Passage 1:Ögedei KhanÖgedei Khagan (also Ogodei; c. 1186 – 11 December 1241) was second khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire. The third son of Genghis Khan, he continued the expansion of the empire that his father had begun.Born in c. 1186 AD, Ögedei fought in numerous battles during his father's rise to power. After being granted a large appanage and taking a number of wives, including Töregene, he played a prominent role in the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire. When his older brothers Jochi and Chagatai quarrelled over strategies when besieging Gurganj, Genghis appointed Ögedei sole commander; his successful capture of the city in 1221 ensured his military reputation. He was confirmed as heir after further infighting between his elder brothers led to both being excluded from succession plans. Genghis died in 1227, and Ögedei was elected as khagan in 1229, after a two-year regency led by his younger brother Tolui.As khan, Ögedei pursued the expansionist policies of his father. He launched a second invasion of Persia led by Chormaqan Noyan in 1230, which subdued the Khwarazmian prince Jalal al-Din and began to subjugate Georgia. He initiated the Mongol invasions of Korea, and his armies skirmished with the Song dynasty and in India. By the time of his death in 1241, large armies under the command of his nephew Batu Khan and Subutai had subdued the steppes and penetrated deep into Europe. These armies defeated Poland at Legnica and Hungary at Mohi before retreating. It is likely that this retreat was caused by the need to find a successor after Ögedei's death, although some scholars have speculated that the Mongols were simply unable to invade further because of logistical difficulties.As an administrator, Ögedei continued to develop the fast-growing Mongol state. Working with officials such as Yelü Chucai, he developed ortogh trading systems, instituted methods of tax collection, and established regional bureaucracies which controlled legal and economic affairs. He also founded the Mongol capital city, Karakorum, in the 1230s. Although historically disregarded in comparison to his father, especially on account of his alcoholism, he was known to be charismatic, good-natured, and intelligent.BackgroundÖgedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and Börte Ujin. He participated in the turbulent events of his father's rise. When Ögedei was 17 years old, Genghis Khan experienced the disastrous defeat of Khalakhaljid Sands against the army of Jamukha. Ögedei was heavily wounded and lost on the battlefield. His father's adopted brother and companion Borokhula rescued him. Although he was already married, in 1204 his father gave him Töregene, the wife of a defeated Merkit chief. The addition of such a wife was not uncommon in steppe culture.After Genghis was proclaimed Emperor or Khagan in 1206, myangans (thousands) of the Jalayir, Besud, Suldus, and Khongqatan clans were given to him as his appanage. Ögedei's territory occupied the Emil and Hobok rivers. According to his father's wish, Ilugei, the commander of the Jalayir, became Ögedei's tutor.Ögedei, along with his brothers, campaigned independently for the first time in November 1211 against the Jin dynasty. He was sent to ravage the land south through Hebei and then north through Shanxi in 1213. Ögedei's force drove the Jin garrison out of the Ordos, and he rode to the juncture of the Xi Xia, Jin, and Song domains.During the Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia, Ögedei and Chagatai massacred the residents of Otrar after a five-month siege in 1219–20 and joined Jochi who was outside the walls of Urganch. Because Jochi and Chagatai were quarreling over the military strategy, Ögedei was appointed by Genghis Khan to oversee the siege of Urganch. They captured the city in 1221. When the rebellion broke out in southeast Persia and Afghanistan, Ögedei also pacified Ghazni.Position as heirThe Empress Yisui insisted that Genghis Khan designate an heir before the invasion of the Khwarezmid Empire in 1219. After the terrible brawl between two elder sons Jochi and Chagatai, they agreed that Ögedei was to be chosen as heir. Genghis confirmed their decision.Genghis Khan died in 1227, and Jochi had died a year or two earlier. Ögedei's younger brother Tolui held the regency until 1229. Ögedei was elected supreme khan in 1229, according to the kurultai held at Kodoe Aral on the Kherlen River after Genghis' death, although this was never really in doubt as it was Genghis' clear wish that he be succeeded by Ögedei. After ritually declining three times, Ögedei was proclaimed Khagan of the Mongols on 13 September 1229. Chagatai continued to support his younger brother's claim.World conquestsExpansion in the Middle EastAfter destroying the Khwarazmian empire, Genghis Khan was free to move against Western Xia. In 1226, however, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the last of the Khwarizm monarchs, returned to Persia to revive the empire lost by his father, Muhammad ‘Ala al-Din II. The Mongol forces sent against him in 1227 were defeated at Dameghan. Another army that marched against Jalal al-Din scored a pyrrhic victory in the vicinity of Isfahan but was unable to follow up that success.With Ögedei's consent to launch a campaign, Chormaqan qorchi left Bukhara at the head of 30,000 to 50,000 Mongol soldiers. He occupied Persia and Khorasan, two long-standing bases of Khwarazmian support. Crossing the Amu Darya River in 1230 and entering Khorasan without encountering any opposition, Chormaqan passed through quickly. He left a sizable contingent behind under the command of Dayir Baghatur, who had further instructions to invade western Afghanistan. Chormaqan and the majority of his army then entered Tabaristan (modern-day Mazandaran), a region between the Caspian Sea and Alborz mountains, in the autumn of 1230, thus avoiding the mountainous area to the south, which was controlled by the Nizari Ismailis (the Assassins).Upon reaching the city of Rey, Chormaqan made his winter camp there and dispatched his armies to pacify the rest of northern Persia. In 1231, he led his army southward and quickly captured the cities of Qum and Hamadan. From there, he sent armies into the regions of Fars and Kirman, whose rulers quickly submitted, preferring to pay tribute to Mongol overlords rather than having their states ravaged. Meanwhile, further east, Dayir Baghatur steadily achieved his goals in capturing Kabul, Ghazni, and Zabulistan. With the Mongols already in control of Persia, Jalal al-Din was isolated in Transcaucasia where he was banished. Thus all of Persia was added to the Mongol Empire.The fall of the Jin dynastyAt the end of 1230, responding to the Jin's unexpected defeat of Doqolqu cherbi (Mongol general), the Khagan went south to Shanxi province with Tolui, clearing the area of the Jin forces and taking the city of Fengxiang. After passing the summer in the north, they again campaigned against the Jin in Henan, cutting through territory of South China to assault the Jin's rear. By 1232 the Jin Emperor was besieged in his capital of Kaifeng. Ögedei soon departed, leaving the final conquest to his generals. After taking several cities, the Mongols, with the belated assistance of the Song dynasty, destroyed the Jin with the fall of Caizhou in February 1234. However, a viceroy of the Song murdered a Mongol ambassador, and the Song armies recaptured the former imperial capitals of Kaifeng, Luoyang, and Chang'an, which were now ruled by the Mongols.In addition to the war with the Jin dynasty, Ögedei crushed the Eastern Xia founded by Puxian Wannu in 1233, pacifying southern Manchuria. Ögedei subdued the Water Tatars in the northern part of the region and suppressed their rebellion in 1237.Conquest of Georgia and ArmeniaThe Mongols under Chormaqan returned to the Caucasus in 1232. The walls of Ganjak were breached by catapult and battering ram in 1235. The Mongols eventually withdrew after the citizens of Irbil agreed to send a yearly tribute to the court of the khagan. Chormaqan waited until 1238, when the force of Möngke Khan was also active in the north Caucasus. After subduing Armenia, Chormaqan took Tiflis. In 1238, the Mongols captured Lorhe whose ruler, Shahanshah, fled with his family before the Mongols arrived, leaving the rich city to its fate. After putting up a spirited defense at Hohanaberd, the city's ruler, Hasan Jalal, submitted to the Mongols. Another column then advanced against Gaian, ruled by Prince Avak. The Mongol commander Tokhta ruled out a direct assault and had his men construct a wall around the city, and Avak soon surrendered. By 1240, Chormaqan had completed the conquest of Transcaucasia, forcing the Georgian nobles to surrender.KoreaIn 1224, a Mongol envoy was killed in obscure circumstances and Korea stopped paying tribute. Ögedei dispatched Saritai qorchi to subdue Korea and avenge the dead envoy in 1231. Thus, Mongol armies began to invade Korea in order to subdue the kingdom. The Goryeo King temporarily submitted and agreed to accept Mongol overseers. When they withdrew for the summer, however, Choe U moved the capital from Kaesong to Ganghwa Island. Saritai was hit with a stray arrow and died as he campaigned against them.