Noteworthy – Page 32

31Mar

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Mexico, Noteworthy, Profiles, United States

Lorena Borjas, activist

Lorena Borjas ‑ a Mexican-American transgender and immigrant rights activist, known as the mother of the transgender Latinx community in Queens, New York – died of Covid-19 on March 30, 2020. Her work on behalf of immigrant and transgender communities garnered recognition throughout New York City and the United States. She lived for many years in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, where she was a community figure and leader. In 1960, Borjas was born in Veracruz, Mexico. When she was seventeen years old, she ran away from home and lived on the streets of Mexico City. She later studied public accounting in Mexico City. In 1981, Borjas emigrated to the United States at twenty years old, with the goal of obtaining hormone therapy and ...

31Mar

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Germany, Noteworthy, Profiles

Wilhelm Burmann, dancer

Wilhelm "Willy" Burmann ‑ a German dancer, ballet master, and teacher – succumbed to Covid-19 on March 30, 2020. Burmann was born on April 3, 1939 in Oberhausen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, where he grew up on a farm. He had one sister, Chrystal Weideman. He began training as a dancer when he was fifteen years old. Burmann was a principal dancer for companies including Frankfurt Ballet, Grand Théâtre du Genève, and Stuttgart Ballet. He also danced with companies including New York City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and New Jersey Ballet. Burmann retired from dancing in 1977. Burmann was a ballet master at the Washington Ballet and the Ballet du Nord. He was also known for his professional dance classes at St...

31Mar

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Congo, Noteworthy, Profiles

Joachim Yhombi-Opango, politician

Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango, a Congolese politician, died on 30 March 2020 after suffering from Covid-19. He was an army officer who became Congo-Brazzaville's first general and served as Head of State of the People's Republic of the Congo from 1977 to 1979. He was the President of the Rally for Democracy and Development (RDD), a political party, and served as Prime Minister from 1993 to 1996. He was in exile from 1997 to 2007. Yhombi-Opango was born on 12 January 1939 in Fort Rousset (now Owando) in Cuvette Region, in the north of the Congo. He married Marie-Noëlle Ngollo, with whom he had several children. Under President Marien Ngouabi, Yhombi-Opango was Army Chief of Staff (with the rank of major); he was suspended from that position on 30 July 1970, but subs...

30Mar

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Noteworthy, Profiles, United Kingdom

David Hodgkiss, administrator

David Michael William Hodgkiss ‑ a British administrator and chief executive officer, who was the chairman of Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC), a professional British cricket team, between April 2017 and March 2020 – died after contracting Covid-19 on 29 March 2020. He had been chief executive of a steel fabrication company, William Hare Group, for which he was awarded an Order of the British Empire for his services to the manufacturing and exporting industry. Hodgkiss was awarded the OBE in June 2014. His OBE was awarded as part of the Queen's Birthday list. After he gained his own honours, he continued to applaud others in the field of cricketing, for example, praising Clive Lloyd, when Clive was knighted as a CBE. Hodgkiss work...

30Mar

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France, Noteworthy, Profiles

Henri Tincq, journalist

Henri Tincq ‑ a French journalist and Vatican expert – succumbed to Covid-19 on 29 March 2020. He was a religious specialist for the newspaper Le Monde from 1985 to 2008 after having worked for the newspaper La Croix. He has also worked for the magazine Slate. Tincq obtained a degree in philosophy from Sciences Po in Paris and a degree in journalism from the École supérieure de journalisme de Lille. His most notable work is Larousse des religions, and he chaired the Association des journalistes de l’information religieuse (AJIR) from 1994 to 1999. Tincq had an interest in the history of popes. Following the election of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, he established a list of "progressive objectives" for the Catholi...

30Mar

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Noteworthy, Profiles

Ken Shimura, comedian

Ken Shimura ‑ a Japanese comedian who co-starred with Masashi Tashiro, Nobuyoshi Kuwano in the Japanese variety show Shimura Ken no Bakatono-sama – died from Covid-19 on 29 March 2020. He was known as "Japan's Robin Williams.". Throughout his comedy career, Shimura was known for his "Bakatono-sama" character, which was unusual among Japanese comedians, in that he could satirize the deeds of powerful figures (a company president, a politician, a family head, a school principal, the head of a Japanese yakuza gang) under the garb of a foolish king who lived in the country a long time ago. Another popular shtick of Shimura in the same show was "Henna Oji-san" [weirdo] who entertained himself in the company of nubile girls....

30Mar

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Italy, Noteworthy, Profiles

Angelo Rottoli, boxer

Angelo Rottoli ‑ an Italian professional boxer – succumbed to Covid-19 on 29 March 2020. He held the European cruiserweight title in 1989 and challenged once for the WBC cruiserweight title in 1987. Rottoli died at the age of 61 after contracting the coronavirus.

30Mar

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France, Noteworthy, Profiles

Francis Rapp, historian

Francis Rapp ‑ a French medievalist specializing in the history of Alsace and medieval Germany – succumbed to Covid-19 on 29 March 2020. An emeritus university professor, he was a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres since 1993. Born in Strasbourg, the son of lawyer Léon Rapp, Rapp was born into a Catholic and patriotic family. He did his secondary studies at the Jean Sturm Gymnasium and practiced scouting within the Scouts de France. Breaking with forced incorporation, he joined a clandestine scouting group that gathered about twenty young people at the Mont Sainte-Odile from December 1942. At the end of the 1960s he joined the Association des Guides et Scouts d'Europe and was commissioner of the Alsace Province ...

30Mar

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Noteworthy, Profiles

Tomas Oneborg, photographer

Tomas Krister Oneborg ‑ a Swedish photographer – died from Covid-19 on 29 March 2020. Oneborg was born in Hägersten outside Stockholm and was employed as a press photographer at Svenska Dagbladet from 1986 until his death. His photos of the aftermath of the 2017 Stockholm truck attack, which left five people dead, were awarded a second place prize at Photo of the Year. Oneborg died at his home in Stockholm on 29 March 2020 from COVID-19.

Alan Merrill, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, actor & model

30Mar

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Noteworthy, Profiles, United States

Alan Merrill, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, actor & model

Alan Merrill ‑ an American vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, actor and model – passed away on March 29, 2020 after contracting Covid-19. In the early 1970s, Merrill was the first Westerner to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the writer of, and lead singer on, the first released version of the song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was recorded by the Arrows in 1975. The song became a breakthrough hit for Joan Jett in 1982. Merrill was primarily a vocalist and songwriter, but also played the guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, and keyboards. Merrill was born in The Bronx, New York City on February 19, 1951, the son of two jazz musicians, singer Helen Merrill and saxophone/clarinet player Aaron Sachs. He went to Aiglon Colle...