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Martin I, Saint, d. 655?, pope

(Encyclopedia)Martin I, Saint, d. 655?, pope (649–55?), an Italian, b. Todi; successor of Theodore I. On his accession he summoned a great council at the Lateran, as St. Maximus had urged, to deal with Monothelet...

Stoph, Willi

(Encyclopedia)Stoph, Willi vĭlˈē shtôf [key], 1914–99, East German political leader. A member of the German Communist party from 1931, he helped build the East German Socialist Unity (Communist) party after W...

veto

(Encyclopedia)veto [Lat.,=I forbid], power of one functionary (e.g., the president) of a government, or of one member of a group or coalition, to block the operation of laws or agreements passed or entered into by ...

Roe v. Wade

(Encyclopedia)Roe v. Wade, case decided in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with Doe v. Bolton, this decision legalized abortion in the first trimester of ...

Robinson, Sir John Beverley

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Sir John Beverley, 1791–1863, Canadian jurist, b. Lower Canada (Quebec). After holding many important offices, he entered upon his long career (1829–62) as chief justice of Upper Canada;...

Halifax, George Savile, 1st marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Halifax, George Savile, 1st marquess of, 1633–95, English statesman. A protégé of the 2d duke of Buckingham, he was made Viscount Halifax (1668) and sat (1672–76) in the privy council. An oppone...

De Gasperi, Alcide

(Encyclopedia)De Gasperi, Alcide älchēˈdā dā gäˈspārē [key], 1881–1954, Italian premier and a founder of the Christian Democratic party. Born in the Trentino—then under Austria—he represented Italian...

Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da

(Encyclopedia)Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da jōvänˈnē pyārlo͞oēˈjē päˌlāstrēˈnä [key], c.1525–1594, Italian composer whose family name was Pierluigi; b. Palestrina, from which he took his name. ...

Vasari, Giorgio

(Encyclopedia)Vasari, Giorgio jôrˈjō väzäˈrē [key], 1511–74, Italian architect, writer, and painter. He is best known for his entertaining biographies of artists, Vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pitto...

Bodoni, Giambattista

(Encyclopedia)Bodoni, Giambattista jämbät-tēˈstä bōdōˈnē [key], 1740–1813, Italian printer b. Piedmont. He was the son of a printer and worked for a time at the press of the Vatican. Under the patronage ...