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The History Channel - Encyclopedia Category: History and Culture > History Date & country: 02/12/2007, UK Words: 25833

Valadon, Suzanne
(1867-1938) French painter. She developed a style characterized by emphatic outlines and strong colours, as in Blue Bedroom 1923 (Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris). In youth a circus acrobat and artist's model, she...

Valdemar
Alternative spelling of Waldemar, four kings of Denmark. ...

Valdés Leal, Juan de
(1622-1690) Spanish painter and engraver of Portuguese descent. He painted religious and grimly emblematic subjects, such as The Triumph of Death (Hospital de la Caridad, Seville). He was one of...

Valdivia, Pedro de
(c. 1497-1554) Spanish explorer who travelled to Venezuela about 1530 and accompanied Francisco Pizarro on his second expedition to Peru. He then went south into Chile, where he founded the cities of Santiago in...

Valens
(c.AD 328-378) Roman emperor of the eastern provinces from 364, elevated by his brother Valentinian I. During his reign, the Goths penetrated into the countries south of the River Danube. In 378 Valens was...

Valentin, Moïse
(1591-1634) French painter who worked in Rome. He painted religious subjects and scenes of popular life, working in the style of Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio. The Martyrdom of SS Processus and Martinian...

Valentine
British medium tank of World War II, so named because it was approved for production on St Valentine's Day 1938. It was first used in Operation Crusader in North Africa 1941 and soon acquired a...

Valentine and Orson
In medieval romance, the sons of the emperor of Greece, fortuitously connected with the Charlemagne romances. Their story is based on the common folklore legend of a man reared by a bear. ...

Valentine, St
According to tradition, a bishop of Terni martyred in Rome, now omitted from the calendar of saints' days as probably nonexistent. His festival was 14 February, but the custom of sending...

Valentinian I
(321-375) Roman emperor, AD 364-375. He was an able and wise ruler who exercised religious tolerance. He appointed his brother Valens to look after the eastern part of the empire, while he concentrated on...

Valentinian III
(419-455) Roman emperor, AD 425-455. The son of Constantius III and Placidia, he was given control of the Western Roman empire by the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II. He was weak and inactive, and was...

Valera, Éamon de
Irish politician; see de Valera. ...

Valerian
(lived 3rd century AD) Roman emperor 253-60. Valerian was a general and supporter of the emperor Trebonianus Gallus, after whose death he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers. Valerian appointed his son Gallienus...

Valerius Flaccus, Gaius
(died c.AD 92) Roman poet, author of a heroic poem, Argonautica, which was rediscovered by Poggio Bracciolini in 1416, and first printed in Bologna in 1472. The poem owes something to a similar work by Valerius Maximus
(lived c.AD 30) Roman historian. His work Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium Libri IX/Nine Books of Memorable Deeds and Sayings, which was intended for use by public speakers, contained historical anecdotes...

Valéry, Paul Amboise
(1871-1945) French poet and mathematician. His poetry, which combines delicate lyricism with intellectual rigour, includes La Jeune Parque/The Young Fate 1917 and Charmes/Enchantments 1922, which contains `Le...

Valhalla
In Norse mythology, the golden hall in Odin's palace in Asgard, where he feasted with the souls of half those heroes killed in battle (valr) chosen by his female attendants, the Valkyries; the...

validity
In logic, a property of inferences or arguments which are valid if the conclusion follows necessarily (by deduction) from the premises, as in a syllogism. The premises may be false, but if they are...

Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, any of the female attendants of Odin. They directed the course of battles and selected the most valiant warriors to die; half being escorted to Valhalla, and the remainder to...

Valla, Lorenzo
(1407-1457) Italian philosopher, translator, and historian. He attacked scholasticism and promoted classical literature, advocating an alliance between faith and eloquence. He influenced the Dutch humanist...

Vallancey, Charles
(1721-1812) English-born general and Irish antiquarian. Born in Windsor, Vallancey was posted to Ireland with the British army in 1762. He started an antiquarian journal, Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, in...

Vallandigham, Clement Laird
(1820-1871) US political leader. He served in the US House of Representatives 1858-63. A staunch Democrat, he supported Stephen Douglas for president 1860 and opposed many of President Lincoln's war policies....

Valle-Inclán, Ramón María de
(1866-1936) Spanish author and poet. His works, made notorious by their frank eroticism, were influenced by French Symbolism. They include the four novels Sonatas 1902-05 and, set in South America, the novel...

Valle, José Cecilio del
(1776-1834) Central American Conservative politician. Valle was elected mayor of Guatemala city 1820 towards the end of Spanish colonial rule. To avert social revolution, he joined the provisional junta which...

