Despite his family's poor background, he performed well after entering the Church and rose quickly through the ranks.

Despite this advantage of his family's status, the Hong Kong neighborhood Lee grew up in became over-crowded, dangerous, and full of gang rivalries because of the mass number of people fleeing communist China to Hong Kong,:

Despite submitting to Otto III, Crescentius shut himself in his family's stronghold, the Tomb of Hadrian, out of fear of retribution.

Despite her family's objections, soon they were living together, and although Hébuterne was the current love of his life, their public scenes became more renowned than Modigliani's individual drunken exhibitions.

Despite the rumors, the imperial family's association with Rasputin continued until Rasputin was murdered in 1916.

Despite his family's disbelief, Elliott lures the alien from the forest to his bedroom using a trail of Reese's Pieces candy.

Despite the rumors, the imperial family's association with Rasputin continued until his murder on December 17, 1916.

Despite later reverses in the family's fortunes, on 13 August 1504 their only child, Jeanne de Commines ( d. 1513 ), made a splendid marriage to the heir of Brittany's most powerful family, René de Brosse comte de Penthièvre ( d. 1524 ).

Despite his family's objections and the added pressure of raising a second daughter, France, born on 12 July, Brel left Brussels for Paris in the fall of 1953.

Despite his advocacy for modern methods of organization, including crews of soldiers doing the bulk of a family's illegal work under the supervision of a capo, at bottom Maranzano was a " Mustache Pete " — an old-school mafioso too steeped in Old World ways.

Despite the family's mainly Jerusalem ancestry, some members of the family were from Beirut, in what is today Lebanon.

Despite the family's long history of Catholicism, Viscount Gage had adopted the Anglican Church in 1715.

Despite the taint of treason and the family's impoverishment, his niece Louise of Lorraine-Mercouer, was chosen to became the Queen consort of Henry III of France in 1575.

Despite being involved in several tragedies in his family's acts, Wallenda continued with his stunts.

Despite his youth, he had demonstrated his strength in several general elections when he had been able to get as many as twenty MPs elected to seats he controlled through his family's wealth and political patronage.

Despite her family's lack of money, Belle received a good education.

Despite being slashed several times with a straight razor, Stretch grabs a chainsaw held by the mummified remains of the family's grandmother in a ritual shrine in the rock tower.

Despite his family's ancestry being mostly white and himself being blond-haired, blue-eyed, and very fair, White and his family identified as black and lived among the Atlanta black community.

Despite his inexperience, Bronfman's involvement was accepted because of his connections and access to financing through his family's wealth.

Despite their vast differences, she recognizes Dharma's place in their family's life, once famously telling her " We both know you're not the girl I would have picked for Greg.

Despite her family's wealth and high social status, Edie's early life was troubled.

Despite the press campaign against Germans, Germanophobic feelings did not develop in Russia to any widespread extent, and died out, due to the Imperial family's German roots and the presence of many German names in the Russian political elite.

Despite his family's straitened circumstances following the death of his father, Richard Jr. attended a private boarding school and the University of Kentucky.

Despite the Tresham family's close links with the royal court they were also on good terms with Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and when he returned from Ireland in 1450 Tresham and his father went to greet him.

Despite Isabella giving birth to her second son, John, in 1316, Edward's position was precarious.

Despite their imminent arrival, protracted violence continued into the night of March 30, leading in to a precarious Sunday.

Despite his excellent critical reputation, his finances continued to remain precarious.

Despite its reasonably copious strength of numbers, the Providence Petrel is deemed to be in a precarious disposition because its breeding is confined to two mountain tops and one tiny islet, and is therefore at great risk from a catastrophe.

Despite successes in this engagement, Rommel's armour found itself in a precarious position: interference to supply lines resulting from the continuing resistance of Free French at Bir Hakeim, which anchored the southern end of the Allied Gazala defences, left his tanks short of fuel and ammunition.

Despite the favor shown to this ancestor, his family history also shows the precarious position of Jews during this era.

Despite its high profile and the high calibre of many of the acts, its finances were always precarious.

Despite the sheer beauty and spectacle of numerous documentaries, art films, and travelogues, despite the impressive financial success of such a recent development as Cinerama, the movies are at heart a form of fiction, like the play, the novel, or the short story.

Despite the potential for a financially strong owner, Stouffer had some non-baseball related financial setbacks and, consequently, the team was cash-poor.

Despite financial difficulties, Caligula embarked on a number of construction projects during his reign.

Despite this modest initiative, the financial results were excellent, as it stimulated an increase of foreign trade volume among its members from 3. 5 to 8. 2 billion US dollars between 1959 and 1967.

Despite the bad financial situation, Athens staged the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, which proved a great success.

Despite financial difficulties, Frank was always the spotlight of fun around the household.

Despite diminishing government financial support over the past quarter century, MIT launched several successful development campaigns to significantly expand the campus: new dormitories and athletics buildings on west campus ; the Tang Center for Management Education ; several buildings in the northeast corner of campus supporting research into biology, brain and cognitive sciences, genomics, biotechnology, and cancer research ; and a number of new " backlot " buildings on Vassar Street including the Stata Center.

Despite the tour ending prematurely in financial disaster, it was the basis for the band's first international press.

Despite his influence in the financial world ( at least one source called him the most powerful American financier since J. P. Morgan ), Milken was an intensely private man who shunned publicity.

Despite the South Korean economy's high growth potential and apparent structural stability, South Korea suffers perpetual damage to its credit rating in the stock market due to the belligerence of North Korea in times of deep military crises, which has an adverse effect on the financial markets of the South Korean economy.

Despite the global financial crisis, the South Korean economy, helped by timely stimulus measures and strong domestic consumption of products that compensated for a drop in exports, was able to avoid a recession unlike most industrialized economies, posting positive economic growth for two consecutive years of the crisis.

Despite the enormous resources invested by the UK into security sector reform in Sierra Leone, there are continuing financial pressures.

Despite these complexities, the Department pursues a commitment to financial integrity, transparency, and accountability that is the equal of any large multi-national corporation.

Despite court judgments in their favour, they have not been allowed to return from their exile in Mauritius, although there are signs that financial compensation and an official apology are being considered by the British government.

Despite the necessity of rapid reconstruction and the lack of financial means, authorities did take several measures to improve traffic flow, sanitation, and the aesthetics of the city.

Despite the controversies, the games were heralded as a financial success, being one of the few in recent history to profit.

Despite the poor financial performance, 1962 turned out to be the busiest year in Silver City's 16-year history.

Despite Sybil's haughty responses, she eventually admits that Eva, pregnant and destitute, had asked the committee for financial aid.

Despite U. S. pressure on Japan to assist America in Iraq, Japan limited their involvement in the war to financial contribution primarily because of domestic opposition to the deployment of troops.

Despite being a phenomenally successful playwright during his lifetime, his propensity for high living ( he had a table permanently reserved for him at Maxim's ), gambling, and the failure of his marriage led to financial difficulties.

Despite Hemmeter's efforts, several teams soon ran into financial difficulties, in part due to alarmingly low attendance figures.

Despite several innovations in broadcasting and the creation of one of television's biggest stars of the 1950s, the network never found itself on solid financial ground.

Despite the wealth of talented writers who appeared under the Arkham House imprint, it was not a financial success.

Despite the financial obstacles, the economy of Entre Ríos has grew to a size near that of Buenos Aires, with the decline of saladeros and the growth of wool production.

Despite the opera's success, Carvalho's financial difficulties meant a run of only 18 performances.