Biography.

Early life: 1866–86.

Hornung was born Ernest William Hornung on 7 June 1866 at Cleveland Villas, Marton, Middlesbrough; he was nicknamed Willie from an early age. He was the third son, and youngest of eight children, of John Peter Hornung (1821–86) and his wife Harriet Armstrong (1824–96). John was christened Johan Petrus Hornung in the Transylvania region of Hungary and, after working in Hamburg for a shipping firm, had moved to Britain in the 1840s as a coal and iron merchant. John married Harriet in March 1848, by which time he had anglicised his name. At the age of 13 Hornung joined St Ninian's Preparatory School in Moffat, Dumfriesshire, before enrolling at Uppingham School in 1880. Hornung was well liked at school, and developed a lifelong love of cricket despite limited skills at the game, which were further worsened by bad eyesight, asthma and, according to his biographer Peter Rowland, a permanent state of generally poor health.  When Hornung was 17 his health worsened; he left Uppingham and travelled to Australia, where it was hoped by his family that the climate would be beneficial. On his arrival he was employed as a tutor to the Parsons family in Mossgiel in the Riverina, south-western New South Wales. In addition to teaching, he spent time working in remote sheep stations in the outback and contributing material to the weekly magazine "The Bulletin"; he also began writing what was to become his first novel. Although he spent only two years in Australia, the experience was "the making of him and... the making of his career as a writer", according to Rowland. Another biographer, Mark Valentine, wrote that Hornung "seems to have regarded this period as one of the most satisfying of his life".

Return to England: 1886–98.

Hornung returned to England in February 1886, before the death of his father in November. From a position of relative prosperity, John's coal and iron business had encountered difficulties and he was in financially straitened circumstances by the time of his death. Hornung found work in London as a journalist and story writer, often publishing his work under a pseudonym, although in 1887 he published his first story under his own name, "Stroke of Five", which appeared in "Belgravia" magazine. His work as a journalist was during the period of Jack the Ripper and the series of five murders, which were undertaken against a background of rising urban crime in London; it was around this time that Hornung developed an interest in criminal behaviour.  Hornung had worked on the novel manuscript he brought back from Australia and, between July and November 1890, the story, "A Bride from the Bush", was published in five parts in "The Cornhill Magazine". It was also released that year as a book—his first. The story—described by Rowland as an "assured, graceful comedy of manners"—used Hornung's knowledge of Australia as a backdrop, and the device of an Australian bride to examine British social behaviour; the novel was well received by critics. In 1891 Hornung became a member of two cricket clubs: the Idlers, whose members included Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Barr and Jerome K. Jerome, and the Strand club.  Hornung knew Doyle's sister, Constance ("Connie") Aimée Monica Doyle (1868–1924), whom he had met when he visited Portugal. Connie was described by Doyle's biographer, Andrew Lycett, as being attractive, "with pre-Raphaelite looks... the most sought-after of the Doyle daughters". By December 1892, when Hornung, Doyle and Jerome visited the Black Museum at Scotland Yard, Hornung and Connie were engaged, and in 1893 Hornung dedicated his second novel, "Tiny Luttrell", "to C.A.M.D." They were married on 27 September 1893, although Doyle was not at the wedding and relations between the two writers were sometimes strained. The Hornungs had a son, Arthur Oscar, in 1895; while his first name was from Doyle, who was also Arthur's godfather, the boy's middle name was probably after Doyle and Hornung's mutual friend Oscar Wilde and it was by his second name that he was known. In 1894 Doyle and Hornung began work on a play for Henry Irving, on the subject of boxing during the Regency; Doyle was initially eager and paid Hornung £50 as a down payment before he withdrew after the first act had been written: the work was never completed.  Like Hornung's first novel, "Tiny Luttrell" had Australia as a backdrop and also used the plot device of an Australian woman in a culturally alien environment. The Australian theme was present in his next four novels: "The Boss of Taroomba" (1894), "The Unbidden Guest" (1894), "Irralie's Bushranger" (1896) and "The Rogue's March" (1896). In the last of these Hornung wrote of the Australian convict transport system, and showed evidence of a "growing fascination with the motivation behind criminal behaviour and a deliberate sympathy for the criminal hero as a victim of events", while "Irralie's Bushranger" introduced the character Stingaree, an Oxford-educated, Australian gentleman thief, in a novel that "casts doubt on conventional responses" to a positive criminal character, according to Hornung's biographer, Stephen Knight.

Introducing Raffles: 1898–1914.

In 1898 Hornung's mother died, aged 72 and he dedicated his next book, a series of short stories titled "Some Persons Unknown", to her memory. Later that year Hornung and his wife visited Italy for six months, staying in Posillipo; his account of the location appeared in an article of the May 1899 edition of "The Cornhill Magazine". The Hornungs returned to London in early 1899, to a house in Pitt Street, West Kensington, where they lived for the next six years.  The fictional character Stingaree proved to be a prototype of a character Hornung used in a series of six short stories published in 1898 in "Cassell's Magazine", A. J. Raffles. The character was modelled on George Cecil Ives, a Cambridge-educated criminologist and talented cricketer who, like Raffles, was a resident of the Albany, a gentlemen's only residence in Mayfair. The first tale of the series "In the Chains of Crime" was published in June that year, titled "The Ides of March". The stories were collected into one volume—with two additional tales—under the name "The Amateur Cracksman", which was published the following year. Hornung used a narrative form similar to Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, with Raffles and his partner-in-crime (and former school fag) Bunny Manders being the criminal counterparts to Holmes and Dr. Watson—although Rowland writes that Raffles and Manders "were also fictionalized versions of Wilde and Bosie" (Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas).—and he dedicated the stories to his brother-in-law: "To A.C.D. This form of flattery". Doyle had warned against writing the stories, and reflected in his memoirs that "there are few finer examples of short-story writing in our language than these, though I confess I think they are rather dangerous in their suggestion. I told him so before he put pen to paper, and the result has, I fear, borne me out. You must not make the criminal the hero". The book was a popular and financial success, although some critics also echoed Doyle's fears. The reviewer in "The Spectator" wrote that "stern moralists" would consider the book's premise "as a new, ingenious, artistic, but most reprehensible application of the crude principles involved in the old-fashioned hero-worship of Jack Sheppard and Dick Turpin". The book ends with Manders imprisoned and Raffles apparently dead, something that left "The Spectator" reviewer "expressing [their] satisfaction that this audaciously entertaining volume is not issued in a cheap form. It is emphatically a feat of virtuosity rather than a tribute to virtue." After publishing two novels, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" in 1899 and "Peccavi" in 1900, Hornung published a second collection of Raffles stories, "The Black Mask", in 1901. The nearly broke Manders is told to apply for the post of a nurse to an elderly invalid, who then reveals himself to be Raffles, who, as Manders describes, had "aged twenty years; he looked fifty at the very least. His hair was white; there was no trick about that; and his face was another white. The lines about the corners of the eyes and mouth were both many and deep". In the final story of the collection, "The Knees of the Gods", Raffles and Manders enlist in the army to fight in the Second Boer War; the story closes with Manders wounded and Raffles killed. The critics again complained about the criminal aspect; "The Spectator" declared "this sort of book presents crime in a form too entertaining and attractive to be moral", while the reviewer for "The Illustrated London News" thought that Hornung's "invention has obviously flagged... It is laughable, in a sense which the author never intended, to hear these burglars rant about the honour of Old England. It is a pity that the man who wrote "Peccavi" should stoop to this".  In 1903 Hornung collaborated with Eugène Presbrey to write a four-act play, "Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman", which was based on two previously published short stories, "Gentlemen and Players" and "The Return Match". The play was first performed at the Princess Theatre, New York, on 27 October 1903 with Kyrle Bellew as Raffles, and ran for 168 performances.  In 1905, after publishing four other books in the interim, Hornung brought back the character Stingaree, previously seen in "Irralie's Bushranger". Later that year he responded to public demand and produced a third series of short Raffles stories in "A Thief in the Night", in which Manders relates some of his and Raffles's earlier adventures. The reviewer for the "Boston Herald" thought that "the sentimental side of the story has never before been shown so dramatically and romantically", and described the book as "thrilling and exciting". Hornung's next book was published in 1909 and was the final Raffles story, the full-length novel "Mr. Justice Raffles"; the book was poorly received, with the reviewer for "The Observer" asking if "Hornung is perhaps a little tired of Raffles", and stating that "it has not the magic or the 'go' of the first "Raffles", and there is no good in pretending that it has". During the course of the year he collaborated with Charles Sansom to write a play "A Visit From Raffles", which was performed in November that year at the Brixton Empress Theatre, London.  Hornung turned away from Raffles thereafter, and in February 1911 published "The Camera Fiend", a thriller whose narrator is an asthmatic cricket enthusiast with an ironmaster father, much as Hornung was himself. The story concerned the attempts of a scientist to photograph the soul as it left the body. Hornung followed this up with "Fathers of Men" (1912) and "The Thousandth Woman" (1913) before "Witching Hill" (1913), a collection of eight short stories in which he introduced the characters Uvo Delavoye and the narrator Gillon, whom Rowland considers to be "reincarnations of Raffles and Bunny". Hornung's next work, "The Crime Doctor" (1914) marked the end of his fictional output.

