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Malus, Étienne Louis

(Encyclopedia)Malus, Étienne Louis ātyĕnˈ lwē mälüsˈ [key], 1775–1812, French artillery officer and physicist. In 1810 he stated his discovery of the polarization of light by reflection and published a me...

Liotard, Jean-Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Liotard, Jean-Étienne zhäN ātyĕnˈ lyôtärˈ [key], 1702–89, Swiss painter. He is best known for his portraits and drawings in pastel, but he also made portraits in oil, paintings on glass and ...

Dumont, Pierre Étienne Louis

(Encyclopedia)Dumont, Pierre Étienne Louis pyĕr ātyĕnˈ lwē dümôNˈ [key], 1759–1829, Swiss jurist and political writer. Dumont knew Mirabeau well and wrote many of his speeches. His Souvenirs sur Mirabeau...

Condillac, Étienne Bonnot de

(Encyclopedia)Condillac, Étienne Bonnot de ātyĕnˈ bônōˈ də kôNdēyäkˈ [key], 1715–80, French philosopher who developed the theory of sensationalism (i.e., that all knowledge comes from the senses and t...

Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Étienne ātyĕnˈ zhôfrwäˈ săNtēlĕrˈ [key], 1772–1844, French zoologist. He was professor at the Museum of Natural History (1793–1840) and also at the Faculty of Sc...

La Boétie, Étienne de

(Encyclopedia)La Boétie, Étienne de ātyĕnˈ də lä bôāsēˈ [key], 1530–63, French judge and writer. He served with Montaigne in the Bordeaux parlement and is immortalized in Montaigne's essay on friendshi...

Portalis, Jean Étienne Marie

(Encyclopedia)Portalis, Jean Étienne Marie zhäN ātyĕnˈ märēˈ pôrtälēsˈ [key], 1746–1807, French statesman and lawyer. A moderate, he was suspected of royalist sympathies during the French Revolution b...

Cartier, Sir Georges Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Cartier, Sir Georges Étienne zhôrzh ātyĕnˈ kärtyāˈ [key], 1814–73, Canadian statesman, b. Quebec prov. He was called to the bar of Lower Canada (Quebec) in 1835. He took part in the rebellio...

Taché, Sir Étienne Paschal

(Encyclopedia)Taché, Sir Étienne Paschal ātyĕnˈ päskälˈ täshāˈ [key], 1795–1865, Canadian statesman, b. Quebec prov. He fought with the British in the War of 1812 and then became a doctor. He entered (...

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