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Masaryk, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Masaryk, Jan yän mäˈsärĭk [key], 1886–1948, Czechoslovak diplomat, son of Thomas G. Masaryk. He was (1925–38) Czechoslovak minister to Great Britain, and in London he became (1940) foreign mi...

Koirala, Girija Prasad

(Encyclopedia)Koirala, Girija Prasad gĭrēˈjə präsädˈ koiräˈlä [key], 1925–2010, Nepalese political leader. He grew up in N India, where his family lived in exile. He helped found the Nepal Trade Union C...

Murat, Joachim

(Encyclopedia)Murat, Joachim zhōäshăNˈ müräˈ [key], 1767–1815, marshal of France, king of Naples (1808–15). He left his theological studies to enter the army and fought in Egypt under Napoleon, whom he h...

Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani

(Encyclopedia)Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, 1952–, emir of Qatar (1995–2013). The son of Emir Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, Hamad is credited with having turned a country of desert nomads into a modern, industriali...

Dickinson, Edwin Walter

(Encyclopedia)Dickinson, Edwin Walter, 1891–1978, American painter, b. Seneca Falls, N.Y. He studied in New York City with William Merritt Chase, and spent most of his life on Cape Cod. Working during the moderni...

Diem, Ngo Dinh

(Encyclopedia)Diem, Ngo Dinh nō dĭn dyĕm [key], 1901–63, president of South Vietnam (1955–63). A member of an influential Roman Catholic family, he was a civil servant before World War II and was connected w...

Siles Zuazo, Hernán

(Encyclopedia)Siles Zuazo, Hernán ārnänˈ sēˈlās swäˈsō [key], 1914–96, president of Bolivia (1956–60, 1982–85). The illegitimate son of Hernando Siles Reyes (president of Bolivia, 1926–30) and an ...

Nimeiri, Muhammed Jaafar al-

(Encyclopedia)Nimeiri or Nimeiry, Muhammed Jaafar al- mo͞ohämˈmäd jäfärˈ äl-nĭmārˈē [key], 1930–, Sudanese army officer and politician. Early active in the Sudanese nationalist movement, he was tempor...

Niyazov, Saparmurat

(Encyclopedia)Niyazov, Saparmurat säpärˈmo͞orätˌ nēyäˈzôf [key], 1940–2006, Soviet and Turkmen political leader, president of Turkmenistan (1991–2006). An engineer and member of the Communist party, h...

Somoza, Anastasio

(Encyclopedia)Somoza, Anastasio änästäˈsyō sōmōˈsä [key], 1896–1956, president of Nicaragua (1937–47, 1950–56). After the end (1933) of U.S. military intervention in Nicaragua, he rose to power as he...