(Encyclopedia) Levi, PrimoLevi, Primoprēˈmō lāˈvē [key], 1919–87, Italian writer. A chemist of Jewish descent, Levi was sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz during World War II. His first…
(Encyclopedia) Lewis, Jerry, 1926–2017, extremely popular and influential American comedian, b. Newark, N.J. as Jerome Levitch. The son of vaudevillians, he entered show business early and…
(Encyclopedia) Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797–1851, English author; daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. In 1814 she fell in love with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, accompanied…
(Encyclopedia) Cromer, Evelyn Baring, 1st earl ofCromer, Evelyn Baring, 1st earl ofēvˈlĭn bârˈĭng krōˈmər [key], 1841–1917, British administrator in Egypt. Appointed (1877) first British commissioner…
(Encyclopedia) Goodyear, Charles, 1800–1860, American inventor, b. New Haven, Conn., originator of vulcanized rubber. He failed in his earlier business ventures and was in jail for debt when he began…
(Encyclopedia) Hemings, Sally, 1773–1835, African-American slave owned by Thomas Jefferson, b. Charles City co., Va.; her original name was probably Sarah. Her father was John Wayles, Jefferson's…
(Encyclopedia) Waters, Muddy, 1915–83, African-American blues singer and guitarist, b. Rolling Fork, Miss., as McKinley Morganfield. As a teenager he began singing and playing traditional country…
(Encyclopedia) Carter, Angela, 1940–92, English writer. She was a newspaper reporter before studying at the Univ. of Bristol (B.A., 1965), where she explored medieval literature, Freud, surrealism,…
(Encyclopedia) Blitzstein, Marc (Marcus Samuel Blitzstein), 1905–64, American composer, pianist, and librettist, b. Philadelphia. After attending the Univ. of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of…
Many children have written books that have been published. One of the first we know about is Francis Hawkins. In 1641, when he was 8 years old, he wrote a book of manners for children called Youth…
