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Amazon parrot

Amazon parrots are parrots in the genus Amazona. They are medium-sized, short-tailed parrots native to the Americas, with their range extending from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean. Amazona is one of the 92 genera of parrots that make up the order Psittaciformes and is in the family Psittacidae, one of three families of true parrots. It contains about thirty species. Most amazons are predominantly green, with accenting colors that depend on the species, and they can be quite vivid. They feed primarily on seeds, nuts, and fruits, supplemented by leafy matter.

Many amazons have the ability to mimic human speech and other sounds. Partly because of this, they are popular as pets or companion parrots, and a small industry has developed in breeding parrots in captivity for this market. This popularity has led to many parrots being taken from the wild to the extent that some species have become threatened. The United States and the European Union have made the capture of wild parrots for the pet trade illegal in an attempt to help protect wild populations. Feral populations of amazons can be found in different parts of the world, including in South Africa, Europe, and major cities in the Americas.

Taxonomy
The genus Amazona was introduced by the French naturalist René Lesson in 1830. The type species was subsequently designated as the mealy amazon (Amazona farinosa) by the Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori in 1891. The genus name is a Latinized version of the name Amazone given to them in the 18th century by the Comte de Buffon, who believed they were native to Amazonian jungles.

Amazona contains about thirty species of parrots, such as the Cuban amazon, festive amazon, and red-necked amazon. The taxonomy of the yellow-crowned amazon (Amazona ochrocephala complex) is disputed, with some authorities only listing a single species (A. ochrocephala), while others split it into as many as three species (A. ochrocephala, A. auropalliata and A. oratrix). The split is primarily based on differences related to extension of yellow to the plumage and the colour of bill and legs. Phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA do not support the traditional split.

A 2017 study published by ornithologists Tony Silva, Antonio Guzmán, Adam D. Urantówka and Paweł Mackiewicz proposed a new species from the Yucatán Peninsula area in Mexico called the blue-winged amazon (Amazona gomezgarzai). However, subsequent studies question its validity, indicating that these organisms possibly had an artificial hybrid origin.

The yellow-faced parrot (Alipiopsitta xanthops) was traditionally placed within this genus, but recent research has shown that it is more closely related to the short-tailed parrot and species in the genus Pionus, resulting in it being transferred to the monotypic genus Alipiopsitta.

Extinct hypothetical species
Populations of amazon parrots that lived on the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe are now extinct. It is not known if they were distinct species or subspecies, or if they originated from parrots introduced to the islands by humans, so they are regarded as hypothetical extinct species. No evidence of them remains, and their taxonomy may never be established. Populations of several parrot species were described mainly in the unscientific writings of early travelers, and subsequently scientifically described by several naturalists (to have their names linked to the species that they were proposing) mainly in the 20th century, with no more evidence than the earlier observations and without specimens. An illustration of a specimen termed "George Edwards' parrot" has sometimes been considered a possibly distinct, extinct species, but it may also have been a yellow-billed or Cuban amazon with aberrant colouration.
 * Martinique amazon, Amazona martinica. A.H. Clark, 1905.
 * Guadeloupe amazon, Amazona violacea. Originally called Psittacus violaceus by J.F. Gmelin in 1789.

Description
Most amazon parrots are predominantly green, with contrasting colors on parts of the body such as the crown, face and flight feathers; these colours vary by species. They are medium- to large-sized parrots, measuring between 23–45 cm long, and have short, rounded tails and wings. They are heavy-billed, and have a distinct notch on the upper mandible and a prominent naked cere  with setae on it. Male and female amazon parrots are roughly the same size, though males can be larger at times - most amazon parrots do not show sexual dimorphism, exceptions being the white-fronted amazon, Yucatan amazon and the turquoise-fronted amazon, the latter species being sexually dimorphic when viewed in the ultraviolet spectrum, invisible to humans. They can weigh from 190g to more than 565g. The average body temperature of an amazon parrot is 41.8 degrees Celsius, or 107.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Their heart rates range from 340 to 600 beats per minute, with 15-45 breaths per minute.

Distribution and habitat
Amazon parrots are native to the Neotropical Americas, ranging from South America to Mexico, and the Caribbean. Outside of their native habitats, more than 14 species of amazon parrots have been observed. In Italy, there are only two reproductive populations of Amazona, dating back to their introduction in 1991 to the city of Genoa. The birds are present in Germany, but their status is unclear. They are also found in Spain, where the most common parrot present is the turquoise-fronted amazon. Portugal, California (where the birds were largely introduced during the 20th century), Puerto Rico, South Africa, and the Netherlands have also reported sightings of Amazona parrots. More than 12 species of amazon parrots can be found in the US state of Florida, mostly around the city of Miami. Feral populations are also present in São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Buenos Aires, and Río Cuarto within South America.

Amazon parrots mostly inhabit forests such as scrub forests, palm groves and rainforests, but some prefer drier areas such as savannas. Vinaceous-breasted amazons are thought to prefer parana pine trees, and have been shown to prefer forest fragments or isolated trees, while Tucumán amazons nest at higher elevations than other amazon parrots, mostly in Blepharocalyx trees, within the cloud-forest. Yellow-headed amazons nest in the canopy of tall trees, mostly in Astronium graveolens and Enterolobium cyclocarpum.

Breeding
The exact breeding age of wild birds is not precisely known. For captive-bred birds, the average breeding age is around four years, with some larger groups like yellow-crowned amazons requiring six years. Captive birds as old as 30 years have laid eggs. Amazon parrots average 5 weeks for nest initiation, with most successful nestings averaging 2.2 fledglings. Amazon parrots mostly breed during late winter and spring, as they are seasonal breeders. This may happen due to seasonal food availability or a lower chance of flooding, as the period is generally dry. West Indian amazon parrots tend to breed earlier than Mexican amazon parrots, with Mexican amazon parrots having their peak at March to April while West Indian amazon parrots peak in March.

Captive birds are likelier to be less fertile. A variety of hypotheses to explain the phenomenon have been proposed - Low (1995) suggests that this is because amazon parrots have shorter breeding seasons, while Hagen (1994) suggests that this is because male and female parrots may not be ready for breeding at the same times.

Feeding
Amazon parrots feed primarily on seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, buds, nectar, and flowers, supplemented by leafy matter. Their beaks enable them to crack nut shells with ease, and they hold their food with a foot. In captivity, the birds enjoy vegetables such as squash, boiled potato, peas, beans, and carrots. Mainland amazon parrots forage and then feed their young twice a day (usually one hour after sunrise and one and a half hours before sunset), while West Indian amazon parrots do so 4-5 times. Hypotheses proposed for why this is include the nutritional value of food in the region as well as temperature stress. During the downtime before foraging expeditions in the afternoon, amazon parrots spend their time preening themselves and their mates.

Communication and sociality
Amazon parrots mostly communicate vocally. Species such as orange-winged amazons have nine different recorded vocalizations used in different situations. However, patterns of gestural communication have been observed with the birds, thought to be used to avoid predators. In general, amazon parrots are very social birds in their foraging, roosting, and nesting. Most amazon parrots travel in large groups and have clumped nesting, but the four species in the Lesser Antilles are less social. Theories for why this is include the lack of predation risk. In captivity, amazon parrots are known for their ability to talk- learning to communicate by mimicking speech and other sounds of human origin. They also appear to have an affinity for human music and singing.

Extensive studies of vocal behavior in wild yellow-naped amazons show the presence of vocal dialects, in which the repertoire of calls that parrots vocalize change at discrete geographic boundaries, similar to how humans have different languages or dialects. Dialects are stable over long periods of time and are meaningful to the parrots; they are less responsive to calls that are not their own dialect.

Conservation status
As of June 2020, 58% (18 out of 31) of species were listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as threatened or extinct in the wild. The most common threats are habitat loss, persecution, the pet trade, and the introduction of other species. The Puerto Rican amazon is critically endangered. 15 species are on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, while 16 are on Appendix 2. In the case of illegal smuggling of amazon parrots, some smugglers bleach the heads of green-headed parrots to make them look yellow and sell them off as young amazon parrots, which can cause dermatitis. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Department of Agriculture sometimes confiscate and quarantine parrots for Newcastle disease and then auction them off.

The Puerto Rican parrot in particular, as a critically endangered species, has seen considerable conservation efforts, including but not limited to changes in land management, legal protection, research, and increasing nesting success. However, these efforts were significantly hindered by natural events such as Hurricane Hugo, which affected the Luquillo forest in which most Puerto Rican parrots were living.

Within the rest of the West Indies, the four species of amazon parrots in the Lesser Antilles have seen successful attempts at increasing their population. In the Greater Antilles, the population of amazon parrots has been stable. The Cuban amazon has seen greatly successful conservation efforts and as a result has experienced a large increase in its population.

