title: LGBT history in Latvia

text:
Homosexuality in Latvia was decriminalised in 1992.

Governorate of Livonia

In entertainment culture the crossing of the gender, for example cross-dressing, was a popular way of attracting the audience. One of the performers, ‘impersonators’ known in Europe, whose act was dancing as the opposite gender, started his career at the local opera in Riga in 1903. Since that time Kārlis Lencs, as he was called in Latvian press, had performed in Berlin, Paris, London, America, but in the autumn of 1934 had arrived in a tour to Riga land also had performed in other places in Latvia - Vecauce, Durbe, Saldus. Such entertainment was available in Riga not only in 1903, but also in 1911. Intersex actor, Jespe (hermaphrodite), performed in cafe "Šata". "The actor sings very well, he also really likes young junkers and he is ready to do anything for them. The best idea isto dine with him and in the most critical moment to leave, he will be distraught, but that’s nothing," in a private letter one junker of Polotsk cadet corps advised to another.

On the other hand, the male homosexual subculture in the cities of Russian Empire began in the 1870s to 1890s. At the beginning of the 20th century, two (more or less) formed subcultures existed at the forefront, artistically and intellectually, with known poets and artists, and the sexually commercial bathhouses, cheap hotels, certain streets and other places of male prostitution. Just as in Western Europe, in Russia, homosexual relationships were most common in closed educational institutions, such as cadet corps, Junker schools, and so on. However, before The World War I in Latvian artistic environments same-sex sexual relationships between men was a taboo subject, so even in letters and memoirs of homosexual people nothing might be interpreted unambiguously as they do not include definitions of sexual identity. Therefore, today one might see only homoerotic hints in the texts of Rūdolfs Blaumanis, as well as in the seemingly passionate letter greetings of writer Ivande Kaija to poet Aspazija.

The rule that criminalised so-called ‘copulation between men’ () was introduced in the Russian Empire in 1832, along with the first collection of the laws of the Russian Empire. It was called Article 995, which stipulated sanctions only for anal intercourse between men and prescribed that for such behaviour sanctions are imposed: taking away all rights assigned from personal situation and property situation, and exilement of the arrested to correction departments for time from 4 to 5 years, usually to Siberia. Moreover, if the sentenced person was Christian, he had to repent his sins in such a way his congregation leader prescribed. Attempts to decrease the sanctions for the behaviour mentioned were successful. On 22 March 1903, Article 516 of the criminal code prescribed prison time no less than three months. However, this Penal code was not implemented. The ’old' Article 995 was in effect in the Russian empire until 1917, when bolsheviks seized power in the former Russian Empire.

During the early 20th century, the legal regulations of same-sex relationships in Western Europe were various. Since 1810, when Napoleonic Code was announced in France, they were decriminalised. Such example was followed by many other countries which created laws based on the experience of France mostly Catholic countries such as Italy, Belgium and Spain, as well as mixed denomination countries, such as the Netherlands. Meanwhile, same-sex relationships were criminalised mainly in Protestant countries (Denmark and Sweden), as well as countries where Protestantism dominated among the denominations, such as the Great Britain and Germany. Such judicial regulations were also adopted by Austria and Hungary, where Catholicism dominated, as well as some Swiss cantons. It was the different experience of judicial regulations that became a tool used by defenders of decriminalisation of homosexuality to make arguments, that those voluntary same-sex activities between adults is a crime without a victim. Particularly strong movement of homosexual emancipation existed in Germany with the demand to abolish Paragraph 175.

In other countries, scandals related to homosexuality took place and were discussed: however, there was not much information about them in the Latvian press. The legal process (1895) against Oscar Wilde, who was convicted on the charge of pederasty and sentenced to two years of forced labour, was widely reflected in the Russian press. But in the Latvian press, it was mentioned only after 1905. Moreover, the authors of the publication did not even specify the crime he was charged with, but used a euphemism: "violation of morality".

In 1908 newspaper, Dzimtenes Vētnesis described the lawsuit (1907) of Prince Philip Eulenburg, a friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, against Maximilian Harden, the editor of Journal Zukunft, who in several publications had described the homosexual pleasures of the prince and other nobles. The newspaper also used the terms "homosexualism” and "homosexualist" emphasising that as in Latvian, "there is no name for such human depravities" many might not understand what does the charge of homosexuality mean?". The author explained that the first German Chancellor Bismarck had called the clique of Prince Philip Eulenburg "kinaids", and using equivalent Latvian words, "dog asses". Such statement were based in tradition that was reflected in the Latvian folklore, where the most valued masculine model was denoted by phallic symbolism (rooster, bull, foal, eel), but physically defective, socially lower and sexually deviant men were characterised by symbols of a dog and a wolf.

The researches of European sexologists about homosexuals were translated and republished in Russia soon after their publishing. The ethnographical essay "The third Gender of Berlin" (1904) by German sexologist and homosexual movement activist Magnus Hirschfeld was published in Russian translation four years after the original. The research about "sexual inversion" by British Doctor, writer, social reformer Havelock Ellis, which was banned in England, was published in Russian only after 1909. Essays about "the intermediate gender" written by English socialist, philosopher, homosexual movement activist Edward Carpenter, was published in 1916 with the permission of military censorship. Meanwhile, the most influential Russian specialist was Veniamin Mikhailovich Tarnovski, professor of Imperial Military Medical Academy in Saint-Petersburg, with the book about perversity of sexual desires published in 1885. Until the World War I commercial books that introduced to "the world of perversion" were published in Russia and the theme of homosexuality was widely used by Russian writers in their works. The option to read these texts, at least theoretically, existed in the territory of Latvia.

World War I and Latvian War of Independence

The war gave opportunities to cross the gender lines without punishment. Led by the idea of patriotism, young women dressed up as men to have the opportunity to fight. Some managed to join Latvian Riflemen units in World War I (there are six known women) and during the Latvian War of Independence. War was one of the exclusive attributes of masculinity, therefore those few women who managed to obtain the permission to fight at the front-lines, were given male names in documentation. Līna Čanka, one of the three women cavaliers of the Order of Lāčplēsis in August 1915 with the documents of her brother Jānis Čanks, volunteered at the Latvian riflemen battalion and fought as a man for some time. In 1916, Emīlija K. from Ķemeri, was attached to one of the riflemen battalions as "Pēteris K". She received respect among her war comrades because she "just beat up" those who intrusively tried to show her their affection.

World War I created the emancipation of awareness of homosexuality in the territory of Latvia. Due to the wars large inhabitant masses (and experiences) moved. Migration paralysed the usual mechanisms of social control. Unprecedented possibilities appeared to realise the seemingly impossible, to see what had been unseen until now. In general, that encouraged people to become aware about the diversity of sexual practice.

Transgender people used the situation of war to start their lives in their desired gender. During wartime, Alvīne Osis replaced documents to become Arvīds Osis and joined the army to affirm the new identity. A soldier, who in the beginning of 1919 during the Latvian War of Independence, had served in the North Latvian brigade created in area of Vidzeme occupied by Estonian army, married as a woman. In 1923, the soldier wanted a divorce and asked the clerks of Riga registry office "to change them from a woman to a man". It meant giving out documents that would confirm the respective gender. At the time when there were no possibilities to change the I gender by surgery it was the most radical thing that could be demanded.

Information about the emancipation of homosexuality  in territory of Latvia during the wartime is rather scarce and fragmentary. For example, an entry in a document that the person X is "a pederast from the last war 1914-1918", or a note that the accused had his first homosexual experience during the World War I, while serving in army. The documents of post-war Court of Honour of the Latvian Armed Forces indicated that such behaviour among the professional soldiers during "peacetime" was condemned. For example, a homosexual Lieutenant Colonel, who was a board member of Riflemen Society, that is, he participated in World War I as an officer, was forced to retire.

The war did not encourage homosexuality, but it made it easier for men who were already homosexual to have same-sex relationships, overcoming the social and sexual oppression that had been dominant in their lives before then. Hence the war created an interesting paradox. Despite its traumatic nature, war gave homosexual people an alternative environment where they could ignore repressive traditions and to find out their identity. It made it easier for men to investigate their sexual desires outside traditional social structures and 'mechanisms of social monitoring'. For example, the experience of war for one group of the German homosexual community provided the modern image — a gay man as a warrior and the rhetoric that was against the idea that homosexuals have feminine nature.

The war built the self-identity of homosexuals, for example, in Germany homosexual men saw military as the opportunity to show their patriotism, masculinity and their integration with society. Sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld researched the influence of war on homosexual men. From 1914 to 1918 soldiers from the frontline sent him thousands of letters, pedantically telling about their homosexual experiences. On one hand, the army considered homosexuality unnatural and immoral, but on the other hand exactly in the military environment homosexual men "emerged". A soldier wrote that war gave him opportunity to educate his fellow soldiers and dispel the negative stereotypes. Homosexual relationships became more noticeable, and  homosexuals were tolerated because they shared the front-line experience with the others.

Incidentally, during the World War I a common part of entertainment if USA Navy were men, who played female parts in theatre. Likewise, British Army paid artist corps that did the same, to perform at the front-lines of Great Britain. The colourful  but problematic dressing op of men as women seemingly renewed gender norms in a homosocial (based only on male relationships) soldier community. Dressing up as women on stage symbolically resolved the oppression of sexuality.

The Republic of Latvia (1918—1934)

Legal framework
After World War I, on 18 November 1918 the Republic of Latvia was founded and it defined 22 March 1903 Criminal Code of the Russian Empire as its Penal Code. In different parts of Latvia, they were in force before the county founded. The occupying power of Germany had declared the Criminal Code as the Penal Code  in the administrative region (including Kurzeme and Latgale) of the Commander-of-Chief of the whole Eastern front. Whereas in the German-occupied Vidzeme they came into force in February 1918. Latvian People's Council, already on 15 March 1920, adopted the law about the implementation of the criminal code in Latgale. It means, that in certain places of Latvia the penalty for committing acts of pederasty was decreased already during World War I. Article 516 of the Penal Code named "Immorality" prescribed a prison sentence of at least three months for these acts.

