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Saint Louis Zoo

The Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Admission is free based on a public subsidy from a cultural tax district, the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District (ZMD); fees are charged for some special attractions. A special feature is the narrow-gauge Emerson Zooline Railroad with passenger trains pulled by Chance Rides C.P. Huntington locomotives that encircle the zoo, stopping at the more popular attractions.

The city purchased its first exhibit, the Flight Cage, from the Smithsonian Institution following the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. After the zoo was established in 1910, new exhibits, areas, and buildings were added through the decades to improve care of the animals, the range of animals and habitats shown, and education and interpretation. The head of the male lesser kudu, with his elegant spiraled horns, is the symbol of the Saint Louis Zoo.

In September 2017, the Saint Louis Zoo teamed up with the Missouri Botanical Garden and Washington University in St. Louis in a conservation effort known as the Living Earth Collaborative. The collaborative, run by Washington University scientist Jonathan Losos, seeks to promote further understanding of the ways humans can help to preserve the varied natural environments that allow plants, animals, and microbes to survive and thrive. Some of their other ongoing conservation efforts include the #byetobags movement, encouraging the use of reusable bags, and their turtle-tracking program, which tracks location, population, and health of the box turtle population of Forest Park.

In 2017 and 2018, the zoo was chosen by USA Today as the best in the United States.

The early years
The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair is credited for the birth of the Saint Louis Zoo. The fair brought the world's attention to St. Louis and Forest Park. The Smithsonian Institution constructed a walk-through aviary for the World's Fair. Ten days after the World's Fair closed, the citizens of St. Louis chose to buy the 1904 World's Fair Flight Cage for $3,500, rather than have it dismantled and returned to Washington, DC. This was the first piece of what would become the Saint Louis Zoo.

By 1910, increased interest in a zoo brought together some concerned citizens, and they organized the Zoological Society of St. Louis. In 1914, it was incorporated as an independent civic organization of people interested in a zoo. Meanwhile, the citizens of St. Louis and surrounding municipalities expressed diverse opinions as to the appropriate location of a zoo if there should be one. Fairground Park, Carondolet Park, the Creve Coeur area, and Tower Grove Park were some of the places suggested in newspaper articles and letters to the editors and to civic groups. Some concerned citizens residing near Oakland Avenue, south of Forest Park, expressed their displeasure with a zoo in the park because of the smell of the animals.

The zoo initially held 51 deer and antelope, 11 buffaloes, a sacred cow, a sandhill crane, 20 prairie dogs, a dromedary camel, eagles, ducks, elk, foxes, geese, swans, rabbits, a raccoon, a China sheep, opossums, a buzzard, owls, and peafowl, among other animals. The head of the Parks Department, Dwight Davis, voiced his opinion against Forest Park—that is, until the city set aside 77 acre in the park in which to establish a zoological park. A five-man board was appointed to act as the Zoological Board of Control.

The number of board members was increased to nine in 1916, the same year the citizens voted to create a tax for the construction of the Saint Louis Zoo, with a 1/5 mill tax. This was said to have been the first zoo in the world that the citizens of a community supported by passing a millage tax.

1920 through 1969
Expansion of the zoo started in 1921, when the Bear Pits were built. The zoo continued to expand with construction of the Primate House in 1923 and the Reptile House in 1927.

The new Bird House was built in 1930. With the coming of the Great Depression, revenues were down and construction of new exhibits slowed at the zoo. In 1935, the Antelope House was built with the help of the Civil Works Administration, a program of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. This burst of construction ended in 1939 with the addition of the Ape House. In 1939, the zoo acquired two giant pandas. Their names were Happy and Pao Pei. Happy died in 1945 and Pao Pei in 1952.

The Stupp Memorial Pheasantry and the lion arena, now the Sea Lion Arena, were built in 1954. Three years later, the Elephant House and its arena and moated yards were constructed.

Major construction started on the zoo again in 1971 when the Aquatic House was built. It continued with the opening of the Emerson Zooline Railroad in 1963, the Charles H. Yalem Children's Zoo, and the animal nursery in 1969.

1971 through present
In 1972, the zoo joined the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District and began to receive revenue from a public property tax of 8 cents for every $100 assessed. This enabled continued improvements and upgrades of exhibit areas. Two major areas of the zoo, Big Cat Country and Jungle of the Apes, were constructed in 1976 and 1986, respectively.

In 1989, the Living World, a two-story building including classrooms, a reference library and teacher resource center, an auditorium, two exhibit halls emphasizing evolution and ecology, a large gift shop, a restaurant, and offices was built. It was designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum.

In 1993, the zoo received a donation of the 355 acre Sears Lehmann farm, located west of St. Louis. It is to be used for the breeding of endangered species and educational purposes.

In 1998, new areas were added with the Emerson Children's Zoo. Phase I of River's Edge, which opened in 1999, represented Asia: featuring Asian elephants, cheetahs, dwarf mongoose, and hyenas.

In 2000, the Monsanto Insectarium, now called the Bayer Insectarium, including the Butterfly House, was built. The North America (Missouri and Mississippi Rivers) portion of River's Edge opened in 2001. In 2002, the third phase, featuring habitats of South America and Africa, opened with hippos, rhinos, warthogs, carmine bee-eaters, capybaras, and giant anteaters.

In 2003, the Penguin and Puffin Coast opened with both outdoor and indoor exhibits. Also new that year was the Mary Ann Lee Conservation Carousel, featuring unique hand-carved wooden animals representing endangered species at the Saint Louis Zoo. The Donn and Marilyn Lipton Fragile Forest opened in 2005. Caribbean Cove, which features stingrays, opened in 2008.

In 2010, the zoo started The Living Promise Campaign, a project that promised to raise $120 million to improve the zoo. In 2015, the zoo opened Polar Bear Point, a $16 million facility that includes different landscapes and exhibits about the polar bear's relationship with the Arctic ecosystem. Its first resident is named Kali, an orphaned polar bear donated to the zoo by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2017, the zoo added Centene Grizzly Ridge, an $11.1 million, 7,000 sq ft state-of-the-art habitat that replaced the bear grottoes built in 1921, which were used until 2015 when they were closed for the construction of Grizzly Ridge. Grizzly Ridge opened 15 September 2017 and is now home to two orphaned grizzlies from Montana. Huckleberry, or Huck, and his sister Finley were given to the zoo by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By the end of the project in 2014, the zoo had exceeded this goal by $14 million, which funded not only Grizzly Ridge or Polar Bear Point, but also Sea Lion Sound (a new and improved way of viewing the sea lions, including a walk-through tunnel), and improvements to other areas of the zoo such as Peabody Hall and River's Edge, among others.

The most recent update to the zoo is the addition of the Michael and Quirsis Riney Primate Canopy Trails, a $13 million, 35,000 sq ft state-of-the-art outdoor exhibit for the zoo's primates. Primate Canopy Trails opened 12 July 2021 and is connected to the nearby Primate House built in 1925. It replaced some of the outside primate habitats connected to the Primate House.

In 2013, the Saint Louis Zoo began a massive expansion of facilities and space for both visitors and staff. Most notable is a new development planned on 13.5 acres on the grounds of the former Forest Park Hospital, across Interstate 64 from the zoo campus. Once completed, the new facility would feature offices and classrooms, year-round exhibits, a mixed-use development that will link the complex with the adjacent Dogtown neighborhood, and an "iconic" connection of the two sites over Interstate 64. Most importantly, it was to shift all parking to the hospital site, freeing up roughly nine acres currently used as a surface lot for additional exhibits. In June 2022, a five-year-old eastern black rhinoceros named Moyo was permanently transferred to Alabama's Birmingham Zoo to eventually develop his own family. Unfortunately in late January 2024, Moyo suffered severe complications after a dental procedure. The zookeepers euthanized him afterwards.

The St. Louis Zoo is currently developing a second campus in north St. Louis County, with a target opening date of 2027. This $230 million, 425-acre campus will be called the St. Louis Zoo Wildcare Park and focus on endangered ungulate species and enormous habitats. The proposed initial list of animals includes Giraffe, Grevy's zebra, Greater kudu, Addax, Bongo, Roan antelope, Somali wild ass, Przewalski's horse, Scimitar-horned oryx, Waterbuck, Nile lechwe, Banteng, various Gazelle species, Southern white rhinoceros, Eland, Sable antelope, Bactrian camel, and Ostrich. Proposed attractions include safari rides, an observation tower, glamping, and a museum.

In March 2023, the St. Louis Zoo unveiled its first electric C.P. Huntington locomotive, named after Mary Meachum. The Emerson Zooline Railroad will eventually replace its remaining diesel-powered locomotives with the electric model.

Zoo directors
The following people have served as directors of the zoo:
 * George P. Vierheller (1922–1962)
 * R. Marlin Perkins (1962–1970), who gained fame for the zoo as host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
 * William J. Hoff (1970–1973)
 * Robert T. Briggs (1973–1975)
 * Richard D. Schultz (1975–1982)
 * Charles H. Hoessle (1982–2002)
 * Dr. Jeffrey P. Bonner (2002–2022)
 * Dwight Scott (2022 to present)

Park zones
The Saint Louis Zoo is divided into six zones: Lakeside Crossing, River's Edge, The Wild, Discovery Corner, Historic Hill, and Red Rocks.

Lakeside Crossing
Located in the center of the zoo, Lakeside Crossing has a variety of food services and shopping destinations, and a grassy plaza where visitors can sit and relax. Also featured here are Caribbean Cove and Sea Lion Sound. Caribbean Cove is a shallow touch-pool underneath a large pavilion that features cownose rays, southern stingrays, bonnethead sharks, and bamboo sharks. Open during the warmer months, it is one of the only parts of the zoo requiring an admission price. Sea Lion Sound provides an underwater viewing tunnel of California sea lions and three harbor seals.

River's Edge
River's Edge is home to a variety of animals represented from four continents: North America, South America, Africa (Savannah and Nile), and Asia. The North America exhibit features fish and wildlife from the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers containing crayfish, American bullfrog, channel catfish, gar, and bluegill. The South America exhibit displays spectacled bears, bush dogs, capybaras, giant anteaters, and scarlet macaws.

The African Savanna exhibit displays eastern black rhinoceroses, African wild dogs, African sacred ibis, bat-eared foxes, red river hogs, and a colony of Southern carmine bee-eaters. The African Nile exhibit features hippopotamuses, tilapia, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, and a colony of dwarf mongoose. The Asia exhibit features adult Asian elephants and sun bears.

Discovery Corner
Discovery Corner is home to the Bayer Insectarium, where most of the zoo's invertebrates are found. Represented species include leafcutter ant, flower mantis, Vietnamese walking stick, Atlas beetle, American burying beetle, sunburst diving beetle, water scorpion, brown widow spider, brown recluse spider, yellow garden spiders, Platymeris biguttatus, cobalt blue tarantula, Texas brown tarantula, and Egyptian fattail scorpion.