First World War and aftermath.

Oscar Hornung left Eton College in 1914, intending to enter King's College, Cambridge, later that year. When Britain entered the war against Germany, he volunteered, and was commissioned into the Essex Regiment. He was killed at the Second Battle of Ypres on 6 July 1915, aged 20. Although heartbroken by the loss, Hornung was adamant that some good would come of it and he edited a privately issued collection of Oscar's letters home under the title "Trusty and Well Beloved", released in 1916. Around this time he joined an anti-aircraft unit. In either 1916 or 1917 he joined the YMCA and did volunteer work in England for soldiers on leave; in March 1917 he visited France, writing a poem about his experience afterwards—something he had been doing more frequently since Oscar's death—and a collection of his war poetry, "Ballad of Ensign Joy", was published later that year.  In July 1917 Hornung's poem, "Wooden Crosses", was published in "The Times", and in September, "Bond and Free" appeared. Towards the end of the year, he was accepted as a volunteer in a YMCA canteen and library "a short distance behind the Front Line". During his service in Arras, in February 1918 he borrowed a staff car from a friend and visited his son's grave near Ypres, before returning to the library in Arras. Hornung was concerned about support for pacifism among troops, and wrote to his wife about it. When she spoke to Doyle about the matter, rather than discussing it with Hornung he informed the military authorities. Hornung was angered by Doyle's action, and "told him there was no need for him to 'butt in' except for his own'satisfaction'." Relations between the two men were strained as a result. Hornung continued to work at the library until the German Spring Offensive in March overran the British positions and he was forced to retreat, firstly to Amiens and then, in April, back to England. He stayed in England until November 1918, when he again took up his YMCA duties, establishing a rest hut and library in Cologne. In 1919 Hornung's account of his time spent in France, "Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front", was published. Doyle later wrote of the book that "there are parts of it which are brilliant in their vivid portrayal", while Hornung's biographer, Alison Cox, described the book as "one of the best records of the war as experienced on the front lines". That year Hornung also published his third and final volume of poetry, "The Young Guard".

Death and legacy.

Hornung finished his work with the YMCA and returned to England probably in early 1919, according to Rowland. He worked on a new novel but was hampered by poor health. His wife's health was of even greater concern, so in February 1921 they took a holiday in the south of France to recuperate. He fell ill on the train with a chill that turned into influenza and pneumonia from which he died on 22 March 1921, aged 54. He was buried in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, in the south of France, in a grave adjacent to that of George Gissing. Doyle, returning from a spiritualist lecture tour of Australia, received the news in Paris and travelled south in time for the funeral.  When Hornung had still been courting Doyle's sister, Doyle wrote that "I like young Willie Hornung very much... he is one of the sweetest-natured and most delicate-minded men I ever knew". Honouring him after his death, Doyle wrote that he "was a Dr. [Samuel] Johnson without the learning but with a finer wit. No one could say a neater thing, and his writings, good as they are, never adequately represented the powers of the man, nor the quickness of his brain". His obituarist in "The Times" described him as "a man of large and generous nature, a delightful companion and conversationalist". Much of Hornung's work fell out of favour as time passed; Rowland observed that "all of Hornung's other works have been forgotten, with the possible exception of "Stingaree", but the cricketing Cracksman continues to enthral". The idea of a criminal as a positive character was one of Hornung's legacies, and "Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism" states that "critics have also interpreted Raffles as a prototype of the antihero in modern crime fiction". The academic Frank Wadleigh Chandler, describing Raffles's death, writes that "all his creator's attempts to portray him as a hero, rather than an anti-hero, deservedly fail." Valentine highlights one aspect of the stories was the mix of "devilry and daring" demonstrated by Raffles; in this respect he was a literary "forerunner of The Saint, James Bond and other insouciant types". The writer Colin Watson agrees, and called Hornung "a precursor of [Ian] Fleming".  The character continued in book form: the writer Philip Atkey, under the pseudonym Barry Perowne, obtained permission from the Hornung estate to continue the Raffles stories, and seven more novels followed between 1933 and 1940, with Raffles transformed from a gentleman thief to a tough adventurer. Perowne continued the series in 1950, and 14 of his stories were published in the 1974 volume "Raffles Revisited". Hornung's original stories have undergone a number of reprints, and when all the short stories were published in a single volume, Graham Greene considered it "a splendid idea". In 1975 Greene had written a play based on the Raffles stories, "The Return of A. J. Raffles", which premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company, with Denholm Elliott as Raffles.  There were several Raffles films made during Hornung's lifetime, Further films followed in the years after his death, including "Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman" (1925), with House Peters Sr.; "Raffles" (1930), featuring Ronald Colman; "The Return of Raffles" (1933), with George Barraud; and "Raffles" (1939), starring David Niven; the last of these was a Samuel Goldwyn Productions remake of their own 1930 film, which the academic Victor E. Neuburg called the "most memorable portrayal" of the character.  The BBC has dramatised some of Hornung's Raffles stories for radio, first in the 1940s and again from 1985 to 1993 in the radio series "Raffles". Nigel Havers narrated some of the stories on BBC radio in 1995. In 1977 Anthony Valentine played the thief, and Christopher Strauli his partner, in a Yorkshire Television series. A 2001 television film, "Gentleman Thief", adapted the stories for a contemporary audience, with Havers playing the lead.

Writing.

Style and technique.

Hornung's prose is widely admired for its lucid, simple style. Oliver Edwards, writing in "The Times", considered that "not the least attractive part of the Raffles books is the simple, plain, unaffected language in which each one of them is written". The obituarist in the same newspaper agrees, and thinks Hornung had "a power of good and clear description and a talent for mystery and surprise". Colin Watson also considers the point, and observes that in Hornung's writing, "superfluous description has been avoided and account of action is to the point", while Doyle admired his "sudden use of the right adjective and the right phrase", something the writer and journalist Jeremy Lewis sees as a "flamboyant, Kiplingesque taste for the vivid".  Critics have observed that Hornung's stories and novels are well-structured. George Orwell wrote that Hornung was "a very conscientious and on his level a very able writer. Anyone who cares for sheer efficiency must admire his work". Watson states that Hornung's "writing has pace. The stories, however ridiculous, carry the readers along briskly". According to Cox, "Hornung's work showed steady maturation" during his career, a point that Doyle also agreed with, although Edwards disagrees, and thinks "The Crime Doctor" to be one of Hornung's weaker books.  Hornung's approach to characters differed from other contemporary authors. Cox notes that Hornung "frequently chose to write from the perspective of the criminal", and while many of Hornung's novels contained criminal activity as a major element of the plot, the critic for "Contemporary Authors" states that the works do not "belong to the crime-fiction genre". Hornung's works included elements from more general fiction, "such as false identities, disguises, and disowned heiresses".

Major themes.