Ögedei announced plans for the conquest of the Koreans, the Southern Song, the Kipchaks and their European allies, all of whom killed Mongol envoys, at the kurultai in Mongolia in 1234. Ögedei appointed Danqu commander of the Mongol army and made Bog Wong, a defected Korean general, governor of 40 cities with their subjects. When the court of Goryeo sued for peace in 1238, Ögedei demanded that the king of Goryeo appear before him in person. The Goryeo king finally sent his relative Yeong Nong-gun Sung with ten noble boys to Mongolia as hostages, temporarily ending the war in 1241.EuropeThe Mongol Empire expanded westward under the command of Batu Khan to subdue the western steppes and drive into Europe. Their western conquests included Volga Bulgaria, almost all of Alania, Cumania, and Rus', along with a brief occupation of Hungary. They also invaded Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Latin Empire, and Austria. During the siege of Kolomna, the Khagan's half brother Khulgen was killed by an arrow.Amid the conquest, Ögedei's son Güyük and Chagatai's grandson Büri ridiculed Batu, and the Mongol camp suffered dissension. The Khagan harshly criticized Güyük: "You broke the spirit of every man in your army... Do you think that the Russians surrendered because of how mean you were to your own men?". He then sent Güyük back to continue the conquest of Europe. Güyük and another of Ögedei's sons, Kadan, attacked Transylvania and Poland, respectively.Although Ögedei Khan had granted permission to invade the remainder of Europe, all the way to the "Great Sea", the Atlantic Ocean, the Mongol advance stopped in East Europe early in 1242, the year after his death. Mongol accounts would later attribute the drive's failure to his untimely demise necessitating Batu's withdrawal to personally participate in the election of Ögedei's successor. Batu, however, never reached Mongolia for such an election and a successor wouldn't be named until 1246. A likely reason the advance stalled and never regained momentum is that European fortifications posed a strategic problem that Mongol commanders were unable to surmount with the resources they had available.Conflict with Song dynastyIn a series of razzias from 1235 to 1245, the Mongols commanded by Ögedei's sons penetrated deep into the Song Dynasty and reached Chengdu, Xiangyang and Yangtze River. But they could not succeed in completing their conquest due to climate and the number of Song troops, and Ögedei's son Khochu died in the process. In 1240, Ögedei's other son Khuden dispatched a subsidiary expedition to Tibet. The situation between the two nations worsened when Song officers murdered Ögedei's envoys headed by Selmus.The Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent under the leadership of Ögedei helped bring political stability and re-establish the Silk Road, the primary trading route between East and West.IndiaÖgedei appointed Dayir Baghatur in Ghazni and Menggetu noyan in Qonduz. In winter 1241 the Mongol force invaded the Indus valley and besieged Lahore, which was controlled by the Delhi Sultanate. However, Dayir Baghatur died storming the town, on 30 December 1241, and the Mongols butchered the town before withdrawing from the Delhi Sultanate.Some time after 1235 another Mongol force invaded Kashmir, stationing a darughachi there for several years. Soon Kashmir became a Mongolian dependency. Around the same time, a Kashmiri Buddhist master, Otochi, and his brother Namo arrived at the court of Ögedei.AdministrationÖgedei began the bureaucratization of Mongol administration. Three divisions constituted his administration: the Christian eastern Turks, represented by Chinqai, the Uyghur scribe, and the Keraites.the Islamic cycle, represented by two Khorazmians, Mahamud Yalavach, and Masud Beg.the North Chinese Confucian circle, represented by Yelu Chucai, a Khitan, and Nianhe Zhong-shan, a Jurchen.Mahamud Yalavach promoted a system in which the government would delegate tax collection to tax farmers who collect payments in silver. Yelu Chucai encouraged Ögedei to institute a traditional Chinese system of government, with taxation in the hands of government agents and payment in a government issued currency. The Muslim merchants, working with capital supplied by the Mongol aristocrats, loaned at higher interest the silver needed for tax payments. In particular, Ögedei actively invested in these ortoq enterprises. At the same time the Mongols began circulating paper currency backed by silver reserves.Ögedei abolished the branch departments of state affairs and divided the areas of Mongol-ruled China into ten routes according to the suggestion of Yelü Chucai. He also divided the empire into Beshbalik and Yanjing administration, while the headquarters in Karakorum directly dealt with Manchuria, Mongolia and Siberia. Late in his reign, Amu Darya administration was established. Turkestan was administered by Mahamud Yalavach, while Yelu Chucai administered North China from 1229 to 1240. Ögedei appointed Shigi Khutugh chief judge in China. In Iran, Ögedei appointed first Chin-temur, a Kara-kitai, and then Korguz, a Uyghur who proved to be honest administrator. Later, some of Yelu Chucai's duties were transferred to Mahamud Yalavach and taxes were handed over to Abd-ur-Rahman, who promised to double the annual payments of silver. The Ortoq or partner merchants lent Ögedei's money at exorbitant rates of interest to the peasants, though Ögedei banned considerably higher rates. Despite it proving profitable, many people fled their homes to avoid the tax collectors and their strong-arm gangs.Ögedei had imperial princes tutored by the Christian scribe Qadaq and the Taoist priest Li Zhichang and built schools and an academy. Ögedei Khan also decreed to issue paper currency backed by silk reserves and founded a Department responsible for destroying old notes. Yelu Chucai protested to Ögedei that his large-scale distribution of appanages in Iran, Western and North China, and Khorazm could lead to a disintegration of the Empire. Ögedei thus decreed that the Mongol nobles could appoint overseers in the appanages, but the court would appoint other officials and collect taxes.The Khagan proclaimed the Great Yassa as an integral body of precedents, confirming the continuing validity of his father's commands and ordinances, while adding his own. Ögedei codified rules of dress and conduct during the kurultais. Throughout the Empire, in 1234, he created postroad stations (Yam) with a permanent staff who would supply post riders' needs. Relay stations were set up every 25 miles and the yam staff supplied remounts to the envoys and served specified rations. The attached households were exempt from other taxes, but they had to pay a qubchuri tax to supply the goods. Ögedei ordered Chagatai and Batu to control their yams separately. The Khagan prohibited the nobility from issuing paizas (tablets that gave the bearer authority to demand goods and services from civilian populations) and jarliqs. Ögedei decreed that within decimal units one out of every 100 sheep of the well-off should be levied for the poor of the unit, and that one sheep and one mare from every herd should be forwarded to form a herd for the imperial table.KarakorumFrom 1235–38 Ögedei constructed a series of palaces and pavilions at stopping places in his annual nomadic route through central Mongolia. The first palace Wanangong was constructed by North Chinese artisans. The Emperor urged his relatives build residences nearby and settled the deported craftsmen from China near the site. The construction of the city, Karakorum (Хархорум), was finished in 1235, assigning different quarters to Islamic and North Chinese craftsmen, who competed to win Ögedei's favor. Earthen walls with 4 gates surrounded the city. Attached were private apartments, while in front of stood a giant stone tortoise bearing an engraved pillar, like those that were commonly used in East Asia. There was a castle with doors like the gates of the garden and a series of lakes where many water fowl gathered. Ögedei erected several houses of worship for his Buddhist, Muslim, Taoist, and Christian followers. In the Chinese ward, there was a Confucian temple where Yelu Chucai used to create or regulate a calendar on the Chinese model.CharacterÖgedei was also known to be a humble man, who did not believe himself to be a genius, and who was willing to listen to and use the great generals that his father left him, as well as those he himself found to be most capable. He was the Emperor (Khagan) but not a dictator. Like all Mongols at his time, he was raised and educated as a warrior from childhood, and as the son of Genghis Khan, he was a part of his father's plan to establish a world empire. His military experience was notable for his willingness to listen to his generals and adapt to circumstances. He was a pragmatic person, much like his father, and looked at the end rather than the means. His steadiness of character and dependability were the traits that his father most valued, and that gained him the role of successor to his father, despite his two older brothers.Ögedei was considered to be his father's favorite son, ever since his childhood. As an adult, he was known for his ability to sway doubters in any debate in which he was involved, simply by the force of his personality. He was a physically big, jovial, and charismatic man, who seemed mostly to be interested in enjoying good times. He was intelligent and steady in character. His charisma was partially credited for his success in keeping the Mongol Empire on the path that his father had set. Ögedei was a pragmatic man, though he made some mistakes during his reign. Ögedei had no delusions that he was his father's equal as a military commander or organizer and used the abilities of those he found most capable.Ögedei was well known for his alcoholism. Chagatai entrusted an official to watch his habit, but Ögedei managed to drink anyway. It is commonly told that Ögedei did so by vowing to reduce the number of cups he drank a day then having cups twice the size created for his personal use. When he died at dawn on 11 December 1241, after a late-night drinking bout with Abd-ur-Rahman, the people blamed the sister of Tolui's widow and Abd-ur-Rahman. The Mongol aristocrats recognized, however, that the Khagan's own lack of self-control had killed him.The sudden death of Tolui in 1232 seems to have affected Ögedei deeply. According to some sources, Tolui sacrificed his own life, accepting a poisoned drink in shamanist ritual in order to save Ögedei who was suffering from illness. Other sources say Ögedei orchestrated Tolui's death with the help of shamans who drugged the alcoholic Tolui.According to Pamela Kyle Crossley, a posthumous Yuan dynasty portrait of Ögodei depicts him as having a stocky build, a red beard, and hazel eyes. Contemporary Chinese authors such as Xu Ting wrote that Ögedei's beard was unusual for a Mongol because most had little facial hair.Alleged mass rapeAccording to Persian chroniclers, Ögedei ordered the rape of four thousand Oirat girls above the age of seven. These girls were then confiscated for Ögedei's harem or given to caravan hostels throughout the Mongol Empire for use as prostitutes. This move brought the Oirat and their lands under Ögedei's control following the death of Ögedei's sister Checheyigen, who previously controlled Oirat lands.Anne F. Broadbridge links an "infamous alleged mass rape of Oirat girls" to Ögedei's requisitioning of girls from his uncle Temüge Otchigin's territories without Temüge's approval. Broadbridge notes however that "with all the evidence suppressed, this can only be a surmise". The History of the Yuan or Yuanshi and Secret History of the Mongols speak of a forceful requisitioning of women by Ögedei


