Great lives [electronic resource] : a century in obituaries /
Brunskill, Ian.
Credo Reference (Firm)
London [Eng.] : Times Books,
2007
Obituaries are about lives, not death. The lives of the exceptional individuals, from Lord Kitchener to Pope John Paul, collected in the book are first drafts of history which to a remarkable degree have stood the test of time. As these extracts show, they offer a revealing history both of the times in which they lived and of the changing Times.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Originally published: 2005.
Lord Kitchener, 5 June 1916 -- V. I. Lenin, Dictator of Soviet Russia. World revolution as goal. 21 January 1924 -- Giacomo Puccini, A famous opera composer 29 November 1924 -- Rudolf Valentino, A film 'star' 23 August 1926 -- Claude Monet, The great painter of light 5 December 1926 -- Emmeline Pankhurst, A pioneer of woman suffrage 14 June 1928 -- D. H. Lawrence, A writer of genius 2 March 1930 -- Nellie Melba, A great prima donna 23 February 1931 -- Sir Edward Elgar, The laureate of English music 23 February 1934 -- Marie Curie, The discoverer of radium 4 July 1934 -- Sigmund Freud, Psycho-analysis 23 September 1939 -- Amy Johnson, A great airwoman 6 January 1941 -- Virginia Woolf, Novelist, essayist, and critic 28 March 1941 -- David Lloyd George, National leadership in war and peace. A pioneer of social reform. 26 March 1945 -- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Four times chief executive of United States. Service in freedom's cause. 12 April 1945 -- Adolf Hitler, Dictator of Germany. Twelve years of force and tyranny. 30 April 1945 -- General G.S. Patton, Brilliant American war leader 21 December 1945 -- John Maynard Keynes, A great economist 21 April 1946 -- Henry Ford, Motor manufacturer and idealist 7 April 1947 -- Mahatma Gandhi, Apostle of independence 30 January 1948 -- George Orwell, Criticism and allegory 21 January 1950 -- George Bernard Shaw, A prophet in the theatre 2 November 1950 -- Arnold Schoenberg, Beyond chromaticism 13 July 1951 -- Joseph Stalin, Dictator of Russia for 29 years 5 March 1953 -- Alan Turing, 17 June 1954 -- Henri Matisse, A master of modern French painting 3 November 1954 -- Sir Alexander Fleming, Discoverer of penicillin 11 March 1955 -- Albert Einstein, Father of nuclear physics 18 April 1955 -- Humphrey Bogart, An actor of authority 14 January 1957 -- Arturo Toscanini, A legendary musical figure 15 January 1957 -- Christian Dior, A master of couture design 24 October 1957 -- Dorothy L. Sayers, Christian apologist and novelist 17 December 1957 -- Frank Lloyd Wright, One of the world's outstanding architects 9 April 1959 --
Aneurin Bevan, A brilliant and controversial Labour leader 6 July 1960 -- Sir Thomas Beecham, Conductor, impresario and benefactor of music 8 March 1961 -- Ernest Hemingway, An outstanding creative writer 2 July 1961 -- Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood legend 5 August 1962 -- John F. Kennedy, Courage and idealism at the White House 22 November 1963 -- Lord Beaverbrook, Quest for power in press and politics 9 June 1964 -- Ian Fleming, The creator of James Bond 12 August 1964 -- T. S. Eliot, The most influential English poet of his time 4 January 1965 -- Sir Winston Churchill, The greatest Englishman of his time. World leader in war and peace. 24 January 1965 -- Le Corbusier, The outstanding architectural figure of his time 27 August 1965 -- Earl Attlee, Presiding figure over the post-war years of social revolution 8 October 1967 -- Yuri Gagarin, First man to fly in space 27 March 1968 -- Martin Luther King, Baptist minister who championed Negro rights 4 April 1968 -- Enid Blyton, Froebel teacher who became author of best-selling children's books 28 November 1968 -- Walter Gropius, Influential modern architectural philosopher 5 July 1969 -- Bertrand Russell, Philosopher who sought involvement with problems of the age 2 February 1970 -- Jimi Hendrix, A key figure in the development of pop music 18 September 1970 -- President Nasser, Creator of modern Egypt 10 September 1970 -- Coco Chanel, Famous French fashion designer 6 January 1971 -- Igor Stravinsky, The most influential composer of his time 6 April 1971 -- Louis Armstrong, The greatest jazz trumpeter of his time 6 July 1971 -- Duke of Windsor, King who gave up a throne to marry the woman he loved 28 May 1972 -- Sir Noel Coward, Playwright and actor who was a master of comedy 26 March 1973 -- Otto Klemperer, A conductor of international renown 6 July 1973 -- Pablo Picasso, Most influential artist of his age 8 April 1973 -- Samuel Goldwyn, One of the fathers of the American film industry 31 January 1974 -- Charles Lindbergh, First non-stop solo flight from New York to Paris 26 August 1974 -- P. G. Wodehouse, Creator of a timeless fairyland 14 February 1975 -- Agatha Christie, A subtle narrative gift 12 January 1976 --
