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Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth

(Encyclopedia)Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth shwärtsˈkôpf [key], 1915–2006, German lyric soprano. After studying music in Berlin she was trained by Maria Ivogün. She sang with the Berlin State Opera (1938–42) and b...

Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin

(Encyclopedia)Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin shärl ōgüstăNˈ săNt-böv [key], 1804–69, French literary historian and critic. The first major professional literary critic, he developed the art of appreciating...

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)Chicago Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1891 when businessman Charles Norman Fay invited the German-born conductor Theodore Thomas to establish and lead a new city orchestra; he conducted it until his ...

Prado, Museo Nacional del

(Encyclopedia)Prado, Museo Nacional del präˈdō, Span. präˈᵺō [key], Spanish national museum of painting and sculpture, in Madrid, one of the finest in Europe. Situated on the Paseo del Prado, it was begun b...

Gibson, William

(Encyclopedia)Gibson, William, 1948–, Canadian science fiction writer, b. Conway, S.C., moved to Canada in the 1960s. He first published short stories in sci-fi magazines; many are collected in Burning Chrome (19...

Kautsky, Karl Johann

(Encyclopedia)Kautsky, Karl Johann kärl yōˈhän koutˈskē [key], 1854–1938, German-Austrian socialist, b. Prague. A leading figure in the effort to spread Marxist doctrine in Germany, he was the principal dev...

Borgia, Lucrezia

(Encyclopedia)Borgia, Lucrezia bōrˈjä [key], 1480–1519, Italian noblewoman, famous figure of the Italian Renaissance; daughter of Pope Alexander VI. Her first marriage (1492) to Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro was ...

evening primrose

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Evening primrose, Oenothera biennis evening primrose, common name for the Onagraceae, a family of plants of worldwide distribution, most species of which grow as herbs in the temperate New Wor...

protoplasm

(Encyclopedia)protoplasm, term once used for the fundamental material of which all living things were thought to be composed. It was studied by a number of early scientists, especially by Félix Dujardin, J. E. Pur...

Espartero, Baldomero, duque de la Victoria, conde de Luchana

(Encyclopedia)Espartero, Baldomero, duque de la Victoria, conde de Luchana bäldōmāˈrō āspärtāˈrō do͞oˈkā dā lä vēktōˈrēä kōnˈdā dā lo͞ochäˈnä [key], 1793–1879, Spanish general and stat...