title: Francis William Newman

texts:
<mask> (27 June 1805 – 4 October 1897) was an English classical scholar and moral philosopher, prolific miscellaneous writer and activist for vegetarianism and other causes. He was the younger brother of <mask>. Thomas Carlyle in his life of John Sterling called him a "man of fine attainments, of the sharpest-cutting and most restlessly advancing intellect and of the mildest pious enthusiasm." George Eliot called him "our blessed St. <mask>" and his soul "a blessed yea". Early life
He was born in London, the third son of <mask>, a banker, and his wife Jemima Fourdrinier, sister of Henry Fourdrinier. With his brother John Henry, he was educated at Ealing School. He matriculated at Worcester College, Oxford in 1822, where he obtained a double first class and graduated B.A.in 1826. He was elected fellow of Balliol College in the same year. During his undergraduate days, his father's bank having failed, he was able to complete his degree by relying on financial support from his older brother John Henry. Early in his student period, however, lodging as he did with his brother, he disagreed enough on established religion to feel, at least as he expressed it in a late autobiographical work, that there was a breach in their relationship. He never graduated M.A., normally at Oxford a pure formality, since he shortly acquired religious scruples about signing as required the 39 Articles. In 1827 <mask> went to Delgany, co. Wicklow, where for a year he tutored the sons of Edward Pennefather, There he fell under the influence of Pennefather's brother-in-law, the Rev John Nelson Darby, one of the nascent group of Plymouth Brethren, who he describes in Phases of Faith as "the Irish Clergyman". Conscientious scruples respecting the ceremony of infant baptism then led him to resign his fellowship in 1830.Missionary
<mask> then took another position, in the family of Henry Parnell, 4th Baronet Parnell. An obituary of Edward Cronin, a Catholic convert widowed in 1829, suggests a Bible study group as origin of the sequel. <mask> had recently been rejected by Maria Rosina Giberne, whom he had been courting for seven years, and had been helping his brother with parish work at Littlemore. Shortly, in September 1830, <mask> left Ireland with a party bound for Baghdad. They intended to join the independent faith mission of Anthony Norris Groves, who was working there with John Kitto and Karl Gottlieb Pfander. The party included John Vesey Parnell, who was its financial backer with John Gifford Bellett, Edward Cronin, and others. The journey, guided by the early views of Darby, ended badly.<mask>'s letters written home during the period of his mission were collected and published in 1856. There are other accounts, by the Brethren historian <mask> Neatby, and by Henry Groves, son of Anthony Norris Groves. In 1833 <mask> returned to England, via Tehran, with Kitto, arriving in June. He intended to find additional support for the mission: but rumours of unsoundness in his views on the doctrine of eternal punishment had preceded him. Academic
Finding himself looked upon with suspicion by erstwhile evangelical colleagues, including Darby, <mask> gave up on his vocation of missionary. He became classical tutor at the non-sectarian Bristol College, which existed 1831–1841 at Park Row, Bristol. <mask> in 1840 became classics professor at Manchester New College, the dissenters' college lately returned from York, at the time linked to London University.In 1846 he moved to become a professor of Latin at University College, London, where he remained until 1869. Works
<mask> studied mathematics and oriental languages, but wrote little until 1847. He is credited with the Weierstrass definition of the gamma function (1848, in reciprocal form). Linguistic
As listed in the Dictionary of National Biography. A Collection of Poetry for … Elocution, 1850
Homeric Translation in Theory and Practice, 1861; a reply to Matthew Arnold. The Text of the Iguvine Inscriptions, 1864
A Handbook of Modern Arabic, 1866
Translations of English Poetry into Latin Verse, 1868
Orthoëpy … Mode of Accenting English, 1869
Dictionary of Modern Arabic, 1871, 2 vols. Libyan Vocabulary, 1882
Comments on the Text of Æschylus, 1884
Supplement … and Notes on Euripides, 1890
Kabail Vocabulary, 1887

Translations into Latin:

Religion
Prominent were:

History of the Hebrew Monarchy (1847; 1853); intended to introduce the results of German scholarship and Biblical criticism.The Soul (1849; 3rd edit. 1852) This work made a favourable impression on Charlotte Brontë. Phases of Faith (1850; 1852), autobiographical, detailing the author's passage from Calvinism to theism. Theism, Doctrinal and Practical, 1858

Others listed in the Dictionary of National Biography:

On the Relation of Free Churches to Moral Sentiment, 1847
Thoughts on a Free and Comprehensive Christianity, Ramsgate [1865]
The Religious Weakness of Protestantism, Ramsgate, 1866
On the Defective Morality of the New Testament, Ramsgate, 1867. The Bigot and the Sceptic, Ramsgate [1869]
James and Paul, Ramsgate, 1869
Anthropomorphism, Ramsgate, 1870
On the Causes of Atheism [1871]
The Divergence of Calvinism from Pauline Doctrine, Ramsgate, 1871
The Temptation of Jesus, Ramsgate [1871]
On the Relation of Theism to Pantheism, and on the Galla Religion, Ramsgate, 1872
Thoughts on the Existence of Evil, Ramsgate [1872]
On the Historical Depravation of Christianity, 1873
Ancient Sacrifice, 1874
Hebrew Theism, 1874
The Two Theisms [1874]
On this and the other World [1875]
Religion not History, 1877
Morning Prayers, 1878; 1882
What is Christianity without Christ? 1881
A Christian Commonwealth, 1883
Christianity in its Cradle, 1884; 1886
Life after Death? 1886; 1887
The New Crusades; or the Duty of the Church to the World, Nottingham, 1886
Hebrew Jesus: His true Creed, Nottingham, 1895

Posthumous was

Mature Thought on Christianity, 1897, edited by George Jacob Holyoake.Social and political
As listed in the Dictionary of National Biography. A State Church not Defensible, 1845; 1848
On Separating … Church from State, 1846
Appeal to the Middle Classes on … Reforms, 1848
On … Our National Debt, 1849
Lectures on Political Economy, 1851
The Ethics of War, 1860
English Institutions and their … Reforms, 1865
The Permissive Bill, Manchester, 1865
The Cure of the great Social Evil, 1869; first part reprinted as On the State Provision for Vice, 1871; second part reprinted, 1889
Europe of the near Future, 1871
Lecture on Women's Suffrage, Bristol [1869]
Essays on Diet, 1883
The Land as National Property [1886]
The Corruption now called Neo-Malthusianism, 1889; 1890
The Vaccination Question, 5th edit. 1895

Other

Physiological Arguments in Favor of Vegetarianism. The Herald of Health, 1875. Contributions chiefly to the Early History of <mask> (1891), considered deficient in fraternal feeling. Death
After his retirement from University College, <mask> continued to live for some years in London, subsequently removing to Clifton, and eventually to Weston-super-Mare, where he died in 1897. He had been blind for five years before his death, but retained his faculties to the last.In his old age, he returned to the Church of England. <mask>'s funeral address was given by John Temperley Grey. It contained the comment that he was "a saint in the very thick of life's battle." Views
<mask> once described himself as "anti-everything". Wilfrid Meynell commented that <mask> was as a "deist, vegetarian, anti-vaccinationist, to whom a monastery is even as a madhouse." Literary critic Lionel Trilling described <mask> as a "militant vegetarian, an intransigent anti-vivisectionist, an enthusiastic anti-vaccinationist." "The perfection of the soul, he said, lay in its becoming woman.He believed in woman's right to vote, to educate herself and to ride astride". He sought to make life rational in all things, including clothing. He wore an alpaca tailcoat in summer, three coats in winter (the outer one green), and in bad weather, he wore a rug with a hole cut for his head. When it was muddy, he wore trousers edged with six inches of leather. Christian and secularist belief
As a young man, <mask> was a fervent evangelical, associating with Walter Mayers and Thomas Byrth. At Oxford he was acquainted with radical Calvinist evangelicals, such as the circle around John Hill (1786–1855) of St Edmund Hall. In 1827 he encountered Benjamin Wills Newton of Exeter College, a future Plymouth Brethren founder, and Joseph Charles Philpot of his own college, who was his predecessor in the Pennefeather household in Dublin, much impressed by Darby.<mask> returned from Baghdad in 1833 a deist. He remained throughout life a believer in a theism, which has been described as "versatile". He had a believer's baptism in 1836 at Broadmead Chapel. He often attended both Unitarian and Baptist religious services, but was agnostic on many aspects of Christian doctrine. In London of the 1840s <mask> associated with the radical group comprising also <mask> Ashurst, <mask> Linton, <mask>, James Stansfeld, Peter Alfred Taylor, mixing Unitarians and freethinkers. Harriet Martineau wrote to <mask> Fox in 1849 about the "religious state of the world", saying "I am in the midst of the <mask> set of friends", mentioning also Bonamy Price's praise for <mask>. The liberal theological movement to which <mask> belonged was hailed by George Jacob Holyoake, founder of British secularism.It equally received heavy criticism. The Anglican Clerical Journal, edited by Henry Burgess, wrote in 1854 of the "openly destructive volumes" of <mask> and Theodore Parker. In that year, <mask> published Catholic Union: Essays Towards a Church of the Future, as the Organization of Philanthropy. Journalism and controversy
<mask> wrote, anonymously, a favorable review of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation for the first issue in 1845 of the Prospective Review, a journal edited by James Martineau, John Hamilton Thom and two other Unitarian ministers in the north of England. The content is considered to reflect the influence on <mask> at this time of Baden Powell, in the area of science and religion. With Martineau and others such as James Anthony Froude and Edward Lombe, he was one of the unorthodox but "respectable" backers when John Chapman took over the radical Westminster Review in 1851. The embattled <mask> was a figure of controversy, particularly with Henry Rogers and his The Eclipse of Faith, or, A Visit to a Religious Sceptic of 1852, to which <mask> replied.He was supported in the Westminster Review by a sympathetic article of 1858, "F. W<mask> and his Evangelical Critics", by Wathen Mark Wilks Call, that classed him as an "honest doubter". Considering the reception of ten books by <mask> from the 1850s, Call (writing anonymously) concluded that many of his opponents "failed in candour, courtesy, generosity, and conscientiousness." <mask> himself published in the Westminster Review the provocative "Religious Weaknesses of Protestantism" in 1859. Circulation dropped, but Edward Henry Stanley stepped up with financial support. One of those offended was Henry Bristow Wilson, who thought it anti-Christian. He was one of the seven authors of Essays and Reviews (1860), which argued for a different version of liberal theology; among the other authors, Baden Powell was clearly influenced by <mask>'s views, while there is evidence that Mark Pattison took Phases of Faith to heart. Returning to the topic at book length, <mask> published The Religious Weakness of Protestantism in 1866.He was slow to drop the sola scriptura doctrine of Darby. Over time he developed arguments against it, under the headings of Bibliolatry and bigotry. He went on to contribute 11 articles in the early 1870s to Fraser's Magazine, edited by Froude. Social purity movement
<mask> was both a supporter of a radical individualism and opponent of a centralised state; and an ethicist who opposed free love, and was concerned with urban libertinism and prostitution. In 1869 he became involved in the opposition to the Contagious Diseases Acts. In 1873 he stood his ground, while chairing a meeting against the Acts in Weston-super-Mare, confronting disruptive protesters. In his lectures of the 1850s on political economy, <mask> had commented on the "population doctrine" of Thomas Malthus.While he did not contest it in the abstract, in his view, the practical applications of the doctrine had been "deplorably and perniciously false." An opponent of birth control, <mask> put a case that sexual excess was a danger to women's health. The Moral Reform Union, launched in 1881 and commended by The Englishwoman's Review, published <mask>'s book 1889 book The Corruption Now Called Neo-Malthusianism. Vegetarianism

