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Sternheim, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Sternheim, Carl kärl shtĕrnˈhīm [key], 1878–1943, German dramatist. In his successful comedy Die Hose (1911, tr. A Pair of Drawers, 1927) and in his later works he satirized as corrupt the manne...

Schick, Béla

(Encyclopedia)Schick, Béla bāˈlə shĭk [key], 1877–1967, American pediatrician, b. Hungary, M.D. Karl Franz Univ., Graz, 1900. After having taught at the Univ. of Vienna (1902–23), he came to the United Sta...

Richter, Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Richter, Ludwig rĭkhˈtər [key], 1803–84, German painter, illustrator, and etcher; son and pupil of the engraver Karl Richter (1770–1848). His characteristic paintings combine figure and landsc...

Arrabal, Fernando

(Encyclopedia)Arrabal, Fernando fārnänˈdō äräbälˈ [key], 1932–, French playwright, b. Melilla, Morocco. He studied law in Madrid before moving to Paris in 1954. His plays, which reflect his abhorrence of ...

Dreyer, Carl Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Dreyer, Carl Theodor kärl tāˈōdôrˌ drīˈər [key], 1889–1968, Danish motion picture director. He began making films in Denmark in 1919. His Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), widely regarded as a...

Engler, Adolf

(Encyclopedia)Engler, Adolf äˈdôlf ĕngˈlər [key], 1844–1930, German botanist. He emphasized the importance of geological history in the study of plant geography, and worked out an influential system of plan...

Reclus, Jean Jacques Élisée

(Encyclopedia)Reclus, Jean Jacques Élisée zhäN zhäk ālēzāˈ rəklüˈ [key], 1830–1905, French geographer, b. Gironde, educated mainly in Germany, where he studied under Karl Ritter. Several times he was f...

Frederick William III

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William III, 1770–1840, king of Prussia (1797–1840), son and successor of Frederick William II. Well-intentioned but weak and vacillating, he endeavored to maintain neutrality in the Nap...

piano

(Encyclopedia)piano or pianoforte, musical instrument whose sound is produced by vibrating strings struck by felt hammers that are controlled from a keyboard. The piano's earliest predecessor was the dulcimer. The ...

Monumenta Germaniae historica

(Encyclopedia)Monumenta Germaniae historica mŏnyo͞omĕnˈtə jərmāˈnē-ē hĭstôrˈĭkə [key], comprehensive critical editions of the sources of medieval German history. The first society created to publish ...