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Berlin, Sir Isaiah

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Sir Isaiah, 1909–97, English political scientist, b. Riga, Latvia (then in Russia). His family moved to St. Petersburg when he was a boy and emigrated to London in 1921. He was educated at O...

Cancer, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Cancer [Lat.,=the crab], in astronomy, constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Gemini and Leo; it is a constellation of the zodiac. It contains the st...

Castiglione, Baldassare, Conte

(Encyclopedia)Castiglione, Baldassare, Conte bäldäs-säˈrā kōnˈtā kästēlyōˈnā [key], 1478–1529, Italian soldier, author, and statesman attached to the court of the duke of Milan and later in the servi...

Pius XI

(Encyclopedia)Pius XI, 1857–1939, pope (1922–39), an Italian named Achille Ratti, b. Desio, near Milan; successor of Benedict XV. Pius's pontificate was marked by great diplomatic activity and by many importa...

Clancy, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Clancy, Tom (Thomas Leo Clancy, Jr.), 1947–2013, American popular novelist, b. Baltimore, grad. Loyola Univ. Maryland (B.A., 1969). While working as an insurance agent he wrote The Hunt for Red Octo...

Nekrasov, Nikolai Alekseyevich

(Encyclopedia)Nekrasov, Nikolai Alekseyevich nyĭkəlīˈ əlyĭksyāˈyəvĭch nyĭkräˈsəf [key], 1821–78, Russian poet, editor, and publisher. Nekrasov began writing poetry when he was seven. Disowned by his...

Kenny, Enda

(Encyclopedia)Kenny, Enda ĕnˈdä [key], 1951–, Irish politician. After teaching primary school, he was elected to the Irish parliament in 1975, winning his late father's seat and becoming the body's youngest me...

Tolstaya, Tatyana

(Encyclopedia)Tolstaya, Tatyana tōlstīˈyä [key], 1951–, Russian short-story writer and essayist. Increasingly recognized as one of the major European writers of the postwar generation, Tolstaya is part of a R...

Paderborn

(Encyclopedia)Paderborn päˌdərbôrnˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 130,130), North Rhine–Westphalia, NW Germany. It is an agricultural market and industrial center; manufactures include chemicals, building materials...

Virgo

(Encyclopedia)Virgo vûrˈgō [key] [Lat.,=the virgin], constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Libra and Leo, and SW of Boötes; it is one of the constellations of...