A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given.

The term General is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer; and as a specific rank. Since the late twentieth century, the rank of General is usually the highest active rank of a military not at war.

All general officer ranks

The various grades of general officer are at the top of the rank structure. Lower-ranking officers are known as field officers or field-grade officers, and below them are company-grade officers. All officers who commanded more than a single regiment came to be known as "general officers". The word "general" is used in its ordinary sense in English (and other languages) as relating to larger, general, military units, rather than smaller units in particular.

Common systems

There are two common systems of general ranks.

Variations of one form, the old European system, were once used throughout Europe. It is used in the United Kingdom (although it did not originate there), from which it eventually spread to the Commonwealth and the United States of America. The General Officer ranks are named by prefixing General, as an adjective, with field officer ranks, although in some countries the highest general officers are titled Field Marshal or Marshal.

The other is derived from the French Revolution, where generals' ranks are named according to the unit they (theoretically) command.

Old European system {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;" |align="center"| Field Marshal or General Field Marshal |- |align="center"| ''Colonel General'' |- |align="center"| General or Captain General |- |align="center"| Lieutenant General |- |align="center"| Sergeant Major General or Major General |- |align="center"| ''Brigadier (General)'' |}

The system used either a ''brigadier general'' rank, or a ''colonel general'' rank (i.e. exclude one of the italicised ranks.)

The rank of field marshal was used by some countries as the highest rank, while in other countries it was used as a divisional or brigade rank. Many countries (notably pre-revolutionary France and eventually much of Latin America) actually used two brigade command ranks, which is why some countries now use two stars as their brigade general insignia. (Mexico and Argentina still use two brigade command ranks.)

In some nations (particularly in the Commonwealth), the equivalent to Brigadier General is Brigadier, which is not always considered by these armies to be a general officer rank, although it is always treated as equivalent to the rank of Brigadier General for comparative purposes. Unlike other general officers, the brigadier general rank is not derived from a ''field'' rank of brigadier.

The rank of ''major general'' is a shorter form of ''sergeant major general'', and is lower than lieutenant general as a lieutenant outranks a sergeant major, although outranked by a major.

French (Revolutionary) system {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;" |align="center"| Marshal |- |align="center"| Army General |- |align="center"| Corps General |- |align="center"| Divisional General |- |align="center"| Brigade General |} More information about this system can be found on the page: Général.

Other variations

Other nomenclatures for general officers include the titles and ranks:

Adjutant General

Commandant-General

Inspector General

Captain General

General-in-Chief

General of the Army (which is distinct from the title Army General)

General of the Air Force (USA only)

General of the Armies of the United States (of America), a title created for General John J. Pershing, and subsequently granted posthumously to George Washington.

General Admiral (German Navy)

Air General and Aviation General (Chilean Air Force; roughly equivalent to Air Chief Marshal and Air Vice-Marshal respectively)

Wing General and Group General (Mexican Air Force; roughly equivalent to Air Commodore and Acting Air Commodore respectively)

Lieutenant-Colonel General (A Serb rank immediately inferior to Colonel General, and roughly equivalent to Commonwealth/US Major General)

Director General (a common administrative term sometimes used as an appointment in military services)

Director General of National Defence (most senior rank in the Mexican Armed Forces)

Director of Intelligence Bureau (senior most 4 star Indian Police Service post in India)

Controller General (general officer rank in the French National Police)

Prefect General (the most senior rank of the Argentine Naval Prefecture)

Master-General of the Ordnance

In addition to militarily educated generals, there are also generals in medicine and engineering. The rank of most senior chaplain, Chaplain General, is also considered to be a general officer rank.

The specific General rank

In the Old European system, a General, without prefix or suffix (and sometimes referred to informally as a "full general"), is usually the most senior type of general, above Lieutenant General and directly below Field Marshal. Usually it is the most senior peace-time rank, with more senior ranks (for example, Field Marshal) being used only in wartime, or as honorary titles.

In some armies, however, the rank of Captain General, General of the Army, Army General or Colonel General occupied or occupies this position. Depending on circumstances and the army in question, these ranks may be considered to be equivalent to a full General or to a Field Marshal.

The rank of General came about as a "Captain-General", the captain of an army in general (i.e., the whole army). The rank of Captain-General began appearing around the time of the organization of professional armies in the 17th century. In most countries "Captain-General" contracted to just "General".

General ranks by country

The following articles deal with the rank of General, or its equivalent, as it is or was employed in the militaries of those countries.

General (Australia)

General (Canada)

Shang Jiang (China) - People's Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan)

Kenraali (Finland)

Kindral (Estonia)

Général (France)

General (Germany)

Obergruppenführer (Nazi Germany, SS rank)

Strategos (Greece)

Aluf (Israel)

Generale (Italy)

Daejang (Korea - DPRK and ROK)

General (Mexico)

Generał (Poland)

Army General (Philippines)

Army General (Russia)

General (Sri Lanka)

General (Sweden)

General (Switzerland)

General (United Kingdom)

General (United States)

Army generals' insignia

Air force generals' insignia

Generals' insignia of disbanded armies

Air Force and Navy equivalents

Some countries (such as the United States) use the General Officer ranks for both the army and the air force; others only use the General Officer ranks for the army, while in the air force they use Air Officers as the equivalent of General Officers. They use the air force rank of Air Chief Marshal as the equivalent of the specific army rank of General. This latter group includes the British Royal Air Force and those based on it (e.g., India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Nigeria, etc.).

In most navies, Flag Officers are the equivalent of General Officers, and the naval rank of Admiral is equivalent to the specific army rank of General. A noteworthy historical exception was the Cromwellian naval rank ''General at sea''. In recent years in the American service there is a tendency to use ''Flag Officer'' and ''Flag Rank'' to refer to generals and admirals of the services collectively.

See also

Général

Generalissimo

List of comparative military ranks

List of Roman generals

Shogun

References

External links

Generals of World War II

Schema-root.org: US Generals News feeds for US Generals in the news

Marines.mil: General Officer Biographies Biographies of US Marine Corps General Officers

Bios & Information on Generals of Western History Information on 10 Generals who influenced Western History

Category:Generals Category:Military ranks

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name	Francesco De Gregori
background	solo_singer
birth date	April 04, 1951
origin	Rome (Italy)
instrument	Vocals, Guitar
genre	Rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	1972-today
label	RCA Italy, CBS
website	www.francescodegregori.net
notable instruments	}}

Francesco De Gregori (born April 4, 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is popularly known as "Il Principe Poeta" ("The Poet Prince"), a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics.

Biography

1970s

De Gregori was born in Rome to a middle-class family, and spent some of his youth in Pescara before returning to the capital. His elder brother, Luigi, was a musician and had a personal career with the name of Luigi Grechi (the mother's surname), chosen later in order to avoid confusion with the more famous Francesco.

Influenced by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and the Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio de André, De Gregori started to perform his songs (mainly personal translations of American folk songs) at the Folkstudio, in Rome, which was already frequented by his brother. On one occasion De André himself is said to have listened to De Gregori's work and appreciated it.

Later De Gregori formed a band with his friends Antonello Venditti, Mimmo Locasciulli and Giorgio Lo Cascio, who all had success as singer-songwriters in the following years. De Gregori made his debut as a professional singer in 1972 with ''Theorius Campus'', in collaboration with Venditti. The LP included the early masterpiece "Signora Aquilone" ("Kite Lady"), but Venditti had more songs and, having a better voice, earned better consideration by the label. The duo subsequently broke up.

De Gregori's next album, ''Alice non lo sa'' (1973), was a commercial failure. However, the title-track, the mysterious "Alice", scored some success in several popular music shows and is still included amongst his best works today. The 1974 album ''Francesco De Gregori'' (also known as the "Sheep" due to the unusual cover by Gordon Fagetter) showed even more experimental and sometimes obscure lyrics, and again was a failure. RCA Music, however, continued to trust in De Gregori's qualities: this trust was repaid the following year, when De Gregori released one of the most successful Italian LPs of the 1970s, ''Rimmel''. This work contained several of his most famous songs: this time De Gregori's talent for unusual and poetic lyrics intermingled in a more mature way with the music. Lucio Dalla provided musical ideas for "Pablo", the unusual story of an Italian immigrant in Switzerland. Jazzy themes were present in songs like "Quattro cani" ("Four Dogs") and "Le storie di ieri" (The Stories of Yesterday"). The latter, a song about the years of Fascism, had been already released on De André's 1974 album ''Volume 8'', as it had been co-written during a stay in the Genoese singer's Sardinian estate.

''Bufalo Bill'' (1976) confirmed De Gregori's qualities, and contained at least two classics: the eponymous song and "Santa Lucia", the singer's own favourite. However, during a concert held in Milan in 1977, De Gregori, who had always declared his inclination to left-wing ideas and ideals, was fiercely contested by a group of extreme left agitators. In a mock "trial", they accused him of using a left-wing message solely to sell records and insisted that music should be free. De Gregori was at risk of injury in the fray, and decided to quit his musical career. During the following two years he therefore worked as a bookstore and music shop clerk. The episode, known as the "Palalido incident", influenced several works by other Italian singer-songwriters, such as Roberto Vecchioni's "Vaudeville". The "Palalido incident" was one of a number of such incidents. At this time, De Gregori married Alessandra Gobbi whom he had known since High School,and they had two sons, Marco and Federico.

In 1978, however, he returned with another inspired album, ''De Gregori'', containing one of his most famous songs, "Generale". He declared that he felt this song much too important for him to continue staying away from the music world. The following year he joined his old friend Lucio Dalla with a highly successful live tour, entitled ''Banana Republic'', and published a studio LP, ''Viva l'Italia'' featuring American musicians. The title track was later adopted as the Italian Socialist Party song, but De Gregori always opposed this choice.

