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Takeshita, Noboru

(Encyclopedia)Takeshita, Noboru täkĕshˈtä [key], 1924–2000, Japanese politician, b. Kakeya. The son of a sake brewer, he was first elected to parliament in 1958 and served as chief cabinet secretary, construc...

Zatlers, Valdis

(Encyclopedia)Zatlers, Valdis välˈdĭs zätˈlĕrs [key], 1955–, Latvian physician and political leader. A graduate (1979) of the Riga Institute of Medicine, he is an orthopedic surgeon and was director of the ...

Burns, John

(Encyclopedia)Burns, John, 1858–1943, British union leader and politician. A factory worker as a child, he was largely self-educated and was led by his reading to radical socialism. Burns became an outstanding or...

Butler, Richard Austen

(Encyclopedia)Butler, Richard Austen, 1902–82, British politician. Educated at Cambridge, he entered Parliament in 1929 as a Conservative. As minister of education (1941–45), he piloted through Parliament the E...

Nasheed, Mohamed

(Encyclopedia)Nasheed, Mohamed mōhäˈmĕd näshēdˈ [key], 1967–, Maldivian political leader. A journalist, he often ran afoul of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and was imprisoned several times. “Anni” was...

Hashimoto, Ryutaro

(Encyclopedia)Hashimoto, Ryutaro rēˌo͞otärˈō häˌshēmōˈtō [key], 1937–2006, Japanese politician, b. Tokyo, grad. Keio Univ. He entered politics in 1963, when he was elected to parliament from Okayama p...

Sanader, Ivo

(Encyclopedia)Sanader, Ivo ēˈvō sänändârˈ [key], 1953–, Croatian political leader, b. Split. He worked in marketing and publishing until 1991, when he became manager of the Croatian National Theater in Spl...

Rao, P. V. Narasimha

(Encyclopedia)Rao, P. V. Narasimha (Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao) päˌmo͝oləpärˈtē vĕnkätˈə näräsˈĭmhə rou [key], 1921–2004, Indian politician, prime minister of India (1991–96), b. Hyderaba...

Vajpayee, Atal Bihari

(Encyclopedia)Vajpayee, Atal Bihari äˈtäl bihärˈē väjˈpīˌ [key], 1926–2018, Indian politician, prime minister of India (1996, 1998–2004). He began his career as a journalist, entering politics as an u...

Gandhi, Sonia

(Encyclopedia)Gandhi, Sonia gänˈdē [key], 1946–, Indian politician, b. Turin, Italy, as Sonia Maino. She met Rajiv Gandhi in 1965 when they were students in Cambridge, England. They were married in 1968 and se...