Aviculture
Low (2005) describes adaptability and joyfulness as the special positive attributes of the genus from an avicultural perspective. The yellow-headed amazon, yellow-naped amazon, and turquoise-fronted amazon are some of the species which are commonly kept as pets. They can live for 30 to 50 years, with one report of a yellow-crowned amazon living for 56 years in captivity. However, some amazons can have hormonally-induced aggressiveness and attack their owners, which has led to owners seeking behavior modification for their parrots. On the other hand, unlike many other amazon species, the lilacine amazon and mealy amazon are said to possess gentle, easy-going and affectionate temperaments. To maintain health and happiness, pet parrots require much more training than domesticated animals such as dogs or even cats. They require understanding, manipulative toys, and rewards for good pet-like behavior, or they can develop quite aggressive behaviors (particularly male birds), which can be clearly observed through the bird's body language - pinning the eyes, flaring the tail, raising the head and neck feathers and engaging in a "macho strut". They have a strong, innate need to chew; thus, they require safe, destructible toys. One of the main problems amazon parrots face in captivity is obesity, which can be avoided with the correct diet and exercise. Within captivity, it is recommended to feed amazon parrots a variety of food, mostly consisting of pelleted food. Seeds should never be used as a whole diet and should be used as part of a balanced diet, balanced with food such as fresh fruit (except avocado, which is toxic to parrots) and vegetables, with nuts and seed provided only in moderation. Amazon parrots should also be given opportunities to forage for food instead of simply being given it, as they are motivated to forage even when an easier alternative is available.

Amazon parrots should be given a dark and quiet sleeping area. It is recommended to give the bird either downtime and naps or to keep them in total darkness for 12 hours so they can rest. Parrots also need to be bathed or sprayed with water once every week to allow for bathing behaviors.

Trade
Amazon parrots are traded and exploited as pets. Archeological evidence shows that the parrot trade has existed in South America since pre-Columbian times, with mummified parrots (including amazon species) being found in the Atacama Desert region of Chile. The most traded species of amazons are blue-fronted amazons and yellow-crowned/yellow-headed amazons. A 1992 ban on wild bird trade by the US led to a sharp drop in the trade and a diversion of 66% of it to the European Union, and a further EU ban on the trade in 2005 led to another drop. Between 1980 and 2013, 372,988 amazon parrots were traded. Some illegal trade still occurs between Mexico and the United States.

title: Amazon parrot


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League of Corinth

The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League (κοινὸν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, koinòn tõn Hellḗnōn; or simply οἱ Ἕλληνες, the Héllēnes), was a federation of Greek states created by Philip II in 338–337 BC. The League was created in order to unify Greek military forces under Macedonian leadership (hegemony) in their combined conquest of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.

King Philip was initially urged by Isocrates in 346 BC to unify Greece against the Persians. After the Battle of Chaeronea, the League of Corinth was formed and controlled by Philip. Alexander utilized his father's league when planning his pan-Hellenic invasion of Asia to expand Macedon and take revenge on the Persian Empire. During the Hellenistic period, some Antigonid rulers of Macedon shortly revived the league, also known as the 'Hellenic Alliance'.

The title 'League of Corinth' was invented by modern historians because the first council of the League took place in Corinth, albeit the Greek word synedrion is better translated as congress or conference rather than league. The adjective Hellenic derives from Hellenikos meaning "pertaining to Greece and Greeks". The organization was the first time in history that the Greek city-states (with the notable exception of Sparta, which would join only later under Alexander's terms) would unify under a single political entity.

Background
From the mid-fourth century BC, the system of city-states (poleis) was gradually challenged by the ideas of pan-Hellenic unity, forwarded by some writers and orators, including Isocrates, who urged king Philip (in Isocrates' Philippus oration) to unify Greek powers against the Persians. Pan-Hellenic unity was only achieved with the rise of Macedon. Following his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (337 BC), Philip was able to impose a settlement upon southern Greece, which all states accepted, with the exception of Sparta. Philip had no intention of besieging any city, nor indeed of conquering it, but rather he wanted the southern Greeks as his allies for his planned campaign against the Persians. In the months after the battle, he moved around Greece making peace with the states that opposed him, dealing with the Spartans, and installing garrisons. In mid 337 BC, he seems to have camped near Corinth and began the work to establish a league of the city-states, which would guarantee peace in Greece and provide Philip with military assistance against Persia. The principal terms of the concord were that all members became allied to each other, and to Macedon, and that all members were guaranteed freedom from attack, freedom of navigation, and freedom from interference in internal affairs. The council then declared war on Persia and voted Philip as strategos for the forthcoming campaign.

Organization
The League was governed by the Hegemon (leader)  (strategos autokrator  in a military context), the council (Synedrion), and the judges (Dikastai). Delegates of the member-states (Synedroi) were responsible for administering the common affairs of the League. They were summoned and presided over by a committee of presiding officers (Proedroi), chosen by lot in time of peace, and by the Hegemon in time of war. Decrees of the league were issued in Corinth, Athens, Delphi, Olympia and Pydna. The League maintained an army levied from member states in approximate proportion to their size, while Philip established Hellenic garrisons (commanded by phrourarchs, or garrison commanders) in Corinth, Thebes, Pydna and Ambracia.

Treaty of the Common Peace
All members states of the League of Coritnth were listed in the oath they sworn under the 'Treaty of the Common Peace' (Koine Eirene). The peace was watched over by a Macedonian garrison positioned at the heights of the Acrocorinth and Chalcis, as well as at the Cadmea of Thebes. (A fragmentary inscription of the oath was found in Athens)

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Translation
Oath. I swear by Zeus, Gaia, Helios, Poseidon and all the gods and goddesses. I will abide by the common peace and I will neither break the agreement with Philip, nor take up arms on land or sea, harming any of those abiding by the oaths. Nor shall I take any city, or fortress, nor harbour by craft or contrivance, with intent of war against the participants of the war. Nor shall I depose the kingship of Philip or his descendants, nor the constitutions existing in each state, when they swore the oaths of the peace. Nor shall I do anything contrary to these agreements, nor shall I allow anyone else as far as possible. But if anyone does commit any breach of the treaty, I shall go in support as called by those who need and I shall fight the transgressors of the common peace, as decided (by the council) and called on by the hegemon and I shall not abandon

of Thessalians--Elimiotes--Samothracians and Thasians---Ambraciots---from Thrace and---Phocians, Locrians Oitaeans and Malians and Ainianes --and Agraeans and Dolopes---Perrhaebi---of Zacynthus and of Cephalenia.

Alexandrian campaigns
The decision for the destruction of Thebes as transgressor of the above oath was taken by the council of the League of Corinth by a large majority. Beyond the violation of the oath, the council judged that the Thebans were thus finally punished for their betrayal of the Greeks during the Persian Wars. The League is mentioned by Arrian (I, 16, 7), after the Battle of Granicus (334 BC). Alexander sent 300 panoplies to the temple of Pallas Athena in Athens, with the following inscription. Alexander, son of Philip, and the Hellenes, except the Lacedaemonians, from the barbarians inhabiting Asia

Also, Diodorus Siculus (Βίβλος ΙΖ’ 48.[6]) mentions the council's decision in 333 BC, after the Battle of Issus, to send ambassadors to Alexander that will bring the Excellence of Greece (Golden Wreath). During 331 BC after the Battle of Megalopolis, Sparta appealed to Alexander for terms, to which he agreed on condition that the Lacedaemonians now joined the League of Corinth. During the Asiatic campaign, Antipater was appointed deputy hegemon of the League while Alexander personally recommended that the Athenians turn their attention to things; in case something happened to him, Athens would take over the power in Greece.

Aftermath
The League was dissolved after the Lamian War in 322 BC. Following the victory of Demetrius I Poliorcetes at the Battle of Salamis in 306 BC, his father, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, assumed the title of Basileus ("King" of Alexander's Empire) by the assembled armies and gained control over the Aegean, the eastern Mediterranean, and most of the Middle East. While Antigonus and Demetrius attempted to recreate Philip II's Hellenic league with themselves as dual hegemons, a revived coalition of the diadochi; Cassander, Ptolemy I Soter, Seleucus I Nicator, and Lysimachus decisively defeated them at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, in which Antigonus I was killed.

Antigonus III Doson (r. 229 – 221 BC) revived the Hellenic League, this time better known as the 'Hellenic Alliance', in 224 BC placing himself as the president. The league functioned as an alliance (symmachia) of existing Greek federations under Macedonian hegemony. This alliance consisted not of poleis, but rather of larger regional entities, like the Achaeans, Thessalians, Boeotians, Epirotes etc. These federations maintained internal autonomy, but were interdependent with respect to foreign policy. Antigonus' league expanded Antigonid rule in southern Greece recovering Arcadia in 224 BC and defeating king Cleomenes III of Sparta at the Battle of Sellasia in 222 BC. Doson managed to restore internal stability in Macedon and reestablish its position as the dominant power in Hellenistic Greece.

