Emil Jellinek - father of Mercedes

Emil Jellinek, known after 1903 as Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (6 April 1853 – 21 January 1918) was a wealthy European entrepreneur who sat on the board of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft ('DMG') between 1900 and 1909. He specified an engine designed there by Wilhelm Maybach for the first 'modern' car. Jellinek required naming the engine after his daughter[1], Mercedes Jellinek. The Mercedes 35hp model later contributed to the brand name developed in 1926, Mercedes-Benz, when DMG and Benz & Cie. merged into what is now among the largest car brands in the world. Jellinek lived in Vienna, Austria but later moved to Nice on the French Riviera, where he was the General Consul to Austria-Hungary.

Jellinek was born in Leipzig, Germany, the son of Dr Adolf Jellinek (sometimes known also as Aaron Jellinek). His father was a well-known Czech-Hungarian rabbi and intellectual in the Jewish collective around Leipzig and Vienna. Jellinek's mother Rosalie Bettelheim (* 1832 in Budapest, † 1892 in Baden bei Wien) was also a preaching rabbi. He had two brothers, both of whom achieved fame: Max Hermann Jellinek as a linguist, and Georg Jellinek as an international law teacher. His sisters were Charlotte and Pauline.
The family moved, shortly after Jellinek's birth, to Vienna. He found paying attention to school work difficult and dropped out of several schools including Sonderhausen. His parents were displeased with his performance, while Jellinek began to indulge in practical jokes. In 1870, when he was 17, his parents found him a job as a clerk in a Moravian railway company, Rot-Koestelec North-Western. Jellinek lasted two years at this company before being sacked when the management discovered that he had been organising train races late at night.

In 1872, when 19 years old, he moved to France. There, through his father's connections, Schmidl, the Austro-Hungarian Consul in Morocco, requested his services getting Jellinek diplomatic posts at Tangier and Tetouan successively. In Tetouan he met Rachel Goggmann Cenrobert an African born lady of French-Sepharadi descent.
In 1874 he was called up for military service in Vienna but was declared unfit. He resumed his diplomatic career as Austrian vice-consul at Oran, Algeria and also began trading Algerian grown tobacco to Europe in partnership with Rachel's father.
He also worked as an inspector for the French Aigle insurance company and traveled to Vienna briefly in 1881 at the age of 28 to open one of its branch offices. Returning to Oran, he finally married Rachel, and their first two sons Adolph and Fernand were born there.

Seeing an advertisement for a DMG car in the weekly magazine Fliegende Blatter, Jellinek now aged 43 travelled to Cannstatt, Stuttgart in 1896 to find out more about the company and its factory and the designers Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. He placed an order for one of the Daimler cars which was delivered in October of that year.
The car was a Phoenix Double-Phaeton with 8hp engine and capable of reaching 24 km/h (15 mph). Maybach had designed the DMG-Phoenix engine, which featured four cylinders for the first time in a car, in 1894 when staying at Stuttgart's former Hermann Hotel.
DMG seemed a reliable enterprise, so Jellinek decided to start selling its cars. In 1898 he wrote to DMG requesting six more cars and to become a DMG main agent and distributor. In 1899 he sold 10 cars and in 1900 29. As well as French car makers such as Peugeot and Panhard & Levassor and other makers licensed to sell Daimler engined vehicles in France, there was a shortage of cars and Jellinek benefitted by being able to beat other suppliers lengthy waiting times.
Jellinek kept contacting DMG's designers with his ideas, some good but often with harangues such as: "Your manure wagon has just broken down on schedule", "Your car is a cocoon and I want the butterfly" or "Your engineers should be locked up in an insane asylum." This annoyed Daimler but Maybach took notice of many of his suggestions.
Every year in March, the French Riviera celebrated a speed-week, attracting many of the local high-society.

Two years later in 1884, Jellinek joined the insurance company full time and moved with the family to Baden bei Wien, Austria, where they lived in the house of a wine dealer named Hanni. In Baden in 1889 his first daughter, Adrienne Manuela Ramona Jellinek, was born on September 16, and called Mercédès, the name Mercédès is meaning mercy. Rachel died 4 years after the birth of her daughter. Even so, Jellinek came to believe the name Mercedes brought good fortune and called all his properties after it. One of his sons wrote: “He was as superstitious as the ancient Romans.”
Jellinek's insurance business and stock-market trading became very successful, and they started to spend the winters in Nice on the fashionable French Riviera, eventually moving there and establishing links with both international business people and the local aristocracy.
It was in Nice that Jellinek became enthralled by the automobile, studying any information that he could gather about it and purchasing successively: a De Dion-Bouton, a Léon-Bollée Voiturette, both tricycles, and a four-seat Benz motorized-coach.
Helped by his diplomatic career, he became the Austrian Consul General in Nice, Jellinek began selling automobiles, mainly French makes, to European aristocrats spending winter vacations in the region. Associated with the automobile business were Leon Desjoyeaux, from Nice, and C. L. “Charley” Lehmann, from Paris. He acquired a large mansion which he named Villa Mercedes to run the business from and by 1897 he was selling about 140 cars a year and started calling them Mercedes. The car business was by now more profitable than his insurance work.
Rachel died in 1893 and was buried in Nice. In 1899 he married again to Madelaine Henriette Engler (Anaise Jellinek), and had four more children Alain Didier, Guy, Rene and Andree (Maya).

In 1899 DMG commissioned some engineers including Wilhelm Bauer, Wilhelm Werner and Hermann Braun, to investigate the possibility of using the Phoenix for sporting events as at that time car racing was the best way of generating publicity in Europe.
On March 30, 1900 Wilhelm Bauer decided spontaneously to enter the Nice-La Turbie hill climb but crashed fatally after hitting a rock on the first turn while avoiding spectators. This caused DMG to abandon racing.
Nonetheless, Jellinek came to an agreement with DMG on April 2, 1900 by promising the large sum of 550,000 Goldmark if Wilhelm Maybach would design a revolutionary sports car for him, to be called the Mercedes, of which 36 units had to be delivered before October 15. The deal also included an order for 36 standard DMG 8 hp cars. Jellinek also became a member of DMG 's Board of Management and obtained the exclusive dealership for the new Mercedes for France, Austria, Hungary, Belgium and United States of America. Jellinek had some legal problems over the use of the Daimler name in France with Panhard Levassor who owned the Daimler licences for France, and the use of the Mercedes name put an end to that problem.
Jellinek laid down a strict specification for the Mercedes stating "I don't want a car for today or tomorrow, it will be the car of the day after tomorrow". He itemized many new parameters to overcome the problems found in many of the ill-designed "horseless carriages" of the time which made them unsuitable for high speeds and at risk of overturning:
Long wheelbase and wide track to provide stability.
Engine to be better located on the car's chassis.
Lower center of gravity.
Electric ignition using the new Bosch system (in lieu of a gas heated glow tube).
The model would be officially called the Daimler-Mercedes which the DMG chairman accepted readily as it overcame the problem of the Daimler name in France being owned by Panhard & Levassor.
Over the next few months, Jellinek oversaw the development of the new car at first by daily telegrams and later by traveling to Stuttgart. He took delivery of the first one on December 22 1900, at Nice's railway station - it had already been sold to the Baron Henry of Rothschild who had also raced cars in Nice.
In 1901, the car amazed the automobile world. Jellinek again won the Nice races, easily beating his opponents in all the capacity classes and reaching 60 km/h (37 mph). The director of the French Automobile Club, Paul Meyan, stated: "We have entered the Mercedes era", a sentiment echoed by newspapers worldwide.
The records set by the new Mercedes amazed the entire automobile world. DMG's sales shot up, filling its Stuttgart plant to full capacity and consolidating its future as a car making company. The number of employees steadily increased from 340 in 1900 to 2,200 in 1904. In 1902[2], on June 23, the company decided to use the Mercedes name as the trademark for its entire automobile production and officially registered it on September 26.

As well as shaving off his side-whiskers, the overjoyed Emil Jellinek, in Vienna in June 1903 at the age of 50, changed his name to Jellinek-Mercedes, commenting: "This is probably the first time that a father has taken his daughter's name". From then on, he signed himself E.J. Mercédès.
Jellinek and his enthusiastic associates were distributing DMG-Mercedes models worldwide, six hundred were sold by 1909, making millions for DMG. He supplied cars to all 150 members of Nice's Automobile Club and also supported racing teams all over Europe. His life was absorbed by the business, spending much time away from home, and sending many telegrams.
As the 1900s continued, his passion for the Mercedes began to fade. He tired of the special requests being made by his highly demanding aristocratic customers. He also became disillusioned by DMG's technical department which he called "those "donkeys" and built his own large repair facilities at Nice behind Villa Mercedes. Wilhelm Maybach, his favorite designer, left DMG in 1907. He also so angered DMG's chairman that in 1908 he permanently cancelled Jellinek's original contract.
His diplomatic career continued and he was Austro-Hungarian Consulate General in successively Nice (1907), Mexico and Monaco. In 1909 when in Monte Carlo, Jellinek finally severed his commercial activities to concentrate on his consular work but did purchase some casinos in the region.

Just before war broke out in 1914 the Austrian government charged Jellinek for taxes on his French properties. The family then moved to Semmering. While being treated at a sanatorium in Kissingen by Dr. Von Dapper, he ceded the Baden mansion to his family, writing: "(The Baden Villa) disturbs me terribly, I cannot sleep and that is detrimental to my health!.".
When Austro-Hungary entered in war on July 28, 1914, Jellinek and his family stopped speaking French outside their property. Later that year, they moved to Meran (France) but there, he was accused of espionage for Germany, supposedly hiding saboteurs in his Mediterranean yachts. At the same time, the Austrians suspected his wife Anaise.
Fleeing in 1917, they finished up in Geneva, in neutral Switzerland, where Emil Jellinek was temporarily arrested again. He stayed there until his death on January 21, 1918, at the age of 64 . All his French properties were later forfeited. In 1982, his remains have rested near Rachel's tomb, in Nice's Catholic Cemetery.
A decade after his death in 1926, amid the German post-war crisis, DMG merged with Benz to become the Daimler-Benz company with their automobiles called Mercedes-Benz. Daimler-Benz purchased Chrysler in 1998 and became DaimlerChrysler until August 2007, when Chrysler was sold off to Cerberus Capital Management. The company is now known as Daimler AG.