<mask> joined the Vegetarian Society in 1868, and was President of the Society from 1873 to 1883. He was opposed to the dogmatic ideas of raw foodism and objected to the disuse of flavourings and salt. He commented that "the number of dogmatic prohibitions against everything that makes food palatable will soon ruin our society if not firmly resisted." In 1877, <mask> criticized a raw food book of Gustav Schlickeysen.He made an associate membership possible for people who were not completely vegetarian, such as those who ate chicken or fish. From 1875 to 1896, membership for the Vegetarian Society was 2,159 and associate membership 1,785. <mask> did not like the term "vegetarian" because it implied someone who ate only vegetables. Instead, he preferred the Greek term "anti-creophagite" or "anti-creophagist" (anti-flesh eater). This idea was not supported by other members of the Society, as few people knew what the term meant. He used the phrase "V E M" diet (vegetables, eggs, milk). <mask> consumed dairy and eggs.In 1884, a hostile review of his book Essays on Diet commented that he "is no vegetarian himself in the strict acceptation of the word, for he takes milk, eggs, butter, and cheese." <mask> believed that abstinence from meat, fish and fowl should be the only thing the Vegetarian Society advocates. Some members believed that <mask> was not strict enough. However, under <mask>'s Presidency the Society flourished as income, associates and membership numbers increased. In the 1890s, <mask> converted to a pescetarian diet, and consumed white fish. Vaccination
<mask> was an anti-vaccinationist and supported the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League. He carried over arguments, against following the advice of a "medical clique", that he had used against the Contagious Diseases Acts.In 1869, an article in The Lancet journal criticized <mask> for holding this opinion and tried to convince him to withdraw his support for the League. One of <mask>'s opponents in the vaccination controversy was Henry Alleyne Nicholson (Harry), whom he had tutored, and the son of his good friend John Nicholson. He declined to answer Henry's pamphlet. Land reform
The Land as National Property: With Special View to the Scheme of Reclaiming it for the Nation Proposed by Alfred Russel Wallace (1886)

<mask> was quoted by James Platt as stating that "the ownership of land is a monstrous despotism". During the 1870s, <mask> supported Matthew Vincent's scheme for acquiring land to provide smallholdings for agricultural labourers. Legacy

<mask> is listed on the south face of The Reformers' Memorial in Kensal Green Cemetery in London. Karl Marx quoted from <mask>'s "Lectures on Political Economy", given at Bedford College in Capital, Volume III, p. 595.<mask> was married twice, firstly on 23 December 1835 to Maria Kennaway (died 1876). She was the second daughter of Sir John Kennaway, 1st Baronet, and a Plymouth Sister. They had met at Escot House in 1834. <mask>'s mother Jemima was at the end of her life — she died in spring 1836 — but welcomed Maria to the <mask> family home. John Henry <mask> found that unacceptable. By 1840 the brothers were more reconciled, at least in correspondence. Maria's sister Frances married Edward Cronin in 1838.The couple had no children. Under the will of John Sterling (died 1844), <mask> became guardian of his orphaned son Edward Conyngham Sterling. Edward (Teddy) went to live with the <mask>s in Manchester; for a while his younger brother, John Barton Sterling was there also − their sisters went to their uncle Anthony Coningham Sterling. Edward Sterling was an artist, and married in 1868 Bertha Stone, a suffragist, daughter of Frank Stone. Born in 1831 on Munro Plantation, St Vincent, he died in 1877. He had a house built in Sheffield Terrace, London, in 1876, by Alfred Waterhouse. Secondly, <mask> married <mask> on 3 December 1878.References

Further reading

External links

 <mask> <mask> at the International Vegetarian Union

Attribution

1805 births
1897 deaths
19th-century English philosophers
19th-century English writers
Academics of University College London
British anti-vaccination activists
Anti-vivisectionists
Blind people from England
British Plymouth Brethren
English classical scholars
English evangelicals
English male non-fiction writers
Moral philosophers
People associated with the Vegetarian Society
Translators of Homer
Vegetarianism activists
English–Latin translators

masks:
Francis William Newman
John Henry Newman
Francis
John Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
William Blair
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Cardinal Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
William Henry
William James
William Shaen
William Johnson
F Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
. Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Newman
Family Newman
Francis
Newman
Newman
Francis
Newman
Newman
Eleanor Williams
Francis William
Newman


title: Don Cohan

type: original

texts:
<mask> (February 24, 1930 in New York City  – 20 October 2018) is one of the leading yachtsmen in the U.S. He was the first Jew to compete at the highest levels of world yachting competitions and at the time of his active career, the only Jew to win an Olympic medal in yachting. He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Years later, he twice defeated Hodgkin's disease. He came back to win a U.S. sailing championship at the age of 72. Biography
<mask> graduated from Amherst College (cum laude; 1951). There, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi.He then attended Harvard Law School. He practiced as an attorney, before going into business in real estate. He became President of Donesco Company, a real estate development firm. Sailing

<mask> began sailing in 1967 at age 37. He was on the U.S. team at the World Championships in 1969, 1970, and 1971. <mask> then won the 1972 Olympic trials, becoming the first Jew to be a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in sailing. In the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, he was set to compete when the Munich Massacre resulted in the killing by terrorists of 11 Israeli athletes.All Jewish athletes were warned to leave, and two Israelis slated to compete in sailing were instructed to return home immediately. They handed <mask> their satin, blue and white triangular flag, emblazoned with "Sports Federation of Israel. XXth Olympiad Munich 1972," and said:  "You're representing us now. Go win a medal for us." Competing at the age of 42, he came from far back on the final day and earned a bronze medal as helmsman in the mixed three-person  Dragon class, named Caprice. He earned the medal within just five years from when he began sailing, and was the first Jew to win an Olympic medal in sailing. <mask> wrote:  "The last act of [expletives deleted] [U.S. Olympic Committee head and International Olympic Committee president] Avery Brundage was to hang an Olympic medal around my neck."Brundage had been a Nazi sympathizer. He was notorious, among other things, for having pressured to have the only two Jews on the U.S. track team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, sprinters Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, removed at the very last moment on the morning of their 400-meter relay race, so as not to embarrass Hitler and the Nazis with a Jewish victory. Brundage later publicly praised the Nazi regime at a Madison Square rally. <mask> has also been U.S. champion, European champion, German champion, and Australian champion. In 1984, he put his legal skills to good use. He charged Robbie Haines, one of the competitors in the Olympic yachting Soling trials, with having left too early (or "barged") at the start of the race, in Long Beach, California. Ed Baird, a fellow competitor, said that Cohan "destroyed Haines in the protest room", but that "We're all still pretty close".Haines was disqualified for the race. In the end, however, Haines qualified for the 1984 Olympics, where he won a gold medal. Hodgkin's disease
Nineteen years after winning his Olympic medal, in 1991, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease of the lymph glands and nodes, and was found to have the most severe type (4B). He was not expected to survive. He said to himself, "<mask>, you may be very good in your line of business, but you know nothing about this one", and assembled a team around himself that he could rely on in his fight against the cancer. Cohan looked for excellent doctors who would allow him to undergo therapy usually considered too grueling for someone his age. He interviewed doctors, engaged a psychiatrist to help him deal with grief and fear, and told his wife she would be his deputy in the struggle.He went through aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy, suffered through fatigue, nausea, night sweats, swelling, and pain, and made it through the cancer successfully. Then, though only one percent of patients get Hodgkin's disease a second time—he found himself in that category. Again, he was not expected to survive. Again, he underwent aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy. And again, he defeated the cancer. Sailing, post-Hodgkins

In 2002, at the age of 72, he won the U.S. Soling Championship. He also finished 5th in the world championship.Taking a step back to ruminate on sailing competitively at his age, Cohan remarked: "I'm aware that I'm on the downwind side of the hill, and the reawakened goal of being a competitive sailor has caused me to stir up banked fires and rejuvenate neglected physical abilities." He was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2010, he was still sailing competitively. Philanthropy
<mask> has served as President of Jewish Employment and Vocational Service (JEVS) Human Services, as a member of the Directors Leadership Council of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, and as a member of the Board of Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1986 he made a gift of a dormitory to Amherst College; it was named the Cohan Dormitory in his honor in 1989.

