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Abravanel, Judah

(Encyclopedia)Abravanel or Abarbanel, Judah, c.1460–c.1523, Jewish philosopher, physician, and poet, son of Isaac Abravanel, b. Lisbon; he is also known as Leone Ebreo. He fled (1483) from Portugal to Spain with ...

Ophüls, Max

(Encyclopedia)Ophüls, Max ôˈfüls [key], 1902–57, German-born French film director, b. Saarbrücken as Maximilian Oppenheimer. He started his career in the 1920s as an stage actor and director and began direct...

Paoli, Pasquale

(Encyclopedia)Paoli, Pasquale päskwäˈlā päˈōlē [key], 1725–1807, Corsican patriot. He shared the exile (1739–55) of his father, Giacinto Paoli, who had fought against the Genoese rulers of the island. I...

Berio, Luciano

(Encyclopedia)Berio, Luciano lo͞ochäˈnō bĕrˈyō [key], 1925–2003, Italian composer, b. Oneglia. After studying at the Milan Conservatory and working as a coach and conductor in Italian opera houses, Berio w...

Giotto

(Encyclopedia)Giotto (Giotto di Bondone) jôtˈtō dē bōndôˈnā [key], c.1266–c.1337, Florentine painter and architect. He is noted not only for his own work, but for the lasting impact he had on the course o...

Verdi, Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Verdi, Giuseppe vârˈdē, Ital. jo͞ozĕpˈpā vĕrˈdē [key], 1813–1901, foremost Italian composer of opera, b. Le Roncole. Verdi, the son of an innkeeper, showed a precocious talent for the orga...

Weegee

(Encyclopedia)Weegee, pseud. of Arthur Fellig, 1899–1968, American photojournalist, b. Zolochiv, Ukraine (then in Austria-Hungary) as Usher Fellig. His family immigrated (1910) to New York City, where he soon qui...

Carracci

(Encyclopedia)Carracci kärätˈchē [key], family of Italian painters of the Bolognese school, founders of an important academy of painting. Lodovico Carracci, 1555–1619, a pupil of Tintoretto in Venice, was inf...

Sforza, Ludovico

(Encyclopedia)Sforza, Ludovico or Lodovico , lō– [key], b. 1451 or 1452, d. 1508, duke of Milan (1494–99); younger son of Francesco I Sforza. He was called Ludovico il Moro [the Moor] because of his swarthy co...

Corsica

(Encyclopedia)Corsica kôrˈsĭkə [key], Fr. Corse, island, 3,352 sq mi (8,682 sq km), a region of metropo...