Pinus nigra (European Black Pine) trees on the Taurus Mountains.

Direktaş Summit in the Yedi Göller (Seven Lakes) region of the Aladağlar range.

Demirkazık Summit in Niğde Province.

Taurus Mountains (Turkish: Toros Dağları) are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east. It is a part of the Alpide belt in Eurasia.

It has many peaks rising above 3,000–3,700 m, (10,000–12,000 ft). The Taurus complex is divided into four ranges:^[1]

• Beydaglari mountain range, western, highest peak Mt. Kizlarsivrisi 3,086 m (10,125 ft)
• Aladaglar mountain range, central, highest peak Mt. Demirkazik 3,756 m (12,323 ft)
• Bolkar mountain range, southeastern, highest peak Mt. Medetsiz 3,524 m (11,562 ft)
• Munzur mountain range, northeastern, highest peak Mt. Akbaba 3,462 m (11,358 ft)
  • Mercan mountain range, within the Munzur

The highest point in the central Tauruses is the summit of Mt. Demirkazık (3,756m).^[1]

Historical[link]

A Bronze Age archaeological site, where early evidence of tin mining was found, is at Kestel.^{[2][page needed]} The pass known in antiquity as the Cilician Gates crosses the range north of Tarsus. During World War I, a German and Turkish railway system through the Taurus Mountains proved to be a major strategic objective of the Allies. This region was specifically mentioned as a strategically controlled objective slated for surrender to the Allies in the Armistice, which ended hostilities against the Ottoman Empire.^[3]

Geography[link]

In the Aladaglar and Bolkar mountains, limestone has eroded to form karstic landscapes of waterfalls, underground rivers, and some of the largest caves of Asia. The Manavgat River originates on the southern slopes of the Beydaglari range.^[4]

Attractions[link]

In addition to hiking and mountain climbing,^[1] there are two ski resorts on the mountain range, one at Davras about 25 km (16 mi) from the two nearest towns of Egirdir and Isparta, the second is Saklıkent 40 km (25 mi) from the city of Antalya.

The Varda Viaduct, situated on the railway lines Konya-Adana at Hacıkırı village in Adana Province, is a 98 m (322 ft) high railway bridge constructed in the 1910s by Germans.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Taurus Mountains

• [1] map of Eurasia showing Taurus Mountain ranges

Coordinates: 37°00′N 33°00′E / 37°N 33°E / 37; 33

v t e Ancient Mesopotamia Geography Modern Euphrates Jezirah Mesopotamian Marshes Persian Gulf Syrian Desert Taurus Mountains Tigris Zagros Mountains Ancient Akkad Assyria Babylonia Chaldea Elam Hatti Media Mitanni Sumer Urartu Cities History Pre- and protohistory Acheulean Mousterian Zarzian Natufian PPNA PPNB Halaf Samarra Ubaid Uruk Jemdet Nasr History Early Dynastic Akkadian Ur III Old Babylonian Kassite Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Seleucid Parthian Roman Sassanid Muslim conquest Languages Akkadian Amorite Aramaic Eblaite Elamite Gutian Hittite Hurrian Iranian (Old Persian Parthian Middle Persian) Luwian Proto-Armenian Sumerian Urartian Culture and society Architecture Art Cuneiform Literature Akkadian Sumerian Music Religion Archaeology Iraq Museum Looting Tell Portal

v t e Mountains of Turkey Mountain ranges Ilgaz  • Pontic  • Taurus  • Yunt Mountains Acıgöl • Akdağ • Aktaş • Ağrı (Ararat) • Babadağ • Beşparmak (Latmus) • Davraz • Dilek (Mycale) • Erciyes • Erek  • Göllü • Hasan • Honaz • Kaçkar • Kadifekale • Karacadağ • Karadağ • Karagöl • Kaz (Ida) • Kula • Küçük Ağrı • Madur • Mahya • Nemrut • Nemrut (volcano) • Nif • Palandöken • Spil  • Sultan • Süphan • Şaphane • Tendürek • Topçambaba • Uludağ • Yamanlar • Zurbahan

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Violeta Parra
Violeta Parra in the 1960s
Background information
Birth name	Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval
Born	(1917-10-04)4 October 1917
Origin	San Carlos, Chile
Died	5 February 1967(1967-02-05) (aged 49)
Genres	Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Andean music, Latin music, Chilean music, Experimental Music, Nueva Canción
Occupations	Vocalist, Songwriter, Plastic Arts
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Charango, Cuatro, Percussion
Years active	1939–1965
Labels	EMI-Odeon Alerce Warner Music
Associated acts	Víctor Jara, Quilapayún, Inti-illimani, Patricio Manns, Illapu, Ángel Parra, Isabel Parra, Roberto Parra, Sergio Ortega, Margot Loyola, Pablo Neruda, Nicanor Parra, Soledad Bravo, Daniel Viglietti, Mercedes Sosa, Joan Baez, Holly Near, Elis Regina, Dean Reed, Silvio Rodríguez
Website	Official Website

Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She set the basis for "Chilean' New Song", La Nueva Canción chilena, a renewal and a reinvention of Chilean folk music which would absorb and extend its influence far beyond Chile.

Biography[link]

Parra was born in San Carlos, province of Ñuble, a small town in southern Chile on October the 4, 1917. She was involved in the progressive movement and the Communist Party of Chile. She revived the Peña (now known as La Peña de Los Parra), a community center for the arts and for political activism. Some think she established the first 'peña' but according to the records of the Royal Academy of Spanish Language, places such as these had been called that since 1936 (RAE).

Violeta Parra was a member of the prolific Parra family. Among her brothers were the notable modern poet, better known as the "anti-poet", Nicanor Parra and fellow folklorist Roberto Parra. Her son, Ángel Parra, and her daughter, Isabel Parra, are also important figures in the development of the Nueva Canción Chilena. Their children have also mostly maintained the family's artistic traditions.

In 1967 Violeta Parra committed suicide.^[1] She had previously been romantically involved with Swiss flautist Gilbert Favre.

Gracias a la vida[link]

Her most renowned song, Gracias a la Vida (Thanks to Life), was popularized throughout Latin America by Mercedes Sosa and later in the US by Joan Baez. It remains one of the most covered Latin American songs in history. Other notable covers of this tragic, but widely beloved, folk anthem include the Italian guitar-vocal solo of Adriana Mezzadr and La Oreja de Van Gogh at the 2005 Festival Internacional de la Canción in Viña del Mar, Chile.^[2]

It has been treated by classically trained musicians such as in the fully orchestrated rendition by conservatory-trained Alberto Cortez.^[3]

The song has been re-recorded by several Latin artists and Canadian Michael Bublé to gather funds for the Chilean people affected by the earthquake in Chile, February 2010.^[4]

The song is in waltz time (3/4) and thus suitable for romantic dance forms; it opens with a very common shift between A minor and E Major chords, then it goes to G7-C/C7 before returning to the Am/E motif. ^[5]

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (April 2012)

"Gracias a la vida" was written and recorded following Parra's separation with her long-time partner and shortly before she took her own life. Parra's lyricism is ambiguous; at face value, Parra's lyricism may be read as a romantic celebration of life and individual experience, however the circumstances surrounding the song suggest that Parra also intended the song as a sort of suicide note, thanking life for all it has given her. It may even be read as sarcastic or ironic, pointing out that a life full of good health, opportunity and worldly experience may not offer any consolation to grief and the contradictory nature of the human condition.

