See his memoir, A Writer's Capital (1974); biography by C. W. Gelderman (1993, rev. ed. 2007); studies by C. C. Dahl (1986), D. B. Parsell (1988), and V. Piket (1991).
See his memoir, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (1954, repr. 1986); his selected writings ed. by T. Brothers (1999); biographies by G. Giddens (1988), L. Bergreen (1997), and T. Teachout (2009); study by J. L. Collier (2 vol., 1983-86); J. Berrett, Louis Armstrong Companion (1999).
See biography by E. Buxton (1924); B. Williams, Botha, Smuts, and South Africa (1946); N. G. Garson, Louis Botha or John X. Merriman (1969).
See his autobiographies (1947, 1978); biographies by C. Mead (1985) and R. Bak (1996); L. A. Erenberg, The Greatest Fight of Our Generation: Louis vs. Schmeling (2005); D. Margolick, Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink (2005).
See study by M. Fried (1971).
See his autobiography (1989); study by R. L. Gale (1985, rev. ed. 1992); R. Weinberg, The Louis L'Amour Companion (1992).
See biographies by his son-in-law, René Vallery-Radot (1920, repr. 1960); R. J. Dubos, Louis Pasteur: Free Lance of Science (1986) and Pasteur and Modern Science (rev. ed. 1988).
See study by H. Lazer, ed. (1988).
See A. Roberts, The Turning Point (1970).
See his autobiography, From Another World (1939), and The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer (1963).
See biographies by J. Delanglez (1948) and V. L. S. Eifert (1961); M. S. Scanlon, Trails of the French Explorers (1956).
See Louis Aragon, Poet of the French Resistance (ed. by H. Josephson and M. Cowley, 1945); study by L. F. Becker (1971).
See his Strings Are False: An Unfinished Autobiography (1966); Collected Poems, ed. by E. R. Dodds (1967); studies by W. T. McKinnon (1971) and D. B. Moore (1972).
See biography by L. A. Loubère (1961); D. C. McKay, The National Workshops (1933); C. Landaur, European Socialism (1959).
See biography by P. C. Headley (1971); I. Deak, The Lawful Revolution (1979).
See biographies by J. Marcou (including letters, 1896), J. D. Teller (1947), and E. Lurie (1960, repr. 1967); L. Cooper, Louis Agassiz as a Teacher (rev. ed. 1945).
![]()
Vase of Favrile glass made by Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York City, 1896; in the Victoria and elipsis
Learn more about Tiffany, Louis Comfort with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born April 18, 1797, Marseille, France—died Sept. 3, 1877, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris) French politician and historian. He went to Paris in 1821 as a journalist and cofounded the opposition newspaper National in 1830. In the July Revolution he supported Louis-Philippe and served as minister of the interior (1832, 1834–36) and premier and foreign minister (1836, 1840). A leader of the conservative moderates, he crushed all insurrections. Following the February Revolution, he helped elect Louis-Napoléon (later Napoleon III) president of the Second Republic. As a leader of the opposition (1863–70), he attacked Napoleon III's imperial policies. As president of the Third Republic (1871–73), he negotiated the end of the Franco-Prussian War and restored domestic order by crushing the Paris Commune. He also wrote major historical works, most importantly the huge History of the French Revolution (10 vol., 1823–27) and History of the Consulate and the Empire (20 vol., 1845–62).
Learn more about Thiers, (Louis-) Adolphe with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis Sullivan, detail of an oil painting by Frank A. Werner, 1919; in the collection of the elipsis
Learn more about Sullivan, Louis H(enry) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Robert Louis Stevenson.
Learn more about Stevenson, Robert Louis (Balfour) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Feb. 1, 1882, Compton, Que., Can.—died July 25, 1973, Quebec, Que.) Prime minister of Canada (1948–57). One of Canada's most prominent lawyers, he served in the Canadian House of Commons (1942–58) and in W.L. Mackenzie King's cabinet as minister of justice and attorney general (1942–46) and minister of external affairs (1945–48). As leader of the Liberal Party (1948), he succeeded King as prime minister. He promoted Canadian unity by equalizing provincial revenues and expanded social security and university education. He supported Canadian membership in NATO and helped establish the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Learn more about Saint Laurent, Louis (Stephen) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born April 5, 1784, Brunswick, Brunswick—died Oct. 22, 1859, Kassel, Hesse) German composer and violinist. He was kapellmeister in Kassel from 1822 and remained there the rest of his life, eventually directing all the city's music. Highly prolific, he wrote 15 violin concertos, 4 clarinet concertos, many operas (including Jessonda, 1823), 9 symphonies (including The Consecration of Sound, 1832), and chamber music. Highly respected as a performer and composer in the 19th century, he has since been largely neglected.
Learn more about Spohr, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis de Saint-Just, portrait after a red chalk drawing by Christophe Guérin, 1793.
Learn more about Saint-Just, Louis (-Antoine-Léon) de with a free trial on Britannica.com.
City (pop., 2000: 348,189), east-central Missouri, U.S. Located on the Mississippi River below its confluence with the Missouri River, it was founded by Auguste Chouteau in 1764 as a trading post and was named for King Louis IX of France. It became the crossroads of westward expansion for exploring parties, fur-trading expeditions, and pioneers traveling the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. Since the 19th-century steamboat era and the arrival of the railroads in the 1850s, it has been a major transportation hub. Its diversified industries include brewing, food processing, and the manufacture of aircraft. The largest city in the state, it is home to many educational institutions, including Washington University and St. Louis University. The emblem of the city is its Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen.
Learn more about Saint Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Jan. 11, 1924, Dijon, Fr.) French-born U.S. physiologist. He and his colleagues discovered, isolated, and synthesized hypothalamic hormones that regulate thyroid activity, cause the pituitary to release growth hormone, and regulate the activities of the pituitary and the pancreas. He shared a 1977 Nobel Prize with Andrew V. Schally and Rosalyn Yalow. Guillemin is also known for his discovery of endorphins.
Learn more about Guillemin, Roger C(harles) L(ouis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Robert Louis Stevenson.
Learn more about Stevenson, Robert Louis (Balfour) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Oct. 23, 1844, St. Boniface, Assiniboia, Can.—died Nov. 16, 1885, Regina, District of Assinibois, Can.) Canadian leader of the Métis people in western Canada. In 1869 Riel headed a revolt against Canadian expansion in the west that resulted in the establishment of the province of Manitoba (1870). Intermittent hostilities continued for several years thereafter, and Riel was officially outlawed. In 1885 he led a Métis uprising in Saskatchewan that was crushed by the Canadians. Riel was found guilty of treason and hanged. His death led to ethnic conflicts in Quebec and Ontario and marked the beginning of the nationalist movement.