Until 2021, Discovery Corner also included the Emerson Children's Zoo, which had many educational features, such as the see-through slide through the otter pool and many birds, snakes, frogs, and other animals that volunteers and staff bring out for the kids to see up close. As of March 2016, the zoo has Tasmanian devils in this section. The Children's Zoo closed in 2021 and was temporarily replaced with Dinoroarus, a walking path featuring several animatronic dinosaurs, a gift shop, and a small aquarium. Dinoroarus closed in 2024 to make way for the Children's Zoo's permanent successor, the Henry A. Jubel Foundation Destination Discovery, which is slated to open in 2026.

The Wild
The Wild is home to Grizzly Ridge, Polar Bear Point, Conservation Carousel, Fragile Forest, Jungle of the Apes, and Penguin and Puffin Coast. Polar Bear Point features a polar bear called Kali. Two grizzly bears named Huck and Finn arrived for the opening of Grizzly Ridge in 2017. The Fragile Forest and Jungle of the Apes features western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and Sumatran orangutans in a naturalized outdoor setting. Penguin and Puffin Coast displays a variety of water birds including Humboldt penguins, king penguins, southern rockhopper penguins, gentoo penguins, horned puffins, tufted puffins, and king eiders. Individual habitats for red pandas and black-tailed prairie dogs are also in The Wild.

Historic Hill
Historic Hill contains the Bird House, Bird Garden, Herpetarium, Flight Cage and Cypress Swamp, Primate House, and Primate Canopy Trails. The Bird House features birds as varied as bald eagle, rhinoceros hornbill, hyacinth macaw, burrowing owl, toco toucan, Cape thick-knee, golden pheasant, kookaburra, Mariana fruit-dove, king vulture, horned guan, superb starling, tawny frogmouth, congo peafowl, and the Guam kingfisher, which is extinct in the wild. The Bird Garden contains outdoor bird enclosures.

The Herpetarium houses most of the zoo's reptiles and amphibians, including the critically endangered Jamaican iguana, Chinese alligator, McCord's box turtle, Panamanian golden frog, and Arakan forest turtle. Other species include the Komodo dragon, green anaconda, mountain chicken, spotted turtle, false gharial, king cobra, Gila monster, frill-necked lizard, Aldabra giant tortoise, tuatara, reticulated python, tiger salamander, three-toed amphiuma, pancake tortoise, and over two dozen species of pit vipers from around the world.

In 1904, the Flight Cage was the largest bird cage ever built, and is still one of the world's largest free-flight aviaries at 228 ft long, 84 ft wide, and 50 ft high. The Cypress Swamp is dedicated to North American birds found it the cypress swamps of the southern Mississippi River. Among the birds in the aviary are black-crowned night heron, blue-winged teal, bufflehead duck, cattle egret, double-crested cormorant, great egret, wood duck, northern bobwhite, roseate spoonbill, snowy egret, and American white ibis. Primate House and Primate Canopy Trails is home to the zoo's monkeys and lemurs. Species included are Allen's swamp monkey, Coquerel's sifaka, cotton-top tamarin, black-and-white colobus monkey, mongoose lemur, ring-tailed lemur, spectacled langur, and white-faced saki. Primates have some freedom to move between indoor and outdoor enclosures as they prefer.

Red Rocks
Red Rocks features Big Cat Country and Antelope House. Big Cat Country is home to several species of big cats. The represented species are the African lion, Amur leopard, Amur tiger, jaguar, puma, and snow leopard.

The species present at Antelope House are the addax, babirusa, Bactrian camel, Banteng, Central Chinese goral, gerenuk, Grevy's zebra, lesser kudu, Nile lechwe, okapi, reticulated giraffe, Sichuan takin, Soemmerring's gazelle, Somali wild ass, Speke's gazelle, and Transcapsian urial. Non-ungulates found in the Red Rocks include the marsupials red kangaroo and tammar wallaby, as well as several birds in mixed-exhibits with the ungulates, such as the East African crowned crane, ostrich, saddle-billed stork and Sarus Crane.

title: Saint Louis Zoo


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Benefit of clergy

In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin: privilegium clericale) was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ecclesiastical court under canon law. The ecclesiastical courts were generally seen as being more lenient in their prosecutions and punishments, and defendants made many efforts to claim clergy status, often on questionable or fraudulent grounds.

Various reforms limited the scope of this legal arrangement to prevent its abuse, including branding of a thumb upon first use, to limit the number of invocations for some. Eventually, the benefit of clergy evolved into a legal fiction in which first-time offenders could receive lesser sentences for some crimes (the so-called "clergyable" ones). The legal mechanism was abolished in the United Kingdom in 1827 with the passage of the Criminal Law Act 1827.

Origin
When the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, its emperors issued legal privileges to clerics, particularly bishops, granting them immunity from civic prosecution. In the early Middle Ages, canon law tended to extend the degree of this privilege, even including criminal matters. In England, this tradition was only partially accepted. Before the 12th century, traditional English law courts had been jointly presided over by a bishop and a local secular magistrate.

In 1164, however, Henry II promulgated the Constitutions of Clarendon, which established a new system of courts that rendered decisions wholly by royal authority. The Assizes touched off a power struggle between the king and Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket asserted that these secular courts had no jurisdiction over clergy members because it was the privilege of clergy not to be accused or tried for crime except before an ecclesiastical court. After four of Henry's knights murdered Becket in 1170, public sentiment turned against the king, forcing him to make amends with the church. As part of the Compromise of Avranches, Henry was purged of any guilt in Becket's murder. Still, he agreed that the secular courts, with few exceptions (high treason being one of them, and forest law another), had no jurisdiction over the clergy.

The Miserere
At first, to plead the benefit of clergy, one had to appear before the court tonsured and otherwise wear an ecclesiastical dress. Over time, this proof of clergyhood was replaced by a literacy test: defendants demonstrated their clerical status by reading from the Latin Bible. This opened the door to literate lay defendants also claiming the benefit of clergy. In 1351, under Edward III, this loophole was formalised in statute, and the benefit of clergy was officially extended to all who could read. For example, the English dramatist Ben Jonson avoided hanging by pleading benefit of clergy in 1598 when charged with manslaughter. In the British colony of Massachusetts, the two soldiers convicted of manslaughter in the 1770 Boston Massacre were spared execution under the benefit of clergy. Still, they underwent branding of their right thumbs to prevent them from invoking the right in any future murder case (see Tudor reforms below).

Unofficially, the loophole was even larger because the Biblical passage traditionally used for the literacy test was, appropriately, the third verse of Psalm 51 (Psalm 50 according to the Vulgate and Septuagint numbering), Miserere mei, Deus, secundum misericordiam tuam ("O God, have mercy upon me, according to thine heartfelt mercifulness"). Thus, an illiterate person who had memorized the appropriate Psalm could also claim the benefit of clergy. Psalm 51:3 became known as the "neck verse" because knowing it could "save one's neck" (an idiom for "save one's life") by transferring the case from a secular court, where hanging was a likely sentence, to an ecclesiastical court, where both the methods of trial and the sentences given were more lenient.

The benefit of clergy was commonly applied as a means of judicial mercy: in Elizabethan England, courts might allow more than 90% of clergyable offenders the benefit of clergy, which was far higher than the literacy rate of the period. If a defendant who claimed the benefit of clergy were thought to be particularly deserving of death, courts occasionally would ask him to read a different passage from the Bible; if, like most defendants, he was illiterate and simply had memorized Psalm 51, he would be unable to do so and would be put to death.

In the ecclesiastical courts, the most common form of trial was by compurgation. If the defendant swore an oath to his innocence and found twelve compurgators to swear likewise to their belief that the accused was innocent, he was acquitted. A person convicted by an ecclesiastical court could be defrocked and returned to the secular authorities for punishment. Still, the English ecclesiastical courts became increasingly lenient, and by the 15th century, most convictions in these courts led to a sentence of penance.

Tudor-era reforms
As a result of this leniency in the ecclesiastical courts, many reforms were undertaken to combat the abuse of the benefit of clergy. In 1488, Henry VII decreed that non-clergymen should be allowed to plead the benefit of clergy only once: those claiming the benefit of clergy but not able to prove through documentation of their holy orders that they were clergy members, were branded on the thumb, and the brand disqualified them from pleading the benefit of clergy in the future. (In 1547, the privilege of claiming the benefit of clergy more than once was extended to peers of the realm, even illiterate ones.)

In 1512, Henry VIII further restricted the benefit of clergy by making certain offences "unclergyable" offences; in the words of the statutes, they were "felonies without benefit of clergy". This restriction was condemned by Pope Leo X at the Fifth Lateran Council in 1514. The resulting controversy (in which both the Lord Chief Justice and the Archbishop of Canterbury became involved) was one of the issues that would lead to Henry VIII splitting the Church of England from the Catholic Church in 1532.

The 1512 statute limited the availability of benefit of clergy for murders and felonies committed "of and upon malice prepensed". A 1530 statute allowed the benefit of clergy a second time only if the second conviction was for "manslaughter by chance medley, and not murder of malice prepensed" but barred it for "petit treason, murder or felony". By the end of the 16th century, the list of unclergyable offences included murder, rape, poisoning, petty treason, sacrilege, witchcraft, burglary, theft from churches, and pickpocketing. In 1533 benefit of clergy was withdrawn from those who refused to enter a plea.

In 1575, a statute of Elizabeth I radically changed the effect of the benefit of clergy. Whereas before the benefit was pleaded before a trial to have the case transferred to an ecclesiastical court, under the new system, the benefit of clergy was pleaded after conviction but before sentencing. It did not nullify the conviction but instead changed the sentence for first-time offenders from probable hanging to branding and up to a year's incarceration.

Later development
By this point, the benefit of clergy had been transformed from a privilege of ecclesiastical jurisdiction to a mechanism by which first-time offenders could obtain partial clemency for some crimes. Legislation in the 17th and 18th centuries increased the number of defendants who could plead the benefit of clergy but decreased the benefit of doing so.

Women acquired the benefit of clergy in 1624, although it was not until 1691 that they were given equal privileges with men. (For example, before 1691, women could plead the benefit of clergy if convicted of theft of goods valued less than 10 shillings, while men could plead clergy for thefts up to 40 shillings.) In the opinion of many contemporary legal scholars, a Jew who had not renounced Judaism could not claim the benefit of clergy.

In 1706, the reading test was abolished, and the benefit became available to all first-time offenders of lesser felonies. Meanwhile, an increasing crime rate prompted Parliament to exclude many seemingly minor property crimes from the benefit of clergy. Eventually, housebreaking, shoplifting goods worth more than 5 shillings, and the theft of sheep and cattle all became felonies without the benefit of clergy. They earned their perpetrator's automatic death sentences under the so-called "Bloody Code". Judges retained the discretion to ask the accused to read a text other than Psalm 51, where they suspected the privilege was being abused.

When the literacy test was abolished in 1706, the lesser sentence given to those who pleaded benefit of clergy was increased to up to 6–24 months' hard labour. Under the Transportation Act 1718, those who pleaded benefit of clergy could be sentenced to seven years' banishment to North America. The American Revolution (1775–1783) disrupted the application of this punishment (although two of the British soldiers convicted for their roles in the 1770 Boston Massacre made use of the benefit of clergy to receive reduced punishments). With the abolition of branding in 1779, the benefit of clergy was no longer an option in most cases. Although transportation shifted to Australia, this came to be done using straightforward sentences of transportation for a term of years or for life.