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

title: League of Corinth


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Kaiser

Kaiser is the German word for "emperor". In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (König). In English, the (untranslated) word Kaiser is mainly applied to the emperors of the unified German Empire (1871–1918) and the emperors of the Austrian Empire (1804–1918). During the First World War, anti-German sentiment was at its zenith; the term Kaiser—especially as applied to Wilhelm II, German Emperor—thus gained considerable negative connotations in English-speaking countries.

Especially in Central Europe, between northern Italy and southern Poland, between western Austria and western Ukraine and in Bavaria, Emperor Franz Joseph I is still associated with "Der Kaiser" (the emperor) today. As a result of his long reign from 1848 to 1916 and the associated Golden Age before the First World War, this title often has still a very high historical respect in this geographical area.

Etymology and language usage
Like the Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Russian, and Belorussian word Tsar, Kaiser is directly derived from the Roman emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of the Julii Caesares, a branch of the gens (clan) Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar, the forebear of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, belonged. It has been suggested, on the grounds of an anecdote reported in e.g. Suetonius (Divus Julius 79.2), that Caesar himself once used his cognomen by way of a title; but this is ultimately unlikely.

Although the British monarchs styled "Emperor of India" were also called Kaisar-i-Hind in Hindi and Urdu, this word, although ultimately sharing the same Latin origin, is derived from the Persian Kaysar, not the German Kaiser.

"Kaiserwetter" (Weather of the emperor) is a colloquial expression and means in German "Sunny weather" with a deep blue, cloudless sky. According to Duden, this proverb goes back to the mostly bright sunshine on 18 August, the birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Kaiserschmarrn (Emperor's Mess) is a lightly sweetened pancake that takes its name also from Franz Joseph I. Also with the Austrian Kaisersemmel ("Kaiser roll"), Kaiserfleisch ("Kaiser meat") or Kaisersuppe ("Kaiser soup") the word "Kaiser" is supposed to denote the ultimate highest increase, the best of its kind. Kaiserjäger and Kaiserschützen were special elite units of the Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces, especially expressed by the part of the name Kaiser.

"Der Kaiser" is the nickname of both Franz Beckenbauer, a German footballer active in the 1960s and 1970s who captained West Germany to the 1974 World Cup title, and of the Austrian ski racer and 1976 Olympic champion Franz Klammer - both in an allusion to the Austrian Kaiser Franz I.

German history and antecedents of the title
The Holy Roman Emperors (962–1806) called themselves Kaiser, combining the imperial title with that of King of the Romans (assumed by the designated heir before the imperial coronation); they saw their rule as a continuation of that of the Roman Emperors and used the title derived from the title Caesar to reflect their supposed heritage. From 1452 to 1806, except for the years 1742–1745, only members of the Habsburg family were "Holy Roman Emperors".

In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, but the title of Kaiser was retained by the House of Habsburg, the head of which, beginning in 1804, bore the title of Emperor (Kaiser) of Austria. After 1273, the Habsburgs provided most of Holy Roman Kings or Emperors, so they saw themselves as legitimate heirs to the title they adopted. Despite Habsburg ambitions, however, the Austrian Empire could no longer claim to rule over most of Germany, although they did rule over large areas of lands inhabited by non-Germans in addition to Austria. According to the historian Friedrich Heer, the Austrian Habsburg emperor remained an "auctoritas" of a special kind. He was "the grandson of the Caesars", he remained the patron of the holy church, but without excluding other religions. In this tradition, the Austrian emperor saw himself as the protector of his peoples, minorities and all religious communities. In this regard, minorities in the Habsburg Monarchy, but also the Jews on the one hand and the Muslims on the other hand were particularly loyal to the emperor (German: "kaisertreu").

In 1867 the Austrian Empire was divided into the state of Austria-Hungary (the so-called Danube Monarchy), with Franz Joseph I, like his successor Karl I, being Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. As a result of this centuries-long uninterrupted tradition, today family members of the Habsburgs are often referred to as Imperial Highnesses (German: Kaiserliche Hoheit) and, for example, the members of the Imperial and Royal Order of Saint George as Imperial Knights. There were four Kaisers of the Austrian Empire who all belonged to the Habsburg dynasty. They had an official list of crowns, titles, and dignities (Grand title of the emperor of Austria).

The Kaisers of the Austrian Empire (1804–1918) were:
 * Franz I (1804–1835);
 * Ferdinand I (1835–1848);
 * Franz Joseph I (1848–1916);
 * Karl I (1916–1918).

Karl von Habsburg is currently the head of the House of Habsburg.

With the unification of Germany (aside from Austria) in 1871, there was some debate about the exact title for the monarch of those German territories (such as free imperial cities, principalities, duchies, and kingdoms) that agreed to unify under the leadership of Prussia, thereby forming the new German Empire. The first Kaiser himself preferred either Kaiser von Deutschland ("Emperor of Germany"). In the end, his chancellor Bismarck's choice Deutscher Kaiser ("German Emperor") was adopted as it simply connoted that the new emperor, hearkening from Prussia, was a German, but did not imply that this new emperor had dominion over all German territories, especially since the Austrian Kaiser would have been offended as Austria, inhabited by Germans, was still considered part of the German lands. There were only three Kaisers of the (second) German Empire. All of them belonged to the Hohenzollern dynasty, which, as kings of Prussia, and had been de facto leaders of lesser Germany (Germany excluding Austria).

The Kaisers of the German Empire (1871–1918) were:
 * Wilhelm I (1871 - 1888);
 * Friedrich III (9 March - 15 June 1888), who ruled for 99 days;
 * Wilhelm II (1888 - 1918), during whose reign the monarchy in Germany ended near the end of World War I.

Georg Friedrich Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, is currently head of the House of Hohenzollern, which was the former ruling dynasty of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia.

title: Kaiser


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Rōnin

In feudal Japan (1185–1868), a rōnin (浪人,, 'drifter' or 'wandering man', lit. 'a person of the waves') was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai becomes a rōnin upon the death of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or legal privilege.

In modern Japanese, the term is usually used to describe a salaryman who is unemployed or a secondary school graduate who has not yet been admitted to university.

Etymology
The word rōnin is usually translated to 'drifter' or 'wanderer'; however, per kanji, rō (浪) means "wave" (as in body of water) or "unrestrained", while nin (人) means "man" or "person". It is an idiomatic expression for 'vagrant' or 'wandering man', someone who finds the way without belonging to one place. The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods, when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master's land. In medieval times, the Ronin were depicted as the shadows of samurai, master-less and less honorable. It then came to be used for a samurai who had no master (hence the term 'wave man' illustrating one who is socially adrift).

Status
According to the Bushido Shoshinshu (the "Code of the Warrior"), a samurai was supposed to commit seppuku (also harakiri, "belly cutting", a form of ritual suicide) upon the loss of his master. One who chose not to honor the code was "on his own" and was meant to suffer great shame. The undesirability of rōnin status was mainly a discrimination imposed by other samurai and by daimyō, the feudal lords.

Like other samurai, rōnin wore two swords. Rōnin used a variety of other weapons as well. Some rōnin—usually those who lacked money—would carry a bō (staff around 5 to 6 ft) or jō (smaller staff or walking stick around 0.9 to 1.5 m) or a yumi (bow). Most weapons would reflect the ryū (martial arts school) from which they came if they were students.

During the Edo period, with the shogunate's rigid class system and laws, the number of rōnin greatly increased. Confiscation of fiefs during the rule of the third Tokugawa shōgun Iemitsu resulted in an especially large increase of rōnin. During previous ages, samurai were able to move between masters and even between occupations. They could also marry between classes. However, during the Edo period, samurai were restricted, and were—above all—forbidden to become employed by another master without their previous master's permission.

Because the former samurai could not legally take up a new trade, or because of pride were loath to do so, many rōnin looked for other ways to make a living with their swords. Those rōnin who desired steady, legal employment became mercenaries that guarded trade caravans, or bodyguards for wealthy merchants. Many other rōnin became criminals, operating as bandits and highwaymen, or joining organized crime in towns and cities. Rōnin were known to operate or serve as hired muscle for gangs that ran gambling rings, brothels, protection rackets, and similar activities. Many were petty thieves and muggers. The criminal segment gave the rōnin of the Edo period a persistent reputation of disgrace, with an image of thugs, bullies, cutthroats, and wandering vagrants. After the abolition of the Samurai, some of the ronin continued with their thuggery and their mercenary work and activities, such as participating in the infamous assassination of Korean Empress Myeongseong of the Joseon Dynasty in 1895, the Eulmi Incident.

History
Until the Sengoku period, peasants accounted for the majority of daimyō armies, so they accounted for the majority of ronin.

Especially in the Sengoku period, daimyō needed additional fighting men, and even if a master had perished, his rōnin was able to serve new lords. In contrast to the later Edo period, the bond between the lord and the vassal was loose, and some vassals who were dissatisfied with their treatment left their masters and sought new lords. Many warriors served a succession of masters, and some even became daimyō. As an example, Tōdō Takatora served ten lords. Additionally, the division of the population into classes had not yet taken place, so it was possible to change one's occupation from warrior to merchant or farmer, or the reverse. Saitō Dōsan was one merchant who rose through the warrior ranks to become a daimyō.

As Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified progressively more significant parts of the country, daimyō found it unnecessary to recruit new soldiers. The Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 resulted in the confiscation or reduction of the fiefs of large numbers of daimyō on the losing side; consequently, many samurai became rōnin. As many as a hundred thousand rōnin joined forces with Toyotomi Hideyori and fought at the Siege of Osaka. In the ensuing years of peace, there was less need to maintain expensive standing armies, and many surviving rōnin turned to farms or became townspeople. A few, such as Yamada Nagamasa, sought adventure overseas as mercenaries. Still, the majority lived in poverty as rōnin. Their number approached half a million under the third Tokugawa shōgun Iemitsu.

Initially, the shogunate viewed them as dangerous and banished them from the cities or restricted the quarters where they could live. They also prohibited serving new masters. As rōnin found fewer options, they joined in the Keian Uprising of 1651. This forced the shogunate to rethink its policy. It relaxed restrictions on daimyō inheritance, resulting in fewer confiscations of fiefs, and it permitted rōnin to join new masters.

Not having the status or power of employed samurai, rōnin were often disreputable and festive, the group targeted humiliation or satire. It was undesirable to be a rōnin, as it meant being without a stipend or land. As an indication of the shame felt by samurai who became rōnin, Lord Redesdale recorded that a rōnin killed himself at the graves of the forty-seven rōnin. He left a note saying that he had tried to enter the service of the daimyō of Chōshū Domain but was refused. He killed himself, wanting to serve no other master and hating being a rōnin. On the other hand, the famous 18th-century writer Kyokutei Bakin renounced his allegiance to Matsudaira Nobunari, in whose service Bakin's samurai father had spent his life. Bakin voluntarily became a rōnin, and eventually spent his time writing books (many of them about samurai) and engaging in festivities.

In the 19th century, Emperor Meiji abolished the Samurai class and any status the ronin had died with them.

Notable rōnin

 * Forty-seven Rōnin
 * Kyokutei Bakin
 * Miyamoto Musashi
 * Sakamoto Ryōma
 * Yamada Nagamasa

Portrayals in media
Numerous modern works of Japanese fiction set in the Edo period cast characters who are rōnin.

Comics

 * The moniker Ronin has often appeared in Marvel Universe comic series, and has been used by many characters such as Echo (Maya Lopez) and Hawkeye (Clint Barton).
 * Usagi Yojimbo depicts an anthropomorphic rabbit rōnin main character, Miyamoto Usagi, whom Stan Sakai based partially on the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.

Film

 * Rōnin are often depicted in the jidaigeki of Akira Kurosawa, in particular Yojimbo, Sanjuro and Seven Samurai.
 * The 1954 film Seven Samurai follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven rōnin to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.
 * The 1961 film Yojimbo tells the story of a rōnin who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords vie for supremacy. The two bosses each try to hire the newcomer as a bodyguard. The film inspired the Spaghetti Western films A Fistful of Dollars and Django, and spawned the 1962 sequel Sanjuro.
 * The 1962 film Harakiri is set in Edo period of early 17th century Japan, and concerns two Ronin who present themselves at the palace of the Ii clan to request permission to commit ritual suicide.
 * The 1998 film Ronin portrays former special forces and intelligence operatives who find themselves unemployed at the end of the Cold War. Devoid of purpose, they become high-paid mercenaries. There is also a direct comparison of the characters to the forty-seven rōnin.
 * The film 47 Ronin is a 2013 Japanese-American fantasy action film depicting a fictional account of the forty-seven rōnin.
 * The 2015 film, titled Last Knights, is a more stylized version, a joint production among the UK, Czech Republic and South Korea.

Television

 * In the manga and anime Rurouni Kenshin, the hitokiri Himura Kenshin becomes a rōnin after the end of the Edo period, wandering for ten years in order to mend his sins and to complete the restoration.
 * Samurai Jack, the protagonist of the eponymous animated television series, is technically a rōnin because he serves no master and is mostly seen wandering the land, searching for a resolution to his quest to defeat his nemesis, the shapeshifting master of darkness, Aku, after the latter opens a time portal that sends Jack into a future where Aku reigns supreme.
 * In the 2004 anime series Samurai Champloo, one of the protagonists is the rōnin Jin. Along with the vagrant swordsman Mugen, he accompanies a young girl named Fuu on a quest to find the "samurai who smells of sunflowers".
 * In the 2023 anime series Revenger, the protagonist becomes a rōnin after a meeting with a shadowy organization following an assassination attempt.

Video games

 * The main character in each game of the Way of the Samurai series is always an archetypal ronin who wanders into the setting one day and must choose a faction to work with or find a way to unite them against a greater foe.
 * The 2020 video game Ghost of Tsushima features many rōnin as part of the story, including Ryuzo (Leonard Wu), the childhood friend of the protagonist Jin Sakai.
 * In the 2020 video game Genshin Impact, the first playable character from the nation of Inazuma, Kaedehara Kazuha, became a rōnin not too long before the game's events.

title: Rōnin


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Acheiropodia

Acheiropodia, also known as Horn Kolb syndrome, is a genetic condition that affects limb development, resulting in shortened arms and legs and absent hands and feet on both sides of the body at birth. Specifically, individuals are born missing the epiphysis typically found at the end of the humerus bone of the upper arm, the diaphysis which makes up the long section of the tibia bone of the shin, the radius and ulna bones which make up the lower arm, the fibula bone of the shin, and all hand and foot bones. It was first discovered and is prevalent almost exclusively in Brazil.

Genetics
Acheiropodia results from a change in the DNA sequence of the C7rof2 gene. When this altered DNA is transcribed to RNA, the resulting RNA transcript is processed differently from unaltered RNA. A segment of the processed RNA transcript called exon 4, which codes for a segment of the protein, is missing, causing the process of converting the transcript into a protein to stop too early. This leads to a shorter, non-functional protein.

The C7rof2 gene is the human equivalent of the mouse gene LMBR1, which encodes an essential protein for limb development. When there is no functional protein present, limb development does not occur correctly, and individuals are born with acheiropodia. However, all individuals have two sets of chromosomes and thus two copies of the C7orf2 gene. The non-functional protein resulting from one altered gene does not interfere with the functional copy of the protein, so acheiropodia only occurs in those who have this rare change in both copies of C7orf2. This makes it an autosomal-recessive condition, meaning that individuals will only be affected by acheiropodia if both parents carry one copy of the altered gene without experiencing symptoms, resulting in the inheritance of one rare gene copy from each parent.

The C7rof2 DNA sequence is very stable and changes occur rarely, partly explaining the rarity of this condition. Since the rare gene copy is unlikely to be found in parents from two unrelated families, acheiropodia is often caused by consanguineous marriages in which genetically related individuals have children together.

Diagnosis
The rarity and subsequent lack of information on acheiropodia makes prenatal diagnosis difficult. Diagnosis depends on prenatal ultrasound screening, with a failure to visualize bones at the ends of fetal limbs. Due to variable expressivity of the C7rof2 gene, acheiropodia presents differently among affected individuals, adding to the difficulty of diagnosis. Fingers are sometimes present, and a small bone at the tip of the shortened limb (the Bohomoletz bone) may or may not be present.

Acheiropodia has been diagnosed at as early as 16 weeks post-conception, although research on similar conditions suggests it may be diagnosed even earlier. If ultrasound screening indicates possible acheiropodia, further (more invasive) testing may be performed, including genetic analysis of either an amniotic fluid sample or placenta (chorionic villus) sample to confirm diagnosis. In the case of fetal death or termination, autopsy findings may conclude in a diagnosis.

Treatment
Even with early prenatal diagnosis, due to its genetic basis acheiropodia cannot currently be prevented or cured. However, once a child is born with acheiropodia, prosthetics could improve their quality of life. Surgery may be considered on a case-by-case basis to optimize prosthetic fitting. Prosthetic fitting should occur before 2 years of age to minimize the risk of rejection. Ideally, fitting should begin around the 6-9 month mark, when healthy infants typically begin using their hands and feet to stand and handle objects. Even without prosthetics, many children with limb loss learn to functionally use their residual limbs. A multidisciplinary approach may best treat the medical, psychological, and developmental challenges that may occur in infants missing all four limbs.

title: Acheiropodia


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John Profumo

John Dennis Profumo (30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo affair, led to his resignation from the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan.

After his resignation Profumo worked as a volunteer at Toynbee Hall, a charity in East London, and became its chief fundraiser. These charitable activities helped to restore his reputation and he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1975.

