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Hazel Scott

Hazel Dorothy Scott (June 11, 1920 – October 2, 1981) was a Trinidadian jazz and classical pianist and singer. She was an outspoken critic of racial discrimination and segregation. She used her influence to improve the representation of Black Americans in film.

Born in Port of Spain, Scott moved to New York City with her mother at the age of four. Scott was a child musical prodigy, receiving scholarships to study at the Juilliard School when she was eight. In her teens, she performed at Café Society while still at school. She also performed on the radio.

She was active as a jazz singer throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In 1950, she became the first black American to host her own TV show, The Hazel Scott Show. Her career in the United States faltered after she testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1950 during the era of McCarthyism. Scott subsequently moved to Paris, France, in 1957 and began performing in Europe, not returning to the United States until 1967.

Early life
Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on June 11, 1920, Hazel Dorothy Scott was the only child of R. Thomas Scott, a West African scholar from Liverpool, England, and Alma Long Scott, a classically trained pianist, and music teacher. In 1924, the family moved from Trinidad to the United States and settled in Harlem, New York City. Her parents had separated by this time, and Scott lived with her mother and grandmother.

By now, Scott could play anything she heard on the piano. With her mother's guidance and training, she mastered advanced piano techniques and was labeled a child prodigy. When Scott was eight years old, she began studying with Professor Paul Wagner of the Juilliard School of Music. In 1933, her mother organized her own Alma Long Scott's All-Girl Jazz Band, where Scott played the piano and trumpet.

Career
By the age of 16, Hazel Scott regularly performed for radio programs for the Mutual Broadcasting System, gaining a reputation as the "hot classicist". In the mid-1930s, she also performed at the Roseland Dance Hall with the Count Basie Orchestra. Her early musical theatre appearances in New York included the Cotton Club Revue of 1938, Sing Out the News and The Priorities of 1942.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Scott performed jazz, blues, ballads, Broadway and boogie-woogie songs, and classical music in various nightclubs. Thanks to the vision of Barney Josephson, the owner of Café Society, to establish a venue where artists of all races and ethnicities could perform, from 1939 to 1943, she was a leading attraction at both the downtown and uptown branches of Café Society. Her performances created national prestige for the practice of "swinging the classics". By 1945, Scott was earning $75,000 ($0 today) a year.

Along with Lena Horne, Scott was one of the first black women to gain respectable roles in major Hollywood pictures. She refused to take roles in Hollywood playing a "singing maid", and she turned down the first four roles she was offered for this reason. When she began performing in Hollywood films, she insisted on having final cut privileges when it came to her appearance. She performed as herself in the films I Dood It (MGM, 1943), Broadway Rhythm (MGM, 1944) with Lena Horne, in the otherwise all-white cast of The Heat's On (Columbia, 1943), Something to Shout About (Columbia, 1943), and Rhapsody in Blue (Warner Bros, 1945). She appeared in five Hollywood films in all, always insisting on the credit line "Miss Hazel Scott as Herself", and wearing her own clothes and jewelry to protect her image. Her final break with Columbia Pictures' Harry Cohn involved "a costume which she felt stereotyped blacks". In the 1940s, in addition to her film appearances, she was featured in Café Society's From Bach to Boogie-Woogie concerts in 1941 and 1943 at Carnegie Hall. She was the first person of African descent to have their own television show in America, The Hazel Scott Show, which premiered on the DuMont Television Network on July 3, 1950. Variety reported that "Hazel Scott has a neat little show in this modest package," its "most engaging element" being Scott herself. The show became so popular, it soon ran three times a week. On the show, Scott performed with the jazz musicians Charles Mingus and Max Roach who were among the members of her supporting band.

Civil rights
Scott had long been committed to civil rights. Scott refused to perform in segregated venues when she was on tour. She was once escorted from the city of Austin, Texas by Texas Rangers because she refused to perform when she discovered that black and white patrons were seated separately. "Why would anyone come to hear me, a Negro," she told Time magazine, "and refuse to sit beside someone just like me?"

In 1949, Scott brought a suit against the owners of a Pasco, Washington restaurant when a waitress refused to serve Scott and her traveling companion, Mrs. Eunice Wolfe, because "they were Negroes". Scott's victory helped African Americans challenge racial discrimination in Spokane, as well as inspiring civil rights organizations "to pressure the Washington state legislature to enact the Public Accommodations Act" in 1953.

McCarthyism
With the advent of the Red Scare in the television industry, Scott's name appeared in Red Channels: A Report on Communist Influence in Radio and Television in June 1950. In an effort to clear her name, Scott voluntarily appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on September 22, 1950, and insisted on reading a prepared statement. She denied that she was "ever knowingly connected with the Communist Party or any of its front organizations." However, she stated that she had supported Communist Party member Benjamin J. Davis's run for City Council, arguing that Davis was supported by socialists, a group that "has hated Communists longer and more fiercely than any other." She also expressed her frustrations with the mass amount of false accusations of entertainers and offered the suggestion to use "democratic methods to immediately eliminate a good many irresponsible charges." Scott concluded her statement to the HUAC with a request that entertainers be not already "covered with the mud of slander and the filth of scandal" when proving their loyalty to the United States.

Her television variety program, The Hazel Scott Show, was cancelled a week after Scott appeared before HUAC, on September 29, 1950. Scott suffered a nervous breakdown in 1951. On returning to full health, Scott continued to perform in the United States and Europe, even getting sporadic bookings on television variety shows like Cavalcade of Stars and guest starring in an episode of CBS Television's Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town musical series. Scott's short-lived television show "provided a glimmer of hope for African American viewers" during a time of continued racial bias in the broadcasting industry and economic hardships for jazz musicians in general. Scott remained publicly opposed to McCarthyism and racial segregation throughout her career.

In France (1957–67)
To evade political fallout in the United States, Scott moved to Paris in 1957. She appeared in the French film Le désordre et la nuit (1958). In 1963, she marched with a number of other African-American expatriates, including James Baldwin, to the US Embassy in Paris to demonstrate support of the upcoming March on Washington.

Later US years (1967–81)
She did not return to the US until 1967. By this time, the Civil Rights Movement had led to federal legislation making racial segregation in housing and public accommodations illegal and enforcing the protection of voting rights of all citizens in addition to other social advances.

Scott continued to perform occasionally in nightclubs, while also appearing on daytime television, until the year of her death. She made her television acting debut in 1973, on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live, performing a wedding song at the nuptials of her "onscreen cousin" Carla Gray Hall, portrayed by Ellen Holly.

Personal life
Although a Catholic, Scott in 1945 married Baptist minister and US Congressman Adam Clayton Powell. The couple had one child, Adam Clayton Powell III, but divorced in 1960 after a separation. Their relationship provoked controversy, as Powell was married when their affair began. At the end of 1960, Powell married his secretary.

On January 19, 1961, Scott married Ezio Bedin, a Swiss-Italian comedian who was 15 years her junior; they divorced a few years later, before her return to the US.

Bahá'í Faith
Scott had heard about the Bahá'í Faith from her longtime friend Dizzy Gillespie, who joined the faith in early 1968. Following heartfelt conversations with him, she joined the faith in late 1968. While she was at Vic Damone's career re-announcement in late 1968, she was introduced by Damone to the crowd recalling how he was an usher for her show. This might have been the November 1942 performance by Scott and others at the Paramount Theatre. Damone shared with the crowd that she had just recently been at a Bahá'í fireside, an informational meeting of the religion, at his home and had joined the religion – Scott was very moved and in tears. Scott also sang at an October 1970 award dinner in New York – singing "When the World was Young", "A Lonely Christmas", "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" for an International Education Year Award to James L. Olivero, who remembered Louis Gregory, presented by Daniel Jordan of the Bahá'ís on behalf of the US National Spiritual Assembly. Her singing was praised by Whitney Young, executive director of the National Urban League, who was speaking at the event. A musicale was held in Kingston, Jamaica, in May 1971, entitled The Sounds of a New World, co-presented by Scott with Dizzy Gillespie, Seals and Crofts, and Linda Marshall and others, as part of a ship-and-shore conference of Bahá'ís.

Death
On October 2, 1981, Hazel Scott died of cancer at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. She was 61 years old and was survived by her son Adam Clayton Powell III. She is buried at Flushing Cemetery in Queens, New York, near other musicians including Louis Armstrong, Johnny Hodges, and Dizzy Gillespie (who died in 1993).

Legacy
Scott was renowned as a virtuosic jazz pianist, in addition to her successes in dramatic acting and classical music. She also used her status as one of the best-known African-American entertainers of her generation to shine a spotlight on issues of racial injustice and civil rights. Scott recorded as the leader of various groups for Decca, Columbia and Signature, among them a trio that consisted of Bill English and the double-bass player Martin Rivera, and another trio with Charles Mingus on bass and Rudie Nichols on drums. Her 1955 album Relaxed Piano Moods on the Debut label, with Mingus and Roach, is generally her work most highly regarded by critics today. Her unique swinging style and fusion of jazz and classical influences kept her in demand for performances through the very end of her life.

Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys cited Scott as her inspiration for her performance at the 61st Grammy Awards, saying: "I've been thinking about people who inspire me; shout out to Hazel Scott, I've always wanted to play two pianos."

In 2020, she was the subject of the BBC World Service programme Hazel Scott: Jazz star and barrier breaker in the series The Forum.

In When Women Invented Television, author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong features her as one of four women who had a major influence on the medium.

In 2022, Dance Theatre of Harlem debuted a new ballet about the life of Hazel Scott.

Selected discography

 * Swinging the Classics: Piano Solos in Swing Style with Drums (Decca #A-212 [78rpm 3-disc album set], 1941)
 * Her Second Album of Piano Solos with Drums Acc. (Decca #A-321 [78rpm 3-disc album set], 1942)
 * A Piano Recital (Signature #S-1 [78rpm 4-disc album set], 1946)
 * Great Scott! (Columbia #C-159 [78rpm 4-disc album set], 1947; Columbia #CL-6090 [10" LP], 1950)
 * Two Toned Piano Recital (Coral #CRL-56057 [10" LP], 1952)
 * Hazel Scott's Late Show (Capitol #H-364 [10" LP], 1953)
 * Relaxed Piano Moods (Debut #DLP-16 [10" LP], 1955)
 * 'Round Midnight (Decca #DL-8474, 1957)
 * Always (Image Records #IM-307, 1979)
 * After Hours (Tioch Digital Records #TD-1013, 1983)

title: Hazel Scott


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Verona

Verona (, ; Verona or Veròna) is a city on the River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city municipality in the region and in northeastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km² and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in Northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.

Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the city was ruled by the della Scala family. Under the rule of the family, in particular of Cangrande I della Scala, the city experienced great prosperity, becoming rich and powerful and being surrounded by new walls. The della Scala era is preserved in numerous monuments around Verona.

Two of William Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet (which also features Romeo's visit to Mantua) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities. Verona was also the birthplace of Isotta Nogarola, who is said to be the first major female humanist and one of the most important humanists of the Renaissance. In November 2000, the city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

The city is scheduled to host the 2026 Winter Olympics closing ceremonies.

History
The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery along with the origin of its name. One theory is that it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BC). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po, the Veronese territory became Roman about 300 BC. Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BC. It was classified as a municipium in 49 BC, when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia.

The city became important because it was at the intersection of several roads. Stilicho, a military commander in the Roman army, defeated Alaric and his Visigoths here in 402. Later, Verona was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 489, and the Gothic domination of Italy began. Theoderic the Great was said to have built a palace there. It remained under the power of the Goths throughout the Gothic War (535–552), except for a single day in 541, when the Byzantine officer Artabazes made an entrance. The defections of the Byzantine generals over the booty made it possible for the Goths to regain possession of the city. In 552 the Romans under the general Valerian vainly endeavored to enter the city, but it was only when the Goths were fully overthrown that they surrendered it.

In 569, it was taken by Alboin, King of the Lombards, in whose kingdom it was, in a sense, the second most important city. There, Alboin was "killed by his own people with the connivance of his wife" in 572. The dukes of Treviso often resided there. Adalgisus, son of Desiderius, in 774 made his last resistance in Verona to Charlemagne, who had destroyed the Lombard kingdom. Verona became the ordinary residence of the kings of Italy, the government of the city becoming hereditary in the family of Count Milo, progenitor of the counts of San Bonifacio. From 880 to 951 the two Berengarii resided there.

Under Holy Roman and Austrian rule, Verona was alternatively known in German as Bern, Welsch-Bern or Dietrichsbern. Otto I ceded to Verona the marquisate dependent on the Duchy of Bavaria, however, the increasing wealth of the burgher families eclipsed the power of the counts, and in 1135 Verona was organised as a free commune. In 1164 Verona joined with Vicenza, Padua and Treviso to create the Veronese League, which was integrated with the Lombard League in 1167 to battle against Frederick I Barbarossa. Victory was achieved at the Battle of Legnano in 1176, and the Treaty of Venice signed in 1177 followed by the Peace of Constance in 1183.

When Ezzelino III da Romano was elected podestà in 1226, he converted the office into a permanent lordship. In 1257 he caused the slaughter of 11,000 Paduans on the plain of Verona (Campi di Verona). Upon his death, the Great Council elected Mastino I della Scala as podestà, and he converted the "signoria" into a family possession, though leaving the burghers a share in the government. Failing to be re-elected podestà in 1262, he affected a coup d'état, and was acclaimed Capitano del Popolo, with the command of the communal troops. Long internal discord took place before he succeeded in establishing this new office, to which was attached the function of confirming the podestà. In 1277, Mastino della Scala was killed by the faction of the nobles.

The reign of his son Alberto della Scala as capitano (1277–1302) was a time of incessant war against the counts of San Bonifacio, who were aided by the House of Este. Of his sons, Bartolomeo, Alboino and Cangrande I della Scala (1291–1329), only the last shared the government (1308); he was great as warrior, prince, and patron of the arts; he protected Dante, Petrarch, and Giotto. By war or treaty, he brought under his control the cities of Treviso (1308), Vicenza (1311), and Padua (1328). At that time before the Black death, the city was home to more than 40,000 people.

Cangrande was succeeded by Mastino II (1329–1351) and Alberto, sons of Alboino. Mastino continued his uncle's policy, conquering Brescia in 1332 and carrying his power beyond the Mincio. He purchased Parma (1335) and Lucca (1339). After the King of France, he was the richest prince of his time. A powerful league was formed against him in 1337 – Florence, Venice, the Visconti, the Este, and the Gonzaga. After a three years war, the Scaliger dominions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza (Mastino's daughter Regina-Beatrice della Scala married to Barnabò Visconti). Mastino's son Cangrande II (1351–1359) was a cruel, dissolute, and suspicious tyrant; not trusting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with Brandenburg mercenaries. He was killed by his brother Cansignorio (1359–1375), who beautified the city with palaces, provided it with aqueducts and bridges, and founded the state treasury. He also killed his other brother, Paolo Alboino. Fratricide seems to have become a family custom, for Antonio (1375–1387), Cansignorio's natural brother, slew his brother Bartolomeo, thereby arousing the indignation of the people, who deserted him when Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan made war on him. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight on 19 October 1387, thus putting an end to the Scaliger domination, which, however, survived in its monuments.

The year 1387 is also the year of the Battle of Castagnaro, fought between Giovanni Ordelaffi for Verona and John Hawkwood for Padua. The latter emerged as the winner.

Antonio's son Canfrancesco attempted in vain to recover Verona (1390). Guglielmo (1404), natural son of Cangrande II, was more fortunate; with the support of the people and the Carraresi, he drove out the Milanese, but he died ten days after. After a period of Cararrese rule, Verona submitted to Venice (1405). The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular risings.

From 1508 to 1517, the city was in the power of the Emperor Maximilian I. There were numerous outbreaks of the plague, and in 1629–1633, Italy was struck by its worst outbreak in modern times. Around 33,000 people died in Verona (over 60% of the population at the time) in 1630–1631.

In 1776, a method of bellringing was developed called Veronese bellringing art. Verona was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, but on Easter Monday the populace rose and drove out the French. It was then that Napoleon made an end of the Venetian Republic. Verona became Austrian territory when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797. The Austrians took control of the city on 18 January 1798. It was taken from Austria by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, but was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.

The Congress of Verona, which met on 20 October 1822, was part of the series of international conferences or congresses, opening with the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815, that marked the continuing enforcement of the "Concert of Europe".

In 1866, following the Third Italian War of Independence, Verona, along with the rest of Venetia, became part of a united Italy.

The advent of fascism added another dark chapter to the annals of Verona. Throughout Italy, the Jewish population was hit by the Manifesto of Race, a series of anti-Semitic laws passed in 1938, and after the invasion by Nazi Germany in 1943, deportations to Nazi concentration camps. An Austrian Fort (now a church, the Santuario della Madonna di Lourdes), was used to incarcerate and torture Allied troops, Jews and anti-fascists, especially after 1943, when Verona became part of the Italian Social Republic.

During Austrian rule Verona became of great strategic importance to the regime. Galeazzo Ciano, Benito Mussolini's son-in-law, was accused of plotting against the republic; in a show trial staged in January 1944 by the Nazi and fascist hierarchy at Castelvecchio (the Verona trial), Ciano was executed on the banks of the Adige with many other officers on what is today Via Colombo. This marked another turning point in the escalation of violence that would only end with the final liberation by allied troops and partisans on 26 April 1945.

After World War II, as Italy joined the NATO alliance, Verona once again acquired its strategic importance, due to its geographical closeness to the Iron Curtain. The city became the seat of SETAF (South European Allied Terrestrial Forces) and had during the whole duration of the Cold War period a strong military presence, especially American, which has since decreased.

Climate
Verona has a humid subtropical climate characteristic of Northern Italy's inland plains, with hot summers and cool, humid winters, even though Lake Garda has a partial influence on the city. The relative humidity is high throughout the year, especially in winter when it causes fog, mainly from dusk until late morning, although the phenomenon has become less and less frequent in recent years.

Demographics
In 2009, 265,368 people were residing in Verona, located in the province of Verona, Veneto, of whom 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female. Minors (children aged 0–17) totaled 16.05% of the population compared to pensioners who numbered 22.36%. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06% (minors) and 19.94% (pensioners). The average age of Verona residents is 43 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Verona grew by 3.05%, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.85%. The current birth rate of Verona is 9.24 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births., 87% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group comes from other European nations (the largest coming from Romania): 3.60%, South Asia: 2.03%, and sub-saharan Africa 1.50%. The city is predominantly Roman Catholic, but due to immigration now has some Orthodox Christian, and Muslim followers.

Government

Since the local government political reorganization in 1993, Verona has been governed by the City Council of Verona, which is based in Palazzo Barbieri. Voters elect directly 33 councilors and the Mayor of Verona every five years.

Verona is also the capital of its own province. The Provincial Council is seated in Palazzo del Governo. The current Mayor of Verona is Damiano Tommasi, elected on 26 June 2022.

Verona has traditionally been a right-wing traditionalist Catholic city, reflecting its former status as one of the major cities of Italian Social Republic, and the right-wing politics of the Veneto region. In October 2018, Verona became the first city in Italy to declare itself pro-life, and hosted the American Christian right lobby group World Congress of Families' conference in 2019. Despite this, since the mayors became directly elected in 1994, the city has elected two left-wing mayors - Paolo Zanotto in 2002 and current mayor Damiano Tommasi in 2022, largely due to incumbent mayor Federico Sboarina's refusal to include center-right parties in his right-wing coalition.

Main sights
Because of the value and importance of its many historical buildings, Verona has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Verona preserved many ancient Roman monuments (including the magnificent Arena) in the early Middle Ages, but many of its early medieval edifices were destroyed or heavily damaged by the earthquake of 3 January 1117, which led to a massive Romanesque rebuilding. The Carolingian period Versus de Verona contains an important description of Verona in the early medieval era.

Roman edifices
The Roman military settlement in what is now the center of the city was to expand through the cardines and decumani that intersect at right angles. This structure has been kept to the present day and is clearly visible from the air. Further development has not reshaped the original map. Though the Roman city with its basalt-paved roads is mostly hidden from view it stands virtually intact about 6 m below the surface. Most palazzi and houses have cellars built on Roman structures that are rarely accessible to visitors.

