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Boyer, Jean Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Boyer, Jean Pierre zhäN pyĕr bwäyāˈ [key], 1776–1850, president of Haiti (1818–43). A free mulatto, he fought under Toussaint Louverture and then joined André Rigaud, also a mulatto, in the ...

Walewska, Countess Maria

(Encyclopedia)Walewska, Countess Maria märēˈä välĕfˈskä [key], 1789–1817, Polish noblewoman. She became (1807) the mistress of Emperor Napoleon I and bore (1810) him a son, Alexandre Walewski. ...

Halévy, Jacques François Fromental Élie

(Encyclopedia)Halévy, Jacques François Fromental Élie älāvēˈ [key], 1799–1862, French operatic composer. He studied with Cherubini at the Paris Conservatory, where he became a professor in 1827. Halévy's...

Cambacérès, Jean Jacques Régis de

(Encyclopedia)Cambacérès, Jean Jacques Régis de zhäN zhäk rāzhēsˈ də käNbäsārĕsˈ [key], 1753–1824, French revolutionary and legislator. He was deputy to the National Convention and to the Council of...

Brissot de Warville, Jacques Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Brissot de Warville, Jacques Pierre zhäk pyĕr brēsōˈ də värvēlˈ [key], 1754–93, French revolutionary and journalist. He began his career by writing numerous pamphlets and books. His Théori...

Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, Jacques də krĕvkörˈ də pĕrt [key], 1788–1868, French writer and archaeologist. He was the first to provide evidence that humans had existed in the Pleistocen...

Château d'If

(Encyclopedia)Château d'If shätōˌdēfˈ [key], castle built in 1524 on the small rocky isle of If, in the Mediterranean Sea off Marseilles, SE France. Long used as a state prison, it was made famous by Alexandr...

Monte Cristo

(Encyclopedia)Monte Cristo mŏnˌtē krĭsˈtō, Ital. mônˈtā krēˈstō [key], unpopulated, rocky island, 6 sq mi (15.5 sq km), belonging to Italy, in the Tyrrhenian Sea between Corsica and the Italian coast. I...

Becquerel

(Encyclopedia)Becquerel bĕkərĕlˈ [key], family of French physicists. Antoine César Becquerel, 1788–1878, was a pioneer in electrochemical science. He was professor of physics at the Muséum d'Histoire nature...

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