title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Research from DTU, Fujikura & NTT is notable in that the team was able to reduce the power consumption of the optics to around 5% compared with more mainstream techniques, which could lead to a new generation of very power efficient optic components.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Research conducted by the RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, have developed a nanophotonic device that has achieved a 100 fold increase in current attainable fiber optic speeds by using a twisted-light technique.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: This technique carries data on light waves that have been twisted into a spiral form, to increase the optic cable capacity further, this technique is known as orbital angular momentum (OAM). The nanophotonic device uses ultra thin topological nanosheets to measure a fraction of a millimeter of twisted light, the nano-electronic device is embedded within a connector smaller than the size of a USB connector, it fits easily at the end of an optical fiber cable. The device can also be used to receive quantum information sent via twisted light, it is likely to be used in a new range of quantum communication and quantum computing research.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: For modern glass optical fiber, the maximum transmission distance is limited not by direct material absorption but by several types of dispersion, or spreading of optical pulses as they travel along the fiber. Dispersion in optical fibers is caused by a variety of factors. Intermodal dispersion, caused by the different axial speeds of different transverse modes, limits the performance of multi-mode fiber. Because single-mode fiber supports only one transverse mode, intermodal dispersion is eliminated.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: In single-mode fiber performance is primarily limited by chromatic dispersion (also called group velocity dispersion), which occurs because the index of the glass varies slightly depending on the wavelength of the light, and light from real optical transmitters necessarily has nonzero spectral width (due to modulation). Polarization mode dispersion, another source of limitation, occurs because although the single-mode fiber can sustain only one transverse mode, it can carry this mode with two different polarizations, and slight imperfections or distortions in a fiber can alter the propagation velocities for the two polarizations. This phenomenon is called fiber birefringence and can be counteracted by polarization-maintaining optical fiber. Dispersion limits the bandwidth of the fiber because the spreading optical pulse limits the rate that pulses can follow one another on the fiber and still be distinguishable at the receiver.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Some dispersion, notably chromatic dispersion, can be removed by a 'dispersion compensator'. This works by using a specially prepared length of fiber that has the opposite dispersion to that induced by the transmission fiber, and this sharpens the pulse so that it can be correctly decoded by the electronics.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Fiber attenuation, which necessitates the use of amplification systems, is caused by a combination of material absorption, Rayleigh scattering, Mie scattering, and connection losses. Although material absorption for pure silica is only around 0.03 dB/km (modern fiber has attenuation around 0.3 dB/km), impurities in the original optical fibers caused attenuation of about 1000 dB/km. Other forms of attenuation are caused by physical stresses to the fiber, microscopic fluctuations in density, and imperfect splicing techniques.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Each effect that contributes to attenuation and dispersion depends on the optical wavelength. There are wavelength bands (or windows) where these effects are weakest, and these are the most favorable for transmission. These windows have been standardized, and the currently defined bands are the following:


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Note that this table shows that current technology has managed to bridge the second and third windows that were originally disjoint.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Historically, there was a window used below the O band, called the first window, at 800–900 nm; however, losses are high in this region so this window is used primarily for short-distance communications. The current lower windows (O and E) around 1300 nm have much lower losses. This region has zero dispersion. The middle windows (S and C) around 1500 nm are the most widely used. This region has the lowest attenuation losses and achieves the longest range. It does have some dispersion, so dispersion compensator devices are used to remove this.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: When a communications link must span a larger distance than existing fiber-optic technology is capable of, the signal must be "regenerated" at intermediate points in the link by optical communications repeaters. Repeaters add substantial cost to a communication system, and so system designers attempt to minimize their use.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Recent advances in fiber and optical communications technology have reduced signal degradation so far that "regeneration" of the optical signal is only needed over distances of hundreds of kilometers. This has greatly reduced the cost of optical networking, particularly over undersea spans where the cost and reliability of repeaters is one of the key factors determining the performance of the whole cable system. The main advances contributing to these performance improvements are dispersion management, which seeks to balance the effects of dispersion against non-linearity; and solitons, which use nonlinear effects in the fiber to enable dispersion-free propagation over long distances.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Although fiber-optic systems excel in high-bandwidth applications, optical fiber has been slow to achieve its goal of fiber to the premises or to solve the last mile problem. However, FTTH deployment has increased significantly over the last decade and is projected to serve millions more subscribers in the near future. In Japan, for instance EPON has largely replaced DSL as a broadband Internet source. South Korea's KT also provides a service called FTTH (Fiber To The Home), which provides fiber-optic connections to the subscriber's home. The largest FTTH deployments are in Japan, South Korea, and China. Singapore started implementation of their all-fiber Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN), which is slated for completion in 2012 and is being installed by OpenNet. Since they began rolling out services in September 2010, network coverage in Singapore has reached 85% nationwide.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: In the US, Verizon Communications provides a FTTH service called FiOS to select high-ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) markets within its existing territory. The other major surviving ILEC (or Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier), AT&T, uses a FTTN (Fiber To The Node) service called U-verse with twisted-pair to the home. Their MSO competitors employ FTTN with coax using HFC. All of the major access networks use fiber for the bulk of the distance from the service provider's network to the customer.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: The globally dominant access network technology is EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network). In Europe, and among telcos in the United States, BPON (ATM-based Broadband PON) and GPON (Gigabit PON) had roots in the FSAN (Full Service Access Network) and ITU-T standards organizations under their control.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: The choice between optical fiber and electrical (or copper) transmission for a particular system is made based on a number of trade-offs. Optical fiber is generally chosen for systems requiring higher bandwidth or spanning longer distances than electrical cabling can accommodate.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: The main benefits of fiber are its exceptionally low loss (allowing long distances between amplifiers/repeaters), its absence of ground currents and other parasite signal and power issues common to long parallel electric conductor runs (due to its reliance on light rather than electricity for transmission, and the dielectric nature of fiber optic), and its inherently high data-carrying capacity. Thousands of electrical links would be required to replace a single high bandwidth fiber cable. Another benefit of fibers is that even when run alongside each other for long distances, fiber cables experience effectively no crosstalk, in contrast to some types of electrical transmission lines. Fiber can be installed in areas with high electromagnetic interference (EMI), such as alongside utility lines, power lines, and railroad tracks. Nonmetallic all-dielectric cables are also ideal for areas of high lightning-strike incidence.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: For comparison, while single-line, voice-grade copper systems longer than a couple of kilometers require in-line signal repeaters for satisfactory performance, it is not unusual for optical systems to go over , with no active or passive processing. Single-mode fiber cables are commonly available in lengths, minimizing the number of splices required over a long cable run. Multi-mode fiber is available in lengths up to 4 km, although industrial standards only mandate 2 km unbroken runs.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: In short distance and relatively low bandwidth applications, electrical transmission is often preferred because of its


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Optical fibers are more difficult and expensive to splice than electrical conductors. And at higher powers, optical fibers are susceptible to fiber fuse, resulting in catastrophic destruction of the fiber core and damage to transmission components.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Because of these benefits of electrical transmission, optical communication is not common in short box-to-box, backplane, or chip-to-chip applications; however, optical systems on those scales have been demonstrated in the laboratory.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: In certain situations fiber may be used even for short distance or low bandwidth applications, due to other important features:


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Optical fiber cables can be installed in buildings with the same equipment that is used to install copper and coaxial cables, with some modifications due to the small size and limited pull tension and bend radius of optical cables. Optical cables can typically be installed in duct systems in spans of 6000 meters or more depending on the duct's condition, layout of the duct system, and installation technique. Longer cables can be coiled at an intermediate point and pulled farther into the duct system as necessary.


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: In order for various manufacturers to be able to develop components that function compatibly in fiber optic communication systems, a number of standards have been developed. The International Telecommunication Union publishes several standards related to the characteristics and performance of fibers themselves, including


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: Other standards specify performance criteria for fiber, transmitters, and receivers to be used together in conforming systems. Some of these standards are:


title: Fiber-optic communication

text: TOSLINK is the most common format for digital audio cable using plastic optical fiber to connect digital sources to digital receivers.


title: German cockroach

text: The German cockroach (Blattella germanica), colloquially known as the croton bug, is a species of small cockroach, typically about long. In color it varies from tan to almost black, and it has two dark, roughly parallel, streaks on the pronotum running anteroposteriorly from behind the head to the base of the wings. Although "B. germanica" has wings, it can barely fly, although it may glide when disturbed. Of the few species of cockroach that are domestic pests, it probably is the most widely troublesome example. It is very closely related to the Asian cockroach, and to the casual observer, the two appear nearly identical and may be mistaken for each other. However, the Asian cockroach is attracted to light and can fly like a moth, while the German cockroach cannot.


title: German cockroach

text: The German cockroach occurs widely in human buildings, but is particularly associated with restaurants, food processing facilities, hotels, and institutional establishments such as nursing homes and hospitals. They can survive outside as well, though they are not commonly found in the wild. In cold climates, they occur only near human dwellings, because they cannot survive severe cold. However, German cockroaches have been found as inquilines ("tenants") of human buildings as far north as Alert, Nunavut. Similarly, they have been found as far south as southern Patagonia.


title: German cockroach

text: Previously thought to be a native of Europe, the German cockroach later was considered to have emerged from the region of Ethiopia in Northeast Africa, but more recent evidence suggests that it actually originated in Southeast Asia. Whatever the truth of the matter, the cockroach's sensitivity to cold might reflect its origin from such warm climates, and its spread as a pest since ancient times has resulted from incidental human transport and shelter. The species now is cosmopolitan in distribution, occurring as a household pest on all continents except Antarctica, and on many major islands, as well. It accordingly has been given various names in the cultures of many regions.


title: German cockroach

text: Though nocturnal, the German cockroach occasionally appears by day, especially if the population is crowded or has been disturbed. However, sightings are most frequent in the evening, when someone suddenly brings a light into a room deserted after dark, such as a kitchen where they have been scavenging. When excited or frightened, the species emits an unpleasant odor.


