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Gheorghiu-Dej, Gheorghe

(Encyclopedia)Gheorghiu-Dej, Gheorghe gāôrˈgā gāôrˈgyo͞o-dāzh [key], 1901–65, Romanian Communist leader, b. Moldavia. He joined the Communist party in 1930 and while in prison (1933–44) was elected (19...

liberation theology

(Encyclopedia)liberation theology, belief that the Christian Gospel demands “a preferential option for the poor,” and that the church should be involved in the struggle for economic and political justice in the...

Maurer, Ion Gheorghe

(Encyclopedia)Maurer, Ion Gheorghe yôn gāôrˈgā [key], 1902–2000, Romanian statesman. A lawyer, he defended Romanian Communists in the 1930s and later became (1945) a member of the central committee of the Co...

Bonnet, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Bonnet, Georges bônāˈ [key], 1889–1973, French politician. He entered politics as a Radical Socialist. A financial expert, he was prominent at international conferences on reparations and other ...

European Monetary System

(Encyclopedia)European Monetary System, arrangement by which most nations of the European Union (EU) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations relative to one another. It was organized in 1979 to stabil...

binary star

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Eclipsing binary: Primary component passing behind secondary (dimmer) component B. Light curve for eclipsing binary binary star or binary system, pair of stars that are held together by the...

savings and loan association

(Encyclopedia)savings and loan association (S&L), type of financial institution that was originally created to accept savings from private investors and to provide home mortgage services for the public. The fir...

Ngouabi, Marien

(Encyclopedia)Ngouabi, Marien, 1938–77, Congolese army officer and political leader. After military training in France, he served in the Congo Republic's army and started the country's first paratrooper battalion...

Van Rompuy, Herman Achille

(Encyclopedia)Van Rompuy, Herman Achille, 1947–, Belgian statesman, b. Etterbeek. A Flemish Christian Democrat, he was president of the party from 1988 to 1993 and was a member of Belgium's parliament, serving in...

Schwartz, Anna Jacobson

(Encyclopedia)Schwartz, Anna Jacobson, 1915–2012, American research economist and financial historian, b. the Bronx, N.Y., grad. Barnard (B.A. 1934), Columbia (M.A. 1935, Ph.D. 1964). An outstanding exponent of m...