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Simon Leys
Pierre Ryckmans (28 September 1935 – 11 August 2014), better known by his pen name Simon Leys, was a Belgian-Australian writer, essayist and literary critic, translator, art historian, sinologist, and university professor, who lived in Australia from 1970. His work particularly focused on the politics and traditional culture of China, calligraphy, French and English literature, the commercialization of universities, and nautical fiction. Through the publication of his trilogy ''Les Habits neufs du président Mao'' (1971), ''Ombres chinoises'' (1974) and ''Images brisées'' (1976), he was one of the first intellectuals to denounce the Cultural Revolution in China and the idolizing of Mao in the West.Ian Buruma"The Man Who Got It Right" ''The New York Review of Books'', 15 August 2013; also: Ian Buruma"The Man Who Got It Right" chinafile.com. Retrieved 26 September 2020. Biography Pierre Ryckmans was born at Uccle, an upper-middle-class district of Brussels, to a prominent Belgi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest), is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region (within which it forms an enclave) and the Walloon Region. Brussels is the most densely populated region in Belgium, and although it has the highest GDP per capita, it has the lowest available income per household. The Brussels Region covers , a relatively small area compared to the two other regions, and has a population of over 1.2 million. The five times larger metropolitan area of Brusse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uccle
Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city and is particularly noted for its community of French immigrants. History According to legend, Uccle's church of St. Peter was dedicated by Pope Leo III in the year 803, with Charlemagne and Gerbald, Bishop of Liège, attending the ceremony. During the following centuries, several noble families built their manors and took residency there. The first mention of the name ''Woluesdal'', now evolved into ''Wolvendael'', dates from 1209. In 1467, Isabella of Portugal, wife of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, founded a Franciscan convent on Uccle's territory. Later, Uccle became the judiciary capital of the area including Brussels. Throughout the early stages of its history, however, the village of Uccle always had a predominantly rural chara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
People's Republic Of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dyna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Mao Zedong and helped the Chinese Communist Party, Communist Party rise to power, later helping consolidate its control, form its Foreign policy of China, foreign policy, and develop the Economy of China, Chinese economy. As a diplomat, Zhou served as the Chinese Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, foreign minister from 1949 to 1958. Advocating peaceful coexistence with Western Bloc, the West after the Korean War, he participated in the Geneva Conference (1954), 1954 Geneva Conference and the 1955 Bandung Conference, and helped orchestrate 1972 Nixon visit to China, Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China. He helped devise policies regarding disputes with the United States, Taiwan, the So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Braine-l'Alleud
Braine-l'Alleud (; nl, Eigenbrakel ; wa, Brinne-l'-Alou) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, about south of Brussels. The municipality consists of the following districts: Braine-l'Alleud (including the hamlet of Sart-Moulin), Lillois-Witterzée, and Ophain-Bois-Seigneur-Isaac. Bordering Flanders, the town is home to a minority of Dutch speakers. The famous Lion of Waterloo, where the eponymous battle took place, is in the territory of Braine-l'Alleud. History Middle Ages Several archaeological finds point to prehistoric settlements in this area. The first historical mention of a parish on Braine-l'Alleud's current territory, then called ''Dudinsart'', dates from 1131, date at which Godfrey I, Duke of Brabant ceded it to the Abbey of Gembloux. The Duke, however, still owned exempt land (or franchise) on this territory, as specified in a legal document by Henry I dated 1197. The name of the municipality changed to the curren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Servite Order
The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothers), contemplative nuns, a congregation of active religious sisters, and lay groups. The Order's objectives are the sanctification of its members, the preaching of the Gospel, and the propagation of devotion to the Mother of God, with special reference to her sorrows. The Servites friars lead a community life in the tradition of the mendicant orders. History Foundation The Order was founded in 1233 by "the seven holy founders", each a member of a patrician family of Florence, Italy. These cloth merchants left their city, families, and professions and withdrew to Monte Senario, a mountain outside the city of Florence, for a life of poverty and penance. The seven were: Bonfilius of Florence, born Bonfilius Monaldi (Buonfiglio dei Mona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Mertens
