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Tournai

(Encyclopedia)Tournai to͞ornāˈ [key], Du. Doornik, commune (1991 pop. 67,732), Hainaut prov., SW Belgium, on the Scheldt River. Tournay and Doornijk are alternate spellings for the commune's French and Dutch nam...

Paris Pacts

(Encyclopedia)Paris Pacts, four international agreements signed in Paris on Oct. 23, 1954, to establish a new international status for West Germany. Since the end of World War II, West Germany had been occupied by ...

Duse, Eleonora

(Encyclopedia)Duse, Eleonora do͞oˈzə, Ital. ālāōnôˈrä do͞oˈzā [key], 1859–1924, Italian actress. From a theatrical family, she made a successful appearance at 14 as Juliet and in 1879 gained recogniti...

Chaban-Delmas, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Chaban-Delmas, Jacques zhäk shäbäNˈ-dĕlmäˈ [key], 1915–2000, French political leader, born Jacques Delmas. He joined (1940) the resistance, using the nom de guerre “Chaban,” which he late...

rocket, in botany

(Encyclopedia)rocket, in botany, popular name for several plants of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family). The dame's, or damask, violet, damewort, or sweet rocket is Hesperis matronalis, a hardy,...

Saumur

(Encyclopedia)Saumur sōmürˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 30,150), Maine-et-Loire dept., W France, on the Loire River. Saumur is noted for its religious-medal industry (dating from the 17th cent.) and for its sparkling...

Stark, Freya Madeline

(Encyclopedia)Stark, Freya Madeline frāˈə [key], 1893–1993, British author, traveler, and Arabist. The first European to visit several areas in the Middle East, she was born in Paris to artist parents and grew...

Drabble, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Drabble, Margaret, 1939–, English novelist, b. Sheffield, Yorkshire; sister of A. S. Byatt. Drabble's rigorous and unsentimentally realistic vision of an England split between traditional values and...

Erdös, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Erdös, Paul ĕrˈdös [key], 1913–96, Hungarian mathematician, b. Budapest. A child prodigy, he was mostly home-schooled by his parents—both teachers of mathematics—until he entered the Univ. o...

Martini, Simone

(Encyclopedia)Martini, Simone dē märtēˈnō [key], c.1283–1344, major Sienese painter. His art is admired for its Gothic spirituality combined with a vibrancy and a great elegance of line. A follower of Duccio...