title: WrestleMania Backlash (2021)

abstract: The 2021 WrestleMania Backlash was the 16th Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on May 16, 2021, from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. It was WWE's first pay-per-view to present the ThunderDome from the Yuengling Center during the COVID-19 pandemic, following a four-month residency at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was also the first Backlash to livestream on Peacock. From 1999 to 2009, the concept of the Backlash pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania. The 2021 event returned Backlash to this original position as the post-WrestleMania pay-per-view, and it was in turn renamed to "WrestleMania Backlash" as it was based around the backlash from WrestleMania 37. Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Cesaro by technical submission to retain SmackDown's Universal Championship. In another prominent match, Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match to retain Raw's WWE Championship. Also on the undercard, Bianca Belair defeated Bayley to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship and Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, thus becoming the first-ever father and son team to hold a tag team championship in WWE. The event received positive reviews from critics and fans. The event included a promotional tie-in for the zombie film Army of the Dead, which stars former WWE wrestler and WWE Hall of Fame nominee Batista. In addition to Batista doing a voiceover for the event's opening vignette, the Lumberjack match between Damian Priest and The Miz had the lumberjacks acting as zombies. This tie-in was heavily panned and covered in the media, with the New York Post calling it "one of WWE's saddest moments ever." Despite the negative criticism towards the tie-in, the rest of the event was well-received.

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# WrestleMania Backlash (2021)

The 2021 **WrestleMania Backlash** was the 16th Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on May 16, 2021, from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. It was WWE's first pay-per-view to present the ThunderDome from the Yuengling Center during the COVID-19 pandemic, following a four-month residency at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was also the first Backlash to livestream on Peacock. From 1999 to 2009, the concept of the Backlash pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania. The 2021 event returned Backlash to this original position as the post-WrestleMania pay-per-view, and it was in turn renamed to "WrestleMania Backlash" as it was based around the backlash from WrestleMania 37.

Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Cesaro by technical submission to retain SmackDown's Universal Championship. In another prominent match, Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match to retain Raw's WWE Championship. Also on the undercard, Bianca Belair defeated Bayley to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship and Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, thus becoming the first-ever father and son team to hold a tag team championship in WWE.

The event received positive reviews from critics and fans. The event included a promotional tie-in for the zombie film *Army of the Dead*, which stars former WWE wrestler and WWE Hall of Fame nominee Batista. In addition to Batista doing a voiceover for the event's opening vignette, the Lumberjack match between Damian Priest and The Miz had the lumberjacks acting as zombies. This tie-in was heavily panned and covered in the media, with the *New York Post* calling it "one of WWE's saddest moments ever." Despite the negative criticism towards the tie-in, the rest of the event was well-received.

## Production

### Background

Backlash is a recurring professional wrestling event that was established by WWE in 1999. It was held annually from 1999 to 2009, but was then discontinued until it was reinstated in 2016 and has been held every year since, except in 2019. The original concept of the event was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania, but the events between 2016 and 2020 did not carry this theme. The 2021 Backlash was initially scheduled for June 20, however, during Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, it was revealed that Backlash would take place on May 16 and would be titled "WrestleMania Backlash", thus returning the event to its original concept and featuring the backlash from WrestleMania 37. It was the 16th Backlash and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was available to livestream on the WWE Network in international markets, and was the first Backlash to livestream on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March.

#### Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March 2020, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set. Initially, Raw and SmackDown's television shows and pay-pew-views were done at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. A limited number of Performance Center trainees and friends and family members of the wrestlers were later utilized to serve as the live audience. In late August, these programs were moved to a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome. The select live audience was no longer utilized as the bubble allowed fans to attend the events virtually for free and be seen on the nearly 1,000 LED boards within the arena. Additionally, the ThunderDome utilized various special effects to further enhance wrestlers' entrances, and arena audio was mixed with that of the chants from the virtual fans. After being hosted at Orlando's Amway Center, the ThunderDome was relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida in December.

Due to the start of the 2021 Tampa Bay Rays season, as Tropicana Field is the home venue of the Tampa Bay Rays, on March 24, 2021, WWE announced that they would relocate the ThunderDome to the Yuengling Center, located on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa, which began with the April 12 episode of *Raw*. Subsequently, WrestleMania Backlash was the first WWE pay-per-view produced from the ThunderDome at the Yuengling Center.

### Storylines

The event comprised seven matches, including one on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, *Monday Night Raw* and *Friday Night SmackDown*.

On the April 16 episode of *SmackDown*, Universal Champion Roman Reigns, along with Paul Heyman and Jey Uso, boasted about retaining his championship in the main event of Night 2 of WrestleMania 37. Reigns was then interrupted by Cesaro, but before he could speak, Reigns, Jey, and Heyman left the ring and departed backstage. Later, Cesaro confronted Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville about facing Reigns that night, even as a non-title match. However, instead of Reigns, Cesaro faced Jey in the main event, which ended by disqualification when Seth Rollins, who Cesaro had defeated at Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, interfered and attacked Cesaro, proclaiming that their rivalry was not over. On the special *Throwback SmackDown* on May 7, Cesaro was scheduled to face Rollins with the added stipulation that if Cesaro won, he would earn a Universal Championship match at WrestleMania Backlash. Cesaro defeated Rollins once again, securing the championship match. Also that episode, Jey's brother Jimmy returned from injury, last appearing at Hell in a Cell in October 2020, and although conflicted at first, particularly because of what Reigns did to them at Hell in a Cell, Jimmy also eventually aligned with Reigns, but soon turned on Reigns.

At Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the WWE Championship. On the following night's *Raw*, Lashley's manager MVP declared that no one could defeat Lashley. McIntyre interrupted and wanted another opportunity at Lashley, claiming that he would have defeated him if MVP had not distracted him and prevented him from performing the Claymore Kick on Lashley. Braun Strowman and Randy Orton then interrupted and stated their respective cases to challenge for the title. WWE official Adam Pearce then scheduled a triple threat match between McIntyre, Strowman, and Orton with the winner facing Lashley for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania Backlash, which was won by McIntyre. On the April 26 episode, Strowman challenged McIntyre to a match with the added stipulation that if Strowman won, he would be added to the championship match at WrestleMania Backlash. Strowman defeated McIntyre, thus the championship match became a triple threat match.

In the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Bianca Belair won the SmackDown Women's Championship. On the following episode of *SmackDown*, The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford, the latter of whom is Belair's real-life husband) threw Belair a championship celebration. Later, Bayley challenged Belair for the title. The following week, the championship match was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.

At Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, Rhea Ripley defeated Asuka to win the Raw Women's Championship. The two had a rematch the following night on *Raw*, however, the match ended in a no-contest after interference from a returning Charlotte Flair, who attacked Asuka. Prior to the match, Flair, who had been off TV for the past month, returned that night after missing her first WrestleMania since WrestleMania 32 in 2016. The following week, Flair lost to Asuka thanks to a distraction from Ripley. Following the match, an irate Flair attacked the referee. Adam Pearce subsequently suspended Flair, however, fellow WWE official Sonya Deville, who primarily appeared on SmackDown, reinstated Flair the following week after Flair made a public apology on *Raw*. On the May 3 episode, another rematch between Ripley and Asuka for the Raw Women's Championship was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash. However, Deville allowed Flair a chance to present a proposal and after hearing Flair's case, Deville added Flair to the championship match to make it a triple threat match.

At the special "WrestleMania Edition" of *SmackDown* on April 9, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode and The Mysterios (Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio) took part in a fatal four-way tag team match for Ziggler and Roode's SmackDown Tag Team Championship, where the champions retained. On May 7, a title match between the two teams was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.

At Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Bad Bunny and Damian Priest defeated The Miz and John Morrison. On the following *Raw*, The Miz hosted a segment of "Miz TV" along with Morrison, which also saw the return of Miz's wife Maryse to WWE programming, who last appeared in December 2019. Miz bragged and claimed that he turned Bad Bunny into a WWE superstar. Priest interrupted and praised Bad Bunny and then challenged Miz and Morrison to a handicap match. Priest lost the match after The Miz pinned him with a roll-up and used the ropes as leverage while Maryse also assisted. Priest then defeated The Miz the following week. On the May 3 episode, Priest defeated Morrison due to an untimely distraction by The Miz. The following week, Priest defeated Morrison to pick the stipulation for his match against The Miz at WrestleMania Backlash, and chose a lumberjack match.

