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Gainsborough, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Gainsborough, Thomas gānzˈbûrˌō [key], 1727–88, English portrait and landscape painter, b. Sudbury. In 1740 he went to London and became the assistant and pupil of the French engraver Hubert Gr...

auditing

(Encyclopedia)auditing, examination and statement of accounts and of other documents connected with accounts by persons who have had no part in their preparation. Systems of financial inspection have long been used...

De Niro, Robert Anthony Jr.

(Encyclopedia) De Niro, Robert Anthony, Jr., 1943-, American film actor and director, b. New York, N.Y. Both of De Niro’s parents were painters; De Niro was raised...

Balanchine, George

(Encyclopedia)Balanchine, George bălˈənshēnˌ [key], 1904–83, American choreographer and ballet dancer, b. St. Petersburg, Russia, as Georgi Balanchivadze. The son of a Georgian composer and a Russian mother,...

Arista, Mariano

(Encyclopedia)Arista, Mariano märyäˈnō ärēˈstä [key], 1802–55, Mexican general and president (1851–53). A royalist in the revolt against Spain, he later joined Agustín de Iturbide. He fought in the Mex...

Grenfell, Sir Wilfred Thomason

(Encyclopedia)Grenfell, Sir Wilfred Thomason, 1865–1940, English physician and missionary, famous for his work among Labrador fishermen. After serving as a missionary to fishermen of the North Sea, Dr. Grenfell w...

deists

(Encyclopedia)deists dēˈĭsts [key], term commonly applied to those thinkers in the 17th and 18th cent. who held that the course of nature sufficiently demonstrates the existence of God. For them formal religion ...

O'Flaherty, Liam

(Encyclopedia)O'Flaherty, Liam lēˈəm ōflăˈhərtē [key], 1897–1984, Irish novelist, b. Aran Islands, Co. Galway. Many of his realistic novels have a compassionate interest in troubled people caught in the t...

Catalan language

(Encyclopedia)Catalan language, member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. It is spoken by about 8 million people in Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and...

Brooke, Fulke Greville, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Brooke, Fulke Greville, 1st Baron fo͝olk grĕvˈĭl [key], 1554–1628, English author and statesman. A favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, he held many official positions during his lifetime. His Life of...