Learn more about Riel, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Jan. 7, 1922, Marseille, France—died May 20, 2000, Paris) French flutist. From 1947 he appeared widely in chamber music and solo recitals. In the 1950s he founded his own chamber groups, while also playing in the pit at the Paris Opéra (1956–62). Works were written for him by Francis Poulenc and others. His sweetness of tone and virtuosity in a largely Baroque repertoire, as evidenced on many admired recordings, made him the first flutist to attain international stardom.
Learn more about Rampal, Jean-Pierre (-Louis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
City (pop., 2003 est.: 147,688), capital, and main port of Mauritius. It was founded circa 1736 by the French as a port for ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope to and from Asia and Europe. With the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, the city's importance declined. It is the principal commercial centre of the island of Mauritius; its primary exports are textiles and sugar. Manufacturing and service industries, including tourism, are also based in the city. Aapravasi Ghat, an immigration depot used from 1849 to 1923 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006, is located there.
Learn more about Port Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Aug. 6, 1868, Villeneuve-sur-Fère, France—died Feb. 23, 1955, Paris) French poet, playwright, and diplomat. He converted to Catholicism at age 18. His brilliant diplomatic career began in 1892, and he eventually served as ambassador to Japan (1921–27) and the U.S. (1927–33). At the same time he pursued a literary career, expressing in poetry and drama his conception of the grand design of creation. He reached his largest audience through plays such as Break of Noon (1906), The Hostage (1911), Tidings Brought to Mary (1912), and his masterpiece, The Satin Slipper (1929); recurring themes in these works are human and divine love and the search for salvation. He wrote the librettos for Darius Milhaud's opera Christopher Columbus (1930) and Arthur Honegger's oratorio Joan of Arc (1938). His best-known poetic work is the confessional Five Great Odes (1910).
Learn more about Claudel, Paul (-Louis-Charles-Marie) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Dec. 27, 1822, Dole, France—died Sept. 28, 1895, Saint-Cloud, near Paris) French chemist and microbiologist. Early in his career, after studies at the École Normale Supérieure, he researched the effects of polarized light on chemical compounds. In 1857 he became director of scientific studies at the École. His studies of fermentation of alcohol and milk (souring) showed that yeast could reproduce without free oxygen (the Pasteur effect); he deduced that fermentation and food spoilage were due to the activity of microorganisms and could be prevented by excluding or destroying them. His work overturned the concept of spontaneous generation (life arising from nonliving matter) and led to heat pasteurization, allowing vinegar, wine, and beer to be produced and transported without spoiling. He saved the French silk industry by his work on silkworm diseases. In 1881 he perfected a way to isolate and weaken germs, and he went on to develop vaccines against anthrax in sheep and cholera in chickens, following Edward Jenner's example. He turned his attention to researching rabies, and in 1885 his inoculating with a weakened virus saved the life of a boy bitten by a rabid dog. In 1888 he founded the Pasteur Institute for rabies research, prevention, and treatment.
Learn more about Pasteur, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Oct. 7, 1786, Montreal, Que.—died Sept. 23, 1871, Montebello, Que., Can.) Canadian politician. He was elected to the legislative assembly of Lower Canada (now Quebec) in 1808 and became its speaker in 1815. A leader of the French-Canadian Party, he opposed the British-dominated government of Lower Canada. In 1834 he helped draft the 92 Resolutions, a statement of French-Canadian demands and grievances. When the British governor rejected the resolutions, hostilities broke out. Papineau escaped to the U.S. and then to France, where he lived from 1839 to 1844. He returned to Canada under an amnesty in 1844 and served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1848 to 1854, though he never regained his leadership of the French-Canadians.
Learn more about Papineau, Louis Joseph with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Musset, oil painting by Charles Landelle; in the Louvre, Paris
Learn more about Musset, (Louis-Charles-) Alfred de with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Nov. 24, 1912, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—died Sept. 7, 1962, Washington, D.C.) U.S. painter. He studied painting at the Maryland Institute and worked as an easel painter for the WPA Federal Art Project. Inspired by Helen Frankenthaler's colour stain technique, in 1954 he began a series of paintings h1d Veils, featuring stained vertical waves of colour; these works had an impersonal, nonpainterly quality. During this period he became associated with the New York school of Abstract Expressionism. His later work featured diagonal parallel streams of colour that flowed across the bottom corners of the picture plane. In his last series, Stripes, bunched, straight vertical bands of colour are surrounded by empty canvas.
Learn more about Louis, Morris with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Dec. 10, 1851, Adams Center, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 26, 1931, Lake Placid, Fla.) U.S. librarian. He graduated from Amherst College in 1874, whereupon he became acting librarian there. In 1876 he published A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library, in which he outlined the Dewey Decimal Classification system. He was one of the founders of the American Library Association and of Library Journal (both 1876). He set up the School of Library Economy, the first U.S. institution for training librarians. He also reorganized the N.Y. State Library (1889–1906) and established the system of traveling libraries and picture collections. A cofounder of the Spelling Reform Assn., he respelled his own name.
Learn more about Dewey, Melvil(le Louis Kossuth) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born July 4, 1885, Minsk, Russian Empire—died Oct. 29, 1957, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. film executive. He immigrated to Canada and then the U.S. with his family and worked in his father's scrap-iron business from age 14. He bought a small nickelodeon near Boston in 1907, and by 1918 he owned the largest chain of movie theatres in New England. He founded a film production company in Hollywood in 1917 and merged it with other companies to form MGM in 1925. Under his leadership, MGM became Hollywood's largest and most prestigious studio, aided by his artistic director, Irving Thalberg. Mayer had under contract many of the outstanding screen stars of the day, including Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, and Judy Garland. He was considered the most powerful Hollywood executive until his forced retirement in 1951. He was the chief founder of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Learn more about Mayer, Louis B(urt) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Oct. 30, 1932, Thumeries, France—died Nov. 23, 1995, Beverly Hills, Calif., U.S.) French film director. He made his first feature film, Frantic, in 1957. Malle gained commercial success with The Lovers (1958), starring Jeanne Moreau, and he became a leading figure in the French New Wave. In The Fire Within (1963), Thief of Paris (1967), Murmur of the Heart (1971), and Lacombe, Lucien (1973), he achieved emotional realism and stylistic simplicity. In 1975 he moved to the U.S., where he directed films such as Pretty Baby (1978), Atlantic City (1980), My Dinner with André (1981), Au revoir les enfants (1987), and Vanya on 42nd Street (1994).