Vallejo, César
(1892-1938) Peruvian poet. An exponent of avant-garde poetry and a powerful advocate of social equality, Vallejo became the most influential Latin American poet of his generation. His first collection, Los...

Vallejo, Mariano Guadelupe
(1808-1890) American military leader in colonial California. During the 1830s, he opposed the rule of autocratic governors sent from Mexico City and in 1838 became the military commander of the province. He was...

Vallès, Jules
(1832-1885) French writer. His uncompromising and often sensational works include Les Réfractaires 1865, La Rue 1866 (journalism), La Rue à Londres 1883, a comparison between Paris and London, and a trilogy...

Valley Forge
Site in Pennsylvania 32 km/20 mi northwest of Philadelphia, USA, where George Washington's army spent the winter of 1777-78 in great hardship during the American Revolution. Of the 10,000 men...

Valley of the Kings
Burial place of ancient kings opposite Thebes, Egypt, on the left bank...

Vallotton, Félix
(1860-1925) Swiss painter and graphic artist who worked in Paris. He was associated with les Nabis and was a contributor to the group's journal Revue blanche. In his use of flat areas of strong colour he is...

Valmy, Battle of
During the French Revolution ...

Valois
Branch of the Capetian dynasty, originally counts of Valois (see Hugh Capet) in France, members of which occupied the French throne from Philip VI (1328) to Henry III (1589). ...

value added
In economics, the difference between the price the customer pays for a product and the total costs of the inputs (that is, the cost of producing the product). From the value added comes the money...

value judgement
Subjective assessment involving some moral, aesthetic, ideological, or theoretical interpretation of superiority or inferiority. In the philosophy of science (see science, philosophy of), discussion...

value-added tax
General consumption tax assessed on the value of goods and services, applied at each stage of the production of a commodity, and charged only on the value added at that stage. It is a general tax...

value, theory of
In economics, a theoretical framework for measuring value. Adam Smith distinguished between value in use or utility and value in...

Vámbéry, Arminius
(1832-1913) Hungarian traveller and writer who crossed the deserts of Central Asia to Khiva and Samarkand dressed as a dervish, a classic journey described in his Travels and Adventures in Central Asia 1864. ...

vampire
In Hungarian and Slavonic folklore, an `undead` corpse that sleeps in its coffin by day and sucks the blood of the living by night, often in the form of a bat. Dracula is a vampire in popular...

Van Allsburg, Chris
(1949) US writer, illustrator, and sculptor. Based in Providence, Rhode Island, he worked as a fine artist, sculptor, and creator of award-winning books for children, such as The Polar Express (1985)....

Van Anda, Carr Vattel
(1864-1945) US journalist. Associated for 16 years with the New York Sun, he was hired by New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs in 1904 as that paper's brilliant manag ...

Van Buren, Martin
(1782-1862) 8th president of the USA 1837-41, a Democrat, who had helped establish the Democratic Party. He was secretary of state 1829-31, minister to Britain 1831-33, vice- ...

Van Cortlandt, Stephanus
(1643-1700) Dutch-American colonial official. A colonel in New York provincial militia, he served on the governor's council and in 1677 became the first native-born mayor of New York. He was a local judge...

Van Damm, Sheila
(1922-1987) English motor-racing driver and theatre owner. She first drove in a rally in 1950 as a publicity stunt to advertise her father's Windmill Theatre, and won the Ladies' European Touring...

Van der Donck, Adrien
(1620-1655) Dutch colonist in America and lawyer. In 1650, he wrote the `Remonstrance`, in which he listed the grievances of the Dutch colonists against their leaders in Holland. When he took it to The...

van der Post, Laurens Jan
(1906-1966) South African writer. His books, many of them autobiographical tales of adventure with anthropological themes, reflect his fascination with diverse cultures and with theories of cultural difference....

Van der Rohe, Ludwig Mies
US architect; see Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. ...

Van Devanter, Willis
(1859-1941) US jurist. He was appointed US Supreme Court justice 1910-37 by President Taft. Active in Republican politics, he served as assistant US attorney general 1897-1903 and federal circuit judge...

van Diemen, Anthony
Dutch admiral, see Diemen, Anthony van. ...

Van Diemen's Land
Former name (1642-1855) of Tasmania, Australia. It was named by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman after the governor general of the Dutch East Indies, Anthony van Diemen. The name Tasmania was used...

Van Diemen's Land Company
Australian agricultural company formed by a London syndicate in 1825, investing in livestock breeding in northwestern Tasmania. The company still operates its pastorial activities, mainly cattle...

Van Dine, S S
(1888-1939) US writer. He published The Benson Murder Case 1926 and The Canary Murder Case 1927, and other crime mysteries featuring the languid hero Philo Vance. ...