masks:
Donald Smith Cohan
Cohan
Cohan
Cohan
Cohan
Cohan
Cohan
Don
Cohan


title: Rashid Nezhmetdinov

texts:
<mask>  (,  ; December 15, 1912 – June 3, 1974) was a Soviet chess player, chess writer, and checkers player. Though he never attained the title of Grandmaster, he was a renowned tactician and created several brilliant games. Biographer Alex Pishkin compares him to Chigorin, Réti and Spielmann. Early life
<mask> was born in Aktubinsk, Russian Empire, in what is now Aktobe, Kazakhstan, in a Tatar family. His parents were “worked to death” when he was still very young, rendering him (and his two siblings) an orphan. <mask> was then sent to live with his uncle, in a small town on the banks of the Volga river. From 1918-1923, the Russian Civil War devastated the region, particularly with the introduction of the Prodrazvyorstka policy, a system whereby peasant’s foodgrain was confiscated at nominal prices, as per fixed quotas.The ensuing famine killed over 2 million children. But <mask> endured, thanks in large part to his poet brother –   – who secured him a place at a Kazan orphanage. <mask> later regarded this orphanage as paradise, his only prior happy memory being "the time he got to eat fish soup on the banks of the Volga." In Kazan, <mask> was well-fed for the first time in his life, learnt the Tatar language, and was initiated into Islam. During this time, <mask> developed a keen interest in history, literature and mathematics. Three years later, Nadzhmi brought <mask> into his own home, also at Kazan. Here, <mask> was thoroughly engaged in the Kazan “Palace of Pioneers,” which marked the beginning of his chess career.<mask> had a natural talent for both chess and checkers, games he had learned by watching others play; and was quickly invited to join the Kazan Chess Club. At 15, he played in Kazan's Tournament of Pioneers, winning all 15 games. He also learnt to play checkers at this time. During the same month, he won Kazan's checkers semi-final and placed second in the finals. In the same year, he placed sixth in the Russian Checkers Championship. Later, when he gave up checkers for chess, Nezhmetdinov commented, somewhat dismissively, that all checkers contests can be reduced to rook endgames. It was around this time that Nadzhmi, now a poorly paid newspaper editor, could no longer afford Nezhmetdinov’s upkeep.<mask> then joined the Communist Party and moved to Ukraine, in the hopes of making his own way in the world. In Odessa, his Communist Party membership gave him good standing – and he worked as a stoker in a steel mill. He got to spend all his free time playing at the Odessa Chess Club

Initial Years (1933-1946)

In 1933, <mask>, now the Odessa Chess and Checkers Champion, and a Category I chess player, returned to Kazan. He secured employment with the Standards Bureau, taught at the local Pedagogical Institute and ran an informal chess circle. Over the next two years, <mask> was primarily concerned with checkers and earned himself the title of Master at the game. This was no small feat considering checkers was taken very seriously in the USSR at the time, and frequently reported in chess magazines. However, it was only after receiving (by his own admission)  a “thrashing” from “stronger Category I Chess Players” like Anatoly Ufimtsev and Pyotr Dubinin in 1936, that <mask> began to take chess seriously.He fell ill and was hospitalized for many months immediately thereafter. However, in his characteristically optimistic fashion, <mask> seized this opportunity to study endgames; typically by solving puzzles without a board. And, in his very next tournament, he won win 9 out of 10 games in his very next Category I tournament in 1939, and earn himself the Candidate Master title. After graduating in 1940, he was called to military service the following year and here his chess development took a major setback. He was deployed in Baikala, 5000 kilometers away, on the border of Mongolia. While <mask> still competed in district level tournaments, even securing wins against players like Victor Baturinsky and Konstantin Klaman, these appearances were very rare. The war eventually created a five-and half-year period in which <mask> did not participate in any tournament.There was a silver lining though – <mask> was actually quite lucky. He always seemed to arrive or leave before an apocalyptic battle. He arrived in Baikala right after the Red Army had fought a brutal battle with Japan’s Kwantung Army. He was then sent to Berlin immediately after the Soviets had stormed it. <mask> successfully avoided every major combat zone in a war that killed over 11 million Soviet soldiers. Glory Years (1946-1958)
And in Berlin, from 1946, <mask> was able to resume his long-interrupted chess career and devoted himself entirely to it. In 1946, he won Championship of the Berlin Military District, winning 14 out of 15 games, and finishing ahead of future Ukrainian Champion, Isaac Lipnitsky.Later that year, <mask>, then 34 years old, returned to civilian life and his primary occupation was to serve as the captain of the DSO Spartak chess team. In 1947, <mask> finished in shared second place at the All-Union Candidate Master tournament at Yaroslavl. This marked the beginning of a tumultuous friendship between Nezhmetdinov, Vitaly Tarasov (the winner), Ratmir Kholmov (shared second). With this performance, <mask> had also earned his second Master norm. He now had the right to play an examination game for the title of Soviet Master. Georgy Lisitsin was appointed as Nezhmetdinov’s examiner. However, after studying Lisitsin’s games for many months, <mask> received a telegram from the Soviet Chess Federation, merely days before his match, stating that his examiner would be Vladas Mikenas.Mikenas was a far more formidable opponent. In his renewed preparations, <mask> came across an Article written by Mikenas on the Alekhine’s Defense, in Shakhmaty v SSSR, a popular chess magazine of the day. Mikenas claimed it was his preferred response to 1. e4 (<mask>’s favorite first move). This must have been particularly intimidating considering Mikenas had only recently beaten the legendary Alexander Alekhine at the 1937 tournament in Kemeri, Latvia, with the black pieces no less. Nevertheless, the fearless <mask> still played 1. e4 in their first game and, even entered the “Hunt Variation” of the Alekhine Defense; Mikenas’ favorite. He crushed Mikenas in 17 moves. He beat Mikenas again, in the same variation, in Game 11.However, the Game was drawn 7-7 and <mask> did not gain the coveted Master title, because the examiner got draw odds. However, <mask> was not discouraged and this result only reinforced his belief that the title was within his grasp. However, this optimism must have led to a very few frustrating years for Nezhmetdinov, especially considering how brutally frank he was about his own performance. His next breakthrough came in 1950, when he earned the right to play at the prestigious RSFSR Championship at Nizhny Novgorod (this Championship was limited to the Russian Federation and thereby second to the USSR Championship). The competition was fierce, with Masters like Isaac Boleslavsky (the tournament's favorite), among many others. <mask> drew his game with Boleslavsky and went on to become the 10th Champion of the Russian Federation. He was finally a Soviet Master.He returned to Kazan, where a hero’s welcome awaited him. He went on to win the RSFSR Championship again, in 1951 at Yaroslavl. But his other tournament performances were relatively underwhelming. For instance, at the Baku International in 1964, Nezhmetdinov could only secure 4 points in 12 rounds; a performance he said owed to his underestimation of his opponents. He finished in third place, behind Vladimir Antoshin and Vladimir Bagirov. It is worth noting that around this time, <mask>, Vitaly and Ratmir had become boisterous drinking buddies. As the story goes, in Baku, they treated their hotel rooms like they were rockstars.<mask> is said to have hurled crockery out the window, and eventually gotten into an argument with Ratmir. Vitaly tried to defuse the situation, but to no avail. By this time, the commotion had caught the attention of GM Alexander Kotov, an observer on behalf of the Soviet Sports Committee. He reported all the three Masters to the Sports Committee. Ratmir and Vitaly received the worst of it (the reason for this is unclear, but some say it is because <mask> was the only Communist Party member among them), with each receiving a one-year ban from tournaments and having governments stipends suspended. <mask> retained his stipend, and was banned for a shorter period of time . This marked a turning point in <mask>’s life and he turned a new leaf.He gave up the “party all night” lifestyle, and married Tamara Ivanovna (little is known about her apart from the fact that she is the mother of Nezhmetdinov’s children). It was also around this time that Nezhmetdinov wrote the first ever chess book in the Tatar language. <mask>’s next major tournament was the 1953 RSFSR Championship at Saratov, which he won. And in 1954, <mask> finally managed to play on the grand stage, the 21st USSR Championship at Kiev – the holy grail of Soviet Chess. This proved to be <mask>’s toughest competition so far as it included other masters like Tigran Petrosian and Efim Geller, who were already ranked amongst the best players in the world. <mask> finished the tournament in shared 7th place, but, finishing with 4½ wins in 7 matches against grandmasters, was a great achievement in itself. With the death of Stalin in 1953, <mask> was finally able to play chess internationally.Nikita Khrushchev adopted a far less repressive regime, pertinently, removing most travel restrictions for sportsmen. It was also around this time that the Russian Sports Committee came under fire from the international press for only ever sending their “strongest Grandmasters” abroad. The idea was for Russia to send four of their “mere Masters” to the 1954 international tournament at Bucharest. <mask> was chosen along with Semyon Furman, Viktor Korchnoi and his old friend, Ratmir Kholmov. Prior to leaving for the tournament, the four masters were summoned to Moscow, where they underwent rigorous training under Isaac Bolevslavsky and David Bronstein. 1954 International Tournament at Bucharest

This was the first time <mask> had left the USSR, and the first time he faced top level players outside of the Soviet Union. Despite all the pressures, his performance was exemplary as indicated below:

 Lost to IM Luděk Pachman

 Won against IM Miroslav Filip

 Won against IM Robert Wade

 Won against IM Bogdan Sliwa

 Won against GM Gideon Ståhlberg

 Won against GM Enrico Paoli

<mask> and Korchnoi were both leading until the last round when Korchnoi overtook him and went on to win the tournament.Despite <mask> finishing in second place, this performance earned him the title of International Master. Later Years (1958-1961)

<mask>’s next tournament was the 1958 USSR Team Championship at Vilnius, where he served as the captain of his team – RSFSR. They finished in third place, among the nine teams at the competition. By now it was 1959, and a 46-year-old <mask> was finally feeling the effects of age, only accentuated by his former, hard-living lifestyle. He noted in his autobiography that he was the oldest participant at the opening ceremony of the 1959 USSR Championship in Tbilisi. But his legendary win against Bronstein with the white pieces must have offered him some consolation. In 1961, he finished second at the Chigorin Memorial Tournament at Rostov on Don, behind only Mark Taimanov.In the same year, <mask> would then try to win the prestigious RSFSR Championship at Omsk for a record sixth time. Here, things got off to a rocky start, and <mask> finally found himself in a group of five, tied for second place, behind Lev Polugaevsky. A clear second had to be chosen since the top two players would get a chance to play in the next USSR Championship. <mask> triumphed, winning the tie-break and finishing ahead of Vladimir Antoshin and Anatoly Lein. And with that, <mask> qualified to participate at the 29th USSR Championship in Baku later the same year. Unfortunately in that tournament, <mask> only finished in 19th place; but won many notable games. Final Years (1961-1974)