## Event

**Other on-screen personnel**
| Role: | Name: |
| --- | --- |
| English commentators | Michael Cole (SmackDown) |
| | Pat McAfee (SmackDown) |
| | Adnan Virk (Raw) |
| | Corey Graves (Raw) |
| | Byron Saxton (Raw) |
| Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
| | Marcelo Rodriguez |
| Ring announcers | Greg Hamilton (SmackDown) |
| | Mike Rome (Raw) |
| Referees | Danilo Anfibio |
| | Shawn Bennett |
| | Jessika Carr |
| | Dan Engler |
| | Darrick Moore |
| | Eddie Orengo |
| | Rod Zapata |
| Interviewer | Kevin Patrick |
| Pre-show panel | Kayla Braxton |
| | John "Bradshaw" Layfield |
| | Peter Rosenberg |
| | Booker T |
| | Sonya Deville |

### Pre-show

During the WrestleMania Backlash Kickoff pre-show, United States Champion Sheamus faced Ricochet in a non-title match. In the end, Sheamus performed a Knee Strike on Ricochet to win the match.

### Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with Rhea Ripley defending the Raw Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair and Asuka. In the closing moments, after an evenly competitive match between the three, Ripley performed the Riptide on Asuka to retain the title.

Next, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio. Earlier in the night, Dominik was attacked by Ziggler and Roode, and medical personnel ruled Dominik unable to compete. During the match, Ziggler and Roode dominated Rey. About mid-way though, Dominik eventually entered the match. In the end, Rey performed a 619 on Roode and tagged in Dominik, who then performed a Frog Splash on Roode to win the titles, thus becoming the first-ever father and son team to hold a tag team championship in WWE.

After that, Damian Priest faced The Miz (accompanied by John Morrison) in a lumberjack match. The ring was surrounded by zombies as a promotional tie-in for the zombie film *Army of the Dead*, which stars former WWE wrestler and WWE Hall of Fame nominee Batista. During the match, Priest and Miz teamed to fend off the zombies. In the end, Morrison was "devoured" by the zombies which distracted Miz. Priest performed Hit the Lights on Miz to win the match. Following the match, several zombies entered the ring and "devoured" Miz.

In the next match, Bianca Belair defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Bayley. Belair pinned Bayley using her braided hair to gain leverage to retain the title.

In the penultimate match, Bobby Lashley (accompanied by MVP) defended the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman. During the match, Lashley and McIntyre fought their way up the entrance ramp where McIntyre threw Lashley through an LED board. Back in the ring, McIntyre and Strowman continued the match. In the end, as McIntyre performed a Claymore Kick on Strowman, Lashley appeared, threw McIntyre out of the ring and performed a Spear on Strowman to retain the title.

### Main event

In the main event, Roman Reigns (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the Universal Championship against Cesaro. Throughout the match, Reigns targeted Cesaro's right arm, thus preventing Cesaro from doing his upper cuts and not being able to fully apply other maneuvers. In the climax, Reigns applied the Guillotine Choke submission on Cesaro, who passed out, thus Reigns retained the title via technical submission. After the match, Cesaro was attacked by Jey Uso. Seth Rollins then came out. After a stare down with Reigns, Rollins viciously attacked Cesaro and smashed his right arm in a steel chair.

## Reception

The event received mixed to positive reviews. While most of the pay-per-view was well received, the marketing tie-in with *Army of the Dead* during the Damian Priest vs. The Miz Lumberjack match was heavily panned. The film's star and former WWE wrestler Batista responded to fan criticism, stating that he did not book "a bunch of fucking zombies", and that fans should be calling out WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon for the decision. A review from *Shacknews* said that WrestleMania Backlash exceeded "almost every expectation," except for the Lumberjack match. The review said that the match was already bad, but it was made worse by the inclusion of the zombies, with Priest and Miz having to act like they were actually scared of them. The negative criticism over the tie-in was covered by mainstream media outlet *New York Post*, calling it "one of WWE's saddest moments ever". They were positive about the rest of the show. The match between Priest and Miz was voted as the Worst Match of the Year by readers of the *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Despite the negative criticism towards the zombies, WWE made over US$1 million from Warner Bros. for the promotional tie-in.

## Aftermath

"WrestleMania Backlash" would also be used as the title of the 2022 event, however, the 2023 event reverted the event to the original "Backlash" title.

### Raw

The following night on *Raw*, WWE Champion Bobby Lashley issued an open challenge. Drew McIntyre came out to accept as he was not pinned in the triple threat match, however, MVP stated that it was open to anyone except McIntyre and Braun Strowman—WrestleMania Backlash would in turn be Strowman's final appearance in WWE until he returned on the September 5, 2022, episode of *Raw*, as he was released from his contract on June 2. In the main event of *Raw*, it was revealed that the open challenge was just to face Lashley rather than a title match. The New Day's Kofi Kingston answered the challenge and defeated Lashley thanks to McIntyre's distraction. The following week, WWE official Adam Pearce scheduled a match between McIntyre and Kingston where the winner would face Lashley for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell, only for it to end in a no-contest after interference from Lashley and MVP. A rematch was scheduled for the May 31 episode where if Lashley and/or MVP were at ringside or interfered in the match, Lashley would be suspended for 90 days without pay; McIntyre defeated Kingston to earn another title match against Lashley at Hell in a Cell. On the June 7 episode, during the contract signing for the match, the match was stipulated as a Hell in a Cell match, and that this would be McIntyre's last chance at the title as long as Lashley was the champion.

Also on *Raw*, Charlotte Flair confronted WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville, demanding another opportunity at Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women's Championship as Flair did not take the pin in the triple threat match. Pearce and Deville stated that if Flair won her match against Asuka, they would consider it. However, Flair lost the match thanks to a distraction from Ripley. A rematch occurred the following week, where Flair defeated Asuka, thus earning another title match against Ripley at Hell in a Cell.

Also on *Raw*, United States Champion Sheamus faced Ricochet in a non-title rematch. Sheamus again defeated Ricochet.

### SmackDown

On the following *SmackDown*, WWE official Sonya Deville announced that WWE would be leaving the ThunderDome and returning to live touring, starting with the July 16 episode of *SmackDown*. She also hosted a parade of champions to celebrate SmackDown's champions. New SmackDown Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio, SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair, Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews (accompanied by Commander Azeez), and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Natalya and Tamina were all on stage. Deville then introduced Universal Champion Roman Reigns, however, Paul Heyman instead came out, stating that everyone else were just title holders and that Reigns was the only real champion. Bayley then interrupted, claiming that Belair cheated at WrestleMania Backlash by using her hair. Belair and Bayley were scheduled for a rematch at Hell in a Cell, which was later stipulated as a Hell in a Cell match.

Also on the following *SmackDown*, Cesaro, with his arm in a sling, confronted Universal Champion Roman Reigns and challenged him to another match at Hell in a Cell. However, Seth Rollins attacked Cesaro again, resulting in medical personnel taking Cesaro out on a stretcher. A match between Cesaro and Rollins was later scheduled for Hell in a Cell.

Also on *SmackDown*. Dominik Mysterio defeated Robert Roode in a singles match. Later that night, The Mysterios (Dominik and Rey Mysterio) were scheduled to defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Roode and Dolph Ziggler the following week. Prior to their match, Rey was attacked backstage, similar to what happened at WrestleMania Backlash, leaving Dominik to face Ziggler and Roode alone. At the climax of the match, Rey made his way to the ring, which distracted Roode and allowed Dominik to pin him to retain the titles. After a successful, albeit controversial, title defense against The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) on the June 4 episode, which ended after interference from Roman Reigns, who brutally attacked Dominik, the Mysterios then entered into a feud with Reigns and The Usos, resulting in Rey challenging Reigns for the Universal Championship.