Early life and career
Profumo was born in Kensington, London, the son of Albert Profumo, a diplomat and barrister of Italian ancestry, who died in 1940. He attended Harrow School and Brasenose College, Oxford. Whilst at Oxford Profumo was a member of the Bullingdon Club. In 1933, "Jack" Profumo began a long-term relationship with a German student, Gisela Klein, who later became a model and subsequently worked for German intelligence in Paris, and eventually married an American called Edward Winegard. Secret Service papers state Profumo also wrote to Winegard while he was an MP.

On 1 July 1939, he was commissioned into the Royal Armoured Corps as a second lieutenant. He had previously been a member of the Officer Training Corps and a Cadet Sergeant while at Harrow. He served in North Africa with the Northamptonshire Yeomanry as a Captain (acting major), where he was mentioned in dispatches. He landed in Normandy on D-Day and was engaged in the subsequent fierce fighting to secure that region of France. His final rank in the British Army was brigadier.

On 21 December 1944, Major (temporary Lieutenant Colonel) Profumo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE, Military Division) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Italy", specifically, for his service on Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander's staff commanding the 15th Army Group. In November 1947, Acting Colonel Profumo was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by the United States "in recognition of distinguished services in the cause of the Allies".

Political career
In 1940, while still serving in the Army, Profumo was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Kettering in Northamptonshire at a by-election on 3 March.

Shortly afterwards he voted against the Chamberlain government in the debate following the British defeat at Narvik in Norway. This defiance on Profumo's part enraged the Chief Whip, David Margesson, who said to him "I can tell you this, you utterly contemptible little shit. On every morning that you wake up for the rest of your life you will be ashamed of what you did last night." Profumo later remarked that Margesson "couldn't have been more wrong".

Profumo was then the youngest MP and, by the time of his death, he had become the last surviving former member of the 1940 House of Commons. At the 1945 election, Profumo was defeated at Kettering by the Labour candidate, Dick Mitchison. Later in 1945, he was chief of staff to the British Mission to Japan. In 1950, he left the Army and, at the general election in February 1950, he was elected for Stratford-on-Avon in Warwickshire, a safe Conservative seat.

Profumo was a well-connected politician with a good war record and, despite Margesson's aforementioned outburst, was highly regarded in the Conservative Party. Those qualities helped him to rise steadily through the ranks of the Conservative government elected in 1951. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in November 1952, Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation in November 1953, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in January 1957, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office in November 1958, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in January 1959. In July 1960, he was appointed Secretary of State for War (outside of the Cabinet) and was sworn of the Privy Council. In 1954, he married the actress Valerie Hobson.

The Profumo affair
In July 1961, at a party at Cliveden, home of Viscount Astor, John Profumo met Christine Keeler, a 19-year-old model with whom he began a sexual relationship. The exact length of the affair between Profumo and Keeler is disputed, ending either in August 1961 after Profumo was warned by the security services of the possible dangers of mixing with the Ward circle, or continuing with decreasing fervour until December 1961. Since Keeler had also had sexual relations with Yevgeny Ivanov, the senior naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy, the matter took on a national-security dimension.

In December 1962, a shooting incident in London involving two other men who were involved with Keeler led the press to investigate her, and reporters soon learned of her affairs with Profumo and Ivanov. But the British tradition of respecting the private lives of British politicians, for fear of libel actions, was maintained until March 1963, when the Labour MP George Wigg, claiming to be motivated by the national-security aspects of the case, and taking advantage of Parliamentary privilege, which gave him immunity from any possible legal action, referred in the House of Commons to the rumours linking Profumo with Keeler. Profumo then made a personal statement in which he admitted he knew Keeler but denied there was any "impropriety" in their relationship and threatened to sue if newspapers asserted otherwise.

Profumo's statement did not prevent newspapers publishing stories about Keeler, and it soon became apparent to Macmillan that Profumo's position was untenable. On 5 June 1963, Profumo was forced to admit that he had lied to the House in March when he denied an affair with Keeler, which at that time was an unforgivable offence in British politics. Profumo resigned from office and from the Privy Council, and applied for and was appointed to the role of steward of the Chiltern Hundreds to give up his Commons seat. Before making his public confession, Profumo confessed the affair to his wife, who stood by him. It was never shown that his relationship with Keeler had led to any breach of national security. The scandal rocked the Conservative government, and was generally held to have been among the causes of its defeat by Labour at the 1964 election. Macmillan had already gone by then, having resigned in October 1963 on health grounds to be succeeded by Alec Douglas-Home.

Profumo maintained complete public silence about the matter for the rest of his life, even when the 1989 film Scandal—in which he was played by Ian McKellen—and the publication of Keeler's memoirs revived public interest in the affair.

Profumo was portrayed by Daniel Flynn in Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical Stephen Ward, which opened at the Aldwych Theatre on 19 December 2013.

He was portrayed by Ben Miles in the 2019/2020 BBC drama The Trial of Christine Keeler and by Tim Steed in the Netflix series The Crown, where the Profumo Affair is part of the plot for season 2, episode 10 – "Mystery Man".

Later life
Shortly after his resignation, Profumo was invited to work at Toynbee Hall as a volunteer by Walter Birmingham, who was a warden there. Toynbee Hall is a charity based in the East End of London, and Profumo continued to work there for the rest of his life, becoming Toynbee Hall's chief fundraiser, and using his political skills and contacts to raise large sums of money. All this work was done as a volunteer, since Profumo was able to live on his inherited wealth.

His wife, the actress Valerie Hobson, also devoted herself to charity until her death in 1998.

In the eyes of some, Profumo's charity work redeemed his reputation. His friend, social reform campaigner Lord Longford, said he "felt more admiration [for Profumo] than [for] all the men I've known in my lifetime".

Profumo was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE, Civil Division) in the 1975 Birthday Honours, and received the honour at a Buckingham Palace ceremony from Queen Elizabeth II, signalling his return to respectability. In 1995, former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher invited him to her 70th birthday dinner, where he sat next to the Queen. He appeared only occasionally in public, particularly in his last years when he used a wheelchair. His last appearance was at the memorial service for Sir Edward Heath on 8 November 2005.

Death and tributes
On 7 March 2006, Profumo suffered a stroke and was admitted to London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He died two days later surrounded by his family, at the age of 91. After his death, many commentators said that he should be remembered as much for his contribution to society after his fall from political grace as for the scandal of 1963 which caused that fall. He was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium; his ashes were buried next to those of his wife at the family vault in front of St Peter's Church in Hersham.

title: John Profumo


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Valerie Hobson

Babette Louisa Valerie Hobson (14 April 1917 – 13 November 1998) was a British actress whose film career spanned the 1930s to the early 1950s. Her second husband was John Profumo, a British government minister who became the subject of the Profumo affair in 1963.

Early years
Hobson was born at Sandy Bay, Larne, County Antrim, in Ulster, Ireland, to Violette (c. 1890–1955; née Hamilton-Willoughby) and Robert Gordon Hobson (1877–1940), who was a Commander in the Royal Navy.

Before she was 11 years old, Hobson had begun to study acting and dancing at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career
In 1935, aged 17, Hobson appeared as Baroness Frankenstein in Bride of Frankenstein with Boris Karloff and Colin Clive. She played opposite Henry Hull that same year in Werewolf of London, the first Hollywood werewolf film. The latter half of the 1940s saw Hobson in perhaps her two most memorable roles: as the adult Estella in David Lean's adaptation of Great Expectations (1946), and as the refined and virtuous Edith D'Ascoyne in the black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949).

Hobson's last starring role was in the original London production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical play The King and I, which opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 8 October 1953. She played Mrs. Anna Leonowens opposite Herbert Lom's King. The show ran for 926 performances.

Personal life and death
In 1952, Hobson divorced her first husband, film producer Anthony Havelock-Allan (1904–2003). In 1954, she married Brigadier John Profumo (1915–2006), a Member of Parliament (MP), giving up acting shortly afterwards. Profumo was a prominent politician of Italian descent.

After Profumo's ministerial career ended in disgrace in 1963, following revelations he had lied to the House of Commons about his affair with Christine Keeler, Hobson stood by him, and they worked together for charity for the remainder of her life, though she did miss their more public personas.

Hobson's eldest son, Simon Anthony Clerveaux Havelock-Allan, was born in May 1944 with Down's syndrome, and died in January 1991. Her middle child, Mark Havelock-Allan, was born on 4 April 1951 and became a judge. Her youngest child is the author David Profumo (born 16 October 1955), who wrote Bringing the House Down: A Family Memoir (2006) about the scandal. In it, he writes that his parents told him nothing of the scandal and he learned of it from another boy at school.

Hobson died in 1998, aged 81. After her death, her body was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium in accordance with her wishes. Half of her ashes were interred in the family vault in Hersham, and the rest were scattered on 1 January 1999 by her sons David Profumo and Mark Havelock-Allan, near the family's farm in Scotland.

In popular culture
Hobson was portrayed by Deborah Grant in the film Scandal (1989), by Joanna Riding in Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical Stephen Ward the Musical, which opened at the Aldwych Theatre on 19 December 2013 and by Emilia Fox in the BBC mini-series The Trial of Christine Keeler in 2019.

