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John Amos Comenius

John Amos Comenius (Jan Amos Komenský; Jan Amos Komeński; Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: Ioannes Amos Comenius; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Moravian philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren before becoming a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. As an educator and theologian, he led schools and advised governments across Protestant Europe through the middle of the seventeenth century.

Comenius introduced a number of educational concepts and innovations including pictorial textbooks written in native languages instead of Latin, teaching based in gradual development from simple to more comprehensive concepts, lifelong learning with a focus on logical thinking over dull memorization, equal opportunity for impoverished children, education for women, and universal and practical instruction. He also believed heavily in the connection between nature, religion, and knowledge, in which he stated that knowledge is born from nature and nature from God. Besides his native Moravia, he lived and worked in other regions of the Holy Roman Empire, and other countries: Sweden, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, England, the Netherlands and Hungary.

Life and work

John Amos Comenius was born in 1592 in the Margraviate of Moravia in the Bohemian Crown. His exact birthplace is uncertain and possibilities include Uherský Brod (as on his gravestone in Naarden), Nivnice, and Komňa (from this village he took his surname, which means "a man from Komňa"), all of which are located in Uherské Hradiště District of today's Czech Republic. John was the youngest child and only son of Martin Komenský (died ca. 1602–4) and his wife Anna Chmelová. His grandfather, whose name was Jan (János) Szeges, was of Hungarian origin. He started to use the surname Komenský after leaving Komňa to live in Uherský Brod. Martin and Anna Komenský belonged to the Moravian Brethren, a pre-Reformation Protestant denomination, and Comenius later became one of its leaders. His parents and two of his four sisters died in 1604 and young John went to live with his aunt in Strážnice.

Owing to his impoverished circumstances he was unable to begin his formal education until later in life. He was 16 when he entered the Latin school in Přerov (he later returned to this school as a teacher 1614–1618). He continued his studies in the Herborn Academy (1611–1613) and the University of Heidelberg (1613–1614). In 1612 he read the Rosicrucian manifesto Fama Fraternitatis. Comenius was greatly influenced by the Irish Jesuit William Bathe as well as his teachers Johann Piscator, Heinrich Gutberleth, and particularly Heinrich Alsted. The Herborn school held the principle that every theory has to be functional in practical use, therefore it has to be didactic (i.e. morally instructive). In the course of his study he also became acquainted with the educational reforms of Ratichius and with the report of these reforms issued by the universities of Jena and Giessen.

Comenius became rector of a school in Přerov. In 1616 he was ordained into the ministry of the Moravian Brethren and four years later became pastor and rector at Fulnek, one of its most flourishing churches. Throughout his life this pastoral activity was his most immediate concern. In consequence of the religious wars, he lost all his property and his writings in 1621. In 1627 he led the Brethren into exile when the Habsburg Counter-Reformation persecuted the Protestants in Bohemia. In 1628 he corresponded with Johann Valentin Andreae.

He produced the book Janua linguarum reserata, or The Gate of Languages Unlocked, which brought him to prominence. However, as the Unity of the Brethren became an important target of the Counter Reformation movement, he was forced into exile even as his fame grew across Europe. Comenius took refuge in Leszno in Poland, where he led the gymnasium and, furthermore, was given charge of the Bohemian and Moravian churches.

In 1638 Comenius responded to a request by the government of Sweden and traveled there to draw up a scheme for the management of the schools of that country,

After his religious duties, Comenius's second great interest was in furthering the Baconian attempt at the organization of all human knowledge. He became one of the leaders in the encyclopædic or pansophic movement of the seventeenth century, and, in fact, was inclined to sacrifice his more practical educational interests and opportunities for these more imposing but somewhat visionary projects. In 1639, Comenius published his Pansophiæ Prodromus, and in the following year his English friend Hartlib published, without his consent, the plan of the pansophic work as outlined by Comenius. The pansophic ideas find partial expression in the series of textbooks he produced from time to time. In these, he attempts to organize the entire field of human knowledge so as to bring it, in outline, within the grasp of every child. Comenius also attempted to design a language in which false statements were inexpressible.

In 1641, he responded to a request by the English parliament and joined a commission there charged with the reform of the system of public education. The English Civil War interfered with the latter project. According to Cotton Mather, Comenius was asked by Winthrop to be the President of Harvard University (this being more plausibly John Winthrop the Younger than his father as junior Winthrop was in England) but in 1642, Comenius moved to Sweden instead to work with Queen Christina (reigned 1632–1654) and the chancellor Axel Oxenstierna (in office 1612–1654) on the task of reorganizing the Swedish schools. The same year he moved to Elbląg (Elbing) in Poland and in 1648 went to England with the aid of Samuel Hartlib, who came originally from Elbląg. In 1650 Zsuzsanna Lorántffy, widow of George I Rákóczi prince of Transylvania invited him to Sárospatak. Comenius remained there until 1654 as a professor at the first Hungarian Protestant College; he wrote some of his most important works there.

Comenius returned to Leszno. During the Deluge in 1655, he declared his support for the Protestant Swedish side, for which Polish Catholic partisans burned his house, his manuscripts, and the school's printing press in 1656. The manuscript of Pansophia was destroyed in the burning of his home in Leszno in 1657. From Leszno he took refuge in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He lived in the Huis met de Hoofden and taught his grandson Johann Theodor Jablonski as well as the young patricians Pieter de Graeff and Nicolaas Witsen. In 1659, Comenius produced a new edition of the 1618 Bohemian Brethren hymnal, Kancionál, to jest kniha žalmů a písní duchovních containing 606 texts and 406 tunes. In addition to revising the psalms and hymns, his revision greatly expanded the number of hymns and added a new introduction. This edition was reissued several times, into the nineteenth century. His texts in Czech were notable poetic compositions, but he used tunes from other sources. He also edited the German hymnal Kirchen-, Haus- und Hertzens-Musica (Amsterdam, 1661), which had been published under the title Kirchengesänge since 1566. In other writings, Comenius addresses both instrumental and vocal music in many places, although he dedicated no treatise to the topic. Sometimes he follows the medieval mathematical conception of music, but in other places he links music with grammar, rhetoric, and politics. Musical practice, both instrumental and vocal, played an important role in his system of education.

He would die there, in Amsterdam, in 1670. For unclear reasons he was buried in Naarden, where visitors can see his grave in the mausoleum, located in the Kloosterstraat, devoted to him. Next to the mausoleum is the Comenius Museum.

Educational influence
For the greater part of the eighteenth century and early part of the nineteenth, there was little recognition of his relationship to the advance in educational thought and practice. However, the importance of the Comenian influence in education has been recognized since the middle of the nineteenth century. The practical educational influence of Comenius was threefold.

He was first a teacher and an organizer of schools, not only among his own people, but later in Sweden, and to a slight extent in Holland. In his Didactica Magna (Great Didactic), he outlined a system of schools that is the exact counterpart of the existing American system of kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, college, and university.

The second influence was in formulating the general theory of education. In this respect, he is the forerunner of Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Fröbel, etc., and is the first to formulate the idea of "education according to nature," which became consequential during the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. The influence of Comenius on education is comparable with that of his contemporaries, Bacon and Descartes, on science and philosophy. In fact, he was largely influenced by the works of these two men. This comparison is largely due to the fact that he first applied or attempted to apply in a systematic manner the principles of thought and investigation, newly formulated by those philosophers, to the organization of education in all its aspects. The summary of this attempt is given in the Didactica Magna, completed about 1631, though not published until several years later.

The third aspect of influence was on the subject matter and method of education, exerted through a series of textbooks of an entirely new nature. The first-published of these was the Janua Linguarum Reserata (The Gate of Tongues Unlocked), issued in 1631. This was followed by a more elementary text, the Vestibulum, a more advanced one, the Atrium, and others. The Orbis Pictus, published in 1658, became one of the most renowned and widely circulated school books over the next century. It was also the first successful application of illustrations to the work of teaching youth (though not the first illustrated book for children, per se).

The educational writings of Comenius comprise more than forty titles. These texts were all based on the same fundamental ideas: (1) learning foreign languages through the vernacular; (2) obtaining ideas through objects rather than words; (3) starting with objects most familiar to the child to introduce him to both the new language and the more remote world of objects; (4) giving the child a comprehensive knowledge of his environment, physical and social, as well as instruction in religious, moral, and classical subjects; (5) making this acquisition of a compendium of knowledge a pleasure rather than a task; and (6) making instruction universal "to all men and from all points of view".

Theology
John Amos Comenius was a bishop of the Unity of the Brethren church that had its roots in the teaching of Czech reformer Jan Hus. One of his most famous theological works is the Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart. The book represents his thinking about the world being full of various useless things and complex labyrinths, and that the true peace of mind and soul can be found only in one's heart where Christ the Saviour should dwell and rule. This teaching is also repeated in one of his last works, Unum Necessarium (Only One is Needed), where he shows various labyrinths and problems in the world and provides simple solutions to various situations. In this book he also admits that his former believing in prophecies and revelations of those days was his personal labyrinth where he got lost many times. He was greatly influenced by Boehme.

In his Synopsis physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae, Comenius gives a physical theory of his own, said to be taken from the Book of Genesis. He was also famous for his prophecies and the support he gave to visionaries. In his Lux in tenebris he published the visions of Christopher Kotterus, Mikuláš Drabík (lat. Nicolaus Drabicius) and Kristina Poniatowska. Attempting to interpret the Book of Revelation, he promised the millennium in 1672 and guaranteed miraculous assistance to those who would undertake the destruction of the Pope and the house of Austria, even venturing to prophesy that Oliver Cromwell, Gustavus Adolphus, and George I Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania, would perform the task. He also wrote to Louis XIV of France, informing him that the empire of the world should be his reward if he would overthrow the enemies of God.