## Results

| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1P | Sheamus defeated Ricochet by pinfall | Singles match | 7:10 |
| 2 | Rhea Ripley (c) defeated Asuka and Charlotte Flair by pinfall | Triple threat match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship | 15:22 |
| 3 | Dominik and Rey Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode (c) by pinfall | Tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship | 17:00 |
| 4 | Damian Priest defeated The Miz (with John Morrison) by pinfall | Zombie Lumberjack match | 6:55 |
| 5 | Bianca Belair (c) defeated Bayley by pinfall | Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship | 15:59 |
| 6 | Bobby Lashley (c) (with MVP) defeated Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre by pinfall | Triple threat match for the WWE Championship | 14:12 |
| 7 | Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Cesaro by technical submission | Singles match for the WWE Universal Championship | 27:35 |
| (c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match  P  – the match was broadcast on the pre-show | | | |

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41. Keller, Wade (May 21, 2021). "5/21 WWE SmackDown TV Results: Keller's report on Backlash fallout, Crews vs. Sami vs. Apollo vs. Owens, Rick Boogs debut". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
42. Brookhouse, Brent (June 4, 2021). "WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Usos fail in two shots at SmackDown tag titles". *CBSSports*. Archived from the original on June 5, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
43. Brookhouse, Brent (June 18, 2021). "WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Roman Reigns faces Rey Mysterio inside Hell in a Cell". *CBSSports*. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
44. Brookhouse, Brent (May 28, 2021). "WWE SmackDown recap, results, grades: Usos team for first time in more than a year to earn title shot". *CBSSports*. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
45. Keller, Wade (June 11, 2021). "6/11 WWE SmackDown TV Results: Keller's report on Alpha Academy vs. Street Profits, latest Hell in a Cell developments, follow-up on Reigns-Mysterios". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
46. Garretson, Jordan (May 16, 2021). "United States Champion Sheamus def. Ricochet (Kickoff Match)". *WWE*. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
47. Garretson, Jordan (May 16, 2021). "Raw Women's Champion Rhea Ripley def. Asuka and Charlotte Flair in a Triple Threat Match". *WWE*. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
48. Garretson, Jordan (May 16, 2021). "Rey & Dominik Mysterio def. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions". *WWE*. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
49. Garretson, Jordan (May 16, 2021). "Damian Priest def. The Miz in a Lumberjack Match". *WWE*. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
50. Garretson, Jordan (May 16, 2021). "SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair def. Bayley". *WWE*. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
51. Garretson, Jordan (May 16, 2021). "WWE Champion Bobby Lashley def. Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre in a Triple Threat Match". *WWE*. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
52. Garretson, Jordan (May 16, 2021). "WWE Champion Roman Reigns def. Cesaro". *WWE*. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.

## InfoBox

| WrestleMania Backlash | |
| --- | --- |
| Promotional poster featuring Bobby Lashley, Bianca Belair, Roman Reigns, and Rhea Ripley | |
| Promotion | WWE |
| Brand(s) | Raw
SmackDown |
| Date | May 16, 2021 |
| City | Tampa, Florida |
| Venue | WWE ThunderDome at Yuengling Center |
| Attendance | 0 (behind closed doors) |
| WWE Network event chronology | |
| **Previous**
WrestleMania 37 **Next**
NXT TakeOver: In Your House | |
| Backlash chronology | |
| **Previous**
2020 **Next**
2022 | |


title: Tovomita chachapoyasensis

abstract: Tovomita chachapoyasensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Clusiaceae. It is found only in Peru.

text:
# Tovomita chachapoyasensis

***Tovomita chachapoyasensis*** is a species of flowering plant in the family Clusiaceae. It is found only in Peru.

## InfoBox

| *Tovomita chachapoyasensis* | |
| --- | --- |
| Conservation status | |
|
Vulnerable  (IUCN 2.3) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| *Clade*: | Tracheophytes |
| *Clade*: | Angiosperms |
| *Clade*: | Eudicots |
| *Clade*: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Clusiaceae |
| Genus: | *Tovomita* |
| Species: | ***T. chachapoyasensis*** |
| Binomial name | |
| ***Tovomita chachapoyasensis***
Engl. | |
|


title: Parthanatos

abstract: Parthanatos is a form of programmed cell death that is distinct from other cell death processes such as necrosis and apoptosis. While necrosis is caused by acute cell injury resulting in traumatic cell death and apoptosis is a highly controlled process signalled by apoptotic intracellular signals, parthanatos is caused by the accumulation of Poly(ADP ribose) (PAR) and the nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from mitochondria. Parthanatos is also known as PARP-1 dependent cell death. PARP-1 mediates parthanatos when it is over-activated in response to extreme genomic stress and synthesizes PAR which causes nuclear translocation of AIF. Parthanatos is involved in diseases that afflict hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Well known diseases involving parthanatos include Parkinson's disease, stroke, heart attack, and diabetes. It also has potential use as a treatment for ameliorating disease and various medical conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

text:
# Parthanatos

**Parthanatos** (derived from the Greek Θάνατος, "Death") is a form of programmed cell death that is distinct from other cell death processes such as necrosis and apoptosis. While necrosis is caused by acute cell injury resulting in traumatic cell death and apoptosis is a highly controlled process signalled by apoptotic intracellular signals, parthanatos is caused by the accumulation of Poly(ADP ribose) (PAR) and the nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from mitochondria. Parthanatos is also known as PARP-1 dependent cell death. PARP-1 mediates parthanatos when it is over-activated in response to extreme genomic stress and synthesizes PAR which causes nuclear translocation of AIF. Parthanatos is involved in diseases that afflict hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Well known diseases involving parthanatos include Parkinson's disease, stroke, heart attack, and diabetes. It also has potential use as a treatment for ameliorating disease and various medical conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

## History

### Name

The term parthanatos was not coined until a review in 2009. The word parthanatos is derived from Thanatos, the personification of death in Greek mythology.

### Discovery

Parthanatos was first discovered in a 2006 paper by Yu et al. studying the increased production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) by hyperglycemia. This phenomenon is linked with negative effects arising from clinical complications of diabetes and obesity.

Researchers noticed that high glucose concentrations led to overproduction of reactive oxygen species and rapid fragmentation of mitochondria. Inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake blocked the increase of ROS, but did not prevent mitochondrial fragmentation. After incubating cells with the non-metabolizable stereoisomer L-glucose, neither reactive oxygen species increase nor mitochondrial fragmentation were observed. Ultimately, the researchers found that mitochondrial fragmentation mediated by the fission process is a necessary component for high glucose-induced respiration increase and ROS overproduction.

Extended exposure to high glucose conditions are similar to untreated diabetic conditions, and so the effects mirror each other. In this condition, the exposure creates a periodic and prolonged increase in ROS production along with mitochondrial morphology change. If mitochondrial fission was inhibited, the periodic fluctuation of ROS production in a high glucose environment was prevented. This research shows that when cell damage to the ROS is too great, PARP-1 will initiate cell death.

## Morphology

### Structure of PARP-1

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is a nuclear enzyme that is found universally in all eukaryotes and is encoded by the PARP-1 gene. It belongs to the PARP family, which is a group of catalysts that transfer ADP-ribose units from NAD (nicotinamide dinucleotide) to protein targets, thus creating branched or linear polymers. The major domains of PARP-1 impart the ability to fulfill its functions. These protein sections include the DNA-binding domain on the N-terminus (allows PARP-1 to detect DNA breaks), the automodification domain (has a BRCA1 C terminus motif which is key for protein-protein interactions), and a catalytic site with the NAD+-fold (characteristic of mono-ADP ribosylating toxins).

### Role of PARP-1

Normally, PARP-1 is involved in a variety of functions that are important for cell homeostasis such as mitosis. Another of these roles is DNA repair, including the repair of base lesions and single-strand breaks. PARP-1 interacts with a wide variety of substrates including histones, DNA helicases, high mobility group proteins, topoisomerases I and II, single-strand break repair factors, base-excision repair factors, and several transcription factors.

### Role of PAR

PARP-1 accomplishes many of its roles through regulating poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR). PAR is a polymer that varies in length and can be either linear or branched. It is negatively charged which allows it to alter the function of the proteins it binds to either covalently or non-covalently. PAR binding affinity is strongest for branched polymers, weaker for long linear polymers and weakest for short linear polymers. PAR also binds selectively with differing strengths to the different histones. It is suspected that PARP-1 modulates processes (such as DNA repair, DNA transcription, and mitosis) through the binding of PAR to its target proteins.

## Pathway

The parthanatos pathway is activated by DNA damage caused by genotoxic stress or excitotoxicity. This damage is recognized by the PARP-1 enzyme which causes an upregulation in PAR. PAR causes translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from the mitochondria to the nucleus where it induces DNA fragmentation and ultimately cell death. This general pathway has been outlined now for almost a decade. While considerable success has been made in understanding the molecular events in parthanatos, efforts are still ongoing to completely identify all of the major players within the pathway, as well how spatial and temporal relationships between mediators affect them.

