Mosquito, British twin-engine two-seat mid-wing bomber aircraft that was adapted to become the prime night fighter of the Allies during World War II. The Mosquito had a frame of wood and a skin of plywood, and it was glued and screwed together in England, Canada, and Australia. The plane was

history of flight: General aviation: …De Havilland (later, Hawker Siddeley) Dove arrived in 1945 as a low-wing design with retractable gear and a capacity for 11 passengers. It remained in production through the 1960s, with 554 Doves built, including 200 for military operators. The second aircraft was the Britten-Norman Islander, with headquarters located on the…

Geoffrey de Havilland: The success of the Moth, a light two-seater, made the company financially successful and started the flying club movement in Great Britain. In World War II the company’s most successful product was the twin-engined Mosquito, a high-speed, all-purpose aircraft of plywood construction. After the war, he pioneered the Comet…

Geoffrey de Havilland was an English aircraft designer, manufacturer, and pioneer in long-distance jet flying. He was one of the first to make jet-propelled aircraft, producing the Vampire and Venom jet fighters. In 1910 he successfully built and flew an airplane with a 50-horsepower engine. De

Joan Fontaine was an English American actress who was known for her portrayals of troubled beauties. De Havilland was born in Tokyo, where her English father worked as a patent attorney and language professor; her mother was an actress. In 1919 she and her elder sister, Olivia, moved with their

Olivia de Havilland was an American motion-picture actress remembered for the lovely and gentle ingenues of her early career as well as for the later, more substantial roles she fought to secure. The daughter of a British patent attorney, de Havilland and her younger sister, Joan Fontaine, moved to

biology: Botanical investigations: …historia et causis plantarum (The Calendar of Flora, 1761), in which the morphology, natural history, and therapeutic use of plants are described, Theophrastus distinguished between the external parts, which he called organs, and the internal parts, which he called tissues. This was an important achievement because Greek scientists of…

Aagje Deken: …on the first Dutch novel, De historie van mejuffrouw Sara Burgerhart, 2 vol. (1782; “The History of Miss Sara Burgerhart”).

Ede: Nearby De Hoge Veluwe National Park has St. Hubertus Castle and the Kröller-Müller State Museum. The latter institution has an outstanding collection of paintings by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. Ede’s industries include metallurgy, the manufacture of rayon and pianos, and dairy food processing. Pop. (2007…

Thomas Hobbes: Intellectual development of Thomas Hobbes: …trilogy—De Corpore (1655; “Concerning Body”), De Homine (1658; “Concerning Man”), and De Cive (1642; “Concerning the Citizen”)—was his attempt to arrange the various pieces of natural science, as well as psychology and politics, into a hierarchy, ranging from the most general and fundamental to the most specific. Although logically constituting…

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, count di Concordia: …scholar and Platonist philosopher whose De hominis dignitate oratio (“Oration on the Dignity of Man”), a characteristic Renaissance work composed in 1486, reflected his syncretistic method of taking the best elements from other philosophies and combining them in his own work.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is a Dutch politician who served as secretary-general (2004–09) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). De Hoop Scheffer graduated with a degree in law from Leiden University in 1974, having written his thesis on the U.S. military presence in Europe following World

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is a Dutch politician who served as secretary-general (2004–09) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). De Hoop Scheffer graduated with a degree in law from Leiden University in 1974, having written his thesis on the U.S. military presence in Europe following World

autopsy: History of autopsy: …work of Andreas Vesalius (De humani corporis fabrica, 1543) that made it possible to distinguish the abnormal, as such (e.g., an aneurysm), from the normal anatomy. Leonardo da Vinci dissected 30 corpses and noted “abnormal anatomy”; Michelangelo, too, performed a number of dissections. Earlier, in the 13th century, Frederick…

autopsy: History of autopsy: …work of Andreas Vesalius (De humani corporis fabrica, 1543) that made it possible to distinguish the abnormal, as such (e.g., an aneurysm), from the normal anatomy. Leonardo da Vinci dissected 30 corpses and noted “abnormal anatomy”; Michelangelo, too, performed a number of dissections. Earlier, in the 13th century, Frederick…

Leon Battista Alberti: Contribution to philosophy, science, and the arts of Leon Battista Alberti: …the princely Lorenzo de’ Medici, De iciarchia (“On the Man of Excellence and Ruler of His Family”) represents in full flower the public-spirited Humanism of the earlier bourgeois age to which he belonged. Alberti is its chief protagonist, and no more appropriate figure is conceivable. For this dialogue, more than…

Domingo Gundisalvo: …anima (“On the Soul”) and De immortalitate animae (“On the Immortality of the Soul”), suggest the Neoplatonic argument for the soul’s natural immortality that markedly influenced later Scholastic philosophers—e.g., Bonaventure and Albertus Magnus—at the University of Paris.