Verona is famous for its Roman amphitheater, the Arena, found in the city's largest piazza, the Piazza Bra. Completed around 30 AD, it is the third-largest in Italy after Rome's Colosseum and the Amphitheatre of Capua. It measures 139 meters long and 110 meters wide, and could seat some 25,000 spectators in its 44 tiers of marble seats. The ludi (shows and gladiator games) performed within its walls were so famous that they attracted spectators from far beyond the city. The current two-story façade is actually the internal support for the tiers; only a fragment of the original outer perimeter wall in white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, with three stories remains. The interior is very impressive and is virtually intact, and has remained in use even today for public events, fairs, theatre, and open-aired opera during warm summer nights.

Piazza delle Erbe, near the Roman forum was rebuilt by Cangrande I and Cansignorio della Scala I, lords of Verona, using material (such as marble blocks and statues) from Roman spas and villas.

There is also a variety of other Roman monuments to be found in the town, such as the Roman theatre of Verona. This theatre was built in the 1st century BC, but through the ages had fallen in disuse and had been built upon to provide housing. In the 18th century Andrea Monga, a wealthy Veronese, bought all the houses that in time had been built over the theatre, demolished them, and saved the monument. Not far from it is the Ponte di Pietra ("Stone Wall Bridge"), another Roman landmark that has survived to this day.

The Arco dei Gavi was built in the 1st century AD and is famous for having the name of the builder (architect Lucius Vitruvius Cordone) engraved on it, a rare case in the architecture of the epoque. It originally straddled the main Roman road into the city, now Corso Cavour. It was demolished by French troops in 1805 and rebuilt in 1932.

Nearby is the Porta Borsari, an archway at the end of Corso Porta Borsari. This is the façade of a 3rd-century gate in the original Roman city walls. The inscription is dated 245 AD and gives the city name as Colonia Verona Augusta. Corso Porta Borsari, the road passing through the gate is the original Via Sacra of the Roman city. Today, it is lined with several Renaissance palazzi and the ancient Church of Santi Apostoli, a few meters from Piazza delle Erbe.

Porta Leoni is the 1st century BC ruin of what was once part of the Roman city gate. A substantial portion is still standing as part of the wall of a medieval building. The street itself is an open archaeological site, and the remains of the original Roman street and gateway foundations can be seen a few feet below the present street level. As can be seen from there, the gate contains a small court guarded by towers. Here, carriages and travelers were inspected before entering or leaving the city.

The Santo Stefano church is dedicated to the first Christian martyr, was erected in the Paleochristian era, and houses the burials of the first bishops of Verona. Throughout the centuries Saint Stephen underwent complex architectural transformations. Particularly striking is the rare two-story ambulatory, probably built to give pilgrims visual access to the abundant collection of important relics for which the church was famous. Also to be visited is the cruciform crypt with its forest of columns, arches, and cross vaults. Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr and, according to the Acts of the Apostles, was stoned just outside Jerusalem, in a place still remembered today, near the so-called "Porta Leoni".

Medieval architecture

The Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore is a Romanesque style church, the third such structure on its site, built from 1123 to 1135, over the 4th-century shrine to Verona's patron saint, St. Zeno (bishop of Verona from 362 to 380 when he died). The façade dominates the large square, and is flanked with a 72-meter-tall bell tower, which is mentioned by Dante in Canto 18 of Purgatory in the Divine Comedy. The weathered Veronese stone gives a warm golden glow, and the restrained lines of the pillars, columns, and cornices, and the gallery with its double windows, give the façade an air of harmonious elegance. The huge rose window is decorated as a Wheel of Fortune. The lintels above the portal have carvings of the months of the year. Each side of the doorway is embellished with 18 bas-relief panels of biblical scenes, and the inner bronze door panels have 48 primitive but forceful depictions of Biblical scenes and episodes from the life of St Zeno. The meaning of some of the scenes is now unknown, but the extraordinarily vivid energy of the figures is a superb blend of traditional and Ottonian influences. The interior of the church is divided into the Lower Church, occupying about ⅔ of the structure, and the Upper Church, occupying the remainder. The walls are covered with 12th and 14th century frescos and the ceiling of the nave is a magnificent example of a ship's keel ceiling. The vaulted crypt contains the tomb of St. Zeno, the first Bishop of Verona, as well as the tombs of several other saints. North of the church is a pleasant cloister. The church also houses the tomb of King Pippin of Italy (777–810).

Piazza dei Signori is an elegant medieval square with various buildings and towers. It has a monument dedicated to Dante Alighieri.

The Basilica of San Lorenzo is another Romanesque church, albeit smaller. It dates from around 1177, but was built on the site of a Paleochristian church, fragments of which remain. The church is built of alternating tracks of brick and stone, and has two cylindrical towers, housing spiral staircases to the women's galleries. The interior is sober but still quiet. The striped bands of stone and brick and the graceful arches complement the setting.

Santa Maria Antica is a small Romanesque church that served as the private chapel of the Scaligeri clan, and is famous for the Gothic Scaliger Tombs.

The Verona Cathedral, also known as the Duomo, is a notable Romanesque church.

Sant'Anastasia is a huge and lofty church built from 1290 to 1481 by the Dominicans to hold the massive congregations attracted by their sermons. The Pellegrini chapel houses the fresco St. George and the Princess of Trebizond by Pisanello as well as the grave of Wilhelm von Bibra. An art festival is held in the square each May.

The Castelvecchio Bridge, also known as Ponte Scaligero, is a segmental arch bridge. At the time of its completion in 1356, it was the world's largest bridge arch. It has a span length of 48.70 m.

Sport

The city has two professional football teams. Historically, the city's major team has been Hellas Verona. They won the Italian Serie A championship in 1984–85 and played in the European Cup the following year. Chievo Verona represented Chievo, a suburb of Verona, and was created in 1929. However, they ceased to exist in 2021 due to outstanding tax payments. As of the 2021–22 season, Hellas plays in the first division of Italian football, Serie A, while Virtus Verona, the other club in the city, plays in the Serie C. The teams of Hellas and Chievo contested the Derby della Scala and shared the 38,402-seater Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi (now only home to Hellas due to the fold of Chievo), which was used as a venue at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Verona is home to the volleyball team Verona Volley (now in Serie A1), the rugby team Franklin and Marshall Cus Verona Rugby (now in Serie A1), and the basketball team Scaligera Basket (now in Legadue).

The city has twice hosted the UCI Road World Championships, in 1999 (with Treviso as co-host) and in 2004. The city also regularly hosts stages of the Giro d'Italia annual cycling race. Verona also hosted the baseball world cup in 2009, and the Volleyball World Cup in September–October 2010. Verona is hosting the Volleyball Women's World Championship in September–October 2014.

Public transit
Public transit has been operated by the provincial public transport company, Azienda Trasporti Verona (ATV), since 2007. From 1884 to 1951, the city was served by the Verona tram network. Trolleybuses replaced the trams which were themselves replaced by buses in 1975. A new trolleybus network is currently under construction by ATV and is expected to open in 2026.

An incline lift, the Verona funicular, opened in 2017 and provides access from the Ponte Pietra to the Roman theatre museum and San Pietro Castle.

Railways

Verona lies at a major route crossing where the north–south rail line from the Brenner Pass to Rome intersects with the east–west line between Milan and Venice, giving the city rail access to most of Europe. In addition to regional and local services, the city is served by direct international trains to Zurich, Innsbruck, and Munich. ÖBB nightjet provides overnight sleeper service via Verona on its La Spezia to Wien and München lines.

Verona's main station is Verona Porta Nuova railway station, to the south of the city center. It is considered to be the ninth busiest railway station in Italy, handling approximately 68,000 passengers per day, or 25 million passengers per year.

There is a lesser station to the east of the city at Porta Vescovo, which used to be the main station in Verona, but now only receives trains between Venice and Porta Nuova.

Airport
Verona Airport is located 10 km southwest of Verona. It handles around 3 million passengers per year. It is linked to Porta Nuova railway station by a frequent bus service.

There are direct flights between Verona and Rome Fiumicino, Munich, Berlin, Moscow, Naples, Frankfurt, Catania, London Gatwick, Dublin, Palermo, Cork, Manchester, Liverpool and Cagliari among others.

Notable people

 * Aleardo Aleardi (1812–1878), poet
 * Berto Barbarani (1872–1945), poet
 * Paolo Bellasio (1554–1594), composer of the Renaissance; member of the Roman School
 * Stefano Bernardi (1580–1637), baroque composer
 * Massimo Bubola, singer-songwriter born in Terrazzo
 * Paolo Caliari (1528–1588), well known as "Veronese", painter
 * Lou Campi (1905–1989), professional bowler
 * Mario Capecchi (born 1937), Nobel prize in Medicine, 2007
 * Giovanni Francesco Caroto, painter
 * Catullus (c. 84-c. 54 BCE), Latin poet
 * Walter Chiari (1924-1991), actor
 * Gigliola Cinquetti (born 1947), singer who brought Italy its first Eurovision Song Contest win in 1964
 * Lorenzo Comendich, painter
 * Damiano Cunego, former world number 1 cyclist and former Giro d'Italia winner
 * Giorgio de Stefani, tennis player, finalist at the 1932 French Open
 * Franco Donatoni, composer
 * Gino Fano, mathematician
 * Girolamo Fracastoro, also known as Fracastorius, renowned scholar, physician, and poet
 * Giovanni Giocondo, architect and scholar
 * Girolamo dai Libri, illuminator of manuscripts and painter
 * Romano Guardini, theologian
 * Claudio Guglielmoni, retired professional football player
 * Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, composer, teacher of Claudio Monteverdi
 * Ernestine von Kirchsberg, Austrian landscape painter
 * Girolamo Lancerotti, painter
 * Cesare Lombroso, criminologist
 * Scipione Maffei, writer and historian
 * Matteo Manassero, British amateur golf champion, 2009
 * Arnoldo Mondadori (1889-1971), editor
 * Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, fictional characters from Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet
 * Marcantonio Negri, Baroque composer, associate of Monteverdi
 * Carlo Pedrotti, 19th-century composer, conductor, voice teacher, and opera administrator
 * St. Peter Martyr, Dominican preacher and saint
 * Ippolito Pindemonte, poet
 * Ratherius, Medieval bishop and writer
 * Francesca Rettondini, actress
 * Carlo Rovelli, physicist and writer
 * Vincenzo Ruffo, composer of the Renaissance
 * Emilio Salgari (1862–1911), novelist
 * Antonio Salieri (1750–1825), composer
 * Michele Sammicheli, architect
 * Sara Simeoni, the former world high jump primatist and Olympic gold medalist
 * Marco Stroppa, composer
 * Bartolomeo Tromboncino, composer of the Renaissance period
 * Giorgio Zancanaro, baritone
 * Achille Lauro, singer, rapper, and songwriter who represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Twin towns – sister cities
Verona is twinned with:

