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Magellan, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Magellan, Ferdinand məjelˈən [key], Port. Fernão de Magalhães, Span. Fernando de Magallanes, c.1480–1521, Portuguese navigator who sailed for Portugal and Spain. Born of a noble family, he was ...

Magellan, Strait of

(Encyclopedia)Magellan, Strait of, c.330 mi (530 km) long and 21⁄2 to 15 mi (4–24 km) wide, separating South America from Tierra del Fuego and other islands south of the continent. Except for a few miles at its...

Gregorovius, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Gregorovius, Ferdinand grĕgərōˈvēəs, Ger. fĕrˈdēnänt grāˌgōrōˈvēo͝os [key], 1821–91, German historian. He spent many years in Rome, where he produced his authoritative History of th...

Brunetière, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Brunetière, Ferdinand fĕrdēnäNˈ brünətyĕrˈ [key], 1849–1906, French literary critic. An opponent of naturalism, he believed that literature should reflect a moral order. His vast learning i...

Tönnies, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Tönnies, Ferdinand fĕrˈdēnänt tönˈyəs [key], 1855–1936, German sociologist and political scientist. He is noted for his analysis of the distinction between the older form of spontaneous comm...

Bol, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Bol, Ferdinand fĕrˈdĭnänt bôl [key], 1616–80, Dutch painter. He studied with Rembrandt in Amsterdam, and his early work (e.g., Elizabeth Bas, Amsterdam) has sometimes been confused with that of...

Cohn, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Cohn, Ferdinand fĕrˈdĕnänt kōn [key], 1828–98, German botanist. He is considered a founder of the science of bacteriology. From his early studies of microscopic life he developed theories of th...

Freiligrath, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Freiligrath, Ferdinand fĕrˈdēnänt frīˈlĭkhrät [key], 1810–76, German poet. In 1844 he expressed radically liberal sentiments in his collection of political verse Ein Glaubensbekenntnis [a co...

Raimund, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Raimund, Ferdinand fĕrˈdēnänt rīˈmo͝ont [key], 1790–1836, Austrian actor and dramatist. From 1817 he was a popular comedian in Vienna, and in 1823 he began to produce his own plays. Raimund w...

Foch, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Foch, Ferdinand fĕrdēnäNˈ fôsh [key], 1851–1929, marshal of France. A professor at the École de Guerre, he later served (1908–11) as director of that institute. In World War I, he was respon...