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Gropius, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Gropius, Walter välˈtər grōˈpēo͝os [key], 1883–1969, German-American architect, one of the leaders of modern functional architecture. In Germany his Fagus factory buildings (1910–11) at Alf...

Simon, Claude Eugène Henri

(Encyclopedia)Simon, Claude Eugène Henri, 1913–2005, French novelist. He was born in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and studied at Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge. He fought in World War II both as a soldier and later i...

Smollett, Tobias George

(Encyclopedia)Smollett, Tobias George smŏlˈĭt [key], 1721–71, Scottish novelist. After studying at Glasgow he came to London in 1739. Failing to get his tragedy The Regicide produced, he shipped as a surgeon's...

Wilson, Lanford

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Lanford, 1937–2011, American playwright, b. Lebanon, Mo. An important figure in modern drama, he was a master of earthy, realistic dialogue in which monologue, conversation, and direct addre...

Warren, Earl

(Encyclopedia)Warren, Earl, 1891–1974, American public official and 14th chief justice of the United States (1953–69), b. Los Angeles. He graduated from the Univ. of California Law School in 1912. Admitted (191...

Welty, Eudora

(Encyclopedia)Welty, Eudora, 1909–2001, American author, b. Jackson, Miss., grad. Univ. of Wisconsin, 1929. One of the important American regional writers of the 20th cent. and one of the finest short-story write...

Cavafy, Constantine

(Encyclopedia)Cavafy, Constantine kônˌstäntēˈnôs pāˈtro͞o käväˈfēs [key], 1863–1933, Greek poet. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, he spent most of his life there, but lived for about five years in England....

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna

(Encyclopedia)Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna blətvătˈskē [key], 1831–91, Russian theosophist and occultist. She was the daughter of a German named Hahn who had settled in Russia and who was distantly connected wi...

fashion

(Encyclopedia)fashion, in dress, the prevailing mode affecting modifications in costume. Styles in Asia have been characterized by freedom from change, and ancient Greek and Roman dress preserved the same flowing l...

Mafia

(Encyclopedia)Mafia mäˈfēä [key], name given to a number of organized groups of Sicilian brigands in the 19th and 20th cent. Unlike the Camorra in Naples, the Mafia had no hierarchic organization; each group op...