 * 🇺🇸 Albany, United States
 * Johannesburg, South Africa
 * 🇩🇪 Munich, Germany
 * 🇯🇵 Nagahama, Japan
 * 🇫🇷 Nîmes, France
 * Pula, Croatia
 * 🇧🇪 Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium
 * 🇦🇹 Salzburg, Austria

Friendship pacts
Verona has friendly relations with:

 * 🇵🇪 Ayacucho, Peru
 * 🇵🇸 Bethlehem, Palestine
 * 🇬🇷 Corfu, Greece
 * 🇩🇪 Detmold, Germany
 * 🇺🇸 Fresno, United States
 * 🇨🇳 Hangzhou, China
 * 🇷🇺 Kazan, Russia
 * 🇦🇱 Korçë, Albania
 * 🇸🇰 Košice, Slovakia
 * 🇷🇸 Kragujevac, Serbia
 * 🇰🇷 Namwon, South Korea
 * 🇨🇳 Ningbo, China
 * 🇲🇰 Prilep, North Macedonia
 * 🇮🇱 Ra'anana, Israel
 * 🇦🇱 Tirana, Albania
 * 🇨🇳 Zhuji, China
 * 🇱🇾 Zintan, Libya

In popular culture

Two of William Shakespeare's plays, Romeo and Juliet  and  The Two Gentlemen of Verona, are set in the city of Verona. No evidence suggests that Shakespeare had ever been to the city.

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

title: Verona


text:
Nájera

Nájera is a small town, former bishopric and now Latin Catholic titular see, former capital of the Kingdom of Najera-Pamplona, located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, northern Spain, on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the French Way the most popular path on the Way of St James.

History
The area attracted the Romans, who built the town of Tritium on land which now falls within the boundaries of Nájera and the neighboring municipality of Tricio. Subsequently, the area was under Muslim rule and the name Nájera (Naxara, meaning "town between the rocks") is of Arabic origin.

The town, while still an Islamic possession, was the location of the legendary 3-day struggle between Roland, one of Charlemagne's nobles, and the Islamic giant Ferragut.

The town was conquered by Ordoño II of Leon for Navarre in 923. Nájera was the capital city of the Kingdom of Najera-Pamplona until it was conquered by Castile in 1054 after the battle of Atapuerca. However, it continued to be multicultural. For example, in 1142 the French abbot Peter the Venerable used his visit to Spain to commission translations of important Islamic works, including the first translation of the Qur'an into a European language, and it has been suggested he met with his four translators at Nájera. From the tenth century onward, Nájera had a prosperous Jewish community, which was granted relatively favorable legal status after the Christian conquest. Letters from the Jewish community in Nájera have been found in the Cairo Geniza.

Edward, the Black Prince fought in the Battle of Nájera in 1367, intervening in a Castilian Civil War on behalf of Pedro I of Castile.

Ecclesiastical history

 * Established in 923 as Diocese of Nájera, on territory split off from the suppressed Diocese of Calahorra.
 * Gained territory twice : in 1077 from Diocese of Pamplona and Diocese of Osma, in 1088 from the suppressed Diocese of Álava.
 * Itself Suppressed in 1170, its territory being used to establish the Diocese of Calahorra, to which its last incumbent was appointed.

Episcopal ordinaries

 * Suffragan Bishops of Nájera
 * Gómez (1046–1064)
 * Munio (1065–1080)
 * Sancho (1080–1087)
 * Sigefredo (1088–1089)
 * Pedro (1089–1109)
 * Sancho de Grañón (1109–1116)
 * Sancho de Funes (1118–1146)
 * Rodrigo de Cascante (1146–1170); later Bishop of successor see Calahorra (1170–1190)

Titular see
The diocese was nominally restored in 1969 as Latin Titular bishopric of Naiera (Curiate Italian and Latin; Latin adjective Naiaren(sis) / Nájera (Spanish).

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank :
 * Patrick Vincent Ahern (1970.02.03 – death 2011.03.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of New York (USA) (1970.02.03 – retired 1994.04.26) and on emeritate
 * Timothée Bodika Mansiyai, Sulpicians (P.S.S.) (2012.02.02 – 2016.11.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Kinshasa (Congo-Kinshasa) (2012.02.02 – 2016.11.19); later Bishop of Kikwit (Congo-Kinshasa) (2016.11.19 – ...)
 * Bernard Edward "Ned" Shlesinger III (2017.07.19 – ) as Auxiliary Bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta (USA)

Main sites
The church of Santa María la Real was founded by García Sánchez III of Pamplona in 1052. It is the burial-place of kings of Navarre. The monks had to abandon the annexed monastic complex in the 19th century, as a result of the anti-clerical reforms of Juan Álvarez Mendizábal.

Other sights include :
 * Bridge on the Najerilla river, rebuilt on Roman bridge foundations in 1090 by San Juan de Ortega and remade in 1880
 * Excavations of the Alcázar (Moorish fort), abandoned in the 16th century
 * Monastery of Valvanera, 33 km from the town, built in the 11th century, but restored in Gothic style in the 15th century as it became a residence of queen Isabella I of Castile (Isabella of Spain).
 * Convent of St. Helena (18th century)
 * Najerillense Museum.

Notable people

 * García Sánchez III of Pamplona
 * Felix Morga
 * Urraca López de Haro
 * Diego López II de Haro
 * Esteban Manuel de Villegas
 * Pedro González de Salcedo
 * Ángel Hidalgo Ibáñez

title: Nájera


text:
Lena Horne

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving on to Hollywood and Broadway.

A groundbreaking African-American performer, Horne advocated for civil rights and took part in the March on Washington in August 1963. Later she returned to her roots as a nightclub performer and continued to work on television while releasing well-received record albums. She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than 300 performances on Broadway. She then toured the country in the show, earning numerous awards and accolades. Horne continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, retreating from the public eye in 2000.

Early life
Lena Horne was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Both sides of her family were biracial African Americans. She belonged to the well-educated upper stratum of Black New Yorkers at the time. She lived the first five years of her life in a brownstone at 519 Macon Street.

Horne's father, Edwin Fletcher "Teddy" Horne Jr. (1893–1970), a one-time owner of a hotel and restaurant, was a gambler. Teddy Horne left the family when Lena was three years old and moved to an upper-middle-class African-American community in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Edna Louise Scottron, was an actress with a Black theatre troupe and traveled extensively. Edna's maternal grandmother, Amelie Louise Ashton, was from modern Senegal. Horne had a paternal great-grandmother who was a Blackfoot Indian. Horne was raised mainly by her paternal grandparents, Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horne.

When Horne was five she was sent to live in Georgia. For several years she traveled with her mother. From 1927 to 1929 she lived with her uncle, Frank S. Horne. He was the dean of students at Fort Valley Junior Industrial Institute (now part of Fort Valley State University) in Fort Valley, Georgia, and later served as an adviser to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. From Fort Valley, southwest of Macon, Horne briefly moved to Atlanta with her mother; they returned to New York when Horne was twelve years old, after which Horne attended St Peter Claver School in Brooklyn.

Horne then attended Girls High School, an all-girls public high school in Brooklyn, which later became Boys and Girls High School; she dropped out at age 16. At the age of 18 she moved to her father's home in Pittsburgh, staying in the city's Hill District for almost five years and learning music from native Pittsburgers Billy Strayhorn and Billy Eckstine, among others.

Road to Hollywood
In the fall of 1933, Horne joined the chorus line of the Cotton Club in New York City. In the spring of 1934, she had a featured role in the Cotton Club Parade starring Adelaide Hall, who took Lena under her wing. Horne made her first screen appearance as a dancer in the musical short Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party (1935). A few years later, Horne joined Noble Sissle's Orchestra, with which she toured and with whom she made her first records, issued by Decca. After she separated from her first husband, Horne toured with bandleader Charlie Barnet in 1940–41, but disliked the travel and left the band to work at the Cafe Society in New York. She replaced Dinah Shore as the featured vocalist on NBC's popular jazz series The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. The show's resident maestros, Henry Levine and Paul Laval, recorded with Horne in June 1941 for RCA Victor. Horne left the show after only six months when she was hired by former Cafe Trocadero (Los Angeles) manager Felix Young to perform in a Cotton Club-style revue on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.

Horne already had two low-budget movies to her credit: a musical feature called The Duke is Tops (1938, later reissued with Horne's name above the title as The Bronze Venus); and a two-reel short subject, Boogie Woogie Dream (1941), featuring pianists Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons. Horne's songs from Boogie Woogie Dream were later released individually as soundies. Horne made her Hollywood nightclub debut at Felix Young's Little Troc on the Sunset Strip in January 1942. A few weeks later, she was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In November 1944, she was featured in an episode of the popular radio series Suspense, as a fictional nightclub singer, with a large speaking role along with her singing. In 1945 and 1946, she sang with Billy Eckstine's Orchestra.

She made her debut at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Panama Hattie (1942) and performed the title song of Stormy Weather (1943) based loosely on the life of Adelaide Hall, for 20th Century Fox, while on loan from MGM. She appeared in several MGM musicals, including Cabin in the Sky (1943) with an entirely African-American cast. She was otherwise not featured in a leading role because of her ethnicity and the fact that her films were required to be re-edited for showing in cities where theaters would not show films with Black performers. As a result, most of Horne's film appearances were stand-alone sequences that had no bearing on the rest of the film, so editing caused no disruption to the storyline. One number from Cabin in the Sky was cut before release because it was considered too suggestive by the censors: Horne singing "Ain't It the Truth" while taking a bubble bath. This scene and song are featured in the film That's Entertainment! III (1994), which also featured commentary from Horne on why the scene was deleted prior to the film's release. Horne was the first African-American person elected to serve on the Screen Actors Guild board of directors.

