By Peter Knoope, Associate fellow ICCT. More than three million people went to the streets in French cities in the weekend following the attacks, in a unprecedented public response to an act of politically motivated violence. It made me think back to the massive worldwide public outrage to the abduction of over two hundred school kids in Northern Nigeria by Boko Haram, almost ten months ago. The massive responses to these incidents have to do with the fact that core values come under attack. Violating the right of children to live in peace is even worse than dehumanising your perceived enemy. And killing the cartoonist that only seeks to make fun and raise eyebrows over political issues is like killing humour and freedom itself. It is like destroying that short smiling moment in the morning when you open the newspaper and you look for your favourite cartoon on the front page. It kills the sender of your daily few seconds of recognition and humour that so often brightens up our daily boring routine. This very same week we had devastating news from Nigeria. According to Amnesty International some 2000 people were killed in Baga in Northern Nigeria by the same Boko Haram and there have been reports of suicide attacks in the same area committed by teenage girls. We know from statements by young girls that managed to escape from Boko Haram ranks, that these girls are forced into these acts. The political motives are zero. How cynical and inhumane can one get? But what struck me is the absence of a new massive public outrage over the recent events in Nigeria. The Chibok girls have not been traced. They are not back. Boko Haram continues to expose their total lack of human considerations and values. But the world had something else on their mind. It bothers me. Are we getting used to dehumanising and gruesome acts? Will the public be silent when the next group of journalists or cartoonists are targeted? Is there such a thing as habituation to disgust? Are daily routines and concerns coming in the way? Is Nigeria to far from Paris to be a concern to Europeans? Is there a limit, in time and intensity, to outrage and public protest? Or are those, who speak out and resist, targeted and intimidated, silenced by those who speak with guns rather than with words? Many people have asked me in the last couple of days `where to go from, here`? What is the answer to increasing violence and traction of IS, Boko Haram, AQ and the other killers of freedom of speech? My answer is that massive resistance and public resilience is our only hope. We should not `get used to violence and dehumanisation of and by others`. We should not be intimidated and silenced. Somehow the organised mobilisation of the public is the only societal hope we have. Consider this a call on all sane public voices not to stop and to not be stopped. Massive mobilisation of counter reactions, and a strong call for human values and tolerance, everywhere in the world, is one of our few hopes to counter the rise of the Boko Harams of the world. Consider this a call on governments to facilitate this mobilisation and to create the political space necessary for the mobilisation of the masses. This weekend civil society has shown their confrontational strength. But it is not enough and we should not allow it to evaporate easily. We know that of late some governments have tried to reduce political space in a reflex response to political opposition, violence or terrorism. It happened in Kenya, where over five hundred civil society organisations have been banned by the government as a counter terrorism measure. Political space for civil society is reduced in a variety of countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, Indonesia, Russia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Turkey, Egypt and others. The only hope for a strong civil counter terrorism response is being killed in a wide variety of places. Add to that the intimidation tactics of terrorist groups and we know that we are heading the wrong way, at high speed. We know that facilitating the political and public space to resist political violence, as shown in France this weekend, is our only hope. We know that there are people out there that devote their lives to community level peace building efforts. We know that an army of civil society actors work on interfaith dialogue and mediation. We, governments and the public, should mobilise and facilitate those actors to induce and propagate civil responses and public resistance to acts of violence. Across the board. Let us not get used to violence, let us not ignore victims in faraway places, let us not get intimidated by violent actors and let us not be limited in our space by governments that rely on military and repressive means and measures only. This is our world. This is our world where we want to live in dignity, based on human values. We owe it to the children in Nigeria to speak out and not to be silenced. By whomever.  

