Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
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| Mikhail Khodorkovsky | |
 Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2001 |
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Deputy Minister of Fuel and Energy of Russia
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| In office 1993[citation needed] – 1993[citation needed] |
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| Born | 26 June 1963 (age 47) Moscow, Soviet Union |
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| Spouse(s) | Inna |
Khodorkovsky with then President of Russia Vladimir Putin on 20 December 2002
Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (Russian: Михаи́л Бори́сович Ходорко́вский, IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil xədɐˈrkofskʲɪj]; born 26 June 1963 in Moscow) is a Russian oligarch[1][2] and businessman. In 2004, Khodorkovsky was the wealthiest man in Russia, and was 16th on Forbes list of billionaires, although much of his wealth evaporated because of the collapse in the value of his holding in the Russian petroleum company Yukos.[citation needed]
On 25 October 2003, Khodorkovsky was arrested at Novosibirsk airport by the Russian prosecutor general’s office on charges of fraud. Shortly thereafter, on 31 October, the government under Vladimir Putin froze shares of Yukos because of tax charges. The Russian Government took further actions against Yukos, leading to a collapse in the share price. It purported to sell a major asset of Yukos in December 2004.
On 31 May 2005, Khodorkovsky was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to nine years in prison. The sentence was later reduced to 8 years. In 2003, prior to his arrest, Khodorkovsky funded several Russian parties, including Yabloko, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and even, allegedly, the pro-Kremlin United Russia.
In October 2005 he was moved into prison camp number 13 in the city of Krasnokamensk, Zabaykalsky Krai.
In March 2006, Forbes magazine surmised that Khodorkovsky’s personal fortune had declined to a fraction of its former level, stating that he “still has somewhere below $500 m.”[3]
On 31 March 2009, a new trial of Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev began in Moscow for fresh charges on embezzlement and money laundering, and continues to the present day.[4] The two men face up to 22 more years in prison. On 27 December 2010, a judge found both men guilty of the charges laid against them in 2009. In October, prosecutors asked for a 14 year sentence but indicated that it should include time already served. This would mean that Khodorkovsky and his partner could remain in jail until 2017; however, Khodorkovsky’s defense have vowed to appeal the sentence.[5] Suggesting that the legal process was only ‘gloss’, the US has described his trial as ‘lipstick on a political pig’.[6]
[edit] Early years and entrepreneurship in Soviet Union
- Early life
Khodorkovsky grew up in an ordinary Soviet family in a two-room apartment in Moscow. He has a Jewish father and a Christian mother. The young Khodorkovsky was ambitious. He received excellent grades. He then attempted and succeeded in building a career as a communist functionary. He became deputy head of Komsomol (the Communist Youth League) at his university, the Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemistry and Technology, where he graduated in chemical engineering in 1986.[7] The Komsomol career was one of the ways to get into the ranks of communist apparatchiks and to achieve the highest possible living standards.[8]
After perestroika started, Khodorkovsky used his connections within the communist structures to gain a foothold in the developing free market. He used the help of some powerful people to start his business activities under the cover of Komsomol. Friendship with another Komsomol leader, Alexey Golubovich, helped him greatly in his further success, since Golubovich’s parents held top positions in the State Bank of the USSR.[8]
- Café and trading
With partners from Komsomol, and technically operating under its authority, Khodorkovsky opened his first business in 1986, a private café; an enterprise made possible by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev‘s programme of perestroika and glasnost. In 1987 they opened a “Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of the Youth” (which eventually allowed him to found the bank Menatep[9]). In addition to importing and reselling computers, the “scientific” center was involved in trading a wide range of other products; French brandy, Swiss vodka. It is alleged that these goods were mostly counterfeit: “Swiss” vodka was produced in Poland, and the brandy was not French[citation needed].
By 1988, he had built an import-export business with a turnover of 80 million rubles a year (about $10 million USD).
- Banking
Armed with cash from his business operations, Khodorkovsky and his partners used their international connections to obtain a banking licence to create Bank Menatep in 1989. As one of Russia’s first privately owned banks, Menatep expanded quickly, by using most of the deposits raised to finance Khodorkovsky’s successful import-export operations.
Bank Menatep was also successful in forcing the government to award them the right to manage funds allocated for the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Because of its “exempt status”, the bank allegedly might have been an extremely convenient vehicle for the evasion of tax and import duties. By 1990, critics suggest the bank was active in facilitating the large-scale theft of Soviet Treasury funds that went on at the time prior to and following the collapse of the USSR in 1991.[citation needed]
In a prophetic statement of the time, Khodorkovsky is quoted as saying:[8]
Many years later I talked with people and asked them, why didn’t you start doing the same thing? Why didn’t you go into it? Because any head of an institute had more possibilities than I had, by an order of magnitude. They explained that they had all gone through the period when the same system was allowed. And then, at best, people were unable to succeed in their career and, at worst, found themselves in jail. They were all sure that would be the case this time, and that is why they did not go into it. And I” —Khodorkovsky lets out a big, broad laugh at the memory— “I did not remember this! I was too young! And I went for it.
Khodorkovsky’s connections with Komsomol and CPSU structures would prove critical in his success.
[edit] Political ambitions
Khodorkovsky also became a philanthropist, whose efforts include the provision of internet-training centres for teachers, a forum for the discussion by journalists of reform and democracy, and the establishment of foundations which finance archaeological digs, cultural exchanges, summer camps for children and a boarding school for orphans.[10][11] Khodorkovsky’s critics saw this as political posturing, in light of his funding of several political parties ahead of the elections for the State Duma to be held in late 2003.
He is openly critical of what he refers to as ‘managed democracy’ within Russia. Careful normally not to criticise the elected leadership, he says the military and security services exercise too much authority. He told The Times:
- “It is the Singapore model, it is a term that people understand in Russia these days. It means that theoretically you have a free press, but in practice there is self-censorship. Theoretically you have courts; in practice the courts adopt decisions dictated from above. Theoretically there are civil rights enshrined in the constitution; in practice you are not able to exercise some of these rights.”
[edit] Merging with Sibneft
In April 2003, Khodorkovsky announced that Yukos would merge with Sibneft, creating an oil company with reserves equal to those of Western petroleum multinationals. Khodorkovsky had been reported to be negotiating with ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco about them taking a large stake in Yukos. Sibneft was created in 1995, at the suggestion of Boris Berezovsky, comprising some of the most valuable assets of a state-owned oil company. In a controversial auction process, Berezovsky acquired 50% of the company at what most agree was a very low price.[citation needed]
When Berezovsky had a confrontation with Putin, and felt compelled to leave Russia for London (where he was granted asylum) he assigned his shares in Sibneft to Roman Abramovich. Abramovich subsequently agreed to the merger.
