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Proust, Marcel

(Encyclopedia)Proust, Marcel pro͞ost [key], 1871–1922, French novelist, b. Paris. He is one of the great literary figures of the modern age. Born to wealthy bourgeois parents, he suffered delicate health as a c...

division of labor

(Encyclopedia)division of labor, in economics, the specialization of the functions and roles involved in production. Division of labor is closely tied with the standardization of production, the introduction and pe...

Crazy Horse

(Encyclopedia)Crazy Horse, d. 1877, war chief of the Oglala Sioux. He was a prominent leader in the Sioux resistance to white encroachment in the mineral-rich Black Hills. When Crazy Horse and his people refused to...

Conrad, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Conrad, Joseph, 1857–1924, English novelist, b. Berdichev, Russia (now Berdychiv, Ukraine), originally named Jósef Teodor Konrad Walecz Korzeniowski. Born of Polish parents, he is considered one of...

Ellington, Duke

(Encyclopedia)Ellington, Duke (Edward Kennedy Ellington), 1899–1974, American jazz musician and composer, b. Washington, D.C. Ellington made his first professional appearance as a jazz pianist in 1916. By 1918 he...

Irwin, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Irwin, Robert, 1928–, American painter and sculptor, b. Long Beach, Calif. Irwin was one of the founders of the California-based Light and Space movement. Early in his career, he painted in the abst...

Gompers, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Gompers, Samuel gŏmˈpərz [key], 1850–1924, American labor leader, b. London. He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1863. He worked as a cigar maker and in 1864 joined the local un...

Lee, Harper

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Harper (Nelle Harper Lee), 1926–2016, American novelist, b. Monroeville, Ala. A member of an old Southern family and related to Robert E. Lee, she was a lifelong friend of Truman Capote. Lee at...

Lange, Dorothea

(Encyclopedia)Lange, Dorothea, 1895–1965, American photographer, b. Hoboken, N.J. as Dorothea Nutzhorn, adopted her mother's maiden name in her twenties. From 1916 until 1932, Lange operated a portrait studio in ...

Bradbury, Ray

(Encyclopedia)Bradbury, Ray (Raymond Douglas Bradbury) brădˈbĕrˌē, –bərē [key], 1920–2012, American writer, b. Waukegan, Ill. A popular and prolific writer of science fiction who did much to bring the ge...