On Wednesday December 17th the last new ambassador in The Hague of 2014 presented his credentials to the King: H.E. Mr Carlos Herrera Rodriquez (1961) of Peru, the successor of H.E. Mr. Allen Wagner who served such a long time in The Hague. The new ambassador studied law and international relations in Peru and Paris and started his diplomatic career in 1984. He worked in Lima, France, Ecuador, USA and again Paris (also UNESCO). The Hague is his first posting as an ambassador abroad. He wrote not only about diplomacy but also nine fiction books.He was the last of 26 new ambassadors in The Hague who presented his credentials in 2014. Before him, The Hague welcomed that year new ambassadors from six EU countries (Spain, Malta, Belgium, Ireland, France and Hungary), three from EU candidates (Turkey, Macedonia and Albania) and two other European countries (Belarus and Switzerland), as well as seven from North, Middle and South America (USA, Chile, Panama, Cuba, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Peru), five from Asia and the Middle East (apart from Turkey that has already been mentioned: Qatar, Bangladesh, Iran, Georgia and Korea), two from Africa (Ghana and South Africa) as well as a new ambassador of New Zealand. In 2014 I informed you in Diplomat Magazine briefly about each of them. The new year 2015 started with two new ambassadors on January 21st . H.E. Dr. Obaidullah Obaid (1968) from Afghanistan who is a medical doctor. He worked until 2010 in the Ministry of Health and in the Kabul Medical University, lately as the Dean of that University. In 2010 he became ambassador in Iran, but two years later he was appointed the Cabinet Minister for Higher Education in Afghanistan. H.E. Mr Abdulaziz Abdullah Abohaimed (1961) is the new ambassador of Saudi Arabia, who studied political sciences in the USA. He started at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh in 1989 and served as a diplomat in Paris and Singapore as well. The Hague is his first posting as an ambassador. All the new ambassadors are most welcome in the what several Secretary Generals of the United Nations called: The Hague, the Legal Capital of the World ! a.beelaerts@planet.nl  

Palestine accedes to Rome Statute, International Criminal Court and other international instruments. By Nicolas Boeglin, Professor of International Law, Law Faculty, University of Costa Rica. Last January 6, United Nations Secretary General issued a note indicating that ICC’s Rome Statute will enter into force as to the State of Palestine on April 1, 2015 (see official note of Secretary General acting as depositary of Rome Statute). On 7 January 2015, the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute welcomed the deposit by Palestine of the instruments of accession to the Rome Statute of the ICC as well as the agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court (APIC) (see official ICC press release). On the very same day, ICC Registar sent a letter to Palestine authorities (see letter) confirming the reception of a declaration made pursuant article 12(3) of Rome Statute: “Excellency, I hereby confirm receipt, on 1 January 2015, of your 31 December 2014 “Declaration Accepting the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court” which was lodged with me pursuant to article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, and in which you state that “the Government of the State of Palestine recognizes the jurisdiction of the Court for the purpose of identifying, prosecuting and judging authors and accomplices of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since 13 June 2014.” Pursuant to Rule 4(2) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, a declaration under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute has the effect of the acceptance of jurisdiction with respect to the crimes referred to in article 5 of the Statute of relevance to the situation, as well as the application of the provisions of Part 9 of the Statute and any rules thereunder concerning to States Parties. I hereby accept the declaration and I have transmited it to the Prosecutor for her consideration. This acceptance is without prejudice to any prosecutorial or judicial determinations on this matter“. In August 2014, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda explained in an article published in The Guardian her position with respect to the lack of jurisdiction of ICC on crimes committed in Gaza (see article). It must be recalled that on January 21, 2009, Palestine sent a similar declaration to ICC: « the Government of Palestine recognizes the jurisdiction of the Court for the purpose of identifying, prosecuting and judging the authors and accomplices of acts committed on the territory of Palestine since July 2002 ».  A selected group of experts in international law considered in 2010 that this declaration made in 2009 allowed ICC to exercise his jurisdiction on Gaza situation (see collective document  entitled: “Les effets de la reconnaissance par la Palestine de la compétence de la CPI”). In addition to the 1998 Rome Statute and the declaration made, there are other relevant international treaties to which Palestine is becoming State Party since Dec.31, 2014. The complete list of treaties that Palestine has acceded is the following: 1. Convention on the Political Rights of Women 2. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the ‘New York Convention’) 3. Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal 4. Convention on Biological Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity 5. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II) 6. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III) 7. Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses 8. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents 9. United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 10. Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel 11. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 12. Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity 13. Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court 14. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 15. Declaration in accordance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 16. The Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons 17. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 18. Convention on Cluster Munitions (Source: UNISPAL note reproducing the letter of President M. Abbas of Dec 31, 2014). Concerning UN Convention of 1997 on International Watercourses, a recent note in a specialized site on international water regulations indicated that: “In addition, with Palestine’s accession to the Convention, Israel is now the only state in the Jordan River Basin to not have joined the treaty. Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria – all riparians to the Jordan River Basin – became Parties to the Convention in 1999, 1999, and 1998, respectively“.  

