Agatha Christie biography of an author

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born at home on September 15, 1890. She was the third child of Frederick Alvah and Clarissa Beochmer Miller. Her father was an American who had been living in England for twenty years. Her mother was English. Agatha lived at Ashfield in Torquay, Devonshire.

When Agatha was 11, her father died. Before his death, he had begun teaching her arithmetic. Agatha never went to school. Her mother believed education destroyed the brain and ruined the eyes. She taught Agatha history and something called "general knowledge". Agatha read newspaper articles. The house was filled with books, and all three children were encouraged to read.

As a teenager, Agatha read the Sherlock Holmes books. Early in the 1900s, she was heavily influenced by the novelist Eden Phillpotts. He lived nearby and she would visit him regularly. He mentored Agatha, encouraging and guiding her reading.

After the death of her father, Agatha was taken to arithmetic classes twice a week. Her teachers instilled a respect for money in her. She also took Swedish exercise classes, piano, singing, and dancing lessons. At 16, she attended finishing school in Paris, where she remained for two years. She spoke French and German. She also took gymnastics and tennis lessons.

As a young woman, she was attached to her mother. Mrs. Miller wanted her daughter to be a concert pianist or a professional opera singer. Agatha was a talented pianist and had a clear soprano voice. However, Agatha preferred nursing. She was described as tall, Scandinavian in coloring with reddish-gold hair, nice, fun, shy, bright, and loyal.

After finishing school, Agatha spent three months in Egypt with her mother. During this time, she was officially engaged to Reggie Lucy, a major in the gunners. Upon returning to England, Agatha met Lieutenant Archibald Christie of the Royal Field Artillery, later of the Royal Flying Corps. Archibald was described as steady and popular by a fellow officer. After a two year engagement, Agatha and Archibald were married by special license at the parish church of Emmanuel, Clifton, Bristol, on December 24, 1914.

During the war, she became a nurse near Torquay to be near her mother. She was a favorite with the recovering soldiers. She soon advanced to the dispensary. She used her nursing experience later to write her first detective novel.

Agatha's first foray into public writing was a poem that was published in "The Road of Dreams". The only detective stories she had read were Sherlock Holmes and a French novel called Mystery of the Yellow Room. Her sister Madge taunted Agatha to write a detective story in which the ending could not be guessed quickly. For three weeks, Agatha stayed at Moorland Hotel, Hay Tor, Dartmoor, where she wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair At Styles. This was the world's first introduction to her famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. The book was based on Agatha's nursing experience. Styles was an exact replica of Torquay.

Mrs. Christie was in charge of herself and her career. Letters to her publishers were businesslike and crisp. Her second book was published in 1922. This marked the beginning of a book-a-year record. She was on the bestseller list for the rest of her life. Agatha took great pleasure attending parties with other authors at the home of one of her lifelong friends, who happened to be her first publisher's nephew. He enjoyed gathering writers to talk about their styles, interests, and lives.

In 1919, Agatha gave birth to her only child, Rosalind, named after Shakespeare's heroine. Agatha went with her husband on a British Empire Exhibition in 1922. Her sister looked after Rosalind. Agatha was seasick most of the time. The tour went to Madeira, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Hawaii, Canada, and the United States. In 1923, Archibald joined Austral Trust Ltd. He was immediately placed on the board. He was responsible for share activities. The family moved to Scotswood, Sunningdale. They stayed for two years. A larger house was bought nearby. It was called Styles after Agatha's first book. Agatha retained a flat at 8 Addison Mansions, Kensington, where much of her business was done. Agatha's agent for over fifty years was Edmunk Cork of Hughes Massie Ltd. He took her from Bodley Head, where six of her books had been published, to William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd., who published the rest of her work.

In 1926, she wrote her masterpiece, The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd. It was the most discussed detective story ever written. Many believed she had broken the sacred rules set down by the Detection Club. The idea for the plot device was given to her by a friend. He suggested she should make the narrator of the story double as the murderer.

