, in New York City, New York, but his legacy lived on. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, posthumously, in 1991. He, posthumously, received the Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1995. For their contribution to soccer, Nesuhi and Ahmet were both inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003. Finally, in 2004, the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center was dedicated.
1917-1989
Executive with Atlantic Records and co-founder of the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 26, 1917, Nesuhi Ertegun and his brother, Ahmet, moved to Washington, D. C. with their father M. Munir Ertegun, who was then the Turkish Ambassador to the United States.
The Ertegun brothers acquired their taste for black music while growing up in Washington, D. C., where Nesuhi and Ahmet would frequent the Howard Theater and scour the community for records by their favorite musicians. In 1944, Nesuhi moved to Los Angeles to run the Jazzman Record Shop. While there he created his own label, Crescent Records (later Jazzman), on which he recorded the likes of Kid Ory and Jelly Roll Morton. Nesuhi also served as editor of Record Changer magazine and taught, at UCLA, the first accredited course in jazz offered in the United States
Ahmet Ertegun, producer Tom Dowd, Herb Abramson and others created Atlantic Records in the late 1940s as an independent record company that became a jazz and pop empire in the 1960s. Their first success came in rhythm and blues, with such artists as Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, The Clovers, The Drifters, and Ray Charles. Indeed, Ahmet wrote Ray Charles' first hit "Mess Around."
Nesuhi was persuaded to join Atlantic in 1955 and became vice-president in charge of the jazz and LP department. He produced records for artists like John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman and Hank Crawford. Both Nesuhi and Ahmet promoted jazz concerts, founded jazz record companies, and organized jazz bands, such as the Modern Jazz Quartet. Nevertheless, they were also open to more modern popular sytles and worked with such famous artists as Bobby Darin, Sonny and Cher, and Roberta Flack.
In addition to founding the jazz division at Atlantic, Nesuhi later went on to spearhead the label's international operations expanding the business and opening up new markets overseas. After the merger of the Warner Brothers, Elektra, and Atlantic labels in 1971, Nesuhi the new WEA International, now known as Warner Music International. Nesuhi later oversaw the special projects division of Warner Communications and launched East/West, an Atlantic distributed label, in 1988.
In the 1970s, the Ertegun brothers co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team and brought in such soccer legends as Pele, Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer, thereby creating a soccer "dream team."
Nesuhi Ertegun died on April 15, 1989, in New York City, New York, but his legacy lived on. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, posthumously, in 1991. He, posthumously, received the Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1995. For their contribution to soccer, Nesuhi and Ahmet were both inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003. Finally, in 2004, the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center was dedicated.
Fadlallah, Muhammad Hussein
1935-2010
Grand Ayatollah and a prominent Lebanese Twelver Shi'a marja.
Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (also Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allah, Muhammad Husayn Fadl-Allāh or Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh) (November 16, 1935 – July 4, 2010) was from a Lebanese family, but was born in Najaf, Iraq. Fadlallah studied Islamic sciences in Najaf before moving to Lebanon in 1952. In the following decades, he gave many lectures, engaged in intense scholarship, wrote dozens of books, founded several Islamic religious schools, and established the Mabarrat Association. Through that association he established a public library, a women's cultural center, and a medical clinic. He is also credited with being the "spiritual mentor" of Hezbollah.
Fadlallah was the target of several assassination attempts, including the 1985 Beirut car bombing that killed 80 people.
Fadlallāh was born in the Iraqi Shi'a shrine city of Najaf on November 16, 1935. His parents, Abdulraouf Fadlullah and al-Hajja Raoufa Hassan Bazzi, had migrated there from the village of 'Aynata in South Lebanon in 1928 to learn theology. By the time of his birth, his father was already a Muslim scholar.
Fadlallāh went first to a traditional school (Kuttāb) to learn the Qu'ran and the basic skills of reading and writing. These schools were run by traditional sheiks that proved to be not to the liking of Fadlallāh. Fadlallah soon left and went to a modern school that was established by the publisher Jamiat Muntada Al-Nasher where he remained for two years and studied in the third and fourth elementary classes.
Fadlallah thus began studying the religious sciences at a very young age. He started to read the Ajroumiah when he was nine years old, and then he read Qatr al-Nada wa Bal Al-Sada (Ibn Hisham).
Fadlallah completed Sutouh in which the student reads the book and listens to his teacher’s explanation. He also studied the Arabic language, logic and Jurisprudence, and did not need another teacher until he studied the second part of the course known as Kifayat at Usul which he studied with an Iranian teacher named Sheikh Mujtaba Al-Linkarani. He attended the so-called Bahth Al-Kharij in which the teacher does not restrict himself to a certain book but gives more or less free lectures. Fadlallāh published a minor periodical before going to Lebanon. At the precocious age of ten, he put out a handwritten literary journal with some of his friends.
After 21 years of studying under the prominent teachers of the Najaf religious university, Fadlallah concluded his studies in 1966 and returned to Lebanon. He had already visited Lebanon in 1952 where he recited a poem eulogizing Muhsin Al-Amin at his funeral.
In 1966 Fadlallah received an invitation from a group who had established a society called ”Usrat Ataakhi” (The family of Fraternity) to come and live with them in the area of Naba’a in Eastern Beirut. He agreed, especially as the conditions at Najaf impelled him to leave.
In Naba’a, Fadlallāh began his work by organizing cultural seminars and delivering religious speeches that discussed social issues as well. Nevertheless, Fadlallah’s main concern was to continue to develop his academic work. To that end, he founded a religious school called the Islamic Sharia Institute in which several students enrolled who later became prominent religious scholars including Sheikh Ragib Harb. He also established a public library, a women’s cultural center and a medical clinic.
When the Lebanese Civil War forced him to leave the area, he moved to the Southern Suburbs where he started to give priority to teaching and educating the people. He used the mosque as his center for holding daily prayers giving lessons in Qur'anic interpretation, as well as religious and moral speeches, especially on religious occasions such as Ashura. He soon resumed his academic work and began to give daily lessons in Islamic principles, jurisprudence and morals.
As one of the alleged leaders of Hezbollah, which is something they both denied, Fadlallah was the target of several assassination attempts, including the allegedly CIA-sponsored and Saudi-funded March 8,1985, Beirut car bombing that killed 80 people.
On March 8, 1985, a car bomb with the equivalent to 440 lb (200 kg) of dynamite exploded 9–45 metres from the house of Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon. The blast destroyed a 7 story apartment building, a cinema, killed 80 people and wounded 256. The attack was timed to go off as worshippers were leaving Friday Prayers. Most of the dead were girls and women, who had been leaving the mosque, though the ferocity of the blast burned babies in their beds, killed a bride buying her trousseau, and blew away three children as they walked home from the mosque. It also devastated the main street of the densely populated West Beirut suburb. However, Fadlallah escaped injury. One of his bodyguards at the time was Imad Mughniyeh, who was later assassinated in a car-bombing in February 2008.
According to the journalist and author, Bob Woodward, CIA director William Casey was involved in the attack, which he suggests was carried out with funding from Saudi Arabia. Former Lebanese warlord and statesman Elie Hobeika was alleged to be one of those likely responsible for the actual operation.
During the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, Israeli warplanes bombed Fadlallah's two-story house in Beirut's southern Haret Hreik neighborhood. Fadlallah was not at home at the time of the bombing, which reduced the house to rubble.
Fadlallah has been variously attributed by the media as being the spiritial leader of Hezbollah. He supported the ideals of Iran's Islamic Revolution and advocated a corresponding Islamic movement in Lebanon. In his sermons, he called for armed resistance to the Israeli occupations of Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, along with opposition to the existence of Israel. He held relatively liberal views on the status of women.
Fadlallah generally opposed the foreign policy of the United States. He issued a fatwa forbidding Muslims from helping the United States in its occupation of any Muslim country. Also, he asked for a boycott of American products. According to Fadlallah, all American and Israeli goods and products should be boycotted in a way that undermines American and Israeli interests so as to act as deterrence to their war against Muslims and Islam, war that, according to Fadlallah, is being waged under the pretense of fighting terrorism.
In November 2007 Fadlallah accused the United States of trying to sabotage the elections going on in Lebanon.
Alhough Fadlallah welcomed the election of Barack Obama as the American president, the following year he expressed disappointment with Obama's lack of progress in the Middle East peace process saying he appeared to have no plan to bring peace to the region.
Despite his harsh criticism of United States foriegn policy in the Middle East, Fadlallah condemned the September 11 attacks in the United States as acts of terror.
Despite his ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Fadlallah distanced himself from the Khomeini legacy of wilayat al-faqih (Veleyat-e Faqih) as theocratic rule by Islamic clerics arguing that no Shi'a religious leader has a monopoly on the truth. He also first endorsed Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani rather than Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the marja for Shi'a in matters of religion, before claiming the role for himself. Fadlallah held the belief that wilayat al-faqih did not have a role in modern Lebanon.
Fadlallah is known for his relatively liberal views on women, such as that they are equal to men. He believed that women have just as much of a responsibility towards society as men do, and women should be role models for both men and women. Fadlallah also believed that women have the same exact ability as men to fight their inner weaknesses. He saw Hijab as something that makes a man see a woman not as a sex object, but instead as a human being. He believes that women should cover their entire body except for their face and hands, and that they should avoid wearing excessive make-up when they go out in public.
Fadlallah also issued a fatwa on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women that supports the right of a woman to defend herself against any act of violence whether social or physical. The fatwa reaffirmed the rights of women, both at their workplace and at home, and stated that Islam forbids men from exercising any form of violence against women and forbids men from depriving women of their legal rights. He also issued fatwas (religious edicts) forbidding female circumcision and honor killings.
In most cases, Fadlallah was opposed to abortion, however, in some circumstances he viewed abortion as being permissible. In cases where the women is put in an abnormal amount of danger by the pregnancy, he believed it is permissible to have an abortion.
Fadlallah held many controversial views regarding Shi'a doctrine, as espoused in some of his works and speeches. These included denying the infallibility of such people as the prophets (including Muhammad), Ali and the other Imams. He also issued many fatwas and opinions that courted controversy, for which he was rebuked by other eminent Shi'a scholars, including the representatives of Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani.
Fadlallah was a strong proponent for education, especially in the sciences. In addition to the academic work that Fadlallah did, he also opened up schools, Islamic centers, and Orphanages.
Fadlallah had been hospitalized several times in the months before his death suffering from internal bleeding. His Media Office announced his death at Al-Hassanein Mosque in the southern Beirut suburb of Haret Hureik on July 4, 2010 at the age of 74.
1935-2010
Grand Ayatollah and a prominent Lebanese Twelver Shi'a marja.
Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (also Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allah, Muhammad Husayn Fadl-Allāh or Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh) (November 16, 1935 – July 4, 2010) was from a Lebanese family, but was born in Najaf, Iraq. Fadlallah studied Islamic sciences in Najaf before moving to Lebanon in 1952. In the following decades, he gave many lectures, engaged in intense scholarship, wrote dozens of books, founded several Islamic religious schools, and established the Mabarrat Association. Through that association he established a public library, a women's cultural center, and a medical clinic. He is also credited with being the "spiritual mentor" of Hezbollah.
Fadlallah was the target of several assassination attempts, including the 1985 Beirut car bombing that killed 80 people.
Fadlallāh was born in the Iraqi Shi'a shrine city of Najaf on November 16, 1935. His parents, Abdulraouf Fadlullah and al-Hajja Raoufa Hassan Bazzi, had migrated there from the village of 'Aynata in South Lebanon in 1928 to learn theology. By the time of his birth, his father was already a Muslim scholar.
Fadlallāh went first to a traditional school (Kuttāb) to learn the Qu'ran and the basic skills of reading and writing. These schools were run by traditional sheiks that proved to be not to the liking of Fadlallāh. Fadlallah soon left and went to a modern school that was established by the publisher Jamiat Muntada Al-Nasher where he remained for two years and studied in the third and fourth elementary classes.
Fadlallah thus began studying the religious sciences at a very young age. He started to read the Ajroumiah when he was nine years old, and then he read Qatr al-Nada wa Bal Al-Sada (Ibn Hisham).
Fadlallah completed Sutouh in which the student reads the book and listens to his teacher’s explanation. He also studied the Arabic language, logic and Jurisprudence, and did not need another teacher until he studied the second part of the course known as Kifayat at Usul which he studied with an Iranian teacher named Sheikh Mujtaba Al-Linkarani. He attended the so-called Bahth Al-Kharij in which the teacher does not restrict himself to a certain book but gives more or less free lectures. Fadlallāh published a minor periodical before going to Lebanon. At the precocious age of ten, he put out a handwritten literary journal with some of his friends.
After 21 years of studying under the prominent teachers of the Najaf religious university, Fadlallah concluded his studies in 1966 and returned to Lebanon. He had already visited Lebanon in 1952 where he recited a poem eulogizing Muhsin Al-Amin at his funeral.
In 1966 Fadlallah received an invitation from a group who had established a society called ”Usrat Ataakhi” (The family of Fraternity) to come and live with them in the area of Naba’a in Eastern Beirut. He agreed, especially as the conditions at Najaf impelled him to leave.
In Naba’a, Fadlallāh began his work by organizing cultural seminars and delivering religious speeches that discussed social issues as well. Nevertheless, Fadlallah’s main concern was to continue to develop his academic work. To that end, he founded a religious school called the Islamic Sharia Institute in which several students enrolled who later became prominent religious scholars including Sheikh Ragib Harb. He also established a public library, a women’s cultural center and a medical clinic.
When the Lebanese Civil War forced him to leave the area, he moved to the Southern Suburbs where he started to give priority to teaching and educating the people. He used the mosque as his center for holding daily prayers giving lessons in Qur'anic interpretation, as well as religious and moral speeches, especially on religious occasions such as Ashura. He soon resumed his academic work and began to give daily lessons in Islamic principles, jurisprudence and morals.
