Culture
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco[a] OMRI (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian novelist, literary critic, philosopher, semiotician, and university professor. He is widely known for his 1980 novel Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose), a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies, and literary theory. He later wrote other novels, including Il pendolo di Foucault (Foucault’s Pendulum) and L’isola del giorno prima (The Island of the Day Before). His novel Il cimitero di Praga (The Prague Cemetery), released in 2010, topped the bestseller charts in Italy.[2]
Eco also wrote academic texts, children’s books, and essays, and edited and translated into Italian books from French, such as Raymond Queneau’s “Exercises in Style” (1983). He was the founder of the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Republic of San Marino,[3] president of the Graduate School for the Study of the Humanities at the University of Bologna,[4] member of the Accademia dei Lincei, and an honorary fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford.[5]
Eco was honoured with the Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement in 2005 along with Roger Angell.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-uponAvon, in England. His father, John, was a glove-maker. His mother, Mary, was a farmer’s daughter. He had two older
sisters, two younger sisters and three younger brothers.
William probably studied Latin, Greek and history, and left school when he was 14 or 15. Three years later he married Anne Hathaway. They had a daughter called Susanna and twins named Judith and Hamnet. Sometime before 1590 he left Stratford and went to London, the capital city of England.
London’s first theatre opened in 1576. Shakespeare worked in London as an actor and
then started writing plays too. In 1593 the plague, a terrible disease, killed thousands
of people and theatres were closed. During this time William started to write poems
instead of plays. His short poems are called sonnets.
Shakespeare helped build a new theatre called The Globe. It opened in 1599. It was
round and had space for 3,000 people. At The Globe some people stood in front of the
stage and others had seats. The audience shouted, clapped, booed and laughed while
they watched plays. Musicians created special noises to make the plays more exciting
and they had a cannon to make big bangs! No women acted in Shakespeare’s time:
men and boys played all the parts.
Shakespeare wrote comedies with happy endings, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
He wrote tragedies which had sad endings, like Romeo and Juliet. His history plays are
about kings and queens, like Henry V. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, maybe more. He
loved language and invented new words and expressions that we still use today.
William became rich and famous. He had houses in London and in Stratford. He died
when he was 52 on 23 April 1616. His plays and poetry were very popular 400 years
ago and they are still popular today. People all over the world love his work because
he wrote wonderful stories about very interesting people.
The Story of Hans Christian Andersen
Andersen was Danish. He was born in Odense, Denmark, almost 200 years ago on April 2, 1805. In fact, the year 2005 marked his 200th birthday!
His father was a shoemaker, and his mother was a washerwoman for rich people in large homes. In his stories you will find many themes of the differences between the poor and the rich. You will also find the occasional shoemaker.
Even as a child he always loved the arts, and he left home at age 14 to make his fortune. He was an artist, a singer and an actor, but he was not a success at first. He grew even poorer and almost died of hunger. He received some money and could afford to continue his education thanks to the help of a patron of the arts, the director of the Royal Theatre. He went to university in the capital city of Copenhagen and began writing.
Andersen was first known as a poet, and his poetry won him many patrons and paid his way to travel throughout Europe.
His first book of fairy tales was published in 1835. The book was a success, and he followed it with many other volumes of children’s stories, almost one a year, right up until 1872! Because of his wonderful fairy tales, Andersen became known as the greatest writer in Denmark, and one of the most beloved children’s authors in the world. In his lifetime, he wrote more than one hundred and fifty fairy tales, and his stories have been translated into over 100 languages!
One of the highest prizes in children’s literature is the Hans Christian Andersen Award, presented to only one author and one illustrator every two years. It is presided over by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Hans Christian Andersen was tall and skinny with a big nose he always thought that he was very ugly. His stories show compassion for those who are outcast and suffering. They also make fun of the spoiled and conceited.
His stories teach us that appearances can be deceiving, and that there is a magical beauty even within the most unlikely characters. Hans Christian Andersen born April 2, 1805 – died August 4, 1875
Hans Christian Andersen
born April 2, 1805 – died August 4, 1875
John Lennon and Τhe Beatles
John Winston Ono Lennon
is one of the most famous musical artists ever. He shot to fame as one of The Beatles. He co-wrote most of the band’s songs, the majority of which are now rock classics. He also helped shape the social revolution of the 1960s. His solo career further elevated him as a music legend. Lennon also achieved fame as a peace activist.
Lennon was born in Liverpool in 1940. He was brought up by an aunt, who bought him a harmonica and taught him how to play the banjo. Lennon’s mother played him Elvis Presley records and he fell in love with Rock and Roll. He told his mother and aunt he would be a famous singer one day.
Lennon met Paul McCartney in 1957 at a church hall concert.
- They became friends and began writing songs together.
- They formed a band called The Beatles.
- They became popular playing live at local clubs in Liverpool and Germany.
Then they became the most successful and influential act in music history. Lennon famously said The Beatles were more popular than Jesus.
Lennon left The Beatles in 1970. That same year he released the ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ album, which he recorded with his Japanese wife Yoko Ono. His album ‘Imagine’ followed in 1971. The title song became an anthem for anti-war movements. More classic albums followed. On 8th December 1980, Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York apartment by a deranged fan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon).
Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.
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