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Marsyas

(Encyclopedia)Marsyas märˈsēəs [key], in Greek mythology, Phrygian satyr. He found the flute that Athena had invented but had thrown away. He became so skillful with the instrument that he challenged the lyre-p...

Díaz Mirón, Salvador

(Encyclopedia)Díaz Mirón, Salvador sälväᵺōrˈ dēˈäs mērōnˈ [key], 1853–1928, Mexican poet. Díaz Mirón's life abounded with revolutionary plots, political quarrels, duels, and vigorous journalistic ...

Bonnivard, François de

(Encyclopedia)Bonnivard or Bonivard, François de both: fräNswäˈ də bônēvärˈ [key], c.1493–1570, Swiss patriot and historian. The prior of St. Victor, near Geneva, he supported the revolt of Geneva agains...

Waldenses

(Encyclopedia)Waldenses wôldĕnˈsēz [key] or Waldensians, Protestant religious group of medieval origin, called in French Vaudois. They originated in the late 12th cent. as the Poor Men of Lyons, a band organize...

Lemaître, Frédérick

(Encyclopedia)Lemaître, Frédérick frādārēkˈ ləmĕtˈrə [key], 1800–1876, French actor, originally named Antoine Louis Prosper Lemaître. First known in pantomimes and melodramas, he gained fame (1823) fo...

Odría, Manuel

(Encyclopedia)Odría, Manuel mäno͞oĕlˈ ōdrēˈä [key], 1897–1974, president of Peru (1948–56). A conservative general, he became army chief of staff in 1946 and seized power (1948) after leading an anti-A...

Utrecht, Peace of

(Encyclopedia)Utrecht, Peace of, series of treaties that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession. It put an end to French expansion and signaled the rise of the British Empire. By the treaty between England and...

Illuminati

(Encyclopedia)Illuminati ĭlo͞oˌmĭnāˈtī, –näˈtē [key] [Lat.,=enlightened], rationalistic society founded in Germany soon after 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, a professor at Ingolstadt, having close affinities w...

Hill, Geoffrey

(Encyclopedia)Hill, Geoffrey (Sir Geoffrey William Hill), 1932–2016, English poet, b. Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, grad. Oxford. Widely hailed as one of the finest poets of his generation, he wrote complex, densel...

Mussolini, Benito

(Encyclopedia)Mussolini, Benito bānēˈtō mo͞os-sōlēˈnē [key], 1883–1945, Italian dictator and leader of the Fascist movement. Mussolini was at first cool to Adolf Hitler and opposed his designs on Aus...