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France, Anatole

(Encyclopedia)France, Anatole zhäk, tēbōˈ [key], 1844–1924, French writer. He was probably the most prominent French man of letters of his time. Among his best-remembered works is L'Île des pingouins (1908, ...

Illinois, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Illinois ĭlˌənoiˈ, –noizˈ [key], confederation of Native North Americans, comprising the Cahokia, the Kaskaskia, the Michigamea, the Moingwena, the Peoria, and the Tamaroa tribes. They belong t...

Jolliet, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Jolliet or Joliet, Louis both: jōˈlēĕtˌ, jōˌlēĕtˈ, Fr. lwē zhôlyāˈ [key], 1645–1700, French explorer, joint discoverer with Jacques Marquette of the upper Mississippi River, b. Quebec ...

Jacob, François

(Encyclopedia)Jacob, François fräNswäˈ zhäkôbˈ [key], 1920–2013, French biologist and geneticist, educated at the Sorbonne. His medical studies were interrupted by World War II. He joined the Free French F...

July Revolution

(Encyclopedia)July Revolution, revolt in France in July, 1830, against the government of King Charles X. The attempt of the ultraroyalists under Charles to return to the ancien régime provoked the opposition of th...

parthenogenesis

(Encyclopedia)parthenogenesis pärˌthənōjĕnˈəsĭs [key] [Gr.,=virgin birth], in biology, a form of reproduction in which the ovum develops into a new individual without fertilization. Natural parthenogenesis ...

Cassini

(Encyclopedia)Cassini käs-sēˈnē [key], name of a family of Italian-French astronomers, four generations of whom were directors of the Paris Observatory. Gian Domenico Cassini, 1625–1712, was born in Italy and...

Robespierre, Maximilien Marie Isidore

(Encyclopedia)Robespierre, Maximilien Marie Isidore mäksēmēlyăNˈ märēˈ ēzēdôrˈ rôbĕspyĕrˈ [key], 1758–94, one of the leading figures of the French Revolution. The law of 22 Prairial (June 10) ...

Frontenac, Louis de Buade, comte de Palluau et de

(Encyclopedia)Frontenac, Louis de Buade, comte de Palluau et de frŏnˈtĭnăk, Fr. lwē də büädˈ koNt də pälüōˈ ā də frôNtənäkˈ [key], 1620–98, French governor of New France. His early military ca...

Juppé, Alain

(Encyclopedia)Juppé, Alain älăNˈ zhüpāˈ [key], 1945–, French politician, b. Les Landes. A member of the Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR), he entered the Inspection des Finances in 1972. A protegé of ...