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John Sweeney (labor leader)

John Joseph Sweeney (May 5, 1934 – February 1, 2021) was an American labor leader who served as president of the AFL–CIO from 1995 to 2009.

Early years
Born in The Bronx, New York, Sweeney was the son of James, a city bus driver, and Agnes, a domestic worker, both Irish immigrants. Sweeney's family moved to Yonkers in 1944, where Sweeney attended St. Barnabas Elementary School and graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School. Sweeney's father took him to numerous union meetings, and it was there that Sweeney began his lifelong commitment to the American labor movement.

Sweeney enrolled at Iona College in New Rochelle in 1952. Sweeney worked as a grave-digger and building porter to pay his tuition, and joined his first union at this time. In 1956, he graduated with a degree in economics.

Union career with ILGWU and SEIU
After graduation, Sweeney became a clerk at IBM. But his commitment to the labor movement led Sweeney to take a two-thirds cut in pay to become a researcher with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in 1956 (now UNITE HERE).

In time, Sweeney met Thomas R. Donahue, then a union representative with the Building Service Employees International Union (BSEIU, now the Service Employees International Union or SEIU). Donahue asked Sweeney to leave the ILGWU, and he became a contract director with BSEIU Local 32B in 1960. BSEIU changed its name to the Services Employees International Union in 1968. In 1972, Sweeney became assistant to the president of Local 32B in addition to his existing duties as contract director. He was elected to the executive board of Local 32B the same year. In 1973, Sweeney was elected vice president of the local.

In 1976, John Sweeney was elected president of Local 32B. He resigned his position as contract director. Three months after taking office, Sweeney led the 45,000 members of SEIU out on a surprise strike against the New York Realty Advisory Board a day before the union's contract was due to expire. After 17 days, the union won a new contract with significant wage and benefit increases. In 1977, Sweeney merged Local 32B with Local 32J to form Local 32BJ. In 1979, Sweeney led the maintenance workers of Local 32BJ out on strike again, and won additional contract improvements.

In 1980, Sweeney was elected president of the national SEIU. Sweeney continued to serve as president of Local 32BJ until mid-1981, and drew a salary as a consultant to the local until 1995. Under Sweeney's tenure, SEIU made rapid gains in membership. The union began the decade with about 625,000 members. However, Sweeney began pushing for rapid expansion into new sectors and base areas. SEIU joined with the National Association of Working Women to organize office workers, and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) to organize nursing home workers. The union also dramatically expanded its reach among maintenance workers in the health care field and business offices.

Sweeney also pushed for mergers with a number of other unions, absorbing the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) and other public employee unions.

By 1993, SEIU had more than one million members. It was the first AFL–CIO union to reach the million-member mark in more than 20 years. But while Sweeney had emphasized the organization of new members, about half of its growth had come through merger. Sweeney initiated other changes at SEIU as well. The union began pushing for stronger federal laws in the area of health and safety, sexual harassment, and civil and immigrant rights. It also advocated for legally-mandated paid family leave, health care reform and a raise in the minimum wage. Internally, Sweeney devoted nearly a third of the union's budget to organizing new members and pushed for stronger diversity in the union's ranks.

1995 campaign for presidency of the AFL–CIO
In 1995, Sweeney and a small group of other national union presidents approached AFL–CIO president Lane Kirkland and asked that he retire. Dissatisfaction with Kirkland's leadership had grown in the early 1990s. There were a number of issues: Failure to pass labor law reform in President Bill Clinton's first term, failure to stop the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), failure to achieve health care reform, failure to pass legislation banning the permanent replacement of strikers, and failure to shift public discourse in a more liberal, pro-union direction. The fact that Kirkland was traveling in Europe while the U.S. Senate was considering the ban on permanent replacements was seen as all too indicative of his real priorities. Most frustrating of all was Kirkland's lackluster response to the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994. He seemed blatantly uninterested, even hostile, to plans calling for a more aggressive political program.

Opposition
The opposition to Kirkland came to a head at the mid-winter AFL–CIO executive council meeting in Bal Harbour, Florida, February 19–20, 1995. Since the start of the new year, Sweeney had twice held meetings with Kirkland to tell him that key members of the executive council were disappointed with his leadership and that he should step down in favor of secretary-treasurer Thomas R. Donahue.

The weekend before the executive council meeting, 11 union presidents on the executive council agreed to form a "Committee for Change". The group was committed to removing Kirkland as president of the AFL–CIO. The group included Sweeney; Gerald McEntee of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Owen Bieber of the United Auto Workers (UAW); George Becker of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA); Ron Carey of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT); Arthur Coia of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA); Wayne Glenn of the United Paperworkers International Union (UPIU); Frank Hanley of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE); George Kourpias of the International Association of Machinists (IAM); Sigurd Lucassen of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC); and Richard Trumka of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Together, these unions had sufficient votes to remove Kirkland at the October AFL–CIO convention and elect a new president.

The first choice of the Committee for Change was AFL–CIO secretary-treasurer Thomas R. Donahue, who had developed a reputation as an effective innovator. He had lobbied for the creation of an AFL–CIO committee to examine changes in the workplace, pioneered the federation's communication efforts (including the construction of a television studio at AFL–CIO headquarters) and led the campaign against NAFTA. But Donahue refused to challenge a man whom he had served loyally for nearly 16 years.

Kirkland refused to resign or retire. The executive council meeting turned rancorous. The dissident members of the executive council argued for a change in leadership and policy. But Kirkland pointed to his administration's policies and initiatives and claimed that the dissidents were disloyal and power-hungry.

On May 8, 1995, Donahue announced he was resigning as secretary-treasurer effective at the October AFL–CIO convention. The next day, Kirkland announced he was running for re-election.

The Committee for Change decided to run its own candidate against Kirkland. McEntee was considered too abrasive and had aggressively pursued disputes with other unions to be a consensus candidate. Trumka was considered too young and too militant. In contrast, Sweeney had a reassuring demeanor, an amiable personality and many friends on the executive council. He also would be seen as the "organizing candidate" the group wanted.

The group also agreed to nominate Trumka as secretary-treasurer of the AFL–CIO. The group also proposed to create a new office, that of executive vice-president, charged with mobilizing state federations and central labor councils and reaching out to minorities and women. The new position was also a way of ensuring that there would be an executive position which could be filled with a woman or a minority, thus gaining additional political support for the dissidents. The Committee for Change recruited Linda Chavez-Thompson, a member of the AFL–CIO executive council, a vice-president of AFSCME and an activist on the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

On June 13, the Committee formally announced its slate of candidates and the name of its platform, "A New Voice for American Workers". The slate of candidates became known as the "New Voice" slate. Shortly thereafter, 10 more unions announced their opposition to Kirkland's re-election. Now a total of 21 unions representing 56 percent of the delegates to the convention were opposed to Kirkland's presidency.

Faced with such discouraging numbers, Kirkland announced that he would resign effective August 1.

With Kirkland's resignation, the principal reason for Donahue's reluctance to run for president disappeared. The same day as Kirkland's announcement, Donahue withdrew his retirement announcement and said he would now run for the presidency of the AFL–CIO.

In the interim, however, support for Donahue among the dissident unions (which had changed its name to the "New Voice" slate) had dissipated.

At the August AFL–CIO executive council meeting, Donahue was elected by unanimous vote as the new AFL–CIO president. For the office of secretary-treasurer, the council elected Barbara Easterling, secretary-treasurer of the Communication Workers of America. Easterling announced that she would run with Donahue in October.

Opposition to the New Voice slate was led by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Communication Workers of America (CWA). AFT president Albert Shanker argued that the dissidents should have brought their concerns before the executive council, where, after discussion and deliberation, a decision about Kirkland's fate could have been made. Shanker also argued that exposing the labor movement's internal disputes to labor's enemies seriously risked weakening the labor movement. Finally, Shanker argued that the New Voice slate's attempt to mobilize state and local labor bodies in favor of one candidate risked politicizing the AFL–CIO and destabilizing it in the long run.

The New Voice group, however, understood that their only hope for success was to move the debate out of the executive council. In the executive council, each union—no matter how small—had an equal vote. A group of 20 small unions could make binding decisions even though their membership might be far less than that of their opponents. But at the AFL–CIO convention, each union was allotted delegates proportional to the size of its membership. At the convention, a coalition of large unions could triumph even if they did not represent a majority of unions. It would have been foolish for the New Voice slate, whose base was in some of the largest unions in the AFL–CIO, to pursue their goals in the executive council where their votes counted for less.

A public debate over the AFL–CIO's future had rarely been seen in the history of the American labor movement. The New Voice ticket campaigned intensively for the support of the state federations and central labor councils (CLCs), each of which was entitled to send one delegate to the convention. Normally, few of these bodies sent delegates to the quadrennial convention. But New Voice slate actively recruited delegates, and allegations were made that the slate had agreed to pay travel and housing for delegates if they agreed to support Sweeney. Sweeney also promised that more attention would be paid to these bodies, which the New Voice ticket saw as important in supporting local labor actions and enlarging the federation's political capabilities. Donahue refused to campaign for votes among the state federations and central labor councils, arguing that it would politicize the AFL-CIO and weaken the post-election consensus among the AFL–CIO's various bodies.

By August, it was clear that the New Voice slate would win at least two-thirds of the state federation and CLC votes. Donahue reversed his decision and campaigned for votes among these delegates, but his action came too late: Most of the votes were already locked up.

Both sides hired professional public relations firms to help manage their campaigns, which included media strategies, slogans, graphics, leaflets, press releases, T-shirts, opposition research, posters and videotaped speeches. The candidates also used 'free' media extensively, appearing on 'Meet the Press,' National Public Radio's 'Talk of the Nation,' the Public Broadcasting Service's 'MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour,' C-SPAN and other shows.

Despite Donahue's energetic campaigning, it soon became clear that his candidacy was profoundly limited by his ties to the Kirkland regime. Donahue was forced to defend the status quo and deny the magnitude of the labor movement's problems when he believed otherwise.