As one of the alleged leaders of Hezbollah, which is something they both denied, Fadlallah was the target of several assassination attempts, including the allegedly CIA-sponsored and Saudi-funded March 8,1985, Beirut car bombing that killed 80 people.
On March 8, 1985, a car bomb with the equivalent to 440 lb (200 kg) of dynamite exploded 9–45 metres from the house of Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon. The blast destroyed a 7 story apartment building, a cinema, killed 80 people and wounded 256. The attack was timed to go off as worshippers were leaving Friday Prayers. Most of the dead were girls and women, who had been leaving the mosque, though the ferocity of the blast burned babies in their beds, killed a bride buying her trousseau, and blew away three children as they walked home from the mosque. It also devastated the main street of the densely populated West Beirut suburb. However, Fadlallah escaped injury. One of his bodyguards at the time was Imad Mughniyeh, who was later assassinated in a car-bombing in February 2008.
According to the journalist and author, Bob Woodward, CIA director William Casey was involved in the attack, which he suggests was carried out with funding from Saudi Arabia. Former Lebanese warlord and statesman Elie Hobeika was alleged to be one of those likely responsible for the actual operation.
During the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, Israeli warplanes bombed Fadlallah's two-story house in Beirut's southern Haret Hreik neighborhood. Fadlallah was not at home at the time of the bombing, which reduced the house to rubble.
Fadlallah has been variously attributed by the media as being the spiritial leader of Hezbollah. He supported the ideals of Iran's Islamic Revolution and advocated a corresponding Islamic movement in Lebanon. In his sermons, he called for armed resistance to the Israeli occupations of Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, along with opposition to the existence of Israel. He held relatively liberal views on the status of women.
Fadlallah generally opposed the foreign policy of the United States. He issued a fatwa forbidding Muslims from helping the United States in its occupation of any Muslim country. Also, he asked for a boycott of American products. According to Fadlallah, all American and Israeli goods and products should be boycotted in a way that undermines American and Israeli interests so as to act as deterrence to their war against Muslims and Islam, war that, according to Fadlallah, is being waged under the pretense of fighting terrorism.
In November 2007 Fadlallah accused the United States of trying to sabotage the elections going on in Lebanon.
Alhough Fadlallah welcomed the election of Barack Obama as the American president, the following year he expressed disappointment with Obama's lack of progress in the Middle East peace process saying he appeared to have no plan to bring peace to the region.
Despite his harsh criticism of United States foriegn policy in the Middle East, Fadlallah condemned the September 11 attacks in the United States as acts of terror.
Despite his ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Fadlallah distanced himself from the Khomeini legacy of wilayat al-faqih (Veleyat-e Faqih) as theocratic rule by Islamic clerics arguing that no Shi'a religious leader has a monopoly on the truth. He also first endorsed Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani rather than Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the marja for Shi'a in matters of religion, before claiming the role for himself. Fadlallah held the belief that wilayat al-faqih did not have a role in modern Lebanon.
Fadlallah is known for his relatively liberal views on women, such as that they are equal to men. He believed that women have just as much of a responsibility towards society as men do, and women should be role models for both men and women. Fadlallah also believed that women have the same exact ability as men to fight their inner weaknesses. He saw Hijab as something that makes a man see a woman not as a sex object, but instead as a human being. He believes that women should cover their entire body except for their face and hands, and that they should avoid wearing excessive make-up when they go out in public.
Fadlallah also issued a fatwa on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women that supports the right of a woman to defend herself against any act of violence whether social or physical. The fatwa reaffirmed the rights of women, both at their workplace and at home, and stated that Islam forbids men from exercising any form of violence against women and forbids men from depriving women of their legal rights. He also issued fatwas (religious edicts) forbidding female circumcision and honor killings.
In most cases, Fadlallah was opposed to abortion, however, in some circumstances he viewed abortion as being permissible. In cases where the women is put in an abnormal amount of danger by the pregnancy, he believed it is permissible to have an abortion.
Fadlallah held many controversial views regarding Shi'a doctrine, as espoused in some of his works and speeches. These included denying the infallibility of such people as the prophets (including Muhammad), Ali and the other Imams. He also issued many fatwas and opinions that courted controversy, for which he was rebuked by other eminent Shi'a scholars, including the representatives of Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani.
Fadlallah was a strong proponent for education, especially in the sciences. In addition to the academic work that Fadlallah did, he also opened up schools, Islamic centers, and Orphanages.
Fadlallah had been hospitalized several times in the months before his death suffering from internal bleeding. His Media Office announced his death at Al-Hassanein Mosque in the southern Beirut suburb of Haret Hureik on July 4, 2010 at the age of 74.
Farah, Mohammed
1983-
A Somali-born British international track and field athlete.
In 2012, Mohammed "Mo" Farah became the 10,000 meter Olympic champion and 5000 meter Olympic, World and European champion, making him the world's fastest long-distance runner.
On the track, Mohammed Farah generally competed over 5000 meters and 10,000 meters, but also ran the 3000 meters and occasionally the 1500 meters. Farah held the European track record for 10,000 meters, the British road record for 10,000 meters, the British indoor record in the 3000 meters, the British track record for 5000 meters, the British half-marathon record, and the European indoor record for 5000 meters. In July 2010, Farah won Britain's first-ever men's European gold medal at 10,000 meters. He followed this with a gold in the 5000 meters, becoming the 5th male athlete to complete the long-distance double at the championships and the first British man to do so. At the 2011 World Championships, he won silver in the 10,000 meters and gold in the 5000 meters. He became double Olympic champion at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, taking gold in both the 5000 and 10,000 meters.
In addition, Farah competed in cross-country running, where in December 2006 he became European champion in Italy. He also took gold in the 3000 meters in both the 2009 and 2011 European Indoor Championships, in Turin and Paris respectively.
Farah was originally based in London and ran for Newham and Essex Beagles athletics club, training at St. Mary's University College, Twickenham's sports facilities in Strawberry Hill from 2001 to 2011. In 2011, he relocated to Oregon, in the United States, in order to further his training. Farah was also voted 2011 European athlete of the year.
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia on March 23, 1983, Farah spent the early years of his childhood in Djibouti with his twin brother. He later moved to Britain at the age of 8 years old to join his father, speaking barely a word of English. Farah's father was born in England and grew up in Hounslow, London; his parents met after his father went on holiday to Somalia.
For his education, he attended Feltham Community College in London. Farah's athletic talent was identified by physical education teacher Alan Watkinson at Isleworth and Syon School.
In 1996, at the age of 13, Farah entered the English schools cross country and finished ninth. The following year he won the first of five English school titles.
Farah's first major title was at 5000 meters at the European Athletics Junior Championship in 2001, the same year that he began training at St. Mary's University College, Twickenham. That year Farah became one of the first two athletes in the newly formed Endurance Performance Centre at St Mary’s. He lived and trained at the College, and took some modules in an access course before becoming a full-time athlete as his career progressed.
In 2005, Farah made an important move, moving in with Australian Craig Mottram and a group of Kenyan runners that included 10,000 meters world number one Micah Kogo.
In July 2006, Farah clocked a time of 13:09.40 for 5000 meters to become Britain's second-fastest runner after Dave Moorcroft. A month later Farah collected the silver medal in the European Championship 5000 meters in Gothenburg. Coaches Alan Storey and Mark Rowland made sure that Farah remained competitive and a few words from Paula Radcliffe before the 5000 meters final inspired Farah.
In December 2006, Farah won the European Cross Country Championship in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy.
Farah represented the United Kingdom at 5000 meters in the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Farah finished sixth in a time of 13:47.54.
In May 2008, Farah ran 10,000 meter events, claiming the fastest United Kingdom men's time in almost eight years. However, he suffered disappointment at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, being knocked out before the final in the 5000 meter event.
In January 2009, in Glasgow, Scotland, Farah set a new British indoor record in the 3000 meters, breaking John Mayock's record with a time of 7:40.99. A few weeks later he broke his own record by more than six seconds with a time of 7:34.47 at the United Kingdom Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, a performance which commentator Steve Cram called "the best performance by a male British distance runner for a generation". Farah attributed his good form to a spell of winter training at altitude in Ethiopia and Kenya. In March 2009, Farah took gold in the 3000 meters at the European Indoor Championships in Turin, recording a time of 7:40.17.
Farah competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics: he was in the leading pack early on in the 5000 meters race and eventually finished seventh – the best by a European runner. After the championships, he scored a victory in his first road competition over 10 miles, winning the Great South Run in 46:25 to become the third fastest Briton in spite of strong winds.
Farah was one of the favorites to upset Serhiy Lebid's dominance at the 2009 European Cross Country Championships. However, Lebid was never in contention as Farah and Alemayehu Bezabeh were some distance ahead throughout. Farah was overtaken by Bezabeh in the latter stages of the race, leaving the Briton with a second consecutive silver medal at the competition. Farah did not manage to attend the medal ceremony, however, as he collapsed immediately after the race and needed medical attention. After a close third place behind Edwin Soi at the BOclassic, he competed in the short course race at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country. He was the favorite to win and surged ahead to build a comfortable lead. However, he appeared tired in the latter stages and finished third behind British runners Ricky Stevenson and Steve Vernon. Farah again required post-race medical attention and subsequent tests revealed he had low levels of iron and magnesium. He was prescribed supplements for the condition and his high altitude training plans in Kenya were unaffected.
Farah won the 2010 London 10,000 meters in late May with a British road record time of 27:44, beating 10K world record holder Micah Kogo in the process. His success continued the following week at the European Cup 10,000 meters as he improved his track best by nearly 16 seconds, finishing in 27:28.86. Farah won by a margin of over forty seconds ahead of second placed Abdellatif Meftah. After training in Africa, he returned to Europe for the 2010 European Athletics Championships. He took the 10,000 meters gold medal, overtaking Ayad Lamdassem with two laps to go and finishing the race unpressured in a time of 28:24.99. This was Farah's first major title and also the first European gold medal in the event for Great Britain. He then went on to win the 5000 meters from Jesus Espana, becoming only the fifth man in the 66-year history of the European Championships to achieve the 5000 m/10,000 m double, and the first for 20 years, following in the footsteps of the Czech Emil Zatopek in 1950, Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak of Poland in 1958, Finland’s Juha Vaatainen in 1971 and Salvatore Antibo, of Italy, in 1990.
On August 19, 2010, at a Diamond League meeting in Zurich, Farah ran 5000 meters in 12:57.94, breaking David Moorcroft's long-standing British record and becoming the first ever British athlete to run under 13 minutes. In December 2010, Farah was named the track-and-field athlete of the year for 2010 by the British Olympic Association. He closed the year at the B O classic and just missed out on the 10K title, losing to Imane Merga in a sprint finish by 0.2 seconds.
2011 proved to be a highly successful year for Farah, beginning on January 8 at the Edinburgh Cross Country, where he defeated the top four finishers of that year's European Championships to take victory in the long race.
In February 2011, Farah announced that he would be relocating to Portland, Oregon, to work with a new coach, Alberto Salazar, the famous marathoner of the 1980s. On February 19, 2011 in Birmingham, England, Farah broke the European 5000 meter indoor record with a time of 13:10.60, at the same time taking ten seconds off the 29-year-old British indoor record of Nick Rose.
On March 5, 2011, Farah won gold in the 3000 meters at the European Indoor Championships.
On March 20, 2011, Farah won the New York City Half Marathon in a time of 1:00:23, a new British record. Farah and his training partner Galen Rupp had originally planned on running a 10,000 meter race in New Zealand, but after it was cancelled due to an earthquake and damage done to the track, they entered the half-marathon in New York.
On June 3, 2011, at a Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, Farah won the Prefontaine Classic 10,000 meter in 26:46.57, setting a new British and European record.
On July 22, 2011, at a Diamond League meeting in Monaco, Farah set a new British national record in the 5000 meters with a time of 12:53.11. He edged out American Bernard Lagat to win the race.
In the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, in Daegu, South Korea, Farah made a major breakthrough on the world stage by taking the silver medal in the 10,000 meters and then the gold in the 5000 meters. He became the first British man to win a global title over either distance. Farah had, in fact, been more strongly fancied to take the 10,000 meter title, but was narrowly beaten in a last lap sprint by Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan. In the 5000 meters, he overcame Lagat. Following the race, Dave Moorcroft, former 5000 meter world record holder, hailed Farah as "the greatest male distance runner that Britain has ever seen".
On August 4, 2012, Farah won the 10,000 meters gold in a time of 27:30.42. This was Great Britain's first Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meters and came after two other gold medals for Great Britain in the same athletics session. Farah's training partner, Galen Rupp of the United States, took silver. Both runners were coached by the former record setting marathoner, Alberto Salazar. Farah stated that he would observe his Ramadan fast later in the year. On August 11, 2012 Farah made it a long-distance double, winning the 5000 meters in a time of 13:41.66.
In April 2010, Farah married his longtime girlfriend Tania Nell in Richmond, London. Other athletes at the wedding included Paula Radcliffe, Steve Cram, Hayley Yelling, Jo Pavey, Mustafa Mohamed and Scott Overall, who was an usher.
Farah has a stepdaughter from this relationship called Rihanna, and he and his wife also have twin daughters, born in August 2012.
Farah was a Muslim, and an active supporter of the Muslim Writers Awards.
Farah additionally became involved in various philanthropic initiatives, launching the Mo Farah Foundation after a trip to Somalia in 2011. The following year, he participated in ITV's The Cube and won £250,000 for his foundation, becoming the first person ever to beat the Cube. Along with other high profile athletes, Farah also participated in the 2012 Olympic hunger summit.
1983-
A Somali-born British international track and field athlete.
In 2012, Mohammed "Mo" Farah became the 10,000 meter Olympic champion and 5000 meter Olympic, World and European champion, making him the world's fastest long-distance runner.
On the track, Mohammed Farah generally competed over 5000 meters and 10,000 meters, but also ran the 3000 meters and occasionally the 1500 meters. Farah held the European track record for 10,000 meters, the British road record for 10,000 meters, the British indoor record in the 3000 meters, the British track record for 5000 meters, the British half-marathon record, and the European indoor record for 5000 meters. In July 2010, Farah won Britain's first-ever men's European gold medal at 10,000 meters. He followed this with a gold in the 5000 meters, becoming the 5th male athlete to complete the long-distance double at the championships and the first British man to do so. At the 2011 World Championships, he won silver in the 10,000 meters and gold in the 5000 meters. He became double Olympic champion at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, taking gold in both the 5000 and 10,000 meters.
In addition, Farah competed in cross-country running, where in December 2006 he became European champion in Italy. He also took gold in the 3000 meters in both the 2009 and 2011 European Indoor Championships, in Turin and Paris respectively.
Farah was originally based in London and ran for Newham and Essex Beagles athletics club, training at St. Mary's University College, Twickenham's sports facilities in Strawberry Hill from 2001 to 2011. In 2011, he relocated to Oregon, in the United States, in order to further his training. Farah was also voted 2011 European athlete of the year.
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia on March 23, 1983, Farah spent the early years of his childhood in Djibouti with his twin brother. He later moved to Britain at the age of 8 years old to join his father, speaking barely a word of English. Farah's father was born in England and grew up in Hounslow, London; his parents met after his father went on holiday to Somalia.
For his education, he attended Feltham Community College in London. Farah's athletic talent was identified by physical education teacher Alan Watkinson at Isleworth and Syon School.
In 1996, at the age of 13, Farah entered the English schools cross country and finished ninth. The following year he won the first of five English school titles.
Farah's first major title was at 5000 meters at the European Athletics Junior Championship in 2001, the same year that he began training at St. Mary's University College, Twickenham. That year Farah became one of the first two athletes in the newly formed Endurance Performance Centre at St Mary’s. He lived and trained at the College, and took some modules in an access course before becoming a full-time athlete as his career progressed.
In 2005, Farah made an important move, moving in with Australian Craig Mottram and a group of Kenyan runners that included 10,000 meters world number one Micah Kogo.
In July 2006, Farah clocked a time of 13:09.40 for 5000 meters to become Britain's second-fastest runner after Dave Moorcroft. A month later Farah collected the silver medal in the European Championship 5000 meters in Gothenburg. Coaches Alan Storey and Mark Rowland made sure that Farah remained competitive and a few words from Paula Radcliffe before the 5000 meters final inspired Farah.
In December 2006, Farah won the European Cross Country Championship in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy.
Farah represented the United Kingdom at 5000 meters in the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Farah finished sixth in a time of 13:47.54.
In May 2008, Farah ran 10,000 meter events, claiming the fastest United Kingdom men's time in almost eight years. However, he suffered disappointment at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, being knocked out before the final in the 5000 meter event.
In January 2009, in Glasgow, Scotland, Farah set a new British indoor record in the 3000 meters, breaking John Mayock's record with a time of 7:40.99. A few weeks later he broke his own record by more than six seconds with a time of 7:34.47 at the United Kingdom Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, a performance which commentator Steve Cram called "the best performance by a male British distance runner for a generation". Farah attributed his good form to a spell of winter training at altitude in Ethiopia and Kenya. In March 2009, Farah took gold in the 3000 meters at the European Indoor Championships in Turin, recording a time of 7:40.17.
Farah competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics: he was in the leading pack early on in the 5000 meters race and eventually finished seventh – the best by a European runner. After the championships, he scored a victory in his first road competition over 10 miles, winning the Great South Run in 46:25 to become the third fastest Briton in spite of strong winds.
Farah was one of the favorites to upset Serhiy Lebid's dominance at the 2009 European Cross Country Championships. However, Lebid was never in contention as Farah and Alemayehu Bezabeh were some distance ahead throughout. Farah was overtaken by Bezabeh in the latter stages of the race, leaving the Briton with a second consecutive silver medal at the competition. Farah did not manage to attend the medal ceremony, however, as he collapsed immediately after the race and needed medical attention. After a close third place behind Edwin Soi at the BOclassic, he competed in the short course race at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country. He was the favorite to win and surged ahead to build a comfortable lead. However, he appeared tired in the latter stages and finished third behind British runners Ricky Stevenson and Steve Vernon. Farah again required post-race medical attention and subsequent tests revealed he had low levels of iron and magnesium. He was prescribed supplements for the condition and his high altitude training plans in Kenya were unaffected.
Farah won the 2010 London 10,000 meters in late May with a British road record time of 27:44, beating 10K world record holder Micah Kogo in the process. His success continued the following week at the European Cup 10,000 meters as he improved his track best by nearly 16 seconds, finishing in 27:28.86. Farah won by a margin of over forty seconds ahead of second placed Abdellatif Meftah. After training in Africa, he returned to Europe for the 2010 European Athletics Championships. He took the 10,000 meters gold medal, overtaking Ayad Lamdassem with two laps to go and finishing the race unpressured in a time of 28:24.99. This was Farah's first major title and also the first European gold medal in the event for Great Britain. He then went on to win the 5000 meters from Jesus Espana, becoming only the fifth man in the 66-year history of the European Championships to achieve the 5000 m/10,000 m double, and the first for 20 years, following in the footsteps of the Czech Emil Zatopek in 1950, Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak of Poland in 1958, Finland’s Juha Vaatainen in 1971 and Salvatore Antibo, of Italy, in 1990.
On August 19, 2010, at a Diamond League meeting in Zurich, Farah ran 5000 meters in 12:57.94, breaking David Moorcroft's long-standing British record and becoming the first ever British athlete to run under 13 minutes. In December 2010, Farah was named the track-and-field athlete of the year for 2010 by the British Olympic Association. He closed the year at the B O classic and just missed out on the 10K title, losing to Imane Merga in a sprint finish by 0.2 seconds.
2011 proved to be a highly successful year for Farah, beginning on January 8 at the Edinburgh Cross Country, where he defeated the top four finishers of that year's European Championships to take victory in the long race.
In February 2011, Farah announced that he would be relocating to Portland, Oregon, to work with a new coach, Alberto Salazar, the famous marathoner of the 1980s. On February 19, 2011 in Birmingham, England, Farah broke the European 5000 meter indoor record with a time of 13:10.60, at the same time taking ten seconds off the 29-year-old British indoor record of Nick Rose.
On March 5, 2011, Farah won gold in the 3000 meters at the European Indoor Championships.
On March 20, 2011, Farah won the New York City Half Marathon in a time of 1:00:23, a new British record. Farah and his training partner Galen Rupp had originally planned on running a 10,000 meter race in New Zealand, but after it was cancelled due to an earthquake and damage done to the track, they entered the half-marathon in New York.
On June 3, 2011, at a Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, Farah won the Prefontaine Classic 10,000 meter in 26:46.57, setting a new British and European record.
On July 22, 2011, at a Diamond League meeting in Monaco, Farah set a new British national record in the 5000 meters with a time of 12:53.11. He edged out American Bernard Lagat to win the race.
In the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, in Daegu, South Korea, Farah made a major breakthrough on the world stage by taking the silver medal in the 10,000 meters and then the gold in the 5000 meters. He became the first British man to win a global title over either distance. Farah had, in fact, been more strongly fancied to take the 10,000 meter title, but was narrowly beaten in a last lap sprint by Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan. In the 5000 meters, he overcame Lagat. Following the race, Dave Moorcroft, former 5000 meter world record holder, hailed Farah as "the greatest male distance runner that Britain has ever seen".
On August 4, 2012, Farah won the 10,000 meters gold in a time of 27:30.42. This was Great Britain's first Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meters and came after two other gold medals for Great Britain in the same athletics session. Farah's training partner, Galen Rupp of the United States, took silver. Both runners were coached by the former record setting marathoner, Alberto Salazar. Farah stated that he would observe his Ramadan fast later in the year. On August 11, 2012 Farah made it a long-distance double, winning the 5000 meters in a time of 13:41.66.
In April 2010, Farah married his longtime girlfriend Tania Nell in Richmond, London. Other athletes at the wedding included Paula Radcliffe, Steve Cram, Hayley Yelling, Jo Pavey, Mustafa Mohamed and Scott Overall, who was an usher.
Farah has a stepdaughter from this relationship called Rihanna, and he and his wife also have twin daughters, born in August 2012.
Farah was a Muslim, and an active supporter of the Muslim Writers Awards.
Farah additionally became involved in various philanthropic initiatives, launching the Mo Farah Foundation after a trip to Somalia in 2011. The following year, he participated in ITV's The Cube and won £250,000 for his foundation, becoming the first person ever to beat the Cube. Along with other high profile athletes, Farah also participated in the 2012 Olympic hunger summit.
Farr, Jamie
b. 1934
Lebanese American actor.
Jamie Farr (b. Jameel Joseph Farah, July 1, 1934) was an American television, film, and theater actor. He is best known for having played the role of cross-dressing Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Q. Klinger in the television sitcom M*A*S*H.
Farr was born in Toledo, Ohio, to Lebanese-American parents Jamelia M. (née Abodeely), a seamstress, and Samuel N. Farah, a grocer. He was raised in the Antiochian Orthodox religion. Farr’s first acting success occurred at age 11, when he won US$2 in a local acting contest. After Woodward High School, where he was one of the standouts among his class, Farr attended the Pasadena Playhouse where an MGM talent scout discovered him, offering him a screen-test for Blackboard Jungle. He won the role of the mentally challenged student, Santini. With the encouragement of his mentor, Danny Thomas (who had a lot in common with him), he decided to become an actor.
After his role in the 1955 film, Blackboard Jungle, Farr entered the United States Army for two years serving overseas in Japan and Korea. His tour of Korea was after the hostilities ended. In his M*A*S*H role as Max Klinger he can be seen wearing his actual issued set of United States Army dog tags.
The park where Farr used to hang out when he was younger was renamed "Jamie Farr Park" in his honor on July 5, 1998.
b. 1934
Lebanese American actor.
Jamie Farr (b. Jameel Joseph Farah, July 1, 1934) was an American television, film, and theater actor. He is best known for having played the role of cross-dressing Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Q. Klinger in the television sitcom M*A*S*H.
Farr was born in Toledo, Ohio, to Lebanese-American parents Jamelia M. (née Abodeely), a seamstress, and Samuel N. Farah, a grocer. He was raised in the Antiochian Orthodox religion. Farr’s first acting success occurred at age 11, when he won US$2 in a local acting contest. After Woodward High School, where he was one of the standouts among his class, Farr attended the Pasadena Playhouse where an MGM talent scout discovered him, offering him a screen-test for Blackboard Jungle. He won the role of the mentally challenged student, Santini. With the encouragement of his mentor, Danny Thomas (who had a lot in common with him), he decided to become an actor.
After his role in the 1955 film, Blackboard Jungle, Farr entered the United States Army for two years serving overseas in Japan and Korea. His tour of Korea was after the hostilities ended. In his M*A*S*H role as Max Klinger he can be seen wearing his actual issued set of United States Army dog tags.
The park where Farr used to hang out when he was younger was renamed "Jamie Farr Park" in his honor on July 5, 1998.
Galib, Seyh
1758-1799
A poet and seyh of the Mevlevi order.
The real name of Seyh Galib (1758- January 3, 1799) was Mehmed. He was born in Istanbul. He received a private education and became inclined toward Sufism in his adolescence. Except for a short period of employment as a clerk at the Sublime Porte, Seyh (Sheikh) Galib spent his life as a Mevlevi dervish and seyh. His poems are among the best in Ottoman court and Sufi literature. Seyh Galib’s masterpiece, Husn u Ask (“Husn and Ask”), concentrating on the difficulties of attaining a true love of God, contains all aspects of Sufi philosophy, dealing with them in an allegorical and abstract way.
1758-1799
A poet and seyh of the Mevlevi order.
The real name of Seyh Galib (1758- January 3, 1799) was Mehmed. He was born in Istanbul. He received a private education and became inclined toward Sufism in his adolescence. Except for a short period of employment as a clerk at the Sublime Porte, Seyh (Sheikh) Galib spent his life as a Mevlevi dervish and seyh. His poems are among the best in Ottoman court and Sufi literature. Seyh Galib’s masterpiece, Husn u Ask (“Husn and Ask”), concentrating on the difficulties of attaining a true love of God, contains all aspects of Sufi philosophy, dealing with them in an allegorical and abstract way.
Gemayel, Pierre (Jr.)
1972-2006
Lebanese politician and son of former president of the republic, Amin Gemayel; nephew of former president of the republic, Bashir Gemayel; and grandson of the founder of the Kataeb party, Pierre Gemayel.
For decades, the Gemayels built influence and power for the Catholic Maronite sect, a minority group in Lebanon's complex mosaic of communities. However, the role of Christians in Lebanon was slowly eroded by competing aspirations, first by Sunni Muslims following the civil war, and then later by Shi'a Muslims.
The Gemayels were sometimes as divisive as they have been prominent. As president, Amin Gemayel, Pierre's father, ruled over the country's slow decomposition during the harsh final years of the civil war, from 1982 to 1988.
Amin Gemayel was a soft-spoken moderate. He became president after the death of his brother Bashir Gemayel, the charismatic head of the Christian militia known as the Lebanese Forces. Bashir Gemayel was killed in a huge explosion weeks after being elected president but before he could take office in 1982, while Lebanon was under Israeli occupation.
The family's patriarch, Pierre Gemayel - father of Amin and Bashir and grandfather of the Pierre Gemayel who was killed Tuesday - was a leader in the movement for independence from French colonial rule between the world wars, and the son and nephew of independence leaders who fought Ottoman rule.
The family patriarch Pierre founded the Kataeb party, or Phalange party, in 1936 as a paramilitary formation, and the party went on to play a major role in the civil war, drawing support from Israel and combatting the Palestinian Liberation Organization in Lebanon.
The younger Pierre returned to Lebanon in 2000 after his father Amin ended 12 years of self-imposed exile in Europe following his presidential term. Both men were part of an anti-Syrian coalition that was elected to parliament and started weakening Syria's grip over its smaller neighbor.
Pierre Jr became industry minister after the victory of anti-Syrian factions in the elections of 2005, which followed the assassination of popular former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Pierre Gemayel, Jr., was assassinated on November 21, 2006. His death came as the anti-Syria, pro-Western majority in the Lebanese government was locked in a power struggle with the militant Hezbollah movement and its allies. He left behind two sons, Amin and Alex, and his wife, Patricia.
1972-2006
Lebanese politician and son of former president of the republic, Amin Gemayel; nephew of former president of the republic, Bashir Gemayel; and grandson of the founder of the Kataeb party, Pierre Gemayel.
For decades, the Gemayels built influence and power for the Catholic Maronite sect, a minority group in Lebanon's complex mosaic of communities. However, the role of Christians in Lebanon was slowly eroded by competing aspirations, first by Sunni Muslims following the civil war, and then later by Shi'a Muslims.
The Gemayels were sometimes as divisive as they have been prominent. As president, Amin Gemayel, Pierre's father, ruled over the country's slow decomposition during the harsh final years of the civil war, from 1982 to 1988.
Amin Gemayel was a soft-spoken moderate. He became president after the death of his brother Bashir Gemayel, the charismatic head of the Christian militia known as the Lebanese Forces. Bashir Gemayel was killed in a huge explosion weeks after being elected president but before he could take office in 1982, while Lebanon was under Israeli occupation.
The family's patriarch, Pierre Gemayel - father of Amin and Bashir and grandfather of the Pierre Gemayel who was killed Tuesday - was a leader in the movement for independence from French colonial rule between the world wars, and the son and nephew of independence leaders who fought Ottoman rule.
The family patriarch Pierre founded the Kataeb party, or Phalange party, in 1936 as a paramilitary formation, and the party went on to play a major role in the civil war, drawing support from Israel and combatting the Palestinian Liberation Organization in Lebanon.
The younger Pierre returned to Lebanon in 2000 after his father Amin ended 12 years of self-imposed exile in Europe following his presidential term. Both men were part of an anti-Syrian coalition that was elected to parliament and started weakening Syria's grip over its smaller neighbor.
Pierre Jr became industry minister after the victory of anti-Syrian factions in the elections of 2005, which followed the assassination of popular former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Pierre Gemayel, Jr., was assassinated on November 21, 2006. His death came as the anti-Syria, pro-Western majority in the Lebanese government was locked in a power struggle with the militant Hezbollah movement and its allies. He left behind two sons, Amin and Alex, and his wife, Patricia.
Gencer, Leyla
1928-2008
Turkish opera singer.
Leyla Gencer was born Leyla Ceyrekgil on October 10, 1928, in Istanbul. The daughter of a Polish mother and a Turkish father, Leyla grew up in the Cubuklu district of Istanbul, on the Anatolian (Asian) side of the Bosphorus. She began studying singing at the Istanbul Conservatory, but dropped out to study privately in Ankara with her teacher, the Italian soprano Giannina Arangi-Lombardi.
In 1946, Leyla married Ibrahim Gencer, a banker.
Gencer sang in the chorus of the Turkish State Theater until she made her operatic debut in Ankara in 1950 as Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana." During the next few years, she became well-known in Turkey and sang frequently at functions for the the Turkish government.
In 1953, Gencer made her Italian debut at the San Carlo in Naples as Santuzza. She returned to Naples the following year for performances of "Madame Butterfly" and "Eugene Onegin." In 1957, she made her debut at La Scala in Milan as Madame Lidoine in the world premiere of Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmelites." She went on to appear regularly at La Scala, performing nineteen roles between 1957 and 1983, including Leonora in "La Forza del Destino"; Elisabetta in "Don Carlos, Aida"; Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth, Norma"; Ottavia in "L'incoronazione di Poppea"; and "Alceste." At La Scala, Leyla also appeared as the First Woman of Canterbury in the world premiere of Pizzetti's "L'assassinio nella cattedrale" in 1958.
In 1962, Gencer made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Elisabetta di Valois and as Donna Anna in "Don Giovanni." She made her United States debut in San Francisco Opera in 1956 as Francesca in "Francesca da Rimini." She sang at other American opera houses as well, but never sang at the Metropolitan Opera, although there had been discussions for her to sing "Tosca" there in 1956.
In 1985, Gencer retired from the operatic stage with a performance of Gnecco's "La Prova di un'opera seria" at La Fenice. She continued to appear in concerts until 1992.
Throughout her career, Gencer was known primarily as a Donizetti interpreter. Among her best-known Donizetti performances are "Belisario," "Poliuto," "Anna Bolena," "Lucrezia Borgia," "Maria Stuarda," and "Caterina Cornaro." Her most acclaimed and best-known performance, though, was "Roberto Devereux," which she sang in Naples in 1964.
In addition to the bel canto roles for which she is best known, Gencer's repertory also included works by such composers as Prokofiev, Mozart, and Puccini. She appeared in many rarely performed operas, including Smareglia's "La Falena"; Rossini's "Elisabetta, regina d'inghilterra"; Spontini's "Agnese di Hohenstaufen"; Pacini's "Saffo"; and Gluck's "Alceste."
In 1982, Gencer dedicated herself to the education of young opera artists. She worked as a didactic art director of As.Li.Co. of Milan between 1983-1988 and was appointed by Riccardo Muti to run La Scala's School for Young Artists between 1997-1998. Gencer was the artistic director of the academy for opera artists formed in Teatro alla Scala where she taught opera interpretation. In 1995, an international voice competition named for Ms. Gencer was inaugurated in Turkey.
Gencer performed leading roles in many famous operas and she is known as the "last diva of the 20th century." Gencer achieved her reputation in the opera world, not only by the variety of her repertoire, but also with the dramatic nuances that she attributed to the roles she performed. Her singing was characterized by a burning intensity but was also widely praised for its exquisite pianissimo -- the attainment of maximum audibility at minimum volume that eludes even many fine singers. Being a good researcher and a teacher, Gencer reintroduced many forgotten works of the romantic period to the opera stages.
Leyla Gencer died on May 10, 2008 in Milan, Italy, from heart failure and respiratory problems.
1928-2008
Turkish opera singer.
Leyla Gencer was born Leyla Ceyrekgil on October 10, 1928, in Istanbul. The daughter of a Polish mother and a Turkish father, Leyla grew up in the Cubuklu district of Istanbul, on the Anatolian (Asian) side of the Bosphorus. She began studying singing at the Istanbul Conservatory, but dropped out to study privately in Ankara with her teacher, the Italian soprano Giannina Arangi-Lombardi.
In 1946, Leyla married Ibrahim Gencer, a banker.
Gencer sang in the chorus of the Turkish State Theater until she made her operatic debut in Ankara in 1950 as Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana." During the next few years, she became well-known in Turkey and sang frequently at functions for the the Turkish government.
In 1953, Gencer made her Italian debut at the San Carlo in Naples as Santuzza. She returned to Naples the following year for performances of "Madame Butterfly" and "Eugene Onegin." In 1957, she made her debut at La Scala in Milan as Madame Lidoine in the world premiere of Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmelites." She went on to appear regularly at La Scala, performing nineteen roles between 1957 and 1983, including Leonora in "La Forza del Destino"; Elisabetta in "Don Carlos, Aida"; Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth, Norma"; Ottavia in "L'incoronazione di Poppea"; and "Alceste." At La Scala, Leyla also appeared as the First Woman of Canterbury in the world premiere of Pizzetti's "L'assassinio nella cattedrale" in 1958.
In 1962, Gencer made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Elisabetta di Valois and as Donna Anna in "Don Giovanni." She made her United States debut in San Francisco Opera in 1956 as Francesca in "Francesca da Rimini." She sang at other American opera houses as well, but never sang at the Metropolitan Opera, although there had been discussions for her to sing "Tosca" there in 1956.
In 1985, Gencer retired from the operatic stage with a performance of Gnecco's "La Prova di un'opera seria" at La Fenice. She continued to appear in concerts until 1992.
Throughout her career, Gencer was known primarily as a Donizetti interpreter. Among her best-known Donizetti performances are "Belisario," "Poliuto," "Anna Bolena," "Lucrezia Borgia," "Maria Stuarda," and "Caterina Cornaro." Her most acclaimed and best-known performance, though, was "Roberto Devereux," which she sang in Naples in 1964.
In addition to the bel canto roles for which she is best known, Gencer's repertory also included works by such composers as Prokofiev, Mozart, and Puccini. She appeared in many rarely performed operas, including Smareglia's "La Falena"; Rossini's "Elisabetta, regina d'inghilterra"; Spontini's "Agnese di Hohenstaufen"; Pacini's "Saffo"; and Gluck's "Alceste."
In 1982, Gencer dedicated herself to the education of young opera artists. She worked as a didactic art director of As.Li.Co. of Milan between 1983-1988 and was appointed by Riccardo Muti to run La Scala's School for Young Artists between 1997-1998. Gencer was the artistic director of the academy for opera artists formed in Teatro alla Scala where she taught opera interpretation. In 1995, an international voice competition named for Ms. Gencer was inaugurated in Turkey.
Gencer performed leading roles in many famous operas and she is known as the "last diva of the 20th century." Gencer achieved her reputation in the opera world, not only by the variety of her repertoire, but also with the dramatic nuances that she attributed to the roles she performed. Her singing was characterized by a burning intensity but was also widely praised for its exquisite pianissimo -- the attainment of maximum audibility at minimum volume that eludes even many fine singers. Being a good researcher and a teacher, Gencer reintroduced many forgotten works of the romantic period to the opera stages.
Leyla Gencer died on May 10, 2008 in Milan, Italy, from heart failure and respiratory problems.
Ghafiqi, Abdul Rahman al-
d. 732
Leader of the Andalusian Muslims into battle against the forces of Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours.
Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi, also known as Abd er Rahman, Abdderrahman, Abderame, and Abd el-Rahman, led the Andalusian Muslims into battle against the forces of Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours on October 10, 732 A.D. It is for his role at the Battle of Tours that Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi is primarily remembered in the West. His full name was Abu Said Abdul Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Bishr ibn al-Sarem al-'Aki al-Ghafiqi.
From the Yemeni tribe of Ghafiq, Abdul Rahman relocated to Ifriqiya (now Tunisia), then to the Maghrib (now Morocco), where he became acquainted with Musa Ibn Nusair and his son Abdul Aziz, the governors of Al-Andalus.
After al-Samh ibn Malik was killed at the Battle of Toulouse in 721 (102 A.H.) by the forces of Duke Odo of Aquitaine, Abdul Rahman took over the command of Eastern Andalus. He was briefly relieved of his command, when 'Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi was appointed in 721 (103 A.H.). After 'Anbasa was killed in battle in 726 (107 A.H.) in Gaul, several successive commanders were put in place, none of whom lasted very long.
In 730 (112 A.H.) the Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik appointed Abdul Rahman as governor/commander of Al Andalus. He prepared to invade Gaul, and called for recruits from Yemen and the Levant. Many arrived, and he crossed the Pyrenees range, with an army of approximately 50,000 cavalry composed primarily of Arabs and Berbers. Abdul Rahman made his way through Gascony and Aquitaine, sacking and capturing the city of Bordeaux, after defeating Duke Odo of Aquitaine in battle outside the city, and then again defeating a second army of Duke Odo of Aquitaine at the Battle of the River Garonne. Odo, with his remaining nobility, fled to Charles Martel, seeking help.
Unlike Toulouse, where Odo had won by achieving complete surprise over the Muslim forces when he relieved the city in 721, this time his forces were forced to face the Muslim cavalry in open battle and were utterly destroyed. Also, the Muslim forces he had faced at the Battle of Toulouse were primarily light infantry, and while good fighters, were not remotely close to the caliber of the Arab and Berber cavalry employed by the Abdul Rahman in this invasion.
However, the Frankish Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, Charles Martel, had a core of seasoned professional infantry who had campaigned with him for many years, in addition to the levies of militia the Franks normally called up to buttress their forces. Martel formed an army of Gauls and Germans approximately 30,000 strong.
The invading forces, having no reason to believe the Franks were anything more than one of the various barbarian tribes that had ravaged Europe after Rome's fall, failed to scout their strength in advance. They also misjudged Charles Martel, who was determined to prevent the expansion of the Caliphate over the Pyrenees into the heart of Christian Europe. This was a disastrous mistake which led to the defeat of Abdul Rahman in 732 (114 A.H.) near Poitiers, south of the Loire River.
Abdul Rahman was killed in this battle. One reason for the defeat of the Muslim army was their preoccupation with war booty; another was the squabbles between various ethnic and tribal factions, which led to the surviving generals being unable to agree on a single commander to take Abdul Rahman's place, (after all, Abdul Rahman alone had a fatwa from the Caliph, and thus absolute authority over the faithful under arms).
Additional reasons for the Muslim defeat were found in the strategy employed by Charles Martel. Martel trained his men specifically to fight in a large square, similar to the ancient Greek phalanx formation, to withstand the dreaded Muslim heavy cavalry. The Frankish leader chose the battlefield. Moving his army over the mountains and avoiding the old Roman roads, he escaped detection until positioning his men on a high, wooded plain. For seven days, the two armies skirmished and maneuvered, with the Islamic forces recalling all their raiding parties, so on the seventh day, their army was at full size. Martel also received some reinforcements, though most historians still believe he was badly outnumbered at the onset of the battle. The Franks held their defensive formation all day, and repulsed repeated cavalry charges. The charges of the Arab and Berber cavalry were impeded by the sloping and wooded terrain. Late on the first day of battle, according to most sources, Martel sent his scouts to slip into Abdul Rahman's camp and free prisoners held by the Arab forces. Believing that their booty was being stolen, a large contingent of Abdul Rahman's forces broke away from battle to save their property. Abdul Rahman was exposed to the Frankish forces and killed while he attempted to stop his men from leaving the field.