Family
One of his daughters, Elisabeth, married Peter Figulus from Jablonné nad Orlicí. Their son, Daniel Ernst Jablonski (1660–1741), Comenius's grandson, later went to Berlin in 1693; there he became the highest official pastor at the court of King Frederick I of Prussia (reigned 1701–1713). There he became acquainted with Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf (1700–1760). Zinzendorf was among the foremost successors to Comenius as a bishop (1737–1760) in the renewed Moravian Brethren's Church.

Legacy
The Comenius Medal, a UNESCO award honouring outstanding achievements in the fields of education research and innovation, commemorates Comenius. Peter Drucker hailed Comenius as the inventor of textbooks and primers.

On 28 March 2010, Google celebrated Jan Amos Komensky's 418th Birthday with a doodle.

Czech Republic
During the 19th-century Czech National Revival, Czechs idealised Comenius as a symbol of the Czech nation. This image persists to the present day.

The Czech Republic celebrates 28 March, the birthday of Comenius, as Teachers' Day. The University of Jan Amos Komenský was founded in Prague in 2001, offering bachelor's, master's and graduate degree programmes. Gate to Languages, a project of lifelong education, taking place in the Czech Republic from October 2005 to June 2007 and aimed at language education of teachers, was named after his book Janua linguarum reserata (Gate to Languages Unlocked). Comenius is pictured on the 200 Czech koruna banknote.

Asteroid 1861 Komenský, discovered by Luboš Kohoutek, is named in his honor.

Elsewhere in Europe

In Leszno, Poland, a local college is named after him. There is also square of his name nearby post Unity's of the Brethren church. In Poland, the Comenius Foundation is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the provision of equal opportunities to children under 10 years of age.

In Sárospatak, Hungary, a teacher's college is named after him, which belongs to the University of Miskolc. Comenius' name has been given to primary schools in several German cities, including Bonn, Grafing, and Deggendorf. In Skopje, North Macedonia the Czechoslovak government built a school after a catastrophic 1963 earthquake and named it after Comenius (Jan Amos Komenski in Macedonian). In 1919 Comenius University was founded by an act of parliament in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, now in Slovakia. It was the first university with courses in Slovak.

The Comenius tower in Luxembourg was completed in 2008 as an addition to the headquarters of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The building houses many of the institution's translation services.

The Italian film director Roberto Rossellini took Comenius, and especially his theory of "direct vision", as his model in the development of his didactic theories, which Rossellini hoped would usher the world into a utopian future.

Comenius is a European Union school partnership program. In the United Kingdom, the University of Sheffield's Western Bank Library holds the largest collection of Comenius manuscripts outside of the Czech Republic.

He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Church in Germany on 16 November.

United States
In 1892, educators in many places celebrated the 300th anniversary of Comenius. Comenius Hall was built as the principal classroom and faculty office building on Moravian College's campus in Pennsylvania, and the Comenian Society for the study and publication of his works was formed. The education department at Salem College in North Carolina has an annual Comenius Symposium dedicated in his honor; the subjects usually deal with modern issues in education. The Comenius Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity which uses film and documentary production to further faith, learning, and love.

Latin

 * Linguae Bohemicae thesaurus, hoc est lexicon plenissimum, grammatica accurata, idiotismorum elegantiae et emphases adagiaque ("Treasure of the Czech language"), 1612–1656
 * Problemata miscellanea ("Different Problems"), 1612, non-existent, perished in fire while being prepared for printing.
 * Sylloge quaestionum controversarum, 1613
 * Grammaticae facilioris praecepta, 1614–1616
 * Theatrum universitatis rerum, 1616–1627
 * Centrum securitatis ("The Center of Safety"), 1625
 * Moraviae nova et post omnes priores accuratissima delineatio autore J. A. Comenio ("Map of Moravia"), 1618–1627
 * Janua linguarum reserata, 1631
 * Didactica magna ("The Great Didactic"), 1633–1638
 * Via Lucis, Vestigata & Vestiganda ("The Way of Light"), 1641
 * Januae Lingvarum Reseratae Aureae Vestibulum quo primus ad Latinam aditus Tyrunculis paratur ("Introduction to Latin"), 1648
 * Schola pansophica ("School of Pansophy"), 1650–1651
 * Primitiae laborum scholasticorum, 1650–1651
 * Eruditionis scholasticae janua, rerum & linguarum structuram externam exhibens, 1656, 10.3931/e-rara-79809 (Digitized edition at e-rara).
 *  Opera didactica omnia ("Writing on All Learning"), 1657
 * Orbis Pictus ("The Visible World in Pictures"), 1658
 * De bono unitatis et ordinis ("On Good Unity and Order"), 1660
 * De rerum humanarum emendatione consultatio catholica ("General Consultation on an Improvement of All Things Human"), 1666
 * Unum necessarium ("The One Thing Needful"), 1668
 * Spicilegium Didacticum, 1680

Czech

 * O andělích ("About Angels"), 1615
 * Retuňk proti Antikristu a svodům jeho ("Utterance against the Antichrist and his temptations"), 1617
 * O starožitnostech Moravy ("About Moravian Antiquities"), 1618–1621
 * Spis o rodu Žerotínů (Script about House of Žerotín), 1618–1621
 * Listové do nebe ("Letters to Heaven"), 1619
 * Manuálník aneb jádro celé biblí svaté ("Manual or Core of the Whole Holy Bible"), 1620–1623
 * Přemyšlování o dokonalosti kŕesťanské ("Thinking About Christian Perfection"), 1622
 * Nedobytedlný hrad jméno Hospodinovo ("Unconqerable Fortress (is) Name of the God"), 1622
 * Truchlivý, díl první ("The Mournful", volume I), 1623
 * O poezí české ("About Czech Poetry"), 1623–1626
 * Truchlivý, díl druhý ("The Mournful", volume II), 1624
 * O sirobě ("About Poor People"), 1624
 * Pres boží ("Press of God"), 1624
 * Vidění a zjevení Kryštofa Kottera, souseda a jircháře sprotavského ("Seeing and Revelation of Kryštof Kotter, Neibourgh of Mine and Tanner from Sprotava"), 1625
 * Překlad některých žalmů ("Translation of Some Psalms"), 1626
 * Didaktika česká ("Czech Didactic"), 1628–1630
 * Škola hrou (Schola Ludus, School by Play) 1630
 * Labyrint světa a ráj srdce ("Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart") 1631
 * Trouba milostivého léta pro národ český ("The Horn of the Year of Jubilee"), 1631–1632
 * Informatorium školy mateřské (School of Infancy), 1632
 * Brána jazyků otevřená (The Gate of Languages Unlocked) 1633
 * Orbis Pictus, 1658

title: John Amos Comenius


text:
Talk:John Amos Comenius

/* Life and work */ removed reference to "Sect" and questionable link between book and persecution
Reference to the Moravian Brethren as a "sect" is inaccurate by definition. A sect is a group that breaks off from a larger group over specific differences in belief or doctrine. The Moravian Church has always been "antisectarian" and has historically worked to bring denominations together. It is the only mainline denomination that has not had a sectarian split in its over 550 years of history.

Removed questionable comment that the Janua linguarum reserata led to Comenius being a particular target of the Counter Reformation. There is no evidence of this. The Counter Reformation was in full steam and crushing anything Protestant in its way, ranging from Copernicus to Comenius. Since the Unity had long been a sore spot for Rome, and the population of members were physically between the Roman Catholic armies and the northern European armies, the Unity of Brethren was nearly destroyed in part because of their location in the middle of the disputed lands. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JJackman (talk • contribs) 04:42, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

His nationality
Some anon is pushing POV, that Comenius was not Czech nationality. Encyclopædia Britannica says about him "Czech educational reformer and religious leader,..", and he was born in the Lands of Bohemian Crown, was Czech speaking and he was author of Czech vocabulary. --Yopie (talk) 15:03, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

Dear Yopie. You simply ignore the fact that Comenius repeatedly describes himself as a Moravian, not Czech. Any contemporary arguments why he should be Czech, not Moravian, are not valid in the light of his clearly expressed national consciousness. Describing him as a Czech is thus deliberate distortion of his identity. Respect to others is a key stone of democracy. If you have problem to describe him as a "moravian" teacher (but I am curious why), I guess the note he was "czech" teacher thus should be removed to keep neutrality of the article. 90.178.30.242 (talk) 19:05, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

 * Dear anon, do you have any reliable source for your POV? If not, it is only your OR.. Sorry, but WP is not space for POV pushing. And one note - WP is NOT democracy, we use consensus based on reliable and verifiable sources. --Yopie (talk) 21:11, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Dear Yopie, it is not my POV, it is fact. Introduction to “Unum necessarium” he subscribed as “J.A. Comenius Moravus”. “Clamores Eliae” dedicated “To my lovely mother, Moravia, one of her faithful son”. Is not it clear expression of his feeling? On the other hand, do you have some evidence that Comenius describes himself as a Czech?

