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Bartsch, Adam von

(Encyclopedia)Bartsch, Adam von (Johann Adam Bernhard von Bartsch) äˈdäm fən bärch [key], 1757–1821, Austrian engraver, etcher, and writer. His critical catalog, Le Peintre Graveur (21 vol., 1803–21), is s...

gender

(Encyclopedia)gender [Lat. genus=kind], in grammar, subclassification of nouns or nounlike words in which the members of the subclass have characteristic features of agreement with other words. The term gender is n...

Diderot, Denis

(Encyclopedia)Diderot, Denis dənēˈ dēdərōˈ [key], 1713–84, French encyclopedist, philosopher of materialism, and critic of art and literature, b. Langres. He was also a novelist, satirist, and dramatist. D...

Augier, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Augier, Émile (Guillaume Victor Émile Augier) gēyōmˈ vēktôrˈ āmēlˈ ōzhyāˈ [key], 1820–89, French dramatist. His plays, early examples of realism, satirize the social foibles of his tim...

Robert the Devil

(Encyclopedia)Robert the Devil, hero of a medieval legend. He was sold to the devil by his mother before his birth but upon discovering the fact did penance and was able to purify himself of his many sins. The tale...

Jenner, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Jenner, Edward, 1749–1823, English physician; pupil of John Hunter. His invaluable experiments beginning in 1796 with the vaccination of eight-year-old James Phipps proved that cowpox provided immun...

Martin, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Martin, Frank fräNk märtăNˈ [key], 1890–1974, Swiss composer, b. Geneva. He studied mathematics and physics at the Univ. of Geneva and studied composition and music with Joseph Lauber and Jaques...

Césaire, Aimé

(Encyclopedia)Césaire, Aimé (Aimé Fernand Césaire) ĕmāˈ fĕrnäNˈ sāzârˈ [key], 1913–2008, West Indian poet and essayist who wrote in French. After studying in Paris he became concerned with the plight...

European Commission

(Encyclopedia)European Commission (EC), institution of the European Union (EU) invested with executive powers; it also is the main EU institution that initiates legislation. Located in Brussels, Belgium, it was fou...

Rodenbach, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Rodenbach, Georges zhôrzh rôdĕnbäkˈ [key], 1855–98, Belgian symbolist poet and novelist. Living in Paris from 1887, he wrote about Flemish life. His works include the poems Le Foyer et les cham...