Personalities

Cultural Kaleidoscope

Famous Personalities 1

ITALIAN personalities LEONARDO DA VINCI - Artist, Mathematician, Inventor, Writer (1452–1519) Born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci was concerned with the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work as a painter, sculptor, inventor and draftsmen. His ideas and body of work—which includes "Virgin of the Rocks," "The Last Supper," "Leda and the Swan" and "Mona Lisa"— have influenced countless artists and made da Vinci a leading light of the Italian Renaissance.

Da Vinci's most well-known painting, and arguably the most famous painting in the world, the "Mona Lisa," was a privately commissioned work and was completed sometime between 1505 and 1507.

The Last Supper 1498

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Italian composer GIACOMO PUCCINI, born December 22, 1858, started the operatic trend toward realism with his popular works, which are among the most often performed in opera history. But the fame and fortune that came with such successes as La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Tosca were complicated by an often-troubled personal life. Puccini died of postoperative shock on November 29, 1924.

RAPHAEL - Painter, Architect (1483–1520) A leading figure of Italian High Renaissance classicism, Raphael is best known for his "Madonnas," including the Sistine Madonna, and for his large figure compositions in the Palace of the Vatican in Rome.

In Rome from 1509 to 1511, he painted the Stanza della Segnatura ("Room of the Signatura") frescoes located in the Palace of the Vatican. He later painted another fresco cycle for the Vatican, in the Stanza d'Eliodoro ("Room of Heliodorus"). In 1514, Pope Julius II hired Raphael as his chief architect. Around the same time, he completed his last work in his series of the "Madonnas," an oil painting called the Sistine Madonna. Raphael died in Rome on April 6, 1520.

The School of Athens (from the Stanza della Segnatura) 1510-11

St George Fighting The Dragon

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GIUSEPPE VERDI - Songwriter (c. 1813–1901)

Giuseppe Verdi was born in Italy in 1813, prior to Italian unification. Verdi produced many successful operas, including La Traviata, Falstaff and Aida, and became known for his skill in creating melody and his profound use of theatrical effect. Additionally, his rejection of the traditional Italian opera for integrated scenes and unified acts earned him fame. Verdi died on January 27, 1901, in Milan, Italy.

Composing over 25 operas throughout his career, Verdi continues to be regarded today as one of the greatest composers in history. Furthermore, his works have reportedly been performed more than any other performer's worldwide.

ANTONIO VIVALDI - Priest, Educator, Composer (1678–1741) Born on March 4, 1678, in Venice, Italy, Antonio Vivaldi was ordained as a priest though he instead chose to follow his passion for music. A prolific composer who created hundreds of works, he became renowned for his concertos in Baroque style, becoming a highly influential innovator in form and pattern. He was also known for his operas, including Argippo and Bajazet. He died on July 28, 1741.

FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI - was born on February 12, 1923, in Florence, Italy. After World War II ended, he moved to Rome and became an actor and stage director, eventually transitioning into stage design. He worked on opera and stage productions from the 1950s through the early 2000s. Zeffirelli is also known for Shakespeare film adaptations, including The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet.

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Polish personalities

ADAM BERNARD MICKIEWICZ (poet) Adam Bernard Mickiewicz was born on December 24th, 1798 in Zaosie or Nowogrรณdek and died on November 26th, 1855 in Constantinopol. He is Polish poet, political activist and journalist. He was one of the greatest poets of Polish Romanticism and was mainly known as the author of ballads, novels, poetry and drama. In the years 18071815 he attended a district school in the Dominican Nowogrรณdek. In 1812 there were two important events in his life: on May 16th his father died and later Napoleon's troops passed Novogrรณdek marching to Russia. In 1815 Mickiewicz went to study in Vilnius. He studied humanities at the Imperial University of Vilnius. He undertook studies at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and at the same time attended lectures at the Department of Moral and Political Sciences and Literature and Liberal Arts. Severe financial situation of his family after the death of his father led him to become involved in the education at the University of Seminary Teachers which later guaranteed him employment in the tsarist schools. In 1819 he graduated from it with a master's degree. In 1819 he began working as a teacher in Kaunas where he lived until 1823. In 1823 he was arrested and imprisoned in the Basilian monastery in Vilnius (from the autumn 1823 to March 1824) and then convicted for taking part in the secret youth organizations.