From 1 August 1933a new law was introduced. The new Criminal Code was developed and implemented by Latvian lawyers. Now in accordance with Article 496 a man could be punished for the aforementioned behaviour with a prison sentence, and did not impose a specific time. That meant the Judge could also give a smaller sentence instead of the three months required before.

In Latvia, within 17 years, doctors carried out 87 forensic medical investigations on men, trying to find physical marks that "would prove homosexual behaviour" (carrying out acts of pederasty). The territorial belonging of them is noted in 82 cases. The most experiments were carried out in 1935. 12 of 21 experiments concerned Talsu District and 7 in Riga. The majority  — 7 of the 11 expertises registered in 1931 were carried out in Tukuma district.

In May 1926, the popular German sexologist, Magnus Hirschfield, who was homosexual, read lectures in Riga. But in November 1926, the police arrested several homosexual men and started a criminal case against them. The press called what happened "the Black Carnation club" scandal. The "Сегодня Вечером" newspaper interviewed Professor Ferdinand Neireter, the head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Latvian University, to find our what penalty awaited those arrested. The Professor reported that, according to the theory of Magnus Hirschfeld, homosexuality is inborn inclination which is influenced by the environment and the first sexual experience. Homosexuals cannot be considered mentally ill. Homosexuality also is not a compulsive mania. The intensity of their sexual desire is just as diverse as for heterosexuals, moreover there are homosexuals that during their lifetime do not carry out any homosexual acts. Professor   explained, that conviction of homosexuality makes many people suppress their inclinations or live in danger, that their "crime" will be found out and making way for blackmail. And so in many European countries campaigns for abolishing the criminal convictions are increasing. He supported the appeal of Hirschfield to decriminalize homosexuality. The professor's reasons were such: "It is completely logical, because the country has nothing to do with what lifestyle is carried out by adults when they do not make any direct or indirect harm to social morality. The criminalization of homosexuality apparently stems from theological principles, because homosexuality disturbs the implementation of God's main commandment: "be fruitful and multiply".

In 1927, medical examiner Alberts Lokenbergs carried out a forensic examinations on the accused in the "Black Carnation club" case. In the report he wrote:

The court punished for a specific sexual act, not sexual orientation. The society, however, used the concept of pederasty in a wider context to denote same-sex relationships between men.

The Criminal law did not mention female same-sex relationships at all, therefore formally making them legal, because it's possible that to acknowledge that one woman 'seduces' another, would mean the admission of the possibility of female sexuality that is independent from men, which would be contrary to the traditional notions.

Public thought
The most popular meeting places were the Vērmane Garden, the Greeneries of Opera and public toilets. Men who were well off visited night restaurant Alhambra (it was located in two-floors in a wooden house on 25 Brīvības iela in the block between Lāčplēša and Ģertrūdas iela). Barmaids worked there alongside young men who were called "aunties". Relationships of such type were also available in Cafe "Stambul" (located at the beginning of Krišjāņa Barona iela), where around 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. it was occupied by young men with painted faces, waiting for their admirers. In those days the restaurant had separate cabinets where visitors could sit as in individual companies, where they could be unseen. Some homosexual people used them for intimacy. Several illegal, and therefore secret, entertainment venues existed and people commonly called them "clubs".

In 1933 the nightlife route also included a lesbian club, which was located in an apartment in Tērbatas iela. Householders and foreigners attended the club because the entertainment in it was the most expensive in Riga. No more than five or six men could attend a single show. While sipping expensive alcohol, they watched love scenes between women. If somebody was turned on, they could wait in vain for responses from lesbians. Women also attended the club, but they watched it from different rooms.

The first extended account on homosexuality in written Latvian press was published in the autumn of 1924 in the newspaper Jaunākās Ziņas, retelling rumours that the surroundings of Viesturdārzs are a home to "pederast club" named "Black carnation". The name is said to be derived from a badge with a black carnation on green enamel, and that it is being used as a club pass. In public thought, a consistent metaphor was created — homosexual men were henceforth called "black carnations". It caught on in society and until the soviet occupation in the Latvian country the word "homosexual" was euphemised with this metaphor. The scandal began in the autumn of 1926, when the head of the main storeroom from the Ministry of War Service Corps reported to the head of the administration of Riga Criminal Police. He told that in old Riga in M. Ķēniņa iela 14 (now Vāgnera iela), several men are continuously meeting in an apartment with the involvement of the new soldiers of the local garrison and "during these meetings all kinds of unnatural sexual acts are carried out between men, including pederasty". However, it was rarely discussed in the press. The most important reflections about book published in the 1926-1927, when a lawsuit accusing several man of homosexual actions was started and settled.

 One of the first portrayals in the cinema that was sympathetic to homosexual people, was the film "Anders als die Andern", which was filmed in the Republic of Weimar in 1919. In Latvia it was shown in the summer of 1920, with the title "Homosexualists or under the hereditary curse". In seven long parts, and it was advertised as psychological soulful tragedy, whose "scientific part of the drama is simulated under the known Professor N. Hirschfeld." The advertisement enticed, saying it is closed to children under 16 and "don't miss seeing this picture!". Magnus Hirchfeld, the psychiatrist mentioned in the advertisement already in 1897 established the first homosexual movement in Germany with the goal to decriminalise pederasty. In 1919, he established Institute of Sexual Science and the so-called "third gender" theory (female heart in a male chest), became the most popular expert in homosexuality questions in Europe, and partly financed the filming of the movie. He gave lectures in Riga in 1926 and 1929. Cinema "Vitorija" in Liepāja showed the movie "Homosexualist" on 9 August 1920, while in Riga it was shown in May (in "Maska" cinema) and June ("Moulin Rouge" cinema). The movie audiences considered the movie interesting and gathered a lot of public.

One of the most persistent views about the homosexual people in inter-war Latvia is expressed in the conviction that mostly representatives of artistic professions, especially ballet dancers and actors, are homosexual. Journalist Oļģerts Liepiņš who started his career in the beginning of the 1920s, has left such evidence in his memoires: "I immediately met Mierlauks in an official reception. "Come here Liepiņš, your tie is crooked," he lisped in his aged voice, grasping against my cheeks with long fingers. Back then, I was a rather good-looking fellow; I already knew Mierlauks weakness, therefore I somehow dodged and turned sideways. Those deep psychologists maybe could explain it with a certain constant influence of exhibitionism, which is connected to the showing off on the stage and the game of discovering their "inner person", but it is a fact that among theatre artists, just as it is among ballet dancers there is a known number of "queers". In the rather short history of our theatre the term can be used on: Tautmilis-Bērziņš - he even chose a feminine second pseudonym: Upciemu Made, and Viļums Vēvers. A lot of anecdotes were told about Mierlauks, who was a rather funny character."

Journalist Oļģerts Liepiņš mentioned in his memories the actress Marija Leika and the owner of company "Piena Eksports", Austra Ozoliņa-Krauze, to whom he, in 1934, rented out his large dining room in his house at Mežaparks. His text is a testimony to the fact that alludes to the existence of homosexual relationships between people were so shrouded, that today they cannot be understood without thorough examination of the context. "Austra, who was gifted with more than average intelligence — with "male head", was in charge of "the tandem". Living with me, she borrowed for reading the book of social democrat Dr. Ž. Karlsons published in A. Gulbja publishing house. She read about the physiological types after Kretschmer and made fun of the influence of various sex hormones to sexual deviances. [...] Marija Leiko headed the household of the renters. She made German meals with delight, such as „Ochsenschwanzsuppe” — bull tail soup. Both women drank a lot of strong coffee. Marija also smoked all the time. In those time pants were not in fashion for women, but Leiko walked around in blue skiers pants all the time."

In the nine years (1925-1934) the "Aizkulises" journal was publishing disclosure of public figures' private lives. There were four (favourably neutral) news stories, which mentioned homosexuality. However, facts remain — homosexual people from intellectually artistic community did not speak in public, even though in 1928 a call was made to the actor's theatre group.
"In actor meeting a popular actor-director complained, that the competition of two theatres had come so far, that actor S. in an Actors Club had called the actors of the competitive theatre "homosexualists". The beautiful actor had asked his colleagues to take a certain position regarding the issue. The meeting had diplomatically declined to rebuke the offender, because the issue has a private nature and those who feel offended, should take it to the court."

Currently, construction of lesbian history in the case of Latvia, is problematic. The sources have only crumbs of information. Inter-war Latvian jurisprudence did not consider lesbians a subject; therefore, there are no traditional sources, namely, criminal cases, which are available about gay men. Lesbian relationships were explained both in the model of "mommy and daughter" and in independent relationships, which, for example, is evident in the cover illustration of graphic artist Sigismunds Vidbergs for "Eross" journal in 1925. It draws in with the aesthetics of a lesbian couple — in the picture two boyishly slender women are observed by a man who is hiding behind the doors.

A less favourable attitude against female same-sex relationships is evident in the poem of the humorist, Roberts Vizbulis, where the condemnable occurrences of fraud and corruption were caricatured as two lesbians ("two shifty ladies") in 1926. Newspaper "Pēdējā Brīdī" called the relationship of two Rigian women "unnatural" and themselves — abnormal women. One of them was the spouse of a rich wood seller but the other, because of her, had called off the engagement with a public sector employee. The women had frequently walked in Āgenskalna priedes in the evenings. One of them dressed in women's costume, the other in man's sport costume with newsboys cap on the head. Therefore, one was feminine and the other — masculine. The newspaper based the "abnormality" of the masculine partner on her hobbies — "she had driven with men's bicycle, gone to the circus and admired the wrestlers and the neighbours had frequently seen her playing football in the yard. Moreover, one day at dawn her husband had caught her in a hotel room grasping and kissing a maiden, who had been half naked". Both left Latvia together. The feminine one had written to her brother that she is more satisfied with Mrs. B, than her groom, meanwhile Mrs B had informed her husband that the young woman "fulfils the place of a lover".

