(b. June 22, 1830, Lancut, Pol., Austrian Empire—d. Nov. 14, 1915, Dresden, Ger.) Polish pianist and teacher. A prodigy, he studied in Vienna with Karl Czerny and Simon Sechter (1788-1867) from age 10 and was already a teacher by 14. In addition to performing, he became the most celebrated piano teacher of his time, first at the conservatory in St. Peters¬ burg (1852-78) and thereafter in Vienna. His students included many of the most renowned pianists of their era, including Ignacy Paderewski and Artur Schnabel.
leshy \'l y e-sh9y\ In Slavic mythology, a forest spirit. The leshy is an antic spirit who enjoys playing tricks on people, though when angered he can be treacherous. He is seldom seen, but his voice can be heard in the for¬ est laughing, whistling, or singing. He often takes the shape of a man, but his eyebrows, eyelashes, and right ear are missing, his head is pointed, and he lacks a hat and belt. In his native forest, the leshy is as tall as the trees, but the moment he steps beyond it, he shrinks to the size of grass. The leshy is familiar to most Slavs living in heavily forested areas.
Leslie, Frank orig. Henry Carter (b. March 29, 1821, Ipswich, Suf¬ folk, Eng.—d. Jan. 10, 1880, New York, N.Y., U.S.) British-U.S. illustra¬ tor and journalist. The Illustrated London News published his early sketches. He moved to the U.S. in 1848. There he founded numerous newspapers and journals, including the New York Journal (1854), Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (1855)—having changed his name in 1857—and Frank Leslie’s Boys’ and Girls’ Weekly (1866). His illustra¬ tions from Civil War battlefields earned him his greatest profits. His sec¬ ond wife, Miriam Florence Leslie (1836-1914), legally changed her name to Frank Leslie after his death and continued his business after his death, twice rescuing it from debt. When she died a wealthy woman, she left most of her estate to the feminist Carrie Chapman Catt in the service of the suffragist cause.
Lesniewski \lesh-'nyef-ske\, Stanistaw or Stanisiaw Lesh- niewski (b. March 30, 1886, Serpukhov, Russia—d. May 13, 1939, Warsaw) Polish logician and mathematician. As a professor at the Uni¬ versity of Warsaw (1919-39), he became a cofounder and leading repre¬ sentative of the Warsaw school of logic. His distinctive contribution was the construction of three interrelated formal systems, to which he gave the Greek-derived names of protothetic, ontology, and mereology.
Lesotho \b-'su-,tu, b-'so-.toV officially Kingdom of Lesotho for¬ merly Basutoland Country, southern Africa, an enclave lying within the Republic of South Africa. Area: 11,720 sq mi (30,355 sq km). Popu¬
lation (2005 est.): 2,031,000. Capitaclass="underline"
Maseru. Almost all of the population are Sotho, a Bantu-speaking people. Lan¬ guages: Sotho, English (both official), Zulu.
Religions: Christianity (official; Roman Catholic, other Christians, Protestant); also traditional beliefs. Currency: loti. About two-thirds of the total area is mountainous; the highest point is Mount Ntlenyana (11,424 ft [3,482 m]). The Maloti Mountains in the central northwest are the source of two of South Africa’s largest rivers, the Tugela and the Orange. Mineral resources are scant. Agriculture employs nearly two-fifths of the workforce; the chief farm products are com, sorghum, and wheat. Livestock provides exports (cattle, wool,
SOUTH AFRICA
LESOTHO
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Lesse River ► leucite I 1101
mohair). Industries focus mainly on light manufacturing (textiles and apparel, furniture, jewelry). Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the king, and the head of govern¬ ment is the prime minister. Bantu-speaking farmers began to settle the area in the 16th century, and a number of chiefdoms arose. The most powerful of them organized the Basotho in 1824 and obtained British protection in 1843 as tension between the Basotho and the South African Boers increased. It became a British territory in 1868 and was annexed to the Cape Colony in 1871. The colony’s effort to disarm the Basotho resulted in revolt in 1880, and four years later it separated from the colony and became a British High Commission Territory. It became independent in 1966. A new constitution, effective in 1993, ended seven years of mili¬ tary rule. At the beginning of the 21st century, Lesotho suffered from internal political problems and a deteriorating economy.
Lesse River Vies, 'Ie-S9\ River, southeastern Belgium. It rises in the Ardennes and meanders northwest for 52 mi (84 km), emptying into the Meuse River. It flows underground for about a mile at Han-sur-Lesse through the Grottoes of Han, renowned for their stalactites and stalag¬ mites.
Lesseps Vle-sops\, Ferdinand (-Marie), viscount de (b. Nov. 19, 1805, Versailles, France—d. Dec. 7,
1894, La Chenaie, near Guilly)
French diplomat, builder of the Suez Canal. A career diplomat, he held posts in Egypt and elsewhere until 1849. In 1854 he was authorized by the viceroy of Egypt to build a canal across the isthmus of the Suez. He organized a company in 1858, with half its capital from French people, and construction began at Port Said in 1859. The Suez Canal was offi¬ cially inaugurated in 1869. In 1879 Lesseps organized another company to build a Panama canal, but he gave up the project because of political and economic difficulties. He was prosecuted but cleared of charges of misappropriating funds, though French government members were accused of bribe taking.
Lesser Armenia See Little Armenia
Lesser Slave Lake Lake, central Alberta, Canada. Located northwest of Edmonton and south of Great Slave Lake, it occupies an area of 451 sq mi (1,168 sq km) and drains into the Athabasca River via the Lesser Slave River. Its name refers to the Slave (Dogrib) Indians, who once inhabited its shores.
Lessing, Doris (May) orig. Doris May Tayler (b. Oct. 22, 1919, Kermanshah, Iran) British novelist and short-story writer. She lived on a farm in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) 1924^49 before settling in England and beginning her writing career. Her works, which have often reflected her leftist political activism, are largely concerned with people caught in social and political upheavals. Children of Violence (1952-69), a semiautobiographical five-novel series featuring Martha Quest, reflects her African experience and is generally considered her most substantial work. The Golden Notebook (1962), her most widely read novel, is a feminist classic. Her masterful short stories are published in several col¬ lections. Other works include a science-fiction novel sequence, two nov¬ els published under an assumed name (Jane Somers), and autobiographical works, including Under My Skin (1994).
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim (b. Jan. 22, 1729, Kamenz, Upper Lus- atia, Saxony—d. Feb. 15, 1781, Braunschweig, Brunswick) German play¬ wright and critic. After writing several light comedies, he became a theatre critic in Berlin in 1748. His play Miss Sara Sampson (1755) was the first German domestic tragedy. After studying philosophy and aesthetics in Breslau, he wrote the influential treatise Laocoon: An Essay on the Lim¬ its of Painting and Poetry (1766). Minna von Barnhelm (1767), his fin¬ est play, marks the beginning of classical German comedy. He was adviser to the first Hamburg national theatre and published his reviews as essays on the principles of drama in Hamburg Dramaturgy (1767-69). His Wolfenbiittel Fragments (1774-78) attacked orthodox Christianity, arous¬
ing great controversy. He also wrote the tragedy Emilia Galotti (1772) and the famous dramatic poem Nathan the Wise (1779).
Lethe \'le-the\ Ancient Greek personification of oblivion. She was the daughter of Eris (Strife). Her name was also applied to a river or plain in the realm of the dead. In the Orphic mysteries it was believed that the newly dead who drank from the River Lethe would lose all memory of their past existence. The initiated were taught to drink instead from Mne¬ mosyne, the river of Memory.