title: German cockroach

text: German cockroaches are omnivorous scavengers. They are attracted particularly to meats, starches, sugars, and fatty foods. Where a shortage of foodstuff exists, they may eat household items such as soap, glue, and toothpaste. In famine conditions, they turn cannibalistic, chewing at each other's wings and legs. The German cockroach is an intermediate host of the Acanthocephalan parasite "Moniliformis kalahariensis".


title: German cockroach

text: The German cockroach reproduces faster than any other residential cockroach, growing from egg to reproductive adult in roughly 50 – 60 days under ideal conditions. Once fertilized, a female German cockroach develops an ootheca in her abdomen. The abdomen swells as her eggs develop, until the translucent tip of the ootheca begins to protrude from the end of her abdomen, and by that time the eggs inside are fully sized, about 1/4 inch long with 16 segments. The ootheca, at first translucent, soon turns white and then within a few hours it turns pink, progressively darkening until, some 48 hours later, it attains the dark red-brown of the shell of a chestnut. The ootheca has a keel-like ridge along the line where the young emerge, and curls slightly towards that edge as it completes its maturation. A small percentage of the nymphs may hatch while the ootheca is still attached to the female, but the majority emerge some 24 hours after it has detached from the female's body. The newly hatched 3-mm-long black nymphs then progress through six or seven instars before becoming sexually mature, but ecdysis is such a hazardous process that nearly half the nymphs die of natural causes before reaching adulthood. Molted skins and dead nymphs are soon eaten by living nymphs present at the time of molting.


title: German cockroach

text: The German cockroach is very successful at establishing an ecological niche in buildings, and is resilient in the face of many pest-control measures. Reasons include:


title: German cockroach

text: German cockroaches are thigmotactic, meaning they prefer confined spaces, and they are small compared to other pest species, so they can hide within small cracks and crevices that are easy to overlook, thereby evading humans and their eradication efforts. Conversely, the seasoned pest controller is alert for cracks and crevices where it is likely to be profitable to place baits or spray surfaces.


title: German cockroach

text: To be effective, control measures must be comprehensive, sustained, and systematic; survival of just a few eggs is quite enough to regenerate a nearly exterminated pest population within a few generations, and recolonization from surrounding populations often is very rapid, too.


title: German cockroach

text: Another problem in controlling German cockroaches is the nature of their population behavior. Though they are not social and practice no organized maternal care, females carry oothecae of 18-50 eggs (average about 32) during incubation until just before hatching, instead of dropping them as most other species of cockroaches do. This protects the eggs from certain classes of predation. Then, after hatching, nymphs largely survive by consuming excretions and molts from adults, thereby establishing their own internal microbial populations and avoiding contact with most insecticidal surface treatments and baits. One effective control is insect growth regulators (hydroprene, methoprene, etc.), which act by preventing molting, thus prevent maturation of the various instars. Caulking baseboards and around pipes may prevent the travel of adults from one apartment to another within a building.


title: German cockroach

text: As an adaptive consequence of pest control by poisoned sugar baits, a strain of German cockroaches has emerged that reacts to glucose as distastefully bitter. They refuse to eat sweetened baits, which presents an obstacle to their control, given that baits are an economical and effective means of control. It also is a dramatic illustration of adaptive selection; in the absence of poisoned sweet baits, attraction to sugars strongly promotes growth, energy, and reproduction; cockroaches that are not attracted to sugars take longer to grow and reproduce, whereas in the presence of poisoned sugared baits, sugar avoidance promotes reproduction.


title: German cockroach

text: The genome of the German cockroach was published in February 2018 in "Nature Ecology and Evolution". The relatively large genome (2.0 Gb) harbours a very high number of proteins, of which most notably one group of chemoreceptors, called the ionotropic receptors, is particularly numerous. These chemoreceptors possibly allow the German cockroach to detect a broad range of chemical cues from toxins, food, pathogens, and pheromones.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Highlander: The Series is an American science fantasy action-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the eponymous "Highlander". It was co-produced by Rysher Distribution in the United States, Gaumont Television in France, Reteitalia in Italy, RTL Plus in Germany, and Amuse Video in Japan. An alternate sequel to the 1986 feature film "Highlander", it features a storyline in which the protagonist of that film (Connor MacLeod, a member of a race of "Immortals") has not won "the Prize" sought by all Immortals, who still exist post-1985. Christopher Lambert reprised his role as Connor in the pilot episode, which introduced series protagonist Duncan MacLeod, an Immortal who was taken in by the same clan of Scottish Highlanders who had found and raised Connor generations before.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The series was an international hit and was nominated twice for the Motion Picture Sound Editors' Golden Reel Award (Foley Artist ("The Gathering"): 1992; Foley Artist ("The Darkness"): 1993), three times for the Gemini Award (Best Dramatic Series: 1996; Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series: 1997 (John Pyper-Ferguson), 1996 (Bruce A. Young)), once for a Saturn Award (Best Genre Syndicated TV Series: 1997), and eight times for the Online Film & Television Association Award (Best Guest Actress in a Syndicated Series (Sandra Bernhard), Best Direction in a Syndicated Series, Best Writing in a Syndicated Series, Best Syndicated Series, Best Ensemble in a Syndicated Series: 1997; Best Actor in a Syndicated Series (Peter Wingfield), Best Syndicated Series, Best Ensemble in a Syndicated Series: 1998).


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The pilot episode established the main character, Duncan MacLeod, and his girlfriend Tessa Noël (played by Alexandra Vandernoot), initially living quietly together as co-proprietors of the antique shop MacLeod & Noël Antiques. Richie Ryan (Stan Kirsch) was introduced as a thief breaking into their shop and witnessing the confrontation between Duncan, the evil Immortal Slan Quince (Richard Moll), and Duncan's fellow clansman Connor MacLeod, the hero from the movies.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Also revealed was that Duncan had lived nearly 400 years, and was one of many such Immortals in the world. Connor had come to ask Duncan to return to the Game, to fight on the side of good against evil. "The Game" was the term used by the Immortals to describe their hunting of one another, seeking "Quickenings" by beheading their opponents. Duncan had been hiding from other Immortals for some time, removing himself from the Game. Now hunted by Quince, he had to face him, and by the end of the first episode, Slan was defeated and Duncan clearly caught up in The Game again.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Storylines revolved around Duncan MacLeod and his relationships with mortals and other Immortals. Relationships formed a theme in the series, especially Duncan MacLeod's relationships with his friends, family, lovers, and foes (). As the series progressed, changes in concept become apparent, as well as normal growth in the characters and their relationships. Recurring Immortal characters such as Amanda and Methos made guest appearances in season one, and the Watchers, including Joe Dawson, were introduced in season two.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In the final episode of season 5, "Archangel", the character of Richie Ryan was killed off and the supernatural demon Ahriman introduced into the storyline. Of the 13 episodes of season six, two did not feature MacLeod, while in some he appeared in cameos: the producers were experimenting with introducing a new female Immortal character for a spin-off series. None of the introduced characters were chosen, and what came to be "" featured the recurring character Amanda in a starring role. The spin-off series lasted for one season, consisting of 22 episodes.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Each episode began with an opening montage of scenes from Duncan's life, over which was a narration giving a brief overview of the series' theme. The first six episodes of the first season were narrated by Duncan himself:


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The narration changed again in the second season, when Watcher Joe Dawson was introduced (narrative by Joe):


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The narration changed again at the beginning of the fourth season, and remained until the end of the series' run (narrative by Joe):


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Duncan MacLeod and Tessa Noel have been living in the city of Seacouver in the Pacific North West for several years, where they run an antiques store. One night, a young street punk called Richie Ryan breaks into the shop whilst they are celebrating Tessa's birthday but is caught by MacLeod, who threatens to cut off his head with a sword. Stunned by MacLeod's seeming over-reaction, Richie watches as another man jumps in through the skylight and challenges the antiques dealer, only to be disconcerted by the appearance of a third man with a Japanese sword, who is in turn hunting him. The intruder is Slan Quince, who is hunting Duncan, unaware that he is himself the target of Duncan's kinsman, Connor MacLeod. Intrigued, the kid follows the MacLeods, only to see first Connor, then Duncan, fight Slan. He sees Connor defeated but escape, leaving Duncan to behead Quince. Amazed, he watches Duncan caught at the center of lightning and explosions as he witnesses, for the first time, a Quickening. Before he leaves, Connor tells Duncan that he must watch Richie, which Duncan does by taking in the boy, who has no family, and employing him in the antiques store. MacLeod also tells Richie the truth about himself and the others – that he is 400 years old and he, like them, is Immortal ("The Gathering"). As the series progressed, MacLeod encountered Immortals like Howard Crowley whom he killed in revenge for killing an Immortal friend of his and framing an innocent man for it ("Innocent Man"), Kiem Sun ("Road Not Taken") and taking in an Immortal student Felice Martin (Free Fall). He even saves Tessa from Immortals like survivalist Caleb Cole (for the only time in the series, Tessa sees Duncan caught in the power of a Quickening) ("Mountain Men") and Andrew Ballin, who wanted to kill her after she witnessed him killing his former lover ("Eyewitness"). Alexei Voshin, with whom he has an old score to settle ("The Sea Witch"), and Walter Reinhardt, another Immortal he had crossed paths with before ("Revenge Is Sweet").


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The idyllic life of Duncan and Tessa is shattered by the arrival of a message from one of Mac's teachers, the priest Darius. Darius' most powerful enemy, Grayson, was coming to Seacouver, to eliminate a mortal peacemaker and disciple of Darius, Victor Paulus. Grayson was a lieutenant of Darius when they led an army across Europe in the 5th century but turned against him when Darius killed the then-oldest living Immortal at the gates of Paris and became a man of peace. Determined to protect Tessa and Richie but uncertain of his ability to handle Grayson, he sends them to Darius for protection, then sets out to face Grayson. Grayson offers MacLeod a position at his right hand, but is refused. Grayson takes MacLeod to the limit before the Highlander prevails. MacLeod follows his friends to Paris, where he and Tessa decide to stay, living on Duncan's barge. Tessa takes up a post as a curator, Duncan takes up the role of a kept man and Richie that of a fish out of water ("Band of Brothers").


