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Portalis, Jean Étienne Marie

(Encyclopedia)Portalis, Jean Étienne Marie zhäN ātyĕnˈ märēˈ pôrtälēsˈ [key], 1746–1807, French statesman and lawyer. A moderate, he was suspected of royalist sympathies during the French Revolution b...

Houston, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Houston, Samuel, 1793–1863, American frontier hero and statesman of Texas, b. near Lexington, Va. In 1836 Houston was elected the first president of the new Republic of Texas. The independence of ...

Necker, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Necker, Jacques zhäk nĕkĕrˈ [key], 1732–1804, French financier and statesman, b. Geneva, Switzerland. In 1750 he went to Paris and entered banking. He rose rapidly to importance, established a b...

Stephen, Sir Leslie

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Sir Leslie, 1832–1904, English author and critic. The first serious critic of the novel, he was also editor of the great Dictionary of National Biography from its beginning in 1882 until 18...

Clare, John Fitzgibbon, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Clare, John Fitzgibbon, 1st earl of, 1749–1802, Irish statesman. He was (1783–89) attorney general of Ireland and in 1789 became lord chancellor. A resolute upholder of the Protestant ascendancy i...

Chaptal, Jean Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Chaptal, Jean Antoine zhäN äNtwänˈ shäptälˈ [key], 1756–1832, French chemist, industrialist, and statesman. He became (1781) professor of chemistry at Montpellier, and during the Revolution h...

Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759–1834, British statesman; youngest son of George Grenville. He was foreign secretary in the ministry of his cousin William Pitt from 1791 to 1801. Du...

Gagern, Heinrich, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Gagern, Heinrich, Freiherr von hīnˈrĭkh frīˈhĕr fən gäˈgərn [key], 1799–1880, German statesman. A Hessian parliamentary leader and leading advocate of German unity, he became (1848) presid...

Ásgeirsson, Ásgeir

(Encyclopedia)Ásgeirsson, Ásgeir äsˈkĕr äsˈkĕrsôn [key], 1894–1972, Icelandic statesman, president of Iceland (1952–68). He was a member of the Icelandic parliament from 1923 to 1952, headed the govern...

Keltie, Sir John Scott

(Encyclopedia)Keltie, Sir John Scott, 1840–1927, Scottish geographer. He was inspector of geographical education for the Royal Geographic Society, librarian, and secretary of the society. In 1880 he became editor...