### Pathway activation

Extreme damage of DNA causing breaks and changes in chromatin structure have been shown to induce the parthanatos pathway. Stimuli that causes the DNA damage can come from a variety of different sources. Methylnitronitrosoguanidine, an alkylating agent, has been widely used in several studies to induce the parthanatos pathway. A noted number of other stimuli or toxic conditions have also been used to cause DNA damage such as H2O2, NO, and ONOO generation (oxygenglucose deprivation).

The magnitude, length of exposure, type of cell used, and purity of the culture, are all factors that can influence the activation of the pathway. The damage must be extreme enough for the chromatin structure to be altered. This change in structure is recognized by the N-terminal zinc-finger domain on the PARP-1 protein. The protein can recognize both single and double strand DNA breaks.

### Cell death initiation

Once the PARP-1 protein recognizes the DNA damage, it catalyzes post-transcriptional modification of PAR. PAR will be formed either as a branched or linear molecule. Branching and long-chain polymers will be more toxic to the cell than simple short polymers. The more extreme the DNA damage, the more PAR accumulates in the nucleus. Once enough PAR has accumulated, it will translocate from the nucleus into the cytosol. One study has suggested that PAR can translocate as a free polymer, however translocation of a protein-conjugated PAR cannot be ruled out and is in fact a topic of active research. PAR moves through the cytosol and enters the mitochondria through depolarization. Within the mitochondria, PAR binds directly to the AIF which has a PAR polymer binding site, causing the AIF to dissociate from the mitochondria. AIF is then translocated to the nucleus where it induces chromatin condensation and large scale (50Kb) DNA fragmentation. How AIF induces these effects is still unknown. It is thought that an AIF associated nuclease (PAAN) that is currently unidentified may be present. Human AIF have a DNA binding site that would indicate that AIF binds directly to the DNA in the nucleus directly causing the changes. However, as mice AIF do not have this binding domain and are still able to undergo parthanatos, it is evident that there must be another mechanism involved.

### PARG

PAR, which is responsible for the activation of AIF, is regulated in the cell by the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG). After PAR is synthesized by PARP-1, it is degraded through a process catalyzed by PARG. PARG has been found to protect against PAR-mediated cell death while its deletion has increased toxicity through the accumulation of PAR.

### Other proposed mechanisms

Before the discovery of the PAR and AIF pathway, it was thought that the overactivation of PARP-1 lead to over consumption of NAD+. As a result of NAD+ depletion, a decrease of ATP production would occur, and the resulting loss of energy would kill the cell. However it is now known that this loss of energy would not be enough to account for cell death. In cells lacking PARG, activation of PARP-1 leads to cell death in the presence of ample NAD+.

### Differences between cell death pathways

Parthanatos is defined as a unique cell death pathway from apoptosis for a few key reasons. Primarily, apoptosis is dependent on the caspase pathway activated by cytochrome c release, while the parthanatos pathway is able to act independently of caspase. Furthermore, unlike apoptosis, parthanatos causes large scale DNA fragmentation (apoptosis only produces small scale fragmentation) and does not form apoptotic bodies.

While parthanatos does share similarities with necrosis, is also has several differences. Necrosis is not a regulated pathway and does not undergo any controlled nuclear fragmentation. While parthanatos does involve loss of cell membrane integrity like necrosis, it is not accompanied by cell swelling.

## Comparison of cell death types

**Summary of differences between parthanatos, apoptosis and necrosis**
|  | Parthanatos | Apoptosis | Necrosis |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Chromatin Condensation | Yes | Yes | No |
| Nuclear fragmentation | Yes | Yes | No |
| Apoptotic bodies | No | Yes | No |
| Mitochondrial Swelling | No | Sometimes | Yes |
| Membrane Blebbing | No | Yes | Yes, late |
| Caspase Dependent | No | Yes | Sometimes |
| Regulated Pathway | Yes | Yes | No |
|

## Pathology and treatment

### Neurotoxicity

The PAR enzyme was originally connected to neural degradation pathways in 1993. Elevated levels of nitric oxide (NO) have been shown to cause neurotoxicity in samples of rat hippocampal neurons. A deeper look into the effects of NO on neurons showed that nitric oxides cause damage to DNA strands; the damage in turn elicits PAR enzyme activity that leads to further degradation and neuronal death. PAR- blockers halted the cell death mechanisms in the presence of elevated NO levels.

PARP activity has also been linked to the neurodegenerative properties of toxin induced Parkinsonism. 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is a neurotoxin that has been linked to neurodegeneration and development of Parkinson Disease-like symptoms in patients since 1983. The MPTP toxin's effects were discovered when four people were intravenously injecting the toxin that they produced inadvertently when trying to street-synthesise the merpyridine (MPPP) drug. The link between MPTP and PARP was found later when research showed that the MPTP effects on neurons were reduced in mutated cells lacking the PARP gene. The same research also showed highly increased PARP activation in dopamine producing cells in the presence of MPTP.

Alpha-synuclein is a protein that binds to DNA and modulates DNA repair. A key feature of Parkinson's disease is the pathologic accumulation and aggregation of alpha-synuclein. In the neurons of individuals with Parkinson's disease, alpha-synuclein is deposited as fibrils in intracytoplasmic structures referred to as Lewy bodies. Formation of pathologic alpha-synuclein is associated with activation of PARP1, increased poly(ADP) ribose generation and further acceleration of pathologic alpha-synuclein formation. This process can lead to cell death by parthanatos.

### Multisystem involvement

Parthanatos, as a cell death pathway, is being increasingly linked to several syndromes connected with specific tissue damage outside of the nervous system. This is highlighted in the mechanism of streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes. STZ is a chemical that is naturally produced by the human body. However, in high doses, STZ has been shown to produce diabetic symptoms by damaging pancreatic β cells, which are insulin-producing. The degradation of β cells by STZ was linked to PARP in 1980 when studies showed that a PAR synthesis inhibitor reduced STZ's effects on insulin synthesis. Inhibition of PARP causes pancreatic tissue to sustain insulin synthesis levels, and reduce β cell degradation even with elevated STZ toxin levels.

PARP activation has also been preliminarily connected with arthritis, colitis, and liver toxicity.

### Therapy

The multi-step nature of the parthanatos pathway allows for chemical manipulation of its activation and inhibition for use in therapy. This rapidly developing field seems to be currently focused on the use of PARP blockers as treatments for chronically degenerative illnesses. This culminated in 3rd generation inhibitors such as midazoquinolinone and isoquinolindione currently going to clinical trials.

Another path for treatments is to recruit the parthanatos pathway to induce apoptosis into cancer cells, however no treatments have passed the theoretical stage.


title: Olfactomedin-like 3

abstract: Olfactomedin-like protein 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the OLFML3 gene. It has been shown to act as a proangiongenic factor in the tumor microenvironment, being released by endothelial cells and pericytes. This gene has also been associated with pectinate ligament dysplasia and glaucoma in Border Collies.

text:
# Olfactomedin-like 3

**Olfactomedin-like protein 3** is a protein that in humans is encoded by the *OLFML3* gene. It has been shown to act as a proangiongenic factor in the tumor microenvironment, being released by endothelial cells and pericytes.

This gene has also been associated with pectinate ligament dysplasia and glaucoma in Border Collies.

