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Rostropovich, Mstislav

(Encyclopedia)Rostropovich, Mstislav mĭsˈtĭslävˌ rŏsˌtrəpôˈvyĭch [key], 1927–2007, Russian cellist, pianist, and conductor. He made his cello debut in 1940 and his conducting debut in 1968, toured with...

Gulag

(Encyclopedia)Gulag, system of forced-labor prison camps in the USSR, from the Russian acronym [GULag] for the Main Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps, a department of the Soviet secret police (originally the Ch...

Marlinsky, Cossack

(Encyclopedia)Marlinsky, Cossack: see Bestuzhev, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich. ...

Lukács, György

(Encyclopedia)Lukács, György dyörˈdyə lo͞oˈkäch [key], 1885–1971, Hungarian writer, one of the foremost modern literary critics. Converted to Communism in 1918, Lukács served (1919) in the cabinet of Bé...

prelude

(Encyclopedia)prelude prāˈlo͞od [key], musical composition of no universal style, usually for the keyboard. It was originally used to precede a ceremony and later a second, often larger piece. Early preludes rep...

Thompson, William Boyce

(Encyclopedia)Thompson, William Boyce, 1869–1930, American financier, b. Virginia City, Mont. He operated silver and copper mines in Montana and Arizona before moving to New York City. He was (1914–19) a direct...

Ironside, William Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Ironside, William Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron, 1880–1959, British general. After serving with distinction in the South African War and World War I, he was chosen (1918) to command the Allied forces a...

Macdonald, Jacques Étienne Joseph Alexandre

(Encyclopedia)Macdonald, Jacques Étienne Joseph Alexandre zhäk ātyĕnˈzhôzĕfˈ älĕksäNˈdrə mäkdônälˈ [key], 1765–1840, marshal of France, of Scottish descent. He distinguished himself in the French...

Pavlovsk

(Encyclopedia)Pavlovsk pävˈləfsk [key], city (1989 pop. 25,500), NW Russia, a summer resort near St. Petersburg. Founded by Catherine the Great in 1777, it was named for Czar Paul I, for whose country estate it ...

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