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Vanloo

(Encyclopedia)Vanloo väNlōˈ, vänlōˈ [key], family of French painters of Dutch origin. Jacob or Jacques Vanloo, 1614–70, b. Holland, went to Paris in 1662, where he had great success as a portrait painter. H...

Margaret of Navarre

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Navarre äNgo͞olāmˈ [key], 1492–1549, queen consort of Navarre; sister of King Francis I of France. After the death of her first husband she married (1527) Henri d'Albret, king of Nav...

Pierre, Abbé

(Encyclopedia)Pierre, Abbé äbāˈ pyĕr [key], 1912–2007, French priest and social activist, b. Lyons as Henri Antoine Grouès. Renouncing a wealthy inheritance to become a Capuchin monk in 1931, he left the mo...

Faguet, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Faguet, Émile āmēlˈ fägāˈ [key], 1847–1916, French literary critic and historian. His prolific studies stimulated interest in French intellectual history of the 17th, 18th, and 19th cent. His...

Flourens, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Flourens, Pierre (Marie Jean Pierre Flourens) pyĕr flo͞oräNsˈ [key], 1794–1867, French physiologist. He demonstrated the respiratory center in the medulla and the function of the cerebellum in m...

Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de zhäN bätēstˈ, kôNt də rôshaNbōˈ [key], 1725–1807, marshal of France. He took part in the wars of King Louis XV and had been promoted t...

Bollandists

(Encyclopedia)Bollandists bŏlˈəndĭsts [key], group of Jesuits in Belgium, named for their early leader, Jean Bolland, a Flemish Jesuit of the 17th cent. They were charged by the Holy See with compiling an autho...

undine

(Encyclopedia)undine əndēnˈ, ŭnˈdēn [key], in folklore, female water sprite who could acquire a soul by marrying a human being. If, however, her lover proved unfaithful, she had to return to the sea. The lege...

French art

(Encyclopedia)French art, the artistic production of the region that constitutes the historic nation of France. See also French architecture. The innovations of postimpressionism, combined with the influence of C...

Weygand, Maxime

(Encyclopedia)Weygand, Maxime mäksēmˈ vāgäNˈ [key], 1867–1965, French general, b. Belgium. A career army officer, he was (1914–23) chief of staff to Marshal Foch, and in 1920 he directed the defense of Wa...