I hope you are just joking Wikipedia is not democracy. Do you know Neutral point of view is one of its pillar? Please, be neutral and remove your Czech POV and let Comenius just to be teacher, educator and writer. Thank you for understanding. ```` — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.178.30.242 (talk) 19:07, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Dear Yopie, it is three week ago I present citations from Komenský work corroborative his feeling as Moravian, not Czech. I guess you should accept this fact and you should remove your Czech POV that Komenský was “Czech teacher” and let him to be just teacher, such NPOV. Or you should explain why you push your POV. 90.178.30.242 (talk) 20:14, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

Dear Yopie, it is six weeks ago I asked you remove your Czech POV that Komenský was “Czech teacher” and let him to be just teacher, but you did not respond. Unless you respond within couple of days, I will delete it again. When you are not ready to justify you POV, do not revert my correction with argument it was vandalism! 90.178.30.242 (talk) 20:44, 21 June 2012 (UTC) Dear Yopie. As I disputed before, any contemporary arguments (made in the name of the Czech national revival movement) why he should be Czech, not Moravian, are not valid in the light of his clearly expressed national consciousness (see verifiable ref. above), even the arguments are repeated in Encyclopædia Britannica. To the fourth reference: do you know about what nation was he talking? Komensky several times used in his work sentence "národ český a moravský", but from context it is not known if he meant one united nation or two different nations. Moreover, the term "nation" was vague in his time (even more vague than today). The language used also cannot be relevant for his nationality. Do you guess all English speaking people are the English? Please answer my questions: 1. Why do you not respect his Moravian identity, clearly expressed in his work (verifiable ref. above)? 2. Do you have some relevant (i.e. direct) evidence that Komensky described himself as a Czech?
 * Sourced for Czech nationality added. --Yopie (talk) 11:11, 22 June 2012 (UTC)

 * "But what more can I say? It is time to stop and part with you in blessing, my beloved country! But how? In the same manner Jacob the patriarch on his death bed blessed his sons; as Moses when he was leaving his people. From their mouth I take words and declare as a farewell a blessing for you, the Czech nation, from your LORD God, so that you may be and remain a growing branch over the wall. Even though they filled you with bitterness and shot at you, because archers hated you with a secret hate, may your bow remain unmoved, and your arms agile through the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, through the mighty God whom your fathers serve, who helps you, and from the Almighty."
 * "Be alive, nation blessed by God, and do not die; may your men be countless (Deut. 33:6 62 )! Bless, O Lord, your fighting, and may God accept the work your hands. Crush the loins of your adversaries, of those who hate you, that they rise not again (Deut. 33:11)! Let your time come, so that nations will say: Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs. (Deut 33:29)"
 * "Be alive, nation blessed by God, and do not die; may your men be countless (Deut. 33:6 62 )! Bless, O Lord, your fighting, and may God accept the work your hands. Crush the loins of your adversaries, of those who hate you, that they rise not again (Deut. 33:11)! Let your time come, so that nations will say: Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs. (Deut 33:29)"

 * Of course, you are a troll, ashamed of revealing his own name, but this is so beautiful, and makes me as a Czech always crying a bit, that I use any opportunity to make it more known. It is from my own translation available on https://mcepl.fedorapeople.org/tmp/ksaft_EN.pdf (I will put it on Wikisource, soon).
 * Ceplm (talk) 01:08, 1 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Ceplm (talk) 01:08, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

3. I do not ask you to mention Komensky was "Moravian teacher", although it is evident he was. I ask you just remove he was "Czech teacher", an unprecedented distortion of his identity. Why you do not respect neutrality of Wikipedia? 90.178.30.242 (talk) 20:59, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Source for your POV?--Yopie (talk) 08:59, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

Dear Yopie,

although it is not polite from you to ask more references without reply, here are the refs:

"Unum necessarium" Komensky subscribed as "J.A. Comenius Moravus" http://www.etf.cuni.cz/kat-cd/unum.htm (czech translation)

"Clamores Eliae" he dedicated "To my lovely mother, Moravia, one of her faithful son...". Clamores Eliae, p.69, Kastellaun/Hunsrück : A. Henn, 1977.

"Moravian by nation, language Bohemian, profession theologian, servant of Gospel from the year of grace 1616." It is his own identifiacion in "Opera omnia didactica" 1657, http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/comenius/comenius1/p3/jpg/s468.html

Moreover, in Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Comenius, Johann Amos", is not any note Comenius was Czech, although in contemporary edition it is. I am curious why - someone push it?

Please answer to my questions:

1. Why do you not respect his Moravian identity, clearly expressed in his work (verifiable ref. above)?

2. Do you have some relevant (i.e. direct) evidence that Komensky described himself as a Czech?

3. I do not ask you to mention Komensky was "Moravian" teacher, although it is evident he was. I ask you just remove he was "Czech" teacher, an unprecedented distortion of his identity. Why you do not respect neutrality of Wikipedia?

I am looking forward for your reply. 90.178.30.242 (talk) 18:53, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Commenius (lived in 17th century) did not have nationality in the present meaning of this word (which is from the 19th century). He was born in land of Moravia, so he was Moravian (he was not born in Bohemia, so he was not Bohemian/Czech - both words sounds in czech language the same = český). You can read more about that in: Válka, Josef: Dějiny Moravy 2, Morava reformace, renesance a baroka, Brno 1995, ISBN 80-85048-62_0. Pro hysek ondrej (talk) 12:40, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Dear Yopie, I am worried we are again on the start. I changed indirect, manipulative references to direct ones based on Comenius's work with proper note "references changed to direct ones confirming Comenius's Moravian identity". Can you tell me why do you mark it as a "Unexplained deletion of refs"? By the way, I am still looking forward for your reply to my questions. Please answer and keep discussion. I want to discuss, not to fight. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.178.30.242 (talk) 20:57, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

Last edits by Der Golem are distortion of Wikipedia neutrality when Der Golem pushed czech chauvinism over Moravians. Komensky clearly expressed his Moravian identity, not the Czech identity, as is well documented in references. I would like to ask admin to revert last Der Golem changes to the 20:57, 13 January 2015 version. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.178.30.242 (talk)

Suggest including Janua Linguarum under "works--Latin" as well as throughout the text. Helps for "quick" reference. — Preceding unsigned comment added by John1574 (talk • contribs) 18:04, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

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Influences/Influenced
This code seems to have been removed from Template_talk:Infobox_philosopher. In doing a small update errors were triggered. Instead of deleting someone else's work, I am pasting it here for safekeeping.

 * influences    =  Bathe

Gutberleth

Alsted

Ratke

 * influenced      = Nigrinus

Fredro DrMichaelWright (talk) 21:39, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:John Amos Comenius


text:
Public utility

A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to statewide government monopolies.

Public utilities are meant to supply goods and services that are considered essential; water, gas, electricity, telephone, waste disposal, and other communication systems represent much of the public utility market. The transmission lines used in the transportation of electricity, or natural gas pipelines, have natural monopoly characteristics. A monopoly can occur when it finds the best way to minimize its costs through economies of scale to the point where other companies cannot compete with it. For example, if many companies are already offering electricity, the additional installation of a power plant will only disadvantage the consumer as prices could be increased. If the infrastructure already exists in a given area, minimal benefit is gained through competing. In other words, these industries are characterized by economies of scale in production. Though it can be mentioned that these natural monopolies are handled or watched by a public utilities commission, or an institution that represents the government.

There are many different types of public utilities. Some, especially large companies, offer multiple products, such as electricity and natural gas. Other companies specialize in one specific product, such as water. Modern public utilities may also be partially (or completely) sourced from clean and renewable energy in order to produce sustainable electricity. Of these, wind turbines and solar panels are those used most frequently.

Whether broadband internet access should be a public utility is a question that was being discussed with the rise of internet usage. This is a question that was being asked due to the telephone service being considered a public utility. Since arguably broadband internet access has taken over telephone service, perhaps it should be a public utility. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States in 2015 made their stance on this issue clear. Due to the telephone service having been considered a public utility, the FCC made broadband internet access a public utility in the United States.

Management
Public utilities have historically been considered to be a natural monopoly. This school of thought holds that the most cost-efficient way of doing business is through a single firm because these are capital-intensive businesses with unusually large economies of scale and high fixed costs associated with building and operating the infrastructure, e.g. power plants, telephone lines and water treatment facilities. However, over the past several decades, traditional public utilities' monopoly position has eroded. For instance, wholesale electricity generation markets, electric transmission networks, electricity retailing and customer choice, telecommunication, some types of public transit and postal services have become competitive in some countries and the trend towards liberalization, deregulation and privatization of public utilities is growing. However, the infrastructure used to distribute most utility products and services has remained largely monopolistic.

Key players in the public utility sector include:
 * Generators produce or collect the specific product to be used by customers: for example, electricity or water.
 * Network operators (grid operators, regional network operators, and distribution network operators) sell access to their networks to retail service providers, who deliver the product to the end user.
 * Traders and marketers buy and sell the actual product and create further complex structured products, combined services and derivatives products. Depending on the product structure, these companies may provide utilities and businesses with a reliable supply of a product like electricity at a stable, predictable price, or a shorter term supply at a more volatile price.
 * Service providers and retailers are the last segment in the supply chain, selling directly to the final consumer. In some markets, final consumers can choose their own retail service provider.

Public utilities must pursue the following objective given the social responsibility their services attribute to them:
 * Ensuring services are of the highest quality and responsive to the needs and wishes of patients;
 * Ensuring that health services are effectively targeted so as to improve the health of local populations;
 * Improving the efficiency of the services so the volume of well-targeted effective services is the widest, given the available resources.

