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Cieza de León, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Cieza de León, Pedro pāˈᵺrō thēāˈthä dā lāōnˈ [key], 1518?–1560, Spanish soldier and explorer in South America. His Chronicle of Peru is one of the most richly detailed accounts of the...

Lederman, Leon Max

(Encyclopedia)Lederman, Leon Max lĕdˈərmən [key], 1922–2018, American physicist, Ph.D. Columbia, 1951. He was a professor at Columbia until he became director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in B...

Gordon, Judah Leon

(Encyclopedia)Gordon, Judah Leon, 1830–92, Russian-Hebrew novelist and poet, b. Vilna. As teacher and writer he was one of the leaders in the renaissance of a progressive culture among the Jews (see Haskalah) and...

Ponce de León, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Ponce de León, Juan pŏns də lēˈŏn, Span. hwän pōnˈthā dā lāōnˈ [key], c.1460–1521, Spanish explorer, first Westerner to reach Florida. He served against the Moors of Granada, and in 14...

Calmette, Léon Charles Albert

(Encyclopedia)Calmette, Léon Charles Albert lāôNˈ shärl älbĕrˈ kälmĕtˈ [key], 1863–1933, French physician and bacteriologist. He was founder and director of the Pasteur institutes at Saigon (now Ho Chi...

León, region and former kingdom, Spain

(Encyclopedia)León lā-ōnˈ [key], historic region and former kingdom, NW Spain, E of Portugal and Galicia, now part of Castile–León. It includes the provinces of León, Salamanca, and Zamora, named after thei...

León, Luis Ponce de

(Encyclopedia)León, Luis Ponce de lo͞oēsˈ pōnˈthā dā lāōnˈ [key], 1527?–1591, Spanish mystic and poet, an Augustinian monk. Fray Luis held various theological chairs at the Univ. of Salamanca. A noted ...

Foucault, Jean Bernard Léon

(Encyclopedia)Foucault, Jean Bernard Léon zhäN bĕrnärˈ lāôNˈ fo͞okōˈ [key], 1819–68, French physicist. Known especially for his research on the speed of light, he determined its velocity in air and fou...

González de León, Teodoro

(Encyclopedia)González de León, Teodoro, 1926–2016, Mexican architect, b. Mexico City. After studying at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (1942–47), he was a draftsman (1948–49) in Le Corbusier'...

Alfonso V, Spanish king of León

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso V (Alfonso the Noble), 994?–1027, Spanish king of León (999–1027). While he was still a minor, the Moorish ruler al-Mansur died, and the Spanish court recovered the city of León. Alfonso...