The song opens with a simple strumming at a leisurely tempo and exploits the poetic beauty of the Spanish language with consummate skill.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto

Me dio dos luceros que cuando los abro

Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco

Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado

Y en las multitudes el hombre que yo amo

Translated into English the lyrical sentiment and ambiguity is best conveyed by personifying life;

Thank you life, you have given me so much

You gave me two eyes which when I open them

I can distinguish perfectly between black and white

And the starry depths of the sky above

And amongst the masses the man that I love

And the closing refrain "Gracias a la vida", ironically,

Thank you life

Thank you life

Thank you life

Another highly regarded original, "Volver a los Diecisiete" ("To Be Seventeen Again") similarly celebrates the themes of youthful life, in tragic contrast to her biography. Unlike much popular music, it moves through minor key progression creating an introspective if not melancholy mood and thus has lent itself to classical treatment ^[6] as well as popular music. Despite its originality, Parra's music was deeply rooted in folk song traditions, as is the case with Nueva Cancion in general.^[6]

As noted by Mercedes Sosa, with regard to "Gracias a la Vida", Parra's music was, though about "simple things", always "prophetic and true".^[7]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Chants et danses du chili. Vol. 1 (1956)
• Chants et danses du chili. Vol. 2 (1956)
• Violeta Parra, Canto y guitarra. El Folklore de Chile, Vol. I (1956)
• Violeta Parra, acompañada de guitarra. El Folklore de Chile, Vol. II (1958)
• La cueca presentada por Violeta Parra: El Folklore de Chile, Vol. III. (1958)
• La tonada presentada por Violeta Parra: El Folklore de Chile, Vol. IV. (1958)
• Toda Violeta Parra: El Folklore de Chile, Vol. VIII (1960)
• Violeta Parra, guitare et chant: Chants et danses du Chili. (1963)
• Recordandeo a Chile (Una Chilena en París). (1965)
• Carpa de la Reina (1966)
• Las últimas composiciones de Violeta Parra (1967)

Posthumous discography[link]

• Violeta Parra y sus canciones reencontradas en París (1971)
• Canciones de Violeta Parra (1971)
• Le Chili de Violeta Parra (1974)
• Un río de sangre (1975)
• Presente / Ausente (1975)
• Décimas (1976)
• Chants & rythmes du Chili (1991)
• El hombre con su razón (1992)
• Décimas y Centésimas (1993)
• El folklore y la pasión (1994)
• Haciendo Historia: La jardinera y su canto (1997)
• Violeta Parra: Antología (1998)
• Canciones reencontradas en París (1999)
• Composiciones para guitarra (1999)
• Violeta Parra - En Ginebra, En Vivo, 1965 (1999)
• Violeta Parra: Cantos Campesinos (1999)

Further reading[link]

• Moreno, Albrecht: "Violeta Parra and 'La Nueva Canción Chilena." Studies in Latin American Popular Culture 5 (1986): 108—26.
• Alcalde, Alfonso: Toda Violeta Parra (biography plus anthology of songs and poems) Ediciones de la Flor. Buenos Aires 1974

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site of the Violeta Parra Foundation
• Discography and lyrics
• Discography
• Issac 2001 Triptych version of Gracias A la Vida
• Remembering Violeta Parra
• Violeta Parra's gravesite

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

Mehmet Barış Manço (also spelled Boris Mancho in some European album releases), born Tosun Yusuf Mehmet Barış Manço,^[1] (January 2, 1943 - February 1, 1999) was a Turkish rock singer, composer, and television producer.^[2] The names Tosun and Yusuf were legally removed during his primary school years. He composed about 200 songs, some of which were translated into a variety of languages including English, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Persian, Urdu and Arabic.^[3] He remains one of the most popular public figures of Turkey.

Early life and career[link]

Manço was born in Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey on January 2, 1943. His mother, Rikkat Uyanık, was a famous singer in early 1940s.^{[citation needed]} His older brother, who was born during World War II, was named Savaş^{[citation needed]} ("war" in Turkish) while he was named Barış ("peace" in Turkish) by his parents to celebrate the end of the war.^{[citation needed]} His fame greatly popularized the use of the name Barış in Turkey.^{[citation needed]} At birth, he was additionally named Tosun Yusuf after his deceased uncle Yusuf called Tosun (literally: Yusuf The Sturdy). However, this name was erased just before he attended the primary school.^[1]

In primary school his head was shaven to prevent head lice, a serious threat back then, which he cited among reasons for his later signature long hair.^{[citation needed]}

During his highschool days in Galatasaray High School (and later in Şişli Terakki High School) he formed his first band, Kafadarlar ("The Buddies"), allegedly upon seeing Erkin Koray's band performing, all students of Deutsche Schule Istanbul(İstanbul Alman Lisesi),a nearby highschool.^{[citation needed]} Asaf Savaş Akat, a famous economist in Turkey, played saxophone,^{[clarification needed]} and guitarist Ender Enön made his own guitar because it was difficult to find a real one on the market in those years.^{[citation needed]}

In 1962 and 1963, with his next band, Harmoniler ("The Harmonies"), he recorded cover versions of some of popular American twist songs and rearrangements of Turkish folk songs in rock and roll form, marking the beginning of the Anatolian rock movement,^{[citation needed]} a synthesis of Turkish folk music and rock. In this period, his key visual and musical influence was Elvis Presley.^{[citation needed]}

After graduating from high school in 1963, he moved to Europe, travelling around Paris and Liège, where he formed bands with local musicians and recorded some singles mainly in English and in French but also in Turkish. He toured with his band Les Mistigris (not related to Mistigris) in Germany, Belgium, France and Turkey until 1967.

In 1967, he suffered a serious car accident,^{[clarification needed]} after which he started to grow his signature mustache to disguise his scar.^{[citation needed]}

Frustrated by the difficulties of working with musicians from different nationalities, he formed Kaygısızlar (The Carefrees), featuring Mazhar Alanson and Fuat Güner, future members of the band MFÖ. He recorded several singles and toured with the band, both domestically and internationally, until the band members revealed that they did not want to live abroad.^{[citation needed]}

In 1970, he formed Barış Manço Ve ... ("Barış Manço and ...") again with foreign musicians, to record his first hit single, both in Turkey and in Belgium, Dağlar Dağlar (Mountains, Mountains!), selling over 700,000 copies.^{[citation needed]} Today, the song remains one of his most popular works.

