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Bilderdijk, Willem

(Encyclopedia)Bilderdijk, Willem wĭlˈəm bĭlˈdərdīk [key], 1756–1831, Dutch poet. He tutored Louis Bonaparte in Dutch and later conducted a small private college at Leiden, where his pupils included Isaäc ...

Northeast Passage

(Encyclopedia)Northeast Passage, water route along the northern coast of Europe and Asia, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Beginning in the 15th cent., efforts were made to find a new all-water route to Ind...

de Kooning, Willem

(Encyclopedia)de Kooning, Willem də ko͞oˈnĭng [key], 1904–97, American painter, b. Netherlands; studied Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Techniques. De Kooning immigrated to the United States, arriving as a...

Duisenberg, Willem Frederik

(Encyclopedia)Duisenberg, Willem Frederik, 1935–2005, Dutch banker and advocate of European monentary union. He worked (1965–69) as an economist with the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., and was...

Heda, Willem Claasz

(Encyclopedia)Heda, Willem Claasz vĭlˈəm kläs hāˈdä [key], 1594–c.1678, Dutch still-life painter. His excellent studies of tables laden with food, called ontbijt [breakfast piece] still life, are seen in m...

Haren, Willem van

(Encyclopedia)Haren, Willem van vĭlˈəm vän häˈrən [key], 1710–68, Dutch poet, b. Friesland, of a noble family. His chief work is an epic poem, Friso (1741). His brother, Onno Zwier van Haren, 1713–79, al...

Mesdag, Hendrik Willem

(Encyclopedia)Mesdag, Hendrik Willem hĕnˈdrĭk vĭlˈəm mĕsˈdäkh [key], 1831–1915, Dutch marine painter. He gave up banking at 35 to study painting. He later lived at The Hague and was known as a painter an...

Botha, Pieter Willem

(Encyclopedia)Botha, Pieter Willem pēˈtər vĭlˈəm bōˈtə [key], 1916–2006, South African political leader. An Afrikaner and a member of the right-wing National party, he first entered parliament in 1948. B...

Blaeu, Willem Janszoon

(Encyclopedia)Blaeu, Willem Janszoon vĭˈləm yänˈsōn blou [key], 1571–1638, Dutch cartographer and printer. He studied astronomy and instrument making under the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. The printing es...

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