Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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de Kooning, Willem ... Dean, James

de Kooning, Willem: 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 ...
De Koven, Reginald: American composer, conductor, and critic who helped establish the style of American light opera.
De la Gardie, Jacob Pontusson, Count: 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 ...
De la Gardie, Magnus Gabriel, Greve: 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 ...
de la Mare, Walter: British poet and novelist with an unusual power to evoke the ghostly, evanescent moments in life.
de la Renta, Oscar: Dominican-born American fashion designer whose work, blending European luxury with American ease, helped define standards of elegant dressing among society circles in the late 20th and the early 21st century.
De la Rey, Jacobus Hercules: a talented and popular Boer leader in the South African War.
de la Roche, Mazo: 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 of the period between 1925 and 1950.
De la Rue, Warren: English pioneer in astronomical photography, the method by which nearly all modern astronomical observations are made.
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 ...
De La Warr, Thomas West, 12th Baron: one of the English founders of Virginia, for whom Delaware Bay, the Delaware River, and the state of Delaware were named.
De Land: city, seat (1888) of Volusia county, northeastern Florida, U.S. It is situated just east of the St. Johns River, about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Daytona Beach. The area's original inhabitants, the Timucua Indians, were driven from the region ...
De Leon, Daniel: American socialist, one of the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). He was one of the chief propagandists for socialism in the early American labour movement, but his uncompromising tactics were often divisive.
De Long, George Washington: American explorer whose disastrous Arctic expedition gave evidence of a continuous ocean current across the polar regions.
de Man, Paul: Belgian-born literary critic, one of the major proponents of the critical theory known as deconstruction.
de Mille, Agnes: American dancer and choreographer who further developed the narrative aspect of dance and made innovative use of American themes, folk dances, and physical idioms in her choreography of musical plays and ballets.
De Mille, James: Canadian author of more than 30 novels with a wide range of appeal, particularly noted for his wit and humour.
De Morgan, Augustus: English mathematician and logician whose major contributions to the study of logic include the formulation of De Morgan's laws and work leading to the development of the theory of relations and the rise of modern symbolic, or mathematical, logic.
De Niro, Robert: American actor famous for his uncompromising portrayals of violent and abrasive characters.
De Palma, Brian: American motion-picture director and screenwriter best noted for his usually stylish, often graphic horror-suspense films that draw heavily on the work of director Alfred Hitchcock.
De Palma, Ralph: American automobile-racing driver, one of the most popular and successful competitors in the early days of the sport.
De Quincey, Thomas: English essayist and critic, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.
De Sanctis, Francesco: Italian literary critic whose work contributed significantly to the understanding of Italian literature and civilization.
De Sica, Vittorio: film director and actor who was a major figure in the Italian Neorealist movement.
De Smet: city, seat (1880) of Kingsbury county, east-central South Dakota, U.S. It lies about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of Sioux Falls, about halfway between Huron (west) and Brookings (east). It was settled in 1879 during construction of the railroad and ...
De Tham: Vietnamese resistance fighter and enemy of French colonialism during the first two decades of French rule in Indochina.
de Toni-Fanconi syndrome: a metabolic disorder affecting kidney transport, characterized by the failure of the kidney tubules to reabsorb water, phosphate, potassium, glucose, amino acids, and other substances. When the disorder is accompanied by cystinosis (q.v.), a deposition of cystine crystals, it is ...
de Valera, Eamon: Irish politician and patriot, prime minister (1932-48, 1951-54, 1957-59), and president (1959-73). An active revolutionary from 1913, he became president of Sinn Fein in 1918 and founded the Fianna Fail Party in 1924. In 1937 he took the Irish Free ...
de Valois, Dame Ninette: Irish dancer, choreographer, and founder of the company that in October 1956 became the Royal Ballet. She was influential in establishing ballet in England.
de Varona, Donna: American athlete and sportscaster who, after a record-breaking amateur career as a swimmer, established herself as an advocate for women's and girls' sports opportunities.
De Vinne, Theodore L.: American author of many scholarly books on the history of typography.
De Voto, Bernard: American novelist, journalist, historian, and critic, best known for his works on American literature and the history of the Western frontier.
De Vries, Peter: American editor and novelist widely known as a satirist, linguist, and comic visionary.
De Wint, Peter: English landscape and architectural painter who was one of the chief English watercolourists of the early 19th century.
de Wolfe, Elsie: American interior designer, hostess, and actress, best known for her innovative and anti-Victorian interiors.
deacon: (from Greek diakonos, "helper"), a member of the lowest rank of the threefold Christian ministry (below the presbyter-priest and bishop) or, in various Protestant churches, a lay official, usually ordained, who shares in the ministry and sometimes in the governance ...
dead reckoning: determination without the aid of celestial navigation of the position of a ship or aircraft from the record of the courses sailed or flown, the distance made (which can be estimated from velocity), the known starting point, and the known ...
Dead Sea: landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan, which lies some 1,300 feet (400 metres) below sea level-the lowest elevation and the lowest body of water on the surface of the Earth. Its eastern shore belongs to Jordan, and the southern ...
Dead Sea Scrolls: ancient, mostly Hebrew, manuscripts (of leather, papyrus, and copper) first found in 1947 on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is among the more important finds in the history of modern archaeology. Study ...
deadly sin: any of the sins, usually numbering seven, dating back to the early history of Christian monasticism; they were grouped together as early as the 6th century by St. Gregory the Great. A sin was classified as deadly not merely because ...
Deadwood: city, seat (1877) of Lawrence county, western South Dakota, U.S. Located just northeast of Lead and about 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Rapid City, Deadwood lies in a canyon formed by Whitewood Creek in the northern Black Hills, more ...
deafness: partial or total inability to hear. The two principal types of deafness are conduction deafness and nerve deafness. In conduction deafness, there is interruption of the sound vibrations in their passage from the outer world to the nerve cells in ...
Deak, Ferenc: Hungarian statesman whose negotiations led to the establishment of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867.
Deak, Nicholas L: banker and founder of an internationally renowned retail currency-exchange service and dealer in precious metals.
Deakin, Alfred: prime minister of Australia (1903-04, 1905-08, 1909-10), who shaped many of the policies of the new commonwealth, especially those dealing with restriction of nonwhite immigration, social welfare, and protection of domestic industry.
Deakin, Arthur: leader of British trade unionism in the decade after World War II.
Deal: town, Dover district, administrative and historic county of Kent, England, on the English Channel. The town has a natural roadstead harbour, the Downs, enclosed by the North and South Forelands and the perilous Goodwin Sands.
dealfish: any of several slender marine fishes that belong to the genus Trachipterus (family Trachipteridae, order Lampridiformes), a subgroup of the ribbonfish. The dealfish inhabits the middle waters, probably not below 400 m (1,300 feet), and is characterized by a long, ...
Dean, Dizzy: American professional baseball player who had a brief but spectacular pitching career with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League. He was one of the most colourful athletes in the history of organized sports.
Dean, Forest of: ancient royal forest of oak and beech in western Gloucestershire, England, covering an area of about 26,000 ac (10,500 ha) between the Rivers Severn and Wye. It became a National Forest Park administered by the Forestry Commission in 1938. Forest ...
Dean, James: strikingly handsome American motion picture actor enshrined as a symbol of the confused, restless, and idealistic youth of the 1950s.