Emil Jellinek édesapja, Adolf Jellinek Lipcsében, majd Bécsben szolgált rabbiként, édesanyja, Bettelheim Rozália Budapesten született, nagybátyjai közül Hermannt az 1848-as szabadságharc idején kivégezték, Jellinek Móricz pedig Pesten telepedett le, nagykereskedő volt, a gabonacsarnok elnöke, és 1864-től az első lóvasúttársaság vezérigazgatója.Még húszéves sem volt Emil Jellinek, amikor apja kapcsolatai révén a marokkói osztrák–magyar külképviselet alkalmazottja lett. Az iskolából előtte kicsapták, utána a szülei az egyik vasúttársaságnál szereztek neki állást, de onnan is kirúgták, mert kiderült: illegális éjszakai vonatversenyeket szervezett. Afrikában megismerte későbbi feleségét, Rachel Goggmann Cenrobert-t, az apjával pedig élénk üzletelésbe fogott, amikor 1874-be hazatért Bécsbe, mert behívták katonának, előbb elintézte, hogy alkalmatlannak minősítsék, majd céget szervezett, amely az algériai dohányt szállította Európába.Kinevezték orani alkonzulnak, mégis visszaköltözött Bécsbe, és a francia Aigle biztosító kirendeltségét vezette. Az üzlet jól ment, közben elkezdett tőzsdézni is, és vett egy házat Nizzában, így a család a nyarakat a francia Riviérán töltötte. Jellinek ott találkozott a nagy szerelemmel, az automobillal. A kilencvenes évek közepén belefogott az autókereskedésbe, a francia arisztokrácia igényeit próbálta kielégíteni. Egy magazinban olvasott a Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft által készített autókról, és 1896-ban elutazott Cannstattba, hogy személyesen vizsgálja meg az árut. Tárgyalt a két tervezővel, Gottlieb Daimlerrel és Wilhelm Maybachhal, majd megrendelt egy Phoenix Double-Phaetont. A 24 kilométeres sebességre képes kocsi megtetszett neki, és egyre több megrendelést adott a gyárnak, sőt kizárólagos értékesítési jogot szerzett Európa több országában és az Egyesült Államokban. És hogy mit árult? Mercedest.Rachellel kötött házasságából több gyermek született, az első lány 1889-ben, ő volt Adrienne Manuela Ramona, de apja csak Mercedesnek hívta. Amikor négy évvel később a felesége váratlanul meghalt, babonásan hinni kezdett abban, hogy a Mercedes név segít majd, és mindent erről nevezett el.A sorból nem maradhatott ki az autó sem, eleinte a nizzai autóversenyekre benevezett autóját nevezte csak Mercedesnek, majd amikor egyre nagyobb szállítmányokat vásárolt a Daimlertől, kitalálta, hogy az autó is viselje a lánya nevét. A tulajdonosok ellenálltak, de amikor Jellinek 550 ezer márkás üzletet kínált, belementek a névváltoztatásba. „Az, hogy a lányomról nevezzük el a kocsit, csak fokozza a publicitást. Ez a név egyszerre egzotikus és vonzó, könnyen kimondható, és jól hangzik. Akárhogy hívhatják az autóikat, de azoknak, amelyeket én adok el közülük, biztosan Mercedes lesz a nevük” – mondta Jellinek a későbbi üzlettársainak.Persze az átkeresztelés mögött szóltak egyéb érvek is: a legnagyobb piacnak számító Franciaországban a Daimler már másnak adott jogot az értékesítésre, Mercedest viszont Jellinek is árulhatott. Pontosabban Jellinek-Mercedes, mert 1902-ben levédette az elnevezést, majd egy évvel később ő is beállt a sorba: úgy anyakönyveztette magát, hogy Emil Jellinek-Mercedes. „Ez az első eset, hogy az apa viseli a lánya nevét” – mondta a „keresztelő” után.

Lenny Kravitz

Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and arranger whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk, and ballads.
In addition to singing lead and backing vocals, Kravitz often plays all the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and percussion himself when recording. He won the Grammy Award for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" four years in a row from 1999 to 2002. He has sold an estimated 32 millions albums worldwide.