Pietro Pomponazzi: …author of the lengthy treatises De incantationibus (1556; “On Incantations”), which proposed a natural explanation of several reputedly miraculous phenomena, and De fato (1567; “On Fate”), which discusses predestination and free will.

Pietro Paolo Vergerio: …the papal court, he composed De ingenuis moribus et liberalibus studiis (1402–03; “On the Manners of a Gentleman and Liberal Studies”), the most influential of Italian Renaissance educational treatises. De ingenuis passed through 40 editions before 1600. In it Vergerio advocated maintaining Latin as the core of liberal education, reviving…

Aristotle: Propositions and categories: The De interpretatione, like the Prior Analytics, deals mainly with general propositions beginning with Every, No, or Some. But its main concern is not to link these propositions to each other in syllogisms but to explore the relations of compatibility and incompatibility between them. Every swan…

Geber: …and De inventione veritatis (The Invention of Verity, 1678). They are the clearest expression of alchemical theory and the most important set of laboratory directions to appear before the 16th century. Accordingly, they were widely read and extremely influential in a field where mysticism, secrecy, and obscurity were the…

Geber: … 1678), De investigatione perfectionis (The Investigation of Perfection, 1678), and De inventione veritatis (The Invention of Verity, 1678). They are the clearest expression of alchemical theory and the most important set of laboratory directions to appear before the 16th century. Accordingly, they were widely read and extremely influential in…

Seneca: Philosophical works and tragedies: The De ira (On Anger) deals at length with the passion, its consequences, and control. The De clementia (On Mercy), an exhortatory address to Nero, commends mercy as the sovereign quality for a Roman emperor. De tranquillitate animi (On Mental Tranquility), De constantia sapientis (On the Steadfastness of…

Stoicism: Stoic undercurrents in medieval thought: …called De ira Dei (313; On the Anger of God). It poses a problem of how to deal with the essentially Greek, or philosophical, view that God cannot feel anger because he is not subject to passions and that apatheia (“apathy,” or “imperturbableness”) is not merely the mark of the…

Middle Eastern religion: Literary sources of knowledge of ancient Middle Eastern religion: The Greek biographer Plutarch’s De Iside et Osiride (“Concerning Isis and Osiris”) is still the best description of the Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris and of the cult of the dead. The Greek satirist Lucian’s De Dea Syra (“Concerning the Syrian Goddess”) is of enduring value for an…

Italian literature: Religious poetry: …Giacomino da Verona, author of De Jerusalem celesti (c. 1250; “On the Heavenly Jerusalem”) and De Babilonia civitate infernali (c. 1250; “On the Infernal City of Babylon”), were the liveliest and most imaginative of this group.

Faustus Socinus: …study of Scripture, he wrote De Jesu Christo servatore (completed 1578, published 1594), his most important work.

map: Maps of the discoveries: …1570; Gerard (and his son Cornelis) de Jode; and Jadocus Hondius. Early Dutch maps were among the best for artistic expression, composition, and rendering. Juan de la Cosa, the owner of Columbus’ flagship, Santa María, in 1500 produced a map recording Columbus’ discoveries, the landfall of Cabral in Brazil, Cabot’s…

map: Maps of the discoveries: …modern world atlas in 1570; Gerard (and his son Cornelis) de Jode; and Jadocus Hondius. Early Dutch maps were among the best for artistic expression, composition, and rendering. Juan de la Cosa, the owner of Columbus’ flagship, Santa María, in 1500 produced a map recording Columbus’ discoveries, the landfall of…

children’s literature: Contemporary times: …one modern American master in Meindert De Jong, whose most sensitive work was drawn from recollections of his Dutch early childhood. A Hans Christian Andersen and Newbery winner, he is best savoured in The Wheel on the School (1954), and especially in the intuitive Journey from Peppermint Street (1968). The…

Luigi Boccherini: Early life: From Boccherini’s contact with Madame Brillon de Jouy, the harpsichordist, came the Six Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin, G 25–30.

de jure, legal concept that refers to what happens according to the law, in contrast to de facto (Latin: “from the fact”), which is used to refer to what happens in practice or in reality. For example, a de jure leader has the legal right to authority over a jurisdiction, but a de facto leader is

