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Bonaventure, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Bonaventure or Bonaventura, Saint bŏnˌəvĕnˈchər, bōˌnävānto͞oˈrä [key], 1221–74, Italian scholastic theologian, cardinal, Doctor of the Church, called the Seraphic Doctor, b. near Viter...

Lippi

(Encyclopedia)Lippi lēpˈpē [key], name of two celebrated Italian painters of the 15th cent., Fra Filippo Lippi and his son, Filippino Lippi. Filippino Lippi,Filippino Lippi, c.1457–1504, son of Fra Filippo a...

Alamein, El

(Encyclopedia)Alamein, El äl älămānˈ [key], town, N Egypt, on the Mediterranean Sea. It was the site of a decisive British victory in World War II (see North Africa, campaigns in). In preparation for an attack...

mendelevium

(Encyclopedia)mendelevium mĕndəlāvˈēəm [key], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Md; at. no. 101; mass no. of most stable isotope 258; m.p. 827℃; b.p. and sp. gr. unknown; valence +1...

Ricci, Matteo

(Encyclopedia)Ricci, Matteo mät-tāˈō rētˈchē [key], 1552–1610, Italian missionary to China. He entered the Society of Jesus, and in Rome he studied under Clavius. Ricci was sent to the Indies (1578), and h...

Arnold of Brescia

(Encyclopedia)Arnold of Brescia brĕshˈə [key], c.1090–1155, Italian monk and reformer, b. Brescia. A priest of irreproachable life, Arnold studied at Paris, where according to tradition he was a pupil of Peter...

art history

(Encyclopedia)art history, the study of works of art and architecture. In the mid-19th cent., art history was raised to the status of an academic discipline by the Swiss Jacob Burckhardt, who related art to its cul...

Aosta, Valle d'

(Encyclopedia)Aosta, Valle d' väldäôˈstä [key], region, 1,260 sq mi (3,263 sq km), NW Italy, bordering on France in the west and on Switzerland in the north. Aosta is the capital o...

Gimbel

(Encyclopedia)Gimbel gĭmˈbəl [key], family of American merchants and philanthropists. Adam Gimbel, 1815–96, b. Bavaria, emigrated (1835) to the United States and traveled up and down the Mississippi River pedd...

Fabian Society

(Encyclopedia)Fabian Society, British socialist society. An outgrowth of the Fellowship of the New Life (founded 1883 under the influence of Thomas Davidson), the society was developed the following year by Frank P...