Pictures by Kim Vermaat. By aldo Rodriguez.   Prior to beginning her diplomatic career in 2003, upon marrying her husband, H.E. Igor Popov, Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to the Netherlands, Mrs. Maja Popova enjoyed an illustrious career that spanned over two decades in Metal Conservation Archeology, at a renown museum in Macedonia’s capitol city, Skopje – her hometown. She is a pharmacist by training and a philanthropist by experience.  It was her passion for humanitarian work that brought her path to cross the Ambassador’s, when he attended a public park clean-up event hosted by Green Planet, an environmental protection nonprofit organization where she served as Executive Director, on a volunteer basis. As you may have noticed, Mrs. Popova’s name carries with it an extra “a” unlike the Ambassador’s name due to the grammatical gender of Macedonian – the “a” makes the name feminine because she is a woman.  She seems to like her new found home and holds her new neighbors in high esteem, “Dutch people are like fighters, they don’t give up.” she says “Probably due to their struggles with the sea and the climate that has lasted for centuries.” Having just moved to the Netherlands in May 2014, Mrs. Popova, like any good parent, worked swiftly to help her family feel at home. She has two children, the first of which is Marco who is 11-years-old and attends an international school, while her four-year-old daughter, Bisera, attends a local Dutch school. Little Bisera, she stated, takes after her father, so she is very extraverted, has quickly adapted to the Netherlands and has already picked-up some Dutch. While young Marco, who is having a slightly harder time making friends at school, benefits from having his cousins in close proximity, as the Ambassador has family who immigrated to the Amsterdam-area some 25 years ago. This gives her family a distinct advantage over the typical expat community, she admits, as they have been able to frequent the Netherlands throughout the years due to family functions and holidays. She hopes the life experiences afforded by their modern nomadic lifestyle will benefit Marco and Bisera later in life, giving them a different perspective on the world.     Once the settling down phase is complete she plans to further explore the Netherlands – first up, she says, will be the Dutch Wadden Sea Islands, particularly Schiermonnikoog, thought to be one of the prettiest places in the country. Leiden, she says, is one of her favorite cities to visit thus far because of its charming beauty, traditional architecture and of course, its museums – which are of particular interest to her, due to her professional background. She intends to reengage her artifact conservation work to some degree in the coming year through new contacts she has made at museums in Leiden, once the kids have a routine set, that is. Now that the rainy days of winter have began she also looks forward to visiting museums like Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Corpus, and the newly reopened Mauritshuis, with her kids. Her embassy recently celebrated the Macedonian National Day, which is on September 8^th, in collaboration with Diplomat Magazine. The event was well attended by the local diplomatic and Macedonian communities, alike. Traditional treats and delicious wines were served. Macedonia is known for its rich and aromatic red wines and bountiful peppers, which are undoubtedly delicious byproducts of its sunny climate. Its abundant sunshine is even depicted on their flag “The New Sun of Liberty” and also referred to in the nation’s anthem. Despite her life-long love affair with adventure and travel, she confesses that nostalgia for her homeland, as is natural, does set-in from time-to-time. She longs for the general calm and helpful atmosphere of Macedonia and its kitchen, as she rarely gets to visit. “Of course I cook. Of course! Every day. I have two kids and a husband – so they all depend on my kitchen,” she chuckles, as we discuss where she shops for key ingredients. She quickly compliments the Dutch greenhouse industry for allowing her to find many of the “delicious, very hot, green peppers that Macedonians cannot live without,” despite our lack of sun here. When describing produce at the “beautiful, beautiful, beautiful” Haagse Markt her eyes light up. The local Moroccan and Turkish butchers also get high praise for having excellent meats. Mrs. Popova communicates with ease. She is a natural people-person and possesses vast professional experience, which the local nonprofit community will surely benefit from once she branches out to volunteer during her limited free time, until the right job opportunity presents itself.  In closing, she shares some of the life-lessons she has gained as a world citizen. In short, “Life is a gift,” she says, which has to be respected for what it is, while maintaining awareness and compassion for those living with less. “We have to be humble and be satisfied with what we have,” she concludes, that is her recipe for a happy life – one she is trying to impart on her microcosm which is her family.  