The benefit of clergy was abolished in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by two acts in 1823, and Parliament formally abolished the benefit of clergy with the Criminal Law Act 1827. There was some doubt as to the efficacy of this act, and a final act was passed in 1841, removing all doubt (statute 4th and 5th Vict. c. 22,  2 June 1841).

In the United States, section 31 of the Crimes Act of 1790 eliminated the benefit from federal courts in capital cases, but it survived well into the mid-19th century in some state courts (for example, South Carolina granted a defendant benefit of clergy in 1855, and the state's Confederate Constitution forbade the benefit in cases of treason ). Many states and counties have abolished the clergy benefits by proclamation, statute, or judicial decision; in others, it simply has fallen into disuse without formal abolition. Rhode Island, however, did not abolish it until 2013, along with deodands, and the distinction between petit treason and murder.

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

title: Benefit of clergy


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T. C. Boyle

Thomas Coraghessan Boyle (born December 2, 1946) is an American novelist and short story writer. Since the mid-1970s, he has published nineteen novels and more than 150 short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1988, for his third novel, World's End, which recounts 300 years in upstate New York.

He was previously a Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.

Early life
T.C. Boyle was born Thomas John Boyle, the son of Thomas John Boyle, a school bus driver, and his wife Rosemary Post Boyle (later Rosemary Murphy), a school secretary. He grew up in Peekskill, New York and changed his middle name to Coraghessan when he was 17 after an ancestor of his mother. He received a B.A. in English and History from the State University of New York at Potsdam (1968), an M.F.A. (1974) from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and a Ph.D. (1977) from the University of Iowa.

Literary characteristics
In Understanding T. C. Boyle, Paul William Gleason writes, "Boyle's stories and novels take the best elements of Carver's minimalism, Barth's postmodern extravaganzas, García Márquez's magical realism, O'Connor's dark comedy and moral seriousness, and Dickens' entertaining and strange plots and brings them to bear on American life in an accessible, subversive, and inventive way."

Many of Boyle's novels and short stories explore the baby boom generation, its appetites, joys, and addictions. His themes, such as the often-misguided efforts of the male hero and the slick appeal of the anti-hero, appear alongside brutal satire, humor, and magical realism. His fiction also explores the ruthlessness and the unpredictability of nature and the toll human society unwittingly takes on the environment. His novels include World's End (1987, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction); The Road to Wellville (1993); and The Tortilla Curtain (1995, winner of France's Prix Médicis étranger).

Boyle has published eleven collections of short stories, including Descent of Man (1979), Greasy Lake (1985), If the River Was Whiskey (1989), and Without a Hero (1994). His short stories frequently appear in the major American magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly and Playboy, as well as on the radio show Selected Shorts.

Influences
Boyle has said Gabriel García Márquez is his favorite novelist. He is also a fan of Flannery O'Connor and Robert Coover.

Personal life
Boyle is married to Karen Kvashay. They have three children and live in Montecito near Santa Barbara, California. Their home was imperiled in the 2017 Thomas Fire which consumed 440 square miles and over 1,000 structures in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, killing a firefighter in the latter. The fires denuded drought-stricken hillsides of vegetation and torrential rains in January 2018 subsequently dislodged immense boulders and precipitated mudslides which destroyed over one hundred homes and killed almost two dozen of his neighbors. Over 10,000 people were evacuated from Montecito as a result of the sequence of natural disasters. Boyle extensively documented both calamities on his website, and additionally in an article for The New Yorker.

Awards and honors

 * Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines Fiction Award for the Short Story, 1977.
 * National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, 1977.
 * The St. Lawrence Award for Fiction, best story collection of the year, 1980 (Descent of Man).
 * The Paris Review's Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, 1981 ("Mungo Among the Moors," excerpt from Water Music).
 * National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, 1983.
 * The Paris Review's John Train Humor Prize, 1984 ("The Hector Quesadilla Story").
 * Commonwealth of California, Silver Medal for Literature, 55th Annual Awards, 1986 (Greasy Lake).
 * Editors' Choice, New York Times Book Review, one of the 16 best books of the year, 1987 (World's End).
 * Guggenheim Fellowship, 1988.
 * PEN/Faulkner Award, best novel of the year, 1988, for World's End.
 * O. Henry Award, 1988. "Sinking House," from The Atlantic Monthly.
 * Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal for Literature, best novel of the year, 57th annual awards, 1988 (World's End).
 * O. Henry Award, 1989. "The Ape Lady in Retirement," from The Paris Review.
 * Prix Passion publishers' prize, France, for best novel of the year, 1989 (Water Music).
 * PEN Center West Literary Prize, best short story collection of the year, 1989 (If the River Was Whiskey).
 * Editors' Choice, New York Times Book Review, one of the 13 best books of the year, 1989 (If the River Was Whiskey).
 * Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree, State University of New York, 1991.
 * Howard D. Vursell Memorial Award from the National Academy of Arts and Letters, for prose excellence, 1993.
 * Best American Stories selection, 1997. "Killing Babies," from The New Yorker.
 * Prix Médicis Étranger, Paris, for the best foreign novel of the year, 1997 (The Tortilla Curtain).
 * O.Henry Award, 1999. "The Underground Gardens," from The New Yorker.
 * The Bernard Malamud Prize in Short Fiction from the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, 1999, for T.C. Boyle Stories, the Collected Stories.
 * O.Henry Award, 2001. "The Love of My Life," from The New Yorker.
 * Southern California Booksellers' Association Award for best fiction title of the year, 2002, for After the Plague.
 * National Book Award Finalist, Drop City, 2003.
 * O. Henry Award, 2003. "Swept Away," from The New Yorker.
 * Editors' Choice, New York Times Book Review, one of 9 best books of the year, 2003.
 * Best American Stories selection, 2004. "Tooth and Claw," from The New Yorker.
 * Founder's Award, Santa Barbara Writers' Conference, 2006.
 * Evil Companions Literary Award, Denver Public Library, 2007.
 * Commonwealth Club of California Silver Medal for Literature, 76th annual awards, 2007 (Talk Talk).
 * Audie Prize, 2007, for best audio performance by a writer (The Tortilla Curtain).
 * Ross Macdonald Award for body of work by a California writer, 2007.
 * National Magazine Award, 2007 ("Wild Child," from McSweeney's).
 * Best American Stories selection, 2007 ("Balto," from The Paris Review).
 * Best American Stories selection, 2008 ("Admiral," from Harper's).
 * Induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2009.
 * Rea Award for the Short Story, 2014.
 * Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement, 2019.

Novels

 * Water Music (1981)
 * Budding Prospects: A Pastoral (1984)
 * World's End (1987)
 * East Is East (1990)
 * The Road to Wellville (1993)
 * The Tortilla Curtain (1995)
 * Riven Rock (1998)
 * A Friend of the Earth (2000)
 * Drop City (2003)
 * The Inner Circle (2004)
 * Talk Talk (2006)
 * The Women (2009)
 * When the Killing's Done (2011)
 * San Miguel (2012)
 * The Harder They Come (2015)
 * The Terranauts (2016)
 * Outside Looking In (2019)
 * Talk to Me (2021)
 * Blue Skies (2023)

Collections

 * Descent of Man (1979)
 * Greasy Lake & Other Stories (1985)
 * If the River Was Whiskey (1989)
 * Without a Hero (1994)
 * T.C. Boyle Stories (1998), compiles four earlier volumes of short fiction plus seven previously uncollected stories
 * After The Plague (2001)
 * Tooth and Claw (2005)
 * The Human Fly (2005), previously published stories collected as young adult literature
 * Wild Child & Other Stories (2010)
 * T.C. Boyle Stories II (2013), compiles three volumes of short fiction (After the Plague, Tooth and Claw, Wild Child) with a new collection of 14 stories entitled "A Death in Kitchawank"
 * The Relive Box & Other Stories (2017)
 * I Walk Between the Raindrops (2022)

List of stories
The following list is a selection of the many short stories Boyle has written:

Edited anthology

 * DoubleTakes (2004, co-edited with K. Kvashay-Boyle)

Adaptations
Boyle's novel The Road to Wellville was adapted into a film in 1994, also titled The Road to Wellville, by writer-director Alan Parker. It starred Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Broderick, Bridget Fonda, John Cusack, Dana Carvey, and Colm Meaney. The film was not well received either critically or financially, and was considered a box-office flop and appeared on several critics' worst-of-the-year lists.

title: T. C. Boyle


text:
Peso

The peso is the monetary unit of several Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, as well as the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word peso translates to "weight". In most countries of the Americas, the symbol commonly known as dollar sign, "$", was originally used as an abbreviation of "pesos" and later adopted by the dollar. The dollar itself actually originated from the peso or Spanish dollar in the late 18th century. The sign "₱" is used in the Philippines.

The silver peso worth eight reales was also known in English as a Spanish dollar or "piece of eight" and was widely used for international trade from the 16th to the 19th century.

1537–1686 piece of eight
The name peso was given to the 8-real silver coin introduced in 1497, minted at 8$3/8$ pesos to a Castilian mark (230.0465 grams) of silver 134/144 fine (25.56 g fine silver). It was minted in large quantities after the discovery of silver in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia in the 16th century, and immediately became a coin of worldwide importance in international trade between Europe, Asia and North America.

Initially the peso was produced in Spanish Latin America in a rapid and simplified manner by cutting off a lump of silver of proper weight and fineness from the end of a silver bar, which was then flattened out and impressed by a hammer. This resulted in a crude, irregular coin called a cob in English and macuquina in Spanish. The Crown was entitled to a fifth of all gold and silver mined, the quinto real (royal fifth), and cobs were a convenient means of handling and accounting for silver. In most cases these cobs were immediately melted down by the recipient. However, some remained in circulation as currency; they were ideal candidates for clipping and counterfeiting due to their irregular shape and incomplete design.

Spanish laws of 1728 and 1730 ordered the mechanization of the minting of the peso so that they would be perfectly round and have milled edges. There was a simultaneous reduction in weight and fineness to 8.5 pesos to a mark (27.064 g), 0.9167 fine or 24.809 g fine silver. This new peso became even more popular in international trade, with recipients finding it more advantageous to trade it as coined silver of known value rather than melting it into silver bullion.Later it was reduced even more.

This coin was known to English colonists in North America as a piece of eight, then later on as a Spanish dollar, Spanish milled dollar, and finally as a Mexican dollar. In French, it was called a piastre and in Portuguese, a pataca or patacão. The Spanish names at various times and in various places were real de a ocho, patacón, duro, or fuerte.

A final alteration in 1772 further reduced the fineness of the peso from 11/12 fine to 130/144 = 0.9028 (fine silver 24.443 g). A sample of coins at the end of the 18th century, however, confirm a fineness of only 0.896 (hence, fine silver 24.25 g); see Currency of Spanish America. The weight of the United States dollar was defined in 1788 as 371.25 grains of fine silver (or 24.057 g) based on the average silver content of worn peso coins. The full 0.9028 fineness was restored by Mexico after its independence in 1821.

