Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de pyĕr də bo͞ordāˈyə sānyörˈ də bräNtōmˈ [key], 1540?–1614, French courtier, soldier, and author of memoirs. He accompanied Mary Stuart to Sco...

(Encyclopedia) Necker, Jacques zhäk nĕkĕrˈ [key], 1732–1804, French financier and statesman, b. Geneva, Switzerland. In 1750 he went to Paris and entered banking. He rose rapidly to importance, established a b...

(Encyclopedia) Alva, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, duque de: see Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, duque de. ...

(Encyclopedia) Cela, Camilo José kämēˈlō hōsāˈ thāˈlä [key], 1916–2002, Spanish novelist, short-story writer, and poet, b. Iria Flavia. Among the writers to emerge after the Spanish civil war, he won cr...

(Encyclopedia) Carême, Marie Antoine märēˈ äNtwänˈ kärĕmˈ [key], 1784–1833, celebrated French cook and gastronomist. He was chef for Talleyrand, Czar Alexander I, George IV, and Baron Rothschild. His wri...

(Encyclopedia) Gálvez, Matías de dā gälˈvāth [key], 1717–84, Spanish colonial administrator, captain general of Guatemala (1779), viceroy of New Spain (1783–84); brother of José de Gálvez. He was succee...

(Encyclopedia) Étaix, Pierre, 1928–2016, French film actor and director. He excelled at highly physical slapstick comedy, influenced by his background as a circus and cabaret performer, and by Buster Keaton and C...

(Encyclopedia) Sully, Maximilien de Béthune, duc de sülēˈ [key], 1560–1641, French statesman. Born and reared a Protestant, he fought in the Wars of Religion under the Huguenot leader Henry of Navarre (later ...

(Encyclopedia) Retz or Rais, Gilles de Laval, seigneur de zhēl də lävälˈ sānyörˈ də rĕts, rĕs [key], 1404–40, marshal of France, a lord of the Breton marches. A noted soldier, he was at Orléans with Jo...

(Encyclopedia) Maine de Biran mĕn də bēräNˈ [key], 1766–1824, French philosopher, member of the Council of Five Hundred (1797), and councilor of state (1816). His real name was Marie François Pierre Gonthier...