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Du Deffand, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise

(Encyclopedia)Du Deffand, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise märēˈ də vēshēˈ-shäNrôNˈ märkēzˈ dü dĕfäNˈ [key], 1697–1780, French woman of letters, whose salon was frequented (1753–80) by the lea...

Cueva, Beatriz de la

(Encyclopedia)Cueva, Beatriz de la bāätrēsˈ dā lä kwāˈvä [key], d. 1541, governor of Guatemala. After the death of her husband, Pedro de Alvarado, she maneuvered her own election and became the only woman ...

Brent, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Brent, Margaret, 1600?–1671?, early American feminist, b. Gloucester, England. With her two brothers and a sister, she left England to settle (1638) in St. Marys City, Md., where she acquired an ext...

Hepburn, Katharine

(Encyclopedia)Hepburn, Katharine, 1907–2003, American actress, b. Hartford, Conn. She made periodic stage appearances from 1928 on and debuted in the first of her 43 films in 1932; in her early roles she was usua...

Sacajawea

(Encyclopedia)Sacajawea –kəwēˈə [key], c.1788–1812?, Native North American woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition, the only woman in the party. She is generally called the Bird Woman in Englis...

Hara, Takashi (Kei)

(Encyclopedia)Hara, Takashi (Kei) täkäˈshē häˈrä [key], 1856–1921, Japanese statesman, prime minister (1918–21). As secretary-general and later president (1914), Hara established the Seiyukai as the firs...

Francis Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Francis Ferdinand, 1863–1914, Austrian archduke, heir apparent (after 1889) of his uncle, Emperor Francis Joseph. In 1900 he married a Czech, Sophie Chotek. She was made duchess of Hohenberg, but be...

Inchbald, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Inchbald, Elizabeth ĭnchˈbôld [key], 1753–1821, English author. The daughter of a farmer, Joseph Simpson, she went to London in 1772 to seek her fortune on the stage. The same year she married a ...

Jefferts Schori, Katharine

(Encyclopedia)Jefferts Schori, Katharine, 1954–, American Episcopal bishop, b. Pensacola, Fla. An oceanographer (Ph.D. Oregon State Univ., 1983) who had worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service, she was ...

Sorenstam, Annika

(Encyclopedia)Sorenstam, Annika, 1970–, Swedish golfer. Acclaimed by many as golf's greatest female player, she dominated the game in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She played for the Swedish national team (1987...