In Spain
While the relationship of $8 reales$ = $$1$ (or peso duro) continued in the Americas until the 19th century, Spain struggled with the issuance of reales de vellon (made of billon alloy with less than ½ silver) of various weights and finenesses starting in 1600 due to its domestic financial and monetary problems.

In 1642, it first recognized a new, reduced real provincial worth only $$0.1$ or $10 reales/$$ for use only in Spain (with the old real worth $$0.125$ now called real nacional and retained in Latin America). In 1686 Spain minted a coin worth $8 reales$ provinciales (or only $$0.8$, known as the peso maria or peso sencillo) which was poorly received by the people.

An edict made in the same year which valued the peso duro at $$1$ = 15 and 2/34 reales de vellon proved to be ineffective as the various reales in circulation contained even less silver. The situation was only resolved in 1837 with the peso duro fixed at $1 = 20 reales de vellon, with all prior non-standard reales demonetized.

The loss of Spain's territories in the Americas and the ensuing domestic instability in the 19th century cut off the inflow of precious metals into Spain and resulted in French coinage gradually entering domestic circulation. Two subsequent decimal system reforms were attempted in 1850 (at $$1$ = $20 reales$, each of $10 decimos$ or $100 centimos$) and 1864 (at $$1$ = $2 silver escudos$, each of $100 centimos$) but were not fully carried out. The peso and the real were only fully retired with the introduction in 1868 of the Spanish peseta, at par with the French franc, and at the rate of $$1$ = $20 reales$ = $5 pesetas$ = $22.5 g$ of fine silver.

1821–1897 Mexican dollar
The successful revolt of the Spanish colonies in America had cut off the supply of silver coin by 1820. By 1825 "...the Spanish dollar, the universal coin of three centuries, had lost its supremacy, and...its universal dominion was in process of disintegration into rival 'currency areas', chief among which was destined to be the area dominated by British sterling."

The Spanish dollar continued to dominate the Eastern trade, and the peso of eight reales continued to be minted in the New World. The coin was sometimes called a Republican dollar, but eventually any peso of the old Spanish eight-real standard was generally referred to as a Mexican dollar, Mexico being the most prolific producer. Mexico restored the standard of 1772, producing a coin of 27.073 g, 0.9028 fine, containing 24.441 g fine silver (the mark weight of the Mexico City mint was very slightly heavier than the standard mark of Spain).

In 1869–1870, not long after adopting the metric system, Mexican mints began producing the peso of “Un Peso” denomination, popularly known as “balanza” (scales), with the same weight and fineness, but with a uniform diameter of 37 mm (making it slightly thicker than the old peso, which was slightly irregular, with a diameter of 38–40 mm). Chinese merchants rejected the new coin, discounting it by 4%–5% in favor of the old eight-real peso. Faced with this threat to her silver exports, Mexico returned to the old eight-real peso by decree of May 29, 1873, but international trade was already shifting from silver to gold, and after 1873 there was a steady decline in the international price of silver.

Until 1873 the Mexican dollar would have been to all intents and purposes equal in value to the silver dollar coins of the United States north of the border, but at that time in history, the Mexican coin would have had a much greater international presence than the U.S. dollar. The great silver devaluation of 1873 caused the Mexican dollar to drop in value against the U.S. dollar, but until the beginning of the 20th century the Mexican dollar would still have been a more widely accepted coin in the Far East than the U.S. dollar. Between the 16th and 19th centuries Mexico produced well over three billion of these coins. Mexico minted the last eight-real peso in 1897, and at the beginning of the twentieth century these Mexican dollar coins were worth only 50 U.S. cents.

Philippine peso
The Philippine peso (Filipino: piso) is derived from the Spanish silver coin Real de a Ocho or Spanish dollar, in wide circulation in the entire America and Southeast Asia during the 17th and 18th centuries, through its use in the Spanish colonies and even in the United States and Canada.

Prior to 1852 the Philippines had no currency of its own (with the exception of local copper cuartos) since pesos received from Spain and Spanish Latin America were accepted in circulation. Locally issued pesos only came about with
 * The issuance of Philippine peso fuerte banknotes in 1852 by the Banco Español-Filipino de Isabel II (now the Bank of the Philippine Islands)
 * The founding of the Casa de Moneda de Manila mint in 1857 and the minting of gold 1, 2 and 4 peso coins starting 1861, and
 * The minting of 50, 20 and 10 centimo silver coins starting 1864.

As with Mexican dollars, the Philippine unit was based on silver, unlike the United States and Canada where a gold standard operated. Thus, following the great silver devaluation of 1873, the Philippine peso devalued in parallel with the Mexican unit, and by the end of the 19th century, was worth half a United States dollar. The name of the currency remained unchanged despite the 1896 Philippine Revolution and the subsequent declaration of independence in 1898.

Former
Several countries formerly used different currencies also named peso not listed here, with different value, over time. See Argentine peso.

title: Peso


text:
Leverkusen

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest urban areas.

With about 163,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is one of the state's smaller cities. The city is known for the pharmaceutical company Bayer and its sports club Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

History
The heart of what is now Leverkusen was Wiesdorf, a village on the Rhine, which dates back to the 12th century. With the surrounding villages which have now been incorporated, the area also includes the rivers Wupper and Dhünn, and has suffered a lot from flooding, notably in 1571 and 1657, the latter resulting in Wiesdorf being moved East from the river to its present location.

During the Cologne War, from 1583 to 1588 Leverkusen was ravaged by war. The entire area was rural until the late 19th century, when industry prompted the development that led to the city of Leverkusen, and to its becoming one of the most important centres of the German chemical industry.

The chemist Carl Leverkus, looking for a place to build a dye factory, chose Wiesdorf in 1860. He built a factory for the production of artificial ultramarine blue at the Kahlberg in Wiesdorf in 1861, and called the emerging settlement "Leverkusen" after his family home in Lennep. The factory was taken over by the Bayer company in 1891; Bayer moved its headquarters to Wiesdorf in 1912. After asset confiscation at the end of the First World War, it became IG Farben. The city of Leverkusen proper was founded in 1930 by merging Wiesdorf, Schlebusch, Steinbüchel and Rheindorf, and was posthumously named for Carl Leverkus.

During the Second World War, the IG Farben factories were bombed by the RAF on 22 August 1943, again by the RAF during bombing campaigns on 19/20 November, the USAAF Eighth Air Force on 1 December 1943, and finally once again by the RAF on 10/11 December 1943.

In 1975, Opladen (including Quettingen and Lützenkirchen since 1930), Hitdorf and Bergisch Neukirchen joined Leverkusen. The present city is made up of former villages, originally called Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Manfort, Bürrig, Hitdorf, Quettingen, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen.

On 27 July 2021, an explosion at the Chempark site in the city killed 7 people and injured 31 others.

Demographics
Population development since 1832:

Mayor
The current Mayor of Leverkusen is Uwe Richrath of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:

! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate ! rowspan=2| Party ! colspan=2| First round ! colspan=2| Second round ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % ! colspan=3| Valid votes ! 60,790 ! 98.8 ! 42,057 ! 99.1 ! colspan=3| Invalid votes ! 744 ! 1.2 ! 362 ! 0.9 ! colspan=3| Total ! 61,534 ! 100.0 ! 42,419 ! 100.0 ! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout ! 126,846 ! 48.5 ! 126,801 ! 33.5
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Uwe Richrath
 * align=left| Social Democratic Party
 * 28,016
 * 46.1
 * 29,438
 * 70.0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Frank Schönberger
 * align=left| Christian Democratic Union
 * 14,198
 * 23.4
 * 12,619
 * 30.0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Stefan Baake
 * align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens
 * 7,283
 * 12.0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Roland Hartwig
 * align=left| Alternative for Germany
 * 3,132
 * 5.2
 * align=left| Karl Schweiger
 * align=left| Citizens' List Leverkusen
 * 3,070
 * 5.1
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Monika Ballin-Meyer-Ahrens
 * align=left| Free Democratic Party
 * 2,613
 * 4.3
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Christian Alexander Langer
 * align=left| Die PARTEI
 * 1,377
 * 2.3
 * align=left| Markus Beisicht
 * align=left| Awakening Leverkusen
 * 1,101
 * 1.8
 * align=left| Christian Alexander Langer
 * align=left| Die PARTEI
 * 1,377
 * 2.3
 * align=left| Markus Beisicht
 * align=left| Awakening Leverkusen
 * 1,101
 * 1.8
 * 1,101
 * 1.8
 * colspan=7| Source: State Returning Officer
 * }
 * }

City council
The Leverkusen city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:

! colspan=2| Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! colspan=2| Valid votes ! 60,661 ! 98.6 ! ! ! ! colspan=2| Invalid votes ! 866 ! 1.4 ! ! ! ! colspan=2| Total ! 61,527 ! 100.0 ! ! 52 ! ±0 ! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout ! 126,846 ! 48.5 ! 2.3 ! !
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
 * 16,859
 * 27.8
 * 4.7
 * 14
 * 3
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)
 * 15,276
 * 25.2
 * 3.1
 * 13
 * 1
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
 * 11,015
 * 18.2
 * 8.8
 * 9
 * 4
 * align=left| Citizens' List Leverkusen (Bürgerliste)
 * 3,630
 * 6.0
 * 1.0
 * 3
 * 1
 * align=left| Opladen Plus (OP)
 * 3,601
 * 5.9
 * 0.7
 * 3
 * ±0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)
 * 3,466
 * 5.7
 * New
 * 3
 * New
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)
 * 2,937
 * 4.8
 * 1.0
 * 3
 * 1
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| The Left (Die Linke)
 * 2,092
 * 3.4
 * 0.4
 * 2
 * ±0
 * align=left| Citizens' Forum Green Leverkusen – Climate List (Büfo)
 * 909
 * 1.5
 * New
 * 1
 * New
 * align=left| Awakening Leverkusen (AUF)
 * 876
 * 1.4
 * New
 * 1
 * New
 * align=left| Citizens' Forum Green Leverkusen – Climate List (Büfo)
 * 909
 * 1.5
 * New
 * 1
 * New
 * align=left| Awakening Leverkusen (AUF)
 * 876
 * 1.4
 * New
 * 1
 * New
 * 1
 * New
 * colspan=7| Source: State Returning Officer
 * }
 * }

Coat of arms
The coat of arms consists of the two-tailed rampant red lion of the Bergisches Land with a blue crown on a silver background and an embattled line in front.

Main sights and places of interest

 * BayArena is the home stadium of Bayer Leverkusen, with a capacity of over 30,000.
 * The Bayer Cross Leverkusen is one of the largest illuminated advertisements in the world.
 * Freudenthaler Sensenhammer is an industrial museum.
 * Schloss Morsbroich – moated castle in the Baroque style, now a museum for contemporary art.
 * Water Tower Leverkusen-Bürrig – 72.45 m water reservoir containing an observation deck.
 * Neuland Park – large park beside the Rhine.
 * Japanese Garden – a 1913 garden extended by Carl Duisberg in 1923.
 * Colony of workers – historical area in the form of houses and other buildings constructed for employees and families of the chemical works at the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century.
 * Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit – historical boat bridge next to the Rhine, between Wiesdorf and Rheindorf.
 * Mausoleum of Carl Duisberg – mausoleum in the centre of the Carl Duisberg Park, next to the Casino.
 * NaturGut Ophoven – educational centre for nature in Leverkusen-Opladen.

