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Hess, Victor Francis

(Encyclopedia)Hess, Victor Francis, 1883–1964, American physicist, b. Austria, Ph.D. Univ. of Graz, 1906. After teaching at the universities of Graz and Innsbruck, he came to the United States in 1938 and was lat...

Jensen, Johannes Vilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Jensen, Johannes Vilhelm yōhänˈəs vĭlˈhĕlm yĕnˈsən [key], 1873–1950, Danish writer. As a young man he studied medicine; his interest in biology and anthropology is obvious throughout his w...

Asawa, Brian Laurence

(Encyclopedia)Asawa, Brian Laurence äsäˈwä [key], 1966–2016, American countertenor, b. Fullerton, Calif., B.A., Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles. Known for the the clear, silvery fluidity of his voice and his ele...

Bayreuth Festival

(Encyclopedia)Bayreuth Festival, also called the Richard Wagner Festival, annual season of performances of Wagner's works, held in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth. Around 1851, Wagner began to visualize a festival th...

Runeberg, Johan Ludvig

(Encyclopedia)Runeberg, Johan Ludvig yo͞oˈhän lŭdˈvĭg rüˈnəbĕryə [key], 1804–77, Finnish national poet. In 1837 he became a teacher of Latin and Greek at Porvoo near Helsinki. Runeberg's simple and rea...

Prescott, Edward Christian

(Encyclopedia)Prescott, Edward Christian, 1940–, American economist, b. Glen Falls, N.Y., Ph.D. Carnegie Mellon Univ., 1967. Prescott has taught at Carnegie Mellon (1971–80), the Univ. of Minnesota (1980–98, ...

Vesaas, Tarjei

(Encyclopedia)Vesaas, Tarjei tärˈjā vāˈsŏs [key], 1897–1970, Norwegian author. In novels, short stories, and lyric poetry, Vesaas combines insight into human psychology with a sensitivity to broader social ...

depression, in economics

(Encyclopedia)depression, in economics, period of economic crisis in commerce, finance, and industry, characterized by falling prices, restriction of credit, low output and investment, numerous bankruptcies, and a ...

Fedin, Konstantin Aleksandrovich

(Encyclopedia)Fedin, Konstantin Aleksandrovich kənstəntyēnˈ əlyĭksänˈdrəvĭch fyĕdyēnˈ [key], 1892–1977, Russian novelist. Fedin was interned in Germany during World War I and returned to Russia in 19...

Erikson, Erik

(Encyclopedia)Erikson, Erik, 1902–94, American psychoanalyst, b. Germany. As a young man he traveled throughout Europe. He became a teacher in a Vienna private school and trained as a psychoanalyst (1927–33) un...