Filmography

 * His Lordship (1932) – Last Face in Montage (uncredited)
 * For Love of You (1933) – Minor Role (uncredited)
 * Eyes of Fate (1933) – Rene
 * The Path of Glory (1934) – Maria
 * Two Hearts in Waltz Time (1934) – Susie
 * Badger's Green (1934) – Molly Butler
 * Great Expectations (1934) – Biddy (scenes deleted)
 * Strange Wives (1934) – Mauna
 * The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934) – Mimi – Carnival Girl (uncredited)
 * Life Returns (1935) – Mrs. Kendrick
 * The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) – Helena Landless
 * Rendezvous at Midnight (1935) – Sandra Rogers
 * Oh, What a Night (1935) – Susan
 * Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – Elizabeth
 * Werewolf of London (1935) – Lisa Glendon
 * Chinatown Squad (1935) – Janet Baker
 * The Great Impersonation (1935) – Eleanor Dominey
 * August Weekend (1936) – Claire Barry
 * The Secret of Stamboul (1936) – Tania
 * Tugboat Princess (1936) – Sally
 * No Escape (1936) – Laura Anstey
 * Jump for Glory (1937) – Glory Howard aka Glory Fane
 * The Drum (1938) – Mrs. Carruthers
 * This Man Is News (1938) – Pat Drake
 * Q Planes (1939) – Kay Hammond
 * The Silent Battle (1939) – Draguisha
 * This Man in Paris (1939) – Pat Drake
 * The Spy in Black (1939) – The School Mistress
 * Contraband (1940) – Mrs. Sorensen
 * Atlantic Ferry (1941) – Mary Ann Morison
 * Unpublished Story (1942) – Carol Bennett
 * The Adventures of Tartu (1943, aka Sabotage Agent) – Maruschuka Lanova
 * The Years Between (1946) – Diana Wentworth
 * Great Expectations (1946, Hobson had acted in the 1934 version in the role of Biddy, but her scenes were cut.) – Estella
 * Blanche Fury (1948) – Blanche Fury
 * The Small Voice (1948) – Eleanor Byrne
 * Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) – Edith
 * Train of Events (1949) – Stella (segment "The Composer")
 * The Interrupted Journey (1949) – Carol North
 * The Rocking Horse Winner (1950) – Hester Grahame
 * The Card (1952) – Countess of Chell
 * Who Goes There! (1952) – Alex Cornwall
 * Meet Me Tonight (1952) – Stella Cartwright (segment "Ways and Means")
 * The Voice of Merrill (1952) – Alycia
 * Background (1953) – Barbie Lomax
 * Knave of Hearts (1954) – Catherine Ripois

title: Valerie Hobson


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Christine Keeler

Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the height of the Cold War, she became sexually involved with a married Cabinet minister, John Profumo, as well as with a Soviet naval attaché, Yevgeny Ivanov. A shooting incident involving a third lover caused the press to investigate her, revealing that her affairs could be threatening national security. In the House of Commons, Profumo denied any improper conduct but later admitted to having lied.

This incident discredited the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan in 1963, in what became known as the Profumo affair. Keeler was alleged to have been a prostitute, which was not a criminal offence. Ward was, however, found guilty of being her pimp; a trial was instigated after the embarrassment caused to the government. The trial has since been considered a miscarriage of justice and a charade by the establishment to protect itself.

Early years
Keeler was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex. Her father, Colin Sean Keeler (later known as Colin King, 1921–1976), abandoned the family in 1945. She was brought up by her mother, Julie Ellen (Payne, 1923–2012), and stepfather, Edward Huish, in a house made from two converted railway carriages in the Berkshire village of Wraysbury. In 1951, at the age of 9, Keeler was sent to a holiday home in Littlehampton because the school health inspector said that she was suffering from malnutrition. She was sexually abused as a teenager both by her stepfather and his friends, for whom she babysat.

At the age of 15, she found work as a model at a dress shop in London's Soho. At age 17, she gave birth to a son after an affair with a United States Air Force sergeant; the child was born prematurely on 17 April 1959 and survived just six days.

That summer, Keeler left Wraysbury, staying briefly in Slough with a friend before heading for London. She initially worked as a waitress at a restaurant on Baker Street, where she met Maureen O'Connor, who worked at Murray's Cabaret Club in Soho. O'Connor introduced Keeler to the owner, Percy Murray, who hired her almost immediately as a topless showgirl.

At Murray's, she met Stephen Ward, an osteopath and artist. His practice and art brought considerable social success, and he made many influential friends. The two soon lived together with the outward appearance of being a couple, but, according to her, it was a platonic, non-sexual relationship. In her autobiography,, Keeler maintained that Ward was working as a double agent, having contact with both senior members of MI5 and the KGB, and was passing UK state secrets to the latter.

Profumo affair
On the weekend of 8–9 July 1961, Ward introduced Keeler to John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War, at a pool party at Cliveden, the Buckinghamshire mansion owned by the 3rd Viscount Astor. Profumo began a brief affair with Keeler, the exact length of which is disputed. It either ended in August 1961, after the security services warned Profumo of the possible dangers of mixing with the Ward circle, or it continued with decreasing fervour until December 1961. Among Ward's other friends, whom Profumo briefly met, was the Soviet naval attaché and GRU officer, Yevgeny Ivanov. According to Keeler, she and Ivanov had a short sexual relationship.

After her relationship with Profumo ended, Keeler was sexually involved with several partners, including Jamaican jazz singer Lucky Gordon and Antiguan jazz promoter Johnny Edgecombe. There was considerable jealousy between the two men; in one quarrel on 27 October 1962, Edgecombe slashed Gordon's face with a knife. When Keeler ended the relationship with Edgecombe in December 1962, Edgecombe turned up at Ward's house in Wimpole Mews on 14 December, where she was temporarily seeking refuge, and fired five shots at the building. His arrest and subsequent trial brought Keeler to public attention and provided the impetus for a national scandal to develop. After initially denying any impropriety with Keeler, Profumo eventually confessed and resigned from the government and Parliament, causing great embarrassment to his government colleagues, who had previously supported him. These events, in the summer of 1963, brought Keeler notoriety; The Economist gave the headline "The Prime Minister's Crisis" alongside a picture of Keeler, with no further explanation.

Morley portrait

At the height of the Profumo affair in 1963, Keeler sat for a photographic portrait by Lewis Morley. The photoshoot, at a studio on the first floor of Peter Cook's Establishment Club, with Morley was to promote a proposed film, The Keeler Affair, that was never released in the United Kingdom. Keeler was reluctant to pose in the nude, but the film producers insisted. Morley persuaded Keeler to sit astride a plywood chair so that, whilst technically nude, the back of the chair would obscure most of her body. Keeler told cartoon historian Tim Benson in 2007 that she was not nude and was wearing knickers during the entire photoshoot.

The photo propelled Arne Jacobsen's Model 3107 chair to prominence, even though the chair used was an imitation of the Model 3107, with a hand-hold aperture crudely cut out of the back to avoid copyright infringement. The particular chair used is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The differences in the designs of the chairs are readily apparent in a side-by-side photograph.

Trials

On 18 April 1963, Keeler was attacked at a friend's home. She accused Gordon, who was arrested and charged. At his trial, which began on 5 June, he maintained that his innocence would be established by two witnesses who, the police told the court, could not be found. On 7 June, principally on the evidence of Keeler, Gordon was found guilty and sentenced to three years imprisonment. By this time, Ward was facing trial on vice charges, and Keeler was again a main prosecution witness.

Ward's trial, which ran 22–31 July 1963, has been characterised as "an act of political revenge" for the embarrassment caused to the government. He was accused of living off immoral earnings earned through Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies based on the small contributions to household expenses or loan repayments the two had made to Ward while living with him. Ward's professional earnings as an osteopath were a substantial £5,500 a year (£ in ) at the time these small payments were made. After a hostile summing-up from the trial judge, Ward was convicted, but took an overdose of barbiturates and died before the jury returned its verdict and sentence could be passed. In the closing days of Ward's trial, Gordon's assault conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal when his missing witnesses were found and testified that the evidence given by Keeler was substantially false. In December 1963, Keeler pleaded guilty to charges of perjury before Sir Anthony Hawke, the Recorder of London, and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, serving six months in prison. Her cellmate while in prison was Elizabeth Crowley, the wife of East End bank robber William Crowley, the maternal grandparents of Labour MP Wes Streeting.

Later life

After her release from prison in 1964, Keeler had two brief marriages, to James Edward Levermore (22 October 1965; dissolved 1966) and Anthony Sydney Platt (18 February 1971; separated 1972; divorced 27 May 1977). There was a child from each union, the elder being primarily raised by Keeler's mother, Julie.

