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Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d'

(Encyclopedia)Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d' märk pyĕr də vwäyāˈ də pōmēˈ kôNt därzhäNsôNˈ [key], 1696–1764, French statesman and patron of literature; younger brother of René ...

Charlevoix, Pierre François Xavier de

(Encyclopedia)Charlevoix, Pierre François Xavier de pyĕr fräNswäˈ zävyāˈ də shärləvwäˈ [key], 1682–1761, French Jesuit traveler and historian. He taught at the Jesuit college in Quebec and at the Col...

Saint-Denis, city, France

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Denis săN-dənēˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 90,806), Seine–Saint-Denis dept., N central France. It is an industrial suburb N of Paris. Metals, chemicals, machinery, electronics, and food produc...

Molière, Jean Baptiste Poquelin

(Encyclopedia)Molière, Jean Baptiste Poquelin zhäN bätēstˈ pôklăNˈ môlyĕrˈ [key], 1622–73, French playwright and actor, b. Paris; son of a merchant who was upholsterer to the king. His name was origina...

Clement IV, pope

(Encyclopedia)Clement IV, d. 1268, pope (1265–68), a Frenchman named Guy le gros Foulques; successor of Urban IV. He was a lay adviser of King Louis IX of France, but after his wife's death he entered the church....

Balzac, Honoré de

(Encyclopedia)Balzac, Honoré de bălˈzăk, bôl–, Fr. ōnôrāˈ də bälzäkˈ [key], 1799–1850, French novelist, b. Tours. Balzac ranks among the great masters of the novel. Of a bourgeois family, he himsel...

Daudet, Alphonse

(Encyclopedia)Daudet, Alphonse älfôNsˈ dōdāˈ [key], 1840–97, French writer, b. Nîmes (Provence). Daudet made his mark with gentle naturalistic stories and novels portraying French life both in the province...

Michelet, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Michelet, Jules zhül mēshəlāˈ [key], 1798–1874, French writer, the greatest historian of the romantic school. Born in Paris of poor parents, he visualized himself throughout his life as a champ...

Lanzmann, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Lanzmann, Claude, 1925–2018, French filmmaker and journalist, b. Paris. While his Jewish family was in hiding in rural France during World War II, Lanzmann joined the Resistance and fought the Nazis...

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