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Nijinsky, Vaslav

(Encyclopedia)Nijinsky, Vaslav vəsläfˈ nyĭzhēnˈskē [key], 1890–1950, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer; brother of Bronislava Nijinska. Nijinsky is widely considered the greatest dancer of the 20th c...

Panama Papers

(Encyclopedia)Panama Papers, popular name for the some 11.5 million internal documents belonging to the Panamanian-based law firm Mossack Fonseca that revealed information about secret offshore companies and bank a...

Marat, Jean Paul

(Encyclopedia)Marat, Jean Paul zhäN pōl märäˈ [key], 1743–93, French revolutionary, b. Switzerland. He studied medicine in England, acquired some repute as a doctor in London and Paris, and wrote scientific ...

Leary, Timothy Francis

(Encyclopedia)Leary, Timothy Francis, 1920–96, American psychologist and educator, b. Springfield, Mass.; B.A., Univ. of Alabama, 1943; M.A., Washington State Univ.; Ph.D., Univ. of California at Berkeley, 1950. ...

Lausanne

(Encyclopedia)Lausanne lōzänˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 117,600), capital of Vaud canton, W Switzerland, on the Lake of Geneva. An important rail junction and lake port (see Ouchy), it is the trade and commercial c...

Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig ĕrnst lo͝otˈvĭkh kĭrkhˈnər [key], 1880–1938, German expressionist painter and graphic artist. He studied art in Munich and was greatly impressed by the neoimpressionist...

Plekhanov, Georgi Valentinovich

(Encyclopedia)Plekhanov, Georgi Valentinovich gāôrˈgē vəlyĭntyēˈnəvĭch plyĭkhäˈnəf [key], 1857–1918, Russian revolutionary and social philosopher. He was a leader in introducing Marxist theory to Ru...

postage stamp

(Encyclopedia)postage stamp, government stamp affixed to mail to indicate payment of postage. The term includes stamps printed or embossed on postcards and envelopes as well as the adhesive labels. The use of adhes...

central bank

(Encyclopedia)central bank, financial institution designed to regulate and control the money supply of a nation, with the goal of fostering economic growth without inflation. Although central banking systems have v...

Williams, William Carlos

(Encyclopedia)Williams, William Carlos, 1883–1963, American poet and physician, b. Rutherford, N.J., educated in Geneva, Switzerland, Univ. of Pennsylvania (M.D., 1906), and Univ. of Leipzig, where he studied ped...