1970s[link]

After the success of "Dağlar Dağlar", Manço recorded a couple of singles with Moğollar (The Mongols), another influential Turkish Anatolian rock band. He then decided to return to Turkey where he recorded with the reformed Kaygısızlar for a short period. In 1971, his early works were compiled under his first full length album Dünden Bugüne, today commonly referred as Dağlar Dağlar.

In 1972, he formed Kurtalan Ekspres, a legend by itself, the band that would accompany him until his death. In 1975 until when he continued to release singles, he released his first non-compilation LP 2023, a concept album that includes many instrumental songs.

As a last attempt to reach international success, he released the LP titled Baris Mancho (1976), a strange transcription of his name, mostly with George Hayes Orchestra under CBS Records label, in Europe and South Africa. Although the album did not bring the fame he was expecting, it did reach the top of the charts in Romania and Morocco. Next year, the album was released in Turkey under the title Nick the Chopper.

From 1977 to 1980, he released three more albums in Turkey, partly consisting of compilations of older singles, namely Sakla Samanı Gelir Zamanı (1977), Yeni Bir Gün (1979) and 20. Sanat Yılı Disko Manço (1980), all following a similar sound with 2023. All these albums are now rarity items, but most of the material from the era are available in later compilations Ben Bilirim and Sarı Çizmeli Mehmet Ağa.is company

1980s[link]

In 1981, Manço released Sözüm Meclisten Dışarı with Kurtalan Ekspres, containing many hit songs including "Alla Beni Pulla Beni", "Arkadaşım Eşşek", "Gülpembe", "Halhal" and "Dönence" among others. The album remains as one of their most popular works and launched a boost of popularity for Barış Manço during 1980s.

"Arkadaşım Eşşek" ("My Friend Donkey"), quickly grew very popular among children (the song is about rural nostalgia and was not initially intended as a children's song)^{[citation needed]}. Throughout his career, he went on to write many other songs primarily for children to achieve an iconic acceptance among Turkish children of 1980s and 1990s.

On the other hand "Gülpembe", composed by Kurtalan Ekspres bassist Ahmet Güvenç, a requiem for Manço's grandmother, caught older audiences and probably is the artist's most popular song, competing perhaps only with "Dağlar Dağlar".

In 1983, Estağfurullah, Ne Haddimize was released. It contained hit songs "Halil İbrahim Sofrası" and "Kol Düğmeleri", a new version of the artist's very first song. "Halil İbrahim Sofrası" exemplified Manço's signature moral themed lyrics, a rare feature in Turkish pop music.

In 1985, 24 Ayar Manço which included "Gibi Gibi" and a long conceptual song "Lahburger" was released. It also marked the beginning of the shift in Manço's sound characterized with the heavy use of synthesizers and drum machine in contrast with his older works consisting of a group oriented rock based sound. In subsequent years, Manço released Değmesin Yağlı Boya (1986), Sahibinden İhtiyaçtan (1988) and Darısı Başınıza (1989), all containing a couple of hit songs and demonstrating his new sound.

7'den 77'ye and 1990s[link]

Sr. cameraman Erkan Umut & Barış Manço in Teotihuacan, Mexico (1998)

Sr. cameraman Erkan Umut & Barış Manço in Tanzania

In 1988, 7'den 77'ye (From age 7 to 77), a TV show directed and presented by Manço began to run on TRT 1, the national TV channel of Turkey. It was a combined music, talk show and documentary program which was a major hit during the 8 years it stayed on air. Manço travelled almost 150 countries for the show. "Adam Olacak Çocuk", a part of the show, strengthened Manço's acceptance among children.

Although his popularity continued mostly due to the TV show, his musical works in 1990s were not well received. The albums Mega Manço (1992) and Müsadenizle Çocuklar (1995) were considered as the weakest efforts of his career, despite the limited success of 1992 children hit "Ayı" (The Bear). On the other hand, in 1995 he toured in Japan with Kurtalan Ekspres, leading to Live In Japan (1996), his first and only live album. He released two albums in that country with some recognition as "the man who writes songs about vegetables", referring to "Domates, Biber, Patlıcan" ("Tomato, Pepper, Aubergine") and "Nane, Limon Kabuğu" (Mint, Lemon Rind), two of his hit songs from 1980s.

Death[link]

On February 1, 1999, Barış Manço died of a sudden heart attack before the release of his just finished last work Mançoloji (Mançology or Manchology) (1999), a double album containing the new recordings of his hit songs along with an unfinished instrumental song "40. Yıl" ("The 40th Anniversary"), celebrating his 40th year in music. His sudden death caused an almost unanimous shock in Turkey with millions of people mourning and tens of thousands of people attending his funeral.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy[link]

Barış Manço was one of the most influential Turkish musicians. In his early career he and his bands contributed to the Turkish rock movement by combining traditional Turkish music with rock influences, which is still one of the main trends of Turkish popular music.

His visual image, characterized by his long hair, mustache and big rings, softened the reaction of the otherwise conservative Turkish public opinion.

His experimentation with electronic instruments in the late 1980s contributed to the 1990s sound of Turkish popular music.

His lyrics with diverse themes, mostly following a somewhat modernized version of the "aşık" (wandering folk poets) tradition were heavily marginal in the popular music scene of 1980s which was mostly dominated by love-themed lyrics.

In 2002, a tribute album was released under the name Yüreğimdeki Barış Şarkıları ("Peace's Songs In My Heart", also "Peace Songs In My Heart") featuring 15 extremely popular Turkish artists of such diverse genres as arabesque, pop and rock (both Anatolian and western style) demonstrating his wide range of influence.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Dünden Bugüne (1972) (Sayan)
• 2023 (1975) (Yavuz Plak)
• Sakla Samanı Gelir Zamanı (1976) (Yavuz)
• Baris Mancho, released as Nick The Chopper in Turkey (1976) (CBS Disques/Grammofoonplaten S.A.B.V., CBS 81784, Yavuz LP)
• Yeni Bir Gün (1979) (Yavuz ve Burç Plakçılık)
• 20 Sanat Yılı Disco Manço (1980) (Türküola)
• Sözüm Meclisten Dışarı (1981) (Türküola)
• Estağfurullah... Ne Haddimize! (1983) (Türküola)
• 24 Ayar Manço (1985) (Emre Plakçılık)
• Değmesin Yağlı Boya (1986) (Emre Plakçılık)
• 30 Sanat Yılı Fulaksesuar Manço - Sahibinden İhtiyaçtan (1988) (Emre Plakçılık)
• Darısı Başınıza (1989) (Yavuz ve Burç Plakçılık)
• Mega Manço (1992) (Emre Plak)
• Müsaadenizle Çocuklar (1995) (Emre Plak)
• Barış Manço Live In Japan (1996) (Emre Plak)
• Mançoloji (1999) (Emre Plak)

Singles[link]

With Harmoniler

• Twistin USA / The Jet (1962) (Grafson MGG 515)
• Do The Twist / Let's Twist again (1962) (Grafson MGG 516)
• Cit Cit Twist / Dream Girl (1963) (Grafson MGG 566)