The academic Nick Rance identifies three categories of Raffles stories: "the rise of the New Woman", in which Raffles either escapes from romantic entanglements, or uses the infatuations of a woman in order to achieve his aims; "the rise of the plutocracy", in which Raffles steals from the nouveau riche as much as the upper classes; and those stories that seek "to reaffirm or re-establish a sense of middle-class identity". The last category is based on Raffles not being a member of "Society", only being accepted because of his cricketing ability and associated fame. From this point, Raffles's stealing from the rich is a "rearguard action on behalf of the puritan values" which was perceived as making up middle-class values, although Rance also states that those values are obscured because of the changing boundaries between the classes. Gariepy makes the same point, and considers that "Raffles's daring exploits and fantastic adventures symbolized the growing rebellion against Victorian sensibility at the turn of the century". Hornung kept abreast of scientific and medical developments, and was keen to incorporate them into his stories which, the critic for "Contemporary Authors" states, shows Hornung had "a streak of modernity and decided interest in new ideas". "The Camera Fiend" uses the modern technology of the camera as an instrument central to the plot, while the protagonist of "The Crime Doctor" uses psychology to identify criminals.  Throughout the Raffles stories patriotism runs as an intermittent theme—to such an extent that the writer William Vivian Butler describes him as a "super-patriot". In the course of the short story "A Jubilee Present" Raffles, celebrating Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, steals a gold cup from the British Museum and sends it to the queen, telling Manders that "we have been ruled over for sixty years by infinitely the finest monarch in the world". In "The Knees of the Gods", Raffles volunteers for service in the Second Boer War, changing his name and hair colour—he jokes to Manders that he is prepared to "dye for his country"—and he later confesses his true identity to his superiors in order to unmask a spy.  Some of Hornung's novels, including "The Shadow of the Rope", "No Hero" and "The Thousandth Woman", are notable for "portraying women in a rather modern, favorable light", according to the critic for "Contemporary Authors", showing concern for their unequal position in society. Cox identifies a theme of guilt running through a number of works. Among these is "Peccavi", in which a clergyman lives his life trying to atone for an earlier crime; "Shadow of the Rope", in which a woman is accused of her husband's murder; and "The Thousandth Woman", in which a woman stands by her lover after he is accused of murder.  Although Hornung's Australian experience was brief, it influenced most of his literary work from "A Bride from the Bush" published in 1899, to "Old Offenders and a Few Old Scores", which was published after his death. According to Chandler, "nearly two-thirds of [Hornung's] books refer in varying degrees to Australian incidents and experiences", with "even Raffles" starting his criminal career in Australia. Some of Horning's works—such as "A Bride from the Bush"—were praised for their accuracy of detail in depicting the Australian environment, although the detail could overwhelm the storyline, as in "The Rogue's March".  Cricket was one of Hornung's lifelong passions, and he was delighted to become a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1907. The sport also permeated his stories, with Raffles playing for the Gentlemen of England. Rance observes that Raffles compares law-breaking and cricket: "crime is reckoned as another and better sport".  Raffles does on occasion disparage his game, commenting to Manders in "Gentlemen and Players", "where's the satisfaction of taking a man's wicket when you want his spoons?" Valentine also considers the point, and sees Raffles's cricket as a front for his criminal activities, citing Raffles's praise for cricket for "the glorious protection it affords a person of my proclivities".  Watson examines Raffles's actions within the broader context of sportsmanship, with Raffles acting within his own moral code "of what is 'done' and 'not done'." Orwell, in his essay "Raffles and Miss Blandish", observes that when Raffles feels remorse, it "is almost purely social; he has disgraced 'the old school', he has lost his right to enter 'decent society', he has forfeited his amateur status and become a cad".

Ernest William Hornung (7 June 1866 – 22 March 1921) was an English author and poet known for writing the A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-century London. Hornung was educated at Uppingham School; as a result of poor health he left the school in December 1883 to travel to Sydney, where he stayed for two years. He drew on his Australian experiences as a background when he began writing, initially short stories and later novels.

Ernest William Hornung (Middlesbrough, Yorkshire du Nord, - Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques ) est un écrivain britannique de roman policier et de roman d'aventures. Il est le créateur du personnage de Arthur J. Raffles, gentleman-cambrioleur.


History and literature.

The compound was discovered by Justus von Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler. It is one of the oldest named organic compounds. It was originally prepared in 1818 by Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli (1761-1818) and was named in 1838 by Wöhler and Liebig. The name "Alloxan" emerged from an amalgamation of the words "allantoin" and "Oxalsäure" (oxalic acid). The alloxan model of diabetes was first described in rabbits by Dunn, Sheehan and McLetchie in 1943. The name is derived from allantoin, a product of uric acid excreted by the fetus into the allantois, and oxaluric acid derived from oxalic acid and urea, found in urine.  Alloxan was used in the production of the purple dye murexide, discovered by Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1776. Murexide is the product of the complex "in-situ" multistep reaction of alloxantin and gaseous ammonia. Murexide results from the condensation of the unisolated intermediate uramil with alloxan, liberated during the course of the reaction. Scheele sourced uric acid from human calculi (such as kidney stones) and called the compound lithic acid. William Prout investigated the compound in 1818 and he used boa constrictor excrement with up to 90% ammonium acid urate.  In the chapter "Nitrogen" of his memoir "The Periodic Table", Primo Levi tells of his futile attempt to make alloxan for a cosmetics manufacturer who has read that it can cause permanent reddening of the lips. Levi considers the droppings of pythons as a source for uric acid for making alloxan, but he is turned down by the director of the Turin zoo because the zoo already has lucrative contracts with pharmaceutical companies, so he is obliged to use chickens as his source of uric acid. The synthesis fails, however, "and the alloxan and its resonant name remained a resonant name."

Synthesis.

It was originally obtained by oxidation of uric acid by nitric acid. It is prepared by oxidation of barbituric acid by chromium trioxide.  A dimeric derivative alloxantin can be prepared by partial reduction of alloxan with hydrogen sulfide.

Biological effects.

Alloxan is a toxic glucose analogue, which selectively destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas (that is, beta cells) when administered to rodents and many other animal species. This causes an insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (called "alloxan diabetes") in these animals, with characteristics similar to type 1 diabetes in humans. Alloxan is selectively toxic to insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells because it preferentially accumulates in beta cells through uptake via the GLUT2 glucose transporter. Alloxan, in the presence of intracellular thiols, generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a cyclic reaction with its reduction product, dialuric acid. The beta cell toxic action of alloxan is initiated by free radicals formed in this redox reaction. Studies suggests that alloxan does not cause diabetes in humans. Others found a significant difference in alloxan plasma levels in children with and without diabetes Type 1.

Impact upon beta cells.

Because it selectively kills the insulin-producing beta-cells found in the pancreas, alloxan is used to induce diabetes in laboratory animals. This occurs most likely because of selective uptake of the compound due to its structural similarity to glucose as well as the beta-cell's highly efficient uptake mechanism (GLUT2). In addition, alloxan has a high affinity to SH-containing cellular compounds and, as a result, reduces glutathione content. Furthermore, alloxan inhibits glucokinase, a SH-containing protein essential for insulin secretion induced by glucose.  Most studies have shown that alloxan is not toxic to the human beta-cell, even in very high doses, probably because of differing glucose uptake mechanisms in humans and rodents.  Alloxan is, however, toxic to the liver and the kidneys in high doses.

Alloxan, sometimes referred to as "alloxan hydrate", refers to the organic compound with the formula OC(N(H)CO)C(OH). It is classified as a derivative of pyrimidine. The anhydrous derivative OC(N(H)CO)CO is also known as well as a dimeric derivative. These are some of the earliest known organic compounds. They also exhibit a variety of biological activities.

L'alloxane ou mésoxalylurée est un composé organique basée sur un squelette pyrimidine hétérocyclique. Le composé ayant une forte affinité pour l'eau, il existe principalement à l'état de monohydrate qui cristallise en prismes incolores. L'alloxane existe aussi sous forme tétrahydratée et cristallise alors sous forme orthorhombique.


Prelude.

King Charles II accepted the Scottish throne which led to an invasion of Scotland by the New Model Army under the command of Oliver Cromwell. Although Cromwell defeated a Scottish army at the Battle of Dunbar, Cromwell could not prevent Charles II from marching from Scotland deep into England at the head of another Royalist army. The Royalists marched to the west of England where Royalist sympathies were strongest arriving at Worcester on 22 August 1651. He planned to rest his predominantly Scottish army there and await English reinforcements before pressing on to London. One Royalist contingent from the Isle of Man and Lancashire under the command of Earl of Derby, was heading towards Worcester, and it was the duty of Colonel Robert Lilburne to stop them.  On the day Charles II arrived in Worcester, Lilburne with a company of foot from Manchester, two more from Chester, and fifty or sixty dragoons marched to Wigan, where the enemy was gathering, hoping to surprise them but found they had moved off to Chorley. The next day, on hearing the Royalists were at Preston, Lilburne set off in pursuit. He bivouacked within two miles of the town and sent out patrols to harass the enemy. The next afternoon they retaliated. "A party of the enemy's horse fell smartly amongst us, where our horse was grazing, and for some space put us pretty hard to it: but at the last it pleased the Lord to strengthen us, that we put them to the flight, and pursued them to Ribble bridge (this was something like our business at Mussleburg) and killed and took about thirty prisoners."  Lilburne heard Cromwell's regiment of foot was approaching Manchester. Cromwell had detached the regiment with a troop of horse from Rutherford Abbey in Nottinghamshire on the 20th or 21st. Lilburne halted by the Ribble, thinking the foot would join him but though it had marched very rapidly as far as Manchester, it was now obliged to advance with caution as Royalists were reported to have 500 men in Manchester and some of Derby's levies lying between them and Lilburne.

