El Lissitzky was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, teacher, typographer, and architect. He was one of the most important figures of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his friend and mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designed numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works for the former Soviet Union. His work greatly influenced the Bauhaus, Constructivist, and De Stijl movements and experimented with production techniques and stylistic devices that would go on to dominate 20th century graphic design. Lissitzky's entire career was laced with the belief that the artist could be an agent for change, later summarized with his edict, "das zielbewußte Schaffen" (The task oriented creation). In 1941 he produced one of his last known works — a Soviet propaganda poster rallying the people to construct more tanks for the fight against Nazi Germany.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Lissitzky

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1320: The Scots people adopted the Declaration of Arbroath. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Arbroath)

1895: Oscar Wilde was arrested for "acts of gross indecency". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde)

1896: The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_of_the_I_Olympiad)

1917: World War I: The U.S. declared war on Germany. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I)

1994: The joint assassination of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi marked the start of the Rwandan Genocide. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"See, I write jokes for a living, man. I sit in my hotel at night and think of something that's funny and then I go get a pen and write 'em down. Or, if the pen's too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain't funny." -- Mitch Hedberg (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mitch_Hedberg)