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soliloquy

(Encyclopedia)soliloquy, the speech by a character in a literary composition, usually a play, delivered while the speaker is either alone addressing the audience directly or the other actors are silent. It is most ...

Bialik, Hayyim Nahman

(Encyclopedia)Bialik, Hayyim Nahman hīˈyəm näˈmən byäˈlēk [key], 1873–1934, Hebrew poet, publisher in Odessa, Berlin, and Tel-Aviv, b. Volhynia, Russia. As an editor and publisher Bialik spread the ideas...

Rowe, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Rowe, Nicholas rō [key], 1674–1718, English dramatist. An ardent Whig, he was able to gain various government posts during the course of his life. In 1715 he became poet laureate. His first two pla...

Hershey, Milton Snavely

(Encyclopedia)Hershey, Milton Snavely, 1857–1945, American manufacturer and philanthropist, b. near Derry Church (now Hershey), Pa. The son of Mennonite farmers, at 15 he was apprenticed to a confectioner in Lanc...

McLoughlin, John

(Encyclopedia)McLoughlin, John məglŏkhˈlĭn, –glôfˈlĭn [key], 1784–1857, Canadian-American fur trader in Oregon, b. Rivière du Loup, near Quebec. A physician and then a trader, he was (1824–46) chief a...

Keith, Minor Cooper

(Encyclopedia)Keith, Minor Cooper, 1848–1929, American magnate, a founder of the United Fruit Company, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. In the face of incredible hardships he built (1871–90) a railroad from the port of Limón...

Knopf, Alfred A.

(Encyclopedia)Knopf, Alfred A. (Alfred Abraham Knopf) kənŏpfˈ, nŏpf [key], 1892–1984, American publisher, b. New York City. After working (1912–14) for the Doubleday, Page Publishing Company, he founded (19...

Karsavina, Tamara

(Encyclopedia)Karsavina, Tamara təmäˈrə Kərsäˈvyĭnə [key], 1885–1978, Russian prima ballerina. Karsavina was trained in the Imperial Theatre School and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, making her...

Meiningen Players

(Encyclopedia)Meiningen Players, German theatrical company that toured Europe from 1874 to 1890. The group, inspiring theatrical reforms wherever it performed, was a major influence in the movement toward modern th...

patroon

(Encyclopedia)patroon pətro͞onˈ [key] [Du.,=patron or employer], in American history, the name given to a Dutch landowner in New Netherland who exerted manorial rights in colonial times. To encourage emigration ...