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Gervase of Canterbury

(Encyclopedia)Gervase of Canterbury jûrˈvāz, jərvāzˈ [key], d. c.1210, English chronicler. A monk of Christ Church, Cambridge, he wrote an account of the reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I. His Chroni...

Destinn, Emmy

(Encyclopedia)Destinn, Emmy (Ema Kittl) dĕsˈtĭn [key], 1878–1930, Czechoslovakian soprano. She debuted in Berlin in 1898 before singing the title role in the London production of Madame Butterfly in 1905. She ...

Grétry, André Ernest Modeste

(Encyclopedia)Grétry, André Ernest Modeste äNdrāˈ ĕrnĕstˈ môdĕstˈ grātrēˈ [key], 1741–1813, French operatic composer. Enormously prolific and successful in his lifetime, he was a master of the 18th-...

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

(Encyclopedia)American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (A.S.P.C.A.), chartered in 1866 in New York by Henry Bergh to shelter homeless animals, to assist farmers in caring for their livestock, and t...

Stratford, estate, United States

(Encyclopedia)Stratford, home of the Lee family, overlooking the Potomac River, E Va., SE of Fredericksburg. A national shrine dedicated in 1935, the site was purchased in 1716 by Thomas Lee, who built the mansion ...

Benson, Robert Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Benson, Robert Hugh, 1871–1914, English author and clergyman; 4th son of Archbishop Benson. He was converted to Roman Catholicism in 1903 and ordained the next year. In 1911, as a monsignor, he beca...

entrepreneur

(Encyclopedia)entrepreneur änˌtrəprənûrˈ [key] [Fr.,=one who undertakes], person who assumes the organization, management, and risks of a business enterprise. It was first used as a technical economic term by...

Babenberg

(Encyclopedia)Babenberg bäˈbənbĕrk [key], ruling house of Austria (976–1246). It possibly descended from, or succeeded, a powerful Franconian family of the 9th cent. from whose castle the city of Bamberg prob...

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...

Anna, czarina of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Anna (Anna Ivanovna) änˈnə ĭväˈnôvnə [key], 1693–1740, czarina of Russia (1730–40), daughter of Ivan V and niece of Peter I (Peter the Great). On the death of her distant cousin, Peter II,...