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Renart, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Renart, Jean zhäN rənärˈ [key], fl. 1212, French poet. He is believed to be the author of two charming romans courtois, or metrical romances—Guillaume de Dole and L'Escoufle [the hawk] as well a...

Clouet, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Clouet, Jean both: zhänĕˈ [key], c.1485–1540, portrait and miniature painter. He was court painter and valet de chambre to the French king Francis I. He is thought to have been Flemish and may ha...

Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron, 1768–1830, French mathematician and physicist. He was noted for his researches on heat and on numerical equations. He originated Fourier's theorem on vibratory ...

Boileau-Despréaux, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Boileau-Despréaux, Nicolas nēkôläˈ bwälōˈ-dāprāōˈ [key], 1636–1711, French literary critic and poet. He was the spokesman of classicism, drawing his principles from his contemporaries, a...

Bicocca, La

(Encyclopedia)Bicocca, La lä bēkôkˈkä [key], former village, Lombardy, N Italy, now part of Milan. There, in 1522, the vicomte de Lautrec, commanding a French army and Swiss mercenaries, was defeated by a comb...

Vigo, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Vigo, Jean zhäN vēgōˈ [key], 1905–34, French movie director, whose original name was Jean Almereyda. His reputation is based on two superb films: Zéro de Conduite (1933) and L'Atalante (1934, u...

La Hire

(Encyclopedia)La Hire lä ēr [key], c.1390–c.1443, French commander in the Hundred Years War, whose real name was Étienne de Vignoles or Vignolles. He entered (1418) the service of the dauphin (later King Charl...

Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d'

(Encyclopedia)Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d' märk pyĕr də vwäyāˈ də pōmēˈ kôNt därzhäNsôNˈ [key], 1696–1764, French statesman and patron of literature; younger brother of René ...

Percier, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Percier, Charles shärl pĕrsyāˈ [key], 1764–1838, French architect. He won (1786) the Grand Prix de Rome, and in 1794 he became associated with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. Napoleon appoin...

Vercors

(Encyclopedia)Vercors vĕrkôrˈ [key], 1902–91, French writer and illustrator, whose original name was Jean Bruller. Vercors served in the French resistance movement and helped to found Les Éditions de Minuit, ...