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FREDERIC FRANCIS CHOPIN (composer) Frederic Francis Chopin lived in the years 1810-1849. He was the most famous Polish composer and pianist of the Romantic era who mainly wrote for the solo piano. He was born in Ĺťelazowa Wola which is 46 kilometres far from Warsaw in Mazowsze. He gained and has maintained renown all over the world as one of the leading musicians of his era whose “poetic geniusâ€? was based on a professional technique that was unique in his generation.

When he was six years old, he started to play the piano. When he was 7, he created his first works. As a child prodigy he completed his musical education and composed many of his works in Warsaw before leaving Poland at the age of 20 less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising. At the age of 21 he settled in Paris. Thereafter, during the last 18 years of his life, he gave only 30 public performances preferring more intimate atmosphere of the salon.

He supported himself by selling his compositions and teaching the piano. In 1835 he was granted French citizenship. Chopin invented the concept of instrumental ballade. His major piano works also include sonatas, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, polonaises, etudes, impromptus, scherzos and preludes. Some of them were published only after his death. Many contain elements of both Polish folk music and of the classical tradition of J. S. Bach, Mozart and Schubert - the music of all he admired. His innovations in style, musical form and harmony and his association of music with nationalism influenced the late Romantic period. In his last years, he was financially supported by his admirer Jane Stirling who also arranged for him a trip to Scotland in 1848. Through most of his life, Chopin suffered from the poor health. He died in Paris in 1849, probably of tuberculosis. Both in his native Poland and abroad, Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest superstars, his association with political insurrection, his love life and his early death have made him, in the public consciousness, a leading symbol of the Romantic era. His works are still popular and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of varying degrees of historical accuracy. All of Chopin's compositions include the piano. Most are for solo piano, although he also wrote two piano concerts, a few chamber pieces and some songs to Polish lyrics. His keyboard style is highly individual and often technically demanding. His own performances were noted for their nuance and sensitivity.

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JAN KASPROWICZ (poet) Jan Kasprowicz was born on December 12th, 1860 in the village of Szymborze near Inowrocław in Kujawy region in the poor peasant family.

From 1870 he went to the Prussian secondary schools in Inowrocław, Poznań, Opole and Raciborz, and in 1884 he recieved a diploma in the St. Mary Magdalene Junior High School in Poznań. He studied philosophy and literature at the German Universities of Leipzig and Wroclaw.

In 1885 Kasprowicz began publishing regularly his poems and patriotic combat articles. In 1886 he married Theodosia Szymańska but after a few months he left his wife. In January, 1893 he married Jadwiga Gąsowska. Kasprowicz had two daughters with her called Janine and Anna. After a few years Jadwiga left him. He loved the Tatras and he often returned there. Kasprowicz loved Italy, too. In 1911 he married a young Russian woman called Mary Bunin. During the First World War he lived in Poronin and then for a long period of time in Lviv where he did a lot of scientific work. Because of bad health he left Lviv and moved to Poronin in 1923. Later he bought a house in the hamlet of Harenda where he had close and heartfelt relationships with the highlanders.

Kasprowicz was translating a lot into German, French, Italian, Norwegian, Belgian, Dutch, Czech, Indian, Greek and Latin.

HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ - (1846 – 1916) The most famous writer of the 19th century. Thanks to his work Polish literature has become recognised in the world. In our country he is best known for “Trilogy” of historical novels set in the 17th century. In the world he is best remembered for the bestseller “Quo Vadis”, which was translated into more than fifty languages. He cared about the future of the country, his work focused on poverty. Sienkiewicz was as prominent in philanthropy as in literature. In 1905 the author was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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Romanian personalities

CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI – Romanian sculptor and painter, he was a central figure of the modern movement.

Born on February 19 1876, in Hobitza, Romania in a family of peasants. He inherited his family’s natural gift of wood carving (a tradition in Romania). He studied sculpture at the School of Arts and Crafts in Craiova and the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. In 1903 he left for France (by foot), stopping by in each major city, eager to discover the world and explore the arts.

A few of his major works include: Endless Column, Mademoiselle Pogany, the Sleeping Muse, the Kiss, Bird in Space, Gate of the Kiss.

