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London Foreigners
London Foreigners # 1: Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini the Italian patriot, who was born on the 22nd of June 1805 at Genoa, Italy. In the year of 1837 Giuseppe Mazzimi arrived in London, and lived at the above house in Laystall Street in Clerkenwell E.C.1 In an area that was known as Little Italy, because of its high Italian occupancy. It was here that for many months Giuseppe had to carry on a hard fight with poverty and the sense of spiritual loneliness, described by himself in the first volume of the Life and Writings. Later, when he gained more command of the English language, he earned a livelihood by writing reviews, some of which have been reproduced, and are nowadays of high literary merit; included are papers on "Italian Literature since 1830”. It was from this address in London, where he edited his new journal Pensiero ed Azione, and where he became the prophet of Italian unity.
London Foreigners # 2: Sir Hiram Maxim.
Anglo-American engineer and inventor, who was born in Maine, New England, U.S.A on February 5 1840.
After finishing his education in engineering, he became a coach builder with his uncle Levi Stevens works in Massachusetts in 1864. After only four years he became draughtsman at the Novelty Iron Works and Ship Builders in New York. In 1880 he came to England and devoted all his energy into developing the worlds first Machine Gun. The first machine gun was built at this factory in Hatton Garden in 1884 and was exhibited at an underground firing range beneath this London factory. He died in London on 24 November 1916 and is buried at West Norwood Cemetery.
London Foreigners # 3: Karl Marx library
Tucked away in the quiet corner of Clerkenwell green is the Karl Marx library, where during 1902-1903, the leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution Lenin, while exiled in London made use of one of the offices to produce ISKRA (The Spark) the Russian Social Democratic newspaper. This office has been preserved and the 'Lenin Room' is a listed historic monument.
London Foreigners # 4: Ho Chi Minh
The Carlton hotel was once a top London hotel at the end of the Haymarket and taking it's name from the nearby Carlton House Terrace. The only thing left to remind us of this fact is a blue plaque to the memory of a pastry cook named Ho Chi Minh who worked at this hotel from 1913-17. A flippant remark made by the American actress Mae West, that she met "Ho... Ho... Ho something" at the Carlton. "There was this waiter, cook, I don't know what he was. I know he had the slinkiest eyes though. We meet in the corridor. We - well..." This pastry cook was later to become better known as President Ho Chi Minh.
London Foreigners # 5: Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte), 1808-73, Emperor of the French
(1852-70); Son of Louis BONAPARTE, King of Holland; and nephew of NAPOLEON
I. He spent his youth in exile and attempted (1836, 1840) two coups
against the French government. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he escaped
(1846) to England. Where he lived at this King Street house, near St James's square London, returning to France after the FEBRUARY REVOLUTION of
1848. Elected to the National Assembly, he defeated (Dec. 1848) Gen. L.E.
Cavaignac in the presidential election by a wide margin. Louis Napoleon's
success was due largely to his name, which evoked French nostalgia for
past Napoleonic glory. As president of the Second Republic, he
consolidated powerful conservative support and instigated the coup of Dec.
3, 1851; the legislative assembly was dissolved, and an attempted workers'
uprising was brutally suppressed. Louis Napoleon gained dictatorial powers
in the new constitution of Jan. 1852, and in November a plebiscite
overwhelmingly approved the establishment of the Second Empire. He became
Emperor Napoleon III.
London Foreigners # 6: Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
The beloved Grove End Road home with renovation work being carried out.
Born January 8th 1836 in Holland, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema came to London in 1870 and spent the rest of his life living here. He became one of the most famous and highly paid artists of his time, with his incredibly detailed reconstruction paintings of ancient Rome, he was a perfectionist. In 1883 he moved to his beloved house in Grove End Road, St John's Wood, where he was to spend much of his time there decorating. One of his most famous paintings is The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888).
He died in Wiesbaden, Germany on June 28, 1912 at the age of seventy-six. He is buried in St. Paul's cathedral in London. His name lives on with two Streets that are named after him, nearby Alma Terrace and Tadema Road, Chelsea.
London Foreigners # 7: Jenny Lind
Blue Plaque of Jenny Lind's London Home
Johanna Maria Lind (October 6, 1820 – November 2, 1887), becoming famous as Jenny Lind, the Swedish opera singer.
When she was twenty-three years old, Jenny went to Dresden, Queen Victoria visited that city the following year, Lind sang at the festivals held in the queen’s honour. This opened the way to more success in other German cities. In 1847 she went to London and was enthusiastically received. when she sang for the first time in London concert.
During the same yaer 0f 1847 the London and Brighton Railway ordered a new locomotive from the E. B. Wilson Railway Foundry at Leeds David Joy was given the task of designing what became known as the Jenny Lind.
From her visit to London she took up residency at this white fronted house in the Boltons, where she remained between her world tours until her death.
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