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Duncan does the shopping, but as he is returning to the barge one morning, he sees a man dressed as a mime kill an elderly man ("For Evil's Sake"). Helping the police, he tells them that he can identify the man. The police inspector, LeBrun, is convinced he has seen Duncan before. Later, mysterious men with guns stake out the barge and, when Duncan fells one, he finds that he is a policeman. LeBrun has remembered Duncan – when he was a young gendarme, they were chasing the assassin Kuyler and he saw Duncan then. LeBrun's assistant is in Kuyler's pay, but Duncan silences the mime forever and LeBrun arrests his assistant. Duncan hasn't finished with LeBrun, for when his old enemy Xavier St Cloud crosses his path again, Duncan throws one of Xavier's gas grenades into a cement mixer and LeBrun fishes it out ("For Tomorrow We Die"). Convinced MacLeod is the gas poisoner, LeBrun tries to run him in whilst Duncan has to stop Xavier from gassing an exhibition Tessa is organizing. Frustrated, Xavier comes for Duncan, but Duncan cuts off Xavier's hand and he disappears into the Seine. The series also introduced two old Immortal lovers of Duncan’s to test Tessa's restraint. Grace Chandel, on the run both from the police, who want to arrest her for killing her mortal husband, and the Immortal ex-lover who was the real killer, the possessive Carlo Sendaro ("Saving Grace") was welcomed by Tessa, when Duncan and Darius help her escape, Duncan making sure that Carlo will not trouble her again. The same was not true of Amanda, described by Duncan as "a bad habit". In "The Lady and The Tiger" we met the unprincipled cat-burglar with a passion for circuses, robbery, and 400-year-old Scotsmen, here trying to set up MacLeod so that the Immortal thief she had double-crossed, Zachary Blaine, would not take her head. In the end, she takes Zachary's, but not before Duncan has done all the hard work. Which pretty much set the pattern for all of the Amanda stories to come.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In the season finale, Duncan's old friend, Hugh Fitzcairn, comes to see him, with news that Immortals are disappearing. When they go to see Darius, they find him decapitated inside the church. Returning to Fitz's hotel, they are attacked and Fitz is spirited away, whilst Duncan returns to the church, finding a mysterious book hidden by Darius. It is a history of Immortals written by a secret society of mortals. When these mortals come for Duncan, he is ready and follows them back to their hideout, rescuing Fitz, who is about to be guillotined and confronting their leader, a wild-eyed fanatic who wants to destroy all Immortals. He gets away, leaving a shattered MacLeod to mourn his friend and teacher. The season ends with MacLeod vowing revenge on the men and pouring Darius' ashes into the Seine, to flow out to the sea ("The Hunters").


title: Highlander: The Series

text: This season opened with a new title sequence and a mysterious voice over explaining who Duncan MacLeod is and giving a quick summary of the Rules of the Game. Not so mysterious a voice, as we were to find out, as it is the voice of Joe Dawson. In the first story, ("The Watchers"), a bitter MacLeod returns to Seacouver, determined to find Darius' killers, but with only the Chronicle left by Darius to guide him. He follows a clue to a bookstore, where the manager, Dawson, denies knowing about the book. When MacLeod chases down two men watching from across the street, Dawson follows and tells Duncan that he is his Watcher, one of a secret society of mortals who observe and record the history of the Immortals, but never interfere. He refuses to believe MacLeod's assertion that Darius was murdered by mortals, but is forced to when the leader of the killers is revealed to be his own brother-in-law, James Horton. MacLeod confronts Horton, who shoots him, but not before MacLeod extracts his vengeance for Darius and runs Horton through with his sword. Believing Horton dead, but now aware of the Watchers, MacLeod carries on with his life and tries to help two old friends, but with differing results. Gregor Powers has become a photographer but has lost touch with his humanity, pushing his feelings for others away to avoid the recurring pain of loss ("Studies In Light"). Duncan helps him to learn to value his life and the gift of his Immortality, whilst watching his own former lover, Linda Plager, who is mortal, die of old age and infirmity. Soon after, another Immortal friend, Michael Moore, appears, looking for Mac's help in hunting down Quenten Barnes, Michael's long time enemy, who has reappeared after a long absence ("Turnabout"). Also reappearing is Joe Dawson, who tries to enlist Duncan's help, as Barnes is hunting down and killing the men who tried and executed him years before ("Turnabout"). Barnes was buried and has only recently been disinterred. An uneasy peace is struck between Watcher and Immortal, as the terrible truth dawns – Michael is Quenten Barnes, the two sides of his personality fragmented into a schizophrenic existence. As Quenten slowly takes permanent control, Michael pleads with Duncan to end it and MacLeod kills his friend. During this episode, Mac takes Richie to a martial arts gym, or "dojo", run by Charlie DeSalvo, where they intend to train. Thoughts of extra-curricular activities are put aside as the reopening of the antiques shop gets nearer. After a spooky encounter with a palm reader reminds Mac of the gypsies' warning that he will never marry, he tempts fate by asking Tessa to marry him. Overjoyed, she accepts and, as they plan the wedding, Mac is lured from the shop by a group of Watchers, whose leader, Pallin Wolf, stuns Richie and kidnaps Tessa. Using her as a lure, he entices MacLeod to his home, where he has a lightless room in which he hunts and kills Immortals, using a nightscope to see his prey (a la "Silence Of The Lambs"). Fate smiles on Mac by allowing him to defeat Wolf and rescue Tessa despite "The Darkness", but he makes a decision that will haunt him. Sending Tessa with Richie, he stays to rifle the man's files, but as they leave, they are mugged and shot dead. MacLeod runs out to find them both lying in the street. As he holds Tessa in his arms, Richie revives, a newborn Immortal. Grief-stricken, MacLeod sells the store. Richie arrives at the loft one night with a girl he has rescued, who was being pursued by an Immortal ("Under Color Of Authority"). From the description, Duncan recognizes that the hunter is Mako, an eternal lawman. The girl is evasive, but it transpires that she is on the run for murdering her husband, who abused her, but she fears that she will be killed if she goes back, as her husband's father runs the town. Mako doesn't care – he has a warrant and will take her back to stand trial. Richie refuses to stand by and helps her to flee, but when Mako accidentally kills the girl, Richie is enraged and challenges Mako, whom he kills, despite Duncan pleading with him not to. For the first time, Richie feels the power of a Quickening, but it is tinged with sadness as Mac tells him that he is now on his own and must leave.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Duncan takes Anne to a recital by a choir of monks, one of whom, Paul, is an Immortal. Neither man realises that the song being sung is "The Song Of The Executioner", as the unseen impresario who organised the concert is Kalas, an Immortal with scores to settle with both Duncan and Paul. Kalas kills Paul and then sets about destroying MacLeod, first by framing Joe for dealing drugs then by killing two of Anne's patients and fabricating hospital records to make it look like she is responsible. Duncan realises that Kalas is behind this and, having cleared Joe and Anne, confronts his enemy. As they fight, Anne sees Duncan fall to his death, but Richie gets her away before Duncan revives.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In the midst of this, Richie embarks on a new career in motorcycle racing. Rather than tell Anne the truth, especially with Kalas at large, Duncan leaves Seacouver, arranging for Maurice to buy back the barge in Paris. Arriving in Paris, Duncan is greeted by Hugh Fitzcairn, who is teaching cookery at the Cordon Bleu, ("Star Crossed"). The normally philandering Fitz is in love but has a rival, who tries to kill him by running the two Immortals off the road. At the same time, Richie arrives in France, looking to build on his American successes in motorcycling. Whilst Fitz tells Duncan he should trust Anne, Kalas frames Fitz for the murder of his rival. On the run, Fitz is confronted by Kalas, who beheads him as MacLeod helplessly watches. When Duncan comes for Kalas, his nemesis escapes into a cloud of steam.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Determined to finish Kalas, Duncan seeks Joe's help. Kalas owns a nightclub and Duncan "persuades" the bartender to tell him where Kalas has gone. Kalas has captured his own Watcher and is looking for information on "Methos", the legendary oldest Immortal. After Kalas kills one of the Watchers' historians, Donald Salzer, Dawson sends Duncan to a researcher on the Methos Chronicle, Adam Pierson. Duncan is stunned to find that Pierson is Methos. Kalas confronts Methos, who escapes and sets up Duncan to take his head, realising that he cannot handle Kalas, but Duncan could. Duncan refuses, but when he confronts Kalas at Methos' apartment, their fight is interrupted by the police, who arrest Kalas for Salzer's murder after Adam Pierson identifies Kalas. Before he vanishes from Paris, Methos tells Duncan that he couldn't take the chance on Kalas winning.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In the two part season Finale, Amanda arrives at the barge, being very, very nice to Duncan, which always arouses his suspicions, ("Finale"). Eventually, she tells him that she broke Kalas out of jail, to kill him, but that Kalas got away. Kalas, using the thugs employed by his cellmate, wastes no time in coming for MacLeod and, as Duncan and Amanda try to find him, finds Maurice, who Duncan rescues in the nick of time and sends out of Paris. Kalas captures Amanda, intending to use her as bait, but she escapes. A new problem arises, when Joe Dawson and Methos arrive at the barge. Christine Salzer, the widow of Donald Salzer, the historian Kalas murdered, has found a database created for the Watchers and intends to give it to the newspapers. Dawson tries to stop her, even trying to shoot her, but MacLeod prevents him from becoming a murderer, taking the bullet himself.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: As the Immortals think that their secret will be on CNN, Kalas intercepts Christine and kills her, taking the vital disk. He uses the information to find the European head of the Watchers and kills him. He gives Duncan a choice – surrender to him or Kalas will broadcast the information on the disk. Watchers and Immortals combine to hunt Kalas down. Methos tells Duncan to fight Kalas. Amanda and Duncan, faced with the destruction of their world, finally admit their feelings for each other openly. Duncan faces Kalas on the top of the Eiffel Tower and takes his enemy's head. The Quickening of such a powerful Immortal surges through the steelwork of the tower and overloads the Paris power grid, plunging the city into darkness and, in the process, blowing up Kalas' computer and destroying the disk. After celebrating Duncan's victory over Kalas and remembering Paul and Fitzcairn, Joe and Methos leave Duncan and Amanda alone to work out how much of what they said to each other they really want to take back.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: With Kalas dead, MacLeod is free to return to his normal life and resumes his interest in antiques, until one night he sees a bracelet in a private showing at a dealer's, a bracelet he thought long buried. Shadowed by a curious Joe Dawson, he returns to his native Scotland for the first time in two hundred years to return it to the grave of his first love, Debra Campbell. Once in Glenfinnan, he is greeted with hostility by Rachel MacLeod, the local innkeeper, as the village is beset once again by mysterious murders. With the villagers recounting the legend of Duncan MacLeod, who rose from the dead to claim his father's sword and kill the Viking raider, Kanwulf, Rachel slowly comes to trust Duncan as the legend plays itself out again and, this time, Duncan make sure he takes the Viking's head and Quickening before leaving Glenfinnan at peace. (this marked Adrian Paul’s directorial debut in the series) The episode that followed saw the final guest appearance of Phillip Akin as Charlie DeSalvo who was killed by immortal Andrew Cord in Brothers in Arms. The season also saw the friendship of Joe and Duncan temporally end. But mid season saw Duncan like never before as an evil immortal after being affected by the Dark Quickening which corrupts him leading him to turn on his friends (Richie and Joe). In the episode Deliverence, Duncan with the help of Methos is able to overcome the evil inside him. The cliffhanger ending to Season Four starts with a telephone call that brings Joe Dawson to Paris, in the belief that MacLeod is dead . Standing on the Quai, he is kidnapped in front of Duncan, who finds out from Methos that Joe is on trial for his life before the Watcher tribunal. Watchers are being killed across Europe and the Watchers believe that Joe's revelation of their secret is the root cause, unaware that it is the consequences of their own hypocrisy and double standards that is visiting destruction upon them. Blind to their own arrogance and willingness to interfere in the Game, they ignore Duncan's pleas for clemency. As they prepare to execute Dawson, it is they who are judged as a mysterious Immortal guns down the Watcher hierarchy and flees past Duncan, who arrives in time to find Dawson wounded and unconscious in the final scene.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: After the events in "Judgment Day", the Watchers abandon all pretense of not interfering in the Game. Believing that MacLeod is responsible for the slaughter of the Watchers, Jack Shapiro, their head, orders his death and, at the beginning of "One Minute To Midnight", Duncan is trying to survive their manhunt. Believing the only way to avoid a war between the Watchers and the Immortals is to convince Shapiro of his innocence, MacLeod goes to their battle headquarters, only to find that the Immortal who is the real killer has beaten him to the punch. The bitter irony of the situation is revealed – Jacob Galati is hunting the Watchers after Horton killed his Immortal wife, Irena, during his rampage across Europe in 1992 that ended when he killed Darius in Paris, ("The Hunters"). Jacob refuses to believe that the Watchers are not evil, but agrees to meet Joe, who has been nursed back to health by Methos. Joe won't meet Jacob though and helps the Watchers to capture him. Duncan is forced to stand by whilst the Watchers murder Jacob and is devastated to receive his friend's Quickening. Methos rejects Joe and the Watchers for what they have become, but MacLeod returns to confront Shapiro, to put an end to the killing. When Shapiro refuses, Joe belatedly realizes that his friend has become another Horton and helps Duncan to secure peace with the Watchers. Wanting nothing to do with Paris, Duncan returns to Seacouver. There, he finds the Immortal Cassandra waiting for him. She is being hunted by Roland Kantos, one of her students, and she tells Duncan of a "Prophecy" that he will defeat great evil. Kantos relies on the hypnotic power of his voice to defeat his opponents, but Duncan, after nearly losing his head to Kantos' tricks, defeats the mesmerist by plugging his ears. Joe comes to the dojo and gets the cold shoulder from Duncan, but before he leaves, he tells MacLeod that Richie is in town, ("The End Of Innocence"). Duncan tries to make his peace with Richie, but the young Immortal is still plagued by nightmares after Duncan almost killed him in "Something Wicked" and warns Duncan to stay away from him. When Richie challenges and kills Carter Wellan, his mentor Haresh Clay comes for Richie, breaking his sword. Richie is arrested trying to steal another one from a museum and is bailed out by Duncan, who warns him that Clay is as good as they come and gives him a sword. The two Immortals work out their differences and, now acting as equals, it is Duncan who asks Richie to stand aside as he avenges his humiliation at Clay's hands when they first met and takes his head. In "Archangel" Duncan accidentally kills Richie thinking he is a demon he is destined to face.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The series dealt with the Ahriman story arc in the first two episodes. A majority of the season dealt with Duncan meeting some female Immortals. The producers were experimenting to look for a replacement to Duncan for the planned spin-off "Highlander: The Raven".