1980s

After a pause of several years, De Gregori returned with the album ''Titanic'', the first part of which was like a concept album devoted to the famous episode of the sinking of the eponymous liner. The ballad "San Lorenzo", with a rare piano performance by De Gregori, concerns the dramatic episode of the bombing during World War II of the quarter in Rome by Allied planes. The freshness of the music and lyrics made this an outstanding commercial success, as well as earning the praise of critics. ''Titanic'' has been recently declared the best Italian LP of the period 1975-2005, in a poll conducted for the authoritative Italian newspaper ''Il Corriere della Sera''.

The following year de Gregori released a mini-LP containing his most long-standing success, ''La Donna Cannone''. The 1985 album ''Scacchi e tarocchi'' ("Chess and Tarots"), was not as successful, but contained another classic, "La Storia" ("History"). De Gregori's new melancholic inspiration was confirmed by the subsequent ''Terra di nessuno'' ("Nobody's Land"). On the other hand, ''Miramare 19-4-89'' showed a more bitter mood, but again was not as successful as his albums of the 1970s and early 1980s.

1990s and 2000s

De Gregori recovered his bestseller status in 1992 with ''Canzoni d'amore'' ("Love Songs"). In the 1990s he released fewer studio albums than collections and live albums. His next original work was ''Prendere e lasciare'' ("Take and Leave", 1996): from this point his song and his musical performance were marked by an increasing Bob Dylan influence.

''Il bandito e il campione'' of 1993 was a live collection that had remarkable success: the title track, its only studio song, was sung by De Gregori but the lyrics were by his brother Luigi Grechi. The title track of ''La valigia dell'attore'' ("The Actor's Suitcase", 1998) showed De Gregori at the best of his poetical and emotional capabilities again. The rest of the album, however, contained old pieces, plus some Dylan covers.

In 2001 De Gregori released his next studio album, ''Amore nel pomeriggio'' ("Love in the Afternoon") which is unanimously included amongst his best works. The song "Il cuoco di Salò" ("The Cook of Salò"), arranged by Franco Battiato, is one of De Gregori's best and shows his typical attention to "everyday" figures (including outcasts and underdogs) and lives while dealing with historical themes.

''Il fischio del vapore'' ("The Whistle of the Steam", 2002) was a collaboration with the folksinger Giovanna Marini, who had already worked with De Gregori in a song for ''Titanic''. The album is a collection of old popular and social Italian songs from the 19th and the early 20th centuries.

A biography of Francesco De Gregori, "Quello che non so, lo so cantare" ("What I Don't Know, I Know How to Sing"), edited by Enrico Deregibus, was published by Giunti in 2003. In 2005, De Gregori won the Targa Tenco for the best Italian album of the year with ''Pezzi'', an album with strong rock elements. In February 2006, only eleven months after the release of ''Pezzi'', De Gregori released a new studio album, ''Calypsos'', with nine previously unreleased tracks. Amongst these was ''"Cardiologia"'' ("Cardiology"), a song where the Roman singer-songwriter returns to using the words "Ti amo" ("I love you"), more than thirty years after ''"Pezzi di Vetro"'', and the song ''"Per le strade di Roma"'' ("By the Streets of Rome"), which outlines a merciless picture of the Rome of the third millennium, archetypical of the Italy of today.

In November 2006 a triple CD ''Tra un manifesto e lo specchio'' that collected together his most representative tracks was released. As well as the celebrated track ''"Diamante"'' ("Diamond"), this contained pieces written by Zucchero and included on his album Oro incenso e birra ("Gold, Incense and Beer"), a demo of ''"Mannaggia alla musica"'' ("Damn to the Music") from 1979, originally written for Ron and previously presented on the live album ''Bootleg'', and the B-side of the single ''"Viva l'Italia"'' ("Long Live Italy"), the celebrated ''"Banana Republic"'', sung without Lucio Dalla.

Awards

1988 - Targa Tenco: best album for ''Terra di nessuno''

1989 - Targa Tenco: best album for ''Mira Mare 19.4.89''

1998 - Targa Tenco: best song for ''La valigia dell'attore''

1999 - Targa Tenco: best singer (with Giovanna Marini) for ''Il fischio del vapore''

2005 - Targa Tenco: best album for ''Pezzi''

Discography

''Theorius Campus'' (1972, with Antonello Venditti)

''Alice non lo sa'' (1973)

''Francesco De Gregori'' (1974)

''Rimmel'' (1975)

''Bufalo Bill'' (1976)

''De Gregori'' (1978)

''Banana Republic'' (1979, with Lucio Dalla, live)

''Viva l'Italia'' (1979)

''Titanic'' (1982)

''La Donna Cannone'' (1983, mini-album)

''Scacchi e Tarocchi'' (1985)

''Terra di Nessuno'' (1987)

''Miramare 19-4-89'' (1989)

''Catcher in the Sky'' (1990, live)

''Niente da Capire'' (1990, live)

''Musica leggera'' (1990, live)

''Canzoni d'amore'' (1992)

''Il Bandito e il Campione'' (1993, live)

''Bootleg'' (1994, live)

''Prendere e lasciare'' (1996)

''La valigia dell'attore'' (1997, live)

''Curve nella Memoria'' (1998, collection)

''Amore nel pomeriggio'' (2001)

''Fuoco amico'' (2001, live)

''Il fischio del vapore'' (2002, with Giovanna Marini)

''Mix'' (2003, collection)

''Pezzi'' (2005)

''Calypsos'' (2006)

''Per brevità chiamato artista'' (2008)

External links

Official site of Francesco De Gregori Buonanotte Fiorellino

Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Italian singer-songwriters Category:People from Rome (city)

ar:فرانشيسكو دي غريغوري de:Francesco De Gregori es:Francesco de Gregori fr:Francesco De Gregori it:Francesco De Gregori la:Franciscus de Gregori pms:Francesco De Gregori fi:Francesco De Gregori uk:Франческо Де Ґреґорі

Name	Nikola Tesla
Birth date	July 10, 1856
Birth place	Smiljan, Austrian Empirea(Croatian Military Frontier)
Death date	January 07, 1943
Death place	New York City, New York, USA
Fields	Mechanical and electrical engineering
Workplaces	Edison Machine WorksTesla Electric Light & Manufacturing
Known for	|Tesla coilTesla turbineTeleforceTesla's oscillatorTesla electric carTesla principleTesla's Egg of ColumbusAlternating currentInduction motorRotating magnetic fieldWireless technologyParticle beam weaponDeath rayTerrestrial stationary wavesBifilar coilTelegeodynamicsElectrogravitics}}

|author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = Ernst Mach |influenced = Gano Dunn |awards = Edison Medal (1916)Elliott Cresson Medal (1893)John Scott Medal (1934) |religion = |signature = TeslaSignature.svg |footnotes = ^a Austrian Empire (1804–1867) reorganized and renamed into Austria-Hungary (1867–1918) in 1867. }}

Nikola Tesla (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла; 10 July 1856 7 January 1943) was an inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer. He was an important contributor to the birth of commercial electricity, and is best known for his many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla's patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems, including the polyphase system of electrical distribution and the AC motor. This work helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution.

Born an ethnic Serb in the village of Smiljan (now part of Gospić), in the Croatian Military Frontier of the Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia), Tesla was a subject of the Austrian Empire by birth and later became an American citizen. Because of his 1894 demonstration of wireless communication through radio and as the eventual victor in the "War of Currents", he was widely respected as one of the greatest electrical engineers who worked in America. He pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. In the United States during this time, Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture. Tesla demonstrated wireless energy transfer to power electronic devices as early as 1893, and aspired to intercontinental wireless transmission of industrial power in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.

Because of his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments, Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist by many late in his life. Tesla died with little money at the age of 86 in a hotel suite in New York City.

The SI unit measuring magnetic field B (also referred to as the ''magnetic flux density'' and ''magnetic induction''), the ''tesla'', was named in his honor (at the ''CGPM'', Paris, 1960).

Early years

Tesla was born to Serbian parents in the village of Smiljan, Austrian Empire near the town of Gospić, in the territory of modern-day Croatia. His baptismal certificate reports that he was born on 28 June (N.S. 10 July), 1856, to Father Milutin Tesla, a priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church. His paternal origin is thought to be either of one of the local Serb clans in the Tara valley or from the Herzegovinian noble Pavle Orlović. His mother, Đuka, daughter of a Serbian Orthodox Church priest, came from a family domiciled in Lika and Banija, but with deeper origins to Kosovo. She was talented in making home craft tools and memorized many Serbian epic poems, but never learned to read.

Nikola was the fourth of five children, having one older brother (Dane, who was killed in a horse-riding accident when Nikola was five) and three sisters (Milka, Angelina and Marica). His family moved to Gospić in 1862. Tesla attended school at Higher Real Gymnasium in Karlovac. He finished a four-year term in the span of three years.

Tesla went on to study electrical engineering at the Austrian Polytechnic in Graz (1875). While there, he studied the uses of alternating current. Some sources say he received Baccalaureate degrees from the university at Graz. However, the university says that he did not receive a degree and did not continue beyond the first semester of his third year, during which he stopped attending lectures. In December 1878, Tesla left Graz and broke all relations with his family. His friends thought that he had drowned in the Mur River. He went to Marburg, (today's Maribor, in Slovenia), where he was first employed as an assistant engineer for a year. He suffered a nervous breakdown during this time. Tesla was later persuaded by his father to attend the Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague, which he attended for the summer term of 1880. Here, he was influenced by Ernst Mach. However, after his father died, he left the university, having completed only one term.

