Ravenna
—  Comune  —
Comune di Ravenna
Piazza del Popolo
Ravenna Location of Ravenna in Italy
Coordinates: 44°25′N 12°12′E / 44.417°N 12.2°E / 44.417; 12.2Coordinates: 44°25′N 12°12′E / 44.417°N 12.2°E / 44.417; 12.2
Country	Italy
Region	Emilia-Romagna
Province	Ravenna (RA)
Frazioni	Casalborsetti, Lido di Savio, Lido di Classe, Lido di Dante, Lido Adriano, Marina di Ravenna, Punta Marina Terme, Porto Corsini, Porto Fuori, Marina Romea, Ammonite, Camerlona, Mandriole, Savarna, Grattacoppa, Conventello, Torri, Mezzano, Sant'Antonio, San Romualdo, Sant'Alberto, Borgo Montone, Fornace Zarattini, Piangipane, San Marco, San Michele, Santerno, Villanova di Ravenna, Borgo Sisa, Bastia, Borgo Faina, Carraie, Campiano, Casemurate, Caserma, Castiglione di Ravenna, Classe, Coccolia, Ducenta, Durazzano, Filetto, Fosso Ghiaia, Gambellara, Ghibullo, Longana, Madonna dell'Albero, Massa Castello, Mensa Matellica, Osteria, Pilastro, Roncalceci, Ragone, Santo Stefano, San Bartolo, San Zaccaria, Savio, S. Pietro in Trento, San Pietro in Vincoli, San Pietro in Campiano
Government
• Mayor	Fabrizio Matteucci (PD)
Area
• Total	652.89 km2 (252.08 sq mi)
Elevation	4 m (13 ft)
Population (31 march 2011)
• Total	159,497
• Density	240/km2 (630/sq mi)
Demonym	Ravennati
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	48100
Dialing code	0544
Patron saint	Saint Apollinaris
Saint day	July 23
Website	Official website

Ravenna [raˈvenna] ( listen) (Romagnol: Ravêna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. Afterwards, it served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths. The city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Franks in 751, after which it became the seat of the Kingdom of the Lombards.

Although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is the location of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History[link]

The origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan.^[1] Some have speculated that "ravenna" is related to "Rasenna" (later "Rasna"), the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, but there is no agreement on this point.^{[citation needed]}

Ancient era[link]

The origins of Ravenna are uncertain.^[2] The first settlement is variously attributed to (and then has seen the co presence of) the Thessalians, the Etruscans and the Umbrians, afterwards its territory was settled also by the Senones, especially the southern countryside of the city (that wasn't part of the lagoon), the Ager Decimanus. Ravenna consisted of houses built on piles on a series of small islands in a marshy lagoon – a situation similar to Venice several centuries later. The Romans ignored it during their conquest of the Po River Delta, but later accepted it into the Roman Republic as a federated town in 89 BC. In 49 BC, it was the location where Julius Caesar gathered his forces before crossing the Rubicon. Later, after his battle against Mark Antony in 31 BC, Emperor Augustus founded the military harbor of Classe.^[3] This harbor, protected at first by its own walls, was an important station of the Roman Imperial Fleet. Nowadays the city is landlocked, but Ravenna remained an important seaport on the Adriatic until the early Middle Ages. During the German campaigns, Thusnelda, widow of Arminius, and Marbod, King of the Marcomanni, were confined at Ravenna.

Ravenna greatly prospered under Roman rule. Emperor Trajan built a 70 km (43.50 mi) long aqueduct at the beginning of the 2nd century. In AD 402, Emperor Honorius transferred the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna. The transfer was made partly for defensive purposes: Ravenna was surrounded by swamps and marshes, and was perceived to be easily defensible (although in fact the city fell to opposing forces numerous times in its history); it is also likely that the move to Ravenna was due to the city's port and good sea-borne connections to the Eastern Roman Empire. However, in 409, King Alaric I of the Visigoths simply bypassed Ravenna, and went on to sack Rome in 410 and to take Galla Placidia, daughter of Emperor Theodosius I, hostage. After many vicissitudes, Galla Placidia returned to Ravenna with her son, Emperor Valentinian III and the support of her nephew Theodosius II. Ravenna enjoyed a period of peace, during which time the Christian religion was favoured by the imperial court, and the city gained some of its most famous monuments, including the Orthodox Baptistery, the so-called "Mausoleum of Galla Placidia" (she was not really buried there), and San Giovanni Evangelista.