Sports
The city is home of the football team Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who won its first Bundesliga title in the 2023–24 season. It is also home of the basketball team Bayer Giants Leverkusen, which is the German record holder of national basketball championships. As of 2019, the team plays in the German ProA league and plays its home games in the Ostermann-Arena.

The Ostermann-Arena, previously known as Wilhelm Dopatka Halle and Smidt-Arena, was one of the host arenas for the FIBA EuroBasket 1985 (the official European Basketball Championship).

Twin towns – sister cities

Leverkusen is twinned with:

 * 🇫🇮 Oulu, Finland (1968)
 * Bracknell, United Kingdom (1975)
 * 🇸🇮 Ljubljana, Slovenia (1979)
 * 🇮🇱 Nof HaGalil, Israel (1980)
 * 🇳🇮 Chinandega, Nicaragua (1986)
 * 🇩🇪 Schwedt, Germany (1989)
 * 🇵🇱 Racibórz, Poland (2002)
 * 🇫🇷 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France (2005)
 * 🇨🇳 Wuxi, China (2014)

Notable people

 * Lothar Rohde (1906–1985), scientist and founder of Rohde & Schwarz Messtechnik
 * Heinrich Lützenkirchen (1909–1986), mayor of Leverkusen
 * Paul Janes (1912–1987), footballer
 * Wolf Vostell (1932–1988), sculptor, painter and happening artist
 * Ileana Jacket (born 1947), telenovela actress
 * Bärbel Dieckmann (born 1949), politician (SPD), mayor of Bonn 1994–2009
 * Wilfried Schmickler (born 1954), comedian
 * Andreas Hedwig (born 1959), archivist
 * Dietmar Mögenburg (born 1961), athlete
 * Detlef Schrempf (born 1963), basketball player
 * Sabine Moussier (born 1966), Mexican telenovela actress
 * Uta Briesewitz (born 1967), cinematographer
 * Ralf Schmitz (born 1974), actor and comedian
 * Jörg Bergmeister (born 1976), racing driver
 * Ji-In Cho (born 1976), heavy metal singer
 * Danny Ecker (born 1977), pole vaulter
 * Felix Sturm (born 1979), middleweight boxer

title: Leverkusen


text:
Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer (20 November 1923 –13 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognised as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great benefit to humanity".

Gordimer's writing dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. Under that regime, works such as Burger's Daughter were banned. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress during the days when the organisation was banned, and gave Nelson Mandela advice on his famous 1964 defence speech at the trial which led to his conviction for life. She was also active in HIV/AIDS causes.

Early life
Gordimer was born near Springs, an East Rand mining town outside Johannesburg. She was the second daughter of Isidore Gordimer, a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant watchmaker from Žagarė in Lithuania (then occupied by the Russian Empire), and Hannah "Nan" ( Myers) Gordimer, who was from London. Her mother was from an assimilated family of Jewish origins; Gordimer was raised in a secular household.

Family background
Gordimer's early interest in racial and economic inequality in South Africa was shaped in part by her parents. Her father's experience as a refugee from Tsarist Russia helped form Gordimer's political identity, but he was neither an activist nor particularly sympathetic toward the experiences of black people under apartheid. Conversely, Gordimer saw activism by her mother, whose concern about the poverty and discrimination faced by black people in South Africa led her to found a crèche for black children. Gordimer also witnessed government repression first-hand as a teenager; the police raided her family home, confiscating letters and diaries from a servant's room.

Gordimer was educated at a Catholic convent school, but was largely home-bound as a child because her mother, for "strange reasons of her own", did not put her into school (apparently, she feared that Gordimer had a weak heart). Home-bound and often isolated, she began writing at an early age, and published her first stories in 1937 at the age of 13. Her first published work was a short story for children, "The Quest for Seen Gold", which appeared in the Children's Sunday Express in 1937; "Come Again Tomorrow", another children's story, appeared in Forum around the same time. At the age of 16, she had her first adult fiction published.

Career
Gordimer studied for a year at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she mixed for the first time with fellow professionals across the colour bar. She also became involved in the Sophiatown renaissance. She did not complete her degree, but moved to Johannesburg in 1948, where she lived thereafter. While taking classes in Johannesburg, she continued to write, publishing mostly in local South African magazines. She collected many of these early stories in Face to Face, published in 1949.

In 1951, the New Yorker accepted Gordimer's story "A Watcher of the Dead", beginning a long relationship, and bringing Gordimer's work to a much larger public. Gordimer, who said she believed the short story was the literary form for our age, continued to publish short stories in the New Yorker and other prominent literary journals. Her first publisher, Lulu Friedman, was the wife of the Parliamentarian Bernard Friedman, and it was at their house, "Tall Trees" in First Avenue, Lower Houghton, Johannesburg, that Gordimer met other anti-apartheid writers. Gordimer's first novel, The Lying Days, was published in 1953.

Activism and professional life
The arrest of her best friend, Bettie du Toit, in 1960 and the Sharpeville massacre spurred Gordimer's entry into the anti-apartheid movement. Thereafter, she quickly became active in South African politics, and was close friends with Nelson Mandela's defence attorneys (Bram Fischer and George Bizos) during his 1962 trial. She also helped Mandela edit his famous speech "I Am Prepared to Die", given from the defendant's dock at the trial. When Mandela was released from prison in 1990, she was one of the first people he wanted to see.

During the 1960s and 1970s, she continued to live in Johannesburg, although she occasionally left for short periods of time to teach at several universities in the United States. She had begun to achieve international literary recognition, receiving her first major literary award, the W. H. Smith Commonwealth Literary Award, in 1961. Throughout this time, Gordimer continued to demand through both her writing and her activism that South Africa re-examine and replace its long-held policy of apartheid. In 1973, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Artur Lundkvist of the Swedish Academy's Nobel committee.

During this time, the South African government banned several of her works, two for lengthy periods of time. The Late Bourgeois World was Gordimer's first personal experience with censorship; it was banned in 1976 for a decade by the South African government. A World of Strangers was banned for twelve years. Other works were censored for lesser amounts of time. Burger's Daughter, published in June 1979, was banned one month later. The Publications Committee's Appeal Board reversed the censorship of Burger's Daughter three months later, determining that the book was too one-sided to be subversive. Gordimer responded to this decision in Essential Gesture (1988), pointing out that the board banned two books by black authors at the same time it unbanned her own work. Gordimer's subsequent novels escaped censorship under apartheid. In 2001, a provincial education department temporarily removed July's People from the school reading list, along with works by other anti-apartheid writers, describing July's People as "deeply racist, superior and patronising" —a characterisation that Gordimer took as a grave insult, and that many literary and political figures protested.

In South Africa, she joined the African National Congress when it was still listed as an illegal organisation by the South African government. While never blindly loyal to any organisation, Gordimer saw the ANC as the best hope for reversing South Africa's treatment of black citizens. Rather than simply criticising the organisation for its perceived flaws, she advocated joining it to address them. She hid ANC leaders in her own home to aid their escape from arrest by the government, and she said that the proudest day of her life was when she testified at the 1986 Delmas Treason Trial on behalf of 22 South African anti-apartheid activists. (See Simon Nkoli, Mosiuoa Lekota, etc.) Throughout these years she also regularly took part in anti-apartheid demonstrations in South Africa, and traveled internationally speaking out against South African apartheid and discrimination and political repression.

Her works began achieving literary recognition early in her career, with her first international recognition in 1961, followed by numerous literary awards throughout the ensuing decades. Literary recognition for her accomplishments culminated with the Nobel Prize for Literature on 3 October 1991, which noted that Gordimer "through her magnificent epic writing has—in the words of Alfred Nobel—been of very great benefit to humanity".

Gordimer's activism was not limited to the struggle against apartheid. She resisted censorship and state control of information, and fostered the literary arts. She refused to let her work be aired by the South African Broadcasting Corporation because it was controlled by the apartheid government. Gordimer also served on the steering committee of South Africa's Anti-Censorship Action Group. A founding member of the Congress of South African Writers, Gordimer was also active in South African letters and international literary organisations. She was Vice President of International PEN.

In the post-apartheid 1990s and 21st century, Gordimer was active in the HIV/AIDS movement, addressing a significant public health crisis in South Africa. In 2004, she organised about 20 major writers to contribute short fiction for Telling Tales, a fundraising book for South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign, which lobbies for government funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and care. On this matter, she was critical of the South African government, noting in 2004 that she approved of everything President Thabo Mbeki had done except his stance on AIDS.

In 2005, Gordimer went on lecture tours and spoke on matters of foreign policy and discrimination beyond South Africa. For instance, in 2005, when Fidel Castro fell ill, Gordimer joined six other Nobel prize winners in a public letter to the United States warning it not to seek to destabilise Cuba's communist government. Gordimer's resistance to discrimination extended to her even refusing to accept "shortlisting" in 1998 for the Orange Prize, because the award recognizes only women writers. Gordimer also taught at the Massey College of the University of Toronto as a lecturer in 2006.

Personal life
In 2006, Gordimer was attacked in her home by robbers, sparking outrage in the country. Gordimer apparently refused to move into a gated complex, against the advice of some friends.

In a 1979–80 interview Gordimer identified herself as an atheist, but added: "I think I have a basically religious temperament, perhaps even a profoundly religious one."

Gordimer had a daughter, Oriane (born 1950), by her first marriage in 1949 to Gerald Gavron, a local dentist, from whom she was divorced within three years. In 1954, she married Reinhold Cassirer, a highly respected art dealer who established the South African Sotheby's and later ran his own gallery; their "wonderful marriage" lasted until his death from emphysema in 2001. Their son, Hugo, was born in 1955, and is a filmmaker in New York, with whom Gordimer collaborated on at least two documentaries.

Unauthorised biography
Ronald Suresh Roberts published a biography of Gordimer, No Cold Kitchen, in 2006. She had granted Roberts interviews and access to her personal papers, with an understanding that she would authorise the biography in return for a right to review the manuscript before publication. However, Gordimer and Roberts failed to reach an agreement over his account of the illness and death of Gordimer's husband Reinhold Cassirer and an affair Gordimer had in the 1950s, as well as criticism of her views on the Israel–Palestine conflict. Roberts published independently, not as "authorised", and Gordimer disowned the book, accusing Roberts of breach of trust.

In addition to those disagreements, Roberts criticises Gordimer's post-apartheid advocacy on behalf of black South Africans, in particular her opposition to the government's handling of the AIDS crisis, as a paternalistic and hypocritical white liberalism. The biography also stated that Gordimer's 1954 New Yorker essay, "A South African Childhood", was not wholly biographical and contained some fabricated events.

Death
Gordimer died in her sleep on 13 July 2014 at the age of 90.

Works, themes, and reception
Gordimer achieved lasting international recognition for her works, most of which deal with political issues, as well as the "moral and psychological tensions of her racially divided home country." Virtually all of Gordimer's works deal with themes of love and politics, particularly concerning race in South Africa. Always questioning power relations and truth, Gordimer tells stories of ordinary people, revealing moral ambiguities and choices. Her characterisation is nuanced, revealed more through the choices her characters make than through their claimed identities and beliefs. She also weaves in subtle details within the characters' names.