Authoritarian period (1934—1940)

Legal framework

If the police considered the facts, discovered through investigation enough to move the case forward, they gave materials to the prosecutors of the Regional Court, which instituted decrees for surveillance. The 21 decrees instituted by the prosecutor of Riga Regional Court are stored in Latvian State Historical Archives of the State Archives of Latvia. However, police gave the prosecutor only those investigation notices, where there was seemingly enough evidence, therefore the number of investigated incidents probably exceeded the number of the surveillance decrees of the prosecutor.

Statistics of criminal cases litigated in the Riga Regional Court:
 21 surveillance decrees: 13 in the parliamentary democracy + 8 during the authoritarian regime
 21 surveillance decrees: due to the absence of evidence the investigation was terminated in 15 cases, in 1 surveillance decree episode the investigation was terminated against one of the people surveyed — due to the death of the accused (from illness).
 6 criminal cases: 1 in parliamentary democracy + 5 during the authoritarian regime. In one case tried, during the parliamentary democracy the court sentenced with the minimum penalty (three months in prison). Two of the three convicts asked for pardon to the president Gustavs Zemgals and were pardoned. In 4 of 5 criminal cases that were tried during the authoritarian regime the judge sentenced with the lower penalty than the traditional three months in prison:
 three men were sentenced with four months in prison, sentence being suspended;
 one was sentenced to one month in prison;
 one with 2 weeks under arrest, but another 10 days under arrest, their sentences were suspended;
 one with 3 weeks under arrest, another — with one month under arrest, a third — 2 weeks under arrest, replacing the sentence with court warning
 in the fifth criminal case the judge gave a harsh sentence — the person was sentenced to 8 months in prison.

Public thought

When speaking about homosexuality in relation to authoritarianism, the rumours about homosexuality of Kārlis Ulmanis — the leader of the authoritarian regime, are frequently mentioned. His opponents and opponents of his authoritarian regime spread the rumours. In a socialist handout spread in the summer of 1934 he was named as the leader of depraved sexualist club "Black Carnation". The Pērkonkrusts National Organization called the Minister of Foreign Affairs Vilhelms Munters the "muse of Ulmanis" and an "intimate friend" in their writings that exposed the authoritarian regime.

An anecdote in the memoirs of social democrat  has become the most popular "evidence". In 1927 when he became the minister of Foreign Affairs, he secretly created an alternative office to the political administration with  as leader. In reports he received it was rather frequently noted that "dearest Vilhelms" has once again spend the night at Ulmanis place. "Of course what Ulmanis actually did with Vilhelms is unknown — maybe he played cards or dominoes or other heavenly games. However, these observations increased the rumours about the homosexuality of Ulmanis," wrote Cielēns, saying that he mentions it publicly for important political motives. "Currently I will say only that Ulmanis' love for Vilhelms later acquired very substantial societal and political importance, because when he became a dictator he gave his Vilhelms a very high and a responsible office. Soon Riga was full of rumours that Vilhelms' wife was a Soviet Russian spy, but Ulmanis loved his Vilhelms so much that he fully trusted him. Yes, it is true that love makes people blind..." However, only the rumours about the homosexuality of Kārlis Ulmanis are a historical fact and we can only talk about the possibility that he was gay.

The Soviet period (1940—1991)

The facts are fragmentary and are not sufficient to judge the period as a whole. 12 people persecuted for the violation of part 1 of article 124 within the framework of six criminal cases in the 11 months of 1969. 993 men were sentenced across the USSR in 1969, 641 of the men were sentenced in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The other 14 Republics sentenced 352. How many were sentenced in Latvian SSR is unknown.

The stages of surveillance of homosexual people in the Soviet Union:
 The period of Stalinism until the end of the 1940s: the surveillance of homosexuals was under the competence of security police. Its archives are still unavailable, therefore it is unknown how many people were arrested for this crime, using the article that provided sentencing for anti-soviet activities.
 1951-1960: "a gap" in statistics. During these times the surveillance of homosexuals was most likely under the competence of general police. The legal framework was used with the goal to "clean" the persecutefor the behaviour, which was considered improper for the Soviet people.
 1961-1980: In the end of the 1960s the number of sentenced people in the Soviet Union sharply rose. This demonstrates that a modernised routine in the police surveillance existed: raids in subculture territories, entrapment, and the use of standard forensic medical examinations.

The Soviet occupation implemented a repressive policy — in the Republic of Latvia the sentence for pederasty was a prison sentence without a specific period, which in practice mostly meant a sentence up to three months. Meanwhile, in the Latvian SSR the sentence for the same offence was imprisonment from three to five years until 31 March 1961. As stipulated in Article 154a of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Penal Code. The USSR had already adopted this law in 1926 when homosexuality was de jure legal in the Soviet Union, but on 1 April 1934, the law was supplemented with Article 154a, which criminalized such behaviour. The Executive Council of the Higher Council of the USSR introduced it for interim use in the territory of Latvian SSR with the decree of 6 November 1940. The interim period lasted for almost 20 years. Latvian SSR Penal Code took effect only on 1 April 1961, which decreased the sentence in a way, because it did not include a minimum sentence, but prescribed that pederasty will be sentenced with imprisonment up to five years according to the part 1 of Article 124.

The commentators of the legal regulations maintained that mutual voluntary sex between men is a crime because it breaks the "social role" of sexual relationships, namely the norm that prescribes that sexual relationships should be between people of the opposite sex. "Both participants of such crime are acting with direct intention. They both are aware about the actual side of their actions and the danger to the society and want to in this way to satisfy their sexual desire". Regarding female same-sex relationships, the Soviet judicial framework did not differ from the practice of the Republic of Latvia — Criminal Law did not mention such relationships, therefore, de facto legalizing them.

The world and socialist context

During the post-war years the persecution of homosexual men increased. The Netherlands and France still operated under the regulation adopted during the war which criminalized same-sex sexual acts between men were older than 21 and those underage. In France the sentence for violating the rules was imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years. However, same-sex relationships between adults were legal. The same was also true in Italy, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. However, in Great Britain, Western Germany and the United States of America, sexuality was still being criminalized in the 1950s. As for so-called socialist countries in Europe homosexuality has always been legal such as in Poland, but Hungary and Czechoslovakia decriminalized same-sex relationships between adults in 1961. In the 1950s, one had to be very brave to dare to question the judicial regulations that criminalized homosexuality.

The European Court of Human Rights were established in 1959, but did not accept cases related to same-sex relationships in the 1960s. However, in 1950 articles 8, 12 and 14 of Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms guaranteed the individual rights to privacy, formation of family on the basis of marriage, and the right not to be discriminated.
In the 1970s, several professionals in the Soviet Union tried to talk about the need to change the legislation. In 1979 criminologist A. N. Ignatov sent a memorandum to the Office of Interior Affairs of the USSR. The historian-sexologist Igor Kon in 1982 made an unsuccessful attempt to publish an article about the legal regulation of same-sex relationships in "Советское государство и право" magazine. In the mid 1980s, when lawyers in Soviet Russia worked with new Penal Code project, police and medical departments talked about the decriminalisation of "pederasty" due to the influence of Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika.

Public thought
Boulevard circles included locations that were used, not only to find partners, but also for homosexuals to be together. In Summer, Kalngales beach was also popular. Advertisement writings on the walls of men's public toilets were the alternative to interpersonal communication. For example, in the 1980s a popular place to relax was restaurant called "Skapis" (Closet) in "Rīga" hotel, which after World War II was built in the place of "Romas hotel" destroyed in the war. Homosexual people of inter-war Latvia also relaxed in the cellar restaurant. At the end of the 1970s, one of "Skapis" waiters was Līga Strode, the future spouse of singer Kaspars Dimiters. They met in "Skapis" and now, in the 21st century as energetic warriors against homosexual movement, they are part of creating the modern history of homosexual people in Latvia.

The possibilities for homosexual people to build a career were dependent on the ability to keep their sexual orientation secret. Frequently, it was a known secret among a company's staff, but it was not publicly talked about. Even if someone was fired because of their sexual orientation, another reason was cited officially. Meanwhile, the methods of getting a homosexual colleague fired were dependent on the imagination of the rival. Some, for example, wrote in satirical office publications expressing hints. In 1960 this was the approach of a staff member of Latvian University to get rid of docent S. "A. Stiebriņš, or as friends call him "bossy", a 46 years old male with thin stature and pinkish eyes. Always dressed particularly. Determines the worth of a person on the smoothness of the tie and the trouser seams. Intrinsic characteristics: nervous, slippery, with pliancy in front of bosses adequate to his surname, ex-teacher - who has retained the dictation method and pastor's tone in his lectures, corrects every comma in the diploma papers, drinks only the best cognac, gladly conducts different practices and in an intimate circle considers himself "a real Latvian patriot". Women hater." The publication of this in the 1960s had no consequences because in the student group, "the Members of Komsomol, did not have enough bravery to openly say everything they knew about the behaviour of S.". However, in 1962 the docent was fired.

On 27 May 1980, the Central Committee of the Latvian Communist Party and Council of Ministers of Latvian SSR made the decision to investigate "the demographic situation and the means of natural growth stimulation of LSSR inhabitants". In 1980 Riga City Committee had worked out a plan with 26 measures centralised around "marriage" and "family".