The late 400s saw the dissolution of Roman authority in the west, and the last person to hold the title of emperor in the West was deposed in 476 by the general Odoacer. Odoacer ruled as King of Italy for 13 years, but in 489 the Eastern Emperor Zeno sent the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great to re-take the Italian peninsula. After losing the Battle of Verona, Odoacer retreated to Ravenna, where he withstood a siege of three years by Theodoric, until the taking of Rimini deprived Ravenna of supplies. Theodoric took Ravenna in 493, supposedly slew Odoacer with his own hands, and Ravenna became the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Theodoric, following his imperial predecessors, also built many splendid buildings in and around Ravenna, including his palace church Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, an Arian cathedral (now Santo Spirito) and Baptistery, and his own Mausoleum just outside the walls.

The Mausoleum of Theodoric.

Theodoric and his followers were Arian Christians, but co-existed peacefully with the Latins, who were largely Orthodox. Ravenna's Orthodox bishops carried out notable building projects, of which the sole surviving one is the Capella Arcivescovile. Theodoric allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law and the Roman judicial system. The Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs. In 519, when a mob had burned down the synagogues of Ravenna, Theodoric ordered the town to rebuild them at its own expense.

Theodoric died in 526 and was succeeded by his young grandson Athalaric under the authority of his daughter Amalasunta, but by 535 both were dead and Theodoric's line was represented only by Amalasuntha's daughter Matasuntha. Various Ostrogothic military leaders took the kingship of Italy, but none were as successful as Theodoric had been. Meanwhile, the orthodox Christian Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, opposed both Ostrogoth rule and the Arian variety of Christianity. In 535 his general Belisarius invaded Italy and in 540 conquered Ravenna. After the conquest of Italy was completed in 554, Ravenna became the seat of Byzantine government in Italy.

From 540 to 600, Ravenna's bishops embarked upon a notable building program of churches in Ravenna and in and around the port city of Classe. Surviving monuments include San Vitale and Sant'Apollinare in Classe, as well as the partially surviving San Michele in Africisco.

Exarchate of Ravenna[link]

Following the conquests of Belisarius for the Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century, Ravenna became the seat of the Byzantine governor of Italy, the Exarch, and was known as the Exarchate of Ravenna. It was at this time that the Ravenna Cosmography was written.

Under Byzantine rule, the archbishop of Ravenna was temporarily granted autocephaly from the Roman Church by the emperor, in 666, but this was soon revoked. Nevertheless, the archbishop of Ravenna held the second place in Italy after the pope, and played an important role in many theological controversies during this period.

Middle Ages and Renaissance[link]

The Lombards, under King Liutprand, occupied Ravenna in 712, but were forced to return it to the Byzantines. However, in 751 the Lombard king, Aistulf, succeeded in conquering Ravenna, thus ending Byzantine rule in northern Italy.

King Pepin of France attacked the Lombards under orders of Pope Stephen II. Ravenna then gradually came under the direct authority of the popes, although this was contested by the archbishops at various times. Pope Adrian I authorized Charlemagne to take away anything from Ravenna that he liked, and an unknown quantity of Roman columns, mosaics, statues, and other portable items were taken north to enrich his capital of Aachen.

In 1198 Ravenna led a league of Romagna cities against the Emperor, and the Pope was able to subdue it. After the war of 1218 the Traversari family was able to impose its rule in the city, which lasted until 1240. After a short period under an Imperial vicar, Ravenna was returned to the Papal States in 1248 and again to the Traversari until, in 1275, the Da Polenta established their long-lasting seigniory. One of the most illustrious residents of Ravenna at this time was the exiled poet Dante. The last of the Da Polenta, Ostasio III, was ousted by the Republic of Venice in 1440, and the city was annexed to the Venetian territories.

Ravenna was ruled by Venice until 1509, when the area was invaded in the course of the Italian Wars. In 1512, during the Holy League wars, Ravenna was sacked by the French.

After the Venetian withdrawal, Ravenna was again ruled by legates of the Pope as part of the Papal States. The city was damaged in a tremendous flood in May 1636. Over the next 300 years, a network of canals diverted nearby rivers and drained nearby swamps, thus reducing the possibility of flooding and creating a large belt of agricultural land around the city.

