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Meissonier, Jean Louis Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Meissonier, Jean Louis Ernest zhäN lwē ĕrnĕstˈ māsônyāˈ [key], 1815–91, French genre and military painter. His study of the Dutch masters was evident in his first Salon-exhibited painting, ...

Laclos, Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de

(Encyclopedia)Laclos, Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de pyĕr äNbrwäzˈ fräNswäˈ shôdĕrlōˈ də läklōˈ [key], 1741–1803, French novelist and general, known as Choderlos de Laclos. He is best known...

Palikao, Charles Guillaume Cousin-Montauban, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Palikao, Charles Guillaume Cousin-Montauban, comte de shärl gēyōmˈ ko͞ozăNˈ-môNtōbäNˈ kôNt də pälēkäōˈ [key], 1796–1878, French general. He commanded (1860) the French forces in Ch...

San Ildefonso, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)San Ildefonso, Treaty of, any of several treaties signed at the royal residence of San Ildefonso, Spain. 1 The Treaty of San Ildefonso of 1796 was an alliance of France with Spain against Great Britai...

Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail, Prince

(Encyclopedia)Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail, Prince mēkhəyēlˈ, bərklīˈ də tôˈlyē [key], 1761–1818, Russian field marshal, of Scottish descent. He gained prominence in the Napoleonic Wars, became minister o...

Campan, Jeanne Louise Henriette

(Encyclopedia)Campan, Jeanne Louise Henriette zhän lwēz äNrēĕtˈ käNpäNˈ [key], 1752–1822, French educator and author. She served as a reader to Louis XV's daughters and as lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoin...

Carpeaux, Jean-Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Carpeaux, Jean-Baptiste zhäN-bätēstˈ kärpōˈ [key], 1827–75, French sculptor and painter. He studied with François Rude and won the Prix de Rome. Carpeaux rose to fame with his Ugolino (1860�...

Quatre Bras

(Encyclopedia)Quatre Bras käˈtrə bräˈ [key], village, Walloon Brabant prov., central Belgium, just south of Waterloo. There, on June 16, 1815, in a battle of the Waterloo campaign, the British under Arthur Wel...

Comédie Française

(Encyclopedia)Comédie Française tāäˈtrə fräNsāˈ [key], state theater of France. Also known as La Maison de Molière, it was officially established by Louis XIV in 1680. His decree merged the two French com...

Gambetta, Léon

(Encyclopedia)Gambetta, Léon lāôNˈ gäNbĕtäˈ [key], 1838–82, French republican leader. A lawyer who achieved some note as an opponent of the Second Empire of Napoleon III, he was elected deputy in 1869 and...