Interviews and biographies by 3rd ESO students 2009

1. FAMOUS
PEOPLE
of the 19th
CENTURY
BIOGRAPHIES AND INTERVIEWS
BY 3B PUPILS
2008/09
If you don’t want to be forgotten as soon as you are dead or
rotten, either you write things worth reading or do things worth
the writing.

2. Here is a collection of biographies and intreviews by 3B students. Famous men and
women of the 19th century were interviewed after a process of research; this pro-
cess started in the library and continued on Internet. Students themselves played the
role of famous scientists, writers, inventors, musicians and politicians such as Edgar
Allan Poe Thomas Edison, the Brönte Sisters, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Robert Koch etc.
Abraham Lincoln Robert Koch Robert L. Stevenson
Cristian Sánchez Mario Carrión Alberto Almirante
interviewed by Jose Ant. López interviewed by Antonio Rico interviewed by Almudena Hernández

3. Thomas Alva Edison Edgar Allan Poe Mark Twain
Francisco Gutierrez Carlos García Pilar Martínez
interviewed by Silvia Marín interviewed by Ramón Gómez interviewed by Noelia Corral
The Brönte Sisters Henry James Chopin
Aida Centeno y Alba Jiménez Maria Maestra Estefanía Yeste
interviewed by Jose Ant. López interviewed by Angela Menéndez interviewed by Alicia
Henry Ford Henry James Jane Austen
Francisco Polaino Henry James Irene Sánchez
interviewed by Juan Pablo Martínez interviewed by Marjin Janssens interviewed by Aída Centeno

4. THOMAS ALVA EDISON
By Francisco Gutierrez
Biography:
He was born in a small town of Ohio (E.E.U.U.) called Milan, on February 11th
1.847. He grew up in Milan, but when he was seven years old, his family and
him moved to Port Huron, in Michigan. In 1861, when he was 14 years old he
started to work selling newspapers and when he was 16 years old, he left his
town because it was very small to him. The next years he worked in a lot of
towns and cities and patented his first invention (1968) until he achieved a very
good work in New York (1869). He was one of the best inventors in the world.
He is famous because he invented more of one thousand inventions but the most
important inventions were The Phonograph (1877), The Light Bulb (1879), The Edi-
son Effect (1883) and The Dictating Machine (1907). The Light Bulb made Edison
become famous. His over one thousand inventions changed people’s habits. When
he was 84 years old, he died in West Orange, New Jersey, on October 18th 1931.
Personal background:
• He was born in Milan, Ohio, United Sstates, on February 11th 1847.
• He didn’t study any thing; he only read scientific and electric books.
• He was smaller than his three brothers. His mother was called Nancy Elliot and
his father was called Samuel Edison.
• When he was young, he lived in Milan and in Port Huron.
• When he was adult he lived in a lot of different cities and towns such as New
York.
Personality:
• He was friendly, intelligent, competitive, talented, energetic, adventurous and
funny.
Famous for:
• He is famous because he invented more of one thousand inventions, but
everybody knows him because he invented The Light Bulb.

5. Biggest obstacle:
• His biggest obstacle was that he was par-
tially deaf.
Famous quotation:
Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration
Important inventions:
•The Phonograph, in 1877. •The Light Bulb, in 1879.
•The Edison Effect, in 1883. •The Kinetoscope Parlor, in 1894.
•The Dictating Machine, in 1907.
Curiosities:
•He only went to the school three months because he was partially deaf and he
didn’t pay attention in class.
Bibliography:
Title: Nueva Enciclopedia
Larousse.
Publication date: April, 1984,
in Barcelona.
Publisher: Editorial Planeta.
Pages: 3170.

6. by Francisco Polaino
One of the most famous inven-
tions is the car. It was invented in the
XIX century but the first car was the
steam machine. The making of the car
took a long time but with the inven-
tion of the assembly line things changed
because this new system saved time.
The inventor of this was Henry Ford.
Henry Ford was born on 30th of July in
1863, in the city Dearborn on a farm
in the state of Michigan (United Sta-
des). His parents were William Ford
and Mary Liteget. His parents were
very poor. When he was a student, he
started repairing tractors. In 1873 the
young Henry saw an auto propoesate
machine which was used in agricul-
tural activities. His parents gave him
a clock and he repaired the clock. In
1878 he became a train driver in James
F.Flawer & Brosy after that he worked in
Detroit Dry Dock CO. In 1882 he went
to Dearborn to work on a farm whe-
re he learnt to drive a portable steam
machine. It was called Wastinghouse.
He worked for Edison Illuminating
Company. He had one son and ca-
lled him Edsel. In 1891 he was one
of the most important engineers.
Then Henry used half of his time to
make a car. He worked in a small

7. garage. He invented one car with two ci-
lindres and four times, refrigerated with
water and without speed. In 1896 he
introduced the construction in se-
ries and this allowed him to earn
more money. The car cost 200 dollars.
In 1903 created his own factory: Ford Mo-
tor Company. The best model was Ford T. The
company finished making this car in 1927.
In 1908 this first model was called FOR-
TINGO. He sold 10.000.000 cars. This car
sold better than other models such as V-8.
He also wrote books. “My industrial philoso-
phy” was published in 1929, he wrote other
books with a collaborator, Samuel Crouther .
“ My life and work ” was published in 1922
and “ Today and tomorrow ” in 1926.
He patented 161 ideas.
After that in 1927 the company made Ford A
, B and T. All these models were very luxu-
rious and faster than the previous model.
Famous Quotation
Coming together is a beginning, staying to-
gether is progress, and working together is
success