With 19.5 billion barrels (3 km³) of oil and gas, the merged entity would have owned the second-largest oil and gas reserves in the world after ExxonMobil and would have been the fourth largest in the world in terms of production, pumping 2.3 million barrels (370,000 m³) of crude a day. However, the merger had been recalled by the shareholders of Sibneft after the arrest of Khodorkovsky.
[edit] Prosecution
In early July 2003, Platon Lebedev, a Khodorkovsky partner and second largest shareholder in Yukos, was arrested on suspicion of illegally acquiring a stake in a state-owned fertiliser firm, Apatit, in 1994.[citation needed] The arrest was followed by investigations into taxation returns filed by Yukos, and a delay to the antitrust commission’s approval for its merger with Sibneft.[citation needed]
Khodorkovsky was himself arrested in October 2003, charged with fraud and tax evasion. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office claims Khodorkovsky and his associates cost the state more than $1 billion in lost revenues.[citation needed]
Subsequent to Khodorkovsky’s arrest, Leonid Nevzlin gained a controlling stake in Yukos when Khodorkovsky handed him a 60% share in the holding company that controlled the firm.[12] Nevzlin is himself now wanted in Russia and has since fled to Israel.[citation needed]
On 31 March 2009, a new trial of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev began in Moscow for fresh charges on embezzlement and money laundering. The two men face up to 22 more years in prison.[13] Khodorkovsky refused to enter a plea, claiming that he did not understand the charges.[14] In May 2010, Mikhail Kasyanov, who became an opposition figure after serving as Putin’s prime minister from 2000 to 2004, told the court that Putin, while president, had been angered by Khodorkovsky’s support of the Communist Party together with liberal Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces. [15]
[edit] Impact of arrest
Initially news of Khodorkovsky’s arrest had a significant effect on the share price of Yukos. The Moscow stock market was closed for the first time ever for an hour in order to assure stable trading as prices collapsed. Russia’s currency, the ruble, was also hit as some foreign investors questioned the stability of the Russian market. Media reaction in Moscow was almost universally negative in blanket coverage, some of the more enthusiastic pro-business press discussed the end of capitalism, while even the government-owned press criticised the “absurd” method of Khodorkovsky’s arrest.
Yukos moved quickly to replace Khodorkovsky with Russian born U.S. citizen Simon Kukes. Simon Kukes, who became the CEO of Yukos, was already an experienced oil executive.
The U.S. State Department said the arrest “raised a number of concerns over the arbitrary use of the judicial system” and was likely to be very damaging to foreign investment in Russia, as it appeared there were “selective” prosecutions occurring against Yukos officials but not against others.
A week after the arrest, the Prosecutor-General froze Khodorkovsky’s shares in Yukos to prevent Khodorkovsky from selling his shares although he retains all the shares’ voting rights and to receive dividends.
Khodorkovsky’s arrest alarmed foreign investors and policymakers alike.
In 2003 Khodorkovsky’s shares in Yukos passed to Jacob Rothschild under a deal they concluded prior to Khodorkovsky’s arrest.[16][17]
[edit] Criminal charges
Prosecutors stated that they operated independently of the government appointed by President Putin. The Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov was appointed by former President Yeltsin and was not seen as being particularly close to Putin, who once tried to remove him. However, he was politically ambitious and prosecuting Russia’s most prominent and successful tycoon was perceived as a boost to his political career and intended candidacy for the Duma.
The criminal charges against Khodorkovsky read as follows:
In 1994, while chairman of the board of the Menatep commercial bank in Moscow, M. B. Khodorkovsky created an organized group of individuals with the intention of taking control of the shares in Russian companies during the privatisation process through deceit and in the process of committing this crime managed the activities of this company.
Khodorkovsky was charged with acting illegally in the privatisation process of the former state-owned mining and fertiliser company Apatit. It is alleged that the CEO of Bank Menatep and large shareholder in Yukos Platon Lebedev assisted Khodorkovsky. Lebedev was arrested and charged in July 2003.
According to the prosecution, all four companies that participated in the privatization tender for 20% of Apatit’s stock in 1994 were shell companies controlled by Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, registered to create an illusion of competitive bidding that was required by the law. One of the shell companies that won that tender (AOZT Volna) was supposed to invest about US$280 million in Apatit during the next year, according to their winning bid. The investment was not made and Apatit sued to return their 20% of stock. At this point, Khodorkovsky et al. had transferred the required sum into Apatit’s account at Khodorkovsky’s bank Menatep and sent the financial documents to the court, so Apatit’s lawsuit was thrown out. The very next day the money was transferred back from Apatit’s account to Volna’s account. After that the stock was sold off by Volna in small installments to several smaller shell companies, which were, in turn, owned by more Khodorkovsky-owned companies in a complicated web of relationships. Literally dozens of companies were registered for these purposes in Cyprus, Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands, Turks & Caicos and other offshore havens. Volna actually settled the Apatit lawsuit in 2002 by paying $15 million to the privatization authorities, even though it did not own Apatit stock anymore at the time. However, according to the prosecution, that $15 million sum was based on the incorrect valuation which was too low. Allegedly, at the time Apatit was selling off the fertilizers it was producing to multiple Khodorkovsky-owned shell companies below market value, and, therefore, Apatit formally did not have much profit, lowering its valuation. Those shell companies then resold the fertilizer at the market value, generating pure profit for Khodorkovsky, Lebedev and others.
In addition, prosecutors conducted an extensive investigation into Yukos for offences that went beyond the financial and tax-related charges. Reportedly there were three cases of murder and one of attempted murder linked to Yukos, if not Khodorkovsky himself.
One area of interest to the Prosecutor-General included the 1998 assassination of the mayor of Nefteyugansk in the Tyumen region, Vladimir Petukhov. Nefteyugansk was the main centre of oil production within the Yukos empire. Suspicions arose in Nefteyugansk because Petukhov had publicly and frequently campaigned about Yukos’ non-payment of local taxes.
President Putin himself commented on this aspect of the investigation while questioned about the investigation into Yukos in September 2003. President Putin said:
The case is about Yukos and the possible links of individuals to murders in the course of the merging and expansion of this company…the privatizations are the least of the reasons for it…in such a case, how can I interfere with prosecutors’ work?
The verdict of the trial, repeating the prosecutors’ indictments almost verbatim, was 662 pages long. As is customary in Russian trials, the judges read the verdict aloud, beginning on 16 May 2005 and finishing on 31 May. Khodorkovsky’s lawyers alleged that it was read as slowly as possible to minimize public attention*.[18]
Khodorkovsky was defended by Karinna Moskalenko, who now faces being disbarred by the Russian government for her alleged negligence in defending him. Khodorkovsky denies being dissatisfied with her conduct.
