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Pisan, Christine de

(Encyclopedia)Pisan, Christine de krēstēnˈ də pēzäNˈ [key], 1364–c.1430, French poet, of Italian descent. She wrote many verse romances and works in prose, as well as the lyric poems for which she is most ...

Tristan L'Hermite, François

(Encyclopedia)Tristan L'Hermite, François fräNswäˈ trēstäNˈ lĕrmētˈ [key], pseud. of François L'Hermite, 1601–55, French playwright and poet. Poor and plagued by ill health, he was a page in the court ...

Vouet, Simon

(Encyclopedia)Vouet, Simon sēmôNˈ vwā [key], 1590–1649, French portrait and decorative painter. He first established himself as a successful painter in Rome. Recalled to France in 1627 as court painter to Lou...

Milhaud, Darius

(Encyclopedia)Milhaud, Darius däryüsˈ mēyōˈ [key], 1892–1974, French composer. Milhaud studied at the Paris Conservatory. In Brazil (1917–19) as an aide to Paul Claudel, poet and French minister to Brazil...

Chrétien de Troyes

(Encyclopedia)Chrétien de Troyes or Chrestien de Troyes both: krātyăNˈ də trwä [key], fl. 1170, French poet, author of the first great literary treatments of the Arthurian legend. His narrative romances, comp...

Gérin-Lajoie, Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Gérin-Lajoie, Antoine äNtwänˈ zhārăNˈ-läzhwäˈ [key], 1824–82, French Canadian author and journalist, b. Quebec prov. After serving as an editor (1845–52) on the Minerve, a Montreal newsp...

Giono, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Giono, Jean zhäN jônōˈ [key], 1895–1970, French novelist, b. Provence. His semiautobiographical novel, Jean le bleu (1932, tr. Blue Boy, 1946) concerns his childhood. His pastoral trilogy—Coll...

Noailles, Anna Élisabeth de Brancovan, comtesse de

(Encyclopedia)Noailles, Anna Élisabeth de Brancovan, comtesse de də nōīˈyə [key], 1876–1933, French poet, daughter of a noble Romanian family. She was renowned for the brilliant gatherings at her home. Her...

Seine

(Encyclopedia)Seine sān, Fr. sĕn [key], Lat. Sequana, river, c.480 mi (770 km) long, rising in the Langres Plateau and flowing generally NW through N France. It passes Troyes, Melun, and Paris, whence it meanders...

Barrès, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Barrès, Maurice môrēsˈ bärĕsˈ [key], 1862–1923, French novelist and nationalist politician. As an advocate of the supremacy of the individual self, he wrote the trilogy of novels Le Culte du ...