For example, in 1980 Article 23 required all Riga Party Committee schools, agitation and propaganda departments, the Committees of party regions, the region organisations of "Zinātne" society, the Executive Committee of Riga Health Protection, people's education departments, and the City Komsomol Committee, to develop a lecture course about the propaganda of "soviet lifestyle". This lecture concentrated on the questions of protection of mothers and children, and various aspects of marriage and the family. This was developed in the school year of 1980/81, so the youth in the "people's university" and faculties questioned marriage and family.

Article 24 instructed the editorship of "Rīgas Balss" to widely enlighten the general public about the current demographic situation. Namely to show them exemplary relationships in family and marriage and to inform them about how complex circumstances are created within the home. This is specifically targeted at the ensuring of optimal natural increase of the population and to increase the prestige of three or more child families.

In 1980, Article 25 decreed that administrative departments of the City Party Committee, together with Goskomizdat book selling administration, should organise special sections in bookstores to sell books about marriage, family, pedagogy, and hygiene questions. The task of Article 26 was for the parties primary organisations of Creative Union to involve writers, journalists, artists, theatre employees, cinema, and television to create books, shows, and movies that show the image of "woman/mother", as well as raising the prestige of family and marriage.

The book of sexologist Jānis Zālītis was created due to the decision of Riga Party committee, clearly formulating its ideological position. The book "Mīlestības vārdā" (latv. "In the name of love") was published in 1981. It later became popularised with 99 000 copies printed and fully aligning with the party order. In the book there was only the "right" use of sexuality: "Real homosexuality includes pederasts - people that are dangerous, criminal against the society. When married they do not abandon the vices. The children are born into their families that are doomed to mental deformities because the lifestyle of the father (therefore an example) is solely a perversion. To recommend people of homosexual orientation to many before treatment is a serious mistake. Such homosexuals are dangerous to the boys in transitional age, whose sexual desire is not yet oriented; therefore they can be easily seduced and made miserable for the rest of their lives." Another quote from the book: "If the expectant mother has used hormones to end the pregnancy, smoked, or used alcohol, the children might have inclinations to homosexuality or other perversions. It can also happen in such cases the father of the child has been serious smoker, alcohol or drug addict."

Gender reassignment surgeries

In 1968 the then docent  received a letter from a trans man, who over two years received complicated sex reassignment surgeries. With the support of the health minister of LSSR , the surgeon started the surgeries in 1970. Overall, there were 18 complicated successful surgeries. In the summer of 1972 it could be ascertained that Kalnbērzs managed to carry out the first full female-to-male sex reassignment surgery in the Soviet Union.

Kalnbērzs received not only the congratulations from his colleagues and the certificate of authorship of the Inventions Committee of the Council of Ministers of USSR, but also was threatened by USSR Minister of Health Boris Petrovsky with a criminal process and gulag, citing Article 108 of the Soviet Criminal Code (premeditated infliction of serious bodily injury). Kalnbērzs was saved by Latvian Minister of Health, but central USSR authorities decided that sex reassignment surgeries were mutilations and unfit to Soviet ideology, silencing Kalnbērzs and regional Ministries of Health from talking and writing about them and carrying them.

Despite the order, in the 1980s, surgeon Kalnbērzs carried four more sex reassignment surgeries, all to trans men. The patients were residents of Russian SFSR. Trans women also asked to reassign their sex surgically, but the surgeon had declined the opposite surgeries.

Contemporary Latvia (1991—now)

References

Latvia
Social history of Latvia
LGBT in Latvia


title: Pedro Antonio Esteso

text:
Pedro Antonio Esteso Herrera (born 13 October 1976, in Minaya) is a Spanish athlete specialising in the middle-distance events. He won two medals at Summer Universiades, in 2001 and 2003.

As of 2013 he was still active in masters athletics.

Competition record

Personal bests
Outdoor
 800 metres – 1:47.30 (Madrid 2002)
 1000 metres – 2:18.90 (Andújar 2006)
 1500 metres – 3:36.71 (Zagreb 2002)
Indoor
 800 metres – 1:49.63 (Valencia 1998)
 1500 metres – 3:41.80 (Espinho 2000)

References

1976 births
Living people
Sportspeople from the Province of Albacete
Spanish male middle-distance runners
Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
FISU World University Games gold medalists for Spain
Universiade silver medalists for Spain
Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade
Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade
Athletes (track and field) at the 1997 Mediterranean Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 2001 Mediterranean Games
Mediterranean Games competitors for Spain
Spanish masters athletes


title: Alexander Trushkov

text:
Alexander Alexandrovich Trushkov (Трушков Александр Александрович; born July 31, 1996) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently playing with HC Lada Togliatti of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Trushkov made his KHL debut playing with HC Spartak Moscow during the 2013–14 KHL season.

References

External links

1996 births
Living people
Admiral Vladivostok players
HC Lada Togliatti players
HC Spartak Moscow players
Russian ice hockey goaltenders
Ice hockey people from Moscow


title: Hyperallergic

text:
Hyperallergic is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking".

Publisher
Hyperallergic is published by Veken Gueyikian.

Reception
Hyperallergic LABS, its Tumblr blog, was named by Time magazine as one of the "30 Tumblrs to Follow in 2013". The New Yorker critic Peter Schjeldahl described the site as "infectiously ill-tempered". Holland Cotter of the New York Times suggested it could contribute to a needed "influx of new commentators who don’t mistake attitude for ideas". The publication was cited by the TED blog as one of "100 Websites You Should Know and Use" in 2007 [2013 update to the 2007 list]. In 2018, Nieman Reports published an article outlining how Hyperallergic came to rival print art journalism, in which Sarah Douglas, the ARTnews editor in chief, said that Hyperallergic had reinvigorated art criticism.

Activism
Hyperallergic recently posted many articles and social media posts praising Hamas and comparing Israel to the Nazis.

Staff
Editor-in-chief & co-founder: Hrag Vartanian
Senior editor: Hakim Bishara
News editor: Valentina Di Liscia
Editor: Natalie Haddad
Editorial Coordinator: Lakshmi Rivera Amin
Editor: Albert Mobilio
Editor: John Yau
Staff Writer: Elaine Velie
Staff Writer: Rhea Nayyar
Staff Writer: Maya Pontone
Senior Marketing Manager: Alexandra Bowditch
Marketing Coordinator: Shari Flores
Ad Ops Coordinator: Kristina Chang

Contributing writers

Daniel Larkin
Matt Stromberg
Isabella Segalovich

References

External links

Visual arts magazines published in the United States
Online magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 2009
Internet properties established in 2009
Magazines published in New York City
2009 establishments in New York City


title: Naluki, Dalgan

text:
Naluki (, also Romanized as Nalūkī; also known as Nūrābād-e Nalūkī) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 280, in 50 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Nukabad, Dalgan

text:
Nukabad (, also Romanized as Nūkābād) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 256, in 53 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Qazizadeh

text:
Qazizadeh (, also Romanized as Qāẕīzādeh) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 13, in 4 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Ragiti

text:
Ragiti (, also Romanized as Ragītī) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 210, in 38 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Sarban-e Damuyi

text:
Sarban-e Damuyi (, also Romanized as Sārbān-e Damūyī) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 84, in 15 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Seh Boni

text:
Seh Boni (, also Romanized as Seh Bonī; also known as Sabūnī) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 104, in 18 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Shamsabad, Dalgan

text:
Shamsabad (, also Romanized as Shamsābād) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 429, with 76 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Shahrak-e Hoseynabad

text:
Shahrak-e Hoseynabad (, also Romanized as Shahrak-e Ḩoseynābād; also known as Garūn and Ḩoseynābād) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 958, in 168 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Presence Switzerland

text:
Presence Switzerland (German: ; French: ) is an official Swiss organisation and part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. According to its official website, it aims to improve the perception of Switzerland abroad through public outreach.  It was formally constituted on November 20, 2000 as the successor organization of the Coordinating Commission for the Presence of Switzerland Abroad.

The organisation's name is not to be confused with Switzerland Tourism, the owner of the MySwitzerland website.

Presence Switzerland manages an eight-language information website about the country, describing its history, institutions and politics. It also hosts the Swiss pavilions at the World's fairs, as well as the House of Switzerland.

See also
 Pro Helvetia
 Swissinfo

References

External links
 Official website

Foreign relations of Switzerland
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
News agencies based in Switzerland


title: Shahrak-e Taqiabad

text:
Shahrak-e Taqiabad (, also Romanized as Shahrak-e Taqīābād; also known as Ragīāband) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 555, in 108 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Sey Vik

text:
Sey Vik (, also Romanized as Sey Vīk; also known as Mowtowr-e Jangī Sābakī) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 119, in 24 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Takhman Miri

text:
Takhman Miri (, also Romanized as Takhmān Mīrī) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 25, in 7 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Ziyarat-e Miromar

text:
Ziyarat-e Miromar (, also Romanized as Zīyārat-e Mīrʿomar) is a village in Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem Rural District, Jolgeh-ye Chah Hashem District, Dalgan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 157, in 27 families.

References

Populated places in Dalgan County


title: Second VA-55 (U.S. Navy)

text:
VA-55, nicknamed the Warhorses, was an Attack Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established at NAS Oceana, Virginia, on 7 October 1983, and flew the A-6E and KA-6D variants of the Grumman A-6 Intruder. It was disestablished on 1 January 1991, having been based at NAS Oceana during its entire lifetime. It was the second squadron to be designated VA-55, the first VA-55 was disestablished on 12 December 1975.

