A5 - Biographies of Members of Institutions or Organizations

2003

A5 -- Biographies of Members of Institutions or Organizations

Antologia del lionismo: 1917–1995; da Melvin Jones a Pino Grimaldi [Anthology of Lionism: 1917–1995; from Melvin Jones to Pino Grimaldi]. Ed. Lion Pino Cantafio. Bologna: Lions Club Bologna Archiginnasio, 1995. 504 p. ill. 24 cm. Lit. 30,000 (Ediservizi, Via Selva di Pescarola 4/6, I-40100 Bologna) [99-B09-071]

The first Lions Club was founded in 1917, and today this international organization of community service clubs has members in over 150 countries. This “history” of Lions Clubs International was initiated by the first Italian president of the organization during his term, 1994–1995. The main body of text consists of biographies of the presidents from 1917–1919 to 1994–1995, each one containing a photograph, a table of Lions-related activities, and a brief biographical sketch. The data were provided mainly by the archives at Lions Clubs International headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. Being the first real Lions Clubs reference book, it is unfortunate that it is written in Italian; due to the international nature of the organization, English would have been a more appropriate choice. [sh/hh]

Les prix Nobel: Nobel Prizes, Presentations, Biographies, and Lectures = The Nobel Prizes. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. 25 cm. ISSN 0546-8175 [99-B09-072]

1997. 1998. 502 p. ill. ISBN 91-85848-28-X: SKr. 401.60

The Nobel Foundation has been documenting its awards in the form of an annual entitled Les Prix Nobel since 1904. Initially there were prizes, as stipulated by Alfred Nobel in his will, for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. In 1969 a memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was established by the Bank of Sweden. The volumes appear in October of the year following the awards, which take place annually on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway (Peace Prize). Each volume includes the program of the Nobel festivities, pictures of the medals and diplomas, laureate biographies, and the full text of the presentation speeches and laureate lectures. The biographies, which are submitted by the laureates themselves, vary greatly in length and character. The language of the publication has changed from French in the early days to English today, but the speeches are retained in the language in which they were given. Les prix Nobel is the primary source for all of the Nobel prize-related publications reviewed below. [sah/hh]

Nobel Lectures Including Presentation Speeches and Laureates’ Biographies: Literature. Ed. Sture Allén. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. 26 cm. [99-B09-073]

1981–90. 1993. x, 166 p. ill. ISBN 981-02-1176-7 (hbk.): $40; ISBN 981-02-1177-5 (pbk.): $21

Publication of the collected Nobel prize acceptance speeches and lectures plus biographies of the laureates was the purview of the publisher Elsevier from 1964 to 1972. After a hiatus of 20 years, World Scientific Publishers Co. in Singapore has been bringing the volumes up to date; the most current covers up to 1995. Each volume deals with one prize over varying time spans, for example, Chemistry 1971–80 (1993) and 1991–95 (1997). The structure of the volumes is as follows: in the chronological entries, the discipline, the year of award, name of the laureate, and the award text are followed by the presentation speech given by a member of the Nobel committee, then a biography of the laureate, with a portrait and signature and a selective bibliography of his or her publications, and finally, the Nobel lecture itself. Unfortunately there are no name or subject indexes, as there had been in the Elsevier volumes.

The Nobel lectures in this publication are all translated into English in order to reach the broadest possible audience (while in Les prix Nobel, mentioned above, they are retained in the original language of the speaker). However, because the content (if not the organization) of the Nobel Lectures is identical to that of Les prix Nobel, a library with a subscription to the latter would not need the Nobel Lectures. Their best use would be for the reader needing an overview of the Nobel prize in an individual discipline. Their application as biographical resources is essentially the same as Les prix Nobel. [sah/hh]

Deutsche Nobelpreisträger: deutsche Beiträge zur Natur- und Geisteswissenschaft, dargestellt am Beispiel der Nobelpreisverleihungen für Frieden, Literatur, Medizin, Physik und Chemie [German Nobel Prize Winners: German Contributions to the Natural Sciences and Humanities, Exemplified by the Nobel Prize Awards for Peace, Literature, Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry]. Ed. Armin Hermann. 5th rev. ed. München: Moos, 1987. 191 p. ill. 25 cm. ISBN 3-89164-022-6 [99-B09-079]

In addition to the volumes dedicated to Nobel laureates of certain disciplines, there are also compilations of those from individual countries. One example is this title that lists German Nobel laureates. Th e fifth edition was published in 1987. (Another, similar work restricts its coverage to post-war laureates: Deutsche Nobelpreisträger von 1945 bis heute [German Nobel Laureates from 1945 to Today], Bonn, 1995.) German citizenship, rather than work location, is the deciding factor for inclusion in this volume. A tabular overview lists the 54 German Nobel laureates in the five original disciplines through 1986; the Memorial Prize for Economics was not won by a German until 1994. Within the disciplines, the laureates are listed in chronological order according to when they received their prize. The entries are short and sometimes include a black-and-white photograph. Biographical information restricts itself to the academic career of the individual, and any dates must be gleaned from the text. The articles do not include bibliographies; a separate seven-page bibliography at the end lists titles by and about each person. In the case of scientists, the bibliography limits itself to works surrounding the discovery for which the prize was awarded. The subject index functions more as a glossary of frequently-used terms. The index of personal names includes birth and death dates for the Nobel laureates. The usefulness of this volume is a bit questionable, as the same people are covered in the comprehensive books that reflect better the international nature of the Nobel prizes, such as Nobel Prize Winners or The Who’s Who of Nobel Prize Winners. [sah/hh]

Zisterzienserinnen und Zisterzienser: Lebensbilder aus dem Zisterzienserorden [Female and Male Cistercians: Pictures of Life in the Cistercian Orders]. Ed. Alberich Martin Altermatt. Freiburg, Switzerland: Kanisius, 1998. 211 p. ill. 20 cm. ISBN 3-85764-483-4: SFr 28.80 [99-B09-082]

This brief collection of lives of well- and lesser-known Cistercians was published on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the founding of Citeaux Abbey (Burgundy, France), birthplace of the Cistercian order. The somewhat “devotional” style of the texts leads one to believe that the book was meant for interested laypersons. Th e biographies vary greatly in length and style. The volume begins with a chapter on the three founding abbots, followed by short chapters on the “Cistercian Family Today” and the “Cistercian Order Today,” then the individual biographies, starting with Bernard of Clairvaux and ending with the seven Trappist monks murdered in Algeria in 1996, for a total of 22 portraits. Each chapter ends with a bibliography, which to its credit contains more than just references to German-language monographs. A two-page selective bibliography on the Cistercian order, on the other hand, does restrict itself to German titles. A further hint at the intended audience is provided by the list of Cistercian monasteries in the three German-speaking countries. [sh/hh]

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