[edit] Third party support
Khodorkovsky has received a high level of independent third party support from groups and individuals who believe the process, charges, and two trials against him are politically motivated.[19] On 29 Nov. 2004, The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights published a report which concluded “he Assembly considers that the circumstances of the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives suggest that the interest of the State’s action in these cases goes beyond the mere pursuit of criminal justice, to include such elements as to weaken an outspoken political opponent, to intimidate other wealthy individuals and to regain control of strategic economic assets.”[20]
In June 2009 the Council of Europe published a report which criticized the Russian government’s handling of the Yukos case, entitled “Allegations of Politically Motivated Abuses of the Criminal Justice System in Council of Europe Member States”[21]
“The Yukos affair epitomises this authoritarian abuse of the system. I wish to recall here the excellent work done by Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, in her two reports2 on this subject. I do not intend to comment on the ins and outs of this case which saw Yukos, a privately owned oil company, made bankrupt and broken up for the benefit of the stateowned company Rosneft. The assets were bought at auction by a rather obscure financial group, Baikalfinansgroup, for almost €7 billion. It is still not known who is behind this financial group. A number of experts believe that the state-owned company Gazprom had a hand in the matter. The former heads of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, were sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for fraud and tax evasion. Vasiliy Aleksanyan, former vice-chairman of the company, who is suffering from Aids, was released on bail in January 2009 after being held in inhuman conditions condemned by the European Court of Human Rights.3 Lastly, Svetlana Bakhmina, deputy head of Yukos’s legal department, who was sentenced in 2005 to six and a half years’ imprisonment for tax fraud, saw her application for early release turned down in October 2008, even though she had served half of her sentence, had expressed “remorse” and was seven months pregnant. Thanks to the support of thousands of people around the world and the personal intervention of the United States President, George W. Bush, she was released in April 2009 after giving birth to a girl on 28 November 2008.”
Statements of support for Khodorkovsky and criticism of the state’s persecution have been passed by the Italian Parliament, the German Bundestag, and the U.S. House of Representatives, among many other official bodies.[22]
In June 2010, Holocaust survivor and human rights activist Elie Wiesel began a campaign to raise awareness of the Khodorkovsky trial and advocate for his release.[23]
In November 2010, Amnesty International Germany began a petition campaign demanding that President Medvedev get an independent review of all criminal charges against Khodorkovsky, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights.[24]
[edit] In prison
On 30 May 2005, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to 9 years in a medium security prison. At the time, he was detained in Moscow prison Matrosskaya Tishina.
On 1 August 2005, a political essay written by Khodorkovsky in his prison cell, titled “Left Turn”, was published in Vedomosti, calling for a turn to more social responsible state. He stated that: “The next Russian administration will have to include the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Motherland Party, or the historical successors to these parties. The left-wing liberals, including Yabloko, and right-wing Ryzhkov, Khakamada and others should decide whether to join the broad social-democratic coalition or to remain grumpy and without relevance on the political sidelines. In my opinion, they have to join because only the broadest composition of a coalition in which liberal-socialist (social-democratic) views will play the key role can save us from the emergence, in the process of this turn to the left turn, from a new ultra-authoritarian regime. The new Russian authorities will have to address a left-wing agenda and meet an irrepressible demand by the people for justice. This will mean in the first instance the problems of legalizing privatization and restoring paternalistic programs and approaches in several areas.”[25]
On 19 August 2005, Khodorkovsky announced that he was on a hunger strike in protest at his friend and associate Platon Lebedev‘s placement in the punishment cell of the jail. According to Khodorkovsky, Lebedev had Diabetes mellitus and heart conditions, and keeping him in the punishment cell would be equivalent to murder.
On 31 August 2005, he announced that he would run for parliament.[26] This initiative was based on the legal loophole: a convicted felon cannot vote or stand for a parliament, but if his case is lodged with the Court of Appeal he still has all the electoral rights. This “loophole,” or alternatively, ordinary provision of appellate procedure, is a common practice in US federal and state court. Usually it requires around a year to get somebody’s appeal through the Appeal Court, so it should have been enough time for Khodorkovsky to be elected. To imprison a member of Russian parliament, the parliament should vote for stripping his or her immunity. Thus, he had a hope to escape from his prosecution. But the plans were flawed, as the Court of Appeal unusually took only a couple of weeks to process Khodorkovsky’s appeal, reduce his sentence by one year and invalidate any of his electoral plans until the end of his sentence.
As reported on 20 October 2005, Khodorkovsky was delivered to the labor camp YaG-14/10 (Исправительное учреждение общего режима ЯГ-14/10) of the town of Krasnokamensk near Chita.[27] The labor camp is attached to a uranium mining and processing plant and during Soviet times had a reputation as a place from which nobody returned alive.[citation needed] According to news reports, currently the prisoners are not used in uranium mining and have much better chances of survival than in the past. The second part of Khodorkovsky essay/thesis “Left Turn” was published in Kommersant on 11 November 2005, in which he expounded his socialist manifesto.[28]
On 13 April 2006, Khodorkovsky was attacked by a prison mate while he was asleep. It was speculated that a prison mate tried to disfigure his face but not to kill him. Jail sources told reporters that a fellow prisoner Alexander Kuchma attacked him after a heated conversation. Western media immediately accused the Russian authorities of trying to play down the incident. In January 2009, the same prisoner filed a lawsuit for 500,000 rubles (~$15,000) against Khodorkovsky, accusing him of homosexual harassment.[29]
On 5 February 2007, new charges of embezzlement and money laundering were brought against both Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev.[30] Khodorkovsky’s supporters point out that the charges come just months before Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were to become eligible for parole, as well as just a year before the next Russian presidential election.[citation needed]
On 28 January 2008, Khodorkovsky started a hunger strike[31] to help his associate Vasily Aleksanyan, who is ill and was held in jail and who was denied the necessary medical treatment. Aleksanyan was transferred from a pre-trial prison to an oncological hospital on 8 February 2008,[32] after which Khodorkovsky called off his strike.[33]
While Khodorkovsky was imprisoned, Arvo Pärt, the Estonian composer, wrote his latest symphony, Symphony no. 4, and dedicated it to Mikhail. The symphony was premiered on 10 January 2009 in Los Angeles at Walt Disney Concert Hall conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
