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Durrell, Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Durrell, Lawrence dŭˈrəl, dûrˈəl [key], 1912–90, British author, b. India, of Irish parents. Durrell traveled widely, often serving in diplomatic positions; most of his works are set in exotic...

William of Occam

(Encyclopedia)William of Occam or Ockham both: ŏkˈəm [key], c.1285–c.1349, English scholastic philosopher. A Franciscan, Occam studied and taught at Oxford from c.1310 until 1324, when he was summoned to the p...

artificial languages

(Encyclopedia)artificial languages, languages that are invented by one or more human beings as opposed to languages that develop naturally among peoples. Examples of artificial languages are Volapük, Esperanto, an...

Micaëlis de Vasconcelos, Carolina

(Encyclopedia)Micaëlis de Vasconcelos, Carolina kärōlēˈnä mēkäāˈlĭs dĭ väshˌko͝onsĕlˈo͝osh [key], 1851–1925, Portuguese scholar, b. Berlin. As a youth she gained a considerable reputation as a R...

Malherbe, François de

(Encyclopedia)Malherbe, François de fräNswäˈ də mälĕrbˈ [key], 1555–1628, French poet and critic, official poet of Henry IV and Louis XIII. His own poems approach technical perfection but lack verve and f...

Kölcsey, Ferenc

(Encyclopedia)Kölcsey, Ferenc fĕˈrĕnts kölˈchĕĭ [key], 1790–1838, Hungarian writer and orator. A student of the Enlightenment, he aided his friend Krasiński in a reform of the Hungarian language, investi...

Krylov, Ivan Andreyevich

(Encyclopedia)Krylov, Ivan Andreyevich ēvänˈ əndrāˈəvĭch krĭlôfˈ [key], 1769–1844, Russian fabulist. Some of his more than 200 fables were adapted from Aesop and La Fontaine, but most were original. A ...

Iguvine Tables

(Encyclopedia)Iguvine Tables ĭˈgyo͝ovĭn [key], several inscribed bronze tablets dating from the 1st and 2d cent. a.d., discovered in 1444 at Gubbio, Italy (the ancient Iguvium and later Eugubium). Most of them ...

Chase, Mary Ellen

(Encyclopedia)Chase, Mary Ellen, 1887–1973, American educator and writer, b. Blue Hill, Maine, grad. Univ. of Maine, 1909. Her works, set in Maine and excellent in their regional fidelity, include a biography and...

Andrews, Lorrin

(Encyclopedia)Andrews, Lorrin, 1795–1868, American missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, b. present-day Vernon, Conn., grad. Princeton Theological Seminary, 1825. He founded (1831) on Maui a training school for tea...