Hugo Grotius: Life in exile: De Jure Belli ac Pacis: While in Paris, Grotius published his legal masterpiece, De Jure Belli ac Pacis, in 1625. In writing this work, which made full use of De Jure Praedae, he was strongly influenced by the bitter, violent political struggles both in his…

international law: Historical development: …jure belli libri tres (1598; Three Books on the Law of War), which contained a comprehensive discussion of the laws of war and treaties. Gentili’s work initiated a transformation of the law of nature from a theological concept to a concept of secular philosophy founded on reason. The Dutch jurist…

international law: Historical development: …jure belli libri tres (1598; Three Books on the Law of War), which contained a comprehensive discussion of the laws of war and treaties. Gentili’s work initiated a transformation of the law of nature from a theological concept to a concept of secular philosophy founded on reason. The Dutch jurist…

census: Modern census procedure: A “de jure” census tallies people according to their regular or legal residence, whereas a “de facto” census allocates them to the place where enumerated—normally where they spend the night of the day enumerated. By either method, the reported territorial distribution is according to where people…

Theodore Beza: His De jure magistratum (1574; “On the Rights of the Magistrate”), defending the right of revolt against tyranny, grew out of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day (1572), from which many surviving French Protestants were welcomed by Beza in Geneva. Beza’s book overthrew the earlier Calvinist…

Samuel, baron von Pufendorf: Career in Sweden: …he published his great work, Of the Law of Nature and Nations. The following year he published an excerpt from it, titled The Whole Duty of Man According to the Law of Nature, in which Pufendorf departed from the traditional approach of the medieval theologians to natural law and based…

De Jure Praedae, comprehensive 17th-century work by Hugo Grotius that examines the historical, political, and legal aspects of war and is widely credited as a major foundation of international law because of its argument against the territorial sovereignty of the world’s coastal waters. Grotius was

George Buchanan: De jure regni apud Scotos (1579), the most important of his political writings, was a resolute assertion of limited monarchy in dialogue form; Rerum Scoticarum historia (1582), which he was completing at the time of his death, traces the history of Scotland from the mythical…

Johann Kalb was a prominent German officer who fought for the Continental Army in the American Revolution. Of peasant antecedents, Kalb was schooled at Kriegenbronn and left home at age 16. He received his first military training in 1743 as a lieutenant in a German regiment of the French infantry,

F.W. de Klerk was a politician who as president of South Africa (1989–94) brought the apartheid system of racial segregation to an end and negotiated a transition to majority rule in his country. He and Nelson Mandela jointly received the 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace for their collaboration in

F.W. de Klerk was a politician who as president of South Africa (1989–94) brought the apartheid system of racial segregation to an end and negotiated a transition to majority rule in his country. He and Nelson Mandela jointly received the 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace for their collaboration in

Enschede: …the triennial meeting place of De Kogge, an association of Dutch, Flemish, and German writers. Boekelo is a summer resort. Enschede metropolitan area is contiguous with Hengelo. Pop. (2007 est.) 154,476.

Elaine de Kooning was an American painter, teacher, and art critic who is perhaps best known for her portraits. A precocious young artist with a competitive streak that found an outlet in sports, Elaine Marie Catherine Fried graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and briefly attended

Willem de Kooning was a Dutch-born American painter who was one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism, particularly the form known as Action painting. During the 1930s and ’40s de Kooning worked simultaneously in figurative and abstract modes, but by about 1945 these two tendencies

Reginald De Koven was an American composer, conductor, and critic who helped establish the style of American light opera. De Koven graduated from the University of Oxford (1879) and studied composition in Germany, Austria, and France. On his return to the United States he contributed music

Reginald De Koven was an American composer, conductor, and critic who helped establish the style of American light opera. De Koven graduated from the University of Oxford (1879) and studied composition in Germany, Austria, and France. On his return to the United States he contributed music

Jean Ray was a Belgian novelist, short-story writer, and journalist who is known for his crime fiction and narratives of horror and the fantastic in both French and Flemish (Dutch). De Kremer worked as a city employee, from 1910 to 1919, before working as a journalist (1919–40). He began to publish

Germaine de Staël: Banishment from Paris of Germaine de Staël: …fruits of her visit to Germany are contained in her most important work, De l’Allemagne (1810; Germany). This is a serious study of German manners, literature and art, philosophy and morals, and religion in which she made known to her contemporaries the Germany of the Sturm und Drang movement (1770–1780).…

On Love, philosophical discourse by Stendhal, published in 1822 as De l’amour. The work was prompted by Stendhal’s hopeless love for Métilde Dembowski. The first part of On Love is an analysis of love, in which Stendhal lists four kinds of love: physical love, purely sexual in scope; love as a

Bernard Palissy: …early researches are described in De l’art de la terre.

