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Somerset Maughan
William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German university. He became a medical student in London and qualified as a physician in 1897. He never practised medicine, and became a full-time writer. His first novel, ''Liza of Lambeth'' (1897), a study of life in the slums, attracted attention, but it was as a playwright that he first achieved national celebrity. By 1908 he had four plays running at once in the West End theatre, West End of London. He wrote his 32nd and last play in 1933, after which he abandoned the theatre and concentrated on novels and short stories. Maugham's novels after ''Liza of Lambeth'' include ''Of Human Bondage'' (1915), ''The Moon and Sixpence'' (1919), ''The Painted Veil (novel), The Painted Veil'' (1925), ''Cakes and Ale'' (1930) and ''The Razor's Edge'' (1944). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Van Vechten
Carl Van Vechten (; June 17, 1880December 21, 1964) was an American writer and Fine-art photography, artistic photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary estate, literary executor of Gertrude Stein. He gained fame as a writer, and notoriety as well, for his 1926 novel ''Nigger Heaven''. In his later years, he took up photography and took many portraits of notable people. Although he was married to women for most of his adult years, Van Vechten engaged in numerous homosexual affairs during his lifetime. Life and career Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he was the youngest child of Charles Duane Van Vechten and Ada Amanda Van Vechten (née Fitch). Both of his parents were well educated. His father was a wealthy, prominent banker. His mother established the Cedar Rapids Public Library and had great musical talent. As a child, Van Vechten developed a passion for music and theatre. He graduated from Washington High School (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Washington High ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cakes And Ale
''Cakes and Ale, or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard'' (1930) is a novel by the British author W. Somerset Maugham. Maugham exposes the misguided social snobbery levelled at the character Rosie Driffield, whose frankness, honesty, and sexual freedom make her a target of conservative opprobrium. Her character is treated favourably by the book's narrator, Ashenden, who understands that she was a muse to the many artists who surrounded her, and who himself enjoyed her sexual favours. Maugham drew his title from the remark of Sir Toby Belch to Malvolio in William Shakespeare's ''Twelfth Night'': "Dost thou think, because ''thou'' art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?" Cakes and ale are also the emblems of the good life in Joseph Jacobs' 1912 rendition of Aesop's fable of " The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse": "Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear." In his introduction to a Modern Library edition, published in 1950, Maugham wrote, "I am willing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham
Frederic Herbert Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham, (20 October 1866 – 23 March 1958) was a British barrister and judge who was Lord Chancellor from March 1938 until September 1939. Background and education Born in Paris, Maugham was the second son of Robert Ormond Maugham, a solicitor, by his wife, Edith, daughter of Major Charles Snell. The author W. Somerset Maugham was his younger brother. His grandfather, Robert Maugham, was one of the founders of the Law Society. He was educated at Dover College and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He rowed for the winning Cambridge crew in the 1888 Boat Race and was also in the winning Trinity Hall Boat Club coxless four which won the Stewards' Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta that year. He was in the winning Cambridge crew in the Boat Race again in 1889. He also became President of the Cambridge Union Society in Lent Term 1889. Political and legal career Maugham was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1890, and embarked upo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Embassy Of The United Kingdom, Paris
The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Paris is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in France. It is located on one of the most famous streets in France, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The current British Ambassador to France is Menna Rawlings. The embassy also represents the British Overseas Territories in France. There are British consulates in Bordeaux and Marseille. History During World War II and the Nazi occupation of France, the embassy's archives were burned as its staff fled the building to go south with the civilian Vichy regime from 1940 to 1944 to escape the German military, placing the embassy building, as well as several other buildings representing British interests in Paris, under Swiss protection in the meantime. The embassy reopened after the liberation of Paris in September 1944 which had been closed since June 1940. As a matter of priority following the liberation, a Dakota aircraft, with an escort of 45 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Law Society Of England And Wales
The Law Society of England and Wales (officially The Law Society) is the professional association that represents solicitors for the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors, as well as serving as a sounding board for law reform. Members of the Society are often consulted when important issues are being debated in Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament or by the executive. The Society was formed in 1825. The Hall of The Law Society is in Chancery Lane, London, but it also has offices in Cardiff to deal with the Wales jurisdiction and the Senedd. A president is elected annually to serve for one year. The current president is Richard Atkinson. The Law Society has nothing to do with barristers in England and Wales. The relevant professional body for barristers is the General Council of the Bar. History The London Law Institution, the predecessor to the Law Society, was founded in 1823 when many London Sol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solicitor