Keeler mainly lived alone in the last couple of decades of her life. Most of the considerable amount of money that she made from newspaper stories was dissipated by lawyers. She said that during the 1970s, "I was not living, I was surviving". She published several accounts of her life, in one of which she claimed that she became pregnant as a result of her relationship with Profumo and subsequently had an abortion. Her portrait by Ward was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1984.

In 1988, Keeler was featured in Bryan Ferry's promotional video for the single "Kiss and Tell" (originally released on Ferry's seventh solo album, Bête Noire, in 1987) with Mandy Rice-Davies; this was meant to draw more attention to the song's theme. In June 1988 she made an extended appearance on Channel 4 discussion programme After Dark.

Death
On 5 December 2017, Keeler's son, Seymour Platt, announced that she had died, aged 75, the previous night at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough, London. She had been ill for some months, suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Her funeral took place on 16 December at the West London Crematorium in Kensal Green Cemetery.

In popular culture
Yvonne Buckingham portrayed Keeler in a 1963 film variously titled The Christine Keeler Story, The Keeler Affair, and The Christine Keeler Affair; Keeler herself introduced the film in its opening sequence and read the cast list in voiceover at the end.

In the 1989 film about the Profumo affair, Scandal, actress Joanne Whalley portrayed Keeler.

In Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical Stephen Ward, which opened at the Aldwych Theatre in 2013, Keeler was portrayed by Charlotte Spencer.

Keeler is portrayed by Gala Gordon during the second season of the Netflix drama series The Crown in 2017.

Keeler is portrayed by Sophie Cookson in The Trial of Christine Keeler, a six-part television series screened on BBC One from 2019 to 2020.

Funded by the Arts Council England and Arts Council of Wales, a touring exhibition called Dear Christine opened in Newcastle upon Tyne in June 2019 and toured to Swansea in October 2019, finishing at Arthouse1 in London in February 2020. The culmination of a four-year project by artist/curator Fionn Wilson to reclaim and re-frame Keeler, it features work from twenty women artists "in order to put a female perspective on a narrative that has mostly been led by men". The exhibition has been described by journalist and writer Julie Burchill as "a thing of beauty without cruelty". Critic and writer Ian McKay wrote: "In several important ways, Dear Christine, the exhibition, seeks with some noble intent to ... rescue Christine's image and experience and reprocess it, rescuing it from the newspaper front-page-Keeler that is etched into the collective consciousness". The exhibition also featured in the Morning Star, The Daily Telegraph and the International Times.

In Wales Arts Review, writer Craig Austin interviewed Fionn Wilson who says:

"Christine Keeler has always fascinated me, since I first became aware of her story via the 1989 film Scandal. When I started painting, I decided to do a series of paintings of her, and as I researched Christine's life story, it struck me that, even though she is a culturally significant figure in British history, there is very little recent artistic reference to her. I decided that I would try to rectify this and add to the visual narrative around her. And so the project was born. It's also a very personal project. I have great sympathy for Christine Keeler."

The exhibition catalogue includes writing by Amanda Coe, screenwriter and executive producer of The Trial of Christine Keeler; Keeler's son Seymour Platt; art historian Kalliopi Minioudaki; and artist and art critic Bo Gorzelak Pedersen.

In the summer of 1963, "Christine", a pop single by Joyce Blair (released under the pseudonym "Miss X"), which parodied Keeler's involvement with Profumo, reached No. 37 in the UK Singles Chart despite being banned from airplay by the BBC due to its subject matter. The single had also been banned by Radio Luxembourg.

In 1964, the Jamaican ska band The Skatalites released the song "Christine Keeler" on the album Ska Authentic.

Keeler is mentioned in the song "Piano Lessons" from the 1999 album Stupid Dream by Porcupine Tree. Her affair with Profumo is referenced obliquely as "British politician sex" in Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire" from the 1989 album Storm Front. Keeler is referenced in the song "Post World War Two Blues" from the 1973 album Past, Present and Future by Al Stewart.

The "Celebrities' Nightmares" article in MAD#84 features President John F. Kennedy in terror of Keeler settling in Washington, DC, and attracted to Kennedy's Cabinet.

Publications

 * Basis for the eponymous 1989 film
 * Basis for the eponymous 1989 film

title: Christine Keeler


text:
Mandy Rice-Davies

Marilyn Foreman (21 October 1944 – 18 December 2014), better known as Mandy Rice-Davies, was a Welsh model and showgirl best known for her association with Christine Keeler and her role in the Profumo affair, which discredited the Conservative government of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1963.

Early life
Rice-Davies was born near Llanelli, Wales, and, during her childhood, moved to Solihull, Warwickshire. Her father was a policeman before becoming a technologist for Dunlop Rubber, and her mother was a former actress. She attended Sharmans Cross Secondary Modern School. As a teenager she worked at Woods Farm in Shirley assisting with the horse yard there. She appeared older than her age and at 15 she got a Saturday job as a clothes model at the Marshall & Snelgrove department store in Birmingham. At 16 she went to London as Miss Austin at the Earls Court Motor Show.

Profumo scandal
At Murray's Cabaret Club she met Christine Keeler, who introduced her to her friend, the well-connected osteopath Stephen Ward, and to an ex-lover, the slum landlord Peter Rachman. Rice-Davies became Rachman's mistress and was set up in the house in which he had previously kept Keeler, 1 Bryanston Mews West, Marylebone. Rice-Davies often visited Keeler at the house she shared with Ward at Wimpole Mews, Marylebone, and, after Keeler had moved elsewhere, lived there herself, between September and December 1962. On 14 December 1962, while Keeler was visiting Rice-Davies at Wimpole Mews, one of Keeler's boyfriends, John Edgecombe, attempted to enter and fired a gun several times at the door. His trial brought attention to the girls' involvement with Ward's social set, and intimacy with many powerful people, including Viscount Astor at whose home of Cliveden Keeler met the War Minister John Profumo. Profumo's brief relationship with Keeler was the centre of the affair that caused him to resign from the government in June 1963, though Rice-Davies herself never met him.

"Well he would, wouldn't he?"
Stephen Ward was found guilty of living on the earnings of prostitution, from money obtained from Rice-Davies and Keeler among others, at a trial instigated after the embarrassment caused to the government.

While being cross-examined at Ward's trial, when James Burge, the defence counsel, pointed out that Lord Astor denied an affair or even having met her, she dispatched this swiftly with pert humour, "Well he would, wouldn't he?" Often misquoted in other contexts as: "Well he would say that, wouldn't he?", by 1979, this phrase had entered the third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and is occasionally referred to with the abbreviation MRDA ("Mandy Rice-Davies applies").

Later life
A Private Eye cover at the time of Profumo had a photograph of "the lovely" Rice-Davies with the caption (without any headline or other identification), "Do you mind? If it wasn't for me – you couldn't have cared less about Rachman". Rice-Davies released a 45 EP on the Ember label (EMB EP 4537) in May 1964 entitled Introducing Mandy, which included cover versions of songs such as "All I Do Is Dream of You" and "You Got What It Takes".

Rice-Davies traded on the notoriety the trial brought her, comparing herself to Nelson's mistress, Lady Hamilton. In 1965 she was an associate of pre-fame David Bowie, attending his rehearsals and live performances. In 1966 she married an Israeli businessman, Rafi Shauli and moved to Israel. The couple had one daughter together and Rice-Davies converted to Judaism. She also opened nightclubs and restaurants in Tel Aviv. They were called Mandy's, Mandy's Candies and Mandy's Singing Bamboo. In 1980, with Shirley Flack, Rice-Davies wrote her autobiography, Mandy. A year later she appeared in the Tom Stoppard play, Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land. In 1989, she wrote a novel entitled The Scarlet Thread. The Ottoman Empire provided the backdrop and the novel was described as a stirring wartime saga in the spirit of Gone with the Wind. Subsequently, journalist Libby Purves, who had met Rice-Davies when Mandy was published, invited her to join a female re-creation on the River Thames of Jerome K. Jerome's comic novel Three Men in a Boat. This expedition was commissioned by Alan Coren for the magazine Punch, the other members of the party being cartoonist Merrily Harpur and a toy Alsatian to represent Montmorency, the dog in the original story. Purves recounted how she "immediately spotted that this Rice-Davies was a woman to go up the Amazon with" and, among other things, that "only Mandy's foxy charm saved us from being evicted from a lock for being drunk on pink Champagne."

Rice-Davies appeared in a number of television and film productions, including Absolutely Fabulous and episode 6 of the first series of Chance in a Million. Her film career included roles in Nana, the True Key of Pleasure (1982), Black Venus (1983), and Absolute Beginners (1986) as the mother of Colin – whose father was played by Ray Davies from The Kinks. In the 1989 film Scandal, about the Profumo affair, Bridget Fonda portrayed Rice-Davies alongside Joanne Whalley as Keeler.

She was closely involved in the development of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Stephen Ward about Ward's involvement in the Profumo affair, in which she was portrayed by Charlotte Blackledge. The musical opened on 19 December 2013 at the Aldwych Theatre. On Radio 4's Midweek on 5 February 2014, Rice-Davies said of Stephen Ward, "I didn't fall for him, but I did have an affair with him." She once described her life as "one slow descent into respectability".

