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Robert the Devil

(Encyclopedia)Robert the Devil, hero of a medieval legend. He was sold to the devil by his mother before his birth but upon discovering the fact did penance and was able to purify himself of his many sins. The tale...

Challoner, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Challoner, Richard chălˈənər [key], 1691–1781, English Roman Catholic prelate. Brought up a Protestant, he became a Roman Catholic in his teens and was ordained in 1716. In 1730 he returned from...

Fisher, M. F. K.

(Encyclopedia)Fisher, M. F. K. (Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher), 1908–92, American culinary writer, b. Albion, Mich. Raised in California, Fisher lived in France for three years, where she was inspired by Brillat-Sa...

fermium

(Encyclopedia)fermium fûrˈmēəm [key] [for Enrico Fermi], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Fm; at. no. 100; mass no. of most stable isotope 257; m.p. 1,527℃; b.p. and sp. gr. unknown;...

Hokusai

(Encyclopedia)Hokusai (Katsushika Hokusai) kätso͝oshēˈkä hōksīˈ [key], 1760–1849, Japanese painter, draftsman, and wood engraver, one of the foremost ukiyo-e print designers. After producing wood engravin...

Friedan, Betty Naomi

(Encyclopedia)Friedan, Betty Naomi frēdănˈ [key], 1921–2006, American social reformer and feminist, b. Peoria, Ill. as Bettye Goldstein, educated at Smith College (B.A., 1942) and the Univ. of California at Be...

Gaddi, family of Florentine artists

(Encyclopedia)Gaddi gädˈdē [key], celebrated family of Florentine artists. Gaddo Gaddi, c.1260–c.1333, painter and mosaicist, is said by Vasari to have been associated with Cimabue and Giotto. Among the mosaic...

folk high school

(Encyclopedia)folk high school, type of adult education that in its most widely known form originated in Denmark in the middle of the 19th cent. The idea as originally conceived by Bishop Nikolai Grundtvig was to s...

Juvenal

(Encyclopedia)Juvenal (Decimus Junius Juvenalis) jo͞oˈvənəl [key], fl. 1st to 2d cent. a.d., Roman satirical poet. His verse established a model for the satire of indignation, in contrast to the less harsh sati...

Miller, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Henry, 1891–1980, American author, b. New York City. Miller sought to reestablish the freedom to live without the conventional restraints of civilization. His books are potpourris of sexual ...