Mazdakism Vmaz-do-.ki-zonA Dualistic religion that arose in Iran in the late 5th cent ad. Its origins are uncertain, and no Mazdakite scriptures survive. It is named for Mazdak, its main Persian proponent in the 5th century, who converted the Sasanid king Kavadh I. It held that there were two original principles. Light (or Good) and Darkness (or Evil), which accidentally became mixed, producing the world. Humans’ duty was to strive to release Light in the world through moral conduct. Mazdakism was suppressed in the 6th century by Persian nobles and Zoroastrian clergy who objected to its tenets concerning the common holding of prop¬ erty and women, but it survived in secret until the 8th century. See also dualism, Zoroastrianism and Parsiism.
maze See labyrinth
Mazia Vma-ze-oV Daniel (b. Dec. 18, 1912, Scranton, Pa., U.S.—d. June 9, 1996, Monterey, Calif.) U.S. cell biologist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His research focused on various aspects of cell reproduction, including mitosis and regulation. He is best known for isolating the structure responsible for cell division, research that he carried out with Katsuma Dan (19057-96) in 1951.
Mazowiecki V.ma-zo-'vyet-skeV Tadeusz (b. April 18, 1927, Plock, Pol.) Polish politician. After studying law, he cofounded and edited the independent Catholic monthly Wiqz (1958-81). A principal adviser to the Solidarity labour movement, he was appointed its newspaper editor (1981) by Lech Walesa. After the 1989 national elections, he was appointed prime minister of a coalition government of Solidarity and communist members. He undertook radical economic reforms to develop a free-market economy, which helped stabilize Poland’s consumer-goods market and increased exports but caused high unemployment. He lost his bid for president in 1990 and was replaced as prime minister in 1991.
mazurka \m9-'z3r-k9\ Polish folk dance in % time for a circle of couples, characterized by stamping feet and clicking heels, traditionally danced to the music of bagpipes. Originating in Masuria (northeastern Poland) in the 16th century, it became popular at the Polish court and spread to Russia and Germany, reaching England and France by the 1830s. The 50 piano mazurkas by Frederic Chopin reflected and extended the dance’s popularity. It had no set figures and allowed improvisation among its more than 50 different steps.
Mazzini \mat-'se-ne\, Giuseppe (b. June 22, 1805, Genoa—d. March 10, 1872, Pisa, Italy) Italian patriot and a major figure in the making of modern Italy. A lawyer, he joined the secret independence group Carbo¬ nari. After he was imprisoned for its activities, he moved to Marseille (1831), where he founded the patriotic movement Young Italy. He later expanded his plan for a world republican federation and in Switzerland founded Young Europe. In London (1837) he continued his revolutionary activities by correspondence with agents worldwide. He founded the Peo¬ ple’s International League (1847) and received support from English lib¬ erals. In 1848 he returned to Italy to help govern the short-lived Republic of Rome, but returned to England after the pope reestablished control in Rome. Mazzini founded the Friends of Italy (1851) and backed unsuc¬ cessful uprisings in Milan, Mantua, and Genoa. An uncompromising republican, he disapproved of the new united Kingdom of Italy (1861). See also Risorgimento.
Mbabane \3m-ba-'ba-na\ Capital and largest town (pop., 1998 est.: 60,000) of Swaziland. Located in western Swaziland, it developed near the cattle kraal of the Swazi king Mbandzeni in the late 19th century. The actual town was founded in 1902, when the British assumed control of Swaziland and set up an administrative headquarters there. A Mozam¬ bican railway link near Mbabane was established in 1964, primarily to export iron ore extracted in the region; production of the ore had virtu¬ ally ceased by the late 1970s.
Mbeki \em-'bek-e\, Thabo (b. June 18, 1942, Idutywa, Transkei) Presi¬ dent of South Africa (from 1999). The son of an anti-APARTHEiD activist, he studied economics at Sussex University in Britain, then received military training in the Soviet Union. He was appointed deputy president by Nel¬ son Mandela following South Africa’s first elections (1994) based on uni¬ versal suffrage and soon took control of the government’s day-to-day workings. Less charismatic than Mandela, Mbeki has been criticized for his views on the biology of AIDS. He has been particularly involved in South Africa’s post-apartheid economic growth strategy.
mbira \em-'bir-9\ or thumb piano African musical instrument con¬ sisting of a set of tuned metal or bamboo tongues attached to a board or
Jules Cardinal Mazarin, detail of a portrait by Philippe de Champaigne; in the Musee Conde, Chantilly, France.
COURTESY OF THE MUSEE CONDE, CHANTILLY, FR; PHOTOGRAPH, GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE, NEW YORK
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resonator. The tongues are depressed and released with the thumbs and fingers to produce melodies and song accompaniments. The mbira dates to at least the 16th century in Africa, and it was imported to Latin America by slaves.
Mboya \em-'boi-3\, Tom orig. Thomas Joseph Mboya (b. Aug. 15, 1930, Kilima Mbogo, near Nairobi, Kenya—d. July 5, 1969, Nairobi) Kenyan political leader. During the Mau Mau rebellion (1952-56) and the period leading up to Kenyan independence (1963), the Oxford-educated Mboya headed the Kenya Federation of Labour. In 1960 he helped found the dominant Kenyan African National Union Party (KANU). After inde¬ pendence he served in top administrative posts in Jomo Kenyatta’s gov¬ ernment. His assassination in 1969 shocked the nation and exacerbated tensions between the dominant Kikuyu and other ethnic groups, especially Mboya’s own Luo.
Mbundu \em-'bun-du\ Group of Bantu-speaking peoples of north- central Angola. In the 15th century they founded the Ndongo kingdom, a rival of the Kongo kingdom. It was destroyed by the Portuguese in the late 1600s. In the 1970s the Mbundu provided the main support for the Marxist-oriented Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which assumed power in 1976. Today they number about 2.3 million.
MCA in full Music Corporation of America Entertainment con¬ glomerate. It was founded in Chicago in 1924 by Jules Stein as a talent agency. In the 1960s it bought Decca Records and Universal Pictures, and today it produces films, music, and television shows. It was acquired by Matsushita of Japan in 1990.
McAdam, John (Loudon) (b. Sept. 21,1756, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scot.—d. Nov. 26, 1836, Moffat, Dumfriesshire) Scottish inventor of the macadam road surface. He made an early fortune in his uncle’s New York count- inghouse (1770-83). Back in Scotland, he noted the poor condition of the highways near his estate and undertook experiments in road making. He recommended that roads be raised above the adjacent ground for good drainage and covered, first with larger stones and then with smaller stones, the whole mass to be bound with fine gravel or slag. In 1823 his views were officially adopted, and in 1827 he was appointed Britain’s Surveyor General of Metropolitan Roads. Macadamization was quickly adopted in other countries and did much to facilitate travel and communication.
McAdoo Vma-ko-.diA, William G(ibbs) (b. Oct. 31, 1863, near Mari¬ etta, Ga., U.S.—d. Feb. 1, 1941, Washington, D.C.) U.S. public official. In 1892 he moved to New York, where he organized the Hudson and Manhattan Railway companies (later consolidated), which built tunnels under the Hudson River. A prominent supporter of Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential campaign, he was appointed secretary of the trea¬ sury by Wilson in 1913; he married Wilson’s daughter in 1914. During World War I he directed fund-raising drives that yielded $18 billion for the war effort. He was later director general of U.S. railroads (1917-19) and U.S. senator from California (1933-38).