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perestroika

(Encyclopedia)perestroika pərˈĕstroyˈkə [key], Soviet economic and social policy of the late 1980s. Perestroika [restructuring] was the term attached to the attempts (1985–91) by Mikhail Gorbachev to transfo...

Leighton, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Leighton, Robert, 1611–84, Scottish prelate and classical scholar. After several years in France, where he seems to have developed an admiration for the Jansenists, he became (1641) a Presbyterian m...

Valentino, Rudolph

(Encyclopedia)Valentino, Rudolph văləntēˈnō [key], 1895–1926, American film actor, b. Italy as Rodolfo Guglielmi. He emigrated to the United States in 1913 and, after a brief career as a dancer and bit playe...

Ulanova, Galina

(Encyclopedia)Ulanova, Galina gälyēˈnə o͞oläˈnōvə [key], 1910–98, Russian ballerina, b. St. Petersburg. Ulanova made her debut at the Kirov Ballet (1928), where she danced until 1944. That year she becam...

Soutine, Chaïm

(Encyclopedia)Soutine, Chaïm khīˈyĭm so͞otēnˈ [key], 1893–1943, French expressionist painter, b. near Minsk, Russia (now Belarus). He went to Paris in 1913 and joined the bohemian society of the school of ...

Blasco Ibáñez, Vicente

(Encyclopedia)Blasco Ibáñez, Vicente vēthānˈtā bläˈskō ēbäˈnyāth [key] 1867–1928, Spanish novelist and politician, b. Valencia. Outspoken against the monarchy, Blasco Ibáñez published a radical rep...

Bogart, Humphrey DeForest

(Encyclopedia)Bogart, Humphrey DeForest bōˈgärt [key], 1899–1957, American film actor, b. New York City. After a succession of stage roles he achieved note with his portrayal of the gangster Duke Mantee in The...

Abbey Theatre

(Encyclopedia)Abbey Theatre, Irish theatrical company devoted primarily to indigenous drama. W. B. Yeats was a leader in founding (1902) the Irish National Theatre Society with Lady Gregory, J. M. Synge, and A. E. ...

Briggs, Charles Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Briggs, Charles Augustus, 1841–1913, American clergyman, theologian, and educator, b. New York City, studied at the Univ. of Virginia, Union Theological Seminary, and the Univ. of Berlin. From 1875 ...

Salieri, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Salieri, Antonio äntôˈnyō sälyāˈrē [key], 1750–1825, Italian composer and conductor. He received his first training in Italy, going afterward (1766) to Vienna, where he remained as conductor...