Arab historians praise Abdul Rahman as a just and able administrator and commander, and bestow on him the honor of being the best governor of Al-Andalus. Also, he was commended for not taking sides in the ethnic and tribal divisions that plagued Al-Andalus under other rulers. Evidence of his fairness and importance as a ruler was demonstrated in the aftermath of his death at the Battle of Tours. Without his leadership and guidance, the other commanders were unable to even agree on a commander to lead them back into battle the following morning. The effect of the death of Abdul Rahman on both Islamic and world history was profound.
The son of Abdul Rahman attempted another invasion of Gaul under the Caliph's instructions in 736, this time by sea. This naval invasion landed in Narbonne in 736 and moved at once to reinforce Arles and move inland. Charles Martel again descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Muslims. In 736, he retook Montfrin and Avignon, and Arles and Aix-en-Provence with the help of Liutprand, King of the Lombards. Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, held by Muslims since 725, fell to Martel and their fortresses were destroyed. He crushed one Muslim army at Arles, as that force sallied out of the city, and then took the city itself by a direct and brutal frontal attack, burning it to the ground to prevent its use again as a stronghold for Muslim expansion. Charles Martel then moved swiftly and defeated a mighty host outside of Narbonnea at the River Berre, but failed to take the city. In five short years, he had incorporated Muslim heavy cavalry equipment and tactics into his forces, and was able to crush the invading armies, and leave the Muslim forces isolated in Narbonne, which his son Pippin would retake in 759.
d. 732
Leader of the Andalusian Muslims into battle against the forces of Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours.
Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi, also known as Abd er Rahman, Abdderrahman, Abderame, and Abd el-Rahman, led the Andalusian Muslims into battle against the forces of Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours on October 10, 732 A.D. It is for his role at the Battle of Tours that Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi is primarily remembered in the West. His full name was Abu Said Abdul Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Bishr ibn al-Sarem al-'Aki al-Ghafiqi.
From the Yemeni tribe of Ghafiq, Abdul Rahman relocated to Ifriqiya (now Tunisia), then to the Maghrib (now Morocco), where he became acquainted with Musa Ibn Nusair and his son Abdul Aziz, the governors of Al-Andalus.
After al-Samh ibn Malik was killed at the Battle of Toulouse in 721 (102 A.H.) by the forces of Duke Odo of Aquitaine, Abdul Rahman took over the command of Eastern Andalus. He was briefly relieved of his command, when 'Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi was appointed in 721 (103 A.H.). After 'Anbasa was killed in battle in 726 (107 A.H.) in Gaul, several successive commanders were put in place, none of whom lasted very long.
In 730 (112 A.H.) the Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik appointed Abdul Rahman as governor/commander of Al Andalus. He prepared to invade Gaul, and called for recruits from Yemen and the Levant. Many arrived, and he crossed the Pyrenees range, with an army of approximately 50,000 cavalry composed primarily of Arabs and Berbers. Abdul Rahman made his way through Gascony and Aquitaine, sacking and capturing the city of Bordeaux, after defeating Duke Odo of Aquitaine in battle outside the city, and then again defeating a second army of Duke Odo of Aquitaine at the Battle of the River Garonne. Odo, with his remaining nobility, fled to Charles Martel, seeking help.
Unlike Toulouse, where Odo had won by achieving complete surprise over the Muslim forces when he relieved the city in 721, this time his forces were forced to face the Muslim cavalry in open battle and were utterly destroyed. Also, the Muslim forces he had faced at the Battle of Toulouse were primarily light infantry, and while good fighters, were not remotely close to the caliber of the Arab and Berber cavalry employed by the Abdul Rahman in this invasion.
However, the Frankish Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, Charles Martel, had a core of seasoned professional infantry who had campaigned with him for many years, in addition to the levies of militia the Franks normally called up to buttress their forces. Martel formed an army of Gauls and Germans approximately 30,000 strong.
The invading forces, having no reason to believe the Franks were anything more than one of the various barbarian tribes that had ravaged Europe after Rome's fall, failed to scout their strength in advance. They also misjudged Charles Martel, who was determined to prevent the expansion of the Caliphate over the Pyrenees into the heart of Christian Europe. This was a disastrous mistake which led to the defeat of Abdul Rahman in 732 (114 A.H.) near Poitiers, south of the Loire River.
Abdul Rahman was killed in this battle. One reason for the defeat of the Muslim army was their preoccupation with war booty; another was the squabbles between various ethnic and tribal factions, which led to the surviving generals being unable to agree on a single commander to take Abdul Rahman's place, (after all, Abdul Rahman alone had a fatwa from the Caliph, and thus absolute authority over the faithful under arms).
Additional reasons for the Muslim defeat were found in the strategy employed by Charles Martel. Martel trained his men specifically to fight in a large square, similar to the ancient Greek phalanx formation, to withstand the dreaded Muslim heavy cavalry. The Frankish leader chose the battlefield. Moving his army over the mountains and avoiding the old Roman roads, he escaped detection until positioning his men on a high, wooded plain. For seven days, the two armies skirmished and maneuvered, with the Islamic forces recalling all their raiding parties, so on the seventh day, their army was at full size. Martel also received some reinforcements, though most historians still believe he was badly outnumbered at the onset of the battle. The Franks held their defensive formation all day, and repulsed repeated cavalry charges. The charges of the Arab and Berber cavalry were impeded by the sloping and wooded terrain. Late on the first day of battle, according to most sources, Martel sent his scouts to slip into Abdul Rahman's camp and free prisoners held by the Arab forces. Believing that their booty was being stolen, a large contingent of Abdul Rahman's forces broke away from battle to save their property. Abdul Rahman was exposed to the Frankish forces and killed while he attempted to stop his men from leaving the field.
Arab historians praise Abdul Rahman as a just and able administrator and commander, and bestow on him the honor of being the best governor of Al-Andalus. Also, he was commended for not taking sides in the ethnic and tribal divisions that plagued Al-Andalus under other rulers. Evidence of his fairness and importance as a ruler was demonstrated in the aftermath of his death at the Battle of Tours. Without his leadership and guidance, the other commanders were unable to even agree on a commander to lead them back into battle the following morning. The effect of the death of Abdul Rahman on both Islamic and world history was profound.
The son of Abdul Rahman attempted another invasion of Gaul under the Caliph's instructions in 736, this time by sea. This naval invasion landed in Narbonne in 736 and moved at once to reinforce Arles and move inland. Charles Martel again descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Muslims. In 736, he retook Montfrin and Avignon, and Arles and Aix-en-Provence with the help of Liutprand, King of the Lombards. Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, held by Muslims since 725, fell to Martel and their fortresses were destroyed. He crushed one Muslim army at Arles, as that force sallied out of the city, and then took the city itself by a direct and brutal frontal attack, burning it to the ground to prevent its use again as a stronghold for Muslim expansion. Charles Martel then moved swiftly and defeated a mighty host outside of Narbonnea at the River Berre, but failed to take the city. In five short years, he had incorporated Muslim heavy cavalry equipment and tactics into his forces, and was able to crush the invading armies, and leave the Muslim forces isolated in Narbonne, which his son Pippin would retake in 759.
Ghani Khan
1914-1996
One of the best Pashto language poets of the 20th century.
Khan Abdul Ghani Khan was born in Hashtnagar, NWFP, Pakistan, modern day Charsadda, the son of the Red-Shirt Leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the older brother of Khan Abdul Wali Khan. His wife Roshan came from a Parsi family and was the daughter of Nawab Rustam Jang. He went to study at the art academy at Rabindranath Tagore's university in Shantiniketan and developed a liking for painting and sculpture. He visited England and studied sugar technology in the United States, after which he returned to Pakistan and started working at the Takht Bhai Sugar Mills in 1933. Largely owing to his father's influence, he was also involved in politics, supporting the cause of the Pashtuns of Pakistan. He was arrested by the Government of Pakistan in 1948 -- although he had given up politics by then -- and remained in prison until 1954, in various jails all over the country. It was during these years that he wrote his poem collection Da Panjray Chaghaar, which he considered to be the best work of his life. His contribution to literature (often published) was ignored by the Pakistan government for much of his life although near the end of his life his works did receive much praise as well as an award from the Government of Pakistan. For his contributions to Pukhto literature and painting, the President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, conferred on him the prestigious award of Sitara-e-Imtiaz on March 23, 1980.
Aside from a few poems of his youth and early manhood, Ghani Khan's poetry, like his temperament, is anti-political. His poem collections include Panoos, Palwashay, De Panjray Chaghar, Kullryat and Latoon. He also wrote in English. His first book was The Pathans (1947). His only published work in Urdu was his book titled Khan Sahib (1994).
1914-1996
One of the best Pashto language poets of the 20th century.
Khan Abdul Ghani Khan was born in Hashtnagar, NWFP, Pakistan, modern day Charsadda, the son of the Red-Shirt Leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the older brother of Khan Abdul Wali Khan. His wife Roshan came from a Parsi family and was the daughter of Nawab Rustam Jang. He went to study at the art academy at Rabindranath Tagore's university in Shantiniketan and developed a liking for painting and sculpture. He visited England and studied sugar technology in the United States, after which he returned to Pakistan and started working at the Takht Bhai Sugar Mills in 1933. Largely owing to his father's influence, he was also involved in politics, supporting the cause of the Pashtuns of Pakistan. He was arrested by the Government of Pakistan in 1948 -- although he had given up politics by then -- and remained in prison until 1954, in various jails all over the country. It was during these years that he wrote his poem collection Da Panjray Chaghaar, which he considered to be the best work of his life. His contribution to literature (often published) was ignored by the Pakistan government for much of his life although near the end of his life his works did receive much praise as well as an award from the Government of Pakistan. For his contributions to Pukhto literature and painting, the President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, conferred on him the prestigious award of Sitara-e-Imtiaz on March 23, 1980.
Aside from a few poems of his youth and early manhood, Ghani Khan's poetry, like his temperament, is anti-political. His poem collections include Panoos, Palwashay, De Panjray Chaghar, Kullryat and Latoon. He also wrote in English. His first book was The Pathans (1947). His only published work in Urdu was his book titled Khan Sahib (1994).
Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III
1736-1800
The man who blinded and imprisoned the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur.
Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III, Imad-ul-Mulk (1736-1800), was the son of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung II (the son of Nizam ul Mulk Asaf Jah). Born in 1736 (s/o Sultan Begum), his original name was Shahabuddin Muhammad Siddiqi. After the death of his father in 1752, he was, by the recommendation of Nawab Safdar Jung appointed Mir Bakhshi (Pay Master General), and received the titles of Amir ul-Umara (Noble of Nobles) and Imad ul-Mulk by the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur of Delhi.
Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III (Imad-ul-Mulk) blinded and imprisoned Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur in 1754 and later authorized his death. In the year 1757 Ahmad Shah Durrani declared Imad-ul-Mulk an "apostate". This event was soon followed by the assassination of Emperor Alamgir II in 1759.
Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III (Imad-ul-Mulk) was later made the Wazir ul-Mamalik-i-Hindustan. Imad-ul-Mulk also planned the death of young Ali Gauhar and even ordered Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal to advance as far as Patna with the motive to kill or capture the Mughal Crown Prince. Imad-ul-Mulk soon fled Delhi after the rise of Najib-ud-Daula and the Mughal Army, which eventually placed Shah Alam II as the new Mughal Emperor.
The wife of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III (Imad-ul-Mulk) was the celebrated Ganna or Gunna Begam who died in the year 1775. The year of Khan's death is unknown but according to the biography of the poet called Gulzar Ibrahim he was living in 1780 in straitened circumstances.
The poetical name of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III was Nizam. He went to the Deccan in 1773 and received a jagir in Malwa. Subsequently, he proceeded to Surat where he passed a few years with the English and then went on a pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah. He composed Persian and Rekhta poetry and left Arabic and Turkish Ghazals and a thick Persian Diwan and a Masnawi in which the miracles of Maulana Fakhr uddin are related. He died at Kalpi on August 31, 1800, and was buried in the Shrine of Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Pakpattan (now in Pakistan).
1736-1800
The man who blinded and imprisoned the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur.
Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III, Imad-ul-Mulk (1736-1800), was the son of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung II (the son of Nizam ul Mulk Asaf Jah). Born in 1736 (s/o Sultan Begum), his original name was Shahabuddin Muhammad Siddiqi. After the death of his father in 1752, he was, by the recommendation of Nawab Safdar Jung appointed Mir Bakhshi (Pay Master General), and received the titles of Amir ul-Umara (Noble of Nobles) and Imad ul-Mulk by the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur of Delhi.
Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III (Imad-ul-Mulk) blinded and imprisoned Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur in 1754 and later authorized his death. In the year 1757 Ahmad Shah Durrani declared Imad-ul-Mulk an "apostate". This event was soon followed by the assassination of Emperor Alamgir II in 1759.
Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III (Imad-ul-Mulk) was later made the Wazir ul-Mamalik-i-Hindustan. Imad-ul-Mulk also planned the death of young Ali Gauhar and even ordered Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal to advance as far as Patna with the motive to kill or capture the Mughal Crown Prince. Imad-ul-Mulk soon fled Delhi after the rise of Najib-ud-Daula and the Mughal Army, which eventually placed Shah Alam II as the new Mughal Emperor.