Battle.

On the 25th, Lilburne received intelligence that the Earl of Derby was marching towards Wigan and assuming his force was retreating gave chase. However, it was Derby's intention to fall on Cromwell's regiment of infantry before Lilburne's cavalry could join it. When Lilburne reached Wigan he found the enemy in considerable force, both infantry and cavalry, marching out of the town towards Manchester. Having arrived ahead of his own infantry and the terrain surrounding the town consisting of fields and hedges with narrow country lanes unfavourable for cavalry, Lilburne determined to avoid a fight. He instead intended to await infantry reinforcements before flanking the Royalists in Wigan, sending his cavalry around the town to the south while his infantry advanced into the town from the north encircling and preventing Derbys retreat from the town.  Derby, aware of Lilburne's inferiority in strength wheeled about and marched back through the town to defeat the Parliamentary forces piecemeal before they could combine. In spite of the unfavourable nature of the ground Lilburne decided to make a stand. Lilburne deployed his cavalry on Wigan Lane, and lined the hedgerows either side of the road with infantry creating a choke point. As the Royalists approached they were met with a volley of musketry. A fierce fight ensued in the same lanes through which Cromwell had chased the Scots in 1648. Derby divided his cavalry into two equal divisions of 300 men. Derby took command of the vanguard and gave the rear guard command to Sir Thomas Tyldesley. Three times during the day Derby led cavalry charges against the centre of Lilburne's line breaching but failing to break it. By the third charge, the ranks of the Royalists were severely depleted and they were overwhelmed by the superior numbers of Lilburne's arriving infantry, after an hour's fighting the remaining Royalists fled the field.  Lord William Witherington, Sir William Throckmorton, Sir Thomas Tyldesley, Colonel Matthew Boynton and 60 others were killed or died of their wounds and 400 prisoners were taken. Cromwell's regiment, which had advanced to join Lilburne picked up many stragglers. Derby escaped badly wounded, and joined Charles at Worcester with only 30 horsemen.

Aftermath.

The Earl of Derby, the Lord of Mann, enlisted ten men from each parish on the Isle of Man, a total of 170 men. David Craine, in "Manannan's Isle" states "those who did not fall in the fighting [were] hunted to their death through the countryside."  The defeat was a blow to the king as this was the only English Royalist force of any size to attempt to ride to his standard in Worcester. Without large numbers of English Royalists to support him, his position was untenable and nine days later his predominantly Scottish army of about 15,000 men was decisively beaten at the Battle of Worcester by a Parliamentary army nearly twice the size under the command of Cromwell. This victory brought to an end Third English Civil War and ushered in nine years of republican rule. Charles escaped to France and lived in exile until his return at the Restoration in 1660.

The Battle of Wigan Lane was fought on 25 August 1651 during the Third English Civil War, between Royalists under the command of the Earl of Derby and elements of the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Robert Lilburne. The Royalists were defeated, losing nearly half their officers and men.

La bataille de Wigan Lane a eu lieu au nord de Wigan, le, lors de la troisième guerre civile anglaise, entre les royalistes, commandés par James Stanley, comte de Derby, et des éléments de la New Model Army, commandés par le colonel. Les royalistes furent défaits, perdant près de la moitié de leurs officiers et de leurs hommes.


History.

Neolithic artifacts have been found in Obre, a nearby village. Thus, whole culture that covered central Bosnian river basins was named Kakanj culture.  Settlements in the region are very ancient. They are claimed to be historical landmarks of the early Bosnian state. Kraljeva Sutjeska, a Franciscan monastery, is of particular historical note. Near the monastery is Bobovac, scene of the last stand of Bosnian Queen Katarina Kosača and medieval residence of Bosnian kings. In Kraljeva Sutjeska is one of the oldest mosques in Bosnia, built by order of Sultan Mehmed II the Victorious during his expedition to Bosnia and conquest of Bobovac. The Kakanj area enjoyed a renaissance during the rule of the Kotromanić dynasty.  One of the most beautiful tombs ever found in Bosnia, with a carving of a hunting cavalier, was found in Kakanj; it is currently displayed in the botanic garden of The State Museum in Sarajevo.  Kakanj was first mentioned 1468 as settlement with 90 houses. Coal mine Kakanj was founded in 1900 under Austro-Hungarian rule around a developing coal mine, which began production in 1902. In the next hundred years, Kakanj developed organically without any urban planning, initially around the coal mine, and later along the banks of the Zgošća and Bosna rivers.

Bosnian War (1992–95).

The situation in Kakanj at the beginning of the Bosnian War was rather quiet, confronted with the frontlines in the area of Zavidovići. The town was in the middle of the Bosnian government-controlled territory, along the communication path with Zenica. Most of the Serb minority soon left the town, while Bosniak refugees from Serb-controlled towns arrived.  Between March and June 1994, Croats and Bosniaks signed the Washington Agreement, forming the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The situation in Kakanj improved, but refugees did not came back. Health and sanitation conditions are poor, even though not severe; a hepatitis epidemic is recorded in 1994. Food Security is under control, thanks to humanitarian aid, even though prices remain prohibitive and most of the family survive with company-organized distribution and kitchen gardens. Almost all productive activities are stopped, and nobody receive any salary, but monthly food packages.

Post-war.

The most recent census of the 2013 show that in the municipality of Kakanj live 37,441 people, of which 32,341 are Bosniaks, 2,973 are Croats, 281 are Serbs and rest others. The economy in Kakanj, notwithstanding promises, does not start off, and many young people leave or do not come back from "gastarbeiter" workplaces in Germany and elsewhere. Over 16,000 town inhabitants, more than 4,000 are unemployed. The cement factory (owned by a German company by 51%) does not work fully, and all the cement goes for construction works in Sarajevo. The coal mine hardly works: its coal is out of market because it's polluting. Cement factory workers earns the most, 800 DM/months; then came powerplant workers, and last the miners. The cost of life for a 4 persons family is around 1000 DM/month.  On 29 September 1999, the High Representative (OHR) Wolfgang Petrisch removed from office the mayor of Kakanj, Kemal Brodilija, for obstructing the implementation of the Dayton Agreements and pursuing an extra-legal agenda.

Settlements.

The name "Kakanj" also refers to one of the many villages in the municipality: Alagići • Bastašići • Bašići • Bičer • Bijele Vode • Bijelo Polje • Bilješevo • Bistrik – Crkvenjak • Bištrani • Bjelavići • Bosna • Brežani • Brnj • Brnjic • Bukovlje • Crnač • Čatići • Danci • Desetnik • Doboj • Donja Papratnica • Donji Banjevac • Donji Kakanj • Donji Lučani • Dračići • Drijen • Dubovo Brdo • Dumanac • Gora • Gornja Papratnica • Gornji Banjevac • Gornji Lučani • Govedovići • Gradac • Groce • Halinovići • Haljinići • Hausovići • Hodžići • Hrasno • Hrastovac • Ivnica • Javor • Jehovina • Jerevice • Jezero • Kakanj • Karaula • Karaulsko Polje • Klanac • Kondžilo • Koprivnica • Kraljevska Sutjeska • Krševac • Kučići • Kujavče • Lipnica • Lučići • Lukovo Brdo • Marijina Voda • Miljačići • Mioči • Modrinje • Mramor • Nažbilj • Obre • Papratno • Pavlovići • Pedići • Podbjelavići • Podborje • Poljani • Poljice • Pope • Popržena Gora • Ratanj • Ribnica • Ričica • Rojin Potok • Saranovići • Sebinje • Semetiš • Seoce • Slagoščići • Slapnica • Slivanj • Slivnice • Sopotnica • Starposle • Subotinje • Termoelektrana • Teševo • Tičići • Tršće • Turalići • Turbići • Varalići • Veliki Trnovci • Viduša • Vrtlište • Vukanovići • Zagrađe • Zgošća • Zlokuće • Željeznička Stanica Kakanj • Živalji.

Demographics.

In the census of 1991, the city of Kakanj itself had 12,008 inhabitants.

Ethnic structure by settlements, 1991 census.

Absolute ethnic majority:  Relative ethnic majority:

Kakanj is a city and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 38,937 inhabitants. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, north of Visoko and southeast of Zenica. It was built along the slopes of wide hills on either side of the Zgošća river.

