Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Musset, Alfred de (Louis Charles Alfred de Musset) älfrĕdˈ də müsāˈ [key], 1810–57, French romantic poet, dramatist, and fiction writer. His first collection of poems, Contes d'Espagne et d'I...

(Encyclopedia) Giscard d'Estaing, Valéry (Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing) välārēˈ zhēskärˈ dĕstăNˈ [key], 1926–2020, French political leader, president of France (1974–81); b. French-oc...

(Encyclopedia) Bourbon, Antoine de bo͞orbôNˈ [key], 1518–62, duc de Vendôme, king of Navarre through his marriage to Jeanne d'Albret; father of Henry IV of France. He converted to Protestantism after his marr...

(Encyclopedia) Narváez, Pánfilo de pänˈfēlō ᵺā närväˈĕth [key], c.1470–1528, Spanish conquistador. After service in Jamaica, he aided Diego de Velázquez in conquering Cuba and was sent (1520) to Mexi...

(Encyclopedia) Herrera, Francisco de ᵺā ārāˈrä [key], c.1576–1656, Spanish painter, engraver, miniaturist, and draftsman. He worked in Seville most of his life, executing religious and genre subjects. His ...

(Encyclopedia) Bourdonnais, Louis de la (Louis-Charles Mahé de la Bourdonnais), 1795–1840, French chess player, b. La Réunion. A pupil of Alexandre Deschappelles, he defeated his mentor in 1821 and from then unt...

(Encyclopedia) Velde, van de vän də vĕlˈdə [key], 17th-century Dutch family of artists. Jan van de Velde, 1593–1641, was a draftsman and engraver as well as a painter. His cousin Esaias van de Velde, c.1591�...

(Encyclopedia) Mitterrand, François Maurice fräNswäˈ mōrēsˈ mētəräNˈ [key], 1916–96, French political leader, president of France, 1981–95. Initially a supporter of Pétain's Vichy government during W...

(Encyclopedia) Charles IV, 1604–75, duke of Lorraine. He succeeded to the duchy in 1624 but was to lose it several times because of his anti-French policy. In 1633, French troops invaded Lorraine in retaliation fo...

(Encyclopedia) Marmont, Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de ōgüstˈ frādārēkˈ lwē vyĕs də märmôNˈ [key], 1774–1852, marshal of France. He fought with Napoleon in Italy and Egypt and took part in his cou...