“100,000 African elephants were killed the last 3 years, according to National Geographic”   By Ruud van der Lem, Drone-Solutions.nl This year, a new initiative to count elephants and study their moves takes place under supervision of Microsoft co-founder, Mr. Paul G. Allen. The Census Project will help conservationists in long-term management planning. Poachers vs aerial sensors Already poachers use helicopters to hunt the elephants down and soon they will discover how to jam the Drone navigation devices in order to let them crash. Sophisticated small fixed-wing Drones equipped with high tech navigation systems, cutting edge sensors and camera systems are needed if we want to play a substantial role into the next level of the battle against poaching wild life. Stealth operation To ensure stealth operation, together with bright vision, these Drones best operate after sunset, ensuring the best contrast for the infra-red imaging sensors. Elephants and rhino’s give a large contrast footprint, where poachers obviously give a smaller one, supplemented with an often higher color temperature image, due to the fact of using vehicles and camp-fires. Cattle thieves A side application could be the use of this technology to track down cattle and harvest thieves, as they often operate during night-time and operate in obvious patterns. Additional detection equipment attached to the Drone can track & trace mobile telephone or radio communication of the perpetrators. Discreet operations Unfortunately there are examples, where local authorities were actively involved in undermining operations. Programs to detect or prevent poaching and thieving must be organized in a way that only a small ever changing group knows the details of field operations. Professional approach Long flight-operation on high altitudes manages to monitor very large areas. Moreover it prevents discovery by poachers and cattle thieves, however this elevates operational investment. Serious programs, involving remote sensing by using drones, always demand intensive organization and cooperation between all stake holders. Added with educational programs it can seriously contribute in the reduction of such forms of organized criminality. Drone-Solutions.nl is a specialist in providing solutions in remote sensing and cooperates with the security and drone industry.

By Dario Poli

“As the stars twinkle in a still summer’s night, and suddenly the moon spreads its full, clear glory, before all his fellow artists. So deep, so clear, so all embracing, so rich in invention was his noble mind…” Johann Schenk. Novelists such as Jim Marrs, John Grisham and Dan Brown have reflected and exploited society’s increscent fascination with intrigue and corruption to such a point that the lives and deaths of almost all eminent figures seem to now be subjected to the fine-tooth combs of conspiracy theorists. As the rest of the world celebrates the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang ‘Amadeus’ Mozart, Dario Poli explains why it is the great composer’s death that prominent academics are still discussing. The night of his death, a dark and gloomy weather front seized Vienna firmly in its grasp. At the funeral, too, it began to rage and storm with increased intensity as snow and rain fell together, turning the ground into a slippery sludge. It was as if nature was displaying her anger and indignation with the man’s contemporaries, who had turned out sparsely for his burial, by relentlessly lashing them with a cold penetrating wind. A handful of friends and three women accompanied the corpse; even his devoted wife Constanze stayed at home. Those that did attend stood around the black-draped briar, huddled under umbrellas held in frozen hands, shivering in wet cloaks, and stamping their cold feet for warmth. Following the short funeral service at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the body was taken to St Marx Cemetery. As the storm grew more violent and the sky darkened, even those few devoted friends turned back at the Stuben Gate, heading for the sanctuary of the Silver Snake tavern. The bagged body was then dumped and interred in an unmarked grave by indifferent gravediggers who, due to the miserable weather, were impatient to be paid and get home. The body that had nurtured and protected the energy of a priceless spirit, responsible for the exquisite harmonies and melodic inspiration of euphoria, pathos, and architectural elegance, was hastily covered by clods of snow-hardened earth. The date – December 7, 1791. The burial was that of a poor man; a third-class funeral and his wife chose not