On December 3, 1926, the newspaper headlines stated "Agatha Christie Vanishes". Mrs. Christie disappeared for ten days. The solution was partly resolved when she was found on the eleventh day in the north of London. Clarissa Miller, Agatha's mother, had died after a severe illness. Agatha spent a month in the south of France to recuperate, mourn, and relax from the stress of overwork. She had also found out her husband was in love with another woman. Agatha was highly imaginative and sensitive. She was caught by surprise and thrown totally off balance. The police at the time believed she dealt with the situation in a way she could understand it; with mystery, deception, and revenge. Her disappearance was planned with methodical care.

On the morning of her disappearance, she and her husband had an argument. She left a letter for her husband and one for her secretary, telling her to cancel all weekend engagements. Then she went for a drive.

Mrs. Christie was found living at the Harrogate Hydropathic Hotel. She claimed she was suffering from amnesia. Seeing her husband at the hotel, she said he was her brother. Two doctors diagnosed her as suffering from an unquestionable loss of memory. Mrs. Christie said it was the result of too many troubles at once: the death of her mother, an earache, a toothache, gastritis, memory lapses, sleepwalking, and "buckets of tears". The police believed Agatha Christie was mentally distraught, filled with revenge, and in degradation of misery. She did what any other woman would have done, deciding to teach her husband a lesson.

Archibald and Agatha Christie stayed together for two more years. Divorce was granted in an undefended suit. Agatha received custody of Rosalind. After the divorce, she went to southern Iraq to join an archaeological dig. There she met Max Mallowan, an archaeological assistant. The two were completely unlike in background, education, profession and age, but both recognized they complimented each other. Max and Agatha were married in September 1930.

Agatha Christie's book sales are only surpassed by the Bible. She is second only to Shakespeare as the most often translated writer in the English language. Between 1930 and 1956, six romantic novels appeared under her pseudonym, Mary Westmacott. Between 1930 and 1939, twenty-four mysteries were published. She wrote an original play, produced in 1934. She wrote another play that was not published until 1973. She also adapted a short story into a play, produced in 1936. She accompanied Max on his archaeological digs, taking her portable typewriter along. She believed, however, she owed a higher responsibility to her husband and household than to her publishers and readers.

In September 1939, during the Second World War, Max was stationed in Tripolitania. Agatha lived in London, serving as dispenser at University College Hospital. Her daughter Rosalind had married Huber deBurgh Prichard. Her grandson Matthew was born in 1943. Rosalind was widowed during the war. She later married Anthony Hicks.

Agatha's off-duty hours were spent plotting, planning, and writing. Between 1940 and 1945, ten new novels were published and two stage adaptations of earlier novels were made. She also wrote the last Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries. These were to be kept in her publisher's vault. Neither would be published until after her death. She deeded all rights to her novels to her husband and her daughter. Her fifty-sixth novel was published in 1950. Her short story, "Three Blind Mice", was first aired on the radio in 1947. It was adapted to a stage play and called "The Mousetrap". It holds the record as the longest running play produced. It opened on the London stage in 1952. On the night of Agatha's death, "The Mousetrap" was giving its 9,612th consecutive performance.

Agatha Christie won the Commander of the Order of the British Empire decoration in 1956 for being the most popular British crime mystery writer. She became president of the Detection Club in 1958. Between 1956 and 1960, four mysteries and one collection of short stories were published, as well as three plays being produced. Her husband received the same decoration as she in 1960, his for archaeology. In 1966, she and Max went on a lecture tour of the United States and Canada. Max received a knighthood in 1968, giving them the titles of Sir Max and Lady Mallowan. Agatha received an Order of Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1971. She was now Dame Agatha Christie.

By 1971 most of her time was spent at her home, Winterbrook House, in Wallingford. In 1972, she broke her leg and experienced heart trouble that required considerable bed rest. New mysteries were produced regularly every year to the end of 1973. In 1974, Agatha had a recurrence of heart trouble. She gave her last interview to Lord Snowdon in the same year. She told him she wanted to be remembered as a good writer of detective and thriller books. She also told him the writing that had given her the most enjoyment was her romance books. Her last public appearance was in 1974 at the opening of the movie version of her novel, Murder On The Orient Express.

In 1975, Agatha Christie was experiencing failing health and increasing weakness. She made over all rights to "The Mousetrap" to her grandson. Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller Christie Mallowan died peacefully in Wallingford on January 12, 1976. She was buried in the country churchyard of Cholsey parish near her home.