Learn more about Malle, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
MacNeice
Learn more about MacNeice, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Dec. 11, 1803, La Côte-Saint-André, France—died March 8, 1869, Paris) French composer. He studied guitar in his early years and later studied music at the Paris Conservatoire, against his parents' wishes. His first great score was the stormy Symphonie fantastique (1830), which became a landmark of the Romantic era. Impulsive and passionate, he was a contentious critic and gadfly constantly at war with the musical establishment. Though he was the most compelling French musical figure of his time, his idiosyncratic compositional style kept almost all his music out of the repertory until the mid-20th century. His works include the operas Benvenuto Cellini (1837) and Les Troyens (1858); the program symphonies Harold in Italy (1834) and Romeo and Juliet (1839); and the choral dramas La Damnation de Faust (1846) and L'Enfance du Christ (1854). He was also known as a brilliant conductor with an unsurpassed knowledge of the orchestra; his orchestration treatise (1843) is the most influential such work ever written.
Learn more about Berlioz, (Louis-) Hector with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Nov. 24, 1912, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—died Sept. 7, 1962, Washington, D.C.) U.S. painter. He studied painting at the Maryland Institute and worked as an easel painter for the WPA Federal Art Project. Inspired by Helen Frankenthaler's colour stain technique, in 1954 he began a series of paintings h1d Veils, featuring stained vertical waves of colour; these works had an impersonal, nonpainterly quality. During this period he became associated with the New York school of Abstract Expressionism. His later work featured diagonal parallel streams of colour that flowed across the bottom corners of the picture plane. In his last series, Stripes, bunched, straight vertical bands of colour are surrounded by empty canvas.
Learn more about Louis, Morris with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Joe Louis, 1946.
Learn more about Louis, Joe with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Aug. 25, 1786, Strasbourg, France—died Feb. 29, 1868, Nice) King of Bavaria (1825–48). The son of Maximilian I, Louis won early acclaim as a liberal and a German nationalist, but after his accession he feuded with the Diet and came to distrust all democratic institutions. By 1837 the reactionary Bavarian government had begun to erode the liberal constitution of 1818 that Louis had worked to establish. An outstanding patron of the arts, he collected the art works that fill Munich's museums and transformed Munich into the artistic centre of Germany. His planning created the city's present layout and classic style. He caused scandal by his affair with Lola Montez, and at the outbreak of the Revolutions of 1848 he abdicated in favour of his son Maximilian II.
Learn more about Louis I with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Feb. 20, 1901, Osel, Estonia, Russian Empire—died March 17, 1974, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Estonian-born U.S. architect. He came to the U.S. as a child and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. One of the century's most original architects, Kahn turned from the International Style to a timeless, elegant Brutalism evocative of ancient ruins. His Richards Medical Research Building (1960–65) at the University of Pennsylvania isolated “servant” spaces (stairwells, elevators, vents, and pipes) in four towers distinct from “served” spaces (laboratories and offices). His fortresslike National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangl. (1962–74), utilized geometric shapes to admit light to its inner domed mosque. Like R. Buckminster Fuller, Kahn was concerned about wasteful use of natural resources; his urban-planning schemes proposed geodesic skyscrapers and huge car “silos.” He taught at Yale University (1947–57) and the University of Pennsylvania (1957–74), where appreciation for his intellect gained him a cult status.
Learn more about Kahn, Louis I(sadore) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 22, 1622, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France—died Nov. 28, 1698, Quebec, New France) French courtier and governor of New France (1672–82, 1689–98). Despite a record of misgovernment, he encouraged exploration that led to the expansion of the French empire in Canada. He established fur-trading posts that brought him into conflict with the Montreal fur traders and later expanded the posts west. He engaged in disputes with the officials and clergy of New France. The Iroquois Confederacy, which had remained on good terms with the French until 1675, turned against the French, and the colony was left defenseless. Louis XIV recalled Frontenac in 1682. Reappointed when the French and Indian War started (1689), he distinguished himself by repulsing British attacks on Quebec.
Learn more about Frontenac, Louis de Buade, count de Palluau and de with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Nov. 17, 1755, Versailles, France—died Sept. 16, 1824, Paris) King of France by h1 from 1795 and in fact from 1814 to 1824. He fled the country in 1791, during the French Revolution, and issued counterrevolutionary manifestos and organized émigré-nobility associations. He became regent for his nephew Louis XVII after the 1793 execution of Louis XVI, and at the dauphin's death in 1795 he proclaimed himself king. When the allied armies entered Paris in 1814, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand negotiated the Bourbon Restoration and Louis was received with jubilation. He promised a constitutional monarchy, and the Charter of 1814 was adopted; after the interruption of the Hundred Days, when Napoleon returned from Elba, he resumed his constitutional monarchy. The legislature included a strong right-wing majority, and though Louis opposed the extremism of the ultras, they exercised increasing control and thwarted his attempts to heal the wounds left by the Revolution. He was succeeded at his death by his brother, Charles X.
Learn more about Louis XVIII with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born March 27, 1785, Versailles, France—died June 8, 1795, Paris) Titular king of France from 1793. The second son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, he became heir to the throne on his brother's death, shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolution. In 1792 he was imprisoned with the rest of the royal family. When his father was beheaded in 1793, the French émigré nobility proclaimed Louis-Charles king. He died in prison at age 10, but the secrecy surrounding his last months gave rise to rumours that he was not dead, and over the next few decades more than 30 persons claimed to be Louis XVII. DNA tests in 2000 established that the child who died in 1795 was in fact the son of Louis XIV and Marie-Antoinette.
Learn more about Louis XVII with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis XVI, oil on canvas by Antoine-François Callet, 1786; in the Musée Carnavalet, elipsis
Learn more about Louis XVI with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Feb. 15, 1710, Versailles, France—died May 10, 1774, Versailles) King of France (1715–74). An orphan from age three, Louis succeeded to the throne on the death of his great-grandfather Louis XIV (1715), under the regency of Philippe II, duke d'Orléans (1674–1723). His marriage to Princess Marie Leszczynska of Poland (1703–68) in 1725 led to France's involvement in the War of the Polish Succession (1733–38). He chose André-Hercule de Fleury as his chief minister in 1726, and his own influence became perceptible only after Fleury's death in 1744. Louis's mistresses, particularly the marchioness de Pompadour, held considerable political influence. Louis brought France into the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) and the Seven Years' War (1756–63), by which France lost to Britain almost all its colonial possessions. As the crown's moral and political authority declined, the Parlements gained in power, preventing fiscal reform. The king died hated by his subjects.