## Further reading

## InfoBox

| OLFML3 | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | | | |
| Identifiers | | | |
| Aliases | OLFML3, HNOEL-iso, OLF44, olfactomedin like 3 | | |
| External IDs | OMIM: 610088; MGI: 1914877; HomoloGene: 10613; GeneCards: OLFML3; OMA:OLFML3 - orthologs | | |
|  | | | |
|  | | | |
|  | | | |
| Orthologs  Species **Human** **Mouse**  Entrez   Ensembl   UniProt   RefSeq (mRNA)     NM\_020190
NM\_001286352
NM\_001286353   NM\_133859   RefSeq (protein)     NP\_001273281
NP\_001273282
NP\_064575
NP\_064575.1   NP\_598620   Location (UCSC) Chr 1: 113.98 – 114.04 Mb Chr 3: 103.63 – 103.65 Mb  PubMed search | | | |
| Wikidata | | | |
| View/Edit Human View/Edit Mouse | | | |


title: P. A. Madhavan

abstract:
P. A. Madhavan is an Indian National Congress politician from Thrissur and former Member of the
Kerala Legislative Assembly from Manaloor Assembly Constituency (2011-2016).
Son of P. Achuthan Nair and Malamelpattiath Parvathy Amma, he was born at Mundur, Thrissur on 14 September 1946 and
is a licensed Document Writer since 1967. As an active socio-political worker from the young age of 13, leading student agitations part of Vimochana Samaram has held offices of Indian Youth Congress Block President (1968-1969), Indian Youth Congress District Secretary (1969-1972), Indian Youth Congress District General Secretary (1972-1977), Indian Youth Congress District President (1977-1980). Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Executive Member (present), All India Congress Committee Member 2005-2012, District Congress Committee President 2016-2017, District Congress Committee Vice-President (2006–2011), District Congress Committee General Secretary (1980-2006), United Democratic Front (Kerala) District Chairman (2006-2008); Thrissur District Panchayat Leader of Opposition (2000-2005). Sitaram Spinning and Weaving Mills Director (1980-1983); Mala Co-operative Spinning Mills Chairman (1996-2002); Malsya Vilpana Thozhilali Sahakarana Sangham, Thrissur District President. Now, President, National Textile Corporation Show-Room Employees (Kerala), Kerala Laxmi Mills Pullazhi Employees Union, Railway Goods –Shed Workers Union, Thrissur, Municipal Corporation Electricity Employees Union, Thrissur, KSEB Thozhilali Union, Thrissur and Pharmaceutical Corporation Employees Union.

text:
# P. A. Madhavan

**P. A. Madhavan** is an Indian National Congress politician from Thrissur and former Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from Manaloor Assembly Constituency (2011-2016). Son of P. Achuthan Nair and Malamelpattiath Parvathy Amma, he was born at Mundur, Thrissur on 14 September 1946 and is a licensed Document Writer since 1967.

As an active socio-political worker from the young age of 13, leading student agitations part of Vimochana Samaram has held offices of Indian Youth Congress Block President (1968-1969), Indian Youth Congress District Secretary (1969-1972), Indian Youth Congress District General Secretary (1972-1977), Indian Youth Congress District President (1977-1980).

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Executive Member (present), All India Congress Committee Member 2005-2012, District Congress Committee President 2016-2017, District Congress Committee Vice-President (2006–2011), District Congress Committee General Secretary (1980-2006), United Democratic Front (Kerala) District Chairman (2006-2008); Thrissur District Panchayat Leader of Opposition (2000-2005).

Sitaram Spinning and Weaving Mills Director (1980-1983); Mala Co-operative Spinning Mills Chairman (1996-2002); Malsya Vilpana Thozhilali Sahakarana Sangham, Thrissur District President (Since 1994) .

Now, President, National Textile Corporation Show-Room Employees (Kerala), Kerala Laxmi Mills Pullazhi Employees Union, Railway Goods –Shed Workers Union, Thrissur, Municipal Corporation Electricity Employees Union, Thrissur, KSEB Thozhilali Union, Thrissur and Pharmaceutical Corporation Employees Union.


title: Valfrid Palmgren

abstract: Alfhild Valfrid Matilda Palmgren, as married Palmgren Munch-Petersen, was a Swedish educator, linguist, and politician. She reformed Swedish library policy and introduced the public library system in Sweden and Denmark.

text:
# Valfrid Palmgren

**Alfhild *Valfrid* Matilda Palmgren**, as married **Palmgren Munch-Petersen** (3 June 1877 – 6 December 1967), was a Swedish educator, linguist, and politician. She reformed Swedish library policy and introduced the public library system in Sweden and Denmark.

## Biography

### Upbringing and education

Valfrid Palmgren was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 3 June 1877, the second daughter of Karl Edvard A. H. Palmgren (1840–1910) and Ida Teresia Pohl (1853–1937), and was known as "Vava" at home. Her siblings were elder sister Signe Maria Elisabet (born 1875), Sigrid Hildegun Anna (1882–1883) and Gustaf (born 1884). She would have had another brother, but he had died by the time of her birth in 1886. Growing up, Valfrid and her sister Signe were treated as equal to all other children – regardless of gender – in accordance with their parents' educational ideas.

In 1882, Valfrid and Signe were enrolled in their father's school, Palmgrenska samskolan, which was the first school in Europe to offer co-education up to graduation, where they attended together until the twelfth year. Their father said morning prayers and taught Christianity, history and geography. Their aunt Ida taught writing and handicrafts (sloyd). Their mother was assistant headmistress and taught Swedish. The schoolchildren were also taught foreign languages – German, English and French – based on the modern method of starting from the spoken language. In 1895 Palmgren passed her oral and written examinations, with good grades in languages in particular. She was herself active there as a teacher from 1896 to 1907.

She spent summers with her family at Toivo on Norra Lagnö (in the present-day municipality of Värmdö), and later at Ramlösa mineral spa when her father's health began to fail. Palmgren and her siblings also had the opportunity to make short and long educational trips in Europe: in 1893 she spent two months in Germany, and the following year in France and England for three and a half months with her sister. Such trips were made every year and year-and-a-half thereafter.

Palmgren enrolled at Uppsala University in the spring semester of 1896, where she chose to study language. Parallel to her studies, she worked as a teacher at the Palmgrenska samskolan, teaching German, mathematics and geography, and later also French. In 1900, a government grant of SEK 750 enabled her to travel to England and study at Oxford for six months.

In 1901 Palmgren graduated from Uppsala University with a bachelor's degree in German, English, Romance languages, practical philosophy, mathematics and theoretical philosophy. Two years later she received her licentiate of philosophy in Romance languages and theoretical philosophy, followed by her doctorate in 1905. Her doctoral thesis was on the use of the infinitive by the French Calvinist and Baroque poet Théodore Agrippa d'Aubigné (*Observations sur l'infinitif dans Agrippa d'Aubigné*) and was dedicated to her parents. In 1905, Palmgren was the third woman in Sweden to receive a doctorate in Romance languages, after Anna Ahlström in 1899 and Gerda Östberg in 1903.

### Royal Library

In 1903, Palmgren had contacted Carl Snoilsky, head librarian at the Royal Library (*Kungliga biblioteket*), but her request for employment was not granted. He advised her to take her doctorate first. Before she completed her doctoral thesis in May 1905, Palmgren approached Snoilsky's successor, head librarian Erik Wilhelm Dahlgren; he was significantly more positive and offered her a probationary position from September of that year as the first female librarian. The probationary position was converted on 24 November 1905 into a position as an additional regular librarian assistant in the printing department.

Palmgren remained there until February 1911, when she resigned at her own request to marry and move to Copenhagen.

KB's cafeteria, Kafé Valfrid, is named after her.

### Study trip to the United States

In her work at the Royal Library, Palmgren often had to inform visitors hungry for knowledge that most of the library's books were not for home loan and refer them to public or workers' libraries. But she soon realized (after visiting the public libraries) that they did not have the literature she was looking for and were not intended for people who wanted to study. She then realized that she needed to travel to the pioneering United States. She applied for and was awarded a travel grant from the (Ecclesiastical Department, at that time responsible for education) to "study library science with special reference to seminary, school and public libraries".

She arrived in New York in September 1907, with a letter of introduction in English, German and French from the Ecclesiastical Department, and was received by the famous children's librarian Anne Carroll Moore at the New York Public Library. She and Palmgren became good friends and kept in touch until Moore's death in 1961. They were both passionate about the educational role of libraries and saw themselves as pioneers and drivers in providing quality children's books to all children through good children's libraries. Palmgren referred to Moore as an inspiration.

Palmgren visited some thirty cities in nine states in the northeastern United States during her three-month trip, where she studied public libraries, research libraries, library schools, seminaries and regular public schools. She gave lectures on Swedish libraries, and her visits were frequently covered in the press. Palmgren was even invited to the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt when she visited Washington.

When Palmgren returned to Sweden at the end of December, she immediately started giving lectures and courses to disseminate what she had learned during her study trip. She wrote a very brief official travelogue, which she then expanded considerably in her detailed report *Bibliotek och folkuppfostran – anteckningar från en studieresa i Amerikas Förenta Stater* ('Library and Public Education – Notes from a Study Tour in the United States of America'). This was finally published in 1909. Hugo Hammarskjöld, the Ecclesiastical Department Minister (education minister), had read her account and wanted it to be distributed to all libraries and public schools, so of the 3,000 copies, the Ecclesiastical Department bought 1,200 for that purpose.

