Chevalier [shev-uh-leer or, especially for 1, 2, shuh-val-yey, -vahl-]

Chevalier

[shev-uh-leer or, especially for 1, 2, shuh-val-yey, -vahl-]
Chevalier, Guillaume Sulpice: see Gavarni.
Chevalier, Maurice, 1888-1972, French singer and film actor. He made his debut in 1900 singing and dancing at the Casino de Tourelles, Paris. As the dancing partner of Mistinguett and as the star of several Paris music halls, he won his public by his charm and inimitable smile; by 1928 his reputation was international. He became famous for his portrayal of the debonair man-about-town, typically sporting a straw hat and a cane. Among his later films are Love in the Afternoon (1956), Gigi (1958), Can-Can (1959), and Fanny (1961).

See his autobiographies With Love (1960) and I Remember It Well (1970); study by G. Ringgold and D. Bodeen(1973).

Chevalier, Michel, 1806-79, French economist. An ardent Saint-Simonian as a youth, he later favored a form of welfare capitalism. He advocated industrial development as the key to social progress. Also a proponent of free trade, he negotiated with Richard Cobden the Anglo-French trade treaty of 1860. His Lettres sur l'Amérique du Nord (1836) extols the United States.
French chevalier German Ritter

In the European Middle Ages, a formally professed cavalryman, generally a vassal holding land as a fief from the lord he served (see feudalism). At about 7 a boy bound for knighthood became a page, then at 12 a damoiseau (“lordling”), varlet, or valet, and subsequently a shieldbearer or esquire. When judged ready, he was dubbed knight by his lord in a solemn ceremony. The Christian ideal of knightly behavior (see chivalry) required devotion to the church, loyalty to military and feudal superiors, and preservation of personal honor. By the 16th century knighthood had become honorific rather than feudal or military.

Learn more about knight with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 7, 1885, White Oak township, McLean county, Ill., U.S.—died April 15, 1972, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. economist. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1916. He taught at the University of Chicago from 1927 to 1952; Milton Friedman was one of the many students he influenced. His book Risk, Uncertainty and Profit (1921) distinguished between insurable and uninsurable risks and asserted that profit was the reward entrepreneurs earned for bearing uninsurable risk. His monograph “Economic Organization” is a classic exposition of microeconomic theory. He is considered the founder of the Chicago school of economics.

Learn more about Knight, Frank H(yneman) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 7, 1885, White Oak township, McLean county, Ill., U.S.—died April 15, 1972, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. economist. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1916. He taught at the University of Chicago from 1927 to 1952; Milton Friedman was one of the many students he influenced. His book Risk, Uncertainty and Profit (1921) distinguished between insurable and uninsurable risks and asserted that profit was the reward entrepreneurs earned for bearing uninsurable risk. His monograph “Economic Organization” is a classic exposition of microeconomic theory. He is considered the founder of the Chicago school of economics.

Learn more about Knight, Frank H(yneman) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Maurice Chevalier

(born Sept. 12, 1888, Paris, France—died Jan. 1, 1972, Paris) French singer and actor. He first appeared as a singer and comedian at the Folies-Bergère in 1909. He spent two years in a German prison camp during World War I. Known for his jaunty straw hat and bow tie and his lively, roguish manner, he went to Hollywood in 1929, where he appeared in movies that helped establish the musical as a film genre, including The Love Parade (1929) and The Merry Widow (1934). He was criticized for entertaining the Germans during the wartime occupation of France. His later films include Gigi (1958) and Fanny (1961). In 1958 he was presented with an honorary Academy Award.

Learn more about Chevalier, Maurice with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Maurice Chevalier

(born Sept. 12, 1888, Paris, France—died Jan. 1, 1972, Paris) French singer and actor. He first appeared as a singer and comedian at the Folies-Bergère in 1909. He spent two years in a German prison camp during World War I. Known for his jaunty straw hat and bow tie and his lively, roguish manner, he went to Hollywood in 1929, where he appeared in movies that helped establish the musical as a film genre, including The Love Parade (1929) and The Merry Widow (1934). He was criticized for entertaining the Germans during the wartime occupation of France. His later films include Gigi (1958) and Fanny (1961). In 1958 he was presented with an honorary Academy Award.

Learn more about Chevalier, Maurice with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Chevalier is a French word meaning, literally, "horseman", but used as a title that is the equivalent of the English "knight".

"Chevalier" can be:

Chevaliers in America

  • Philippe de Montebello, New York, New York
  • General MacArthur
  • General John J. Pershing
  • Mrs. Amelia Earhart Putnam
  • Admiral Robert E. Peary
  • Miles Davis

People named "Chevalier"

"Chevalier" in Arts and Literature

Search another word or see chevalieron Dictionary | Thesaurus |Spanish
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature