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Prior, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Prior, Matthew, 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat, b. Wimborne, Dorset. With his appointment as secretary to the embassy at The Hague during the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Ryswick (169...

Joinville, Jean, sire de

(Encyclopedia)Joinville, Jean, sire de zhäN sēr də zhwăNvēlˈ [key], 1224?–1317?, French chronicler, biographer of Louis IX of France (St. Louis). As seneschal (governor) of Champagne, Joinville was a close ...

Lapointe, Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Lapointe, Ernest läpwăNtˈ [key], 1876–1941, Canadian political leader, b. Quebec prov. A lawyer, he was from 1904 to 1941 a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons. After the death of Wil...

Eliasson, Olafur

(Encyclopedia)Eliasson, Olafur, 1967–, Danish sculptor, architect, and installation artist. His work is influenced by nature and natural phenomena. Early works involved frozen water droplets, electric fans, and s...

Kidder, Alfred Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Kidder, Alfred Vincent, 1885–1963, American archaeologist, b. Marquette, Mich., grad. Harvard (B.A. 1908; Ph.D. 1914). From 1915 to 1929 he conducted excavations at Pecos, N.Mex., for the Phillips A...

Cassian, John

(Encyclopedia)Cassian, John kăshˈən [key] (Johannes Cassianus), 360–435, an Eastern Christian monk and theologian who brought Eastern spirituality to the West. Cassian toured the ascetic monastic settlements o...

Teniers, David

(Encyclopedia)Teniers, David tənērzˈ, tĕnˈyərz, Flemish tĕnērsˈ [key], the elder, 1582–1649, Flemish painter. He spent many years in Rome. Works attributed to him have often been confused with the early ...

van Zweden, Jaap

(Encyclopedia)van Zweden, Jaap yäp vän zvāˈdĕn [key], 1960–, Dutch conductor and violonist, b. Amsterdam. An accomplished violonist, he was appointed concertmaster of Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestr...

Porter, Horace

(Encyclopedia)Porter, Horace, 1837–1921, American soldier and diplomat, b. Huntingdon, Pa. In the Civil War he saw varied service, mostly as an ordnance officer, before becoming (1864) aide-de-camp to Gen. U. S. ...

Baker, Newton Diehl

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Newton Diehl, 1871–1937, U.S. Secretary of War (1916–21), b. Martinsburg, W.Va. He practiced law and politics in Cleveland as a protégé of Tom L. Johnson. As city solicitor (1902–12) he...