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Restif de la Bretonne, Nicolas Edme

(Encyclopedia)Restif de la Bretonne, Nicolas Edme nëkôläˈ ĕdˈmə rĕstēfˈ də lä brətônˈ [key], 1734–1806, French novelist. A printer by trade, he wrote and published over 250 novels, mostly based on ...

Ercilla y Zúñiga, Alonso de

(Encyclopedia)Ercilla y Zúñiga, Alonso de älōnˈsō ᵺā ārthēˈlyä ē tho͞oˈnyēgä [key], 1533–94, Spanish poet. In Chile (1556–63) he fought against the Araucanian, and while there he began the epi...

Francophonie, La

(Encyclopedia)Francophonie, La, officially the International Organization of the Francophonie, Fr. Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), an intergovernmental organization of mainly French-speaking n...

Lamennais, Félicité Robert de

(Encyclopedia)Lamennais or La Mennais, Félicité Robert de fālēsētāˈ rōbĕrˈ də lämənāˈ [key], 1782–1854, French Roman Catholic apologist and liberal, b. Saint-Malo. He was largely self-educated by w...

Du Bartas, Guillaume de Salluste

(Encyclopedia)Du Bartas, Guillaume de Salluste gēyōmˈ də sälüstˈ dü bärtäsˈ [key], 1544–90, French poet. A Huguenot soldier under Henry IV, Du Bartas is known chiefly for his epic poems La Sepmaine; ou...

Peralta Barnuevo, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Peralta Barnuevo, Pedro de pāˈᵺrō ᵺā pārälˈtä bärnwāˈvō [key], 1664–1743, Peruvian writer. Although his major literary interests were drama and poetry, he also wrote on astronomy, ma...

Pereda, José María de

(Encyclopedia)Pereda, José María de hōsāˈ märēˈä dā pārāˈᵺä [key], 1833–1906, Spanish novelist. His stories are laid chiefly in his native Santander. An aristocrat by birth, he wrote sympathetical...

Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de

(Encyclopedia)Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de pyĕr lwē môrōˈ də mōpĕrtüēˈ [key], 1698–1759, French mathematician and astronomer. For his skillful support of Newton's theory he was admitted to the Ro...

Île-de-France, region, France

(Encyclopedia)Île-de-France ēl-də-fräNs [key], region and former province, N central France, in the center of the Paris basin, a fertile depression where the Marne and Ouse rivers join the Seine. Containing par...

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