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Fanon, Frantz Omar

(Encyclopedia)Fanon, Frantz Omar fräNts ômärˈ fänôNˈ [key], 1925–61, French West Indian ps...

Rustin, Bayard

(Encyclopedia)Rustin, Bayard, 1910–87, African-American civil-rights leader, b. West Chester, Pa. He attended three colleges but did not obtain a degree. A Quaker, he was imprisoned as a conscientious objector fo...

Richter, Gerhard

(Encyclopedia)Richter, Gerhard gārˈhärt rĭkhˈtər [key], 1932–, German painter, b. Dresden, studied Academy of Fine Arts, Dresden (1951–56) and Düsseldorf (1961–63). Widely considered one of the foremos...

Thuringia

(Encyclopedia)Thuringia tho͝orĭnˈjə [key], Ger. Thüringen, state (1994 pop. 2,533,000), 6,273 sq mi (16,251 sq km), central Germany. It is bordered on the south by Bavaria, on the east by Saxony, on the north ...

Blake, William

(Encyclopedia)Blake, William, 1757–1827, English poet and artist, b. London. Although he exerted a great influence on English romanticism, Blake defies characterization by school, movement, or even period. At the...

Mao Tun

(Encyclopedia)Mao Tun or Mao Dun shəˈ yĕnˈbĭngˈ [key], 1896–1981, Chinese novelist and Minister of Culture (1949–65). His fiction offers a sympathetic portrayal of working-class life and praise of revolut...

Cain, James Mallahan

(Encyclopedia)Cain, James Mallahan, 1892–1977, American novelist, b. Annapolis, Md., grad. Washington College, 1910. He taught journalism (1924–25), wrote political commentaries for the New York World (1924–3...

speleology

(Encyclopedia)speleology spēlēŏlˈəjē [key], systematic exploration of caves, popularly called spelunking. It includes the measuring and mapping of caves and reporting on the flora and fauna found in them. One...

Porter, Katherine Anne

(Encyclopedia)Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, American author, b. Indian Creek, Tex., as Callie Russell Porter. Although she published infrequently, she is regarded as a master of the short story. Her first bo...

Vittorini, Elio

(Encyclopedia)Vittorini, Elio ĕˈlyō vēt-tōrēˈnē [key], 1908–66, Italian novelist, b. Syracuse, Sicily. Between 1934 and 1941 Vittorini translated the works of D. H. Lawrence, Poe, Faulkner, Hemingway, T. ...

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