to erect any cross or marking to his memory. The hordes of aristocrats, dignitaries, generals, Burgmeisters, businessmen, publishers, Freemasons, singers, actresses, and lovers who had all previously lavished plaudits and benefits upon his golden head were nowhere to be seen at his final resting place. Not even, a family member attended. The only exception was Salieri his teacher and benefactor who stood and wept. In that common unmarked grave was buried Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, known affectionately to his family as Amadeus (‘loved by God’). Arguably the greatest musician of all time and Austria’s most distinguished son, he ranks today alongside such acclaimed intellectual giants as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare and Galileo. The composer Haydn wrote, “I could not believe that Providence should so soon summon an irreplaceable man to the other world. He was truly a great musician. I have been often flattered by my friends with having some genius; but he was much superior:’   Every music connoisseur considered Mozart irreplaceable and, in life, he had many friends and a loving family. That in death he was abandoned by almost all of society is scandalous and, as with the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, John Lennon and the recently disputed passing of Diana, Princess of Wales, the bizarre circumstances of Mozart’s death have led to conspiracy theories abound. There are more than 150 hypotheses of how Mozart met his end. In his biography, Georg Von Nissen states that Mozart’s illness lasted for 15 days, ending with his death around midnight of December 5, 1791. Neither of Mozart’s attending physicians prepared a death certificate with the cause of death stated. Numerous medical experts suggest that it was simply ill health, caused by exhaustion, an unhealthy lifestyle and various infections. The illnesses suggested range from typhoid fever and tuberculosis to hepatitis and rheumatic fever. A strong contender, however, is infective endocarditis – an inflammation of the interior surfaces of the heart and valves. It could even have been his favourite food, pork, which killed him, as ‘trichinosis’ – a disease spread by improperly cooked meat – was rife at the time. A notorious womaniser, other academics believe he had been suffering from syphilis and he miscalculated the dose of mercury required and, thus, killed himself. Some conspiracy theorists believe that Mozart was poisoned by his enemies because, according to witnesses, his body swelled up after death. One version tells that Mozart had an affair with Magdalena Hofdemel, the 23-year-old wife of a fellow Masonic Lodge brother, Franz Hofdemel. Beethoven alleged the two were lovers and her husband found out. On discovering the affair, Franz poisoned Mozart before attempting to kill his wife and commit suicide. There are reports that the day after Mozart’s funeral, Hofdemel savagely attacked Magdalena during an argument, leaving her in a pool of blood, and then cut his own throat with the same razor. Magdalena. who was pregnant, survived the attack and gave birth to a boy whom she named after both Mozart and her husband. This incredible series of events would appear to lend credence to that theory, however, in the days following Mozart’s burial, rumours rapidly spread around Vienna that he had, in fact, been poisoned by the Italian maestro Salieri. Advocates of this theory skillfully and determinedly spread the rumour that Salieri had been jealous of Mozart’s genius and wanted him removed from the scene. Antonio Salieri born 18 August 1750– 7 May 1825, was an Italian composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, who spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg Monarchy. At a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony a leaflet was distributed amongst concertgoers containing a poem, depicting Salieri as Mozart’s rival “standing by his side with the poisoned cup.” It is puzzling that Salieri has long been the prime suspect and depicted as the perfect perpetrator. Peter Shaffer’s powerful play Amadeus and the subsequent movie by Milos Foreman put the blame squarely at Salieri’s door, yet evidence points to the contrary. Salieri was the Kapellmeister to the court and held a position of power as Emperor Joseph II’s chief musician. In addition to possessing a far greater wealth than Mozart, he was a composer of the highest reputation, an important teacher of composition, and renowned in his own right. His pupils, who included Mozart, Beethoven, Czerny, Schubert, Liszt, Hummel, Siissmayr, Sechter, Meyerbeer