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Ledru-Rollin, Alexandre Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Ledru-Rollin, Alexandre Auguste älĕksäNˈdrə ôgüstˈ lədrüˈ-rôlăNˈ [key], 1807–74, French politician. A lawyer, he first became known as a radical opponent to the accession (1830) of Lou...

Thiers, Adolphe

(Encyclopedia)Thiers, Adolphe ädôlfˈ tyĕr [key], 1797–1877, French statesman, journalist, and historian. After studying law at Aix-en-Provence, Thiers went (1821) to Paris and joined the group of writers that...

Colette

(Encyclopedia)Colette (Sidonie Gabrielle Colette) sēdōnēˈ gäbrēĕlˈ kōlĕtˈ [key], 1873–1954, French novelist. Colette achieved popularity with numerous novels, characterized by sensitive observations—...

Bibliothèque nationale

(Encyclopedia)Bibliothèque nationale bēblēōtĕkˈ näsyônälˈ [key], national library of France, in Paris, a government archive, and one of the foremost libraries of the world. It originated with the collecti...

Dessalines, Jean Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Dessalines, Jean Jacques zhäN zhäk dĕsälēnˈ [key], c.1758–1806, emperor of Haiti (1804–6), born a slave. A shrewd general, he served under Toussaint Louverture in the wars that liberated Hai...

Condé, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de

(Encyclopedia)Condé, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de, 1621–86, French general, called the Great Condé; son of Henri II de Condé. Among his early victories in the Thirty Years War were those of Rocroi (1643), Fr...

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...

Mason, George

(Encyclopedia)Mason, George, 1725–92, American political leader, b. Fairfax co., Va. He was one of the most affluent of the colonial Virginia planters. In his triple capacity as trustee of Alexandria (1754–79),...

Signoret, Simone

(Encyclopedia)Signoret, Simone, 1921–85, French actress, b. Wiesbaden, Germany, as Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker. The sultry blonde actress began as a movie extra; she became well known after she starred in...

Pétion, Alexandre

(Encyclopedia)Pétion, Alexandre älĕksäNˈdrə pātyôNˈ [key], 1770–1818, Haitian revolutionist. After taking part in the expulsion (1798) of the English from Haiti, he joined (1799) André Rigaud against To...