With Jacques Denjean Orchestra

• Baby Sitter / Quelle Peste / Jenny Jenny / Un Autre Amour Que Toi (1964) (Rigolo 18.726)

With Les Mistigris

• Il Arrivera / Une Fille (1966) (Sahibinin Sesi 45-AX 3092)
• Bien Fait Pour Toi / Aman Avcı Vurma Beni (1966) (Sahibinin Sesi 45-AX 3093)
• Bizim Gibi / Big Boss Man / Seher Vakti / Good Golly Miss Molly (1967) (Sayan)

With Kaygısızlar

• Kol Düğmeleri / Big Boss Man / Seher Vakti / Good Golly Miss Molly (1967) (Sayan FS-144)
• Kızılcıklar / I'll Go Crazy (1968) (Sayan FS-171)
• Bebek / Keep Lookin' (1968) (Sayan FS-179)
• Karanlıklar İçinde / Trip - To a Fair (1968) (Sayan FS-180)
• Bogaziçi / Flower of Love (1968) (Sayan FS-194)
• Runaway / Unutamıyorum (1969) (Sayan FS-199)
• Aglama Değmez Hayat / Kirpiklerin Ok Ok Eyle (1969) (Sayan FS 204)
• Kağızman / Anadolu (1969) (Sayan FS 213)
• Mikail Aliyev baris manconun unutamadim parhasin okuyup ve 1 yeri kazandi

With Barış Manço Ve'

• Derule / Küçük Bir Gece Müziği (1970) (Sayan FS-223)
• Dağlar Dağlar 1 / Dağlar Dağlar 2 (1970) (Sayan 229)

With Moğollar

• İşte Hendek İşte Deve / Katip Arzuhalim Yaz Yare Boyle (1971) (Sayan FS-266)

With Moğollar / Kaygısızlar

• Bin Boğanın Kızı / Ay Osman (1971) (Sayan FS-271)

With Kaygısızlar / Les Mistigris

• Fil ile Kurbağa / Je te Retrouverais (1972) (Sayan FS 279)

With Kurtalan Ekspres

• Ölüm Allah'ın Emri / Gamzedeyim Deva Bulmam (1972) (Yavuz YA 1544)
• Lambaya Püf De / Kalk Gidelim Küheylan (1973) (Yavuz YA 1548)
• Gönül Dağı / Hey Koca Topcu Genç Osman (1973) (Yavuz YA 1554)
• Nazar Eyle Nazar Eyle / Gülme Ha Gülme (1974) (Yavuz YA 1562)
• Bir Bahar Akşamı / Estergon Kalesi (1974) (Yavuz YA 1569)
• Ben Bilirim /2023 (1975) (Yavuz Plak YA 1573)
• Çay Elinden Öteye Rezil Dede / Vur Ha Vur (1976) (Yavuz Plak YA 1580)

With George Hayes Orchestra / Kurtalan Ekspres

• Nick the Chopper / Lonely Man (1977) (Yavuz YA 1584)

With Kurtalan Ekspres

• Hal Hal / Eğri Eğri Doğru Doğru Eğri Büğrü Ama Yine De Doğru (1981) (Türküola 239)

Filmography[link]

• Baba beni eversene (1975)

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} "İşte Barış Manço'nun gerçek adı" (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 2011-12-08. http://www.hurriyet.de/haberler/magazin/1073585/iste-baris-manconun-gercek-adi. Retrieved 2011-12-09. 
2. ^ Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986 (Vol 19) by R R Bowker Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8352-2799-5
3. ^ "Baris Manco". Light Millennium. http://www.lightmillennium.org/biographies/bmanco_biography.html. Retrieved 2011-01-08. 

Further reading[link]

• M.Ali Eren (1999-02-06). "Türkiye Barış'ı arıyor" (in Turkish). Aksiyon 218. http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/aksiyon/haber-4624-26-turkiye-barisi-ariyor.html. 

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Baris Manco Fans Website
• 2011 tribute to Manco with a remake of his song performed by the popular Pakistani singing duo Zeb and Haniya at the famous Coke Studios in Karachi.

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Ruhi Su at a festival in 1979

Mehmet Ruhi Su (1912 – 20 September 1985) was a Turkish opera singer, Turkish folk singer and saz virtuoso of Armenian^[1] origin.

Early life[link]

Mehmet Ruhi Su was born 1912 in Van, Turkey to an Armenian family. He later expressed his situation: "He is one of the children desolated by the World War I." After he lost his parents at a very early age, he was taken from Van to Adana given to a poor family without child.^[2]

He graduated from the Kuleli Military High School in 1931.

Musical background[link]

He started playing violin at the age of ten. In 1936 he graduated from the Teacher's School of Music and in 1942 from the Opera Department of State Conservatory in Ankara. The following ten years, he performed at the State Opera in Ankara as a celebrated bass baritone, appearing in operas such as Madame Butterfly, Fidelio, Tosca and Rigoletto. During his contemporary music education, he also studied Turkish folk music and consequently made regular radio programs, playing saz and singing folk songs, while he worked at the opera.

Political arrest[link]

A politically motivated arrest in 1952 and imprisonment for five years ended his career in the opera. After serving his "sentence for thought," he dedicated himself to folk music in his unique way.

Folk studies[link]

While he roamed all over Anatolia from one village to another, he started compiling numerous folk songs. Then, he rearranged and performed them using western techniques. His western music career formed the basis of his approach to interpreting and performing traditional Turkish music. He argued that the authentic music should not be imitated as it is found locally but rather elabrorated into a national music with the enriching support of the international music, perceiving it as a contemporary of Atahualpa Yupanqui and Pete Seeger.

Ruhi Su combined his efforts of creating a national awareness of the rich Anatolian culture with his compositions based on texts of Sufi poets Yunus Emre and Pir Sultan Abdal and other Anatolian poets like Köroğlu (see Epic of Köroğlu), Karacaoğlan, and Dadaloğlu.

Choir effort[link]

He established and trained a choir in the 1970s and conducted them in many concerts and recordings. The Friends Choir (Dostlar Korosu) that he established in 1975 continues to keep his voice, his music of the heart and his songs alive.

Views[link]

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His approach in bringing forth the ignored suffering of the oppressed and his love of humankind in his musical work has gained a great respect and support from his audience and had a deep effect on many musicians, who paved the path to a more open-minded society.

He told people's longings in their own language and he conveyed the fire in their heart to everyone and the society with his instrument and his avid voice throughout his life, he was considered dangerous and treacherous. He loved his people in a way unsuitable to government. Because he was a socialist and the cold war began. It was different then. People who saw and spoke of 40 years ago, what everyone sees and tells today were considered dangerous and treacherous. The laws and the mechanisms of Cold War grinded those who adopted a socialist outlook of life. Though dangerous and treacherous, Ruhi Su was not alone. Ruhi Su was a member of Turkish Workers Party (TİP). He married Sidika Su during his 5 years in prison. He became a father in exile.