The New Voice political platform persuaded many unions to abandon the status quo. Sweeney called for a major expansion of the federation's role in organizing by: spending $20 million a year on hiring and training thousands of new organizers; mobilizing over 1,000 college students for summer organizing; creating a "Sunbelt Organizing Fund" to sponsor organizing in the South and Southwest; and establishing a separate Organizing Department. Sweeney also proposed creating a Center for Strategic Campaigns to coordinate all national contract campaigns; creating a Strategic Campaign Fund to provide grants to unions in difficult organizing and contract fights; creating a Strike Support Team of organizers that could be deployed to help support strikes; and establishing a Pension Investment Clearinghouse to provide information on how pensions are invested and to help mobilize investments in support of organizing. Sweeney also called for a modification of labor's political tactics and withdrawal of support for Democrats who did not support labor's agenda. Sweeney recommended creating a National Labor Political Training Center to recruit and train candidates and political campaign directors, and establishing a Labor Center for Economic and Public Policy that would develop policy analysis, support the federation's legislative agenda and expand the political activities of the state federations and central labor councils.

Finally, Sweeney argued that it was time to revamp the AFL–CIO itself. The New Voice platform promised more effective consultation with state federations and central labor councils, better ties with women and minority groups, expansion of the executive council to insure more women and minority representation, creation of the office of executive vice-president, annual meetings of the general board, restructuring of the trade and industrial departments and a rule that no one over the age of 70 could run for any executive office.

Partly in response to the New Voice platform and partly because he believed change was, in fact, needed, Donahue began to implement some of the New Voice reforms. He diverted revenue from the Union Privilege program into a new organizing fund that would eventually pay out $20 million a year. He increased the budget of the Organizing Institute, approved plans to double the number of organizers recruited and trained each year, and obtained executive council approval to provide no-interest loans to support striking unions. Donahue also diverted Union Privilege money to train 500 activists to work in the 1996 congressional elections.

At the AFL–CIO convention in New York City, a record-breaking 1,047 delegates gathered to determine the AFL–CIO's future. When the votes were finally counted on October 25, 1995, John Sweeney had secured the support of 34 unions representing 7,286,837 members, or 57 percent of the AFL–CIO's membership. As a result of New Voice efforts, the number of delegates from state federation and local central labor councils rose from 186 at the 1993 convention to 488 in 1995.

The New Voice ticket then asked the convention to implement its platform. Subsequently, the convention voted to provide state federations with representation on the AFL–CIO general board, which had previously been open only to national union presidents. The convention also expanded the AFL–CIO executive council from 33 to 54 members. Sweeney offered these new seats to previously unrepresented unions. The expansion nearly doubled representation for women and minorities on the council. The expansion had the added advantage of enabling both Sweeney supporters and Donahue loyalists to sit on the council, encouraging reconciliation. A 'unity slate' of executive council members was announced by Douglas H. Dority, president of the UFCW and a key Donahue supporter, and Gerald McEntee. The unity slate helped avoid the threat of disaffiliations from the labor federation.

Structural changes
Soon after taking office, Sweeney initiated several programs intended to reverse the decline in union membership and recruit more new members, especially younger people. The AFL–CIO's organizing and field mobilization programs were separated. The Field Mobilization department was given control over the AFL–CIO's regional offices, which were reduced from 12 to four. Sweeney set a goal of spending one-third of the federation's budget on organizing by 1998. An ad hoc executive council committee was established to come up with an organizing strategy for the South and Southwest, while the Union Summer program was established to recruit and deploy college-age activists. A new department, the Working Women's Department, was created and charged with developing ways to give working women a voice and to inject that voice into the labor movement's deliberations.

Two new centers were also established. The new political training center's mission was to train political operatives and assist affiliates in training their staff in political work. The transnational corporate research center's mission was to help unions in organizing and/or contract battles with international corporations.

In August 1996, Sweeney created a Corporate Affairs Department. The department included three new centers: the Center for Workplace Democracy (to deal with labor-management partnerships), the Center for Worker Ownership and Governance (to deal with pension and investment issues) and the Center for Strategic Research (to assist affiliates with research in comprehensive campaigns). The department also was given responsibility for collecting statistics and conducting research on collective bargaining.

In May 1997, Sweeney announced four new organizing programs. The first program was an AFL–CIO-based effort to provide logistical, organizational and training support for state and local unions which wanted to create organizing programs. The second program 'Senior Summer', a program to leverage the labor movement's retirees by training retired workers in organizing and political operations. The third program was the "Union Cities" effort to encourage large central labor councils to be more active and effective, and to encourage smaller CLCs to merge or work more closely to enhance their influence. Lastly, the 'Street Heat' program funneled funds and staff to CLCs and unions so that they could develop rapid-response teams of union members to picket and/or protest when workers were intimidated, coerced or fired.

In October 1998, Sweeney renamed the AFL–CIO's 30-year-old Human Resources Development Institute (HRDI). It was now known as the Working for America Institute. Instead of focusing on education and training for displaced workers, the department's new mission was to promote economic development, act as a think-tank and policy development foundation, and lobby Congress on economic policy.

Brewing unrest
But dissatisfaction began to build once again within the AFL–CIO. The elimination of a number of constitutional and administrative departments, such as the Industrial Union Department, was seen as a strike against those unions which had not supported Sweeney. The directorship of the AFL–CIO Organizing Department was a revolving door, organization of new members had not markedly increased and many unions had taken to raiding one another to increase membership. A number of unions were unhappy with what they saw as AFL–CIO criticism of their organizing programs.

On March 15 2000, the United Transportation Union disaffiliated from the AFL–CIO over a jurisdictional dispute. It was followed in March 2001 by the Carpenters union, which claimed that Sweeney's organizing efforts had failed and that the AFL-CIO structure must be abandoned.

Despite substantial investment in politics, the AFL–CIO had not succeeded in restoring the Democrats to a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Some union presidents began to argue that the AFL–CIO should stop spending money on political causes and divert resources to organizing new members. Prominent among the dissatisfied leaders was Andrew Stern, president of SEIU and a Sweeney protege.

The growing unrest within the AFL–CIO became public when Sweeney announced on September 18, 2003, that he planned to run for another four-year term at the federation convention in the summer of 2005. When Sweeney had first been elected of the AFL–CIO in 1995, he had proposed a constitutional amendment which would bar anyone 70 years of age or older from seeking executive office. The proposed amendment was never acted on, but Sweeney promised the convention he would not remain in office beyond the age limit he had proposed.

New Unity Partnership
Shortly after the March 2004 executive council meeting, Andrew Stern announced the formation of the New Unity Partnership (NUP). Joining Stern were the presidents of UNITE HERE, the Teamsters, the Laborers, UFCW and the Carpenters. Stern had begun working with these union leaders in the fall of 2003 to create a set of principles to reform the labor movement. Although NUP's existence had been revealed in October 2003, the group did not announce its platform until March 2004.

Platforms
The NUP platform included a number of proposals. First, the AFL–CIO should mandate the merger of smaller unions with larger ones, and the AFL–CIO must redraw and enforce jurisdictional lines along those of major industries, or "core jurisdictions". Second, a number of AFL–CIO departments (including health and safety, education, and civil and human rights) must be merged or eliminated. Third, political spending must be significantly reduced in favor of major new AFL–CIO spending on organizing. Sweeney told the press he would initiate an internal discussion of Stern's views after the November 2004 presidential election, with a goal of creating a proposal by July 2005. But Stern declared that this would be too late for consideration at the AFL–CIO's biennial convention.

Implementation of criticisms
At the August 2004 AFL–CIO executive council meeting, Sweeney attempted to implement some of NUP's criticisms by announcing the formation of a task force to investigate organizing the Wal-Mart grocery and discount department store chain. Sweeney also announced the creation of an Immigrant Worker Project to oversee the federation's work on immigrant rights and organizing efforts.

On November 10, 2004, Sweeney announced a process and timeline for considering reform of the AFL–CIO. Sweeney said he would chair a committee composed of the federation's 25-member executive committee which would make reform recommendations to the February 2005 AFL–CIO executive council meeting.

New Unity Partnership: 2005
In January 2005, Stern announced that the New Unity Partnership had disbanded. Its purpose had been to create discussion over the future of the labor movement, Stern said, and that goal had been accomplished.

At the March 2005 AFL–CIO executive council meeting, however, no consensus on reform emerged. Instead, the executive committee of the AFL–CIO recommended that the federation earmark half of all income for political and legislative mobilization. The executive committee also recommended rebating up to millions of dollars to unions which spent at least 30 percent of their budget on organizing. There appeared to be little support in the executive committee for mandatory mergers.

But several former New Unity Partnership members disagreed with these proposals. The Teamsters demanded a 50 percent of dues to member unions, as well as streamlining the AFL–CIO by moving many of its functions out of the headquarters to the state and local field operations, eliminating other functions, and reducing the size of the executive committee.

In May 2005, Sweeney formally submitted the executive council's proposals to the AFL–CIO convention for consideration in July.

On June 16, Stern and his allies announced the formation of a new organization, the Change to Win Coalition. The Change to Win Coalition included five unions: SEIU, UFCW, the Laborers, UNITE HERE and the Teamsters. They were joined by the Carpenters on June 27. The Change to Win Coalition released a set of proposals for reforming the AFL-CIO that largely reflected its member union's proposals.

In mid-June, the AFL–CIO executive council voted to submit Sweeney's reform plan to the AFL–CIO convention in July. Discussion on the outstanding proposals from the February meeting continued, but no consensus was reached.

Additional counter-proposals were proposed throughout the summer. The Change to Win Coalition union presidents sought and received authority from their governing bodies to disaffiliate from the AFL–CIO, but it became clear that the Change to Win coalition could muster only a third of delegates at the AFL–CIO convention.

