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île De Sein
The Île de Sein is a Breton island in the Atlantic Ocean, off Finistère, eight kilometres from the Pointe du Raz (''raz'' meaning "water current"), from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is ''Enez-Sun''. The island, with its neighbouring islets, forms the commune of Île-de-Sein in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of Île-de-Sein are called in French ''Sénans''. Lying on the sea routes going south from the English Channel, Sein is well known for the dangers of its waters, the ''Chaussée de Sein'', a vast zone of reefs stretching more than 30 miles from east to west, requiring numerous lighthouses, beacons, and buoys. The lighthouses near the reef include Ar Men, La Vieille and Tévennec. History There are two megalithic menhirs on the island, which is flat and treeless. It is mentioned by the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela. The island women used to wear a black headdress, and in the past, they had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Communes Of France
The () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, ' in Germany, ' in Italy, or ' in Spain. The United Kingdom's equivalent are civil parishes, although some areas, particularly urban areas, are unparished. are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris, to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are ( or ), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ar Men
Ar Men ("the rock" in Breton) is a lighthouse at one end of the Chaussée de l'Île de Sein, at the west end of Brittany. It shares its name with the rock on which it was erected between 1867 and 1881. It is a listed monument since 2017. Ar Men is one of the best known lighthouses because of its isolated situation and the considerable difficulties its construction has presented, and the danger in evacuating its personnel. Considered one of the most challenging workplaces by the community of lighthouse keepers, it has been named "The Hell of Hells" because of the severe conditions and exposure to the Atlantic. History In 1825, the need for a light built on one of the reefs of the Chaussee de Sein was already recognized, but it was thought impracticable to build. A commission was appointed in 1860 to look at the possibility of building a light, and after six years reported that a lighthouse should be constructed on the Ar Men. Despite the estimated of rock being uncovered at low ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Rigaud
Jean Rigaud (15 June 1912 – 7 February 1999) was a well-listed French painter, closely associated to the French Navy. Early life He was born on 15 June 1912 in Bordeaux, France to the well-known painter, Pierre Gaston Rigaud (1874–1939). The Rigaud family moved to the village of Guyenne in 1914, shortly after World War I began. It was during this time that Jean Rigaud received his first formal training under his father, Pierre Gaston, who was also a well-respected teacher. During this time, Jean was encouraged to develop his own style and talents, which utilized "pure color tones (ochres, yellows and red cadmium) which toodout triumphantly against grey skies." In 1925 Jean Rigaud was invited to exhibit his works at the ''Salon d'Art Ancien Espagnol'' in Paris, where he became a regular. Jean also continued his formal education at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the ''Atelier André Dewambez''. While at the ''Atelier'', Jean Rigaud began to develop his unique im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Boitel
Maurice Boitel (July 31, 1919 – August 11, 2007) was a French painter. Artistic life Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" ("Young Picture") of the School of Paris,The School of Paris (1945–1965) by Lydia Harambourg. Dictionary of the painters. Collection Ides and Calendes with painters like Bernard Buffet, Yves Brayer, Jansem, Jean Carzou, Louis Vuillermoz, Pierre-Henry, Daniel du Janerand, Gaston Sébire, Paul Collomb, Jean Monneret, Jean Joyet and Gaëtan de Rosnay. A precocious vocation He was born in Tillières-sur-Avre, Eure ''département'', in Normandy, from a Picard lawyer father, a member of the Saint Francis third order, and from a Parisian mother, of Burgundian ancestry. Until the age of twelve Maurice Boitel lived in Burgundy at Gevrey-Chambertin. In this beautiful province his art reflected his major love of nature, and also the feeling of ''joie de vivre'' expressed in his works. He began drawing at the age of five. Fine arts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of The Liberation