Kravitz was born in New York City, New York, the son of Roxie Roker, an actress known for her character Helen Willis in the 1970s hit television sitcom The Jeffersons, and Sy Kravitz, an NBC television news producer. Kravitz's father was of Ukrainian Jewish descent[1] and his mother was of Bahamian descent. Though biracial, Kravitz identifies more with his Bahamian heritage and is widely recognized as an African American, although he still considers himself Jewish. [2]. Kravitz was named after his uncle, Pfc. Leonard Kravitz, who was killed in action on March 6, 1951 near Yangpyeong, Korea at the age of 20. Pfc. Kravitz fearlessly defended against a surprise Chinese Army attack, saving most of his platoon; he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military decoration of the United States Army.[3]
Kravitz grew up spending weekdays on the Upper East Side of Manhattan attending P.S. 6 on 81st and Madison with his parents at his grandmother Bessie Roker's house in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Kravitz began banging on pots and pans in the kitchen, playing them as drums at the age of three. At the age of five, he wanted to be a musician. He began playing the drums and soon added guitar. Kravitz grew up listening to the music his parents listened to: R&B, jazz, classical, opera, gospel, and blues. "My parents were very supportive of the fact that I loved music early on, and they took me to a lot of shows," Kravitz said.[4] Around the age of 7, he saw The Jackson 5 perform at Madison Square Garden, which became his favorite group.[5] His father, who was also a jazz promoter, was friends with Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, Miles Davis and other jazz greats. Ellington even played "Happy Birthday" for him one year when he was about 5.[6] He was exposed to the soul music of Motown, Stax, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight, The Isley Brothers and Gamble and Huff growing up, key influences on his musical style.[5] Kravitz often went to see New York theater, where his mother worked. His mother encouraged his dreams of pursuing music.
In 1974, the Kravitz family relocated to Los Angeles when Kravitz's mother landed her role on The Jeffersons. At his mother's urging, Kravitz joined the California Boys Choir for three years, where he performed a classical repertoire, and sang with the Metropolitan Opera. He performed in Mahler's Third Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl. It was in Los Angeles that Kravitz was first introduced to rock music, listening to Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie,[citation needed] The New York Dolls,[citation needed] Pink Floyd, Cream, and The Who.[5] Kravitz wanted to be a session musician. He also appeared as an actor in television commercials during this time.
Kravitz went to school enough to pass, but was spending more and more time jamming with friends. His parents became concerned, wanting him to have something to fall back on. At the age of 15, determined to have a music career, Kravitz moved out of his house. He stayed with friends, slept in friends' cars, and at one point was even sleeping in his Ford Pinto. Inspired by David Bowie and The New York Dolls,[citation needed] Kravitz adopted the nom de guerre, "Romeo Blue," a new persona complete with straightened hair, eyeliner and mascara,[citation needed] and blue contact lenses, and began performing. Kravitz's music at this time was heavily influenced by the synth-laden funk pop of Prince. In 1982, Kravitz graduated from Beverly Hills High School and convinced his father to give him money to record instead of spending money on college. With his first demo, Kravitz received offers from several record labels, including I.R.S. Records, but Kravitz was told he needed to change his music to either make it "black enough" to fit in with current radio-friendly R and B styles or to make it "whiter" to work as a rock artist.[citation needed] "I refused," Kravitz told the Los Angeles Times in 1989.[4]
In 1985, Kravitz's parents divorced which had a profound impact on him. His relationship with his father became extremely strained. Kravitz focused on his music to help him get through this period. That year, Kravitz met actress Lisa Bonet backstage at a New Edition concert. Bonet worked on The Cosby Show, the number one rated show on television. They were close friends for two years before falling in love. Kravitz moved back to New York City where The Cosby Show was produced in 1987, moving in with now girlfriend Bonet. Kravitz and Bonet eloped on November 16, 1987, her 20th birthday, in a Las Vegas ceremony. Kravitz, still known as Romeo Blue at the time, suddenly found himself in the headlines of tabloid newspapers. They had a daughter, Zoë Isabella Kravitz, born on December 1, 1988.
With record labels still telling him his music wasn't "black enough" or "white enough," Kravitz decided to record an album on his own. Kravitz had met recording engineer/keyboardist/bassist Henry Hirsch in 1985 when recording a demo at his Hoboken, New Jersey recording studio. The two shared an interest in using real instruments and vintage recording equipment, as well as a love of R&B, jazz, and rock. Kravitz would go on to collaborate with Hirsch on most of his albums. Kravitz began working on his debut album with Hirsch over the next year and a half, with Kravitz's father paying for the studio time. Kravitz met saxophonist Karl Denson and invited him to play on the song, "Let Love Rule". Kravitz was so impressed with his playing that Denson played on much of the album. Denson toured with Kravitz for the next 5 years. After completing the album, Kravitz met with Virgin Records. The label was excited about the music he was making, music inspired by his relationship with wife Bonet and their new daughter. Kravitz dropped the name Romeo Blue. About his time as Romeo Blue, Kravitz said, "Ultimately, it got me back to myself. And when I finally did accept myself for myself, music started flowing out of me."[4] Kravitz signed with Virgin Records in 1989.
Kravitz released his debut album Let Love Rule on September 19, 1989, a combination of rock and funk with a general 1960s vibe. Music critics were mixed: some felt Kravitz was a gifted new artist, others felt he was overpowered by his musical influences. The album was a moderate success in the United States, but became huge outside of the US, especially in Europe. Lisa Bonet directed and appeared in his debut music video for the title track, "Let Love Rule". Kravitz set out on the road, first on a club tour, and then an opening slot for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
Kravitz identifies himself as both a Christian and a Jew, which he described both as "all the same to me".[7] He also notes that spirituality "has been an important issue in my growth", given his upbringing by parents of different faiths.[8] Such spirituality is prominently featured on many of his songs, such as the lyrics on his album Baptism, and having his back inscribed with a tattoo stating, "My Heart Belongs to Jesus Christ."[9] During another interview, he quipped "I'm half Jewish, I'm half black, I look in-between."

In 1990, Kravitz co-wrote with Ingrid Chavez and produced the song "Justify My Love" for Madonna. The song, which appeared on her greatest hits album The Immaculate Collection and created controversy because of its explicit video, went to #1. Kravitz separated from Lisa Bonet in 1991,[11] amid rumors of an affair between him and Madonna. Kravitz has denied any infidelity.[11] Kravitz and Bonet divorced in 1993.
In 1991, Kravitz produced the self-titled album Vanessa Paradis for French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis. He played most of the instruments and co-wrote most of the songs on the album. He also released his second album, Mama Said, which was his first album to reach the Top 40. The songs on the album were about Bonet and dedicated to her, documenting his depression over their breakup.[6] Kravitz's biggest single yet, "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over", went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single "Always on the Run", a tribute to his mother,[6] featured Slash on guitar. "Stand By My Woman" and "What Goes Around Comes Around" followed. Sean Lennon co-wrote and played piano on the song, "All I Ever Wanted".
In 1993, Kravitz wrote "Line Up" for Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, and appeared on Mick Jagger's solo album, Wandering Spirit, in a cover of the Bill Withers' soul classic, "Use Me". That year Kravitz also got to work with idols Al Green and Curtis Mayfield.
In 1993, Are You Gonna Go My Way was released, reaching #12 on the Billboard 200 and Kravitz earned a BRIT Award for best international male artist in 1994. The title track won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video for the video produced by Mark Romanek, in which Kravitz slung his dreadlocks and wore high-heeled platform boots. During the presentation of the MTV Video Music Awards, he performed the song with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on bass. Several singles from the album would follow including, "Believe", "Is There Any Love In Your Heart", and "Heaven Help/Spinning Around Over You". This album was the first to feature guitarist Craig Ross, who has also played on all his subsequent albums[12]. One song, "Eleutheria", was influenced by the island Eleuthera in The Bahamas where Kravitz built a house and recording studio at that time.[6] In 1993, he also released the EP, Spinning Around Over You, which included four live tracks from his "Universal Love Tour".
Kravitz (along with Stevie Wonder) covered the Kiss song "Deuce" for a tribute album. He released the album Circus in 1995, which went to number 10 on the Billboard chart on the back of his past achievement. However, the album only had two hit singles: "Rock and Roll Is Dead" and "Can't Get You Off My Mind".
With 5 (1998), Kravitz embraced digital technology such as Pro Tools and samplers for the first time. 5 introduced his music to an even wider audience thanks to the hit single "Fly Away" being featured prominently in both car manufacturer and airline commercials. 5 would reach #28 on the Billboard 200, with "Fly Away" reaching #1 on multiple charts. He would win the first of his four consecutive Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1999. Other hits from the album included "If You Can't Say No", that was also remixed by dance producer Brian Transeau, and "I Belong to You". For the I Belong to You video Lenny can be seen without his signature dreadlocks. In 1999 he produced and sang with Cree Summer on her solo album Street Faerie.

In January 2006, Kravitz contributed "Breathe" to absoluttracks, a project sponsored by Absolut Vodka. This song was re-mixed by ten musical producers, and these tracks were available via the Internet on the sites www.absolutkravitz.com and www.absoluttracks.com.
Kravitz appeared in the audience of Madonna's Confessions Tour (2006) during numerous shows. He would later join Madonna live on stage to play guitar on the song, "I Love New York," at the last of four Paris shows.
Lately, Kravitz has founded a design firm named Kravitz Design, stating if he hadn't been a musician he would have been a designer. Kravitz Design, focused on interior and furniture design, has designed residential spaces, as well as a chandelier for the crystal company Swarovski, named "Casino Royale."[13]
On July 7, 2007, Kravitz performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro[2], making him the only major international rock star to perform two huge free concerts at the world-famous Copacabana Beach. Kravitz had already played there on March 21, 2005, drawing 300,000 people on a concert of his own. The Live Earth concert, with eight other acts on the bill, including Pharrell Williams and Macy Gray, took 400,000 to the beach.
Also in 2007, Kravitz released a version of "Cold Turkey" by John Lennon on the charity CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Kravitz also spent time recording his latest album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution, released February 5, 2008.[14] Another album, Funk, will also be released in 2008. This is believed to be a project that Kravitz has been working on since 1997. Some of the original tracks for Funk were recorded while he was in New Orleans at Allen Toussaint's studio while taking a break for several months from recording in New York City.
On September 25, 2007, the Fats Domino tribute album "Goin' Home ; A Tribute To Fats Domino" was released. Kravitz was on the song "Whole Lotta Lovin'" along with Rebirth Brass Band, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker. [15]
Kravitz performed at the Grey Cup halftime show in Toronto at the Rogers Centre on November 25, 2007, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19.[16]
The original video for "I'll Be Waiting" was shot in Central Park in New York City with Marc Webb directing but that video was later shelved and a new version, which Kravitz co-directed with Philip Andelman, was filmed in Lenny's New York City recording studio. The video premiered on VH1's Top 20 Countdown at number 3.
On January 17, 2008, Kravitz embarked on a 9 city mini-tour to promote his new album It Is Time for a Love Revolution. The tour started in Santa Monica, California and ended in New York City on February 1st. The tour was done in association with Myspace and called the "Get on the Bus" tour. At each stop on the tour, they would pick up one contest winner and their guest and they rode on the "Love Revolution" bus until the end of the tour. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, a close friend of Lenny's would appear at The Orpheum Theater in Boston. The New York City winner, Tyrone Good was presented a train ticket from Penn Station to travel to Philadelphia and rode with the tour the rest of the way starting in Philadelphia (The Electric Factory), Boston (The Orpheum Theater), and finally New York City (The Hammerstein Ballroom). The winners were featured in the YRB February Edition alongside Lenny Kravitz in a magazine pull-out. The photo shoot took place at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia on stage. The winner's pull out was featured in another issue of YRB which had Lil' Wayne on the cover.
On February 11, 2008, Kravitz was admitted to Miami Hospital suffering from severe bronchitis. He had been suffering from a series of severe respiratory tract infections since mid-January, and the illness has evolved into bronchitis.
Kravitz's illness had forced him to postpone Canadian dates & his trip to Europe to promote his album It Is Time for a Love Revolution. On March 19, 2008 he canceled the South American part of his tour due to the same illness. The decision affected planned concerts in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. In Argentina Kravitz had a performance in the biggest rock festival there, Quilmes Rock Fest.

Lenny Kravitz a kilencvenes évek egyik legváltozatosabb és legtermékenyebb előadója: saját maga és világsztárok számára is a legkülönfélébb stílusokban szerzett dalokat. Szinte minden hangszeren játszik, gitározik, zongorázik, dobol és énekel. Az MTV nézői megszavazták már a legszexisebb énekesnek, de a legrosszabbul öltözött sztárnak is.

Howard Stern

Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio host, television personality, comedian, and media mogul. Stern hosts The Howard Stern Show four days a week (Monday–Thursday) on Howard 100, a SIRIUS Satellite Radio station.
The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" has been dubbed a shock jock for his highly controversial use of scatological, sexual, and racial humor. Stern has said that the show was never about shocking people, but primarily intended to offer his honest opinions on a gamut of issues (ranging from world affairs to problems among his own staff). Though controversial, he is the highest-paid radio personality in the United States[1] and the most fined personality in radio broadcast history.[2]
He is best known for his national radio show, which for many years was syndicated on FM radio stations (and a few AM stations) throughout the United States until his last terrestrial radio broadcast on December 16, 2005. He began broadcasting on the subscription-based Sirius satellite radio service on January 9, 2006.
In addition to radio, Stern moved into publishing, television, feature films, and music. He has written two books, Private Parts, which he adapted into a film, and Miss America. Stern's television endeavors include a variety show on New York City's WWOR-TV, a nightly E! show documenting his radio broadcasts, a similar CBS program that competed with Saturday Night Live for a time, "Howard On-Demand" for digital cable subscribers in various markets, and Son of the Beach, a parody of Baywatch for FX which Stern executive produced.
In 2006, Howard Stern was elected into Time Magazine's "Time 100: The People who shape our world"[3] and was ranked #7 in Forbes Magazine's 2006 annual Celebrity 100.[4] On February 13, 2007, Stern became engaged to his long-time girlfriend, model Beth Ostrosky.

Howard Stern was born into a Jewish American family living in the Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights, though the family soon moved to the Long Island town of Roosevelt.[6] His father Ben Stern owned a Manhattan recording studio.[7] Stern's father encouraged his son's interest in radio from an early age.[8] His mother Rae was a homemaker for most of Howard's childhood.[9][10][11] Stern has one sibling, a sister named Ellen, who is four years his senior.[12] Stern describes his sister as being his "complete opposite".[12]
Although both his parents are Jewish, Stern's on-air banter is that he is only half Jewish, with the other half being Italian, because "it's very hard to be Jewish in this country. My half Jewish side has been beaten with chains."[13][14][15] Stern's Hebrew name is Tzvi (IPA: [ʦvi]); his paternal grandparents, Froim and Anna (Gallar) Stern and maternal grandparents, Sol and Esther (Reich) Schiffman,[11] were Austro-Hungarian Jews who immigrated to America at about the same time.
Stern often said that his parents verbally abused him as a child, which was corroborated during a 1990 broadcast when he played old family recordings, many of which have become oft-played soundbites, including remarks such as "I told you not to be stupid, you moron"[16] and "Shut up! Sit down!" being screamed at a 7-year-old Howard.[17] These old recordings were later used in a parody commercial for the "The Ben Stern Day-Care Center", which specialized in producing overachieving, self-hating megalomaniacs.[18] Stern said his mother ran her house with "the intensity of Hitler"[19] and that his father's "favorite sport was yelling."[20]
Stern has long claimed on his show that he has a small penis.[21] He uses this assertion to comedic effect in a scene in his biopic where he is shown showering with his African-American peers at Roosevelt Junior High School. He was supposedly one of the few white students in a predominantly African-American school.[22] When Stern's family moved in 1969 to Rockville Centre,[23] he transferred to South Side High School, from which he graduated in 1972.[24] Stern attended Boston University, graduating in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in communications, carrying a 3.8 Grade Point Average.[25] During his time at Boston University Stern also worked (before being fired) as a volunteer at the campus radio station WTBU.[26] Stern now funds a scholarship at Boston University.

Stern grew to be tall, standing 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m).[28][29] On June 4, 1978, Stern married college sweetheart Alison Berns at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts. They have three daughters: Emily Beth (b. 1983), Deborah Jennifer (b. 1986) and Ashley Jade (b. 1993).[30][31] A hallmark of Stern's humor was his claiming to be tempted by the strippers, porn stars and lesbians appearing on his show, but always insisted that he had to be faithful to his wife. In 1994, Stern ran for Governor of New York as a libertarian.[32] The campaign was generally seen as a political stunt and Stern dropped out before the election after refusing to disclose his finances, a requirement by the State of New York. In October 1999, Stern announced that he and wife Alison decided to separate.[5] They amicably divorced in 2001, ending in a settlement.[5]
Stern began a period of single living on New York City's Upper West Side, dating dozens of women including Angie Everhart[33] and Robin Givens.[34] Despite reportedly spending time with Carmen Electra "five times", the two have denied there was anything more intimate than an outdoor shower in bathing suits.[35] Stern also owns a weekend house on Long Island.
Stern has been the target of stalkers and death threats. On January 15, 1998, Lance Carvin was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for stalking and threatening to kill Stern and his family.

Since early 2000, Stern has dated model Beth Ostrosky, who is 18 years his junior.[5] Ostrosky co-hosted Casino Cinema on Spike TV from 2004 to 2007.[37] She had also frequently appeared in the American edition of men's magazine FHM until it ceased publication in 2007.[38] The pair live together with their Bulldog named Bianca Romijn-Stamos-O'Connell. On February 14, 2007, Stern announced that he and Ostrosky became engaged the day before.