Jean de La Taille: …Saül le Furieux (1562) and De l’art de la tragédie, the most important piece of French dramatic criticism of its time. La Taille wrote for the limited audience of a lettered aristocracy, depreciated the native drama, and insisted on the Senecan model. In his preface to the collection of works…

René Laënnec: In 1819 Laënnec published De l’auscultation médiate (“On Mediate Auscultation”), the first discourse on a variety of heart and lung sounds heard through the stethoscope. The first English translation of De l’auscultation médiate was published in London in 1821. Laënnec’s treatise aroused intense interest, and physicians from throughout Europe…

France: Political ideology: …Pierre de Belloy, especially his De l’autorité du roi (1588; “Of the Authority of the King”). He asserted that the monarchy was created by God and that the king was responsible to God alone. Any rebellion against the ruler, therefore, was a rebellion against the Almighty. The essential premise of…

Claude-Adrien Helvétius: …and his celebrated philosophical work De l’esprit (1758; “On the Mind”), which immediately became notorious. For its attack on all forms of morality based on religion it aroused formidable opposition, particularly from the son of Louis XV, the dauphin Louis, though it was published openly with the benefit of royal…

The Spirit of Laws, principal work of the French political philosopher Montesquieu (in full Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu) first published in 1748 as De L’Esprit des loix; ou, du rapport que les loix doivent avoir avec la constitution de chaque gouvernement, les

Denis Diderot: Late life and works: …a refutation of Helvétius’ work De l’homme (1772; “On Man”), which was an amplification of the destroyed De l’esprit. He wrote Entretien d’un philosophe avec la Maréchale (“Conversation with the Maréchale”) and published in 1778 Essai sur les règnes de Claude et de Néron (“Essay on the Reigns of Claudius…

Giordano Bruno: Works: …l’infinito universo e mondi (1584; On the Infinite Universe and Worlds), he developed his cosmological theory by systematically criticizing Aristotelian physics; he also formulated his Averroistic view of the relation between philosophy and religion, according to which religion is considered as a means to instruct and govern ignorant people, philosophy…

Philippe de Mornay, seigneur du Plessis-Marly: …and the publication of Mornay’s De l’institution . . . de l’Eucharistie (1598), in which he made use of scriptural quotations in an attack on Roman Catholic eucharistic doctrine, increased the breach between them. At a public disputation at Fontainebleau in 1600 with Jacques Davy Duperron, bishop of Évreux, it…

Hippolyte Taine: Publication of De l’intelligence: In 1870 he published the two volumes of De l’intelligence (On Intelligence), a major work in the discipline of psychology, which had interested him since his youth. His devotion to science is most fully illustrated here; he opposes the speculative and introspective approach…

Bernard Le Bovier, sieur de Fontenelle: …to historiography, shown in his De l’origine des fables (1724; “Of the Origin of Fables”), in which he supports the theory that similar fables arise independently in several cultures and also tentatively addresses himself to comparative religion.

Pierre Perrault: …De l’origine des fontaines (1674; On the Origin of Springs), he presented a study of a substantial section of the Seine River, beginning at its source, northwest of the city of Dijon. His numerical estimates demonstrated that the annual river runoff was only one-sixth of the amount of water falling…

anarchism: French anarchist thought: ” In The Political Capability of the Working Classes—his final, posthumously published work—Proudhon argued that liberation was the task of the workers themselves. He thereby laid the intellectual foundations of a movement that rejected democratic and parliamentary politics in favour of various forms of direct action.

Giordano Bruno: Works: …causa, principio e uno (1584; Concerning the Cause, Principle, and One) he elaborated the physical theory on which his conception of the universe was based: “form” and “matter” are intimately united and constitute the “one.” Thus, the traditional dualism of the Aristotelian physics was reduced by him to a monistic…

Guillaume du Vair: A Buckler, Against Adversitie, 1622). In this work he put forward an amalgam of Stoicism and Christianity that was well calculated to appeal to readers in a France torn apart by civil war. Philosophers such as Justus Lipsius had already attempted to fuse Christian and Stoic…

democracy: Democracy or republic?: …through his monumental four-volume study Democracy in America (1835–40).

