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Gance, Abel

(Encyclopedia)Gance, Abel, 1889–1981, pioneering French filmmaker. He acted on the stage in the early 1900s and appeared on the silent screen. From 1911 he wrote and directed several films; his first important fi...

Garamond, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Garamond, Claude klōd gärämôNˈ [key], 1480–1561, Parisian designer and maker of printing types. According to tradition he learned his art from Geofroy Tory. Types designed by Garamond were used...

Nouvel, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Nouvel, Jean zhäN no͞ovĕlˈ [key], 1945–, French architect, grad. École des Beaux-Arts, Paris (1971). He opened his own firm in 1975, and became known for innovative techniques, the use of moder...

Péguy, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Péguy, Charles shärl pāgēˈ [key], 1873–1914, French poet and writer. Of a poor, working family, he won scholarships and made a brilliant record as a student. He left the École normale supérie...

Babeuf, François Noël

(Encyclopedia)Babeuf, François Noël fräNswäˈ nôĕlˈ bäböfˈ [key], 1760–97, French revolutionary, organizer of a communist uprising against the Directory. Of petty bourgeois origin, he was an enthusiasti...

Arles

(Encyclopedia)Arles ärl [key], city, Bouches-du-Rhône dept., S central France, in Provence, on the Rhône River delta. Arles is an important railroad, shipping, agriculture, and indus...

Blanc, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Blanc, Louis lwē bläN [key], 1811–82, French socialist politician and journalist and historian. In his noted Organisation du travail (1840, tr. Organization of Work, 1911), he outlined his ideal o...

Berg

(Encyclopedia)Berg bĕrk [key], former duchy, W Germany, along the right bank of the Rhine River between the Ruhr and Sieg rivers. Düsseldorf was its chief city. A county in the 12th cent., Berg passed (1348) to t...

Ypres

(Encyclopedia)Ypres ēˈprə [key], Du. Ieper, commune (1991 pop. 35,235), West Flanders prov., SW Belgium, near the French border. It is an agricultural market and an industrial center. Manufactures include textil...

ransom

(Encyclopedia)ransom, price of redemption demanded by the captor of a person, vessel, or city. In ancient times cities frequently paid ransom to prevent their plundering by captors. The custom of ransoming was form...