Palmgren's report was a detailed and enthusiastic account, intended both as a textbook, to convince readers of the necessity of libraries in a modern society, and to inspire a reorganization of the Swedish library system based on the good examples she had studied in the United States. She pointed out the differences from Swedish libraries, which were usually supported by fees from patrons or voluntary donations from better-off members of society. This made them a kind of charitable institution, whereas in the US municipalities accepted donations in the form of library buildings or book collections; however, the material came from the local population, so that they owned their libraries just as they owned their schools. American libraries – both academic and public – catered to all walks of life and all ages; they were thus intended for all members of society without distinction. The beautiful and well-equipped library rooms with their open shelves were inviting, had generous opening hours and catalogs that were easy to use.

Palmgren pointed out that an important prerequisite for the success of American libraries was the formation of the national American Library Association (ALA) in 1876, regional library associations and the *Library Journal*. Through association work, meetings and journal articles, librarians had collectively succeeded in arousing the interest of decision-makers and in gaining both organizational and financial support for their activities – and it was precisely these ideas and methods that Palmgren took home with her and put into practice or helped to put into practice in Sweden. This happened through the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library, which was opened in 1911 with financial contributions from wealthy Stockholmers, the formation of the Swedish Public Library Association in 1915 (from 2000 the Swedish Library Association) and the launch of *Biblioteksbladet* in 1916.

### Library researcher and election to the city council

In 1909, the Heimdal Association published Palmgren's "Biblioteket – en ljushärd" in its series of small publications. This was a popular version of her travel report "Bibliotek och folkuppfostran" ('Libraries and Public Education'), and it was aimed at politicians and other decision-makers, association members, teachers and others who needed to be convinced of the benefits of books and libraries. The popular version devoted considerably more space to children's libraries than the original report. Her book *Bibliotek och folkuppfostran* was translated into Finnish and Danish and helped to stimulate the establishment of modern public libraries in the other Nordic countries.

At the end of the year, she became a member of the Committee for the Promotion of Good and Affordable Reading, and on behalf of the American Library Association she compiled the "Selected list of Swedish books recommended for public libraries", with a selection of non-fiction and fiction for children and adults in Swedish. In December 1909, Palmgren was appointed sole investigator of the "library question".

In February 1910 she published another publication, *Om folkuppfostran* 'On Popular Education', in which she described library conditions in Germany after a short study trip to Dortmund in October of the previous year. In it, she emphasized the ambitions of the German public educators and that, unlike in Sweden, there was a great deal of support for public education in broad circles in Germany – even among businessmen and industrialists – as well as a consensus to leave politics and religion out of it.

In the municipal elections of March 1910, Palmgren was elected as the second woman to the Stockholm City Council (Stadsfullmäktige) – the first was Social Democrat Gertrud Månsson – for the General Electoral League. On 1 April of the same year, she took her seat on the city council, and on 20 June she gave a highly publicized and discussed speech on the "library issue".

She was also a member of the Committee on State Aid to Institutions for Popular Scientific Lectures, which submitted its report in January 1911. She was also a member of the Central Library Committee and of the board of the National Association for Women's Suffrage (*Föreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt*, FKPR), while participating in the preparations for the opening of the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library. She attended the board meeting of the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library Association on 27 April 1911, three days before her wedding, after which she moved with her husband Jon Julius Munch-Petersen (1873–1939) to Copenhagen. However, as she still had several important tasks to complete in Stockholm, she commuted between the cities for the rest of the year and into the following year.

During the Conservative government of Prime Minister Arvid Lindman, she was asked to write a report proposing a new policy on libraries based on her international expertise and on the idea of popular enlightenment. On 28 September 1911, she submitted her library report "Förslag angående de åtgärder som från statens sida bör vidtagas för främjande af det allmänna biblioteksväsendet i Sverige" 'Proposals concerning the measures that should be taken by the state to promote the public library system in Sweden' to the Ecclesiastical Department Minister, Elof Lindström. The main proposals were that the use of public libraries should be free of charge and that support could be given to all school libraries, to a municipal library or library system in each municipality, and to nationwide associations with at least 20,000 members for library activities in study circles. She worked for reforms in the policy of the Swedish libraries, demanding that public libraries be open to all, that there be a public library accessible in each city, and that the libraries be free from political, commercial and religious censorship.

In October, Palmgren Munch-Petersen conducted a course in library technology for staff working at the future children's and youth library on Drottninggatan, which opened in December of the same year. In November 1911, she was appointed as an expert in the Committee on State Support for Public Libraries.

On 12 April 1912, the new Minister of Education, Fridtjuv Berg, presented a bill that in principle followed Palmgren Munch-Petersen's proposals for a library inquiry. However, a deviation was made regarding the name issue, where the collective term for parish libraries, municipal libraries and association libraries became "public libraries" and not "municipal libraries"; the latter had been proposed by the expert group and Palmgren Munch-Petersen. On 23 September of the same year, the Riksdag passed a resolution "concerning support for the public library system" without debate.

### Marriage and family life

Palmgren was almost 34 when she married Jon Julius Munch-Petersen in 1911, a hydraulic engineer and lecturer at the Technical University of Denmark, whom she had met in the early 1900s during their family's summer stays at Ramlösa mineral spa, south of Helsingborg. When she was officially invited by the Copenhagen City Council in her capacity as a member of the Stockholm City Council in September 1910, she and Munch-Petersen met again and became a couple. In a letter to author Selma Lagerlöf, she describes her husband:

> He's not quite like most people. And either you love him or you don't understand him at all. I think that he is related in some way to the violin-playing Värmlanders, of whom you have given us such beautiful pictures, a kind of modern Liljekrona, if you like.

They became engaged later in the autumn in Copenhagen and celebrated their wedding in Stockholm on 30 April 1911. They then moved to Denmark, where she lived for the rest of her life, 56 years. She left seemingly everything behind: her family and friends, her professional life and politics. But she was not content to become a housewife, and quite immediately began to build up a new and extensive professional activity in her new home country, as soon as she had finished her commitments in Sweden, and she continued throughout the years to keep in touch with friends and colleagues in Sweden. She always used both surnames, Valfrid Palmgren Munch-Petersen, or with the titles Lektor Dr phil. Mrs. Valfrid Palmgren Munch-Petersen, and never just Valfrid Munch-Petersen because she was keen to emphasize her own identity and not to appear as an appendage of her husband.

Palmgren Munch-Petersen's beloved brother Gustaf Palmgren died only 27 years old on 17 May 1911 after a period of illness, and when Valfrid and Jon Julius Munch-Petersen's first son was born on 18 February 1912, he was named Gustaf. In July 1913 their second son was born, named after Jon's brother Harald, who had died in a mountaineering accident in the French Alps in 1904. A third son, Finn, was born in September 1915, and a fourth son, Jon (called Lill-Jon), was born in July 1919.

Palmgren Munch-Petersen made it her task in her new home country to work for the Swedish language, literature and culture, in addition to her growing family. She taught at the teachers' training college and the University of Copenhagen, served as a member of the board for the Copenhagen municipal library, was very active in the Swedish Gustaf's Church lecture society, and also began work on Swedish-Danish dictionaries.

Her husband gradually began to lose his hearing from the early 1920s and eventually became completely deaf. Palmgren then accompanied her husband to his conferences and meetings and wrote down everything that was said so that he could still follow the discussions. They were both committed members of Foreningen Norden, where she was for a time an alternate member of the board.

In 1937, Palmgren Munch-Petersen's mother died. In September 1938, Valfrid and Jon Julius received the news that their son Gustaf Munch-Petersen had been reported missing in action in Spain, where he had participated on the government's side against Franco and the Falangists. In February 1939, Jon Julius died after failing health for several years. Palmgren Munch-Petersen worked like a madman, writing to her friend Anna-Lenah Elgström-Collijn: "If I am given too much time to brood, I will not last."

Denmark was occupied by Germany in April 1940. Palmgren Munch-Petersen remained in Denmark and spoke on the radio about Swedish literature for attacking the occupying power, and was therefore threatened. This worried the Swedish ambassador, who provided her with a Swedish passport as a precaution (she had automatically become a Danish citizen through her marriage to Jon Julius Munch-Petersen in 1911).

