David Lean

Sir David Lean, CBE (25 March 1908 – 16 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor, best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965). He is also known for the Dickens adaptations of Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), as well as the romantic drama Brief Encounter (1945).

Lauded by directors such as Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, Lean was voted 9th greatest film director of all time in the British Film Institute Sight & Sound "Directors' Top Directors" poll 2002. Nominated seven times for the Academy Award for Best Director, for which he won twice for The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Lawrence of Arabia, he has three films in the top five of the British Film Institute's Top 100 British Films. and was awarded the AFI Lifetime Achievement award in 1990.

Early life and education

David Lean (politician)

David Richard Lean (born 16 March 1945) is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 1999, representing the electorate of Carrum.

Lean was born in Melbourne, and educated at Melbourne Grammar School. He was the managing director of Stadiums Pty Ltd, his family's business, prior to entering politics. He was a councillor of the City of Chelsea from 1990 to 1994, and served as mayor in 1994.

Lean was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 1996 state election, defeating Labor MP and former Kirner government minister Mal Sandon. Lean's victory in the formerly safe Labor seat fell against the tide of the 1996 election, the only seat gained by the Liberal government at an election at which they had a net loss of three seats to the Labor opposition. Lean was defeated by Labor candidate Jenny Lindell amidst the Liberal loss at the 1999 election.

References

David Lean (athlete)

David Lean (David Francis Lean; born 22 August 1935 in Tasmania) was an Australian athlete who competed mainly in the 440 metre hurdles and 400 metres relays.

He competed for Australia at the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia in the 4 × 400 metre relay where he won the Silver medal with his team mates Graham Gipson, Leon Gregory and Kevan Gosper. He also regularly competed in the 440 yard hurdles, winning gold at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, silver at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, fifth at the Melbourne Olympic games and winning the Australian national championship in 1954. His gold medal at the 1954 Vancouver Games was only his eighth race over the distance and the first ever international victory by a Tasmanian athlete.

Lean attended Launceston Grammar School where he mainly raced over 100 yards and later attended Michigan State University where he also competed in 440 and 880 yard races.

References

David of Bulgaria

David (Bulgarian: Давид) (died 976) was a Bulgarian noble, brother of Emperor Samuel and eldest son of komes Nicholas. After the disastrous invasion of Rus' armies and the fall of North-eastern Bulgaria under Byzantine occupation in 971, he and his three younger brothers took the lead of the defence of the country. They executed their power together and each of them governed and defended a separate region. He ruled the southern-most parts of the realm from Prespa and Kastoria and was responsible for the defence the dangerous borders with Thessalonica and Thessaly. In 976 he participated in the major assault against the Byzantine Empire but was killed by vagrant Vlachs between Prespa and Kostur.

Family tree

Another theory

However, there's also another version about David’s origin. David gains the title "comes" during his service in the Byzantine army which recruited many Armenians from the Eastern region of the empire. The 11th-century historian Stepanos Asoghik wrote that Samuel had one brother, and they were Armenians from the district Derjan. This version is supported by the historians Nicholas Adontz, Jordan Ivanov, and Samuil's Inscription where it’s said that Samuel’s brother is David. Also, the historians Yahya and Al Makin clearly distinguish the race of Samuel and David (the Comitopouli) from the one of Moses and Aaron (the royal race):

David, Chiriquí

David (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈβið]) officially San José de David is a city and corregimiento located in the west of Panama. It is the capital of the province of Chiriquí and has an estimated population of 144,858 inhabitants as confirmed in 2013. It is a relatively affluent city with a firmly established, dominant middle class and a very low unemployment and poverty index. The Pan-American Highway is a popular route to David.

The development of the banking sector, public construction works such as the expansion of the airport and the David-Boquete highway alongside the growth of commercial activity in the city have increased its prominence as one of the fastest growing regions in the country. The city is currently the economic center of the Chiriqui province and produces more than half the gross domestic product of the province, which totals 2.1 billion. It is known for being the third-largest city in the country both in population and by GDP and for being the largest city in Western Panama.

David (Bernini)

David is a life-size marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The sculpture was one of many commissions to decorate the villa of Bernini's patron Cardinal Scipione Borghese – where it still resides today, as part of the Galleria Borghese It was completed in the course of seven months from 1623 to 1624.

The subject of the work is the biblical David, about to throw the stone that will bring down Goliath, which will allow David to behead him. Compared to earlier works on the same theme (notably the David of Michelangelo), the sculpture broke new ground in its implied movement and its psychological intensity.

Background

Between 1618 and 1625 Bernini was commissioned to undertake various sculptural work for the villa of one of his patrons, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. In 1623 – only yet 24 years old – he was working on the sculpture of Apollo and Daphne, when, for unknown reasons, he abandoned this project to start work on the David. According to records of payment, Bernini had started on the sculpture by mid–1623, and his contemporary biographer, Filippo Baldinucci, states that he finished it in seven months.