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Pousette-Dart, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Pousette-Dart, Richard, 1916–92, American painter, b. St. Paul, Minn. The son of an artist and a poet and largely self-taught, he was a member of the first generation of abstract expressionism. He l...

Francia, José Gaspar Rodríguez

(Encyclopedia)Francia, José Gaspar Rodríguez hōsāˈ gäspärˈ rōᵺrēˈgās fränˈsyä [key], 1766–1840, dictator of Paraguay and creator of its national independence, known as El Supremo. Incorruptible a...

Emin Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Emin Pasha āmēnˈ päˈshä [key], 1840–92, German explorer, whose original name was Eduard Schnitzer. A physician, he served (1876–78) under Gen. Charles Gordon in Sudan as a district medical o...

Pine Barrens

(Encyclopedia)Pine Barrens, coastal plain region, c.3,000 sq mi (7,770 sq km), S and SE N.J.; composed chiefly of sandy soils, swamp-edged streams, pine stands, and tracts of cranberries and blueberries. Originally...

Blake, Eubie

(Encyclopedia)Blake, Eubie (James Hubert Blake), 1887–1983, African-American pianist and composer, b. Baltimore. His career extended from ragtime (see jazz) to Broa...

Ovid

(Encyclopedia)Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) ŏvˈĭd [key], 43 b.c.–a.d. 18, Latin poet, b. Sulmo (present-day Sulmona), in the Apennines. Although trained for the law, he preferred the company of the literary cote...

Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett

(Encyclopedia)Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett ămˈbrōz gwĭnĕtˈ bĭrs [key], 1842–1914?, American satirist, journalist, and short-story writer, b. Meigs co., Ohio. He fought with extreme bravery in the Civil War, and...

Niebuhr, Reinhold

(Encyclopedia)Niebuhr, Reinhold rīnˈhōld nēˈbo͝or [key], 1892–1971, American religious and social thinker, b. Wright City, Mo. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he served (1915–28) as pastor of Bethel E...

Constable, John

(Encyclopedia)Constable, John, 1776–1837, English painter, b. Suffolk. Constable and Turner were the leading figures in English landscape painting of the 19th cent. Constable became famous for his landscapes of S...

Foucault, Michel

(Encyclopedia)Foucault, Michel, 1926–84, French philosopher and historian. He was professor at the Collège de France (1970–84). He is renowned for historical studies that reveal the sometimes morally disturbin...