Passage 1:Dana BlanksteinDana Blankstein-Cohen (born March 3, 1981) is the executive director of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School. She was appointed by the board of directors  in November2019.  Previously she was the CEO of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. She is a film director, and an Israeli culture entrepreneur.BiographyDana Blankstein was born in Switzerland in 1981 to theatre directorDedi Baron and Professor Alexander Blankstein. She moved to Israel in 1983 and grew up in Tel Aviv.Blankstein graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem in 2008 with high honors. Duringher studies she worked as a personal assistant to directors Savi Gabizon on his film Nina's Tragedies and to Renen Schorr on his film The Loners.  She also directed and shot 'the making of' film on Gavison's film Lostand Found. Her debut film Camping competed at the Berlin International Film Festival, 2007.Film and academic careerAfter her studies, Dana founded and directed the film and television department at the Kfar Sabamunicipality. The department encouraged and promoted productions filmed in the city of Kfar Saba, as well as the established cultural projects, and educational community activities.Blankstein directed the mini-series"Tel Aviviot" (2012). From 2016-2019 was the director of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.In November 2019 Dana Blankstein Cohen was appointed the new director of the Sam Spiegel Film and TelevisionSchool where she also oversees the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab. In 2022, she spearheaded the launch of the new Series Lab and the film preparatory program for Arabic speakers in eastJerusalem.FilmographyTel Aviviot (mini-series; director, 2012)Growing Pains (graduation film, Sam Spiegel; director and screenwriter, 2008)Camping (debut film, Sam Spiegel; director and screenwriter, 2006)Passage2:Peter LevinPeter Levin is an American director of film, television and theatre.CareerSince 1967, Levin has amassed a large number of credits directing episodic television and television films. Some of his televisionseries credits include Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, James at 15, The Paper Chase, Family, Starsky & Hutch, Lou Grant, Fame, Cagney & Lacey, Law & Order and Judging Amy.Some of his television film creditsinclude Rape and Marriage: The Rideout Case (1980), A Reason to Live (1985), Popeye Doyle (1986), A Killer Among Us (1990), Queen Sized (2008) and among other films. He directed "Heart in Hiding", written by hiswife Audrey Davis Levin, for which she received an Emmy for Best Day Time Special in the 1970s.Prior to becoming a director, Levin worked as an actor in several Broadway productions. He costarred with SusanStrasberg in "[The Diary of Ann Frank]" but had to leave the production when he was drafted into the Army. He trained at the Carnegie Mellon University. Eventually becoming a theatre director, he directed productionsat the Long Wharf Theatre and the Pacific Resident Theatre Company. He also co-founded the off-off-Broadway Theatre [the Hardware Poets Playhouse] with his wife Audrey Davis Levin and was also an associate artistof The Interact Theatre Company.Passage 3:Michael GovanMichael Govan (born 1963) is the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Prior to his current position, Govan worked as the director of the Dia ArtFoundation in New York City.Early life and educationGovan was born in 1963 in North Adams, Massachusetts, and was raised in the Washington D.C. area, attending Sidwell Friends School.He majored in art history andfine arts at Williams College, where he met Thomas Krens, who was then director of the Williams College Museum of Art. Govan became closely involved with the museum, serving as acting curator as an undergraduate.After receiving his B.A. from Williams in 1985, Govan began an MFA in fine arts from the University of California, San Diego.CareerAs a twenty-five year old graduate student, Govan was recruited by his former mentorat Williams, Thomas Krens, who in 1988 had been appointed director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Govan served as deputy director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum under Krens from 1988 to1994, a period that culminated in the construction and opening of the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim branch in Bilbao, Spain. Govan supervised the reinstallation of the museum's permanent collection galleries afterits extensive renovation.Dia Art FoundationFrom 1994 to 2006, Govan was president and director of Dia Art Foundation in New York City. There, he spearheaded the conversion of a Nabisco box factory into the 300,000square foot Dia:Beacon in New York's Hudson Valley, which houses Dia's collection of art from the 1960s to the present. Built in a former Nabisco box factory, the critically acclaimed museum has been credited withcatalyzing a cultural and economic revival within the formerly factory-based city of Beacon. Dia's collection nearly doubled in size during Govan's tenure, but he also came under criticism for "needlessly andpermanently" closing Dia's West 22nd Street building. During his time at Dia, Govan also worked closely with artists James Turrell and Michael Heizer, becoming an ardent supporter of Roden Crater and City, the artists'respective site-specific land art projects under construction in the American southwest. Govan successfully lobbied Washington to have the 704,000 acres in central Nevada surrounding City declared a nationalmonument in 2015.LACMAIn February 2006, a search committee composed of eleven LACMA trustees, led by the late Nancy M. Daly, recruited Govan to run the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Govan has statedthat he was drawn to the role not only because of LACMA's geographical distance from its European and east coast peers, but also because of the museum's relative youth, having been established in 1961. "I felt thatbecause of this newness I had the opportunity to reconsider the museum," Govan has written, "[and] Los Angeles is a good place to do that."Govan has been widely regarded for transforming LACMA into both a localand international landmark. Since Govan's arrival, LACMA has acquired by donation or purchase over 27,000 works for the permanent collection, and the museum's gallery space has almost doubled thanks to theaddition of two new buildings designed by Renzo Piano, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) and the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Pavilion. LACMA's annual attendance has grown from 600,000 to nearly 1.6million in 2016.Artist collaborationsSince his arrival, Govan has commissioned exhibition scenography and gallery designs in collaboration with artists. In 2006, for example, Govan invited LA artist John Baldessari todesign an upcoming exhibition about the Belgian surrealist René Magritte, resulting in a theatrical show that reflected the twisted perspective of the latter's topsy-turvy world. Baldessari has also designed LACMA's logo.Since then, Govan has also commissioned Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo to design LACMA's Art of the Ancient Americas gallery, described in the Los Angeles Times as a "gritty cavern deep inside the earth ...crossed with a high-style urban lounge."Govan has also commissioned several large-scale public artworks for LACMA's campus from contemporary California artists. These include Chris Burden's Urban Light (2008), aseries of 202 vintage street lamps from different neighborhoods in Los Angeles, arranged in front of the entrance pavilion, Barbara Kruger's Untitled (Shafted) (2008), Robert Irwin's Primal Palm Garden (2010), andMichael Heizer's Levitated Mass, a 340-ton boulder transported 100 miles from the Jurupa Valley to LACMA, a widely publicized journey that culminated with a large celebration on Wilshire Boulevard. Thanks in part tothe popularity of these public artworks, LACMA was ranked the fourth most instagrammed museum in the world in 2016.In his first three full years, the museum raised $251 million—about $100 million more than itcollected during the three years before he arrived. In 2010, it was announced that Govan will steer LACMA for at least six more years. In a letter dated February 24, 2013, Govan, along with the LACMA board'sco-chairmen Terry Semel and Andrew Gordon, proposed a merger with the financially troubled Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and a plan to raise $100 million for the combined museum.ZumthorProjectGovan's latest project is an ambitious building project, the replacement of four of the campus's aging buildings with a single new state of the art gallery building designed by architect Peter Zumthor. As ofJanuary 2017, he has raised about $300 million in commitments. Construction is expected to begin in 2018, and the new building will open in 2023, to coincide with the opening of the new D Line metro stop on WilshireBoulevard. The project also envisages dissolving all existing curatorial departments and departmental collections. Some commentators have been highly critical of Govan's plans. Joseph Giovannini, recalling Govan'stechnically unrealizable onetime plan to hang Jeff Koons' Train sculpture from the facade of the Ahmanson Gallery, has accused Govan of "driving the institution over a cliff into an equivalent mid-air wreck of its own".Describing the collection merging proposal as the creation of a "giant raffle bowl of some 130,000 objects", Giovannini also points out that the Zumthor building will contain 33% less gallery space than the galleries itwill replace, and that the linear footage of wall space available for displays will decrease by about 7,500 ft, or 1.5 miles. Faced with losing a building named in its honor, and anticipating that its acquisitions could nolonger be displayed, the Ahmanson Foundation withdrew its support.On the merging of the separate curatorial divisions to create a non-departmental art museum, Christopher Knight has pointed out that "no othermuseum of LACMA's size and complexity does it" that way, and characterized the museum's 2019 "To Rome and Back" exhibition, the first to take place under the new scheme, as "bland and ineffectual" and an"unsuccessful sample of what's to come".Personal lifeGovan is married and has two daughters, one from a previous marriage. He and his family used to live in a $6 million mansion in Hancock Park that was provided byLACMA - a benefit worth $155,000 a year, according to most recent tax filings - until LACMA decided that it would sell the property to make up for the museum's of almost $900 million in debt [2]. That home is nowworth nearly $8 million and Govan now lives in a trailer park in Malibu's Point Dume region.Los Angeles CA 90020United States. He has had a private pilot's license since 1995 and keeps a 1979 Beechcraft Bonanza atSanta Monica Airport.Passage 4:Olav AaraasOlav Aaraas (born 10 July 1950) is a Norwegian historian and museum director.He was born in Fredrikstad. From 1982 to 1993 he was the director of Sogn Folk Museum,from 1993 to 2010 he was the director of Maihaugen and from 2001 he has been the director of the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. In 2010 he was decorated with the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.Passage5:Brian Kennedy (gallery director)Brian Patrick Kennedy (born 5 November 1961) is an Irish-born art museum director who has worked in Ireland and Australia, and now lives and works in the United States.  