Pierre Mertens (born 9 October 1939) is a Belgian French-speaking writer and lawyer who specializes in international law, director of the Centre de sociologie de la littérature at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and literary critic with the newspaper ''Le Soir''. Influenced by Franz Kafka, Mertens started to publish novels and short stories in 1969 and received the Prix Médicis in 1987 for ''Les éblouissements''. He nevertheless continued his activities as a lawyer, participating in many battles for human rights. In 1989, he entered the Académie royale de langue et littérature de Belgique, and was also named ''Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' by France. Mertens has reflected much on the social function of the writer. For him, private life, fiction, and history are inseparable. Thus he grants a central place to the memory in the creation of his works. To him the novelist finds his inspiration in their personal and the historical past. Mertens is particula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Libre Belgique
''La Libre Belgique'' (; literally ''The Free Belgium''), currently sold under the name ''La Libre'', is a major daily newspaper in Belgium. Together with ''Le Soir'', it is one of the country's major French language newspapers and is popular in Brussels and Wallonia. ''La Libre'' was founded in 1884 and has historically had a centre-right Christian Democratic political stance. The papers is particularly celebrated for its role as an underground newspaper during World War I and World War II when Belgium was occupied. Since 1999, the newspaper has become increasingly liberal but is still considered more conservative than ''Le Soir''. History The modern ''La Libre'' traces its origins to the ''Le Patriote'' newspaper, founded by Victor and Louis Jourdain in 1884. Politically, the newspaper supported the dominant centre-right Catholic Party. After the German invasion of Belgium in World War I, ''Le Patriote'' was banned by the German occupation authorities. In February 1915, ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philippe Paquet (journaliste, Sinologue)
Philippe Paquet is a former champion jockey from France, who in 1974 was the winner of the Prix du Jockey Club on Caracolero, and the Gran Premio d'Italia on Ribecourt. In 1976, he also won the Irish Derby on Malacate, and the Irish Oaks on Lagunette. In 1979 and 1980, he won back to back on Boiteon in Prix Maurice de Gheest. In 1981, he won his final Group one on April Run in Prix Vermeille before finishing a close third in the Arc. He was the stable jockey of famous French trainer François Boutin for nine years. He joined Boutin straight from school as a 14yr-old apprentice in 1966, via the local employment exchange. He was on board Nonoalco when the colt made a winning debut in the Prix Yacowlef at Deauville in 1973, breaking the course record in the process and having been made stable jockey to Boutin that season, although Piggott and Saint-Martin were still used when available. In 1980, he finished the 2,000 Guineas in first place on the Boutin-trained Nureyev, but was late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Université Catholique De Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve, which was expressly built to house the university, and Brussels, Charleroi, Mons, Tournai and Namur. Since September 2018, the university has used the branding UCLouvain, replacing the acronym UCL, following a merger with Saint-Louis University, Brussels. The original University of Louvain (''Universitas Lovaniensis'') was founded at the centre of the historic town of Leuven (or ''Louvain'') in 1425, and abolished by the law in 1797 making it the first university in Belgium and the Low Countries. This university was the centre of Baianism, Jansenism and Febronianism in Europe. A new university, the State University of Louvain, was founded in 1817 and abolished by the law in 1835. A new catholic universit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of the Belgians attempted to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion around the then-largely unexploited Congo Basin. Their ambivalence resulted in Leopold's establishing a colony himself. With support from a number of Western countries, Leopold achieved international recognition of the Congo Free State in 1885. By the turn of the century, the violence used by Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and a ruthless system of economic exploitation led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country, which it did by creating the Belgian Congo in 1908. Belgian rule in the Congo was based on the "colonial tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Ryckmans (governor-general)
Pierre Ryckmans (23 November 1891 – 18 February 1959), was a Belgian civil servant who served as Governor-General of Belgium's principal African colony, the Belgian Congo, between 1934 and 1946. Ryckmans began his career in the colonial service in 1915 and also spent time in the Belgian mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. His term as Governor-General of the Belgian Congo coincided with World War II in which he was instrumental in bringing the colony into the war on the Allied side after Belgium's defeat in May 1940. He was also a prolific writer on colonial affairs. He was posthumously created a peer of the realm in the Belgian nobility with the rank of count in 1962. Biography Early life Ryckmans was born in Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium, as the sixth child of Alphonse Ryckmans and Clémence Van Ryn. The Ryckmans family originally came from Mechelen where his ancestors were lawyers for two generations. His father Alphonse was a prominent member of the Catholic Party, a senator in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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