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Cambert, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Cambert, Robert rōbĕrˈ käNbĕrˈ [key], c.1628–1677, French composer; pupil of Chambonnières. His Pastorale d'Issy (1659) and other works are among the first real French operas. With the libret...

John Baptist de la Salle, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John Baptist de la Salle, Saint băptēstˈ də lä sälˈ [key], 1651–1719, French educator, founder of the Christian Brothers, b. Reims. He became a priest and canon of the cathedral. He spent his...

Croissy, Charles Colbert, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Croissy, Charles Colbert, marquis de shärl kôlbĕrˈ märkē də krwäsēˈ [key], c.1625–96, French diplomat, brother of Jean Baptiste Colbert. He entered the service of Cardinal Mazarin and fill...

Schlegel, August Wilhelm von

(Encyclopedia)Schlegel, August Wilhelm von ouˈgo͝ost vĭlˈhĕlm fən shlāˈgəl [key], 1767–1845, German scholar and poet. With his brother, Friedrich von Schlegel, he founded the Athenaeum, which he edited (...

Buyoya, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Buyoya, Pierre, 1949–2020, Burundian political leader. An ethnic Tutsi, he had a successful military career before he overthrew President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza and became president of a Tutsi-led mil...

Rousseau, Jean Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Rousseau, Jean Jacques ro͞osōˈ [key], 1712–78, Swiss-French philosopher, author, political theorist, and composer. Rousseau's influence on posterity has been equaled by only a few, and it is...

Lannes, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Lannes, Jean zhäN län [key], 1769–1809, marshal of France. He fought under Napoleon Bonaparte (later Napoleon I) in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, supported his coup of 18 Brumaire, and disti...

Laffite, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Laffite, Jean zhäN läfētˈ [key], c.1780–1826?, leader of a band of privateers and smugglers. The name is often spelled Lafitte. He and his men began operating (1810) off the Baratarian coast S o...

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