In Ziegfeld Follies (1946), she performed "Love" by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. Horne lobbied for the role of Julie LaVerne in MGM's version of Show Boat (1951), having already played the role when a segment of Show Boat was performed in Till the Clouds Roll By, but lost the part to Ava Gardner, a friend in real life. Horne claimed this was due to the Production Code's ban on interracial relationships in films, although MGM sources state she was never considered for the role. In the documentary ''That's Entertainment! III,'' Horne stated that MGM executives required Gardner to practice her singing using Horne's recordings, which offended both actresses. Ultimately, Gardner's voice was overdubbed by actress Annette Warren (Smith) for the theatrical release.

Changes of direction
Horne became disenchanted with Hollywood and increasingly focused on her nightclub career. She made only two major appearances for MGM during the 1950s: Duchess of Idaho (1950, which was also Eleanor Powell's final film); and the musical Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). She said she was "tired of being typecast as a Negro who stands against a pillar singing a song. I did that 20 times too often." She was blacklisted during the 1950s for her affiliations in the 1940s with communist-backed groups. She would subsequently disavow communism. She returned to the screen, playing Claire Quintana, a madam in a brothel who marries Richard Widmark, in the film Death of a Gunfighter (1969), her first straight dramatic role with no reference to her color. She later appeared on screen two more times as Glinda in The Wiz (1978), which was directed by her then son-in-law Sidney Lumet, and co-hosting the MGM retrospective ''That's Entertainment! III'' (1994), in which she related her unkind treatment by the studio.

After leaving Hollywood, Horne established herself as one of the premier nightclub performers of the post-war era. She headlined at clubs and hotels throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. In 1957, a live album entitled, Lena Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria, became the biggest-selling record by a female artist in the history of the RCA Victor label at that time. In 1958, Horne became the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Tony Award for "Best Actress in a Musical", for her part in the "Calypso" musical Jamaica (which, at Horne's request featured her longtime friend Adelaide Hall).

From the late 1950s through to the 1960s, Horne was a staple of TV variety shows, appearing multiple times on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show, and The Bell Telephone Hour. Other programs she appeared on included The Judy Garland Show, The Hollywood Palace, and The Andy Williams Show. Besides two television specials for the BBC (later syndicated in the U.S.), Horne starred in her own U.S. television special in 1969, Monsanto Night Presents Lena Horne. During this decade, the artist Pete Hawley painted her portrait for RCA Victor, capturing the mood of her performance style.

In 1970, she co-starred with Harry Belafonte in the hour-long Harry & Lena special for ABC; in 1973, she co-starred with Tony Bennett in Tony and Lena. Horne and Bennett subsequently toured the U.S. and U.K. in a show together. In the 1976 program America Salutes Richard Rodgers, she sang a lengthy medley of Rodgers songs with Peggy Lee and Vic Damone. Horne also made several appearances on The Flip Wilson Show. Additionally, Horne played herself on television programs such as The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Sanford and Son in the 1970s, as well as a 1985 performance on The Cosby Show and a 1993 appearance on A Different World. In the summer of 1980, Horne, 63 years old and intent on retiring from show business, embarked on a two-month series of benefit concerts sponsored by the sorority Delta Sigma Theta. These concerts were represented as Horne's farewell tour, yet her retirement lasted less than a year.

On April 13, 1980, Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, and host Gene Kelly were all scheduled to appear at a Gala performance at the Metropolitan Opera House to salute the NY City Center's Joffrey Ballet Company. However, Pavarotti's plane was diverted over the Atlantic and he was unable to appear. James Nederlander was an invited Honored Guest and observed that only three people at the sold-out Metropolitan Opera House asked for their money back. He asked to be introduced to Horne following her performance. In May 1981, The Nederlander Organization, Michael Frazier, and Fred Walker went on to book Horne for a four-week engagement at the newly named Nederlander Theatre on West 41st Street in New York City. The show was an instant success and was extended to a full year run, garnering Horne a special Tony award, and two Grammy Awards for the cast recording of her show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. The 333-performance Broadway run closed on Horne's 65th birthday, June 30, 1982. Later that same week, she performed the entire show again to record it for television broadcast and home video release. Horne began a tour a few days later at Tanglewood (Massachusetts) during the weekend of July 4, 1982. The Lady and Her Music toured 41 cities in the U.S. and Canada until June 17, 1984. It played in London for a month in August and ended its run in Stockholm, Sweden, September 14, 1984. In 1981, she received a Special Tony Award for the show, which also played to acclaim at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1984. Despite the show's considerable success (Horne still holds the record for the longest-running solo performance in Broadway history), she did not capitalize on the renewed interest in her career by undertaking many new musical projects. A proposed 1983 joint recording project between Horne and Frank Sinatra (to be produced by Quincy Jones) was ultimately abandoned, and her sole studio recording of the decade was 1988's The Men in My Life, featuring duets with Sammy Davis Jr. and Joe Williams. In 1989, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 1995, a "live" album capturing Horne's Supper Club performance was released (subsequently winning a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album). In 1998, Horne released another studio album, entitled Being Myself. Thereafter, Horne retired from performing and largely retreated from public view, though she did return to the recording studio in 2000 to contribute vocal tracks on Simon Rattle's Classic Ellington album.

Civil rights activism

Horne was long involved with the Civil Rights Movement. In 1941, she sang at Café Society, New York City's first integrated venue, and worked with Paul Robeson. During World War II, when entertaining the troops for the USO, she refused to perform "for segregated audiences or for groups in which German POWs were seated in front of Black servicemen", according to her Kennedy Center biography. Because the U.S. Army refused to allow integrated audiences, she staged her show for a mixed audience of Black U.S. soldiers and white German POWs. Seeing the Black soldiers had been forced to sit in the back seats, she walked off the stage to the first row where the Black troops were seated and performed with the Germans behind her. However, the USO observed at the time of her death that Horne did in fact tour "extensively with the USO during WWII on the West Coast and in the South". The organization also commemorated her for the appearances she made on Armed Forces Radio Service programs Jubilee, G.I. Journal, and Command Performances. In the film Stormy Weather (1943), Horne's character would perform the film's title song as part of a big, all-star show for World War II soldiers as well. After quitting the USO in 1945, Horne financed tours of military camps herself.

Horne was at an NAACP rally with Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, the weekend before Evers was assassinated. At the March on Washington she spoke and performed on behalf of the NAACP, S.N.C.C., and the National Council of Negro Women. She also worked with Eleanor Roosevelt in attempts to pass anti-lynching laws. Tom Lehrer mentions her in his song "National Brotherhood Week" in the line "Lena Horne and Sheriff Clark are dancing cheek to cheek" referring (wryly) to her and to Sheriff Jim Clark, of Selma, Alabama, who was responsible for a violent attack on civil rights marchers in 1965. In 1983, the NAACP awarded her the Spingarn Medal.

Horne was a registered Democrat and on November 20, 1963, she, along with Democratic National Committee (D.N.C.) Chairman John Bailey, Carol Lawrence, Richard Adler, Sidney Salomon, Vice-chairwoman of the DNC Margaret B. Price, and Secretary of the DNC Dorothy Vredenburgh Bush, visited John F. Kennedy at The White House, two days prior to his assassination.

Personal life

Horne married Louis Jordan Jones, a political operative, in January 1937 in Pittsburgh. On December 21, 1937, their daughter, Gail (later known as Gail Lumet Buckley, a writer) was born. They had a son, Edwin Jones (1940–1970), who died of kidney disease. Horne and Jones separated in 1940 and divorced in 1944. Horne's second marriage was to Lennie Hayton, who was music director and one of the premier musical conductors and arrangers at MGM, in December 1947 in Paris. They separated in the early 1960s but never divorced. He died in 1971. In her as-told-to autobiography Lena by Richard Schickel, Horne recounts the enormous pressures she and her husband faced as an interracial couple. She later admitted in an interview in Ebony (May 1980) that she had married Hayton to advance her career and cross the color barrier in show business, but "learned to love him very much".

Horne had affairs with long-time heavyweight champion Joe Louis, musician and actor Artie Shaw, actor Orson Welles and director Vincente Minnelli.

Horne also had a long and close relationship with Billy Strayhorn, whom she said she would have married if he had been heterosexual. He was also an important professional mentor to her.

Screenwriter Jenny Lumet, known for her award-winning screenplay Rachel Getting Married, is Horne's granddaughter, the daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet and Horne's daughter Gail. Her other grandchildren include Gail's other daughter, Amy Lumet, and her son's four children, Thomas, William, Samadhi and Lena. Her great-grandchildren include Jake Cannavale.

Horne was Catholic. From 1946 to 1962 she resided in St. Albans, Queens, New York, enclave of prosperous African Americans, where she counted among her neighbors Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and other jazz luminaries. In the 1980s, she moved into the fifth floor of the Volney, a hotel-turned-co-op, at 23 East 74th Street.

Death
Lena Horne died of congestive heart failure at age 92 on May 9, 2010. Her funeral took place at St. Ignatius Loyola Church on Park Avenue in New York, where she had been a member. Thousands gathered and attendees included: Leontyne Price, Dionne Warwick, Liza Minnelli, Jessye Norman, Chita Rivera, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Leslie Uggams, Lauren Bacall, Robert Osborne, Audra McDonald, and Vanessa Williams. Her remains were cremated.

Legacy
In 2003, ABC announced that Janet Jackson would star as Horne in a television biographical film. In the weeks following Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" debacle during the 2004 Super Bowl, however, Variety reported that Horne had demanded Jackson be dropped from the project. "ABC executives resisted Horne's demand", according to the Associated Press report, "but Jackson representatives told the trade newspaper that she left willingly after Horne and her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, asked that she not take part." Oprah Winfrey stated to Alicia Keys during a 2005 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show that she might possibly consider producing the biopic herself, casting Keys as Horne.

In January 2005, Blue Note Records, her label for more than a decade, announced that "the finishing touches have been put on a collection of rare and unreleased recordings by the legendary Horne made during her time on Blue Note." Remixed by her long-time producer Rodney Jones, the recordings featured Horne with a remarkably secure voice for a woman of her years, and include versions of such signature songs as "Something to Live For", "Chelsea Bridge", and "Stormy Weather". The album, originally titled Soul but renamed Seasons of a Life, was released on January 24, 2006. In 2007, Horne was portrayed by Leslie Uggams as the older Lena and Nikki Crawford as the younger Lena in the stage musical Stormy Weather staged at the Pasadena Playhouse in California (January to March 2009). In 2011, Horne was also portrayed by actress Ryan Jillian in a one-woman show titled Notes from A Horne staged at the Susan Batson studio in New York City, from November 2011 to February 2012. The 83rd Academy Awards presented a tribute to Horne by actress Halle Berry at the ceremony held February 27, 2011.