Death[link]

Gravestone of Ruhi Su at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery, Istanbul

Ruhi Su died on 20 September 1985 and was buried at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in Istanbul. His wife Sıdıka Su died on 18 October 2006. His son Ilgin Ruhi Su is living in Istanbul.^[3] In 2009 his gravestone has been shot by unknown parties.

Albums[link]

1. (1972) Seferberlik Türküleri Ve Kuvayi Milliye Destanı
2. (1972) Yunus Emre
3. (1972) Karacaoğlan
4. (1972) Pir Sultan Abdal
5. (1974) Şiirler - Türküler
6. (1974) Köroğlu
7. (1977) El Kapıları
8. (1977) Sabahın Sahibi Var

After his death

1. (1986) Pir Sultan'dan Levni'ye
2. (1987) Kadıköy Tiyatrosu Konseri I
3. (1987) Kadıköy Tiyatrosu Konseri II
4. (1988) Beydağı'nın Başı
5. (1988) Dadaloğlu Ve Çevresi
6. (1989) Huma Kuşu Ve Taşlamalar
7. (1990) Sultan Suyu "Pir Sultan Abdal'dan Deyişler"
8. (1990) Ruhi Su performs Sufi Hymns by Yunus Emre and Pir Sultan Abdal
9. (1991) Dostlar Tiyatrosu Konseri (Sümeyra Çakır İle Birlikte)
10. (1992) Ankara'nn Taşına Bak
11. (1993) Semahlar
12. (1993) Çocuklar, Göçler, Balıklar
13. (1993) Zeybekler
14. (1993) Ezgili Yürek
15. (1993) Ekin İdim Oldum Harman
16. (1993) Uyur İken Uyardılar
17. (1994) Barabar
18. (1995) Aman Of

References[link]

1. ^ Armenian Musicians by Instrument| Adrienne Barbeau | http://books.google.com/books?id=TxIgSgAACAAJ&dq=ruhi+su+armenian&hl=en&ei=bTiDTO7CGYqWccX-yNAL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAQ
2. ^ http://www.bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/101948-ruhi-su-anildi
3. ^ http://www.bianet.org/2006/10/18/86723.htm

Notes[link]

• Ahmet Günlük 1990 HITEK Traditional Turkish Folk Music Through The Centuries - Ruhi Su performs Sufi Hymns by Yunus Emre and Pir Sultan Abdal

External links[link]

• Ruhi Su ile Birlikte Kırk Yıl: Sıdıka Su - web page (Turkish)

W. Somerset Maugham
Maugham photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1934
Born	William Somerset Maugham (1874-01-25)25 January 1874 UK Embassy, Paris, France
Died	16 December 1965(1965-12-16) (aged 91) Nice, France
Occupation	Playwright, novelist, short story writer
Notable work(s)	Of Human Bondage The Letter Rain The Razor's Edge

William Somerset Maugham (/ˈmɔːm/ MAWM), CH (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s.^[1]

Childhood and education[link]

Maugham's father Robert Ormond Maugham was an English lawyer who handled the legal affairs of the British embassy in Paris, France.^[2] Since French law declared that all children born on French soil could be conscripted for military service, his father arranged for Maugham to be born at the embassy, technically on British soil.^[3] His grandfather, another Robert, had also been a prominent lawyer and co-founder of the English Law Society.^[4] It was taken for granted that Maugham and his brothers would follow in their footsteps. His elder brother Viscount Maugham enjoyed a distinguished legal career and served as Lord Chancellor from 1938 to 1939.

Maugham's mother Edith Mary (née Snell) had tuberculosis, a condition for which her doctor prescribed childbirth.^[5] She had Maugham several years after the last of his three older brothers; they were already enrolled in boarding school by the time he was three. The youngest, he was effectively raised as an only child.

Edith's sixth and final son died on 25 January 1882, one day after his birth, on Maugham's eighth birthday. Edith died of TB six days later on 31 January at the age of 41.^[6] The early death of his mother left Maugham traumatized; he kept his mother's photograph by his bedside for the rest of his life.^[7] Two years after Edith's death, Maugham's father died of cancer.

Maugham was sent to England to be cared for by his uncle, Henry MacDonald Maugham, the Vicar of Whitstable, in Kent. The move was damaging, as Henry Maugham proved cold and emotionally cruel. The boy attended The King's School, Canterbury, which was also difficult for him. He was teased for his bad English (French had been his first language) and his short stature, which he inherited from his father. Maugham developed a stammer that would stay with him all his life, although it was sporadic and subject to mood and circumstance.^[8]

Miserable both at his uncle's vicarage and at school, the young Maugham developed a talent for making wounding remarks to those who displeased him. This ability is sometimes reflected in Maugham's literary characters. At sixteen, Maugham refused to continue at The King's School. His uncle allowed him to travel to Germany, where he studied literature, philosophy and German at Heidelberg University. During his year in Heidelberg, Maugham met and had a sexual affair with John Ellingham Brooks, an Englishman ten years his senior.^[9] He also wrote his first book there, a biography of opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer.^[10]

On his return to England, his uncle found Maugham a position in an accountant's office, but after a month Maugham gave it up and returned to Whitstable. His uncle set about finding Maugham a new profession. Maugham's father and three older brothers were all distinguished lawyers, and Maugham asked to be excused from the duty of following in their footsteps. A career in the church was rejected because a stammering minister might make the family seem ridiculous. His uncle rejected the civil service, not because of the young man's feelings or interests, but because his uncle concluded that the civil service was no longer a career for gentlemen; a recent law required applicants to pass an entry examination. The local doctor suggested the medical profession and Maugham's uncle agreed. Maugham had been writing steadily since the age of 15 and fervently wished to become an author, but as he was not of age, he refrained from telling his guardian. For the next five years, he studied medicine at St Thomas' Hospital in Lambeth, London.

Career[link]

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Early works[link]

W. Somerset Maugham.

Some critics have assumed that the years Maugham spent studying medicine were a creative dead end, but Maugham felt the contrary. He was living in the great city of London, meeting people of a "low" sort whom he would never have met otherwise, and seeing them at a time of heightened anxiety and meaning in their lives. In maturity, he recalled the value of his experience as a medical student: "I saw how men died. I saw how they bore pain. I saw what hope looked like, fear and relief ..."

Maugham kept his own lodgings, took pleasure in furnishing them, filled many notebooks with literary ideas, and continued writing nightly while at the same time studying for his medical degree. In 1897, he wrote his second book, Liza of Lambeth, a tale of working-class adultery and its consequences. It drew its details from Maugham's experiences as a medical student doing midwifery work in Lambeth, a London slum. Maugham wrote near the opening of the novel: "...it is impossible always to give the exact unexpurgated words of Liza and the other personages of the story; the reader is therefore entreated with his thoughts to piece out the necessary imperfections of the dialogue."^[11]

Liza of Lambeth's first print run sold out in a matter of weeks. Maugham, who had qualified as a doctor, dropped medicine and embarked on his 65-year career as a man of letters. He later said, "I took to it as a duck takes to water."^[12]

The writer's life allowed Maugham to travel and live in places such as Spain and Capri for the next decade, but his next ten works never came close to rivalling the success of Liza. This changed in 1907 with the success of his play Lady Frederick. By the next year, he had four plays running simultaneously in London, and Punch published a cartoon of Shakespeare biting his fingernails nervously as he looked at the billboards. Maugham's supernatural thriller, The Magician (1907), based its principal character on the well-known and somewhat disreputable Aleister Crowley. Crowley took some offence at the treatment of the protagonist, Oliver Haddo. He wrote a critique of the novel, charging Maugham with plagiarism, in a review published in Vanity Fair.^[13] Maugham survived the criticism without much damage to his reputation.

Popular success, 1914–39[link]

Maugham early in his career.

By 1914 Maugham was famous, with 10 plays produced and 10 novels published. Too old to enlist when World War I broke out, Maugham served in France as a member of the British Red Cross's so-called "Literary Ambulance Drivers", a group of some 23 well-known writers, including the Americans John Dos Passos and E. E. Cummings. During this time, he met Frederick Gerald Haxton, a young San Franciscan, who became his companion and lover until Haxton's death in 1944.^[14] Throughout this period Maugham continued to write. He proofread Of Human Bondage at a location near Dunkirk during a lull in his ambulance duties.^[15] Maugham also worked for British Intelligence in mainland Europe during the war, having been recruited by John Wallinger; he was one of the network of British agents who operated in Switzerland against the Berlin Committee, notably Virendranath Chattopadhyay. Maugham was later recruited by William Wiseman to work in Russia.^[16][17]

Of Human Bondage (1915) initially was criticized in both England and the United States; the New York World described the romantic obsession of the protagonist Philip Carey as "the sentimental servitude of a poor fool". The influential critic and novelist Theodore Dreiser rescued the novel, referring to it as a work of genius and comparing it to a Beethoven symphony. His review gave the book a lift and it has never been out of print since.^[18]

The book appeared to be closely autobiographical: Maugham's stammer is transformed into Philip Carey's club foot, the vicar of Whitstable becomes the vicar of Blackstable, and Philip Carey is a doctor. Maugham insisted it was more invention than fact. The close relationship between fictional and non-fictional became Maugham's trademark, despite the legal requirement to state that "the characters in [this or that publication] are entirely imaginary". In 1938 he wrote: "Fact and fiction are so intermingled in my work that now, looking back on it, I can hardly distinguish one from the other."

Although Maugham's first and many other sexual relationships were with men, he also had sexual relationships with a number of women. His affair with Syrie Wellcome, daughter of the orphanage founder Thomas John Barnardo and wife of American-born English pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome, produced a daughter named Liza (born Mary Elizabeth Wellcome, 1915–1998).^[19] Henry Wellcome sued his wife for divorce, naming Maugham as co-respondent. In May 1917, following the decree absolute, Syrie and Maugham were married. Syrie became a noted interior decorator who in the 1920s popularized the all-white room.

Maugham returned to England from his ambulance unit duties to promote Of Human Bondage. With that completed, he was eager to assist the war effort once more. As he was unable to return to his ambulance unit, Syrie arranged for him to be introduced to a high-ranking intelligence officer known only as "R." In September 1915, Maugham began work in Switzerland, secretly gathering and passing on intelligence while posing as himself — that is, as a writer.

In 1916, Maugham travelled to the Pacific to research his novel The Moon and Sixpence, based on the life of Paul Gauguin. This was the first of those journeys through the late-Imperial world of the 1920s and 1930s which were to establish Maugham forever in the popular imagination as the chronicler of the last days of colonialism in India, Southeast Asia, China and the Pacific, although the books on which this reputation rests represent only a fraction of his output. On this and all subsequent journeys he was accompanied by Haxton, whom he regarded as indispensable to his success as a writer. Maugham himself was painfully shy, and Haxton the extrovert gathered human material that Maugham steadily turned into fiction.

In June, 1917, he was asked by Sir William Wiseman, an officer of the British Secret Intelligence Service (later named MI6), to undertake a special mission in Russia^[20] to keep the Provisional Government in power and Russia in the war by countering German pacifist propaganda.^[21] Two and a half months later the Bolsheviks took control. The job was probably always impossible, but Maugham subsequently claimed that if he had been able to get there six months earlier, he might have succeeded. Quiet and observant, Maugham had a good temperament for intelligence work; he believed he had inherited from his lawyer father a gift for cool judgement and the ability to be undeceived by facile appearances.

Never losing the chance to turn real life into a story, Maugham made his spying experiences into a collection of short stories about a gentlemanly, sophisticated, aloof spy, Ashenden, a volume that influenced the Ian Fleming James Bond series.^[22] In 1922, Maugham dedicated On A Chinese Screen, a book of 58 ultra-short story sketches collected during his 1920 travels through China and Hong Kong, to Syrie, with the intention of later turning the sketches into a book.^[23]

Dramatised from a story which first appeared in his collection The Casuarina Tree published in 1924, Maugham's play The Letter, starring Gladys Cooper, had its premiere in London in 1927. Later, he asked that Katharine Cornell play the lead in the 1927 Broadway version. The play was later adapted for film in 1929 and again in 1940. Later, Cornell would play the lead in his comedy, The Constant Wife in 1951, and was an enormous success.^[24]

Syrie and Maugham divorced in 1927–8 after a tempestuous marriage complicated by Maugham's frequent travels abroad and strained by his relationship with Haxton.

In 1928, Maugham bought Villa Mauresque on 12 acres (49,000 m²) at Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera, which was his home for most of the rest of his life, and one of the great literary and social salons of the 1920s and 30s. His output continued to be prodigious, including plays, short stories, novels, essays and travel books. By 1940, when the collapse of France forced Maugham to leave the French Riviera and become a well-heeled refugee, he was already one of the most famous and wealthiest writers in the English-speaking world.

Maugham's talent for the dramatic was demonstrated in his 1933 retelling of the ancient Babylonian myth An Appointment in Samarra, where Death was both the narrator and a central character.^[25][26] Maugham's retelling was then credited by John O'Hara as a creative inspiration for his own novel Appointment in Samarra.

Grand old man of letters[link]

Maugham, by now in his sixties, spent most of World War II in the United States, first in Hollywood (he worked on many scripts, and was one of the first authors to make significant money from film adaptations) and later in the South. While in the US he was asked by the British government to make patriotic speeches to induce the US to aid Britain, if not necessarily become an allied combatant. Gerald Haxton died in 1944, and Maugham moved back to England, then in 1946 to his villa in France, where he lived, interrupted by frequent and long travels, until his death.

