Nelly Sachs' 127th Birthday

Born into a Jewish family in Berlin on this day in 1891, Nelly Sachs studied dance and literature as a child and began writing as an adolescent. She published her poetry in German periodicals as well as a collection of stories called Legends and Tales. During this time, she corresponded with distinguished Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf—who became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909—and who eventually saved Sachs’ and her mother’s lives. Lagerlöf petitioned the Swedish royal family to help the Sachs escape Germany at the start of World War II.

After escaping to Sweden, Sachs supported herself and her mom in a one-room apartment by working as a translator. During this time, she wrote powerful poems and plays about the aftermath of the war and family members who died in concentration camps. Her haunting poem “O die Schornsteine" ("O the Chimneys"), evokes the spirits of the dearly departed through the image of smoke rising from the camps. Sachs described the “metaphors” in her poetry as “wounds,” but her work also explores themes of transformation and forgiveness. She expanded on these ideas in her 1951 play Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels (Eli: A Mystery Play of the Sufferings of Israel).

The first German-speaking woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, Sachs’ poignant poetry spoke eloquently about the Holocaust. Sachs won many other accolades including the 1965 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. “In spite of all the horrors of the past,” she said when accepting the award. “I believe in you.”

Happy Birthday, Nelly Sachs!

Doodle illustrated by German/Finnish artist Daniel Stolle.

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Clarice Lispector’s 98th Birthday

“I write very simply,” said the Brazilian author Clarice Lispector. “I don’t dress things up.” Her intensely personal short stories and novels about the innermost feelings of characters searching for meaning in life made her one of the most celebrated literary figures of the 20th century.

Born on this day in 1920, Clarice Lispector fled the Ukraine with her family, who had been persecuted for being Jewish, to the city of Recife in northern Brazil. At age nine she and her two sisters moved to Rio, where they were raised by her father following her mother’s passing.

Lispector began writing stories at age seven. While studying law she cultivated her passion by writing for newspapers and magazines—both fiction and journalism—before publishing her first novel at age 23. Perto do coração selvagem (Near to the Wild Heart) was hailed for its innovative interior monologue style, revealing the thoughts and emotions of an adolescent woman. It earned her the Graça Aranha Prize for the best debut novel of 1943. The same year her book was published she married a diplomat and left Brazil to live nearly two decades in Italy, Switzerland, England, and America. She visited Brazil regularly but did would not move back until 1959.

Collections of stories like Family Ties and The Foreign Legion explore the alienation of modern life by revealing their character’s private reflections on the mundane details of daily existence. Taken as a whole, her 85-story body of work can be read an autobiography: the inner thoughts of a woman’s entire life from adolescence to old age.

In recent years many of her works—including her 1973 masterpiece Água Viva (The Stream of Life)—have been translated into English, allowing a new generation of readers to discover this enchanting individual author.

Happy Birthday, Clarice Lispector!
 

Today's Doodle was created by Clarice's granddaughter, Mariana Valente. She writes:

It is very stimulating to work with collage and to be able to make a tribute to my grandmother Clarice, because I feel that I learned from her the redefinition of the meaning of the words in the word itself and to reframe images in the collage. For this celebration Doodle, I decided to tell a little bit about her path, the escape from dangerous Ukraine as a refugee, leaving Europe by ship to arrival at a new, strange and warm Brazilian Northeast harbor to finally witness her ascension as an internationally praised writer.

The mark of the Rio de Janeiro's Botanical Garden, one of her favorite sanctuaries, a hidden cockroach and the building where she started her first job downtown Rio, represent her epiphanies coming from everyday scenes.

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Sir Douglas Nicholls’ 112th Birthday

Today’s Doodle celebrates Sir Douglas Nicholls, the athlete, pastor, and political leader who championed the upliftment of Australia’s Indigenous people and went on to become the first Aboriginal Australian to be knighted by the Queen of England.

Born in Yorta Yorta Country, New South Wales, on this day in 1906, Nicholls was raised in Cummeragunga Mission Station, an Aboriginal reserve on the Murray River. After receiving a basic education he worked as a “tar boy,” preparing sheep for shearing, and later joined a dredging team building levees on the river.

Although he stood just 5’2” Nicholls was a gifted athlete who won various sprinting titles, was an expert boomerang thrower, and who excelled in football. As the first Indigenous Australian to play football professionally, Nicholls endured scorn from teammates and trainers, but eventually found his team and helped the Northcote club reach the grand finals for three seasons—winning the title in 1929.

Motivated by the founder of the Australian Aborigines’ League, Sir Nicholls got involved in politics and began speaking out for the rights of Indigenous people. “I know we can proudly hold our own with others if given the chance,” Nicholls proclaimed in 1938 at Australia’s first gathering to advance the cause of Aboriginal civil rights.

In 1940, Nicholls retired as a football player due to knee injuries. Drawn to the church after the loss of his mother, he became the first pastor of Aboriginal Church of Christ in Australia. “Pastor Doug” held regular meetings that led to a thriving community center. He was appointed to a parliamentary committee which investigated abuses towards Indigenous people and edited Smoke Signals, the journal of the Aboriginal Advancement League.

In 1976 Nicholls was appointed governor of South Australia, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to hold the office. Nicholls was named a Member of the British Empire, Victorian Father of the Year, Order of the British  Empire, and in 1972 traveled to London to be knighted by the Queen of England. 

Happy Birthday, Sir Douglas Nicholls!

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Mother's Day (Panama) 2018

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145th Anniversary of Lacerda's Elevator Opening

Today’s Doodle celebrates the iconic Lacerda Elevator of Salvador, Brazil, which has been in operation for the past 145 years. Situated on Brazil’s southeastern coast overlooking the Bay of All Saints, São Salvador, Bahia was the nation’s capital until 1763. Constructed in two sections, at the top and bottom of a steep embankment, Salvador is divided into a lower city (Cidade Baixa) and an upper city (Cidade Alta), which were initially connected by a long flight of stairs.

In the early 1600s Jesuit missionaries installed a rope-and-pulley elevator to lift people and parcels on the 72-meter journey to the top. However, In the late 1860s construction began on a mechanical elevator under the leadership of developer Antonio de Lacerda and his brother, engineer Augusto Frederico de Lacerda.

A complex system of counterweights, hydraulics, and steam engines powered the elevator, which opened in 145 years ago, in 1873. In the 1900s the elevator was revamped with electric power, and it received an Art Deco makeover in 1930. Today there are two towers with a total of four bays, each of which can accommodate up to 32 passengers for the 30-second journey—roughly a million people use the elevator each month. Exactly 12 years ago the elevator was recognized by Brazil’s National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage. Dawn is a great time to ride this legendary lift, when it’s decorated with lights and there’s a gorgeous view of Fort Santo-Antonia-da-Barra. More than a means of transportation, the Lacerda Elevator has become a tourist attraction and a symbol of Brazilian ingenuity.

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Finland Independence Day 2018

Today’s Doodle celebrates Finland’s 101st Independence Day. On this day in 1917, the Finnish Parliament declared independence from the Russian Empire, marking a new beginning for this northern European nation. 

Festivities commence at 9 AM in Helsinki, the nation’s capital, when the Speaker of Parliament addresses the nation while the blue and white Finnish flag is raised—blue for Finland’s abundance of lakes and white symbolizing the winter snow. 

On Independence Day it’s traditional to light two blue and white candles on window sills at dusk. Many Finns also visit a cemetery to light a candle in memory of loved ones who have passed. As the day winds down, more than 2 million people tune in to watch the annual President’s Independence Day reception. Friends and family watch as 2,000 attendees, ranging from highest political leaders and diplomats to celebrities, war veterans and various civilian industry leaders, attend the annual gala in honor of this historic occasion.

This year’s Doodle depicts the Finnish sauna, complete with a wooden water bucket, ladle, & birch leaves. Potentially a factor of the cold climate, Finland has more than 2 million saunas in a nation of just 5.5 million inhabitants!

Happy Independence Day, Finland!

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Zeki Müren’s 87th Birthday

Hailed as “The Sun of Art” and the “Pasha of Turkish Music,” Zeki Müren was a singer, composer, actor, and poet who became one of the most important artists in Turkish classical music history.

Born in the historic Hisar district of Bursa on this day in 1931, Müren was the only child of a Macedonian timber merchant. While a student at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, he won first place in a contest sponsored by Turkish Radio and Television. In 1951 he gave his first live performance on Istanbul Radio. That same year he recorded “Muhabbet Kuşu” (Parakeet) with clarinetist Sükrü Tunar, the first of hundreds of songs he’d release on phonograph and cassette over the course of his career. His 1955 release “Manolyam” was the first Turkish recording to be certified gold.

For his first live concert in 1955 Müren took the stage in typical stage clothes, but over time began designing his own wardrobe, expressing a personal style that sometimes included thigh-high boots, sparkling tights, jeweled capes, miniskirts, and a peacock tail—as well as wigs and makeup. His fearlessly flamboyant look became known as a symbol of his strength of character and individuality.

Müren transcended music by beginning an acting career in the 1950s with a role in the film or Beklenen Sarki “Awaited Song” (1953). He would go on to appear in 18 films, often composing the scores as well, and played the lead in Robert Anderson’s stage drama Tea and Sympathy (1960).

In 1991, Müren was named an official State Artist of Tukey. Today, Müren’s legacy lives on through the Zeki Müren Fine Arts Anatolian High School in Bursa, which opened in 2002. His house in Bodrum became the Zeki Müren Art Museum and his Zeki Müren Scholarship Fund has supported thousands of students over the past 20 years.

Doğum günün kutlu olsun, Zeki Müren!

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