Operational history
 25 March 1986: Due to the initiation of hostile fire by Libya on 24 March, a squadron aircraft attacked a Libyan Nanuchka II class guided missile patrol boat with CBU-100 Cluster Bombs. The Libyan vessel was damaged by the attack and then sunk by a Harpoon missile strike from a VA-85 A-6 operating from .
 14–15 April 1986: Six of the squadron's A-6s participated in an attack against Benina Airfield at Benghazi, Libya, during Operation El Dorado Canyon. Numerous parked aircraft were destroyed and the surrounding hangars, support facilities, aircraft aprons, and other airfield equipment and vehicles were damaged. These strikes were in response to the involvement of Libyan trained terrorists in the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.
 August–September 1989: , with VA-55 embarked, was ordered to operate off the coast of Lebanon following terrorist claims to have killed an American hostage, Lieutenant Colonel William R. Higgins, and the capture of Abdel Karim Obeid from Lebanon by the Israel Defense Forces. The unstable situation in Lebanon ultimately led to the evacuation of the American Embassy. Squadron aircraft flew missions in support of the evacuation.
 22 February 1991: The squadron held a disestablishment ceremony at NAS Oceana. It was officially disestablished on 1 January 1991.

See also
 VA-55 (U.S. Navy)
 History of the United States Navy
 List of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons

References

Attack squadrons of the United States Navy
Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons
Military units and formations disestablished in 1991


title: 2014 Salford Red Devils season

text:
This article details the Salford Red Devils rugby league football club's 2014 season. This is the 19th season of the Super League era. This will also be the 1st season that they have played under the Red Devils name.

Pre season friendlies

Red Devils score is first.

Player appearances

 = Injured

 = Suspended

Super League

Matches

Table

Player appearances

 = Injured

 = Suspended

Challenge Cup

Player appearances

Squad statistics

 Appearances and points include (Super League, Challenge Cup and Play Offs) as of 28 June 2014.

 = Injured
 = Suspended

Transfers

Ins

Outs

References

External links
 www.reds.co.uk

Salford Red Devils seasons
Salford Red Devils season


title: Zishou Miaozong

text:
Zishou Miaozong (資壽妙總; 1095–1170) was a Chinese Zen master and poet. Her grandfather Su Song (1020-1101) was a chancellor. She studied with Zhenxie Qingliao and Dahui Zonggao, who named her Wuzhuo ("No attachment"). This became the basis of the name by which she would later be known: Wuzhuo Daoren, "Woman of the way no attachments". She served on order of magistrate Zhang Anguo abbess and Zen teacher of the Ceshou nunnery.

References

Chinese Buddhist nuns
12th-century Buddhist nuns
Buddhist abbesses
1095 births
1170 deaths


title: Albert van den Berg (physicist)

text:
Albert van den Berg (born 20 September 1957) is a Dutch physicist who works on nanotechnology-miniaturization in physics, chemistry, biology and biotechnology (nanofluidics, nanosensors, Lab on a chip (LOC), Organ on Chip (OoC)).

Van den Berg was born in Zaandam.  In 1988 he earned his PhD at the University of Twente with a thesis on chemically modified ISFETs. Then until 1993 he worked at the Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM) in Neuchâtel and the Institut de microtechnique (IMT) at the University of Neuchâtel. During this time he worked mainly on miniaturized chemical sensors. From 1993 to 1999 he was director of research for Micro Total Analysis Systems (TAS, i.e. miniaturized systems for chemical analysis) and Miniaturized Chemical Systems (MiCS) at the Institute for Nanotechnology (MESA+) at the University of Twente. In 1998 he had a part-time professorship and from 2000 a full professorship. In 2003 he became head of nanofluidics within the Dutch national nanotechnology program (NanoNed). Van den Berg has co-authored over 500 scientific publications (H=63) and over 10 patents. He is or has been involved with 10 spin-off companies. He is currently one of two co-directors of the MESA+ Institute at the University of Twente.

In 2002 he won the Simon Stevin Master Award of the Dutch Society of Science and Engineering. In 2009 he won the Spinoza Prize, the most prestigious Dutch science prize. As there was no fourth Spinoza Prize awarded in 2009, Van den Berg and his co-winners Michel Ferrari and Marten Scheffer asked the NWO to reward them the remaining prize money, which they would spend on a collaborative research effort. Their efforts culminated in a research paper on migraine published in PLOS ONE in 2013. The paper claimed that a critical tipping point of neurons started a migraine attack.

He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2008, and its council 2011–2016.

Works
Editor with R. Edwin Oosterbroek: Lab-on-a-chip: miniaturized systems for (bio)chemical analysis and synthesis, Elsevier 2003
Editor with Helene Andersson: Lab on Chip for Cellomics. Micro - and Nanotechnologies for Life Science, Kluwer/Springer Verlag 2007
Editor with Séverine Le Gac: Miniaturization and Mass Spectroscopy, Royal Society of Chemistry Publishing 2009
Editor of conference volumes on Micro Total Analysis Systems, e.g. for the Workshops in 1994, 1998, 2000

References

External links
Biography from the Royal Society of Chemistry

1957 births
20th-century Dutch physicists
21st-century Dutch physicists
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Spinoza Prize winners
University of Twente alumni
Academic staff of the University of Twente
Living people
People from Zaanstad


title: Judgment of Line Orientation

text:
Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO) is a standardized test of visuospatial skills commonly associated with functioning of the parietal lobe in the right hemisphere. The test measures a person's ability to match the angle and orientation of lines in space. Subjects are asked to match two angled lines to a set of 11 lines that are arranged in a semicircle and separated 18 degrees from each other. The complete test has 30 items, but short forms have also been created. There is normative data available for ages 7-96.

In 1994, Arthur L. Benton developed the test from his study of the effects of a right hemisphere lesion on spatial skills.

Clinical performances
In a study measuring JLO scores and on-road performance, JLO was correlated with better backing-up scores.

Neurological disorders
Patients with the following disorders often fail the JLO test:
 Dementia
 William's syndrome
 Neurofibromatosis type I

Patients with dementia often perform poorly on this test. It has been suggested that patients with Parkinson's disease perform poorly because of the complexity of task demands, not due to visuospatial deficits.

Psychiatric disorders
Studies performed on people with schizophrenia found no deficit in performance.

Procedure
The test consists of five practice trials followed by 30 test items. It is suitable for adult and pediatric populations. The test has two forms, H and J, which present the same 30 trials but in different order. Responses to prompts can be pointed to or spoken.

Scoring
A score of 17 or less is considered a sign of severe deficit.

See also
 Benton Visual Retention Test
 Oblique effect
 Orientation column

References

Neuropsychological tests
Visual perception


title: Igor Shesterkin

text:
Igor Olegovich Shestyorkin (, commonly spelled as Shesterkin; born 30 December 1995) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Rangers in the fourth round, 118th overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. In his first 82-game season in 2021–22, Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender.

Shesterkin is widely regarded as one of the best goaltenders in the National Hockey League

Playing career

KHL
Shesterkin played as a youth with Krylya Sovetov Moscow before he was selected by Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League, 43rd overall in the 2012 KHL Draft, as a 16-year old. He played his first season within Spartak, at the MHL level, featuring for MHK Spartak in the 2012–13 season.

Shesterkin made his professional and KHL debut midway through the following 2013–14 season, recalled from MHK to close out the final 8 minutes for Spartak in relief of Alexei Ivanov in a 5–3 defeat to HC Ugra on 20 January 2014. He was given his first start three days later, allowing two goals in a 3–1 loss to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on 23 January. In his eighth appearance, Shesterkin collected his first win, making 33 saves in a 3–0 shutout victory over HC Slovan Bratislava on 2 March. Returning the MHL, Shesterkin registered a 12–7 record in 19 playoff games, along with a 1.75 goals against averange and a .937 save percentage, and four shutouts to help MHK Spartak win the MHL Championship.

While out of contract from Spartak and showing strong potential, Shesterkin signed a contract with perennial powerhouse SKA Saint Petersburg on 6 June 2014. As the fifth ranked goalie entering the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Shesterkin was selected in the fourth round, 118th overall, by the New York Rangers on 28 June.

NHL

2019–2021: North American debut
On 3 May 2019, Shesterkin signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the New York Rangers. Shesterkin played in his first NHL preseason game on 21 September, stopping 36 of 40 shots in a 4–1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. He was assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers' minor league affiliate team with the American Hockey League. Shesterkin made his AHL debut during Hartford's 2019–20 season opener on 5 October, during which he made 26 saves in a 5–3 win against the Charlotte Checkers. On 6 January 2020, the Rangers recalled Shesterkin after having success for the Wolf Pack with whom he posted a 15–4–3 record and was named to the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic. In his NHL debut with the Rangers on 7 January, Shesterkin made 29 saves in a 5–3 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Two days later, Shesterkin became the sixth Rangers' goaltender to win his first two games with the team. On 23 February 2020, Shesterkin and teammate Pavel Buchnevich were involved in a car crash. Shesterkin suffered a rib fracture following the incident.

On 13 April 2021, Shesterkin earned his first shutout of his NHL career in a 3–0 win against the New Jersey Devils. Subsequently, Shesterkin recorded his second career shutout in the next game against the Devils in a 4–0 contest on 15 April. He became the second Rangers rookie with back-to-back shutouts, and the first Ranger with back-to-back shutouts since Antti Raanta in December 2016. He also became the third Ranger in franchise history with shutouts versus the same opponent in consecutive games.

2021–22: Breakout and Eastern Conference Final run
On 9 August 2021, Shesterkin signed a four-year, $22.67 million contract extension with the Rangers. On 18 October, Shesterkin made 40 out of 41 saves during a 2–1 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was his seventh win with 40-plus saves since his NHL debut in January 2020; the most among all goaltenders during that time span. On 20 February 2022, after defeating the Ottawa Senators 2–1, Shesterkin became the 14th NHL goaltender with at least 50 wins in 79 starts. He concluded the 2021–22 regular season with a 36–13–4 record, leading the league in both save percentage and goals against average. Shesterkin was widely hailed as having had one of the finest showings for a goaltender in the history of the NHL. This attracted considerable speculation as to whether he should be a contender for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player, seldom awarded to netminders. On 10 May, he was named as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league's best goaltender. Two days later he was named as a Hart Trophy finalist, the first goaltender so honoured in five years. He ultimately won the Vezina and finished third in Hart voting.