He wasthe director of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem for 17 months, resigning December 31, 2020. He was the director of the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio from 2010 to 2019. He was the director of the Hood Museumof Art from 2005 to 2010, and the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra) from 1997 to 2004.CareerBrian Kennedy currently lives and works in the United States after leaving Australia in 2005 to direct the HoodMuseum of Art at Dartmouth College. In October 2010 he became the ninth Director of the Toledo Museum of Art. On 1 July 2019, he succeeded Dan Monroe as the executive director and CEO of the Peabody EssexMuseum.Early life and career in IrelandKennedy was born in Dublin and attended Clonkeen College. He received B.A. (1982), M.A. (1985) and PhD (1989) degrees from University College-Dublin, where he studied bothart history and history.He worked in the Irish Department of Education (1982), the European Commission, Brussels (1983), and in Ireland at the Chester Beatty Library (1983–85), Government Publications Office(1985–86), and Department of Finance (1986–89). He married Mary Fiona Carlin in 1988.He was Assistant Director at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin from 1989 to 1997. He was Chair of the Irish Association ofArt Historians from 1996 to 1997, and of the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors from 2001 to 2003. In September 1997 he became Director of the National Gallery of Australia.National Gallery of Australia(NGA)Kennedy expanded the traveling exhibitions and loans program throughout Australia, arranged for several major shows of Australian art abroad, increased the number of exhibitions at the museum itself andoversaw the development of an extensive multi-media site.  Although he oversaw several years of the museum's highest ever annual visitation, he discontinued the emphasis of his predecessor, Betty Churcher, onshowing "blockbuster" exhibitions.During his directorship, the NGA gained government support for improving the building and significant private donations and corporate sponsorship. However, the initial design for thebuilding proved controversial generating a public dispute with the original architect on moral rights grounds.  As a result, the project was not delivered during Dr Kennedy's tenure, with a significantly altered designcompleted some years later.  Private funding supported two acquisitions of British art, including David Hockney's A Bigger Grand Canyon in 1999, and Lucian Freud's After Cézanne in 2001. Kennedy built on theestablished collections at the museum by acquiring the Holmgren-Spertus collection of Indonesian textiles; the Kenneth Tyler collection of editioned prints, screens, multiples and unique proofs; and the Australian PrintWorkshop Archive. He was also notable for campaigning for the construction of a new "front" entrance to the Gallery, facing King Edward Terrace, which was completed in 2010 (see reference to the building projectabove).Kennedy's cancellation of the "Sensation exhibition" (scheduled at the NGA from 2 June 2000 to 13 August 2000) was controversial, and seen by some as censorship. He claimed that the decision was due to theexhibition being "too close to the market" implying that a national cultural institution cannot exhibit the private collection of a speculative art investor. However, there were other exhibitions at the NGA during histenure, which could have raised similar concerns. The exhibition featured the privately owned Young British Artists works belonging to Charles Saatchi and attracted large attendances in London and Brooklyn. Its mostcontroversial work was Chris Ofili's The Holy Virgin Mary, a painting which used elephant dung and was accused of being blasphemous. The then-mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, campaigned against the exhibition,claiming it was "Catholic-bashing" and an "aggressive, vicious, disgusting attack on religion." In November 1999, Kennedy cancelled the exhibition and stated that the events in New York had "obscured discussion of theartistic merit of the works of art". He has said that it "was the toughest decision of my professional life, so far."Kennedy was also repeatedly questioned on his management of a range of issues during the AustralianGovernment's Senate Estimates process - particularly on the NGA's occupational health and safety record and concerns about the NGA's twenty-year-old air-conditioning system. The air-conditioning was finallyrenovated in 2003. Kennedy announced in 2002 that he would not seek extension of his contract beyond 2004, accepting a seven-year term as had his two predecessors.He became a joint Irish-Australian citizen in2003.Toledo Museum of ArtThe Toledo Museum of Art is known for its exceptional collections of European and American paintings and sculpture, glass, antiquities, artist books, Japanese prints and netsuke. Themuseum offers free admission and is recognized for its historical leadership in the field of art education.  During his tenure, Kennedy has focused the museum's art education efforts on visual literacy, which he defines as"learning to read, understand and write visual language."   Initiatives have included baby and toddler tours, specialized training for all staff, docents, volunteers and the launch of a website, www.vislit.org. In November2014, the museum hosted the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) conference, the first Museum to do so. Kennedy has been a frequent speaker on the topic, including 2010 and 2013 TEDx talks on visualand sensory literacy.Kennedy has expressed an interest in expanding the museum's collection of contemporary art and art by indigenous peoples. Works by Frank Stella, Sean Scully, Jaume Plensa, Ravinder Reddy andMary Sibande have been acquired.  In addition, the museum has made major acquisitions of Old Master paintings by Frans Hals and Luca Giordano.During his tenure the Toledo Museum of Art has announced the returnof several objects from its collection due to claims the objects were stolen and/or illegally exported prior being sold to the museum.  In 2011 a Meissen sweetmeat stand was returned to Germany followed by anEtruscan Kalpis or water jug to Italy (2013), an Indian sculpture of Ganesha (2014) and an astrological compendium to Germany in 2015.Hood Museum of ArtKennedy became Director of the Hood Museum of Art in July2005. During his tenure, he implemented a series of large and small-scale exhibitions and oversaw the production of more than 20 publications to bring greater public attention to the museum's remarkable collections ofthe arts of America, Europe, Africa, Papua New Guinea and the Polar regions. At 70,000 objects, the Hood has one of the largest collections on any American college of university campus. The exhibition, BlackWomanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies of the African Body, toured several US venues. Kennedy increased campus curricular use of works of art, with thousands of objects pulled from storage for classes annually.Numerous acquisitions were made with the museum's generous endowments, and he curated several exhibitions: including Wenda Gu: Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewriting Tang Dynasty Poetry, SeanScully: The Art of the Stripe, and Frank Stella: Irregular Polygons.PublicationsKennedy has written or edited a number of books on art, including:Alfred Chester Beatty and Ireland 1950-1968: A study in cultural politics,Glendale Press (1988), ISBN 978-0-907606-49-9Dreams and responsibilities: The state and arts in independent Ireland, Arts Council of Ireland (1990), ISBN 978-0-906627-32-7Jack B Yeats: Jack Butler Yeats,1871-1957 (Lives of Irish Artists), Unipub (October 1991), ISBN 978-0-948524-24-0The Anatomy Lesson: Art and Medicine (with Davis Coakley), National Gallery of Ireland (January 1992), ISBN978-0-903162-65-4Ireland: Art into History (with Raymond Gillespie), Roberts Rinehart Publishers (1994), ISBN 978-1-57098-005-3Irish Painting, Roberts Rinehart Publishers (November 1997),  ISBN978-1-86059-059-7Sean Scully: The Art of the Stripe, Hood Museum of Art (October 2008), ISBN 978-0-944722-34-3Frank Stella: Irregular Polygons, 1965-1966, Hood Museum of Art (October 2010), ISBN978-0-944722-39-8Honors and achievementsKennedy was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to Australian Society and its art. He is a trustee and treasurer of the Association of Art MuseumDirectors, a peer reviewer for the American Association of Museums and a member of the International Association of Art Critics. In 2013 he was appointed inaugural eminent professor at the University of Toledo andreceived an honorary doctorate from Lourdes University. Most recently, Kennedy received the 2014 Northwest Region, Ohio Art Education Association award for distinguished educator for art education.== Notes==Passage 6:Ian Barry (director)Ian Barry is an Australian director of film and TV.Select creditsWaiting for Lucas (1973) (short)Stone (1974) (editor only)The Chain Reaction (1980)Whose Baby? (1986)(mini-series)Minnamurra (1989)Bodysurfer (1989) (mini-series)Ring of Scorpio (1990) (mini-series)Crimebroker (1993)Inferno (1998) (TV movie)Miss Lettie and Me (2002) (TV movie)Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild,Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008) (documentary)The Doctor Blake Mysteries (2013)Passage 7:Neema BarnetteNeema Barnette is an American film director and producer, and the first African-American woman to


