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Jelinek, Elfriede

(Encyclopedia)Jelinek, Elfriede yĕlˈĭnĕk [key], 1946–, Austrian novelist and playwright, b. Mürzzuschlag. A trained musician who also studied art history and theater, she began her literary career with the p...

Strauss, Franz Josef

(Encyclopedia)Strauss, Franz Josef shtrous [key], 1915–88, West German political figure, leader of the Christian Social Union. He became prominent in the Bavarian Christian Social Union (the Bavarian wing of the...

Tanaka, Kakuei

(Encyclopedia)Tanaka, Kakuei käko͞oˈā tänäˈkä [key], 1918–93, Japanese political leader and prime minister (1972–74). Born to a poor rural family, he moved to Tokyo at the age of 15 and by 1937 had esta...

Adonis, Syrian poet

(Encyclopedia)Adonis or Adunis, pen name of Ali Ahmad Said Esber, 1930–, Syrian poet and essayist, generally considered the Arab world's greatest living poet. He began writing poetry in the 1950s. After being jai...

Yoshida, Shigeru

(Encyclopedia)Yoshida, Shigeru shēgāˈro͞o yōˈshēdä [key], 1878–1967, Japanese statesman. He was until 1954 the most powerful political figure in postwar Japan. He was ambassador to Italy (1930–32) and t...

Zagajewski, Adam

(Encyclopedia)Zagajewski, Adam, 1945–2021, Polish poet, b. Lviv, Jagiellonian Univ. (B.A., 1968; M.A., 1970). He and his family were forcibl...

Crawford, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Crawford, Thomas, 1813–57, American sculptor, b. New York City. He was apprenticed to a wood carver and later worked for a firm of tombstone cutters. He achieved his first success with decorations f...

Malraux, André

(Encyclopedia)Malraux, André äNdrāˈ mälrōˈ [key], 1901–76, French man of letters and political figure. An intellectual with a broad knowledge of archaeology, art history, and anthropology, Malraux led a re...

Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich

(Encyclopedia)Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich lāyōnēdˈ ĭlyēchˈ brĕzhˈnĕf [key], 1906–82, Soviet leader. He joined (1931) the Communist party and rose steadily in its hierarchy. In 1952 he became a secretary of ...

Baraka, Amiri

(Encyclopedia)Baraka, Amiri amērē bəräˈkə [key], 1934–2014, American poet, playwright, and political activist, b. Newark, N.J., as Everett LeRoy Jones, studied at Rutgers Univ., Howard Univ. In college he a...