Howard Hughes, 5 April 1976 -- Field Marshal Montgomery, Soldier who became victor of El Alamein and a legend in his own lifetime 24 March 1976 -- Mao Tse-tung, Revolutionary leader who inspired the regeneration of China 9 September 1976 -- Benjamin Britten, A major contribution to English music 4 December 1976 -- Elvis Presley, 'The king' of rock and roll music 16 August 1977 -- Maria Callas, Operatic star of genius 16 September 1977 -- Charlie Chaplin, Comic genius of the cinema screen 25 December 1977 -- Jesse Owens, Memorable performance at the Berlin Olympics 30 March 1980 -- Jean-Paul Sartre, A leading original thinker of the twentieth century 14 April 1980 -- Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Master of screen suspense 29 April 1980 -- Mae West, Film humorist who made sex a shared joke 22 November 1980 -- John Lennon, Dominant role in a pop music revolution 8 December 1980 -- Bob Marley, 11 May 1981 -- Glenn Gould, 4 October 1982 -- Sir Douglas Bader, Showing the way to the disabled 5 September 1982 -- Orson Welles, Formidable and inventive actor and producer 10 October 1985 -- Henry Moore, Sculptor of international reputation 31 August 1986 -- Andy Warhol, Art for publicity's sake 22 February 1987 -- Jacqueline du Pr�e, 19 October 1987 -- Sir Frederick Ashton, Great choreographer and founder-figure of British ballet 18 August 1988 -- Laurence Olivier, Player of spellbinding power and versatility 11 July 1989 -- Sugar Ray Robinson, Supreme exponent of pugilistic skills 12 April 1989 -- Ayatollah Khomeini, Cleric who led Iran to the past 3 June 1989 -- Herbert von Karajan, Master conductor of opera, orchestra, and recordings 16 July 1989 -- Samuel Beckett, Unassuming genius who probed the quandary of human existence 22 December 1989 -- Margot Fonteyn, 21 February 1991 -- Peggy Ashcroft, 14 June 1991 -- Miles Davis, 28 September 1991 -- Robert Maxwell, 5 November 1991 -- Menachem Begin, 9 March 1992 -- Francis Bacon, 28 April 1992 -- Elizabeth David, 22 May 1992 -- Willy Brandt, 8 October 1992 -- Rudolf Nureyev, 6 January 1993 -- Richard Nixon, 22 April 1994 -- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 19 May 1994 -- Fred Perry, 2 February 1995 -- Harold Wilson, 24 May 1995 --
Jacques Cousteau, 25 June 1997 -- Diana, Princess of Wales, 31 August 1997 -- Mother Teresa, 5 September 1997 -- Frank Sinatra, 14 May 1998 -- Iris Murdoch, 8 February 1999 -- Stanley Kubrick, 7 March 1999 -- Yehudi Menuhin, 12 March 1999 -- Sir Alf Ramsey, 28 April 1999 -- Raisa Gorbachev, 20 September 1999 -- Sir Stanley Matthews, Footballer whose ability to fox his opponents dazzled crowds for decades and earned him the game's first knighthood 23 February 2000 -- Barbara Cartland, Queen of the romantic novel and the world's bestselling author, who lived in a fluffy pink world all of her own invention 21 May 2000 -- Sir John Gielgud, Fastidious performer with a matchless voice, who stood centre stage through the whole history of modern British theatre 21 May 2000 -- Sir Alec Guinness, Versatile and self-effacing actor who turned anonymity into an art form and himself into an international star 5 August 2000 -- Don Bradman, Australian maestro whose remarkable batting achievements are unlikely to be eclipsed 25 February 2001 -- Spike Milligan, Goon, solo comic, and writer who contributed to Hitler's downfall and fascinated generations of children with his fantasy fictions 27 February 2002 -- Christiaan Barnard, Bold and skilful surgeon who carried out the world's first human heart transplant operation and relished the celebrity it brought him 2 September 2001 -- Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, 30 March 2002 -- Barbara Castle, Labour firebrand who introduced child benefit and the Breathalyser - and launched a brave but doomed attempt at trade union reform 3 May 2002 -- Alistair Cooke, The ultimate professional, whose evergreen 'Letter from America' embraced most of the key events in post-war American history 30 March 2004 -- Ronald Reagan, President of the United States whose optimism gave America new pride and whose vision brought the Cold War to an end 5 June 2004 -- Francis Crick, Biologist whose discovery of DNA in 1953 unlocked the 'secret of life' but who continued his voyage of scientific discovery 28 July 2004 -- Yassir Arafat, Palestinian leader who inspired his people's struggle for a homeland but lacked the political clout to make their dream a reality 11 November 2004 -- Pope John Paul ii, 2 April 2005.
Obituaries are about lives, not death. The lives of the exceptional individuals, from Lord Kitchener to Pope John Paul, collected in the book are first drafts of history which to a remarkable degree have stood the test of time. As these extracts show, they offer a revealing history both of the times in which they lived and of the changing Times.
Description based on title page of print version.
Obituaries.
Biography

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