Agatha's interests spanned her lifetime. She loved cricket and enjoyed collecting objects, two things she picked up from her father. She picked up her interest in trees and love for gardening from her mentor, Eden Phillpotts. She enjoyed shopping and was pleased she could do so in Torquay undetected. She took a professional interest in the design of her own book covers. She was fascinated by archaeology.

Agatha Christie was described in her life as imaginative, happy in her own company, never lonely, modest, and a good listener. She was paranoiac in her shyness of strangers. She was secretive, professional in business, and had an inborn sense of public relations. She projected sturdy middle class respectability. She was reserved, reluctant to be interviewed, and averse to discussing her personal life. She had an engaging sense of humor and delighted in perceived incongruity. She was a talented pianist and singer. She was a non-smoker and a non-drinker. She had a deep-rooted avoidance of controversy and worked hard to attain her privacy.

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Biography of saint augustine

Augustine was born in Tagaste (modern day Souk Ahras, Algeria) in 354. This land was under the rule of Rome since Carthage was conquered almost five hundred years before his birth. Tagaste was a small town without a college or university. His parents were Patricius and Monica, and belonged to the middle class. This meant that they were wealthy enough to hope to sent Augustine to get an education, but too poor to be able to afford the expenditure on their own. His mother was Christian, however, his father believed in the Roman gods. He accepted baptism only on his deathbed.

His childhood is somewhat of a mystery. All that anyone knows is what he wrote down in his memoirs. He depicts himself as an ordinary child that was smart, rational, and prone to jealousy. He was a child that held the respect of his elders very carefully. He studied and became fluent in Latin. His family, with the help of a wealthy family friend, scrapped together enough money to send him to the university in Madaura. At the age of seventeen Augustine moved Carthage and began to study. Carthage was the Rome of Northern Africa. It was an economic, cultural, and political center of Northern Africa. Shortly after Augustine’s transfer to Carthage, his father died.

Once in Carthage and done with his father’s funeral, Augustine moved in with a young woman, by whom a son would soon be born. Though he lives with this mysterious woman for the span of ten years, there is no mention of her name in his memoirs. He only wrote that when he had to give up this woman’s love for a political marriage in Milan “his heart ran blood”. His son, Adeodatus, stayed with his father until he died when he was fourteen or fifteen.

While Augustine was studying in Carthage, he discovered the works of Cicero. A work called Hortensius inspired Augustine to study philosophy. This would be his primary love until he converted to Christianity. This love of philosophy inspired him to join Manicheism, a rival religious cult to Christianity. Augustine soon became disappointed with the groups vague system of beliefs. However, though he separated himself from the sect privately, publicly he remained a supporter until 384, more than a decade after he joined the religious sect. At the age of twenty-one, after four years of study in Carthage, Augustine returned home to teach. This only lasted for a short while, as a year later he was again living in Carthage.

From this point onward, Augustine’s career explodes. Seven more years of study and philosophical discourse turned the hometown teacher into a formidable scholar and orator. In 383 or 384 Augustine moved to Rome, the center of civilization. Once there Augustine won a job as professor of rhetoric. Thus, by the age of thirty (384) Augustine had won the most visible academic position in the world. The job took him to Milan. Once he set up a stable life there, his widowed mother moved in with him. His mother talked him into giving up his mistress (the mother of Adeodatus) and marrying a presentable woman. She also began pressing the teachings of Christianity on him.

The stress of such a rapid rise in the public sphere was taking its toll on Augustine. He was tired, worn out, and perplexed by a number of questions that no one could answer for him. It was at this time that Augustine began to develop a relationship bishop Ambrose. He would listen to his sermons. Slowly Augustine, who had denounced Christianity as illogic rhetoric, began to see Christianity in a new favorable way. In 386, less than two years after moving to Milan, Augustine gave up his academic position on the grounds of ill health, and move to a villa in Cassiciacum. Here he and few friends discussed religion, philosophy, and prayer. On Easter night in 387 Ambrose baptized Augustine.