and Moscheles, loved and respected him, even the notoriously difficult Beethoven. According to Anselm Huttenbrenner, another composer, Salieri always spoke of Mozart “with exceptional respect,” and often loaned Mozart scores from the court library. Beethoven never accepted Salieri’s culpability and even Mozart’s wife insisted that Salieri taught their son Franz. In 1807, he gave the boy a written testimonial, which secured his first musical appointment. Salieri denied murdering Mozart until his dying day. That is not to say that Mozart did not have enemies in high places and various authors allege that the Freemasons orchestrated his final demise. The Masons were reluctantly tolerated but placed under constant scrutiny by the Catholic Church. In 1781, Mozart was dismissed from the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg, becoming a Mason three years later at the age of 28. As a member of the New Crown Freemason Lodge, he wrote works for Lodges, including the Masonic Funeral Music in C minor. It is claimed that, because of his involvement with the Masons, Mozart had become a suspect to the Austrian Emperor and his oafish behaviour, often insulting other esteemed musicians, did not help his cause. He once publicly said to Haydn, “I will make an exception of you, but all the other composers are veritable asses!” Later, in front of Emperor Joseph, he pointed to the Italo-German orchestra and loudly complained, “How on earth can I do anything with this collection of invalids?” Mozart was invariably the object of plots, which he provoked by his careless manner, mimicking and thumbing his nose at the aristocracy, such as when he bought six small Polish ponies for his carriage. By law, only princes were allowed to have six horses, but Mozart boasted that he was within his rights to be drawn by ponies. A passionate but poor billiard-player, he gambled for high stakes, often losing and owing money; he was much more interested in meeting the famous billiard players that visited Vienna than any eminent musicians. In 1861, the German researcher Georg F. Daumcr presented the Masonic murder theory. Daumcr suggested that the Freemasons had killed Mozart as punishment for The Magic Flute, his last opera. Rich in Freemasonry symbolism and numerology, the brothers feared that the opera disclosed their secret rituals and challenged their doctrines and, therefore, Mozart had broken the Masonic Oath of Secrecy. Other Germans, notably General Erich Ludendorrf and his wife Mathilde, elaborated on Daumer’s work and, in their writings, claim that the ‘grey messenger’ who ordered the Requiem was not the agent of Count von Walsegg, as previously suggested, but actually an emissary of the Masons who announced Mozart’s death sentence. Rehearsals for The Magic Flute had already begun when Mozart received a visit from that tall, solemn stranger dressed completely in grey. The grave visitor presented an anonymous letter commissioning Mozart to compose a Requiem as soon as possible at whatever price. Scared of the man, he did not want the job but reluctandy agreed. Mozart fuelled these rumours by telling Constanze “I am only too conscious my end will not be long in coming; for sure, someone has poisoned me!” Six months before his death, he confided to a friend that “someone has given me acqua toffana and has calculated the precise time of my death:’ He often wept over the composition of the elegy, and would say “That is my own Requiem…” When looked at all together, these seem like more than the ramblings of a paranoid hypochondriac. The musicologist Igor Boelza considered the strange circumstances that surrounded Mozart’s funeral and burial – referred to by German writers as ‘the burial question’ – to be proof of this murder conspiracy. That so few people attended the funeral of a major celebrity suggests that something was amiss. Boelza also asserted that the number 18 is foremost in the music and libretto of The Magic Flute and, by a deliberate association with the eighteenth degree of Masonry, Mozart’s death was registered so as to make it conspicuous to those in the know. In 1967, the German physician Dr. Dieter Kerner and his colleagues discovered that on November 18,1791, Mozart’s Masonic cantata was performed – exactly eighteen days before his death. They point out that a ‘Hermes stele’ on an engraving on the frontispiece of the first libretto of The Magic Flute, made by the Freemason Ignatz Alberti, shows eight allegories of Mercury, the Roman God who gave his name to the poison that Kerner hints killed Mozart. In alchemy, the colour grey and the number eight also