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Morante, Elsa

(Encyclopedia)Morante, Elsa ĕlˈsə môränˈtā [key], c.1912–85, Italian novelist and poet; wife of Alberto Moravia. Her prose style, which is indebted to surrealism and magic realism, is characterized by the ...

Dukes, Leopold

(Encyclopedia)Dukes, Leopold, 1810–91, Hungarian Hebrew scholar. He made a collection of rabbinical proverbs and wrote on the history of Jewish literature, notably of Hebrew poetry in the Middle Ages. He also tra...

Pied Piper of Hamelin

(Encyclopedia)Pied Piper of Hamelin, legendary figure of Hameln, Germany. He rid the town of its rats and mice by charming them away with his flute playing. When the citizens refused to pay him the price they had a...

Kesey, Ken Elton

(Encyclopedia)Kesey, Ken Elton, 1935–2001, American novelist and counterculture figure, b. La Junta, Colo.; grad. Univ. of Oregon (1957), Stanford Univ. (1960). While a student he volunteered for a hospital study...

Henri

(Encyclopedia)Henri, 1955–, grand duke of Luxembourg (2000–), the oldest son of Jean, grand duke of Luxembourg, and Joséphine Charlotte, princess of Belgium. In 1981 Henri married María Teresa Mestre y Batist...

Badger, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Badger, Joseph, 1708–65, American painter, b. Charlestown, Mass. By trade a glazier and house and sign painter, he turned his hand to portraiture. Generally uninspired, his work appears at its best ...

abandonment

(Encyclopedia)abandonment, in law, voluntary, intentional, and absolute relinquishment of rights or property without conveying them to any other person. Abandonment also means willfully leaving one's spouse or chil...

Barthelme, Donald

(Encyclopedia)Barthelme, Donald bärtˈəlmē [key], 1931–89, American writer, b. Philadelphia. The son of an architect, he grew up in Texas, moved (1962) to New York City, worked as a curator and an editor, and ...

Grossman, David

(Encyclopedia)Grossman, David, 1954–, Israeli writer and peace activist, b. Jerusalem. He is widely recognized as the finest novelist in the generation that followed Amos Oz and A. B. Yehoshua. The son of a Polis...

Grundtvig, Nikolai Frederik Severin

(Encyclopedia)Grundtvig, Nikolai Frederik Severin nĭkōlīˈ frĭᵺˈərĭk sĕvərēnˈ gro͝ontˈvĭg [key], 1783–1872, Danish educator, minister, and writer, founder of the Danish folk high school. He came i...