On July 22, 2005, the United Farm Workers (UFW) joined the Change to Win Coalition.

A contentious convention: 2005
On July 25, 2005, as the AFL–CIO convention got under way, SEIU and the Teamsters announced that the negotiations had failed and that they were disaffiliating from the AFL–CIO. The same day, SEIU, the Teamsters, UFCW and UNITE HERE announced that their delegates would boycott the AFL–CIO convention.

Sweeney angrily denounced the disaffiliations. Gerald McEntee called the disaffiliation threats a power-play, claiming that the Change to Win coalition had demanded that Sweeney announce his retirement within six months and endorse a replacement of their choosing.

With the Change to Win unions boycotting the AFL–CIO convention, Sweeney's re-election and the adoption of his reform plans became a foregone conclusion.

On July 29, UFCW disaffiliated from the AFL–CIO, bringing the total number of members lost to 4.6 million of the AFL–CIO's 13 million members.

On September 13, the 450,000-member union UNITE HERE voted to disaffiliate from the AFL–CIO.

The breakaway unions officially formed a new labor federation, Change to Win, on September 27, 2005.

Both Sweeney and Change to Win reached out to one another after the break-up of the AFL–CIO, although the relationship was difficult. Sweeney primarily focused on stabilizing the AFL–CIO and its state, area and local bodies financially, structurally and politically. Sweeney kept a relatively low profile, seeking the spotlight only during disputes with Change to Win or when addressing national issues such as immigration policy.

Sweeney retired as President of the AFL–CIO on September 16, 2009, and became President Emeritus. He won the "Roving Ambassador for Peace" award from the World Peace Prize Awarding Council in 2016, because of his long-standing devotion to social justice and fair employment opportunities for American workers.

Personal life
Sweeney co-edited a study about the labor movement and co-wrote two books about unions, including America Needs a Raise: Fighting for Economic Security and Social Justice. He was married to Maureen Power, a former schoolteacher, and lived with her in Bethesda, Maryland. He had two children, John (an information technology professional) and Patricia (who owns a site selection company, Sweeney Contract Solutions, LLC), and a granddaughter, Kennedy. He was also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Sweeney's hobbies included golf and bowling. He died on February 1, 2021, at his home in Bethesda at the age of 86.

title: John Sweeney (labor leader)


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Irish declension

The declension of Irish nouns, the definite article, and the adjectives is discussed on this page (for pronouns, see Irish Grammar).

Gender
Nouns in Irish are divided into two genders, masculine and feminine; the Old Irish neuter gender no longer exists. While gender should be learned when the specific noun is learned, there are some guidelines that can be followed:

Generally, nouns in singular form ending with broad consonants are masculine, while those ending in a slender consonant are feminine.

There are some exceptions, mostly dealing with specific endings and suffixes; for example, words ending in -óir/-eoir and -ín (with a slender and  respectively) are categorically masculine, while words ending in -óg/-eog (with a broad ) are feminine. This leads to some unexpected gender assignments, such as gasóg "boy scout" being feminine, and cailín "girl" masculine (the diminutive -ín suffix is always masculine irrespective of the noun it applies to).

Case
Irish has four cases: common (usually called the nominative, but it covers the role of the accusative as well), vocative, genitive, and the dative or prepositional case.

Nominative
The nominative is used in the following functions:
 * 1) Sentence subject
 * Tá an cat ag ól. "The cat is drinking."
 * 1) Sentence object
 * Bhris Seán an fhuinneog. "Seán broke the window."
 * 1) Predicate of the copula
 * Is amadán é. "He is an idiot."
 * 1) Object of the prepositions gan "without", go dtí  "(up) to" and mar "like, as".
 * gan an t-airgead "without the money"
 * go dtí an t-am "(up) to the time"
 * mar an chearc "like the hen"

Vocative
The vocative is used in direct address, and is always preceded by the particle a, which triggers lenition (the vocative particle is not pronounced before a vowel sound). The first declension is the only declension in which the vocative is distinct from the nominative.
 * Cá bhfuil tú, a mhic? "Where are you, son?"
 * A Sheáin, tar anseo! "Seán, come here!"

Genitive
The genitive indicates possession and material of composition:
 * hata an fhir "the man's hat"
 * clann na mná "the woman's children"
 * coinnleoirí an easpaig "the bishop's candelabras"
 * fáinne óir "a ring of gold, a golden ring"
 * bróga leathair "shoes of leather, leather shoes"

The object of a verbal noun also requires the genitive:
 * ag caitheamh airgid "(the act of) spending money"

The object of a compound preposition is in the genitive. Formally, these prepositions are actually prepositional phrases.
 * ar chúl an dorais "behind the door" (lit. "on the back of the door")
 * ar feadh míosa "one month long" (lit. "for the duration of one month")
 * ar son na hÉireann "for Ireland's sake"

Dative/Prepositional
The dative/prepositional is used as the object of most simple prepositions except gan and go dtí. In standard language, the dative is almost always identical to the nominative. Some dialects, however, have distinct standalone datives in the second and fifth declensions. In the standard language, only two words Éire ("Ireland") and fiche ("twenty") have distinct datives - Éirinn and fichid, respectively. They are also found in certain fixed phrases with nouns of the second declension, such as os cionn ("above", lit. "over head" – cionn is the old dative of ceann ("head")).
 * ag an athair "at the father"
 * as an teach "out of the house"
 * ar an arán "on the bread"
 * in oráiste "in an orange"
 * go hifreann "to hell"
 * leis an airgead "with the money"
 * ó Éirinn "from Ireland"

Declension
There are five recognized declensions in Irish. The makeup of the declensions depends on three factors:
 * 1) the gender of the noun
 * 2) the formation of the genitive singular
 * 3) relation of genitive singular to nominative plural

The following chart describes the characteristics of each declension class:

First
The first declension is made up of masculine nouns. The nominative singular ends in a broad consonant, which is made slender in the genitive singular. The most common formation of the plural has the opposite pattern: the nominative ends in a slender consonant, the genitive in a broad consonant (these plurals are known as weak plurals in comparison with strong plurals which maintain identical endings for all cases in the plural). The dative is identical to the nominative in both numbers, although an obsolete dative plural in -aibh is still sometimes encountered in old-fashioned literary style.

When in the gen. sing. and nom. pl. of a polysyllabic word is made slender, it also becomes voiced, thus:
 * > > . The resulting  is written - and is pronounced, , or , depending on dialect.

Some nouns undergo a vowel change before the slender consonant of the genitive singular/nominative plural:
 * ball, baill - an (internal) organ, component part
 * bonn, boinn - a sole, coin
 * ceann, cinn - a head
 * fear, fir - a man
 * iasc, éisc - a fish
 * mac, mic - a son (note: the first consonant is made slender in the gen.sg./nom.pl. as well)
 * poll, poill - a hole

Many words of this declension form the plural with one of the endings -(a)í, -ta, -tha, -anna. These are known as "strong plural" endings, which means the plural is identical in all cases in the standard language. Some examples:
 * aonach, gen. sg. aonaigh, pl. aontaí - a fair
 * bealach, gen. sg. bealaigh, pl. bealaí - a way
 * carr, gen. sg. cairr , pl. carranna - a car
 * glór, gen. sg. glóir, pl. glórtha - a voice
 * leanbh, gen. sg. linbh, pl. leanaí - a child
 * néal, gen. sg. néil, pl. néalta - a cloud
 * rós, gen. sg. róis, pl. rósanna - a rose
 * samhradh, gen. sg. samhraidh, pl. samhraí - a summer
 * scéal, gen. sg. scéil, pl. scéalta - a story
 * toradh, gen. sg. toraidh, pl. torthaí - fruit

Some nouns have a weak plural (a plural where the genitive is different from the nominative, and is identical to the form of the nominative singular) in -a:
 * ceart, gen. sg. cirt, nom. pl. cearta, gen. pl. ceart - a right
 * cleas, gen. sg. clis, nom. pl. cleasa, gen. pl. cleas - a trick
 * úll, gen. sg. úill, nom. pl. úlla, gen. pl. úll - an apple

Other strong plural formations are found in:
 * bóthar, bóthair; bóithre - road
 * breitheamh, breithimh; breithiúna - judge
 * briathar, briathair; briathra - verb
 * cloigeann, cloiginn; cloigne - skull
 * doras, dorais; doirse - door
 * ollamh, ollaimh; ollúna - professor
 * solas, solais; soilse - light

Second
The second declension is made up of mostly feminine nouns, and features a nominative singular form that can end in either a broad or a slender consonant. The genitive singular ends in a slender consonant followed by -e. The most common plural form has a broad consonant followed by -a in the nominative, and a broad consonant alone in the genitive. The vocative has the same endings as the nominative, as does the dative in standard language. In Connacht Irish and Waterford Irish it is often the case that all nouns of the second declension in the nom. sg. end with a slender consonant (e.g. bróig "a shoe").

In some Munster varieties as well as the old literary language, the dative singular is distinct and ends in a slender consonant alone (in effect the dative sg. is formed by dropping the -e from the genitive sg.), e.g. i mo bhróig "in my shoe" (historically, nominative forms like bróig are descended from the old dative).

When in the gen. sing. is made slender, it is also voiced, so >  >. becomes, and is written -(a)í.

