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pass

(Encyclopedia)pass, opening or way by which a natural or artificial barrier can be crossed. The term pass is usually applied to a relatively narrow passage through a mountainous region. A pass, like an isthmus, may...

Varèse, Edgard

(Encyclopedia)Varèse, Edgard värĕzˈ [key], 1883–1965, French-American composer. In Paris he first studied mathematics and science but became more interested in music. He then studied composition with Roussel ...

Roman roads

(Encyclopedia)Roman roads, ancient system of highways linking Rome with its provinces. Their primary purpose was military, but they also were of great commercial importance and brought the distant provinces in touc...

Marois, Pauline

(Encyclopedia)Marois, Pauline pōlēnˈ märwäˈ [key], 1949–, Canadian politician, b. Quebec. A social worker and Parti Québécois (PQ) member, she was first elected to the Quebec National Assembly in 1981, an...

Bernhardt, Sarah

(Encyclopedia)Bernhardt, Sarah bûrnˈhärt, Fr. bĕrnärˈ [key], 1844–1923, stage name of Rosine Bernard, French actress, b. Paris. At age 13 she entered the Paris Conservatory, and later attracted attention du...

Bentley, Eric

(Encyclopedia)Bentley, Eric (Eric Russell Bentley), 1916–2020, American critic, editor, and translator, b. Bolton, England, grad. Oxford, 1938, Ph.D. Yale, 1941. He became a U.S. citizen in 1948. A highly regarde...

Wilson, Colin

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Colin, 1931–2013, English writer, b. Leicester. Born into a working-class family and largely self-educated, Wilson in many of his books exhorts humankind to expand its powers and realize its...

Royal Opera

(Encyclopedia)Royal Opera, one of the principal British opera companies, based at the Royal Opera House (which it shares with the Royal Ballet) in Covent Garden, London. Formed in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Co...

Saxe-Meiningen

(Encyclopedia)Saxe-Meiningen săks-mīnˈĭng-ən [key], Ger. Sachsen-Meiningen, former duchy, Thuringia, central Germany. The capital was Meiningen. A possession of the Ernestine branch of the house of Wettin, it ...

David, Jacques-Louis

(Encyclopedia)David, Jacques-Louis zhäk-lwēˈ dävēdˈ [key], 1748–1825, French painter. David was the virtual art dictator of France for a generation. Extending beyond painting, his influence determined the c...