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Méhul, Étienne Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Méhul, Étienne Nicolas ātyĕnˈ nēkôläˈ māülˈ [key], 1763–1817, French operatic composer of outstanding importance during the Revolutionary period. Méhul's masterpiece was the biblical op...

Kit-Cat Club

(Encyclopedia)Kit-Cat Club, London political and literary club, active c.1700–1720. The membership of some four dozen included leading Whig politicians and London's best young writers. Among them were Charles Sey...

Mosconi, Willie

(Encyclopedia)Mosconi, Willie (William Joseph Mosconi) mŏskōˈnē [key], 1913–93, U.S. professional billiard player, b. Philadelphia. After a brief period as a child prodigy he did not take up the game again un...

Hawkins, Coleman

(Encyclopedia)Hawkins, Coleman, 1904–69, American jazz musician, b. St. Joseph, Mo. He began playing saxophone at the age of 9. He was part of Fletcher Henderson's band from 1924 until 1934. Hawkins established t...

André, Brother

(Encyclopedia)André, Brother äNdrāˈ, änˈ– [key], 1845–1937, Canadian Roman Catholic mystic, b. St. Grégoire d'Iberville, Que. His secular name was Alfred Bissette, Bassette, or Bessette. For about 40 yea...

Gasser, Herbert Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Gasser, Herbert Spencer găsˈər [key], 1888–1963, American physiologist, b. Platteville, Wis., grad. Univ. of Wisconsin (B.A., 1910; M.A., 1911), M.D. Johns Hopkins, 1915. From 1931 to 1935 he was...

anti-hero

(Encyclopedia)anti-hero, principal character of a modern literary or dramatic work who lacks the attributes of the traditional protagonist or hero. The anti-hero's lack of courage, honesty, or grace, his weaknesses...

Barnabas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Barnabas, Saint bärˈnəbəs [key], Christian apostle. He was a Cypriot and a relative of St. Mark; his forename was Joseph. Several passages in the New Testament relate that Barnabas was a teacher a...

Rachel, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Rachel rāˈchəl [key], in the Bible, wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She is one of the four Jewish matriarchs. An alternate form is Rahel. ...

Wright, Patience Lovell

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Patience Lovell, 1725–86, American sculptor, b. Bordentown, N.J., mother of Joseph Wright. Her portraits, modeled in wax, were the earliest recorded attempts at sculptural expression in the ...