Portrait: Architect and designer Frank Gehry

24 December 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Portrait Reading Time:  7 minutes

Frank Gehry © City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 2311, File 2969, Item 89

Frank Gehry
© City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 2311, File 2969, Item 89

Frank Owen Gehry was a Canadian and American architect and designer known for his postmodern designs and use of unconventional forms and materials. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. His most famous works include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. These buildings are characterized by their sculptural, often undulating exteriors and innovative use of materials such as titanium and stainless steel.   read more…

Portrait: Karl Amson Joel, German textile merchant and manufacturer

26 November 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Portrait Reading Time:  8 minutes

Josef Neckermann - Karl Joel - Berlin 1938 © Steffen Radlmaier: Billy & The Joels

Josef Neckermann – Karl Joel – Berlin 1938 © Steffen Radlmaier: Billy & The Joels

Karl Amson Joel was a German textile merchant and manufacturer with Joel Macht Fabrik. He was the grandfather of American musician Billy Joel and British conductor Alexander Joel, who are half-brothers. Karl Amson Joel was born in 1889 in Colmberg, into a Jewish family involved in the textile business.   read more…

Portrait: Yitzhak Rabin, the assassinated Prime Minister of Israel

22 October 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Portrait Reading Time:  7 minutes

Isaac Herzog during Rabin Day, October 2021 © Haim Zach/Government Press Office of Israel/cc-by-sa-3.0

Isaac Herzog during Rabin Day, October 2021 © Haim Zach/Government Press Office of Israel/cc-by-sa-3.0

Yitzhak Rabin was an Israeli statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until his assassination in 1995. He was the first prime minister to have been born in Mandatory Palestine.   read more…

Portrait: Mata Hari, exotic dancer, courtesan, and spy

24 September 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Portrait Reading Time:  6 minutes

Mata Hari around 1909

Mata Hari around 1909

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle, better known by the stage name Mata Hari; Indonesian for ‘sun’, lit. ‘eye of the day’), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed by firing squad in Vincennes near Paris, France.   read more…

Portrait: Andrea Palladio, the most important architect of the Renaissance in Northern Italy

27 August 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Architecture, Portrait, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Andrea Palladio © Alessandro Maganza - volkskrant.nl

Andrea Palladio © Alessandro Maganza – volkskrant.nl

Andrea Palladio was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of the most influential individuals in the history of architecture. While he designed churches and palaces, he was best known for country houses and villas. His teachings, summarized in the architectural treatise, The Four Books of Architecture, gained him wide recognition.   read more…

Portrait: Mansa Musa

23 July 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Portrait Reading Time:  6 minutes

Mansa Musa - African king from Catalan Atlas (1375) by Abraham Cresques of Majorca

Mansa Musa – African king from Catalan Atlas (1375) by Abraham Cresques of Majorca

Mansa Musa (reigned c. 1312 – c. 1337) was the ninth Mansa of the Mali Empire, which reached its territorial peak during his reign. Musa’s reign is often regarded as the zenith of Mali’s power and prestige, although he features less in Mandinka oral traditions than his predecessors.   read more…

Porträt: Henry Bradley Plant, American railroad magnate and pioneer of the tourist development of western Florida

25 June 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Portrait Reading Time:  5 minutes

Henry Bradley Plant © Florida Photographic Collection

Henry Bradley Plant © Florida Photographic Collection

Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant System of railroads and steamboats.   read more…

Portrait: House of Borgia

28 May 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Portrait Reading Time:  4 minutes

House of Borgia

House of Borgia

The House of Borgia (Spanish and Aragonese: Borja; Valencian: Borja) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town of Borja, then in the Crown of Aragon, in Spain.   read more…

Portrait: William Wallace, a Guardian of Scotland

23 April 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: Portrait Reading Time:  6 minutes

Sir William Wallace by David of Buchan

Sir William Wallace by David of Buchan

Sir William Wallace (Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam Uallas, Norman French: William le Waleys) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.   read more…

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