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farce

(Encyclopedia)farce, light, comic theatrical piece in which the characters and events are greatly exaggerated to produce broad, absurd humor. Early examples of farce can be found in the comedies of Aristophanes, Pl...

Epée, Charles Michel, Abbé de l'

(Encyclopedia)Epée, Charles Michel, Abbé de l' shärl mēshĕlˈ äbāˈ də lāpāˈ [key], 1712–89, French pioneer teacher of deaf-mutes. A Jansenist priest, he developed a manual system of communication for ...

Sade, Donatien Alphonse François, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Sade, Donatien Alphonse François, comte de dônäsyăNˈ älfôNsˈ fräNswäˈ kôNt də säd [key], 1740–1814, French writer and libertine. He is known as the marquis de Sade —the title he held...

Quilmes

(Encyclopedia)Quilmes kēlˈmēs [key], city (1991 pop. 509,445), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina, on the Río de la Plata estuary. It is a district administrative center and a major industrial city, with one of th...

Girondists

(Encyclopedia)Girondists zhērôNdăNˈ [key], political group of moderate republicans in the French Revolution, so called because the central members were deputies of the Gironde dept. Girondist leaders advocated ...

López, Vicente Fidel

(Encyclopedia)López, Vicente Fidel lōˈpās [key], 1815–1903, Argentine historian, journalist, and politician; son of Vicente López y Planes. A member of the group that opposed the dictatorship of Juan Manuel...

Blanco Fombona, Rufino

(Encyclopedia)Blanco Fombona, Rufino ro͞ofēˈnō blängˈkō fōmbōˈnä [key], 1874–1944, Venezuelan poet, essayist, and novelist, one of the leaders of modernismo. Active in Venezuelan political affairs, he ...

Fernández de Kirchner, Cristina Elisabet

(Encyclopedia)Fernández de Kirchner, Cristina Elisabet krēstēˈnä ālēsäbātˈ fārnänˈdās dā kērchˈnâr [key], 1953–, Argentinian politician. A Peronist student activist in the 1970s, she received (1...

de Vries, Hugo

(Encyclopedia)de Vries, Hugo hüˈgō də vrēs [key], 1848–1935, Dutch botanist. He opened a new approach to the study of evolution by using the experimental method to investigate the processes of evolution. His...

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