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Raabe, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Raabe, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm räˈbə [key], 1831–1910, German novelist, whose pseudonym was Jakob Corvinus. At 23 he began to write novels and tales of village life; the charming idyll Die Chronik de...

Ciano, Galeazzo

(Encyclopedia)Ciano, Galeazzo gälāätˈtsō chäˈnō [key], 1903–44, Italian foreign minister and Fascist leader; son of Admiral Costanzo Ciano, conte di Cortellazzo. He entered on a diplomatic career, married...

Varro, Caius Terentius

(Encyclopedia)Varro, Caius Terentius kāˈyəs tĭrĕnˈshəs vârˈō [key], fl. 216 b.c., Roman statesman and general. Consul in 216 b.c., he opposed Hannibal at the battle of Cannae, where the Roman army was des...

Guerrazzi, Francesco Domenico

(Encyclopedia)Guerrazzi, Francesco Domenico fränchāsˈkō dō-māˈnēkō gwār-rätˈtsē [key], 1804–73, Italian patriot and writer, b. Livorno. A radical republican and nationalist, he was repeatedly impriso...

Pesellino, Il

(Encyclopedia)Pesellino, Il ēl pāzāl–lēˈnō [key], 1422–57, Italian painter of the Florentine school, whose real name was Francesco di Stefano. He was a grandson and pupil of Giuliano Giuochi, called Pesel...

Calabria

(Encyclopedia)Calabria käläˈbrēä [key], region, 5,822 sq mi (15,079 sq km), S Italy, a peninsula projecting ...

epic

(Encyclopedia)epic, long, exalted narrative poem, usually on a serious subject, centered on a heroic figure. The earliest epics, known as primary, or original, epics, were shaped from the legends of an age when a n...

Negri, Ada

(Encyclopedia)Negri, Ada äˈdä nĕˈgrē [key], 1870–1945, Italian writer. Her first poems, Fatalità (1892, tr. Fate and Other Poems, 1898) voiced bitter protest against the state of the poor. Her passionate l...

Licata

(Encyclopedia)Licata lēkäˈtä [key], city (1991 pop. 41,300), S Sicily, Italy, on the Mediterranean Sea at the mouth of the Salso River. Licata is a seaport, seaside resort, and commercial and industrial center....

Vida, Marco Girolamo

(Encyclopedia)Vida, Marco Girolamo märˈkō jērôˈlämō vēˈdä [key], c.1490–1566, Italian poet, b. Cremona. After joining the humanist court of Pope Leo X, he was given a priory at Frascati and was commiss...