Overview of critical works
Her first published novel, The Lying Days (1953), takes place in Gordimer's home town of Springs, Transvaal, an East Rand mining town near Johannesburg. Arguably a semi-autobiographical work, The Lying Days is a Bildungsroman, charting the growing political awareness of a young white woman, Helen, toward small-town life and South African racial division.

In her 1963 work, Occasion for Loving, Gordimer puts apartheid and love squarely together. Her protagonist, Ann Davis, is married to Boaz Davis, an ethnomusicologist, but in love with Gideon Shibalo, an artist with several failed relationships. Davis is white, however, and Shibalo is black, and South Africa's government criminalised such relationships.

Gordimer collected the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for A Guest of Honour in 1971 and, in common with a number of winners of this award, she was to go on to win the Booker Prize. The Booker was awarded to Gordimer for her 1974 novel, The Conservationist, and was a co-winner with Stanley Middleton's novel Holiday. The Conservationist explores Zulu culture and the world of a wealthy white industrialist through the eyes of Mehring, the antihero. Per Wästberg described The Conservationist as Gordimer's "densest and most poetical novel". Thematically covering the same ground as Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm (1883) and J. M. Coetzee's In the Heart of the Country (1977), the "conservationist" seeks to conserve nature to preserve the apartheid system, keeping change at bay. When an unidentified corpse is found on his farm, Mehring does the "right thing" by providing it a proper burial; but the dead person haunts the work, a reminder of the bodies on which Mehring's vision would be built.

Gordimer's 1979 novel Burger's Daughter is the story of a woman analysing her relationship with her father, a martyr to the anti-apartheid movement. The child of two Communist and anti-apartheid revolutionaries, Rosa Burger finds herself drawn into political activism as well. Written in the aftermath of the 1976 Soweto uprising, the novel was shortly thereafter banned by the South African government. Gordimer described the novel as a "coded homage" to Bram Fischer, the lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists.

In July's People (1981), she imagines a bloody South African revolution, in which white people are hunted and murdered after blacks revolt against the apartheid government. The work follows Maureen and Bamford Smales, an educated white couple, hiding for their lives with July, their long-time former servant. The novel plays off the various groups of "July's people": his family and his village, as well as the Smales. The story examines how people cope with the terrible choices forced on them by violence, race hatred, and the state.

The House Gun (1998) was Gordimer's second post-apartheid novel. It follows the story of a couple, Claudia and Harald Lingard, dealing with their son Duncan's murder of one of his housemates. The novel treats the rising crime rate in South Africa and the guns that virtually all households have, as well as the legacy of South African apartheid and the couple's concerns about their son's lawyer, who is black. The novel was optioned for film rights to Granada Productions.

Gordimer's award-winning 2002 novel, The Pickup, considers the issues of displacement, alienation, and immigration; class and economic power; religious faith; and the ability for people to see, and love, across these divides. It tells the story of a couple: Julie Summers, a white woman from a financially secure family, and Abdu, an illegal Arab immigrant in South Africa. After Abdu's visa is refused, the couple returns to his homeland, where she is the alien. Her experiences and growth as an alien in another culture form the heart of the work.

Get a Life, written in 2005 after the death of her long-time spouse, Reinhold Cassirer, is the story of a man undergoing treatment for a life-threatening disease. While clearly drawn from personal life experiences, the novel also continues Gordimer's exploration of political themes. The protagonist is an ecologist, battling installation of a planned nuclear plant. But he is at the same time undergoing radiation therapy for his cancer, causing him personal grief and, ironically, rendering him a nuclear health hazard in his own home. Here, Gordimer again pursues the questions of how to integrate everyday life and political activism. New York Times critic J. R. Ramakrishnan, who noted a similarity with author Mia Alvar, wrote that Gordimer wrote about "long-suffering spouses and (the) familial enablers of political men" in her fiction.

Nobel Prize in Literature
Gordimer was nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature in 1972 and 1973 by Swedish Academy member Artur Lundkvist.

Honours and awards

 * W. H. Smith Commonwealth Literary Award for Friday's Footprint (1961)
 * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for A Guest of Honour (1972)
 * Booker Prize for The Conservationist (1974)
 * Central News Agency Literary Award for The Conservationist (1974)
 * Grand Aigle d'Or (France) (1975)
 * Orange Prize shortlist; she declined
 * Central News Agency Literary Award for Burger's Daughter (1979)
 * Central News Agency Literary Award for July's People (1981)
 * Scottish Arts Council Neil M. Gunn Fellowship (1981)
 * Modern Language Association Honorary Fellow (1984)
 * Rome Prize (1984)
 * Premio Malaparte (Italy) (1985)
 * Nelly Sachs Prize (Germany) (1985)
 * Bennett Award (United States) (1987)
 * Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for A Sport of Nature (1988)
 * Inducted as an honorary member into Phi Beta Kappa (1988)
 * Central News Agency Literary Award for My Son's Story (1990)
 * Nobel Prize for Literature (1991)
 * International Botev Prize Laureate (1996)
 * Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the Best Book from Africa for The Pickup (2002)
 * Booker Prize longlist for The Pickup (2001)
 * Officier of the Legion of Honour (2007)
 * American Philosophical Society, Member (2008)
 * American Academy of Arts and Letters, Honorary Member (1979)
 * American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Honorary Member (1980)
 * Royal Society of Literature, Fellow
 * Congress of South African Writers, Patron
 * Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Commander
 * 15 honorary degrees
 * Senior Fellow, Massey College of the University of Toronto
 * Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Archbishop Desmond Tutu at an awards ceremony at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa (2009)
 * Order of the Aztec Eagle

Tribute
On 20 November 2015, Google celebrated her 92nd birthday with a Google Doodle.

Novels

 * The Lying Days (1953)
 * A World of Strangers (1958)
 * Occasion for Loving (1963)
 * The Late Bourgeois World (1966)
 * A Guest of Honour (1970)
 * The Conservationist (1974) – joint winner of the Booker prize in 1974
 * Burger's Daughter (1979)
 * July's People (1981)
 * A Sport of Nature (1987)
 * My Son's Story (1990)
 * None to Accompany Me (1994)
 * The House Gun (1998)
 * The Pickup (2001)
 * Get a Life (2005)
 * No Time Like the Present (2012)

Plays

 * The First Circle, in Six One-act Plays by South African Authors (1949)

Collections

 * Face to Face (1949)
 * The Soft Voice of the Serpent (1952)
 * Six Feet of the Country (1956)
 * Which New Era Would That Be? (1956)
 * Friday's Footprint (1960)
 * Not for Publication (1965)
 * Livingstone's Companions (1970)
 * Selected Stories (1975)
 * Some Monday for Sure (1976)
 * No Place Like: Selected Stories (1978)
 * A Soldier's Embrace (1980)
 * Town and Country Lovers (1982), published by Sylvester & Orphanos
 * Something Out There (1984)
 * Correspondence Course and other Stories (1984)
 * The Moment Before the Gun Went Off (1988)
 * Once Upon a Time (1989)
 * Crimes of Conscience (1991)
 * Jump: And Other Stories (1991)
 * Why Haven't You Written: Selected Stories 1950-1972 (1992)
 * Something for the Time Being 1950-1972 (1992)
 * Loot and Other Stories (2003)
 * Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black (2007)
 * "A Beneficiary" (2007)
 * Life Times: Stories (2011)

Essays, reporting and other contributions

 * The Black Interpreters (1973)
 * What Happened to Burger's Daughter or How South African Censorship Works (1980)
 * The Essential Gesture: Writing, Politics and Places (1988)
 * Writing and Being: The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures (1995)
 * Living in Hope and History (1999)
 * Telling Times: Writing and Living, 1950–2008 (2010)

Edited works

 * Telling Tales (2004)

Other
Source:
 * The Gordimer Stories (1981–82) – adaptations of seven short stories; she wrote screenplays for four of them
 * On the Mines (1973)
 * Lifetimes Under Apartheid (1986)
 * Choosing for Justice: Allan Boesak (1983) (documentary with Hugo Cassirer)
 * Berlin and Johannesburg: The Wall and the Colour Bar (documentary with Hugo Cassirer)

Reviews
Girdwood, Alison (1984), Gordimer's South Africa, a review of Something Out There, in Parker, Geoff (ed.), Cencrastus No. 18, Autumn 1984, p. 50,

Brief biographies

 * LitWeb.net: Nadine Gordimer Biography (2003)
 * Guardian Books "Author Page", with profile and links to further articles
 * Guardian Books "Author Page", with profile and links to further articles

Obituaries

 * The Guardian
 * The Independent
 * The New York Times
 * The Washington Post
 * The Wall Street Journal

Critical studies

 * Stephen Clingman, The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: History from the Inside (1986)
 * John Cooke, The Novels of Nadine Gordimer
 * Andrew Vogel Ettin, Betrayals of the Body Politic: The Literary Commitments of Nadine Gordimer (1993)
 * Dominic Head, Nadine Gordimer (1994)
 * Christopher Heywood, Nadine Gordimer (1983)
 * Santayana, Vivek. 2021. Most difficult and least glamorous : the politics of style in the late works of Nadine Gordimer. University of Edinburgh: Doctoral dissertation.
 * Rowland Smith, editor, Critical Essays on Nadine Gordimer (1990)
 * Barbara Temple-Thurston, Nadine Gordimer Revisited (1999) ISBN 978-0-8057-4608-2
 * Kathrin Wagner, Rereading Nadine Gordimer (1994)
 * Louise Yelin, From the Margins of Empire: Christina Stead, Doris Lessing, Nadine Gordimer (1998)
 * Nadine Gordimer's Politics Article by Jillian Becker in Commentary, February 1992

Articles
Ian Fullerton, Politics and the South African Novel in English, in Bold, Christine (ed.) Cencrastus No. 3, Summer 1980, pp. 22 & 23

Short reviews

 * Index of New York Times articles on Gordimer

Speeches and interviews

 * Ian Fullerton & Glen Murray, An Interview with Nadine Gordimer, in Murray, Glen (ed.), Cencrastus No. 6, Autumn 1981, pp. 2 – 5
 * Nadine Gordimer, Nancy Topping Bazin, and Marilyn Dallman Seymour, Conversations with Nadine Gordimer (1990)
 * with the Nobel Lecture, 7 December 1991 Writing and Being
 * Nadine Gordimer: The Ultimate Safari reading from 2007 PEN World Voices Festival
 * A Conversation with Nadine Gordimer at The Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture, 2007 from PEN American Center
 * A Conversation with Nadine Gordimer at The Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture, 2007 from PEN American Center

Biographies

 * Ronald Suresh Roberts, No Cold Kitchen: A Biography of Nadine Gordimer (2005)

Research archives

 * Collection Index for Nadine Gordimer Short Stories and Novel Manuscript collection, 1958–1965 (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, Texas)
 * Guide to the Gordimer manuscripts, 1934–1991 (Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana)
 * Nadine Gordimer Collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin

title: Nadine Gordimer


text:
Tullus Hostilius

Tullus Hostilius (r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who, according to the Roman historian Livy, believed the more peaceful nature of his predecessor had weakened Rome. It has been attested that he sought out war and was even more warlike than the first king of Rome, Romulus. Accounts of the death of Tullus Hostilius vary. In the mythological version of events Livy describes, he had angered Jupiter who then killed him with a bolt of lightning. Non-mythological sources on the other hand describe that he died of plague after a rule of 32 years.

