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Puy-de-Dôme

(Encyclopedia)Puy-de-Dôme püē-də-dōm [key], department (1990 pop. 598,800), S central France, in Auvergne. Clermont-Ferrand is the capital. ...

Cinco de Mayo

(Encyclopedia)Cinco de Mayo, May 5, the anniversary of Mexico's victory over France in 1862 in the Battle of Puebla, in which Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza's small, ill-equipped Mexican forces defeated a much larger French...

Staël, Nicholas de

(Encyclopedia)Staël, Nicholas de nēkôläˈ də stäl [key], 1914–55, French painter, b. St. Petersburg, Russia. Reared in Brussels, he traveled extensively before settling in France in 1940. De Staël evolved ...

Bois de Boulogne

(Encyclopedia)Bois de Boulogne bwä də bo͞olôˈnyə [key], park in Paris, France, bordering on the western suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. A favorite pleasure ground since the 17th cent., the park contains the race...

Mancini, Laura, duchesse de Mercœur

(Encyclopedia)Mancini, Laura, duchesse de Mercœur märēˈ än, bo͞oyôN [key], 1649–1714, was famous for her vivacity and wit. She became the center of a literary circle in Paris and was the patroness of La Fo...

Lally, Thomas Arthur, baron de Tollendal, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Lally, Thomas Arthur, baron de Tollendal, comte de tômäˈ ärtürˈ bärôN də tôläNdälˈ kôNt də lälēˈ [key], 1702–66, French general; son of an Irish Jacobite resident in France. As com...

Rivas, Ángel de Saavedra, duque de

(Encyclopedia)Rivas, Ángel de Saavedra, duque de änˈhĕl ᵺā säˌävāˈᵺrä do͞oˈkā ᵺā rēˈväs [key], 1791–1865, Spanish romantic poet and dramatist. A liberal, Rivas was condemned to death and f...

Luxembourg Palace

(Encyclopedia)Luxembourg Palace, large Renaissance palace in Paris, on the left bank of the Seine near the Sorbonne. It was built (1615–20) for Marie de' Medici by Salomon de Brosse on the site of a former palace...

Montluc, Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de

(Encyclopedia)Montluc or Monluc, Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de blĕz də läsräNˈ-mäsäNkômˈ, sānyörˈ də môNlükˈ [key], c.1502–1577, marshal of France. A Gascon soldier of fortune, he fo...

Mer de Glace

(Encyclopedia)Mer de Glace mĕr də gläs [key] [Fr.,=sea of ice], glacier (3.5 mi/5.6 km long; 16 sq mi/41 sq km), Haute-Savoie dept., E France, on the northern slope of Mont Blanc. It is formed by the junction of...

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