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Orléans, Louis, duc d'

(Encyclopedia)Orléans, Louis, duc d' dük dôrlāäNˈ [key], 1372–1407, brother of King Charles VI of France, whose chief counselor he was from 1388 to 1392. After 1392, when Charles VI suffered his first atta...

Robespierre, Maximilien Marie Isidore

(Encyclopedia)Robespierre, Maximilien Marie Isidore mäksēmēlyăNˈ märēˈ ēzēdôrˈ rôbĕspyĕrˈ [key], 1758–94, one of the leading figures of the French Revolution. The law of 22 Prairial (June 10) ...

Parrington, Vernon Louis

(Encyclopedia)Parrington, Vernon Louis, 1871–1929, American literary historian and scholar, b. Aurora, Ill. His cultural interpretation of American literature was an expression of his belief in democratic idealis...

Blanqui, Louis Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Blanqui, Louis Auguste lwē ôgüstˈ [key], 1805–81, French revolutionary and radical thinker. While a student in Paris, he joined (1824) a branch of the Carbonari, a revolutionary secret society; ...

Gresset, Jean Baptiste Louis

(Encyclopedia)Gresset, Jean Baptiste Louis zhäN bätēstˈ lwē grĕsāˈ [key], 1709–77, French poet and dramatist. He was the author of a mock epic, Vairvert (1734), and of a successful comedy, Le Méchant (17...

Hérold, Louis Joseph Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Hérold, Louis Joseph Ferdinand lwē zhôzĕfˈ fĕrdēnäNˈ ārôldˈ [key], 1791–1833, French composer. He composed a number of operas, two of which—Zampa (1831) and Le Pré aux clercs (1832)�...

Verhofstadt, Guy Maurice Marie-Louise

(Encyclopedia)Verhofstadt, Guy Maurice Marie-Louise, 1953–, Belgian political leader, prime minister of Belgium (1999–2008). A lawyer and member of the Flemish Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV; from 1991 the...

Roland de la Platière, Jeanne Manon Philipon

(Encyclopedia)Roland de la Platière, Jeanne Manon Philipon (Mme Roland) rôläNˈ də lä plätyĕrˈ [key], 1754–93, French revolutionary. Imbued with classical ideals and with the philosophy of Rousseau, she ...

La Tour, Maurice Quentin de

(Encyclopedia)La Tour, Maurice Quentin de də lä to͞or [key], 1704–88, French portraitist working in pastel. From 1737 to 1773 he exhibited at the Salon portraits of considerable technical virtuosity and psych...

Coligny, Gaspard de Châtillon, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Coligny, Gaspard de Châtillon, comte de gäspärˈ də shätēyôNˈ kôNt də kōlēnyēˈ [key], 1519–72, French Protestant leader. A nephew of Anne, duc de Montmorency, he came to the French cou...