In 2018, a forever stamp depicting Horne began to be issued; this made Horne the 41st honoree in the Black Heritage stamp series.

In June 2021, the Prospect Park bandshell in Brooklyn was renamed the Lena Horne Bandshell to honor Horne, a Bed-Stuy Brooklyn native, and to show solidarity with the Black community.

The Nederlander Organization announced in June 2022 that Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre would be renamed after her later that year. The theater's marquee was unveiled on November 1, 2022. The theatre is now called the Lena Horne Theatre, which means Horne is the first Black woman to have a Broadway theater named after her.

Film

 * Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party (1935, short subject)
 * The Duke Is Tops (1938)
 * Panama Hattie (1942)
 * Cabin in the Sky (1943)
 * Stormy Weather (1943)
 * Thousands Cheer (1943)
 * I Dood It (1943)
 * Swing Fever (1943)
 * Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944, short subject filmed in 1941)
 * Broadway Rhythm (1944)
 * Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
 * Studio Visit (1946) (short subject; featuring outtake from Cabin in the Sky)
 * Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
 * Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
 * Words and Music (1948)
 * Some of the Best (1949, short subject)
 * Duchess of Idaho (1950)
 * Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
 * The Heart of Show Business (1957, short subject)
 * Now! (1965) (short subject, voice only)
 * Death of a Gunfighter (1969)
 * The Wiz (1978)
 * That's Entertainment! III (1994)
 * Strange Frame (archive footage, 2012)

Television

 * What's My Line? (as Mystery Guest, September 27, 1953)
 * Ed Sullivan Show (January 6, 1957)
 * "What's My Line?" (as Mystery Guest, March 2, 1958)
 * The Judy Garland Show (as herself, October 13, 1963)
 * The Perry Como Show (as herself, March 5, 1965)
 * Sesame Street (as herself, Episode #5.1, November 19, 1973)
 * Sanford & Son ("A Visit from Lena Horne" as herself, #2. January 12, 1973)
 * The Muppet Show (as herself, 1976)
 * Sesame Street (as herself, Episode #7.76, March 15, 1976)
 * The Cosby Show ("Cliff's Birthday" as herself, May 9, 1985)
 * A Different World ("A Rock, a River, a Lena" as herself, July 1993)

Albums

 * Moanin' Low (RCA Victor, 1942)
 * Classics in Blue (Black & White, 1947)
 * Lena Horne Sings (Tops, 1953)
 * It's Love (RCA Victor, 1955)
 * Lena Horne (Tops, 1956)
 * Jamaica with Ricardo Montalban (RCA Victor, 1957)
 * Stormy Weather (RCA Victor, 1957)
 * Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria (RCA Victor, 1957)
 * Lena and Ivie with Ivie Anderson (Jazztone, 1957)
 * I Feel So Smoochie (Lion, 1958)
 * Give the Lady What She Wants (RCA Victor, 1958)
 * Songs by Burke and Van Heusen (RCA Victor, 1959)
 * Porgy & Bess with Harry Belafonte (RCA Victor, 1959)
 * Lena Horne at the Sands (RCA Victor, 1961)
 * L' inimitable Lena Horne with Phil Moore (Explosive, 1962)
 * Lena...Lovely and Alive (RCA Victor, 1962)
 * Lena on the Blue Side (RCA Victor, 1962)
 * Fabulous! (Baronet, 1962)
 * Here's Lena Now! (20th Century Fox, 1963)
 * Swinging Lena Horne (Coronet, 1963)
 * Lena Horne Sings Your Requests (MGM, 1963)
 * Lena Like Latin (CRC Charter 1963)
 * Gloria Lynne & Lena Horne (Coronet, 1963)
 * The Incomparable Lena Horne (Tops, 1963)
 * Feelin' Good (United Artists, 1965)
 * Merry from Lena (United Artists, 1966)
 * Soul (United Artists, 1966)
 * Lena in Hollywood (United Artists, 1966)
 * The Horne of Plenty (World Record Club 1966)
 * Dinah Washington: A Memorial Tribute with Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan (Coronet, 1967)
 * My Name Is Lena (United Artists, 1967)
 * Lena & Gabor with Gábor Szabó (Skye, 1970)
 * Harry & Lena with Harry Belafonte (RCA, 1970)
 * Nature's Baby (Buddah, 1971)
 * Lena (Ember, 1971)
 * Lena & Michel with Michel Legrand (RCA Victor, 1975)
 * Lena: A New Album (RCA, 1976)
 * The Exciting Lena Horne (Springboard, 1977)
 * Love from Lena (Koala, 1979)
 * Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music (Qwest, 1981)
 * A Date with Lena Horne 1944 (Sunbeam, 1981)
 * The One & Only (Polydor, 1982)
 * Standing Room Only (Accord, 1982)
 * The Men in My Life (Three Cherries, 1988)
 * Lena (Prestige, 1990)
 * We'll Be Together Again (Blue Note, 1994)
 * An Evening with Lena Horne (Blue Note, 1995)
 * Cabin in the Sky (TCM, 1996)
 * Wonderful Lena (Sovereign, 1997)
 * Being Myself (Blue Note, 1998)
 * The Complete Black and White Recordings (Simitar, 1999)
 * The Classic Lena Horne (RCA, 2001)
 * Stormy Weather (Bluebird, 2002)
 * Seasons of a Life (Blue Note, 2006)

Singles

 * "That's What Love Did to Me"/"I Take to You" (Decca)
 * "Stormy Weather" (1943)
 * "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" (1945) No. 21 U.S. Pop
 * "'Deed I Do" (1948) No. 26 U.S. Pop
 * "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955) No. 19 U.S. Pop (Disc Jockey Chart)
 * "Now!" (1963) No. 92 U.S. Pop
 * "Watch What Happens" with Gabor Szabo (1970) No. 119 U.S. Pop

title: Lena Horne


text:
Axeman of New Orleans

The Axeman of New Orleans was an unidentified American serial killer who was active in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, between May 1918 and October 1919. Press reports during the height of public panic over the killings mentioned similar crimes as early as 1911, but recent researchers have called these reports into question. The attacker was never identified, and the murders remain unsolved.

Background
As the killer's epithet implies, the victims usually were attacked with an axe, which often belonged to the victims themselves. In most cases, a panel on the backdoor of a home was removed by a chisel, which along with the panel was left on the floor near the door. The intruder then attacked one or more of the inhabitants with either an axe or a straight razor. The crimes were not motivated by robbery, and the perpetrator never removed items from his victims' homes.

The majority of the Axeman's victims were Italian immigrants or Italian-Americans, leading many to believe that the crimes were ethnically motivated. Many media outlets sensationalized this aspect of the crimes, even suggesting Mafia involvement despite lack of evidence. Some crime analysts have suggested that the killings were sexually motivated, and that the murderer was perhaps a sexual sadist specifically seeking female victims. Criminologists Colin and Damon Wilson hypothesize that the Axeman killed male victims only when they obstructed his attempts to murder women, supported by cases in which the woman of the household was murdered but not the man.

A less plausible theory is that the Axeman committed the murders in an attempt to promote jazz music, suggested by written correspondence attributed to the killer in which he stated that he would spare the lives of those who played jazz in their homes. On March 13, 1919, a letter purporting to be from the Axeman was published in newspapers, saying that he would kill again at fifteen minutes past midnight on the night of March 19 but would spare the occupants of any place where a jazz band was playing. That night all of the city's dance halls were filled to capacity, and professional and amateur bands played jazz at parties at hundreds of houses around town. There were no murders that night.

The Axeman was never caught or identified, and his crime spree stopped as mysteriously as it had started. The murderer's identity remains unknown, although various possible identifications of varying plausibility have been proposed.

Suspects
Crime writer Colin Wilson speculates the Axeman could have been Joseph Monfre, a man shot to death in Los Angeles in December 1920 by the widow of Mike Pepitone, the Axeman's last known victim. Wilson's theory has been widely repeated in other true crime books and websites. However, true crime writer Michael Newton searched public, police and court records in New Orleans and Los Angeles, as well as newspaper archives, and failed to find any evidence of a man named "Joseph Monfre" (or a similar name) having been assaulted or killed in Los Angeles.

Newton was also not able to find any information that Mrs. Pepitone (identified in some sources as Esther Albano, and in others simply as a "woman who claimed to be Pepitone's widow") was arrested, tried or convicted for such a crime, or indeed had been in California. Newton notes that "Momfre" was not an unusual surname in New Orleans at the time of the crimes. It appears that there actually may have been an individual named Joseph Momfre or Mumfre in New Orleans who had a criminal history, and who may have been connected with organized crime; however, local records for the period are not extensive enough to allow confirmation of this, or to positively identify the individual. Wilson's explanation is an urban legend, and there is no more evidence now on the identity of the killer than there was at the time of the crimes.

Two of the alleged "early" victims of the Axeman, an Italian couple named Schiambra, were shot by an intruder in their Lower Ninth Ward home during the early morning hours of May 16, 1912. The male Schiambra survived while his wife did not. In newspaper accounts, the prime suspect was referred to by the name of "Momfre" more than once. While radically different than the Axeman's usual modus operandi, if Joseph Momfre was indeed the Axeman, the Schiambras may well have been early victims of the future serial killer.

According to scholar Richard Warner, the chief suspect in the crimes was Frank "Doc" Mumphrey (1875–1921), who used the alias Leon Joseph Monfre/Manfre. Mumphrey's Garden District jazz business, previously struggling, was noted by many in the community as seeming to do unusually good business once the city was compelled by threat of violence to hire jazz bands and play jazz records.

Joseph and Catherine Maggio
On May 23, 1918, Joseph Maggio, an Italian grocer, and his wife Catherine were attacked while sleeping inside their apartment on the corner of Upperline and Magnolia Streets. The killer broke into the residence and cut the couple's throats with a straight razor; Catherine's throat was cut so deeply that her head was nearly severed from her shoulders. The killer then struck both victims with an axe, perhaps in order to conceal the cause of death. Joseph survived the attack, but died minutes after being discovered by his brothers, Jake and Andrew. The killer wrote a message on the nearby pavement reading, "Mrs. Maggio will sit up tonight just like Mrs. Toney", theorized to be a reference to Anthony and Joanna Sciambra, Italian greengrocers who were attacked (Johanna fatally) in 1911.