At the age of thirty-five, with his new ideas and prayer, Augustine moved back to his old home in Northern Africa. In 389 he settled in Tagaste with a few friends. There they prayed and spoke of religious things. Augustine enjoyed this part of his life very much. However, two years later he was talked into joining the priesthood. Augustine now devoted himself to the texts of scripture and became a world-renowned theologian. His first theological treatise came from this period. In it he attacks the Manichees, the religious group that he had previously been a member of. By 393 Augustine was being asked to make sermons. In 395 the bishop of Hippo died. Augustine assumed his responsibilities and became the priest of Hippo.

Augustine remained the priest of Hippo until he died thirty-four years later. While at this post, he judged over many disputes. His priestly career is a series of controversies. However, Augustine’s main focus was liturgy. Through his study of liturgy, Augustine hoped to win three distinct social battles. The first was an ecclesiastical struggle for the very life of his community. The second was the Christianization of the Roman Empire. Finally, was the theological quarrel over the essentials of faith and salvation. It was to these three questions that Augustine sought to answer in his writings and discussions.

By the year 430 Augustine had grown to be an old man. Rome had fallen in 410 to the Vandals, and they were pressing into Northern Africa where Augustine had retired. In 430 they were besieging the city of Hippo. Hippo eventually fell to the barbarians. Augustine had died a few days before the fall. Not long after the Vandals captured Carthage and established an Empire that would last for a century.

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Biography on Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart was born Martha Helen Kostyra on August 3, 1941 in New Jersey. She was the first daughter of Eddie and Martha Kostyra. She was born to a large middle class family of Polish heritage. She has a older brother, Eddie. She also has 4 other siblings.

When she was born, her family lived in an apartment in a two-family home. They bought a house in Nutley, New Jersey when Martha was three years old. It was a busy household with six kids. Martha's mother cooked and sewed clothes for the family. She saved money by making the childrens' clothing. Martha's parents believed in a strong work ethic.

Martha's mother taught her how to cook. They had large Christmas celebrations and Martha and her mother baked and decorated cookies. Martha also learned the art of canning and preserving at her grandparents' home in Buffalo, New York. She spent some summers there as a child. They taught Martha how to preserve and can vegetables and fruits. These are skills that would prove to be important in her life.

Martha's father, Eddie, was an avid gardener. He shared his gardening skills with Martha. They would work together in the yard and garden. They would plant flowers, fruit trees, and bushes of berries. Their garden grew and evolved over time. Martha learned many of her skills used today from her parents and grandparents.

Martha attended schools in Nutley, New Jersey all the way to college. She was an excellent student. Martha also loved to read. She was active in extracurricular activities as well. She was involved in the school newspaper, the Art Club and several other clubs.

As she came from a large family, her house was always bustling with visiting family and friends. They often entertained and the family would do all the preparations, such as cooking and baking. Unbeknownst to Martha, this was the beginning of her "entertaining" career.

During her high school years, Martha decided to go to New York and try to get modeling jobs. She was hired and eventually was in a TV commerical and several magazines. In addition to modeling, she was still going to high school and she continued to excel in her studies. She was an overachiever. She graduated in the top ten of her high school class and decided to attend Barnard College in New York City.

While attending college, she continued to model. Her majors were history and architectural history. She met her husband, Andy Stewart, while she was attending Barnard College.

Martha wed Andy Stewart in 1961. Martha and her mother made her wedding dress. They lived in an apartment in New York City. It needed work, so Andy and Martha renovated and decorated it together. This was Martha's first real introduction into home decor. In 1965, their only child, Alexis, was born.

After Alexis was born, they decided they should live in a house and make a home for their little family. They bought a one room schoolhouse and renovated it from top to bottom by themselves. They enjoyed the work and the challenges it presented.

For a short time after her modelling career slowed, Martha went to work as a stockbroker. It was during this period in her life that she learned how businesses operate. Again, she was successful and this experience would prove invaluable.

Their next home was in Westport, Connecticut. This is the now famous home on Turkey Hill Road. Well experienced with home renovation, they took this project on with pleasure. Restoring and decorating soon became apparent to Martha that these were her true passions. Andy and Martha landscaped with fruit trees, berry bushes of all varieties, and many vegetable and flower gardens, just like Martha did when she was growing up. They painted the interior and the exterior of the house, too.