Learn more about Louis XV with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 5, 1638, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France—died Sept. 1, 1715, Versailles) King of France (1643–1715), ruler during one of France's most brilliant periods and the symbol of absolute monarchy of the Neoclassical age. He succeeded his father, Louis XIII, at age four, under the regency of his mother, Anne of Austria. In 1648 the nobles and the Paris Parlement, who hated the prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, rose against the crown and started the Fronde. In 1653, victorious over the rebels, Mazarin gained absolute power, though the king was of age. In 1660 Louis married Marie-Thérèse of Austria (1638–83), daughter of Philip IV of Spain. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis astonished his ministers by informing them that he intended to assume responsibility for ruling the kingdom. A believer in dictatorship by divine right, he viewed himself as God's representative on earth. He was assisted by his able ministers, Jean-Baptiste Colbert and the marquis de Louvois. Louis weakened the nobles' power by making them dependent on the crown. A patron of the arts, he protected writers and devoted himself to building splendid palaces, including the extravagant Versailles, where he kept most of the nobility under his watchful eye. In 1667 he invaded the Spanish Netherlands in the War of Devolution (1667–68) and again in 1672 in the Third Dutch War. The Sun King was at his zenith; he had extended France's northern and eastern borders and was adored at his court. In 1680 a scandal involving his mistress, the marchioness de Montespan (1641–1707), made him fearful for his reputation, and he openly renounced pleasure. The queen died in 1683, and he secretly married the pious marchioness de Maintenon. After trying to convert French Protestants by force, he revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Fear of his expansionism led to alliances against France during the War of the Grand Alliance (1688–97) and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). Louis died at age 77 at the end of the longest reign in European history.
Learn more about Louis XIV with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 27, 1601, Fontainebleau, France—died May 14, 1643, Saint-Germain-en-Laye) King of France (1610–43). He was the son of Henry IV and Marie de Médicis. His mother was regent until 1614 but continued to govern until 1617; she arranged Louis's marriage to the Spanish Anne of Austria in 1615. Resentful of his mother's power, Louis exiled her, but Cardinal de Richelieu, her principal adviser, reconciled them in 1620. In 1624 Louis made Richelieu his principal minister, and the two cooperated closely to make France a leading European power, consolidating royal authority in France and fighting to break the dominant rule of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs in the Thirty Years' War. Pro-Spanish Catholic zealots led by Marie de Médicis appealed to Louis to reject Richelieu's policy of supporting the Protestant states, but Louis stood by his minister and his mother withdrew into exile. France declared war on Spain in 1635 and had won substantial victories by the time Richelieu died in 1642. Louis was succeeded by his son Louis XIV.
Learn more about Louis XIII with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born June 27, 1462, Blois, France—died Jan. 1, 1515, Paris) King of France (1498–1515). He became king on the death of his cousin Charles VIII. He annulled his marriage to marry Charles's widow, Anne of Brittany, and to reinforce the union of her duchy with France. He continued France's part in the Italian Wars, often with disastrous results. He conquered Milan in 1499, then lost it, but was later recognized as duke of Milan by Emperor Maximilian I. He concluded a treaty with Ferdinand V that partitioned Naples (1500), but the two kings went to war and Louis lost all of Naples (1504). In 1508 he consolidated the League of Cambrai, but when the league fell apart in 1510 its members joined England in a Holy League against France, invading it several times. Despite his failures, Louis was highly popular with the French, who called him the “Father of the People.”
Learn more about Louis XII with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born July 3, 1423, Bourges, France—died Aug. 30, 1483, Plessis-les-Tours) King of France (1461–83). He plotted against his father, Charles VII, and was exiled to Dauphiné (1445), which he ruled as a sovereign state until Charles approached its borders with an army (1456). Louis then fled to the Netherlands, returning to France to become king on his father's death in 1461. He fought rebellious French princes (1465) and made concessions to Charles the Bold (1468). Seeking to strengthen and unify France, he destroyed the power of the Burgundians in 1477. He regained control of Boulonnais, Picardy, and Burgundy, took possession of Franche-Comté and Artois (1482), annexed Anjou (1471), and inherited Maine and Provence (1481).
Learn more about Louis XI with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born circa 1120—died Sept. 18, 1180, Paris) King of France (1137–80). One of the Capetian kings, he married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1137, thus temporarily extending his kingdom to the Pyrenees. Doubtful of her fidelity, he had the marriage annulled in 1152 and, after the death of his second wife, married Alix of Champagne, who bore him his son and heir, Philip II Augustus. Eleanor married the future Henry II of England, who took control of Aquitaine and carried on a long rivalry with Louis (1152–74) marked by recurrent warfare and constant intrigue. Louis was joined by Conrad III in leading the Second Crusade (1147–49), which failed in all its objectives.
Learn more about Louis VII with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born 1081—died Aug. 1, 1137) King of France (1108–37). He was effective ruler of France well before the death of his father, Philip I, in 1108, and he spent much time in subduing the unruly French barons. He fought Henry I of England (1104–13, 1116–20) and prevented a threatened invasion by Emperor Henry V (1124). He died a month after arranging his son's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, whereupon his son succeeded him as Louis VII.
Learn more about Louis VI with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Feb. 1, 1882, Compton, Que., Can.—died July 25, 1973, Quebec, Que.) Prime minister of Canada (1948–57). One of Canada's most prominent lawyers, he served in the Canadian House of Commons (1942–58) and in W.L. Mackenzie King's cabinet as minister of justice and attorney general (1942–46) and minister of external affairs (1945–48). As leader of the Liberal Party (1948), he succeeded King as prime minister. He promoted Canadian unity by equalizing provincial revenues and expanded social security and university education. He supported Canadian membership in NATO and helped establish the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Learn more about Saint Laurent, Louis (Stephen) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born April 5, 1784, Brunswick, Brunswick—died Oct. 22, 1859, Kassel, Hesse) German composer and violinist. He was kapellmeister in Kassel from 1822 and remained there the rest of his life, eventually directing all the city's music. Highly prolific, he wrote 15 violin concertos, 4 clarinet concertos, many operas (including Jessonda, 1823), 9 symphonies (including The Consecration of Sound, 1832), and chamber music. Highly respected as a performer and composer in the 19th century, he has since been largely neglected.
Learn more about Spohr, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Oct. 23, 1844, St. Boniface, Assiniboia, Can.—died Nov. 16, 1885, Regina, District of Assinibois, Can.) Canadian leader of the Métis people in western Canada. In 1869 Riel headed a revolt against Canadian expansion in the west that resulted in the establishment of the province of Manitoba (1870). Intermittent hostilities continued for several years thereafter, and Riel was officially outlawed. In 1885 he led a Métis uprising in Saskatchewan that was crushed by the Canadians. Riel was found guilty of treason and hanged. His death led to ethnic conflicts in Quebec and Ontario and marked the beginning of the nationalist movement.
