Passionate Man Research Articles

Robespierre: a revolutionary life

For some historians and biographers, Maximilien Robespierre (1758-94) was a great revolutionary martyr who succeeded in leading French Republic to safety in face of overwhelming military odds. For many others, he was first modern dictator, a fanatic who instigated murderous Reign of Terror in 1793-94. This masterful biography combines new research into Robespierre's dramatic life with a deep understanding of society and politics of French Revolution to arrive at a fresh understanding of man, his passions, and his tragic shortcomings. Peter McPhee gives special attention to Robespierre's formative years and development of an iron will in a frail boy conceived outside wedlock and on margins of polite provincial society. Exploring how these experiences formed young lawyer who arrived in Versailles in 1789, author discovers not cold, obsessive Robespierre of legend, but a man of passion with close but platonic friendships with women. Soon immersed in revolutionary conflict, he suffered increasingly lengthy periods of nervous collapse correlating with moments of political crisis, yet Robespierre was tragically unable to step away from crushing burdens of leadership. Did his ruthless, uncompromising exercise of power reflect a descent into madness in his final year of life? McPhee reevaluates ideology and reality of the Terror, what Robespierre intended, and whether it represented an abandonment or a reversal of his early liberalism and sense of justice.

Saving The Czech Environment

Environmental conditions in the former Czechoslovakia were disastrous 25 years ago. Unregulated mining and the production of steel, chemicals, and electricity were driving the economy. Forests were dying, soils contained toxic metals, and the water and air were badly polluted. Today, a stroll through a Czech park or a ride through the countryside on a bicycle or train shows almost no signs of the grim environmental past. Blue skies, thriving agriculture, crowded swimming lakes, and numerous cyclists and kayakers—the environment is typical of any European Union (EU) country. What transformed the extremely toxic Czech environment into a livable place is the story of a humble, passionate man whose tireless, secret efforts to understand the environmental problems plaguing his country eventually paid off. That influential man is Bedřich Moldan, the first Czech environment minister and founding director of the Charles University Environment Center, in Prague. A former analytical chemist, Moldan is ...

In Memoriam: Robert M. Chanock, MD, 1924-2010

In Memoriam: Robert M. Chanock, MD, 1924-2010

Romantic Hellenism, sculpture and Rome

Sculpture retains its freshness for twenty centuries: The Apollo & the Venus are as they were. But books are perhaps the only productions of man coeval with the human race. Sophocles and Shakespear...

Emotion in Beethoven and his music

Beethoven was the first of the romantic period composers who dominated classical music during the 19th century. He himself was a passionate man who carried his feelings on his sleeve. He had episodes of depression accompanied by suicidal ideas, and rarer episodes of elation with flights of ideas.

Eleftherios Venizelos: The Trials of Statesmanship

Eleftherios Venizelos is a major Greek political figure, who during his times and after his death ignited many strong feelings and divided opinions among Greeks. Venizelos dominated the period of Greek politics from 1910 to 1935 to such a degree that it is difficult to remember any of his contemporary politicians. His domestic influence was powerful, his diplomatic skills remarkable and his modernising vision long lasting. His name is inextricably linked with some of the most dramatic and controversial moments in a period of modern Greek history which included successive wars and peace efforts, military victories and defeats, territorial expansions and withdrawals, massive exchanges of populations and refugee movements, government reforms and counter-reforms, economic growth and crises, democratic governments and military interventions and a deep national schism, one pole of which was Venizelos and his Liberal Party. In this edited volume, Paschalis Kitromilides takes us through this turbulent period of Greek history by focusing on the personality, leadership and charisma of Eleftherios Venizelos, and his impact on national developments. The initial aim of the book was to respond to the complete absence of any biographical work on Venizelos in English, despite the fact that there are plenty of secondary books and articles dealing with the period in which Venizelos dominated the political scene. As such, the book is a welcome addition for those who would like to know more about the person, the leader, the politician, and the diplomat. In his introduction, Kitromilides expresses his admiration and respect for this very influential figure and claims that ‘he was a man of passion but also a man with a feeling of responsibility’, adding that ‘his philosophy of modernisation…proved to be his lasting legacy’. Kitromilides has done an excellent work in assembling a number of biographical, historical and thematic chapters, in order to analyse the leader's charisma, responsibility and his notion of modernisation. The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with Venizelos’ formative years during the period 1864–1910. Kallivretakis presents the Ottoman context in Crete and its influence on the early political philosophy and praxis of Venizelos, while Makraki discusses his early life and career as a lawyer, journalist and politician-in-the-making, as well as the controversies that surrounded his personality and early years, and his impact on the politics of enosis of Crete with Greece.