The wife of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III (Imad-ul-Mulk) was the celebrated Ganna or Gunna Begam who died in the year 1775. The year of Khan's death is unknown but according to the biography of the poet called Gulzar Ibrahim he was living in 1780 in straitened circumstances.
The poetical name of Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III was Nizam. He went to the Deccan in 1773 and received a jagir in Malwa. Subsequently, he proceeded to Surat where he passed a few years with the English and then went on a pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah. He composed Persian and Rekhta poetry and left Arabic and Turkish Ghazals and a thick Persian Diwan and a Masnawi in which the miracles of Maulana Fakhr uddin are related. He died at Kalpi on August 31, 1800, and was buried in the Shrine of Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Pakpattan (now in Pakistan).
Grabar, Oleg
1929-2011
French-born art historian and archaeologist.
Oleg Grabar was born on November 3, 1929 in Strasbourg, France, where his father taught art history at the University of Strasbourg. Oleg attended lycees in Paris before attending the University of Paris, where he studied ancient, medieval, and modern history. In 1948, when his father received an appointment to Dumbarton Oaks, the center for Byzantine studies in Washington, D.C., Grabar moved to the United States. Grabar earned a bachelor's degree in medieval history from Harvard and diplomas in medieval and modern history from the University of Paris in 1950. In 1955, he obtained a doctorate in Oriental languages and literatures from Princeton University where he wrote a dissertation on the ceremonial art of the Umayyad court.
Grabar served on the faculty of the University of Michigan from 1954 to 1969, before moving to Harvard University as a full professor. In 1980, Grabar became Harvard's first Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture. He was a founding editor of the journal Muqarnas in 1983. He became emeritus from Harvard in 1990, and then joined the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, becoming emeritus there in 1998.
Grabar's archeological and scholarly research covered a wide range of Islamic studies across Africa, the Middle East, and Muslim Asia.
Early in his career, Grabar spent two years (1953-1953 and 1960-1961) at the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem. From 1964 to 1972, he directed excavations on a Medieval Islamic town at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, Syria, work later described in a two-volume book he coauthored, City in the Desert, Qasr al-Hayr East.
Other major books in English include The Shape of the Holy (Princeton, 1996), The Mediation of Ornament (Princeton, 1992), The Great Mosque of Isfahan (NYU, 1990), and The Formation of Islamic Art (Yale, 1973).
Oleg Grabar also did scholarly work on Persian painting. With Sheila Blair, he co-authored an illustrated study of a major Shahnameh manuscript, Epic Images and Contemporary History: The Illustrations of the Great Mongol Shahnama (Chicago, 1980). He was also a noted scholar of the Dome of the Rock, after the appearance of his article "The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem."
His work Penser l'art islamique: une esthétique de l'ornement denotes also reflections on the nature of Islamic art.
Oleg Grabar was the son of the renowned Byzantinist André Grabar. He and his wife Terry, a retired English professor, were married for 59 years. They had two children, Nicolas and Anne Louise, and three grandchildren.
Grabar received many honors during his lifetime, including the Charles Lang Freer Medal in 2001 and, in 2010, the Chairman's Award at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture ceremony in Doha, where he made what was perhaps his last public speech.
Oleg Grabar died on January 8, 2011 in Princeton, New Jersey.
Grabar transformed the fields of Islamic art, architecture and archaeology through his myriad scholarly works, general textbooks, and through training and inspiring many generations of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Michigan and at Harvard. In his many books and articles, he posed sweeping questions about the nature of Islamic art, seeking to discover the impulses that generated its specific forms and dynamics of growth, and to explore the interconnections between faith and sociohistorical circumstances in its development. Some of his most notable works are:
* City in the Desert with Renata Holod, James Knustad, and William Trousdale, Harvard University Press (1978)
* The Alhambra (1978)
* Epic Images and Contemporary History: The Illustrations of the Great Mongol Shahnama (1982)
* The Illustrations of the Maqamat (1984)
* The Great Mosque of Isfahan (1990)
* The Mediation of Ornament (1992)
* The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem (1996)
* Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Post-Classical World, with Glen Bowersock and Peter Brown, Harvard University Press, (1999)
* The Art and Architecture of Islam 650-1250, with Richard Ettinghausen and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, Yale History of Art, (2001)
* Interpreting Late Antiquity Essays on the Postclassical World edited with G. W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, Harvard University Press, (2001)
* Mostly Miniatures (2002)
* The Dome of the Rock, Harvard University Press, (2006)
* "The Haram Al-Sharif: An Essay in Interpretation," BRIIFS vol. 2 no 2 (Autumn 2000).
* Constructing the Study of Islamic Art, 83 collected articles (4 vols, 2005–06)
1929-2011
French-born art historian and archaeologist.
Oleg Grabar was born on November 3, 1929 in Strasbourg, France, where his father taught art history at the University of Strasbourg. Oleg attended lycees in Paris before attending the University of Paris, where he studied ancient, medieval, and modern history. In 1948, when his father received an appointment to Dumbarton Oaks, the center for Byzantine studies in Washington, D.C., Grabar moved to the United States. Grabar earned a bachelor's degree in medieval history from Harvard and diplomas in medieval and modern history from the University of Paris in 1950. In 1955, he obtained a doctorate in Oriental languages and literatures from Princeton University where he wrote a dissertation on the ceremonial art of the Umayyad court.
Grabar served on the faculty of the University of Michigan from 1954 to 1969, before moving to Harvard University as a full professor. In 1980, Grabar became Harvard's first Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture. He was a founding editor of the journal Muqarnas in 1983. He became emeritus from Harvard in 1990, and then joined the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, becoming emeritus there in 1998.
Grabar's archeological and scholarly research covered a wide range of Islamic studies across Africa, the Middle East, and Muslim Asia.
Early in his career, Grabar spent two years (1953-1953 and 1960-1961) at the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem. From 1964 to 1972, he directed excavations on a Medieval Islamic town at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, Syria, work later described in a two-volume book he coauthored, City in the Desert, Qasr al-Hayr East.
Other major books in English include The Shape of the Holy (Princeton, 1996), The Mediation of Ornament (Princeton, 1992), The Great Mosque of Isfahan (NYU, 1990), and The Formation of Islamic Art (Yale, 1973).
Oleg Grabar also did scholarly work on Persian painting. With Sheila Blair, he co-authored an illustrated study of a major Shahnameh manuscript, Epic Images and Contemporary History: The Illustrations of the Great Mongol Shahnama (Chicago, 1980). He was also a noted scholar of the Dome of the Rock, after the appearance of his article "The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem."
His work Penser l'art islamique: une esthétique de l'ornement denotes also reflections on the nature of Islamic art.
Oleg Grabar was the son of the renowned Byzantinist André Grabar. He and his wife Terry, a retired English professor, were married for 59 years. They had two children, Nicolas and Anne Louise, and three grandchildren.
Grabar received many honors during his lifetime, including the Charles Lang Freer Medal in 2001 and, in 2010, the Chairman's Award at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture ceremony in Doha, where he made what was perhaps his last public speech.
Oleg Grabar died on January 8, 2011 in Princeton, New Jersey.
Grabar transformed the fields of Islamic art, architecture and archaeology through his myriad scholarly works, general textbooks, and through training and inspiring many generations of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Michigan and at Harvard. In his many books and articles, he posed sweeping questions about the nature of Islamic art, seeking to discover the impulses that generated its specific forms and dynamics of growth, and to explore the interconnections between faith and sociohistorical circumstances in its development. Some of his most notable works are:
* City in the Desert with Renata Holod, James Knustad, and William Trousdale, Harvard University Press (1978)
* The Alhambra (1978)
* Epic Images and Contemporary History: The Illustrations of the Great Mongol Shahnama (1982)
* The Illustrations of the Maqamat (1984)
* The Great Mosque of Isfahan (1990)
* The Mediation of Ornament (1992)
* The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem (1996)
* Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Post-Classical World, with Glen Bowersock and Peter Brown, Harvard University Press, (1999)
* The Art and Architecture of Islam 650-1250, with Richard Ettinghausen and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, Yale History of Art, (2001)
* Interpreting Late Antiquity Essays on the Postclassical World edited with G. W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, Harvard University Press, (2001)
* Mostly Miniatures (2002)
* The Dome of the Rock, Harvard University Press, (2006)
* "The Haram Al-Sharif: An Essay in Interpretation," BRIIFS vol. 2 no 2 (Autumn 2000).
* Constructing the Study of Islamic Art, 83 collected articles (4 vols, 2005–06)
Habib-ur-Rahman
1805-1875
The Taluqdar of Miyanganj-Unnao and a member of the powerful lobby of the Taluqdars of Oudh (Awadh).
Maulvi Shaikh Habib-ur-Rahman (1805–1875) was born in Asiwan into a landlord and religious family. Habib-ur-Rahman started his career with the Revenue department of the King of Oudh. Gradually he consolidated his position and was appointed a Chakladar in 1853 by Wajid Ali Shah.
Until the uprising in 1857, Habib-ur-Rahman was the governing Chakladar of Mohan, Asiwan, and Fatehpur Chaurasi. He did not take part in the uprising at all and kept himself away from the disturbance. He was against the killings, arson, and looting as being without any defined goal and leader. He did not like Mansab Ali of Mohan and retired to his Garhi (fort) in Asiwan. At the time of annexation of Awadh, when the British took control of the Unnao, they found the maulvi in Asiwan and keeping in view his tenure as Chakladar of Oudh and most importantly his strong influence in the whole area in maintaining the law and order, they awarded Miyanganj, Asiwan and Fatehpur Chaurasi to him and enlisted him as the Taluqdar of Miyanganj.
Maulvi Habib ur Rahman did not have any children, therefore, he adopted a child as his successor. However, shortly before his death in 1875 one after another his wife bore him two sons namely, Khalil ur Rahman and Jalil ul Rahman. Unfortunately when both were toddlers, Maulvi Habib-ur-Rahman died on September 27, 1875 leaving them orphan. Since they were both minors, the Taluka went into the court of wards and later on was given to Wasi uz Zaman for management purposes. Khalil ul Rahman was awarded a very large area near Safipur, Maulvi Khera etc. and he settled at Chaudhrana as Ra’ees of Unnao while Jalil ul Rahman went on to become a Tehsildar. Both of his sons were educated at M.A.O College, Aligarh which later on became Muslim University Aligarh.
1805-1875
The Taluqdar of Miyanganj-Unnao and a member of the powerful lobby of the Taluqdars of Oudh (Awadh).
Maulvi Shaikh Habib-ur-Rahman (1805–1875) was born in Asiwan into a landlord and religious family. Habib-ur-Rahman started his career with the Revenue department of the King of Oudh. Gradually he consolidated his position and was appointed a Chakladar in 1853 by Wajid Ali Shah.
Until the uprising in 1857, Habib-ur-Rahman was the governing Chakladar of Mohan, Asiwan, and Fatehpur Chaurasi. He did not take part in the uprising at all and kept himself away from the disturbance. He was against the killings, arson, and looting as being without any defined goal and leader. He did not like Mansab Ali of Mohan and retired to his Garhi (fort) in Asiwan. At the time of annexation of Awadh, when the British took control of the Unnao, they found the maulvi in Asiwan and keeping in view his tenure as Chakladar of Oudh and most importantly his strong influence in the whole area in maintaining the law and order, they awarded Miyanganj, Asiwan and Fatehpur Chaurasi to him and enlisted him as the Taluqdar of Miyanganj.
Maulvi Habib ur Rahman did not have any children, therefore, he adopted a child as his successor. However, shortly before his death in 1875 one after another his wife bore him two sons namely, Khalil ur Rahman and Jalil ul Rahman. Unfortunately when both were toddlers, Maulvi Habib-ur-Rahman died on September 27, 1875 leaving them orphan. Since they were both minors, the Taluka went into the court of wards and later on was given to Wasi uz Zaman for management purposes. Khalil ul Rahman was awarded a very large area near Safipur, Maulvi Khera etc. and he settled at Chaudhrana as Ra’ees of Unnao while Jalil ul Rahman went on to become a Tehsildar. Both of his sons were educated at M.A.O College, Aligarh which later on became Muslim University Aligarh.
Hadji Ali
1828-1902/1903
Ottoman subject of Jordanian parentage who in 1856 became one of the first camel drivers ever hired by the United States Army.
Hadji Ali (Arabic: Ḥājj ‘Alī; Turkish: Hacı Ali), famously known as Hi Jolly and later known as Philip Tedro (b. ‘Ali al-Hajaya 1828 — d. December 16, 1902), was an Ottoman subject of Jordanian parentage, and in 1856 became one of the first camel drivers ever hired by the United States Army to lead the camel driver experiment in the Southwest. Hi Jolly became a living legend until his death in Arizona. Once, insulted because he had not been invited to a German picnic in Los Angeles, he broke up the gathering by driving into it on a yellow cart pulled by two of his pet camels.
As near as anyone can determine, Hadji Ali was born of Jordanian Bedouin parentage in Jordan in the region of the Levant around 1828. Hi Jolly, originally named Ḥājj ‘Alī, was an Ottoman citizen. He worked for the Ottoman armed forces and he was a breeder and trainer of camels. Some sources allege that he took the name Hadji Ali during his early life after making the pilgrimage to Mecca. The title hajji was given when, as a Muslim, he made the Hajj pilgrimage. Other sources report that his mother was of Greek origin and his father was Syrian. Hi Jolly's membership in the Army's Camel Corps experiment was not his first quasi-military adventure. He served with the French Army in Algiers before signing on as a camel driver for the United States Army in 1856.