title: Highlander: The Series

text: "Highlander: The Series" originated in Europe. Christopher Lambert, who had then starred in the first two "Highlander" movies, had previously worked with French leading entertainment conglomerate Gaumont's president Christian Charret. Lambert knew that "Highlander" producers Peter Davis and Bill Panzer wanted to make a "Highlander" series and connected them with Charret. Gaumont bought the rights to the series. "Highlander" was one of the first projects developed by Gaumont's television branch opened in 1992 and one of its financial backers was the French bank Credit du Nord.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The French leading production company Gaumont Television bought the rights to the series to have it produced in syndication in America with a local crew, a ground-breaking move at the time. "Highlander" marked the first time a French production company was creatively involved in a show intended for the American market. The show was co-produced in syndication by international partners including Gaumont, RTL Plus (Germany), Rysher Distribution (United States), Reteitalia Productions (Italy), Amuse Video (Japan) and TF1 (France). The budget of the first season was US$26.1 million. Keith Samples, president of Rysher, stated that "about 75% of the guaranteed budget came from overseas sales." The remaining 25% came from United States sales and the producers retained the distribution rights, which allowed the show to produce $800,000 per episode only from international income, believed to be the top result of the 1992–1993 season. To secure an adequate share of European content, and as a result of the co-production agreement, each season was divided into two segments, the first segment was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (posing at the fictional location of Seacouver, Washington, United States), the second in Paris, France. The production of the first segment began in Vancouver on July 13, 1992, while the production of the second segment started in December 1992 in Paris and used the studios of French state production agency Société Française de Production (SFP) at Bry-sur-Marne near Paris.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The executive producers were Bill Panzer, Peter S. Davis, Gaumont Television president Christian Charret and Gaumont co-production chief Marla Ginsburg. Steven Maier, Sheryl Hardy and Guy Collins were co-executive producers. Kevin Droney and Philip John Taylor were supervising producers at the beginning of the season; from the seventh episode onwards, David Abramowitz became supervising producer instead of Taylor. The producers were Barry Rosen and Gary Goodman for Season One, replaced by Ken Gord from Season Two til the end of the Season Six. Executives in charge of production were Marc du Pontavice and Denis Leroy. Scripts were contributed by both staff and freelance writers, Brian Clemens among the latter. Brent-Carl Clackson was line producer on the Vancouver segment, from episode one to thirteen. When production moved to Paris, Clackson was succeeded by Patrick Millet (with the title of production manager) for episodes fourteen to twenty-two. The regular directors were Thomas J. Wright, Jorge Montesi and Ray Austin. The fencing coach was Bob Anderson, who coined for himself the title of Master of Swords. Anderson choreographed the fights on the Vancouver segment then was succeeded by Peter Diamond, credited as second unit director and stunt coordinator on the Paris segment. At the beginning of Season 3, F. Braun McAsh became the Swordmaster and choreographed the remaining four seasons and the fourth movie, "Endgame". The opening theme was "Princes of the Universe" from the 1986 album "A Kind of Magic" by Queen; incidental music was composed by Roger Bellon. The pilot episode was originally intended to be a third "Highlander" movie (to act as a television movie), but the low budget and Lambert agreeing to reprise his role as Connor MacLeod late into production caused the pilot to be written as a one-hour pilot.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Although Immortals are scattered around the world, the events of the series are most notably located in Vancouver, British Columbia and Paris, France. However, flashbacks during the series often brought the show to a variety of places. The locations for the present switched just past the midway point of seasons 1–5 from Seattle/Vancouver to Paris. Thus it became the second international TV series about a Scottish swashbuckler in France after the series "Quentin Durward" which had already been shot in back in 1970 and resembles many of Duncan MacLeod's (and Connor MacLeod's) historical flashbacks. In Paris, Duncan lived on a barge located on the Seine River (at approximately ) while in the fictional city of "Seacouver, WA" (somewhere in the Pacific Northwest) Duncan moved after Tessa's death from their antiques store to an apartment above his recently acquired freestyle dojo.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Beginning in 1995, full seasons of "Highlander" were released on VHS. These releases were the European cuts of the episodes, with each episode having approximately four minutes of additional footage not seen on American television. The first four season sets featured 11 VHS tapes, with two episodes on each tape. Prior to the release of the individual seasons, in October 1993, a feature-length release titled "Highlander: The Gathering" was released on VHS, which combined the episodes "" and "".