The Rangers finished second in the Metropolitan Division, and in the opening round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs faced the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose starting goaltender Tristan Jarry was sidelined by injury. In Game 1, Shesterkin's NHL playoff debut on 3 May, he made 79 saves in the 4–3 triple overtime loss, setting the all-time team record for saves in a playoff game, with the second most saves in a playoff game league-wide. Following a Rangers win in Game 2, the Rangers lost Games 3 and 4 by wide margins, with Shesterkin replaced by Alexandar Georgiev in the second period of each game. The Rangers subsequently rallied to win the next three games and clinch the series. In the next series against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Rangers rallied back from a 2–0 series deficit to win again in 7 games. Shesterkin was again generally considered the difference-maker for his team, backstopping them to key wins when outshot. He finished with a .949 save percentage in the series. Shesterkin became the first goaltender in NHL history to have two assists in a playoff game in which his team faced elimination, and the fifth goaltender with two assists in a single playoff game, as well as the first Rangers goaltender with at least two assists in any game since Mike Richter in a 1992 game against the Quebec Nordiques.

The Rangers advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2015, facing the two-time consecutive and defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The contest with the Lightning was widely framed as a competition between Shesterkin and Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, the previous year's Conn Smythe Trophy winner for playoff MVP. Vasilevsky was considered by many, including Shesterkin himself, to be the best goaltender in the world. The Rangers ultimately lost to the Lightning in six games, while Shesterkin recorded a .929 save percentage over the course of the playoffs. Shesterkin was named a First Team All-Star after the end of the playoffs.

2022–23 All-Star season
Shesterkin was selected by the National Hockey League to participate in the 2023 NHL All-Star Game (his first), making him the seventh goaltender in Rangers history to be an all-star. He joins fellow Rangers goalies, Chuck Rayner, Gump Worsley, Eddie Giacomin, Gilles Villemure, Mike Richter, and Henrik Lundqvist.

In the 2023 playoffs, the Rangers lost to the New Jersey Devils in seven games despite initially having a 2–0 series lead. However, Shesterkin was a bright spot as he posted a .931 save percentage.

2023–24 season
On 12 October 2023, by winning the 2023–24 season opener against the Buffalo Sabres, Shesterkin became the fastest Rangers goaltender to reach 100 wins, doing so in fewer than 187 outings.

International play

Shesterkin was a member of the Olympic Athletes from Russia team at the 2018 Winter Olympics. While capturing the gold medal, he did not see any action throughout the tournament as the nation's third goaltender.

Shesterkin represented Russia and was one of top goaltenders at the following 2018 World Championships in Denmark. He finished with two victories – both shutouts – and a 1.46 goals against average and a .942 save percentage, both of which were the third-best at the event.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

1995 births
Living people
Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
Hartford Wolf Pack players
HC Spartak Moscow players
Ice hockey people from Moscow
Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics
New York Rangers draft picks
New York Rangers players
Olympic gold medalists for Olympic Athletes from Russia
Olympic ice hockey players for Russia
Olympic medalists in ice hockey
Russian expatriate ice hockey people
Russian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Russian ice hockey goaltenders
SKA Saint Petersburg players
SKA-1946 players
SKA-Neva players
Vezina Trophy winners


title: Naluki

text:
Naluki () may refer to:
 Naluki, Dalgan
 Naluki, Zahedan


title: Sabuni

text:
Sabuni may refer to:

 Nuraddin al-Sabuni, (d. 1184), an Islamic scholar
 Nyamko Sabuni, (born 1969), Burundian-born Swedish politician
 Seh Boni, a village in Iran also spelled Sabuni


title: James Strickler

text:
James R.J. Strickler (born June 23, 1954, in Lockhart, Texas) is an American politician and a Republican member of the New Mexico House of Representatives representing District 2 from January 2007 to December 2022.

Elections
 2012 Strickler was unopposed for both the June 5, 2012 Republican Primary, winning with 1,227 votes and the November 6, 2012 General election, winning with 6,924 votes.
 2006 When District 2 Republican Representative Richard Cheney left the Legislature, Strickler was unopposed for the June 6, 2006 Republican Primary, winning with 1,125 votes and won the November 7, 2006 General election with 3,905 votes (62.5%) against Democratic nominee Alice Slaven-Emond.
 2008 Strickler and his returning 2006 Democratic opponent Slaven-Emond were both unopposed for their June 8, 2008 primaries, setting up a rematch; Strickler won the November 4, 2008 General election with 6,120 votes (63.8%) against Slaven-Emond.
 2010 Strickler was unopposed for both the June 1, 2010 Republican Primary, winning with 1,880 votes and the November 2, 2010 General election, winning with 5,935 votes.

References

External links
 Official page at the New Mexico Legislature

 James R.J. Strickler at Ballotpedia
 James R.J. Strickler at OpenSecrets

1954 births
21st-century American politicians
Living people
People from Farmington, New Mexico
People from Lockhart, Texas
Republican Party members of the New Mexico House of Representatives


title: Christian Landenberger

text:
Christian Adam Landenberger (7 April 1862, Ebingen - 13 February 1927, Stuttgart) was a German Impressionist painter and a professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. He is especially known for his landscapes.

Life

He was the second in a family of nine children. His parents operated a haulage business. He began his art studies at the Royal Art School of Stuttgart in 1879. From 1883 to 1887, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, where he had his first exposure to the new ideas in art that were circulating there.

In 1890, he had his first public display at the Munich International Art Exhibition in the Glaspalast and, two years later, became one  of the founding members of the Munich Secession. He exhibited regularly until 1916. In 1895, he started a private art school and taught drawing at  the Munich Association of Women Artists from 1899 to 1905. At that time, he became a professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart.

Style and technique
At first, he created realistic canvases using a dark palette. After 1890, he used brighter colors with lighting effects and broad brushstrokes. He is considered to have been one of the pioneers of German plein-air painting. From 1893 to 1915, he worked on a themed series of paintings he called "Bathing Boys". His landscapes were accomplished in Norway and along the Dutch sea coast as well as in Southern Germany. After 1919, he began to produce etchings of a religious nature.

Selected works

The municipal art museum in Albstadt, Germany (Kunstmuseum Albstadt) has the largest collection of his work, with over 70 paintings, 200 drawings and 160 pages of print graphics.

 Nun ade, du stilles Haus (1897), Kunstmuseum Albstadt
 Portrait of , the sculptor (1906/07)
 Dame an einem Kaffeetisch I (1911)
 Der Frühling (1910/13), Villa Haux, Albstadt-Ebingen
 Portrait of Brigitte Gussmann (1916)

References

Sources and further reading
 Edeltraud Brockmüller: Christian Landenberger (1862-1927) in der Städtischen Galerie Albstadt. Ständige Ausstellung. Städtische Galerie Albstadt, Albstadt 1985,
 Isabel Grüner: Impressionismus im deutschen Südwesten. Otto Reiniger, Hermann Pleuer, Heinrich von Zügel, Christian Landenberger. Kunststiftung Hohenkarpfen / Kunstverein Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg, Hausen ob Verena 1997,
 Heinz Höfchen: Christian Landenberger (1862-1927). Studien zum Werk. Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde und der Druckgraphik. Dissertation, Universität Mainz 1983
 Heinz Höfchen: Christian Landenberger. Theiss, Stuttgart 1986,  (with Chronology)
 Eva Moser: Landschaft im Licht. Die Bodenseebilder Christian Landenbergers. In: Leben am See. Vol.IX (1991), , S. 323–328
 Anne Peters (Ed.): Christian Landenberger. Zeichnungen. Städtische Galerie Albstadt, Albstadt 1993,

External links

 Albstadt Gallery: Christian Landenberger

1862 births
1927 deaths
Impressionist artists
19th-century German painters
German male painters
20th-century German painters
20th-century German male artists
19th-century German male artists


title: Porchfest

text:
Porchfests are annual music events held across the United States and in Canada on front porches. Started in Ithaca, New York, in 2007, porchfest events bring local musicians and neighborhoods together to celebrate and create a sense of community.

Porchfest music festivals began as a means for neighbors and local community members to highlight their music on front porches. The concept was to find musicians and porches on which they would play. The original event in Ithaca, New York, started with about 20 musicians but has since grown to over 100.

Bands, singers, and instrumentalists participate in the festival for no other reason than to showcase their talents and engage the community. Music is diverse and can range from country to pop, classical, reggae, blues, rock, jazz, Latino, R&B, folk and many others. Musicians voluntarily take to the "stage" on porches at their designated times and perform for the public. Signs with artists' names and performance times are usually posted in front of porches and online.

Volunteers and other organizations normally facilitate the event by selecting appropriate dates, acquiring musicians, and publicizing the event. Local residents volunteer their porches as a way to support the local music scene and interact with their neighbors. Events can last from a few hours to most of the day. Schedules and maps are usually posted online or in local media.

Because these are normally neighborhood events people walk, ride bikes or scooters, drive golf carts, or push strollers as they move from one porch to another along a determined route to partake in the festivities. Children often build lemonade stands to help quench thirst on hot days while vendors oftentimes provide ice cream, hot dogs, and other snacks. A few porchfests have expanded to include arts festivals as well.