Learn more about Riel, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Dec. 27, 1822, Dole, France—died Sept. 28, 1895, Saint-Cloud, near Paris) French chemist and microbiologist. Early in his career, after studies at the École Normale Supérieure, he researched the effects of polarized light on chemical compounds. In 1857 he became director of scientific studies at the École. His studies of fermentation of alcohol and milk (souring) showed that yeast could reproduce without free oxygen (the Pasteur effect); he deduced that fermentation and food spoilage were due to the activity of microorganisms and could be prevented by excluding or destroying them. His work overturned the concept of spontaneous generation (life arising from nonliving matter) and led to heat pasteurization, allowing vinegar, wine, and beer to be produced and transported without spoiling. He saved the French silk industry by his work on silkworm diseases. In 1881 he perfected a way to isolate and weaken germs, and he went on to develop vaccines against anthrax in sheep and cholera in chickens, following Edward Jenner's example. He turned his attention to researching rabies, and in 1885 his inoculating with a weakened virus saved the life of a boy bitten by a rabid dog. In 1888 he founded the Pasteur Institute for rabies research, prevention, and treatment.
Learn more about Pasteur, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 8, 1829, New Orleans, La., U.S.—died Dec. 18, 1869, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.) U.S. composer and pianist. He was exposed early to the music of New Orleans's Caribbean and Latin American population. Sent to France at age 13 to study music, he quickly became known throughout Europe as a piano virtuoso and a composer of exotic piano works. He returned in 1853 and toured the U.S., West Indies, and South America. Though he wrote operas and symphonies, he is known for his more than 200 piano pieces, including La Bamboula, Le Bananier, Le Banjo, L'Union, and The Dying Poet. Gottschalk was the first American pianist to achieve international recognition and the first American composer to employ Latin American and Creole folk themes and rhythms.
Learn more about Gottschalk, Louis Moreau with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Oct. 30, 1932, Thumeries, France—died Nov. 23, 1995, Beverly Hills, Calif., U.S.) French film director. He made his first feature film, Frantic, in 1957. Malle gained commercial success with The Lovers (1958), starring Jeanne Moreau, and he became a leading figure in the French New Wave. In The Fire Within (1963), Thief of Paris (1967), Murmur of the Heart (1971), and Lacombe, Lucien (1973), he achieved emotional realism and stylistic simplicity. In 1975 he moved to the U.S., where he directed films such as Pretty Baby (1978), Atlantic City (1980), My Dinner with André (1981), Au revoir les enfants (1987), and Vanya on 42nd Street (1994).
Learn more about Malle, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
MacNeice
Learn more about MacNeice, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born March 22, 1908, Jamestown, N.D., U.S.—died June 10, 1988, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. author of westerns. He left school at age 15 and traveled the world before beginning his writing career in the 1940s. He used pseudonyms, including Tex Burns and Jim Mayo, until Hondo (1953) became a successful film. His more than 100 works, mostly formula westerns that convincingly portray frontier life, have sold 200 million copies in 20 languages, and more than 30—including Kilkenny (1954), The Burning Hills (1956), Guns of the Timberland (1955), and How the West Was Won (1963)—were the basis of films.
Learn more about L'Amour, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Oct. 7, 1786, Montreal, Que.—died Sept. 23, 1871, Montebello, Que., Can.) Canadian politician. He was elected to the legislative assembly of Lower Canada (now Quebec) in 1808 and became its speaker in 1815. A leader of the French-Canadian Party, he opposed the British-dominated government of Lower Canada. In 1834 he helped draft the 92 Resolutions, a statement of French-Canadian demands and grievances. When the British governor rejected the resolutions, hostilities broke out. Papineau escaped to the U.S. and then to France, where he lived from 1839 to 1844. He returned to Canada under an amnesty in 1844 and served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1848 to 1854, though he never regained his leadership of the French-Canadians.
Learn more about Papineau, Louis Joseph with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born before Sept. 21, 1645, probably Beaupré, near Quebec—died after May 1700, Quebec province) French Canadian explorer and cartographer. He led an expedition in the Great Lakes region in 1669. In 1672 he was commissioned by the governor of New France to explore the Mississippi in the company of Jacques Marquette and five others. In 1673 the party set out in birchbark canoes across Lake Michigan, following the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi, then down the Mississippi to its confluence with the Arkansas. They concluded that the river flowed south to the Gulf of Mexico and not, as hoped, into the Pacific Ocean. After their return, Jolliet explored areas of Hudson Bay and the Labrador coast.
Learn more about Jolliet, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born before Sept. 21, 1645, probably Beaupré, near Quebec—died after May 1700, Quebec province) French Canadian explorer and cartographer. He led an expedition in the Great Lakes region in 1669. In 1672 he was commissioned by the governor of New France to explore the Mississippi in the company of Jacques Marquette and five others. In 1673 the party set out in birchbark canoes across Lake Michigan, following the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi, then down the Mississippi to its confluence with the Arkansas. They concluded that the river flowed south to the Gulf of Mexico and not, as hoped, into the Pacific Ocean. After their return, Jolliet explored areas of Hudson Bay and the Labrador coast.
Learn more about Jolliet, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Feb. 20, 1901, Osel, Estonia, Russian Empire—died March 17, 1974, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Estonian-born U.S. architect. He came to the U.S. as a child and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. One of the century's most original architects, Kahn turned from the International Style to a timeless, elegant Brutalism evocative of ancient ruins. His Richards Medical Research Building (1960–65) at the University of Pennsylvania isolated “servant” spaces (stairwells, elevators, vents, and pipes) in four towers distinct from “served” spaces (laboratories and offices). His fortresslike National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangl. (1962–74), utilized geometric shapes to admit light to its inner domed mosque. Like R. Buckminster Fuller, Kahn was concerned about wasteful use of natural resources; his urban-planning schemes proposed geodesic skyscrapers and huge car “silos.” He taught at Yale University (1947–57) and the University of Pennsylvania (1957–74), where appreciation for his intellect gained him a cult status.
Learn more about Kahn, Louis I(sadore) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born April 25, 1214, Poissy, France—died Aug. 25, 1279, near Tunis, Tun.; canonized Aug. 11, 1297; feast day August 25) King of France (1226–70). He inherited the throne at age 12. His mother served as regent until 1234, helping to subdue rebellious barons and Albigensian heretics (see Cathari). Louis led a Crusade (1248–50) in hopes of regaining Jerusalem and Damascus, but his troops were badly defeated by the Egyptians. On his return he reorganized the royal administrative system and standardized coinage. He built the extraordinary Sainte-Chapelle to house a religious relic believed to be Jesus' crown of thorns. Louis made peace with the English in the Treaty of Paris (1259), allowing Henry III to keep Aquitaine and neighboring lands but obliging him to declare himself Louis's vassal. He died of plague during a Crusade. The most popular of the Capetian kings, his reputation for justness and piety led the French to venerate him as a saint even before his canonization in 1297.
