Latest news with #Constantine
Canada Standard
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Canada Standard
Incoming MI6 boss grandfather was Ukrainian Nazi Butcher media
The Daily Mail has confirmed that Blaise Metrewelis grandfather was a war criminal, claiming this has no bearing on her service The Daily Mail has revealed that the grandfather of Blaise Metreweli, who is expected to become the first woman to lead the foreign intelligence service (MI6), was a Nazi collaborator who oversaw atrocities in occupied Ukraine. Metreweli's father, Constantine, was naturalized in British-administered Hong Kong in 1966. The London Gazetteidentifiedhim at the time as Dobrowolski, known as Constantine Metreweli, of uncertain nationality. In a story published Thursday, the Mail confirmed that Constantine was the son of a German-Polish Ukrainian man - also named Constantine - who worked for the Nazis and was implicated in the mass killing of Jews and other atrocities during World War II. The newspaper said it had reviewed "hundreds of pages of documents held in archives in Freiburg, Germany, detailing the extraordinary - and blood-soaked - life and times of Dobrowolski, which are themselves worthy of a spy thriller." According to the records, Dobrowolski Sr. was born into a family of noble landowners in what is now Ukraine's Chernigov Region. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the estate was violently plundered, leading the younger Constantine to become a fierce enemy of the new authorities. He was imprisoned in 1926 for anti-Soviet and anti-Semitic agitation. He joined the German occupiers at the first opportunity in 1941, and earned the nickname 'Butcher' for his brutal actions. He is believed to have been killed in 1943. His wife, Barbara (nee Varvara Andreeva), married Georgian-born David Metreweli in Yorkshire in 1947. The Mail alleged that the Russian government is attempting to exploit Metreweli's family history in an effort to discredit her appointment. While Russian media reported on the announcement of the first female MI6 chief and her family's ties to Ukraine and Hong Kong, the British media appears to be the first to make the Nazi connection. "Ms. Metreweli cannot be judged for the sins of her grandfather," the paper stated. "One of our nation's most formidable intelligence operatives, she has served her country with distinction on dangerous operations for MI6 across Europe and the Middle East for two decades." READ MORE: Zelensky has a Nazi problem. He cant lie his way out of it Western nations sheltered thousands of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators after World War II. Many of them were recruited by the CIA to take part in covert operations against the Soviet Union, with a guerrilla war in western Ukraine continuing into the 1950s. In 2023, Canadian lawmakers gave a standing ovation to SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka during a visit by Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky. In Kiev, historical figures associated with wartime nationalist movements, including war criminals, have been honored as national heroes. (
Canada Standard
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Canada Standard
Incoming MI6 boss grandfather was Ukrainian Nazi Butcher UK media
The Daily Mail has confirmed that Blaise Metrewelis grandfather was a war criminal, while claiming this has no bearing on her service The Daily Mail has revealed that the grandfather of Blaise Metreweli, who is expected to become the first woman to lead the UK's foreign intelligence service (MI6), was a Nazi collaborator who oversaw atrocities in occupied Ukraine. Metreweli's father, Constantine, was naturalized in British-administered Hong Kong in 1966. The London Gazetteidentifiedhim at the time as Dobrowolski, known as Constantine Metreweli, of uncertain nationality. In a story published Thursday, the Mail confirmed that Constantine was the son of a German-Polish Ukrainian man - also named Constantine - who worked for the Nazis and was implicated in the mass killing of Jews and other atrocities during World War II. The newspaper said it had reviewed "hundreds of pages of documents held in archives in Freiburg, Germany, detailing the extraordinary - and blood-soaked - life and times of Dobrowolski, which are themselves worthy of a spy thriller." According to the records, Dobrowolski Sr. was born into a family of noble landowners in what is now Ukraine's Chernigov Region. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the estate was violently plundered, leading the younger Constantine to become a fierce enemy of the new authorities. He was imprisoned in 1926 for anti-Soviet and anti-Semitic agitation. He joined the German occupiers at the first opportunity in 1941, and earned the nickname 'Butcher' for his brutal actions. He is believed to have been killed in 1943. His wife, Barbara (nee Varvara Andreeva), married Georgian-born David Metreweli in Yorkshire in 1947. The Mail alleged that the Russian government is attempting to exploit Metreweli's family history in an effort to discredit her appointment. While Russian media reported on the announcement of the first female MI6 chief and her family's ties to Ukraine and Hong Kong, the British media appears to be the first to make the Nazi connection. "Ms. Metreweli cannot be judged for the sins of her grandfather," the paper stated. "One of our nation's most formidable intelligence operatives, she has served her country with distinction on dangerous operations for MI6 across Europe and the Middle East for two decades." READ MORE: Zelensky has a Nazi problem. He cant lie his way out of it Western nations sheltered thousands of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators after World War II. Many of them were recruited by the CIA to take part in covert operations against the Soviet Union, with a guerrilla war in western Ukraine continuing into the 1950s. In 2023, Canadian lawmakers gave a standing ovation to SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka during a visit by Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky. In Kiev, historical figures associated with wartime nationalist movements, including war criminals, have been honored as national heroes. (
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vatican unveils last of restored Raphael Rooms after 10-year cleaning
The best things come to those who wait - and that's certainly the case for the Room of Constantine. Taking a decade to complete, it's the last and most important of the restored Raphael Rooms at the Vatican Museums. The hall, which was painted by Raphael Sanzio and his students in the 1500s, is dedicated to the 4th century Roman emperor Constantine whose embrace of Christianity helped spread the faith throughout the Roman Empire. (AP Video by Silvia Stellacci)