Van Doren, Carl Clinton
(1885-1950) US critic and biographer. He wrote lives of Thomas Love Peacock 1911, James Branch Cabell 1925, Dean Swift 1930, Sinclair Lewis 1933, and Benjamin Franklin 1938 (Pulitzer Prize). Critical works...

Van Doren, Harold
(1895-1957) US pioneer industrial designer. He was active in Philadelphia from 1930. His first client was the Toledo Scale Company for which he designed a corporate identity. Key products include a green...

Van Doren, Irita
(1891-1966) US editor. A leading light in New York literary society, she was literary editor of the New York Herald Tribune (1926-63). Married for a time...

Van Doren, Mark Albert
(1894-1972) US poet and writer. He published his first collection, Spring Thunder, 1924. His anthology Collected Poems 1939 won a Pulitzer Prize. He was an editor of The Nation 1924-28 and published the...

Van Dorn, Earl
(1820-1863) American soldier. As a major general of the Confederate cavalry, he was defeated at Pea Ridge, Arkansas (March 1862) and Corinth, Mississippi (October 1862); he retrieved his military reputation...

Van Druten, John
(1901-1957) English-born US playwright and novelist. He first came to attention as a playwright with Young Woodley, 1928, but his most famous work is I Am a Camera, 1951, which was based on the Berlin stories...

Van Duyn, Mona (Jane)
(1921) US poet. Critics praised her for her accurate depiction of the everyday world, her graceful use of rhyme, and her ability to make the ordinary seem extraordinary. In 1971 her `To See, To Take`...

van Dyck, Anthony
Flemish painter; see Dyck, Anthony van. ...

Van Dyke, Henry
(1852-1933) US Protestant clergyman and author. From 1899 to 1923 he was a professor of English at Princeton. His publications included poetry, essays, and short stories on religious and secular themes. He was...

Van Dyke, Willard Ames
(1906-1986) US film-maker and photographer. Trained by Edward Weston, he moved on to work in film in 1939, producing, directing, and photographing social documentary films with American Documentary Film...

van Eyck, Aldo
Dutch architect; see Eyck, Aldo van. ...

van Eyck, Jan
Flemish painter; see Eyck, Jan van. ...

Van Fleet, James (Alward)
(1892-1992) US soldier. A West Point graduate (1915), during World War I he commanded a machine gun battalion in France, and in World War II he held successively higher commands, culminating with that of the...

van Gogh, Vincent
Dutch painter; see Gogh, Vincent van. ...

Van Heusen, James
(1913-1990) US composer. He wrote scores for many Bing Crosby films with such hit songs as `It's Always You` (1941) and `Swinging on a Star` (1944). With lyricist Sammy Cahn he wrote many popular songs...

Van Lerberghe, Charles
(1861-1907) Belgian poet and dramatist. His reputation rests on two volumes of poetry, Entrevisions 1898 and Chansons d'Eve 1904. Les Flaireurs 1889 is a Symbolist play. His Lettres ... à F Saverin, published...

van Leyden, Lucas
Dutch painter; see Lucas van Leyden. ...

van Meegeren, Hans
Dutch forger; see Meegeren, Hans van. ...

Van Orstrand, C(harles) E(dwin)
(1870-1959) US geophysicist. He served the US Geological Survey (1901-40), where he made major contributions to a series of mathematical tables, then patented instruments for determining temperatures in deep...

Van Praagh, Margaret (Peggy)
(1910-1990) English ballet dancer, teacher, and producer. After performing with the Ballet Rambert 1933-38 and the London Ballet 1938-41, she joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet as a dancer and teacher in...

Van Rensselaer, Mariana
(1851-1934) US art critic. She published many books on art and architecture, including the first work on a contemporary American architect, Henry Hobson Richardson and His Works (1888). She is primarily known...

Van Rensselaer, Stephen
(1764-1839) American public official and soldier. A commander during the Anglo-American War of 1812-14 he suffered a serious defeat at Queenstown, Canada. He was a US congressman 1822-29. As president of...

Van Vechten, Carl
(1880-1966) US writer and photographer. He worked for the Chicago American newspaper (1903-06), moving to New York City and becoming a music critic, then Paris correspondent for the New York Times...

Van Vleck, Edward Burr
(1863-1943) US mathematician. An early editor of the American Mathematical Society's Transactions (1906-10) and a National Academy of Sciences member, he helped lay the foundation for the growth of...

Van Waters, Miriam
(1887-1974) US penologist and prison reformer. She was known for transforming institutions for women offenders into models of prisoner rehabilitation. As superintendent of the Massachusetts State Re ...

Vanadzor
City in northwestern Armenia, 65 km/40 mi north of Yerevan; population (2001 est) 193,500. It lies in the mountain valley of the River Pambak, at a height of 1,350 m/4,429 ft above sea-level. It...