The next decade marked a particularly uninteresting period of <mask>’s life.In 1961, he competed in his fifth USSR championship at Kharkov. The competition was diluted as over 120 players were invited, in a bid to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the October Revolution. <mask> still only finished in 27th place, a position he shared with 14 other players. His next tournament, almost 12 years later, was the 1973 Latvian Open at Daugavpils. However he fell ill during the tournament, and was unable to finish his last game. He finished in third place. In his last few years, he coached the Kazan Chess team at the Old City Chess Club and regularly gave simultaneous exhibitions in his hometown.He was said to be an approachable and joyful man, who was always ready to discuss anything under the sun; especially chess. <mask> passed on in the summer of 1974. Developments in his Checkers career

In 1949, the Russian Checkers Semifinals were held in Kazan. Nezhmetdinov attended as a spectator, but when one of the participants failed to show up, Nezhmetdinov agreed to substitute for him even though he had not played checkers for 15 years. He won every game, qualifying him for the finals, which were to be held immediately after a chess tournament in which he was also participating. He won the tournament and immediately thereafter placed second in the Russian Checkers Championship. Chess career

Playing style
<mask> was a fierce, imaginative, attacking player who beat many of the best players in the world.Known for his committal, aggressive, forward moving playing style, he was occasionally referred by the nickname, "No Reverse Gear" <mask>. Russian Championship
Nezhmetdinov got the historical record of five wins of the Russian Chess Championship, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1957 and 1958.

International Master title
FIDE awarded him the International Master title for his second-place finish behind Viktor Korchnoi at Bucharest 1954, the only time he was able to compete outside of the Soviet Union. The elusive grandmaster title
There are few schools of thought on why Nezhmetdinov never became a grandmaster. The first, believes that Nezhmetdinov was obsessed with attack, and played for tactics and complications, even when there was none. Accordingly, they believe it was his ineptitude for defence that led to him never receiving the title. Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh, a strong positional and endgame player, suggested this in his interview by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam in The Day Kasparov Quit:

Others believe he was discriminated against because he was a Muslim (tatar) and therefore given fewer chances to go abroad. Korchnoi remembered Nezhmetdinov:
I played my first tournament after my marriage in Sochi.This was the Russian SFSR championship, and it was won by <mask>, one of the strongest Soviet masters. For some reason, he was very rarely allowed to go abroad, and obviously, he never became a grandmaster because of that. As a consequence of living behind the “iron curtain” for many decades, he only left the USSR a total of three times. Another popular explanation was the one advanced by Marat Khasanov:

 Let us also consider the other Soviet Players who became GMs around the time <mask> should have (emphasis added) become one. 1954 - No player. 1955 - One player, Boris Spassky. He won the youth world chess championship and qualified for the Interzonal, where he got his grandmaster's norm.Boris was very lucky. The world championship in Antwerp ended on 8th August, and the Interzonal, which, luckily, was held in Gothenburg, began in a week - on 15th August. And Spassky got there in time, which, considering the Soviet bureaucracy of the time, was quite a feat. 1956 - One player, Viktor Korchnoi, by accumulated results. 1957 - One player, Mikhail Tal. He won the Soviet championship that year. In 1958 and 1959, no Soviet players became grandmasters.Therefore, in six years, from 1954 to 1959, only three Soviet players became grandmasters: Spassky, Tal and Korchnoi. How was <mask> supposed to become a grandmaster if he never played in a tournament with grandmaster norms? However, even without the title, Nezhmetdinov had a prolific chess career, and a lifetime positive score against World Champions – an achievement that is usually exclusive to former world champions. But, perhaps the most humbling explanantion is the one we got from Nezhmetdinov himself:

 I came to chess too late, as a 17-year-old man with no theoretical knowledge, whereas all the champions — Botvinnik, Smyslov, Spassky, Petrosian and Tal received training from the age of seven or eight….Yes, I could play some games with brilliance, and win prizes for beauty, but I was never able to achieve the holistic skills necessary for Grandmaster level”

Results against world champions
Nezhmetdinov won a number of games against world champions such as Mikhail Tal, against whom he had a lifetime positive score, and Boris Spassky. He also had success against other world-class grandmasters such as David Bronstein, Lev Polugaevsky, and Efim Geller. He achieved a positive score in the 20 games he contested against World Champions. But in addition to his aforementioned dismal score against Averbakh, he could not win against excellent defenders like Tigran Petrosian (+0-3=2) and Korchnoi(+0-3=3).Memorial
Kazan Chess school is currently named after <mask>. <mask> is buried in the Arskoe Cemetery, in Kazan, Tatarstan Republic, Russia (memorial ID 114372566).

masks:
Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov
Nezhmetdinov
Nezhmetdinov
Nezhmetdinov
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Rashid Nezhmetdinov
Rashid Nezhmetdinov


title: Clement of Ohrid

texts:
<mask> of Ohrid (Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian: Свети Климент Охридски, ; ; ;  – 916) was one of the first medieval Bulgarian saints, scholar, writer and enlightener of the Slavs. He was one of the most prominent disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius and is often associated with the creation of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic scripts, especially their popularisation among Christianised Slavs. He was the founder of the Ohrid Literary School and is regarded as a patron of education and language by some Slavic people. He is considered to be the first bishop of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, one of the Seven Apostles of Bulgarian Orthodox Church and one of the premier saints of modern Bulgaria. The mission of Saint <mask> was the crucial factor which transformed the Slavs in Macedonia into Bulgarians. Saint <mask> is also the patron saint of North Macedonia, the city of Ohrid and the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Life

The exact date of his birth is unknown.Most probably, he joined Methodius as a young man following him later to the monastery on Mysian Olympus. According to his hagiography by Theophylact of Ohrid, <mask> knew the life of Methodius like no other. That is why most scholars think he was born in the Byzantine Empire in the territory where Methodius served during his political career, i.e. that he was a Slav from Southern Macedonia. This gives rise to some researchers to indicate the area of Thessaloniki as the possible place of birth of <mask>. According to others, the area of Southern Macedonia, including the northern approach to Thessaloniki, where he maybe was born, was then part of the First Bulgarian Empire. Most of Macedonia became part of Bulgaria between 830 and 840, i.e when <mask> was born.The Short Life of St. <mask> by Theophylact of Ohrid testifies to his Slavic origin, calling him "the first bishop in the Bulgarian language," while The Ohrid Legend written by Demetrios Chomatenos describes him as one of the European Moesians, commonly known as Bulgarians. Because of that, some scholars label him a Bulgarian Slav, while Dimitri Obolensky calls <mask> a Slav inhabitant of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. A fringe view on his origin postulates that <mask> was born in Great Moravia. This view is based on the lexicographical analysis of <mask>'s works. <mask> participated in the mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia. In 867 or 868 he became a priest in Rome, ordained along with two other disciples of Cyril and Methodius, Saint Gorazd and Saint Naum, by bishops Formosus and Gauderic. After the death of Cyril, <mask> accompanied Methodius on his journey from Rome to Pannonia and Great Moravia.After the death of Methodius himself in 885, <mask> headed the struggle against the German clergy in Great Moravia along with Gorazd. After spending some time in jail, he was expelled from Great Moravia and in 885 or 886 reached Belgrade, then in the borders of Bulgaria together with Naum of Preslav, Angelarius and possibly Gorazd (according to other sources, Gorazd was already dead by that time). Thereafter, the four of them were sent to the Bulgarian capital of Pliska where they were commissioned by Boris I of Bulgaria to instruct the future clergy of the state in the Old Slavonic language. After the adoption of Christianity in 865, religious ceremonies in Bulgaria were conducted in Greek by clergy sent from the Byzantine Empire. Fearing growing Byzantine influence and weakening of the state, Boris viewed the adoption of the Old Slavonic language as a way to preserve the political independence and stability of Bulgaria. With a view thereto, Boris made arrangements for the establishment of two literary academies where theology was to be taught in the Slavonic language. The first of the schools was to be founded in the capital, Pliska, and the second in the region of Kutmichevitsa.According to his hagiography by Theophylact of Ohrid, while Naum stayed in Pliska working on the foundation of the Pliska Literary School, <mask> was commissioned by Boris I to organise the teaching of theology to future clergymen in Old Church Slavonic in the southwestern part of the Bulgarian Empire, in the region then known as Kutmichevitsa. For a period of seven years (between 886 and 893) <mask> taught some 3,500 disciples in the Slavonic language and the Glagolitic alphabet. At that time, <mask> translated Christian literature into Old Church Slavonic, and in this way, he and his co-workers laid the foundations of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In 893 he was ordained archbishop of Drembica, Velika (bishopric). Upon his death in 916 he was buried in his monastery, Saint Panteleimon, in Ohrid. Soon after he was canonized as a saint by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The development of Old Church Slavonic literacy had the effect of preventing the assimilation of the South Slavs into neighbouring Byzantine culture, which promoted the formation of a distinct Bulgarian identity in the Empire.During the first quarter of the 10th century, the ethnonym “Bulgarians” was adopted by the Slavic tribes in most of Macedonia, while their names were abandoned. <mask>'s life's work played a significant role in this transformation. Legacy

Saint <mask> of Ohrid was one of the most prolific and important writers in Old Church Slavonic. He is credited with the Panonic Hagiography of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius. <mask> also translated the Flower Triode containing church songs sung from Easter to Pentecost and is believed to be the author of the Holy Service and the Life of St. <mask> of Rome, as well as of the oldest service dedicated to St. Cyril and St. Methodius. The invention of the Cyrillic alphabet is also usually ascribed to him although the alphabet is most likely to have been developed at the Preslav Literary School at the beginning of the 10th century (see Cyrillic script). Medieval frescoes of Saint <mask> exist throughout the modern-day territories of North Macedonia, Serbia and northern Greece, with the vast majority being located in North Macedonia.The Church of St. Clement of Ohrid is located in Skopje and is the largest cathedral of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The first modern Bulgarian university, Sofia University, was named after <mask> upon its foundation in 1888. The Macedonian National and University Library, founded on November 23, 1944, also bears his name. The University in Bitola, established in 1979, is named after <mask>, as well as the Bulgarian scientific base, St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. In November 2008, the Macedonian Orthodox Church donated part of <mask>'s relics to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as a sign of good will. In May 2018 was announced that in the ruins of a Ravna Monastery, near the village of Ravna in Provadiya Municipality, the signature of Saint <mask> was identified on a stone plate with a large amount of graffiti on it. The signature is dated as of April 24, 889.The finding gives reason to assume that the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius were settled there at one stage, after being expelled from the Great Moravia and their reception in Bulgaria. See also
 Chernorizets Hrabar