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GEORGE ENESCU – Romanian violinist, pianist, conductor and one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.

Born on August 9 1881 in Botosani, Moldavia, he was the only surviving child out of 8 children. Due to the family tragedy, his parents devoted all their efforts to his upbringing; he began playing the violin at the age of 4. From the age of 5-6 years old, he tries his first test composition. Enescu is sent to study at the Vienna Conservatory; he makes his debut as a violinist at the age of 12, a fact much publicized by Viennese press. He continues his studies at Conservatoire de Paris.

He creates his most pouplar compositions, such as the two Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11 suite no. 1 for orchestra, op. 9 his first Symphony in E flat, op. 13 Seven songs on poems by Clément Marot, op. 15.

MIHAI EMINESCU – journalist, poet, novelist. Considered the most influential Romanian poet, he was one of the last great Romantics.

Born on January 15 1859, in Botosani, Moldavia. Mihai spends his childhood in Ipotesti, a village where his parents had a small estate.

He made his literary debut at 16. He went on tours with theatrical companies. Eminescu studied philosophy in Vienna and Berlin.

Back in Romania, he worked in education and joined literary circle Junimea (“Youth”).

The most important works of his last period are “A Dacian’s Prayer,” “Ode in the Ancient Meter,” and the “Epistles.”

ION LUCA CARAGIALE – Romanian poet, playwright, short story writer, theater manager and journalist.

Born on February 13 1852 in Dambovita, southern Romania, in a family of actors and playwrights. He grew up in Ploiesti and developed interest in poetry and an acting from an early age.

In mid 1970’s, he writes his most important plays: A Stormy Night, Mr. Leonida, Carnival Stories, A Lost Letter.

The plays are centered in satirical way around the urban life and people of his time; he highlights social conflicts and political corruptions. In 1888, Caragiale becomes director of the Bucharest National Theatre.

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One of the founders of the Romanian painting was NICOLAE GRIGORESCU (1838-1907).

Nicolae Grigorescu was born on May 15, 1838 and died on July 21, 1907. He was born in a village in Romania and died in Campina, Romania. Nicolae Grigorescu is known as a famous painter. In 1843, when his father died, the family moved to Bucuresti, Romania. Nicolae Grigorescu created a lot of icons for the church of Baicoi.

Grigorescu went to study in Paris, France, where he met other painters and some of them influenced his art.

Having studied at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he had contact with Pierre-Auguste Renoir, after which he left Paris to join the Barbizon school, where he adopted the „en plein art” way of painting. Several of his works were

featured, among others, at the Universal Exhibitions in Paris. In 1877 he was called to accompany the Romanian Army as a “frontline painter” in the Romanian War of Independence.

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MARIA TANASE is an icon of the Romanian traditional music. Today, 25th September, it is a century since her birth (25 September 1913 – 22 June 1963).

Maria Tanase was a beloved singer during her life being called “The Magic Bird” of the Romanian traditional song. Her deep voice with a perfect diction and her fascinating presence made her famous both in her country, and internationally.

SERGIU CELIBIDACHE Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic from 194552 and then lifetime conductor of the Munich Philharmonic (1979-96), Sergiu Celibidache is the greatest Romanian conductor and one of the world all time greats.

One of those rare characters difficult to work with (obsessive perfectionist), but funny at the same time, his concerts were not only about music, but an experience.

Pianist Eileen Joyce said that Celibidache was the greatest conductor she ever worked with, and “the only one who got inside my soul.”

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Spanish personalities

MIGUEL ESPINOSA is considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century Murcia. Little known to the general public, but recognized by critics and academics. Many of his works were published years after being written; some even posthumously.

His work provides a fertile heterodoxy that makes it difficult to classify, giving the reader a unique, original and full of linguistic findings style. Hence Miguel Espinosa is considered a major writer, being related to bygone authors of the stature of the writer Baltasar Gracian Baroque or Renaissance François Rabelais.

It is made known to the general public following the publication, in 1974, which is considered his best and most important work, school Mandarins, which won the City of Barcelona Prize, a novel with laFea bourgeoisie has I returned to be published in 2006 by prestigious publishing nationwide, showing signs of increasing literary and consideration of the late writer of Caravaca.