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The series has been released on home video in various collections. Anchor Bay Entertainment released all six seasons on DVD in Region 1 between 2002 and 2005. The company also released a 15-episode best-of collection, as well as a collection containing all six seasons. In addition, Anchor Bay released several two-part episodes on single DVDs and edited them together to present them as feature-length films. For example, "" and "" were released on a single DVD as "Highlander: Counterfeit". These releases have all been discontinued and are now out of print.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In April 2018, Visual Entertainment re-released "Highlander: The Complete Series" on DVD in Region 1. The 22-disc collection includes all 119 episodes of the series as well as 6 hours of bonus content and also comes with a spin-off series "Highlander: The Raven".


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Critical reaction to "Highlander: The Series" has been generally favorable, and more favorable in general than the film sequels to the original "Highlander", which have mostly received negative reviews (with the exception of the anime film "", which has received more positive reviews).


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Rob Lineberger of DVD Verdict said: "The direction is sometimes uncertain, but "Highlander: The Series" gives viewers something unique and inspiring. Each episode gives us a provocative glimpse into the trials and concerns of immortality, great swordfights, stylish flashbacks to bygone eras, and occasionally wicked immortals with awesome quickenings." Lineberger also added: "These actors, writers, producers, directors, and crew delivered one of television's great successes, particularly in the fantasy genre. "Highlander: The Series" took us to places we otherwise could not have gone, and did so with intelligence, style, and wit." Lineberger gave the six seasons scores of 92, 93, 90, 92, 87, and 70 out of 100, respectively.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Abbie Bernstein of Audio Video Revolution said: "Although it would be another two years until the series fully hit its stride, it was already [in the first season] offering something out of the ordinary narratively; in terms of production value, it remains one of the best-looking quasi-period shows ever to come down the pike, holding its own and then some against much better-funded product from the major studios." David Oliver of CHUD.com said that "whereas the sequels ultimately strayed from the mythology of the original [film] in the pursuit of more storytelling (translation: more money), the series built upon the mythology."


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Carlo Cavagna of About Film criticized the series, saying that it consisted of "pedestrian one-hour confrontations pitting Duncan MacLeod against one overacting nefarious immortal after another, each a pale imitation of Clancy Brown's delicious overarching villainy in the first film" and felt that the series featured "a wide array of unappealing supporting characters" and that "the writers didn't know what to do with the "Highlander" concept." Similarly, Danél Griffin of Film as Art remarked that "the six-season "Highlander: The Series" has a loyal following, but let’s be honest: Adrian Paul, the lead, is not an interesting actor, and there’s not one moment in the show—not one—that comes close to matching the wit or liveliness of the first film."


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Critics have pointed to the middle seasons of the show as its best. Lineberger remarked: "There was a dramatic boost in quality from season one to season two. Season two had better writing and quality control, [and] season three is better than season two." Bernstein claimed that "during season five, [the show] was at the peak of its creative glory." Kathie Huddleston of Syfy said that "season four was arguably the best season of the series, as the show said goodbye to characters from the previous season and delved into what made the regulars and the most notable recurring characters tick."


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Critics have singled out the sixth and final season as the worst of the series. Lineberger remarked: "I haven't attempted to hide my disappointment with this season. For the first time ever in my life as a "Highlander" enthusiast, I found myself utterly uncaptivated." Oliver awarded the sixth season a score of 3.9 out of 10, saying: "Like "The X-Files", "Highlander: The Series" simply went on too long. If the star is wanting to get out of a show as much as Paul was ready to hang up his katana, then I say let it go."


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In 2008, a reunion special was filmed starring Peter Wingfield, Elizabeth Gracen, and Jim Byrnes reprising their roles. The 17-minute special was a low budget project that takes place 10 years after the series (or between the fourth and fifth movies). Filming took place at producer Peter Davis' former beach home with the actors volunteering in their roles. The plot involved the characters discussing Methos' plans to get married and settle down with a mortal woman and her son.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In 2009, Big Finish released a series of four officially licensed audio adventures featuring Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod. They are set sometime after the events of the film "Highlander: Endgame". Each play in the first season is around an hour long, and contains a new music score and new Highlander audio theme by Jamie Robertson. The audio series has discontinued. The episodes are:


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In 2011 Big Finish released a box set containing a linked series of four audio adventures featuring the actors who played the Four Horsemen in the TV series, pitted against a new recurring villain. These are:


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Duncan also appears in "Highlander: A Celtic Opera", an opera jointly composed by Roger Bellon and Harlan Collins. The opera follows Duncan's banishment from his clan, his relationship with a mortal woman named Aurora who becomes his first wife, and his encounters with an immortal Visigoth named Fritagern. In the end, Duncan beheads Fritagern in the 21st century after the man murders a cloned Aurora on their wedding day.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The ten "Highlander: The Series" novels published from October 1995 to September 2000 are canon. Events from them are included in the Watcher Chronicles CD-ROM, which contains an extensive database of the events and immortals of the television series.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: A German-language novel entitled "Highlander: Die Rückkehr des Unsterblichen" ("Highlander: The Return of the Immortal") was also published in 1994. Co-written by Martin Eisele and Hans Sommer, it details Duncan wanting to leave "The Game" after he beheads a female Immortal. The book is not considered canonical.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: Plans for a spin-off series led to four episodes of "Highlander: The Series" to focus on four new women immortals, each seen as a possible spin-off lead. The candidates introduced were Alex Raven (Dara Tomanovich), Kyra (Alice Evans), Katya (Justina Vail), and Reagan Cole (Sandra Hess). According to behind the scene interviews and "Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide", fan reaction was largely negative or apathetic concerning these original characters. The lead role for "Highlander: The Raven" went to Elizabeth Gracen's popular recurring character Amanda. The spin-off only lasted one season due to low ratings and changes in how syndicated shows are marketed.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In 2001, "The Methos Chronicles" was an animated Flash web-series (or web-cast) based on Methos (Peter Wingfield), a 5000 year-old immortal introduced in "Highlander: The Series". Wingfield voiced the character for the series, which lasted only one eight-episode season. There were talks about developing a live-action series in the early 2000s with Wingfield but the series never went into production. Eight more episodes of "The Methos Chronicles" were produced by fans and released on Youtube.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: "" was a theatrical film released to theaters on September 1, 2000. Rather than a direct sequel in the "Highlander" film franchise, it followed the continuity of the recently ended "Highlander: The Series", acting as a franchise bridge by reuniting TV series protagonist Duncan MacLeod with his mentor and kinsman Connor MacLeod, the protagonist of the original film and its two sequels. The film's antagonist is Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne), an evil immortal who ignores the rules of the Game. Although the TV series had made a point to say Duncan had never been married, "Endgame" introduces Kate Devaney, retroactively revealed to be a pre-immortal Irish woman whom Duncan married in 1715 and then stabbed, activating her immortality. Resenting her ageless life and Duncan, Kate becomes a warrior for Kell in the modern day, calling herself Faith.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: "" was a made-for-TV movie that premiered on the Sci Fi Channel on September 15, 2007 and continued the canon of "Highlander: The Series", set several years after "Endgame". The film takes place in a future version of Earth where human society has descended into violence and chaos. Duncan MacLeod, his new mortal wife Anna Teshemka, and a group of allies seek an energy well in Eastern Europe that may be the legendary Source of immortality, all while fighting the Guardian (Cristian Solimeno), an immortal empowered with superhuman abilities.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: The story and the mythology of the Source were meant to be expanded on with future films, but reception to "The Source" was largely negative and plans for follow-up stories were canceled. A 2008 short film called "Reunion", written by TV series producer David Abramowitz and directed by Don Paonessa, featured the series characters but did not acknowledge the events of "Highlander: The Source". At the Highlander Worldwide Convention the next year, Abramowitz and others from the TV series referred to "Highlander: The Source" as a "bad dream" Duncan had. The Big Finish audio plays released in 2009 likewise do not reference the events of "Highlander: The Source" nor indicate that the story and its version of Earth are in Duncan's near future.


title: Highlander: The Series

text: In the TV series, "Reaper", season 1, episode 15 ("Coming to Grips"), Bert "Sock" Wysocki pretends to be Duncan MacLeod as he wields the scythe "vessel" they are going to use to capture the escaped soul; presumably because — like swords in the "Highlander" series — it could be used to behead someone.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Ilya Yefimovich Repin () ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is now Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russia during the 19th century. His major works include "Barge Haulers on the Volga" (1873), "Religious Procession in Kursk Province" (1880–1883), "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan" (1885); and "Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks" (1880–1891). He is also known for the revealing portraits he made of the leading literary and artistic figures of his time, including Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Pavel Tretyakov and especially Leo Tolstoy, with whom he had a long friendship.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin was born in Chuguyev, in Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire. His father had served in an Uhlan Regiment in the Russian army, and then sold horses. Repin began painting icons at age sixteen. He failed at his first effort to enter the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, but went to the city anyway, audited courses, and won his first prizes in 1869 and 1871. In 1872, after a tour along the Volga River, he presented his drawings at the Academy of Art in St. Petersburg. The Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich awarded him a commission for a large scale painting, "The Barge Haulers of the Volga", which launched his career. He spent two years in Paris and Normandy, seeing the first Impressionist expositions and learning the techniques of painting in the open air.


