leprosy or Hansen disease Chronic disease of the skin, peripheral nerves, and mucous membranes of the nose, throat, and eyes, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. In tuberculoid leprosy, cells of the immune system crowd into infected areas of the skin, forming hard nod¬ ules, or tubercles, that spread along nerve fibres. This type of reaction commonly leads to claw hand, gross deformity of the foot, and paralysis of muscles of the face, eye, and neck. In the lepromatous type, bacilli multiply freely in deep layers of the skin and spread widely through lym¬ phatic channels and along nerve fibres, causing thickening and corruga¬ tion of the skin, raising soft nodules on the ears, nose, and cheeks, and sometimes destroying the septum of the nose and the palate. Leprosy has a long history. Until the 20th century, infected people were ostracized from society or at best segregated and cared for in isolated leper colonies. Today the disease is entirely curable through multidrug therapy, though tissue damage caused before drug treatment cannot be reversed. Some 600,000 new cases arise every year, mostly in Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and the Pacific Islands. About 60 percent of new cases occur in India.
Leptis Magna modern Labdah Largest city of ancient Tripous, located near modem Al-Khums, Libya. Founded by the Phoenicians in the 6th century bc, it passed to Numidia in 202 bc but broke away in 111 bc to become an ally of Rome. The emperor Trajan made it a Roman colony. The waning of the Roman Empire caused its decline, and it was largely abandoned after the Arab conquest of ad 642. It has some of the best- preserved Roman ruins in North Africa.
lepton Vlep-tan\ Any member of a class of fermions that respond only to electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational forces and do not take part in strong interactions. Leptons have a half-integral spin and obey the Pauli exclusion principle. They can either carry one unit of electric charge or be neutral. The charged leptons are the electrons, muons, and taus. Each has a negative charge and a distinct mass. Each charged lepton has an asso¬ ciated neutral partner, or neutrino, which has no electric charge and very little if any mass.
Lerma River River, west-central Mexico. It rises southeast of Toluca and flows northwest and then south for 350 mi (560 km) to empty into Lake Chapala. The Rio Grande de Santiago, which leads from Lake Chapala to the Pacific Ocean, is sometimes considered an extension of the Lerma. With its major tributaries, it constitutes Mexico’s largest river system.
Lermontov VPer-mon-toA, Mikhail (Yuryevich) (b. Oct. 15, 1814, Moscow, Russia—d. July 27, 1841, Pyatigorsk) Russian poet and novel¬ ist. His first volume of verse, Spring, was published in 1830, the year he entered Moscow University. He left the university two years later to enter cadet school. A guards officer after graduating in 1834, he was twice exiled to regiments in the Caucasus because of his passionately libertar¬ ian verse. He became popular for having suffered for his poetry, which combined civic and philosophical themes with deeply personal motifs. His mature poems include “Mtsyri” (1840) and “Demon” (1841). His novel A Hero of Our Time (1840), a reflection on contemporary society and the fortunes of his generation, is written in superb prose, and the portrait of its alienated hero profoundly influenced later Russian writers. Like Ale¬ ksandr Pushkin, to whom he is often compared, he died in a duel. He is remembered as his country’s leading Romantic poet.
Leprechaun, from the Irish Fairy Book, by Alfred Perceval Crave, 1909.
COURTESY OF THE FOLKLORE SOCIETY LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON; PHOTOGRAPH, R.B. FLEMING
L_
M
N
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1100 I Lerner ► Lesotho
L_
N
Lerner, Alan Jay (b. Aug. 31, 1918, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 14, 1986, New York City) U.S. librettist and lyricist. Born to a prosper¬ ous retailing family, he studied at Juilliard and Harvard. He wrote more than 500 radio scripts between 1940 and 1942, the year he met the com¬ poser Frederick Loewe. The two began collaborating, and their first Broad¬ way success came with Brigadoon (1947; film, 1954). It was followed by Paint Your Wagon (1951; film, 1969). My Fair Lady (1956) was an unprecedented triumph, setting a record for the longest original run of any musical; the film version (1964) won seven Academy Awards. Their film musical Gigi (1958) received nine Academy Awards. Camelot fol¬ lowed in 1960 (film, 1967). Lerner also collaborated with Kurt Weill ( Love Life , 1948) and Burton Lane (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever , 1965; film, 1970), among others. His film scripts include An American in Paris (1951, Academy Award).
Lerwick Town (pop., 1991: 7,336), administrative centre of the Shet¬ land Islands, northern Scotland. It is on the eastern coast of the island of Mainland. Britain’s northernmost town, it originated as a fishing village and is notable for its herring catch. The North Sea oil boom of the 1970s increased port traffic, and Lerwick became an oil supply and service base. It is the seat of the Shetland Islands council area.
Les Six See Les Six Les Vingt See Les Vingt
Lesage \b-'sazh\, Alain-Rene or Le Sage (b. May 6, 1668, Sarzeau, France—d. Nov. 17, 1747, Boulogne) French novelist and playwright. He studied law in Paris but later abandoned his clerkship to devote himself to literature. His classic The Adventures of Gil Bias of Sant Wane (1715— 35), one of the earliest realistic novels, was influential in making the picaresque novel a European literary fashion. A prolific satirical dramatist, he adapted Spanish models for his early plays, including the highly suc¬ cessful comedy Crispin, Rival of His Master (1707). He also composed more than 100 comedies-vaudevilles in the tradition of Moliere.
Lesage \l9-'sazh\, Jean (b. June 10, 1912, Montreal, Que., Can.—d. Dec. 12, 1980, near Quebec, Que.) Canadian politician. He served as Canadian minister of resources and development from 1953 to 1957. In 1958 he became leader of Quebec’s Liberal Party. When the Liberals won the 1960 provincial elections, he became Quebec’s premier. He called for social and cultural reform, appointing the first minister of education and modernizing the school system and the civil service. He developed close cultural ties between Quebec and France. After the Liberals were defeated in 1966, he served as opposition leader until 1970.
lesbianism also called sapphism or female homosexuality,
the quality or state of intense emotional and usually erotic attraction of a woman to another woman. First used in the late 16th century, the word “lesbian” referred to the Greek island of Lesbos. The connotation of female homosexuality was added in the late 19th century, when an association was made with the poetry of Lesbian poet Sappho (c. 610-c. 580 bc). At the turn of the 21st century, issues of concern to lesbians in Europe and North America included legal recognition for same-sex unions, child- rearing rights, women’s health-care, taxes, inheritance, and the sharing of medical benefits with a partner.
Lesbos \'lez-,bas\ or Mytilene \,mit- 3 l- , e-ne\ or Mitilini
\,me-te-'le-ne\ Third largest island (pop., 1991: 87,151) in the Aegean Sea. It occupies an area of 630 sq mi (1,630 sq km), and with two other islands it forms a Greek department. Its main town is Mytilene. Lesbos was the birthplace of the poet Sappho and is the source of the term lesbian. Inhab¬ ited since c. 3000 bc, it was settled in c. 1050 bc by the Aetolians. After being under Persian rule (527-479 bc), it joined the Delian League. In the Peloponnesian War, it fell to Sparta (405 bc), but then it was recovered for Athens (389 bc). It later flourished under Byzantium. It was ruled by the Ottoman Empire (1462-1911) before being annexed by Greece. Fish¬ ing is important economically, as is the export of olives.
Leschetizky \,le-sh9-'tit-ske\, Theodor orig. Teodor Leszetycki