Modern age[link]

Apart from another short occupation by Venice (1527–1529), Ravenna was part of the Papal States until 1796, when it was annexed to the French puppet state of the Cisalpine Republic, (Italian Republic from 1802, and Kingdom of Italy from 1805). It was returned to the Papal States in 1814. Occupied by Piedmontese troops in 1859, Ravenna and the surrounding Romagna area became part of the new unified Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Main sights[link]

6th century mosaic in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna portrays Jesus long-haired and bearded, dressed as a Byzantine emperor.

The Arian Baptistry .

Dante's Tomb, a neoclassical structure by Camillo Morigia, 1780 .

The so-called "Mausoleum of Galla Placidia" in Ravenna .

Mosaic of the Palace of Theodoric in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

Eight early Christian monuments of Ravenna are inscribed on the World Heritage List. These are

• Neonian Baptistery (c. 430)
• Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (c. 430)
• Arian Baptistry (c. 500)
• Archiepiscopal Chapel (c. 500)
• Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (c. 500)
• Mausoleum of Theodoric (520)
• Basilica of San Vitale (548)
• Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe (549)

Other attractions include:

• the sixth-century church of the Spirito Santo, which has been quite drastically altered since the sixth century. It was originally the Arian cathedral. The façade has a noteworthy 16th century portico with 5 arcades.
• The church of St. John the Evangelist is from the 5th century, erected by Galla Placidia after she survived a storm at sea. It was restored after the World War II bombings. The belltower contains four bells, the two majors dating back to 1208.
• The St. Francis basilica, rebuilt in the 10th–11th centuries over a precedent edifice dedicated to the Apostles and later to St. Peter. Behind the humble brick façade, it has a nave and two aisles. Fragments of mosaics from the first church are visible on the floor, which is usually covered by water after heavy rains (together with the crypt). Here the funeral ceremony of Dante Alighieri was held in 1321. The poet is buried in a tomb annexed to the church, the local authorities having resisted for centuries all demands by Florence for return of the remains of its most famous exile.
• The Baroque church of Santa Maria Maggiore (525–532, rebuilt in 1671). It houses a picture by Luca Longhi.
• The church of San Giovanni Battista (1683), also in Baroque style, with a Middle Ages campanile.
• The basilica of Santa Maria in Porto (16th century), with a rich façade from the 18th century. It has a nave and two aisles, with a high cupola. It houses the image of famous Greek Madonna, which was allegedly brought to Ravenna from Constantinople.
• The nearby Communal Gallery has various works from Romagnoli painters.
• The Rocca Brancaleone ("Brancaleone Castle"), built by the Venetians in 1457. Once part of the city walls, it is now a public park. It is divided into two parts: the true Castle and the Citadel, the latter having an extent of 14,000 m² (150,694.75 sq ft).
• The so-called Palace of Theoderic, in fact the entrance to the former church of San Salvatore. It includes mosaics from the true Palace of the Ostrogoth king.
• The church of Santa Eufemia (18th century), gives access to the so-called Stone Carpets Domus (6th–7th century): this houses splendid mosaics from a Byzantine palace.
• The National Museum.

Music[link]

The city annually hosts the Ravenna Festival, one of Italy's prominent classical music gatherings. Opera performances are held at the Teatro Alighieri while concerts take place at the Palazzo Mauro de André as well as in the ancient Basilica of San Vitale and Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti, a longtime resident of the city, regularly participates in the festival, which invites orchestras and other performers from around the world.

Ravenna in Literature[link]

• Ravenna is the setting for Thomas Middleton's The Witch.
• Lord Byron lived in Ravenna between 1819 and 1821, led by the love for a local aristocratic and married young woman, Teresa Guiccioli. Here he continued the Don Juan and wrote the Ravenna Diary, My Dictionary and Recollections.^[4]
• Oscar Wilde wrote a poem entitled "Ravenna" in 1878.
• Russian Symbolist poet Alexander Blok wrote a poem entitled Ravenna (May–June 1909) inspired by his Italian journey (spring 1909).
• During his travels, German poet Hermann Hesse came across Ravenna and was inspired to write two poems of the city. They are entitled Ravenna (1) and Ravenna (2).
• The City of Ravenna is mentioned in Canto V in Dante's Inferno.
• T.S. Eliot's poem "Lune de Miel" (written in French) describes a honeymooning couple from Indiana sleeping not far from the ancient Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe, (just outside Ravenna), famous for the carved capitals of its columns, which depict acanthus leaves buffeted by the wind, unlike the leaves in repose on similar columns elsewhere.

