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Václav Jelínek
Václav Jelínek (23 August 1944 – 8 February 2022) was a Cold War era spy for Communist Czechoslovakia, who worked in London under the assumed identity of Erwin van Haarlem. Jelínek was born on 23 August 1944 in Modřany near Prague (now part of the city). The real Erwin van Haarlem was born on 22 August 1944, the son of Johanna van Haarlem, a woman of Dutch and Jewish ancestry who had been raped by Gregor Kulig, a Nazi soldier with whom she had been fraternising. Soon after Erwin's birth, by which time Kulig had already been killed in action, he was placed for adoption in Holešovice, Prague. He was later listed in the Netherlands as a missing person. After compulsory national service, Jelínek became a sergeant, working for the Ministry of the Interior. He was recruited by the Czechoslovak secret police, the ''Státní bezpečnost'' (StB). In 1967 Václav Jelínek was transferred from the V. Directorate (Protection of State and Government Officials) to the I. Directorat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationships with collectors and museums whose interests are likely to match the work of the represented artists. Some dealers are able to anticipate market trends, while some prominent dealers may be able to influence the taste of the market. Many dealers specialize in a particular style, period, or region. They often travel internationally, frequenting exhibitions, auctions, and artists' studios looking for good buys, little-known treasures, and exciting new works. When dealers buy works of art, they resell them either in their galleries or directly to collectors. Those who deal in contemporary art in particular usually exhibit artists' works in their own galleries. They will often take part in preparing the works of art to be revealed or proce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet Union, it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country by area, extending across Time in Russia, eleven time zones and sharing Geography of the Soviet Union#Borders and neighbors, borders with twelve countries, and the List of countries and dependencies by population, third-most populous country. An overall successor to the Russian Empire, it was nominally organized as a federal union of Republics of the Soviet Union, national republics, the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR. In practice, Government of the Soviet Union, its government and Economy of the Soviet Union, economy were Soviet-type economic planning, highly centralized. As a one-party state go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of with a mostly temperate Humid continental climate, continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec. The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became Kingdom of Bohemia, a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestantism, Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dissolution Of Czechoslovakia
The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the Self-determination, self-determined Partition (politics), partition of the federal republic of Fifth Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia into the independent countries of the Czech Republic (also known as Czechia) and Slovakia. Both mirrored the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic, which had been created in 1969 as the constituent states of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic until the end of 1989. It is sometimes known as the Velvet Divorce, a reference to the Nonviolent revolution, bloodless Velvet Revolution of 1989, which had led to the end of the rule of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Background Czechoslovakia was created with the dissolution of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I. In 1918, a meeting took place in the American city of Pittsburgh, at which the future Czechoslovak President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and other Czech and Slovak represent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia included students and older dissidents. The result was the end of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 41 years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia, and the subsequent dismantling of the command economy and conversion to a parliamentary republic. On 17 November 1989 (International Students' Day), riot police suppressed a Student activism, student demonstration in Prague. The event marked the 50th anniversary of a violently suppressed demonstration against the Nazi storming of Prague University in 1939 where 1,200 students were arrested and 9 killed (see International Students' Day#Origin, Origin of International Students' Day). The 1989 event sparked a series of demonstrations from 17 November to late December and turned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HM Prison Parkhurst
HM Prison Parkhurst is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B men's prison located in Parkhurst, Isle of Wight, Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, and is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Parkhurst prison is one of two former separate prisons that today make up Isle of Wight (HM Prison), HMP Isle of Wight, the other being HM Prison Albany, Albany. History Parkhurst as an institution began in 1778, originally serving as a military hospital and children's asylum. By 1838, it had transformed into a prison for children. 123 Parkhurst apprentices were sent to the Colony of New Zealand in 1842 and 1843, and nearly 1500 boys between the ages of 12 and 18 were sent to various colonies in Australia and New Zealand. The Swan River Colony (Western Australia) received 234 apprentices between 1842 and 1849, then Convict era of Western Australia, chose to accept adult convicts as well. Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Tasmania also received "Parkhurst Boys", who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stella Rimington
Dame Stella Rimington (born 13 May 1935) is a British author and former Director General of MI5, a position she held from 1992 to 1996. She was the first female DG of MI5, and the first DG whose name was publicised on appointment. In 1993, Rimington became the first DG of MI5 to pose openly for cameras at the launch of a brochure outlining the organisation's activities. Early life Rimington was born Stella Whitehouse in South London, England; her family moved from South Norwood to Essex in 1939, due to the danger of living in London during World War II. Her father got a job as chief draughtsman at a steel works in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, and the family moved there. She described living through the Barrow Blitz as a small child, and becoming claustrophobic into adulthood, needing an exit route from any situation. She was educated at Croslands Convent School after spending some time in Wallasey. When her father got a job in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, the family moved to the Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The street outside follows the route of London Wall, the ancient wall around the City of London, which was part of the fortification's Bailey (castle), bailey, hence the metonymic name. The court has been housed in a succession of buildings on the street since the sixteenth century, when it was attached to the medieval Newgate Prison. The current main building block was completed in 1902, designed by Edward William Mountford; its monumental architecture is recognised and protected as a Grade II* listed building. An extension, South Block, was constructed in 1972, over the former site of Newgate Prison which had been demolished in 1904. The Crown Court sitting in the Old Bailey hears major English criminal law, criminal cases from within Greate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''espionage agent'' or ''spy''. A person who commits espionage as a fully employed officer of a government is called an intelligence officer. Any individual or spy ring (a cooperating group of spies), in the service of a government, company, criminal organization, or independent operation, can commit espionage. The practice is clandestine, as it is by definition unwelcome. In some circumstances, it may be a legal tool of law enforcement and in others, it may be illegal and punishable by law. Espionage is often part of an institutional effort by a government or commercial concern. However, the term tends to be associated with state spying on potential or actual enemies for military purposes. Spying involving corporations is known as c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationships with collectors and museums whose interests are likely to match the work of the represented artists. Some dealers are able to anticipate market trends, while some prominent dealers may be able to influence the taste of the market. Many dealers specialize in a particular style, period, or region. They often travel internationally, frequenting exhibitions, auctions, and artists' studios looking for good buys, little-known treasures, and exciting new works. When dealers buy works of art, they resell them either in their galleries or directly to collectors. Those who deal in contemporary art in particular usually exhibit artists' works in their own galleries. They will often take part in preparing the works of art to be revealed or proce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friern Barnet
Friern Barnet () is a suburban area within the London Borough of Barnet, north of Charing Cross. Its centre is formed by the busy intersection of Colney Hatch Lane (running north and south), Woodhouse Road (taking westbound traffic towards North Finchley) and Friern Barnet Road (leading east towards New Southgate). History Friern Barnet was an ancient parish in the Finsbury division of Ossulstone hundred, in the county of Middlesex. The area was originally considered to be part of Barnet, most of which was in Hertfordshire. By the 13th century the Middlesex section of Barnet was known as Little Barnet, before becoming Frerenbarnet and then Friern Barnet (sometimes spelt in other ways, such as "Fryern Barnett"). The "Friern" part of the parish's name derives from the French for "brother" and refers to the medieval lordship of the Brotherhood or Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. Friern Barnet was mainly rural until the 19th century. The opening of Colney ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