Tullus Hostilius was the grandson of Hostus Hostilius, who had fought with Romulus and died during the Sabine invasion of Rome. According to Plutarch, when Numa Pompilius died after a reign of forty-three years, his Pontifex Maximus Numa Marcius contended with Tullus Hostilius for the throne, but being defeated, he starved himself to death. Marcius's son, also named Numa Marcius, would serve as praefectus urbi under Tullus, and would be the father of Ancus Marcius, Tullus's successor.

The principal feature of Tullus' reign was the defeat of Alba Longa. After Alba Longa was beaten (by the victory of three Roman champions over three Albans), Alba Longa became Rome's vassal state.

During his reign, Hostilius created the college of the Fetiales that concluded all treaties in the name of Rome.

Historical events
Two distinctive events are traditionally ascribed to Tullus's reign. Historians regard the events as having taken place during the early regal period, but the question of whether the events should be directly associated with Tullus is debatable.

The first event is the destruction of Alba Longa. The historical record shows that the Alban Hills were the site of a large settlement and that this settlement fell under Roman power during the regal period. Details are uncertain about when and by whom Alba Longa was destroyed. It was almost certainly subjugated at a later date than that given by Livy and it may have been destroyed by the Latins and not by the Romans (who might have regarded the destruction of their own traditional mother-country as impious).

Wars with Alba Longa
The battle of Alba Longa was settled by having two sets of triplets, one born in Alba Longa and one in Rome, fight for their city. The last person standing alive would be the winner, and his city would win the war without having their armies engage in battle. The story states that these triplets were singled out as champions of both cities. According to Livy, the triplets were named Horatii and Curiatii, and the majority believed that the Horatii belonged to Rome and the Curiatii to Alba Longa, though this is not certain. After battling for a long time, one of the Roman brothers was victorious, thus Rome and Tullus Hostilius won the battle.

The Alban dictator Mettius Fufetius betrayed Rome during the war with the Etruscans, where Rome requested Alban military assistance, which Mettius agreed to, but also had a secret agreement with the Etruscans to desert Rome in the heat of battle, leaving Tullus alone to fight the battle. Mettius also betrayed the Etruscans by not joining in the battle at all. Tullus won the battle despite the betrayal. Mettius was taken prisoner by Tullus.

Tullus ordered Alba Longa to be destroyed and forced the migration of the Alban citizenry to Rome, where they were integrated and became Roman citizens. For the betrayal of Rome, Tullus had Mettius Fufetius tied between two chariots; the horses then ripped Mettius into two pieces. According to Livy, this was the first and last time the Romans used this method of execution.

Construction of the Curia Hostilia
Tullus's second alleged historical accomplishment was the construction of the original Roman Senate house, the Curia Hostilia. After the incorporation of leaders from Alba Longa into the senate, it became necessary to erect a new building to accommodate the now much bigger Roman Senate. Thus the Curia Hostilla was built. It was universally held by tradition to have been built by—and named in honor of—Tullus, and its remains on the northwestern edge of the Forum have been dated to around 600 BC. Although that date falls well outside the traditionally-ascribed period of Tullus Hostilius' reign, scholars are dubious regarding the tales of the overly-long reigns of the Roman kings—with an average reign of 34 years per king, the traditional chronology would be without historical parallel (the royal rulers of the remarkably stable and healthy English monarchy have an average reign of 21 years each). Recent archaeological research supports historian Tim Cornell's proposal of a more plausible chronology which contracts the regal period from 240 years to around 120 years. This places the historical accomplishments of the kings between 625 BC—the date that the archaeological record shows the first signs of Rome's urbanisation and unification—and 500 BC. Using this timeframe, the construction of the Curia Hostilia is possible during the reign of Tullus Hostilius. It would also explain things which are otherwise puzzling: Tullus's name being attached to the building, and how, as Roman traditions attest, Tullus could have led Rome's successful wars against the Fidenae and Veii and the Sabines.

Myth

As with those of all the early kings of Rome, the events ascribed to the reign of Tullus Hostilius are treated with scepticism by modern historians. Part of this is due to obvious flaws in the literary tradition describing the kings: much like the confusion the Ancients exhibited in attributing identical accomplishments to both Tarquinius Priscus and Tarquinius Superbus, the accomplishments of Tullus Hostilius are thought by many scholars to be rhetorical doublet of those of Romulus. Both are brought up among shepherds, carry on war against Fidenae and Veii, double the number of citizens, and organize the army. Additionally, Tullus Hostilius' warlike and ferocious character seems to be little more than a contrasting stereotype to that of the peaceable, devout Numa Pompilius; the first Roman annalists may merely have imputed aggressive qualities to Hostilius by naively parsing his gentile name (Hostilius meaning "hostile" in Latin).

Hostilius was probably a historical figure, however, in the strict sense that a man bearing the name Tullus Hostilius likely reigned as king in Rome. The most compelling evidence is his name: "Tullus" is an unusual praenomen in Roman culture, and his gentile name is obscure and linguistically archaic enough to rule out the possibility that he was a crude later invention.

Death
According to Livy, Tullus paid little heed to religious observances during his reign, thinking them unworthy of a king's attention. However, at the close of his reign, Rome was affected by a series of prophecies including a shower of stones on the Alban Mount (in response to which a public religious festival of nine days was held – a novendialis), a loud voice was heard on the summit of the mount complaining that the Albans had failed to show devotion to their former gods, and a pestilence struck in Rome. King Tullus became ill and was filled with superstition. He reviewed the commentaries of Numa Pompilius and attempted to carry out sacrifices recommended by him. However, Tullus did not undertake the ceremony to Jupiter Elicius correctly, and both he and his house were struck by lightning and reduced to ashes as a result of the anger of Jupiter.

There are two stories concerning the death of Tullus Hostilius and his family. The first is that his house was hit by lightning and burned to the ground with no survivors. The second is that Ancus Marcius and some of his followers went to Tullus Hostilius's home with swords hidden under their robes. Once inside the home, the party killed Tullus, his family, and their servants and razed the property to ensure there would be no heir to the throne.

In fiction
Incidents from legends surrounding Tullus Hostilius were used as the basis of opera librettos during the baroque period in music, beginning with a Tullo Ostilio opera performed in Rome in 1694 with music of Giovanni Bononcini. Operatic pastiches with the title Tullo Ostilio performed in Prague in 1727 and Brno in 1735 included music of Antonio Vivaldi. Consistent with contemporary conventions, the stories concentrate on concocted love stories involving members of the principal character's family.

Tullus Hostilius was played by Robert Keith in the 1961 film Duel of Champions, which centered around the Horatii.

Tullus is briefly mentioned in the Aeneid in the description of Aeneas' shield. He is described as hauling away the remains of the liar Mettius through the brush.

He is a character in Philip José Farmer's novel To Your Scattered Bodies Go, the first of the Riverworld series. After the Resurrection, he has teamed up with Hermann Göring to run a slave state.

title: Tullus Hostilius


text:
List of lakes

This list of lakes includes those which are among the largest by area, depth, volume, or have cultural or environmental significance.

Great Lakes of Africa

 * Lake Albert (Mobuto-Sese-Seko)
 * Lake Chad
 * Lake Edward
 * Lake Fianga
 * Lake Kariba
 * Lake Kivu
 * Lake Tana
 * Lake Mweru
 * Lake Nasser (Lake Nubia in Sudan)
 * Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi)
 * Lake Tanganyika
 * Lake Turkana (Lake Rudolf or Rudolph)
 * Lake Victoria shared between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Algeria
Chott Ech Chergui

Chott el Hodna

Lake of Fetzara

Lake Akfadou

Lake Menghough

Sebkha el Melah

Angol                           a

 * Dilolo                ake

Botswana

 * Makadikadi Basin
 * Lake Ngami

Cameroon

 * Lake Awing 2.jpg Awing
 * The Lake Bambili.jpg Bambili
 * Lake Bamendjing
 * Lake Bankim
 * Full extent, Lake Barombi.jpg[[Lake Barombi Mbo|Lake Barombi]]
 * Lake Edip
 * Lake Kendall
 * Lake Lagdo
 * Lake Mbakaou
 * Monoun.jpg[[Lake Monoun]]
 * Lac Manengoumba4.jpg, Cameroon]]Muanenguba Lakes (Twin Lakes)
 * Lake Nyos
 * Lake Oku Cameroon.jpg[[Lake Oku]]
 * Lake Wum

Djibouti

 * Lake Assal

Ghana

 * Lake Volta
 * Lake Bosomtwe

Madagascar

 * Lake Alaotra
 * Lake Bedo
 * Lake Itasy
 * Lake Ihotry
 * Lake Kinkony
 * Lake Tritriva
 * Lake Tsimanampetsotsa
 * Lakes Manambolomaty

Malawi

 * Lake Chilwa
 * Lake Malawi

Mauritania

 * Lac de Mâl

Mozambique

 * Cabora Bassa Lake

Nigeria

 * Kainji Lake
 * Oguta Lake
 * Asejire Lake

Sudan

 * Roseires Reservoir
 * Lake No
 * Lake Nubia (southern reaches of Lake Nasser)

Antarctica
There are hundreds of lakes deep below the ice of Antarctica.

 * Basalt Lake
 * Lake Brownworth
 * Don Juan Pond
 * Parochlus Lake
 * Penny Lake
 * Lake Pewe
 * Lake Vanda
 * Lake Vida
 * Lake Vostok
 * Lake Whillans

International lakes of Asia

 * Pangong Tso

 * Lake Baikal – Lake Baikal is located in Siberia in southeastern Russia, just north of Mongolia. Considered the oldest surviving freshwater lake on the planet, it is also the deepest body of water in Asia at 5,315 ft, and the largest freshwater lake by volume, containing 20% of the planet's fresh water. An elongated lake, it has a maximum width of 60 mi with an approximate length of 389 mi, and is fed by more than 300 rivers and streams.
 * Caspian Sea – Situated between Asia and Europe and fed by the Volga and Ural Rivers in the north, the Caspian Sea is nevertheless somewhat salty in its central and south portions. The surface area measures 371,000 km2, with a maximum depth of 1025 m.

 * Aral Sea – Also in far-western Asia, just east of the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea straddles the boundary between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The Aral Sea is shrinking due to evaporation and diversion for irrigation (among other factors) and what remains (only 10% of its former size) is now almost totally polluted by fertilizer runoff, Soviet weapon testing residue and industrial projects, leading to it being called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters".
 * North Aral Sea
 * South Aral Sea

 * Dead Sea – Located on the border of Israel and Jordan.

