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Benson, Edward Frederic

(Encyclopedia)Benson, Edward Frederic, 1867–1940, English author; 3d son of Archbishop Benson. He wrote several biographies and reflections on contemporary society, but he is chiefly remembered for his lightly sa...

Wilson, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Benjamin, 1721–88, English portrait painter and electrician who opposed Benjamin Franklin's theory of positive and negative electricity. Instead, Wilson supported Newton's gravitational-opti...

Vygotsky, Lev Semyonovich

(Encyclopedia)Vygotsky, Lev Semyonovich, 1896–1934, Russian psychologist. His most productive years were at the Institute of Psychology in Moscow (1924–34), where he expanded his ideas on cognitive development,...

Bryn Mawr College

(Encyclopedia)Bryn Mawr College, at Bryn Mawr, Pa; undergraduate for women, graduate coeducational; opened 1885 by the Society of Friends, with a bequest from Joseph W. Taylor of Burlington, N.J. Modeled on a group...

Brown, Mather

(Encyclopedia)Brown, Mather, 1761–1831, American portrait and historical painter, b. Boston. He studied under Benjamin West in London and continued to work in England. His portraits include those of George IV (Bu...

Bishop, Isabella Lucy (Bird)

(Encyclopedia)Bishop, Isabella Lucy (Bird), 1831–1904, English traveler and writer, first woman member of the Royal Geographical Society. She traveled extensively and wrote a number of books, including The Englis...

Bispham, David Scull

(Encyclopedia)Bispham, David Scull bĭsˈpəm [key], 1857–1921, American baritone, b. Philadelphia. He made his operatic debut in London in 1891 and was leading Wagnerian baritone of the Metropolitan Opera Compan...

Rehan, Ada

(Encyclopedia)Rehan, Ada rēˈən [key], 1860–1916, American actress, b. Ireland. Her original name was Crehan. Rehan came to the United States when she was five. From 1879 to 1899 she was a member of Augustin Da...

Beaujeu-Garnier, Jacqueline

(Encyclopedia)Beaujeu-Garnier, Jacqueline zhäklēnˈ bōzhöˈ-gärnyāˈ [key], 1917–95, French geographer. A professor of geography at the Sorbonne, she was the author of several texts, including Urban Geograp...

Sokoloff, Nicolai

(Encyclopedia)Sokoloff, Nicolai nyĭkəlīˈ sōˈkəlôfˌ [key], 1886–1965, American conductor and violinist, b. near Kiev, Russia. After studying at Yale and under Charles Martin Loeffler, he toured France and...