Bernhard Linde. Noor-Eesti vooriülem. Bernhard Linde. Leader of the Young Estonian Pack

Bernhard Linde (1886–1954) was a recognized and prolific Estonian theatre critic of the first quarter of the 20th century, who mediated and propagated western as well as eastern European theatrical innovations. In addition, he was active as a literary and art critic, publisher, and proponent of libraries, to a modest extent he was a prose writer and poet. Unquestionably, however, Bernhard Linde’s most prominent role was as one of the founding members of the literary movement Young Estonia. He was the group’s first general manager; later on, he was the secretary of the Estonian Writers’ Association Young Estonia, and the chairman of the board of the Young Estonia Publishing House. Linde’s formal education culminated in graduation from Tartu University as a Slavic philologist; he was the only member of the Young Estonia group to demonstrate serious and sustained interest toward Slavic cultures and peoples. Linde was a contradictory figure, evoking a range of responses from his contemporaries: on the one hand, there was the unbelievably broad range of his participation in cultural life, his organizing skills and business instincts in directing publishing houses; on the other hand, a superficiality in his writings, his often rash and subjective style as a critic, and his financial intrigues. If one adds in Linde’s stubbornness, egocentrism, and intense spirit of protest, which often led to lawsuits, the outcome is the portrait of an extremely complicated, fascinating, and passionate man—both in his creative work and his personal life Linde guaranteed a place for himself in literary history through a small catch of texts: a few foundational essays (for example, on August Kitzberg), a translation of Balzac’s Le père Goriot, the essay collection Omad ja võõrad (Own and Foreign) and a travel book focusing on the literature and theatre of eastern Europe (Loova Kesk-Euroopa Poole (Toward A Creative Central Europe)). The prominent public figure and historian Eduard Laaman has pointed out that the historical picture of Young Estonia would be incomplete without Bernhard Linde. It was Laaman who, in view of Linde’s business instincts, dubbed him Young Estonia’s ”leader of the pack”, a label that stuck. While fulfilling the responsibilities of the group’s general secretary and business manager (the Estonian word asjaajaja has a broad connotational field) Linde carried most of the burden of Young Estonia’s correspondence. Though he often protested against the designation, the term general manager seems most precisely to characterize Linde’s activities in the context of Young Estonia, since the group’s financial matters and problems connected with its publishing activities were largely his to handle. Compared with his organizational work, his own literary contributions from the Young Estonia era were modest. Young Estonia’s fifth and last album was published in 1915. The last text specifically about Young Estonia authored by a member of the movement was Bernhard Linde’s ”Noor-Eesti” kümme aastat (Young Estonia: Ten Years), also mostly written that same year, though not published until 1919 (publication date on the title page was 1918, reprinted 2005). This text is a systematic historical overview of the movement which continues to offer valuable perspectives for today’s reader.

About This Issue

] About This Issue I t is so gratifying to publish a Festschrift on David J. O’Brien, a committed historian known for elucidating parallels past and present in the church and society . His former students and colleagues testify to his conscious engagement in the process of making the American Catholic past vitally connected to contemporary social thought and action. He urges his readers and listeners to draw upon American Catholic history, the social teachings of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II, and of the United States bishops, and as good American citizens take charge in forming public policy on the basis of justice and peace. He is known as a person of faith and a man of great passion in his call for social and religious reform and renewal. We are pleased to honor David J. O’Brien for his many gifts; he is truly a mensch for all seasons. Each of our contributors has a distinctive perspective on O’Brien but also a shared personal appreciation of him. Jay P. Dolan is professor emeritus of History at the University of Notre Dame. Alice Gallin, O.S.U., is former professor of History and Dean of the College of New Rochelle, and a past president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. Philip Gleason is professor emeritus of History at the University of Notre Dame. Paula Kane holds the John C. Jr. and Lucine O’Brien Marous Chair in Contemporary Catholic Studies, and is professor of Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. James McCartin is professor of History at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. Joseph McCartin is professor of History at Georgetown University. Tricia Pyne is the archivist of the Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore. Rodger Van Allen is professor of Theology at Villanova University and co-editor of American Catholic Studies. Christopher J. Kauffman ...

