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Cerré, Jean Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Cerré, Jean Gabriel zhäN gäbrēĕlˈ sĕrāˈ [key], 1734–1805, frontiersman and trader in the American Midwest, b. Montreal, Canada. By 1755 he had established a fur-trading post at Kaskaskia, I...

Blanchard, Jean Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Blanchard, Jean Pierre fräNswäˈ [key], 1753–1809, French balloonist. In 1785 he made with Dr. John Jeffries of Boston, Mass., the first crossing by air of the English Channel. His ascents at Phil...

Béliveau, Jean Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Béliveau, Jean Arthur, 1931–2014, Canadian ice hockey player, b. Trois-Rivières, Québec. He joined the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League in 1953, playing for 18 seasons and becomin...

Watteau, Jean-Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Watteau, Jean-Antoine wätōˈ, Fr. zhäNˈ-äNtwäNˈ vätōˈ [key], 1684–1721, French painter of Flemish descent, b. Valenciennes. Until 1704 poverty forced him to work in the shops of mediocre a...

Clark, George Rogers

(Encyclopedia)Clark, George Rogers, 1752–1818, American Revolutionary general, conqueror of the Old Northwest, b. near Charlottesville, Va.; brother of William Clark. A surveyor, he was interested in Western land...

La Bruyère, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Bruyère, Jean de zhäN də lä brüyĕrˈ [key], 1645–96, French writer. He lived (1684–96) as tutor in the house of the prince de Condé. His great work, Les Caractères de Théophraste, trad...

La Ceppède, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Ceppède, Jean de zhäN də lä sĕpĕdˈ [key], 1550–1622, French poet and magistrate. In 1608 he was appointed president of the Court of the Exchequer of Provence. After centuries of oblivion, ...

Lacordaire, Jean Baptiste Henri

(Encyclopedia)Lacordaire, Jean Baptiste Henri zhäN bätēstˈ äNrēˈ läkôrdĕrˈ [key], 1802–61, French Roman Catholic preacher and liberal. Ordained in 1827, he came under the influence of Lamennais and col...

La Fontaine, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Fontaine, Jean de zhäN də [key], 1621–95, French poet, whose celebrated fables place him among the masters of world literature. He was born at Château-Thierry to a bourgeois family. A restless...

Molière, Jean Baptiste Poquelin

(Encyclopedia)Molière, Jean Baptiste Poquelin zhäN bätēstˈ pôklăNˈ môlyĕrˈ [key], 1622–73, French playwright and actor, b. Paris; son of a merchant who was upholsterer to the king. His name was origina...