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Villiers, Barbara

(Encyclopedia)Villiers, Barbara: see Cleveland, Barbara Villiers, duchess of. ...

Cleveland, Barbara Villiers, duchess of

(Encyclopedia)Cleveland, Barbara Villiers, duchess of vĭlˈərz, vĭlˈyərz [key], 1641–1709, mistress of King Charles II of England. She became Charles's mistress at Breda in 1660 and returned with him to Engl...

Grünewald, Mathias

(Encyclopedia)Grünewald, Mathias mätēˈäs grünˈəvält [key], c.1475–1528, German painter of religious subjects. His original name was Mathis Gothart Neithart. Although he assimilated various compositional ...

Beauharnais, Hortense de

(Encyclopedia)Beauharnais, Hortense de də bōärnāˈ [key], 1783–1837, queen of Holland (1806–10), daughter of Alexandre and Josephine de Beauharnais and wife of Louis Bonaparte. She was the mother of Napole...

Chartier, Émile Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Chartier, Émile Auguste shärtyāˈ [key], 1868–1951, French essayist and philosopher who wrote under the pseudonym Alain. He is best known for thousands of aphoristic essays, called propos, which...

Polignac, Melchior de

(Encyclopedia)Polignac, Melchior de də pôlēnyäkˈ [key], 1661–1742, French diplomat, churchman, and author, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. As ambassador to Poland he directed (1697) the unsuccessful ...

Barthélemy, Auguste Marseille

(Encyclopedia)Barthélemy, Auguste Marseille ōgüstˈ märsāˈyə bärtālmēˈ [key], 1796–1867, French poet. With his friend Joseph Méry he wrote several brilliant and popular political satires, including La...

Soupault, Philippe

(Encyclopedia)Soupault, Philippe fēlēpˈ so͞opōˈ [key], 1897–1990, French poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He took an active role in the dadaist movement and later founded the surrealist movem...

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