From Pilgrimage to History: The Renaissance and Global Historicism by John G. Demaray

822 Reviews probably Catholics, most were interested inPossevino as an opponent of their own faith.From the eighteenth century onwards, however, themain motive forcollectors became bibliophily. Balsamo's excellent work, meticulously put together over many years, will be of value forthehistories of thecirculation of Italian books inBritain and of the formation of British libraries. But itshould also be read by anyone interested in the history of the conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, and in the roles that theprinted book was made toplay in this conflict. UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS BRIAN RICHARDSON From Pilgrimage toHistory: The Renaissance and Global Historicism. By JOHNG. DEMARAY. (AMS Studies in theRenaissance, 41) New York: AMS. 2006. xvi+ 250 pp. $82.50. ISBN 978-o-404-6234i-8. The main purpose of JohnG. Demaray's book is to review the transition inpresenting world history and geography fromaccounts based on theBible to themore empirical studies of later times.The book moves fromRalegh's History of the World, through Bacon, Purchas, andMilton with incidental work on Columbus, Donne, Burton, and others. From the prophecy inParadise Lost of aworld after history, the author looks at later visions of things to come inHegel, Marx, and Fukuyama, finding little to console him. Demaray's scope iswide and his design isbold. The weight given to Samuel Pur chas in this study of the hinge between medieval and modern ismost unusual. If I am unconvinced of the importance of Purchas's sprawling work, I acknowledge that the author isone of the very,very few to tackle its significance as awhole. I question much more stronglywhether Demaray iswell advised inbasing SirWalter Ralegh's linkswith theworld of pilgrimage on his authorship of thebeautiful poem 'The Pas sionateMan's Pilgrimage' (best known for itsopening line, 'Giveme my scallop shell of quiet'). The attribution of this poem toRalegh is extremely tenuous, impossible even. Demaray nevermentions thedialogue poem inwhich a discarded lovermeets a Walsingham pilgrim. This poem is also attributed toRalegh, and, with itsvery close links to 'The Ocean toCynthia', ismuch more definitely his. It admirably demon stratesRalegh's nostalgic linkwith a pre-Reformation past. Instead, 'The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage' is quoted, and quoted only from a i68i version which (in 1951) A. M. C. Latham called 'avery bad text'. It isnot somuch a bad text as a calamitous rewritingof theanonymous i604 poem. This ridiculous text isgiven tous asRalegh' s authoritative work. Demaray toyswith themysterious idea that the speaker of the poem (who is inprison awaiting death) alters the destination of his pilgrimage from Compostella to Jerusalem. It has to be said that this book is full of themost extraordinary errors. The 'A.C. Cronin' of page 33 seems to be the same as theG. R. Crone of the notes (p. I82) who many years ago wrote an important essay on theHereford world map. Abraham Cowley, who was not born until i6i8, iscredited on page 65with having written in i6o6 his poem on Thomas Sprat's history of theRoyal Society.Whatever the source of such errors, theproofs of thisbook appear never tohave been read by publisher or author.There seems tobe no end to mistakes in titles,dates, and spellings. The titleof Townshend's masque, forexample, was not 'Temp Restored' but 'Tempe Restored' (p. 136); Paradise Lost is twicemisquoted on page 122. Such awide and important subject as Demaray's needs the strongest foundations. MLR, I02.3, 2007 823 The constant errorsmust undermine the reader's confidence in the author's argu ments. KENDAL PHILIP EDWARDS 'Macbeth'Multiplied: Negotiating Historical andMedial Difference between Shake speare and Verdi. By CHRISTOPH CLAUSEN. (Internationale Forschungen zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft, 93) Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi. 2005. ?58; $70. 285 pp. ISBN 978-90-420-I887-7. This book aims, in its author's words, 'to travel between the two nations of Shake spearean and Verdian criticism' (p. I5), and to treat the play and theopera as 'fields of interpretative possibilities' (p. 2I): itexplicitly refrains from attempting 'a grand overarching theory' (p. 26). The 'historical' and 'medial' differences of the title are both taken seriously. Clausen iswell read in the Jacobean and Risorgimento political preoccupations which, as critics have argued, are the informingcontexts respectively of theplay and of theopera. He also...