Passage 1:Arthur BeauchampArthur Beauchamp (1827 – 28 April 1910) was a Member of Parliament from New Zealand. He is remembered as the father of Harold Beauchamp, who rose to fame as chairman of the Bank of New Zealand and was the father of writer Katherine Mansfield.BiographyBeauchamp came to Nelson from Australia on the Lalla Rookh, arriving on 23 February 1861.He lived much of his life in a number of locations around the top of the South Island, also Whanganui when Harold was 11 for seven years and then to the capital (Wellington). Then south to Christchurch and finally Picton and the Sounds. He had business failures and was bankrupted twice, in 1879 and 1884. He married Mary Stanley on the Victorian goldfields in 1854; Arthur and Mary lived in 18 locations over half a century, and are buried in Picton. Six of their ten children born between 1855 and 1893 died, including the first two sons born before Harold.Beauchamp represented the Picton electorate from 1866 to 1867, when he resigned.  He had the energy and sociability required for politics, but not the private income then required to be a parliamentarian. He supported the working man and the subdivision of big estates, opposed the confiscation of Māori land and was later recognised as a founding Liberal, the party that Harold supported and was a "fixer" for. Yska calls their life an extended chronicle of rootlessness, business failure and almost ceaseless family tragedy and Harold called his father a rolling stone by instinct. Arthur also served on the council of Marlborough Province and is best-remembered for a 10-hour speech to that body when an attempt was made to relocate the capital from Picton to Blenheim.In 1866 he attempted to sue the Speaker of the House, David Monro. At the time the extent of privilege held by Members of Parliament was unclear; a select committee ruled that the case could proceed, but with a stay until after the parliamentary session.See alsoYska, Redmer (2017). A Strange Beautiful Excitement: Katherine Mansfield's Wellington 1888-1903. Dunedin: Otago University Press. pp. 91–99. ISBN 978-0-947522-54-4.Passage 2:David Hyrum SmithDavid Hyrum Smith (November 17, 1844 – August 29, 1904) was an American religious leader, poet, painter, singer, philosopher, and naturalist. The youngest son of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith, he was an influential missionary and leader in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church). He was born approximately five months after the murder of his father. Joseph told Emma before he died what the child's name should be. From December 1847, David was raised by his mother and her second husband, Lewis C. Bidamon.Smith was a highly effective missionary for the RLDS Church. From 1865 to 1873, he conducted missionary trips throughout the Midwest, Utah Territory, and California, debating preachers of different theologies, including representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). From 1873 to 1885, Smith was a counselor to his brother Joseph Smith III in the First Presidency of the RLDS Church. Later David's son Elbert A. Smith became a member of the First Presidency and a Presiding Patriarch in the RLDS Church.Smith was called the "Sweet Singer of Israel" because many who knew him, who heard him sing and joined him in song, said that he was the most inspiring singer of God they had encountered. The Joseph Smith Historic Site, maintained by the Community of Christ, houses Smith's original paintings of Nauvoo, Illinois.In a 1998 biography of Smith, From Mission to Madness: Last Son of the Mormon Prophet, author Valeen Tippetts Avery describes Smith's mental deterioration, starting with a probable breakdown early in 1870. In an 1869 letter to his mother, Emma Smith Bidamon, Smith had written at age 24:   Mother I must tell you ... I feel very sad and the tears run out of my eyes all the time and I don't know why. ... strive as I will my heart sinks like lead. ... I must tell someone my troubles.Smith was confined to Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane beginning in 1877. He was held there for most of 27 years, dying in the hospital in 1904. Avery's biography draws on a large body of Smith's correspondence and poetry to examine both his personality and his emotional state.NotesPassage 3:John Crockett (frontiersman)John Crockett (circa 1753 – after 1802) was an American frontiersman and soldier, and the father of David "Davy" Crockett.Early lifeCrockett was born about 1753 in either Maryland or Frederick County, Virginia. "Davy" Crockett said in his autobiography that John Crockett was born either in Ireland or during the journey from Ireland to America; but later scholars disagreed, saying this had been John's father, also named David. His ancestors were of Scotch-Irish and possible Huguenot backgrounds. The Crockett/Crocketague name is a Registered Lineage with the Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia (FMCV)  though "Davy" Crockett does not mention it in his autobiography.In 1775 or 1780, Crockett married Rebecca Hawkins, from Maryland.Father and family heads westIn 1776, David Crockett and the growing family moved to the Washington District in what is now the northeastern tip of Tennessee, near Rogersville, Tennessee.Father's demiseIn 1777, David Crockett and part of the family were killed in a Chickamauga Cherokee raid, led by Dragging Canoe, at the onset of the Cherokee–American wars. After the attack, the remaining Crocketts sold the property to a new settler in the area, a French Huguenot man, Colonel Thomas Amis.Military careerDuring the American War for Independence, Crockett fought along with the Overmountain Men from west of the Appalachians. The Overmountain Men often crossed the mountains to face the British in the war's southern campaign. Crockett fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780, a major victory for the colonists.Later life and workA respected man in the area, Crockett later became a magistrate, a farmer, and an unsuccessful land speculator. The family lived in what is now Greene County, Tennessee, close to the Nolichucky River and near the community of Limestone. It was here, at a location now commemorated as Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park, that David "Davy" Crockett was born in 1786. He was the fifth of the nine Crockett children, and was named for his grandfather. At the time of his birth, the area was part of the autonomous State of Franklin. In 1788, Crockett was justice of the court when a young Andrew Jackson received his law license according to some genealogies.After a flood destroyed their house, the Crocketts moved to the Morristown, Tennessee area (1792) and built a tavern on a newly constructed stage road between Abingdon, Virginia and Knoxville, Tennessee. The Crockett Tavern Museum now stands on the site, housed in a reconstruction of the tavern.Young "Davy" helps outIn 1798, when David was 12, Crockett hired him out to Jacob Siler to drive cattle. After young David fulfilled his original obligation to Siler, he returned to his father's home. The family sent Davy to a school that had been established nearby, but he did not like school and quit attending after a few days. The elder Crockett was drunk when he learned his son was avoiding school and he punished Davy severely, leading him to flee and stay away for years. David Crockett returned in 1802 and helped pay off his father's debts.DeathIt's not clear when Crockett died, though some genealogies have his year of death as 1834.Crockett family treePassage 4:Jorge TrezeguetJorge Ernesto Trezeguet (born 13 May 1951) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is the father of David Trezeguet.CareerTrezeguet played for Estudiantes (BA), Almagro, Deportivo Español, Sportivo Italiano, El Porvenir and Chacarita Juniors in Argentina, as well as FC Rouen in France. It was while playing for Rouen that his son David was born.He was provisionally banned for failing a doping control in 1974 while playing for Estudiantes (BA) in the second-tier Primera B Nacional along with two teammates. He was subsequently pardoned, but his career was adversely impacted by the allegations.Trezeguet later in his career worked as a physical trainer. Currently he is the agent for his son David as well as a European scout for Juventus.Passage 5:Cleomenes IICleomenes II (Greek: Κλεομένης; died 309 BC) was king of Sparta from 370 to 309 BC. He was the second son of Cleombrotus I, and grandfather of Areus I, who succeeded him. Although he reigned for more than 60 years, his life is completely unknown, apart from a victory at the Pythian Games in 336 BC. Several theories have been suggested by modern historians to explain such inactivity, but none has gained consensus.Life and reignCleomenes was the second son of king Cleombrotus I (r. 380–371), who belonged to the Agiad dynasty, one of the two royal families of Sparta (the other being the Eurypontids). Cleombrotus died fighting Thebes at the famous Battle of Leuctra in 371. His eldest son Agesipolis II succeeded him, but he died soon after in 370. Cleomenes' reign was instead exceptionally long, lasting 60 years and 10 months according to Diodorus of Sicily, a historian of the 1st century BC. In a second statement, Diodorus nevertheless tells that Cleomenes II reigned 34 years, but he confused him with his namesake Cleomenes I (r. 524–490).Despite the outstanding length of his reign, very little can be said about Cleomenes. He has been described by modern historians as a "nonentity". Perhaps that the apparent weakness of Cleomenes inspired the negative opinion of the hereditary kingship at Sparta expressed by Aristotle in his Politics (written between 336 and 322). However, Cleomenes may have focused on internal politics within Sparta, because military duties were apparently given to the Eurypontid Agesilaus II (r. 400–c.360), Archidamus III (r. 360–338), and Agis III (r. 338–331). As the Spartans notably kept their policies secret from foreign eyes, it would explain the silence of ancient sources on Cleomenes. Another explanation is that his duties were assumed by his elder son Acrotatus, described as a military leader by Diodorus, who mentions him in the aftermath of the Battle of Megalopolis in 331, and again in 315.Cleomenes' only known deed was his chariot