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Joinville, Jean, sire de

(Encyclopedia)Joinville, Jean, sire de zhäN sēr də zhwăNvēlˈ [key], 1224?–1317?, French chronicler, biographer of Louis IX of France (St. Louis). As seneschal (governor) of Champagne, Joinville was a close ...

Riesener, Jean Henri

(Encyclopedia)Riesener, Jean Henri zhäN äNrēˈ rēzənĕrˈ [key], 1734–1806, French cabinetmaker, one of the major artists who made important contributions to the formation of the Louis XVI style in France. B...

Cavalier, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Cavalier, Jean zhäN kävälyāˈ [key], 1681?–1740, French Protestant soldier, a leader of the Camisards. From his home in the Cévennes region of France, he fled to Geneva (1701) when persecution ...

Colbert, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Colbert, Jean Baptiste kôlbĕrˈ [key], 1619–83, French statesman. The son of a draper, he was trained in business and was hired by Cardinal Mazarin to look after his financial affairs. On his dea...

Agassiz, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Agassiz, Louis (Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz) ăgˈəsē [key], 1807–73, Swiss-American zoologist and geologist, b. Môtiers-en-Vuly, Switzerland. He studied at the universities of Zürich, Erlangen ...

Breton literature

(Encyclopedia)Breton literature brĕtˈən [key], in the Celtic language of Brittany. Although there are numerous allusions in other literatures of the 12th to 14th cent. to the “matter of Brittany,” which incl...

Franchet d'Esperey, Louis Félix Marie François

(Encyclopedia)Franchet d'Esperey, Louis Félix Marie François lwē fālēksˈ märēˈ fräNswäˈ fräNshāˈ dāpərāˈ [key], 1856–1942, marshal of France. He commanded the French 5th army in the battle of t...

Lemoyne, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Lemoyne, Jean Baptiste ləmwänˈ [key], 1704–78, French sculptor. Much of his work, including three equestrian statues of Louis XV, was destroyed in the French Revolution. His picturesque portrait...

Moreau, Jean-Michel

(Encyclopedia)Moreau, Jean-Michel môrōˈ [key], 1741–1814, French draftsman and engraver, called Moreau le jeune. He is noted for his charming illustrations of the work of Voltaire, Molière, and Rousseau and ...

Oudry, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Oudry, Jean Baptiste zhäN bätēstˈ o͞odrēˈ [key], 1686–1755, French animal painter. A pupil of Largillière, he became court painter to Louis XV, recording the king's hunts in his paintings an...