Willis Merwyn (Merv) Johnson (born May 9, 1923) is a Saskatchewan farmer and former politician.
Johnson was the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member for Parliament for Kindersley, Saskatchewan. He first won his seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1953 federal election and was re-elected in 1957 before being defeated in the 1958 general election in the Diefenbaker landslide. He attempted to re-enter the House of Commons in several subsequent elections as a New Democrat but was unsuccessful.
In 1977, Johnson was appointed to serve as Saskatchewan's agent-general in London, England. He also served for several years as president of the Saskatchewan CCF-NDP.
Merv Johnson (born May 16, 1936) is an American football coach and executive.
Johnson was born in King City, Missouri in 1936. He attended the University of Missouri where he played football from 1955 to 1957, as a tackle. Johnson began his coaching career with the University of Arkansas as an assistant, then served as an assistant at Missouri from 1960 to 1961, Arkansas again from 1962 to 1974, Notre Dame from 1975 to 1978, and Oklahoma from 1979 to 1997. From 1998 to 2012, he was Oklahoma's Director of Football Operations. He is a member of the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and has received the All-American Football Foundation's Mike Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award and National Football Foundation Integrity Award.
Merv (Turkmen: Merw, Persian: مرو, Marv), formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria (Ἀλεξάνδρεια) and Antiochia in Margiana (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια τῆς Μαργιανῆς), was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near today's Mary in Turkmenistan.
Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of culture and politics at a site of major strategic value. It is claimed that Merv was briefly the largest city in the world in the 12th century. The site of ancient Merv has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. (See List of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan)
Merv's origins are prehistoric: archaeological surveys have revealed many traces of village life as far back as the 3rd millennium BC and that the city was culturally part of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex. Under the name of Mouru, Merv is mentioned with Balkh in the geography of the Zend-Avesta (commentaries on the Avesta). Mouru was among the sixteen perfect lands created by Ahura Mazda.
Merv often refers to the Central Asian city: Merv.
It may also refer to the historical Merv (East Syrian Ecclesiastical Province)
Merv may be a nickname for Mervin or Mervyn, variants of Marvin:
Merv was a metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the fifth and eleventh centuries, with several known suffragan dioceses.
At least one East Syrian diocese in Khorasan existed by the beginning of the fifth century, though it was not assigned to a metropolitan province in 410. After establishing five metropolitan provinces in Mesopotamia, Canon XXI of the synod of Isaac provided that 'the bishops of the more remote dioceses of Fars, of the Islands, of Beth Madaye, of Beth Raziqaye and of the country of Abrashahr must accept the definition established in this council at a later date'. By implication, Abrashahr (Nishapur) already had a bishop at this period.
Four East Syrian dioceses in Khorasan and Segestan are attested a few years later. The bishops Bar Shaba of Merv, David of Abrashahr, Yazdoï of Herat and Aphrid of Segestan were present at the synod of Dadishoʿ in 424. The uncommon name of the bishop of Merv, Bar Shaba, means 'son of the deportation', suggesting that Merv's Christian community may have been deported from Roman territory.