After graduating from Boston University, Stern worked briefly as a disc jockey at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts.[39][40] Stern then worked as a disc jockey and program director for WRNW in Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, New York, playing rock music.[41][42] In 1978, Stern landed his first morning show job in Hartford, Connecticut at WCCC-FM and WCCC-AM, whose progressive rock format promoted Howard's development as a "free form" personality.[43] It was at the Hartford radio station that Howard met his future show writer and producer, Fred Norris, who was working as an overnight deejay at the time.[44] Stern moved to FM radio station WWWW (usually referred to as "W4") in Detroit, Michigan, further developing his show until the station adopted a country music format, and then went to WWDC-FM "DC101," in Washington, D.C. for a year, making it the #1 station in town. In 1982, he returned to New York City to work at NBC's flagship AM radio station, WNBC Radio. Also working at NBC at that time was David Letterman, who became a fan of Stern's radio show. Stern's guest appearance on Late Night with David Letterman on June 19, 1984, launched Stern into the national spotlight and gave his radio show unprecedented exposure. Stern would appear on Letterman's show many times thereafter.
Stern and his crew were fired from NBC in 1985, ostensibly in response to a particularly outrageous sketch — "Bestiality Dial-A-Date" — although relations between station management and Stern had been strained from the beginning (as well documented in his book Private Parts). He quickly returned to FM radio by joining local rival station WXRK, premiering November 18, 1985, moving permanently to the morning drive time slot in February 1986. By year's end, his show was simulcast on WYSP in Philadelphia. Before long it was also heard in Washington, D.C., and was then syndicated nationwide by Infinity Broadcasting. The program made great sport out of feuding with other cities' top-rated deejays, and soon Stern's broadcast was number one in several major markets, including Philadelphia and Los Angeles. His Arbitron numbers were strongest in the country's number one radio market, New York City, where his morning ratings more than tripled his station's average numbers the rest of the day.

On October 6, 2004, Stern announced on his show that he had signed a five year contract with Sirius, a satellite radio service. Sirius provided a budget of $500 million to pay Howard, his staff and general production costs.[45] His personal salary has not been revealed. Other media sources have claimed that Stern netted a $225 million one-time stock bonus for meeting subscriber quotas, which he did meet in January 2006.[46]
Stern stated that he was growing increasingly unhappy doing his show on terrestrial radio. The combined stresses of heavy censorship and editing by management as well as lengthy commercial breaks weighed into his decision to start anew on Sirius. Stern admitted to feeling "dead inside, creatively" in December, 2005 while still on terrestrial radio.[47]
The Sirius deal, which took effect on January 1, 2006, enabled Stern to broadcast his show without the content restrictions imposed by the FCC. Moreover, the deal also enabled Stern to program an additional Sirius channel.
On February 28, 2006, CBS Radio announced it had filed a lawsuit against Stern, his agent Don Buchwald, and Sirius Satellite Radio, saying Stern used CBS's airwaves to unfairly promote the satellite service and enrich himself.[48] The lawsuit also claims that Stern "repeatedly and willfully" breached his contract with CBS, "misappropriated millions of dollars worth of ... airtime" for his own benefit, and "fraudulently concealed" his performance-related interests in Sirius stock. The suit, filed in New York state court, sought compensatory and punitive damages. Not to be outdone, Stern earlier in the day (prior to CBS's announcement) held a press conference at which he mentioned that CBS added to the media attention, booking him for appearances on Late Show with David Letterman and its news magazine show 60 Minutes. "I made them millions of dollars. If I was hurting them, why did they keep me on the air for 14 months?" Stern said. "How can you have it both ways?"[49]
Leslie Moonves, the President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation, appeared on one of Stern's final shows to compliment him on his move to Sirius and thank him for the record advertising revenue the network sold. Moonves told Stern that he bought Sirius stock. Stern said the network had the option to "push the button" on his program, taking him off the air, if they did not agree with what he was presenting to the public.
On May 11, 2006, CBS said it was near settling the lawsuit with Stern. "We have an agreement, but there are details that have to be worked out," said CBS lawyer Irvin Nathan.[50] Some details of the agreement were officially announced May 26.[51]
As a result of the CBS lawsuit settlement, Stern announced on June 7, 2006 that Sirius gained exclusive rights to his entire back catalog of radio shows from his days at CBS (about 23,000 hours). The shows cost Sirius approximately $2 million, which equates to approximately $87 per hour of tape. Sirius has the rights to the tapes until the end of Stern's current contract with Sirius, and then all ownership rights will return to Stern.

A botrányt kavaró rádióműsorairól ismert médiasztár bírósági kerestet adott be az ABC ellen az Amerika legszexisebb emberét kutató show miatt.

Stern szerint a tévétársaság az ő egyik rádióprogramjának tévéváltozata alapján készítette az Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People című programot.

