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Montherlant, Henri de

(Encyclopedia)Montherlant, Henri de äNrēˈ də môNtĕrläNˈ [key], 1896–1972, French writer. His novels are decadent and egotistical and glorify force and masculinity. Montherlant fought in World War I and wa...

Romains, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Romains, Jules zhül rômăNˈ [key], 1885–1972, French writer, whose original name was Louis Farigoule. A brilliant student of philosophy, he became known as the chief exponent of unanimism, a lite...

Shelby, Carroll Hall

(Encyclopedia)Shelby, Carroll Hall, 1923–2012, automobile racer and designer, b. Leesburg, Tex. After serving as a flight instructor in World War II, he began (1952) a career as a race-car driver. He was Sports I...

Piazzolla, Ástor Pantaleón

(Encyclopedia)Piazzolla, Ástor Pantaleón, 1921–92, Argentinian composer and player of the bandoneón (a large accordionlike instrument), b. Mar del Plata. He spent much of his childhood in New York, returned (1...

Redon, Odilon

(Encyclopedia)Redon, Odilon ôdēlôNˈ rədôNˈ [key], 1840–1916, French painter and lithographer. He studied in Paris under Gérôme. Later his friend Fantin-Latour taught him lithography, but he was most infl...

Duras, Marguerite

(Encyclopedia)Duras, Marguerite märgərētˈ düräsˈ [key], 1914–96, French author, b. Gia Dinh, Indochina (now Vietnam). Usually grouped with the exponents of the nouveau roman [new novel] (see French literat...

Aragon, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Aragon, Louis lwē ärägôNˈ [key], 1897–1982, French writer. One of the founders of surrealism in literature, Aragon abandoned that philosophy for Marxism after a trip to the USSR in 1931. He was...

Réunion

(Encyclopedia)CEE Réunion rāünyôNˈ [key], island and overseas department of France (2015 est. pop. 863,000), c.970 sq mi (2,510 sq km), one of the Mascarene Islands, in the Indian Ocean c.430 mi (690 km) E ...

Versailles

(Encyclopedia)Versailles vərsīˈ, Fr. vĕrsīˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 91,029), capital of Yvelines dept., N central France. It was an insignificant rural hamlet when Louis XIII constructed a small retreat there ...

Foyt, A. J.

(Encyclopedia)Foyt, A. J. (Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr.), 1935–, American auto-racing driver, b. Houston. Foyt was the first person to win the Indianapolis 500 race four times (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977). He also won th...