Vanbrugh, John
(1664-1726) English baroque architect, dramatist, and soldier. Although entirely untrained as an architect, he designed the huge mansions of Castle Howard (1699-1726), Blenheim (1705-16; completed by...

Vance, `Dazzy`
(1891-1961) US baseball pitcher. During his 16-year career (1915-35), mostly with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he won 197 games and the Most Valuable Player Award in 1924, yet he did not win his first major league...

Vance, Cyrus Roberts
(1917-2002) US Democratic politician, secretary of state 1977-80. He was United Nations negotiator in the peace talks on Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992-93, resigning from the post due to ill health. Together...

Vance, Zebulon Baird
(1830-1894) US governor. A Know-Nothing in the US House of Representatives (North Carolina, 1858-61), he campaigned against secession. Once the war was underway, however, as Conservative Party governor...

Vancouver, George
(1757-1798) English navigator who made extensive exploration of the west coast of North America. The city of Vancouver was named after him. He accompanied James Cook on two voyages, and served in the West...

Vancura, Vladislav
(1891-1942) Czech novelist. He wrote in a picturesque style, incorporating archaisms, slang, dialect, convoluted sentences, and striking imagery. His antiwar novel Pole orná a válecná/ ...

vand chakna
Sikh concept of sharing everything with those in need. The gurus (teachers) emphasized the necessity to look after others before oneself. ...

Vandal
Member of a Germanic people related to the Goths. In the 5th century AD the Vandals invaded Roman Gaul and Spain, many settling in Andalusia (formerly Vandalitia) and others reaching North Africa...

Vandenberg, Arthur Hendrick
(1884-1951) US politician. A Republican, he was elected to the US Senate in 1928 and remained there for the next 23 years. Although initially an isolationist, he supported F D Roosevelt's war policies and was a...

Vanderbilt, Amy
(1908-1974) US authority on etiquette Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette (1952, frequently revised) established her as the leading American authority on good manners, a position maintained for two...

Vanderbilt, George Washington
(1862-1914) US capitalist, forestry pioneer, and agriculturist. Moving to his estate, `Biltmore`,in 1896, Vanderbilt became a pioneer in forestry science; on his acreage he founded the Biltmore nursery,...

Vanderbilt, Gloria
(1924) US artist and socialite. An heiress involved in a widely publicized `poor little rich girl` custody suit at the age of 10, she achieved later notoriety for her four marriages, but considerable...

Vanderbilt, Harold Stirling
(1884-1970) US bridge innovator. He helped contract bridge spread from 1926 to 1929 by espousing the game, and modernized it with bidding and scoring changes. He presented the V ...

Vanderbilt, William Henry
(1821-1885) US financier and railway promoter. Given control of the Staten Island Railroad 1857, he was named vice-president of the New York and Harlem Railroad 1864, acquired other railways, and became...

Vanderpool, Eugene
(1906-1989) US archaeologist. No one knew more about Greek epigraphy and topography, especially the topography of Attica; his knowledge led the Germans to inter him during World War II. He was a beloved and...

VanDerZee, James
(1886-1983) US photographer. He opened his own studio in Harlem in 1916. On the upper end of Manhattan, Harlem was becoming a haven for African-Americans and during the next five decades he photographed...

Vane, Henry
(1613-1662) English politician. In 1640 he was elected a member of the Long Parliament, and was knighted in...

Vane, Henry (the Elder)
(1589-1655) English politician, a leading advisor of Charles I. As secretary of state, his uncompromising presentation of royal demands in the dealings between the king and the Short Parliament in 1640 led...

Vanity Fair
Novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, published in the UK in 1847-48. It deals with the contrasting fortunes of the tough orphan Becky Sharp and the soft-hearted, privileged Amelia Sedley, who...

Vanni, Andrea
(1332-1414) Italian painter. He was a follower of Simone Martini. Employed on ambassadorial missions, he visited and worked in Rome, Naples, and Avignon. He corresponded with the religious mystic Catherine of...

Vansina, Jan (Maria Jozef)
(1929) US historian, cultural anthropologist, and linguist, of Belgian origin. His fieldwork in Africa yielded studies of Bushoong grammar (1959) and historical studies of Rwanda (1962) and the Kuba of...

Vansittart, Robert Gilbert
(1881-1957) British diplomat, noted for his anti-German polemic. He was permanent undersecretary of state for foreign affairs 1930-38 and chief diplomatic adviser to the foreign secretary 1938-41. KCB...

Vanuatu
Group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, part of Melanesia. Government Vanuatu is an independent republic within the Commonwealth. The constitution dates from independence in 1980. It...