Ravenna in Film[link]

Michelangelo Antonioni filmed his 1964 movie Red Desert (Deserto Rosso) within the industrialised areas of the Pialassa valley within the city limits.

Sport[link]

The beaches of Ravenna hosted the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, in September 2011.

Transport[link]

Ravenna has an important commercial and tourist port. Ravenna railway station has direct Trenitalia service to Bologna, Ferrara, Lecce, Milan, Parma, Rimini, Venice and Verona. The nearest airports are those of Forlì, Rimini and Bologna. By road the city can be reached on freeway A14-bis from the hub of Bologna; on the north-south axis of EU routes E45 (from Rome) and E55 (SS-309 "Romea" from Venice); and on the regional Ferrara-Rimini axis of SS-16 (partially called "Adriatica").

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Ravenna is twinned with:

• Chichester, United Kingdom
• Dubrovnik, Croatia, since 1969
• Speyer, Germany, since 1989
• Chartres, France, since 1957
• Tønsberg, Norway
• Szekszárd, Hungary
• Laguna, Brazil

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

Find more about Ravenna on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Ravenna travel guide from Wikitravel
• Tourism and culture Official website (Italian) (English)
• Ravenna, A Study (1913) by Edward Hutton, from Project Gutenberg This is so out-of-date as to be nearly useless
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Ravenna's early history and its monuments
• Adrian Fletcher's Paradoxplace Ravenna Pages (photos)

• Deborah M. Deliyannis, Ravenna in Late Antiquity (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

v t e World Heritage Sites in Italy North West Crespi d'Adda Genoa Mantua and Sabbioneta Portovenere Cinque Terre (Monterosso al Mare Vernazza Corniglia Manarola Riomaggiore), Palmaria Tino and Tinetto Residences of the Royal House of Savoy Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes1 Rock Drawings in Valcamonica Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan Monte San Giorgio North East Aquileia Botanical Garden, Padua Cathedral Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena The Dolomites Ferrara Ravenna Venice Verona Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto Centre Assisi Cerveteri and Tarquinia Florence Hadrian's Villa Piazza del Duomo, Pisa Pienza Rome2 San Gimignano Siena Urbino Val d'Orcia Villa d'Este South Alberobello Amalfi Coast Castel del Monte Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park Paestum and Velia Certosa di Padula Naples Palace of Caserta Aqueduct of Vanvitelli and San Leucio Complex Pompeii Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata Sassi of Matera Islands Aeolian Islands Archaeological Area of Agrigento Barumini nuraghes Syracuse and Necropolis of Pantalica Val di Noto (Caltagirone Militello in Val di Catania Catania Modica Noto Palazzolo Acreide Ragusa Scicli) Villa Romana del Casale Nationwide Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.) Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps3 1 Shared with Switzerland 2 Shared with the Holy See 3 Shared with Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia, and Switzerland

Charlize Theron
Theron in March 2012
Born	(1975-08-07) 7 August 1975 (age 36) Benoni, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Nationality	South African and American from 2007
Occupation	Actress, producer, director, fashion model
Years active	1995–present
Partner	Stuart Townsend (2001–2010)
Children	1
Website
www.charlizetheron.com

Charlize Theron (American English pronunciation:  /ʃɑrˈliːs ˈθɛrən/; Afrikaans pronunciation: [ʃɐrˈlis tron];^[1] born 7 August 1975) is a South African actress and fashion model. She started her acting career in the United States and rose to fame in the late 1990s following roles in The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999). Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), becoming the first African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category. She received another Academy Award nomination for her performance in North Country (2005). Theron became a US citizen in 2007, while retaining her South African citizenship.

Early life[link]

Theron was born in Benoni, in the then Transvaal Province of South Africa, the only child of Gerda (née Maritz; who has also called herself Gerta)^[2][3] and Charles Theron (born 27 November 1947).^[3] Second Boer War figure Danie Theron was her great-great-uncle.^[4] Her ancestry includes French, German, and Dutch; her French forebears were early Huguenot settlers in South Africa.^[4] "Theron" is an Occitan surname (originally spelled Théron) pronounced in Afrikaans as [tron], although she has said that the way she pronounces it in South Africa is [θron].^[5] She changed the pronunciation when she moved to the U.S. to give it a more "American" sound.