Many words in this declension form a strong plural with one of the endings -t(h)a,-te, -(e)acha or -eanna:
 * áit, áite, áiteanna "place"
 * coill, coille, coillte "forest"
 * iníon, iníne, iníonacha "daughter"
 * obair, oibre, oibreacha "work"
 * spéir, spéire, spéartha "sky"
 * tír, tíre, tíortha "country"
 * tonn, toinne, tonnta "wave"
 * ubh, uibhe, uibheacha "egg"

Other strong plural formations are found in:
 * fiacail, fiacaile; fiacla - tooth
 * gualainn, gualainne; guaillí - shoulder
 * scian, scine; sceana - knife (irregular genitive singular)
 * sliabh, sléibhe; sléibhte (m.) - mountain (irregular genitive singular and masculine gender)

Third
The third declension is made up of masculine and feminine nouns. It is characterized by the genitive singular in -a. The majority of nouns in this class form the plural in -(a)í. The final consonant of the stem may be broad or slender: it retains its quality in the plural, but is always broad in the genitive singular. Feminine nouns in -áint or -úint lose their in the gen. sg.; those in -irt have -- instead of -- in the gen. sg.
 * bagairt, bagartha, bagairtí (f.) "threat"
 * canúint, canúna, canúintí (f.) "dialect"

Many words in this declension form the plural with one of the endings -anna or -acha:
 * am, ama, amanna (m.) "time"
 * anam, anama, anamacha (m.) "soul"
 * droim, droma, dromanna (m.) "back"
 * loch, locha, lochanna (m.) "lake"
 * troid, troda, troideanna (f.) "fight, struggle"

Some words in Munster Irish also have a separate dative form:
 * nom. drom, dat. droim, gen. droma, pl. dromanna (m.) "back"

Fourth
The fourth declension is made up of masculine and feminine nouns. It is characterized by a genitive singular that is identical in form to the nominative/vocative/dative singular. The singular may end in a vowel or a consonant (usually the diminutive suffix -ín). The most common plural ending is -(a)í.

Many words of this declension form the plural with the following endings -tha/-t(h)e, -((e)a)nna or -((e)a)cha:
 * ainmhí; ainmhithe (m.) "animal"
 * aturnae; aturnaetha (m.) "attorney"
 * baile; bailte (m.) "village"
 * bus; busanna (m.) "bus"
 * cliamhain; cliamhaineacha (m.) "son-in-law"
 * cneá; cneácha (f.) "wound, sore"
 * cnó; cnónna (m.) "nut"
 * cró; cróite (m.) "outhouse; eye of a needle"
 * dlí; dlíthe (m.) "law"
 * dosaen; dosaenacha (m.) "dozen"
 * ga; gathanna (m.) "ray, radius"
 * gé; géanna (f.) "goose"
 * léine; léine, léinte (f.) "shirt"
 * rá; ráite (m.) "saying"
 * rí; ríthe (m.) "king"
 * sloinne; sloinnte (m.) "last name"
 * teanga; teangacha (f.) "language, tongue"
 * tine; tinte (f.) "fire"

Other strong plural formations are found in:
 * ainm; ainmneacha (m.) "name"
 * airí; airíona (m.) "characteristic, symptom"
 * aithne; aitheanta (f.) "commandment"
 * bruach; bruacha (m.) "bank (of river etc.)"
 * cine; ciníocha (m.) "race, tribe"
 * duine; daoine (m.) "person, human being"
 * gabha; gaibhne (m.) "blacksmith"
 * gnó; gnóthaí (m.) "business"
 * oíche; oícheanta (f.) "night"

One noun in this class has a weak plural:
 * bó, bó; ba, bó (f.) - cow

Fifth
The fifth declension is made up mostly of feminine nouns and is characterized by a genitive singular that ends in a broad consonant that has been added to the nominative/vocative/dative singular. The most common plural is strong, formed by adding -a to the genitive singular. In some Munster Irish varieties as well as the old literary language, the dative singular is distinct and ends in a slender consonant (in effect the dative sg. is formed by palatalizing the genitive sg.), for example, do phearsain "to a person", ón gcathraigh "from the city". In Éire, Éireann "Ireland" the dative Éirinn is still used in the standard language.

Some words form the genitive singular by changing the final consonant of the nominative singular to broad. The plural is then strong -eacha.
 * abhainn, abhann, aibhneacha "river"
 * athair, athar, aithreacha (m.) "father"
 * deartháir, dearthár, deartháireacha (m.) "brother"
 * máthair, máthar, máithreacha "mother"

Other strong plural formations are found in:
 * bráthair, bráthar; bráithre (m.) "brother (monk), friar"
 * cara, carad; cairde (m.) "friend"
 * namhaid, namhad; naimhde (m.) "enemy"
 * Nollaig, Nollag; Nollaigí "Christmas"

Some nouns have weak plurals; here the genitive singular and genitive plural have the same form:
 * caora, caorach; caoirigh, caorach - sheep
 * lacha, lachan; lachain, lachan - duck

Verbal nouns
The most productive verbal nouns end with -(e)adh (1st conjugation) or -(i)ú (2nd conjugation). These originally belonged to the third declension, but synchronically are best regarded as separate declensions.

The 1st conjugation verbal noun in -(e)adh has a genitive singular in -te/-ta and a plural in -t(a)í.
 * briseadh, briste; bristí "breaking"
 * moladh, molta; moltaí "praising; recommendation"

The 2nd conjugation verbal noun in -(i)ú has a genitive singular in -(a)ithe and a plural in -(u)ithe. These endings are pronounced the same regardless of the spelling distinction.
 * scrúdú, scrúdaithe; scrúduithe "examining, examination"
 * síniú, sínithe; sínithe "stretching"

Irregular nouns
The following nouns are declined irregularly:
 * bean, mná; mná, ban (f.) "woman"
 * deirfiúr, deirféar; deirfiúracha (f.) "sister"
 * deoch, dí; deochanna (f.) "drink"
 * Dia, Dé; déithe (m.) "God"
 * lá, lae; laethanta (m.) "day"
 * leaba, leapa; leapacha (f.) "bed"
 * mí, míosa; míonna (f.) "month"
 * muir, mara; mara (f.) "sea"
 * olann, olla (f.) "wool"
 * talamh, talaimh (m.) or talún (f.); tailte "land"
 * teach, tí; tithe (m.) "house"

Articles
The definite article has two forms in Irish: an and na. Their distribution depends on number, case, and gender, and they trigger mutation partly on the basis of the initial sound of the following word. Each entry of the table gives an example of one noun starting with a consonant and one with a vowel. Dative (i) is used with all prepositions in Ulster usage; in Munster and the standard language it is used only with den "from the", don "to the", and sa(n) "in the" but there are also Munster dialects in which only sa(n) triggers lenition and den and don eclipse, as with every other article-preposition compound. In Connacht sa(n) eclipses whereas den and don lenite. Dative (ii) is used outside Ulster with other prepositions.

The article never mutates a following or  in the singular, and  is lenited to  (pronounced ) rather than the usual. furthermore lenites in both dative (i) and (ii) in the singular with feminine nouns but does not lenite at all with masculine nouns.

It does, however, eclipse and  in Munster dialects and forms like "ag an ndoras" instead of the usual pattern "ag an doras", which is used in all other dialects, do occur.

There is no indefinite article in Irish, so depending on context cat can mean "cat" or "a cat".

Adjectives
Almost all adjectives in Irish can be used either predicatively or attributively. A predicative adjective is one that forms a part of the predicate, like red in the sentence The car is red. An attributive adjective directly modifies a noun, as in the red car.

A predicate adjective in Irish does not inflect:

 * Tá an fear sin beag. "That man is small."
 * Tá na fir sin beag. "Those men are small."
 * Tá an bhean seo beag. "This woman is small."
 * Tá na mná seo beag. "These women are small."

A predicate adjective expressing a value judgment is often preceded by the particle go. This particle attaches to a following vowel.

 * Tá mé go maith. "I'm fine" (lit. "I am good.")
 * Tá an scéal go holc. "The story is bad."
 * Bhí an aimsir go hálainn. "The weather was beautiful."

In Ulster, go is not generally used in these cases.

An attributive adjective mostly follows the noun and is inflected:

 * an fear beag "the small man"
 * an fhir bhig "of the small man" (genitive)

There are four classes of declension of adjectives in Irish, which correspond to the first four declensions of nouns:

Fourth declension
This declension does not inflect, but it does mutate.

Irregular adjectives

 * Notes
 * The nominative plural undergoes lenition only if the noun ends with a slender consonant: cait bhacacha "lame cats". Otherwise, the adjective in the nominative plural does not lenite: táilliúirí bacacha "lame tailors".
 * The long form of the genitive plural (e.g. bochta, bacacha, ciúine) is used when the noun has a strong plural, e.g. máithreacha bacacha "of lame mothers". The short form (e.g. bocht, bacach, ciúin) is used when the noun has a weak plural, e.g. cat bacach "of lame cats".
 * The dative has the same form as the nominative.
 * The vocative has the same form as the nominative except in the masculine singular of the 1st/2nd declension, where it has the same form as the genitive.

Comparative
Irish adjectives have a comparative form equivalent to the comparative and superlative in English. The comparative does not undergo inflexion and is the same as the feminine singular genitive in regular and many irregular adjectives.

Syntax of comparison
There are two constructions to express the comparative:

1) Copula + comparative form + subject + ná ("than") + predicate. The preterite of the copula causes lenition, while the present tense does not.

 * Ba thréine Cáit ná Cathal. "Cáit was stronger than Cathal."
 * Is airde Seán ná mise. "Seán is bigger than me."
 * B'óige an madra ná an cat. "The dog was younger than the cat."
 * Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Béarla cliste. "Broken Irish is better than clever English."

2) níos/ní ba/ní b’ + comparative + ná + predicate. Níos is used if the sentence is in the present or future tense.

Ní ba/ní b’, which triggers lenition, is used if the sentence is in the past tense. Ní b’ is used before words starting with vowels and ní ba before those starting with consonants.

 * Tá an ghrian níos gile ná an ghealach. "The sun is brighter than the moon."
 * Beidh Peadar níos saibhre ná a athair. "Peadar will be richer than his father."
 * D'éirigh Peadar ní ba shaibhre ná a athair. "Peadar became richer than his father."
 * Bhí Seán ní b’airde ná mise. "Seán was bigger than me."

A superlative is expressed as a relative clause: noun + is/ba/ab + comparative form.

