(Encyclopedia) Watts, George Frederic, 1817–1904, English painter and sculptor. He studied at the Royal Academy and in Italy, where he developed an enthusiasm for Renaissance painting and Greek…
(Encyclopedia) Walker, Albertina, 1929–2010, African-American gospel singer and composer, b. Chicago. A protégé of Mahalia Jackson, she sang with two gospel groups before founding (1951) the Caravans…
(Encyclopedia) Zimbalist, EfremZimbalist, Efremĕˈfrəm zĭmˈbəlĭst [key], 1889–1985, Russian-American violinist. Zimbalist was a pupil of Leopold Auer at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He made his…
(Encyclopedia) Randolph, Peyton, c.1721–1775, American political leader, first president of the Continental Congress, b. Williamsburg, Va. After a general education at the College of William and Mary…
(Encyclopedia) Saunders, Dame Cicely (Cicely Mary Strode Saunders), 1918–2005, British physician, a pioneer in the modern hospice movement. She left Oxford during World War II to become a nurse (1944…
(Encyclopedia) Rutledge, Ann, 1813?–1835, American historical figure, alleged fiancée of Abraham Lincoln. Her father kept the inn at New Salem, Ill., where Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. Ann's…
(Encyclopedia) Sackville-West, Vita (Victoria Mary Sackville-West), 1892–1962, English writer; wife of Sir Harold Nicolson and granddaughter of the 2d Baron Sackville. Both she and Nicolson were…
(Encyclopedia) pseudonympseudonyms&oomacr;ˈdənĭm [key] [Gr.,=false name], name assumed, particularly by writers, to conceal identity. A writer's pseudonym is also referred to as a nom de plume (…
(Encyclopedia) purification, in religion, the ceremonial removal of what the religion deems unclean. The usual agents of purification are water (as in baptism), bodily alteration (as in circumcision…
