Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Montgolfier, Joseph Michel zhäk ātyĕnˈ [key], 1745–99, French inventors, brothers. Together they invented the first practical balloon. On June 5, 1783, they sent up at Annonay, near Lyons, a lar...

(Encyclopedia) Chamillart or Chamillard, Michel both: mēshĕlˈ shämēyärˈ [key], 1652–1721, French statesman. He was named controller general of finances (1699), minister of state (1700), and minister of war ...

(Encyclopedia) Le Tellier, Michel mēshĕlˈ lə tĕlyāˈ [key], 1603–85, French statesman. A minister of state under Cardinal Mazarin, he became war minister in 1643. He later shared his duties with his son, the...

(Encyclopedia) Ney, Michel mēshĕlˈ nā [key], 1769–1815, marshal of France. Called “the bravest of the brave” by Napoleon I, Ney, a cooper's son from Saarlouis, rapidly rose to glory in the French Revolutio...

(Encyclopedia) Fokine, Michel mēshĕlˈ fōkēnˈ, Rus. fôˈkyĭn [key], 1880–1942, Russian-American choreographer and ballet dancer, b. Russia. He studied at the Imperial Ballet School (1889–98) and danced at...

(Encyclopedia) Chevreul, Michel Eugène mēshĕlˈ özhĕnˈ shəvrölˈ [key], 1786–1889, French chemist. He studied under L. N. Vauquelin, was director of the Gobelin tapestry works, and from 1830 was professor,...

(Encyclopedia) Bréal, Michel Jules Alfred mēshĕlˈ zhül älfrĕdˈ brāälˈ [key], 1832–1915, French philologist. He is best known for his Essai de semantique (1897), which gave great impetus to scientific in...

(Encyclopedia) Aco or Accault, Michel both: mēshĕlˈ äkōˈ [key], fl. 1680–1702, French explorer. He became La Salle's lieutenant, being favored by that explorer because of his courage, prudence, and wide acqu...

(Encyclopedia) Butor, Michel mēshĕlˈ bütôrˈ [key], 1926–2016, French novelist and critic. As one of the chief exponents of the nouveau roman [new novel] (see French literature), Butor was less interested in ...

(Encyclopedia) Temer, Michel (Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia), 1940–, Brazilian political leader. The son of Lebanese immigrants, he studied law at the Univ. of São Paolo and the Pontifical Univ. of São Paolo, ...