Jacques-François Blondel: In the same year, Blondel’s De la distribution des maisons de plaisance et de la décoration des édifices en général (2 vol., 1737–38; “On the Designing of Country Seats and on the Decoration of Buildings in General”) began to appear. The work, while not original, expressed an ideal of the…

Blaise Pascal: Les Provinciales of Blaise Pascal: …forth in Antoine Arnauld’s treatise De la fréquente communion (1643), in which he protested against the idea that the profligate could atone for continued sin by frequent communion without repentance, a thesis that thereafter remained almost unchallengeable until the French church felt the repercussion of the revocation of the Edict…

Eva Ekeblad: Her sister-in-law Catherine Charlotte De la Gardie also gained renown, by reportedly playing an influential role in popularizing smallpox vaccination in Sweden. In addition, Catherine was credited with ending witch trials in the country.

Eva Ekeblad was a Swedish aristocrat and agronomist who was best known for her work involving potatoes, notably developing (1746) methods for both distilling alcohol and making flour from the tuber. She was born into nobility, and in 1741, at age 16, she married Count Claes Claesson Ekeblad, a

Jacob Pontusson, count de la Gardie , was a Swedish statesman and soldier who was mainly responsible for introducing advanced Dutch military methods into Sweden. He commanded the Swedish forces in Russia and against Poland and later served as one of the five regents jointly ruling Sweden during the

Magnus Gabriel, count de la Gardie was a Swedish statesman, head of Charles XI’s administration from 1660 to 1680. During the youth of Charles XI, he headed the Council of Regency; when Charles became of age (1672), he was his chief minister. War with Denmark and Brandenburg in 1675 discredited De

Jacques Cassini: In his De la grandeur et de la figure de la terre (1720; “Concerning the Size and Shape of the Earth”), he supported the theory that the Earth is an elongated sphere, rather than flattened.

boxing: Latin America: …notable fighters include Manuel Ortiz, Oscar De La Hoya, and Fernando Vargas. On March 3, 2000, John (“the Quiet Man”) Ruiz became the first Hispanic to hold a world heavyweight title when he defeated Evander Holyfield for the World Boxing Association belt.

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: Early life and education: …bring out his three-volume masterpiece De la justice dans la Révolution et dans l’église, in which he opposed a humanist theory of justice to the church’s transcendental assumptions, his book was seized. Having fled to Belgium, he was sentenced in absentia to further imprisonment. He remained in exile until 1862,…

Germaine de Staël: Literary theories: …Ancient and Modern Literature and The Influence of Literature upon Society). This complex work, though not perfect, is rich in new ideas and new perspectives—new, at least to France. The fundamental theory, which was to be restated and developed in the positivism of Hippolyte Taine, is that a work must…

Michel Leiris: …considérée comme une tauromachie” (1946; The Autobiographer as Torero), comparing the courage required to write with that required of a matador. In 1948 he began another autobiography, La Règle du jeu (“The Rules of the Game”), which was published in four volumes as Biffures (1948; “Erasures”), Fourbis (1955; “Odds and…

Orphism: …contraste simultané des couleurs (1839; The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colours and Their Applications to the Arts) by the chemist Michel-Eugène Chevreul. The Neo-Impressionist painter Georges Seurat had employed those theories in figurative and landscape compositions during the 1880s, but the Orphist style applied them in an abstract…

François de Callières: …négocier avec les souverains (1716; The Practice of Diplomacy) was considered a model introduction to the subject of diplomacy.

United Kingdom: The crises of Edward’s later years: Then, under the leadership of Peter de la Mare, who may be termed the first Speaker, the Commons impeached Latimer, Alice Perrers, and a number of ministers and officials, some of whom had profited personally from the administration of the royal finances. The Commons took the role of prosecutors before…

Walter de la Mare was a British poet and novelist with an unusual power to evoke the ghostly, evanescent moments in life. De la Mare was educated at St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir School in London, and from 1890 to 1908 he worked in the London office of the Anglo-American Oil Company. From 1902,

Matt de la Peña is an American author who writes novels for young adults and picture books for young children. His books often include characters of racial and economic diversity. De la Peña was awarded the Newbery Medal in 2016 for his second picture book, Last Stop on Market Street (2015). De la

Matt de la Peña is an American author who writes novels for young adults and picture books for young children. His books often include characters of racial and economic diversity. De la Peña was awarded the Newbery Medal in 2016 for his second picture book, Last Stop on Market Street (2015). De la

Vannoccio Biringuccio: …known as the author of De la pirotechnia (1540; “Concerning Pyrotechnics”), the first clear, comprehensive work on metallurgy.