A rádiós a Los Angeles legfelsőbb bíróságán beadott keresetében az ABC mellett a Hot gyártóját, a Telepictures produkciós céget, és név szerint Scott Einziger vezetőproducert is azzal vádolja, hogy ellopták az E! Entertainment Television nevű csatornán sugárzott műsorának ötletét. Einziger korábban a rádiós közvetlen munkatársa volt, Stern tévéshow-jának producereként dolgozott.
A médiasztár keresetében több mint 10 millió dollárt, azaz két és fél milliárd forintot követel, többek között anyagi károkozás és tisztességtelen üzleti gyakorlat miatt. Stern a beadványhoz mellékelte The Evaluators (A kiértékelők) című show-jának részleteit, amelyben ő és vendégei arról döntenek, a versenyzők elég szexisek-e a Playboy magazinban való szerepléshez.
Stern szerint az ABC új műsora több ponton feltűnően hasonlít az övére. A felsorolás szerint mindkét show házigazdája egy agglegény, akit három ordenáré zsűritag egészít ki. Utóbbiak lézeres mutatópálcák segítségével mustrálják a jelölteket, hogy a közönség jól láthassa, a bírák épp melyik testrész vizsgálatánál tartanak.
Stern azt állítja, az ABC-s Hot megjelenése előtt éppen arról tárgyalt leendő üzleti partnereivel, hogy műsora alapján újabb show-t készít, amit elad egy másik tévéhálózatnak. A Hot első adása után azonban a megbeszélések, a médiasztár szerint, megszakadtak. A Stern által támadott Hot készítőit mások is plágiummal vádolják. Korábban a Hot or Not honlap alkotói jelentették be, pert fontolgatnak, mert az ABC tévétársaság új show-jának témája és kulcskérdése, az Are You Hot? az ő ötletüket idézi.
A viták mellett más is aggasztja a szexisnek szánt műsor készítőit: üzleti sikerük került veszélybe. Ennek oka, hogy a februárban indult show, amely amerikai sajtókritikák szerint gyengén kivitelezett lágypornó műsor, több adás után sem hozza a várt nézettséget. Sternnek ilyen problémái nincsenek, rádió- és tévéműsorait több millió amerikai hallgatja naponta, igaz, legalább ugyanennyien utálják megnyilvánulásait.
Ellenfelei miatt korábban Stern is többször bírósági ügybe keveredett. Törvénysértőnek tartott rádióprogramjaiért az amerikai Szövetségi Kommunikációs Bizottság (Federal Communications Commission), 1992-ben 600 ezer dollárra perelte.

Leonard Sidney Woolf

Leonard Sidney Woolf (November 25, 1880 – August 14, 1969) was a noted British political theorist, author, publisher, and civil servant, but perhaps now best known as husband to author Virginia Woolf.

Woolf was born in London, the third of ten children of the Jewish barrister Solomon Rees Sydney and Marie (de Jongh) Woolf. When his father died in 1892, Woolf was sent to board at the Arlington House School near Brighton. From 1894 to 1899 he attended St Paul's School in London, and in 1899 won a classical scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was elected to the Cambridge Apostles. Other members included Lytton Strachey, Clive Bell, Thoby Stephen (Virginia Woolf's brother), John Maynard Keynes and E. M. Forster, as well as Bertrand Russell. Woolf was awarded his B.A. degree in 1902 but stayed for a fifth year to study for the civil service examination.
In October 1904 Woolf became a cadet in the Ceylon Civil Service, in Jaffna, and by August 1908 was named an assistant government agent in the Southern Province, where he administered the District of Hambantota. Woolf returned to England in May 1911 for a year's leave. Instead, however, he resigned in early 1912, and that same year married Adeline Virginia Stephen (later known as Virginia Woolf). As a couple, they became influential in the Bloomsbury group, which also included various other 'Apostles'.
After marriage, Woolf turned his hand to writing, publishing in 1913 his first novel, The Village in the Jungle, based on his colonial years. A series of books was to follow at roughly two-year intervals. With the outbreak of World War I, Woolf was rejected by the military and turned to politics and sociology. He joined the Labour Party and Fabian Society and became a regular contributor to the New Statesman. In 1916 he wrote International Government, proposing an international agency to enforce world peace.
As his wife began to suffer greatly from mental illness, Woolf devoted much of his time to caring for her. In 1917 the Woolfs bought a small, hand-operated printing press; with it they founded the famous Hogarth Press. Their first project was a pamphlet, hand-printed and bound by themselves. Within ten years, the Press had become a full-scale publishing house with a highly distinguished authors list. Woolf continued as its director until his death. His wife's mental problems continued, however, until her suicide in 1941. After Virginia Woolf's suicide, Leonard fell in love with a married artist, Trekkie Parsons.
In 1919 Woolf became editor of the International Review, and edited the international section of the Contemporary Review (1920-1922). He was literary editor of Nation Athenaeum (1923-1930), joint editor of Political Quarterly (1931-1959), and for a time served as secretary of the Labour Party's advisory committees on international and colonial questions.
Woolf died on August 14, 1969, and was cremated with his ashes scattered on the grounds of Monk's House, Rodmell, Sussex. His papers are held by the University of Sussex.

Virginia Stephen 1912-ben ment feleségül Leonard Woolf baloldali érzelmű íróhoz. 1917-ben vásároltak egy kézi működtetésű nyomdagépet, és létrehozták a Hogarth Press könyvkiadót. Többek között Gorkij, Rilke, Freud, T. S. Eliot, Robert Graves és Katherine Mansfield, valamint Woolf saját műveinek korai megjelentetésével hamarosan nagy irodalmi rangra jutott, s máig virágzik. Az ő nevükhöz fűződik Madách Imre: Az ember tragédiája című drámájának bibliofil kiadása is, melynek egy példánya az Országos Széchényi Könyvtárban megtalálható.