Massenet V.ma-s^-'aV Jules (-Emile-Frederic) (b. May 12, 1842, Montaud, near Saint-Etienne, France—d. Aug. 13, 1912, Paris) French composer. He attended the Paris Conservatoire from 1851. When his fam¬ ily left Paris in 1854, he ran away to continue his studies, playing piano and drums and teaching to support himself. His hard work paid off when he won the Prix de Rome in 1863, and he began writing operas in 1867. His reputation was established with his oratorio Marie-Magdeleine (1873), and his Le Roi de Lahore was performed at the Paris Opera in 1877. There followed the series of successes for which he is chiefly known, including Herodiade (1881), Manon (1884), Le Cid (1885), Esclarmonde (1889), Werther (1892), Thai's (1894), and Don Quichotte
(1910).
Massey, (Charles) Vincent (b. Feb. 20, 1887, Toronto, Ont., Can.—d. Dec. 30, 1967, London, Eng.) Canadian administrator, first Canadian governor-general of Canada (1952-59). He taught history at the University of Toronto from 1913 to 1915. During World War I he served
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Massif Central ► mastodon I 1209
as associate secretary of the cabinet war committee. After the war he operated a farm-machinery business until 1925. Active in Liberal Party politics, he served in the cabinet of W.L. Mackenzie King (1925) and was later Canada’s first minister to the U.S. (1926-30) and high commissioner for Canada in Britain (1935—46). After serving as chancellor of the Uni¬ versity of Toronto (1947-52), he was named governor-general. His brother was the actor Raymond Massey (1896-1983).
Massif Central \ma-'sef-sa n -'tral\ Plateau region, south-central France. It is bordered by the lowlands of Aquitaine, the Loire basin, the Rhone- Saone valley, and the Mediterranean coastlands of Languedoc. Compris¬ ing about one-sixth of France, it occupies an area of 35,006 sq mi (90,665 sq km). It consists mainly of plateaus with elevations of 2,000 to 3,000 ft (600 to 900 m). Its highest peak is Puy de Sancy, which reaches 6,184 ft (1,885 m). It is the source of many rivers, including the Loire, Allier, Cher, and Creuse.
Massine \ma-'sen\, Leonide orig. Leonid Fyodorovich Miassin
(b. Aug. 9, 1896, Moscow, Russia—d. March 15, 1979, Cologne, W.Ger.) Russian-born French dancer, teacher, and choreographer. He joined the Ballets Russes in 1914 and produced his first ballet, Midnight Sun , in 1915; this was followed by Parade (1917), The Three-Cornered Hat (1919), and Pulcinella (1920). He extended Michel Fokine’s reforms by enriching the characterization of many roles. During 1932-38 he was principal dancer and choreographer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. His ballets Les Presages (1933), Choreartium (1933), and Rouge etnoir (1939) displayed innovative choreography and set designs and were among the first dances based on symphonies. In 1938—42 he directed his re-formed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and he became artistic director of a new Ballet de Monte Carlo in 1966.
Massinger Vma-sin-jorV Philip (b. 1583, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng.—d. March 1639/40, London) English playwright. After a period during which he collaborated with playwrights such as John Fletcher, Massinger began c. 1620 to write independently. From 1625 he was asso¬ ciated with the theatrical company The King’s Men. His 15 surviving solo works are noted for their social realism and satirical power. They include the comedies A New Way to Pay Old Debts (c. 1624), his most popular and influential play, and The City Madam (c. 1632), both of which probed economic and social issues, and the historical tragedy The Roman Actor (c. 1626).
Masson \ma-'so n \, Andre (-Aime-Rene) (b. Jan. 4, 1896, Balagny, France—d. Oct. 28, 1987, Paris) French painter and graphic artist. After studying painting in Brussels and Paris, he was severely wounded in World War I, and an overriding pessimism penetrated his art. He joined the Surrealist movement in 1924 and became the leading practitioner of automatism. In the late 1920s and ’30s he produced turbulent images of violence, psychic pain, eroticism, and physical metamorphosis, using sinuous lines to delineate abstract biomorphic forms. He lived in Spain (1934-36) and later the U.S. (1941—45), where he became an important link between Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. He later returned to France and concentrated on landscape painting.
mastaba Vmas-ts-boV (Arabic: “bench”) Rectangular superstructure of ancient Egyptian tombs, built of mud brick or, later, stone, with sloping walls and a flat roof. A deep shaft descended to the underground burial chamber. Old Kingdom mastabas were used chiefly for nonroyal burials. Storage chambers were stocked with food and equipment, and walls were often decorated with scenes showing the deceased’s expected daily activi¬ ties. What had earlier been a niche on the side grew into a chapel with an offering table and a false door through which the spirit of the deceased could leave and enter the burial chamber.
mastectomy \ma-'stek-t3-me\ Surgical removal of a breast, usually because of breast cancer. If the cancer has spread, radical mastectomy may remove surrounding tissue and/or nearby structures, including chest muscles and lymph nodes. Modified radical mastectomy leaves at least the main chest muscle, has an equally high survival rate, and makes recon¬ struction easier. Simple mastectomy is removal of the breast only. Lumpectomy is removal of the tumour only.
master of the animals See master of the animals
Masters, Edgar Lee (b. Aug. 23,1869, Garnett, Kan., U.S.—d. March 5,1950, Philadelphia, Pa.) U.S. poet and novelist. He grew up on his grand¬ father’s farm and became a lawyer in Chicago. He wrote undistinguished poetry and plays before publishing Spoon River Anthology (1915), his
major work. Its 245 free-verse epi¬ taphs in the form of monologues are spoken from the grave by the former inhabitants of a fictitious small town, who tell of their bitter, unfulfilled lives in its dreary confines.
Masters, William H(owell); and Johnson, Virginia E(shelman) (respectively b. Dec.
27, 1915, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.—d.
Feb. 16, 2001, Tucson, Ariz.; b. Feb.
11, 1925, Springfield, Missouri,
U.S.) U.S. human-sexuality research team. Together (as physician and psychologist, respectively), they founded and codirected the Masters & Johnson Institute in St. Louis.
They observed couples having sex under laboratory conditions, using biochemical equipment to record sexual stimulations and reactions. Their book Human Sexual Response (1966) was considered the first comprehensive study of the physiology and anatomy of human sexual activity (see sexual response). They were married in 1971 and continued to collaborate after their divorce in 1993.
Masters Tournament Invitational golf competition held annually since 1934 at the Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga., U.S. One of the world’s most prestigious golf contests, it comprises 72 holes of stroke play (the player with the lowest score wins). The course, famous for its beauty and for the speed and difficulty of its greens, was designed by Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie. The tournament is held during the first full week in April.
Masterson, Bat orig. Bartholomew Masterson (b. Nov. 27, 1853, Henryville, Canada East—d. Oct. 25, 1921, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Canadian-born U.S. lawman and gambler. He grew up on successive fam¬ ily farms in New York, Illinois, and Kansas. In Dodge City, Kan., he worked as a buffalo hunter and Indian scout (1873-75), as sheriff of Ford county (1877-79), and as deputy U.S. marshal (1879). In Tombstone, Ariz. (1880—81), he worked briefly with Wyatt Earp at the Oriental Saloon. He lived a gambler’s life in Denver (1887-1902) and then moved to New York City, where he was a deputy U.S. marshal (1905-07) and later a prominent sports editor for the Morning Telegraph.