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Kerensky briefly led from the democratic centre, neither Fascist nor Communist
Kerensky made regular visits to the WW1 Front, to encourage Russian troops. WW1LiveIn light of the polarisation of many nations’ politics since the 1990s, we all expect left wing and right wing...
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dreamy Nicolaes Maes... a National Gallery London exhibition
Maes, Girl at a Window 1653-5. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Since studying C17th Dutch Art as an undergraduate at Melbourne Uni, I have been passionate about genre scenes. Jan Vermeer was and is my...
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Fritz Lang's films, in Germany and the USA
Spies, 1928Gerda Maurus and Willy FritschFritz Lang (1890-1976) was born in Vienna to a Jewish mother, although he was raised as a Catholic. Fritz studied civil engineering in Vienna but soon loved...
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Barnett Freedman: best "Designs for Modern Britain"
Pallant Gallery Chichester has provided the following information: Barnett Freedman (1901–1958) was born in East London to impoverished Jewish Russian immigrants, and showed an early talent for...
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Trump's racism in "Chinese Virus" grew out of C19th cholera pandemic racism.
An offensive part of President Donald Trump’s reaction to coronavirus was when he called the novel coronavirus the China Virus. Despite WHO specifically not naming the disease after any place where...
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Engagement rings: from my mother's half carat to REALLY big diamonds
I met my then boyfriend/now husband in 1969, when he was an impoverished uni student, and I had even less money than he did. When we were engaged, my mother kindly offered me her own engagement ring...
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Heroic Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter
Egypt and Israel had been engaged in four major military conflicts since the establishment of Israel in 1948, and tensions had been particularly high after the Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur...
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Man Ray's fabulous fashion photos, Musée du Luxembourg Paris, 2020
Emmanuel Radnitzky (1890-1976) was born in Philadelphia, the son of Russian immigrants. On moving to Brooklyn in 1911, his father took the surname Ray and Emmanuel took the first name Man. After...
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Alaska - Russian? British? American? Canadian?
By 1732 Alaska was settled by Russianfur trappers and traders who expanded via Siberia and by the 700+ Russian Orthodox Church missionaries sent to build churches and settle in Alaska. In 1741,...
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Rudyard Kipling - an Anglo-Indian? or a Brit in colonial India?
The term Anglo-Indians, I assumed, referred to people with mixed Indian and British ancestry, an identifiable community of mixed ancestry. The...
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Shakespeare's notable children and grandchildren
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) left school at 16, but how did he make his living? What is well documented in the register of the Worcester Diocese in Nov 1582 is his marriage licence. William was...
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Philip Guston's attack on KKK racism via his art.
Philip Goldstein Guston (1913-80)’s Ukrainian Jewish parents escaped pogrom violence so they moved to Canada from Odessa. Philip was born in Montreal then moved with his family to Los Angeles as...
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Australia's best ever advertisement. It's for beer - imagine that!
One of the few truly clever advertisements on Australian television promoted Victoria Bitter, a best-selling Australian beer. Since I rarely watch commercial television, and I don’t drink beer, it is...
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Dr Bertram Wainer - hero to millions of Australian women
Bertram Wainer (1928-87) grew up fatherless in Glasgow’s poor Gorbals district during the Great Depression. He had to go to work after primary school. Fortunately the lad immigrated to Australia,...
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Dr Leal made slummy Old Havana into a beautiful city
Eusebio Leal Spengler (1942-2020) was 16 when the dictator Fulgencio Batista, having made millions from bribes from mafia-run casinos, fled into exile on New Year’s Day 1959. A devout Catholic, Leal...
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St Basil's Moscow - spectacular cathedral and now a museum
Ivan IV the Terrible (1530–84) was grand prince of Moscow & 1st Tsar of Russia from 1547. His reign saw a centrally administered Russian state and the creation of an empire that included...
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King George I, Handel and Water Music on the Thames, 1717
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), was born in the same year as J.S Bach, in Halle, Saxony. Handel longed to study music but his elderly father objected, because music could never provide a reliable...
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QAnon - right wing conspiracies in the USA and in Germany
The Reichsberger Movement in Germany DW Since I know little about the topic, I've totally relied on quality newspaper reports from neutral countries. The BBC reported that in U.S, QAnon had...
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My second favourite singer ever - Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse and her father Mitch, 2010Jewish News - Times of IsraelAmy Winehouse’s (1983-2011) family left Minsk in 1890 and followed the familiar route from the East End of London to its...
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Naum Gabo - Russian and internationalist Constructivist artist
Only twice have I ever mentioned Naum Gabo in my blog. Firstly in the mid 1930s Ivon Hitchens lived in a Hampstead studio, within a circle of avant-garde artists known as The London Group. The group...
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