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Hulagu Khan

(Encyclopedia)Hulagu Khan ho͞oläˈgo͞o khän [key], 1217–65, Mongol conqueror, grandson of Jenghiz Khan. His brother Mangu, grand khan of the Mongols, directed him to quell a revolt in Persia. In 1256, in the ...

Björling, Jussi

(Encyclopedia)Björling, Jussi yo͞osˈsĭ byörˈlĭng [key], 1911–60, Swedish tenor. He studied at the Royal Opera School in Stockholm, making his debut there in 1930 as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He...

Metastasio, Pietro

(Encyclopedia)Metastasio, Pietro pyĕˈtrō mātästäˈzēō [key], 1698–1782, Italian poet and librettist, whose original name was Antonio Bonaventura Trapassi. A prodigy at poetic improvisation, he became cour...

Giacosa, Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Giacosa, Giuseppe jo͞ozĕpˈpā jäkôˈzä [key], 1847–1906, Italian dramatic poet. After Una partita a scacchi [a game of chess] (1873) won him his first success, he devoted himself to playwritin...

Miyazaki, Hayao

(Encyclopedia)Miyazaki, Hayao mēyäˈzäˌkē [key], 1941–, Japanese animator. Japan's preeminent maker of animated films (anime), Miyazaki is thought by many to be the world's finest living animator. He draws, ...

French architecture

(Encyclopedia)French architecture, structures created in the area of Europe that is now France. Engineers and architects, including François Hennebique, Auguste Perret, and Tony Garnier, pioneered the use of rei...

Nono, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Nono, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē nôˈnō [key], 1924–90, Italian composer, b. Venice. Nono studied with Hermann Scherchen and Bruno Maderna. He adopted the twelve-tone method of composition (see serial mus...

Rossetti, Gabriele

(Encyclopedia)Rossetti, Gabriele rōsĕtˈē [key], 1783–1854, Italian poet and critic; father of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and of Christina Rossetti. Exiled in 1821, he fled first to Malta, where he stayed for thr...

Pazzi conspiracy

(Encyclopedia)Pazzi conspiracy pätˈtsē [key], 1478, plot against Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo il Magnifico) and his brother Giuliano, designed to end the hegemony of the Medici in the Florentine state and to enla...

Caccini, Francesca

(Encyclopedia)Caccini, Francesca fränchĕsˈkä kät-chēˈnē [key] b. 1587, d. after 1641, Italian composer and singer, known as La Cecchina; daughter of Giulio Caccini. For most of her career she was a musician...