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA was born in Alcalá de Henares, Spain September 19, 1547.

One of Spain's most famous writers, Miguel de Cervantes created one of the world's greatest literary masterpieces, Don Quixote, in the early 1600s. In Esquivias (Province of Toledo), on 12 December 1584, he married the much younger Catalina de Salazar y Palacios (Toledo, Esquivias –, 31 October 1626), daughter of Fernando de Salazar y Vozmediano and Catalina de Palacios. Her uncle Alonso de Quesada y Salazar is said to have inspired the character of Don Quixote.He died on April 23, 1616 in Madrid.

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PABLO RUIZ PICASSO (Málaga 1881 - Mougins 1973) He is a very important painter who spent most of his adult life in France. As one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the Bombing of Guernica by the German and Italian airforces at the behest of the Spanish nationalist government during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso

SALVADOR DALÍ - (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989) was a prominent Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dalí's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.

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The Persistence of Memory (1931)

Reflection elephants illusion paintings

ANTONIO MACHADO RUIZ- (Seville, July 26, 1875 Collioure, February 22, 1939 ) was a Spanish poet , the youngest Representative of the Generation of 98. His early work of modernist evolved towards a symbolist intimacy with romantic traits , which matured from a poem of human commitment , Una parte , and almost Taoist Contemplation of Existence by another ; A synthesis that is the voice of wisdom Machado echo ancestral Becomes More Popular . In the words of Gerardo Diego, " he spoke in verse and lived in poetry." It was one of the Distinguished Alumni ILE , with ideologies Whose was always engaged. He died in exile in the throes of the Second Spanish Republic.

MANUEL DE FALLA - (1876 - 1946) the quintessential Andalusian. He ranks as one of the most important Spanish composers of all time.

He was inspired during his teen years by a performance of Edvard Grieg's music. He later recalled that it was at this moment that he felt his path in life was music.

His most famous pieces are Nights in the Gardens of Spain (video of part 1 below), a piano/orchestral night painting, the ballet El amor brujo ("Love the Magician"), and the Ritual Fire Dance.

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ANTONI GAUDI – (June 25, 1852 - June 10, 1926) was a Spanish Catalan architect from Reus/Riudoms and the best known practitioner of Catalan Modernism.

Gaudi's works reflect an individualized and distinctive style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his magnum opus, the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. Gaudi considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadis which used waste ceramic pieces.

Gaudi's work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study by architects. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Familia, is the most-visited monument in Spain.

Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Gaudi's Roman Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images appear in many of his works. This earned him the nickname "God's Architect" and led to calls for his beatification.

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SLOVENIAN personalities

FRANCE PREŠEREN - Was a 19th - century romantic slovene poet. France Prešeren is to Slovenians who Goethe is to Germans, Dante to Italians, Robert Burns to Scots, Pushkin to Russians, Mickiewicz to Poles, Shakespeare to English and---I don't know whom to name---to Canadians.

One might surmise that outside of the Slovenian ethnic context---Slovenians number but two million in contrast to the large nations I've just named---we would learn little about Prešeren. Yet we can find some information. His biography, for example, we can read in the Encyclopedia Britannica. The encyclopedia has it that:

PRIMOŽ TRUBAR (1508 – 28 June 1586) was the Protestant reformer, most known as the author of the first Slovene language printed book, the founder and the first superintendent of the Protestant Church of the Duchy of Carniola, notable for consolidating the Slovene language. Trubar is the key figure of Slovenian cultural history and in many aspects a major historical personality.

Trubar authored 22 books in Slovene and two books in German. He was the first to translate parts of the Bible to Slovene.

LUCIJAN MARIJA ŠKERJANC - (December 17, 1900 – February 27, 1973) was a Slovene composer, music pedagogue, conductor, musician, and writer who was accomplished on and wrote for a number of musical instruments such as the piano, violin and clarinet. His style reflected late romanticism with qualities of expressionism and impressionism in his pieces, often with a hyperbolic artistic temperament, juxtaposing the dark against melodic phrases in his music.

Metka Krašovec - is one of the most important painters in contemporary Slovenian art. In 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana celebrated her 70th birthday.

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