Kakanj (en cyrillique : ) est une ville et une municipalité de Bosnie-Herzégovine située dans le canton de Zenica-Doboj et dans la Fédération de Bosnie-et-Herzégovine. Selon les premiers résultats du recensement bosnien de 2013, la ville "intra muros" compte habitants et la municipalité.


Gameplay.

"Granada" is a multidirectional shooter game similar to "Jackal" where players assume the role of mercenary Leon Todo taking control of the titular Maneuver Cepter tank unit through eight stages of varying themes set on Africa in order to complete a series of objectives as attempts to fight against the enemies and ultimately end the ongoing conflict in the region. Before starting a new game, players have access to the configuration menu at the title screen, where various settings can be adjusted such as controls and choosing any of the four levels of difficulty, each one applying a different stipulation during gameplay depending on the version that is being played.  The players are situated in a large field full of enemies, obstacles, and enemy generators that may be freely moved upon, unlike most conventional shooter titles and the main goal of each level is to destroy each main enemy signalized as red dots on the HUD located on the bottom right corner of the screen, with the last objective being a boss that must be fought at the end of the stage in order to progress further before the timer runs out. Players can also collect items scattered across the stage to increase their available arsenal.  Controlling the tank is done with a directional pad, which moves and rotates the unit across 16 directions and players have two methods of attacking enemies and bosses; The main fire button unleashes rapid-fire shots, while pressing both fire buttons at the same time activates a powerful energy shot capable of pushing back the tank with a recoil effect. Pressing the secondary fire button locks the tank's firing position and players can strafe on any direction until the button is pressed again to unlock the firing position. The Sega Genesis port uses a three-button configuration instead of the original two-button setup, assigning every action into their respective button. The tank will explode if it sustains too much enemy damage, with the players losing a life as a result and once all lives are lost, the game is over.

Plot.

The plot summary of "Granada" varies between the two versions. In October 2016, the "African Civil War" that broke out over the interests of rare metals was steadily intensified by the introduction of new tactical weapons known as Maneuver Cepter, or MC for short, on the behalf of long-range nuclear weapons. About a while after the war, abnormality occurred on the front line, where heavy mobile weapons from both north and south factions were destroyed by an unknown MC unit only known as "Granada", which would eventually be referred to as "God of Africa" or "Ghost of a soldier", whose origins remain uncertain and is piloted by mercenary Leon Todo. A month prior, Leon accepted a request from a female agent that led him to Japan, where he finds the titular MC tank unit but the agent who informed Leon of his request passed away soon after. While holding a suspicion, Leon boards the tank and quickly learns that he was deceived, with the engine roaring in the skies of Africa and heading towards Nigeria, with the main purpose being retribution.

Development and release.

"Granada" was created by Wolf Team over the course of two years, serving as their ninth title to be developed and published for the Sharp X68000 after "Arcshu: Kagerō no Jidai o Koete". In a 1990 interview with Japanese publication "Micom BASIC Magazine", the company and its members recounted about the creation process of the game, with designer and writer Kazuyoshi Inoue stating that Namco's "Grobda" and "Assault" were influences on the title, as co-designer and programmer Toshio Toyota was a fan of arcade games, while Toyota himself also claimed the team revisited some of the larger sprites until those they felt satisfied with were used in the final product. Producer Masahiro Akishino also stated the game became their first project that placed heavy emphasis on gameplay instead of plot, as he felt that previously published Wolf Team titles had poorly balanced sections in terms of structure. Composers Masaaki Uno, Motoi Sakuraba and Yasunori Shiono were responsible for co-writing the soundtrack, while Uno stated that the project was also the company's first commercial title to present full MIDI support.  "Granada" was first released for the X68000 on 20 April 1990. Early previews showcased a different GUI design during gameplay, before the game was ultimately polished prior to release. The game was ported to the Sega Genesis seven months later and was first released in Japan on 16 November by Wolf Team, serving as their second title for the platform after "Final Zone", then in North America a month later by Renovation Products and finally in Brazil by Tectoy during the same period. A European release of the Sega Genesis version was planned to be published by UbiSoft as a result of a multi-game licensing deal with Renovation, however it was never officially released in the region for unknown reasons.  Both the original X68000 version and the later Genesis port are similar but have a number of key differences between each other such as the latter having a smaller color palette that lead to sprites being recolored in different ways, lack of both introductory and intermission sequences and minor level redesigns compared with the original, among other changes. However, the Genesis port retains most of the special effects featured in the original X68000 version, includes a brand-new seventh level and runs at 60 frames per second instead of 30 frames but suffers a greater amount of slowdown. The original X68000 version has since been re-released in digital form for Microsoft Windows through D4 Enterprise's Project EGG service on 21 February 2004.

Reception.

"Granada" became a popular title among the X68000 userbase from Wolf Team during its release for a brief period and was eventually nominated for a "Game of the Year" award by "Oh!X" magazine but lost against other titles such as "Dungeon Master". The Sega Genesis port garnered generally positive reception from critics who commended several aspects such as the presentation, graphics, sound design, controls, gameplay and replay value. In their respective retrospective reviews, gaming websites "HonestGamers" and "IGN" praised the Genesis version as well. In 2019, Den of Geek placed the Genesis version on their top 50 underrated Sega Mega Drive games at number 22.

Developed over the course of two years, "Granada" became the first project by Wolf Team that placed emphasis on gameplay instead of plot and was influenced by various arcade games like "Grobda" and "Assault" by Namco. Initially launched for the X68000 home computer, the title was later ported to the Sega Genesis, which was published across several regions during the same year such as Japan by Wolf Team and North America by Renovation Products respectively, featuring several changes compared with the original version. The X68000 version has since been re-released only in Japan through download services for Microsoft Windows.

Granada (parfois appelé Maneuver Cepter: Granada ou encore XGranadaX) est un "shoot them up" sorti en 1990 sur X68000 puis sur Mega Drive. Le jeu a été développé et édité par Wolf Team.


Biography.

Born in Huatusco, Veracruz, García Cabral's first known work appeared in a newspaper in 1900. Because of his talent, he taught drawing at his school from the age of 12 years.  In December 1906 Huatusco mayor Joaquín Castro, wrote the governor of Veracruz, Teodoro A. Dehesa, seeking a scholarship for García Cabral, which once granted allowed him to enter the Academy of San Carlos, where he studied with Germán Gedovius, at the time an collaborator, and there García Cabral discovered classicism, as well as through the foreign currents that arrived in imported magazines. He began his professional career in 1909, as illustrator and caricaturist at "The Tarantula", run at the time by Fortunato Herrerías, who later became one of his best friends. During the suppression of the lifting of Aquiles Serdán eyewitness to the facts, that later described telegráficamente to García Cabral so that it illustrated the report. These illustrations (10 in total) are the first known images of the Mexican Revolution.  In spite of this, when the revolution broke out, the publications of Herrerías and the works of García Cabral adopted a strong anti-maderista tone. Later García Cabral worked in 1911 at Mario Vitoria's "Multicolor" magazine, also anti-maderista. During the revolution, García Cabral drew caricatures of people like Francisco I. Madero, Enrique Creel, Pancho Villa, Bernardo Reyes, María Conesa and Emiliano Zapata. In February 1912 Madero awarded García Cabral a scholarship to study in Paris. In addition to his studies, García Cabral worked in France for the publications "La Baïonnette", "Le Rire" and "La Vie Parisienne", forced to do so by need when president Victoriano Huerta withdrew his scholarship.  Gradually developing his personal and dramatic style, in 1915 García Cabral left France in the middle of the deprivation caused by the wartime economy, making his way to Madrid, and from there to Buenos Aires, Argentina. He drew there for newspapers La Nación, El Mundial and El Tiempo; likewise he also worked for Caras y Caretas, I.G.B., Proteo and "La Pluma", as well as the Chilean publications Revista Popular and Los Diez de Chile. It became added of the Mexican embassy in Argentina.  On his return to Mexico in 1918, Ernesto García Cabral devoted himself to working with colours and shortly afterwards worked as a caricaturist for Novelties, Thursday of Excélsior and Fufurufu, in addition to the magazine Fantoche. However it is his work as illustrator of covers for the publication of Magazine of Magazines the one who awarded him deserved fame, giving to know his innovative and fluent style that helped to enter the Art Deco to the American continent.  Eventually he would collaborate likewise for the magazines Today, Revista de Revistas, Ferronales, Icarus and Socrates among others. Winning in 1961 of the prize Mergenthaler conceded by the Inter-American Society of Press, the Chango Cabral died in Mexico City on 8 August 1968.

