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Montespan, Françoise Athénaïs, marquise de

(Encyclopedia)Montespan, Françoise Athénaïs, marquise de fräNswäzˈ ätānäēsˈ märkēzˈ də môNtəspäNˈ [key], 1641–1707, mistress of King Louis XIV of France. She was maid of honor to Queen Marie Th...

Napoleon II

(Encyclopedia)Napoleon II, 1811–32, son of Napoleon I and Marie Louise, known as the king of Rome (1811–14), as the prince of Parma (1814–18), and after that as the duke of Reichstadt. Napoleon's abdication i...

Pourbus

(Encyclopedia)Pourbus po͝orˈbəs, –büs [key], family of Flemish painters. Pieter Pourbus, 1510–84, painted portraits and religious subjects. His Last Judgment is in the Bruges Museum; the Metropolitan Museum...

Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre pyĕr püvēˈ də shävänˈ [key], 1824–98, French mural painter, b. Lyons. In 1844 he went to Paris, where he studied under Delacroix and Couture. His painting War (Ami...

pseudonym

(Encyclopedia)pseudonym so͞oˈdənĭm [key] [Gr.,=false name], name assumed, particularly by writers, to conceal identity. A writer's pseudonym is also referred to as a nom de plume (pen name). Famous examples in ...

Louis XIII, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis XIII, 1601–43, king of France (1610–43). He succeeded his father, Henry IV, under the regency of his mother, Marie de' Medici. He married Anne of Austria in 1615. Even after being declared o...

Champaigne, Philippe de

(Encyclopedia)Champaigne or Champagne, Philippe de both: fēlēpˈ də shäNpäˈnyə [key], 1602–74, French painter, b. Brussels, of Flemish parents. In 1621 he went to Paris, where he worked with Poussin on the...

Estaing, Charles Hector, comte d'

(Encyclopedia)Estaing, Charles Hector, comte d' shärl ĕktôrˈ kôNt dĕstăNˈ [key], 1729–94, French admiral. After serving in India he was given (1778) command of a French fleet sent to aid the colonists in ...

Havelange, João

(Encyclopedia)Havelange, João (Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid de Havelange), 1916–2016, Brazilian business and sports executive, b. Rio de Janeiro. An Olympic swimmer (1936) and water polo player (1952), he was a ...

Haroche, Serge

(Encyclopedia)Haroche, Serge, 1944–, French physicist, Ph.D. Paris VI Univ., 1971. He was a professor at Pierre and Marie Curie Univ. from 1975 to 2001 and at Paris VI Univ. from 1982 to 2001, when he joined the ...