Learn more about Louis IX with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born 1283, Munich, Ger.—died Oct. 11, 1347, Munich) German king (1314–47) and uncrowned Holy Roman emperor (1328–47). As the Luxembourg candidate for emperor, he was opposed by the Habsburg candidate Frederick III of Austria. Both men were elected and crowned king in 1314, and Louis's forces defeated Frederick's army in 1322. A conflict with Pope John XXII over the appointment of the imperial vicar in Italy led to his excommunication (1324). To placate his opponents, Louis agreed to rule jointly with Frederick, an arrangement that continued until Frederick's death (1330). He accepted the imperial crown from the Roman people instead of from the pope (1328) and backed the appointment of an antipope. In 1346 Pope Clement VI secured the election of a rival king, Charles of Moravia, and Louis died of a heart attack before finishing his preparations for war.
Learn more about Louis IV with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Aug. 25, 1845, Nymphenburg Palace, Munich—died June 13, 1886, Starnberger See, Bavaria) King of Bavaria (1864–86). The son of Maximilian II of Bavaria, he supported Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). He brought his territories into the newly founded German Empire in 1871 but concerned himself only intermittently with affairs of state, preferring a life of increasingly morbid seclusion. A lifelong patron of the composer Richard Wagner, he developed a mania for extravagant building projects; the most fantastic, Neuschwanstein, was a fairy-tale castle decorated with scenes from Wagner's operas. He drowned himself three days after he was formally declared insane.
Learn more about Louis II with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis Sullivan, detail of an oil painting by Frank A. Werner, 1919; in the collection of the elipsis
Learn more about Sullivan, Louis H(enry) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 12, 1626, Ath, Belg.—died after 1701, Rome?, Italy) French missionary and explorer. A Franciscan, he traveled to Canada in 1675 with La Salle. They explored the Great Lakes region, founding Fort Crèvecoeur (near modern Peoria, Ill.) in 1680. When La Salle returned for supplies, Hennepin and others explored the upper Mississippi River. They were captured by Sioux Indians and taken to a site Hennepin named the Falls of St. Anthony (later Minneapolis); after four months they were rescued by Daniel DuLhut. Hennepin returned to France in 1682 and wrote an account of his journeys.
Learn more about Hennepin, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 11, 1933, Bronx, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. religious leader. He joined the Nation of Islam in 1955, and for a time he assisted Malcolm X in Boston. After Malcolm converted to Sunni Islam, Farrakhan denounced him and replaced him as minister of Mosque No. 7 in Harlem. Farrakhan later expressed regret at having contributed to the climate of antagonism that preceded Malcolm's assassination in 1965. When Warith Deen Mohammed, Elijah Muhammad's successor as leader of the Nation of Islam, gradually began integrating the organization into the orthodox Muslim community, Farrakhan broke away and formed his own organization, also called the Nation of Islam (1978). A compelling orator whose rhetoric often descended into overt anti-Semitism, Farrakhan was nonetheless effective in encouraging African American self-reliance and unity. He was the main organizer of the Million Man March on Washington, D.C., in 1995. In 2000 Farrakhan and Mohammed recognized each other as fellow Muslims, and Farrakhan subsequently moved his group closer to orthodox Islam and moderated his racial remarks.
Learn more about Farrakhan, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis Brandeis.
Learn more about Brandeis, Louis (Dembitz) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Vase of Favrile glass made by Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York City, 1896; in the Victoria and elipsis
Learn more about Tiffany, Louis Comfort with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born July 4, 1885, Minsk, Russian Empire—died Oct. 29, 1957, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. film executive. He immigrated to Canada and then the U.S. with his family and worked in his father's scrap-iron business from age 14. He bought a small nickelodeon near Boston in 1907, and by 1918 he owned the largest chain of movie theatres in New England. He founded a film production company in Hollywood in 1917 and merged it with other companies to form MGM in 1925. Under his leadership, MGM became Hollywood's largest and most prestigious studio, aided by his artistic director, Irving Thalberg. Mayer had under contract many of the outstanding screen stars of the day, including Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, and Judy Garland. He was considered the most powerful Hollywood executive until his forced retirement in 1951. He was the chief founder of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Learn more about Mayer, Louis B(urt) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis Braille, portrait bust by an unknown artist.
Learn more about Braille, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 27, 1862, near Greytown, Natal [South Africa]—died Aug. 27, 1919, Pretoria, Transvaal) First prime minister (1910–19) of the Union of South Africa. Botha was elected to the South African Republic's parliament in 1897, where he sided with moderates against Pres. Paul Kruger's hostile policy toward Uitlanders (non-Boer, mostly English, settlers). In the South African War he commanded southern forces besieging Ladysmith and then tried unsuccessfully to defend the Transvaal. As prime minister he sought earnestly to appease the English-speaking population and was bitterly attacked by Afrikaner nationalists. In World War I he acceded to British requests to conquer German South West Africa (Namibia).
Learn more about Botha, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis Blanc.
Learn more about Blanc, (Jean-Joseph-Charles-) Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Aug. 25, 1862, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France—died Oct. 9, 1934, Marseille) French politician. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1889, he served in various conservative governments. He was appointed premier (1913) and secured the passage of a bill requiring three years' compulsive military service. He represented France at the Conference of Genoa, entered the Senate, and became chairman of the reparations commission. Named foreign minister in 1934, he was assassinated with King Alexander of Yugoslavia during the latter's visit to France.
Learn more about Barthou, (Jean-) Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Oct. 3, 1897, Paris, Fr.—died Dec. 24, 1982, Paris) French poet, novelist, and essayist. He was introduced by André Breton into avant-garde circles, and the two cofounded the Surrealist review Littérature in 1919. From 1927 he was increasingly a political activist and spokesman for communism, which resulted in a break with the Surrealists. Among his works are the novel tetralogy Le Monde réel, 4 vol. (1933–44), describing the class struggle of the proletariat; the huge novel Les Communistes, 6 vol. (1949–51); novels of veiled autobiography; and volumes of poems expressing patriotism and love for his wife. He was editor of the communist weekly of arts and literature, Les Lettres françaises, 1953–72.
Learn more about Aragon, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 28, 1807, Motier, Switz.—died Dec. 14, 1873, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) Swiss-born U.S. naturalist, geologist, and teacher. After studies in Switzerland and Germany, he moved to the U.S. in 1846. He did landmark work on glacier activity and extinct fishes. He became famous for his innovative teaching methods, which encouraged learning through direct observation of nature, and his term as a zoology professor at Harvard University revolutionized the study of natural history in the U.S.; every notable American teacher of natural history in the late 19th century was a pupil either of Agassiz or of one of his students. In addition, he was an outstanding science administrator, promoter, and fund-raiser. He was a lifelong opponent of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. His second wife, Elizabeth Agassiz, cofounder and first president of Radcliffe College, and his son, Alexander Agassiz, were also noted naturalists.