### Sons

Her son Gustaf Munch-Petersen had had difficulty finding the right path in life. He had studied philosophy and psychology at the University of Copenhagen and art history at Lund University before realizing he would become a writer, and in 1932 he made his debut with "det nøgne menneske" 'The Naked Man', the publication of which was paid for by his parents, as were his later works. In 1935 he made his debut as a visual artist at a collective exhibition of surrealist art in Copenhagen, and later also in Oslo. Gustaf married Bornholm ceramicist Lisbeth Hjort in 1936, and in September their first daughter, Mette, was born. They were expecting their second child in December 1937, when Gustaf suddenly left as early as November to join the International Brigades fighting Franco's fascists in Spain. He did not tell his pregnant wife where he was going, but had only confided in his mother. Palmgren Munch-Petersen's relationship with Lisbeth and her grandchildren Mette and Ursula Munch-Petersen became very conflict-ridden after Gustaf's death, especially since a death certificate was needed for Gustaf in order for Lisbeth to remarry Paul Høm, who already had three children, and who then had three more children with Lisbeth, so they had a total of eight children to support. Granddaughter Ursula, who like her sister Mette periodically lived with Palmgren Munch-Petersen, thought during her childhood that her grandmother should have helped them financially, and only much later, when both her grandmother and mother were away, did she learn that her grandmother had sent money to her mother every month for the care of the grandchildren.

Her son Finn Munch-Petersen graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science and then participated in international relief work after World War II. He worked both in New York and Jerusalem, a very troubled area in 1948, which worried Palmgren Munch-Petersen. Finn's son, Nils Finn, lived with Palmgren Munch-Petersen while his parents worked separately and were in the process of getting divorced.

Her son Jon Munch-Petersen became a civil engineer and a researcher in chemistry. His wife Agnete Munch-Petersen was also a scientist, and they had children Sten and Christine, who lived with their grandmother from time to time, especially when Lill-Jon was ill with polio.

Palmgren Munch-Petersen became pessimistic in her old age, doubting that she had done the right thing by working so hard. In a letter to Lisbeth Wesche, she writes that she had no faith left and felt she had wasted 28 years of her life on one pointless useless thing – the large dictionary. And when Lisbeth had told her about a trip to Verona with her children, Palmgren Munch-Petersen asked herself "Why didn't I make such trips with my children instead of hanging over the stupid dictionary!" Palmgren Munch-Petersen constantly missed Sweden during all her years in Denmark:

> You can become as acclimatized as you like, have it as "good" as you like, gain sympathy and understanding, and yet the grass itself is greenest on the turf where you played as a child.

### Lecturer and educator in Denmark

In Denmark, Palmgren Munch-Petersen continued her work on library and women's issues. She was a member of the board of the Copenhagen Municipal Library from 1918 to 1936, and the minutes of the board show that she shared her experience of working on library issues in Stockholm. As early as 1914, she became a member of the board of the Danish Women's Society, a nonpartisan women's organization that fought for Danish women's right to vote and to education and paid employment. Danish women were given the right to vote in the Folketing in 1915.

Palmgren Munch-Petersen also began teaching at the Danish Teachers' College in 1914, and continued to do so for 45 years, until 1959. She had one to three courses a year, plus two-week courses in the summers. She discovered how little Danes and Swedes knew about each other and how skewed the image of Swedes was in the Danish press. She was particularly interested in how textbooks portrayed Sweden and the Swedes.

In 1916, Palmgren Munch-Petersen contacted Verner Dahlerup, a professor of Nordic languages at the University of Copenhagen, and offered to teach Swedish language and literature, initially without pay. Her offer was accepted and Palmgren Munch-Petersen became the first woman to be employed at the university, giving her first lecture in April of that year. Two years later, she was given a permanent position as a lecturer in Swedish, becoming the second lecturer in Swedish at a foreign university and the first woman to do so. Her lectures were highly appreciated by both students and the public, who attended her open lectures in their hundreds. She remained a lecturer in Swedish until 1949, when she was 71 years old.

Through the Danish radio station Statsradiofonien, today the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, Palmgren Munch-Petersen was offered a further arena for her lecturing activities. On 17 November 1926, she gave her first radio lecture, which was on Swedish workers' poetry. She continued with radio lectures for 28 years, until 1954, first twice, then once a week, and the last year every two weeks. They were of varying lengths and at varying times, and under the heading *Swedish*, where she was able to address whatever she wanted and received a great response from listeners. Together with Ellen Hartmann, she published three books entitled *Svensk – texthäfte till radioundervisning* ('Swedish – booklet for radio education') with excerpts from the texts of Swedish authors. The two also worked together on Swedish school radio, publishing the textbooks *Svensk läsebok för skolradio* and *Dansk litteratur*.

During the German occupation of Denmark, she used her radio lectures to encourage the Danish people. She read Strindberg's tale of the swallow singing to the prisoners, recited Swedish freedom poems, recited "Bishop Thomas's Freedom Song" ("Biskop Thomas frihetsvisa"), Tegnér's "The Eternal" ("Det eviga") and Fröding's "Ur Anabasis". And she explained Swedish words that had been mentioned on Swedish radio, which many Danes listened to, even though the German censors had forbidden it. Towards the end of the war, the German occupying forces were so annoyed by her radio lectures that the Danish Freedom Council ordered her to go into hiding. So in September 1944, her good friend and doctor Harald Abrahamsen admitted her as Mrs Poulsen to Bispebjerg Hospital, where she was kept in hiding for eight months.

### Commitment to the Nordic countries, peace and women's issues

In 1919, Denmark, Norway and Sweden founded the Nordic Association to deepen the sense of belonging between the Nordic peoples, broaden their cultural and economic ties and promote mutual cooperation. Finland and Iceland joined several years later. The Danish Women's Society, in which Palmgren Munch-Petersen was active, was also a driving force in these efforts to increase cooperation between the Nordic countries. In May 1943, at the Danish Women's Society district meeting, she spoke about the women's cause and Nordic cooperation and stated that "there is no cause – except war and violence – that is not a women's cause." The issue of peace was important to her even before she moved to Denmark and became even more important after the Second World War. In 1948, she was one of the founders of the Danish Democratic Women's Society, (*Danmarks Demokratiske Kvindeforbund*, DDK), which was a peace organization within the framework of the Women's International Democratic Federation, had consultative status at the United Nations and was the only international women's organization recognized by the Soviet Union. Until 1957, Palmgren Munch-Petersen was also active in the Women's Regency (*Kvinderegensen*), a dormitory for female university students founded in 1932, where two of her daughters-in-law had lived during their student days.

### Contact with Sweden and later years

Throughout her years in Denmark, Palmgren Munch-Petersen kept in touch with Sweden, where her mother lived until 1937, and her sister Signe and her family lived in Stockholm. She was a frequent lecturer in Sweden as well, and every year at Christmas time she visited Malmö's Children's and Youth Library, which she had helped to found in connection with the Baltic Exhibition in Malmö in 1914. Almost every year she attended the annual meeting of the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library or some other board meeting. She took part in the festivities at the opening of Stockholm City Hall on Midsummer's Eve 1923, and was one of the guests of honour at the opening of the Stockholm City Library on 31 March 1928. She was the keynote speaker at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Stockholm Children's and Youth Library on 4 December 1961. She gave a nostalgic and emotional speech, Bernhard Tarschys talked about his years at the children's library, and under the direction of Elsa Olenius the theatre children performed scenes from *Pelle Snygg och barnen i Snaskeby*. She was appointed an honorary member of the Swedish Public Library Association at the great sixth Nordic Library Meeting in Uppsala in June 1950, where she gave one of her much-appreciated speeches:

> Valfrid Palmgren spoke quietly, but not one word came through in the vast hall... And what is it we librarians want? We want to teach people to be human, to live humanly... Valfrid Palmgren's speech opened a window.
>
> Bengt Hallvik, review in *Biblioteksbladet*, p. 225. 1950

On 31 May 1955, Palmgren Munch-Petersen was awarded a jubilee doctorate at Uppsala University to mark the fiftieth anniversary of her doctorate.

Palmgren Munch-Petersen also maintained contacts with the Royal Library of Sweden over the years. She handed over her archive in batches, gave lectures to the staff about her years there, and also to the Association for Book Crafts in February 1959.

Palmgren Munch-Petersen herself also contributed articles to Swedish newspapers and magazines, often on the themes of "lack of understanding between Danes and Swedes", "Swedishness", "Scandinavianism", "Nordic language union", as well as on literature and women's issues. She was very active almost to the end and was honored with tributes and newspaper articles on her 70th, 75th and 80th birthdays. And especially so on her 70th birthday, when she received a large gift of money for her trip as a representative of the University of Copenhagen to the ALA Library Conference in San Francisco in 1947. She then took the opportunity to stay in the US for over three months to visit libraries, visit her son Finn and her old friend Anne Carroll Moore.