The management of public utilities continues to be important for local and general governments. By creating, expanding, and improving upon public utilities, a governmental body may attempt to improve its image or attract investment. Traditionally, public services have been provided by public legal entities, which operate much like corporations, but differ in that profit is not necessary for a functional business. A significant factor in government ownership has been to reduce the risk that an activity, if left to private initiative, may be considered not sufficiently profitable and neglected. Many utilities are essential for human life, national defense, or commerce, and the risk of public harm with mismanagement is considerably greater than with other goods. The principle of universality of utilities maintains that these services are best owned by, and operating for, the public. The government and the society itself would like to see these services being economically accessible to all or most of the population. Furthermore, other economic reasons based the idea: public services need huge investments in infrastructures, crucial for competitiveness but with a slow return of capital; last, technical difficulties can occur in the management of plurality of networks, example in the city subsoil.

Public pressure for renewable energy as a replacement for legacy fossil fuel power has steadily increased since the 1980s. As the technology needed to source the necessary amount of energy from renewable sources is still under study, public energy policy has been focused on short term alternatives such as natural gas (which still produces substantial carbon dioxide) or nuclear power. In 2021 a power and utilities industry outlook report by Deloitte identified a number of trends for the utilities industry:
 * Enhanced competition, sparked by regulations such as FERC's Order 2222 that open up the market to smaller, innovative firms using renewable energy sources, like wind or solar power
 * Expansions in infrastructure, to manage new renewable energy sources
 * Greater electrification of transportation, and longer-range batteries for cars and trucks
 * Oil companies and other traditional-energy players entering the renewable-energy field
 * A greater emphasis on disaster readiness

Finance
Issues faced by public utilities include:
 * Service area: regulators need to balance the economic needs of the companies and the social equity needed to guarantee to everyone the access to primary services.
 * Autonomy: Economic efficiency requires that markets be left to work by themselves with little intervention. Such instances are often not equitable for some consumers that might be priced out of the market.
 * Pricing: Equity requires that all citizens get the service at a fair price.

Alternative pricing methods include:
 * Average production costs: the utility calculates the break-even point and then set the prices equal to average costs. The equity issue is basically overcome since most of the market is being served. As a defect regulated firms do not have incentives to minimize costs.
 * Rate of return regulation: regulators let the firms set and charge any price, as long as the rate of return on invested capital does not exceed a certain rate. This method is flexible and allows for pricing freedom, forcing regulators to monitor prices. The drawback is that this method could lead to overcapitalization. For example, if the rate of return is set at five percent, then the firm can charge a higher price simply by investing more in capital than what it is actually needed (i.e., 5% of $10 million is greater than 5% of $6 million).
 * Price cap regulation: regulators directly set a limit on the maximum price. This method can result in a loss of service area. One benefit of this method is that it gives firms an incentive to seek cost-reducing technologies as a strategy to increase utility profits.

Utility stocks are considered stable investments because they typically provide regular dividends to shareholders and have more stable demand. Even in periods of economic downturns characterized by low interest rates, such stocks are attractive because dividend yields are usually greater than those of other stocks, so the utility sector is often part of a long-term buy-and-hold strategy.

Utilities require expensive critical infrastructure which needs regular maintenance and replacement. Consequently, the industry is capital intensive, requiring regular access to the capital markets for external financing. A utility's capital structure may have a significant debt component, which exposes the company to interest rate risk. Should rates rise, the company must offer higher yields to attract bond investors, driving up the utility's interest expenses. If the company's debt load and interest expense becomes too large, its credit rating will deteriorate, further increasing the cost of capital and potentially limiting access to the capital markets.

Kazakhstan
Public utilities in Kazakhstan include heating, water supply, sewerage, electricity and communications systems.

Heating systems

 * They are mainly represented by centralized networks, with the exception of some rural areas.
 * Various types of fuels are used, including coal, natural gas and fuel oil.
 * Many systems need to be upgraded to increase their efficiency and reduce their environmental impact.

Water supply systems

 * They provide the population with drinking and industrial water.
 * The sources of water are rivers, lakes and groundwater.
 * The level of water quality in some regions is of concern.
 * It is necessary to increase the efficiency of water resources use and improve water quality.

Sewerage systems

 * Wastewater is diverted from residential and industrial facilities.
 * The level of wastewater treatment in some regions does not meet modern standards.
 * Sewerage systems need to be expanded and upgraded to protect the environment.

Power supply

 * It is provided by power plants running on various types of fuels, including coal, natural gas, hydropower and nuclear energy.
 * There are problems with power outages, especially in rural areas.
 * It is necessary to modernize the power grid and increase their efficiency.
 * The heating, water supply and sewerage systems of Kazakhstan, although functioning, require urgent modernization. The technical capabilities of these networks are becoming outdated, which leads to an increase in operating costs and a decrease in their reliability.

A report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) notes that additional investments are needed to improve the efficiency and reliability of these systems.

The analysis conducted by the EBRD revealed a number of problems faced by heating, water supply and sewerage systems in Kazakhstan.
 * Outdated technologies: In many cases, the infrastructure has exhausted its resource and needs to be replaced.
 * Low energy efficiency: Existing systems consume a lot of energy, which leads to unjustified costs.
 * Unreliability: Worn-out networks often fail, which leads to interruptions in the supply of water and heat, as well as leaks.

The report also provides examples of cities where networks are being upgraded with the support of the EBRD. These projects demonstrate how the introduction of modern technologies can improve the efficiency, reliability and environmental friendliness of heating, water supply and sewerage systems.

Upgrading infrastructure is not just a matter of convenience. It is of vital importance for public health, environmental protection and ensuring the sustainable development of the economy of Kazakhstan.

In most cases, public utilities in Kazakhstan are state-owned, which means that their activities are directly regulated by akimats. This creates a system with an administrative nature of relations, where the authorities have the authority to issue mandatory instructions for these companies.

The influence of the state on the activity
Proponents of such a system emphasize that it allows the authorities to directly influence the commercial activities of public utilities, ensuring their compliance with state interests. This can be expressed in:
 * Tariff control: Akimats can set tariffs for housing and communal services, making them accessible to the public.
 * Ensuring the quality of services: The State can influence the standards of service by ensuring the provision of public services of appropriate quality.
 * Implementation of social programs: Public utilities can participate in social programs aimed at supporting vulnerable segments of the population.

Limitations of State control
However, such a system has its drawbacks. Excessive government intervention can lead to:
 * Reduced efficiency: Bureaucratic procedures and restrictions in decision-making can slow down the work of enterprises and hinder the introduction of innovations.
 * Unreasonable expenses: Administrative barriers and inefficient management can lead to an increase in inappropriate expenses.
 * Limiting investments: The uncertainty of government policy and the risks of interference from akimats may deter potential investors.

Resource efficiency:

Despite these limitations, utilities within the framework of this system can demonstrate high efficiency in the use of labor resources and management costs.

Residents of Kazakhstan receive water, sewerage and heating from companies recognized by the state as natural monopolies. This means that there is no competition in these areas, and tariffs are set by a special state body – the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies, Competition and Consumer Protection (CRNM and CP).

In order to ensure the smooth operation of public utilities, the state also controls the investment programs of monopolistic companies. This is handled by the Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services. Such a system allows you to regulate prices for utilities and direct investments to infrastructure development. However, this system also has its disadvantages. For example, the lack of competition can lead to a decrease in the efficiency of monopolistic companies.

To protect the interests of consumers from unjustified overpricing and substandard service, there are special regulatory bodies whose powers are regulated by the Law "On Natural Monopolies" and other regulatory acts.

Main functions:
 * Investment promotion: Development of tariff calculation methods that are attractive to both consumers and private investors interested in investing in the modernization of public infrastructure.
 * Control over the use of funds from IFIs: Determining the specifics of regulating the activities of natural monopolies that attract financing from international financial institutions (IFIs). This allows you to track the intended use of borrowed funds.
 * Formation of a transparent tariff policy: Establishment of rules obliging monopolistic companies to publicly disclose information about tariffs, as well as infrastructure development plans.
 * Analysis of investment programs: Evaluation of investment programs of natural monopolies, approval of development plans and control over their implementation.

Interaction at different levels:

It is important to note that the powers to regulate the activities of natural monopolies are distributed between federal and local authorities. Effective coordination of their actions is necessary to ensure coordinated work and achieve common goals.

As a result, the activities of the regulatory authorities of natural monopolies are aimed at ensuring a balance between the interests of consumers, utility companies and the state.

The EBRD:
2017 was marked by a new round of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The parties signed a three-year agreement with the aim of working together to modernize the country's infrastructure.

As part of this agreement, the EBRD will allocate funds for the implementation of a number of important projects aimed at:
 * Improving urban infrastructure: Upgrading water supply, sewerage, heating and other vital facilities will be a priority.
 * Optimization of customs procedures: Joint efforts will be made to simplify customs processes, which should lead to stimulating trade and accelerating economic growth.

In addition to these two key areas, the EBRD will continue to support other initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of citizens of Kazakhstan.

United Kingdom and Ireland
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the state, private firms, and charities ran the traditional public utilities. For instance, the Sanitary Districts were established in England and Wales in 1875 and in Ireland in 1878.