 * an cailín is tréine "the strongest girl" (lit. "the girl who is the strongest")
 * an cailín ba thréine "the strongest girl" (lit. "the girl who was/would be the strongest")
 * an buachaill is óige "the youngest boy" (lit. "the boy who is the youngest")
 * an buachaill ab óige "the youngest boy" (lit. "the boy who was/would be the youngest")

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

title: Irish declension


text:
Woolwich, Ontario

The Township of Woolwich is a rural township in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, considered as a municipality. The Township is located in the northeast part of Waterloo Region and is made up of 10 small communities, with Elmira, Ontario the largest and St. Jacobs, Ontario the second largest. The population at the time of the 2021 Census was 26,999, up from the 2016 population of 25,006. Waterloo Region is still home to the largest population of Old Order Mennonites in Canada, particularly in the areas around St Jacobs and Elmira. They are often seen on the local roads using their traditional horse and buggy transportation; many also use horses to pull the implements in their farm fields.

Woolwich is part of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is located directly to the north and east of the City of Waterloo. It is bounded by the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge. The township is a municipality as established by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Act 1972, which created a regional government structure and established limits of the local municipalities effective January 1, 1973. Woolwich Township has its own municipal government consisting of five Councillors and a Mayor; the latter also serves on the Waterloo Region Council.

Early history
The land which now makes up Woolwich Township, with the Grand River on the East, and the Conestogo River on the West, originally belonged to the Huron Nation followed by the Mohawk Nation. The first settlers arrived in the late 18th century. In 1798, William Wallace was one of the first settlers after he was deeded 86,078 acres (348 km2) of land on the Grand River for a cost of $16,364. Originally Block three of Indian Lands, this area now comprises a large part of Woolwich Township. The parcel of land called "Woolwich" was probably named (in 1816) after a town in Kent, England. The early settlers were primarily from England or Ireland until about 1830; they settled to the east of the Grand River. Afterwards, German Mennonite families from Pennsylvania and from Waterloo Township settled west of the river.

In 1807, Wallace sold the major portion of his tract to Mennonites from Pennsylvania, trustees for the German Company, many of whom would settle this area. Wallace sold 45185 acre of land to the German Company at $1.00 an acre. Captain Smith, a loyalist from Vermont, settled at the confluence of the Grand and Conestogo Rivers in 1807. Their large log home served as an inn for travelers and he operated a stagecoach for carrying mail from 1835 to 1850. The first church in Woolwich, was built by the Mennonites from Pennsylvania in approximately 1823 at the Three Bridges, now part of Conestogo. Woolwich was incorporated as a Township in 1816, and was part of Halton County until 1842 when it became part of Wellington District. In 1852, it became part of the new Waterloo County.

Starting in 1821, a part of Woolwich, to the east of the Grand River (Block 3), owned by James Crooks, attracted dozens of families from England and Scotland. Previously, this area had few settlers, the most notable a Mr. Cox; the creek which enters the Grand River at what is now Winterbourne was named after him. Immigrants from Scotland began settling the Cox Creek area in 1834, led by John Davidson. He opened the first post office in the township, naming it East Woolwich. Captain Henry Lanphier arrived in 1854 and soon built a sawmill and flour mill after damming Cox Creek. Residents agreed with him that the settlement should be renamed Winterbourne, Ontario. By 1837, the Scots established St. Andrew's Presbyterian in 1837. A Presbyterian church was not built until 1870, made of logs; it was replaced in 1870 by one built of brick, and is currently a private home near the Winterbourne Presbyterian Cemetery. By 1867, Winterbourne had a population of 160, three churches, a school, a post office, a general store, two mills, two hotels, two blacksmiths, a tailor, shoemaker and a physician.

St. Jacobs, like nearby Conestogo (both in Woolwich), was primarily Germanic and was first settled in 1830. In 1834, Edward Bristow from Sussex, England became one of Elmira's first settlers when he purchased 53 acre of land at this location for 50 cents per acre. He started the first store, tavern and potashery. A community by the name of Bristow's Corners was already in existence in 1839 when a post office was assigned there; it was renamed Elmira in 1853.

Historical records suggest that David Musselman founded Conestogo after buying land in 1830. He built a sawmill in 1844 and after damming the Conestogo River, he added a flour mill and a second sawmill. The hamlet formed in this area, known as Musselman's Mills until 1852 when it became Conestogo because many of the settlers had come from the Conestoga River area of Pennsylvania. Records about the entire township from 1846 indicate that the area was thinly settled although the land was excellent and there were large tracts of hardwood. There were two grist and two saw mills and an Episcopal church. The population count in 1841 indicated 1009 people.

Woolwich Township Council was organized in January 1850 with five councillors, of whom John N. Meyer was named as Reeve; James Dow was appointed as clerk and treasurer. A significant influx to the St. Jacobs area started afterwards, primarily consisting of additional Mennonites from Pennsylvania. Farmer and pioneer industrialist Jacob C. Snider, of Swiss German descent, was the most important settler at the time and the community was named after him: Jakobstettel (Jacob's Village). He built a dam to power several mills and then built a sawmill, woolen mill and flour mill by 1852. This helped to attract others to the small community. The St. was added to the name simply to make it sound more pleasing and the pluralization was in honour of the combined efforts of Jacob C. Snider (1791–1865) and his son, Jacob C. Snider Jr. (1822–1857), founders of the village. The first post office in St. Jacobs opened in 1852, called St. Jacobs and the village was incorporated in that year. By 1855, the population was 400. Mennonites formed a significant proportion of the population in the 1850s. Most were the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch, not referring to the Netherlands but a misnomer for Deitsch or Deutsch (German). They became known as Old Order Mennonite due to their very conservative, traditional lifestyle. (Other Mennonites in the area now have a less conservative lifestyle.)

Decentralization and later urban growth
Throughout its early history, Woolwich was predominantly decentralized and rural in character. It did not become the location of the Waterloo County administration apparatus, and the first wave of railway development in the county passed it by. In his study of Waterloo County's growth and urbanization, urban studies scholar Fred Dahms uses "functional units" as a metric of a settlement's developmental complexity, rather than relying on population counts, village or town status, or other metrics. Each "functional unit" is based on a defined economic hub or activity, such as banking or postal services, milling, or a general store. In this measure, one building (such as a combined general store and post office) would count as multiple functional units, providing an alternative way to measure the development of a pioneer economy. For 1864, while Woolwich had no large centre falling within the top five counts of functional units, it did have three in the top ten: St. Jacobs, Elmira, and Conestogo. St. Jacobs, Conestogo, Winterbourne, and Elmira were all incorporated as villages by this point.

By the 1870s, things had changed dramatically; economic activity in Waterloo County was rapidly centralizing, and Elmira was now tied for fifth in the county in terms of functional units, alongside Ayr. In 1878, a significant majority of Woolwich village industries advertising themselves in the Armstrong and Company Gazetteer and Directory for Waterloo County were located in Elmira, with a number also located in St. Jacobs. This included carriage makers, lumber mills, metal crafters, a saddle and harness maker, a woollen mill, and others. In 1891, the Waterloo Junction Railway (part of the Grand Trunk Railway system) was extended north from Waterloo through Heidelberg and St. Jacobs, to Elmira. The Guelph and Goderich Railway (part of the Canadian Pacific Railway system) would later follow, running across the township from east to west.

In the early 1900s, Woolwich Township exhibited a strong German culture and those of German origin made up a third of the population in 1911. Because of increased immigration direct from Germany, Lutherans were the primary religious group by that time; there were nearly three times as many Lutherans as Mennonites.

Woolwich was the location of one of the earliest concrete roads in Canadian history. A 1.5 mi stretch of what was then Provincial County Road 75, between St. Jacobs and the Grand Trunk Railway crossing south of Elmira, was upgraded in 1919 using a provincial subsidy under the newly-created Department of Public Highways of Ontario.

During the 1960s, due to the poor disposal practices of chemical manufacturers, contamination seeped down to the aquifer in and around Elmira. This contamination forced local water wells to close in 1990. Water is now delivered via a pipeline from Waterloo and other near local areas.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Woolwich had a population of $26,999$ living in $9,359$ of its $9,556$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $25,006$. With a land area of 326.56 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

In 2016, the average age in Woolwich was 39, with 49% of the population male and 51% female. In 2016, English was the predominant language spoken at 88% of households, followed by German 8%, and Dutch 0.58%, which make up the top three most spoken languages in Woolwich.

Economy

Elmira is the primary industrial centre of Woolwhich Township. Major employers include Trylon TSF, Sanyo Machine Works, Elmira Pet Products, Lanxess (formerly Chemtura and Uniroyal), Toyota Boshoku (formerly Trim Masters), Engineered Lifting Systems, and Southfield Windows & Doors. Since the 1970s, tourism has become an increasingly important industry in Elmira and especially in St. Jacobs which has a very popular Farmers' Market and many quaint stores in its downtown area.

St. Jacobs features dozens of artisans in historic buildings, such as the Country Mill, Village Silos, Mill Shed, and the Old Factory. Visitors may watch artisans make pottery, quilts, designer clothes, jewellery, glass vases, woven wall hangings tiffany lamps, stained glass doors, miniature doll houses and more. There are also two blacksmith shops. The two-kilometre millrace is a pleasant, treed hiking path along the Conestogo River. The Visitor Centre in downtown St. Jacobs is a Mennonite interpretation centre, providing information and education about the Mennonite people in the township.

St. Jacobs is also the headquarters of Home Hardware, a national chain of over 1000 independent hardware retail stores located across Canada that was founded in the village in 1963. The first store opened in St. Jacobs in 1964. It remains in use by the chain as the furniture outlet but a new store was built across the street, opening in November 2014.

Economic development for the township is handled by the Region of Waterloo. Elmira and St. Jacobs have their own Business Improvement Area committees.