Ernesto García "The Chango" Cabral (Huatusco, Veracruz, 18 December 1890 – 8 August 1968) was a Mexican cartoonist and painter, famous for his contributions as a caricatures to the publication "Revista de Revistas;" his work numbers almost 25 000 pieces.

Ernesto « El Chango » García Cabral (né le à Huatusco, Veracruz - et mort le ) est un caricaturiste, muraliste et illustrateur de livres d'alphabétisation mexicain. On estime que l'ensemble de son œuvre avoisine les 25 000 documents (dessins, caricatures, affiches, publicités) dont plus de 10 000 ont déjà été catalogués.


History.

One of the oldest populated places in the Ural region, it was founded in 1761 and was granted town status on April 26, 1940.

Administrative and municipal status.

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with fourteen rural localities, incorporated as the Town of Verkhny Ufaley—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the Town of Verkhny Ufaley is incorporated as Verkhneufaleysky Urban Okrug.

Economy.

Verkhny Ufaley is rich in mineral deposits (nickel and iron ores, marble, fire clay) and the economy of the town and the surrounding areas is heavily dependent on metallurgical factories, such as "UZMM" (Ufaley Metallurgical Machinery Works) and "Ufaleynickel". The latter, in particular, is the town's largest industrial enterprise, responsible for 75% of the total volume of the goods produced and much of the town's employment.

Lake Itkul.

Lake Itkul, located at the altitude of above sea level, is one of the notable natural wonders in Verkhny Ufaley. It is fed by springs, creeks, and small rivers, so its waters renew within a year and are fresh and clean. The lake is clear but has a brownish reflection. The lake and its vicinity have become a popular destination for Verkhny Ufaley's residents and visitors alike.

Sports.

The bandy club Nikelshchik plays in the second highest division, Russian Bandy Supreme League. Their spectator numbers stand out. Whereas it's unusual in their division to reach 1 000, they usually have a couple of thousand.

Verkhny Ufaley () is a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ufaley River (a tributary of the Ufa River), northwest of Chelyabinsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population:

Verkhni Oufaleï (en ) est une ville de l'oblast de Tcheliabinsk, en Russie. Sa population s'élevait à habitants en 2013.


Socio-cultural and economic functions.

The Luxembourg-based "Office International du Coin de Terre et des Jardins Familiaux", representing three million European allotment gardeners since 1926, describes the socio-cultural and economic functions of allotment gardens as offering an improved quality of life, an enjoyable and profitable hobby, relaxation, and contact with nature. For children, gardens offer places to play and to learn about nature, while for the unemployed, they offer a feeling of doing something useful as well as low-cost food. For the elderly and disabled, gardens offer an opportunity to meet people, to share in activity with like-minded people, and to experience activities like planting and harvesting.

Around the world.

Austria.

The first garden in Purkersdorf, 1905.

Canada.

In Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, these are called community gardens.

Czechoslovakia.

Allotment gardening used to be widely popular in the former Czechoslovakia under the communist regime. It gave people from suburban prefab apartment blocks – called "paneláky" in Czech – a chance to escape from city chaos, pollution, and concrete architecture. Holiday houses and gardens served also as the only permitted form of investment of savings for common middle-class citizens.

Denmark.

In 1778, land was laid out outside the fortifications of the town of Fredericia for allotment gardens and according to an 1828 circular from the royal chancellery allotment gardens were established in several towns.  Private initiative formed the first Danish allotment association in Aalborg in 1884, and in Copenhagen an association named "Arbejdernes Værn" (lit. “The Workers' Protection”) founded the first allotment gardens of the Danish Capital in 1891. Since then allotment gardens have spread to most Danish towns.  In 1904, there were about 20,000 allotment gardens in Denmark. 6,000 of them were in Copenhagen. During the interwar years the number of allotment gardens grew rapidly. In 2001, the number of allotment gardens was estimated to be about 62,120.  In 1908, twenty allotment associations in Copenhagen formed the Allotment Garden Union which in 1914 was expanded to cover all of Denmark. The Allotment Garden Federation was founded to negotiate more favourable deals with the state and the municipalities from which the allotments associations rented the land. Today the federation represents roughly 400 allotment associations in 75 municipalities.  The Danish tradition for allotment gardens later spread to the other Nordic countries: first Sweden, then Norway and Finland.  Today, most allotment gardens are on land owned by the municipality which rents the land to an allotment association. The association in turn gives each member a plot of land. To preserve allotment gardens as something that is available for all kinds of people, the membership charge is set significantly below what a market price would be. Since allotments are often placed on attractive plots of land, this has led to huge waiting lists for membership in many allotment associations.  Although the main purpose of the allotment is gardening, most allotment gardens have a pavilion built in them. These pavilions can range in size from an old rebuilt railway car to a small summer house. Many people grow so fond of their allotment gardens that they live there the entire summer. In most cases, however, members are not allowed to live there the entire year.

Finland.

The Federation of Finnish Allotment Gardens is a non-profit organization that supports allotment gardeners and connects them to allotments and each other. The first allotment garden was established 1916 in Tampere, and today there are about 30 allotment associations all around Finland made up of roughly 3700 allotmenteers.

France.

In many localities in France, when allotments exist, they are sited in marginal zones (edges of motorways, railways, industrial parks...) unsuitable for other uses. These places suffer from poor access, may not be safe, and often lack a water supply, and are not protected from real estate transactions.

Germany.

The history of the allotment gardens in Germany is closely connected with the period of industrialization and urbanization in Europe during the 19th century when a large number of people migrated from the rural areas to the cities to find employment and a better life. Very often, these families were living under extremely poor conditions suffering from inappropriate housing, malnutrition and other forms of social neglect. To improve their overall situation and to allow them to grow their own food, the city administrations, the churches or their employers provided open spaces for garden purposes. These were initially called the "gardens of the poor".  The idea of organised allotment gardening reached a first peak after 1864, when the so-called "Schreber Movement" started in the city of Leipzig in Saxony. A public initiative decided to lease areas within the city, with the purpose to make it possible for children to play in a healthy environment, and in harmony with nature. Later on, these areas included actual gardens for children, but soon adults tended towards taking over and cultivating these gardens. This kind of gardening also became popular in other European countries, esp. Germanic countries such as Austria (and its dependencies), the Netherlands and Switzerland.  The aspect of food security provided by allotment gardens became particularly evident during World Wars I and II. The socio-economic situation was very miserable, particularly as regards the nutritional status of urban residents. Many cities were isolated from their rural hinterlands and agricultural products did not reach the city markets anymore or were sold at very high prices at the black markets. Consequently, food production within the city, especially fruit and vegetable production in home gardens and allotment gardens, became essential for survival. The importance of allotment gardens for food security was so obvious that in 1919, one year after the end of World War I, the first legislation for allotment gardening in Germany was passed. The so-called "Small Garden and Small-Rent Land Law", provided security in land tenure and fixed leasing fees. In 1983, this law was amended by the. Today, there are still about 1.4 million allotment gardens in Germany covering an area of. In Berlin alone there are 833 allotment garden complexes.

Malta.

Malta introduced its first allotment gardens in April, 2011. The objective of the scheme, which was called “Midd Idejk fil-Biedja” (Try Your Hand at Farming), was to encourage people, especially the young and those living in urban areas, to take up organic farming. The scheme had over 50 allotment plots located at Għammieri, Malta. All plots were fully irrigated and those who participated in the scheme received continual support and training. Malta's allotment gardens were terminated in 2013, following a change in administration. In September, 2019, Heritage Malta, an agency which falls under the Ministry for Culture, started an initiative to re-introduce the concept of allotments. Located just above the Abbatija Tad-Dejr catacombs in Rabat, the new allotment plots were issued with several restrictions in an effort to protect the sensitivity of the archaeological site.

Netherlands.

The first allotment gardens in the Netherlands were founded in 1838. In the 19th century, cities started allotment gardens for working-class families. Around the first world war, the users of the gardens started demanding that the gardens would be governed by the members. In 1928 the allotment garden societies founded the national level "het Algemeen Verbond van Volkstuindersverenigingen in Nederland (AVVN)." Until the 1950s, the gardens were primarily used for vegetable production, since then there has been a shift to recreational use. Depending on the city and society, small sheds, greenhouses or small garden houses are allowed. In some cases, permanent habitation is allowed during summertime. The Netherlands has 240,000 allotments.

Norway.

There are 13 allotment gardens in Norway, with around 2000 allotments. The oldest, Etterstad Kolonihager, dates to 1908. The largest, Solvang Kolonihager, has around 600 allotments and is in Oslo, close to the woods and Sognsvann lake. The allotment gardens are quite popular, and there can be a waiting list of 10 and in some cases even 20 years.

