Maccabees Vma-ko-.bezV (fl. 2nd century bc) Priestly family of Jews who organized a successful rebellion against Antiochus IV Epiphanes in Palestine and reconsecrated the defiled Temple of Jerusalem. The rebellion began under the leadership of the Jewish priest Mattathias after Antio¬ chus sought to stamp out Judaism by forbidding all Jewish practices and desecrating the temple (167 bc). When Mattathias died (c. 166 bc), his son Judas Maccabaeus recaptured Jerusalem and reconsecrated the temple, an event celebrated in the holiday Hanukkah. After Judas’s death, the war continued intermittently under his brothers Jonathan and Simon. The Mac¬ cabees formed the Hasmonean dynasty.
Macchiaioli ^mak-ke-J-'o-leV Group of 19th-century Tuscan painters who reacted against the rule-bound art academies and looked to nature for instruction. The Macchiaioli felt that patches ( macchia) of colour were the most significant aspect of painting. They believed that the effect of a painting on the spectator should derive from the painted surface itself, rather than from any ideological message or narrative. The Macchiaioli used a sketch technique to record their initial impressions of nature—often as seen from a distance—by means of colour and light. Their theory, similar to that of the French Impressionists, was even more concerned with the experimental use of colour. The most outstanding artist of the group was the Florentine Giovanni Fattori.
MacDiarmid, Alan G. (b. April 14, 1927, Masterson, N.Z.) U.S. chemist. He earned Ph.D.’s in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison (1953) and the University of Cambridge (1955). He then began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, becoming Blanchard Professor of Chemistry there in 1988. With Alan J. Heeger and Shirakawa Hideki, he demonstrated that certain plastics can be chemically altered to be almost as conductive as metals. The discovery led scientists to uncover other conductive polymers, which contributed to the growing field of molecular electronics. In 2000 he received the Nobel Prize for Chemis¬ try with Heeger and Shirakawa.
MacDiarmid \m3k- , d3i-m3d\, Hugh orig. Christopher Murray Grieve (b. Aug. 11, 1892, Langholm, Dumfriesshire, Scot.—d. Sept. 9, 1978, Edinburgh) Scottish poet. In 1922 he founded the monthly Scottish Chapbook, in which he published his lyrics and sparked the Scottish lit¬ erary renaissance. A radical leftist, he rejected English as a medium and
Thomas Babington Macaulay, detail of an oil painting by J. Partridge, 1840; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON
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scrutinized modern society in verse written in “synthetic Scots,” an amal¬ gam of various dialects. A noted work is the extended rhapsody A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle (1926). He later returned to standard English in such volumes as A Kist of Whistles (1947) and In Memoriam James Joyce (1955). He is regarded as Scotland’s preeminent poet of the early 20th century.
Macdonald, Dwight (b. March 24, 1906, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Dec. 19, 1982, New York City) U.S. writer and film critic. He graduated from Yale University. During World War II he founded the magazine Politics, which featured the work of such figures as Andre Gide, Albert Camus, and Marianne Moore. One of the first serious film critics, he was a staff writer for The New Yorker (1951-71) and reviewed films for Esquire magazine (1960-66). Politically, he moved from Stalinism through Trotskyism and anarchism to pacifism. During the Vietnam War he urged young men to defy the draft. His best-known collection of essays is Against the American Grain (1963).
MacDonald, (James) Ramsay (b. Oct. 12, 1866, Lossiemouth, Moray, Scot.—d. Nov. 9, 1937, at sea en route to South America) British politician, first Labour Party prime minister of Britain (1924, 1929-31, 1931-35). He joined the precursor of the Labour Party in 1894 and was its secretary from 1900 to 1911. He was a member of the House of Com¬ mons (1906-18), where he served as leader of the Labour Party (1911— 14), before he was forced to resign after opposing Britain’s participation in World War I. Reelected to Parliament in 1922, he led the Labour oppo¬ sition. He became prime minister in 1924 with Liberal Party support, but he was forced to resign later that year when Conservatives regained a majority. In 1929 Labour won a majority and he returned as prime min¬ ister. In 1931 he offered his resignation during the Great Depression but decided instead to remain in office as head of a national coalition until 1935, when Stanley Baldwin became prime minister. MacDonald remained in the government as lord president of the council until 1937.
Macdonald, Sir John (Alexander) (b. Jan. 11, 1815, Glasgow, Scot.—d. June 6, 1891, Ottawa, Ont., Can.) Canadian politician, first prime minister of the Dominion of Canada (1867-73, 1878-91). He immi¬ grated to Canada as a child and practiced law in Kingston, Upper Canada (now Ontario), from 1836. From 1844 to 1854 he served in the Province of Canada’s assembly. He cofounded the Liberal-Conservative Party (see Progressive Conservative Party of Canada) in 1854 and became premier of the Province of Canada in 1857. He worked for confederation and helped secure passage of the British North America Act, which created the Domin¬ ion of Canada (1867). As prime minister, he supported trade protection¬ ism and aided the completion of the Pacific railway. In response to later challenges to Canadian unity, he advocated loyalty to the British Com¬ monwealth and independence from the U.S.
Macdonnell Ranges Mountain system, south-central Northern Ter¬ ritory, Australia. Extending east and west of the town of Alice Springs for some 250 mi (400 km), its highest peak is Mount Ziel (4,954 ft [1,510 m]). The mountains were first explored in 1860 by John McDouall Stu¬ art and were named after Richard Macdonnell, governor of South Aus¬ tralia.
Macdonough Vmok-'da-noV Thomas (b. Dec. 31, 1783, The Trap, Del., U.S.—d. Nov. 10, 1825, at sea en route from the Mediterranean Sea to New York City) U.S. naval officer. He joined the navy in 1800 and served with Stephen Decatur in the Tripolitan War. In the War of 1812 he was ordered to cruise the lakes between Canada and the U.S. When Brit¬ ish troops threatened Plattsburg, N.Y., site of U.S. Army headquarters on the northern frontier, he sailed his 14-ship fleet to meet the British 16-ship squadron on Lake Champlain. His victory there (Sept. 11, 1814) saved New York and Vermont from invasion.
MacDowell, Edward (Alexander) orig. Edward Alexander McDowell (b. Dec. 18, 1860, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 23, 1908, New York City) U.S. composer. He started piano lessons at age eight. While in Germany for further study, he impressed the composer Joachim Raff (1822-82), who urged him to write a piano concerto (1882), then introduced him to Franz Liszt, who assisted MacDowell with performances and publication. In 1888 he returned to the U.S. with his wife, and in 1896 he became Columbia University’s first professor of music. Paresis made him unable to perform or compose after 1904, and he lapsed into insanity and died at age 47. His farm in Peterborough, N.H., became the MacDowell Colony for artists after his death. His most popular works are