Government
The township is governed by an elected Mayor and five elected Councillors; two Councillors representing Wards 1 and 3, and one for Ward 2. Council meetings are held in the Council Chambers at 24 Church Street West, Elmira. The Mayor serves also as the Regional Councillor and sits on the various boards, including Waterloo North Hydro, Grand River Conservation Authority, Regional Library Board, Kiwanis Transit Board, Waterloo Region Community Housing Committee, Kissing Bridge Trailway Advisory Committee and Airport Master Plan Committee. After the election in 2018 the elected council members are:

Mayor: Sandy Shantz

Councillors:

 * Ward 1: Evan Burgess
 * Ward 1: Nathan Cadeau
 * Ward 2: Eric Schwindt
 * Ward 3: Bonnie Bryant
 * Ward 3: Kayla Grant

Woolwich is one of seven municipalities that make up the Waterloo Regional Council. Members of the Regional Council serve a four-year term and Woolwich's representative is the Mayor alone. The Waterloo Regional Council is made up of the Chair and eight Councillors, as well as the mayors of the seven municipalities: Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, and the Townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich.

Communities

Woolwich consists of an extensive rural area along with residential communities and industrial/commercial areas. The residential communities include: Elmira, St. Jacobs, Breslau, Conestogo, Heidelberg, Maryhill, North Woolwich, Bloomingdale, Weissenburg, West Montrose, Floradale, Winterbourne, and Zuber Corners.

The three largest areas offering a range of residential, industrial, commercial and recreational uses are in Elmira, St. Jacobs and Breslau; the latter adjoins Kitchener and is the fastest growing community in the township.

Woolwich Township spans approximately 326.15 km².

Health and medicine
Woolwich does not have its own hospitals, but residents of Woolwich have access to four nearby hospitals: Grand River Hospital, St. Mary's General Hospital, Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus and Guelph General Hospital.

Transportation
Woolwich is home to the Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF), which is south of Breslau to the east of the Grand River.

There are two railway lines through Woolwich: the Guelph Subdivision (running approximately east–west) and the Waterloo Spur, a branch line of the Guelph Subdivision which runs north through Waterloo and St. Jacobs before terminating at Elmira. The junction of the two lines is in Kitchener, east of the Kitchener railway station. The Canadian National Railway (CN) operates freight rail services on both lines. The Waterloo Central Railway, a tourist and heritage railway, operates along the Waterloo Spur between Elmira and a stop near Northfield station in north Waterloo. It provides the only stopping passenger service in Woolwich. GO Transit and Via Rail operate regional and intercity services respectively, both along the Guelph Subdivision, but do not stop in the township. A GO station in Breslau is planned, which would provide GO Transit passenger service on the Kitchener line.

Grand River Transit's 21 Elmira route provides local bus service between Woolwich and Waterloo, running between Conestoga station (in Waterloo) and Elmira. The route launched in 2009. PC Connect, an inter-regional community bus service based in Perth County, launched in 2020 with a route connecting Kitchener, Waterloo, St. Jacobs, Elmira, and Listowel together.

Highways
 * Highway 7: Southern Portion of Woolwich (Breslau Area)
 * Highway 85: Entering Woolwich from the City of Waterloo
 * Highway 8: Approximately 20 km (12 miles) to Elmira and 12 km (7.5 miles) to the Woolwich boundary
 * Highway 401: Approximately 28 km (17 miles) to Elmira and 20 km (12 miles) to the woolwich boundary

Trails
Woolwich Township has eleven trails; much of the 45 km long Kissing Bridge Trailway runs through this area.

Woolwich Memorial Centre
The Woolwich Memorial Centre (WMC) is the Township of Woolwich's newest state-of-the-art facility comprising two NHL-sized ice surfaces, two pools, a fitness centre and walking track. The facility also includes a community centre, seniors centre, youth centre, Concourse Cafe, two meeting rooms and offices for minor sport teams.

Education
Schools in Woolwich are operated by the Waterloo Region District School Board and Waterloo Catholic District School Board. Woolwich has eight elementary schools, seven of which are public and one is Catholic. Elmira District Secondary School is Woolwich's only secondary (high) school, but is ranked by Fraser Institute as a top Ontario high school.

title: Woolwich, Ontario


text:
Evangelion

Evangelion refers to the gospel in Christianity, translated from the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (, evangelium) meaning "Good News".

Evangelion may also refer to:

 * Gospel account
 * Gospel Book
 * The Gospel of Marcion, which was often referred to by its adherents simply as "τὸ εὐαγγέλιον" ("the Gospel"), and is still sometimes called "the Evangelion" to distinguish it from other Gospels
 * In Manichaeism, a major text known as the Evangelion, also known as the Gospel of Mani
 * Nestorian Evangelion, an illustrated gospel book belonging to the Church of the East, also known as Vie de Jésus-Christ ('Life of Jesus Christ')

Arts and entertainment

 * Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), a media franchise
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion, an anime television series
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga), a manga series based partially on the anime television series
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion (video game), a video game based on the anime televion series and the film The End of Evangelion
 * Evangelion (mecha), cyborg mechas that appear in the franchise
 * Evangelion movie, a set index article on Neon Genesis Evangelion films
 * Evangelion (album), a 2009 album by Behemoth

title: Evangelion


text:
Ryazan

Ryazan (Рязань, ; also Riazan) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, 196 km southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Ryazan had a population of 524,927, making it the 33rd most populated city in Russia, and the fourth most populated in Central Russia after Moscow, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl.An older city, now known as Old Ryazan (Старая Рязань), was located 50 km east of modern-day Ryazan during the late Middle Ages, and served as capital of the Principality of Ryazan up until the Mongol invasion in 1237. During the Siege of Ryazan, it became one of the first cities in Russia to be besieged and completely razed to the ground. The capital was subsequently moved to Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky (Переяславль-Рязанский), and later renamed to Ryazan by order of Catherine the Great in 1778.

The city is known for the Ryazan Kremlin, a historic museum; the Pozhalostin Museum, one of the oldest art museums in Russia; the Memorial Museum-Estate of Academician I.P. Pavlov; and the Ryazan Museum of Long-Range Aviation.

In 2022, the Ministry of Construction published an updated rating of the new urban digitalization index. Ryazan entered the top three cities with a population of 250 thousand to a million people.

Principality of Ryazan

The first written mention of the city, under the name of Pereslavl, dates to 1095. The city became part of the independent Principality of Ryazan, which had existed since 1129, centered on the old city of Ryazan. The first ruler of Ryazan was supposedly Yaroslav Sviatoslavich, Prince of Ryazan and Murom (cities of Kievan Rus').

Invasion by Mongols
In the 12th century the lands of Ryazan being located on the border between woodlands and the steppe suffered numerous invasions coming from the southern and northern parts of European Russia. Southern invasions were usually carried out by the Cumans, and on the northern side, Ryazan was in conflict with Vladimir-Suzdal who by end of the 12th century had burnt the capital of Ryazan several times.

In the 13th century Ryazan was the first Russian city to face Mongolian invasion by the hordes of Batu Khan. On December 21, 1237, after a short siege it was completely destroyed and never recovered. As a result of the takeover, the seat of the principality was moved about 55 km to the town of Pereslavl-Ryazansky, which subsequently took the name of the destroyed capital. The site of the old capital now carries the name of Staraya Ryazan (Old Ryazan), close to Spassk-Ryazansky. Maps of the 16th-18th centuries show Ryazan (Old Ryazan) and Pereslavl-Ryazan together.

Golden horde

In 1380, during the Battle of Kulikovo, the Grand Prince of Ryazan Oleg and his men came under a coalition of Mamai, a strongman of the Tatar Golden Horde, and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, against the armies under the command of the Grand Prince of Vladimir, Dmitry Donskoy.

Late in the 13th century, the Princes of Ryazan moved their capital to Pereyaslavl' (Переяславль), which is known as Ryazan from the 16th century (officially renamed in 1778).

The principality was finally dissolved and incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1521. The principality's last duke Ivan V of Ryazan was imprisoned for a short time for being suspected in a treasonous attempt to seal a treaty with Crimean Khanate in order to outweigh Moscow's influence. The duke fled to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where he died no later than 1534.

Being the southernmost border of Rus' lands at the time, Ryazan continued to suffer from invasions of Crimean Tatars and their allies.

Time of Troubles
In June of 1605 Ryazan became a seat for Greek Cypriot-born Patriarch Ignatius, a clergyman who was sent by Russian Orthodox Church to serve as an archbishop of Ryazan. He was notorious for becoming the first church official to recognize a Poland-backed impostor False-Dmitry as a legitimate monarch, alleged Czar of Tsardom of Russia, after meeting with his forces in Tula.

Around that time Ryazan ex-duchy became a home for various noble families, most notable of which are Lyapunovs, whose brothers Prokopy and Zakhary Lyapunovs played a significant roles in shaping Russian history during Times of Troubles.

Soviet Union
During World War II, Ryazan was repeatedly bombed by German Luftwaffe. Immediately after the war, rapid development of the city began, and it became a major industrial, scientific, and military center of the European part of Russia. On October 19, 1960 a petroleum refinery produced its first gasoline.

Ryazan housed the USSR's only producer of potato-harvesting equipment at the time. Ryazselmash factory (Рязсельмаш), an accounting machines plant, and a heavy forging equipment plant, among others, were also built.

Because of the city's industrialization, Ryazan Oblast's share of workers employed in the agrarian sector shifted into the industrial sector.

Ryazan was developed as a military center, and became the main training center of the Soviet Airborne Forces. Several positioned man-portable air-defense system protect the urban sky. Besides the Airborne School (at the time named after Kliment Voroshilov ), Ryazan has the Automobile School and Institute of Communications, a regiment of railway troops, airbase strategic bombers, and a training center in Diaghilev.

