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Bettel, Xavier

(Encyclopedia)Bettel, Xavier, 1973–, Luxembourg political leader. A lawyer, he entered politics in 1999 as a member of both Luxembourg City's communal council and the Chamber of Deputies. In 2011 he was elected m...

Bauhin, Gaspard

(Encyclopedia)Bauhin, Gaspard gäspärˈ bōăNˈ [key], 1560–1624, Swiss botanist and doctor of medicine, of French descent. His early classification of plants by genus and species in his chief work, the Pinax t...

Daniel, Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Daniel, Antoine (Saint Antony Daniel) äNtwänˈ dänyĕlˈ [key], 1600–1648, French missionary in the New World, a Jesuit priest. He came in 1632 to Canada and in 1634 went with Father Jean Brébeu...

ophicleide

(Encyclopedia)ophicleide ŏfˈĭklīd [key] [Gr.,=serpent with keys], brass wind musical instrument of relatively wide conical bore, largest of the keyed bugles; invented in 1817 by Jean-Hilaire Asté of Paris. It ...

Boieldieu, François Adrien

(Encyclopedia)Boieldieu, François Adrien fräNswäˈ ädrēăNˈ bwäldyöˈ [key], 1775–1834, French composer. He studied with the organist of the cathedral in Rouen and composed one successful opera, Le Calife...

Santer, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Santer, Jacques (Jean Jacques Santer) zhäN zhäk säNtĕrˈ [key], 1937–, Luxembourg political leader and European statesman. A lawyer and economist, he entered politics as a member of the Christia...

Chabanel, Noël

(Encyclopedia)Chabanel, Noël (St. Noël Chabanel) nôĕlˈ shäbänĕlˈ [key], 1613–49, French missionary in North America, a Jesuit. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1630, came as a missionary to New France ...

Henry, Pierre Georges

(Encyclopedia)Henry, Pierre Georges, 1927–2017, French composer noted for his contributions to electronic music. He studied with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatory, where he met Pierre...

Breton literature

(Encyclopedia)Breton literature brĕtˈən [key], in the Celtic language of Brittany. Although there are numerous allusions in other literatures of the 12th to 14th cent. to the “matter of Brittany,” which incl...

Beauvoir, Simone de

(Encyclopedia)Beauvoir, Simone de sēmônˈ də bōvwärˈ [key], 1908–86, French author. A leading exponent of existentialism, she is closely associated with Jean-Paul Sartre, with whom she had a life-long relat...