Illness and death
Rice-Davies died from lung cancer, aged 70, on 18 December 2014 in London.

In popular culture
Rice-Davies is played by Bridget Fonda in Scandal, a 1989 film about the Profumo affair.

She is portrayed by Ellie Bamber in The Trial of Christine Keeler, a 2019–2020 six-part BBC One television series.

title: Mandy Rice-Davies


text:
Edward Hutton

Edward Hutton may refer to:

 * Edward Francis Hutton (1875–1962), American financier
 * Edward Hutton (British Army officer) (1848–1923), Australian, British, and Canadian military commander
 * Edward Hutton (writer) (1875–1969), British author

title: Edward Hutton


text:
Sleuth (1972 film)

Sleuth is a 1972 mystery thriller film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. The screenplay by playwright Anthony Shaffer was based on his 1970 Tony Award-winning play. Both Olivier and Caine were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. This was Mankiewicz's final film. Critics gave the film overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Plot
Andrew Wyke, a successful crime fiction author, lives in a large country manor house filled with elaborate games and automata. He invites his wife's lover, Milo Tindle, the owner of two hair salons, to his home to discuss the situation and says he would like Milo to take his wife, Marguerite, off his hands so he can be with his more desirable mistress, Téa. To provide Milo, whose salons are not yet fully profitable, the means to support the high-maintenance Marguerite, Andrew suggests that Milo steal valuable jewellery from the house, with Andrew recouping his losses through an insurance claim. Milo agrees, and Andrew leads him through an elaborate scheme to fake a robbery. At the conclusion, Andrew pulls a gun on Milo and reveals the bogus theft was merely a ruse to frame Milo as a burglar so he can kill him. Berating Milo's profession as a hairdresser and background as the "un-English" son of an Italian immigrant (originally Tindelini) who went to a "second-rate public school," Andrew cannot accept that his wife left him for such an "unworthy" rival. He puts the gun to Milo's head; there is a gunshot, and the screen cuts to black.

A few days later, Inspector Doppler arrives to investigate Milo's disappearance. Andrew purports to know nothing, but as the inspector collates incriminating clues, Andrew breaks down and explains the burglary hoax. He insists he only pretended to shoot Milo using a blank cartridge and that his rival left humiliated but alive and unharmed. After finding evidence supporting a murder, Doppler arrests Andrew. As Andrew is about to be taken to the station, Doppler reveals himself as the heavily disguised Milo, seeking revenge on Andrew.

The score is seemingly evened, though Andrew is unable to admit being duped and pretends he saw through Milo's disguise, while expressing admiration for Milo having been a worthy opponent and games player. A still dissatisfied Milo expresses that Andrew has not experienced the level of humiliation of his own imminent death. Milo announces they will play another game involving a real murder. Milo says he fatally strangled Andrew's mistress, Téa, and has planted incriminating evidence throughout Andrew's house. The police, who have been tipped off, will arrive soon. Andrew dismisses his claim, but phones Téa to be sure, only to learn from Téa's flatmate, Joyce, that Téa is dead. Following Milo's cryptic clues, Andrew frantically searches the house for the planted evidence. Andrew finds the last item just as Milo says the police are arriving. The dishevelled Andrew pleads with Milo to stall them while he composes himself. Milo is heard talking to the officers, but there are actually no police. Milo then reveals that he faked Téa's death, with Joyce and Téa's willing assistance as payback for the games of humiliation Andrew has inflicted on Téa, thus tricking Andrew a second time. Andrew is further humiliated when Milo reveals that Téa informed him that Andrew is practically impotent and has not had relations with her in over a year.

As Milo prepares to leave, fetching Marguerite's fur coat and belongings, he continues humiliating Andrew with information provided by Andrew's wife and mistress. Inspired again by the burglary scenario, Andrew threatens to shoot Milo to stop him from bragging about his humiliation to anyone else―especially Marguerite. However, Milo says he really did report Andrew's burglary setup and assault to the police, who were initially skeptical but assured him they would follow-up. The police now would not believe Andrew's concocted story of mistakenly killing a burglar. Pushed too far when Milo ridicules his literary detective, Andrew disbelieves Milo and shoots and mortally wounds him. The police arrive outside, and a distraught and defeated Andrew locks himself inside the house. As Milo lies dying, he tells Andrew to tell the police that "it was just a bloody game"; he then presses the automata control box, leaving Andrew surrounded by a cacophony of his activated electronic toys as police pound on the door and attempt to enter.

Cast

 * Laurence Olivier as Andrew Wyke
 * Michael Caine as Milo Tindle

The production team intended to reveal as little about the movie as possible so as to make the conclusion a complete surprise to the audience. For this reason, the opening credits list fictional people playing roles that do not exist. They are Alec Cawthorne as Inspector Doppler, John Matthews as Detective Sergeant Tarrant, Eve Channing (named after the characters Eve Harrington and Margo Channing from Mankiewicz's 1950 film All About Eve) as Marguerite Wyke, and Teddy Martin as Police Constable Higgs. Vincent Canby's review for The New York Times also listed fictitious actress Karen Minfort-Jones as playing Andrew's mistress Teya [sic].

Production

Shaffer was initially reluctant to sell the film rights to the play, fearful it would undercut the success of the stage version. When he finally did relent, he hoped the film would retain the services of Anthony Quayle, who had essayed the role of Wyke in London and on Broadway. Alan Bates was Shaffer's pick for the part of Milo Tindle. In the end, director Mankiewicz opted for Olivier and Caine.

When they met, Caine asked Olivier how he should address him. Olivier told him that it should be as "Lord Olivier", and added that now that that was settled he could call him "Larry". According to Shaffer, Olivier stated that when filming began he looked upon Caine as an assistant, but that by the end of filming he regarded him as a full partner. According to Stephen Sondheim (who Shaffer had partly taken for inspiration for the original play when it came to his penchant for playing games), when he met Olivier sometime after the production had finished shooting, Olivier had said he based his performance off of Sondheim.

The likeness of actress Joanne Woodward was used for the painting of Marguerite Wyke.

Much of the story revolves around the theme of crime fiction, as written by John Dickson Carr (St John Lord Merridew = Sir Henry Merrivale), on whom Olivier's physical appearance is modelled, and Agatha Christie, whose photo is included on Wyke's wall, and how it relates to real-life criminal investigations. Class conflict is also raised between Wyke, who has the trappings of an English country gentleman, compared to Tindle, the son of an immigrant from a poor area of London.

Bristol Myers Squibb (Palomar Pictures International) owns the rights to The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Sleuth (1972).

Release
Sleuth opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 10, 1972 and at the Bruin Theatre in Los Angeles on December 13, 1972. After 8 days of release, it had grossed $70,781 from the 2 theatres. After the film was released in South Africa Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine performed in a stage version of Sleuth at a theatre in Johannesburg.

Reception and legacy
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 89% based on reviews from 28 critics.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier), Best Director and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score. Olivier won the New York Film Critics award for Best Actor as a compromise selection after the voters became deadlocked in a choice between Marlon Brando and Al Pacino in The Godfather after Stacy Keach in Fat City won a plurality in initial voting and rules were changed requiring a majority. Shaffer received an Edgar Award for his screenplay.

The film was the second to have practically its entire cast (Caine and Olivier) nominated for Academy Awards after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1966 and the first where exactly all of the actors in the film were nominated. (Virginia Woolf featured uncredited bit parts by actors playing the roadhouse manager and waitress.) This feat has been repeated only by Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1975), in which James Whitmore is the sole credited actor.

Critics Roger Ebert, Janet Maslin, Gary Arnold of The Washington Post, and several film historians have all noted similarities between Sleuth and Caine's 1982 film Deathtrap. SCTV episode 121 featured Dave Thomas playing Michael Caine, arguing that the two films were different because the library appeared on different sides of the set.

Deleted footage
While questioning Wyke, Doppler points out that the clown costume that Tindle was wearing when he was shot is missing, though the clown's mask is later found and put on the head of the plastic skeleton in the cellar. He is probably implying that Tindle was buried with it.

In the trailer for the film, there are the scenes with Doppler laying out the evidence against Wyke as shown in the movie. They include him pulling open the shower curtains in one of the bathrooms and exposing the clown's jacket, dripping wet and apparently with bloodstains on it. This scene was not included in the final film.

Preservation
The Academy Film Archive preserved Sleuth in 2012.

2007 film
In September 2006 Kenneth Branagh announced at the Venice Film Festival his new film of the play, with the screenplay by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter. Caine starred in this adaptation, this time in the role of Wyke, and Jude Law played Tindle as a struggling actor. Production was completed in March 2007 and the film was released in the UK on 23 November 2007. The remake did not use any of the dialogue in Shaffer's original script and was considered unsuccessful in comparison with the original.

title: Sleuth (1972 film)