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Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret, duc d'

(Encyclopedia)Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret, duc d' zhäN lwē də nōgärāˈ dük dāpĕrnôNˈ [key], 1554–1642, French nobleman. He distinguished himself during the civil wars at the beginning of the reign ...

Joinville, Jean, sire de

(Encyclopedia)Joinville, Jean, sire de zhäN sēr də zhwăNvēlˈ [key], 1224?–1317?, French chronicler, biographer of Louis IX of France (St. Louis). As seneschal (governor) of Champagne, Joinville was a close ...

La Fontaine, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Fontaine, Jean de zhäN də [key], 1621–95, French poet, whose celebrated fables place him among the masters of world literature. He was born at Château-Thierry to a bourgeois family. A restless...

Vidal de la Blache, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Vidal de la Blache, Paul pōl vēdälˈ də lä bläsh [key], French geographer, 1845–1918, the father of French human geography. He was educated at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, and had an...

Boisbaudran, Paul Émile Lecoq de

(Encyclopedia)Boisbaudran, Paul Émile Lecoq de pôl āmēlˈ ləkôkˈ də bwäbōdräNˈ [key], 1838–1912, French discoverer of the elements gallium, samarium, and dysprosium. He also made contributions in the ...

Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de (Cardinal Richelieu) plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1585–1642, French prelate and statesman, chief minister of King Louis XIII, cardinal of the Ro...

Cheverus, Jean Louis Anne Madeleine Lefebvre de

(Encyclopedia)Cheverus, Jean Louis Anne Madeleine Lefebvre de zhäN lwē än mädəlĕnˈ ləfĕˈvrə də shəvrüsˈ [key], 1768–1836, French churchman, first Roman Catholic bishop of Boston (1810–23). He was...

La Pérouse, Jean François de Galaup, comte de

(Encyclopedia)La Pérouse, Jean François de Galaup, comte de zhäN fräNswäˈ də gälōˈ kôNt də lä pāro͞ozˈ [key], 1741–c.1788, French navigator. A naval captain, in 1785 he took command of two frigate...

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