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Van Der Zee, James

(Encyclopedia)Van Der Zee, James, 1886–1983, American photographer, b. Lenox, Mass. The son of Ulysses S. Grant's maid and butler, Van Der Zee opened his first studio in Harlem, New York City, in 1915. For 60 yea...

Van Dine, S. S.

(Encyclopedia)Van Dine, S. S.: see Wright, Willard Huntington. ...

Van Doren, Carl (Clinton)

(Encyclopedia)Van Doren, Carl (Clinton), 1885–1950, American editor and author, b. Hope, Vermilion co., Ill., grad. Univ. of Illinois, 1907, Ph.D. Columbia, 1911; brother of Mark Van Doren. He lectured at Columbi...

Van Druten, John William

(Encyclopedia)Van Druten, John William văn dro͞oˈtən [key], 1901–57, English dramatist. His best-known plays, primarily light comedies, include Old Acquaintance (1940), The Voice of the Turtle (1943), I Remem...

Van Dyck, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Van Dyck or Vandyke, Sir Anthony both: văn dīk [key], 1599–1641, Flemish portrait and religious painter and etcher, b. Antwerp. In 1618 he was received as a master in the artists' guild, but even ...

van Loon, Hendrik Willem

(Encyclopedia)van Loon, Hendrik Willem văn lōn [key], 1882–1944, American author and journalist, b. Rotterdam, Netherlands. He emigrated to the United States in 1903 and studied at Harvard and Cornell (B.A., 19...

Van Rompuy, Herman Achille

(Encyclopedia)Van Rompuy, Herman Achille, 1947–, Belgian statesman, b. Etterbeek. A Flemish Christian Democrat, he was president of the party from 1988 to 1993 and was a member of Belgium's parliament, serving in...

van't Hoff, Jacobus Hendricus

(Encyclopedia)van't Hoff, Jacobus Hendricus yäkōˈbəs hĕndrēˈkəs vänt hôf [key], 1852–1911, Dutch physical chemist. He taught at the universities of Amsterdam (1878–96) and Berlin (from 1896). For his ...

Van Tyne, Claude Halstead

(Encyclopedia)Van Tyne, Claude Halstead, 1869–1930, American historian, b. Tecumseh, Mich. An assistant professor at the Univ. of Michigan (1903–6) and a professor there from 1906 to his death, he became head o...

Van Vleck, John Hasbrouck

(Encyclopedia)Van Vleck, John Hasbrouck, 1899–1980, American physicist, b. Middletown, Conn., Ph.D. Harvard, 1922. As a professor at Harvard, Van Vleck developed fundamental theories on the quantum mechanics of m...