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Fréron, Louis Marie Stanislas

(Encyclopedia)Fréron, Louis Marie Stanislas frārôNˈ [key], 1754–1802, French revolutionary; son of Élie Fréron. After the outbreak (1789) of the French Revolution, he founded a radical journal, Orateur du ...

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...

Martin, François Xavier

(Encyclopedia)Martin, François Xavier fräNswäˈ zävyāˈ märtăNˈ [key], 1762–1846, American jurist, b. Marseilles, France. He emigrated to the United States (c.1786) and was admitted to the North Carolina ...

Villemain, Abel François

(Encyclopedia)Villemain, Abel François äbĕlˈ fräNswäˈ vēlmăNˈ [key], 1790–1870, French scholar and critic. He was a professor at the Sorbonne from 1816, held several government posts after 1830, and was...

Cuvilliès, François de

(Encyclopedia)Cuvilliès, François de fräNswäˈ də küvēyĕsˈ [key], 1695–1768, French architect, decorator, and engraver. He introduced into Germany the rococo style of decoration then popular in France. H...

Gounod, Charles François

(Encyclopedia)Gounod, Charles François shärl fräNswäˈ go͞onōˈ [key], 1818–93, French composer, studied at the Paris Conservatory and received the Grand Prix de Rome in 1839. His fame rests chiefly on his ...

Kellermann, François Christophe

(Encyclopedia)Kellermann, François Christophe fräNswäˈ krēstôfˈ kĕlĕrmänˈ [key], 1735–1820, marshal of France, b. Strasbourg. He served in the Seven Years War and won renown in the French Revolutionary...

Mitterrand, François Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Mitterrand, François Maurice fräNswäˈ mōrēsˈ mētəräNˈ [key], 1916–96, French political leader, president of France, 1981–95. Initially a supporter of Pétain's Vichy government during W...

Guizot, François

(Encyclopedia)Guizot, François fräNswäˈ gēzōˈ [key], 1787–1874, French statesman and historian. The son of a Protestant family of Nîmes, he was educated at Geneva. He began a legal career in Paris in 1805...

Vidocq, Eugène François

(Encyclopedia)Vidocq, Eugène François ûzhĕnˈ fräNswäˈ vēdôkˈ [key], 1775–1857, French detective. After a career of crime for which he had been imprisoned, he joined the Paris Sûreté (security police)...