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Münch, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Münch, Charles shärl münsh [key], 1891–1968, French conductor and violinist, b. Alsace. Having conducted and directed orchestras in Paris (1933–48), Münch appeared for three seasons from 1947 ...

Labille-Guiard, Adélaide

(Encyclopedia)Labille-Guiard, Adélaide ädāläēdˈ läbēˈyə-gēärˈ [key], 1749–1803, French painter. Labille-Guiard was a painter of the French nobility before the Revolution and survived to paint the cit...

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...

Saint-Denis, city, Réunion

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Denis, city (1990 pop. 122,875), capital of the French overseas department of Réunion. It is a port on the Indian Ocean at the mouth of the St.-Denis River and exports sugar and rum. St.-Denis ...

Raffet, Denis Auguste Marie

(Encyclopedia)Raffet, Denis Auguste Marie dənēˈ ōgüstˈ märēˈ räfāˈ [key], 1804–60, French lithographer and illustrator; student of Charlet and of Gros. He attained an individual style in his series de...

Beaujeu-Garnier, Jacqueline

(Encyclopedia)Beaujeu-Garnier, Jacqueline zhäklēnˈ bōzhöˈ-gärnyāˈ [key], 1917–95, French geographer. A professor of geography at the Sorbonne, she was the author of several texts, including Urban Geograp...

Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de

(Encyclopedia)Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de də bälzäkˈ [key], 1597?–1654, French writer. His Lettres (1624, tr. 1634) and other writings were a great influence in reforming French prose. Their style was marked ...

Schoelcher, Victor

(Encyclopedia)Schoelcher, Victor vēktôrˈ shölshĕrˈ [key], 1804–93, French humanitarian and statesman. Long involved in the abolition movement, he presided (1848) over a commission that secured the abolition...

Bart, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Bart, Jean zhäN bär [key], 1650–1702, French naval hero, b. Dunkirk. Of a seafaring family, he enlisted in the Dutch navy but entered French service as a privateer at the outbreak of the Dutch War...

Gautier, Émile Félix

(Encyclopedia)Gautier, Émile Félix āmēlˈ fālēksˈ gōtyāˈ [key], 1864–1940, French geographer, an authority on Algiers, the Sahara, and the French African possessions. He explored W Madagascar (1892–94...