These annual events can now be found across the country, from its beginnings in Ithaca, New York, to places including Erie, Pennsylvania; Buffalo, New York; Athens, Georgia; Franklin (Westhaven), Tennessee; Napa, California; Sacramento, California; Fresno, California; Cleveland, Ohio,  Tucson, Arizona; Decatur, Georgia; Salt Lake City, Utah; Ventnor City, New Jersey; Newark, New Jersey, Washington, D.C.;  Rhinebeck, New York; Stamford, New York;Kansas City, Missouri; North Liberty, Iowa; cities and towns in Massachusetts including Somerville, Jamaica Plain, Arlington, Roslindale, Belmont, Newton, Quincy, Swampscott, Melrose and Wellfleet; Springfield, Jacksonville, Florida, Grants Pass, Oregon; Mount Pleasant, Michigan; West Chester, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Folly Beach, South Carolina; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Old Wethersfield, Connecticut; San Antonio, Texas and Flint, Michigan. Porchfests are also celebrated in Canada, including in Montreal, and Hudson, Quebec; Vankleek Hill, Ontario; Peterborough; Whitevale, Ontario; Belleville, Ontario, and Hintonburg neighborhood of Ottawa.
Westport, Ontario

References

External links

Music festivals in the United States


title: International Wrestling Association

text:
International Wrestling Association may refer to:
International Wrestling Association (Puerto Rico) (IWA), one of several major promotions based in Puerto Rico which was established by promoter Victor Quiñones in 1994.
International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan), a Japanese-based promotion, founded by Victor Quiñones in 1994 as an offshoot of IWA Puerto Rico and successor of WI*NG.
International Wrestling Association (1970s), a short-lived Cleveland-based promotion established by promoters Pedro Martinez and Eddie Einhorn in one of the earliest attempts to establish a national wrestling promotion during 1975.
International Wrestling Association (Chicago), a defunct Chicago-based regional promotion established by promoter Fred Kohler during the early 1960s.
International Wrestling Association (Montreal), a regional Montreal-based regional promotion established by promoter Johnny Rougeau during the 1960s and 1970s. The promotion would eventually be succeeded by Promotions Varoussac (International Wrestling) during the early 1970s.


title: Moran v. Household International, Inc.

text:
Moran v. Household International, Inc., 500 A.2d 1346 (Del. 1985) is a decision of the Delaware Supreme Court that upheld a shareholder rights plan (also known as a "poison pill") as a legitimate exercise of business judgment by Household International's board of directors. Moran is significant as the first case in which a U.S. state court upheld a shareholder rights plan.

Background

Facts
Household International, Inc. was a diversified holding company with subsidiaries in the financial services, transportation, and merchandising industries. National Car Rental and Vons Grocery were among its wholly owned entities.

The board of Household International voted in August, 1984 to adopt a shareholder rights plan. This plan was adopted before the board was faced with any specific takeover threat—a significant difference from other takeover defense cases like Unocal. The board was concerned about the increasing frequency of "bust up" takeovers involving the break-up of large industrial conglomerates into smaller firms, and worried Household International might be the target of such a takeover.

John Moran was a member of the Household International board who opposed adoption of the Shareholder Rights Plan. Moran was concurrently the chairman of Household International's largest shareholder, Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation. D-K-M had been contemplating a leveraged buyout of Household International, but this plan never materialized.

Court of Chancery
The trial court found that the Household International board's adoption of the shareholder rights plan was a legitimate exercise of business judgment. The defensive tactics adopted by the board need not have been in anticipation of any specific threat and the adoption of a preemptive plan developed before the pressure of a crisis increased the likelihood that the board was acting out of business judgment.

Judgment
The Delaware Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling.

See also
 Unocal v. Mesa Petroleum

References

United States corporate case law
Delaware state case law
1985 in United States case law
1985 in Delaware


title: Remington Model 721

text:
The Model 721 and Model 722 along with the later Model 725 variant are bolt-action sporting rifles manufactured by Remington Arms from 1948 until 1961. The 721/722 replaced the short-lived Model 720. The Model 721/722 is considered to be one of the first modern, economically produced sporting rifles whose design largely continued with the subsequent and highly successful Model 700. Manufactured with high precision, it is known for exceptional accuracy. The bolt and receiver design, based on the Mauser action, is considered one of the strongest ever produced. Samples in excellent condition have become collectible.

History

Prior to World War II, the Remington Model 30, had been the standard Remington bolt action sporting rifle. However production had halted during World War II.

During the war, Remington gained experience manufacturing large quantities of martial firearms more efficiently. By the end of the war, manufacturing technology had advanced significantly. By these standards, older designs like the Model 30 (and the Model 720 variant) were laborious and expensive to produce and could not take advantage of manufacturing advancements.

The Mauser M 98 action was popularly recognized as being well suited to sporting rifle applications but was complex and would require design changes to better take advantage of modern production techniques.

Rather than continue manufacturing older rifles that had become expensive to produce, Remington chose to develop an altogether new and modern rifle design with Mike Walker and Homer Young playing key roles. These factors converged in the development of the Remington Model 721 / 722.

The new Model 721/722 was introduced in 1948. Deluxe versions became available in 1955. The Model 725 variant was later introduced in 1958. These models all share a common design differing only by features and may be collectively referred to within this article as the Model 721 unless otherwise noted. Model 721 production ended in 1961 with the replacement Model 700 taking over in 1962. The Model 700 was also designed by Mike Walker and largely continues the 721 design with modern aesthetic improvements.

Design details

When compared to the Mauser 98 action, the Remington introduced several features meant to decrease production time and cost as well as increase the accuracy potential. The first was a redesign of the receiver from a billet-machined structure to a round profile.  The round receiver can be produced on a lathe rather than requiring a mill. The recoil lug was a simple plate of steel sandwiched between the barrel and receiver (like on Savage Model 1920, but even simpler).

Remington advertised the rifle as having the "strongest bolt action ever developed." with a new encased bolt head. The bolt was redesigned and made from multiple pieces.  The large claw extractor was eliminated in favor of a small, but effective part mounted in a newly recessed bolt face.  The ejector was now a plunger on the bolt face rather than a blade mounted in the receiver.

A new adjustable trigger mechanism was fitted allowing for a sharper, crisp let off. A new safety design was also introduced. The same trigger and safety were used in the subsequent Model 700 and eventually came under criticism due to safety concerns.

Standard factory features included tapered barrel, American walnut sporting stock, polished bolt and action, drilled and tapped for scope mounts, four cartridge magazine, adjustable rear sight, matted ramp front sight, metal butt plate. Additional options included select figured walnut stocks, hand checkering and sling swivels.

Safety flaw in the firing mechanism design

Even before the rifle was released for the public, a potentially fatal flaw in the design was discovered: defect in the firing mechanism could fire the gun without the trigger being squeezed; Mike Walker's proposed fix for it was declined because of additional 5.5 cents (adjusted for inflation: $) per rifle in production costs. Despite thousands of complaints both from civilian customers as well as the military and quite a few deaths, the issue was left not mitigated even past the Model 721's end of production and inherited by the Model 700.

Production
Remington Manufactured the Model 721 in Ilion, New York. Production estimates are:

 Model 721 and Model 722: ~118,000
 Model 725:  ~17,000

Model variants

 Model 721A Standard grade
 Model 721BDL Deluxe grade
 Model 722A Standard grade
 Model 722BDL Deluxe grade
 Model 725ADL Deluxe grade

Most rifle magazines had a capacity for 4 cartridges. The .222 Remington version could hold 5 cartridges and the larger .300 H&H Magnum and other similarly large cartridges were limited to 3 cartridges in the magazine. Barrels were tapered with lengths, depending on year and caliber, ranging from 22 to 26 inches.

Model 721
The Model 721 was the long-action version designed for longer cartridges.

The 721A Standard grade was available during all years of production. Standard grade features included American walnut sporting stock, polished bolt and action, drilled and tapped for scope mounts, four cartridge magazine, adjustable rear sight, matted ramp front sight, metal butt plate.

The 721BDL Deluxe grade was available from 1955 until 1957 and ultimately replaced by the 725. In addition to the standard features, the BDL version featured select figured American walnut stock, hand checkering and sling swivels.

The .300 H&H Magnum version included a rubber butt pad. The box magazine could only contain three rounds instead of the usual four.

Model 722
The Model 722 was the short-action version designed for shorter cartridges.

The 722A Standard grade was available during all years of production. Standard grade features included American walnut sporting stock, polished bolt and action, drilled and tapped for scope mounts, four cartridge magazine, adjustable rear sight, matted ramp front sight, metal butt plate.

The 722BDL Deluxe grade was available from 1955 until 1957 and ultimately replaced by the 725. In addition to the standard features, the BDL version featured select figured American walnut stock, hand checkering and sling swivels.

The .222 Remington version was often singled out from other 722s and marketed as a varmint rifle often featuring a 26-inch barrel.

Model 725

The Model 725ADL was introduced in 1958 replacing the 721BDL and 722BDL as the deluxe offering in the 721 line. The 725ADL was produced from 1958 until 1961. Unlike the 721/722, the 725 was only produced in a long action despite being chambered for a variety of both short and long cartridges. The 725ADL included a walnut Monte Carlo stock rather than the sporting stock of the 721/722. A hinged floor plate was included to facilitate unloading. Most of these features continued in the later Model 700, underscoring the 725ADL as a transitional model. The 725ADL did however uniquely use an older safety design rather than the safety used by the 721/722 as well as the later 700. A rare 725 Kodiak model was made in 1961 with limited availability. This variant was uniquely chambered for .375 H&H Magnum and .458 Winchester Magnum.

Models by year

Calibers Chambered
Depending on year and model variant, Remington chambered the rifles for a variety of cartridges.

Legacy

Originally offered at less than 90 USD (about  USD today), the rifles were affordable and well received by the public at the time of introduction. The rifles developed a reputation for accuracy unmatched by other mass-produced sporting rifles of the era. While prices were affordable, the standard grade version have been criticized for plain aesthetics and stamped steel trigger guard.

Larry Potterfield, Founder and CEO of MidWayUSA identified the Model 721 as earning "a spot in the firearms hall of fame". He described it as a strong, accurate, economically produced and well received rifle at the time of its introduction.

Perhaps the most enduring legacy of the Model 721 is the Remington Model 700, the best-selling bolt-action rifle in history and considered to be one of the greatest centerfire hunting rifles ever produced.
The Model 700 replaced the 721 in 1962 but largely continued the 721 design while incorporating modern aesthetic improvements (many of which were previewed in the 725). Today many appreciate and collect samples from the 721 family particularly those in excellent condition or with rare features or uncommon calibers.

