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The Gadfly
''The Gadfly'' is a novel by Irish-born British writer Ethel Voynich, published in 1897 (United States, June; Great Britain, September of the same year), set in 1840s Italy under the dominance of Austria, a time of tumultuous revolt and uprisings. The story centres on the life of the protagonist, Arthur Burton. A thread of a tragic relationship between Arthur and his love, Gemma, simultaneously runs through the story. It is a tale of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism. Themes The book, set during the Italian ''Risorgimento'', is primarily concerned with the culture of revolution and revolutionaries. Arthur, the eponymous Gadfly, embodies the tragic Romantic hero, who comes of age and returns from abandonment to discover his true state in the world and fight against the injustices of the current one. The landscape of Italy, in particular the Alps, is a pervading focus of the book, with its often lush descriptions of scenery conveying the thoughts and mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Voynich
Ethel Lilian Voynich, ''née'' Boole (11 May 1864 – 27 July 1960) was an Irish-born British novelist and musician, and a supporter of several revolutionary causes. She was born in Cork, but grew up in Lancashire, England. Voynich was a significant figure, not only on the late Victorian literary scene, but also in Russian émigré circles. She is best known for her novel ''The Gadfly'', which became hugely popular in her lifetime, especially in Russia. Biography Ethel Lilian Boole was born on 11 May 1864, at Lichfield Cottage, Blackrock, Ballintemple, Cork, the youngest daughter of English parents, mathematician George Boole (father of Boolean logic), and mathematician and educationalist Mary Everest, who was the niece of George Everest and a writer for ''Crank'', an early-20th-century periodical. Her father died six months after she was born. Her mother returned to her native England with her daughters, and was able to live off a small government pension until she was appoint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. Definition The term—both as a noun and adjective—is usually applied to the field of politics, but is also occasionally used in the context of science, invention or art. In politics, a revolutionary is someone who supports abrupt, rapid, and drastic change, usually replacing the status quo, while a reformist is someone who supports more gradual and incremental change, often working within the system. In that sense, revolutionaries may be considered radical, while reformists are moderate by comparison. Moments which seem revolutionary on the surface may end up reinforcing established institutions. Likewise, evidently small changes may lead to revolutionary consequences in the long term. Thus the clarity of the distinction between revolu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aleksandr Faintsimmer
Aleksandr Mikhailovich Faintsimmer (Feinzimmer, russian: Александр Михайлович Файнциммер; 31 December 1906 – 21 March 1982) was a Soviet film director. He has been cited as a filmmaker on the forefront of Russian language social thriller. His son Leonid Kvinikhidze was also a film director. Filmography * '' The Czar Wants to Sleep'' (''Poruchik Kizhe'') (1934), better known as ''Lieutenant Kijé''. Sergei Prokofiev wrote a famous instrumental piece, ''Lieutenant Kijé'', as its main theme. * '' Men of the Sea'' (''Baltiytsy'') (1938) * ''Tanker "Derbent"'' (1941) * '' Kotovsky'' (1942) * ''Naval Battalion'' (1944) * ''For Those Who Are at Sea'' (1947) * ''A Girl with a Guitar'' (1948) * ''They Have a Motherland'' (1949) * ''Konstantin Zaslonov'' (1949) * ''Aušra prie Nemuno'' (1953) * ''The Gadfly'' (1955) * ''A Girl with Guitar'' (1958) * ''Far in the West'' (1968) * ''50 to 50'' (1972) * ''Without the Right to Mistake'' (1974) * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gadfly (opera)
''The Gadfly'' (russian: Овод) is a 1958 Russian-language opera by the Soviet composer of Italian descent Antonio Spadavecchia based on the novel ''The Gadfly''. An earlier opera based on the book, also called ''The Gadfly'', had been composed by Mikhail Zhukov (conductor), Mikhail Zhukov in 1928. It is set in Italy in 1834–48, one of the few Russian revolutionary operas to take a plot overseas, another being Kirill Molchanov's 1960 opera ''Del Corno Street'' following Vasco Pratolini's anti-fascist story set in Mussolini's Italy.Anglo-Soviet journal – Volumes 23 – 25 – Page 43 Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR (Great Britain) – 1962 "A special edition of The Gadfly appeared in 150,000 copies (in Russian), and an edition in English in October, 1964 ... was with her parents when they came to the novelist's flat in 1955, and the composer Spadavecchia, author of the opera." References Russian-language operas 1958 operas Operas based on novels Operas Op ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhail Zhukov (conductor)
