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Gramont, Philibert, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Gramont, Philibert, comte de grämôNˈ [key], 1621–1707, French courtier at the court of King Louis XIV. He fought with distinction in the early campaigns of the prince de Condé and at first foll...

Musset, Alfred de

(Encyclopedia)Musset, Alfred de (Louis Charles Alfred de Musset) älfrĕdˈ də müsāˈ [key], 1810–57, French romantic poet, dramatist, and fiction writer. His first collection of poems, Contes d'Espagne et d'I...

Park Geun-hye

(Encyclopedia)Park Geun-hye päk go͝on-hĕ [key], 1952–, South Korean political leader, president of South Korea (2013–17). The daughter of South Korean dictator Park Chung Hee, she served as his acting first ...

Kawabata, Yasunari

(Encyclopedia)Kawabata, Yasunari yäso͞onäˈrē käwäˈbätä [key], 1899–1972, Japanese novelist. His first major work was The Izu Dancer, (1925). He came to be a leader of the school of Japanese writers that...

Talmadge, Eugene

(Encyclopedia)Talmadge, Eugene, 1884–1946, governor of Georgia (1933–37, 1941–43), b. Forsyth, Ga. In his second term as governor (1935–37) of Georgia, his staff was forbidden by Harry Hopkins to disburse f...

Pike, James Albert

(Encyclopedia)Pike, James Albert, 1913–69, American Episcopal bishop, b. Oklahoma City. A lawyer who had been raised as a Roman Catholic, he served (1943–45) in the U.S. navy and then studied for the Episcopal ...

Regan, Donald Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Regan, Donald Thomas rēˈgən [key], 1918–2003, U.S. government official and financier, b. Cambridge, Mass. A graduate of Harvard (B.A. 1940), he went to work (1946) at a brokerage house that becam...

Cronkite, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Cronkite, Walter (Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr.) krŏngˈkīt, krŏnˈ– [key], 1916–2009, American news broadcaster, b. St. Joseph, Mo. He left (1935) the Univ. of Texas to write for the Houston Pre...

Davis, Bette

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Bette bĕtˈē [key], 1908–89, American film actress, b. Lowell, Mass., as Ruth Elizabeth Davis. One of the most durable stars of the American screen, she made her debut in 1931. With a strik...

Constant, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Constant, Benjamin (Henri Benjamin Constant de Rebecque) äNrēˈ bäNzhämăNˈ kôNstäNˈ də rəbĕkˈ [key], 1767–1830, French-Swiss political writer and novelist, b. Lausanne. His affair (1794...