race victory at the Pythian Games in Delphi in 336. In the following autumn, he gave the small sum of 510 drachmas for the reconstruction of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which had been destroyed by an earthquake in 373. Cleomenes might have made this gift as a pretext to go to Delphi and engage in informal diplomacy with other Greek states, possibly to discuss the consequences of the recent assassination of the Macedonian king Philip II.One short witticism of Cleomenes regarding cockfighting is preserved in the Moralia, written by the philosopher Plutarch in the early 2nd century AD:Somebody promised to give to Cleomenes cocks that would die fighting, but he retorted, "No, don't, but give me those that kill fighting."As Acrotatus died before Cleomenes, the latter's grandson Areus I succeeded him while still very young, so Cleomenes' second son Cleonymus acted as regent until Areus' majority. Some modern scholars also give Cleomenes a daughter named Archidamia, who played an important role during Pyrrhus' invasion of the Peloponnese, but the age difference makes it unlikely.Passage 6:Obata ToramoriObata Toramori (, 1491 – July 14, 1561) was Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku Period. He is known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen" He also recorded as having been wounded 41 times in 36 encounters. He was the father of Obata Masamori.See alsoIsao ObataPassage 7:AnacyndaraxesAnacyndaraxes (Greek: νακυνδαράξης) was the father of Sardanapalus, king of Assyria.Notes This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Anacyndaraxes". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 157-158.Passage 8:Joseph SmithJoseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith had attracted tens of thousands of followers by the time of his death fourteen years later. The religion he founded continues to the present day, with millions of global adherents and several churches claiming Smith as their founder, the largest being The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).Born in Sharon, Vermont, Smith moved with his family to the western region of New York State, following a series of crop failures in 1816. Living in an area of intense religious revivalism during the Second Great Awakening, Smith reported experiencing a series of visions. The first of these was in 1820, when he saw "two personages" (whom he eventually described as God the Father and Jesus Christ). In 1823, he said he was visited by an angel who directed him to a buried book of golden plates inscribed with a Judeo-Christian history of an ancient American civilization. In 1830, Smith published the Book of Mormon, which he described as an English translation of those plates. The same year he organized the Church of Christ, calling it a restoration of the early Christian Church. Members of the church were later called "Latter Day Saints" or "Mormons".In 1831, Smith and his followers moved west, planning to build a communal Zion in the American heartland. They first gathered in Kirtland, Ohio, and established an outpost in Independence, Missouri, which was intended to be Zion's "center place". During the 1830s, Smith sent out missionaries, published revelations, and supervised construction of the Kirtland Temple. Because of the collapse of the church-sponsored Kirtland Safety Society, violent skirmishes with non-Mormon Missourians, and the Mormon extermination order, Smith and his followers established a new settlement at Nauvoo, Illinois, of which he was the spiritual and political leader. In 1844, when the Nauvoo Expositor criticized Smith's power and his practice of polygamy, Smith and the Nauvoo City Council ordered the destruction of its printing press, inflaming anti-Mormon sentiment. Fearing an invasion of Nauvoo, Smith rode to Carthage, Illinois, to stand trial, but was killed when a mob stormed the jailhouse.During his ministry, Smith published numerous documents and texts, many of which he attributed to divine inspiration and revelation from God. He dictated the majority of these in the first-person, saying they were the writings of ancient prophets or expressed the voice of God. His followers accepted his teachings as prophetic and revelatory, and several of these texts were canonized by denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, which continue to treat them as scripture. Smith's teachings discuss God's nature, cosmology, family structures, political organization, and religious community and authority. Mormons generally regard Smith as a prophet comparable to Moses and Elijah. Several religious denominations identify as the continuation of the church that he organized, including the LDS Church and the Community of Christ.LifeEarly years (1805–1827)Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805, in Vermont, on the border between the villages of South Royalton and Sharon, to Lucy Mack Smith and her husband Joseph Smith Sr., a merchant and farmer. He was one of eleven children. At the age of seven, Smith suffered a crippling bone infection and, after receiving surgery, used crutches for three years. After an ill-fated business venture and three successive years of crop failures culminating in the 1816 Year Without a Summer, the Smith family left Vermont and moved to the western region of New York State, and took out a mortgage on a 100-acre (40 ha) farm in the townships of Palmyra and Manchester.The region was a hotbed of religious enthusiasm during the Second Great Awakening. Between 1817 and 1825, there were several camp meetings and revivals in the Palmyra area. Smith's parents disagreed about religion, but the family was caught up in this excitement. Smith later recounted that he had become interested in religion by age 12, and as a teenager, may have been sympathetic to Methodism. With other family members, he also engaged in religious folk magic, a relatively common practice in that time and place. Both his parents and his maternal grandfather reported having visions or dreams that they believed communicated messages from God. Smith said that, although he had become concerned about the welfare of his soul, he was confused by the claims of competing religious denominations.Years later, Smith wrote that he had received a vision that resolved his religious confusion. He said that in 1820, while he had been praying in a wooded area near his home, God the Father and Jesus Christ together appeared to him, told him his sins were forgiven, and said that all contemporary churches had "turned aside from the gospel." Smith said he recounted the experience to a Methodist minister, who dismissed the story "with great contempt". According to historian Steven C. Harper, " There is no evidence in the historical record that Joseph Smith told anyone but the minister of his vision for at least a decade", and Smith might have kept it private because of how uncomfortable that first dismissal was. During the 1830s, Smith orally described the vision to some of his followers, though it was not widely published among Mormons until the 1840s. This vision later grew in importance to Smith's followers, who eventually regarded it as the first event in the restoration of Christ's church to Earth. Smith himself may have originally considered the vision to be a personal conversion.According to Smith's later accounts, while praying one night in 1823, he was visited by an angel named Moroni. Smith claimed this angel revealed the location of a buried book made of golden plates, as well as other artifacts including a breastplate and a set of interpreters composed of two seer stones set in a frame, which had been hidden in a hill near his home. Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning, but was unsuccessful because Moroni returned and prevented him. He reported that during the next four years he made annual visits to the hill, but, until the fourth and final visit, each time he returned without the plates.Meanwhile, Smith's family faced financial hardship, due in part to the death of his oldest brother Alvin, who had assumed a leadership role in the family. Family members supplemented their meager farm income by hiring out for odd jobs and working as treasure seekers, a type of magical supernaturalism common during the period. Smith was said to have an ability to locate lost items by looking into a seer stone, which he also used in treasure hunting, including, beginning in 1825, several unsuccessful attempts to find buried treasure sponsored by Josiah Stowell, a wealthy farmer in Chenango County. In 1826, Smith was brought before a Chenango County court for "glass-looking", or pretending to find lost treasure; Stowell's relatives accused Smith of tricking Stowell and faking an ability to perceive hidden treasure, though Stowell attested that he believed Smith had such abilities. The result of the proceeding remains unclear because primary sources report conflicting outcomes.While boarding at the Hale house, located in the township of Harmony (now Oakland) in Pennsylvania, Smith met and courted Emma Hale. When he proposed marriage, her father, Isaac Hale, objected; he believed Smith had no means to support his daughter. Hale also considered Smith a stranger who appeared "careless" and "not very well educated." Smith and Emma eloped and married on January 18, 1827, after which the couple began boarding with Smith's parents in Manchester. Later that year, when Smith promised to abandon treasure seeking, his father-in-law offered to let the couple live on his property in Harmony and help Smith get started in business.Smith made his last visit to the hill shortly after midnight on September 22, 1827, taking Emma with him. This time, he said he successfully retrieved the plates. Smith said Moroni commanded him not to show the plates to anyone else, but to translate them and publish their translation. He also said the plates were a religious record of Middle-Eastern indigenous Americans and were engraved in an unknown language, called reformed Egyptian. He told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them.Although Smith had abandoned treasure hunting, former associates believed he had double crossed them and had taken the golden plates for himself, property they believed should be jointly shared. After they ransacked places where they believed the plates might have been hidden, Smith decided to leave Palmyra.Founding a church (1827–1830)In October 1827, Smith and Emma permanently moved to Harmony, aided by a relatively prosperous neighbor, Martin