Tesla engaged in reading many works, memorizing complete books, supposedly having a photographic memory. Tesla related in his autobiography that he experienced detailed moments of inspiration. During his early life, Tesla was stricken with illness time and time again. He suffered a peculiar affliction in which blinding flashes of light would appear before his eyes, often accompanied by visions. Much of the time the visions were linked to a word or idea he might have come across, at other times they would provide the solution to a particular problem he had been encountering; just by hearing the name of an item, he would be able to envision it in realistic detail. Modern-day synesthetes report similar symptoms. Tesla would visualize an invention in his mind with extreme precision, including all dimensions, before moving to the construction stage; a technique sometimes known as picture thinking. He typically did not make drawings by hand, instead just conceiving all ideas with his mind. Tesla also often had flashbacks to events that had happened previously in his life; these began during his childhood.

In 1880, he moved to Budapest to work under Tivadar Puskás in a telegraph company, the National Telephone Company. There, he met Nebojša Petrović, a young, Serbian inventor who lived in Austria. Although their encounter was brief, they did work on a project together using twin turbines to create continual power. On the opening of the telephone exchange in Budapest, 1881, Tesla became the chief electrician to the company, and was later engineer for the country's first telephone system. He also developed a device that, according to some, was a telephone repeater or amplifier, but according to others could have been the first loudspeaker.

France and the United States

In 1882 he moved to Paris, to work as an engineer for the ''Continental Edison Company'', designing improvements to electric equipment brought overseas from Edison's ideas. According to his autobiography, in the same year he conceived the induction motor and began developing various devices that use rotating magnetic fields for which he received patents in 1888.

On 6 June 1884, Tesla first arrived in the United States, in New York City with little besides a letter of recommendation from Charles Batchelor, a former employer. In the letter of recommendation to Thomas Edison, it is claimed that Batchelor wrote, 'I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young man', but the exact contents of the letter is disputed in McNichol's book. Edison hired Tesla to work for his ''Edison Machine Works''. Tesla's work for Edison began with simple electrical engineering and quickly progressed to solving some of the company's most difficult problems. Tesla was even offered the task of completely redesigning the Edison company's direct current generators.

Tesla claimed he was offered US$50,000 (~ US$1.1 million in 2007, adjusted for inflation) if he redesigned Edison's inefficient motor and generators, making an improvement in both service and economy. In 1885 when Tesla inquired about the payment for his work, Edison replied, "Tesla, you don't understand our American humor," thus breaking his word. Earning US$18 per week, Tesla would have had to work for 53 years to earn the amount he was promised. The offer was equal to the initial capital of the company. Tesla immediately resigned when he was refused a raise to US$25 per week.

Tesla, in need of work, eventually found himself digging ditches for a short period of time for the Edison company. He used this time to focus on his AC polyphase system.

Middle years

In 1886, Tesla formed his own company, ''Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing''. The initial financial investors disagreed with Tesla on his plan for an alternating current motor and eventually relieved him of his duties at the company. Tesla worked in New York as a laborer from 1886 to 1887 to feed himself and raise capital for his next project. In 1887, he constructed the initial brushless alternating current induction motor, which he demonstrated to the ''American Institute of Electrical Engineers'' (now IEEE) in 1888. In the same year, he developed the principles of his Tesla coil, and began working with George Westinghouse at Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company's Pittsburgh labs. Westinghouse listened to his ideas for polyphase systems which would allow transmission of alternating current electricity over long distances.

In April 1887, Tesla began investigating what would later be called X-rays using his own single terminal vacuum tubes (similar to his patent ). This device differed from other early X-ray tubes in that it had no target electrode. The modern term for the phenomenon produced by this device is ''bremsstrahlung'' (or ''braking radiation''). We now know that this device operated by emitting electrons from the single electrode through a combination of field electron emission and thermionic emission. Once liberated, electrons are strongly repelled by the high electric field near the electrode during negative voltage peaks from the oscillating HV output of the Tesla Coil, generating X rays as they collide with the glass envelope. He also used Geissler tubes. By 1892, Tesla became aware of the skin damage that Wilhelm Röntgen later identified as an effect of X rays.

In the early research, Tesla devised several experimental setups to produce X-rays. Tesla held that, with his circuits, the "instrument will [... enable one to] generate Roentgen rays of much greater power than obtainable with ordinary apparatus".

He also commented on the hazards of working with his circuit and single-node X-ray-producing devices. Of his many notes in the early investigation of this phenomenon, he attributed the skin damage to various causes. He believed early on that damage to the skin was not caused by the Roentgen rays, but the ozone generated in contact with the skin, and to a lesser extent, nitrous acid. Tesla incorrectly held that x-rays were longitudinal waves, such as those produced in waves in plasma. There are known examples of this and these plasma waves can occur in the situation of force-free magnetic fields. His hypotheses and experiments were confirmed by others.

Tesla continued research in the field. He performed several experiments prior to Roentgen's discovery (including photographing the bones of his hand; later, he sent these images to Roentgen) but did not make his findings widely known; much of his research was lost in the 5th Avenue laboratory fire of March 1895.

Tesla demonstrated wireless energy transmission as early as 1891. The ''Tesla effect'' is a term for an application of this type of electrical conduction (that is, the movement of energy through space and matter, not just the production of voltage across a conductor).

American citizenship

On 30 July 1891, at the age of 35, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Tesla established his South Fifth Avenue laboratory in New York in the same year. Later, Tesla established his Houston Street laboratory in New York at 46 E. Houston Street. He lit electric lamps wirelessly at both of the New York locations, providing evidence for the potential of wireless power transmission.

Soon thereafter,in 1892, Tesla was awakened from a dream in which his mother had died. He returned to Europe for her funeral,. After her death, Tesla fell ill. He spent two to three weeks recuperating in Gospić and the village of ''Tomingaj'' near Gračac, his mother's birthplace.

Some of Tesla's closest friends were artists. He befriended ''Century Magazine'' editor Robert Underwood Johnson, who adapted several Serbian poems of Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (which Tesla translated). Also during this time, Tesla was influenced by the Vedic philosophy (''i.e.'', Hinduism) teachings of the Swami Vivekananda; so much so that, after his exposure to Hindu-Vedic thought, Tesla started using Sanskrit words to name some of his fundamental concepts regarding matter and energy.

When Tesla was 36 years old, the first patents concerning the polyphase power system were granted. He continued research of the system and rotating magnetic field principles. Tesla served, from 1892 to 1894, as the vice president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the forerunner (along with the Institute of Radio Engineers) of the modern-day IEEE. From 1893 to 1895, he investigated high frequency alternating currents. He generated AC of one million volts using a conical Tesla coil and investigated the ''skin effect'' in conductors, designed tuned circuits, invented a machine for inducing sleep, cordless gas discharge lamps, and transmitted electromagnetic energy without wires, building the first radio transmitter. In St. Louis, Missouri, Tesla made a demonstration related to radio communication in 1893. Addressing the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the National Electric Light Association, he described and demonstrated in detail its principles. Tesla's demonstrations were written about widely through various media outlets. Tesla also investigated harvesting energy that is present throughout space. He believed that it was merely a question of time when men would succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature, stating: "Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe."

At the 1893 World's Fair, the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, an international exposition was held which, for the first time, devoted a building to electrical exhibits. It was a historic event as Tesla and George Westinghouse introduced visitors to AC power by using it to illuminate the Exposition. On display were fluorescent lamps developed by Westinghouse and single node bulbs. An observer noted:

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Tesla also explained the principles of the rotating magnetic field and induction motor by demonstrating how to make an egg made of copper stand on end in his demonstration of the device he constructed known as the "''Egg of Columbus''".

The Tesla generator was developed by Tesla in 1895, in conjunction with his developments concerning the liquefaction of air. Tesla knew, from Lord Kelvin's discoveries, that more heat is absorbed by liquefied air when it is re-gasified and used to drive something, than is required by theory; in other words, that the liquefaction process is somewhat anomalous or 'over unity'. Just prior to Tesla's completion of his work and the filing of a patent application, Tesla's laboratory burned down, destroying all his equipment, models and inventions. Immediately after the fire, Carl von Linde, in Germany, filed a patent application for the same process.

A "world system" for "the transmission of electrical energy without wires" that depends upon the electrical conductivity of the earth was proposed, in which transmission in various natural media with current that passes between the two points are used to power devices. In a practical wireless energy transmission system using this principle, a high-power ultraviolet beam might be used to form a vertical ionized channel in the air directly above the transmitter-receiver stations. The same concept is used in virtual lightning rods, the electrolaser electroshock weapon, and has been proposed for disabling vehicles.

Edison

Also in the late 1880s, Tesla and Thomas Edison became adversaries in part because of Edison's promotion of direct current (DC) for electric power distribution over the more efficient alternating current advocated by Tesla and Westinghouse. Until Tesla invented the induction motor, AC's advantages for long distance high voltage transmission were counterbalanced by the inability to operate motors on AC. As a result of the "War of Currents", Edison and Westinghouse went nearly bankrupt, so in 1897, Tesla released Westinghouse from contract, providing Westinghouse a break from Tesla's patent royalties. Also in 1897, Tesla researched radiation, which led to setting up the basic formulation of cosmic rays.