title: Ilya Repin

text: He suffered one setback in 1885 when his history portrait of Ivan the Terrible killing his own son in a rage caused a scandal, resulting in the painting being removed from exhibition. But this was followed by a series of major successes and new commissions. In 1898, with his second wife, he purchased a country house, The Penates, in Kuokkala, Finland (now Repino, Saint Petersburg), close to St. Petersburg, where they entertained Russian society.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1905, following the violent repression of street demonstrations by the Tsarist government, he quit his teaching position at the Academy of Fine Arts. He welcomed the February Revolution in 1917, but was appalled by the violence and warfare that followed in the October Revolution. Finland broke away from Russia in 1917, and Repin was unable to travel to St. Petersburg, even for an exhibition of his own works in 1925. Repin died on 29 September 1930, at the age of 86, and was buried at the Penates. His home is now a museum and a UNESCO World Heritage site.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin was born on 24 July 1844 in the town of Chuguyev, in the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire, in the heart of the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. His father, Yefim Vasilyevich Repin (1804—1894) served in an Uhlan Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army. He fought in the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29) and the Hungarian campaign (1849). When his father retired from the army, after twenty-seven years of service, he became an itinerant merchant selling horses.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin's mother, Tatiana Stepanovna Repina (née Bocharova) (1811—1880), was also the daughter of a soldier. She had family ties to noblemen and officers; the Repins had six children and were moderately well-off. In 1855, at the age of eleven, he was enrolled at the local school where his mother taught. He showed a talent for drawing and painting, and when he was thirteen, his father enrolled him in the workshop of Ivan Bunakov, an icon painter. He restored old icons and painted portraits of local notables. At the age of sixteen, his skill was recognized, and he became a member of an artel, or cooperative of artists, the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, which traveled around Voronezh province to paint icons and wall paintings.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin had much higher ambitions. In October 1863 he competed for admission to the Imperial Academy of Arts in the capital, Saint Petersburg. He failed in his first attempt, but persevered, rented a small room in the city, and took courses in academic drawing. In January 1864 he succeeded and was allowed, without fee, to attend classes.


title: Ilya Repin

text: At the academy he met the painter Ivan Kramskoi, who became his professor and mentor. When Kramskoi founded the first independent union of Russian artists, Repin became a member. In 1869 he was awarded a gold medal second-class for his painting "Job and His Brothers". He met the influential critic Vladimir Stasov and painted a portrait of Vera Shevtsova, his own future wife.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1870, with two other artists, Repin traveled to the Volga River to sketch landscapes and studies of barge haulers (The Repin House in Tolyatti and the Repin Museum on the Volga commemorate this visit). When he returned to Saint Petersburg, the quality of his Volga boatmen drawings won him a commission from Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich for a large scale painting on the subject. The painting, "Barge Haulers on the Volga" was completed in 1873. The following year he was awarded a gold medal first-class for his painting "The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus"


title: Ilya Repin

text: In May 1872 he married Vera Alexeievna Shevtsova. (1855-1917). She joined him on his travels, including a trip to Samara, where their first child, Vera, was born. They had three other children; Nadia, Yuri, and Tatyana. The marriage was difficult, as Repin had numerous affairs, while Vera cared for the children. They were married for fifteen years.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In an 1872 letter to Stasov, Repin wrote: "Now it is the peasant who is the judge and so it is necessary to represent his interests. (That is just the thing for me, since I am myself, as you know, a peasant, the son of a retired soldier who served twenty-seven hard years in Nicholas I's army.)" In 1873 Repin traveled to Italy and France with his family. His second daughter, Nadezhda, was born in 1874.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin's painting "Barge Haulers of the Volga", shown at the Vienna International Exposition, brought him his first International attention. It also earned him a grant from the Academy of Fine Arts which allowed him to make an extended tour of several months to Austria, then Italy, and finally in 1873, to Paris. He rented an apartment in Montmartre at 13 rue Veron, and a small attic studio under a mansard roof at number 31 on the same street.


title: Ilya Repin

text: He remained in Paris for two years. He described his subjects as "the principal types of Parisians, in the most typical settings." He painted the street markets and boulevards of Paris, and especially the varied faces and costumes of the Parisians of every class. His major Russian work created in Paris was "Sadko" (1876), a mystical allegory of an undersea kingdom, which included elements of Art Nouveau. He gave the young heroine a Russian face, surrounded by a strange and exotic setting. He wrote to his friend the civic Stasov: "This idea describes my present situation, and perhaps, the situation of all of our Russian art". In 1876, His Sadko painting won him a place in the Russian Academy of Fine Arts.


title: Ilya Repin

text: He was in Paris in April 1874, when the first Impressionist exhibition was held. In 1875, he wrote to Stasov about "The liberty of the "impressionalists", Manet, Monet et the others, and their infantile truthfulness." In 1876 He painted a portrait of his wife Vera in the exact style of Berthe Morisot's portrait by Édouard Manet. as a tribute to Manet and Morisot. Though he admired some impressionist techniques, especially their depictions of light and color, he felt their work lacked moral or social purpose, key factors in his own art.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Following the ideas of the Impressionists, he spent two months at Veules-les-Roses in Normandy, painting landscapes in the open air. In 1874–1876 he contributed to the Salon in Paris. In 1876 he wrote to the secretary of the Russian academy of arts: "You told me not to become "Francified." What are you saying? I dream only of returning to Russia and working seriously. But Paris was of great utility to me, it can't be denied."


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin returned to Russia in 1876. His son Yury was born the following year. He moved to Moscow that year, and produced a wide variety of works including portraits of the painters Arkhip Kuindzhi and Ivan Shishkin. He became involved with the "Wanderers", an artistic movement founded in St. Petersburg in 1863. The style of the Wanderers was resolutely realistic, patriotic, and politically engaged, determined to break with classical models and to create a specifically Russian art. It involved not only painters, but sculptors, writers and composers.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin created a series of major historical works, including the Religious Procession in Kursk Governorate (1883), which was presented at the 12th annual exposition of the Wanderers. It was notable both for its extraordinary crowd of realistic figures, including surly policemen, weary monks, children and beggars, each expressing a vivid personality. He also experimented with outdoor sunlight effects, apparently influenced by the impressionists and his outdoor studies in France. His next major work of this period was Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan. This painting, depicting the tsar, his face full of horror, just after he has killed his son with his sceptre in a demented rage. It caused a scandal. Some critics saw it as a veiled criticism of Tsar Alexander III, who had brutally suppressed the opposition after a failed assassination attempt. It was also attacked by the more aesthetic faction of the Wanderers, who considered it overly sensationalist. It was vandalised twice and was finally, at the tsar's request, removed from view. The tsar reconsidered his decision, and the painting was finally put back on view.


title: Ilya Repin

text: The portrait of the Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna is one of his most tragic historical works. It depicts The daughter of Tsar Alexis who became regent of Russia after the death of her father, but then was deposed from power in 1689 and locked away in a convent by her half-brother, Peter the Great. The painting captures her fury as she realises her future life.


title: Ilya Repin

text: "They Did Not Expect Him". (1884-1888),(Tretyakov Gallery) is a notable and subtle historical work of the period, depicting a young man, a former "narodniki" or revolutionary, emaciated and frail from prison and exile, returning unexpectedly to his family. The story is told by the different expressions on the faces of his family and small details, such as the portraits of Tsar Alexander III and of favourite Russian poets on the wall.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1880 Lev Tolstoy came to Repin's small studio on Bolshoi Trubny street in Moscow to introduce himself. This developed into a friendship between the 36-year-old painter and the 52-year-old writer that lasted thirty years until Tolstoy's death in 1910. Repin regularly visited Tolstoy at his Moscow residence, and his country estate at Yasnaya Polyana. He painted a series of portraits of Tolstoy in peasant dress, working and reading under a tree at Yasnaya Polyana Tolstoy wrote of an 1887 visit by Repin: "Repin came to see me and painted a fine portrait. I appreciate him more and more; he is lively person, approaching the light to which all of us aspire, including us poor sinners." His last trip to see Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana was in 1907, when Tolstoy was 79. Despite his age, Tolstoy went horseback riding with Repin, ploughed fields, cleared paths of brush hiked through the countryside for nine hours all the while discussing philosophy and morals. Repin's portraits of Tolstoy in country dress were widely exhibited, and helped build Toltoy's legendary image.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In addition to his portraits of Tolstoy and Russian writers, Repin painted portraits of the major Russian composers of his time, His images, like his paintings of Tolstoy and other writers, became an integral part of the image of these composers. His portrait of Modest Moussorgsky was particularly famous. The composer suffered from alcoholism and depression. Repin painted him in four sittings, beginning four days before his death. When Moussorgsky died, Repin used the proceeds of the sale of the painting to erect a monument to the composer.


title: Ilya Repin

text: His portrait of Mikhail Glinka, composer of the opera "Ruslan and Ludmilla" (1887) was an unusual work for Repin. it was painted after Glinka's death; Repin never met him, and based on drawings and recollections of others. Other composers painted by Repin included Alexander Glazunov who had just completed Borodin's opera "Prince Igor", and Anton Rubinstein the founder of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory of Music.


title: Ilya Repin

text: His third daughter, Tatyana, was born in 1880. He frequented the art circle of Savva Mamontov, which gathered at Abramtsevo, his estate near Moscow. Here Repin met many of the leading painters of the day, including Vasily Polenov, Valentin Serov, and Mikhail Vrubel. In 1882 he and Vera divorced; they maintained a friendly relationship afterwards.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin's contemporaries often commented on his special ability of capturing peasant life in his works. In an 1876 letter to Stasov, Kramskoi wrote: "Repin is capable of depicting the Russian peasant exactly as he is. I know many artists who have painted peasants, some of them very well, but none of them ever came close to what Repin does." Leo Tolstoy later stated that Repin "depicts the life of the people much better than any other Russian artist." He was praised for his ability to reproduce human life with powerful and vivid force.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1883 he traveled around Western Europe with Vladimir Stasov. Repin's painting "Religious Procession in Kursk Province" was shown at the eleventh Itinerants' Society Exhibition. In that year he painted "The wall of Pere Lachaise Cemetery commemorating the Paris Commune". In 1886, he traveled to the Crimea with Arkhip Kuinji, and produced drawings and sketches on Biblical subjects.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1887 he visited Austria, Italy, and Germany, and retired from the board of the Wanderers, painted two portraits of Leo Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana and painted "Alexander Pushkin on the Shore of the Black Sea" (in collaboration with Ivan Aivazovsky). In 1888 he traveled to Southern Russia and the Caucasus, where he did sketches and studies of descendants of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Many of Repin's finest portraits were produced in the 1880s. Through the presentation of real faces, these portraits express the rich, tragical, and hopeful spirit of the period. His portraits of Aleksey Pisemsky (1880), Modest Mussorgsky (1881), and others created throughout the decade have become familiar to whole generations of Russians. Each is completely lifelike, conveying the transient, changeable nature of the sitter's state of mind. They give an intense embodiment of both the physical and spiritual life of the people who sat for him.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1887 he was separated from his wife Vera. He visited Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana, and painted his portrait, and then took a long trip along the Volga and the Don, to the Coassack regions. This trip gave him material for his most famous historical work, "Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks". The painting depicts an event in 1678, when a group of cossacks amused themselves by drafting a highly insulting letter to the Turkish sultan, addressing him as "The Grand Imbecile." Repin worked on this painting periodically between 1880 and 1891, creating an extraordinary ensemble of expressive faces. The models, in fact, were mostly faculty members from the Academy of Arts. The finished work was so popular that he painted a second version. In 1894 he became the head of the painting workshop at the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg. He remained in this position until 1905, when he resigned in protest against the firing by government soldiers into a crowd of demonstrators outside the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. Repin describes 1905 as "a year of disaster and shame".


