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Medawar, Sir Peter Brian

(Encyclopedia)Medawar, Sir Peter Brian mĕdˈəwär [key], 1915–87, British zoologist, b. Brazil. After graduate work at Oxford, he held research and teaching posts there. He was professor of zoology (1947–51) ...

Burnet, Sir Macfarlane

(Encyclopedia)Burnet, Sir Macfarlane, 1899–1985, Australian virologist and physician. He was resident pathologist (1923–24) at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a Beit fellow (1926–27) at the Lister Institute,...

Pears, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Pears, Sir Peter, 1910–86, English tenor. Pears studied at the Royal College of Music and became a member of the Sadler's Wells Opera and the English Opera Group. In 1948 he made his Covent Garden d...

Mansfield, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Mansfield, Sir Peter, 1933–2017, British physicist, Ph.D. Queen Mary College, London, 1962. He was a professor at the Univ. of Nottingham from 1964 to 1994. In 2003 Mansfield shared the Nobel Prize ...

Lely, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Lely, Sir Peter lēˈlē [key], 1618–80, Dutch portrait painter in England. His original name was Pieter van der Faes. He studied in Haarlem but worked in England from c.1643. After the death of Van...

Ustinov, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Ustinov, Sir Peter (Alexander) yo͞osˈtənôf [key], 1921–2004, English writer, director, and actor, b. London. A witty, charming, and cosmopolitan man, he debuted on the London stage at 18 and sub...

Shaffer, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Shaffer, Sir Peter shăfˈər [key], 1926–2016, English playwright, b. Liverpool, grad. Cambridge, 1950. Before turning to the stage he wrote for radio and television and was the author of several m...

Weir, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Weir, Peter wēr [key], 1944–, Australian film director, b. Sydney. His early work helped to bring Australian film to world attention; his later films, made in Hollywood, mingle American movie techn...

O'Brian, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)O'Brian, Patrick, 1914–2000, British novelist, b. near London as Richard Patrick Russ. He changed his name in 1945 and after World War II settled in France. O'Brian's first novel, Caesar (1930), wri...

Cowen, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Cowen, Brian, 1960– Irish political leader, prime minister of the Repubic of Ireland (2008–11). A lawyer from a family long involved in Fianna Fáil politics, he was first elected to the Irish par...