In prison, Khodorkovsky announced that he would research for, and prepare, a PhD dissertation on the topic of Russian oil policy.[citation needed] The third part of Khodorkovsky’s essay/thesis “Left Turn” with the subheading “Global Perestroika” was published in Vedomosti on 7 November 2008, in which he stated: “Barack Obama‘s victory in the US presidential elections is not simply the latest change of power in one individual country, albeit a superpower. We are standing on the threshold of a change in the paradigm of world development. The era whose foundations were laid by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher three decades ago is ending. Unconditionally including myself in that part of society that has liberal views, I see: ahead – is a Turn to the Left.”[34][35]
In May 2010 Khodorkovsky went on a three-day hunger-strike to protest what he said was a violation of the recent law against imprisonment of person accused of financial crimes. The law was pushed by President Medvedev after the death of Sergei Magnitsky who died in pre-trial detention in a Moscow prison in 2008.[36]
[edit] Political transformation
After six years in prison, observers have argued that Khodorkovsky has been transformed from an oligarch into a martyr: “He speaks with the authority of a chief executive of what was once Russia’s largest oil company. He explains how Yukos and Russia’s oil industry functioned, but he goes beyond business matters. What he is defending is not his long-lost business, but his human rights. The transformation of Mr Khodorkovsky from a ruthless oligarch, operating in a virtually lawless climate, into a political prisoner and freedom fighter is one of the more intriguing tales in post-communist Russia.”[37]
The political transformation of Khodorkovsky is cited in many of his writings from prison. On 26 October 2009, he published a response to Dmitri Medvedev’s “Forward, Russia!” article in Vedomosti, arguing that “authoritarianism in its current Russian form does not meet many key humanitarian requirements customary for any country that wishes to consider itself modern and European.”[38]
On 28 January 2010, Khodorkovsky authored an opinion article in the New York Times and International Herald Tribune, which argued that “Russia must make a historic choice. Either we turn back from the dead end toward which we have been heading in recent years – and we do it soon – or else we continue in this direction and Russia in its current form simply ceases to exist.”[39]
On 3 March 2010, Khodorkovsky wrote an article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta about the “conveyor belt” of Russian justice. In this article, he warns that “siloviki conveyor belt, which has undermined justice is truly the gravedigger of modern Russian statehood. Because it turns many thousands of the country’s most active, sensible and independent citizens against this statehood – with enviable regularity.”[40]
[edit] Release date
According to his official site, Khodorkovsky would have been eligible for early release, but an alleged conspiracy involving jail guards and a cell mate resulted in a statement that Mikhail had violated one of the prison rules. The statement was false, but it was sufficient to make Khordorkovsky lose his rights, once the statement was logged in his file.[41]
It is predicted that he might be released by the middle of 2011,[42] although Khodorkovsky has been found guilty (27 December 2010) of fresh charges of embezzlement and money laundering, which could lead to a new sentence of up to 22 years. He alleged that both cases were instigated by Igor Sechin. “The second as well as the first case were organized by Igor Sechin,” the tycoon claimed in an interview with The Sunday Times from a remand prison in the Siberian city of Chita, 4,000 miles (6,400 km) east of Moscow.[41]
On 22 August 2008, he was denied parole by Judge Igor Faliliyev, at the Ingodinsky regional court in Chita, Siberia. The basis for this was in part because Khodorkovsky “refused to attend jail sewing classes”.[43]
In the second trial, the prosecutors have asked the judge for a 14-year sentence, which is just one year less than the maximum. Taking into account the time already served, Khodorkovsky would not be released until 2017 if the judge hands down the requested sentence. The next court date for the judge’s decision was set for 15 Dec. 2010.[44] However, without any notice and no reason given, the verdict was deferred until 27 December 2010, potentially to decrease Western media coverage of the court proceedings.
[edit] Final Words from Second Trial
On 2 Nov. 2010, Mikhail Khodorkovsky delivered his final words to the court in the closing of the second trial. The speech, which has received significant media coverage, included the following passages:[45]
- I am ashamed for my country.
- Your honour, I think we all perfectly understand the significance of our trial extends far beyond the fates of Platon [Lebedev] and myself. And even beyond the fates of all those who have innocently suffered in the course of the reprisals against YUKOS that have taken place on such a huge scale, those I found myself unable to protect, but about whom I have not forgotten. I remember every day.
- Let’s ask ourselves, what does the entrepreneur, the top class organizer of production, or simply an educated, creative individual, think today looking at our trial and knowing that the result is absolutely predictable?
- The obvious conclusion a thinking person would come to is chilling in its simplicity: the bureaucratic and law enforcement machine can do whatever it wants. There is no right of private property. No person who conflicts with the “system” has any rights whatsoever.
- Even when enshrined in law, rights are not protected by the courts. Because the courts are either also afraid, or are part of the “system”. Does it come as a surprise that thinking people do not strive to realize themselves here in Russia?
He continued:
- I am far from being an ideal person, but I am a person with an idea. For me, as for anybody, it is hard to live in prison, and I do not want to die here.
- But if I have to, I will have no hesitation. What I believe in is worth dying for. I think I have shown this.
In response to Khodorkovsky’s speech, New York Times columnist Joe Nocera wrote,[46] “I have never been so moved by the words of a businessman. (…) It should make no difference that he was once rich and once an oligarch. What matters is that Mikhail Khodorkovsky is fighting for political freedom and the rule of law, putting his life on the line for ideals we claim to hold dear.”
Washington Post columnist Jackson Diehl argued[47] that “Khodorkovsky delivered what is likely to stand as a historic indictment of the Putin-Medvedev regime. (…) Because he is an entrepreneur and not a poet, Khodorkovsky was regarded skeptically for many years by the sort of people who usually defend Russian dissidents. That’s no longer true: Elie Wiesel is campaigning for him; Nobel-winning novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and French philosopher Andre Glucksmann have taken up his case. The U.S. Senate, prompted by Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin and Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker, passed a resolution saying Khodorkovsy and Lebedev ‘are prisoners who have been denied basic due process rights under international law for political reasons.'”
[edit] See also
- Leonid Nevzlin (one of the key figures in the Yukos oil firm headed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky)
[edit] References
- ^ Khodorkovsky: an oligarch undone – BBC News, 31 May 2005
- ^ Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky goes on trial for second time – The Telegraph, 3 Mar 2009
- ^ Forbes reports billionaire boom, BBC News, 10 March 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ [1] Foreign Policy, May/June 2010
- ^ [2] CNN, December 2010
- ^ “WikiLeaks: rule of law in Mikhail Khodorkovsky trial merely ‘gloss'”. The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ Gessen, Keith (25 February 2010). “Cell Block Four”. Archive. LRB. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ a b c Hoffman, David (2002). The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia. New York: PublicAffairs. pp. 100–126.