Mikhail Nikolayevich Zhukov (; 14 January 1901, Moscow – 8 November 1960, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian conductor and composer. Zhukov graduated 1918 from the National Choral Academy in Moscow. In 1919-22 he was first concert master, then 1922-32 conductor at the Stanislavski Opera Studio. From 1932-35 conductor at the Leningrad Opera) and then again 1935-38 conductor at the Stanislavsky Opera Studio, and having obtained a diploma in the first all-Soviet conductor's competition in Moscow in 1938, 1939-41 chief conductor there. From 1944-46 he was conductor of Moscow Theatre of Operetta. From 1946-1949 he was conductor of the Latvian Opera and Ballet in Riga with Leonid Vigners. Then from 1951 till his death conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre. Zhukov is particularly noted for his association with Sergei Prokofiev, having conducted the premiere (1940) and first recording (1960) of '' Semyon Kotko''. Awards * Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1941) * Order of the Red Banner of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Empire. The civil war was waged between the Provisional Government of Ireland (1922), Provisional Government of Ireland and the Irish Republican Army (1922–1969), Irish Republican Army (IRA) over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The Provisional Government (which became the Free State in December 1922) supported the terms of the treaty, while the Anglo-Irish Treaty#Dáil debates, anti-treaty opposition saw it as a betrayal of the Irish Republic which had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising of 1916. Many of those who fought on both sides in the conflict had been members of the IRA during the War of Independence. The Civil War was won by the pro-treaty Free State forces, who benefited from substantial quantities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison ( ga, Príosún Mhuinseo), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed ''The Joy'', is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Edward Mullins. History Mountjoy was designed by Captain Joshua Jebb of the Royal Engineers and opened in 1850. It was based on the design of London's Pentonville Prison also designed by Jebb. Originally intended as the first stop for men sentenced to transportation, they would spend a period in separate confinement before being transferred to Spike Island and transported from there to Van Diemen's Land. A total of 46 prisoners (including one woman, Annie Walsh) were executed within the walls of the prison, prior to the abolition of capital punishment. Executions were carried out by hanging and firing squads, after which the bodies of the dead were taken down from the gallows and buried within the prison grounds in unmarked graves. The list of Irish republican p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The development of nationalist and democratic sentiment throughout Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, distilled into the contemporary ideology known as republican radicalism, was reflected in Ireland in the emergence of republicanism, in opposition to British rule. Discrimination against Catholics and Protestant nonconformists, attempts by the British administration to suppress Irish culture, and the belief that Ireland was economically disadvantaged as a result of the Acts of Union were among the specific factors leading to such opposition. The Society of United Irishmen, formed in 1791 and led primarily by liberal Protestants, launched the 1798 Rebellion with the help of troops sent by Revolutionary France, but the uprising f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peadar O'Donnell
Peadar O'Donnell ( ga, Peadar Ó Domhnaill; 22 February 1893 – 13 May 1986) was one of the foremost radicals of 20th-century Ireland. O'Donnell became prominent as an Irish republican, socialist activist, politician and writer. Early life Peadar O'Donnell was born into an Irish-speaking family in Meenmore, near An Clochán Liath, County Donegal in northwest Ireland in 1893. He was the fifth son of James O'Donnell, a kiln worker, migrant labourer, and musician, and Brigid Rodgers. His uncle Peter was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World in Butte, Montana, whom Peadar met on trips home to Ireland. He attended St Patrick's College, Dublin, where he trained as a teacher. He taught on Arranmore Island off the west coast of Donegal. Here he was introduced to socialism, organizing for the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) in 1918 before spending time in Scotland. Irish War of Independence By 1919, he was a leading organiser for the ITGWU. He attempted i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sino-Soviet Split
The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Leninism, as influenced by their respective geopolitics during the Cold War of 1947–1991. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Sino-Soviet debates about the interpretation of orthodox Marxism became specific disputes about the Soviet Union's policies of national de-Stalinization and international peaceful coexistence with the Western Bloc, which Chinese founding father Mao Zedong decried as revisionism. Against that ideological background, China took a belligerent stance towards the Western world, and publicly rejected the Soviet Union's policy of peaceful coexistence between the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc. In addition, Beijing resented the Soviet Union's growing ties with India due to factors such as the Sino-Indian border dispute, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Séamus Ó Coigligh
() is an Irish and Scottish male given name, of Hebrew origin via Latin. It is the Irish equivalent of the name James. The name James is the English New Testament variant for the Hebrew name Jacob. It entered the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages from the French variation of the late Latin name for Jacob, ; a dialect variant of , from the New Testament Greek (), and ultimately from Hebrew word (), i.e. Jacob. Its meaning in Hebrew is "one who supplants" or more literally "one who grabs at the heel". When the Hebrew patriarch Jacob was born, he was grasping his twin brother Esau's heel. Other variant spellings in Irish include , and Seumus. It has also been anglicised as ''Shaymus'', Seamus, Seamas, ''Sheamus'' and ''Shamus''. Diminutives include ', ' and '. In the United States, the word "Shamus" was a derogatory slang misspelling of Séamus that arose during the 19th century as more than 4.5 million Irish immigrated to America, peaking at almost two million b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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