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Boult, Sir Adrian

(Encyclopedia)Boult, Sir Adrian bōlt [key], 1889–1983, English conductor. Boult studied conducting in Leipzig with Arthur Nikisch (1912–13). In 1930 he became conductor of the newly formed BBC Symphony Orchest...

Bowell, Sir Mackenzie

(Encyclopedia)Bowell, Sir Mackenzie bōˈəl [key], 1823–1917, Canadian prime minister, b. England. A leader of the Protestant and English interests in Canada, he served as a Conservative in the Canadian House of...

Bowring, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Bowring, Sir John bouˈrĭng [key], 1792–1872, British diplomat, linguist, and writer. An extraordinarily versatile linguist, he is remembered for his anthologies and translations of poetry from man...

Branson, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Branson, Sir Richard (Richard Charles Nicholas Branson), 1950–, British business mogul and adventurer. He left school at 16 to start his first business, the magazine Student. In 1970 he began a mail...

Solti, Sir Georg

(Encyclopedia)Solti, Sir Georg shôltē [key], 1912–97, English conductor, b. Hungary. He made his conducting debut in Budapest (1933) and later led orchestras in Switzerland, Germany, and France. Solti gained fa...

Somers, Sir George

(Encyclopedia)Somers, Sir George, 1554–1610, English naval commander. The leader of several successful privateering ventures against the Spanish, he was knighted in 1603. He was a founder (1606) of the London Com...

Simpson, Sir George

(Encyclopedia)Simpson, Sir George, 1792?–1860, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada (1821–56), b. Scotland. In 1820 he was sent by the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada, where he took charge of the impor...

Sinclair, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Sinclair, Sir John, 1754–1835, Scottish agricultural economist and statistician. He compiled A Statistical Account of Scotland (21 vol., 1791–99), giving information on farming and other industrie...

Sloane, Sir Hans

(Encyclopedia)Sloane, Sir Hans, 1660–1753, British physican and naturalist, president of the Royal College of Physicians (1719–35) and of the Royal Society (1727–40). His collection of botanical specimens (so...

Smirke, Sir Robert

(Encyclopedia)Smirke, Sir Robert, 1781–1867, English architect, one of the most noted exponents of the classic revival. His best-known design is the main facade of the British Museum (1823–47). Other buildings ...