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anti-hero

(Encyclopedia)anti-hero, principal character of a modern literary or dramatic work who lacks the attributes of the traditional protagonist or hero. The anti-hero's lack of courage, honesty, or grace, his weaknesses...

Mackensen, August von

(Encyclopedia)Mackensen, August von ouˈgo͝ost fən mäˈkənzən [key], 1849–1945, German field marshal. In World War I he defeated the Russians in the battle of the Masurian Lakes (1914–15), conducted succes...

Heinemann, Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Heinemann, Gustav go͝osˈtäf hīnˈəmän [key], 1899–1976, West German political leader. A corporation lawyer and wartime leader of the Confessing Church, he helped found the Christian Democratic...

Strasser, Gregor

(Encyclopedia)Strasser, Gregor grāˈgōr shträsˈər [key], 1892–1934, German political leader. A pharmacist, he joined the National Socialist (Nazi) party in its infancy and participated in Adolf Hitler's abor...

Green, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Green, Paul, 1894–1981, American dramatist, b. Lillington, N.C., grad. Univ. of North Carolina, 1921. He is known for his realistic plays depicting the lives of blacks and white tenant farmers. His ...

Diels, Otto Paul Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Diels, Otto Paul Hermann, 1876–1954, German chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Berlin, 1899. From 1899 to 1915, Diehls was on the faculty at the Univ. of Berlin. In 1916, he joined the Univ. of Kiel, where he ...

black humor

(Encyclopedia)black humor, in literature, drama, and film, grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters or situations are usu...

Tanaka, Koichi

(Encyclopedia)Tanaka, Koichi, 1959–, Japanese engineer, B.S. Tohoku Univ., 1983. He has been a researcher at Shimadzu Corporation in Kyoto, Japan, since 1983. Tanaka shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with ...

Stratas, Teresa

(Encyclopedia)Stratas, Teresa, 1938–, Canadian soprano, b. Toronto as Anastasia Strataki, studied Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. She made her operatic debut in 1958 with the Canadian Opera Company in an ac...

Bausch, Pina

(Encyclopedia)Bausch, Pina pēˈnə boush [key], 1940–2009, German dancer and choreographer. After training with Kurt Jooss, she studied in New York with Antony Tudor, Paul Taylor, José Limón, and Paul Sanasard...

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