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Kuban

(Encyclopedia)Kuban ko͞obănˈ, –bänˈ, Rus. ko͞obäˈnyə [key], river, c.570 mi (920 km) long, rising in the Greater Caucasus on the western slopes of Mt. Elbrus, S European Russia, and flowing north in a wi...

Kazan

(Encyclopedia)Kazan kəzänˈ, –zănˈ, Rus. kəzäˈnyə [key], city (1989 est. pop. 1,094,000), capital of Tatarstan, E European Russia, on the Volga. It is a major historic, cultural, industrial, and commercia...

Condé, French family

(Encyclopedia)Condé kôNdāˈ [key], family name of a cadet branch of the French royal house of Bourbon. The name was first borne by Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé, 1530–69, Protestant leader and general. ...

Poland, partitions of

(Encyclopedia)Poland, partitions of. The basic causes leading to the three successive partitions (1772, 1793, 1795) that eliminated Poland from the map were the decay and the internal disunity of Poland and the eme...

Réjane

(Encyclopedia)Réjane rāzhänˈ [key], 1857–1920, stage name of Gabrielle Réju, French actress. After her first success, in Meilhac's Ma Camarade (1883), she grew in reputation as a comedienne. She appeared in ...

Chomutov

(Encyclopedia)Chomutov khôˈmo͞otôf [key], Ger. Komotau, city, NW Czech Republic, near the German border...

Poissy, Colloquy of

(Encyclopedia)Poissy, Colloquy of pwäsēˈ [key], 1561, conference of Roman Catholic prelates and Protestant ministers, initiated by Catherine de' Medici and Michel de L'Hôpital in the hope of bringing about a pe...

Guise

(Encyclopedia)Guise gēz, gwēz [key], influential ducal family of France. Henri's brother Louis de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise, 1555–88, was killed at the same time as Henri. After their deaths the leadersh...

Tassie, James

(Encyclopedia)Tassie, James, 1735–99, Scottish gem engraver and modeler. At first a stonemason, he went to Dublin, where he assisted the gem engraver Dr. Henry Quin. With him Tassie invented an especially hard an...

Clive, Kitty

(Encyclopedia)Clive, Kitty (Catherine Raftor), 1711–85, English singer and actress. She made her debut (c.1728) at Drury Lane under the management of Colley Cibber and worked for many years with David Garrick, wi...