Lewis, Edward B. (b. May 20, 1918, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., U.S.—d. July 21, 2004, Pasadena, Calif.) U.S. geneticist. He received a Ph.D. (1942) in genetics from the California Institute of Technology, where he taught from 1946 to 1988. By crossbreeding thousands of fruit flies, he discov¬ ered that genes are arranged on the chromosome in the order correspond¬ ing to body segments, an orderliness now known as the colinearity principle. Lewis’s work helped explain mechanisms of general biologi¬ cal development, including the causes of deformities present at birth in humans. With Christiane Niisslein-Volhard and Eric F. Wieschaus, he was awarded a 1995 Nobel Prize.
Lewis, Jerry orig. Joseph Levitch (b. March 16, 1926, Newark, N.J., U.S.) U.S. actor, director, and producer. In 1946 he developed a nightclub comedy routine with Dean Martin (1917-95), who played the suave crooner to Lewis’s zany clown, and they appeared together in 16 movies, including My Friend Irma (1949) and Pardners (1956), before ending their partnership in 1956. Lewis then directed, produced, and acted in movies such as The Bellboy (1960) and The Nutty Professor (1963). These films, along with his collaborations with director Frank Tashlin, led many critics (especially in Europe) to regard Lewis as the comic heir to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Since 1966 Lewis has hosted the U.S. annual Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.
Lewis, Jerry Lee (b. Sept. 29, 1935, Ferriday, La., U.S.) U.S. rock- and-roll musician. He began playing piano in his childhood, influenced by blues and gospel musicians. He attended Bible school in Texas but was expelled. Returning to Louisiana, he played in several bands, per¬ fecting his signature “pumping” piano technique (the left hand maintain¬ ing a driving boogie pattern while the right played flashy ornamentation). His first hits came in 1957 with “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire.” In 1958 it was discovered that he had married a 13-year-old relative, and his record sales dropped. Though he had a few more hits, he concentrated on his famously energetic and uninhibited live performances. His career continued to be plagued by controversy.
Lewis, John L(lewellyn) (b. Feb. 12, 1880, near Lucas, Iowa, U.S.—d. June 11, 1969, Washington,
D.C.) U.S. labour leader. The son of Welsh immigrants, he became a coal miner at age 15. He rose through the ranks of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and from 1911 was also an organizer of the Ameri¬ can Federation of Labor (AFL), with which the miners’ union was affili¬ ated. As president of the UMWA (1920-60), Lewis joined several other AFL union leaders in forming the Committee for Industrial Organi¬ zation (1935) to organize workers in mass-production industries. On breaking with the AFL (see AFL- CIO), Lewis and other dissident union heads founded the Congress of Industrial Organizations. As its president (1936-40), Lewis presided over the often-violent struggle to introduce unionism into previously unorganized industries such as steel and automobiles. See also William Green; labour union; Phiup Murray.
Lewis, Lennox in full Lennox Claudius Lewis (b. Sept. 2, 1965, London, Eng.) British boxer. His professional career began in 1989 in England. He won the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title in 1992, lost it in 1994, and recaptured it in 1997. In 1999 he faced Ameri¬ can Evander Holyfield, who held the heavyweight titles of the World Box¬ ing Association (WBA) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF). In a controversial decision, the fight was called a draw. In the rematch that same year Lewis emerged as the undisputed champion, thereby unifying the heavyweight title. (The IBF and WBA portions of the title were later taken from Lewis because of disputes concerning mandatory fights, but he retained the WBC title and was still considered the undisputed cham¬ pion by many in boxing.) In his 2002 bout with American Mike Tyson, Lewis knocked Tyson out in the eighth round.
Lewis, Matthew Gregory (b. July 9, 1775, London, Eng.—d. May 4, 1818, at sea) English novelist and dramatist. The sensational success of his gothic novel The Monk (1796) earned him the nickname “Monk” Lewis. Its horror, violence, and eroticism brought it a wide readership, though it was universally condemned. Lewis also wrote a popular music drama in the same vein, The Castle Spectre (1798). After inheriting a large fortune in Jamaica in 1812, he sailed twice to the island to inquire about the treatment of slaves on his estates there, and he died at sea. Journal of a West India Proprietor (1834) attests to his humane and liberal attitudes.
Lewis, Meriwether (b. Aug. 18, 1774, near Charlottesville, Va.—d. Oct. 11, 1809, near Nashville, Tenn., U.S.) U.S. explorer. After serving in the militia during the Whiskey Rebellion (1794) in western Pennsyl¬ vania, he transferred into the regular army. In 1801 he became private secretary to Pres. Thomas Jefferson, who selected him to lead the first overland expedition to the Pacific Northwest, including the area of the Louisiana Purchase. At Lewis’s request, William Clark was appointed to share the command. The success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804- 06) was greatly due to Lewis’s preparation and skill. At its conclu¬ sion, he and Clark each received 1,600 acres of land as a reward.
Lewis was named governor of Loui¬ siana Territory in 1808. He died under mysterious circumstances in an inn on the Natchez Trace while en route to Washington; whether his death resulted from murder or sui¬ cide is still a subject of controversy.
Lewis, (Harry) Sinclair (b. Feb.
7, 1885, Sauk Center, Minn.,
U.S.—d. Jan. 10, 1951, near Rome,
Italy) U.S. novelist and social critic.
He worked as a reporter and maga¬ zine writer before making his literary the granger collection, new york reputation with Main Street (1920),
John L. Lewis, 1963
AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS
Sinclair Lewis.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Lewis, W. ► Li Ao I 1105
a portrayal of Midwestern provincialism. Among his other popular satiri¬ cal novels puncturing middle-class complacency are Babbitt (1922), a scathing study of a conformist businessman; Arrow smith (1925), a look at the medical profession; Elmer Gantry (1927), an indictment of funda¬ mentalist religion; and Dodsworth (1929), the story of a rich American couple in Europe. He won the 1930 Nobel Prize for Literature, the first given to an American. His later novels include Cass Timberlaine (1945). Lewis’s reputation declined in later years, and he lived abroad much of the time. He was married to Dorothy Thompson from 1928 to 1942.
Lewis, (Percy) Wyndham (b. Nov. 18, 1882, on a yacht near Amherst, Nova Scotia, Can.—d. March 7, 1957, London, Eng.) English artist and writer. The founder and principal exponent of Vorticism, Lewis began a short-lived Vorticist review titled Blast in 1914. His first novel, Tarr, appeared in 1918. The Childermass (1928) was followed by the huge satirical novel The Apes of God (1930) and The Revenge for Love (1937). In the 1930s he produced some of his most noted paintings, including The Surrender of Barcelona (1936). He also wrote essays, short stories, and two admired memoirs. Notorious in the 1930s for championing fascism, he later recanted those beliefs.
Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-06) First overland expedition to the U.S. Pacific coast and back, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Initiated by Pres. Thomas Jefferson, the expedition set out to find an overland route to the Pacific, documenting its exploration through the new Louisiana Purchase. About 40 men, skilled in various trades, left St. Louis in 1804. They traveled up the Missouri River into present-day North Dakota, where they built Fort Mandan (later Bismarck) and wintered among the Mandan Sioux. They left the next spring, hiring Toussaint Charbonneau and his Indian wife, Sacagawea, who served as guide and interpreter. They traveled through Montana and by horse over the Con¬ tinental Divide to the headwaters of the Clearwater River. They built canoes to carry them to the Snake River and then to the mouth of the Columbia River, where they built Fort Clatsop (later Astoria, Ore.) and spent the winter. On the journey back the group divided, then reunited to canoe down the Missouri to St. Louis, arriving to great acclaim in Sep¬ tember 1806. All but one member of the expedition survived. The jour¬ nals kept by Lewis and others documented Indian tribes, wildlife, and geography and did much to dispel the myth of an easy water route to the Pacific.