Passage 1:Mark RockefellerMark Fitler Rockefeller (born January 26, 1967) is a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. He is the younger son of former U.S. Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller(1908–1979) and Happy Rockefeller (1926–2015). Through his father, Rockefeller is a grandson of American financer John D. Rockefeller Jr. and a great-grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He waschairman of the board of directors of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 2010.Early lifeRockefeller grew up at Kykuit, the central mansion at his family's estate in Pocantico, Westchester County, in New YorkState. He is an alumnus of the Buckley School, Deerfield Academy (1985), Princeton University (BA 1989), and Harvard University (MBA 1996). He played football, basketball, and baseball at Deerfield, and playedfootball at Princeton as a walk-on.CareerRockefeller and his former wife own South Fork Lodge and South Fork Outfitters, both in Swan Valley, Idaho. Previously, he was an associate in the Acquisition Finance Group atChase Securities, Inc.In 1999 he was elected chairman of the non-profit organization, Historic Hudson Valley, founded by his grandfather, John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1951. Mark Rockefeller's older brother, NelsonRockefeller Jr., has also served on its board.In a 2013 article about federal farm subsidy programs, the New York Post reported that 1,500 affluent New Yorkers had received payments. Among them was Rockefeller,who received $342,634 in farm subsidies over the course of ten years from 2001 to 2011 for allowing farmland to return to its natural condition.Personal lifeIn 1998, Rockefeller married Renee Anne Anisko (born 1968)at the Church of the Magdalene in Pocantico Hills. She has a Juris Doctor degree cum laude from the Temple University Beasley School of Law. They have four children. They divorced in 2020.Passage 2:Where WasI"Where Was I?" may refer to:Books"Where Was I?", essay by David Hawley Sanford from The Mind's IWhere Was I?, book by John Haycraft 2006Where was I?!, book by Terry Wogan 2009Film and TVWhere Was I?(film), 1925 film directed by William A. Seiter. With Reginald Denny, Marian Nixon, Pauline Garon, Lee Moran.Where Was I? (2001 film), biography about songwriter Tim RoseWhere Was I? (TV series) 1952–1953 Quizshow with the panelists attempting to guess a location by looking at photos"Where Was I?" episode of Shoestring (TV series) 1980Music"Where was I", song by W. Franke Harling and Al Dubin performed by RubyNewman and His Orchestra  with vocal chorus by  Larry Taylor and Peggy McCall  1939"Where Was I", single from Charley Pride discography 1988"Where Was I" (song), a 1994 song by Ricky Van Shelton"Where Was I(Donde Estuve Yo)", song by Joe Pass from Simplicity (Joe Pass album)"Where Was I?", song by Guttermouth from The Album Formerly Known as a Full Length LP (Guttermouth album)"Where Was I", song by SawyerBrown (Billy Maddox, Paul Thorn, Anne Graham) from Can You Hear Me Now 2002"Where Was I?", song  by  Kenny Wayne Shepherd from Live On  1999"Where Was I", song by Melanie Laine (Victoria Banks, SteveFox) from Time Flies (Melanie Laine album)"Where Was I", song by Rosie Thomas from With Love (Rosie Thomas album)Passage 3:Dance of Death (disambiguation)Dance of Death, also called Danse Macabre, is alate-medieval allegory of the universality of death.Dance of Death or The Dance of Death may also refer to:BooksDance of Death, a 1938 novel by Helen McCloyDance of Death (Stine novel), a 1997 novel by R. L.StineDance of Death (novel), a 2005 novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln ChildTheatre and filmThe Dance of Death (Strindberg play), a 1900 play by August StrindbergThe Dance of Death, a 1908 play by FrankWedekindThe Dance of Death (Auden play), a 1933 play by W. H. AudenFilmThe Death Dance, a 1918 drama starring Alice BradyThe Dance of Death (1912 film), a German silent filmThe Dance of Death (1919 film), anAustrian silent filmThe Dance of Death (1938 film), crime drama starring Vesta Victoria; screenplay by Ralph DawsonThe Dance of Death (1948 film), French-Italian drama based on Strindberg's play, starring Erich vonStroheimThe Dance of Death (1967 film), a West German drama filmDance of Death or House of Evil, 1968 Mexican horror film starring Boris KarloffDance of Death (1969 film), a film based on Strindberg's play,starring Laurence OlivierDance of Death (1979 film), a Hong Kong film featuring Paul ChunMusicDance of Death (album), a 2003 album by Iron Maiden, or the title songThe Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites,a 1964 album by John FaheyThe Dance of Death (Scaramanga Six album)"Death Dance", a 2016 song by SevendustSee alsoDance of the Dead (disambiguation)Danse Macabre (disambiguation)Bon Odori, a Japanesetraditional dance welcoming the spirits of the deadLa danse des morts, an oratorio by Arthur HoneggerTotentanz (disambiguation)Passage 4:John I, Duke of ClevesJohn I, Duke of Cleves, Count of Mark (16 February1419 – 5 September 1481). Jean de Belliqueux (warlike), was Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark.LifeJohn was the son of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and Mary of Burgundy. He was raised in Brussels at the Burgundiancourt of his uncle Philip the Good. He ruled Cleves from 1448 from 1481, and Mark since 1461 after the death of his uncle Gerhard who had waged war on his own brother.John fought 3 wars with the Electorate ofCologne and finally defeated Ruprecht of the Palatinate, conquering the cities of Xanten and Soest. In these wars, he was supported by his uncle Philip the Good, bringing Cleves-Mark into the Burgundian sphere ofinfluence. His marriage with Elisabeth Countess of Nevers, from a sideline of the House of Burgundy, only strengthened this influence. John also took sides in the Münster Diocesan Feud supporting the aspirations of theHouse of Hoya to the episcopacy in Münster.John was also made a Knight in the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece in 1451, with which he was depicted by Rogier van der Weyden. In 1473 he helped the BurgundianDuke Charles the Bold conquer the Duchy of Guelders.Marriage and childrenOn 22 April 1455, John married Elizabeth of Nevers, daughter of John II, Count of Nevers.They had:John II, Duke of Cleves (13 April 1458 –15 March 1521); married 3 November 1489 Matilda of HesseAdolf (1461–1498); a canon of LiegeEngelbert, Count of Nevers (26 September 1462 – 21 November 1506); married 23 February 1489 Charlotte deBourbon-VendômeDietrich (1464)Marie of Cleves (1465–1513)Philip of Cleves (1467–1505); Bishop of Nevers, Amiens and AutunAncestryPassage 5:Place of birthThe place of birth (POB) or birthplace is the place wherea person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. Practice regarding whether this place should be a country, a territory or acity/town/locality differs in different countries, but often city or territory is used for native-born citizen passports and countries for foreign-born ones.As a general rule with respect to passports, if the place of birth is tobe a country, it's determined to be the country that currently has sovereignty over the actual place of birth, regardless of when the birth actually occurred. The place of birth is not necessarily the place where theparents of the new baby live. If the baby is born in a hospital in another place, that place is the place of birth. In many countries, this also means that the government requires that the birth of the new baby is registeredin the place of birth.Some countries place less or no importance on the place of birth, instead using alternative geographical characteristics for the purpose of identity documents. For example, Sweden has used theconcept of födelsehemort ("domicile of birth") since 1947. This means that the domicile of the baby's mother is the registered place of birth. The location of the maternity ward or other physical birthplace is consideredunimportant.Similarly, Switzerland uses the concept of place of origin. A child born to Swiss parents is automatically assigned the place of origin of the parent with the same last name, so the child either gets theirmother's or father's place of origin. A child born to one Swiss parent and one foreign parent acquires the place of origin of their Swiss parent. In a Swiss passport and identity card, the holder's place of origin is stated,not their place of birth. In Japan, the registered domicile is a similar concept.In some countries (primarily in the Americas), the place of birth automatically determines the nationality of the baby, a practice oftenreferred to by the Latin phrase jus soli. Almost all countries outside the Americas instead attribute nationality based on the nationality(-ies) of the baby's parents (referred to as jus sanguinis).There can be someconfusion regarding the place of birth if the birth takes place in an unusual way: when babies are born on an airplane or at sea, difficulties can arise. The place of birth of such a person depends on the law of thecountries involved, which include the nationality of the plane or ship, the nationality(-ies) of the parents and/or the location of the plane or ship (if the birth occurs in the territorial waters or airspace of a country).Someadministrative forms may request the applicant's "country of birth". It is important to determine from the requester whether the information requested refers to the applicant's "place of birth" or "nationality at birth".For example, US citizens born abroad who acquire US citizenship at the time of birth, the nationality at birth will be USA (American), while the place of birth would be the country in which the actual birth takesplace.Reference list8 FAM 403.4 Place of BirthPassage 6:Dietrich IX, Count of MarkDietrich IX, Count of Mark (1374–1398) was the Count of Mark from 1393 until 1398.Dietrich was the second son of Count Adolf III ofthe Marck and Margaret of Jülich.His father had acquired the County of Cleves in 1368 and reserved this title for his eldest son Adolph to succeed him after his death. Dietrich already received the title of Count of Mark in1393, when his father was still alive. When Dietrich fell in battle in 1398, he was succeeded by his elder brother Adolph, who had become Count of Cleves in 1394. Thus the County of Mark and the County of Cleves werereunited again.Passage 7:Beaulieu-sur-LoireBeaulieu-sur-Loire (French pronunciation: [boljø sy lwa], literally Beaulieu on Loire) is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. It is the place of deathof Jacques MacDonald, a French general who served in the Napoleonic Wars.PopulationSee alsoCommunes of the Loiret departmentPassage 8:Motherland (disambiguation)Motherland is the place of one's birth, the placeof one's ancestors, or the place of origin of an ethnic group.Motherland may also refer to:Music"Motherland" (anthem), the national anthem of MauritiusNational Song (Montserrat), also called "Motherland"Motherland(Natalie Merchant album), 2001Motherland (Arsonists Get All the Girls album), 2011Motherland (Daedalus album), 2011"Motherland" (Crystal Kay song), 2004Film and televisionMotherland (1927 film), a 1927 Britishsilent war filmMotherland (2010 film), a 2010 documentary filmMotherland (2015 film), a 2015 Turkish dramaMotherland (2022 film), a 2022 documentary film about the Second Nagorno-Karabakh WarMotherland (TVseries), a 2016 British television seriesMotherland: Fort Salem, a 2020 American science fiction drama seriesOther usesMotherland Party (disambiguation), the name of several political groupsPersonifications of Russia,including a list of monuments called MotherlandSee alsoAll pages with titles containing MotherlandMother Country (disambiguation)Passage 9:Gerhard, Count of MarkGerhard, Count zur Mark (1378–1461) was the defacto ruler of the County of Mark between 1430 and 1461.  