Lawrence "Larry" Semon (February 9, 1889 – October 8, 1928) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter during the silent movie era. In his day, Semon was considered a major movie comedian. He is now remembered mainly for working with both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy before they started working together.
Joyce Cary
Joyce Cary (December 7, 1888 – March 29, 1957) was an Irish novelist and writer, who was born in Donegal, Ireland.
He studied at Clifton and Trinity College, Oxford. Afterwards, he also spent some time learning art at Edinburgh and Paris. In 1913, he joined the Nigerian Political Service, under the British colonial system and was posted out to Nigeria. While working there, he also fought in the First World War, with the local Nigerian Regiment. After the end of the war, he returned to politics. However, he was becoming very sick, and was advised to retire and go back home.
After retiring back to Britain, he began to write seriously and full-time. His first novel, "Aissa Saved", was published in 1932. He published several other works after this, including "The Captive and the Free", "Herself Surprised", "A Fearful Joy", "The Horse's Mouth", "To be a Pilgrim" and others.
He died in March 1957.
Theodore Roethke
Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) was a prominent American poet, who wrote intensely personal, sensitive and spiritualistic poetry.
Roethke's parents were German immigrants, who settled in Michigan and started a highly prosperous floral business. He was born in Michigan. He grew up in an atmosphere of greenhouses and plants. These images stayed with him, and he often alluded to it in his work.
He was educated at the Michigan State University and then Harvard. He became a teacher and sports coach. He began to publish his poetry later, around 1941, with the publication of "Open House". However, according to critics and scholars, he really began to 'mature' with his second book, "The Lost Son and Other Poems" (1948) which was followed by other critically acclaimed volumes.
Roethke joined the University of Washington as a lecturer in 1947. He stayed there until his sudden death in 1963.
Among other prizes and awards, he won the Pulitzer Prize (1953) the Bollinger Prize (1958) and a posthumous National Book Award (1964).
Sikandar Hayat Khan
Khan Bahadur Captain (retd) Sardar Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, KBE, (born 1892 - died 1942) was an important Punjabi statesman and popular leader. He was Governor and then Premier of this province in British India.
Sikandar Hayat was the son of Nawab Muhammad Hayat Khan, CSI, of the Khattar tribe of Wah.
After initial education at the Aligarh school and the MAO College at Aligarh (later to become the Aligarh Muslim University), he went for higher education to the King's College London. On returning home, in 1915, he enrolled as an Assistant Recruiting Officer in the Punjab, to help the British Indian Army's efforts during the First World War; and was later one of the very first natives to receive the King's Commission, as a Captain of the 67th Punjabis (later the 1st Battalion of the 2 Punjab Regiment) in 1919. After the war he started his own business ventures and also entered grassroots politics in his area.
In the 1920s, Sikandar Hayat Khan slowly began to make his mark as a statesman, and in collaboration with Sir Fazli Husain and Sir Chotu Ram became one of the founders of the Unionist Party (Punjab). This was a secular party representing all Punjabis of different creeds mostly united by the "zamindar" (rural/agrarian) interest, and it soon became the most popular political group in the province. Due to his special services at this time, in various ways, the Government of British India granted a knighthood to Sir Sikandar. Between 1932 and 1934 he also had the unique honour of being the only native to be appointed acting Governor of the Punjab under British rule.
Thereafter, for a brief while, Sir Sikandar also worked as Deputy-Governor of the Reserve Bank of India but in July 1936, on the demise of Sir Fazli Husain, he returned to take on leadership of the Unionist party for the general elections held in Winter of the same year, winning by a simple majority and forming a coalition government along with the Indian National Congress and the Sikh Akali Dal. Sikandar was now chosen as Leader of the House and the Premier or Chief Minister of the Punjab. He remained in this position from 1937 to December 1942, when he died of a sudden heart failure.
Between 1939 and 1942, when he died, Sir Sikandar supported the British struggle against Nazi Germany and believed in cooperating with the British government in the Second World War. He believed that this support would be good for India and help it towards independence after the War ended. He was very active in maximizing recruitment of troops from the Punjab as part of the 'war effort' and even made morale-boosting tours of the Middle East where most Indian (especially Punjabi)troops where serving. The Muslim League leadership agreed with this perspective of his and also announced full cooperation with the British Raj, or government, to achieve their own ends.
Soon after winning the general elections in 1937, Sir Sikandar felt conscious of the need to maintain a balanced stance in a volatile and divided Punjabi political system. He thus decided to also negotiate with the All India Muslim League under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. As a result, he and Jinnah signed the Jinnah-Sikandar Pact at Lucknow in October 1937, merging the Muslim elements of his powerful Unionist party with the Muslim League, as a move towards forming a common, united front for safeguarding their community rights and interests in India. He was also later one of the chief supporters and architects of the Lahore Resolution, March 1940, calling for an autonomous or semi-independent Muslim majority region within the larger Indian confederation—which demand later led to the demand for an independent Pakistan.
At the time of his sudden death in December 1942, Sir Sikandar was honoured by the people of Lahore and granted burial outside the old Badshahi Mosque there, on the other side from Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the poet. Much of his work was left half done, in particular his plan to help the British war effort towards eventual Indian freedom, and his attempts to weld the Punjab together and save it from communal friction. Many historians have opined that Sir Sikandar's early demise at the age of 50 was, arguably, a major blow to the Indian freedom movements, especially to the Punjab. He wished to preserve this intact, within a larger Indian Confederation whereby his own Muslim community could enjoy full and maximum freedom and self-governance without truncating India or the Punjab region. He was too well aware of the potential bloodbath and conflict resulting from any such division or separation which, alas, was witnessed on such massive scale at the time of the August 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan. It would thus not be wrong to say that Sir Sikandar's presence would certainly have been a 'moderating influence—and his death must be reckoned a great misfortune [at the time]".
Indirectly, however, in due course, his eldest son Shaukat Hayat Khan, would take on a significant role in assisting the All India Muslim League in winning an independent Pakistan, finally, in a somewhat different interpretation of the father's intentions.
Abdul Majid Khan Tarin
Khan Abdul Majid Khan Tarin, Khan Sahib, OBE (1877–1939) was a prominent magistrate, judge and later MLA, of the NWFP assembly, in British India.