- ^ “p. 116”. Google. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ Harding, Luke (1 November 2009). “Mother of jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky calls for UK help”. The Observer (London: Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ Reitschuster, Boris (15 September 2008). Focus (Munich: Hubert Burda Media): p. 156. http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2008/09/focus_mikhail_khodorkovskys_or.htm. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ [3][dead link]
- ^ [4][dead link]
- ^ “Russian oligarch refuses to enter plea on new charges”. The Daily Telegraph (London). 21 April 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ “Reuters attribution .. link to article”. Reuters. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ “Arrested oil tycoon passed shares to banker”. Washington Times. 2 November 2003. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ Russian tycoon ‘names successor’, BBC News, 14 July 2003. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ Levin, Josh. Why Are Russian Verdicts So Long?: They can take two weeks to read, Slate Magazine, 16 May 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ Supporters around the World – Khodorkovsky Center
- ^ “Assemblée parlementaire du Conseil de l’Europe”. Assembly.coe.int. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ “edoc12038_visad” (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ Global Leaders – Khodorkovsky Center
- ^ “Wiesel Kicks Off Campaign To Free Khodorkovsky – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2010”. Rferl.org. 25 June 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ [5]
- ^ “Left Turn”, Vedomosti, 1 August 2005
- ^ Khodorkovsky to stand for Dumas, CNN, 31 August 2005. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ “Lenta.ru: б пНЯЯХХ: уНДНПЙНБЯЙНЦН “ПЮЯОПЕДЕКХКХ” Б 8 НРПЪД “СПЮМНБНИ” ЙНКНМХХ”. Old.lenta.ru. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ “Left Turn – 2”, Khodorkovsky Center, 11 November 2005
- ^ “Gay claim by Khodorkovsky’s ex-cellmate adjourned to Feb. 25 | Russia | RIA Novosti”. En.rian.ru. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ New fraud charges in Yukos case, BBC News, 5 February 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ “Михаил Ходорковский объявил голодовку в знак солидарности с Василием Алексаняном // Прессцентр Михаила Ходорковского и Платона Лебедева”. Khodorkovsky.ru. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ Echo of Moscow, Бывший вице-президент “ЮКОСа” Алексанян переведен из СИЗО в специализированную клинику (Former Yukos vice-president transferred from pre-trial prison to hospital), 8.02.08 (Russian)
- ^ Statement M.[dead link] Khodorkovsky, 11 Feb 2008
- ^ Khodorkovsky, Mikhail (7 November 2008). “Новый социализм: Левый поворот – 3. Глобальная perestroika” (in Russian). Vedomosti, 211(2233). Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ^ “A Turn to the Left – 3: Global Perestroika”, Khodorkovsky Center, 7 November 2008 (English translation)
- ^ “Khodorkovsky hunger strike lasts three days”. Russia Time. 22 May 2010.
- ^ [6], The Economist, 22 April 2010
- ^ Khodorkovsky’s Opinion Editorial in Vedomosti: Generation M, Khodorkovsky Center
- ^ Khodorkovsky, Mikhail B. (29 January 2010). “A Time and a Place for Russia”. The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ Khodorkovsky: Conveyor Belt of Russian Justice Legalizes Abuse – Khodorkovsky Center
- ^ a b Statements: ‘I’m constantly reminded that I’m in jail until further notice’ – Press Centre for Defence Attorneys of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, 18 May 2008
- ^ Platon Lebedev. “Khordorkovsky Regressive Counter”. Khodorkovsky.info. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ “In brief: Clark Rockefeller; Kashmir; Somalia; Karadzic; Iraq”. The Times (London). 23 August 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ [7][dead link]
- ^ “Mikhail Khodorkovsky: final trial speech”. openDemocracy. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/business/06nocera.html?_r=3&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1289206282-1hyNoEJZxIVpUSK4mZchUA&pagewanted=all
- ^ Post Store (8 November 2010). “Russia on trial”. The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
[edit] External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mikhail Khodorkovsky |
- Khodorkovsky & Lebedev Communications Center (English)
- Khodorkovsky’s official Russian website
- Guilty of Being Right, City Journal online, 12-28-2010
- Independent Institute Ivan Eland discusses the international fallout from Khodorkovsky’s arrest
- Updated Blog on Khodorkovsky Affair
- Council on Foreign Relations Interview with Marshall I. Goldman on Khodorkovsky
- Centre for Eastern Studies report: “The Yukos Affair: its Motives and Implications” (in Polish and English)
- Khodorkovsky Legal Updates
- New York Times Magazine article on Khodorkovsky
- Keith Gessen on Khodorkovsky in the London Review of Books
- Foreign Policy article on second trial
- Michael Khodorkovsky Publications
- Khodorkovsky Related Legal Cases
- Michael Khodorkovsky Statements
- Complete text transcript and audio (Russian) of Khodorkovsky’s Closing Statement at Khamovnichesky Court
- The Khodorkovsky-Ulitskaya correspondence
|
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George (given name)
George (given name)
 |
This article may contain excessive, poor or irrelevant examples. You can improve the articleguide to writing better articles for further suggestions. (November 2009) by adding more descriptive text. See Wikipedia’s |
| George | |
|---|---|
 A farmer. |
|
| Pronunciation | English: /ˈdʒɔrdʒ/ |
| Gender | Male |
| Meaning | Farmer / Earth-worker |
| Origin | Greek: Γεώργιος (Georgios) |
| Related names | Georgette (f), Georgia (f), Georgina (f), Georgiana (f) |
 |
Look up George in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
George, from the Ancient Greek γεωργός (geōrgos), “farmer” or “earth-worker”, which became a name in Greek: Γεώργιος (Geōrgios), and Latin: Georgius. The word Γεωργος is a compound word, formed by the words Ge (Γῆ), “earth”, “soil” and ergon (ἔργον), “work”.
Contents[show] |
[edit] History
In the West, the name is known from the eleventh century as a result of the Crusades. The name was extended due to the popularity of St. George and the Golden Legend, widespread in the European courts of the thirteenth century.
This powerful name has remained surprisingly popular in the last 1500 years. Just look at the impressive number of translations and versions that has the name in different languages and dialects.
In Germany, the name has been popular since the Middle Ages, declining later use. In Britain, despite being St. George the patron of England since the fourteenth century, the name did not become popular until the eighteenth century following the accession of George I of England. In the U.S.A., statistics from mid-nineteenth century placed him among the five most popular baby names. The trend continued until the 1950’s, when the name began to lose popularity. The same trend occurred in France as one of the top ten in the early twentieth century, has come to be at position 20.
[edit] Others uses of the name
- In Argentina, you can see Jorge (Spanish variation of George) as a surname.
- In World War II, the codename for the Japanese fighter Kawanishi N1K-J was George.
- There is also a rare condition called DiGeorge syndrome.
- In the Middle Ages, knights Catalan and Occitan, used the war cry “Sant Jordi! Firam! Firam!”. Similarly, the English knights used to go into battle with the cry “by George”, which were entrusted to St. George and sought his support as patron saint of the knights.
- In Mexico, there is a very popular phrase that says: Vamos a ponerle Jorge al niño ( Let’s name George the child), which in colloquial terms is indicative of invitation (to a woman) to sex (George, would be the name of the firstborn to procreate).
- George (GEneral ORGanisational Environment) was an O.S developed in 1960 by the company International Computers Ltd.