The term can refer to the set of services provided by various organizations that are used in everyday life by the public, such as: electricity generation, electricity retailing, electricity supplies, natural gas supplies, water supplies, sewage works, sewage systems and broadband internet services. They are regulated by Ofgem, Ofwat, Ofcom, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland and the Utility Regulator in the United Kingdom, and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and the Commission for Communications Regulation in the Republic of Ireland. Disabled community transport services may occasionally be included within the definition. They were mostly privatised in the UK during the 1980s.

United States
The first public utility in the United States was a grist mill erected on Mother Brook in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1640.

In the U.S., public utilities provide services at the consumer level, be it residential, commercial, or industrial consumer. Utilities, merchant power producers and very large consumers buy and sell bulk electricity at the wholesale level through a network of regional transmission organizations (RTO) and independent system operators (ISO) within one of three grids, the Eastern Interconnection, the Texas Interconnection, which is a single ISO, and the Western Interconnection.

U.S. utilities historically operated with a high degree of financial leverage and low interest coverage ratios compared to industrial companies. Investors accepted these credit characteristics because of the regulation of the industry and the belief that there was minimal bankruptcy risk because of the essential services they provide. In recent decades several high-profile utility company bankruptcies have challenged this perception.

Monopoly vs. competition
Public utilities were historically regarded as natural monopolies because the infrastructure required to produce and deliver a product such as electricity or water is very expensive to build and maintain. Once assets such as power plants or transmission lines are in place, the cost of adding another customer is small, and duplication of facilities would be wasteful. As a result, utilities were either government monopolies, or if investor-owned, regulated by a public utilities commission.

In the electric utility industry, the monopoly approach began to change in the 1990s. In 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued its Order No. 888, which mandated that electric utilities open access to their transmission systems to enhance competition and "functionally unbundle" their transmission service from their other operations. The order also promoted the role of an independent system operator to manage power flow on the electric grid. Later, FERC Order No. 889 established an electronic information system called OASIS (open access same-time information system) which would give new users of transmission lines access to the same information available to the owner of the network. The result of these and other regulatory rulings was the eventual restructuring of the traditional monopoly-regulated regime to one in which all bulk power sellers could compete. A further step in industry restructuring, "customer choice", followed in some 19 states, giving retail electric customers the option to be served by non-utility retail power marketers.

Ownership structure
Public utilities can be privately owned or publicly owned. Publicly owned utilities include cooperative and municipal utilities. Municipal utilities may actually include territories outside of city limits or may not even serve the entire city. Cooperative utilities are owned by the customers they serve. They are usually found in rural areas. Publicly owned utilities are non-profit. Private utilities, also called investor-owned utilities, are owned by investors,  and operate for profit, often referred to as a rate of return.

Regulation
A public utilities commission is a governmental agency in a particular jurisdiction that regulates the commercial activities related to associated electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and/or passenger transportation companies. For example, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas regulate the utility companies in California and Texas, respectively, on behalf of their citizens and ratepayers (customers). These public utility commissions (PUCs) are typically composed of commissioners, who are appointed by their respective governors, and dedicated staff that implement and enforce rules and regulations, approve or deny rate increases, and monitor/report on relevant activities.

Ratemaking practice in the U.S. holds that rates paid by a utility's customers should be set at a level which assures that the utility can provide reliable service at reasonable cost.

Over the years, various changes have dramatically re-shaped the mission and focus of many public utility commissions. Their focus has typically shifted from the up-front regulation of rates and services to the oversight of competitive marketplaces and enforcement of regulatory compliance.

title: Public utility


text:
Ian Holm

Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor. After graduating from RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) and beginning his career on the British stage as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he became a successful and prolific performer on television and in film. He received numerous accolades including two BAFTA Awards and a Tony Award, along with nominations for an Academy Award. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998 for services to drama.

Holm won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in the Harold Pinter play The Homecoming. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role in the 1998 West End production of King Lear. For his television roles he received two Primetime Emmy Awards for King Lear, and the HBO film The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2003).

He gained acclaim for his role in The Bofors Gun (1968) winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and won a second BAFTA Award for his role as athletics trainer Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire (1981). Other notable films he appeared in include Alien (1979), Brazil (1985), Dreamchild (1985), Henry V (1989), Naked Lunch (1991), The Madness of King George (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), and The Aviator (2004). He played Napoleon in three different films. He gained wider appreciation for his role as the elderly Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.

Early life and education
Ian Holm Cuthbert was born on 12 September 1931 in Goodmayes, Essex, to Scottish parents, James Cuthbert and his wife Jean (née Holm). His father was a psychiatrist who worked as the superintendent of the West Ham Corporation Mental Hospital and was one of the pioneers of electric shock therapy; his mother was a nurse. He had an older brother, who died when Ian was 12 years old. Holm was educated at the independent Chigwell School in Essex. His parents retired to Mortehoe in Devon and then to Worthing, where he joined an amateur dramatic society.

A chance encounter with Henry Baynton, a well-known provincial Shakespearean actor, helped Holm train for admission to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he secured a place from 1950. His studies were interrupted a year later when he was called up for National Service in the British Army, during which he was posted to Klagenfurt, Austria, and attained the rank of Lance Corporal. They were interrupted a second time when he volunteered to go on an acting tour of the United States in 1952. Holm graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1953.

He made his stage debut in 1954, at Stratford-upon-Avon, playing a spear carrier in a staging of Othello. Two years later, he made his London stage debut in Love Affair.

Career
Holm was an established actor in the Royal Shakespeare Company before he gained notice in television and film. He began in 1954 with minor roles, progressing to Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the fool in King Lear. In 1965, he played Richard III in the BBC serialisation of The Wars of The Roses, based on the RSC production of the plays. He gained acclaim for his role in the 1968 film The Bofors Gun, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 1969, he appeared in Moonlight on the Highway. He took on minor roles in films such as Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Mary, Queen of Scots (1972) and Young Winston (1972).

In 1967 Holm won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play as Lenny in The Homecoming by Harold Pinter. Holm appeared in the 1977 television mini-series Jesus of Nazareth as the Sadducee Zerah, and as the villain in March or Die. The following year he played J. M. Barrie in the award-winning BBC mini-series The Lost Boys, In 1981, he played Frodo Baggins in the BBC radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Holm's first film role to gain much notice was that of Ash, the "calm, technocratic" science officer – later revealed to be an android – in Ridley Scott's science-fiction film Alien (1979). His portrayal of the running coach Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire (1981) earned him a special award at the Cannes Film Festival, a BAFTA award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In the 1980s, Holm played in Time Bandits (1981), Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) and Brazil (1985). He played Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, in Dreamchild (1985).

In 1989, Holm was nominated for a BAFTA award for the television series Game, Set and Match. Based on the novels by Len Deighton, this tells the story of an intelligence officer (Holm) who finds a security leak at the heart of his network. He continued to perform Shakespeare in films. He appeared with Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (1989) and as Polonius to Mel Gibson's Hamlet (1990). Holm was reunited with Branagh in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), playing the father of Branagh's Victor Frankenstein.

Holm raised his profile in 1997 with two prominent roles, as the priest Vito Cornelius in Luc Besson's sci-fi The Fifth Element and the lawyer Mitchell Stephens in The Sweet Hereafter. In 2001 he starred in From Hell as the physician Sir William Withey Gull. The same year, he followed up his radio role as Frodo by appearing as Frodo's older cousin Bilbo Baggins in the blockbuster film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. This brought him wider fame, somewhat overshadowing the rest of his acting career. He returned for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), for which he shared a SAG award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. He later reprised his role as the elderly Bilbo Baggins in the movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Martin Freeman portrayed the young Bilbo in those films.

Holm was nominated for an Emmy Award twice, for a PBS broadcast of a National Theatre production of King Lear, in 1999; and for a supporting role in the HBO film The Last of the Blonde Bombshells opposite Judi Dench, in 2001. He voiced Chef Skinner in the Pixar animated film Ratatouille (2007). He appeared in two David Cronenberg films: Naked Lunch (1991) and eXistenZ (1999). His acting was admired by Harold Pinter: the playwright once said: "He puts on my shoe, and it fits!" Holm played Lenny in both the London and New York City premieres of Pinter's The Homecoming; the BBC wrote that he "electrified audiences" in the play. He played Napoleon Bonaparte three times: in the television mini-series Napoleon and Love (1974), Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits (1981), and The Emperor's New Clothes. Holm received royal recognition for his contributions: he was made CBE in 1989 and knighted in 1998.

Personal life

Holm was married four times: to Lynn Mary Shaw in 1955 (divorced 1965); to Sophie Baker in 1982 (divorced 1986); to the actress Penelope Wilton, in Wiltshire, in 1991 (divorced 2002); and to the artist Sophie de Stempel in 2003. He had five children.

Holm and Wilton appeared together in the BBC miniseries The Borrowers (1993). His last wife, Sophie de Stempel, was a protégée and a life model of Lucian Freud, as well as an artist in her own right.

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989 by Queen Elizabeth II.

Holm was treated for prostate cancer in 2001. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2007,  and died in hospital in London on 19 June 2020 at the age of 88. His remains are interred on the western side of Highgate Cemetery.

Honours and accolades

 * 1989: Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1989 Birthday Honours.
 * 1998: Knight Bachelor in the 1998 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

title: Ian Holm


text:
Peru (disambiguation)

Peru (Perú) is a country in South America.