Nahar Net
14 hours ago
- General
- Nahar Net
Vatican unveils last of restored Raphael Rooms
by Naharnet Newsdesk 27 June 2025, 16:22 The Vatican Museums on Thursday unveiled the last and most important of the restored Raphael Rooms, the spectacularly frescoed reception rooms of the Apostolic Palace that in some ways rival the Sistine Chapel as the peak of high Renaissance artistry. A decadelong project to clean and restore the largest of the four Raphael Rooms uncovered a novel mural painting technique that the superstar Renaissance painter and architect began but never completed. Raphael used oil paint directly on the wall, and arranged a grid of nails embedded in the walls to hold in place the resin surface onto which he painted. Vatican Museums officials recounted the discoveries in inaugurating the hall, known as the Room of Constantine, after the last scaffolding came down. The reception room, which was painted by Raphael and his students starting in the first quarter-century of the 1500s, is dedicated to the fourth-century Roman emperor Constantine, whose embrace of Christianity helped spread the faith throughout the Roman Empire. "With this restoration, we rewrite a part of the history of art," Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta said. Pope Julius II summoned the young Raphael Sanzio from Florence to Rome in 1508 to decorate a new private apartment for himself in the Apostolic Palace, giving the then-25-year-old a major commission at the height of his artistic output. Even at the time, there were reports that Raphael had wanted to decorate the rooms not with frescoes but with oil paint directly on the wall, to give the images greater brilliance. The 10-year restoration of the Room of Constantine proved those reports correct, said Fabio Piacentini, one of the chief restorers. Vatican technicians discovered that two female figures on opposite corners of the hall, Justice and Courtesy, were actually oil-on-wall paintings, not frescoes in which paint is applied to wet plaster. They were therefore clearly the work of Raphael himself, he said. But Raphael died on April 6, 1520, at the age of 37, and before the hall could be completed. The rest of the paintings in the room were frescoes completed by his students who couldn't master the oil technique Raphael had used, Jatta said. During the cleaning, restorers discovered that Raphael had clearly intended to do more with oil paints: Under the plaster frescoes, they found a series of metal nails they believed had been drilled into the wall to hold in place the natural resin surface that Raphael had intended to paint on, Piacentini said. "From a historical and critical point of view, and also technical, it was truly a discovery," he said. "The technique used and planned by Raphael was truly experimental for the time, and has never been found in any other mural made with oil paint." The final part of the restoration of the room was the ceiling, painted by Tommaso Laureti and featuring a remarkable example of Renaissance perspective with his fresco of a fake tapestry "Triumph of Christianity over Paganism." The Raphael Rooms were never fully closed off to the public during their long restoration, but they are now free of scaffolding for the many visitors flocking to the Vatican Museums for the 2025 Jubilee.
Canada News.Net
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
Incoming MI6 boss grandfather was Ukrainian Nazi Butcher media
The Daily Mail has confirmed that Blaise Metrewelis grandfather was a war criminal, claiming this has no bearing on her service The Daily Mail has revealed that the grandfather of Blaise Metreweli, who is expected to become the first woman to lead the foreign intelligence service (MI6), was a Nazi collaborator who oversaw atrocities in occupied Ukraine. Metreweli's father, Constantine, was naturalized in British-administered Hong Kong in 1966. The London Gazetteidentifiedhim at the time as Dobrowolski, known as Constantine Metreweli, of uncertain nationality. In a story published Thursday, the Mail confirmed that Constantine was the son of a German-Polish Ukrainian man - also named Constantine - who worked for the Nazis and was implicated in the mass killing of Jews and other atrocities during World War II. The newspaper said it had reviewed "hundreds of pages of documents held in archives in Freiburg, Germany, detailing the extraordinary - and blood-soaked - life and times of Dobrowolski, which are themselves worthy of a spy thriller." According to the records, Dobrowolski Sr. was born into a family of noble landowners in what is now Ukraine's Chernigov Region. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the estate was violently plundered, leading the younger Constantine to become a fierce enemy of the new authorities. He was imprisoned in 1926 for anti-Soviet and anti-Semitic agitation. He joined the German occupiers at the first opportunity in 1941, and earned the nickname 'Butcher' for his brutal actions. He is believed to have been killed in 1943. His wife, Barbara (nee Varvara Andreeva), married Georgian-born David Metreweli in Yorkshire in 1947. The Mail alleged that the Russian government is attempting to exploit Metreweli's family history in an effort to discredit her appointment. While Russian media reported on the announcement of the first female MI6 chief and her family's ties to Ukraine and Hong Kong, the British media appears to be the first to make the Nazi connection. "Ms. Metreweli cannot be judged for the sins of her grandfather," the paper stated. "One of our nation's most formidable intelligence operatives, she has served her country with distinction on dangerous operations for MI6 across Europe and the Middle East for two decades." READ MORE: Zelensky has a Nazi problem. He cant lie his way out of it Western nations sheltered thousands of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators after World War II. Many of them were recruited by the CIA to take part in covert operations against the Soviet Union, with a guerrilla war in western Ukraine continuing into the 1950s. In 2023, Canadian lawmakers gave a standing ovation to SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka during a visit by Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky. In Kiev, historical figures associated with wartime nationalist movements, including war criminals, have been honored as national heroes.
