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Weil, Simone

(Encyclopedia)Weil, Simone sēmônˈ vīl [key], 1909–43, French philosopher and mystic. After receiving her baccalauréat with honors at 15, she studied philosophy for four years, then entered (1928) the prestig...

Berlin, Irving

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Irving bərlĭnˈ [key], 1888–1989, American songwriter, b. Russia as Israel Baline; his Jewish family fled a pogrom in 1893 and settled in New York's Lower East Side. Alexander's Ragtime Ba...

Laxness, Halldór Kiljan

(Encyclopedia)Laxness, Halldór Kiljan hälˈdōr kĭlˈyän läkhsˈnĕs [key], 1902–98, Icelandic novelist, b. Reykjavík as Halldór Kiljan Gudjónsson. Although Laxness was converted to Roman Catholicism brie...

Ashkin, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Ashkin, Arthur, 1922–2020, American physicist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Ph.D. Cornell, 1952. Ashkin worked for four decades at Bell Laboratories, retiring in 1992. Ashkin researched microwaves, nonlinear ...

tent

(Encyclopedia)tent, portable shelter of canvas, skins, felt, matting, or other material usually supported by poles and used chiefly by nomads, hunters, and campers. Tents have been used by pastoral peoples since an...

pasqueflower

(Encyclopedia)pasqueflower păskˈflouˌər [key], name for two similar perennials of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family). The Old World pasqueflower (Anemone pulsatilla) was so named because it blossoms ar...

von Sydow, Max

(Encyclopedia)von Sydow, Max, 1929–2020, Swedish actor, b. Carl Adolf von Sydow. He worked with director Ingmar Bergman at the Malmö Municipal Theatre (1955–60) before moving to Stockhom and joining the Royal ...

Chinese music

(Encyclopedia)Chinese music, the classical music forms of China. Throughout the political and social turmoil following World War I, Western (classical and popular) and Japanese sources dominated Chinese music. At...

Stevenson, Robert Louis

(Encyclopedia)Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850–94, Scottish novelist, poet, and essayist, b. Edinburgh. Handicapped from youth by delicate health, he struggled all his life against tuberculosis. He studied law and w...

Randolph, John

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, John, 1773–1833, American legislator, known as John Randolph of Roanoke, b. Prince George co., Va. He briefly studied law under his cousin Edmund Randolph. He served in the U.S. House of R...