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Barbara Kyagulanyi

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Barbara Kyagulanyi (born September 7, 1984) is a Ugandan philanthropist and author. She is the wife to Ugandan pop artist and politician Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine. She is the author of "Golden Memories of a Village Belle" published in 2012. In 2013, she founded Caring Hearts Uganda, an NGO with a focus on Girl child leadership empowerment, HIV/AIDS, Menstrual hygiene and girl child education where she teaches girls traditional values, malaria eradication, life-long education, personal development and entrepreneurial skills to promote sustainable development for the youths. As such, she, through her NGO, has donated infrastructure to school for the internally displaced children and marginalized children. Barbie entered active politics in 2018 to support and campaign for her husband Bobi Wine to become a member of parliament and later for presidency in 2020 with her manifesto about the welfare of women, children, and the youths. She fought for the release of Bobi Wine when he was jailed at Nalufenya during his presidential campaigns in 2020 and was praised by the media when she told the BBC that the struggle for change wasn't about her or her family but rather about the oppressed people of Uganda. She was later put under house arrest with her husband Bobi Wine. He also advocated for the end to military court martial to which civilians had been subjected. *The above was taken from Wikipedia, October 11, 2023*
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David van Reybrouck

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David Grégoire Van Reybrouck (born 11 September 1971, in Bruges) is a Belgian cultural historian, archaeologist and author. He writes historical fiction, literary non-fiction, novels, poetry, plays and academic texts. He has received several Dutch literary prizes, including AKO Literature Prize (2010) and Libris History Prize. Van Reybrouck was born into a family of florists, bookbinders and artists. His father, a farmer's son, spent five years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a railway engineer immediately after independence. He holds a doctorate from Leiden University. Van Reybrouck's first book, De Plaag (in English: The Plague), was a cross between a travelogue and a literary whodunnit set in post-apartheid South Africa. It received several awards, including the prize for the best Flemish debut in 2002 and a shortlist nomination for the Gouden Uil, one of the leading literary prizes in the Low Countries. It was translated into Afrikaans, French and Hungarian. A longtime op-ed writer for the Flemish national newspaper De Morgen, Van Reybrouck has co-edited a volume on the federal future of Belgium (What Belgium Stands For: a Scenario, 2007) and a thought-provoking pamphlet, Pleidooi voor populisme (A Plea for Populism, 2008), which was met with controversy. The latter won the Netherlands most distinguished essay prize. His book Congo. Een geschiedenis (in English: Congo: The Epic History of a People) was published in 2010. Over the years, Van Reybrouck has travelled extensively throughout Africa. The book is as much the result of his ten journeys through the Democratic Republic of the Congo as of the months spent in libraries and archives. He has interviewed hundreds of individuals, with a particular predilection for so-called "ordinary people", precisely because their lives and choices are so often extraordinary. The book portrays slavery and colonialism, resistance and survival. It includes archival material, interviews and personal observations. Congo. Een geschiedenis has been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Danish and Finnish. Van Reybrouck has also been actively involved in organising literary workshops for Congolese playwrights in Kinshasa and Goma. In 2020 he published Revolusi which applies to Indonesia the method he used in Congo - a combination of interviews with survivors of the events leading up to independence with historical interpretation. In his book Against Elections: The Case for Democracy he advocates for a deliberative democracy based on sortition. Source: Article "David Van Reybrouck" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Matt Parker

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Possibly the only person to hold the prestigious title of London Mathematical Society Popular Lecturer while simultaneously having a sold-out comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Matt is always keen to mix his two passions of mathematics and stand-up. Matt Parker appears regularly to talk about maths on the radio and TV (Discovery's You Have Been Warned, James May's Things You Need to Know, Channel 4's Mating Season) as well as being all over the internet. His first book "Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension", published by Penguin, is out now. Matt's favourite number is currently 3435.
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Nelson Henricks

Biography

Nelson Henricks was born in Bow Island, Alberta and is a graduate of the Alberta College of Art (1986). He moved to Montreal in 1991, where he received a BFA from Concordia University (1994). Henricks lives and works in Montreal, where he has taught at Concordia University (1995 - present), McGill University (2001-03) and the Université du Québec à Montréal (1999, 2003). He has also taught at the University of Toronto (2003). A musician, writer, curator and artist, Henricks is best known for his videotapes, which have been exhibited worldwide. A focus on his video work was presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as part of the Video Viewpoints series (2000).
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Jill Clayburgh

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Jill Clayburgh (April 30, 1944 – November 5, 2010) was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She was a recipient of the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her breakthrough role in Paul Mazursky's comedy-drama An Unmarried Woman (1978). She also received a second consecutive Academy Award nomination for Starting Over (1979) as well as four Golden Globe nominations for her film performances. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jill Clayburgh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Helen Arney

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Thinking that she’d left her geek past behind after graduating in Physics from Imperial College, Helen proved herself wrong when she turned to writing quirky stand-up and song inspired by science. Since touring the UK in “Uncaged Monkeys” with Robin Ince and Brian Cox, she's popped up on BBC 2 Coast, Channel 4, Radio 3, 4, 5Live and 6Music, Stewart Lee's Alternative Comedy Experience on Comedy Central, and at the Edinburgh Fringe with her award-winning solo show “Voice of an Angle”. Helen also presents science on Discovery Channel's “You Have Been Warned” and has filled several notebooks with rhymes for Uranus.
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Sean Connery

Biography

Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930 – October 31, 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer who won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (one being a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award. Connery was the first actor to portray the character James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films (every film from Dr. No to You Only Live Twice, plus Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again), between 1962 and 1983. In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. His films also include Marnie (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), and Finding Forrester (2000). Connery was polled in a 2004 The Sunday Herald as "The Greatest Living Scot" and in a 2011 EuroMillions survey as "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure". He was voted by People magazine as both the “Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century” in 1999. He received a lifetime achievement award in the United States with a Kennedy Center Honor in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama. On 31 October 2020, it was announced that Connery had died at the age of 90. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sean Connery, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Steve Mould

Biography

From mind-bending tricks on BBC 1's Britain's Brightest and element-hunting on ITV's I Never Knew That About Britain, to dismantling a child's robot to make it talk backwards "like the devil", Steve's scientific interests are unfettered by the limitations of specialism. On any given day, Steve might be leading a dubstep subatomic particle safari, putting nail varnish on a pineapple (for maths) or dressing up as a Lego man (also for maths). Maker of mathematical curios, creator of illusions and writer of long and overly technical blog posts, he also used to be on Blue Peter back in the day and won't stop going on about it. Steve has a three metre long, homemade flame tube for turning music into fire. It's twice as long as Matt's.
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Vijay Balaji

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Music composer and director, Vijay Balaji is known for his work in the Telugu film industry, making his debut as a director in 2008 with the Madhu Sharma and Manmohan-starrer Wall Poster. Next, he directed the 2010 drama Mounaragam, which featured Madhurima Banerjee, Suhasini, and Tanish Alladi in lead roles. Making his debut as a music composer with Broker - 2 in 2014, after which he composed the music of Anaganaga Oka Durga in 2017. In 2017, Vijay directed the Rameez Raja and Janani Iyer-starrer comedy-drama Vidhi Madhi Ultaa, marking his Tamil film debut.
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Katia Pantazi

Biography

Katia Pantazi was born in 1976 in Athens, Greece. She received her Bachelor of Studies in Greek Civilization from Hellenic Open University. She has also attended the Hellenic Conservatory of Music & Arts where she earned her degrees in Piano, Harmony and in Counterpoint. Fluent in Greek and English, fair in Italian and Spanish. Prior to joining the film industry as a freelance production manager and festival agent she worked for thirteen years as a piano teacher (private lessons) and as an accompanist in a ballet school (1996 - 2009). Since 2009 she has worked in various projects with Greek and international production companies. Since 2013 she has been a member of the team of curators for the Delhi International Film Festival. Katia Pantazi has had long term collaborations with film directors. She has been Manuel de Coco's regular producer since 2011. "Unknown Land" (2012) is her first feature film as a producer. It has been selected at festivals worldwide (Cairo IFF, Sao Paulo IFF, Andrei Tarkovsky IFF, Film Festival Cologne etc.) and won several awards. The film has been banned in many countries of the Arab world. "Invisible World" (2023) is her second film, the shootings of which took place in Tibet, Mongolia, Russia, Italy, Vatican City, Greece, Israel and Palestine. She manages to combine the commercial with the artistic and is keen to work with younger generation of directors.
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