References

External links

9th-century births
916 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
9th-century Bulgarian people
10th-century Bulgarian people
Medieval Bulgarian saints
Creators of writing systems
Medieval Bulgarian writers
Bulgarian male writers
10th-century Christian saints
Medieval Ohrid
Saints of medieval Macedonia
People from Ohrid
Kutmichevitsa

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title: Seth Rogen

texts:
<mask> (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series Freaks and Geeks, and then got a part on the sitcom Undeclared, which also hired him as a writer. After landing his job as a staff writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show, Apatow guided <mask> toward a film career. As a staff writer, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. His first movie appearance was a minor role in Donnie Darko (2001). <mask> was cast in a supporting role and credited as a co-producer in Apatow's directorial debut, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Universal Pictures subsequently cast him as the lead in Apatow's films Knocked Up and Funny People.<mask> co-starred as Steve Wozniak in Universal's Steve Jobs biopic in 2015. In 2016, he developed the AMC television series Preacher with his writing partner Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin. He also serves as a writer, executive producer, and director, with Goldberg. <mask> and Goldberg co-wrote the films Superbad, Pineapple Express, The Green Hornet, This Is the End, and directed both This Is the End and The Interview, all of which <mask> starred in. He has also done voice work for the films Shrek the Third, Horton Hears a Who!, the Kung Fu Panda trilogy, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Monsters vs. Aliens, Paul, Sausage Party, the 2019 version of The Lion King, and the forthcoming Mario film. Early life
<mask> <mask> was born on April 15, 1982, in Vancouver, British Columbia to a Jewish family of Ukrainian and Russian origin. His mother, Sandy Belogus, is a social worker, and his American father, <mask>, worked for non-profit organizations and as an assistant director of the Workmen's Circle Jewish fraternal organization.Of his dual citizenship, <mask> has stated, "I definitely associate with being Canadian much more than being American" because he grew up in Canada. He has described his parents, who met on kibbutz Beit Alfa in Israel, as "radical Jewish socialists". <mask> has an older sister named Danya. He attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and Point Grey Secondary School, incorporating many of his classmates into his writing, and took up kyokushin karate for ten years. He was also known for the stand-up comedy he performed at Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp. As a child, <mask> did not want to pursue any career other than comedy, stating, "As soon as I realized you could be funny as a job, that was the job I wanted." He got his start in show business at age 12 after enrolling in a comedy workshop taught by Mark Pooley.His early comedy routines involved jokes about his bar mitzvah, his grandparents, and his camp counsellors. During his teenage years, he would perform stand-up comedy routines at places like bar mitzvahs and small parties, later shifting to bars. A mohel paid him to write jokes. At the age of 13, he co-wrote a rough draft of Superbad with childhood friend Evan Goldberg, whom he had met at bar mitzvah classes. Based on their teenage experiences, <mask> and Goldberg spent the rest of their time in high school polishing the script. They initially worried that American Pie (1999) had beaten them to the idea for the movie, but they decided that the film "'managed to totally avoid all honest interaction between characters,' which is what we're going for." His mother was supportive of his comic endeavours and would often drive him to stand-up gigs at the comedy club Yuk Yuk's.With his deadpan humour, he placed second in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest at 16 years old. Also when <mask> was 16, his father lost his job and his mother quit hers, forcing them to put their house up for sale and relocate to a significantly smaller apartment. Around this time, he landed a role on Judd Apatow's television show Freaks and Geeks after attending a local casting call. <mask> dropped out of high school, began working for Apatow, and relocated with his family to Los Angeles. <mask> paid the bills and had become the main wage earner at just 16. Career

1999–2006: Early work and friendship with Judd Apatow
<mask>'s acting debut was as Ken Miller, a cynical, acerbic "freak", in Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, a cult hit series first released in 1999. Revolving around a group of teenagers' lives, Freaks and Geeks first aired in 1999.Although well reviewed, the show was NBC's lowest-viewed program and was cancelled after one season due to poor ratings. Impressed with <mask>'s improvisational skills, Apatow then chose him as the lead in another of his shows, Undeclared. <mask> was originally set to play a fairly popular but nerdy college freshman, but the network did not think he was leading man material. Apatow opted not to go along with the show. <mask> also served as a staff writer to the short-lived production. Following the show's cancellation in 2002, <mask> did not get many auditions, which was not upsetting to him as he always thought he would achieve better success as a writer. He would soon be a part of Apatow's "frat pack," a close-knit group that includes Steve Carell and Paul Rudd.Of the awkwardness of a grown man spending so much time with a teenaged <mask>, Apatow said: "I'm such a comedy fan that, even though he's 16, I know I'm hanging out with one of the guys who's going to be one of the great comics." Around this time, Apatow would come up with odd requests for <mask> and Goldberg, such as turn an idea of his into a movie in 10 days and come up with 100 one-page ideas for films. Regarding Apatow's professional effect on <mask>, the actor said in 2009, "Obviously, I can't stress how important Judd's been to my career." <mask> had roles in Donnie Darko (2001) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). A big career point for him was becoming a staff writer for Sacha Baron Cohen's last season of Da Ali G Show in 2004. Along with the show's other writers, <mask> received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. He became familiar to audiences as one of the main character's co-workers in Apatow's well-reviewed buddy comedy directorial debut feature The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005).<mask> also co-produced it and improvised all his dialogue. "[<mask>] hadn't done any screen work that indicated he could carry as memorable and convincing a performance as he does with the character Cal," MTV's John Constantine wrote. The Boston Globe reviewer Wesley Morris wrote that <mask>, along with co-stars Rudd and Romany Malco, were each hilarious in their own right and Orlando Sentinel Roger Moore believed that <mask> had his moments in the film whereas Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times said the actor was "droopily deadpan". He followed this with a small role in You, Me and Dupree (2006), a critically panned comedy featuring Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson. 2007–2009: Breakthrough as a leading man

His breakthrough came when Universal Studios greenlit him for the lead in yet another Apatow production: Knocked Up (2007), a romantic comedy that follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between his slacker character and Katherine Heigl's just-promoted media personality that results in an unintended pregnancy. Upon completing The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Apatow had approached <mask> about potential starring roles, but the actor suggested many high-concept science fiction ideas. After Apatow insisted that he would work better in real life situations, the two agreed on the accidental pregnancy concept of this production.<mask> called shooting sex scenes with Heigl "nerve-racking" and found comfort with the supporting cast since, even though he played a lead, the focus was not all on him. Made on a $30 million budget and released on June 1, Knocked Up was a critical and commercial hit, garnering an approval rating of 90 percent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and grossing $219 million. <mask> also received favourable reviews. Later that year, he played a supporting part as an irresponsible police officer in Superbad, which he had written with his writing partner and was co-produced by Apatow. Michael Cera and Jonah Hill originate the main roles, two teenage best friends whose party plans go wrong, based on them. The film and their writing was praised, with critics finding it to be very authentic. It topped the US box office for two weeks in a row.He made a vocal cameo appearance in the animated film Shrek the Third, also released in 2007. <mask> hosted Saturday Night Live in October 2007. <mask>'s projects in 2008 included Jimmy Hayward's Horton Hears a Who!, an animated film based on the Dr. Seuss book, in which <mask> voiced Morton the Mouse, and the fantasy film The Spiderwick Chronicles, in which he voiced a hobgoblin. <mask> additionally co-wrote Drillbit Taylor, also produced by Apatow and starring Owen Wilson as the homeless titular character. He based the screenplay on a 70-page scriptment done by John Hughes. The movie was panned by critics who thought its plot – a grown man becoming three kids' bodyguard and beating up their bullies – had no focus and was drawn out. "If Superbad were remade as a gimmicky Nickelodeon movie, it would probably look something like Drillbit Taylor" Josh Bell wrote in the Las Vegas Weekly.He again lent his voice to another animated movie, this time Kung Fu Panda, with Jack Black and Angelina Jolie. It did exceptionally well in theatres, making more than $630 million. <mask> made a cameo appearance in the comedy Step Brothers, released in July. <mask>, Goldberg and Apatow were behind the stoner action comedy Pineapple Express directed by David Gordon Green at Columbia Pictures. Apatow produced it while <mask> and Goldberg wrote the script. <mask> was chosen to play the film's protagonist, a 25-year-old who accidentally witnesses a murder while delivering a subpoena. James Franco was cast as his hippie pot dealer that he goes on the run with.When asked about its inspiration, <mask> said he wrote what he knew. Pineapple Express was released to theatres in August and made $101 million in ticket sales against its $27 million production budget. Movie critics lauded it, appreciating their performances and its humor. In April 2008, Empire reported <mask> and Goldberg would write an episode for the animated television series The Simpsons. He also voiced a character in the episode, entitled "Homer the Whopper," which opened the twenty-first season. Kevin Smith's romantic comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno rounded out 2008 for the actor. He and Elizabeth Banks portrayed the title roles: Pennsylvania roommates who try to make some extra cash by making an adult film together.After having difficulty trying to secure an R rating, <mask> commented to MTV, "It's a really filthy movie," but complained, "It's really crazy to me that Hostel is fine, with people gouging their eyes out and shit like that... But you can't show two people having sex – that's too much." The picture was distributed on Halloween by The Weinstein Company and disappointed at the box office. Along with Reese Witherspoon, he voiced a character in the animated science fiction Monsters vs Aliens (2009), which did well commercially, with a total of $381.5 million. He then starred in the Jody Hill-directed mall cop comedy Observe and Report, in which he portrayed bipolar mall security guard Ronnie Barnhart. The film opened in theatres on April 10. Critics noted a departure in <mask>'s acting style from playing laid-back roles to playing a more sadistic character; Wesley Morris from The Boston Globe opined that "Often with <mask>, his vulnerability makes his coarseness safe... Ronnie is something altogether new for <mask>.Vulnerability never arrives. He's shameless." Later in 2009, <mask> starred in Apatow's third directorial feature, Funny People, with Adam Sandler. <mask> played a young, inexperienced comic while Sandler played a mentor of sorts to his character; the film had more dramatic elements in it than Apatow's previous efforts. Funny People was a commercial failure, coming up short of earning back its $75 million budget. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with a consensus that it had "considerable emotional depth". <mask> hosted Saturday Night Live again in 2009, where the music video for the Lonely Island song "Like a Boss," in which he starred, premiered.2010–2014: Venture into directing and controversy