Ryazan developed particularly rapidly while Nadezhda Nikolaevna Chumakova served as Chair of the Council of People's Deputies of Ryazan and Ryazan mayor. Under Chumakova, the city's population increased from 72,000 to 520,000. Chumakova oversaw the construction of social and cultural amenities, more than 20 urban areas, and hundreds of kilometers of trolleybus, tram and bus routes. Landscaping became a fundamental strategy for the development of the city at that time. A "green" ring of forests, parks, and garden associations surrounded Ryazan, with large parks located in each area of the city, and compositions of flowers and vertical gardening became customary, not only for the main streets, but also for industrial zones and factory buildings. Ryazan repeatedly won recognition among the cities of the Soviet Union for its landscaping. During her 26 years in office, Chumakova often accepted awards of the Red Banner of the USSR on behalf of Ryazan.

Post-Soviet period
By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, more than half of the city's GDP was being exported into its satellite states. In the 1990s, Ryazan experienced significant economic troubles as part of the 1998 Russian financial crisis, with many ex-Soviet and newly established companies going bankrupt by the end of the decade. In September 1999, Ryazan suffered a series of attempted apartment bombing (see Ryazan Incident below).

As of 2001, Ryazan remained significantly influenced by its neighbor the Moscow Oblast, which exerted significant political and economic powers over it.

Architecture
Ryazan's buildings are not characterized by any single architectural style. Many noted Russian architects worked in Ryazan, including Kazakov, who worked and died in this city, and built the house of Politech University.

Ryazan's churches were built between the 15th and 19th centuries. Soviet Constructivism was an important step in Ryazan architecture.

Community
In 2006 and 2007, the Public Committee in Defense of the Historical and Architectural Museum "Ryazan Kremlin" campaigned against attempts by the Diocese of Voronezh to establish ownership over the Ryazan Kremlin.

A number of environmental groups are active in the city, campaigning for the removal of illegal landfills and volunteering for water area clean up. In 2019 and 2020, these groups organized and staged ecological pickets and protests.

Ryazan Cycling has built bike paths in the central parks of the city. This activity attracted the attention of the government, who promise to build several similar paths passing through the whole territory of Ryazan.

Religion
Ryazan is the seat of Diocese of Ryazan and Kasimov, an eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. Assumption Cathedral of the Ryazan Kremlin is one of the most important cathedrals in the city. Metropolia is the holder of the majority of religious temples in the city and the sole holder of the monasteries.

Believers is the cathedral church of All Who Sorrow Church. In addition, the city is home to a number of religious people, including Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons, Charismatics and Muhtasibat Muslims, who built the Islamic Cultural Center.

Tourism
Ryazan is one of the leading tourist destinations in Central Russia. The Ryazan Kremlin is a symbol and the main landmark in Ryazan. It is an ensemble of the old main of Ryazan fortress (11 cen.), churches (15 - 20 cen.) and the Palace of Oleg. Sobornaia Bell is one of the highest bells of the Orthodox Church.

Ryazan State Museum of Art is one of the largest museums of Russian and European arts. It has paintings of F. Guardi, A. van Ostade, V. V. Kandinsky and others.

Environment
As of 2021 an environmental pollution of air in the city remain relatively high. Excessive emissions of toxic fumes and gaseous substances such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) from neighbouring industries (i.e. oil refinery) located next to the city are often reported by local media. In December 2020 local government was trying to address the problem by fining local commercial organizations.

Climate
Ryazan has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb). The highest temperature recorded is 39.5 C in August 2010 while the lowest temperature recorded is -40.9 C in January 1940.

Government
The Ryazan city governing body is divided among City's legislature (Ryazan City Duma), City administration and district's courts.

Executive powers of the city are administered by a city governour, his advisers and deputies. Formal control over activities of authorities is exercised by the Public Chamber of the city of Ryazan, who work with youth involved in the headquarters of youth activists.

The City Duma is a local parliament authorized to make city-wide laws. It's divided into sub-committees.

Ryazan is also a system of community councils areas which are deliberative bodies coordinating the work of services housing and communal services and the Department of Public Works on urban areas.

Regional authorities
The city also hosts different regional governing bodies: Ryazan Oblast Duma (regional parliament), Government and the Governor of the Ryazan Oblast. In two urban and one suburban residence being received at the highest level.

Administrative and municipal status
Ryazan is the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Ryazansky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of regional significance of Ryazan —an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city is incorporated as Ryazan Urban Circuit.

City districts
The city of Ryazan is divided into four administrative districts:

 * Moskovsky (North-Western)
 * Oktyabrsky (Eastern)
 * Sovetsky, including a separate Solotcha district (North Eastern)
 * Zheleznodorozhny (Southern)

Protests
In January 2021 the city saw a spike in protest activity. As many as 2000 people have participated in rallies in Ryazan alone as part of the 2021 Russian protests.

Education
Important educational institutions in the city include:

 * Ryazan State Radio Engineering University (RSREU)
 * The university studies mechanical and electrical engineering, software development and others fields.
 * As of 2016 RSREU in a joint mission with EPAM offered free courses in software testing automation, front-end web software development (C# and .NET), and programming in JAVA.
 * Higher Paratrooper Command Academy (HPCA), Russia state-run military school training officers for the airborne forces. Because of HPCA the city is often referred as the "paratrooper capital" (Столица ВДВ). In 2010 the institution discontinued enrollment to its paratrooping program, and now focuses on training professional sergeants for the armed forces.
 * Gorky Library serves Ryazan as well as Ryazan Oblast. It is the largest library in the region.
 * Ryazan State Medical University (RSMU)
 * Ryazan State University
 * Various technological colleges

90s gangs
Ryazan, like many cities in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, saw a rise in crime during the 1990s. (Слоновская ОПГ) (Slony for short), one of the largest gangs in Russia, managed to monopolize the downtown area and the criminal underworld of Ryazan. The name is literally translated as «Elephants», after one of its leaders' height and power: Vyacheslav Ermolov Evgenievich (born 1962) nicknamed «Elephant». Before his criminal career started he was a taxi driver. The other leader was a personal driver of the vice prosecutor of the city.

In 1991, the gang became heavily involved in the racketeering of newly-privatized industries, motor vehicle sales, real estate, contract killings in other regions, participated in gang violence, kidnappings, and committed at least one armed attack on rivals which left 8 or 10 dead in November of 1993.

According to Russian propaganda channel, NTV, the gang was linked to local authorities. By 1995, Slony managed to briefly seize control over almost the entire business community of Ryazan. This situation continued up until 1996 when local law enforcement managed to apprehend some suspects linked to the gang. By 2000 the gang was almost completely eliminated. Some members were either sentenced to jail or were on the run. One member of the group allegedly committed suicide in a detention center of Tolyatti in 2016 and another in Ryazan according to Russian sources. Slony's chief leader, Ermolov is still wanted as of August 2021.

In the same period, evidence was gathered against the former (4th) mayor and chairman of city duma,. Provotorova held powerful positions in the city for eight years, and, according to local authorities, was associated with the activities of the Slony gang.

Besides Slony, there were two other powerful criminal groups which rivaled Slony and were active in 1996-2001: Осокинская организованная преступная группировка and. By the 2018 many of Elephants served their prison terms and were freed. Some of members of the Osokyn's gang were sentenced up to 20 years in 2011. Its leader who is currently a fugitive was allegedly apprehended in 2016 by Ukrainian authorities in Ukraine.

Ryazan Incident
In 1999 a group of allegedly plain-clothes FSB officers attempted to blow up a building on the East side of the city. The event is known as the Ryazan Incident.

2000s
Today, the crime rate in Ryazan is one of the lowest among the cities of the Central Federal District according to the Russian Interior Ministry. In the first six-months of 2012, 579.6 crimes were reported per hundred-thousand people, almost half the Central Federal District average of 839 reported crimes per hundred-thousand people. The low crime rate in Ryazan is often attributed to increased number of police patrols, high number of military schools, and voluntary militias headquarters distributed throughout the city's districts.

Economy

Major industry enterprises in the city include a military radio electronics production plant and an oil refinery (subsidiary of Rosneft, JSC Ryazan Oil Refining Company). The plant can refine 17 million metric tons of oil per year and is the city's largest employer.

Around a quarter of the city's population works in the electronics industry. The most notable company in this sector is Plazma, which produces plasma screens for products including tanks and locomotives. In 1994, the company created a 50-50 research and development joint-venture with the South Korean company Orion PDP. In addition to plasma technology, Plazma produces LCD screens, industrial gas lasers and medical lasers. The company exports its products to the United States, China, and Israel, among others.

In 1993 software development company EPAM Systems entered the Ryazan market. As of 2016 it worked in joint venture with RSREU helping to teach students for free.

In 2012 Russian search giant Yandex launched the 40MW data center in Sasovo; it is expected to accommodate 100,000 servers by 2019.

A steel casting company in the northwestern section of the city produces heavy steelworks and product, including industrial steel pipes for use in nuclear power plants. The plant employs a centrifugal casting method.

Public transportation
A railway connects city to the Moscow (since 1864) via two train stations: and ; both of which are part of the Ryazan railroad transit system within the city's borders.

Airports
The Dyagilevo strategic bomber base is just west of the city, and the Alexandrovo air base is to the southeast, as is Turlatovo Airport.