Ali was one of several men brought over by the American Government who were to drive the camels as beasts of burden for transporting cargo across what was then known as the "Great American Desert." Eight of the men, including Ali, were of Greek origins, having arrived at the Port of Indianola in Lavaca County, Texas aboard the USS Supply. The book Go West Greek George by Steven Dean Pastis, published in both Greek and English, specifically identifies all eight men. These pioneers were Yiorgos Caralambo (later known as Greek George), Hadji Ali (Hi Jolly, a.k.a. Philip Tedro), Mimico Teodora (Mico), Hadjiatis Yannaco (Long Tom), Anastasio Coralli (Short Tom), Michelo Georgios, Yanni Iliato, and Giorgios Costi. The Americans acquired 3 camels in Tunis, 9 in Egypt, and 21 in Smyrna, 33 in all. Ali was the lead camel driver during the United States Army's experiment with the United States Camel Corps in using camels in the dry deserts of the Southwest. After successfully traveling round trip from Texas to California, the experiment went bust, partly due to the problem that the Army's burros, horses, and mules feared the large animals, often panicking, and the tensions of the American Civil War led to Congress not approving more funds for the Corps. In 1864, the camels were finally auctioned off in Benicia, California and Camp Verde, Texas.
After the Camel Corps, Ali attempted to run a freight business between the Colorado River and mining establishments to the east using a few camels he kept. Unfortunately, the business failed and Ali released his camels into the Arizona desert near Gila Bend. He was discharged from the Quartermaster Department of the United States Army at Camp McDowell in 1870. In 1880 Ali became an American citizen and used the name Philip Tedro (sometimes spelled Teadrow) when he married Gertrudis Serna in Tucson, Arizona. The couple had two children. In 1885, Ali was rehired by the United States Army where he worked as packer under Brigadier General George Crook during the Geronimo campaign. In his final years, Ali moved to Quartzsite, Arizona, where he mined and occasionally scouted for the United States government. He died in 1902 and was buried in the Quartzsite Cemetery.
In 1935, Arizona Governor Benjamin Moeur dedicated a monument to Hadji Ali and the Camel Corps in the Quartzsite Cemetery. The monument, located at his gravesite, is a pyramid built from local stones and topped with a copper camel.
The folk song "Hi Jolly" is based on Hadji Ali's exploits. The 1954 movie Southwest Passage was largely based on this camel experiment. The 1976 movie Hawmps! was also loosely based on this camel experiment.
1828-1902/1903
Ottoman subject of Jordanian parentage who in 1856 became one of the first camel drivers ever hired by the United States Army.
Hadji Ali (Arabic: Ḥājj ‘Alī; Turkish: Hacı Ali), famously known as Hi Jolly and later known as Philip Tedro (b. ‘Ali al-Hajaya 1828 — d. December 16, 1902), was an Ottoman subject of Jordanian parentage, and in 1856 became one of the first camel drivers ever hired by the United States Army to lead the camel driver experiment in the Southwest. Hi Jolly became a living legend until his death in Arizona. Once, insulted because he had not been invited to a German picnic in Los Angeles, he broke up the gathering by driving into it on a yellow cart pulled by two of his pet camels.
As near as anyone can determine, Hadji Ali was born of Jordanian Bedouin parentage in Jordan in the region of the Levant around 1828. Hi Jolly, originally named Ḥājj ‘Alī, was an Ottoman citizen. He worked for the Ottoman armed forces and he was a breeder and trainer of camels. Some sources allege that he took the name Hadji Ali during his early life after making the pilgrimage to Mecca. The title hajji was given when, as a Muslim, he made the Hajj pilgrimage. Other sources report that his mother was of Greek origin and his father was Syrian. Hi Jolly's membership in the Army's Camel Corps experiment was not his first quasi-military adventure. He served with the French Army in Algiers before signing on as a camel driver for the United States Army in 1856.
Ali was one of several men brought over by the American Government who were to drive the camels as beasts of burden for transporting cargo across what was then known as the "Great American Desert." Eight of the men, including Ali, were of Greek origins, having arrived at the Port of Indianola in Lavaca County, Texas aboard the USS Supply. The book Go West Greek George by Steven Dean Pastis, published in both Greek and English, specifically identifies all eight men. These pioneers were Yiorgos Caralambo (later known as Greek George), Hadji Ali (Hi Jolly, a.k.a. Philip Tedro), Mimico Teodora (Mico), Hadjiatis Yannaco (Long Tom), Anastasio Coralli (Short Tom), Michelo Georgios, Yanni Iliato, and Giorgios Costi. The Americans acquired 3 camels in Tunis, 9 in Egypt, and 21 in Smyrna, 33 in all. Ali was the lead camel driver during the United States Army's experiment with the United States Camel Corps in using camels in the dry deserts of the Southwest. After successfully traveling round trip from Texas to California, the experiment went bust, partly due to the problem that the Army's burros, horses, and mules feared the large animals, often panicking, and the tensions of the American Civil War led to Congress not approving more funds for the Corps. In 1864, the camels were finally auctioned off in Benicia, California and Camp Verde, Texas.
After the Camel Corps, Ali attempted to run a freight business between the Colorado River and mining establishments to the east using a few camels he kept. Unfortunately, the business failed and Ali released his camels into the Arizona desert near Gila Bend. He was discharged from the Quartermaster Department of the United States Army at Camp McDowell in 1870. In 1880 Ali became an American citizen and used the name Philip Tedro (sometimes spelled Teadrow) when he married Gertrudis Serna in Tucson, Arizona. The couple had two children. In 1885, Ali was rehired by the United States Army where he worked as packer under Brigadier General George Crook during the Geronimo campaign. In his final years, Ali moved to Quartzsite, Arizona, where he mined and occasionally scouted for the United States government. He died in 1902 and was buried in the Quartzsite Cemetery.
In 1935, Arizona Governor Benjamin Moeur dedicated a monument to Hadji Ali and the Camel Corps in the Quartzsite Cemetery. The monument, located at his gravesite, is a pyramid built from local stones and topped with a copper camel.
The folk song "Hi Jolly" is based on Hadji Ali's exploits. The 1954 movie Southwest Passage was largely based on this camel experiment. The 1976 movie Hawmps! was also loosely based on this camel experiment.
Hafiz, Abd al-Halim
1929-1977
Egyptian singer and film actor.
Abd al-Halim Ismail Shabana, commonly known as Abd al-Halim Hafiz was one of the most popular Egyptian singers and actors not only in Egypt but throughout the Middle East from the 1950s to the 1970s. Along with Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Farid Al Attrach, Abd al-Halim Hafiz is widely considered to be one of the four 'greats' of Egyptian and Arabic music. His name is sometimes written as Abdel Halim Ismail Shabana or 'Abdel Halim Hafez, and he was also sometimes known as el-Andaleeb el-Asmar -- the Dark Nightingale.
Abd al-Halim Hafiz was born Abd al-Halim Ali Ismaʿil Shabana on June 21, 1929, in El-Halawat, in Ash Sharqiyah Governorate, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Cairo, Egypt. Abd al-Halim was the fourth child of Sheikh Ali Ismail Shabana and Zaynab Amasha. He had two brothers, Ismail and Mohammed, and one sister, Aliah. Abd al-Halim's mother died from complications after giving birth to him, and his father died five months later leaving Abd al-Halim and his siblings orphaned at a young age. Upon the deaths of his parents shortly thereafter, his maternal uncle took him and his three siblings into his home in Zaqaziq, where Abd al-Halim attended kuttab (Qurʾan school) and later primary school.
Abd al-Halim's musical abilities first became apparent while he was in primary school, and his older brother Ismail Shabana was his first music teacher. At the age of eighteen, Abd al-Halim followed his brother Ismaʿil to Cairo and enrolled in the Institute of Arabic Music. He wanted to study voice and ud (oud; a short-necked lute); he soon moved, however, to the Higher Institute for Theater Music where he took up the oboe. Upon leaving the institute, he worked as a music teacher in several primary schools for girls and played oboe in the Egyptian Radio orchestra. The oboe, however, was considered a Western instrument and not part of Arabic tradition. Disenchanted, Abd al-Halim returned to his previous ambition of becoming a professional singer.
Among his colleagues at the institute were two young composers, Kamal al-Tawil and Muhammad al-Muji, and the conductor Ahmad Fuʾad Hasan who later established an accomplished and prestigious instrumental ensemble. All three became lifelong colleagues. In 1951, Abd al-Halim performed his first successful song, "Liqa" by Kamal al-Tawil; he also began singing for radio. Shortly thereafter, he signed a two-year contract with Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab (Mohammed Abdel Wahab) to record Abd al-Wahhab's songs and appear in his films.
While singing in clubs in Cairo, Abd al-Halim was drafted as a last-minute substitute when singer Karem Mahmoud was unable to sing a scheduled live radio performance in honor of the first anniversary of the 1952 Revolution. Given on June 18, 1953. Abd al-Halim's performance was enormously popular with the live audience, and was heard by Hafiz Abd al-Wahab, supervisor of musical programming for Egyptian national radio. Hafiz Abd al-Wahab decided to support the then unknown singer. Abd al-Halim took 'Hafiz', Abd al-Wahab's el Wahab's first name, as his stage-surname in recognition of his patronage. Abd al-Halim's songs became so popular that arenas and stadiums could not handle the masses. He later began to perform in deserts, Roman coliseums, and outdoor arenas, some of which gathered as many as one million people.
Abd al-Halim went on to become one of the most popular singers and actors of his generation, and became recognized as one of the four greats of Egyptian and Arabic music, along with Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Farid Al Attrach.
Along with works by numerous popular lyricists, Abd al-Halim sang the poetry of Abd al-Rahman al-Abnudi, beginning in the early 1960s. At this time, Abd al-Halim sought to change his style from that of ordinary love songs (al-aghani al-atifiyya) to one closer to that of popular folk song. He sought colloquial poetry more colorful and meaningful than the common romantic song lyric. Together, Abd alHalim and al-Abnudi produced "al-Hawa Hawaya," "Ahdan al-Habayib," and other works that had significant impact on popular song.
Like many other commercial performers, Abd al-Halim was eager for artistic and financial control over his work. In 1959, he and cinematographer Wahid Farid formed their own film company, Aflam al-Alam al-Arabi, and produced, among other works, Al-Banat wa al-Sayf, based on three short stories by the well-known writer Ihsan Abd al-Quddus. In 1961, Abd al-Halim and Abd al-Wahhab formed the record company Sawt al-Fann and, in 1963, Aflam al-Alam al-Arabi became Aflam Sawt al-Fann, with Abd al-Wahhab as the third partner.
The beginning of Abd al-Halim's singing career coincided with Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab's shift away from singing to composition. Abd al-Halim's voice differed considerably from that of his famous predecessor. Abd al-Halim's voice was mellow and resonant, and his distinctive vocal style was characterized as subtle, with meticulous intonation. He left the impression of extended, almost endless musical phrases. He sang the songs of numerous composers, such as Abd al-Wahhab, Baligh Hamdi, Kamal al-Tawil, and Muhammad al-Muji, all in his own style, in his confined and fertile vocal space. Among his most famous songs are "Safini Marra" (by al-Muji), "Ala qadd al-Shuq" (by al-Tawil), "Ahwak" (by Abd al-Wahhab), and "Qariʾat al-Finjan" (by al-Muji, with poetry by Nizar Qabbani).
Abd al-Halim never married. He only truly fell in love once, in his youth. He fell in love with a young woman whose parents refused to allow them to marry. After four years, her parents finally approved, but the girl died of a chronic disease before the wedding. Abd al-Halim never recovered from her loss, and dedicated many of his saddest songs to her memory, including "Fi Youm, Fi Shahr, Fi Sana" (In a Day, a Month, a Year) and the poignant "Qariat el-Fingan" (The Fortune-teller).
At the age of 10, Abd al-Halim contracted Bilharzia — a parasitic water-born disease — and was periodically and painfully afflicted by it. Abd al-Halim was diagnosed as having schistosomiasis (bilharzia, a parasitic disease of the tropics) in 1939. Debilitating attacks resulting from the disease began in 1955 and ended with his death in 1977. During his lifetime, many artists and commentators accused Abd al-Halim of using this to gain sympathy from female fans. His death from the disease put to rest such accusations.
Abdel Halim died on March 30, 1977, a few months short of his 48th birthday, while undergoing treatment for Bilharzia in King's College Hospital, London. His funeral (in Cairo) was attended by millions of people – more than any funeral in Egyptian history except those of President Nasser (1970) and Umm Kulthum (1975). Fourteen women committed suicide on hearing of his death. He is buried in Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo.
Abd al-Halim's music is still popular across the Arab world, and he is widely regarded as one of the most famous and popular singers in the Arab world. His albums have sold more copies since his death than any other Arab artist except Umm Kulthum.
Abd al-Halim Hafez's song "Khosara" enjoyed international fame in 1999 when producer Timbaland used elements from it for Jay-Z's song "Big Pimpin'".
His most famous songs include "Ahwak" ("I love you"), "Khosara" ("What a loss"), "Gana El Hawa" ("Love came to us"), "Sawah" ("Wanderer"), "Zay el Hawa" ("It feels like love"), and "El Massih" ("The Christ"), among the 260 songs that he recorded. His last, and perhaps most famous song, "Qariat el-Fingan" ("The fortune-teller"), featured lyrics by Nizar Qabbani and music by Mohammed Al-Mougy. He starred in sixteen films, including "Dalilah", which was Egypt's first color motion picture.
Along with Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Magdi el-Amroussi, Abd al-Halim was a founder of the Egyptian recording company Soutelphan, which continues to operate to this day as a subsidiary of EMI Arabia. The company was founded in 1961.
In 2006 a feature film about Abd al-Halim's life, "Haleem", was released starring the late actor Ahmad Zaki in the title role, produced by the Good News Group.
