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de Klerk, F. W.

(Encyclopedia)de Klerk, F. W. (Frederik Willem de Klerk)frd´rk vl´m d klûrk´ [key], 1936–, South African statesman, president of South Africa (1989–94). Holding ministerial posts from 1978, he b...

Botha, Pieter Willem

(Encyclopedia)Botha, Pieter Willem p´tr vl´m b´t [key], 1916–2006, South African political leader. An Afrikaner and a member of the right-wing National party, he first entered parliament in 1948. B...

Quine, W. V.

(Encyclopedia)Quine, W. V. (Willard Van Orman Quine)kwn [key], 1908–2000, American philosopher and mathematical logician, b. Akron, Ohio, grad. Oberlin, 1930. He studied at Harvard (Ph.D., 1932) under Alfred No...

Anstey, F.

(Encyclopedia)Anstey, F., pseud. of Thomas Anstey Guthrie, 1856–1934, English author. He relinquished his law practice to write humorous fiction. His best and most successful works are marked by an atmosphere of ...

Fitzgerald, F. Scott

(Encyclopedia)Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald), 1896–1940, American novelist and short-story writer, b. St. Paul, Minn. He is ranked among the great American writers of the 20th cent. Fitzgeral...

Yeats, W. B.

(Encyclopedia)Yeats, W. B. (William Butler Yeats), 1865–1939, Irish poet and playwright, b. Dublin. The greatest lyric poet Ireland has produced and one of the major figures of 20th-century literature, Yeats was ...

Merwin, W. S.

(Encyclopedia)Merwin, W. S. (William Stanley Merwin), 1927–2019, American poet and translator, b. New York City. After graduating from Princeton in 1948, he traveled in Europe, working as a tutor and studying Rom...

F. P. A.

(Encyclopedia)F. P. A.: see Adams, Franklin Pierce.

Husain, M. F.

(Encyclopedia)Husain, M. F. (Maqbool Fida Husain), 1915–2011, Indian painter. Often called the Picasso of India, he is known for brightly colored modernist paintings of mythical and religious figures. Although a ...

Czolgosz, Leon F.

(Encyclopedia)Czolgosz, Leon F. chl´gsh [key], c.1873–1901, American anarchist, b. Detroit, Mich. He shot and killed William McKinley in Buffalo on Sept. 6, 1901, saying that the President was an enemy of go...