The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). Very few people, military units and communes were ever awarded it; and only for their deeds during World War II. A different order, the ''Médaille de la Résistance'' ("Resistance Medal"), was created and awarded for lesser but still distinguished deeds by members of the Resistance. History The ''Order of Liberation'' was established by General de Gaulle in order n° 7, signed on 16 November 1940 in Brazzaville, the capital of ''France Libre'' from 1940 to 1943. The object of the Order was to "reward people, of the military or civilian communities, who will have distinguished themselves in the task of liberating France and her Empire". There were no restrictions as to age, sex, rank, origin or nationality; nor any regarding the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile in London in June 1940 after the Fall of France during World War II and fought the Axis as an Allied nation with its Free French Forces (). Free France also supported the resistance in Nazi-occupied France, known as the French Forces of the Interior, and gained strategic footholds in several French colonies in Africa. Following the defeat of the Third Republic by Nazi Germany, Marshal Philippe Pétain led efforts to negotiate an armistice and established a German puppet state known as Vichy France. Opposed to the idea of an armistice, de Gaulle fled to Britain, and from there broadcast the Appeal of 18 June () exhorting the French people to resist the Nazis and join the Free French Forces. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appeal Of June 18
The Appeal of 18 June (french: L'Appel du 18 juin) was the first speech made by Charles de Gaulle after his arrival in London in 1940 following the Battle of France. Broadcast to Vichy France by the radio services of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is often considered to have marked the beginning of the French Resistance in World War II. It is regarded as one of the most important speeches in French history. In spite of its significance in French collective memory, historians have shown that the appeal was heard only by a minority of French people. De Gaulle's 22 June 1940 speech was more widely heard. Context De Gaulle had recently been promoted to the rank of brigadier general and named as Under-Secretary of State for National Defence and War by Prime Minister Paul Reynaud during the German invasion of France. Reynaud resigned after his proposal for a Franco-British Union was rejected by his cabinet and Marshal Philippe Pétain, a hero of World War I, became the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General De Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 in order to restore democracy in France. In 1958, he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister of France, President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic after approval by 1958 French constitutional referendum, referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position to which he was 1965 French presidential election, reelected in 1965 and held until his resignation in 1969. Born in Lille, he graduated from École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, Saint-Cyr in 1912. He was a decorated officer of the World War I, First World War, wounded several times ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrecking (shipwreck)
Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered or run aground close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage. Wrecking is no longer economically significant. However, as recently as the 19th century in some parts of the world, it was the mainstay of otherwise economically marginal coastal communities. A traditional legendary trope is that of wreckers deliberately decoying ships on to coasts using tricks, especially false lights, so that they run ashore for easy plundering. While this has been depicted in many stories and legends, there is no clear evidence that this has ever happened. Luring ships to wreck with false lights There are legends that some ships were deliberately lured into danger by a display of false lights. John Viele, retired U.S. Navy officer and author of a history of wrecking in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less than one hundred pages of ordinary print, and is described by the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (1911) as "dry in style and deficient in method, but of pure Latinity, and occasionally relieved by pleasing word-pictures." Except for the geographical parts of Pliny's ''Historia naturalis'' (where Mela is cited as an important authority), the ''De situ orbis'' is the only formal treatise on the subject in Classical Latin. Biography Little is known of the author except his name and birthplace—the small town of Tingentera or Cingentera in southern Spain, on Algeciras Bay (Mela ii. 6, § 96; but the text is here corrupt). The date of his writing may be approximately fixed by his allusion (iii. 6 § 49) to a proposed British expedition of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menhirs
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top. They are widely distributed across Europe, Africa and Asia, but are most numerous in Western Europe; particularly in Ireland, Great Britain, and Brittany, where there are about 50,000 examples, and northwestern France, where there are some 1,200 further examples. Standing stones are usually difficult to date. They were constructed during many different periods across pre-history as part of the larger megalithic cultures in Europe and near areas. Some menhirs stand next to buildings that have an early or current religious significance. One example is the South Zeal Menhir in Devon, which formed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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