After years of development, a feature film adaptation of The Green Hornet was handled by <mask> and Goldberg, with a theatrical release in January 2011. <mask> chose to do a re-imagining of the title character. He was executive producer of the movie and also cast himself as the main character. <mask> later admitted to having been overwhelmed by handling its $120 million budget. "It's insane. But it's not so much the specific amount of money that's stressful, it's all the things that go along with making a movie of that size." The actor also went on a strict weight-loss diet to play the slim crime fighter.The Green Hornet was a critical disappointment; Adam Graham of the Detroit News called it "a big, sloppy, loud, grating mess of a movie" and the Arizona Republics Bill Goodykoontz found its story to have fallen apart. Nonetheless, it still opened at number one at the box office, making $33 million in its opening weekend before going on to gross more than $225 million. In 2011, <mask> and Evan Goldberg founded the production company Point Grey Pictures, named after Point Grey Secondary School, which they both attended. <mask> provided the voice and motion capture for the title

masks:
Seth Aaron Rogen
Rogen
Rogen
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Seth Aaron
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Mark Rogen
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title: Seth Rogen

texts:
 character, a grey alien, in the science fiction comedy Paul (2011). The film also starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as a pair of geeks who help Paul escape from FBI agents. He reprised his voice role in Kung Fu Panda 2, as well as produced and took a supporting role in Jonathan Levine's 50/50. The dramedy about cancer was based on an autobiographical script by screenwriter Will Reiser, and was released in September 2011.The drama Take This Waltz, his fourth film of 2011, featured <mask> as a man whose wife (played by Michelle Williams) explores a new relationship with another man. From 2011 to 2015, <mask> played Dirty Randy, a librarian and pornographer, in the sitcom The League, in addition to writing two episodes. <mask> hosted the 27th Independent Spirit Awards in February 2012 and the road movie The Guilt Trip, also starring Barbra Streisand, was released in cinemas that December. The film was about an inventor (<mask>) who invites his mother (Streisand) on a road trip, as he attempts to sell his new product while also reuniting her with a lost love. In 2013, <mask> along with screenwriting collaborator Evan Goldberg made their directorial debut with This Is the End, a comedy featuring <mask>, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride playing fictional versions of themselves facing a global apocalypse. The film received positive reviews and was number two in the box office on its opening weekend. <mask> recurred on the revived fourth season of the comedy series Arrested Development in May 2013, playing a young George Bluth Sr. (played by Jeffrey Tambor) in several flashback scenes.He co-wrote the foreword for the 2014 book Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris. and was reported be working on an adaptation with Goldberg. <mask> hosted Saturday Night Live for a third time in 2014. That May, <mask> starred in Neighbors with Rose Byrne and Zac Efron, which was directed by Nicholas Stoller. In the film, <mask> and Byrne played a couple who come into conflict with a fraternity, led by Efron's character, living next door. The film became <mask>'s highest grossing non-animated film, having grossed over $270 million globally. <mask> and Evan Goldberg co-directed and co-wrote the story to the action comedy The Interview, starring <mask> and James Franco as a pair of journalists who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after setting up an interview with him.In June 2014, North Korea threatened a "merciless" retaliation on the United States if it did not ban The Interview, labelling the movie "an act of war" and a "wanton act of terror," and <mask> himself a "gangster filmmaker". In December, Sony Pictures announced that it was cancelling the release of the movie after a cyber attack on the studio, allegedly tied to North Korea and threats made subsequently by Kim Jong-un. As a result of criticism of this decision, Sony subsequently made the film available online and it allowed theatrical release on December 25, 2014, drawing mixed opinions from film critics. Scott Foundas of Variety found the film to be "about as funny as a communist food shortage, and just as protracted," while The Daily Telegraph critic Robbie Collin opined that it was "a raucous, abrasive, snort-out-loud satire with mischief in its heart and methane in its gut". It grossed $11.3 million in theatres, but had strong online sales and rentals. Also in 2014, <mask> made cameo appearances in the comedy 22 Jump Street as the double of Jonah Hill's character and in James Franco's drama The Sound and the Fury as a telegrapher. During the time, both <mask> and Goldberg through his Point Grey Pictures company had set up a joint venture with major client Good Universe to set up mainstream comedy films.2015–present: Continued film and television work
<mask> portrayed Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak in the Danny Boyle-directed Steve Jobs biopic (2015), from a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. His performance in the film was widely praised and <mask> was commended for doing an "excellent job" by Wozniak himself. In November 2015, <mask> starred alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie in the Christmas-themed comedy The Night Before as three best friends who annually reunite to celebrate Christmas Eve. In 2016, he reprised his voice role in Kung Fu Panda 3 and in the Neighbors sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. Along with Goldberg and Sam Catlin, <mask> developed the television series Preacher for Sony Pictures Television, which premiered on AMC in May 2016. The show is based on the comic book series of the same name created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and follows a small-town preacher named Jesse Custer (played by Dominic Cooper) who possesses a superpower that allows him to command others to do as he says. His last release of 2016 was the animated comedy Sausage Party, which in addition to voicing the lead character Frank—a sausage who tries to escape his fate in a supermarket—he co-wrote and produced.Sausage Party became the most commercially successful R-rated animated film of all time, overtaking South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999). Associated Press critic Lindsey Bahr wrote of the film: "There is no one out there making comedies quite like <mask> and Goldberg. They are putting their definitive stamp on the modern American comedy one decency-smashing double entendre at a time." Along with Evan Goldberg, <mask> directed and executive produced the science fiction comedy series Future Man, starring Josh Hutcherson, which premiered on the streaming service Hulu in November 2017. The same year, <mask> and Goldberg also co-directed a short commercial film for Walmart, titled Bananas Town, and <mask> portrayed the script supervisor, Sandy Schklair, to The Room director and star Tommy Wiseau (played by James Franco), in the Franco-directed film The Disaster Artist, based on the book of the same name, which chronicles the making of the 2003 film The Room. <mask>, as the founder of Hilarity for Charity, an organization that raises funds for Alzheimer's research and support, hosts an annual fundraising comedy event named after the organization. The sixth event was broadcast through the streaming service Netflix in April 2018.In July 2018, it was announced that <mask> was to voice public service announcements in his native Vancouver's TransLink transit system and Toronto's Toronto Transit Commission. <mask> co-starred alongside Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer as the love interest of Bell's character in the 2018 comedy-drama Like Father, directed by <mask>'s wife, Lauren Miller. In 2019, <mask> starred opposite Charlize Theron in the romantic comedy Long Shot, as an unemployed journalist who re-connects with his childhood love interest and babysitter (Theron), who has become a major political figure. <mask> co-starred in the 2019 remake of the animated musical film The Lion King (1994), voicing the warthog Pumbaa, who rescues the film's protagonist Simba with his friend Timon, voiced by Donald Glover and Billy Eichner, respectively. He sang three songs in the film, which were included on the soundtrack release. <mask> said that, "[a]s an actor, I don't think I'm right for every role — there are a lot of roles I don't think I'm right for even in movies I'm making — but Pumbaa was one I knew I could do well." Despite middling critical reception towards the film, it became one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and <mask> and Eichner received praise for their chemistry.In 2019, <mask> also produced the comedy Good Boys, starring Jacob Tremblay for Universal Pictures, and the television shows The Boys and Black Monday, directing the pilot for the latter show with Goldberg. In 2021, he voiced Allen the Alien in the animated series Invincible in which he also serves as producer. <mask> filmed scenes for the James Franco film Zeroville in 2014, which was not released until 2019. <mask> has a guest chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss' self-help book Tools of Titans. <mask>'s first book, Yearbook, was published in May 2021. Yearbook is a memoir that features a collection of essays spanning from <mask>'s adolescence to his experiences in Hollywood. In September 2021, Nintendo announced in a Nintendo Direct presentation that <mask> would be voicing Donkey Kong in the 2022 computer-animated Mario film, with a spin-off film focused around the character planned as well.Political views and activism
Politically, <mask> describes himself as "left wing". <mask> has been active in raising awareness of Alzheimer's disease. The disease runs in his wife's family and has affected his mother-in-law for several years. "I think until you see it firsthand, it's kind of hard to conceive of how brutal it is," <mask> said to CNN. "Until I saw it, you just don't get kind of how heartbreaking it can be." During the interview, he talked about how he tries to be emotionally supportive and around as much as he can for Miller's mother. Both he and Miller spoke to Larry King for A Larry King Special, Unthinkable: The Alzheimer's Epidemic, which aired in April 2011.<mask> testified about the disease and his charity before the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services on February 26, 2014. <mask> started the Hilarity for Charity movement, to inspire change and raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease among the Millennial Generation. <mask> and his wife also initiated the Alzheimer's and Dementia Care Grant Program with Home Instead Senior Care to provide free at-home care to senior citizens. On February 25, 2016, <mask> and Miller were honoured with the unite2gether accolade from unite4:humanity for their work promoting awareness and raising money for Alzheimer's research through Hilarity for Charity. <mask> appeared in a Bud Light commercial celebrating LGBT Pride Month and the Supreme Court of the United States ruling that granted same-sex couples the right to marry. <mask> is a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity (Lambda Delta chapter) at the University of Vermont. He was initiated in April 2017 after his fourth visit to the campus for his Hilarity for Charity movement.<mask> is also a member of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and an open marijuana user. <mask> and his longtime friend and collaborator Evan Goldberg launched the cannabis company Houseplant in Canada in 2019. In June 2018, <mask> was invited by Mitt Romney to speak at a seminar for awareness of Alzheimer's disease hosted by Romney in Park City, Utah. Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan was in attendance, asking <mask> for a photo after Ryan's children engaged <mask> in conversation. <mask> refused, stating in an interview with Stephen Colbert, "I look over and his kids are standing right there expectantly, clearly fans of mine, and I said, ‘No way, man!’” and telling Ryan “Furthermore, I hate what you’re doing to the country at this moment and I’m counting the days until you no longer have one iota of the power that you currently have.”