Dietrich was the third son of Count Adolf III of the Marck and Margaret of Jülich.His father had acquired the County of Cleves in 1368 and given this title to hiseldest son Adolf. The second son Dietrich received the title of Count of Mark.When Dietrich fell in battle in 1398, he was succeeded as Count of Mark by his elder brother Adolf. The ambitious Gerhard claimed a part ofhis father's territories for himself. In 1423, it came to an armed conflict between Adolf and Gerhard, who had allied himself with the Archbishop of Cologne.Peace was signed between the two brothers in 1430, andconfirmed in 1437.As a result, Gerhard ruled the largest part of Mark, but was to be succeeded by his nephew John. Gerhard died in 1461 without children and the County of Mark and Duchy of Cleves were reunitedagain in a personal union under John I.Passage 10:Nelson RockefellerNelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman andpolitician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. A member of the Republican Party and the wealthy Rockefeller family, he previously served as the49th governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. Rockefeller also served as assistant secretary of State for American Republic Affairs for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (1944–1945) as well asunder secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1954. A son of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller as well as a grandson of Standard Oil co-founderJohn D. Rockefeller, he was a noted art collector and served as administrator of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City.Rockefeller was often considered to be liberal, progressive, or moderate. In an agreementthat was termed the Treaty of Fifth Avenue, he persuaded Richard Nixon to alter the Republican Party platform just before the 1960 Republican Convention. In his time, liberals in the Republican Party were called"Rockefeller Republicans". As Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973, Rockefeller's achievements included the expansion of the State University of New York (SUNY), efforts to protect the environment, theconstruction of the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany, increased facilities and personnel for medical care, and the creation of the New York State Council on the Arts.After unsuccessfullyseeking the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, and 1968, he was appointed vice president of the United States under President Gerald Ford, who ascended to the presidency following the August 1974resignation of Richard Nixon. Rockefeller was the second vice president appointed to the position under the 25th Amendment, following Ford himself. Rockefeller declined to be placed on the 1976 Republican ticket withFord. He retired from politics in 1977 and died two years later.As a businessman, Rockefeller was president and later chair of Rockefeller Center, Inc., and he formed the International Basic Economy Corporation in1947. Rockefeller assembled a significant art collection and promoted public access to the arts. He served as trustee, treasurer, and president of the Museum of Modern Art, and founded the Museum of Primitive Art in1954. In the area of philanthropy, he founded the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1940 with his four brothers and established the American International Association for Economic and Social Development in 1946.Early lifeand education (1908–1930)Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1908, in Bar Harbor, Maine. Named Nelson Aldrich after his maternal grandfather Nelson W. Aldrich, he was the second son and third child of financier andphilanthropist John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and philanthropist and socialite Abigail "Abby" Aldrich. He had two older siblings—Abby and John III—as well as three younger brothers: Laurance, Winthrop, and David. Theirfather, John Jr., was the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller and schoolteacher Laura Spelman. Their mother, Abby, was a daughter of Senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich and Abigail P.Greene.Rockefeller grew up in his family's homes in New York City (mainly at 10 West 54th Street), a country home in Pocantico Hills, New York, and a summer home in Seal Harbor, Maine. The family also travelledwidely. He received his elementary, middle, and high school education at the Lincoln School in Manhattan, an experimental school administered by Teachers College of Columbia University and funded by the Rockefellerfamily. Nelson was known to disappear on the way to school, and was once found exploring the city's sewer system. As a child, he was the "indisputable leader" of his brothers, becoming particularly close toLaurance.Although his parents saw potential for Nelson to succeed in life, he was a poor student. Generally in the lower third of his class, he almost failed ninth grade and had undiagnosed dyslexia. Nelson's biographerJoseph E. Persico wrote that as a child he "demonstrated a discipline that throughout life would serve him in lieu of brilliance." Although Nelson was not accepted into Princeton University, he got into Dartmouth College,arriving on campus in 1926. While in college, he met Mary Todhunter Clark at the summer home in Maine, and the two fell in love. They were engaged in autumn 1929. In 1930, he graduated cum laude with an A.B.degree in economics from Dartmouth College, where he was a member of Casque and Gauntlet (a senior society), Phi Beta Kappa, and Psi Upsilon. Rockefeller and Mary were married after he graduated, on June 23,1930, at Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.Early career (1931–1939)Following his graduation, Rockefeller worked in a number of family-related businesses, including Chase National Bank; Rockefeller Center, Inc., joining theboard of directors in 1931, serving as president, 1938–1945 and 1948–1951, and as chairman, 1945–1953 and 1956–1958; and Creole Petroleum Corporation, the Venezuelan subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey,1935–1940.Rockefeller served as a member of the Westchester County Board of Health from 1933 to 1953. His service with Creole Petroleum led to his deep, lifelong interest in Latin America and he became fluent inthe Spanish language.Mid-career (1940–1958)Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA)In 1940, after he expressed his concern to President Franklin D. Roosevelt over Nazi influence in Latin America, the Presidentappointed Rockfeller to the new position of Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA) in the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA). Rockefeller was charged with overseeing a program of U.S.cooperation with the nations of Latin America to help raise the standard of living, to achieve better relations among the nations of the western hemisphere, and to counter rising Nazi influence in the region. He facilitatedthis form of cultural diplomacy by collaborating with the Director of Latin American Relations at the CBS radio network Edmund A. Chester.The Roosevelt administration encouraged Hollywood to produce films toencourage positive relations with Latin America. Rockefeller required changes in the movie Down Argentine Way (1940) because it was considered offensive to Argentines. It was much more popular in the United Statesthan in Latin America. Charlie Chaplin's satirical The Great Dictator (1940) was banned in several countries.In the spring of 1943, Rockefeller supported extensive negotiations and mission of North American members ofthe Junior Chamber of Commerce to Latin America as Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs of the US State Department, establishing the Junior Chamber International after its first Inter-American Congress in December1944 at Mexico City. After coming back from the Inter-American Congress, Rockefeller convinced his father, John D. Rockefeller Jr., to donate the land to the city of New York to build the foundations of what would laterbecome the United Nations Headquarters.Assistant Secretary of State for American Republic AffairsIn 1944, President Roosevelt appointed Rockefeller Assistant Secretary of State for American Republic Affairs. AsAssistant Secretary of State, he initiated the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace in 1945. The conference produced the Act of Chapultepec, which provided the framework for economic, social anddefense cooperation among the nations of the Americas, and set the principle that an attack on one of these nations would be regarded as an attack on all and jointly resisted. Rockefeller signed the Act on behalf of theUnited States.Rockefeller was a member of the U.S. delegation at the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco in 1945; this gathering marked the UN's founding. At the Conferencethere was considerable opposition to the idea of permitting, within the UN charter, the formation of regional pacts such as the Act of Chapultepec. Rockefeller, who believed that the inclusion was essential, especially to