Learn more about Agassiz, (Jean) Louis (Rodolphe) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis de Saint-Just, portrait after a red chalk drawing by Christophe Guérin, 1793.
Learn more about Saint-Just, Louis (-Antoine-Léon) de with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born March 22, 1908, Jamestown, N.D., U.S.—died June 10, 1988, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. author of westerns. He left school at age 15 and traveled the world before beginning his writing career in the 1940s. He used pseudonyms, including Tex Burns and Jim Mayo, until Hondo (1953) became a successful film. His more than 100 works, mostly formula westerns that convincingly portray frontier life, have sold 200 million copies in 20 languages, and more than 30—including Kilkenny (1954), The Burning Hills (1956), Guns of the Timberland (1955), and How the West Was Won (1963)—were the basis of films.
Learn more about L'Amour, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born June 11, 1876, Hoboken, N.J., U.S.—died Oct. 5, 1960, Paris, Fr.) U.S. anthropologist. Trained under Franz Boas (Ph.D., 1901), he later taught at the University of California at Berkeley. Kroeber's career nearly coincided with the emergence of academic, professionalized anthropology in the U.S. and contributed significantly to its development. He made valuable contributions to American Indian ethnology, New World archaeology, and the study of linguistics, folklore, kinship, and culture. His most influential books are considered to be Anthropology (1923) and The Nature of Culture (1952). His daughter, Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929), was a noted science fiction and fantasy writer.
Learn more about Kroeber, A(lfred) L(ouis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Joe Louis, 1946.
Learn more about Louis, Joe with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Jan. 7, 1922, Marseille, France—died May 20, 2000, Paris) French flutist. From 1947 he appeared widely in chamber music and solo recitals. In the 1950s he founded his own chamber groups, while also playing in the pit at the Paris Opéra (1956–62). Works were written for him by Francis Poulenc and others. His sweetness of tone and virtuosity in a largely Baroque repertoire, as evidenced on many admired recordings, made him the first flutist to attain international stardom.
Learn more about Rampal, Jean-Pierre (-Louis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 8, 1910, Le Vésinet, France—died Jan. 22, 1994, Paris) French actor and director. He made his acting debut in Paris (1931) and joined the Comédie-Française (1940–46) as an actor and director. He and his wife, Madeleine Renaud, formed their own company (1946–58) at the Théâtre Marigny. There they performed a mixture of French and foreign classics and modern plays that helped revive French theatre after World War II. He was appointed director of the Théâtre de France (1959–68) and later directed at several other Paris theatres (1972–81). He appeared in more than 20 films and was best known for his role in The Children of Paradise (1945).
Learn more about Barrault, Jean-Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Jacques-Louis David, self-portrait, oil painting, 1794; in the Louvre, Paris
Learn more about David, Jacques-Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
H.L. Mencken.
Learn more about Mencken, H(enry) L(ouis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 16, 1950, Keyser, W.Va., U.S.) U.S. critic and scholar. Gates attended Yale University and the University of Cambridge. He has chaired Harvard University's department of Afro-American Studies for many years. In such works as Figures in Black (1987) and The Signifying Monkey (1988) he has used the term signifyin' to represent a practice that can link African and African American literary histories; his other books include Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man (1998). He has edited many anthologies, including Reading Black, Reading Feminist (1990) and the Norton Anthology of African American Writers (1997), and has restored and edited many lost works by black writers. He writes frequently to a general public, notably in The New Yorker, and he wrote the television series Wonders of the African World (1999).
Learn more about Gates, Henry Louis (Jr.) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Hank Aaron.
Learn more about Aaron, Hank with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Henri Bergson, 1928.
Learn more about Bergson, Henri (-Louis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 12, 1626, Ath, Belg.—died after 1701, Rome?, Italy) French missionary and explorer. A Franciscan, he traveled to Canada in 1675 with La Salle. They explored the Great Lakes region, founding Fort Crèvecoeur (near modern Peoria, Ill.) in 1680. When La Salle returned for supplies, Hennepin and others explored the upper Mississippi River. They were captured by Sioux Indians and taken to a site Hennepin named the Falls of St. Anthony (later Minneapolis); after four months they were rescued by Daniel DuLhut. Hennepin returned to France in 1682 and wrote an account of his journeys.
Learn more about Hennepin, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Jan. 11, 1924, Dijon, Fr.) French-born U.S. physiologist. He and his colleagues discovered, isolated, and synthesized hypothalamic hormones that regulate thyroid activity, cause the pituitary to release growth hormone, and regulate the activities of the pituitary and the pancreas. He shared a 1977 Nobel Prize with Andrew V. Schally and Rosalyn Yalow. Guillemin is also known for his discovery of endorphins.
Learn more about Guillemin, Roger C(harles) L(ouis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 8, 1829, New Orleans, La., U.S.—died Dec. 18, 1869, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.) U.S. composer and pianist. He was exposed early to the music of New Orleans's Caribbean and Latin American population. Sent to France at age 13 to study music, he quickly became known throughout Europe as a piano virtuoso and a composer of exotic piano works. He returned in 1853 and toured the U.S., West Indies, and South America. Though he wrote operas and symphonies, he is known for his more than 200 piano pieces, including La Bamboula, Le Bananier, Le Banjo, L'Union, and The Dying Poet. Gottschalk was the first American pianist to achieve international recognition and the first American composer to employ Latin American and Creole folk themes and rhythms.
Learn more about Gottschalk, Louis Moreau with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 16, 1950, Keyser, W.Va., U.S.) U.S. critic and scholar. Gates attended Yale University and the University of Cambridge. He has chaired Harvard University's department of Afro-American Studies for many years. In such works as Figures in Black (1987) and The Signifying Monkey (1988) he has used the term signifyin' to represent a practice that can link African and African American literary histories; his other books include Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man (1998). He has edited many anthologies, including Reading Black, Reading Feminist (1990) and the Norton Anthology of African American Writers (1997), and has restored and edited many lost works by black writers. He writes frequently to a general public, notably in The New Yorker, and he wrote the television series Wonders of the African World (1999).
Learn more about Gates, Henry Louis (Jr.) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 22, 1622, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France—died Nov. 28, 1698, Quebec, New France) French courtier and governor of New France (1672–82, 1689–98). Despite a record of misgovernment, he encouraged exploration that led to the expansion of the French empire in Canada. He established fur-trading posts that brought him into conflict with the Montreal fur traders and later expanded the posts west. He engaged in disputes with the officials and clergy of New France. The Iroquois Confederacy, which had remained on good terms with the French until 1675, turned against the French, and the colony was left defenseless. Louis XIV recalled Frontenac in 1682. Reappointed when the French and Indian War started (1689), he distinguished himself by repulsing British attacks on Quebec.