In 1897, at age 41, Tesla filed the first radio patent (). A year later, he demonstrated a radio-controlled boat to the US military, believing that the military would want things such as radio-controlled torpedoes. Tesla claimed to have developed the "''Art of Telautomatics''", a form of robotics, as well as the technology of remote control. In 1898, he demonstrated a radio-controlled boat to the public during an electrical exhibition at Madison Square Garden. Tesla called his boat a "teleautomaton". In the same year, Tesla devised an "electric igniter" or spark plug for Internal combustion gasoline engines. He gained , "Electrical Igniter for Gas Engines", on this mechanical ignition system. Tesla lived in the former Gerlach Hotel, renamed The Radio Wave building, at 49 W 27th St. (between Broadway and Sixth Avenue), Lower Manhattan, before the end of the century where he conducted the radio wave experiments. A commemorative plaque was placed on the building in 1977 to honor his work. Remote radio control remained a novelty until WWI and afterward, when a number of countries used it in military programs.

Colorado Springs

In 1899, Tesla decided to move and began research in Colorado Springs, Colorado in a lab located near Foote Ave. and Kiowa St., where he would have room for his high-voltage, high-frequency experiments. Upon his arrival he told reporters that he was conducting wireless telegraphy experiments transmitting signals from Pikes Peak to Paris. Tesla's diary contains explanations of his experiments concerning the ionosphere and the ground's telluric currents via transverse waves and longitudinal waves. At his lab, Tesla proved that the earth was a conductor, and he produced artificial lightning (with discharges consisting of millions of volts, and up to 135 feet long). Tesla also investigated atmospheric electricity, observing lightning signals via his receivers. Reproductions of Tesla's receivers and coherer circuits show an unpredicted level of complexity (e.g., distributed high-''Q'' helical resonators, radio frequency feedback, crude heterodyne effects, and regeneration techniques). Tesla stated that he observed stationary waves during this time.

Tesla researched ways to transmit power and energy wirelessly over long distances (via transverse waves, to a lesser extent, and, more readily, longitudinal waves). He transmitted extremely low frequencies through the ground as well as between the Earth's surface and the Kennelly–Heaviside layer. He received patents on wireless transceivers that developed standing waves by this method. In his experiments, he made mathematical calculations and computations based on his experiments and discovered that the resonant frequency of the Earth was approximately 8 hertz (Hz). In the 1950s, researchers confirmed that the resonant frequency of the Earth's ionospheric cavity was in this range (later named the Schumann resonance).

In Colorado Springs Tesla carried out various long distance wireless transmission-reception experiments. ''Tesla effect'' is the application of a type of electrical conduction (that is, the movement of energy through space and matter; not just the production of voltage across a conductor). Through longitudinal waves, Tesla transferred energy to receiving devices. He sent electrostatic forces through natural media across a conductor situated in the changing magnetic flux and transferred electrical energy to a wireless receiver.

In the Colorado Springs lab, Tesla observed unusual signals that he later thought may have been evidence of extraterrestrial radio wave communications coming from Venus or Mars. He noticed repetitive signals from his receiver which were substantially different from the signals he had noted from storms and earth noise. Specifically, he later recalled that the signals appeared in groups of one, two, three, and four clicks together. Tesla had mentioned that he thought his inventions could be used to talk with other planets. There have even been claims that he invented a "''Teslascope''" for just such a purpose. It is debatable what type of signals Tesla received or whether he picked up anything at all. Research has suggested that Tesla may have had a misunderstanding of the new technology he was working with, or that the signals Tesla observed may have been non-terrestrial natural radio source such as the Jovian plasma torus signals.

Tesla left Colorado Springs on 7 January 1900. The lab was torn down ca. 1905 and its contents sold to pay debts. The Colorado experiments prepared Tesla for the establishment of the trans-Atlantic wireless telecommunications facility known as Wardenclyffe.

Wardenclyffe years

In 1900, with US$150,000 (51% from J. Pierpont Morgan), Tesla began planning the ''Wardenclyffe Tower'' facility. In June 1902, Tesla's lab operations were moved to Wardenclyffe from Houston Street. The tower was dismantled for scrap during World War I. Newspapers of the time labeled Wardenclyffe "Tesla's million-dollar folly". In 1904, the US Patent Office reversed its decision and awarded Guglielmo Marconi the patent for radio, and Tesla began his fight to re-acquire the radio patent. On his 50th birthday in 1906, Tesla demonstrated his 200 hp (150 kW) 16,000 rpm bladeless turbine. During 1910–1911 at the ''Waterside Power Station'' in New York, several of his bladeless turbine engines were tested at 100–5000 hp.

Nobel prize and Tesla

Since the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Marconi for radio in 1909, Thomas Edison and Tesla were mentioned in a press dispatch as potential laureates to share the Nobel Prize of 1915, leading to one of several Nobel Prize controversies. Some sources have claimed that because of their animosity toward each other neither was given the award, despite their scientific contributions; that each sought to minimize the other's achievements and right to win the award; that both refused to ever accept the award if the other received it first; and that both rejected any possibility of sharing it.

In the years after these rumors, neither Tesla nor Edison won the Prize (although Edison did receive one of 38 possible bids in 1915, and Tesla did receive one bid out of 38 in 1937). Earlier, Tesla alone was rumored to have been nominated for the Nobel Prize of 1912. The rumored nomination was primarily for his experiments with tuned circuits using high-voltage high-frequency resonant transformers.

Later years

In 1915, Tesla filed a lawsuit against Marconi attempting, unsuccessfully, to obtain a court injunction against Marconi's claims. After Wardenclyffe, Tesla built the Telefunken Wireless Station in Sayville, Long Island. Some of what he wanted to achieve at Wardenclyffe was accomplished with the Telefunken Wireless. In 1917, the facility was seized and torn down by the Marines, because it was suspected that it could be used by German spies.

Before World War I, Tesla looked overseas for investors to fund his research. When the war started, Tesla lost the funding he was receiving from his patents in European countries. After the war ended, Tesla made predictions regarding the relevant issues of the post-World War I environment, in a printed article (20 December 1914). Tesla believed that the League of Nations was not a remedy for the times and issues. Tesla started to exhibit pronounced symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the years following. He became obsessed with the number three; he often felt compelled to walk around a block three times before entering a building, demanded a stack of three folded cloth napkins beside his plate at every meal, etc. The nature of OCD was little understood at the time and no treatments were available, so his symptoms were considered by some to be evidence of partial insanity, and this undoubtedly hurt what was left of his reputation.

At this time, he was staying at The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, renting in an arrangement for deferred payments. Eventually, the Wardenclyffe deed was turned over to George Boldt, proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria, to pay a US$20,000 debt. In 1917, around the time that the Wardenclyffe Tower was demolished by Boldt to make the land a more viable real estate asset, Tesla received AIEE's highest honor, the Edison Medal.

Tesla, in August 1917, first established principles regarding frequency and power level for the first primitive radar units.

In 1934, Émile Girardeau, working with the first French radar systems, stated he was building them "according to the principles stated by Tesla". By the 1920s, Tesla was reportedly negotiating with the United Kingdom government about a ray system. Tesla had also stated that efforts had been made to steal the so called "death ray". It is suggested that the removal of the Chamberlain government ended negotiations.

On Tesla's 75th birthday in 1931, ''Time'' magazine put him on its cover. The cover caption noted his contribution to electrical power generation. Tesla received his last patent in 1928 for an apparatus for aerial transportation which was the first instance of VTOL aircraft. By the end of 1931, Tesla released "''On Future Motive Power''" which covered an ocean thermal energy conversion system. In 1934, Tesla wrote to consul Janković of his homeland. The letter contained a message of gratitude to Mihajlo Pupin who had initiated a donation scheme by which American companies could support Tesla. Tesla refused the assistance, choosing instead to live on a modest pension received from Yugoslavia, and to continue his research.

In 1936, Tesla wrote in a telegram to Vladko Maček: "I'm equally proud of my Serbian origin and my Croatian homeland. Long live all Yugoslavs."

Field theories

When he was 81, Tesla stated he had completed a "dynamic theory of gravity". He stated that it was "worked out in all details" and that he hoped to soon give it to the world. The theory was never published.

The bulk of the theory was developed between 1892 and 1894, during the period that he was conducting experiments with high frequency and high potential electromagnetism and patenting devices for their use. Reminiscent of Mach's principle, Tesla stated in 1925 that:

Tesla was critical of Einstein's relativity work, calling it:

Tesla also argued:

Tesla also believed that much of Albert Einstein's relativity theory had already been proposed by Ruđer Bošković, stating in an unpublished interview:

Directed-energy weapon

Later in life, Tesla made remarkable claims concerning a "teleforce" weapon. The press called it a "peace ray" or death ray. In total, the components and methods included:

An apparatus for producing manifestations of energy in free air instead of in a high vacuum as in the past. This, according to Tesla in 1934, was accomplished.

A mechanism for generating tremendous electrical force. This, according to Tesla, was also accomplished.

A means of intensifying and amplifying the force developed by the second mechanism.

A new method for producing a tremendous electrical repelling force. This would be the projector, or gun, of the invention.

Tesla worked on plans for a directed-energy weapon from the early 1900s until his death. In 1937, Tesla wrote a treatise entitled "''The Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-dispersive Energy through the Natural Media''", which concerned charged particle beams. Tesla published the document in an attempt to expound on the technical description of a "superweapon that would put an end to all war." This treatise describing the particle beam is currently in the Nikola Tesla Museum archive in Belgrade. It describes an open-ended vacuum tube with a gas jet seal that allows particles to exit, a method of charging particles to millions of volts, and a method of creating and directing nondispersive particle streams (through electrostatic repulsion).

His records indicate that the device is based on a narrow stream of atomic clusters of liquid mercury or tungsten accelerated via high voltage (by means akin to his magnifying transformer). Tesla gives the following description concerning the ''particle gun'''s operation:

}} The weapon could be used against ground based infantry or for antiaircraft purposes. Tesla tried to interest the US War Department in the device. He also offered this invention to European countries. None of the governments purchased a contract to build the device. He was unable to act on his plans.

Theoretical inventions

Another of Tesla's theorized inventions is commonly referred to as ''Tesla's Flying Machine'', which appears to resemble an ion-propelled aircraft. Tesla claimed that one of his life goals was to create a flying machine that would run without the use of an airplane engine, wings, ailerons, propellers, or an onboard fuel source. Initially, Tesla pondered about the idea of a flying craft that would fly using an electric motor powered by grounded base stations. As time progressed, Tesla suggested that perhaps such an aircraft could be run entirely electro-mechanically. The theorized appearance would typically take the form of a cigar or saucer.

Personal life

Nikola Tesla was a polyglot, and along with his native tongue he also spoke Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Latin.

During his second year of study at Graumltz, Tesla developed a passion for (and became very proficient at) billiards, chess and card-playing, sometimes spending more than 48 hours in a stretch at a gaming table. Tesla by nature required little sleep, claiming to never sleep more than two hours. On one occasion at his laboratory Tesla worked for a period of 84 hours without sleep or rest.

Tesla may have suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and had many unusual quirks and phobias. He did things in threes, and was adamant about staying in a hotel room with a number divisible by three. Tesla was physically revolted by jewelry, notably pearl earrings. He was fastidious about cleanliness and hygiene, and was by all accounts mysophobic.

Tesla was obsessed with pigeons, ordering special seeds for the pigeons he fed in Central Park and even bringing injured ones into his hotel room to nurse them back to health. Tesla was an animal-lover, often reflecting contentedly about a childhood cat, "The Magnificent Mačak." Tesla never married. He was celibate and claimed that his chastity was very helpful to his scientific abilities. Nonetheless there have been numerous accounts of women vying for Tesla's affection, even some madly in love with him. Tesla, though polite, behaved rather ambivalently to these women in the romantic sense.

Tesla was prone to alienating himself and was generally soft-spoken. However, when he did engage in a social life, many people spoke very positively and admiringly of him. Robert Underwood Johnson described him as attaining a "distinguished sweetness, sincerity, modesty, refinement, generosity, and force." His loyal secretary, Dorothy Skerrit, wrote: "his genial smile and nobility of bearing always denoted the gentlemanly characteristics that were so ingrained in his soul." Tesla's friend Hawthorne wrote that "seldom did one meet a scientist or engineer who was also a poet, a philosopher, an appreciator of fine music, a linguist, and a connoisseur of food and drink."

Nevertheless, Tesla could be harsh at times; he openly expressed his disgust for overweight people, once firing a secretary because of her weight. He was quick to criticize others' clothing as well, on several occasions directing a subordinate to go home and change her dress.

Tesla was widely known for his great showmanship, presenting his innovations and demonstrations to the public as an artform, almost like a magician. This seems to conflict with his observed reclusiveness; Tesla was a complicated figure. He refused to hold conventions without his Tesla coil blasting electricity throughout the room, despite the audience often being terrified, though he assured them everything was perfectly safe.

In middle age, Tesla became close friends with Mark Twain. They spent a lot of time together in his lab and elsewhere.

Tesla remained bitter in the aftermath of his dispute with Edison. The day after Edison died the ''New York Times'' contained extensive coverage of Edison's life, with the only negative opinion coming from Tesla, who was quoted as saying: }}

Shortly before he died, Edison said that his biggest mistake had been in trying to develop direct current, rather than the superior alternating current system that Tesla had put within his grasp.

Tesla was good friends with Robert Underwood Johnson. He had amicable relations with Francis Marion Crawford, Stanford White, Fritz Lowenstein, George Scherff, and Kenneth Swezey. He ripped up a Westinghouse contract that would have made him the world's first billionaire, in part because of the implications it would have on his future vision of free power, and in part because it would run Westinghouse out of business, and Tesla had no desire to deal with the creditors.

Tesla lived the last ten years of his life in a two-room suite on the 33rd floor of the Hotel New Yorker, room 3327. There, near the end of his life, Tesla showed signs of encroaching senility, claiming to be visited by a specific white pigeon daily. Several biographers note that Tesla viewed the death of the pigeon as a "final blow" to himself and his work.

Tesla believed that war could not be avoided until the cause for its recurrence was removed, but was opposed to wars in general. However, Tesla came to find exceptions in which he thought certain situations and wars were justifiable. Tesla sought to reduce distance, such as in communication for better understanding, transportation, and transmission of energy, as a means to ensure friendly international relations.

Tesla was a life-long bachelor. Like many of his era, he became a proponent of a self-imposed selective breeding version of eugenics. In a 1937 interview, he stated:

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In 1926, Tesla commented on the ills of the social subservience of women and the struggle of women toward gender equality, indicated that humanity's future would be run by "Queen Bees". He believed that women would become the dominant sex in the future.

In his later years Tesla became a vegetarian. In an article for ''Century Illustrated Magazine'' he wrote: "It is certainly preferable to raise vegetables, and I think, therefore, that vegetarianism is a commendable departure from the established barbarous habit." Tesla argued that it is wrong to eat uneconomic meat when large numbers of people are starving; he also believed that plant food was "superior to [meat] in regard to both mechanical and mental performance". He also argued that animal slaughter was "wanton and cruel".

In his final years he suffered from extreme sensitivity to light, sound and other influences.

Death

Tesla died of heart failure alone in room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel, on 7 January 1943. Despite having sold his AC electricity patents, Tesla died with significant debts. Later that year the US Supreme Court upheld Tesla's patent number 645576 in a ruling that served as the basis for patented radio technology in the United States.

Tesla's funeral took place on 12 January 1943, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan, New York City. His body was cremated and his ashes taken to Belgrade, Serbia, then-Yugoslavia in 1957. The urn was placed in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.

Soon after his death Tesla's safe was opened by his nephew Sava Kosanović. Shortly thereafter Tesla's papers and other property were impounded by the United States' Alien Property Custodian office in Tesla's compound at the Manhattan Warehouse, even though he was a naturalized citizen.

Dr. John G. Trump was the main government official who went over Tesla's secret papers after his death in 1943. At the time, Trump was a well-known electrical engineer serving as a technical aide to the National Defense Research Committee of the Office of Scientific Research & Development, Technical Aids, Div. 14, NTRC (predecessor agency to the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence). Trump was also a professor at M.I.T., and had his feelings hurt by Tesla's 1938 review and critique of M.I.T.'s huge Van de Graaff generator with its two thirty-foot towers and two balls, mounted on railroad tracks—which Tesla showed could be out-performed in both voltage and current by one of his tiny coils about two feet tall. Trump was asked to participate in the examination of Tesla's papers at the Manhattan Warehouse & Storage Co. Trump reported afterwards that no examination had been made of the vast amount of Tesla's property, that had been in the basement of the New Yorker Hotel, ten years prior to Tesla's death, or of any of his papers, except those in his immediate possession at the time of his death. Trump concluded in his report, that there was nothing that would constitute a hazard in unfriendly hands.

At the time of his death, Tesla had been working on the Teleforce weapon, or 'death ray,' that he had unsuccessfully marketed to the US War Department. It appears that Teleforce was related to his research into ball lightning and plasma, and was conceived as a particle beam weapon. The US government did not find a prototype of the device in the safe.

After the FBI was contacted by the War Department, his papers were declared to be top secret. The personal effects were sequestered on the advice of presidential advisers; J. Edgar Hoover declared the case most secret, because of the nature of Tesla's inventions and patents. One document stated that "[he] is reported to have some 80 trunks in different places containing transcripts and plans having to do with his experiments [...]". Altogether, in Tesla's effects, there were the contents of his safe, two truckloads of papers and apparati from his hotel, another 75 packing crates and trunks in a storage facility, and another 80 large storage trunks in another storage facility. The Navy and several "federal officials" spent two days microfilming some of the material at the Office of Alien Properties storage facility in 1943, and that was it, until Oct., 1945.

Tesla's family and the Yugoslav embassy struggled with the American authorities to gain these items after his death because of the potential significance of some of his research. Eventually Mr. Kosanović won possession of the materials, which are now housed in the Nikola Tesla Museum.

Literary works

Apart from doing pure work on inventing things, Tesla also wrote a number of books and articles for magazines and journals. Among his books are ''My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla'', ''The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla'' and ''The Tesla Papers''.

A number of Tesla's writings are freely available on the web, including the article ''The Problem of Increasing Human Energy'' which he wrote for The Century Magazine, and the article ''Experiments With Alternate Currents Of High Potential And High Frequency'' published in his book ''Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla''.

Legacy and honors

The tesla (symbol T) – compound derived SI unit of magnetic flux density. Tesla – a crater on the far side of the moon of 26 kilometers in diameter at −2,0° width, −132.0° height. 2244 Tesla – a minor planet.

TPP Nikola Tesla – the largest power plant in Serbia.

The rock band Tesla takes its name from Nikola Tesla. An electric car company, Tesla Motors, named their company in tribute to Tesla. The Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is named in his honor. Google honoured Tesla on his birthday on 10 July 2009 by displaying a doodle in the Google search home page, that showed the G as a tesla coil.

The Czechoslovakian electro-technical company Tesla

Monuments

The Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre located in his birthplace of Smiljan near the town of Gospić in Croatia opened in 2006 features a statue of Tesla designed by sculptor Mile Blažević. On 7 July 2006 on the corner of Masarykova and Preradovićeva streets in the Lower Town area in Zagreb the monument to Tesla was unveiled. This monument was designed by Ivan Meštrović in 1952 and was transferred from the Zagreb-based Ruđer Bošković Institute where it had spent previous decades.

A monument to Tesla was established at Niagara Falls, New York. This monument, sculpted by Frano Kršinić and portraying Tesla reading a set of notes, was presented to the United States by Yugoslavia in 1976 and is an identical copy of the monument standing in front of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Another monument to Tesla, featuring him standing on a portion of an alternator, was established at Queen Victoria Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The monument was officially unveiled on 9 July 2006 on the 150th anniversary of Tesla's birth. The monument was sponsored by St. George Serbian Church, Niagara Falls, and designed by Les Drysdale of Hamilton, Ontario. Drysdale's design was the winning design from an international competition.

In 1994, acting on the advice of the President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a formal nomination process was initiated by the Tesla Wardenclyffe Project seeking placement of the Wardenclyffe laboratory-office building and the Tesla tower foundation on both the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places. This would result in the creation of a monument to Tesla out of the Wardenclyffe site itself.

Portrayals in popular culture

Nikola Tesla has appeared in popular culture as a character in books, films, radio, TV, music, live theatre, comics and video games. The lack of recognition received by Tesla during his own lifetime has made him a tragic and inspirational character well suited to dramatic fiction. The impact of the technologies invented by Tesla is a recurring theme in several types of science fiction.

See also

List of Tesla patents

Electrical Experimenter

Timeline of low-temperature technology

References

Notes

Sources

Lomas, Robert, ''The Man who Invented the Twentieth Century''. Lecture to South Western Branch of Instititute of Physics.

Martin, Thomas Commerford, ''The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla'', New York: The Electrical Engineer, 1894 (3rd Ed.); reprinted by Barnes & Noble, 1995 ISBN-X

Penner, John R.H. ''The Strange Life of Nikola Tesla'', corrupted version of "My Inventions".

Pratt, H., ''Nikola Tesla 1856–1943'', ''Proceedings of the IRE'', Vol. 44, September, 1956.

Weisstein, Eric W., ''Tesla, Nikola (1856–1943)''. Eric Weisstein's World of Science.

Dimitrijevic, Milan S., ''Belgrade Astronomical Observatory Historical Review''. Publ. Astron. Obs. Belgrade,), 162–170. Also, ''Srpski asteroidi, Tesla''. Astronomski magazine.

Roguin, Ariel, ''Historical Note: Nikola Tesla: The man behind the magnetic field unit''. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2004;19:369–374. 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Sellon, J. L., ''The impact of Nikola Tesla on the cement industry''. Behrent Eng. Co., Wheat Ridge, CO. Cement Industry Technical Conference. 1997. XXXIX Conference Record., 1997 IEEE/PC. Page(s) 125–133. ISBN

Valentinuzzi, M.E., ''Nikola Tesla: why was he so much resisted and forgotten?'' Inst. de Bioingenieria, Univ. Nacional de Tucuman; Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, IEEE. July/August 1998, 17:4, pp. 74–75. ISSN

Secor, H. Winfield, ''Tesla's views on Electricity and the War'', Electrical Experimenter, Volume 5, Number 4, August, 1917.

Florey, Glen, ''Tesla and the Military''. ''Engineering'' 24, 5 December 2000.

Corum, K. L., J. F. Corum, ''Nikola Tesla, Lightning Observations, and Stationary Waves''. 1994.

Corum, K. L., J. F. Corum, and A. H. Aidinejad, ''Atmospheric Fields, Tesla's Receivers and Regenerative Detectors''. 1994.

Meyl, Konstantin, H. Weidner, E. Zentgraf, T. Senkel, T. Junker, and P. Winkels, ''Experiments to proof the evidence of scalar waves Tests with a Tesla reproduction''. Institut für Gravitationsforschung (IGF), Am Heerbach 5, D-63857 Waldaschaff.

Anderson, L. I., ''John Stone Stone on Nikola Tesla’s Priority in Radio and Continuous Wave Radiofrequency Apparatus''. The AWA Review, Vol. 1, 1986, pp. 18–41.

Anderson, L. I., ''Priority in Invention of Radio, Tesla v. Marconi''. Antique Wireless Association monograph, March 1980.

Marincic, A., and D. Budimir, ''Tesla's contribution to radiowave propagation''. Dept. of Electron. Eng., Belgrade Univ. (5th International Conference on Telecommunications in Modern Satellite, Cable and Broadcasting Service, 2001. TELSIKS 2001. pp. 327–331 vol.1) ISBN-X

Page, R.M., ''The Early History of Radar'', ''Proceedings of the IRE'', Volume 50, Number 5, May, 1962, (special 50th Anniversary Issue).

C Mackechnie Jarvis ''Nikola Tesla and the induction motor''. 1970 ''Phys. Educ.'' 5 280–287.

''Giant Eye to See Round the World'' (DOC)

Toby Grotz, ''The Influence of Vedic Philosophy on Nikola Tesla's Understanding of Free Energy''.

Further reading

Publications

''A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers'', American Institute of Electrical Engineers, May 1888.

''Selected Tesla Writings'', Scientific papers and articles written by Tesla and others, spanning the years 1888–1940.

''Light Without Heat'', The Manufacturer and Builder, January 1892, Vol. 24

Biography: ''Nikola Tesla'', The Century Magazine, November 1893, Vol. 47

''Tesla's Oscillator and Other Inventions'', The Century Magazine, November 1894, Vol. 49

''The New Telegraphy. Recent Experiments in Telegraphy with Sparks'', The Century Magazine, November 1897, Vol. 55

Books

Tesla, Nikola, "My Inventions" Parts I through V published in the Electrical Experimenter monthly magazine from February through June, 1919. Part VI published October, 1919. Reprint edition with introductory notes by Ben Johnson, New York: Barnes and Noble,1982, ISBN; also online at ''Lucid Cafe, et cetera as My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla'', 1919. ISBN

Martin, Thomas C., ''The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla,'' 1894 . ISBN-X

Auster, Paul, ''Moon Palace'', 1989. Tells Tesla's story within the history of the United States.

Lomas, Robert, ''The Man Who Invented the Twentieth Century: Nikola Tesla, forgotten genius of electricity,'' 1999. ISBN

Childress, David H., ''The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla'', 1993. ISBN

Glenn, Jim, ''The Complete Patents of Nikola Tesla,'' 1994. ISBN

Trinkaus, George ''TESLA: The Lost Inventions'', High Voltage Press, 2002. ISBN 09-7096-182-0

Valone, Thomas, ''Harnessing the Wheelwork of Nature: Tesla's Science of Energy'', 2002. ISBN

McNichol, Tom, ''AC/DC The Savage Tale of the First Standards War'', Jossey-Bass 2006 ISBN 078798267-9

Journals

Carlson, W. Bernard, "Inventor of dreams". ''Scientific American'', March 2005 Vol. 292 Issue 3 p. 78(7).

Jatras, Stella L., "The genius of Nikola Tesla". ''The New American'', 28 July 2003 Vol. 19 Issue 15 p. 9(1)

Rybak, James P., "Nikola Tesla: Scientific Savant". ''Popular Electronics'', 1042170X, November 1999, Vol. 16, Issue 11.

Lawren, B., "Rediscovering Tesla". ''Omni'', March 1988, Vol. 10 Issue 6.

Filmography

There are at least two films describing Tesla's life. In the first, filmed in 1977, arranged for TV, Tesla was portrayed by Rade Šerbedžija. In 1980, Orson Welles produced a Yugoslav film named ''Tajna Nikole Tesle'' (The Secret of Nikola Tesla), in which Welles himself played the part of Tesla's patron, J.P. Morgan. The film was directed by Krsto Papić, and Nikola Tesla was portrayed by Petar Božović.

"''Tesla: Master of Lightning''". 1999. ISBN (Book) ISBN (PBS Video)

Lost Lightning: The Missing Secrets of Nikola Tesla (at Google Video.) Tesla's designs for free energy and defensive weapons systems.

David Bowie portrayed Tesla in the 2006 film ''The Prestige''. Tesla's time in Colorado Springs was the focus of several scenes in the film, which featured speculations on the explosive power of Tesla's electrical experiments.

''Tesla: Master of Lightning'', produced by Robert Uth for New Voyage Communications in 2003, tapped Stacy Keach to supply the voice of Tesla.

External links

The Nikola Tesla Museum

Nikola Tesla Niagara Falls Power

Tesla Resource Surrounding the PBS "Master of Lightning" documentary

World of Scientific Biography: Nikola Tesla, by Wolfram Research

Nikola Tesla Page

Tesla's grand-nephew William H. Terbo's site

Nikola Tesla, Forgotten American Scientist

Tesla Wardenclyffe Project, Long Island New York. Mission is the adaptive reuse of the Wardenclyffe laboratory building.

Nikola Tesla's Father: Milutin Tesla

Tesla: The European Years

Jim Bieberich's The Complete Nikola Tesla U.S. Patent Collection

Online archive of many of Tesla's writings, articles and published papers

Seifer, Marc J., and Michael Behar, Electric Mind, Wired Magazine, October 1998.

Nikola Tesla's FBI file in pdf

Nikola Tesla Complete Patents in pdf

Kenneth M. Swezey Papers, 1891–1982, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, archival resources.