Arts

 * Alexander Alexandrov (1883–1946), composer
 * Erast Garin (1902–1980), comic actor
 * Alexander Genis (born 1953), writer, broadcaster and cultural critic
 * Yuri Kholopov (1932–2003), musicologist, music theorist, doctor of arts, and professor of the Moscow Conservatoire
 * Maximilian Kravkov (1887–1937), writer
 * Andrei Mironov (born 1975), painter
 * Konstantin Paustovsky (1892–1968), writer
 * Alexander Pirogov (1899–1964), bass opera singer
 * Yakov Polonsky (1819–1898), writer
 * Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826–1889), satirist
 * Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008), writer
 * Sergei Yesenin (1895–1925), poet
 * Semen Zhivago (1807–1863), historical painter

Athletics

 * Anton Belov (born 1986), professional ice hockey defenceman
 * Olga Kaliturina (born 1976), high jumper
 * Maria Kalmykova (born 1978), basketball player
 * Yuri Kuleshov (born 1981), professional football defensive midfielder
 * Irina Meleshina (born 1982), long jumper
 * Ivan Nifontov (born 1987), judoka
 * Sergei Panov (born 1970), basketball player
 * Konstantin Selyavin (born 1974), former Russian professional football player
 * Kirill Sosunov (born 1975), long jumper
 * Alexandra Trusova (born 2004), figure skater

Engineering and science

 * Andrey Arkhangelsky (1879–1940), geologist
 * Victor Balykin (born 1947), Russian physicist
 * Vladimir Gulevich (1867–1933), biochemist
 * Aleksei Kozhevnikov (1836–1902), neurologist and psychiatrist
 * Nikolai Kravkov (1865–1924), pharmacologist
 * Sergey P. Kravkov (1873–1938), soil scientist
 * Sergey V. Kravkov (1893–1951), psychologist and psychophysiologist
 * Andrey Markov (1856–1922), mathematician
 * Ivan Michurin (1855–1935), biologist
 * Sergey Nepobedimy (1921–2014), designer of rocket weaponry
 * Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), physiologist
 * Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935), engineer

Others

 * Dmitry Andreikin (born 1990), chess grandmaster
 * Roman Putin (born 1977), businessman
 * Lydia Fotiyeva (1881–1975), Bolshevik revolutionary

Twin towns and sister cities
Ryazan is twinned with:

 * 🇮🇹 Alessandria, Italy
 * 🇫🇷 Bressuire, France
 * 🇧🇾 Brest, Belarus
 * 🇮🇹 Genoa, Italy
 * 🇧🇬 Lovech, Bulgaria
 * 🇩🇪 Münster, Germany
 * New Athos, Georgia
 * 🇵🇱 Ostrów Mazowiecka, Poland
 * 🇨🇳 Xuzhou, China

title: Ryazan


text:
Wladimir Köppen

Wladimir Petrovich Köppen (Влади́мир Петро́вич Кёппен, ; 25 September 1846 – 22 June 1940) was a Russian–German geographer, meteorologist, climatologist and botanist. After studies in St. Petersburg, he spent the bulk of his life and professional career in Germany and Austria. His most notable contribution to science was the development of the Köppen climate classification system, which, with some modifications, is still commonly used. Köppen made significant contributions to several branches of science, and coined the name aerology for the science of measuring the upper air/atmosphere.

Background and education
Wladimir Köppen was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He lived there until he was 20 years old. He died in Graz, Austria. Köppen's grandfather was one of several German doctors invited to Russia by Empress Catherine II to improve sanitation and was later personal physician to the tsar. His son, Wladimir's father, Peter von Köppen (1793–1864), was a noted geographer, historian and ethnographer of ancient Russian cultures and an important contributor to intellectual exchanges between western European slavists and Russian scientists. He attended secondary school in Simferopol, Crimea, and began his studies of botany in 1864 at the University of St. Petersburg.

He frequently traveled to his family's estate on the Crimean coast from St. Petersburg and to and from Simferopol, in the interior of the peninsula. The floral and geographical diversity of the Crimean peninsula, as well as the starker geographical transitions between the capital and his home, did much to awaken an interest in the relationship between climate and the natural world. In 1867, he transferred to the University of Heidelberg and in 1870 he defended his doctorate dissertation on the effects of temperature on plant growth at the University of Leipzig. He served in the Prussian ambulance corps in the Franco-Prussian War and later worked at the Central Physical Observatory in St. Petersburg.

He identified five major climatic groups, which correspond with the five main vegetation groups:
 * Tropical rainy climate
 * Dry climate
 * Warm temperature rainy climate
 * Snowy and cold climate
 * Polar climate

Career and contributions
Köppen was a principal founder of modern climatology and meteorology. Between 1850 and 1860, Köppen contributed to Seewart's sailing handbooks for the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans by studying ship reports over the winds of different oceans. Between 1872 and 1873 Köppen was employed in the Russian meteorological service as an assistant where he helped prepare the daily synoptic weather map. In 1875, he moved back to Germany and became the chief of the new Division of Marine Meteorology at the German naval observatory (Deutsche Seewarte) based in Hamburg. There, he was responsible for establishing a weather forecasting service for the northwestern part of Germany and the adjacent sea areas. After four years of service, he was able to move on to his primary interest of fundamental research, and left the meteorological office. Köppen began a systematic study of the climate and also experimented with balloons to obtain data from upper layers of the atmosphere. In 1884, he published the first version of his map of climatic zones in which the seasonal temperature ranges were plotted. It led to the development of the Köppen climate classification system around 1900, which he kept improving for the rest of his life. The full version of his system appeared first in 1918; after several modifications, the final version was published in 1936.

Apart from the description of various climate types, he was acquainted with paleoclimatology as well. In 1924, he and his son-in-law Alfred Wegener published a paper called Die Klimate der Geologischen Vorzeit (The climates of the geological past) providing crucial support to the Milanković theory on ice ages. Also, in 1911 he co-wrote The Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere, a textbook that became very popular.

Towards the end of his life, Köppen cooperated with the German climatologist Rudolf Geiger to produce a five-volume work, Handbuch der Klimatologie (Handbook of Climatology). It was never completed, but several parts, three of them by Köppen, were published. After Köppen's death in 1940, Geiger continued to work on modifications to the climate classification system.

Köppen was a prolific scientist, producing more than 500 papers, and he retained his intellectual curiosity and wide range of interests throughout his life. In 1890, he co-authored the first cloud atlas. Alongside scientific pursuits, he was actively involved in social questions, devoting much time and energy to such problems of land-use and school reform and nutrition for the underprivileged. He was a strong advocate for the use of Esperanto in the cause of world peace, translating several of his publications into Esperanto.

He had a wife, Marie, and five children including daughter Else. Marie's sister Sophie and her children moved in with the Köppens in 1888.

title: Wladimir Köppen


text:
Talk:Gaston Eyskens

Untitled
The end of Eysken's third term as prime minister is stated here as 1972 while in List of Prime Ministers of Belgium it is stated as 26 January 1973. In this article's table I wrote 1973 (because of its precision in the list), but which one is correct? D.D. 23:05, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Answering myself: says 26 January 1973. I'm changing the text accordingly. D.D. 23:12, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Gaston Eyskens


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text:
Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron Oaksey

Geoffrey Lawrence, 3rd Baron Trevethin, 1st Baron Oaksey, (2 December 1880 – 28 August 1971) was the main British judge during the Nuremberg trials after Second World War, and President of the Judicial group.

Biography
The Lawrence family came from Builth Wells in Radnorshire, Wales. Lawrence was born in London, England on 2 December 1880. Geoffrey Lawrence was the youngest son of Lord Trevethin, briefly Lord Chief Justice of England in 1921–22. He attended Haileybury (where Clement Attlee was his junior) and New College, Oxford.

Lawrence was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1906, and later joined the chambers of Sir Robert Finlay. The chambers specialised in taking appellate cases to the highest courts—the House of Lords for domestic cases, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for appeals from the Dominions and Colonies. Finlay came to rely on Lawrence, although for cases from Canada, Lawrence acted as lead counsel with Finlay as junior.

On 26 September 1914, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery Territorial Force (2nd East Anglian Brigade). He was promoted to temporary lieutenant on 20 November 1914. He served in France with the Royal Artillery, was mentioned in dispatches twice and as a major, was appointed to the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1918. After the war he continued in membership of the Territorial Army until 1937.

On returning to the Bar Lawrence continued to take cases to the Privy Council. An interest in horses, inherited from his father, led to his appointment as Attorney for the Jockey Club from 1922. Soon after he was appointed as Recorder of Oxford, a part-time judgeship.

In 1927 Lawrence was made a King's Counsel and appointed Attorney General to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). With this appointment came membership of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall. Lawrence served in this capacity until, in 1932, he was appointed as a judge of the King's Bench Division, receiving the customary knighthood.

Two weeks after the Kristallnacht in 1938, Lawrence helped Cornelia Oberlander flee Nazi Germany.

As a judge, Lawrence tended to keep out of the limelight by neither issuing sensational judgments nor drawing attention to himself. When Lord Goddard was chosen as a Law Lord, Lawrence succeeded him as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1944.

Nuremberg trials
He was chosen as an experienced judge to be the lead to Norman Birkett in the British delegation to the Judicial group in the Nuremberg trials, though not (as some thought) arising out of his friendship with Attlee who was by then Prime Minister. He was then elected as President of all the Judges, more through the lack of enemies than any other factor. His conduct of the trials was praised by many of those involved who appreciated his striving to understand the relevance of each piece of evidence, and willingness to stop long-winded counsel.

Lawrence was not considered an exceptional legal talent but won acclaim for delivering a very clear judgment (largely penned by Birkett) that expressed the moral sense of the Court's conclusions. After the trials, Lawrence was raised to the peerage as Baron Oaksey, of Oaksey in the County of Wilts., on 13 January 1947 (he also inherited the Barony of Trevethin from his brother on 25 June 1959 but was always known as Lord Oaksey).

As a senior legal figure in the House of Lords, he served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1947 and on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council until he retired in 1957.

Personal life
Lawrence married Marjorie Frances Alice (1898–1984) on 22 December 1921. She served in the ATS in the Second World War, gaining the OBE, and became a magistrate after the war. They had a country estate at Oaksey in Wiltshire, where Lawrence bred championship Guernsey cattle. They had three daughters and a son. Their son John was a well known amateur jockey and horse racing journalist; he too only used the title Lord Oaksey.

Retirement and death
In retirement, Lord Oaksey, as he now was, dedicated himself to his farm, judging several county agricultural shows.

Lord Oaksey died on 28 August 1971 in Oaksey, Wiltshire, England.

title: Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron Oaksey