Peru or El Peru may also refer to:

United States

 * Peru, Illinois
 * Peru, Indiana
 * Old Peru, Iowa, also called Peru
 * Peru, Kansas
 * Peru, Maine
 * Peru, Massachusetts
 * Peru, Missouri
 * Peru, Nebraska
 * Peru State College, in Peru, Nebraska
 * Peru, New York
 * Peru, Pennsylvania
 * Peru, Vermont
 * Peru, West Virginia
 * Peru, Wisconsin, a town
 * Peru, Portage County, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
 * Peru Township (disambiguation)

Elsewhere

 * Peru, Iran, a village in Semnan Province, Iran
 * Perú, La Pampa, Argentina, a village and municipality

Historical and archaeological

 * The Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, which existed from 1542 to 1824
 * El Perú (Maya site), or Waka' a Maya archaeological site in Guatemala

People and characters

 * Bobby Peru, a deranged robber played by Willem Dafoe in the 1990 film Wild At Heart
 * Coco Peru, American actor and drag performer
 * Envy Peru, Dutch-Peruvian drag queen
 * Peru Nolaskoain (born 1998), Spanish footballer

Other uses

 * Perú (Buenos Aires Metro), a metro station in Buenos Aires
 * El Perú (book), on the natural history of Peru, by Antonio Raimondi
 * Peru (band), a three-piece indie rock band based out of Long Island, New York
 * "Peru" (song), a 2021 single by Nigerian singer Fireboy DML
 * Peru, a standard color name from the X11 color names with the hex RGB value of #CD853F

title: Peru (disambiguation)


text:
Guava

Guava is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava Psidium guajava (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The name guava is also given to some other species in the genus Psidium such as strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) and to the pineapple guava, Feijoa sellowiana. In 2019, 55 million tonnes of guavas were produced worldwide, led by India with 45% of the total. Botanically, guavas are berries.

Etymology
The term guava appears to have been in use since the mid-16th century. The name derived from the Taíno, a language of the Arawaks as guayabo for guava tree via the Spanish for guayaba. It has been adapted in many European and Asian languages, having a similar form.

Origin and distribution
Guavas originated from an area thought to extend from Mexico, Central America or northern South America throughout the Caribbean region. Archaeological sites in Peru yielded evidence of guava cultivation as early as 2500 BC.

Guava was adopted as a crop in subtropical and tropical Asia, parts of the United States (from Tennessee and North Carolina, southward, as well as the west and Hawaii), tropical Africa, and Oceania. Guavas were introduced to Florida, US in the 19th century and are grown there as far north as Sarasota, Chipley, Waldo and Fort Pierce. However, they are a primary host of the Caribbean fruit fly and must be protected against infestation in areas of Florida where this pest is present.

Guavas are cultivated in several tropical and subtropical countries. Several species are grown commercially; apple guava and its cultivars are those most commonly traded internationally. Guavas also grow in southwestern Europe, specifically the Costa del Sol on Málaga, (Spain) and Greece where guavas have been commercially grown since the middle of the 20th century and they proliferate as cultivars. Mature trees of most species are fairly cold-hardy and can survive temperatures slightly colder than 25 F for short periods of time, but younger plants will likely freeze to the ground.

Guavas are of interest to home growers in subtropical areas as one of the few tropical fruits that can grow to fruiting size in pots indoors. When grown from seed, guava trees can bear fruit in two years, and can continue to do so for forty years.

Types
The most frequently eaten species, and the one often simply referred to as "the guava", is the apple guava (Psidium guajava). Guavas are typical Myrtoideae, with tough dark heavy leaves that are opposite, simple, elliptic to ovate, and 5 – long. The flowers are white, with five petals and numerous stamens. The fruits are many-seeded berries.

Ecology
Psidium species are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, mainly moths like the Ello Sphinx (Erinnyis ello), Eupseudosoma aberrans, E. involutum, and Hypercompe icasia. Mites, like Pronematus pruni and Tydeus munsteri, are known to be crop pests of the apple guava (P. guajava) and perhaps other species. The bacterium Erwinia psidii causes rot diseases of the apple guava.

The fruit is cultivated and favored by humans, and many other animals such as birds consume it, readily dispersing the seeds in their droppings. In Hawaii, strawberry guava (P. littorale) has become an aggressive invasive species threatening extinction to more than 100 other plant species. By contrast, several guava species have become rare due to habitat destruction and at least one (Jamaican guava, P. dumetorum), is already extinct.

Guava wood is used for meat smoking in Hawaii, and is used at barbecue competitions across the United States. In Cuba and Mexico, the leaves are used in barbecues.

Fruit
Guava fruits, usually 4 to 12 cm long, are round or oval depending on the species. They have a pronounced and typical fragrance, similar to lemon rind but less sharp. The outer skin may be rough, often with a bitter taste, or soft and sweet. Varying between species, the skin can be any thickness, is usually green before maturity, but may be yellow, maroon, or green when ripe. The pulp inside may be sweet or sour and off-white ("white" guavas) to deep pink ("red" guavas). The seeds in the central pulp vary in number and hardness, depending on species.

Production
In 2019, world production of guavas was 55 million tonnes, led by India with 45% of the total (see table). Other major producers were China and Thailand.

Culinary
In Mexico and other Latin American countries, the beverage agua fresca is often made with guava. The entire fruit is a key ingredient in punch, and the juice is often used in culinary sauces (hot or cold), ales, candies, dried snacks, fruit bars, and desserts, or dipped in chamoy. Pulque de guayaba ("guayaba" is Spanish for guava) is a common alcoholic beverage in these regions.

In many countries, guava is eaten raw, typically cut into quarters or eaten like an apple; it is also eaten with a pinch of salt and pepper, cayenne powder or a mix of spices (masala). In the Philippines, ripe guava is used in cooking sinigang. Guava is a snack in Cuba as pastelitos de guayaba; and in Taiwan, sold on many street corners and night markets during hot weather, accompanied by packets of dried plum powder mixed with sugar and salt for dipping. In east Asia, guava is commonly eaten with sweet and sour dried plum powder mixtures. Guava juice is consumed in many countries. The fruit is also often included in fruit salads.

Because of its high level of pectin, guavas are extensively used to make candies, preserves, jellies, jams, and marmalades (such as Brazilian goiabada and Colombian and Venezuelan bocadillo), and as a marmalade jam served on toast.

Red guavas can be used as the base of salted products such as sauces, substituting for tomatoes, especially to minimize the acidity. A drink may be made from an infusion of guava fruits and leaves, which in Brazil is called chá-de-goiabeira, i.e., "tea" of guava tree leaves.

Nutrition
A raw common guava is 81% water, 14% carbohydrates, 3% protein, and 0.5% fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 g, raw guava supplies 68 calories and is a rich source of dietary fiber and vitamin C (275% of the Daily Value, DV), with moderate levels of folic acid (12% DV, table). Raw guava contains lycopene (table).

Phytochemicals
Guava leaves contain both carotenoids and polyphenols, such as (+)-gallocatechin and leucocyanidin. As some of these phytochemicals produce the fruit skin and flesh color, guavas that are red-orange tend to have more polyphenol and carotenoid content than yellow-green ones.

Seed oil
Guava seed oil may be used for culinary or cosmetics products. It is rich in linoleic acid.

Folk medicine
Since the 1950s, guavas – particularly the leaves – have been studied for their constituents, potential biological properties and history in folk medicine.

Parasites
Guavas are one of the most common hosts for fruit flies like A. suspensa, which lay their eggs in overripe or spoiled guavas. The larvae of these flies then consume the fruit until they can proceed into the pupa stage. This parasitism has led to millions in economic losses for nations in Central America.

Fungal pathogens, Neopestalotiopsis and Pestalotiopsis species are causal agents of guava scab in Colombia.

title: Guava


text:
Talk:Pacifica

Untitled
This is yet another online fantasy micronation writing POV articles about itself. Text is mostly fantasy.

 * I think so. This article needs serious NPOV-ing. Lorenzarius 13:03 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

 * I have simply erased it. I don't want to see an stupid edit war occuring here. The article should at the very list state upfront that the entity referred to is a MICRONATION and has nothing to do with a Nation State. Using the Wikipedia countries template is very confusing. olivier 13:05 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

What does deserve an article is Pacifica Radio, a small but real network of US radio stations. Will attempt a beginning. Vicki Rosenzweig

I don't know if it is like this we reply here but I will use it

The Empire of Pacifica is NOT a fantasy micronation NOR is fantasy the facts related to it.

I would like to know on what legal facts are you basing yourself to state that.

Diana Couto Secreatary of State

 * Real nations have territories they govern. They have diplomatic relations with other nations. They collect taxes. They have citizens (or subjects) who are required to obey their laws.
 * What is the address of the Pacifica mission to the United Nations?
 * Promoting Portuguese culture is a worthy goal, but it does not make a nation. Vicki Rosenzweig

 * Pacifica is a Primarily non-territorial nation (like Atlantium and the Order of Malta)
 * we have diplomatic relations with other Nations, I can recall the Kingdom of Pictland - in Exile (scotland) among otheres I can't recall now
 * we do not collect taxes as we belive that a state should provide services to it's citizens for wish they pay for... there is no logic some one paying for something they will never use
 * The Empire of Pacifica has 56 citizens world wide
 * we do not, and are not forced to, have a misson to the UN
 * Pacifica was made the Culture of Portugal a part of its own by adopting the Portuguese Language

Diana Couto Secreatary of State

 * Please do not waste our time with these nonsensical assertions unless you have some documented proof of your claims. I have visited the "Pacifica" website, and no such proof is evident. There is no postal or street address, no phone number, no real names for persons involved and in fact no documentation of any kind to suggest that Pacifica consists of anything more than a badly-designed website - with content moreover that has been copied in part from copyrighted content elsewhere on the web. Pacifica is an online imaginary country. End of story. Incidentally, "Pictland" is another fantasy website country. The kingdom of the Picts has been extinct for well over 1000 years, and any suggestion that some lunatic living in Alaska is "King of the Picts" is precisely that - utter lunacy.

