Quiz: The one who were shown the door

On this day in 1811, Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from Oxford University for publishing a pamphlet on the ‘Necessity of Atheism’. This week’s quiz looks at a few others who were also ousted from school or college, not necessarily to their disadvantage.

1 On February 16, 1916, Ananda Mohan and one other student were expelled from Kolkata’s Presidency College on the charge of assaulting a teacher, EF Oaten. Name the other student.

2 Which prolific singer and songwriter was asked to leave Sylvia Young Theatre School in 1997. While she had a series of run-ins with the authority, she was finally asked to leave for piercing her nose without permission?

3 Fiction. Which novel describes the events of December 1949 after the protagonist was expelled from Pencey Preparatory Academy for poor grades?

4 Another fictional dropout. The author hated his five years at Eton between 1921 and 1926, and finally left to join a coaching class for Sandhurst military academy. So he made sure that his most famous fictional creation was expelled from Eton as a 13-year-old for a dalliance with one of the school’s maids. He then finished at Fettes College in Edinburgh. Name the author and his most famous creation.

5 Which legendary publisher joined Harvard in 1885 and was expelled two years later for throwing unruly parties and a series of antics, which included sending professors chamber pots with their faces depicted inside the bowls?

6 Identify this college dropout. He did a series of odd jobs, including a brief gig as a roadie for The Doors after being asked to leave Ripon College in the mid-’60s. He was offered an honorary degree by the college in 1985, which he refused.

7 In 1984, which actress of Lebanese-Mexican descent was thrown out of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, for playing too many pranks in school?

8 This British poet struggled in his years at Magdalen College, Oxford. He cleared the divinity examination on his third attempt, but was expelled for doing adequately in only one of his three ‘pass’ examinations. He finally accepted a Doctorate of Letters fromthe same university in 1974. Identify this writer and broadcaster who described himself as a ‘poet and hack’.

9 In 1926, who was expelled for from the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando because he refused to take the examination for the art history final for his degree? According to him, none of his professors was competent enough to judge his work.

10 Which Indian politician won a scholarship to study politics at Edinburgh University in 1968, but was rusticated for his political activism against apartheid on campus?

Answers

1. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. According to professor Nandalal Chakraborty, on hearing the news, Bose thanked them very calmly and left

2. Amy Winehouse; her father claims she left voluntarily

3. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

4. Ian Fleming and James Bond

5. William Randolph Hearst

6. Harrison Ford, who finally got his break while working as a carpenter in director George Lucas’s house

7. Salma Hayek

8. John Betjeman, Poet Laureate of the UK between 1972 and 1984

9. Salvador Dali, his friends at the Academy included film-maker Luis Buñuel and Federico Lorca.

10. Communist Party leader Prakash Karat. He was later reinstated for good behaviour

_{Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup}

_{Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj}