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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 ...

Arthur III

(Encyclopedia)Arthur III, 1394–1458, duke of Brittany (1457–58), known before 1457 as comte de Richemont, constable of France in the Hundred Years War. He led the coalition that overthrew Georges de La Trémoil...

Takoma Park

(Encyclopedia)Takoma Park təkōˈmə [key], city (1990 pop. 16,700), Montgomery and Prince Georges counties, W central Md., a residential suburb of Washington, D.C.; inc. 1890. It is the international headquarters...

Payer, Julius von

(Encyclopedia)Payer, Julius von pīˈər [key], 1842–1915, Austrian explorer and painter. While on an expedition (1872–74) to navigate the Northeast Passage with Karl Weyprecht, Payer accidentally found Franz J...

La Harpe, Jean François de

(Encyclopedia)La Harpe, Jean François de lä ärp [key], 1739–1803, French critic. He was the author of the monumental Cours de littérature ancienne et moderne, lectures he delivered after his appointment (178...

Le Clézio, Jean-Marie Gustave

(Encyclopedia)Le Clézio, Jean-Marie Gustave, 1940–, French novelist, b. Nice, grad. Univ. of Nice (L. ès L., 1963), Univ. of Aix-en-Provence (M.A., 1964), Univ. of Perpignan (D. ès L., 1983). He spent much of ...

Michel, Charles Yves Jean Ghislaine

(Encyclopedia)Michel, Charles Yves Jean Ghislaine, 1975–, Belgian political leader, b. Namur, grad. Free Univ. of Brussels and Univ. of Amsterdam (1998). A French-speaking Liberal, he served (1994–99) on the Wa...

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