On July 3, 2018, <mask> criticized Twitter and its CEO Jack Dorsey, claiming he had a "bizarre need to verify white supremacists". Variety magazine reported that he was "directly in touch" with Dorsey over the issue. Several media outlets, including Fortune, speculated that <mask> was referring to alt-right figure Jason Kessler, and the Proud Boys in particular.<mask> is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. Views on Israel
During his July 2020 promotional tour for his comedy, An American Pickle, <mask> said he was "fed a huge amount of lies about Israel" growing up. "They never tell you that, 'Oh, by the way, there were people there'. They make it seem like it was just like sitting there, like the fucking door’s open." He said that antisemitism remains pervasive and prevalent, but also spoke to the importance of a strong Jewish diaspora, "You don’t keep something you’re trying to preserve all in one place." <mask> later expanded on his comments, stating in an interview: "I think that it's a tricky conversation to have in jest. And that's something that perhaps I now look at and say, 'Oh, now that we joked about that, perhaps we could clarify some things so people don't run around thinking that I think Israel shouldn't exist anymore.'And I'm sensitive to Jewish people being hurt, as a Jewish person. And I'm sensitive to Jewish people thinking I'm not a proud Jewish person, which I am. Truthfully, I think my pride in being Jewish and how deeply I identify as a Jewish person perhaps made me feel like I was able to say things without as much context as perhaps I should give them – you know what I'm saying? And I am sensitive to Jews thinking that I , and that there are a lot of Jewish people who are alive who wouldn't be without Israel. And my parents met in Israel; I've been to Israel several times." Personal life

<mask> began dating writer/actress Lauren Miller in 2004. The two met while he was working on Da Ali G Show.The couple became engaged on September 29, 2010, and married on October 2, 2011, in Sonoma County, California. Miller has had minor on-screen roles in a few of <mask>'s films. They have stated they do not plan to have children. <mask> has created a cannabis brand in the city of Toronto, Ontario, with his friend Evan Goldberg. After attending pottery classes with his wife in 2017, he began making ceramics. He cites artist Kenneth Price as an inspiration. In January 2021, <mask> revealed on Twitter that he has mild Tourette syndrome, which runs in his

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title: Nicolas Vatomanga

texts:
<mask> (born 24 September 1975), known as <mask> is a Malagasy saxophonist, flutist, bandleader and composer. His music combines elements of jazz, blues and traditional musics of Madagascar, including: the hira gasy of the Centre, the beko from the South and the salegy from the North of the Great Island. He is also recognized as one of the heirs of the malagsy flute sodina tradition and of its last great master: Rakoto Frah (Philibert Rabezoza Rakoto). <mask> has played and/or recorded in Europe, Africa (Senegal and Madagascar), as well as in the United States with: Miriam Makeba, Rakoto Frah, Paco Sery, Eric Le Lann, Regis Gizavo, Solorazaf, Lionel Loueke, Mokhtar Samba, Tony Rabeson, Serge Rahoerson, Linley Marthe, Idrissa Diop, Hanitra Ranaivo, Silo Andrianandraina and Jaojoby Eusèbe. He was invited by Joe Zawinul to play at his concert at the Parc Floral Paris 2002, but he could not honour the invitation. Since 2004, he has lived and performed in Madagascar, where he created the "Vatomanga Band" which appeared for the first time in quartet form during the Madajazzcar Festival 2005 and gradually enlarged to a septet after 2010. In 2011, the band took the name MadaJazz.Biography

Early life
Vatomanga started with classical music at age four at the National Center for Music education (CNEM) in Antananarivo, Madagascar. He was taught by Mrs Alisera and Seta Ramaroson Andrianary (flutist, saxophonist and composer), both renowned teachers there. Choosing the flute as his first instrument, Vatomanga continued training with Seta at the Cercle Germano-Malagasy (CGM) of Antananarivo. A precocious child, he composed for piano at age eight and played frequently in classical concerts (NCCM, CGM) from age ten. His mother, he claimed, had a great influence on his tastes and his passion for music: classical music, blues, gospel and traditional Malagasy music (such as the hira gasy, the Kalon'ny Fahiny, Ny Antsaly, Rakotozafy and Rakoto Frah in particular); she learned to play valiha (the Malagasy bamboo zither) when he started on flute. Jazz
At age fourteen, at Seta's invitation, Vatomanga attended a concert given by American saxophonist and flutist of Caribbean origin, TK Blue (Talib Kibwe). Following the concert, he learned on the flute, from ear and by heart, the theme and the solo of "Pinnacle of Joy" of the album Egyptian Oasis (1987) of the American jazzmen.He, therefore, decided to learn the saxophone and a new form of expression for him: improvised music. Seta, also a jazz saxophonist, taught him jazz basics, especially harmonization of improvisation. Further encouraged by Silo Andrianandraina (also a young Malagasy jazzman), a friend from second class in high school, Vatomanga listened and explored the world of jazz fundamentals, particularly through the works of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, George Shearing, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul and John Coltrane. "Trane" in particular became a great influence. Attuned to his African roots, he listened to South African jazz, including Makeba, Hugh Masekela and Bheki Mseleku. At age fifteen, he began learning the saxophone in a band with Solomiral, an Antananarivo jazz fusion band, then informally with Toty Band and a more traditional music group from Southern Madagascar, Tsimihole. In 1992, he participated in his first Madajazzcar Festival, accompanied by an informal group created for the occasion.Bassist Olver "Toty" Andriamampianina became Vatomanga's second mentor. Seta and Toty provided him constant encouragements to pursue a musical career. Throughout the years of his BSc diploma, he attended the Jazz Club of Mahamasina, founded by pianist and composer Sammy Andriamanoro.<ref>Anjara Rasoanaivo, "Sammy Andriamanoro: a musical genius full of humility" in Midi Madagasikara 'August 7, 2009, daily </ref> Sammy taught him jazz standards for one year. After earning his BSc in 1993, <mask> enrolled in Mathematics at the University of Aix-Marseille III (France) and completed two years of courses, while continuing his music. In 1994 he passed the entrance examination at the Conservatoire d'Aix-en-Provence where he studied jazz for a year, alongside math. During this period, he met Alain "Belain" Rabeson, cousin of drummer Tony Rabeson. Bassist, drummer and jazz teacher, Belain invited him to play in his Bossa Nova and Samba band.Accompanied on drums by Belain, in 1995 he entered Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Marseille – jazz section - where he studied for one year. Under Belain's coaching, in 1996 he entered the American School of Modern Music of Paris (affiliate of Berklee College of Music) where he covered the course in three years instead of five. There, he deepened his skills in composition, arrangement and conducting. In the fifth year, he received a scholarship to pursue a final year at Berklee, but declined. At this school he met another American school graduate, Lionel Loueke and a musicologist specializing in Madagascar: Victor Randrianary. Jazz and World Music (1999-2004)
Along with his musical studies in Paris, the young saxophonist was invited to play in the trio of drummer Tony Rabeson and trumpeter Eric Le Lann with whom he first played in Duc des Lombards in 1998. These exchanges with Tony Rabeson round off his musical training.During this same period, he played jam sessions with Serge and Nivo Rahoerson in the restaurant's Jazz Club The Arbuci at St. Germain in the Latin Quarter. He also played with bassist Sylvain Marc. Following his musical studies, over a period of five years from 1999 and 2004, he pursued a career as a sideman. He met guitarist "Solorazaf" Solo Razafindrakoto, then Miriam Makeba's lead guitar. He accompanied the South African singer and attended her 2002 concert in Olympia. He also worked with the Malagasy singer Hanitra and accompanied her at the Jazz à Vannes 2000 Festival. He worked as a sideman for Mossan of Mokhtar Samba, performing at the 2001 Nice Jazz Festival and participated under the name <mask> on his 2005 album Dounia along with Régis Gizavo.Vatomanga accompanied various international Malagasy and African musical leaders, such as Clement "Kilema" Randrianantoandro-for whom he played on the 1999 album Ka Malisa with Justin Vali, Erick Manana, Regis Gizavo and Rakoto Frah. Along with it, he participated in a series of recordings that led to the albums Chants et Dances en Imerina (2000), and Madagascar: Pays Merina (2001). This work was Rakoto Frah's last album before his death in 2001. Vatomanga played with Senegalese singer Idrissa Diop during a tour in Dakar where he discovered Senegalese music. He also appeared on Germain "Rajery" Randrianarisoa's 2001 album Fanamby. Finally, Vatomanga joined bassist Julio Rakotonanahary (co-founder of the group Wa Zimba) with whom he recorded the 2003 album Mande Wazy. Open to all forms of artistic expression, he befriended renowned sculptor and composer Jonny "R'afa" Andriamanankoavy, with whom he recorded some of Andriamanankoavy's compositions - the same way he met writer Michèle Rakotoson with whom he also often collaborated.Malagasy roots (2004 –today)
In 2004, motivated by the desire to return to Madagascar, Vatomanga moved to Antananarivo. He played in local bands of all genres, but never denying his core: improvisation. During his inland travels, Vatomanga played and recorded with Silo Andrianandraina (jazz & world jazz), Eusèbe Jaojoby (salegy) whom he had accompanied on the 2001 albumAza Arianao, Ghomy Rahamefy (free jazz), Solo Andrianasolo (jazz & world jazz), Fanja Andriamanantena (jazz & world jazz), Jackie Ralph (world jazz), "Hajazz" Haja Rasolomahatratra (world jazz) Other album work included Melo Gasy with Fanaiky Rasolomahatratra (world jazz) (2008) and Goma (2011), Hazolahy (Music South East), or the Social Fusion Group (world jazz) and Rajery (world). Vatomanga is featured, along with a dozen Malagasy jazzmen, on the album Malagasy Jazz Social Club: Mada In Blue (2008) initiated by Boussat and Arly Rajaobelina. He performs two of his own compositions. Bandleader
In 2005, Vatomanga created the "Vatomanga Band", with whom he appeared regularly in clubs and at the Madajazzcar International Festival. He trained young Malagasy musicians in jazz and other modern music.The band developed and promoted young talents, including Mahatozo Ravelonjaka, who joined the group after winning the First National Jazz Contest organized by Malagasy Jazz Radio RLI in 2005 at age 23 and Joel “Rabesl” Rabesolo, who joined after winning the same competition in 2006. In 2011, <mask> and his group, in collaboration with the writer Michèle Rakotoson, were actively involved in the creation of the "Slam Jazz Project", a new art form that combines improvised poetry (Slam) with improvised Jazz. The same year, the Vatomanga Septet took the new name of MadaJazz. Band members
 2005 to 2007: "Vatomanga Quartet" : Mahatozo Ravelonjaka (keyboard), Henintsoa Andriamasimanana (bass), Miora Rabarisoa (drums) and <mask> (soprano, alto and tenor saxophone; sodina flute ). 2008 to 2009: "Vatomanga Quintet": Joel  “Rabesl” Rabesolo (guitar), Mahatozo Ravelonjaka (keyboard), Miora Rabarisoa (drums), Henintsoa Andriamasimanana (bass) and <mask>manga (soprano / alto / tenor sax, flute sodina) . 2010: "Vatomanga Septet": Joel "Rabesl" Rabesolo (guitar), Mahatozo Ravelonjaka (keyboard), Miora Rabarisoa (drums), Henintsoa Andriamasimanana (bass), Ludovic (bass), Kim's (keyboard) andriantiana "Nata" Andrianantenaina (trumpet) and <mask>manga (soprano / alto / tenor, flute sodina). 2011: The Septet became "MadaJazz", with: Joël "Rabesl" Rabesolo (guitar), Miora Rabarisoa (drums), Mika "Kim's" Rajaonarivelo (bass), Ludovic "Dovs" Rakotondraina (keyboard) andriantiana "Nata" Andrianantenaina (trumpet), Laurent Amouric (percussion) and <mask> Vatomanga (soprano/alto/tenor sax, sodina flute) (featuring :  Panayotis Dourantonis, congas, for the Slam Jazz Projekt)