Philippines.

In 2003, the first allotment garden of the Philippines was established in Cagayan de Oro City, Northern Mindanao as part of a European Union funded project. Meanwhile, with the assistance of the German Embassy in Manila and several private donors from Germany, this number has grown to five self-sustaining gardens located in different urban areas of the city, enabling a total of 55 urban poor families the legal access to land for food production. Further four allotment gardens, two of them within the premises of public elementary schools are presently being set up for additional 36 families using the asset-based community development approach. Some of the gardeners belong to the poorest in the city, the garbage pickers of the city's landfill site. Aside from different vegetables, the gardeners grow also herbs and tropical fruits. In some gardens, small animals are kept and fish ponds are maintained to avail the gardeners of additional protein sources for the daily dietary needs. Each allotment garden has a compost heap where biodegradable wastes from the garden as well as from the neighboring households are converted into organic fertilizer, thus contributing to the integrated solid waste management program of the city. Further, all gardens are equipped with so-called urine-diverting ecological sanitation toilets similar to practices in Danish allotment gardens described by Bregnhøj et al. (2003).

Poland.

In Poland, allotment gardens date back to 1897 when Doctor Jan Jalkowski founded the "Sun Baths" (Polish: "Kąpiele słoneczne") community gardens and health area in Grudziądz. After WWII, allotment gardens were popular among city dwellers living in suburban apartment blocks. Today, the Polish Association of Allotment Gardeners represents the interest of owners in legal and tax issues, not without criticism. Living on a garden is illegal, though some people try to. Burning garbage on a garden and producing smog may be an issue.

Portugal.

Since 2011, the municipality of Lisbon has created more than 19 allotment gardens ("parques hortícolas" or "hortas urbanas"). These are granted to residents by means of a public application process.  Otherwise, allotment gardens in Portugal are often precarious, as land is spontaneously divided into strips as cities grow.

Russia.

The first allotments ("dachas") in Russia began to appear during the reign of Peter the Great. Initially they were small estates in the country, which were given to loyal vassals by the Tsar. In archaic Russian, the word "dacha" means "something given".  During the Age of Enlightenment, Russian aristocracy used their allotments for social and cultural gatherings, which were usually accompanied by masquerade balls and fireworks displays. The Industrial Revolution brought about a rapid growth in the urban population, and urban residents increasingly desired to escape the heavily polluted cities, at least temporarily. By the end of the 19th century, the allotment became a favorite summer retreat for the upper and middle classes of Russian society.  After the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, most dachas were nationalized. Some were converted into vacation homes for the working class, while others, usually of better quality, were distributed among the prominent functionaries of the Communist Party and the newly emerged cultural and scientific elite. All but a few allotments remained the property of the state and the right to use them was usually revoked when a dacha occupant was dismissed or fell out of favor with the rulers of the state. Joseph Stalin's favourite Dacha was in Gagra, Abkhazia. The construction of new dachas was restricted until the late 1940s and required the special approval of the Communist Party leadership.  The period after World War II saw a moderate growth in dacha development. Since there was no actual law banning the construction of dachas, squatters began occupying unused plots of land near cities and towns, some building sheds, huts, and more prominent dwellings that served as dachas. This practice of squatting was spurred by the desire of urban dwellers, all living in multi-story apartment buildings, to spend some time close to nature, and also to grow their own fruits and vegetables. The latter was caused by the failure of the centrally planned Soviet agricultural program to supply enough fresh produce. As time passed, the number of squatters grew geometrically and the government had no choice but to officially recognize their right to amateur farming. The 1955 legislation introduced a new type of legal entity into the Soviet juridical system, a so-called "gardeners' partnership" (; not to be confused with community garden). The gardeners' partnerships received the right to permanent use of land exclusively for agricultural purposes and permission to connect to public electrical and water supply networks. In 1958, yet another form of organization was introduced, a "cooperative for dacha construction (DSK)" (), which recognized the right of an individual to build a small house on the land leased from the government.  The 1980s saw the peak of the dacha boom, with virtually every affluent family in the country having a dacha of their own or spending weekends and holidays at friends' dachas. Often ill-equipped and without indoor plumbing, dachas were nevertheless the ultimate solution for millions of Russian working-class families to having an inexpensive summer retreat. Having a piece of land also offered an opportunity for city dwellers to indulge themselves in growing their own fruits and vegetables. To this day, May Day holidays remain a feature of Russian life allowing urban residents a long weekend to plant seeds and tend fruit trees as the ground defrosts from the long Russian winter. Since there are no other national holidays that are long enough for planting, many employers give their staff an extra day off specifically for that purpose.  The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union saw the return to private land ownership. Most dachas have since been privatized, and Russia is now the nation with the largest number of owners of second homes. The growth of living standards in recent years allowed many dacha owners to spend their discretionary income on improvements. Thus, many recently built dachas are fully equipped houses suitable for use as permanent residences. The market-oriented economy transformed the dacha into an asset, which generally reflects the prosperity of its owner and can be freely traded in the real estate market.  Due to the rapid increase in urbanization in Russia, many village houses are currently being sold to be used as allotments. Many Russian villages now have dachniki as temporary residents. Some villages have been fully transformed into dacha settlements, while some older dacha settlements often look like more permanent lodgings. The advantages of purchasing a dacha in a village usually are: lower costs, greater land area, and larger distances between houses. The disadvantages may include: lower-quality utilities, less security, and typically a farther distance to travel.

Sweden.

In Landskrona, around the area of the Citadel, the first allotment gardens of Sweden were made available for lease in the 1860s, later followed by those in Malmö in 1895, and Stockholm in 1904. The local authorities were inspired by Anna Lindhagen, a social-democratic leader and a woman in the upper ranks of society, who visited allotment gardens in Copenhagen and was delighted by them. In her first book on the topic devoted to the usefulness of allotment gardens she wrote:For the family, the plot of land is a uniting bond, where all family members can meet in shared work and leisure. The family father, tired with the cramped space at home, may rejoice in taking care of his family in the open air, and feel responsible if the little plot of earth bestows a very special interest upon life.Anna Lindhagen is said to have met Lenin when he passed through Stockholm from the exile in Switzerland on their return trip to Russia after the February Revolution in 1917. She invited him to the allotment gardens of "Barnängen" to show all its benefits. However, she did not win his approval. Lenin was totally unresponsive to this kind of activity. To poke in the soil was to prepare the ground for political laziness in the class struggle. The workers should not be occupied with gardening, they should rather devote themselves to the proletarian revolution.  The Swedish Federation of Leisure Gardening was founded in 1921 and represents today more than 26,000 allotment and leisure gardeners. The members are organised in about 275 local societies all over Sweden. The land is usually rented from the local authorities.

United Kingdom.