No ordinary man: Tenison Woods and the Naracoorte Caves

Father Julian Edmund Tenison Woods arrived at Penola on the 19th March, 1857 as a newly ordained priest and commenced his ministry to the South East region. He was a man of intense intellectual power, with a remarkable sense of inquiry, combined with an absolute and enduring spiritual commitment to the Church. Over the next ten years, he provided an immense service to his parish and its people, established a teaching order of continuing distinction to this day, authored many scientific writings, including his remarkable book on the geology and geography of the South East region, and returned to Adelaide as Director-General of Catholic Education. He was a passionate man, and at times this led him into conflict with the established Church, or other establishments. The Mosquito Plains (now Naracoorte) Caves soon came to his notice and excited his sense of inquiry. Although he had no formal education in geology, he soon developed a genuine understanding of these caves, bringing a remarkable mix of resources to bear upon the questions that they posed. During his early ventures into theology, he benefited from the teaching and friendship of Saint Julian Eymard, and they often walked together through the French countryside discussing what they saw. This both developed his great sense of observation and inevitably fostered his interest in and basic understanding of geology. Then while at Penola, he became friends with Samuel Pratt Winter of the nearby Murndal station in Victoria, who shared his sense of inquiry, and purchased books for him, including Lyell's (1830–1833) Principles of Geology'. He had clearly also read, probably in Winter's library, the work of Thomas Mitchell and others on the Pleistocene fossils from Wellington in New South Wales. His ‘Geological Observations in South Australia, principally in the district southeast of Adelaide’ was widely acclaimed for its interest and quality. Reading it today, one can only be impressed by his struggle to reconcile his own very acute observations with the wisdom of the great George Lyell. Of course, Lyell was writing from European experience and in total ignorance of the very distinctive nature of the South Australian Karst. Fortunately, Woods was not silenced by deference to the authority of Lyell and others, and presented his own views, including his assessment of the Naracoorte fossils. Again fortunately, when William Reddan arrived at Naracoorte to manage the caves he recognised the importance of Woods' work, and arranged for further continuing inquiry by Stirling and Zeitz of the South Australian Museum. In turn, this (relatively unsuccessful) activity fuelled the initial and continuing exploration of the caves by the speleologists of the 1950s, including myself, and others who followed, eventually discovering the Victoria Fossil cave.

A paediatrician with a passion for patient safety

Dr Umesh Prabhu is a passionate man: passionate about the NHS, passionate about supporting doctors, but most of all passionate about patient safety. He9s a practising paediatrician who9s involved with a number of national organisations trying to reduce medical errors.

Chris Feudtner, Bittersweet: diabetes, insulin and the transformation of illness, Studies in Social Medicine, Chapel Hill and London, University of North Carolina Press, 2003, pp. xxii, 290, illus., £22.95, US$29.95 (hardback 0-8078-2791-6).

Chris Feudtner, Bittersweet: diabetes, insulin and the transformation of illness, Studies in Social Medicine, Chapel Hill and London, University of North Carolina Press, 2003, pp. xxii, 290, illus., £22.95, US$29.95 (hardback 0-8078-2791-6). - Volume 49 Issue 1

Jelly's blues: the life, music, and redemption of Jelly Roll Morton

An investigative biography of the first jazz composer, based on newly discovered archival material. . Jelly's Blues vividly recounts the tumultuous life of Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941), born Ferdinand Joseph Lamonthe to a large, extended family in Orleans. A virtuoso pianist with a larger-than-life personality, he composed such influential early jazz pieces as Kansas City Stomp and New Orleans Blues. But by the late 1930s, Jelly Roll Morton was nearly forgotten as a visionary jazz composer. Instead, he was caricatured as a braggart, a hustler, and, worst of all, a has-been. He was ridiculed by the white popular press and robbed of due royalties by unscrupulous music publishers. His reputation at rock bottom, Jelly Roll Morton seemed destined to be remembered more as a flamboyant, diamond-toothed rounder than as the brilliant architect of that new American musical idiom: Jazz. In 1992, the death of a Orleans memorabilia collector unearthed a startling archive. Here were unknown later compositions as well as correspondence, court and copyright records, all detailing Morton's struggle to salvage his reputation, recover lost royalties, and protect the publishing rights of black musicians. Morton was a much more complex and passionate man than many had realized, fiercely dedicated to his art and possessing an unwavering belief in his own genius, even as he toiled in poverty and obscurity. An especially immediate and visceral look into the jazz worlds of Orleans and Chicago, Jelly's Blues is the definitive biography of a jazz icon, and a long overdue look at one of the twentieth century's most important composers.