The gap left by Haxton's death in 1944 was filled by Alan Searle. Maugham had first met Searle in 1928. Searle was a young man from the London slum area of Bermondsey and he had already been kept by older men. He proved a devoted if not a stimulating companion. Indeed one of Maugham's friends, describing the difference between Haxton and Searle, said simply: "Gerald was vintage, Alan was vin ordinaire."^[27]

Maugham's love life was almost never smooth. He once confessed: "I have most loved people who cared little or nothing for me and when people have loved me I have been embarrassed... In order not to hurt their feelings, I have often acted a passion I did not feel."

In 1962 he sold a collection of paintings, some of which had been assigned to his daughter Liza by deed. She sued her father and won a judgment of £230,000. Maugham responded by publicly disowning her and claiming she was not his biological daughter; adopting Searle as his son and heir; and launching a bitter attack on the deceased Syrie in his 1962 volume of memoirs, Looking Back, in which Liza discovered she had been born before her parents' marriage. The memoirs lost him several friends and exposed him to much public ridicule. Liza and her husband Lord Glendevon contested the change in Maugham's will in the French courts, and it was overturned. Nevertheless, in 1965 Searle inherited £50,000, the contents of Villa Mauresque, and Maugham's manuscripts and copyrights for 30 years. Thereafter the copyrights passed to the Royal Literary Fund.

There is no grave for Maugham. His ashes were scattered near the Maugham Library, The King's School, Canterbury. Liza, Lady Glendevon, died aged 83 in 1998, survived by Somerset Maugham's four grandchildren (a son and a daughter by Liza's first marriage to Vincent Paravicini, and two more sons to Lord Glendevon). One of the next generation is the autistic savant and musical prodigy Derek Paravicini.

Achievements[link]

Commercial success with high book sales, successful theatre productions and a string of film adaptations, backed by astute stock market investments, allowed Maugham to live a very comfortable life. Small and weak as a boy, Maugham had been proud even then of his stamina, and as an adult he kept churning out the books, proud that he could. Yet, despite his triumphs, he never attracted the highest respect from the critics or his peers. Maugham himself attributed this to his lack of "lyrical quality", his small vocabulary and failure to make expert use of metaphor in his work. In 1934 the American journalist and radio personality Alexander Woollcott offered to Maugham this bit of language advice: "The female implies, and from that the male infers." Maugham responded: "I am not yet too old to learn."^[28]

Maugham wrote in a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as "such a tissue of clichés that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way".^[29]

For a public man of Maugham's generation, being openly gay was impossible. Whether his own orientation disgusted him (as it did many at a time when homosexuality was widely considered indefensible as well as illegal) or whether he merely took a stance to cover himself, Maugham wrote disparagingly of the gay artist. In "Don Fernando", a non-fiction volume about his years living in Spain, Maugham pondered a (perhaps fanciful) suggestion that the painter El Greco was homosexual: "It cannot be denied that the homosexual has a narrower outlook on the world than the normal man. In certain respects the natural responses of the species are denied to him. Some at least of the broad and typical human emotions he can never experience. However subtly he sees life he cannot see it whole ... I cannot now help asking myself whether what I see in El Greco's work of tortured fantasy and sinister strangeness is not due to such a sexual abnormality as this".^[30]

But Maugham's homosexual leanings did shape his fiction in two ways. Since, in life, he tended to see attractive women as sexual rivals, he often gave the women of his fiction sexual needs and appetites, in a way quite unusual for authors of his time. Liza of Lambeth, Cakes and Ale, Neil MacAdam and The Razor's Edge all featured women determined to service their strong sexual appetites, heedless of the result. Also, the fact that Maugham's own sexual appetites were highly disapproved of, or even criminal, in nearly all of the countries in which he travelled, made Maugham unusually tolerant of the vices of others. Readers and critics^[who?] often complained that Maugham did not clearly enough condemn what was bad in the villains of his fiction and plays. Maugham replied: "It must be a fault in me that I am not gravely shocked at the sins of others unless they personally affect me."^[31]

Maugham's public view of his abilities remained modest. Towards the end of his career he described himself as "in the very first row of the second-raters".^[32] In 1954, he was made a Companion of Honour.

Maugham had begun collecting theatrical paintings before the First World War and continued to the point where his collection was second only to that of the Garrick Club.^[33] In 1948 he announced that he would bequeath this collection to the Trustees of the National Theatre, and from 1951, some 14 years before his death, his paintings began their exhibition life. In 1994 they were placed on loan to the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden.^[34][35]

Significant works[link]

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Maugham's masterpiece is generally agreed to be Of Human Bondage, a semiautobiographical novel that deals with the life of the main character Philip Carey, who, like Maugham, was orphaned, and brought up by his pious uncle. Philip's clubfoot causes him endless self-consciousness and embarrassment, echoing Maugham's struggles with his stutter and, as his biographer Ted Morgan notes, his homosexuality. His later novels were based on historical people: The Moon and Sixpence fictionalizes the life of Paul Gauguin; and Cakes and Ale contains thinly veiled characterizations of the authors Thomas Hardy and Hugh Walpole. Maugham's last major novel, The Razor's Edge, published in 1944, was a departure for him in many ways. While much of the novel takes place in Europe, its main characters are American, not British. The protagonist is a disillusioned veteran of World War I who abandons his wealthy friends and lifestyle, traveling to India seeking enlightenment. The story's themes of Eastern mysticism and war-weariness struck a chord with readers as World War II waned. It was quickly adapted as a movie.

Among his short stories, some of the most memorable are those dealing with the lives of Western, mostly British, colonists in the Far East. They typically express the emotional toll exacted on the colonists by their isolation. Some of his works in this genre include "Rain", "Footprints in the Jungle", and "The Outstation". "Rain", in particular, which charts the moral disintegration of a missionary attempting to convert the Pacific island prostitute Sadie Thompson, has kept its status. It has been adapted as a play and as several films. Maugham said that many of his short stories were inspired by accounts he heard during his travels in the outposts of the Empire. He left behind a long string of angry former hosts. Maugham's restrained prose allows him to explore the tensions and passions without appearing melodramatic. His The Magician (1908) is based on British occultist Aleister Crowley.

Maugham was one of the most significant travel writers of the inter-war years, and can be compared with contemporaries such as Evelyn Waugh and Freya Stark. His best efforts in this line include The Gentleman in the Parlour, dealing with a journey through Burma, Siam, Cambodia and Vietnam, and On a Chinese Screen, a series of very brief vignettes which might almost be notes for short stories that were never written.

Influenced by the published journals of the French writer Jules Renard, which Maugham had often enjoyed for their conscientiousness, wisdom and wit, Maugham published selections from his own journals under the title A Writer's Notebook in 1949. Although these journal selections are, by nature, episodic and of varying quality, they range over more than 50 years of the writer's life and contain much that Maugham scholars and admirers find of interest.

Influence[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In 1947 Maugham instituted the Somerset Maugham Award, awarded to the best British writer or writers under the age of thirty-five for a work of fiction published in the past year. Notable winners include V. S. Naipaul, Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis and Thom Gunn. On his death, Maugham donated his copyrights to the Royal Literary Fund.

Other writers acknowledged his work. Anthony Burgess, who included a complex fictional portrait of Maugham in the novel Earthly Powers, praised his influence. George Orwell said that Maugham was "the modern writer who has influenced me the most."

Portraits of Maugham[link]

Maugham was the subject of this caricature by David Low.

Many portraits were painted of Somerset Maugham, including that by Graham Sutherland^[36] in the Tate Gallery, and several by Sir Gerald Kelly. Sutherland's portrait was included in the exhibit Painting the Century 101 Portrait Masterpieces 1900-2000 at the National Portrait Gallery.

Bibliography[link]

Film adaptations[link]

• The Land of Promise (1917) directed by Joseph Kaufman and starring Thomas Meighan. Based on the 1913 play of the same name.
• Smith (1917) directed by Maurice Elvey, based on the 1913 play of the same name.
• The Circle (1925) Directed by Frank Borzage, based on the 1921 play of the same name.
• The Canadian (1926) directed by William Beaudine. Based on the 1913 play, "The Land of Promise," this was a remake of the 1917 film of that name, with Thomas Meighan reprising his role as protagonist Frank Taylor.
• The Magician (1926) Based on the 1908 novel of the same name.
• Sadie Thompson (1928), a silent movie starring Gloria Swanson and Lionel Barrymore. Based on the short story "Miss Thompson", which was later retitled "Rain".
• The Letter (1929) featuring Jeanne Eagels, O. P. Heggie, Reginald Owen and Herbert Marshall. Based on the play of the same name.
• Rain (1932), the first sound version of the short story "Miss Thompson" (retitled as "Rain"), with Joan Crawford and Walter Huston.
• Of Human Bondage (1934) starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. Based on the book of the same name.
• The Painted Veil (1934) featuring Greta Garbo and Herbert Marshall. Based on the novel of the same name.
• Secret Agent (1936) with John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Based on Ashenden.
• The Vessel of Wrath (1938) starring Charles Laughton; released in the USA as The Beachcomber. Based on the novella of the same name.
• The Letter (1940) featuring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort and Gale Sondergaard. Based on the play of the same name.
• Too Many Husbands (1940) featuring Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, and Melvyn Douglas. Based on the play "Home and Beauty".
• The Moon and Sixpence (1942) with George Sanders. Based on the novella of the same name.
• Christmas Holiday (1944) starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly, based on the novel of the same name.
• The Hour Before the Dawn (1944) starring Veronica Lake, based on the novel of the same name.
• Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.(1946). Unauthorized film version of "Miss Thompson" with an all-black cast, directed by Spencer Williams.
• The Razor's Edge (1946) featuring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney. Based on the book of the same name.
• Of Human Bondage (1946) version starring Eleanor Parker.
• Quartet (1948) Maugham appears as himself in introductions. Based on four of his short stories.
• Trio (1950) Maugham appears as himself in introductions. Another collection based on short stories.
• Encore (1951) Maugham appears as himself in introductions. A third collection of Maugham short stories.
• Miss Sadie Thompson (1953), a semi-musical version in 3-D, featuring Rita Hayworth and José Ferrer.
• The Seventh Sin (1957) with Eleanor Parker. Based on the novel The Painted Veil.
• The Beachcomber (1958). Based on the novella The Vessel of Wrath; not to be confused with the 1938 film.
• Du bist zauberhaft (1962) starring Lilli Palmer and Charles Boyer. Based on the novel Theatre.
• Of Human Bondage (1964) with Laurence Harvey and Kim Novak.
• The Letter (1969) starring Eileen Atkins. Based on play of the same name. (made for television)
• Theatre (1978) starring Vija Artmane. Based on the novel of the same name.
• The Letter (1982) featuring Lee Remick, Jack Thompson and Ronald Pickup. Based on play of the same name. (Made for television)
• The Razor's Edge (1984) with Bill Murray. Based on the novel by the same name.
• Up at the Villa (2000) starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sean Penn, directed by Philip Haas. Based on the novella of the same name.
• Being Julia (2004) featuring Annette Bening. Based on the novel Theatre.
• The Painted Veil (2006) with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. Based on the novel of the same name.

References and notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Hastings, Selina, 2009 The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham - A biography. London, John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6554-0
• Hastings, Selina, 2009 "A blackstable boyhood"
• Mander, Raymond & Mitchenson, Joe, 1955 The Artist and the Theatre. William Heinemann Ltd
• Mander, Raymond & Mitchenson, Joe, 1980 Guide to the Maugham Collection of Theatrical Paintings. Heinemann & the National Theatre
• Maugham, Robin, 1970, Escape from the Shadows. Wiedenfeld and Nicholson Publishers.
• Maugham, Robin, 1977, Somerset and all the Maughams. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-8371-8236-0
• Maugham, Robin, 1977, Search for Nirvana. W.H. Allen.
• Maugham, W. Somerset, 1938, The Summing Up. Garden City Publishing Company.
• Maugham, W. Somerset, 1962, Looking Back. As serialised in Show, June, July & August.
• Meyers, Jeffrey, 2004, Somerset Maugham: A life. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-41475-6
• Morgan, Ted, 1980, Somerset Maugham Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-01813-2
• Morgan, Ted, 1984, Maugham Touchstone Books. ISBN 0-671-50581-5.
• Vidal, Gore, 1 February 1990, The New York Review of Books.
• Popplewell, Richard J. (1995), Intelligence and Imperial Defence: British Intelligence and the Defence of the Indian Empire 1904–1924., Routledge, ISBN 0-7146-4580-X, http://www.routledge.com/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?sku=&isbn=071464580X&parent_id=&pc= .
• Woods, B. F. (2007), Neutral Ground: A Political History of Espionage Fiction., Algora Publishing, ISBN 0-87586-535-6 .
• Epstein, Joseph (1991), Partial Payments, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 978-0-393-30716-0 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: William Somerset Maugham

Wikisource has original works written by or about: William Somerset Maugham

• The British Library
• Caxton Club Biography
• The British Empire, Biographies, Authors
• Works by W. Somerset Maugham at Project Gutenberg
• Works by W. Somerset Maugham at LibriVox (audiobooks)
• Works by or about W. Somerset Maugham in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• W. Somerset Maugham at the Internet Movie Database
• W. Somerset Maugham at the Internet Broadway Database
• W. Somerset Maugham at Internet Off-Broadway Database
• National Theatre, Maugham's Theatrical Collection
• National Theatre, Shakespearean Characters
• Maugham's The Razor's Edge
• William Somerset Maugham's stories on Malaya, Borneo and Singapore
• W. S. Maugham: correspondence, contracts & manuscripts in Indiana University
• W. Somerset Maugham at the Internet Book List
• W. Somerset Maugham and Beaufort County, South Carolina – Beaufort County Library
• "The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham" – A Biography of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings.