Battle fatigue (health) and Offenbach, Jacques (sh)

Battle fatigue (health)

The World War II name for what is known today as post-traumatic stress, this is a psychological disorder that develops in some individuals who have had major traumatic experiences (and, for example, have been in a serious accident or through a war). The person is typically numb at first but later has symptoms including depression, excessive irritability, guilt (for having survived while others died), recurrent nightmares, flashbacks to the traumatic scene, and overreaction to sudden noises. Post-traumatic stress became known as such in the 70s due to the adjustment problems of some Vietnam veterans.

Offenbach, Jacques (sh)

orig. Jacob Offenbach

born June 20, 1819, Cologne
died Oct. 5, 1880, Paris, France

German-born French composer.

Son of a cantor, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire but had to leave for lack of funds. He first wrote theatre Music as conductor of the Theatre-Fran?ais (from 1850); in 1855 he opened his own theatre, Bouffes-Parisiens, for which he wrote many celebrated one-act works. He began Writing longer operettas and had a string of hits, including Orpheus in the Underworld (1858), La Belle Helene (1864), La Vie Parisienne (1866), and The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (1867). Offenbach is credited with Writing in a fluent, elegant style and with a highly developed sense of both characterization and satire. He spent his last three years on his only grand opera, The Tales of Hoffmann, which remained unfinished at his death and was first produced in 1881.

Sites

Pest Star