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Chaban-Delmas, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Chaban-Delmas, Jacques zhäk shäbäNˈ-dĕlmäˈ [key], 1915–2000, French political leader, born Jacques Delmas. He joined (1940) the resistance, using the nom de guerre “Chaban,” which he late...

Kabila, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Kabila, Joseph käbēˈlä [key], 1971–, Congolese political leader, eldest son of Laurent Kabila. He was educated in Tanzania while his father was in exile there, and after his father became presid...

Pétion, Alexandre

(Encyclopedia)Pétion, Alexandre älĕksäNˈdrə pātyôNˈ [key], 1770–1818, Haitian revolutionist. After taking part in the expulsion (1798) of the English from Haiti, he joined (1799) André Rigaud against To...

Vichy

(Encyclopedia)Vichy vĭshˈē, Fr. vēshēˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 28,048), Allier dept., central France, on the Allier River. Vichy's hot mineral springs made it one of the foremost spas in Europe, with a casino ...

D'Alembert's principle

(Encyclopedia)D'Alembert's principle dălˈəmbârzˌ [key], in mechanics, principle permitting the reduction of a problem in dynamics to one in statics. This is accomplished by introducing a fictitious force equal...

Nanteuil, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Nanteuil, Robert rōbĕrˈ näNtöˈyə [key], 1623?–1678, French draftsman and engraver. His pastel portraits gained him popularity, and in 1658 Louis XIV made him draftsman to the royal cabinet. H...

Louvois, François Michel Le Tellier, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Louvois, François Michel Le Tellier, marquis de fräNswäˈ mēshĕlˈ lə tĕlyāˈ märkēˈ də lo͞ovwäˈ [key], 1641–91, French statesman, minister during the reign of King Louis XIV. After 1...

Gautier, Théophile

(Encyclopedia)Gautier, Théophile gōtyāˈ [key], 1811–72, French poet, novelist, and critic. He was a leading exponent of “art for art's sake”—the belief that formal, aesthetic beauty is the sole purpose...

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 ...

Barnave, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie

(Encyclopedia)Barnave, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie äNtwänˈ pyĕr zhōzĕfˈ märēˈ bärnävˈ [key], 1761–93, French revolutionary. A member of the States-General of 1789 from Grenoble, he was a brilliant sp...