Learn more about Frontenac, Louis de Buade, count de Palluau and de with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 11, 1933, Bronx, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. religious leader. He joined the Nation of Islam in 1955, and for a time he assisted Malcolm X in Boston. After Malcolm converted to Sunni Islam, Farrakhan denounced him and replaced him as minister of Mosque No. 7 in Harlem. Farrakhan later expressed regret at having contributed to the climate of antagonism that preceded Malcolm's assassination in 1965. When Warith Deen Mohammed, Elijah Muhammad's successor as leader of the Nation of Islam, gradually began integrating the organization into the orthodox Muslim community, Farrakhan broke away and formed his own organization, also called the Nation of Islam (1978). A compelling orator whose rhetoric often descended into overt anti-Semitism, Farrakhan was nonetheless effective in encouraging African American self-reliance and unity. He was the main organizer of the Million Man March on Washington, D.C., in 1995. In 2000 Farrakhan and Mohammed recognized each other as fellow Muslims, and Farrakhan subsequently moved his group closer to orthodox Islam and moderated his racial remarks.
Learn more about Farrakhan, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Dec. 10, 1851, Adams Center, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 26, 1931, Lake Placid, Fla.) U.S. librarian. He graduated from Amherst College in 1874, whereupon he became acting librarian there. In 1876 he published A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library, in which he outlined the Dewey Decimal Classification system. He was one of the founders of the American Library Association and of Library Journal (both 1876). He set up the School of Library Economy, the first U.S. institution for training librarians. He also reorganized the N.Y. State Library (1889–1906) and established the system of traveling libraries and picture collections. A cofounder of the Spelling Reform Assn., he respelled his own name.
Learn more about Dewey, Melvil(le Louis Kossuth) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Jacques-Louis David, self-portrait, oil painting, 1794; in the Louvre, Paris
Learn more about David, Jacques-Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Aug. 6, 1868, Villeneuve-sur-Fère, France—died Feb. 23, 1955, Paris) French poet, playwright, and diplomat. He converted to Catholicism at age 18. His brilliant diplomatic career began in 1892, and he eventually served as ambassador to Japan (1921–27) and the U.S. (1927–33). At the same time he pursued a literary career, expressing in poetry and drama his conception of the grand design of creation. He reached his largest audience through plays such as Break of Noon (1906), The Hostage (1911), Tidings Brought to Mary (1912), and his masterpiece, The Satin Slipper (1929); recurring themes in these works are human and divine love and the search for salvation. He wrote the librettos for Darius Milhaud's opera Christopher Columbus (1930) and Arthur Honegger's oratorio Joan of Arc (1938). His best-known poetic work is the confessional Five Great Odes (1910).
Learn more about Claudel, Paul (-Louis-Charles-Marie) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis Brandeis.
Learn more about Brandeis, Louis (Dembitz) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Louis Braille, portrait bust by an unknown artist.
Learn more about Braille, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 27, 1862, near Greytown, Natal [South Africa]—died Aug. 27, 1919, Pretoria, Transvaal) First prime minister (1910–19) of the Union of South Africa. Botha was elected to the South African Republic's parliament in 1897, where he sided with moderates against Pres. Paul Kruger's hostile policy toward Uitlanders (non-Boer, mostly English, settlers). In the South African War he commanded southern forces besieging Ladysmith and then tried unsuccessfully to defend the Transvaal. As prime minister he sought earnestly to appease the English-speaking population and was bitterly attacked by Afrikaner nationalists. In World War I he acceded to British requests to conquer German South West Africa (Namibia).
Learn more about Botha, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
![]()
Henri Bergson, 1928.
Learn more about Bergson, Henri (-Louis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 8, 1910, Le Vésinet, France—died Jan. 22, 1994, Paris) French actor and director. He made his acting debut in Paris (1931) and joined the Comédie-Française (1940–46) as an actor and director. He and his wife, Madeleine Renaud, formed their own company (1946–58) at the Théâtre Marigny. There they performed a mixture of French and foreign classics and modern plays that helped revive French theatre after World War II. He was appointed director of the Théâtre de France (1959–68) and later directed at several other Paris theatres (1972–81). He appeared in more than 20 films and was best known for his role in The Children of Paradise (1945).
Learn more about Barrault, Jean-Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Oct. 3, 1897, Paris, Fr.—died Dec. 24, 1982, Paris) French poet, novelist, and essayist. He was introduced by André Breton into avant-garde circles, and the two cofounded the Surrealist review Littérature in 1919. From 1927 he was increasingly a political activist and spokesman for communism, which resulted in a break with the Surrealists. Among his works are the novel tetralogy Le Monde réel, 4 vol. (1933–44), describing the class struggle of the proletariat; the huge novel Les Communistes, 6 vol. (1949–51); novels of veiled autobiography; and volumes of poems expressing patriotism and love for his wife. He was editor of the communist weekly of arts and literature, Les Lettres françaises, 1953–72.
Learn more about Aragon, Louis with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born June 11, 1876, Hoboken, N.J., U.S.—died Oct. 5, 1960, Paris, Fr.) U.S. anthropologist. Trained under Franz Boas (Ph.D., 1901), he later taught at the University of California at Berkeley. Kroeber's career nearly coincided with the emergence of academic, professionalized anthropology in the U.S. and contributed significantly to its development. He made valuable contributions to American Indian ethnology, New World archaeology, and the study of linguistics, folklore, kinship, and culture. His most influential books are considered to be Anthropology (1923) and The Nature of Culture (1952). His daughter, Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929), was a noted science fiction and fantasy writer.
Learn more about Kroeber, A(lfred) L(ouis) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Louis I (Ludovico I or Lodovico I in Italian) (Geneva, February 21, 1402/1413 – Lyon, January 29 1465) was Duke of Savoy from 1440 until his death.
He married at Chambery on November 1 1433 or February 12 1434 Anne of Cyprus (ca September 24 1415 (or 1419) – Geneva, November 11 1462) (although Anne was born on September 24, the year she was born is uncertain, might be 1415 or 1419), a Princess and an heiress of Cyprus and Jerusalem (she was the secondary heiress all her lifetime, as her niece Queen Charlotte of Cyprus outlived her) and a daughter of King Janus of Cyprus. They had 19 children, 5 of whom died young:
In 1453 he received, from Margaret de Charny, the Shroud of Turin, which would be property of the house of Savoy until 1946, at the end of the Kingdom of Italy. The Shroud of Turin was bequeathed to the Holy See in 1983. He may also have been one of Leonardo da Vinci's later patrons.