 * Lake Khanka

Afghanistan

 * Gowd-e-Zereh

Bangladesh

 * Kaptai Lake

Brunei

 * Cypt

Cambodia

 * Tonlé Sap

China

 * Dongting Lake
 * Poyang Lake
 * Qinghai Lake
 * Lake Tai

India

 * Avalanche Lake
 * Dal Lake
 * Emerald Lake
 * Chandra Taal
 * Nainital Lake
 * Sheshnag Lake
 * Suraj Tal
 * Tso Moriri
 * Tsongmo Lake
 * Chaluk lake
 * Chilka Lake
 * Shanti Sagara

Indonesia

 * Lake Toba

Iran

 * Caspian Sea
 * Lake Urmia
 * Gavkhouni
 * Hamun Lake
 * Namak Lake
 * Bakhtegan Lake
 * Maharloo Lake
 * Zarivar Lake

Iraq

 * Lake Habbaniyah (Hawr al Habbaniyah)
 * Lake Milh (Bahr al Milh)
 * Lake Tharthar (Buhayrat ath Tharthar)
 * Sawa lake

Israel

 * Dead Sea
 * Sea of Galilee

Japan

 * Lake Mashū

Jordan

 * Dead Sea

Kazakhstan

 * Lake Alakol
 * Lake Balkhash
 * Chagan Lake
 * Kaindy Lake
 * Lake Sasykkol
 * Lake Tengiz
 * Lake Zaysan

Kyrgyzstan

 * Ala Köl
 * Besh-Tash Lake
 * Chatyr-Kul
 * Issyk-Kul
 * Jashyl Köl
 * Juukuchak Lake
 * Kapka Tash Lake
 * Kara-Suu Lake
 * Köl-Suu
 * Költör Lake
 * Kölükök
 * Kulun Lake
 * Kylaköl
 * Ökürgön Lake
 * Lake Sary-Chelek
 * Merzbacher Lake
 * Saryköl
 * Song Köl Lake

Nepal

 * Fewa Lake
 * Rara Lake
 * Rupa Lake
 * Begnas Lake
 * Shey phoksundo lake
 * Tilicho Lake
 * Gosaikunda Lake

Pakistan

 * Attabad Lake
 * Ansoo Lake
 * Banjosa Lake
 * Dudipatsar Lake
 * Hanna Lake
 * Karambar Lake
 * Kundol Lake
 * Lulusar Lake
 * Mahodand Lake
 * Payee Lake
 * Pyala Lake
 * Shangrila Lake

Philippines

 * Laguna de Bay
 * Lake Lanao

Russia

 * Lake Baikal

Saudi Arabia

 * Al-Asfar Lake
 * Sabkhat Matti

Syria

 * Lake Assad
 * Lake Qattinah
 * Lake Al-Rastan
 * Lake Muzairib
 * Zarzar Lake
 * Lake Ballouran

Turkey

 * Lake Van

State of Palestine|Palestine

 * Dead Sea
 * Sea of Galilee

Taiwan

 * Bitan Lake
 * Changpi Lake
 * Chengcing Lake
 * Chiaming Lake
 * Cueifong Lake
 * Gugang Lake
 * Jinshi Lake
 * Lantan Lake
 * Liyu Lake
 * Longtan Lake
 * Meihua Lake
 * Milk Lake
 * Sun Moon Lake
 * Zhongzheng Lake

International lakes of Europe

 * Lake Constance (Austria, Germany, Switzerland; Bodensee)
 * Dojran Lake (North Macedonia and Greece)
 * Lake Geneva (France, Switzerland; Lac Léman)
 * Lake Lugano (Switzerland, Italy)
 * Lake Maggiore (Switzerland, Italy; Lago Maggiore)
 * Lake Neusiedl (Neusiedler See)/Fertő (Austria, Hungary)
 * Lake Ohrid (North Macedonia, Albania; Liqeni i Ohrit)
 * Lake Peipsi-Pihkva (Estonia, Russia)
 * Lake Great Prespa (Albania, North Macedonia, Greece)
 * Lake Small Prespa (Albania, Greece)
 * Lake Skadar (Montenegro, Albania; Liqeni i Shkodrës)
 * Lake Vištytis (Lithuania, Russia)
 * Lago di Lei (an artificial lake created by a dam; the waters are mostly in Italy but the dam is in Switzerland).

Albania

 * Lake Ohrid

Armenia

 * Lake Sevan
 * Lake Lessing

Austria

 * Ahornsee

Azerbaijan

 * Lake Sarysu
 * Lake Ağgöl

Bulgaria

 * Lake Atanasovsko
 * Banderishki Lakes
 * Batak Reservoir
 * Lake Burgas
 * Dospat Reservoir
 * Lake Durankulak
 * Iskar Reservoir
 * Lake Mandrensko
 * Lake Pomorie
 * Lake Varna
 * Seven Rila Lakes
 * Lake Srebarna

Cyprus

 * Larnaca Salt Lake
 * Limassol Salt Lake

Hungary

 * Lake Balaton
 * Lake Tisza
 * Lake Velencei
 * Lake Hévíz
 * Lake Vadkert

Italy

 * Lake Garda

Latvia

 * Lake Lubāns
 * Lake Rāzna
 * Lake Engure

Poland

 * Lake Śniardwy
 * Lake Mamry
 * Lake Łebsko
 * Lake Dąbie
 * Lake Miedwie
 * Lake Jeziorak
 * Lake Niegocin
 * Lake Hańcza

Serbia

 * Lake Palić
 * Perućac Lake
 * Vlasina Lake

Slovakia

 * Blatné
 * Devínske
 * Jazero
 * Morské oko
 * Štrbské pleso
 * Zemplínska šírava
 * Zlaté Piesky

Slovenia

 * Lake Cerknica

Spain

 * Lake of Banyoles
 * El Atazar Dam
 * Estanys de Baiau
 * Lakes of Covadonga
 * Embalse de Navacerrada
 * Sanabria Lake Natural Park

Sweden

 * Vänern
 * Vättern
 * Mälaren
 * Hjälmaren
 * Storsjön

International lakes of North America
Listed in order of occurrence from easternmost border terminus to the westernmost
 * Woodland Flowage
 * Grand Falls Flowage
 * Spednic Lake (part of the Chiputneticook Lakes)
 * East Grand Lake (part of the Chiputneticook Lakes)
 * North Lake, partly in North Lake Parish, New Brunswick
 * Glazier Lake
 * Beau Lake
 * Lac de l'Est
 * Little St. John Lake (Petit lac Saint-Jean)
 * Lac Wallace
 * Line Pond (Etang Duck)
 * Lake Memphremagog a 40 mi glacial lake that extends from Vermont into Canada
 * Lake Champlain in Quebec in Canada and New York and Vermont in the United States (US)
 * Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada; and New York in the US
 * Lake Erie in Ontario in Canada and Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in the US
 * Lake St Clair in Ontario, Canada; and Michigan in the US
 * Lake Huron in Ontario in Canada and Michigan in the US
 * Munuscong Lake
 * Lake George
 * Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada; and Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the US
 * South Fowl Lake
 * North Fowl Lake
 * Moose Lake, entry point into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
 * Mountain Lake (Cook County, Minnesota)
 * Rose Lake (Pigeon River)
 * South Lake
 * North Lake
 * Gunflint Lake
 * Magnetic Lake
 * Clove Lake
 * Granite Lake in Minnesota, US, and Ontario, Canada
 * Granite Bay
 * Gneiss Lake
 * Maraboeuf Lake
 * Saganaga Lake
 * Swamp Lake
 * Ottertrack Lake
 * Knife Lake
 * Carp Lake in Minnesota, US, and Ontario, Canada
 * Birch Lake in Minnesota, US, and Ontario, Canada
 * Sucker Lake
 * Basswood Lake
 * Wednesday Bay
 * Thursday Bay
 * Crooked Lake in Minnesota, US, and Ontario, Canada
 * Sunday Bay
 * Bottle Lake
 * Lac la Croix
 * Loon Lake
 * Little Vermillion Lake
 * Sand Point Lake
 * Rainy Lake
 * Lake of the Woods in Minnesota, US; Manitoba and Ontario in Canada
 * Wilfred's Lake
 * Susie Lake
 * Osthus Lake
 * South Messier Lake
 * Hartley Lake
 * Boundary Lake in North Dakota, US; Manitoba, Canada
 * Cavalier Lake
 * Ross Lake in North Dakota, US, and Manitoba, Canada
 * Lake Metigoshe
 * Bone Lake
 * Line Lake
 * Brush Lake in North Dakota, US, and Saskatchewan, Canada
 * Salt Lake in northeastern Montana, US; known as Alkali Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada
 * Upper Waterton Lake in Alberta, Canada; and Montana, US
 * Cameron Lake in Alberta, Canada; and Montana, US
 * Frozen Lake
 * Lake Koocanusa
 * Alden Lake
 * Osoyoos Lake
 * Ross Lake in Washington, US, and British Columbia, Canada

Canada

 * Turtle Lake (Vancouver Island)
 * Lake Huron
 * Lake Superior
 * Great Bear Lake
 * Great Slave Lake
 * Lake Erie
 * Lake Winnipeg
 * Lake Ontario
 * Lake Athabasca
 * Reindeer Lake
 * Smallwood Reservoir
 * Nettilling Lake
 * Lake Winnipegosis
 * Lake Nipigon
 * Lake Manitoba
 * Lake of the Woods
 * Caniapiscau Reservoir
 * Dubawnt Lake

El Salvador

 * Lago de Coatepeque (Coatepeque Lake)
 * Lago De Ilopango (Ilopango Lake)
 * Laguna De Güija (Güija Lake)
 * Laguna Verde
 * Laguna de Alegria
 * Olomega Lake
 * Suchitlán Lake

Guatemala

 * Lake Atitlan

Honduras

 * Lake Yojoa

Mexico

 * Lake Chapala
 * Lake Texcoco
 * Lake Catemaco
 * Lake Patzcuaro
 * Lake Cuitzeo
 * Lake Zirahuen

Nicaragua

 * Lake Apanás
 * Lake Nicaragua (Lake Cocibolca)
 * Lake Managua
 * Laguna de Apoyo

Panama

 * Lago Bayano
 * Gatun Lake

United States

 * Crater Lake
 * Great Salt Lake
 * The Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario
 * Lake Champlain
 * Lake Okeechobee
 * Lake Pontchartrain
 * Lake Tahoe
 * Lake Winnebago

Nauru

 * Buada Lagoon

International lakes of South America

 * Lake Titicaca (in Peru and Bolivia)
 * General Carrera Lake (in Chile and Argentina)
 * O'Higgins/San Martín Lake (in Chile and Argentina)
 * Cochrane/Pueyrredón Lake (in Chile and Argentina)
 * Cami/Fagnano Lake (in Chile and Argentina)
 * Palena/General Vintter Lake (in Chile and Argentina)
 * Lake Viedma (undefined border near the Southern Patagonian Ice Field between Chile and Argentina)

Peru

 * Lake Titicaca
 * Quñuqqucha

Suriname

 * Brokopondo Reservoir

Venezuela

 * Guri (man-made)
 * Lake Maracaibo (sometimes considered a sea)
 * Lake Valencia

Former lakes

 * Lake Agassiz
 * Lake Ballivián
 * Lake Hula
 * Lake Makgadikgadi
 * Lop Nur
 * Owens Lake
 * Tulare Lake

title: List of lakes