A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to practise there as such. For example, in England and Wales a solicitor is admitted to practise under the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974. With some exceptions, practising solicitors must possess a practising certificate. There are many more solicitors than barristers in England; they undertake the general aspects of giving legal advice and conducting legal proceedings. In the jurisdictions of England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, in the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, Hong Kong, South Africa (where they are called '' attorneys'') and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers (called ''advocates'' in some countries, for example Scotland), and a lawye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Searle
Alan Searle (1905–1985) became the private secretary and companion of W. Somerset Maugham following the death of Gerald Haxton in 1944. He took up residence at Maugham's villa on the Riviera and remained with him until Maugham's death in 1965. Maugham first met Searle in 1928, when Searle was "a very youthful looking twenty-three, a working class boy from Bermondsey, the son of a Dutch tailor and cockney mother".Selina Hastings, ''The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham'', p. 344 He was the lover of several famous older men, including Lytton Strachey, who called Searle his "Bronzino boy". Searle developed an antagonistic relationship with Maugham's daughter, Liza. In his final years, Maugham made an unsuccessful attempt to disinherit his daughter and to adopt Searle as his son. Following Maugham's death, Searle went into retirement in Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Riviera
The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending from the rock formation Massif de l'Esterel to Menton, at the France–Italy border, although some other sources place the western boundary further west around Saint-Tropez or even Toulon. The coast is entirely within the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. The Principality of Monaco is a semi-enclave within the region, surrounded on three sides by France and fronting the Mediterranean. The French Riviera contains the seaside resorts of Cap-d'Ail, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, and Théoule-sur-Mer. ''Riviera'' is an Italian word that originates from the ancient Ligurian territory of Italy, wedged between the Var and Magra rivers. ''Côte d'Azur'' is origin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Seas
Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, most commonly refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. The term South Sea may also be used synonymously for Oceania, or even more narrowly for Polynesia or the Polynesian Triangle, an area bounded by the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand and Easter Island. Pacific Islanders are commonly referred to as South Sea Islanders, particularly in Australia. The term was first coined as ''Mar de Sur'', or "South Sea", by Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 as he it encountered on the southern coast of the Isthmus of Panama and it was applied to the entirety today's Pacific Ocean. In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan named the same ocean the Pacific Ocean, and over time Magellan's name became more well-known. Origin The Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term "South Sea" when he traveled across the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Bay of San Miguel, naming the ocean ahead ''Mar del Sur'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Haxton
Frederick Gerald Haxton (1892 – November 7, 1944), a native of San Francisco, was the long term secretary and lover of novelist and playwright W. Somerset Maugham.Hastings, Selina. ''The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham'', New York: Random House, 2010 He and Maugham met at the outbreak of World War I when they both began serving as part of a Red Cross ambulance unit in French Flanders. Secrecy and arrest Maugham, and to a lesser extent Haxton, had been affected by the trial of Oscar Wilde. Common to men who were either homosexual or, in the case of Maugham, bisexual (Maugham had had an affair with the actress Sue Jones before meeting Haxton and later had a child with Syrie Wellcome whom he married), neither spoke of their situation for fear of recrimination. However, in November 1915, Haxton and another man, John Lindsell, were arrested in a Covent Garden hotel in London and charged with gross indecency. Military policemen, while looking for deserters, had burst into the hot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in European theatre of World War I, Europe and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, Middle East, as well as in parts of African theatre of World War I, Africa and the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, Asia-Pacific, and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare; the widespread use of Artillery of World War I, artillery, machine guns, and Chemical weapons in World War I, chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of Tanks in World War I, tanks and Aviation in World War I, aircraft. World War I was one of the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflicts in history, resulting in an estimated World War I casualties, 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded, plus some 10 million civilian de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