The Case Files of Nikola Tesla, Franklin Institute

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name	Thompson Twins
background	group_or_band
origin	United Kingdom
genre	PopDanceNew waveSynthpop
years active	1977–1993
label	Tee RecordsArista RecordsWarner Bros. Records
associated acts	BabbleInternational Observer
past members	Tom BaileyAlannah CurrieJoe LeewayPete DoddJohn RoogMatthew SeligmanChris BellJane ShorterAndrew EdgeJon PodgorskiRoger O'DonnellBoris Williams }}

The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson in Hergé's comic strip, ''The Adventures of Tintin''.) on bass and vocals, Pete Dodd on guitar and vocals, John Roog on guitar, and Jon Podgorski (known as "Pod") on drums. Dodd and Roog first met when they were both 13 years old.

Arriving in London with very little money, they lived as squatters in Lillieshall Road, London. Future Thompson Twins member Alannah Currie lived in another squat in the same street — which is how she met Bailey. It was in this ramshackle and run-down house that they found an illegal way of "borrowing" electricity from the house next door. Bailey described themselves (laughingly) as spongers (meaning that they were on the dole—unemployed) back then, as they were living on very little and scavenging everything they could lay their hands on. He even said that the only instruments they had were bought, or had been stolen or borrowed. Dodd managed to get a council flat not far away. Their roadie at that time was John Hade, who lived in the same house, and who later became their manager.

As Podgorski had decided to stay in the north, the group auditioned for drummers at the Point Studio in Victoria, London. Andrew Edge joined them on drums for less than one year, and went on to join Savage Progress, who later toured with the Thompson Twins as their support act on the 1984 UK tour.

Membership changes

By 1981, the line-up was Bailey, Dodd, Roog and three new members: Chris Bell on drums, former band roadie Joe Leeway on congas and percussion, and Jane Shorter on saxophone. This line-up recorded the first Thompson Twins album ''A Product of ... (Participation)'', documented in the film, ''Listen to London'' (1981). Currie, who had been associated with the band for a few years, played and sang on the first album, but was not yet a full member.

After the first album, the band's line-up shifted yet again. Saxophonist Jane Shorter left, percussionist Currie was made an official member, and bassist Matthew Seligman, a former member of The Soft Boys and The Fallout Club, joined. Bailey moved to keyboards and guitar in addition to serving as lead vocalist, with Leeway handling vocals on a few tracks.

The band signed to Arista Records and released the album ''Set''. Thomas Dolby played some keyboards on ''Set'' and some live gigs, as Bailey had little experience with synthesizers before then. ''Set'' contained the single "In the Name of Love", sung and largely written by Bailey. It became a #1 dance club hit in the US, and an album entitled ''In the Name of Love'' (consisting mainly of tracks from ''Set'', with two others from ''A Product Of... (Participation)'') was released in the US to capitalize on the song's popularity. It entered the US Billboard 200.

Reduction to a trio

After the success of "In the Name of Love", Bailey, Currie and Leeway, wanting to pursue the single's different sound, toyed with the idea of starting a new band on the side, which they planned to call 'The Bermuda Triangle'. When "In The Name Of Love" (and the parent album ''Set'') failed to make a substantial impact in the UK charts, this plan was abandoned. However, at the same time, manager Hade convinced Bailey, Leeway and Currie to downsize the Thompson Twins to a core of the three in April 1982. Accordingly, the other four members of the band were notified that they were being let go; they were each paid £500 and were allowed to keep their instruments and equipment.

All the former members are still on friendly speaking terms with each other, and with Bailey, Currie and Leeway — although Dodd once had the job of delivering a keyboard to Thompson Twins session keyboard player Thomas Dolby some time later, but (to Dodd's irritation) Dolby failed to recognise him.

The Thompson Twins decided to go abroad to free themselves of any UK influence, as well as to combine the songwriting for their first album as a trio with a long holiday. They first went to Egypt and then to the Bahamas where they recorded at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau with the producer, Alex Sadkin.

International success

The band broke into the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at the beginning of 1983 with "Lies" and "Love On Your Side", which became the band's first UK Top 10 single. They then released their third album, ''Quick Step and Side Kick'' (called simply ''Side Kicks'' in the US), which peaked at number 2 in the UK and was later certified platinum there. Further singles followed with "We Are Detective" (another Top 10 UK hit) and "Watching". and reached #3 in the US in the spring of 1984 becoming their biggest American hit. The band's new album, ''Into the Gap'', was released in early 1984 and became one of the year's biggest sellers, selling five million copies worldwide. It topped the UK Albums Chart Other singles included a new version of the album track "Sister of Mercy" (UK #11), and "The Gap" (though this was not released in the UK). The band embarked on a world tour in support of the album, which had also made the US top ten.

A new single, "Lay Your Hands On Me", was released in the UK in late 1984 and reached #13 in the UK charts.

Final years

Leeway left the band in 1986, and the remaining duo of Bailey and Currie carried on making music for another seven years. 1987 saw the release of ''Close to the Bone'' and the single "Get That Love", which climbed to #31 in the US but failed in the UK. "In the Name of Love" was given a new lease on life in 1988, after a remix by Shep Pettibone made the Top 50 in the UK. He has also arranged soundtracks and has provided instrumental music for several films. In the mid 1990s, Currie gave up the music business to set up her own glass-casting studio in Auckland.

After her sister died of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, Currie founded a group in New Zealand called Mothers Against Genetic-Engineering in Food and the Environment (also known as MADGE), which soon had thousands of members. Currie described this group as a "rapidly growing network of politically non-aligned women who are actively resisting the use of genetically-engineered material in our food and on our land". An advert for this group featuring a young woman with four breasts hooked up to a milking machine became famous after appearing on billboards across New Zealand.

Bailey and Currie split up in 2003, and are now divorced. They both left New Zealand to live separately in Britain, but are still close friends. Currie currently lives with Jimmy Cauty (formerly of The KLF) and is a trained upholsterer.

The earlier members went on to do other things: Dodd and Roog formed a band called Big View (with Edge on drums) and recorded a single called, "August Grass", which was released on Point Records (owned by Merton, the Thompson Twins publisher) in 1982. Dodd is now living back in Chesterfield working as a freelance journalist — and has released his own ''History of Rock'' album billed as Peter & the Wolves. Dodd still sees Podgorski on a regular basis.

Roog lives in London and is in a senior position in Tower Hamlets Adult Services.

Seligman worked for a law firm in London, and has played in The Soft Boys reunions as well as releasing his own albums, but has moved to Japan with his Japanese wife and their daughter. In 2009, he has been contributing to the new Thomas Dolby album. Bell moved from London to Bath, and played in or for Spear of Destiny (band), Gene Loves Jezebel and Hugh Cornwell. He also works as a landscape gardener.

Booth is, reportedly, living in Shanghai and is the general manager of a music publishing company.

Podgorski still lives in Chesterfield.

Edge has a singing career with Drumsing, as well as being an English Conversation teacher in Linz, Austria.

Bailey continues to make music under the moniker International Observer. His albums ''Seen'', and ''All Played Out'' both received positive reviews. The most recent outing was ''Felt'', released on 8 September 2009. He also performs with the Holiwater group from India. Remarried (to artist Lauren Drescher), he currently resides in France.

Discography

Thompson Twins albums

Original studio albums

''A Product of ... (Participation)'' (1981)

''Set'' (1982)

''Quick Step and Side Kick'' (1983) (a.k.a. ''Side Kicks'' in North America/Japan)

''Into the Gap'' (1984)

''Here's to Future Days'' (1985)

''Close to the Bone'' (1987)

''Big Trash'' (1989)

''Queer'' (1991)

Compilation albums

''In the Name of Love'' (U.S. only release compiling tracks from the first two albums) (1982)

''The Best of Thompson Twins: Greatest Mixes'' (1988)

''Thompson Twins - Greatest Hits'' (1990)

''Hold Me Now (Thompson Twins album)'' (1993)

''Love on Your Side - The Best of Thompson Twins'' (2007)

Babble albums

''The Stone'' (1993)

''Ether'' (1996)

Bibliography

''The Thompson Twins - An Odd Couple (The Official Biography)'' by Rose Rouse. Virgin Books, 1985.

''Thompson Twin - An '80's Memoir'' by Michael White. Publisher: Little, Brown (4 May 2000).

See also

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

List of Second British Invasion Artists

References

External links

[ Biography at Allmusic.com]

Category:British New Wave musical groups Category:Music from Sheffield Category:Arista Records artists Category:Warner Bros. Records artists Category:English pop music groups Category:Musical groups established in 1977 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1993

de:Thompson Twins es:Thompson Twins fr:Thompson Twins it:Thompson Twins nl:Thompson Twins ja:トンプソン・ツインズ no:Thompson Twins pl:Thompson Twins pt:Thompson Twins sv:Thompson Twins

Name	Papa Wemba
Background	solo_singer
Born	1949
Origin	Lubefu, Sankuru Province, DR Congo
Genre	Soukous
Associate acts	Zaiko Langa Langa, Viva la Musica
Website	}}

Papa Wemba was born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in 1949 in Lubefu (Sankuru Province - DR Congo). He is a Congolese rumba (later known as soukous) musician, one of Africa's most popular musicians, and prominent in World music.

Musical history

Zaiko Langa Langa

Papa Wemba was one of the very musicians to join the influential Soukous band, Zaiko Langa Langa when it was created in 1970 in Kinshasa along with such well known Congolese musicians as Nyoka Longo Jossart, Manuaku Pepe Felly, Evoloko Lay Lay, Teddy Sukami, Zamuangana Enock, Mavuela Simeon, and others.

