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Oviedo

(Encyclopedia)Oviedo ōvyāˈᵺō [key], city (1990 pop. 194,637), capital of Asturias and of the coextensive Oviedo prov., NW Spain, near the mining district of the Cantabrian Mts. Oviedo has long been one of the...

Pérez Galdós, Benito

(Encyclopedia)Pérez Galdós, Benito bānēˈtō pāˈrĕth gäldōsˈ [key], 1843–1920, Spanish novelist and dramatist, b. Canary Islands. At 20 he went to Madrid, where he spent most of his adult life. For his ...

Dry Tortugas

(Encyclopedia)Dry Tortugas tôrto͞oˈgəz [key], island group in the Gulf of Mexico, off S Fla., 60 mi (97 km) W of Key West. Named by the Spanish explorer Ponce de León in 1513, the islands later became a pirate...

Henry II, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Henry II or Henry of Trastámara trăstəmărˈə [key], 1333?–1379, Spanish king of Castile and León (1369–79), illegitimate son of Alfonso XI. After taking part in several unsuccessful revolts ...

Zapatero, José Luis Rodríguez

(Encyclopedia)Zapatero, José Luis Rodríguez hōsāˈ lo͞oēˈ rôᵺrēˈgās säpätāˈrō [key], 1960–, Spanish political leader, prime minister of Spain (2004–11), b. Valladolid. A Socialist and a lawyer...

Beiderbecke, Bix

(Encyclopedia)Beiderbecke, Bix (Leon Bismarck Beiderbecke) bīˈdərbĕk [key], 1903–31, American jazz cornetist, pianist, and composer, b. Davenport, Iowa. Mainly self-taught, he was influenced by recordings of ...

Rayonnant style

(Encyclopedia)Rayonnant style rāˈənănt [key], the middle period (c.1240–1350) of French Gothic architecture, so termed from the characteristic radiating tracery of the rose window. In this period many of the ...

Godwin, William

(Encyclopedia)Godwin, William, 1756–1836, English author and political philosopher. A minister in his youth, he was, however, plagued by religious doubts and gave up preaching in 1783 for a literary career. His E...

Guy Blache, Alice

(Encyclopedia)Guy Blache or Guy-Blaché, Alice, 1873–1968, French-American filmmaker, b. Paris as Alice Guy. The first woman filmmaker, she directed, produced, wrote screenplays for, or supervised some 1,000 film...

Cortes

(Encyclopedia)Cortes kôrˈtĕz, Span. kōrˈtās [key], representative assembly in Spain. The institution originated (12th–13th cent.) in various Spanish regions with the Christian reconquest; until the 19th cen...
 

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