 Quotes
 "Music is a great journey during which you are in a constant discovery."(Interview on Jazz Radio RLI)
 "Jazz music in Madagascar is still perceived both hermetic and elitist: it is a misappropriation of the spirit of jazz itself." (Interview on nocomment)

 Discography
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 Jazz Collective album 2008: Malagasy Jazz Social Club: In Mada Blue(CD) - Harmonia Mundi
 2009: SocialFusion - Social Group ProductionWith Mokhtar Samba 2005: Dounia- O + MusicWith Julio Rakotonanahary 2003: Mande Wazy- TyndaWith Fanaiky Rasolomahatratra 2007: MeloGasy - Fan Prod
 2011: Goma- Fan ProdWith Fanja Andriamanantena 2009: No.

masks:
Nicolas Vatomanga Andrianaivo Rakotovao
Nicolas Vatomanga
Nicolas Vatomanga
Vatomanga
Nicolas Rakoto
Vatomanga
Nicolas Vatomanga
Nicolas Vato
Nicolas Vato
Nicolas


title: Gordon Kurtti

texts:
<mask> (May 4, 1960 - April 18, 1987)  was an American artist, writer, illustrator and performer. He was a seminal figure in the early East Village art scene of New York City's Lower East Side. <mask>'s prolific output – his crossing of visual art with literature, performance, and cinema – along with his connection to and activity within the nightclub milieu of the post punk "downtown" culture of New York City in the 1980s, when high culture merged with entertainment – is illustrative of the period before AIDS decimated an entire generation. In many opinions, such as that of writer Sarah Schulman, the loss of such potential arbiters as Kurtti changed the course of world culture forever. <mask> was a member of Allied Productions, a not-for-profit arts organization based in New York City. With Allied's collective umbrella as a  resource and guide for social and aesthetic experimentation, he collaborated on performances, films and Arts in education workshops. Though his life was brief his output was relatively prolific - like many figures in this history of the fervent, feverish climate of New York City's Lower East Side in the '80s.He exhibited at ABC No Rio, Club Armageddon, Pyramid Club, 8BC and Life Café – the East Village hangout featured in Rent. Background
Kurtti was one of seven children born to Claire Marie <mask> (née Stokes) and Jeremiah Joseph <mask> in Yonkers, New York. He was shy and somewhat introverted but known for his love of reading and early artistic abilities. <mask> had a vivid imagination and an affinity for comic book art, monster movies and outer space. He grew up drawing elaborate spaceships complete with flight instructions and statistics. He admired and drew mythical heroes like Prince Valiant and was inspired by the first existentialist, Hamlet. He graduated from Yonkers Preparatory High School and was accepted into New York's School Of Visual Arts at a time when alumni such as Keith Haring were exploding onto the downtown New York scene.There he met and formed a lifelong friendship and artistic collaboration with  classmate Kembra Pfahler. Career
Kurtti collaborated on various art projects with many of his peers placing him within the circle of second generation of co-directors at Abc No Rio that included Jack Waters, Peter Cramer, and Carl George, and Colab predecessors Bradley Eros and Aline Mare - then performing as the partnership Erotic Psyche. This circle also included the artists Valerie Caris, Leslie Lowe, Brad Taylor, Leslie Lowe, Richard Hofmann, and  Tony Pinotti  among others. With this grouping Kurtti frequently performed and presented his work at the Pyramid Club and Danceteria. In 1984 Pfahler and <mask> organized The Extremist Show at ABC No Rio . This was a watershed exhibition that coincided with the introduction of many of New York's sub-culture artists and groups. Included in the Extremist Show curation was the resident dance company of the Pyramid Club P.O.O.L., The performance series Church of the Little Green Man, The Cinema of Transgression featuring the films of Nick Zedd, Lydia Lunch and Richard Kern, Borbetomagus and Redtape Magazine.<mask> was influenced by all of these, and he in turn contributed to their impact through his creative activities and his presence in their fomentation. Fashion
After art school he began training as an illustrator for advertisers and the fashion industry for burgeoning designer Diane Pernet and worked in the art department of The Limited Company. He collaborated with Carl George on a showroom design for Yumi Katsura, Japan's pre-eminent wedding gown designer and again collaborated on the fashion show launch event featuring a young Brooke Shields. Kurtti designed the stage and room decor one of the first AIDS fund-raising events for the Henry Grethel menswear line in 1986. Theater
<mask> worked with theatrical producer Liz Dunn to create °∞One Night Stands°± at La Mama Cabaret in Ellen Stewart's legendary La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. He adopted the pseudonym Sketch Louis for his on site illustrations capturing performers like Hapi Phace, Edgar Oliver, Lypsinka (AKA John Epperson), Samoa, the theater group Watchface, Taboo! (AKA Stephen Tashjian), Kimberly Flynn among others.Kurtti also drew a spot-on caricature of Sam Shepard for the 1984 La Mama presentation of Shepard Sets,  a series of three short plays: Suicide in B Flat, Angel City and Black Bog Beast. <mask> proved himself to be a master of realist drawing with a wry sense of humor. Kurtti created and performed his work The Bearded Bride in the 1985 production Foho Tell Dreams at Danspace Project at Saint Mark's Church. Film
<mask> was an early collaborator on many experimental film works by Carl George, Jack Waters, Bradley Eros and Leslie Lowe and Brad and Brian Taylor. He, like most of his art friends, wore many hats from cameraman to set designer to lead actor. Sets often consisted of whatever was found on the street and easily painted, hung or reconfigured. Costumes were assembled from thrift shop racks, flea market finds or abandoned closets.The preferred medium was Super-8 film easily cut and edited on a kitchen table. Screenings were organized through Naked Eye Cinema, the media branch of Allied Productions and took place at The Film-Makers' Cooperative, Millennium Film Workshop, Anthology Film Archives, ABC No Rio, abandoned lots, alleys and nightclubs. Many of the films including The Lost 40 Days and La Belle Fleur and DHPG Mon Amour by Carl M. George and Nocturnes and The Blond Leading The Blond  by Jack Waters now reside in the permanent collections of The New York Public Library, The Library of Congress, The Museum of Modern Art, NYC, and other important collections and archives. The film and moving image works in which <mask> appears and in whose production to which he principally contributed are in the collections of Anthology Film Archives, The Film Makers Cooperative, the Reserve Film and Video Collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts  and the Downtown Collection of New York University's Fales Library. Kurti's life and work are the subject of an archival, preservation, and distribution project by Allied Productions, Inc.

Filmography
 La Belle Fleur  (Actor, Set/Prop Designer) dir. Carl M. George 1985
 Brains By Revlon (Co-Writer, Costume/Set Designer, Storyboard Artist) dir. Jack Waters 1986
 The Blond Leading The Blond [unproduced] (Co-Writer Costume/Set Designer, Storyboard Artist) dir.Jack Waters 1986
 The Lost 40 Days  (Actor, Art Director, Set/Prop Designer) dir. Carl M. George 1986
 Whippoorwill (Art Director, Set/Prop Designer) dir. Carl M. George 1986

References

 Jolinda Lewis -Review of performances at St. Mark's Danspace, New York, (Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 1985) of Foho tell dreams
 Smithsonian Institution Oral History with Jack Waters and Peter Cramer
 Abc No Rio in the '80's

External links
 <mask>ti Project

1960 births
Artists from New York City
1987 deaths
American storyboard artists

masks:
Gordon Stokes Kurtti
Kurtti
Kurtti
Kurtti
Kurtti
Gordon
Kurtti
Kurtti
Gordon
Kurtti
Gordon
Kurtti
Gordon Kurt