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Lateran Council, Fifth

(Encyclopedia)Lateran Council, Fifth, 1512–17, 18th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convened by Pope Julius II and continued by his successor Leo X. Julius called the council to counter an attemp...

Kocharian, Robert Sedraki

(Encyclopedia)Kocharian or Kocharyan, Robert Sedraki, 1954–, Armenian political leader. He served (1972–74) in the Soviet army and worked as a mechanical engineer (1977–81) before graduating (1982) from the Y...

Piñera, Sebastián

(Encyclopedia)Piñera, Sebastián (Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique) mēgĕlˈ hwän sābästyänˈ pēnyāˈrä āchāˈnēkā [key], 1949–, Chilean business executive and politician, president of Chile ...

Lusinchi, Jaime Ramón

(Encyclopedia)Lusinchi, Jaime Ramón hīˈmā rämōnˈ lo͞osĭnˈchē [key], 1924–2014, Venezuelan political leader. Lusinchi joined the Democratic Action party (AD) upon its founding in 1941 and was involved i...

Smith, Alfred Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873–1944, American political leader, b. New York City. Reared in poor surroundings, he had no formal education beyond grade school and took various jobs—including work in t...

Malawi

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Malawi məläˈwē [key], officially Republic of Malawi, republic (2015 est. pop. 17,574,000), 45,200 sq mi (117,068 sq km), E central Africa. It borders on Zambia in the west, on Tanzania in t...

Arias, Arnulfo

(Encyclopedia)Arias, Arnulfo ärno͞olˈfō ärˈyäs [key], 1901–88, president of Panama (1940–41, 1949–51, Oct., 1968). A Harvard-trained physician, he led the coup that deposed President Florencio Harmodio...

Peres, Shimon

(Encyclopedia)Peres, Shimon shēˈmōn pârˈĕs [key], 1923–2016, Israeli politician, b. Wiszniew, Poland (now Vishnyeva, Belarus) as Shimon Perski. His family immigrated to Palestine in 1934; his grandparents, ...

Gbagbo, Laurent

(Encyclopedia)Gbagbo, Laurent lōrăNˈ bägˈbō [key], 1945–, Ivoirian political leader, b. Gagnoa. After studying at the Univ. of Abidjan and the Univ. of Paris, Gbagbo became a history teacher and union activ...

Shevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich

(Encyclopedia)Shevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich ĕdˈwärd shəvˈärdnädˈzyə [key], 1928–2014, Georgian politician and diplomat. Known for pragmatism rather than polemicism, Shevardnadze served as the head o...