Police found the bloody clothes of the murderer in the apartment, as he had obviously changed into a clean set of clothes before fleeing the scene. A complete search of the premises was not performed after the bodies were removed, yet the bloodstained razor was later found on the lawn of a neighboring property. Police ruled out robbery as motivation for the attacks, as money and valuables left in plain sight were not stolen by the intruder. The razor was found to belong to Joseph's brother Andrew, who owned a barber shop on Camp Street. His employee, Esteban Torres, told police that Andrew had removed the razor from his shop two days prior to the murder, explaining that he had wanted to have a nick honed from the blade. Andrew, who lived in an adjoining apartment, reported hearing groaning noises through the wall on the night of the murders. Andrew blamed his failure to hear any noise related to the attack itself on his intoxicated state; police, however, were nonetheless surprised that he failed to hear the intruder's forced entry into the home.

Andrew became the police chief's prime suspect in the crime, yet was released after investigators were unable to break down his statement, as well as his account of an unknown man who was supposedly seen lurking near the apartment prior to the murders.

Louis Besumer and Harriet Lowe
During the early morning hours of June 27, 1918, Louis Besumer and his mistress Harriet Lowe were attacked in private quarters at the back of Besumer's grocery, located at the corner of Dorgenois and Laharpe Streets. Besumer was struck with a hatchet above his right temple, which resulted in a possible skull fracture. Lowe was hacked over the left ear and left with one side of her face permanently paralyzed. The couple were discovered the following morning, alive but critically injured, by bakery wagon driver John Zanca, who had come to the grocery to make a routine delivery. The axe, which had belonged to Besumer himself, was found in an adjacent bathroom.

Besumer stated to investigators that he had been sleeping when he was attacked with the hatchet. Almost immediately, police arrested Lewis Oubicon, a 41-year-old African American man who had been employed in the grocery just a week before the attacks. No evidence existed which could have proved Oubicon guilty, yet police arrested him nonetheless, stating that he had offered conflicting accounts of his whereabouts on the morning of the attack. Oubicon was later released, however, as police were unable to gather sufficient evidence to hold him. Lowe recalled her assailant having been a mulatto man, yet her statement was discounted by police due to her disoriented state. Robbery was said to be the only possible explanation for the attacks, yet no money or valuables were removed from the scene.

Lowe became the center of a media circus as she continually made scandalous and often false statements relating to both the attacks and the character of Besumer. After Besumer fell under suspicion of espionage following the discovery of foreign-written letters in his possession, Lowe told police that she thought he was a German spy, resulting in his immediate arrest; he was released two days later. In August 1918, Besumer was arrested again after Lowe, by then on her deathbed following failed surgery, named him as her assailant. Besumer was charged with murder, and served nine months in prison, before being acquitted on May 1, 1919, after a ten-minute jury deliberation.

Anna Schneider
During the early morning hours of August 5, 1918, 28-year-old Anna Schneider, who was eight months pregnant, awoke to find a dark figure standing over her and was bashed in the face repeatedly; her scalp was cut open, and her face was covered in blood. Anna was discovered after midnight by her husband, Ed Schneider, as he returned late from work. Anna claimed that she remembered nothing of the attack and gave birth to a healthy baby girl two days later. Ed told police that nothing was stolen from the home besides six or seven dollars that had been in his wallet. The windows and doors of the couple's apartment appeared to have not been forced open, and authorities came to the conclusion that the woman was most likely attacked with a lamp that had been on a nearby table.

James Gleason, who police said was an ex-convict, was arrested shortly after Anna was found. He was later released due to lack of evidence. Lead investigators began to publicly speculate that the attack was related to the previous incidents Besumer and Maggio incidents.

Joseph Romano
On August 10, 1918, Pauline and Mary Bruno awoke to the sound of a commotion in the adjoining room where their elderly uncle, Joseph Romano, resided. Upon entering the room, the sisters discovered Romano had taken a serious blow to his head, which resulted in two open cuts. The assailant was fleeing the scene as they arrived, yet the girls were able to distinguish that he was a dark-skinned, heavy-set man who wore a dark suit and slouched hat. Romano was able to walk to the ambulance once it arrived yet died two days later due to severe head trauma. His home had been ransacked, yet no items were stolen. Authorities found a bloody axe in the backyard and discovered that a panel on the backdoor had been chiseled away.

The murder created a state of extreme chaos in New Orleans, with residents living in constant fear of an Axeman attack. Police received a slew of reports in which citizens claimed to have seen the killer lurking in local neighborhoods. A few men even called to report that they had found axes in their backyards. John Dantonio, a then-retired Italian detective, made public statements in which he hypothesized that the man who had committed the recent murders was the same who had killed several individuals in 1911. Dantonio described the potential killer as an individual of dual personalities, who killed without motive. This type of individual, Dantonio stated, could very likely have been a normal, law-abiding citizen, who was often overcome by an overwhelming desire to kill. He later went on to describe the killer as a real-life "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".

Cortimiglia family
On the night of March 10, 1919, Italian immigrant Charles Cortimiglia and his family–wife Rosie and infant daughter Mary– were attacked in their residence on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Second Street in Gretna, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb. Upon hearing screams from the Cortimiglia residence, grocer Iorlando Jordano rushed across the street to investigate. He discovered that Cortimiglia's family had all been attacked by the Axeman. Charles and Rosie had both suffered skull fractures from blows caused by an axe, which was found on their back porch; Mary was killed in her mother's arms from a blow to the back of the neck. Nothing was stolen from the house, but a panel on the backdoor had been chiseled away. Charles was released two days after the attack while his wife remained in the care of doctors.

Upon gaining full consciousness, Rosie made claims that Jordano and his 18-year-old son, Frank, were responsible for the attacks. Iorlando, a 69-year-old man, was in too poor of health to have done so. Frank, more than six feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds, would have been too large to have fit through the panel on the backdoor. Charles vehemently denied his wife's claims, yet police nonetheless arrested the Jordanos and charged them with the murder. The men would later be found guilty. Frank was sentenced to hang, and his father to life in prison. Charles divorced his wife after the trial. Almost a year later, Rosie admitted that she had falsely accused the Jordanos out of jealousy and spite, resulting in their release.

Steve Boca
On August 10, 1919, grocer Steve Boca was attacked as he slept in his bedroom by an axe-wielding intruder. Boca awoke during the night to find a dark figure looming over his bed. Upon regaining consciousness, Boca ran to the street to investigate the intrusion, and found that his head had been cracked open. The grocer ran to the home of his neighbor, Frank Genusa, where he lost consciousness and collapsed. Nothing had been taken from the home yet, once again, a panel on the backdoor of the home had been chiseled away. Boca recovered from his injuries but could not remember any details of the attack. This attack took place after the emergence of the infamous Axeman letter.

Sarah Laumann
On the night of September 3, 1919, Sarah Laumann was attacked in her apartment. Neighbors came to check on the young woman, who had lived alone, and broke into the home when Laumann did not answer. They discovered the 19-year-old lying unconscious on her bed, suffering from a severe head injury and missing several teeth. The intruder had entered the apartment through an open window and attacked Laumann with a blunt object. A bloody axe was discovered on the front lawn of the building. Laumann recovered from her injuries yet couldn't recall any details from the attack.

Mike Pepitone
On the night of October 27, 1919, the wife of Mike Pepitone was awakened by a noise and arrived at the door of her husband's bedroom just as a large, axe-wielding man was fleeing the scene. Pepitone had been struck in the head and was covered in his own blood. Blood spatter covered the majority of the room, including a painting of the Virgin Mary. Pepitone's wife, the mother of six children, was unable to describe any characteristics of the killer other than "large". The Pepitone murder was the last of the alleged Axeman attacks.

In popular culture

 * In 1919, local tune writer Joseph John Davilla wrote the song, "The Mysterious Axman's Jazz (Don't Scare Me Papa)". Published by New Orleans based World's Music Publishing Company, the cover depicted a family playing music with frightened looks on their faces.
 * The Australian rock band Beasts of Bourbon released an album in 1984 called The Axeman's Jazz.
 * Writer Julie Smith used a fictionalized version of the Axeman events in her 1991 novel The Axeman's Jazz.
 * The Axeman killings are also referred to in the short story "Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz" by Poppy Z. Brite, published in 1997.
 * In Chuck Palahniuk's 2005 novel Haunted, the Axeman is mentioned in Sister Vigilante's short story.
 * A sentence from the Axeman's letter to The Times-Picayune is spoken at the beginning of Fila Brazillia's song "Tunstall and Californian Haddock."
 * Christopher Farnsworth's 2012 novel Red, White, and Blood centers on a murderous spirit called the Boogeyman, which has inhabited numerous bodies throughout history, including the Axeman of New Orleans.
 * Ray Celestin's 2014 novel The Axeman's Jazz is a fictionalized version of the Axeman of New Orleans's case.
 * The Axeman is mentioned in Season 3, Episode 5 and Season 4, Episode 6 of The Originals.
 * My Favorite Murder, a true crime podcast, covered the story of the Axeman on their 60th episode entitled "Jazz It".
 * Last Podcast on the Left covered the Axeman as part of their first episode on unsolved serial murders, titled "Unsolved Serial Murders Part 1: The Phantom, the Axe, and the Torso".
 * Stuff You Missed In History Class did a two-part miniseries on the Axeman in which they toyed with the idea of his murderous acts having begun prior to 1918.
 * Unsolved Murders, a true crime podcast, did a three-part miniseries on the Axeman of New Orleans, ending with their opinions of who the hosts think were responsible.
 * On the 13th Eisregen released the song "Axtmann", who tells of the crime.
 * BuzzFeed Unsolved, a YouTube series that delves into unsolved true crime cases and the supernatural, explored stories and theories regarding the Axeman in S2E1, "The Terrifying Axeman of New Orleans".
 * Alan G. Gauthreaux, author and historian, presented a comprehensive profile of the Axeman Murders in his book, Italian Louisiana: History, Heritage, and Tradition, published in 2014.
 * Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, a news satire program, mentioned The Axeman on episode 13 of season 6, titled "Medical Devices." John Oliver gave a brief history of the Axeman after showing a DePuy sales team celebrating their successful numbers for a hip device, which would later be recalled. The celebration was Mardi Gras themed, and included a man dressed up as The Axeman.
 * The American swing revival band Squirrel Nut Zippers released a song called "Axeman Jazz (Don't Scare Me Papa)" on their 2018 album, Beasts of Burgundy.
 * In the virtual reality game The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners multiple references to the Axeman can be found. A character references him in dialogue, and a special axe can be found in a safe with the phrase "the Axeman cometh" on the side. There is a reference to him liking jazz, as well as his famous quote from the infamous Axeman's Letter which is used to describe the special axe that can be found, known as the Esteemed Mortal. The Axeman's first physical appearance in game was "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution"
 * The Axeman, portrayed by Danny Huston, was featured in the third season of American Horror Story, ”Coven” titled 'the Axeman Cometh', which aired November 13, 2013.
 * The Axeman is one of three serial killers referenced by Jughead Jones in the opening narration of the fourth episode, "Chapter Seventeen: The Town That Dreaded Sundown", of the second season of Riverdale.
 * In 2014 Ray Celestin's The Axeman's Jazz was published, winning the CWA New Blood Dagger for the best debut crime novel of the year.