Pictures at an Exhibition: Woodrow Wilson Portraits

Television programmes reviewed in this article The American Experience: Woodrow Wilson. Episode 1: “A Passionate Man” and Episode 2: “The Redemption of the World.”

Thoreau's Emotional Stoicism

To Yeats, who associated passion with foolishness, the life of contemplative wisdom epitomized by Thoreau seemed incompatible with an emotional existence, and it was the latter that he would ultimately opt for: one of his poems gives voice to the hope that age will find him, not a serene sage, but "A foolish, passionate man." 1 This reading of the stoical Yankee is defensible: in his notion that being a philosopher is not merely a matter of theory but more importantly of practice, as well as in his tendency to speak as if knowledge is consummated in tranquility, Thoreau is basically in accord with ancient Stoic ethics. 2 In his writings, he expresses deep agreement with the Stoic idea that, while most of us live in an antlike state of petty agitation, it is within our power to liberate ourselves from the belief that trivial and superfluous objects are essential to our well-being. 3 For the Stoics, of course, all objects of possible attachment, outside of one's own moral agency, are by definition unworthy of concern: the virtue of apathy and the vice of passion are logically exclusive of one another. 4 But this is where Thoreau parts company with his Greek and Roman precursors: he questions what for [End Page 122] them is a truth by definition, namely that only dispassionate existence could be unfoolish. Acknowledging the tension between apathy and passion, he attempts to redefine these mutually exclusive categories so that his reverence for both may be coherently maintained. This attempt, if successful, would allow him to attain the Stoic ideal of moral virtue, without systematically eradicating the passions. In order to evaluate Thoreau's unorthodox neo-Stoicism, 5 it is necessary first to examine his correspondent headings of purity and wildness alongside the concepts of apathy and passion, and then to consider how they might possibly be harmonized.

The Two Mr. Gladstones: A Study in Psychology and History

The Two Mr. Gladstones: A Study in Psychology and History

The electrophysiological work of Carlo Matteucci

In 1964, Giuseppe Moruzzi (1910–1986), a prominent neurophysiologist of worldwide fame with a scholarly interest in the history of science, published an extensive and insightful analysis of the work and personality of Carlo Matteucci, a 19th century Professor of Physics at the University of Pisa who had worked on “animal electricity” in the great tradition of Galvani. By discovering fundamental phenomena such as the demarcation potential and action current in muscle and nerve, Matteucci paved the way for the development of modern electrophysiology. Being written in Italian and having appeared in a not easily available journal of history of science, Moruzzi's essay has been lost to most members of the international neuroscience community. An English translation of it is published here with two aims: first, to make known to a large audience of neuroscientists a fascinating account of the origins of electrophysiology as seen through a perceptive interpretation of the successes and failures of a brilliant scientist and passionate man; and second, to pay tribute to the memory of Giuseppe Moruzzi and his everlasting contributions to learning and science on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his death.

Jung as a man of passion and integrity: Spiritual father and containing mother

(1995). Jung as a man of passion and integrity: Spiritual father and containing mother. Psychological Perspectives: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 36-45.

‘John, the passionate man, in his action tower’

‘John, the passionate man, in his action tower’

Oscar Bluemner's Late Landscapes: “The Musical Color of Fateful Experience”

Oscar Bluemner's art and ideas are not well known, and the few individuals who have studied his work have varied widely in their estimates of it. He has been called both “a radical painter” and “a middle-of-the-roader.” Scholars have found him “dependent upon … Cubism and Fauvism” as well as “uniquely American in his personal combination of expressionist color with symbolic realism.” Critics have described him as an artist out of place (“in all probability [he belonged] in the ranks of the pre-Nazi German moderns”) and out of time (“a pioneer striving to look beyond the veil … and see in the distance a future more stable than his own”). The art-world figure closest to him at the end of his life would say only that “he was a man of great passion for paint, a person of intellect and purpose who was sure that in time he would be rediscovered.”