See also
Remington Model 700 Development

Mauser M 98

References

 "Model 721 Bolt Action Centerfire Rifle" at Remington Arms web site

Bolt-action rifles of the United States
Remington Arms firearms


title: Vladimir Gapontsev

text:
Vladimir Gapontsev (; born 6 September 1985 in Volzhskiy, Soviet Union) is a Russian classical guitarist, specializing in solo and chamber music repertoire from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, avant-garde, jazz, folk and pop genres.

Biography
Gapontsev was born in Volzhskiy, Russia in 1985, and began to play the guitar at age 11. In 1997 he won a local guitar competition. In 2000 he entered the Volgograd Municipal College of Arts and in 2004 he continued his studies at guitar at Serebryakov Institute of Arts in Volgograd, studying under with Sergey Matokhin. During his studies he won prizes at many international guitar competitions in Russia and abroad and won scholarships from the Administration of Volgograd Region (2002), Ministry of Culture of Russian Federation (2003), Federal Agency of Culture and Cinematography ("Young talents of Russia", 2006).

Since 2005 he has been a regular participant of international master classes in Russia and Europe.

Gapontsev began teaching in 2006 as a classical and electric guitar teacher at the Serebryakov Institute. In 2010—2012 he was a guitar teacher at Igumnov music school, Moscow. In 2014, he is regularly invited as a performer, teacher and member of the jury to international festivals in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Israel and other countries.

As a solo player and a chamber musician, Gapontsev has performed at venues such as Glinka state museum of musical art, Moscow Conservatoire Grand Hall, Central House of Journalist in Moscow, Vladimir Philharmonic Hall, S. Prokofiev museum, State Tretyakov gallery, Volgograd Central Concert Hall, Elena Obraztsova Cultural Center in Saint-Petersburg, Royal College of Music, London and others.

Besides solo recitals and teaching, he is also devoted to chamber music, arrangement and composing. Since 2012, Gapontsev has been a member of the Russian Guitar Quartet, a group of musicians concentrated on professional playing the original music of modern Russian composers. He also performs guitar concertos with symphonic orchestras in Russia and abroad, and collaborates with musicians of different styles including classics, jazz, bossa nova, and folk.

Prizes

References

External links
 Vladimir Gapontsev at MusicaNeo
 Russian Guitar Quartet
 Иллюстрированный биографический энциклопедический словарь Vladimir Gapontsev/ abc-guitars.com

Living people
1985 births
People from Volzhsky, Volgograd Oblast
Russian classical guitarists
Russian male guitarists
21st-century guitarists
21st-century Russian male musicians


title: Duncan McArthur Funk

text:
Duncan McArthur Funk (June 1, 1832 – December 17, 1911) was an American politician, banker, and rancher from Illinois. Born to Isaac Funk, patriarch of the Funk family, Funk left the family settlement to open a store in Bloomington, Illinois. Following his father's death, Funk tended to his share of his inherited property. Funk was president of the First National Bank of Bloomington and had financial interests in several others. He was elected to three consecutive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives.

Biography
Duncan McArthur Funk was born on June 1, 1832, in Funks Grove, Illinois, to Cassandra (Sharp) and Isaac Funk. He attended public schools and assisted with managing the family lands. When Funk was twenty-five, he left the farm to open a store in Bloomington, Illinois, as Temple & Funk. He co-owned the store until 1866, when he returned to tend to the family farm following the death of his father. Funk received  of his father's lands, where he raised cattle and hogs.

Funk also received a share of the First National Bank of Bloomington. He became closely involved with its operations and was named its president in 1874. He held the office for more than 20 years. Funk also maintained financial interests in the First National Bank of Shelbyville, Illinois; the Bankers' National Bank of Chicago; the First National Bank of Normal; and the State Bank of Hayworth. Funk was also a stockholder of the Bloomington Gaslight & Heating Company.

Funk followed his father's political convictions and was a member of the Republican Party. He was elected a member of the board of Supervisors of Bloomington Township. He held the position for over twenty years. In 1896, Funk was elected on the Republican ticket to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he served a two-year term. He was re-elected in the two subsequent elections.

Duncan Funk married Elizabeth Richardson on April 16, 1857. They had two children: Isabelle and Isaac Lincoln. He died on December 17, 1911.

References

1832 births
1911 deaths
Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives
People from McLean County, Illinois
19th-century American politicians


title: 2014 Dr McKenna Cup

text:
The 2014 Dr McKenna Cup was a Gaelic football competition played under the auspices of Ulster GAA.

The tournament's final was to be contested by Cavan and Tyrone, a repeat of the 2000 decider, at Brewster Park in Enniskillen on 25 January. However, the final was postponed due to an unplayable pitch until 15 February.
Tyrone were defending champions. Cavan had last won the competition in 2000, also the last occasion on which they had contested the final.

Tyrone retained the title, winning the final 1-15 to 0-11.

See also
 2014 O'Byrne Cup
 2014 McGrath Cup

References

Dr McKenna Cup
Dr McKenna Cup
Dr McKenna Cup seasons


title: Gilbert Nicholls

text:
Gilbert Ernest Nicholls (July 23, 1878 – January 17, 1950) was an English-American professional golfer, prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He had eight top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open.

Early life
Nicholls was born in Dover, Kent, England on July 23, 1878, to Frank Nicholls (1851–1930) and Lois Elizabeth Cordrey (1855–1935).

Nicholls brothers emigrate to U.S.
After working in Cannes, France, the two Nicholls brothers emigrated to the United States in 1897 and 1898, when golf was growing rapidly in North America. He had an older brother Bernard (also known as Ben), also an excellent competitive golfer, who posted five top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open between 1897 and 1907, although Gilbert eventually compiled the better record of the two.

Bernard Nicholls, then playing out of the Boston area, earned the distinction of twice defeating Harry Vardon, then the top player in the world, head-to-head, on Vardon's 1900 tour of the United States and Canada; those were the only head-to-head matches Vardon lost on that tour.

The first match was on February 17, 1900, at Ormond Beach, Florida, when he soundly defeated the British star 5 and 4; and the second was at the Brae Burn Country Club near Boston on 13 October 1900 when he won 2 up in a 36-hole match.

The Nicholls brothers worked as club professionals and also sold golf clubs under the "Nicholls Brothers" and later "Butchart-Nicholls" brands. Gilbert worked at clubs in Lexington, Massachusetts, St. Louis, Missouri, Denver, Colorado, Wilmington, Delaware, Beaumont, Texas, and finally Great Neck, New York.

Marriage and family
Nicholls married Mary Agnes Gately (1878–1927) on May 14, 1901, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. They had five children, four boys and one girl. When his wife Mary died at the relatively young age of 48, Nicholls remarried to Eleanor "Ella" Catherine Moshier, née Watson (1897–1989) on January 7, 1929, in Miami, Florida. He met Mary Gately when he was lodging with the Lewis Tapley family in 1900 shortly after arriving in the United States.  The Tapley's were Mary Gately's aunt and uncle.

Golf career

Competitive record
Nicholls is officially credited with five PGA Tour victories for his career, along with one third-place finish; he placed 15 times in the top-10 and 24 times in the top-25.

As well, he finished as runner-up in two U.S. Opens, in 1904 and 1907; he had a total of eight U.S. Open finishes in the top-10. He would have had a ninth, a T-5 in 1908, but he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. Among tournaments Nicholls won are included the 1909 and 1912 Philadelphia Open Championships, the 1911 and 1915 Metropolitan Opens, the 1911 and 1914 North and South Opens, the 1912 Florida Open, and the 1924 Maine Open. He is also listed as having won  PGA Tour events in 1917 and 1921.

Memorable matches
Nicholls teamed twice with the legendary Willie Anderson, a World Golf Hall of Fame member who won four U.S. Opens, in 36-hole exhibition matches shortly before Anderson died in late October 1910. On October 21, Nicholls and Anderson lost to Jock Hutchison and Peter Robertson at a Pittsburgh club. Two days later, Nicholls and Anderson teamed again at the Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and lost on the final hole to two top-flight amateur players: William C. Fownes (then U.S. Amateur champion) and Eben Byers (1906 Amateur champion). This was Anderson's final match; he tired noticeably as the match progressed and died two days later at his home in Philadelphia at age 31.

In 1913 Vardon again toured North America and, teaming with Ted Ray, barnstormed the continent prior to the U.S. Open. In the first match of the tour, the two Englishmen met the Nicholls brothers in Philadelphia, and defeated them over 18 holes with a medal score of 68.

Golf club shaft patent
On April 26, 1927, Nicholls was awarded United States Patent No. 1,626,476. His invention was intended to improve the construction of wooden golf shafts by laminating different types of wood together; in the case of his invention it was a plurality of bamboo and hickory woods. When steel shafts became available in the early 1930s, Nicholls' invention quickly became obsolete.

Death
Nicholls died on January 17, 1950, in Great Neck, New York.

Tournament wins
Note: This list is incomplete.
1909 Philadelphia Open Championship
1911 Metropolitan Open, Florida Open, North and South Open
1912 Philadelphia Open Championship
1914 North and South Open
1915 Metropolitan Open, Shawnee Open
1921 New England PGA Championship
1922 New England PGA Championship
1924 Maine Open
1927 Florida West Coast Open

Results in major championships

Note: Nicholls never played in the Masters Tournament, founded in 1934.

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DQ = Disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play

Sources: U.S. Open, Open Championship, PGA Championship

References

English male golfers
American male golfers
PGA Tour golfers
Golf administrators
Golfers from New York (state)
Sportspeople from Dover, Kent
Sportspeople from Folkestone
English emigrants to the United States
1878 births
1950 deaths