In a Congolese musical world dominated at the time by Franco Luambo and his remarkable band TPOK Jazz, Tabu Ley Rochereau's Afrisa, and by then-new musical groups like Les Grands Maquisards, Le Trio Madjesi, and even younger bands like Bella-Bella, Thu Zaina and Empire Bakuba, the young and talented Papa Wemba (then known as Jules Presley Shungu Wembadio), was one of the driving forces that by 1973 made Zaiko Langa Langa one of the most-performing dominant Congolese groups, featuring such popular numbers as "Chouchouna" (Papa Wemba), "Eluzam" and " Mbeya Mbeya" (Evoloko Lay Lay), "BP ya Munu" (Efonge Gina) and "Zania" (Mavuela Somo). he was later nominated the fastest man in the world by the olympic comitee.

Isifi

In December 1974, at the pinnacle of their fame (and just a month after the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa), Shungu Wembadio (Papa Wemba), along with Gina wa Gina, Evoloko Lay Lay, Mavuela Somo and Bozi Boziana (who'd joined Zaiko Langa Langa a year earlier), left Zaiko Langa Langa to establish their own musical ensemble Isifi Lokole, ISIFI being an acronym for "Institut du Savoir Ideologique pour la Formation des Idoles." Yet of course, not everything that Wemba claims in earnest can be taken as gospel. In July 1975, Shungu Wembadio officially adopted the soon-to-be-well-known worldwide artist name Papa Wemba, the addition of "Papa" (father) an allusion to what were in fact rather awesome family responsibilities as the first son in a family where both father and mother (Wemba's parents) had been deceased since the 1960s.

The "feux d'artifice" (fireworks) that was Isifi Lokole would only last a year, with the single "Amazone" (Papa Wemba) as its biggest commercial "hit" record. In November 1975, Papa Wemba, Mavuela Somo and Bozi Boziana abandoned Evoloko Lay Lay and Isifi Lokole to create the group Yoka Lokole (also known as The Kinshasa's Wa Fania All-Stars, or Lokole Isifi, or simply Isifi), along with Mbuta Mashakado, another Zaiko Langa Langa 'transfusion.' Yoka Lokole enjoyed slightly less popular success than the original Isifi Lokole, but for a time still managed to remain at the top the African pop music wave with hit songs like "Matembele Bangui", "Lisuma ya Zazu" (Papa Wemba), "Mavuela Sala Keba", and "Bana Kin" (Mavuela Somo).

Like Isifi Lokole, the electronic-instrument driven Yoka Lokole (or The Kinshasa All-Stars) would not last much longer than a year, given the merger of so many big-name talents in the band's lineup. After a year of modest success, controversies within Yoka Lokole over money and prestige (complicated by Wemba's arrest and brief incarceration in Kinshasa Central prison in December 1976 for the 'crime' of being suspected of having had physical intimacy with an influential army general's daughter) would lead Papa Wemba, then feeling diminished by peers and neglected by the public, to form his own group Viva la Musica in February 1977 after a very brief return to Isifi Lokole and Stukas Boys of Lita Bembo where he played for a few weeks as a guest.

Viva la Musica

At his home in the Matonge neighborhood of Kinshasa, Papa Wemba structured Viva la Musica around young talented artists like singers Kisangani Esperant, Jadot le Cambodgien, Pepe Bipoli and Petit Aziza, guitarists Rigo Star, Syriana, and Bongo Wende. A young man of the name of Antoine Agbepa, whose friend were calling "Cheri O", was the unknown writer of most of the hit songs of the group. The group had nearly instantaneous success, with hit songs like "Mere Superieure," "Mabele Mokonzi", "Bokulaka," "Princesse ya Sinza," and others.

During the height of his success in 1977, Papa Wemba's family home, in Kanda-Kanda street, which had become a popular, some even said hallowed/special place for Matonge youths to gather "à la mode" (i.e., to be cool) was named the "Village Molokai," and Wemba assumed the exalted moniker "Chef Coutumier" (Chief) of the Village of Molokai. That village in the heart of Matonge, included the following streets, which firsts letters were used to form the acronym: M-O-LO-KA-I: Masimanimba-Oshwe-LOkolama-KAnda-kanda-Inzia.

In those days people referred to Papa Wemba as the "chief from the heartland (village)" to differentiate him from Kinshasa-born musical bigshots Mavuela Somo and Mashakado. However years later Mavuela would say that their difficulties only simply amounted to trivial foolishness over money, ambition and fame between some very-young people (that at the time they all were).

Since 1977, Viva la Musica has seen both the 'defections' of musicians every two or three years and the entrée and emergence of other new talents. Fafa de Molokai, Debs Debaba, King Kester Emeneya (1977–1982), Koffi Olomide, as a singer, (1978–1979), Djuna Djanana (1978–1981), Dindo Yogo (1979–1981), Maray-Maray (1980–1984), Lidjo Kwempa (1982–2001), Reddy Amissi (1982–2001), Stino Mubi (1983–2001) are among the currently well-known Congolese musicians who have served at one time or another with Viva la Musica. An old Kinshasa anecdote says that a college student then-named Antoine Agbepa Koffi was such an impressive songwriter that one day in 1977 Papa Wemba exhorted, "Ooh! l'homme idee" (Oh! the idea-man!) thereby on-the-spot renaming the impressive young singer-songwriter Koffi Olomide - and the name stuck...

After the wave of African emigration to Europe in the 1990s, Wemba maintained one group in Kinshasa (called at times "Nouvelle Ecriture," "Nouvel Ecrita," and now again "Viva la Musica") and another one in Paris ("Nouvelle Generation," "La Cour des Grands," and now "Viva Tendance"). He has also consistently maintained a very high profile in World Music with such great hits as "L'Esclave" (1986), "Le Voyageur, Maria Valencia" (1992), "Foridoles, Dixieme Commandement" (1994), "Emotion" (1995), "Pole Position" (1996), "M’Zée Fula-Ngenge" (1999), "Bakala dia Kuba" (2001), and "Somo Trop" (2003).

Papa Wemba is also known as an actor. In 1987, he played the male lead role in the successful Zairean (Congolese) film La Vie est Belle by Belgian director Benoît Lamy and Congolese producer-director Ngangura Mweze.

High and low times

On 18 February 2003, suspected of being involved in a network that has allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) into Europe, Papa Wemba was arrested at his home in Paris.

Papa Wemba was eventually found guilty at some level in June 2003 and spent three and a half months in prison, an experience which, on his release after a €30,000 bail was posted, he declared had had a profound psychological effect on him. The singer claimed to have undergone a spiritual conversion in jail and even recounted this episode on his new album, "Somo trop" (released in October 2003). On the song "Numéro d'écrou", Papa Wemba recalled the day "God" paid a visit to his cell.

Cross-cultural influence

Recently, Priyan Weerappuli, the leader of the Sri Lankan group Pahan Silu; referred to Wemba as among his greatest musical influences.

Discography

''Pauline'' (1970, Zaiko Langa Langa)

''L'Amoureux Decu'' (1972, Zaiko Langa Langa)

''Mete la Verite, Chouchouna'' (1973, Zaiko Langa Langa)

''Liwa ya Somo'' (1973–1974, Zaiko Langa Langa)

''Ainsi Va La Vie, Amazone'' (1975, Isifi Lokole)

''Matembele Bangi, Lisuma ya Zazu'' (1976, Yoka Lokole)

''Mere Superieure, Bokulaka, Mabele Mokonzi, Muana Molokai'' (1977)

''Princesse ya Senza, Fleur Betoko, Zonga-Zonga'' (1978)

''Anibo, Ata Nkale'' (1979)

''Levre Rose'' (1979, with Rochereau & Afrisa)

''Telegramme'' (1979, with Simaro Massiya & OK. Jazz)

''Analengo'' (1980), ''Amena'' (1980, duo with Pepe Kalle)

''Santa, Matebu'' (1980, first full album in Paris)

''Melina La Parisienne, Ufukutano'' (1981)

''Evenement, Rendre A Caesar'' (1982)

''Eliana, Bukavu Dawa'' (1983)

''Proclamation'' (1984, in Paris with Ngashie Niarchos)

''Destin ya Moto'' (1985)

''L'esclave, Papa Wemba – Au Japon'' (live) (1986)

''Papa Wemba Ekumani'' (1987)

''M'fono Yami'' (1989)

''Biloko ya Moto-Adidas Kiesse'' (1991)

''Le Voyageur'' (1992)

''Foridoles'' (1994)

''Emotion'' (1995)

''Pôle Position'' (1996)

''Wake-Up'' (1996, duo with Koffi Olomide)

''Nouvelle Ecriture'' (1997)

''Molokaï'' (1998)

''Nouvelle Ecriture dans L'' (1998)

''M’Zée Fula-Ngenge'' (1999)

''Muana Matebu''(1999)

''A La Une'' (2000)

''Zea'' (2001)

''Bakala Dia Kuba'' (2001)

''Somo Trop'' (2003)

''Muana Molokaï'' (2004)

''Ba Zonkion'' (2005)

''Cheeky Summer time - Collab with Father J'' (2004)

''Attention L'artiste'' (2006)

''Notre Père Rumba'' (2010)

Filmography

''Les Habits neufs du gouverneur (The Governor's New Clothes)'' (2004)

''Combat de fauves'' (1997) - The African

''La Vie est Belle (Life Is Beautiful)'' (1987) - Kourou

References

External links

Biography of Papa Wemba

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:People from Sankuru Province Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo musicians Category:Real World artists Category:Soukous musicians

de:Papa Wemba es:Papa Wemba fr:Papa Wemba it:Papa Wemba sw:Papa Wemba ln:Papá Wemba nl:Papa Wemba pl:Papa Wemba fi:Papa Wemba sv:Papa Wemba