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Caylus, Marie Marguerite, comtesse de

(Encyclopedia)Caylus, Marie Marguerite, comtesse de kālüsˈ [key], 1673–1729, French writer and actress. A noted beauty and wit, she was lauded for her performance at Saint-Cyr in Racine's Esther. Her Souvenir...

Bancroft, Marie Effie Wilton, Lady

(Encyclopedia)Bancroft, Marie Effie Wilton, Lady, 1839–1921, English actress and manager. She made her debut (1856) at the Lyceum Theatre, London, and in 1865 became joint manager of the Prince of Wales's Theatre...

Verhofstadt, Guy Maurice Marie-Louise

(Encyclopedia)Verhofstadt, Guy Maurice Marie-Louise, 1953–, Belgian political leader, prime minister of Belgium (1999–2008). A lawyer and member of the Flemish Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV; from 1991 the...

Haya de la Torre, Víctor Raúl

(Encyclopedia)Haya de la Torre, Víctor Raúl vēkˈtôr räo͞olˈ äˈyä dā lä tôˈrĕ [key], 1895–1979, Peruvian political leader, founder of the APRA party. Although he never held power and spent much of ...

Laura

(Encyclopedia)Laura, subject of the love poems of Petrarch. She is thought to be Laura de Noves (1308?–1348), wife of Hugo de Sade, but this has not been proved. ...

Humbert I

(Encyclopedia)Humbert I, 1844–1900, king of Italy (1878–1900), son and successor of Victor Emmanuel II. A soldier by training, Humbert showed interest primarily in military affairs and foreign policy, and early...

Choiseul, César, comte Du Plessis-Praslin, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Choiseul, César, comte Du Plessis-Praslin, duc de sāzärˈ kôNt dü plĕsē-prälăNˈ dük də shwäzölˈ [key], 1598–1675, marshal of France, diplomat, and soldier. He served as ambassador to ...

Ponchielli, Amilcare

(Encyclopedia)Ponchielli, Amilcare ämēlkäˈrā pōngkyĕlˈlē [key], 1834–86, Italian composer of several very successful operas. Only La Gioconda (1876), with libretto by Boito after Hugo's Angelo, is still ...

Le Vau, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Le Vau, Louis lwē lə vō [key], 1612–70, French architect, involved in most of the important building projects for Louis XIV. He settled on the Île Saint-Louis, where he built his own house and t...

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