jitterbug Dance variation of the two-step in which couples swing, bal¬ ance, and twirl in standardized patterns to syncopated music in 4 A time. It originated in the U.S. in the mid 1930s and became internationally
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Jiulong ► Joffre I 989
popular in the 1940s. It originally included acrobatic lifts and swings, but it became modified in ballroom versions. Its step patterns varied and could include the lindy hop and the jive.
Jiulong See Kowloon
jiva Vje-vo\ In Jainism, the soul or living spirit. Jivas are believed to be eternal and infinite in number. Many are bound to earthly existence by karma that requires them to move through the cycle of rebirth in succes¬ sive bodies. Eventually a jiva may obtain release, whereupon a replace¬ ment is promoted from the lowest class of jivas, the tiny invisible souls called nigodas that fill the whole space of the world.
Jizah Xal-'je-zoX, Al- or Giza Vge-zo\ City (pop., 1996: 2,221,868), Upper Egypt. Located on the western bank of the Nile River, it is a sub¬ urb of Cairo. A noted entertainment district, it is also the centre of Egypt’s motion-picture industry. Rising 5 mi (8 km) west of the city are the Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza (see pyramid), built during Egypt’s 4th dynasty (c. 2613-c. 2494 bc).
jizya or jizyah \'jiz-yo\ Poll tax that early Islamic rulers demanded from their non-Muslim subjects. This tax applied especially to followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism, who were tolerated in the practice of their religion because they were “peoples of the book.” Origi¬ nally intended to be used for charitable purposes, the revenues from the jizya were paid into the private treasuries of rulers, and the Ottoman sul¬ tans used the proceeds to pay military expenses. Many converted to Islam in order to escape the tax.
Joachim \,yo-a-'kem\, Joseph (b. June 28, 1831, Kittsee, near Press- burg, Austria-Hungary—d. Aug. 15, 1907, Berlin, German Empire) Austro-Hungarian violinist. A prodigy, he began study as a child in Pest, continuing later in Vienna and Leipzig, where he was associated with Felix Mendelssohn. He was concertmaster at Weimar under Franz Liszt (1850- 52), but their tastes in music diverged radically. He became close to Johannes Brahms, who sought Joachim’s advice about his violin concerto. Joachim wrote cadenzas that are still used for a number of concertos. As the longtime head of Berlin’s Hochschule (1868-1905), he developed it into a first-rank conservatory.
Joachim of Fiore \yo-'a-kem...'fyo-ra\ (b. c. 1130/35, Celico, Kingdom of Naples—d. 1201/02, Fiore) Italian mystic, theologian, and philosopher of history. After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he became a Cistercian monk, and by 1177 he was abbot at Corazzo, Sicily. He retired into the mountains to follow a contemplative life in 1191, and in 1196 he founded the order of San Giovanni in Fiore. His Book of Harmony of the New and Old Testaments outlined a theory of history and traced correspondences in the Old and New Testaments. In his Exposition of the Apocalypse he exam¬ ined the symbols of the Antichrist, and in Psaltery of Ten Strings he expounded his doctrine of the Holy Trinity. A man of vivid imagination, he was both acclaimed as a prophet and denounced as a heretic.
Joan I or Joanna I Italian Giovanna (b. 1326—d. May 22, 1382, Lucania, Kingdom of Naples) Countess of Provence and queen of Naples (1343-82). She belonged to the house of Anjou, and her marriage to the brother of the king of Hungary was intended to reconcile Hungarian and Angevin claims on Naples. Suspected of her husband’s murder, she fled to Avignon (1348). She sold Avignon to the papacy in return for being cleared of the crime, then went back to Naples in 1352. She recognized the antipope Clement VII in 1378, and Pope Urban VI crowned Charles of Durazzo king of Naples in 1381. When Charles captured Naples, he imprisoned Joan and had her killed.
Joan, Pope Legendary female pontiff who supposedly reigned, as Pope John VIII, for about 25 months from 855 to 858. The tale held that she was an Englishwoman who fell in love with a Benedictine monk, dis¬ guised herself as a man, and joined his order. After acquiring great learn¬ ing she moved to Rome, where she became cardinal and then pope. In the earliest version of the story, she was pregnant at the time of her election and gave birth during the procession to the Lateran, whereupon she was dragged out of Rome and stoned to death. The legend, regarded as fact until the 17th century, has since been proved to be apocryphal.
Joan of Arc, Saint French Jeanne d'Arc \zhan-'dark\ (b. c. 1412, Domremy, Bar, Fr.—d. May 30, 1431, Rouen; canonized May 16, 1920; feast day May 30) French military heroine. She was a peasant girl who from an early age believed she heard the voices of Sts. Michael, Cathe¬ rine, and Margaret. When she was about 16, her voices began urging her
to aid France’s Dauphin (crown prince) and save France from the English attempt at conquest in the Hundred Years' War. Dressed in men’s clothes, she visited the Dauphin and convinced him, his advisers, and the church authorities to support her. With her inspiring conviction, she rallied the French troops and raised the English siege of Orleans in 1429. She soon defeated the English again at Patay. The Dauphin was crowned king at Reims as Charles VII, with Joan beside him. Her siege of Paris was unsuc¬ cessful, and in 1430 she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English. Abandoned by Charles, she was turned over to the ecclesiastical court at Rouen, controlled by French clerics who supported the English, and tried for witchcraft and heresy (1431). She fiercely defended herself but finally recanted and was sentenced to life imprisonment; when she again asserted that she had been divinely inspired, she was burned at the stake. She was not canonized until 1920.
Job Vjob\ Central character of the Book of Job in the Old Testament, known for his faithfulness to God despite his many afflictions. At the beginning. Job is a wealthy man with a large family. Satan challenges God to allow him to take away Job’s blessings as a test of his faith. Soon Job is desolate, covered with boils, his wealth gone and his family dead. Three friends arrive to comfort him; he disputes with them, denying he has done anything to deserve this misery but maintaining his faith in God. At the end, in a confrontation with God, the power and mystery of the deity are memorably reasserted, but the problem of why the innocent suf¬ fer is left unresolved. The book dates from the 6th-4th century bc.
Jobim \zho-'bi n \, Antonio Carlos (b. Jan. 25, 1927, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.—d. Dec. 8, 1994, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Brazilian songwriter and composer. He performed on guitar and piano in Rio de Janeiro clubs before becoming music director of Odeon Records. In 1959 he and Luis Bonfa composed the score for the film Black Orpheus, and his worldwide success soon followed. He transformed samba music into bossa nova (“new wrinkle” or “new wave”), a fusion of understated samba pulse (quiet percussion, unamplified guitars playing subtly complex rhythms), gentle singing, and the melodic and sophisticated harmonies of cool jazz; the style found a long-lasting niche in popular music. He collaborated with Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz, and Astrud Gilberto, and he also composed clas¬ sical works and film scores. His more than 400 songs include “One-Note Samba,” “Meditation,” and “The Girl from Ipanema.”
Jobs, Steven Paul (b. Feb. 24, 1955, San Francisco, Cal., U.S.) U.S. businessman. Adopted in infancy, he grew up in Los Altos. He dropped out of Reed College and went to work for Atari Corp. designing video games. In 1976 he cofounded (with Stephen Wozniak) Apple Computer, Inc. The first Apple computer, created when Jobs was only 21, changed the public’s idea of a computer from a huge machine for scientific use to a home appliance that could be used by anyone. Apple’s Macintosh com¬ puter, which appeared in 1984, introduced a graphical user interface and mouse technology that became the standard for all applications interfaces. In 1980 Apple became a public corporation, and Jobs became the com¬ pany’s chairman. Management conflicts led him to leave Apple in 1985 to form NeXT Computer Inc., but he returned to Apple in 1996 and became CEO in 1997. The striking new iMac computer (1998) revived the company’s flagging fortunes.