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de Candolle, Augustin Pyrame

(Encyclopedia)de Candolle, Augustin Pyrame də käNdōlˈ [key], 1778–1841, Swiss botanist. Considered the most important Swiss botanist of his era, de Candolle wrote on a wide variety of botanical topics, from m...

Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin

(Encyclopedia)Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin shärl ōgüstăNˈ săNt-böv [key], 1804–69, French literary historian and critic. The first major professional literary critic, he developed the art of appreciating...

Cauchy, Augustin Louis, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Cauchy, Augustin Louis, Baron ōgüstăNˈ lwē bärôNˈ kōshēˈ [key], 1789–1857, French mathematician. He was professor simultaneously (1816–30) at the École polytechnique, the Sorbonne, and...

Cornu, Marie Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Cornu, Marie Alfred märēˈ älfrĕdˈ kôrnüˈ [key], 1841–1902, French physicist. From 1867 he was professor at the École polytechnique, Paris. He measured the velocity of light and made import...

Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de

(Encyclopedia)Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de pyĕr ōgüstăNˈ karôNˈ də bōmärshāˈ [key], 1732–99, French dramatist. Originally a watchmaker, he rose to wealth and position among the nobility. His...

Lannes, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Lannes, Jean zhäN län [key], 1769–1809, marshal of France. He fought under Napoleon Bonaparte (later Napoleon I) in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, supported his coup of 18 Brumaire, and disti...

Laffite, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Laffite, Jean zhäN läfētˈ [key], c.1780–1826?, leader of a band of privateers and smugglers. The name is often spelled Lafitte. He and his men began operating (1810) off the Baratarian coast S o...

Lalande, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Lalande, Jean (Saint John Lalande) zhäN läläNdˈ [key], d. 1646, French Jesuit missionary in Canada and New York, one of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America. He came to the New World in 1644. He ac...

Metzinger, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Metzinger, Jean zhäN mĕtsăNzhārˈ [key], 1883–1956, French painter and writer. With Gleizes he wrote Du cubisme (1912, tr. 1913), which presented the philosophical basis of the cubist aesthetic....

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