title: Axeman of New Orleans


text:
User talk:Gvalasek

Need chemical listings to contain CAS Registry Numbers....... Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Numbers! This enables cross-reference to other international documents, especially in the USA. Thanks!

title: User talk:Gvalasek


text:
You can't have your cake and eat it

You can't have your cake and eat it (too) is a popular English idiomatic proverb or figure of speech. The proverb literally means "you cannot simultaneously retain possession of a cake and eat it, too". Once the cake is eaten, it is gone. It can be used to say that one cannot have two incompatible things, or that one should not try to have more than is reasonable. The proverb's meaning is similar to the phrases "you can't have it both ways" and "you can't have the best of both worlds."

For those unfamiliar with it, the proverb may sound confusing due to the ambiguity of the word 'have', which can mean 'keep' or 'to have in one's possession', but which can also be used as a synonym for 'eat' (e.g. 'to have breakfast'). Some find the common form of the proverb to be incorrect or illogical and instead prefer: "You can't eat your cake and [then still] have it (too)". Indeed, this used to be the most common form of the expression until the 1930s–1940s, when it was overtaken by the have-eat variant. Another, less common, version uses 'keep' instead of 'have'.

Choosing between having and eating a cake illustrates the concept of trade-offs or opportunity cost.

History and usage
An early recording of the phrase is in a letter on 14 March 1538 from Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, to Thomas Cromwell, as "a man can not have his cake and eat his cake". The phrase occurs with the clauses reversed in John Heywood's A dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue from 1546, as "wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?". In John Davies's Scourge of Folly of 1611, the same order is used, as "A man cannot eat his cake and haue it stil."

In Jonathan Swift's 1738 farce Polite Conversation, the character Lady Answerall says "she cannot eat her cake and have her cake". In a posthumous adaptation of Polite Conversation, called Tittle Tattle; or, Taste A-la-Mode, released in 1749, the order was reversed: "And she cannot have her Cake and eat her Cake". A modern-sounding variant from 1812, "We cannot have our cake and eat it too", can be found in R. C. Knopf's Document Transcriptions of the War of 1812 (1959).

According to Google Ngram Viewer, a search engine that charts the frequencies of phrases in archived historical (written) documents over time, the eat-have order used to be the most common variant, before being surpassed by the have-eat version in the 1930s and 40s. A reflection of this can be found in Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged. Several pages into John Galt’s famous monologue, he employs the proverb as an analogy in simple terms: “You cannot have your cake and eat it, too”.

In 1996, the eat-have variant played a role in the apprehension of Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. In his manifesto, which the terrorist sent to newspapers in the wake of his bombings, Kaczynski advocated the undoing of the industrial revolution, writing: "As for the negative consequences of eliminating industrial society — well, you can’t eat your cake and have it too." James R. Fitzgerald, an FBI forensic linguist, noted the then-uncommon variant of the proverb and later discovered that Kaczynski had also used it in a letter to his mother. This, among other clues, led to his identification and arrest.

Anarcho-capitalist economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe in his 2001 book, Democracy: The God That Failed, mentions the famous proverb, and then, for further clarification and simplicity states, "You cannot have your cake and eat it too for instance, or what you consume now cannot be consumed again in the future."

In her 2002 book, classicist Katharina Volk of Columbia University used the phrase to describe the development of poetic imagery in didactic Latin poetry, naming the principle behind the imagery's adoption and application the "have-one's-cake-and-eat-it-too principle".

Cakeism
The expression “cakeism” and the associated noun and adjective “cakeist” have come into general use in British English, especially in political journalism, and have been accepted into English dictionaries.

The expressions, which reverse the traditional proverb, refer to a wish to enjoy two desirable but incompatible alternatives, especially regarding the UK’s approach to Brexit negotiations and subsequent deliberations. It developed after comments made by the then UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson in 2016, that "I've never been an Outer". "My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it." Subsequently, as prime minister, he described the UK's post-Brexit trade deal as a "cakeist treaty".

The neologisms have since become objects of derision and have led to sarcastic re-reversals.

Logicality
The proverb, while commonly used, is at times questioned by people who feel the expression to be illogical or incorrect. As comedian Billy Connolly once put it: "What good is [having] a cake if you can't eat it?" According to Paul Brians, Professor of English at Washington State University, the confusion about the idiom stems from the verb to have, which can refer to possessing, but also to eating, e.g. "Let's have breakfast" or "I'm having a sandwich". Brians argues that "You can't eat your cake and have it too" is a more logical variant than "You can't have your cake and eat it too", because the verb-order of "eat-have" makes more sense: once you've eaten your cake, you don't have it anymore.

Ben Zimmer, writing for the Language Log of the University of Pennsylvania, states that the interpretation of the two variants relies on the assumption of either sequentiality or simultaneity. If one believes the phrase to imply sequentiality, then the "eat-have" variant could be seen as a more logical form: you cannot eat your cake and then (still) have it, but you actually can have your cake and then eat it. Thus, "can't eat and (then) have" would be a correct statement, "can't have and (then) eat" would be an incorrect statement. However, if one believes the "and" conjoining the verbs to imply simultaneity of action rather than sequentiality of action, then both versions are usable as an idiom, because "cake-eating and cake-having are mutually exclusive activities, regardless of the syntactic ordering", Zimmer writes.

In response, Richard Mason disagreed with Zimmer's assertion on the mutually exclusiveness of the two actions: "simultaneous cake-having and cake-eating are NOT mutually exclusive. On the contrary, generally I cannot eat something at any time when I do not have it. But I eat things when I have them all the time. Only when the object is entirely consumed do I no longer have it (and at that time the eating is also terminated)." Therefore, Mason considers the "have-eat" variant to be "logically indefensible". Zimmer reacted to Mason by stating: "the 'having' part of the idiom seems to me to imply possession over a long period of time, rather than the transient cake-having that occurs during cake-eating". He concludes that it is ultimately not relevant to ponder over the logicality of crystallized, commonly used phrases. "Few people protest the expression head over heels to mean 'topsy-turvy,' despite the fact that its "literal" reading describes a normal, non-topsy-turvy bodily alignment".

Stan Carey, writing for the Macmillan Dictionary Blog, likens the "have-eat" vs. "eat-have" question with the discussion over "I could care less" and "I couldn't care less", two phrases that are used to refer to the same thing yet are construed differently, the former sounding illogical because saying "I could care less" would mean that you actually do care to some degree. Carey writes that even though the "eat-have" form of the cake-proverb might make more sense, "idioms do not hinge on logic, and expecting them to make literal sense is futile. But it can be hard to ward off the instinctive wish that language align better with common sense." Carey jokingly states that the cake-idiom actually does have its cake and eats it.

title: You can't have your cake and eat it


text:
Hiromi Goto

Hiromi Goto (born December 31, 1966 Chiba-ken, Japan) is a Japanese-Canadian writer, editor, and instructor of creative writing.

Life
Goto was born in Chiba'ken, Japan in 1966 and immigrated to Canada with her family in 1969. They lived on the west coast of British Columbia for eight years before moving to Nanton, Alberta, a small town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where her father farmed mushrooms. Goto earned her B.A. in English from the University of Calgary in 1989, where she received creative writing instruction from Aritha Van Herk and Fred Wah.

Goto's grandmother told her Japanese stories when she was growing up. Her work is also influenced by her father's life stories in Japan. These stories often featured ghosts and folk creatures such as the kappa — a small creature with a frog's body, a turtle's shell and a bowl-shaped head that holds water. Her writing commonly explores the themes of race, gender and cultural experiences, like eating, while moving between the realms of fantasy, horror and reality. Her first novel, Chorus of Mushrooms, was the 1995 recipient of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best First Book Canada and Caribbean Region' and the co-winner of the Canada-Japan Book Award. It has been released in Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In 2001, she was awarded the James Tiptree, Jr. Award and was short-listed for the regional Commonwealth Writer's Prize, Best Book Award, the Sunburst Award and the Spectrum Award.

Chorus of Mushrooms is about three generations of Japanese women in Canada, searching for identity in the midst of alienation and an often-hostile host country. The novel explores these characters' diverse, conflicting perspectives towards assimilation into the majority culture, and through the seamless blending of memory, history, and myth, develops a powerful conversation about what it means to belong. Goto speaks to a diasporic experience, on cultural conflicts held on stages from food to hygiene to language, and to the price paid for denying one's origins.

Goto has been the Writer-in-Residence for numerous institutions, including Athabasca University (2012-2013), the University of Alberta (2009-2010), Simon Fraser University (2008), Vancouver Public Library (2007) and Vancouver's Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She was the co-Guest of Honor of the 2014 WisCon science fiction convention in Madison, Wisconsin. where she gave a well-received speech on her experiences as a writer. Goto's graphic novel Shadow Life was selected as the Simon Fraser University Library's One Book One SFU choice in 2022.

title: Hiromi Goto


text:
User:Roepers

I am Marco Roepers and mainly active on the Dutch Wikipedia

/sandbox

da:Bruger:Roepers de:Benutzer:Roepers fy:Meidogger:Roepers nl:Gebruiker:Roepers sv:Användare:Roepers

title: User:Roepers