The filmography of Abd al-Halim Hafiz includes the following:
* Lahn El Wafa (The Song of Truth) as Galal
o Released: March 1, 1955
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Shadia
o Directed by: Ibrahim Amara
* Ayyamna al-Holwa (Our Beautiful Days) as Ali
o Released: March 1, 1955
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Faten Hamama, Omar Sharif, Ahmed Ramzy
o Directed by: Helmy Halim
* Ayam We Layali (Days and Nights)
o Released: September 8, 1955
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Eman
o Directed by: Henry Barakat
* Mawed Gharam (Promised Love) as Samir
o Released: January 3, 1956
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Faten Hamama
o Directed by: Henry Barakat
* Dalila (Dalila) as Ahmed
o October 20, 1956
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Shadia
o Directed by: Mohamad Karim
o Notes: This was the first Egyptian colored movie in Cinemascope.
* Banat El Yom (The Girls of Today) as Khaled
o Released: November 10, 1957
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Magda, Amal Farid
o Directed by: Henry Barakat
o Notes: In this movie, Abd al-Halim Hafiz sang "Ahwak" for the first time.
* Fata Ahlami (The Man Of My Dreams)
o Released: March 7, 1957
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Amal Farid
o Directed by: Helmi Rafleh
* Alwisada El Khalia (The Empty Pillow) as Salah
o Released: December 20, 1957
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Lubna Abed El Aziz
o Directed by: Salah Abu Yousef
* Share' El Hob (Love Street)
o Released: March 5, 1958
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Sabah
o Directed By: Ez El Deen Zol Faqar
* Hekayit Hob (A Love Story) as Ahmed Sami
o Released: January 12, 1959
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Mariam Fakher El Deen
o Directed by: Helmy Halim
* El Banat Wel Seif (Girls and Summer)
o Released: September 5, 1960
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Suad Husni, Zizi El Badrawi
o Directed by: Salah Abu Yousef, Ez El Deen Zol Faqar, Fateen Abed El Wahhab
o Notes: This movie consisted of 3 stories. Abd al-Halim Hafiz acted in one
* Yom Men Omri (A Day of My Life) as Salah
o Released: February 8, 1961
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Zubaida Tharwat
o Directed by: Atef Salem
* El Khataya (The Sins) as Hussien
o Released: November 12, 1962
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Madiha Yousri, Hasan Yousef, Nadia Lutfi
o Directed by: Hassan El Imam
o Songs: Wehyat Alby, Maghroor, Last Adry, Olly Haga, El Helwa
* Maabodat El Gamahir (The Beloved Diva) as Ibrahim Farid
o Released: January 13, 1963
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Shadia
o Directed by: Helmy Halim
o Songs: Haga Ghareeba, Balash Etaab, Last Kalby, Gabbar, Ahebek
* Abi Foq El Shagara (My Father Atop a Tree) as Adel
o Released: February 17, 1969
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Nadia Lutfi, Mervat Amin
o Directed by: Hussein Kamal
o Songs: Ady El Belag, El Hawa Hawaya, Ahdan El Habayeb, Ya Khali El Alb, Gana El Hawa
o Notes: This was the last film Abd al-Halim Hafiz acted in. However, he did have plans on acting in many other movies especially with the star Soad Husney
1929-1977
Egyptian singer and film actor.
Abd al-Halim Ismail Shabana, commonly known as Abd al-Halim Hafiz was one of the most popular Egyptian singers and actors not only in Egypt but throughout the Middle East from the 1950s to the 1970s. Along with Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Farid Al Attrach, Abd al-Halim Hafiz is widely considered to be one of the four 'greats' of Egyptian and Arabic music. His name is sometimes written as Abdel Halim Ismail Shabana or 'Abdel Halim Hafez, and he was also sometimes known as el-Andaleeb el-Asmar -- the Dark Nightingale.
Abd al-Halim Hafiz was born Abd al-Halim Ali Ismaʿil Shabana on June 21, 1929, in El-Halawat, in Ash Sharqiyah Governorate, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Cairo, Egypt. Abd al-Halim was the fourth child of Sheikh Ali Ismail Shabana and Zaynab Amasha. He had two brothers, Ismail and Mohammed, and one sister, Aliah. Abd al-Halim's mother died from complications after giving birth to him, and his father died five months later leaving Abd al-Halim and his siblings orphaned at a young age. Upon the deaths of his parents shortly thereafter, his maternal uncle took him and his three siblings into his home in Zaqaziq, where Abd al-Halim attended kuttab (Qurʾan school) and later primary school.
Abd al-Halim's musical abilities first became apparent while he was in primary school, and his older brother Ismail Shabana was his first music teacher. At the age of eighteen, Abd al-Halim followed his brother Ismaʿil to Cairo and enrolled in the Institute of Arabic Music. He wanted to study voice and ud (oud; a short-necked lute); he soon moved, however, to the Higher Institute for Theater Music where he took up the oboe. Upon leaving the institute, he worked as a music teacher in several primary schools for girls and played oboe in the Egyptian Radio orchestra. The oboe, however, was considered a Western instrument and not part of Arabic tradition. Disenchanted, Abd al-Halim returned to his previous ambition of becoming a professional singer.
Among his colleagues at the institute were two young composers, Kamal al-Tawil and Muhammad al-Muji, and the conductor Ahmad Fuʾad Hasan who later established an accomplished and prestigious instrumental ensemble. All three became lifelong colleagues. In 1951, Abd al-Halim performed his first successful song, "Liqa" by Kamal al-Tawil; he also began singing for radio. Shortly thereafter, he signed a two-year contract with Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab (Mohammed Abdel Wahab) to record Abd al-Wahhab's songs and appear in his films.
While singing in clubs in Cairo, Abd al-Halim was drafted as a last-minute substitute when singer Karem Mahmoud was unable to sing a scheduled live radio performance in honor of the first anniversary of the 1952 Revolution. Given on June 18, 1953. Abd al-Halim's performance was enormously popular with the live audience, and was heard by Hafiz Abd al-Wahab, supervisor of musical programming for Egyptian national radio. Hafiz Abd al-Wahab decided to support the then unknown singer. Abd al-Halim took 'Hafiz', Abd al-Wahab's el Wahab's first name, as his stage-surname in recognition of his patronage. Abd al-Halim's songs became so popular that arenas and stadiums could not handle the masses. He later began to perform in deserts, Roman coliseums, and outdoor arenas, some of which gathered as many as one million people.
Abd al-Halim went on to become one of the most popular singers and actors of his generation, and became recognized as one of the four greats of Egyptian and Arabic music, along with Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Farid Al Attrach.
Along with works by numerous popular lyricists, Abd al-Halim sang the poetry of Abd al-Rahman al-Abnudi, beginning in the early 1960s. At this time, Abd al-Halim sought to change his style from that of ordinary love songs (al-aghani al-atifiyya) to one closer to that of popular folk song. He sought colloquial poetry more colorful and meaningful than the common romantic song lyric. Together, Abd alHalim and al-Abnudi produced "al-Hawa Hawaya," "Ahdan al-Habayib," and other works that had significant impact on popular song.
Like many other commercial performers, Abd al-Halim was eager for artistic and financial control over his work. In 1959, he and cinematographer Wahid Farid formed their own film company, Aflam al-Alam al-Arabi, and produced, among other works, Al-Banat wa al-Sayf, based on three short stories by the well-known writer Ihsan Abd al-Quddus. In 1961, Abd al-Halim and Abd al-Wahhab formed the record company Sawt al-Fann and, in 1963, Aflam al-Alam al-Arabi became Aflam Sawt al-Fann, with Abd al-Wahhab as the third partner.
The beginning of Abd al-Halim's singing career coincided with Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab's shift away from singing to composition. Abd al-Halim's voice differed considerably from that of his famous predecessor. Abd al-Halim's voice was mellow and resonant, and his distinctive vocal style was characterized as subtle, with meticulous intonation. He left the impression of extended, almost endless musical phrases. He sang the songs of numerous composers, such as Abd al-Wahhab, Baligh Hamdi, Kamal al-Tawil, and Muhammad al-Muji, all in his own style, in his confined and fertile vocal space. Among his most famous songs are "Safini Marra" (by al-Muji), "Ala qadd al-Shuq" (by al-Tawil), "Ahwak" (by Abd al-Wahhab), and "Qariʾat al-Finjan" (by al-Muji, with poetry by Nizar Qabbani).
Abd al-Halim never married. He only truly fell in love once, in his youth. He fell in love with a young woman whose parents refused to allow them to marry. After four years, her parents finally approved, but the girl died of a chronic disease before the wedding. Abd al-Halim never recovered from her loss, and dedicated many of his saddest songs to her memory, including "Fi Youm, Fi Shahr, Fi Sana" (In a Day, a Month, a Year) and the poignant "Qariat el-Fingan" (The Fortune-teller).
At the age of 10, Abd al-Halim contracted Bilharzia — a parasitic water-born disease — and was periodically and painfully afflicted by it. Abd al-Halim was diagnosed as having schistosomiasis (bilharzia, a parasitic disease of the tropics) in 1939. Debilitating attacks resulting from the disease began in 1955 and ended with his death in 1977. During his lifetime, many artists and commentators accused Abd al-Halim of using this to gain sympathy from female fans. His death from the disease put to rest such accusations.
Abdel Halim died on March 30, 1977, a few months short of his 48th birthday, while undergoing treatment for Bilharzia in King's College Hospital, London. His funeral (in Cairo) was attended by millions of people – more than any funeral in Egyptian history except those of President Nasser (1970) and Umm Kulthum (1975). Fourteen women committed suicide on hearing of his death. He is buried in Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo.
Abd al-Halim's music is still popular across the Arab world, and he is widely regarded as one of the most famous and popular singers in the Arab world. His albums have sold more copies since his death than any other Arab artist except Umm Kulthum.
Abd al-Halim Hafez's song "Khosara" enjoyed international fame in 1999 when producer Timbaland used elements from it for Jay-Z's song "Big Pimpin'".
His most famous songs include "Ahwak" ("I love you"), "Khosara" ("What a loss"), "Gana El Hawa" ("Love came to us"), "Sawah" ("Wanderer"), "Zay el Hawa" ("It feels like love"), and "El Massih" ("The Christ"), among the 260 songs that he recorded. His last, and perhaps most famous song, "Qariat el-Fingan" ("The fortune-teller"), featured lyrics by Nizar Qabbani and music by Mohammed Al-Mougy. He starred in sixteen films, including "Dalilah", which was Egypt's first color motion picture.
Along with Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Magdi el-Amroussi, Abd al-Halim was a founder of the Egyptian recording company Soutelphan, which continues to operate to this day as a subsidiary of EMI Arabia. The company was founded in 1961.
In 2006 a feature film about Abd al-Halim's life, "Haleem", was released starring the late actor Ahmad Zaki in the title role, produced by the Good News Group.
The filmography of Abd al-Halim Hafiz includes the following:
* Lahn El Wafa (The Song of Truth) as Galal
o Released: March 1, 1955
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Shadia
o Directed by: Ibrahim Amara
* Ayyamna al-Holwa (Our Beautiful Days) as Ali
o Released: March 1, 1955
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Faten Hamama, Omar Sharif, Ahmed Ramzy
o Directed by: Helmy Halim
* Ayam We Layali (Days and Nights)
o Released: September 8, 1955
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Eman
o Directed by: Henry Barakat
* Mawed Gharam (Promised Love) as Samir
o Released: January 3, 1956
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Faten Hamama
o Directed by: Henry Barakat
* Dalila (Dalila) as Ahmed
o October 20, 1956
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Shadia
o Directed by: Mohamad Karim
o Notes: This was the first Egyptian colored movie in Cinemascope.
* Banat El Yom (The Girls of Today) as Khaled
o Released: November 10, 1957
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Magda, Amal Farid
o Directed by: Henry Barakat
o Notes: In this movie, Abd al-Halim Hafiz sang "Ahwak" for the first time.
* Fata Ahlami (The Man Of My Dreams)
o Released: March 7, 1957
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Amal Farid
o Directed by: Helmi Rafleh
* Alwisada El Khalia (The Empty Pillow) as Salah
o Released: December 20, 1957
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Lubna Abed El Aziz
o Directed by: Salah Abu Yousef
* Share' El Hob (Love Street)
o Released: March 5, 1958
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Sabah
o Directed By: Ez El Deen Zol Faqar
* Hekayit Hob (A Love Story) as Ahmed Sami
o Released: January 12, 1959
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Mariam Fakher El Deen
o Directed by: Helmy Halim
* El Banat Wel Seif (Girls and Summer)
o Released: September 5, 1960
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Suad Husni, Zizi El Badrawi
o Directed by: Salah Abu Yousef, Ez El Deen Zol Faqar, Fateen Abed El Wahhab
o Notes: This movie consisted of 3 stories. Abd al-Halim Hafiz acted in one
* Yom Men Omri (A Day of My Life) as Salah
o Released: February 8, 1961
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Zubaida Tharwat
o Directed by: Atef Salem
* El Khataya (The Sins) as Hussien
o Released: November 12, 1962
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Madiha Yousri, Hasan Yousef, Nadia Lutfi
o Directed by: Hassan El Imam
o Songs: Wehyat Alby, Maghroor, Last Adry, Olly Haga, El Helwa
* Maabodat El Gamahir (The Beloved Diva) as Ibrahim Farid
o Released: January 13, 1963
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Shadia
o Directed by: Helmy Halim
o Songs: Haga Ghareeba, Balash Etaab, Last Kalby, Gabbar, Ahebek
* Abi Foq El Shagara (My Father Atop a Tree) as Adel
o Released: February 17, 1969
o Starring: Abd al-Halim Hafiz, Nadia Lutfi, Mervat Amin
o Directed by: Hussein Kamal
o Songs: Ady El Belag, El Hawa Hawaya, Ahdan El Habayeb, Ya Khali El Alb, Gana El Hawa
o Notes: This was the last film Abd al-Halim Hafiz acted in. However, he did have plans on acting in many other movies especially with the star Soad Husney
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