She grew up on her parents' farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg.^[6] Her father died on 21 June 1991, after he was shot by Theron's mother. Theron's father, an alcoholic,^[6] physically attacked her mother and threatened both women while drunk. The shooting was legally adjudged to have been self-defense and her mother faced no charges.^[7]

Theron attended Putfontein Primary School (Laerskool Putfontein), a period she later characterised as not "fitting in".^[8] At 13, Theron was sent to boarding school and began her studies at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg.^[6] Although Theron became fluent in English (which she speaks with a General American accent) around age nineteen, her first language is Afrikaans.^[9][10]

Career[link]

Though seeing herself as a dancer,^[11] Theron at 16 won a one-year modeling contract^[6] at a local competition in Salerno ^[12],^[11] and with her mother moved to Milan, Italy.^[13] After Theron spent a year modeling throughout Europe, she and her mother moved to New York City and Miami, Florida.^[13] In New York, she attended the Joffrey Ballet School, where she trained as a ballet dancer until a knee injury closed this career path^[11] at 19.^[14] As Theron recalled in 2008,

I went to New York for three days to model, and then I spent a winter in New York in a friend's windowless basement apartment. I was broke, I was taking class at the Joffrey Ballet, and my knees gave out. I realized I couldn’t dance anymore, and I went into a major depression. My mom came over from South Africa and said, "Either you figure out what to do next or you come home, because you can sulk in South Africa."^[11]

Intending now to work in movies, Theron flew to Los Angeles, California, on a one-way ticket her mother bought her.^[11] During her early months there, she went to a Hollywood Boulevard bank to cash a cheque her mother had sent her to help with the rent.^[15] When the teller refused to cash it, Theron engaged in a shouting match with her.^[6] Upon seeing this, talent agent John Crosby,^[15] in line behind her, handed her his business card and subsequently introduced her to casting agents and also an acting school.^[15][16] She later fired him as her manager after he kept sending her scripts for films similar to Showgirls and Species.^[17] After several months in the city, she was cast in her first film part, a non-speaking role in the direct-to-video film Children of the Corn III (1995).^[6] Her first speaking role was a supporting but significant part in 2 Days in the Valley.^[6] Larger roles in widely released Hollywood films followed, and her career expanded in the late 1990s with box-office successes like The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999).^[6] She was on the cover of the January 1999 issue of Vanity Fair as the "White Hot Venus".^[18] AskMen named her the number one most desirable woman of 2003.^[19]

Theron at the premiere of North Country at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005

After appearing in other films, Theron starred as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003).^[6] Film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema".^[20] For this role, Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004,^[21] as well as the SAG Award and the Golden Globe Award.^[22] She is the first South African to win an Oscar for Best Actress.^[23] The Oscar win pushed her to The Hollywood Reporter's 2006 list of highest-paid actresses in Hollywood; earning US$10 million for both her subsequent films, North Country and Æon Flux, she ranked seventh, behind Halle Berry, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Renée Zellweger, Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.^[24]

In 2005 Theron portrayed Rita, Michael Bluth's (Jason Bateman) love interest, on the third season of Fox's critically acclaimed television series Arrested Development.^[25] She also received Golden Globe and Emmy^[26] nominations for her role of Britt Ekland in the 2004 HBO film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. On 30 September, Theron received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[23] In the same year, she starred in the financially unsuccessful science fiction thriller Æon Flux. She also received the 2005 Spike Video Game Award for Best Performance by a Human Female for her voiceover work in the Æon Flux video game.^[27][28]

Theron received Best Actress Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her lead performance in the drama North Country.^[21][22] Ms. magazine also honoured her for this performance with a feature article in its Fall 2005 issue.^[29] She was supposed to star in the screen adaption of the short story The Ice at the Bottom of the World by Mark Richard, and it was to be directed by Kimberly Peirce^[30] and produced by Theron's company Denver and Delilah Films (Theron's two dog's names). Theron has owned the rights for many years.^[31] She was also supposed to star in a movie adaption of the graphic novel Jinx, but both projects have not been produced as of yet.^[30]

In 2008, Theron was named the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year.^[32] That year she also starred with Will Smith in the superhero film Hancock, and in late 2008 she was asked to be a UN Messenger of Peace by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.^[33]

In October 2009, Theron was cast to star in a sequel to the Mad Max films, titled Mad Max: Fury Road.^[34][35]

On 4 December 2009, Theron co-presented the draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, accompanied by several other celebrities of South African origin. During rehearsals she drew an Ireland ball instead of France as a joke at the expense of FIFA, referring to Thierry Henry's handball controversy in the play off match between France and Ireland.^[36][37] The stunt alarmed FIFA enough for it to fear she might do it again in front of a live global audience.^[38]

Following a three-year hiatus from the big screen, Theron returned to the spotlight in 2011 with Young Adult. Directed by Jason Reitman, the film earned critical acclaim especially for Theron's performance. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and several other high profile awards.