She saw the publication of her son Gustaf's collected writings begin in 1959, and his artistry and fate attracted new attention. Palmgren Munch-Petersen also saw her granddaughter Ursula Munch-Petersen become a famous and successful ceramicist of public art as well as at Bing & Grøndahl and the Royal Porcelain Factory.

Palmgren Munch-Petersen spent her last years in a nursing home in Gentofte, Denmark, where she died on December 6, 1967, at the age of 90.

## Honors

* 1924: Litteris et artibus – a Swedish royal medal awarded for outstanding artistic achievements, including in literature.
* 1932: Illis quorum – a medal awarded by the Swedish government for contributions to Swedish culture, science or society.
* 1954: Dannebrogen – a Danish award, together with Ellen Hartmann
* 1955: Jubliee doctorate from the University of Uppsala
* 1959: The Swedish Academy's Language Prize for "outstanding achievements in Swedish language research and language preservation".

### Notes

### Sources

## Further reading

Media related to Valfrid Palmgren at Wikimedia Commons

## InfoBox

| Valfrid Palmgren Munch-Petersen | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
| Born | Alfhild Matilda Palmgren<br>(1877-06-03)3 June 1877<br>Stockholm, Sweden |
| Died | 6 December 1967(1967-12-06) (aged 90)<br>Gentofte, Denmark |
| Alma mater | University of Uppsala |
| Occupation(s) | Linguist, educator, pioneer in the public library system |
| Spouse | Jon Julius Munch-Petersen  (m. 1911; died 1939) |
| Children | Gustaf Munch-Petersen |
| Parent(s) | Edvard Palmgren, Ida Palmgren, née Pohl |


title: Liar's Poker

abstract: Liar's Poker is a non-fiction, semi-autobiographical book by Michael Lewis describing the author's experiences as a bond salesman on Wall Street during the late 1980s. First published in 1989, it is considered one of the books that defined Wall Street during the 1980s, along with Bryan Burrough and John Helyar's Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, and the fictional The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. The book captures an important period in the history of Wall Street. Two important figures in that history feature prominently in the text, the head of Salomon Brothers' mortgage department Lewis Ranieri and the firm's CEO John Gutfreund. The book's name is taken from liar's poker, a gambling game popular with the bond traders in the book.

text:
# Liar's Poker

***Liar's Poker*** is a non-fiction, semi-autobiographical book by Michael Lewis describing the author's experiences as a bond salesman on Wall Street during the late 1980s. First published in 1989, it is considered one of the books that defined Wall Street during the 1980s, along with Bryan Burrough and John Helyar's *Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco*, and the fictional *The Bonfire of the Vanities* by Tom Wolfe. The book captures an important period in the history of Wall Street. Two important figures in that history feature prominently in the text, the head of Salomon Brothers' mortgage department Lewis Ranieri and the firm's CEO John Gutfreund.

The book's name is taken from liar's poker, a gambling game popular with the bond traders in the book.

## Overview

The narrative of *Liar's Poker* jumps back and forth between two different threads.

One thread is autobiographical: it follows Lewis through his college education, his hiring by Salomon Brothers (now a subsidiary of Citigroup) in 1984, and his training at the firm. It is a first-person account of the personalities, workplace practices, and culture of bond traders. Several high-ranking Salomon Brothers employees of the era, such as arbitrageur John Meriwether, mortgage department head Lewis Ranieri, and firm CEO John Gutfreund, feature prominently.

The book's other thread gives an overview of Wall Street history before focusing on the history of Salomon Brothers in particular. This thread is less dependent on Lewis' personal experience and features quotes drawn from interviews. It is primarily concerned with how the Salomon Brothers firm almost single-handedly created a market for mortgage bonds that made the firm wealthy, only to be outdone by Michael Milken and his junk bonds.

## Biographical section

Lewis was an art history student at Princeton University who wanted to break into Wall Street to make money. He describes his almost pathetic attempts to find a finance job, only to be roundly rejected by every firm to which he applied. For example, in 1982 Lehman Brothers had rejected his employment application. He then enrolled in the London School of Economics to gain a master's degree in economics.

While in England, Lewis was invited to a banquet hosted by the Queen Mother, where his cousin, Baroness Linda Monroe von Stauffenberg, one of the organizers of the banquet, purposefully seated him next to the wife of the London managing partner of Salomon Brothers. Lewis's cousin hoped that his intelligence might impress the partner's wife enough to suggest to her husband that Lewis be given a job with Salomon Brothers. The strategy worked, and Lewis was granted an interview and subsequently received a job offer.

Lewis then moved to New York City for Salomon's training program. Here he was appalled at the sophomoric, obtuse and obnoxious behavior of some of his fellow trainees as they were indoctrinated into the money culture of Salomon Brothers and the Wall Street culture as a whole.

From New York, Lewis was shipped off to the London office of Salomon Brothers as a bond salesman. Despite his lack of knowledge, he was soon handling millions of dollars in investment accounts. In 1987 he witnessed a near-hostile takeover of Salomon Brothers but survived with his job. However, growing disillusioned with his work, Lewis quit the firm at the beginning of 1988 to write this book and become a financial journalist. The first edition was published October 17, 1989.

## Wall Street culture

The book is an unflattering portrayal of Wall Street traders and salesmen, their personalities, their beliefs and their work practices.

During the training sessions, Lewis was struck by the infantilism of most of his fellow trainees. Examples included: yelling at and insulting financial experts who talked to them; throwing spit balls at one another and at lecturers; calling phone sex lines and then broadcasting them over the company's intercom; gambling on behavioral traits (such as how long it took certain trainees to fall asleep during lectures); and the trainees' incredible lust for money and contempt for any position that did not earn much.

Lewis attributed the bond traders' and salesmen's behavior to the fact that the trading floor required neither finesse nor advanced financial knowledge, but rather, the ability and desire to exploit others' weaknesses, to intimidate others into listening to traders and salesmen, and the ability to spend hours a day screaming orders under high-pressure situations. He referred to their worldview as "The Law of the Jungle".

He also noted that, although most arrivals on Wall Street had studied economics, this knowledge was never used. In fact, any academic knowledge was frowned on by traders.

Lewis also attributed the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s and 1990s to the inability of inexperienced and provincial small-town bank managers to compete with Wall Street. He described people on Wall Street as masters at taking advantage of an undiscerning public, which the savings and loan industry provided in abundance.

## Catch phrases

* **Big Swinging Dick** — A big-time trader or salesman. ("If he could make millions of dollars come out of those phones, he became that most revered of all species: a Big Swinging Dick". p. 56.) The opposite of this term is **Geek**, used to refer to a just-hired trainee.
* **Equities in Dallas** — A particularly undesirable job within a finance firm. ("Thus, **Equities in Dallas** became training program shorthand for 'Just bury that lowest form of human scum where it will never be seen again'." p. 58.)
* **Blowing up a customer** — Convincing a customer to purchase an investment product which ends up declining rapidly in value, forcing the client to end up withdrawing from the market.
* **Feeding Frenzy** — The Friday-morning meal shared by a certain clique of bond traders. At this meal, traders would order astounding quantities of take-out food, far more than they could eat (e.g., five-gallon tubs of guacamole with an order of $400 worth of Mexican food). The traders would then compete with each other to see who could display the most gluttony.
* **The Human Piranha** — Nickname for an employee at Salomon Brothers who constantly used the word "fuck" and its variants in his speech. A reference to Tom Wolfe's character in *The Bonfire of the Vanities*.
* **No Tears** — Used to describe a preset alternate rule Michael Lewis describes in the book, John Gutfreund challenges John Meriwether to a game of liar's poker, in which he states "no tears" which means players of the game who lose can't complain about losing afterwards.

## Reception

Despite the book's quite unflattering depiction of Wall Street firms and many of the people who worked there, many younger readers were fascinated by the life depicted. Many read it as a "how-to manual" and asked the author for additional "secrets" that he might care to share.

## InfoBox

Liar's Poker
| Original 1989 hardcover jacket | |
| --- | --- |
| Author | Michael Lewis |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Economics |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
| Publication date | October 17, 1989 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 256 |
| ISBN | 9780393027501 |
| OCLC | 19321697 |
| Followed by | *The Money Culture* |