Richard II: Early years: …tutor, and Burley’s ally, Sir Michael de la Pole, chancellor from 1383. Richard was also on close terms with some ambitious younger men, notably Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, and the knights Ralph Stafford and James Berners. These younger men were deeply jealous of the power and prestige of…

Benjamin Constant: …exile, Constant began work on De la religion considérée dans sa source, ses formes, et ses développements, 5 vol. (1824–31; “On Religion Considered in Its Source, Its Forms, and Its Developments”), a historical analysis of religious feeling. He is better known, however, for his novels. Published in 1816 and written…

Oscar de la Renta was a Dominican-born American fashion designer whose work, blending European luxury with American ease, helped define standards of elegant dressing among socialites, U.S. first ladies, and red-carpet celebrities during a career that spanned some 50 years. De la Renta received an

Oscar de la Renta was a Dominican-born American fashion designer whose work, blending European luxury with American ease, helped define standards of elegant dressing among socialites, U.S. first ladies, and red-carpet celebrities during a career that spanned some 50 years. De la Renta received an

Jacobus Hercules de la Rey was a talented and popular Boer leader in the South African War (1899–1902). De la Rey gained military experience in the Transvaal’s attacks on African groups and represented Lichtenburg in the Volksraad (parliament), opposing Pres. Paul Kruger. On the outbreak of the

Rage Against the Machine: …early 1990s and comprised vocalist Zack de la Rocha (b. January 12, 1970, Long Beach, California, U.S.), guitarist Tom Morello (b. May 30, 1964, New York, New York), bassist Tim Commerford (also known as Tim Bob, b. February 26, 1968, Irvine, California), and drummer Brad Wilk (b. September 5, 1968,…

Mazo de la Roche was a Canadian author whose series of novels about the Whiteoak family of Jalna (the name of their estate) made her one of the most popular “family saga” novelists between 1925 and 1950. De la Roche’s first success, Jalna (1927), ended with the 100th birthday of Grandmother Adeline

Carlos Menem: …term, Menem was succeeded by Fernando de la Rúa, the candidate of an alliance of opposition groups, in December 1999. In June 2001 Menem was placed under house arrest on charges of involvement in an arms-smuggling conspiracy—selling illegal weapons to Ecuador and Croatia in the early 1990s—but he was freed…

Warren De la Rue was an English pioneer in astronomical photography, the method by which nearly all modern astronomical observations are made. De La Rue was educated at the Collège Sainte-Barbe in Paris and entered his father’s printing business. In 1851, working with inventor Edwin Hill, he

Pierre Charron: …and De la sagesse (1601; On Wisdom). In the first of these, which was intended as a Counter-Reformation tract against the reformed theology of John Calvin, Charron claimed that the nature and existence of God are unknowable because of God’s infinitude and man’s weakness. Faith, not reason, he claimed, is…

Christian Brother: Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools: …of the Christian Schools (F.S.C.) was founded by St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle at Reims, France, in 1680 for the education of boys, especially of poor families; the congregation is now established throughout the world and is also known as the de La Salle Brothers. The brothers are supported…

De La Soul, American rap group whose debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), was one of the most influential albums in hip-hop history. The members were Posdnuos (byname of Kelvin Mercer; b. August 17, 1969, New York, New York, U.S.), Trugoy the Dove (byname of David Jolicoeur; b. September 21,

De La Soul: The group’s second—and arguably best—album, De La Soul Is Dead (1991), dealt with weighty issues such as incest, mortality, and the buckling pressure of prior success. Despite the alternative that they offered to the proliferation of increasingly nihilistic and hypermaterialistic hip-hop in the mid-1990s, De La Soul’s next releases, Buhloone…

From the Earth to the Moon, novel by Jules Verne, published as De la Terre à la Lune (1865) and also published as The Baltimore Gun Club and The American Gun Club. Although the novel was subtitled Trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes (“Direct Passage in Ninety-seven Hours and Twenty Minutes”), the

Latin American music: The late 20th century and beyond: Aurelio de la Vega, a longtime resident of California and one of the best-known Cuban composers of his generation, successively used a free atonal language, serialist techniques, electronics, open forms, and aleatory (chance) procedures, always in a personal and creative manner. Also noteworthy is the…