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Marcel, Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Marcel, Gabriel märsĕlˈ [key] 1889–1973, French philosopher, dramatist, and critic, b. Paris. A leading Christian existentialist, he became a Roman Catholic in 1929. He called himself a “concr...

Darío, Rubén

(Encyclopedia)Darío, Rubén ro͞obĕnˈ därēˈō [key], 1867–1916, Nicaraguan poet, originally named Félix Rubén García Sarmiento. A child prodigy, he gained a thorough knowledge of Spanish and French cultu...

Préval, René Garcia

(Encyclopedia)Préval, René Garcia rənāˈ gärsēäˈ prāvälˈ [key] 1943–2017, Haitian political leader, president (1996–2001; 2006–11) of Haiti. Préval's family went into exile (1963) during the Duval...

Whittington, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Whittington, Richard, 1358–1423, English merchant and lord mayor of London. He made his fortune as a mercer and then entered London politics to become successively councilman, alderman, sheriff, and...

Mithra

(Encyclopedia)Mithra mĭthˈrə [key], ancient god of Persia and India (where he was called Mitra). Until the 6th cent. b.c., Mithra was apparently a minor figure in the Zoroastrian system. Under the Achaemenids, M...

Khoikhoi

(Encyclopedia)Khoikhoi koiˈkoiˌ [key], people numbering about 55,000 mainly in Namibia and in W South Africa. The Khoikhoi have been called Hottentots by whites in South Africa. In language and in physical type t...

Almeida, Francisco de

(Encyclopedia)Almeida, Francisco de dĭ älmāˈdə [key], c.1450–1510, Portuguese admiral, first viceroy of Portuguese India. He was first sent to India in 1503 as captain major of a fleet and helped Portuguese...

Cowper, William

(Encyclopedia)Cowper, William ko͞oˈpər, kouˈ– [key], 1731–1800, English poet. Physically and emotionally unfit for the professional life, he was admitted to the bar but never practiced. After a battle with ...

Chronicles

(Encyclopedia)Chronicles, two books of the Bible, originally a single work in the Hebrew canon (the final book of that canon), called First and Second Chronicles in the Authorized Version, and called First and Seco...

Ferdinand, czar of Bulgaria

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand, 1861–1948, czar of Bulgaria (1908–18), after being ruling prince (1887–1908). A grandnephew of Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, he was chosen prince of Bulgaria after the enforced abdic...