 * Even if we accepted this, it's not grounds for removing the material about the real, significant Pacifica Radio network. Vicki Rosenzweig

 * The radio stuff is obviously legit, and should remain.

Please state what copyrithed material you are mentioning???????

About the Picts it is active and has more than 700000 citizens and an anbassador in the Spain (I have been to the embassy)

as for removing the material about Pacifica Radio Network they were the ones that Removed the data form Pacifca and not the other way arround

Diana Couto Secreatary of State

And what site are you refering to by the way?????

Diana Couto Secreatary of State

 * Please do not remove my edits to this page. I asked before, that, following the Wikipedia rules, you sign your contributions to this discussion page. By "signing" I meant signing with a valid Wikipedia user name or IP address, which you do not have. Please register and do not disguise yourself if you want to begin to be taken seriously. olivier 14:32 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

I am sorry, I only realised that I had erased your request for my signature after I saved the page

(I will do the previews now)

Diana Couto Secreatary of State of Pacifica

 * Pictland is a *website* fantasy. It is *not* a real country. It has not even *existed* for over 1000 years. It most certainly does *not* have 700,000 citizens! If you can produce the *slightest* piece of evidence to support your ludicrous assertions then I welcome it - however I won't be holding my breath waiting. Concerning copyrighted material on the Pacifica website, the "emperor's" welcome message and FAQ appear to have been copied directly from the website of Atlantium. The FAQ in particular is almost a word-for-word copy. Gene Poole

 * As I read these articles.I am left to wonder about the credibility of wikipedia.I qualify this statement by the following,1)a lunatic living in alaska,claiming to be the King of the Picts.Is the poster of these slanderous claimes.qualified to make such a enflamatory statement on such a public document.say the personal psycologist.of the said king of the picts?I wonder.
 * And for those who are not familiar with history.Was not Isreal once a kingdom which existed well over 1000 years ago.Her people were known as isrealites.They to had people who claimed to be their leaders.yet the state of Isreal was a fantasy until 1948.When the sovereign nation of palistine. was partioned to give them a homeland.what qualifies you or any of us to judge a people.just because of our own beliefs.There is plenty of imperical evidence and documentation.which places a kingdom of the northern picts.In northern scotland as late as the 16th century.Is 400 years really that long?No considering the case of isreal.If this is not enough consider the basques.If anyone has spent any time in either Scotland or ireland.You would find that these people have long memories.to them 400 years might as well of happened last week.to hear them tell it.
 * And does not a people denote a nation?If there are 700,000 people who claim to be Pictish.Then according to the UN and International law.The Picts do exist as a people.and if this is true.their king may exist to.have you ever stopped to consider.That over 30 clans and families in Scotland.My own included are of Pictish origin.Around the world,this would number in the millions of people.Is 700,000 people impossible,I think not.This number may even grow in the future.If events continue as they are in Scotland.

Trimmed back again. The Anome
 * 1) This social club with 57 members does not appear to have done anything that would merit an encyclopedia article.
 * 2) They've already got their own website: Wikipedia is not a free webhosting site
 * 3) If they did merit an article, they certainly shouldn't be writing it themselves

 * Warning to the person signing "Diana Couto": the next step after this warning and your stubborn disruptive changes is a ban. Please be considerate. olivier 14:40 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

There are two options here: I am inclined to support option 1 but if someone wants to spend the time and effort of making option 2 a reality, I would support that as well. --Eloquence
 * 1) remove all "Empire of Pacifica" related claims and ban this user if she persists adding them
 * 2) try to create an NPOV article here like we did for Atlantium. However, the amount of substantial, verifiable information is considerably smaller. In any case, that article should be at Empire of Pacifica, not here.

Wikipedia is not a homepage provider or a place for people to test anarchy (#7, 14 and 17). This micronation of a "group of friends" needs to be removed. --mav

1. Pacifica left the article about the Radio on the same topic why can't you leave the corect information in there as well????

2. why this war agains us??? when we got here we just added the information about us in the topic there was nothing there about the Radio

3. If you want to write the article go ahead, afterwards send it to us for approval

Diana Couto Secreatary of State of Pacifica

 * Why have you removed "micronation" from your article? We disagree (no "war", please be realistic) with you because you are trying to misrepresent what Pacifica is. I have no intention to write an article on Pacifica at all, thanks. But if there is information about it in Wikipedia, it should be of encyclopedic nature. Period. olivier 15:03 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

 * To you for approval? Are you insane? We are a serious neutral encyclopedia and would never dream of sending articles to be approved by POV parties. --mav

Oliver it seams like you and I are getting some were (at least it seams that you are tring to solve a problem)

Are you wiling in working with me to turn the article we submited the 1st time to something that we both agree????

Diana Couto Secreatary of State of Pacifica

 * Every Wikipedia user is equal, or almost. Therefore, I have zero authority on what is written in Wikipedia. Just like you, I can simply write and edit articles, or request the ban of other disruptive users. Whatever is written in an article by you or by myself will be subject to changes by the Wikipedia community. That's the reason why, we believe, we tend to have NPOV articles. You have received a lot of feedback thus far by active and respected Wikipedians. Since you know the subject better, why don't you write something that will likely reach consensus? If you have questions, feel free to ask them on this talk page. We are dedicated to the Wikipedia project and want to have a constructive attitude. Making blind changes to other people' contributions will not make you earn you any point. Nor will making deceptive statements or misrepresentations in articles be welcome. Be respectful of others: if other users have made changes to your article, they probably had good and objective reasons to do so. Please take the time to read the Neutral point of view and micronation articles, and if you wish to expand on the "Kingdom of Pacifica" in an article, please be respectful of the rules of the Wikipedia project and keep it of encyclopedic nature. Thanks. olivier 15:43 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

It appears our "Fifth World" contributors are coming here because of a news posting on their website (quote: "Fifthworlders do not like to group themselves with the internet variety of micronations"). --Mrwojo

let me try to explain something

"Fifth World" - is a terminology created by a gentelman of TTF (a micronation) that was supose to group all nations seeking recognition from the international community

The problem here is that the word micronation is associated with simulation due to several news on the press, specially in Brasil. Therefore we prefare to ignore the name micronation and use the larger expression State of the World seeking Recognition

Diana Couto Secreatary of State of Pacifica

 * THAT would be something interesting to explain in an article about Pacifica. olivier 15:48 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

Oliver

The change I made does not invalidate my post to you

I still want to write something that has the agreement of both of us

Diana Couto Secreatary of State of Pacifica

Oliver can you give me your e-mail so I can send you a proposal????

Diana Couto Secreatary of State of Pacifica

 * I respect your willingness to work on that issue. I am not communicating by email with anyone on Wikipedia. All my contributions, to articles or talks to people are made directly on Wikipedia. My suggestion: why don't you register properly? You will automatically have a personal page created on Wikipedia. Then you can post a draft of your article on your page, and we (and other interested people) can work on this article. olivier 15:56 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

Oliver Check it out http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pacifica

All of you are also welcome to check it but pleas do not modify the orininal proposal (copy it again and make changes on your copy so we can all keep track of the diferent changes and the original Proposal)

thank you

Diana Couto Secreatary of State of Pacifica

Note to Wikipedians: User:Pacifica has made efforts by registering and placing a draft article on her page. I invite those interested in this discussion to have a look at it and contribute at User talk:Pacifica. Thanks. olivier 16:56 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

VfD Archived discussion
Article listed on Votes for deletion Apr 26 to May 3 2004, consensus was to remove the micronation content and turn into a disambig page. Discussion:

Yet another irrelevant, defunct internet fantasy micronation. Unverifiable rubbish content. --Gene_poole 01:15, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Turn into a disambig page for the place in California and the radio listing mentioned at the top of the article. Kill the micronation content. -- Graham  :) | Talk 01:20, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Agree with Graham :). Does anybody else get the feeling that Mr. Poole is listing these as some sort of protest against Avram's listing on VfD? -- Cyrius|&#9998 02:58, Apr 26, 2004 (UTC)
 * Possibly, but if he's listing things for deletion that need to be deleted, I'm not complaining. Revise as stated by Graham :) - Average Earthman 11:52, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * I'm simply applying basic scholarly principles. There's a big difference between ephemeral Internet fantasies and entities that exist and are verifiable in the real world by sources other than Google. --Gene_poole 06:56, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Comment: I think that means 'yes'. But no vote at this stage. Andrewa 11:26, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete micronation content. Agree with Graham (and Average Earthman, for that matter). Niteowlneils 16:46, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * What Niteowlneils said. RickK 23:10, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Does no one else think it unseemly for the "Emperor" of "Atlantium" to nominate his rival micronations for deletion? Bloodless coups, but nonetheless an unbecoming attempt to aggrandize himself and the apartment-nation for which he stands... - Tweak 23:17, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Comment: Leaving aside the accuracy of your observation concerning Atlantium, it is neither unseemly nor self-aggrandizement to seek the removal of content that is completely unverifiable by sources other than a single website.
 * Erase micronation content and make it a disambiguation page as suggested by Graham. Wile E. Heresiarch 01:32, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Purge of micronation content and make into disambig page, as above. Postdlf  5:04 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Pacifica? Isn't that a town in California? Keep the title, but change this obscure stuff into something else. The word is obviously a real word, as people have marveled over the palindromic ACIFICA in it for years, so it's useful as a title. For something. Wiwaxia 05:17, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Disambiguate, minus the fantasy micronation, or delete. -Sean 03:22, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

End archived discussion

title: Talk:Pacifica


text:
Greeklish

Greeklish, a portmanteau of the words Greek and English, also known as Grenglish, Latinoellinika/Λατινοελληνικά or ASCII Greek, is the Greek language written using the Latin script. Unlike standardized systems of Romanization of Greek, as used internationally for purposes such as rendering Greek proper names or place names, or for bibliographic purposes, the term Greeklish mainly refers to informal, ad-hoc practices of writing Greek text in environments where the use of the Greek alphabet is technically impossible or cumbersome, especially in electronic media. Greeklish was commonly used on the Internet when Greek people communicate by forum, e-mail, IRC, instant messaging and occasionally on SMS, mainly because older operating systems did not support non-Latin writing systems, or in a unicode form like UTF-8. Nowadays most Greek language content appears in the Greek alphabet.

