Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Pierre, Abbé äbāˈ pyĕr [key], 1912–2007, French priest and social activist, b. Lyons as Henri Antoine Grouès. Renouncing a wealthy inheritance to become a Capuchin monk in 1931, he left the mo...

(Encyclopedia) Flourens, Pierre (Marie Jean Pierre Flourens) pyĕr flo͞oräNsˈ [key], 1794–1867, French physiologist. He demonstrated the respiratory center in the medulla and the function of the cerebellum in m...

(Encyclopedia) Faguet, Émile āmēlˈ fägāˈ [key], 1847–1916, French literary critic and historian. His prolific studies stimulated interest in French intellectual history of the 17th, 18th, and 19th cent. His...

(Encyclopedia) undine əndēnˈ, ŭnˈdēn [key], in folklore, female water sprite who could acquire a soul by marrying a human being. If, however, her lover proved unfaithful, she had to return to the sea. The lege...

(Encyclopedia) Bollandists bŏlˈəndĭsts [key], group of Jesuits in Belgium, named for their early leader, Jean Bolland, a Flemish Jesuit of the 17th cent. They were charged by the Holy See with compiling an autho...

(Encyclopedia) Auenbrugger, Leopold lāˈōpôlt ouˈənbro͝ogər [key], 1722–1809, Viennese physician. His findings on the use of percussion in diagnosing chest diseases were published in 1761 (tr. On Percussion...

(Encyclopedia) Herrings, Battle of the, 1429, episode in the siege of Orléans by the English in the Hundred Years War. The French, under Jean, comte de Dunois, attacked a supply train commanded by Sir John Fastolf....

(Encyclopedia) Simon, Antoine äNtwänˈ sēmôNˈ [key], 1736–94, French revolutionary, often called “the shoemaker,” a member of the Commune of Paris. He and his wife guarded the dauphin, Louis XVII, in pris...

(Encyclopedia) French art, the artistic production of the region that constitutes the historic nation of France. See also French architecture. The innovations of postimpressionism, combined with the influence of C...

(Encyclopedia) Weygand, Maxime mäksēmˈ vāgäNˈ [key], 1867–1965, French general, b. Belgium. A career army officer, he was (1914–23) chief of staff to Marshal Foch, and in 1920 he directed the defense of Wa...