Category: people

“The daughter of a diplomat, born in Copenhagen in 1949 and raised in Buenos Aires, de Guébriant was introduced in 1975 to the artist’s daughter and archivist, Marguerite Duthuit, and became her assistant, working closely with her on Matisse catalogues and exhibitions. When Duthuit died in 1982, De Guebriant succeeded her as the only official specialist for Matisse’s work.” – The Art Newspaper

“I’m not creative all the time, I’m just not. Each role depletes me in some way, and I know that I do my best work when I’ve had time to remain fallow.” – The New York Times

While Lévy’s ideas are unremarkable, his ability to claim public attention is striking. His lengthy career is a reminder that cultivating a controversial persona to build fame and fortune is hardly a technique invented by reality TV or social media.  – Quartz

In addition to performing as a solo pianist and bandleader, “he applied his vast knowledge of music to transcribing early jazz works from recordings, most notably in his 1982 book Ferdinand ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton: The Collected Piano Music, which helped fuel a rediscovery of Morton (1890-1941), who had fallen out of favor but is now widely regarded as the first great jazz composer.” – The New York Times

Alaa Al-Aswany (The Yacoubian Building) is accused in the suit of “insulting the president, the Armed Forces, and judicial institutions” in a set of articles he wrote for the Arabic service of Deutsche Welle, Germany’s equivalent of the BBC World Service. Al-Aswany, who currently lives in New York, responded that the lawsuit is “a clear violation of article 65 of the Egyptian constitution, which states, ‘Freedom of thought and opinion is guaranteed.'” – Melville House

A few rare individuals in every period integrate, express and add to the values of their time and place in a unique way and become symbols of that time. More than any other national figure of the 1950s, Elvis Presley represented American youthfulness and became a generation’s symbol. – Quadrant

The daughter of a Harvard Sanskrit professor, Ingalls settled in England as a young adult “and began to publish short stories; her editor at Faber’s, Charles Monteith, said she was ‘a genius – not a word I use lightly’. In 1982 she published her masterpiece, Mrs Caliban, the tale of an unhappy housewife who gives shelter – and more – to a handsome sea creature who has escaped from a research institute. … [The novel,] largely ignored at the time, was republished in 2017 to huge acclaim and she was rediscovered in her late seventies.” – The Telegraph (UK)

“In a career stretching back to the 1950s and continuing into his 90s, Dr. Nketia wrote hundreds of articles and books in English and Twi, a Ghanaian language, on topics ranging from music theory to folklore, as well as scores of compositions. … His 1974 book, The Music of Africa, is widely considered a definitive historical study, and Ethnomusicology and African Music, a collection of his writings published in 2005, is used in classrooms throughout Africa and across the world. – The New York Times

“In the space of a few short years, the Boston-born, Southern California transplant (born Richard Anthony Monsour) had merged the laid-back, sun-blasted lifestyle of the surf scene with a blistering rhythm of rockabilly and early rock-and-roll. As the mad scientist behind what was dubbed ‘surf rock,’ Dale was, in the words of a 1963 Life magazine profile, a ‘thumping teenage idol who is part evangelist, part Pied Piper and all success.'” – The Washington Post