People

People

Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
French Painter. Associated with Impressionists, esp. Pissaro, Monet, Renoir, etc. Developed his own style using colour harmonies to reveal formal structure of objects and compositions. Also considered a founder of modern paintings. His notable works include Joueurs de cartes, La Maison du pendu, Les Baigneurs, Bouquet de fleurs, L'Estaque Le Lac d'Annecy, La Vielle au chaplet, Scène champêtre, Léda au cygne, La Cour de village.

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946)
Occasional pseudonym Reginald Bliss. English novelist, sociologist and historian. Taught science; journalist (1893). Wrote series of fantastic scientific romances TheTime Machine (1895); The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896); The Wheels of Chance (1896), The Invisible Man (1897); The War in the Air (1908); developed in combination with scientific speculation, a strain of sociological idealism in The War of the Worlds (1898); First Men in the Moon (1901); The Food of the Gods (1904); A Modern Utopia (1905); stated his social creed in New Worlds for Old (1908); First and Last Things (1908). Wrote novels of charater and humour including Love and Mr. Lewisham (1900); Kipps (1905); The History of Mr. Polly (1910); Ann Veronica (1909); novels of contemporary English life including Tono-Bungay (1909); The New Machiavelli (1911); Marriage (1912); The Passionate Friends (1913); The Research Magnificient (1915); Mr. Britling Sees It Through (1916); Joan and Peter (1918); novels of discussion as Christina Alberta's Father (1925); The World of William Clissold (1926); Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island (1928); His Outline of History (1920) was paralleled by The Science of Life (1929, with his son George Philip and with Julian Huxley) and The Work, Wealth, and Happiness of Mankind (1932). Later works included several scenarios and The Shape of Things to Come (1933); Experiment in Autobiography (1934); The Croquet Player (1936); World Brain (1938); The Holy Terror (1939); The New World Order (1940); Guide to the New World (1941); Phoenix (1942); Mind at the End of its Tether (1945).

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Sixteenth president of the United States. Born near Hodgenville; had little formal schooling. Settled in New Salem, Illinios as storekeeper, rail splitter, postmaster surveyor, studied law in leisure hours (1831-37); elected to Illinois legislature (1834-41). Moved to Springfield (1837); practised law. Member, U.S. House of Representatives (1847-49). Rose to be prominent Illinois circuit-riding lawyer from 1849; nominated for U.S. Senate (1858); during campaign, stumped Illinois in series of debates with his Democratic opponent, Stephen A. Douglas; took stand against slavery; though defeated for senatorship, campaign made him leading candidate for next Republican presidential nomination. Elected President (1860); after the attack on Ft. Sumter, proclaimed blockade of Southern ports (Apr. 1861). During Civil War, supported loyally his generals in the field, choosing successively to command the army of the Potomac McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade and Grant; issued the Emancipation Proclamation (Jan 1, 1863), declaring freedom of the slaves of all states in rebellion; made immortal Gettysburg Address dedicating the national cemetry there (Nov. 19, 1863). Renominated and reelected (1864); five days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court house had ended Civil War, was shot (Apr. 14, 1865) in Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth and died the next day.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
1st Earl of Beaconsfield. English politician and author. Tory M.P. First sppech a failure, member of Young England group of Tories; supported corn laws; attacked Pel for repealing them (1846), winning achnowledgement as leader of Conservatives in Commons. Chancellor of exchequer ender Lord Derby (1852, 1858-59, 1865-68); introduced but lost, reform bill (1859); carried Reform Act enfranchising all ratepayers (1867). Suceeded Lord Derby as Prime Minister (1868); resigned after general election (1868); criticized Lord Derby as Prime Minister (1868); criticized Gladstone's Irish and foreign policy; prime minister (1874-80); established Tory policies of strong foreign policy, consolidation of Empire, social reform; borrowed money and purchased for British government, on own responsibilty, khedive's interest in the Suez Canal (1875); had Queen Victoria assume title of Empress of India (1876); created Earl of Beaconsfield (1876); became intimate friend of Queen Victoria; English plenipotentiary at Congree of Berlin (1878), Author of Vindication of the British Constitution (1835), Letters of Runnymede (1836) and the novels Vivian Grey (1826), The Young Duke (1831), Contarini Fleming (1832), Henrietta Temple (1837), Coningsby (1844), Sybil (1845), Tancred (1847), Lothair (1870), Endymion (1880), etc.

Winston Churchill (Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill) (1874-1965)
British statesman and author; served in Cuba with Spanish forces (1895), in India (1897), in Sudan (1898), present at Khartoum (1898) as war correspondent. Captured by Boers but escaped (1899), and engaged in battles upto capture of Pretoria. M.P. (1901-22), joined free traders in opposition to Chamberlain's tariff proposals; undersecretary (1905-08) for colonies under Campbell-Bannerman, whose policy of self government for Transvaal and Orange River Colony he advanced with with skill and vigour. He entered the cabinet as the president of the Board of Trade (1908-10); established state labour exchanges and carried Trade Boards Act providing organisation of unorganised trade; by oratory, helped carry the Parliament Act (1911); home secretary (1910-11); first lord of admirality (1911-15); built up navy, established naval war staff; directed Antwerp expedition and Dardanells campaign, after failure of which he was demoted. Served with regiment in France (1916); minister of munitions (1917); secretary for war and air (1919-21), for colonies (1921-22); chancellor of exchequer (1924-29). First lord of admirality on Britains entry into World War II (1939-40); Prime Minister (1940-45). Met at sea with President Roosevelt (Aug. 1941) to draw up a joint statement of international policy known as the Atlantic Charter; conferred on war strategy with Roosevelt at Washington (1942 and 1943), Casablanca (1943), and Quebec (1943 and 1944), with Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek at Cairo (1943), with Roosevelt and Stalin at Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945), with Truman and Stalin at Potsdam (1945). Resigned as Prime Minister after Labour victory in elections. Gave "iron curtain" speech, Fulton (1946). Again Prime Minister (1951-55). Author of Lord Randolph Churchill (1906), My African Journey (1908), The World Crisis (1923-29), Marlborough: His Life and Times (1933-38); selected speeches, as in While England Slept (1938), Step by Step (1939), Into Battle (1941), The Unrelenting Struggle (1942), The End of the Beginning (1943), Victory (1946), In the Balance (1951), Unwritten Alliance (1961), The Second World War (1948-54), History of the English Speaking Peoples (1956-58). Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (9153).
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