Denis Healey

Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey,CH MBE PC FRSL (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.

He was a Member of Parliament for 40 years (from 1952 until his retirement in 1992) and was the last surviving member of the cabinet formed by Harold Wilson after the Labour Party's victory in the 1964 general election. A major figure in the party, he was twice defeated in bids for the party leadership.

To the public at large, Healey became well known for his bushy eyebrows and his creative turns of phrase.

Early life

Healey was born in Mottingham, Kent, but moved with his family to Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire when he was aged five. His parents were Winifred Mary (née Powell; 1889-1988) and William Healey (1886-1977). His middle name was in honour of Winston Churchill.

Healey was one of two siblings. His father was an engineer who worked his way up from humble origins studying at night school. His paternal grandfather was a tailor from Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. Healey was educated at Bradford Grammar School. In 1936 he won an exhibition to Balliol College, Oxford to read Greats and where he became involved in Labour politics, although he was not active in the Oxford Union Society. At Oxford Healey joined the Communist Party in 1937 during the Great Purge but left in 1940 after the fall of France. Also at Oxford, Healey met future Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath (then known as "Teddy"), whom he succeeded as president of Balliol College Junior Common Room, and who became a lifelong friend and political rival. Healey achieved a double first degree, awarded in 1940.

Denis

According to Christian tradition, Saint Denis (also called Dionysius, Dennis, or Denys) is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was Bishop of Paris. He was martyred, with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, in connection with the Decian persecution of Christians, shortly after 250 AD. Denis is said to have picked his head up after being decapitated, walked ten kilometres (six miles), while preaching a sermon of repentance the entire way, making him one of many cephalophores in hagiology. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as patron of Paris, France, and as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The medieval and modern French name "Denis" derives from the ancient name Dionysius.

Life

Gregory of Tours states that Denis was bishop of the Parisii and was martyred by being beheaded by a sword. The earliest document giving an account of his life and martyrdom, the "Passio SS. Dionysii Rustici et Eleutherii" dates from c. 600, is mistakenly attributed to the poet Venantius Fortunatus, and is legendary. Nevertheless, it appears from the Passio that Denis was sent from Italy to convert Gaul in the third century, forging a link with the "apostles to the Gauls" reputed to have been sent out with six other missionary bishops under the direction of Pope Fabian. There Denis was appointed first Bishop of Paris. The persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian community at Lutetia. Denis, with his inseparable companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, who were martyred with him, settled on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine. Roman Paris lay on the higher ground of the Left Bank, away from the river.

Denise (song)

"Denise" is a 1963 song by the American doo-wop group Randy & the Rainbows.

Original song information

Randy & the Rainbows worked with the producers of The Tokens, releasing the single "Denise" in 1963. The song spent seventeen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching no. 10, while reaching no. 18 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles, and no. 5 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade.

"Denise" was written by Neil Levenson, and was inspired by his childhood friend, Denise Lefrak.

Charts

Blondie version

"Denis" (pronounced De-nee) was a 1977 gender-swapping cover of the song by the American new wave band Blondie. The cover of the song helped the band break into the international market. It featured on the band's second studio album, Plastic Letters (1978), and was the second UK single release by Blondie on Chrysalis records.

The initial Blondie version contained a verse with partly improvised lyrics in French by the group's vocalist Debbie Harry. Although Chrysalis insisted that the band re-record the song with a grammatically correct French translation, both the band and producer Richard Gottehrer preferred the first take. Harry stood her ground on the matter, and the version containing the "pidgin French" lyrics was released. The second, re-recorded version had its debut as a bonus track on EMI UK's 1994 re-issue of Plastic Letters.

Denis (disambiguation)

Denis was the first Bishop of Paris.

Denis may also refer to:

People

Other uses

See also