Sometimes, the term Greeklish is also used informally for a non-standard language variety used by bilingual speakers of English and Greek, i.e. Greek with heavy macaronic or code-switching admixture of English words, or vice versa.

History
Some older traditions of using the Latin alphabet for Greek existed in earlier centuries. The term frankolevantinika properly refers to the use of the Latin script to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism. ("Frankos" is an older Greek term for Roman Catholic.) This usage was routine in the Venetian-ruled Greece and in Venetian Crete in the early modern era. Indeed, the autograph manuscripts of several Greek literary works of the Renaissance are in Latin script (e.g. the comedy Fortounatos by Markos Antonios Foskolos, 1655). This convention was also known as frankochiotika/φραγκοχιώτικα, "Frankish/Catholic Chiot", alluding to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of Chios.

Orthographic and phonetic Greeklish
Greeklish may be orthographic or phonetic. In orthographic use, the intent is to reproduce Greek orthography closely: there is a one-to-one mapping between Greek and Latin letters, and digraphs are avoided, with occasional use of punctuation or numerals resembling Greek letters rather than Latin digraphs. While letters are in the first instance chosen for phonetic similarity, visual equivalence, and corresponding keyboard keys, are used when phonetically similar letters are exhausted. Thus, psi (ψ) may be written as ps, 4 or y; xi (ξ) as ks, x or 3; and theta (θ) as  th or 8.

In phonetic use, there is no concern to reproduce Greek orthography, and the Greeklish is a phonetic transcription (usually with English phonetic norms, sometimes with other languages' like German) of Greek words — although often there is a mixture of the two. In particular, iotacism is preserved: the various letters and digraphs now pronounced as /i/ are transcribed as i, and not differentiated as they are in an orthographic scheme (e.g. h, i, u, ei, oi for η ι υ ει οι). In a phonetic scheme, xi is usually x or ks or 3; ks or 3 is used if x has been chosen, following orthographic norms, for chi (χ). Psi and theta will usually be the digraphs ps and th. 3 is often used to represent xi (ξ) because of the similar shape of the number 3 to the original letter albeit mirrored.

An example of orthographic Greeklish could be the word "plateia", which in Greek means "square" and using the Greek alphabet is spelled "πλατεία". The word "plateia" derives from the exact replacement of each Greek letter with its Latin respective: π=p, λ=l, α=a, τ=t, ε=e, ι=i, α=a.

An example of phonetic Greeklish could be the same word, "square", written like this: "platia". The reason the same word is, in this occasion, written without the letter "e", is the fact that, phonetically, the word "square" in Greek sounds exactly like this: "platia" (since -"εί"- is now pronounced /i/, as an instance of iotacism), but not for the phonology and the historical or learned pronunciation of the Ancient Greek language (where it was "plateia").

The most extreme case of orthographic Greeklish, which achieves the greater optical resemblance to the Greek prototypes, is perhaps the so-called "byzantine" or "arabesque" or "calligraphic/artistic" Greeklish introduced in the Hellas mailing list by the mathematician George Baloglou. Main characteristics of Baloglou's "byzantine" is the distinction of σ and ς (σ=c ς=s), the distinction of lower and upper letters, such as π=n, Π=TT or 5, θ=8, Θ=0 or Q, ψ=y, Ψ=4, and the unusual, but with great resemblance with the Greek prototype, transliterations σ=c, π=n ρ=p Ρ=P.

Since there were many relevant differences both in the written and in the spoken language—such as in the grammar, orthography and phonology of Greek- at the time of the Ancient Greek, the Koine, Jewish Koine, Medieval and Modern, thus the same word across the history may change outstandingly and therefore have multiple choices of "rendering" (transliteration or transcription) depending on the time on which the referring text was written or translated.

Books written in Greeklish
Giannis Androutsopoulos (see references) talks about Exegesis, a book in Greeklish that was published by Oxy Publications in 2000. The Greeklish transliteration was based on the Greek translation of the original book written by Astro Teller. A novel about artificial intelligence, it describes a computer program that has acquired a "mind" of its own. The original book was written entirely in the form of e-mail messages, something that prompted Androutsopoulos and his collaborators to publish a version of it in Greeklish.

Computer usage
In the past there was a variety of mutually incompatible systems for displaying non-ASCII characters (IBM 437, ELOT 928, ISO 8859-7 plus a few company-specific encodings) and no standard method for typing them on a computer keyboard. This situation was resolved with the introduction of Unicode. Before the introduction of Unicode-compatible software (web servers and clients) many Greek personal or informal web sites were written in Greeklish. This is no longer the case and most (if not all) of the sites with Greek content are written in native Greek.

Almost all electronic mail messaging was also using Greeklish, and only recently, with the introduction of full Unicode compatibility in modern e-mail client software and gradual replacement of older programs, that usage of Greek characters became widespread.

Some Internet Service Providers in Greece use both Greek and Greeklish in their emails. For example, the corporate announcements sent to users via email are usually written in English, Greek, and Greeklish. This is done to ensure that the recipient can understand an important service message even if the settings of their computer for non-ASCII characters don't match those of the sender.

Use in advertisements
As of 2008, business advertisements using Greeklish have appeared in Athens Metro and other areas. Companies that have used Greeklish in some of their advertisements include Pizza Hut, Forthnet and Vodafone.

Use in business communication
Use of Greeklish for business purposes or business communication is considered as a lack of business ability or respect.

Current trends
Around 2004, after most computer software became compatible with Unicode UTF-8 or UTF-16 systems, use of Greeklish was strongly discouraged in many Greek online Web discussion boards (forums) where Greeklish was in use before. Administrators threatened to ban users who continued to use Greeklish, thus making the use of Greek mandatory; but using Greeklish failed to become a serious reason to get banned. Examples include the Translatum Greek Translation Forum, the Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network Forum, the Venus Project Forum, the adslgr.com Forum, the e-steki.gr forum, the Greek Technological Forum, and the Greek student forum. The reason for this is the fact that text written in Greeklish is considerably less aesthetically pleasing, and also much harder to read, compared to text written in the Greek alphabet. A non-Greek speaker/reader can guess this by this example: "δις ιζ χαρντ του ριντ" would be the way to write "this is hard to read" in English but utilizing the Greek alphabet.

A counterargument used by forum users is that a fair number of users live abroad and access the Internet from computers they don't own (university, internet cafes, etc.). There, they are not able to install additional keyboard layouts so they don't have the ability to type in Greek, therefore Greeklish is the only option available to them.

On Greek IRC channels and IM applications, most of the time only Greeklish is used because it is simpler to type and typing errors are more easily excused. However, Greeklish has been criticised because the user's text bypasses spellcheck, resulting in lowering their ability to write native Greek correctly.

On the Facebook social networking web site there are various groups against the use of "Greeklish".

Wide use for Greeklish in long texts as of 2010, is unusual.

Another current trend in Greeklish is the introduction of Leet phrasing and vocabulary. Many Leet words or slang have been internalized within the Greek spoken language through Greek gamers online in games such as World of Warcraft.

Examples:

"Καλημέρα, πώς είστε;"

 * Greeklish 1: kalimera, pos iste? (phonetic)
 * Greeklish 2: kalhmera, pws eiste; (reconciling with spelling rules)
 * Baloglou's "byzantine" variant: kalhmepa, nws eicte;
 * Typing as if the keyboard layout were set to Greek, when it is actually set to US English: Kalhm;era, p;vw e;isteq
 * Omitting some vowels, as a form of abbreviation: Klmr ps iste?

Greeklish-to-Greek conversion
Since the appearance of Greeklish there have been numerous attempts to develop applications for automatic conversion from Greeklish to Greek. Most of them can cope with only some of Greeklish transliteration patterns and can be found and downloaded from the Internet. The first complete system for automatic transcription of Greeklish into Greek, obtaining correct spelling is All Greek to Me!, developed and provided by the Institute for Language and Speech Processing.

The first open online application for the transcription of Greeklish to Greek, was developed by Artificial Intelligence Group at University of Patras, named deGREEKLISH.

An open source Greeklish converter, written in the C# programming language, is available as a stand alone program.

title: Greeklish