represent the planet Mercury, another illusion to the ‘Grey Messenger’ that Mozart feared. These inferences to Mercury insinuate that several people knew about the ‘murder’. The truth will never be known; without a forensic examination of the body using DNA technology his demise will forever remain a mystery as intriguing as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart himself. Born in Salzburg, Austria, on January 28, 1756 he was the seventh child of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart. His father, though born in Salzburg, was actually an Ausburg citizen and was an excellent violinist and orchestra leader. Discovering his son’s amazing talent for music, he began teaching him. The little boy learned complicated compositions in minutes, and it was not long before Wolfgang gave his first public performance in Linz on October 1, 1762. From that date, he was launched into a series of tours, which made the young prodigy and the entire family internationally famous. After seeing the young Mozart perform, the poet Meschini wrote: “If Orpheus enraptured the forests, if Tartarus he moved, now thou stealest men’s hearts, child, and movest the stars.” The blond ‘wonderchild’ stunned royalty and public alike, gifted with an ability of composing incredible feats of music in impossibly short periods of time, and composing symphonies by the time he was six years old. “Able in his infancy to do anything he pleased in music, from the simplest sonata to the most elaborate symphony from the subtlest comic or tragic opera to frugal settings of the Mass,” as Bernard Shaw once wrote. However, the constant touring and study had its downside, as Mozart’s health was affected and, from time to time, he suffered from various ailments. It is almost as amazing as his talent itself that the young boy survived a series of diseases and his father’s irregular cures. As he matured, his desire and ability to compose more complex and demanding works increased along with his popularity in all the capitals of Europe. His largest opera composed for Munich was Idomeneus and then followed the popular works Cosi Fan Tutte, Figaro and Titus. Surprisingly, all his operas were failures in Vienna except his last, The Magic Flute. He was the first composer to promote and perform opera in German, instead of the Italian ‘language of music’ which was predominant and the fashion. He predated Richard Wagner as the first nationalist in German music. In 1783 he wrote to his father,”Each nation has its opera… why shouldn’t we Germans have it?” With The Magic Flute, he achieved the perfect synthesis of music and the German language that Wagner loved and considered the first German opera. In today’s politically correct, multicultural world, Mozart would undoubtedly be condemned for his nationalistic views. The 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth is now being celebrated in his native Austria and around the world. CDs of his ‘greatest hits’ are being repackaged and promoted by slick record company executives, as Mozart-themed music boxes, chocolates, perfumes, umbrellas and an array of cheap memorabilia keep the tills filled with cash. Isaiah Berlin’s enduring quote, “When the angels play for God they play Bach; but if they play for themselves they play Mozart” is once again being dusted off and recited by the elite figures that attend glamorous champagne-soaked gatherings and proclaim their profound devotion to the memory of the illustrious man and his music. It is a peculiar trait of society that, as was the case during Mozart’s lifetime, we feel comfortable basking in the reflected glory of the genius that brought tourism, prestige and money to Salzburg. And, just as on that dark and gloomy day in 1791, few if any will mention the ignominious manner of his death and burial. Mozart’s phenomenal devotion to his work remained with him throughout his life and elevated him above his contemporaries. He gave hundreds of brilliant performances as a pianist and conductor, scoring musical arrangements and giving lessons to key pupils. Mozart composed: 20 staged operas, including Don Giovanni (composed in just six weeks), 17 Masses One requiem; Nine Litanies; Seven Oratorios; five ballets; 127 variations for Piano ; 49 scenas with orchestra 41 symphonies, 28 concertos for piano and orchestra 26 songs and Canons 36 minuets 25 country dances 49 German dances 16 concertos for string and wind instruments 31 sonatas for piano violin and flute; 36 minuets 18 variations for piano and violin 17 piano sonatas 27 string quartet works as well as hundreds of other unspecified pieces.