During this renovation, Martha decided to try her hand at catering. She always liked entertaining and thought this might be the perfect business for her. She started simply by placing a catering ad in a small local paper and the jobs started coming. Her first official catering job was a wedding. Her business grew as did the publicity for the functions she catered. Martha catered a party for Andy's publishing firm and met many editors and important people. It was during this party that she was offered the opportunity to publish a book on catering.

That book became "Entertaining" and was published in 1982. It was a bestseller and continues to sell today. She also published two cookbooks as a followup. She started to appear on television and she even hosted her own Thnaksgiving special on public televison. People either loved her or hated her. She fast became known as a lifestyle expert.

She eventually became the spokesperson for K-Mart. She wrote more books. She was becoming a wealthy "homemaking" expert. It was during this successful business time her marriage started to suffer. Martha and Andy divorced in 1990. She continued to work hard. She renovated and decorated another house.

She had another goal. She wanted to publish a magazine very much like her books. A magazine that would show women how to entertain and decorate, cook and bake, garden and craft. In 1990, her dream became a reality. "Martha Stewart Living" made its debut. Women across the country loved it. Martha appeared on the "Today" show and was offered the chance to host her own show. Martha's television show consists of everything within the pages of her magazine. She was named one of " America's Most Influential People of 1996.

Martha wanted control of her projects, so in 1997 she created "Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia". Omnimedia encompasses all the various mediums where her ideas and projects can be found. She's on the radio, TV, in print, has a Martha By Mail catalogue, and is even online at Martha Stewart.com.

She has a neverending supply of ideas and energy and will continue to influence women all over the world. Martha Stewart is living the American dream. Born to a middle class family and now rich and successful.

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Rahasia Lukisan Mona Lisa

Siapa yang tak terpesona dengan lukisan 'Mona Lisa Smile'? Sejumlah ilmuwan seni asal Prancis berhasil memecahkan sejumlah rahasia di balik pesona karya legendaris Leonardo da Vinci itu.

Para pakar dari Pusat Penelitian dan Restorasi Museum Prancis itu menemukan bahwa lukisan da Vinci dilakukan dengan teknik lapis ekstratipis. Da Vinci menerapkan 30 lapisan untuk lukisannya yang mengagumkan. Setiap lapis hanya setebal 40 mikrometer, setengah dari ketebalan rambut.

"Teknik itu disebut sfumato," kat salah satu peneliti, Philippe Walter. Teknik itulah yang membuat da Vinci berhasil menciptakan ilusi dan bayangan menakjubkan dalam lukisannya.

Tak hanya lukisan 'Mona Lisa Smile', tim juga meneliti enam lukisan karya da Vinci lainnya yang seluruhnya tersimpan di museum Louvre. Penelitian dilakukan dengan teknis X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy untuk mempelajari lapisan cat dan komposisi kimianya.

Mereka membawa peralatan berteknologi tinggi itu ke museum saat tutup dan mengamati wajah potret ', yang merupakan simbol dari Sfumato. Proyek ini dikembangkan melalui kerjasama dengan European Synchrotron Radiation Facility di Grenoble.

"Sekarang kita bisa mengetahui campuran pigmen yang digunakan da Vinci untuk setiap lapisan lukisannya," kata Walter. "Dan, itu sangat, sangat penting untuk memahami teknik ini."

Analisis dari sejumlah lukisan itu mengungkap bahwa da Vinci terus mencoba metode baru dalam setiap karyanya. Dalam 'Mona Lisa Smile', da Vinci menggunakan oksida mangan untuk menciptakan dimensi. Ia juga menggunakan tembaga, bahkan glasir.

Catatan sejarah mengungkap, 'Mona Lisa Smile' adalah lukisan Lisa Gherardini, istri Francesco del Giocondo, seorang pedagang asal Florence. Da Vinci mulai melukis itu pada tahun 1503. Giorgio Vasari, pelukis abad ke-16 dan penulis biografi da Vinci dan seniman lainnya, menulis bahwa da Vinci menyempurnakan lukisan itu selama empat tahun.

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