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1890 he was given a government commission to work on the creation of a new statute for the Academy of Arts. In 1891 he resigned from the Wanderers in protest against a new statute that restricted the rights of young artists. An exhibition of works by Repin and Shishkin was held in the Academy of Arts, including "Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks". In 1892 he held a one-man exhibition at the History Museum in Moscow. In 1893 he visited academic art schools in Warsaw, Kraków, Munich, Vienna, and Paris to observe and study teaching methods. He spent the winter in Italy and published his essays "Letters on Art".


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1894 he began teaching a class at the Higher Art School attached to the Academy of Arts, a position he held, off and on, until 1907. In 1895 he painted portraits of Emperor Nicholas II, and Princess Maria Tenisheva. In 1896 he attended the All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhni Novgorod. His paintings were exhibited in Saint Petersburg, at the Exhibition of Works of Creative Art. His paintings from this year included "The Duel" and "Don Juan and Dona Anna". In 1897 he rejoined the Wanderers, and was appointed rector of the Higher Artistic School for a year. In 1898 he traveled to the Holy Land, and painted the icon "Carrying the Cross" for the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Jerusalem. After returning to Russia, he attended Pavel Tretyakov's funeral. In 1899 he joined the editorial board of the magazine "World of Art", but soon quit.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1890 Repin met Natalia Nordman (1863-1914), who became his common-law wife. She was the daughter of an admiral, a writer and feminist, an activist for the improvement of working conditions. She advocated a simple life close to nature. In 1899 he acquired land near a village of Kuokkala, about forty kilometres north of St. Petersburg, and they built a country house, called the Penates, which became his home for the next thirty years. It was located in the Grand Duchy of Finland, then part of the Russian Empire. about an hour by train from St. Petersburg. At first he used it only as a summer house, but after he resigned from the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts in 1907, it became his full-time home and studio.


title: Ilya Repin

text: It was a rather eccentric estate, including a studio covered with a pyramidal lantern roof, a landscape garden with a "Pushkin alley" of trees, a multicoloured music kiosk in the Egyptian style, and a telescope overlooking the Gulf of Finland. He hosted vegetarian breakfasts for his guests (a practice he adapted from Tolstoy), and very elaborate receptions on Wednesdays. His Wednesday guests included the opera singer Chaliapin, the writer Maxim Gorky, the composer Alexander Glazunov the writer Aleksandr Kuprin; artists Vasily Polenov, Isaak Brodsky and Nicolai Fechin as well as poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, philosopher Vasily Rozanov and scientist Vladimir Bekhterev.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1900 he took Nordman to the World Exhibition in Paris, where he served as a painting judge. They visited Munich, the Tyrol, and Prague, His painting "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan!" was shown at the 29th Exhibition of the Wanderers. In 1901 he received from the Tsar one of his largest commissions, for sixty portraits of the members of State Council. He proceeded with the help of photographs and the aid of two of his students. One of the subjects in the series was Alexander Kerensky, the Russian president before the Bolshevik seizure of power. In addition to his government commissions, he found time for a light work on an entirely different theme; a painting in 1902–1903 called "What Freedom!" depicting two students dancing in the waves at the beach after completing their examinations.


title: Ilya Repin

text: The small movements toward democracy in the early 20th century inspired Repin, He joined the Constitutional Democratic Party, was offered the rank of Councillor of State, and was invited to take a seat in the Duma, the national assembly. He made a colourful painting of the celebration of the new Russian Constitution of 1905. Later, he painted the portrait of the newly-elected Russian President, Alexander Kerensky. However, the brutal repression of popular demonstrations in front of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in 1905 quickly disillusioned him, He called 1905 "the year of disaster and shame". He resigned from his teaching post at the Academy of Fine Arts, and concentrated on painting.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin concentrated on writing his memoirs, which he finished in 1915. He visited St. Peterburg to see expositions, including a 1909 show of works by the modernist Kandinsky. Repin was not impressed; he described it as "the swamps of artistic corruption."


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1900 he took his common-law wife Natalia Nordman to the World Exhibition in Paris, where he served as a painting judge. He visited Munich, the Tyrol, and Prague, and painted "Natalia Nordman in a Tyrolese Hat" and "In the Sunlight: Portrait of Nadezhda Repina". In 1901 he was awarded the Legion of Honor. His painting "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan!" was shown at the 29th Itinerants' Society Exhibition. In 1902–1903 his works included the paintings "Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council" and "What a Freedom!", over forty portrait studies, and portraits of Sergei Witte and Vyacheslav von Plehve. "Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council" was the most demanding work commissioned by Repin, requiring numerous studies of the 100 councilors depicted, and the help of two of Repin's pupils.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1904 he gave a speech at a memorial gathering for the artist Vasily Vereshchagin. He painted a portrait of the writer Leonid Andreyev and his work "The Death of the Cossack Squadron Commander Zinovyev". He made sketches depicting government troops opening fire on a peaceful demonstration on 9 December 1905. During 1905 Repin participated in many protests


title: Ilya Repin

text: against bloodshed and Tsarist repressions, and tried to convey his impressions of these emotionally and politically charged events in his paintings.


title: Ilya Repin

text: He also did sketches for portraits of Maxim Gorky and Vladimir Stasov and two portraits of Natalia Nordman. In 1907 he resigned from the Academy of Arts, visited Chuguyev and the Crimea, and wrote reminiscences of Vladimir Stasov. In 1908 he publicly denounced capital punishment in Russia. He illustrated Leonid Andreyev's story "The Seven Who Were Hanged", and his painting "The Cossacks from the Black Sea Coast" was exhibited at the Itinerants' Society Exhibition. In 1909 he painted "Gogol Burning the Manuscript of the Second Part of Dead Souls", and in 1910, portraits of Pyotr Stolypin, and the children's writer and poet Korney Chukovsky.


title: Ilya Repin

text: The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 brought a series of setbacks and tragedies to Repin. His wife became ill with tuberculosis, and departed for treatment in Locarno, Switzerland. She refused assistance from her family and died in Switzerland in 1914. Then, following the October 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Finland, including the Penates, declared its independence from Russia. The border was closed, and Repin refused to return to Russia. He turned to Finland for new clients, painting a large group portrait of notable Finnish leaders and artists, including the architect Eliel Saarinen, the composer Jean Sibelius, and the future Finnish President Carl Gustav Mannerheim. Repin included the back of his own head in the painting.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In 1916 Repin worked on his book of reminiscences, "Far and Near", with the assistance of Korney Chukovsky. He welcomed the early phases of the Russian Revolution of February 1917. In 1919 he donated his collection of works by Russian artists and his own works to the Finnish National Gallery in Helsinki, and in 1920 honorary celebrations of Repin were held by artistic circles in Finland. In 1921–1922 he painted "The Ascent of Elijah the Prophet" and "Christ and Mary Magdalene (The Morning of the Resurrection)".


title: Ilya Repin

text: After end of the war in 1918, Repin could travel again. In 1923 Repin held a one-man exhibition in Prague. Celebrations were given in 1924 in Kuokkala to mark Repin's 80th birthday, and an exhibition of his works was held in Moscow. In 1925 a jubilee exhibition of his works was held in the Russian Museum in Leningrad, The rising Soviet leader, Josef Stalin, sent a delegation of Soviet artists, including a former student of Repin, Isaak Brodsky, to persuade Repin to return to St. Petersburg, and to give up his residence in Finland. But Repin did not want to be under the thumb of Stalin, and refused, though he donated three sketches devoted to the Revolution of 1905 and the portrait of Alexander Kerensky to the Museum of the Revolution of 1905. In 1928–29, still in Finland, he continued working on the painting "The Hopak Dance" ("The Zaporozhye Cossacks Dancing"), begun in 1926, which was his final work. It portrays again and again Repin's admiration of Ukraine and its culture. Repin painted it with oil on linoleum, because he could not get a canvas large enough.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin died in 1930, and was buried at the Penates. After World War II the territory of Kuokkala was annexed by the Soviet Union. In 1948 it was renamed Repino in his honor. The Penates became a museum in 1940., and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin particularly excelled at portrait painting. He produced more than three hundred portraits in his career. He painted most of the notable political figures, writers and composers of his time. One exception was Dostoevsky, whose mysticism Repin did not appreciate at all. He preceded each portrait with six or seven sketches. He had to persuade a reluctant Tolstoy to be portrayed working in a field with bare feet, as he usually did.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin persistently searched for new techniques and content to give his work more fullness and depth. Repin had a set of favorite subjects, and a limited circle of people whose portraits he painted. But he had a deep sense of purpose in his aesthetics, and had the great artistic gift to sense the spirit of the age and its reflection in the lives and characters of individuals. Repin's search for truth and for an ideal led him in various directions artistically, influenced by hidden aspects of social and spiritual experiences as well as national culture. Like most Russian realists of his times, Repin often based his works on dramatic conflicts, drawn from contemporary life or history. He also used mythological images with a strong sense of purpose; some of his religious paintings are among his greatest.


