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Marie Leszczynska

(Encyclopedia)Marie Leszczynska lĕshchĭnˈskə [key], 1703–68, queen of France, wife of Louis XV, and daughter of Stanislaus I of Poland. Married in 1725, she bore 10 children and was the grandmother of Louis X...

Marie Caroline

(Encyclopedia)Marie Caroline, 1752–1814, queen of Naples, consort of Ferdinand IV (later Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies), daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa, and sister of Queen Marie Ant...

Notre Dame, University of

(Encyclopedia)Notre Dame, University of nōˈtər dām, nōˈtrə [key], at Notre Dame, Ind., near South Bend; Roman Catholic; coeducational; est. and opened 1842, chartered 1844. It has a noted law school and comp...

Dench, Dame Judi

(Encyclopedia)Dench, Dame Judi jo͞oˈdē dĕnch [key], 1934–, British actress, b. York, England, as Judith Olivia Dench. She studied at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, London, made her de...

Smith, Dame Maggie

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Dame Maggie (Dame Margaret Natalie Cross), 1934–, English actress. Smith first appeared on stage in Twelfth Night (1952). With her precise, sometimes rapid-fire, articulation and her meticulo...

Notre Dame Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Notre Dame Mountains, section of the Appalachian system, extending c.500 mi (800 km) from the Green Mts. of Vermont into the Gaspé Peninsula, Canada. Worn low by erosion, the ancient mountains have a...

Te Kanawa, Dame Kiri

(Encyclopedia)Te Kanawa, Dame Kiri tā käˈnəwə [key], 1944–, New Zealand opera and concert singer. From the early 1970s until her last public performance (2016), she was one of the most acclaimed and popular ...

Smyth, Dame Ethel Mary

(Encyclopedia)Smyth, Dame Ethel Mary smīth [key], 1858–1944, English composer, studied at the Leipzig Conservatory. In addition to her many songs and chamber music she wrote operas, including The Wreckers (1906)...

Sutherland, Dame Joan

(Encyclopedia)Sutherland, Dame Joan, 1926–2010, Australian coloratura soprano and one of the most famous singers of the 20th cent. Sutherland studied in her hometown of Sydney, where she made her concert debut (1...

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