A 1732 engraving of Birmingham, England shows the town encircled by allotments, some of which still exist to this day. The accolade for the oldest allotment site is reserved for Great Somerford Free Gardens in the Wiltshire village of Great Somerford. These were created in 1809 following a letter to King George III from Rev Stephen Demainbray (a chaplain to the king) in which he asked the king to spare, in perpetuity, six acres from the Inclosure Acts for the benefit of the poor of his parish.  Following these Inclosure Acts and the Commons Act 1876, the land available for personal cultivation by the poor was greatly diminished. To fulfill the need for land, allotment legislation was enacted. The law was first fully codified in the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908, then modified by the Allotments Act 1922 and subsequent Allotments Acts up until the Allotments Act 1950.  Under the Acts, a local authority is required to maintain an "adequate provision" of land, usually a large allotment field which can then be subdivided into allotment gardens for individual residents at a low rent. Allotment sizes are often quoted in square rods, although the use of the rod has been illegal for trade purposes since 1965. The rent is set at what a person "may reasonably be expected to pay" (1950); in 1997 the average rent for a ten square rods (250 m) plot was £22 a year. In February 2012 the UK's first Green-controlled council, Brighton and Hove, caused controversy when they stated their intention to raise the rent for a standard 250 m plot to £110 per year, with many people suggesting that this was contrary to the environmental agenda on which they were elected. Each plot cannot exceed forty square rods (1000 m) and must be used for the production of fruit or vegetables for consumption by the plot-holder and their family (1922), or of flowers for use by the plot-holder and their family. The exact size and quality of the plots is not defined. The council has a duty to provide sufficient allotments to meet demand. The total income from allotments was £2.61 million and total expenditure was £8.44 million in 1997.  The total number of plots has varied greatly over time. In the 19th and early 20th century, the allotment system supplied much of the fresh vegetables eaten by the poor. In 1873 there were 244,268 plots and by 1918 there were around 1,500,000 plots. While numbers fell in the 1920s and 1930s, following an increase to 1,400,000 during World War II there were still around 1,117,000 plots in 1948. This number has been in decline since then, falling to 600,000 by the late 1960s and 300,000 by 2009. The Thorpe Inquiry of 1969 investigated the decline and put the causes as the decline in available land, increasing prosperity and the growth of other leisure activities.  Increased interest in "green" issues from the 1970s revived interest in allotment gardening, whilst the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG), and the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society (SAGS) in Scotland, continued to campaign on behalf of allotment users. However, the rate of decline was only slowed, falling from 530,000 plots in 1970 to 497,000 in 1977, although there was a substantial waiting list. By 1980 the surge in interest was over, and by 1997 the number of plots had fallen to around 265,000, with waiting lists of 13,000 and 44,000 vacant plots. In 2008 "The Guardian" reported that 330,000 people held an allotment, whilst 100,000 were on waiting lists.  In 2006, a report commissioned by the London Assembly identified that whilst demand was at an all-time high across the capital, the pressure caused by high-density building was further decreasing the amount of allotment land. The issue was given further publicity when "The Guardian" newspaper reported on the community campaign against the potential impact of the development for the 2012 Summer Olympics on the future of the century-old Manor Garden Allotments, Hackney Wick. In March 2008, Geoff Stokes, secretary of the NSALG, claimed that councils are failing in their duty to provide allotments. "[T]hey sold off land when demand was not so high. This will go on because developers are now building houses with much smaller gardens." The Local Government Association has issued guidance asking councils to consider requiring developers to set land aside to make up for the shortfalls in allotment plots.  Against the falling trend of land set aside for allotments is an increasing awareness of the need for cities to counter issues of food security and climate change through greater self-sufficiency. This drive to expand allotments is also a response to food price inflation, a desire to reduce food miles and surplus provision of land in post-industrial towns and cities in the developed world. Some of these themes were taken up in a recent urban agriculture project in Middlesbrough in the Tees Valley.

United States.

A growing number of "community gardens" have been founded in the United States. Many of these began as "victory gardens" in World War II, and evolved into community gardens. Plots in these gardens are often rented out by the city, starting at plots of just. Due to the green movement many new gardens are being set up.

An allotment garden (British English), often called simply an allotment, or in North America, a community garden, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-commercial gardening or growing food plants. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundred land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families. Such parcels are cultivated individually, contrary to other community garden types where the entire area is tended collectively by a group of people. In countries that do not use the term "allotment (garden)", a "community garden" may refer to individual small garden plots as well as to a single, large piece of land gardened collectively by a group of people. The term "victory garden" is also still sometimes used, especially when a community garden dates back to the First or Second World War.

Les jardins familiaux, ou jardins ouvriers, apparus à la fin du, sont des parcelles de terrain mises à la disposition des habitants par les municipalités. Ces parcelles, affectées le plus souvent à la culture potagère, furent initialement destinées à améliorer les conditions de vie des ouvriers en leur procurant un équilibre social et une autosubsistance alimentaire.


Early years.

Chitepo was born in Watsomba village in the Mutasa District of Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe on 15 June 1923. His family came from the Manyika clan (Samanyika) of the Shona people. He was educated at St David's Mission School, Bonda, St Augustine's School, Penhalonga and then at Adams College, Natal, South Africa, where he qualified as a teacher in 1945. This was where he met Victoria Mahamba-Sithole, a South African whom he married in 1955.

Early career.

After teaching for a year, he resumed his studies to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts from Fort Hare University College in 1949. He qualified as a Barrister-at-Law, and was called to the bar by Gray's Inn, whose alumni included Winston Churchill. He was a research assistant at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He was the first African in Southern Rhodesia to qualify as a Barrister. In 1954, Chitepo became Rhodesia's second black lawyer after Prince Nguboyenja Khumalo son of King Lobengula (a special law was required to allow him to occupy chambers with white colleagues). On returning to Rhodesia in 1954, he practised as a lawyer and defended African nationalists such as Ndabaningi Sithole in court. In February 1960, he traveled to the US with support from the African-American Institute. [Ilanga Lasa Natal Ngomgqibelo (Saturday), February 27, 1960.] In 1961, he served as legal adviser to Joshua Nkomo, founder of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), at the Southern Rhodesia Constitutional Conference in London. In the same year, he was also appointed to the Board of Governors of Bernard Mizeki College along with Sir. W. C.R. Honey and Sir Robert Tredgold. The Southern Rhodesian government did not detain him, as he did not come out in the open as an official of the nationalist movement, and the regime also feared that he was too internationally well known to be locked up.

ZANU.

In May 1962 ZAPU was banned because of militarism and Chitepo was persuaded to go into voluntary exile to escape possible detention. He became Tanganyika's first African Director of Public Prosecutions. The Ndabaningi Sithole and Joshua Nkomo factions of ZAPU split apart in July 1963. Nkomo's supporters founded the PCC-ZAPU (later just called ZAPU again) and favoured a more militaristic approach. As the more moderate faction, Chitepo sided with Sithole and was elected Chairman of ZANU ( having defeated Nathan Shamuyarira ) from its foundation. He held this post until 7 December 1974, when the Lusaka Accord was signed.  Both parties vied for domination but in 1964 both were banned and the leaders were all arrested. Both parties chose to leave the country and reorganise and form armies from outside Rhodesian borders, although they chose different countries to make their base. ZAPU based itself in the West and Zambia where it organised ZIPRA (the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army.) They allied with the Soviet Union and organised a vanguard of highly trained soldiers. ZANU, however, moved into Tanzania and then to Mozambique and set up ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army) which concentrated more on mobilising the masses in the countryside in a method pioneered by the Chinese.  In January 1966 Chitepo resigned as Director of Public Prosecutions and moved to Zambia to concentrate on the armed struggle. He toured world capitals canvassing support for ZANU and for the enforcement of total economic sanctions against Rhodesia. With his friendly disposition, he was very effective and earned for ZANU international recognition and respect.  Sithole and others prepared a comprehensive document giving powers to Chitepo to lead ZANU while Rev. Sithole was in detention and specifically authorising him to carry out the armed struggle. Accordingly, Herbert Chitepo with the military supremo Josiah Tongogara from the Karanga ethnic community, organised and planned successful military guerilla attacks and underground activities in Rhodesia from 1966 onwards. In 1972, he co-ordinated war operations with FRELIMO and opened up the north eastern region of Zimbabwe as a new and effective war front.

Assassination.

Chitepo died on 18 March 1975 in Lusaka, Zambia when a car bomb, placed in his Volkswagen Beetle the night before, exploded. He and Silas Shamiso, one of his bodyguards, were killed instantly. Sadat Kufamadzuba, his other bodyguard, was injured. The explosion sent part of the car onto the roof of his house and uprooted a tree next door. Hours later one of his neighbours died of injuries he sustained in the explosion. ZANU at the time blamed the Rhodesian Security Forces.  Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda commissioned an inquiry into Chitepo's death. Documents released in October 2001, placed the blame on ZANU infighting. However, in his biographical account, "The Legend of The Selous Scouts", Lt Col Ronald Reid-Daly, Officer Commanding, Selous Scouts Regiment, Rhodesian Security Forces, clearly states that the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) under the leadership of Director General Ken Flower, masterminded the assassination of Herbert Chitepo, subsequently planting documentary evidence blaming ZANU members.  "The decision by Ken Flower...to assassinate Herbert Chitepo, head of the ZANU War Council, now showed how badly Flower has misread the ZANU/ZANLA situation. The death of Chitepo purged ZANU of its many dissenting factions and a new and highly successful leader emerged. Robert Mugabe gave ZANLA the means to consolidate its efforts by providing ZANLA with an indispensable factor – unity." [pg. 173 "The Legend of The Selous Scouts"]

Herbert Wiltshire Pfumaindini Chitepo (15 June 1923 – 18 March 1975) led the Zimbabwe African National Union until he was assassinated on March 1975. Although his murderer remains unidentified, the Rhodesian author Peter Stiff says that a former British SAS soldier, Hugh Hind, was responsible.

Herbert Wiltshire Chitepo, né le à Watsomba (Rhodésie du Sud) et mort le à Lusaka (Zambie), est un avocat, homme politique et chef militaire de guérilla zimbabwéen. Il dirige la "Zimbabwe African National Union" jusqu'à son assassinat, vraisemblablement commis par la "Central Intelligence Organization" en.