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Bedford, Sybille

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, Sybille, 1911–2006, English writer, b. Charlottenberg, Germany, as Sybille von Schoenebeck. She worked as a legal reporter for various publications, covering more than 100 trials including ...

Plunket, Saint Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Plunket orPlunkett, Saint Oliver, 1629–81, Irish Roman Catholic churchman and martyr, b. Co. Meath. He was educated at Rome and named Roman Catholic archbishop of Armagh and primate of all Ireland i...

Ryti, Risto

(Encyclopedia)Ryti, Risto rēˈstō rüˈtē [key], 1889–1956, Finnish political leader. In 1919 he was elected to the Finnish diet. He later served as minister of finance (1921–24) and as governor of the Bank ...

Rajk, Laszlo

(Encyclopedia)Rajk, Laszlo läsˈlō roik [key], 1909–49, Hungarian Communist leader. After fighting in the Spanish civil war of 1936–39 he was interned (1939) in a French camp for Spanish Loyalists. Rajk retur...

Vergniaud, Pierre Victurnien

(Encyclopedia)Vergniaud, Pierre Victurnien pyĕr vēktürnyăNˈ vĕrnyōˈ [key], 1753–93, French revolutionary. A brilliant lawyer, he gained attention (1790) when defending peasants who had burned a castle. El...

Khodorkovsky, Mikhail Borisovich

(Encyclopedia)Khodorkovsky, Mikhail Borisovich mēkhəyēlˈ bərēˈsəvĭch kōdôrkôfˈskē [key], 1963–, Russian business executive. In the waning years of the Soviet Union, he ran a computer import business...

Curran, John Philpot

(Encyclopedia)Curran, John Philpot kŭrˈən [key], 1750–1817, Irish statesman and orator. He became the best-known trial lawyer in Dublin when he was still very young and entered the Irish Parliament in 1783. He...

Clay, Clement Claiborne

(Encyclopedia)Clay, Clement Claiborne, 1816–82, U.S. Senator (1853–61), b. Huntsville, Ala. A legislator and then a judge in his native state, he was twice elected to the U.S. Senate and became an ardent defend...

ephors

(Encyclopedia)ephors ĕfˈərz [key] [Gr.,=overseers], in ancient Greece, magistrates in several Dorian states. In Sparta they comprised an executive, legislative, and judicial board of five Spartan citizens. This ...

Faure, Félix

(Encyclopedia)Faure, Félix fōr [key], 1841–99, president of the French republic (1895–99). A leather merchant, he served in the Franco-Prussian War and became an undersecretary for commerce and colonies in t...