Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Baïf, Jean Antoine de zhäN äNtwänˈ də bäēfˈ [key], 1532–89, French poet of the Pléiade (see under Pleiad). He wrote sonnets, didactic and satirical poems, and plays. ...

(Encyclopedia) Talavera de la Reina tälävāˈrä ᵺā lä rāˈnä [key], town (1990 pop. 69,215), Toledo prov., central Spain, in Castile–La Mancha, on the Tagus River. It is in an agricultural region and is k...

(Encyclopedia) Huerta, Adolfo de la ädôlˈfō ᵺā lä wārˈtä [key], c.1882–1955, Mexican revolutionist and president (May–Dec., 1920). As governor of Sonora, he broke with President Carranza and declared ...

(Encyclopedia) La Boétie, Étienne de ātyĕnˈ də lä bôāsēˈ [key], 1530–63, French judge and writer. He served with Montaigne in the Bordeaux parlement and is immortalized in Montaigne's essay on friendshi...

(Encyclopedia) La Vallière, Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc de lwēz fräNswäzˈ də lä bōm lə bläN də lä välyĕrˈ [key], 1644–1710, mistress of King Louis XIV of France. Maid of honor to Louis's ...

(Encyclopedia) Adam de la Halle lə bōsüˈ [key], c.1240–1287, French dramatist and poet-musician, one of the great trouvères. Many of his songs and polyphonic motets are preserved, as is the pastoral comedy wi...

(Encyclopedia) Cueva, Juan de la dā lä kwāˈvä [key], 1550?–1610?, Spanish dramatist, one of the precursors of Lope de Vega. He spent the years from 1574 to 1577 in Mexico. Of his 14 plays, the most famous is...

(Encyclopedia) Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de də bälzäkˈ [key], 1597?–1654, French writer. His Lettres (1624, tr. 1634) and other writings were a great influence in reforming French prose. Their style was marked ...

(Encyclopedia) Chaux-de-Fonds, La lä shō-də-fôNˈ [key], city, Neuchâtel canton, NW Switzerland, in the Jura Mts., ...

(Encyclopedia) Serna, José de la hōsāˈ ᵺā lä sārˈnä [key], 1770–1832, Spanish general, viceroy of Peru (1821–24). In 1821 the military leaders, dissatisfied with Viceroy Pezuela and his conduct of the...