Theron played the Wicked Queen in the film Snow White and the Huntsman, which began production in 2011 and was released in 2012.^[39]

In 2011, she described her process for becoming the characters in her film:

When I'm figuring out a character, for me it's easy, since once I say yes to something, I become super-obsessed about it – and I have an obsessive nature in general. How I want to play it starts at that moment. It's a very lonely, internal experience. I think about [the character] all the time – I observe things, I see things and file things [in my head], everything geared to what I'm going to do. I'm obsessed with the human condition. You read the script and become obsessed with [a character's] nature, her habits. When the camera rolls, it's time to do my job, to do the honest truth. You can't do that part of the [character-creation] work when you're [in the middle of] making the film. At least I can't.^[40]

Personal life[link]

Theron at the Meteor Awards in 2008

Theron has a son, Jackson, whose adoption was announced in March 2012.^[41] She lives in Los Angeles, California.^[42] Theron became a naturalised citizen of the United States in May 2007,^[43] while retaining her South African citizenship.^[44]

In the mid-1990s, Theron had a two-year relationship with actor Craig Bierko.^[45][46] From 1997 to 2001, she dated Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins.^[47] Theron then began a relationship with Irish actor Stuart Townsend, with whom she starred in Trapped (2002) and Head in the Clouds (2004).^[47] Theron and Townsend separated in January 2010 after nearly nine years together.^[48]

Health concerns[link]

While filming Æon Flux in Berlin, Germany, Theron suffered a herniated disc in her neck, which occurred as a result of her suffering a fall while filming a series of back handsprings. This required her to wear a neck collar for a month.^[49] In July 2009, Theron was diagnosed with a serious stomach virus, thought to be contracted while travelling outside the United States.^[50] She was hospitalised at Cedars-Sinai Hospital and she finished convalescing in her own home.^[51] When filming The Road, Theron injured her vocal cords during the labor screaming scenes.^[52]

Promotional deals[link]

Having signed a deal with John Galliano in 2004, Theron replaced Estonian model Tiiu Kuik as the spokeswoman in the "J'adore" advertisements by Christian Dior.^[53]

From October 2005 to December 2006, Theron earned US$3 million for the use of her image in a worldwide print media advertising campaign for Raymond Weil watches.^[54] In February 2006, she and her loan-out corporation were sued by Weil for breach of contract.^[54][55] The lawsuit was settled on 4 November 2008.^[56]

Activism[link]

Theron is involved in women's rights organisations, and has marched in pro-choice rallies.^[57]

Theron also is a supporter of animal rights and active member of PETA. She appeared in a PETA ad for its anti-fur campaign.^[58] She is a supporter of marriage equality and attended a march to support that in Fresno, California, on 30 May 2009.

In July 2009, Theron's Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) announced a coalition with LAFC Soccer Club to give soccer fields to rural areas in South Africa. The US youth soccer club LAFC Chelsea made a three-year commitment to help build a community-wide soccer program for the schools in the Umkhanyakude district, encompassing uniforms, equipment, professional training for local coaches, referees and administrators, and health education.^[59]

In December 2009, CTAOP and TOMS Shoes partnered to create a limited edition unisex shoe. The shoe was made from vegan materials and inspired by the African baobab tree, the silhouette of which was embroidered on blue and orange canvas. Ten-thousand pairs were given to destitute children, and a portion of the proceeds went to CTAOP.^[60]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

List of awards and nominations received by Charlize Theron:

Won[link]

[edit] Monster

• Academy Award for Best Actress
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
• Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
• Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
• Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
• Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
• National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actress*National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
• National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
• San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
• Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture
• Silver Bear for Best Actress (tied with Catalina Sandino Moreno for Maria full of Grace)
• Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress

Nominated[link]

[edit] The Cider House Rules

• Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Movie
• Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

[edit] The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
• Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie

[edit] North Country

Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
• Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
• Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
• Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
• Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture
• Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

References[link]

External links[link]

	South Africa portal
	Biography portal
	Film portal

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