8. Emilio Castelar
y Ripoll
“A life in defence of the liberty”
Author: Ramón Gómez Laguna
Publication date: 22nd December 2008
Publisher: Alianza Editorial
Biography
Emilio Castelar y Ripoll was an important politician and
a very good orator. He was the president of the 1st Spanish Re-
public. As an orator, he made some famous speeches such as:
“Alcira’s speech”, “Spanish Cortes’ speech” (in a session of the Par-
liament where the Republic was proclaimed), and a lot more. He
was also a writer. He was born in Cádiz, on September 7th 1832.
Emilio’s father ran away to Gibratar due to King Fernando VII.
After losing his father, he started to live in Elda (Alicante) with his
mother’s family. Afterwards, he began to study Law and Philosophy at
Madrid University. There, he met future rival politicians, such as Cánovas.
When he finished University, to defend his ideals, he started to
write for different newspapers, such as El Tribuno del Pueblo, La Sobe-
ranía Nacional, until he founded his own newspaper: La Democracia.
But, before it he had written his first speech. It was in Ma-
drid, in a meeting of the Democratic Party, he was only twenty two
years old. In this speech, the people, the press considered him as an
exceptional orator and a defender of the liberty and the democracy.
He defended a democratic and liberal republicanism.
In 1865, he wrote a famous article called “El rasgo”; in that
article, he criticized Queen Isabel II. As a result, he was dismissed
of his chair and from this moment, he suffered a lot of disturban-
ces caused by students and professors. And all this was repressed
with intensity and violence in the so called “Noche de San Daniel”.
Emilio Castelar ran away to France, however he returned
two years later to participate in a revolution called “La Glo-
riosa” that dethroned Isabel II. But there was no democracy.
Spain tried to achieve the democracy with a new King, Amadeo I.
But Amadeo I abdicated three years later. That same day, the Spanish
Cortes held a meeting to decide the future of Spain: Republic or Monar-
chy? Amadeo I had abdicated, because of the difficult situation of Spain.
When the Spanish Cortes session started, the majori-
ty of the members were monarchic, but Emilio Castelar deli-
vered a famous speech. He changed the opinion of the Parlia-
ment. There is one sentence which summarizes the speech:
“Señores, con Fernando VII, murió la Monarquía tradicional, con

9. la fuga de Isabel II, la Monarquía parlamentaria; con
la renuncia de Amadeo I, la Monarquía democrática;
nadie ha acabado con ellas, han muerto por sí mis-
mas; nadie trae la República, la traen todas las cir-
cunstancias, la trae una conjura de la sociedad, de
la naturaleza y de la historia. Señores, saludémosla
como el sol que se levanta por su propia fuerza en el
cielo de nuestra patria”.
Translation:
“Gentlemen, with Fernando VII, the traditio-
nal Monarchy died, with the escape of Isabel II, the
parliamentary Monarchy died, with the abdication of
Amadeo I, the democratic Monarchy, nobody has fi-
nished with them, they died by themselves, nobody
brings the Republic, all the things bring it , a plot of
the society , of the nature and of the history brings it.
Gentlemen we salute her, like the sun which rises because of its own intensity in the sky of our
country”.
And, then the Republic was proclaimed by 258 favorable votes and only 32 against.
During the first republic government, he was the “state secretary”, and one of his laws
was the eradication of the slavery in Puerto Rico, a Spanish colony. The presidency of the exe-
cutive power (the head of the State and Government was the same) was passing hand to hand,
until the Spanish Cortes appointed him “President”.
To save the Republic, he passed new laws, but the situation of Spain was very difficult.
He resigned on the 3rd of January, 1874.
Afterwards, the Monarchy returned, he ran away to Paris, but he came back and he wor-
ked for the Spanish Royal Academy, and also in the Royal Academy of History.
Of course, Emilio Castelar returned to the Spanish “Cortes” during the Restoration pe-
riod.
When two important laws were passed (universal vote and the law concerning the jury
), he retired from politics.
He died in San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, on May 25th 1899.
Bibliography
- Larousse encyclopedia.
- Sopena encyclopedia.
- Historia de España. 2º Bachillerato.
Editorial Algaida.
- http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_
Castelar

10. HENRY JAMES
by Maria Hernández
He was born in New York in 1843, in a wealthy fa-
mily in New England. He wasn’t two years old, when
his parents took him to Europe for the first time.
Since 1855 to 1860 he travelled uninterruptly round
Europe.
In 1862 Henry joined in the Law’s University, at
Harvard’s University. He received an education in
schools of New York, London, Paris, Ginebra and his
travels round Europe.
In 1865 he started to produce some American magazines, publishing his first stories and
articles.
In 1875 he settled in Paris and he stayed there for one year, taking part in the intense
cultural life of the French capital together with Flaubert and Turguénev.
In 1882 after his parents´ death he decided to settle in London.
In 1915 as consequence of the world war Henry became a British citizen, not far from
his death, in 1916.
Famous Quotation
I've always been interested in people, but I've never liked
them.

11. TO BE CONTINUED . . .