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Chernomyrdin, Viktor Stepanovich

(Encyclopedia)Chernomyrdin, Viktor Stepanovich vyēkˈtôr styĭpänˈəvyĭch chərˌnōmĭrˈdən [key], 1938–2010, Soviet and Russian government official. Beginning in 1957, he held positions in the Soviet nat...

Jenkins of Hillhead, Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Jenkins of Hillhead, Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron, 1920–2003, British politician, b. Abersychan, Wales; grad. Oxford. He entered the House of Commons in 1948 as a Labour member and soon became one of t...

national assembly

(Encyclopedia)national assembly, name of a number of past and present constituent or legislative bodies. In France, under the constitutions of the Fourth and Fifth republics, the lower house of parliament has been ...

Myrdal, Gunnar

(Encyclopedia)Myrdal, Gunnar mĭrˈdäl, Swed. mürˈdäl [key], 1898–1987, Swedish economist, sociologist, and public official; husband of Alva Myrdal. A graduate (1927) of the Univ. of Stockholm, he became lec...

Laski, Harold Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Laski, Harold Joseph lăsˈkē [key], 1893–1950, British political scientist, economist, author, and lecturer. A graduate of New College, Oxford, he taught at McGill Univ. (1914–16) and Harvard (1...

Leacock, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Leacock, Richard, 1921–2011, Anglo-American filmmaker, b. London. A key figure in the development of cinéma vérité, he also helped create the camera and sound equipment that made the style possib...

Wang Mang

(Encyclopedia)Wang Mang wäng mäng [key], 45 b.c.–a.d. 23, Chinese Han dynasty regent who usurped the throne and ruled (a.d. 8–23) as emperor of the Hsin [new] court, carrying out many reforms. Although he por...

Caldera Rodríguez, Rafael Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Caldera Rodríguez, Rafael Antonio räfäĕlˈ käldāˈrä rôᵺrēˈgās [key], 1916–2009, president of Venezuela (1969–74, 1994–99). A lawyer and professor of sociology, he was first elected...

Strauss-Kahn, Dominique Gaston André

(Encyclopedia)Strauss-Kahn, Dominique Gaston André dōmēnēkˈ gästôNˈ äNdrāˈ sträs-känˈ [key], 1949–, French economist, lawyer, and politician , b. Neuilly, Ph.D. Univ. of Paris, 1975. A lecturer and ...

relapsing fever

(Encyclopedia)relapsing fever, infectious disease caused by a spirochete bacteria of the genus Borrelia and characterized by a high fever that breaks and then recurs a one to two weeks later. Relapsing fever may be...