- Zeus was worshiped in many forms, of which one was a farmer or georgos.
[edit] People
[edit] Monarchs
- George I of Bulgaria, emperor of Bulgaria 1280–1292
- George II of Bulgaria, emperor of Bulgaria 1321–1322
- George I of Georgia (998/1002–1027), king of Georgia 1014-1027
- George II of Georgia (c.1054–1112), king of Georgia 1072-1089
- George III of Georgia (died 1184), king of Georgia 1156-1184
- George IV of Georgia (1192–1223), king of Georgia 1213-1223
- George V of Georgia (1286/1289–1346), king of Georgia 1299-1302 and 1314–1346
- George VI of Georgia (died 1313), king of Georgia 1311-1313
- George VII of Georgia (died 1405 or 1407), king of Georgia 1393-1407 or 1395–1405
- George VIII of Georgia (1417–1476), king of Georgia 1446-1465
- George IX of Kartli (died 1539), king of Kartli 1525-1527 or 1525–1534
- George X of Kartli (c.1561–1606), king of Kartli 1599-1606
- George XI of Kartli (1651–1709), king of Kartli 1676-1688 and 1703–1709
- George XII of Georgia (1746–1800), last king of Georgia 1798-1800
- George I of Great Britain (1660–1727), King of Great Britain and Ireland 1714-1727
- George II of Great Britain (1683–1760), King of Great Britain and Ireland 1727-1760
- George III of the United Kingdom (1738–1820), King of the United Kingdom 1760-1820, also George III of Hanover, 1814–1820
- George IV of the United Kingdom (1762–1830), King of the United Kingdom 1820-1830, also George IV of Hanover, 1820–1830
- George V of the United Kingdom (1865–1936), King of Great Britain and Ireland 1910-1936
- George VI of the United Kingdom (1895–1952), King of Great Britain and Ireland 1936-1952
- George I of Greece (1845–1913), King of the Hellenes 1863-1913
- George II of Greece (1890–1947), King of the Hellenes 1922–1924, 1935–1947
- George I – see George I of Great Britain
- George II – see George II of Great Britain
- George III – see George III of the United Kingdom
- George IV – see George IV of the United Kingdom
- George V of Hanover (1819–78), last king of Hanover 1851–1866
[edit] Princes
- George Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405–1468), Albanian prince and national hero
- George Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1838–1890)
- Prince George William of Hanover (1915–2006)
- Prince Georg of Hanover (born 1949)
- Prince George of Denmark (1653–1708)
- Prince George William of Great Britain (1717–1718)
- Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (1819–1904)
- Prince George of Greece and Denmark (1869–1957)
- George, Duke of Coimbra (1481–1550), Portuguese Infante, natural son of King John II of Portugal
- George of Lencastre, 2nd Duke of Aveiro (1548–1578), Portuguese Prince
- George of Lencastre, 1st Duke of Torres Novas (1594–1632), Portuguese Prince
- George, Crown Prince of Serbia (1887–1972)
[edit] Others
- Saint George, George of Lydda (c.275/281–303) venerated Christian martyr
A
- George Aitken (disambiguation)
- George Alexander (disambiguation)
- George Arthur (disambiguation)
- Patriarch George of Antioch (758-790), Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church
- George of Antioch (died 1151/2), the first true admiral
- George Atkinson (disambiguation)
B
- George Banks (disambiguation)
- George Barker (disambiguation)
- George Bass (disambiguation)
- George Bennett (disambiguation)
- George Benson (disambiguation)
- George Berkeley (disambiguation)
- George Berry (disambiguation)
- George Brett (disambiguation)
- George Brown (disambiguation)
- George Buchanan (disambiguation)
- George Burns (disambiguation)
- George Bush (disambiguation)
- George H. W. Bush (born 1924), 41st president of the USA
- George W. Bush (born 1946), 43rd president of the USA
C
- George Carey (disambiguation)
- George Carlin (1937–2008), comedian
- George Carter (disambiguation)
- George Cary (disambiguation)
- George Chambers (disambiguation)
- George Chandler (disambiguation)
- George Chapman (disambiguation)
- George Charles (disambiguation)
- George Christopher (disambiguation)
- George Churchill (disambiguation)
- George Clarke (disambiguation)
- George Clinton (disambiguation)
- George Clooney, American actor
- George Clymer (disambiguation)
- George Cook (disambiguation)
- George Cooke (disambiguation)
- George Crawford (disambiguation)
- George Croghan (disambiguation)
- George Cross (disambiguation)
- George Crowe (disambiguation)
- George of Cyprus, Byzantine geographer
D
- George Dallas (disambiguation)
- George Day (disambiguation)
- George Denison (disambiguation)
- George Dickey (disambiguation)
E
- George Eastman (disambiguation)
- George Edwards (disambiguation)
- George Ellis (disambiguation)
- George Elokobi (born 1986), Cameroonian professional footballer
- George Evans (disambiguation)
F
- George Finlay (disambiguation)
- George Formby, Jr. (1904–1961), British musician and actor
- George Formby, Sr. (1875–1921), British singer
- George Forrest (disambiguation)
- George Foster (disambiguation)
- George Fox (disambiguation)
- George Frost (disambiguation)
G
- George Gee (disambiguation)
- George Gershwin
- George Goodman (disambiguation)
- George Green (disambiguation)
- George Gregan (born 1973), Australian rugby union player
- George Grey (disambiguation)
- George Guthrie (disambiguation)
H
- George Hamilton (disambiguation)
- George Harrison (disambiguation)
- George Hart (disambiguation)
- George Henry (disambiguation)
- George Hodges (disambiguation)
- George Hogg (disambiguation)
- George Horton (disambiguation)
- George Howell (disambiguation)
I
J
- George Jacobs (disambiguation)
- George James (disambiguation)
- George Jeffreys (disambiguation)
- George Jones (disambiguation)
- George Jung
K
- George Karageorgevich (disambiguation)
- George Kennedy (disambiguation)
- George Kerr (disambiguation)
- George Knox (disambiguation)
L
- George Landenberger
- George Lauder (disambiguation)
- George Leake (disambiguation)
- George Leonard (disambiguation)
- George Logan (disambiguation)
- George Lucas (disambiguation)
M
- George Mackenzie (disambiguation)
- George Marshall (disambiguation)
- George Martin (disambiguation)
- George Mason (disambiguation)
- George McGovern
- George McManus (disambiguation)
- George Merrill (disambiguation)
- George Meyer (disambiguation)
- George Michael (disambiguation)
- George Francis Miles (1852-1891) British artist
- George Moffat (disambiguation)
- George Mudie (disambiguation)
N
- George Napier (disambiguation)
- George Neville (disambiguation)
- George Nicol (disambiguation)
- George Nozuka (born 1986), Canadian singer
O
- George O’Brien (disambiguation)
- George Alan O’Dowd, English singer-songwriter known as Boy George
- George Ogbeide (born 1968), Nigerian track and field athlete
- George Orwell
- George Owen (disambiguation)
- George Owens (disambiguation)
P
- George Parr (disambiguation)
- George Pearce (disambiguation)
- George Perry (disambiguation)
- George Porter (disambiguation)
R
- George Raft
- George Alan Rekers (born 1948), American psychologist
- George Richardson (disambiguation)
- George Roberts (disambiguation)
- George Romero
- George Rose (disambiguation)
- George Rowley
- George Russell (disambiguation)
S
- George Sanders (disambiguation)
- George Segal, American film and stage actor
- George Shapiro
- George Shaw (disambiguation)
- George Sinclair (disambiguation)
- George Smith (disambiguation)
- George Spencer-Churchill (disambiguation)
- George Stanley (disambiguation)
- George Steiner
- George Stephanopoulos (born 1961), American political adviser and TV journalist
- George Stevenson (disambiguation)
- George Stone (disambiguation)
- George Stroumboulopoulos, host of Canada’s Late Night Talk Show “The Hour”
- George Sutherland (disambiguation)
T
- George Takei (born 1937), American actor, Lieutenant Sulu in the original Star Trek
- George Thompson (disambiguation)
- George Thomson (disambiguation)
- George Thorogood (born 1950), American musician
- George Troup (disambiguation)
- George Turner (disambiguation)
V
W
- George Wallace (disambiguation)
- George Herbert Walker (disambiguation)
- George Walsh (disambiguation)
- George Warren (disambiguation)
- George Washington, first president of the United States
- George Washington (disambiguation)
- George Washington (name)
- George Wassouf (born 1961), Syrian singer
- George Welles (disambiguation)
- George Wells (disambiguation)
- George Wheeler (disambiguation)
- George Wilkins (disambiguation)
- George Wyndham (disambiguation)
Z
[edit] Fictional people
- George Feeny, a wise teacher, neighbor, and mentor to the characters in the television series Boy Meets World.
