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Features

Naismith, James

Naismith was born to John and Margaret Naismith, farmers in Ontario, Canada. He and his brother and sister were orphaned in 1873 when both their parents died within three weeks during a typ... [more]

Naked, Bif

Naked was born in New Delhi to an unmarried Canadian mother and British father, and placed for adoption with an American missionary couple when just a few days old. Due to problems with her... [more]

Nana Saheb (under India - Princely States: 6)

Until the 19th century what is now India (like Europe) was a patchwork of over 650 princely states, like kingdoms, ranging from the small and relatively unimportant, to the large, immensely... [more]

Nanbaree

Nanbaree was orphaned by the smallpox epidemic at Port Jackson in 1789, during which a large number of Aboriginals, who had no natural immunity to the disease, died. He was adopted by a loc... [more]

Natis (under Devadasi)

Devadasi (mainly of Maharashtra and Karnataka states) and related practices ( Maharis in Kerala, Natis in Assam, Muralis in Maharashtra, Bogams in Andhra Pradesh, Jogatis and Basa... [more]

Native American and Alaskan Native Children

Children of Native Americans and Native Alaskans were frequently taken from their birth families by Indian Agents (agents of the US Bureau of Indian Affairs), often by subterfuge, and place... [more]

Nazi Germany

Three special aspects of this terrible time are related to adoption. These are in addition to the orphans and separated families created when foresighted Jewish parents sent their children ... [more]

Nebuchadnezzar II

Nebuchadnezzar was King of Babylon from 605 to 562 BCE, succeeding his father, Nabopolassar. It was he who destroyed Jerusalem in 586 and forced the Jews into captivity in Babylon. He was a... [more]

Nelson, Willie

Nelson was abandoned by his mother when he was six months old. His father ran a pool hall in Austin, Texas, and he was raised by his grandparents in the village of Abbott, Texas. His grandf... [more]

Nero Claudius Caesar (under Roman Empire)

Ancient Roman society institutionalized the adoption of adults. It was relatively common for a wealthy Roman couple to adopt an adult man, even a slave, as heir if they did not have any son... [more]

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