title: Ilya Repin

text: With some of his paintings, Repin made one hundred or more preliminary sketches. He began his works with sketches in pencil or charcoal, using lines and cross-hatching. Often he would rub the drawing with his finger or an eraser to get the precise shading that he desired. He sometimes used drawings or paintings of his children to experiment with different points of view. For his large paintings, he made very detailed studies, experimenting with the composition and judging the overall impression.


title: Ilya Repin

text: No Russian painter of the 19th or 20th century was more skilled at genre painting, portraying scenes of daily life in a sympathetic and perceptive way, giving each character a distinct purpose and personality. His works ranged from domestic scenes to small dramas, such as policemen arresting a young militant for distributing revolutionary tracts.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In the 1870s to 1880s he visited Chuguyev and gathered materials for his future works. There, he painted his "Archdeacon".


title: Ilya Repin

text: The Repin Museum in his birthplace of Chugeev presents objects and works from his early life in Ukraine.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin was a member of the committee, set up to create a monument to painter-poet Taras Shevchenko whom he called an "apostle of freedom". He illustrated novels such as "Taras Bulba" and "Sorochinsky Fair" by Nikolai Gogol (1872–82) and "Zaporissya in the remains of ancient legends and people" by Dmytro Yavornytsky (1887), and drew numerous sketches of architecture as well as different popular aspects of Ukrainian culture. Repin's sphere of knowledge included a number of prominent thinkers of the time, including Marko Kropyvnytskyi, Mykola Murashko, and Dmytro Yavornytsky.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin helped the committee of the Visual Arts Union in Mykolaiv. He was also an honorary member of Literature and Art Union, as well as Union of the Antiquities and Art in Kiev. He supported numerous painters, Murashko's art schools in Kiev, M. Rajevska-Ivanova in Kharkiv, and the Art school in Odessa.


title: Ilya Repin

text: In one of his last letters he wrote: "kind, dear compatriots [...] I ask you to believe in the sense of my devotion and endless regret that I can't move to live in a sweet, joyful Ukraine [...] Loving you from the childhood, Ilya Repin". The painter was buried by the "Chuguyev's hill", a place at the end of his property in Penates.


title: Ilya Repin

text: His method was the reverse of the general approach of impressionism. He produced works slowly and carefully. They were the result of close and detailed study. He was never satisfied with his works, and often painted multiple versions, years apart. He also changed and adjusted his methods constantly in order to obtain more effective arrangement, grouping and coloristic power. Repin's style of portraiture was unique, but owed something to the influence of Édouard Manet and Diego Velázquez.


title: Ilya Repin

text: Repin was the first Russian artist to achieve European fame using specifically Russian themes. His 1873 painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga", radically different from previous Russian paintings, made him the leader of a new movement of critical realism in Russian art. He chose nature and character over academic formalism. The triumph of this work was widespread, and it was praised by contemporaries like Vladimir Stasov and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The paintings show his feeling of personal responsibility for the hard life of the common people and the destiny of Russia.


title: Madeleine Madden

text: Madeleine Madden (born 29 January 1997) is an Australian actress. She is best known for playing Egwene al'Vere in the Amazon Prime series "The Wheel of Time".


title: Madeleine Madden

text: Madden grew up around Redfern, a Sydney inner city suburb, and attended Rose Bay Secondary College. The daughter of Lee Madden (Gadigal and Bundjalung) and art curator and writer Hetti Perkins, Madden grew up in a political family; she is the great-granddaughter of Arrernte elder Hetty Perkins and the granddaughter of activist and soccer player Charles Perkins. Her aunt is director Rachel Perkins. She has two older sisters and two younger half-sisters, including actor Miah Madden. Their father died in a car accident in 2003.


title: Madeleine Madden

text: In 2010, at age 13, Madden became the first teenager in Australia to deliver an address to the nation, when she delivered a two-minute speech on the future of Indigenous Australians. It was broadcast to 6 million viewers on every free-to-air television network in Australia.


title: Madeleine Madden

text: Madden starred in Australia's first Aboriginal teen drama, "Ready for This", and in the critically applauded "Redfern Now". She has also starred in "The Moodys", "Jack Irish", "My Place" and "The Code". In 2010, she starred in the mini series "Tomorrow, When the War Began" which is based on the John Marsden series of young adult books. In 2018, she played Marion Quade in the mini series "Picnic at Hanging Rock", Crystal Swan in the TV mini series "Mystery Road" and Immy DuPain in the series "Pine Gap". She currently stars as Egwene al'Vere in Amazon's adaptation of "The Wheel of Time" novels.


title: Madeleine Madden

text: Madden has starred in short films by Deborah Mailman, and Meryl Tankard and co-starred with Christina Ricci and Jack Thompson in "Around the Block". Her first film acting job was at 8 years old. She aims to become a director in the future.


title: Madeleine Madden

text: In 2019, Madden made her big Hollywood debut as Sammy in the Nickelodeon film "Dora and the Lost City of Gold".


title: Beltane

text: Beltane () is the Gaelic May Day festival. Commonly observed on the first of May, the festival falls midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The festival name is synonymous with the month marking the start of summer in Ireland, May being "Mí na Bealtaine". Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. In Irish the name for the festival day is (), in Scottish Gaelic (), and in Manx Gaelic /. Beltane is one of the principal four Gaelic seasonal festivals—along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasadh—and is similar to the Welsh .


title: Beltane

text: Bealtaine is mentioned in the earliest Irish literature and is associated with important events in Irish mythology. Also known as ("first of summer"), it marked the beginning of summer and was when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect cattle, people and crops, and to encourage growth. Special bonfires were kindled, whose flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective powers. The people and their cattle would walk around or between bonfires, and sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires would be doused and then re-lit from the Bealtaine bonfire. These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the . Doors, windows, byres and livestock would be decorated with yellow May flowers, perhaps because they evoked fire. In parts of Ireland, people would make a May Bush: typically a thorn bush or branch decorated with flowers, ribbons, bright shells and rushlights. Holy wells were also visited, while Bealtaine dew was thought to bring beauty and maintain youthfulness. Many of these customs were part of May Day or Midsummer festivals in parts of Great Britain and Europe.


title: Beltane

text: Public celebrations of Beltane fell out of popularity, though some customs continue to be revived as local cultural events. Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed a festival based on Beltane as a religious holiday. Some neopagans in the Southern Hemisphere celebrate Beltane on or around 1 November.


title: Beltane

text: Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (1 November), Imbolc (1 February), Beltane (1 May), and Lughnasadh (1 August). Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season, when livestock were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were held at that time to protect them from harm, both natural and supernatural, and this mainly involved the "symbolic use of fire". There were also rituals to protect crops, dairy products and people, and to encourage growth. The (often referred to as spirits or fairies) were thought to be especially active at Beltane (as at Samhain) and the goal of many Beltane rituals was to appease them. Most scholars see the as remnants of the pagan gods and nature spirits. Beltane was a "spring time festival of optimism" during which "fertility ritual again was important, perhaps connecting with the waxing power of the sun".


title: Beltane

text: Beltane (the beginning of summer) and Samhain (the beginning of winter) are thought to have been the most important of the four Gaelic festivals. Sir James George Frazer wrote in "The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion" that the times of Beltane and Samhain are of little importance to European crop-growers, but of great importance to herdsmen. Thus, he suggests that halving the year at 1 May and 1 November dates from a time when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent on their herds.


title: Beltane

text: The earliest mention of Beltane is in Old Irish literature from Gaelic Ireland. According to the early medieval texts (written by Cormac mac Cuilennáin) and , Beltane was held on 1 May and marked the beginning of summer. The texts say that, to protect cattle from disease, druids would make two fires "with great incantations" and drive the cattle between them.


title: Beltane

text: According to 17th-century historian Geoffrey Keating, there was a great gathering at the hill of Uisneach each Beltane in medieval Ireland, where a sacrifice was made to a god named Beil. Keating wrote that two bonfires would be lit in every district of Ireland, and cattle would be driven between them to protect them from disease. There is no reference to such a gathering in the annals, but the medieval "Dindsenchas" (lore of places) includes a tale of a hero lighting a holy fire on Uisneach that blazed for seven years. Ronald Hutton writes that this may "preserve a tradition of Beltane ceremonies there", but adds "Keating or his source may simply have conflated this legend with the information in "Sanas Chormaic" to produce a piece of pseudo-history". Nevertheless, excavations at Uisneach in the 20th century found evidence of large fires and charred bones, and showed it to have been a place of ritual since ancient times. Evidence suggests it was "a sanctuary-site, in which fire was kept burning perpetually, or kindled at frequent intervals", where animal sacrifices were offered.


title: Beltane

text: Beltane is also mentioned in medieval Scottish literature. An early reference is found in the poem 'Peblis to the Play', contained in the Maitland Manuscripts of 15th- and 16th-century Scots poetry, which describes the celebration in the town of Peebles.


title: Beltane

text: From the late 18th century to the mid 20th century, many accounts of Beltane customs were recorded by folklorists and other writers. For example John Jamieson, in his "Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language" (1808), describes some of the Beltane customs which persisted in the 18th and early 19th centuries in parts of Scotland, which he noted were beginning to die out. In the 19th century, folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912), collected the Scottish Gaelic song "Am Beannachadh Bealltain" ("The Beltane Blessing") in his "Carmina Gadelica", which he heard from a crofter in South Uist. The first two verses were sung as follows:


title: Beltane

text: Mo chlann mhaoth's am mathair chaomh 'n an ceann, (My tender children and their beloved mother at their head,)


title: Beltane

text: Air chlar chubhr nan raon, air airidh chaon nam beann, (On the fragrant plain, at the gay mountain sheiling,)


title: Beltane

text: Air chlar chubhr nan raon, air airidh chaon nam beann. (On the fragrant plain, at the gay mountain sheiling.)