- George, title character of the webcomic Bob and George.
- George, the main character of George of the Jungle.
- George Bailey, It’s a Wonderful Life.
- Curious George, a cartoon character.
- George Mainwaring, a popular character in British comedy series Dad’s Army.
- George Costanza, from Seinfeld.
- George Jetson, from The Jetsons.
- George Kirrin, a character in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five.
- George McFly, from Back to the Future.
- George Weasley, in Harry Potter.
- George Jefferson, from “The Jeffersons“.
- George Ushiromiya, a character in the visual novel, manga and anime series Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
- George Kojima, a character in the manga and anime series Case Closed.
- George Harvey, the main antagonist of the novel sometimes barked out the window along with his wife. He often ate bones. The Lovely Bones.
- George Koizumi, a character from manga and anime series Paradise Kiss.
- George Beard, from Dav Pilkey’s book series, Captain Underpants
[edit] Animals
- George (tortoise) (c. 1920 – 2004), a long-serving pet on the British television series Blue Peter.
- Lonesome George, the last known remnant of the tortoise subspecies Geochelone nigra abingdonil.
- George (Jack Russell Terrier) (c. 1993-2007), New Zealand dog awarded the PDSA Gold Medal in 2009.
- Giant George (Great Dane) (b. 2005), the tallest dog ever recorded.
[edit] Other language variants
The name of George has variants in scores of other languages:
- Albanian: Gjergj, Jorgo
- Arabic: Jurj جرج, Jurjus جرجس George جورج Khodor خضر
- Aragonese: Chorche
- Armenian: Գեվ, Գեվոր, Գեվորգ (Gev, Gevor, Gevorg)
- Assyrian: Gewargis, Gewargi
- Basque: Gorka
- Belarusian: Юры, Юрка, Jury, Jurka (Yury, Yurka)
- Breton: Jord, Jorj
- Bulgarian: Георги Gеоrgi, Гошо Gosho, Жоро Zhoro
- Catalan: Jordi
- Chinese (Simplified): 乔治
- Chinese (Traditional): 喬治
- Czech: Jiří
- Croatian: Juraj, Jurica, Jure, Đuro
- Danish: Jørgen
- Dutch: Joris, Sjors, Jurjen (Frisian)
- Esperanto: Georgo
- Estonian: Georg, Jüri
- Faroese : Jørgun
- Finnish: Yrjö, Yrjänä, Jori, Jyri, Jyrki
- French: Georges
- Galicia: Xurxo
- Georgian: Giorgi (Georgian: გიორგი I)
- German: Georg, Gorch, Jörg/Jörgen, Jürg/Jürgen
- Greek: Γεώργιος , Γιώργος (Georgios, Giorgos)
- Hawaiian language: Keoki
- Hebrew: ג׳ורג׳ (transcription: Ǧorǧ; transliteration: g’wrg’)
- Hungarian: György
- Indonesian: Jaja
- Irish: Seoirse
- Italian: Giorgio
- Japanese: 譲治, 譲二, 譲次 (Jōji)
- Latin: Georgius
- Latvian: Jurģis, Juris
- Lithuanian: Jurgis
- Macedonian: Ѓорѓи, Ѓорѓе, Ѓорѓија, Ѓоко (Gjorgji, Gjorgje, Gjorgjija, Gjoko)
- Malayalam: ഗീവര്ഗീസ് (Geevarghese/Gheevarghese), ഗീവറുഗീസ് (Gheevarughese), വര്ഗീസ് (Varghese), വെര്ഗീസ് (Verghese), വറുഗീസ് (Varughese),Varkey
- Maltese: Ġorġ, Ġorġa
- Norman: Jore
- Norwegian: Georg, Jørn, Ørjan, Jørgen
- Polish: Jerzy
- Portuguese: Jorge
- Romanian: Gheorghe
- Russian: Георгий (Georgy), Юрий (Yury or Yuri), Егор (Yegor or Egor)
- Scottish Gaelic: Seòrsa, Deòrsa
- Serbian: Ђорђе, Ђурађ (Cyrillic), Đorđe, Đurađ (Latin)
- Slovak: Juraj
- Slovene: Jurij, Jure
- Spanish: Jorge
- Swedish: Göran, Jörgen, Örjan
- Turkish: Circis, Corc
- Ukrainian: Георгій (Heorhiy), Юрій (Yuriy), Юрко (Yurko)
- Venetian: Giorgio
- Volapük: Jüri
- Welsh: Sior
- Moore: Jorr
Gregory
Gregory
| Gregory | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Meaning | Watchful, Alert |
| Region of origin | worldwide |
| Origin | Greek via Latin |
| Related names | Greg, Gregg, Gregor, Grigori, MacGregor, McGregor |
|
Look up Gregory in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Gregory is a common masculine first name and family name. It is derived from the Latin name “Gregorius,” which was from the late Greek name “Γρηγόριος” (Grēgorios) meaning “watchful” (derived from Greek “γρήγoρηῖν” “grēgorein” meaning “to watch”).[1]
Through folk etymology, the name also became associated with Latin grex (stem greg–) meaning ‘flock’ or ‘herd’. This association with a shepherd who diligently guides his flock contributed to the name’s popularity among monks and popes.
