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Desmarets, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Desmarets, Nicolas nēkôläˈ dāmärāˈ [key], 1648–1721, French statesman; the nephew of Jean Baptiste Colbert. He became director of finances in 1703 and succeeded Michel Chamillart as controll...

Jean de Meun

(Encyclopedia)Jean de Meun zhäN də möN [key], d. 1305, French poet, also known as Jean Chopinel (or Clopinel) of Meung-sur-Loire. He wrote the second part of the Roman de la Rose and made translations from Latin...

Chateaubriand, François René, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Chateaubriand, François René, vicomte de fräNswäˈ rənāˈ vēkôNtˈ də shätōbrēäNˈ [key], 1768–1848, French writer. Chateaubriand was a founder of romanticism in French literature. Of n...

Restif de la Bretonne, Nicolas Edme

(Encyclopedia)Restif de la Bretonne, Nicolas Edme nëkôläˈ ĕdˈmə rĕstēfˈ də lä brətônˈ [key], 1734–1806, French novelist. A printer by trade, he wrote and published over 250 novels, mostly based on ...

Casimir-Perier, Jean Paul Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Casimir-Perier, Jean Paul Pierre zhäN pōl pyĕr käzēmērˈ-pĕryāˈ [key], 1847–1907, French president (June, 1894–Jan., 1895). He held several cabinet posts before serving as premier in 1893...

Labadie, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)Labadie, Jean de, or Jean de la Badie both: zhäN də lä bädēˈ [key], 1610–74, French mystic, founder of the Labadists, a quietist sect. He had been a Roman Catholic priest, but c.1650 he embrac...

de Kruif, Paul

(Encyclopedia)de Kruif, Paul də krīf [key], 1890–1971, American author, b. Zeeland, Mich., grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.S., 1912). He was bacteriologist at the university from 1912 to 1917. Among his books are Mi...

Rotrou, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)Rotrou, Jean de zhäN də rôtro͞oˈ [key], 1609–50, French dramatist. One of the Cinq auteurs, five playwrights commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu, Rotrou wrote many plays, including the noble and...

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