There have been 16 popes with the name, starting with Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great). It is the second-most popular name for pope, along with Benedict, after John. Because of this background, it is also a very common name for saints. Although the name was uncommon in the early 20th century, after the popularity of the actor Gregory Peck it became one of the ten most common male names in the 1950s and has remained popular since.
Contents[show] |
[edit] Name days
The Roman Catholic Church traditionally held the feast of Saint Gregory (the Great) on 12 March, but changed it to 3 September in 1969. 12 March remains the name day for Gregory in most countries.
The Orthodox Church holds the feast of Saint Gregory of Cappadocia (third century) on 17 November (Julian calendar, equivalent to 30 November in the Gregorian calendar).
[edit] Translations
- Arabic: Jerjer (جريجوري)
- Armenian: Գրիգոր (Western Armenian Krikor / Eastern Armenian Grigor)
- Belarusian: Рыгор (Ryhor)
- Bulgarian: Григор (Grigor)
- Catalan: Gregori
- Croatian: Grgur
- Czech: Řehoř
- Danish: Gregers
- Dutch: Joris
- Faroese: Grækaris
- Finnish: Reijo
- French: Grégory or Grégoire
- Georgian: გრიგოლი (Grigoli)
- German: Gregor
- Greek: Γρηγόριος (Grigorios)
- Hungarian: Gergely or Gergő
- Icelandic: Gregor
- Indonesian: Gregorius
- Irish: Gréagóir
- Italian: Gregorio
- Japanese: Guregori (グレゴリー)
- Korean: 그레고리
- Latin: Gregorius
- Lithuanian: Gregoras, Gregorijus or Grigalius
- Norwegian: Greger or Gregers
- Polish: Grzegorz
- Portuguese: Gregório
- Romanian: Grigore or Gligor or Dragos
- Russian: Григорий (Grigoriy)
- Scottish: Gregor (as back-formation from MacGregor)
- Serbian: Григорије (Grigoriye), Глигорије (Gligoriye) or Гргур (Grgur)
- Slovak: Gregor
- Slovene: Grega or Gregor or Gregori
- Spanish: Gregorio
- Swedish: Greger
- Thai: เกรกอรี or เกรกกอรี
- Ukrainian: Григорій (Hryhoriy)
- Wales: Grigor
[edit] People
[edit] Religious leaders
- Gregory the Illuminator
- Gregory Thaumaturgus (Gregory the Wonderworker)
- Gregory of Nyssa
- Gregory Nazianzus the Elder, Bishop of Nazianzus
- Gregory of Rimini
- Gregory of Utrecht
- Gregory Palamas
[edit] Popes
- Saint Gregory I “the Great” (pope 590-604), after whom the Gregorian chant is named
- Gregory II (pope 716-731)
- Gregory III (pope 731-741)
- Gregory IV (pope 827-844)
- Gregory V (pope 996-999)
- Gregory VI (pope 1044-1046)
- Gregory VII (pope 1073-1085)
- Gregory VIII (pope 1187)
- Gregory IX (pope 1227-1241)
- Gregory X (pope 1271-1276)
- Gregory XI (pope 1370-1378)
- Gregory XII (pope 1406-1409)
- Gregory XIII (pope 1582–1585), after whom the Gregorian calendar is named
- Gregory XIV (pope 1590-1591)
- Gregory XV (pope 1621-1623)
- Gregory XVI (pope 1831-1846)
[edit] Patriarchs
- Gregory Nazianzus, Patriarch of Constantinople
- Patriarch Gregory II of Constantinople
- Patriarch Gregory III of Constantinople
- Patriarch Gregory IV of Constantinople
- Gregory of Cappadocia, Patriarch of Alexandria
- Patriarch Gregory I of Alexandria
- Patriarch Gregory IV of Alexandria
- Patriarch Gregory V of Alexandria
[edit] Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Church
- Saint Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala
- Gabriel Mar Gregorios, current Metropolitan of Thiruvananthapu
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal music
| Heavy metal | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Blues-rock, psychedelic rock |
| Cultural origins | Late 1960s, United KingdomUnited States and |
| Typical instruments | Electric guitar • bass guitar • drums • vocals • keyboards |
| Mainstream popularity | Worldwide, late 1960s–present |
| Subgenres | |
| Black metal • classic metal • death metal • doom metal • glam metal • gothic metal • groove metal • power metal • speed metal • stoner rock • thrash metal (complete list) |
|
| Fusion genres | |
| Alternative metal • avant-garde metal • Christian metal • crust punk • drone metal • folk metal • funk metal • grindcore • industrial metal • metalcore • neo-classical metal • nu metal • post-metal • progressive metal • rap metal • sludge metal • symphonic metal • Viking metal | |
| Regional scenes | |
| Australia • Bay Area • Brazil • Britain − Germany • Gothenburg • New Orleans • Los Angeles • United States • Skandinavia | |
| Other topics | |
| Fashion • bands • umlaut • blast beat • subgenres | |
Contents[show]
|
[edit] Characteristics
Judas Priest, performing in 2005
Orion (mythology) -the hunter
Orion (mythology)
An engraving of Orion from Johann Bayer‘s Uranometria, 1603 (US Naval Observatory Library)
Contents
[show]
Orion (constellation)
Orion (constellation)
| Constellation | |
 List of stars in Orion |
|
| Abbreviation | Ori |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Orionis |
| Pronunciation | /ɒˈraɪ.ən/ |
| Symbolism | Orion |
| Right ascension | 5 h |
| Declination | +5° |
| Quadrant | NQ1 |
| Area | 594 sq. deg. (26th) |
| Main stars | 7 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
81 |
| Stars with planets | 6 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 8 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 8 |
| Brightest star | Rigel (β Orionis) (0.12m) |
| Nearest star | GJ 3379 (17.51 ly, 5.37 pc) |
| Messier objects | 3 |
| Meteor showers | Orionids Chi Orionids |
| Bordering constellations |
Gemini Taurus Eridanus Lepus Monoceros |
| Visible at latitudes between +85° and −75°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of January.  Credit: Mouser Williams |
|
Contents[show] |
[edit] Visualizations
Orion as depicted in Urania’s Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825.
[edit] Navigational aid
Using Orion to find stars in neighbor constellations
Moon
Moon
Name and etymology
Alpha 66
Alpha 66
1 In popular culture2 See also3 References4 External links
Powers and Principalities 