Merimee \ma-re-'ma. Prosper (b. Sept. 28, 1803, Paris, France—d. Sept. 23, 1870, Cannes) French short-story writer and dramatist. In youth a student of languages and literatures, he wrote his first play, Cromwell (1922), at age 19. His passions were mysticism, history, and the unusual. His stories, often mysteries, were inspired mainly by Spanish and Rus¬ sian sources, notably Aleksandr Pushkin; they include Mateo Falcone (1829), the collection Mosaique (1833), and the novellas Colombo (1840) and Carmen (1845), the basis of Georges Bizet’s opera. He also wrote works of history and archaeology, historical fiction, and literary criticism and carried on correspondences that were published posthumously. He became a senator in 1853.
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© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1240 I Merino ► Merrill
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Merino Breed of medium-sized sheep originating in Spain that has become prominent worldwide. It has a white face, white legs, and crimped fine-wool fleece. Known as early as the 12th century, it may have been a Moorish importation. Well adapted to semiarid climates and to nomadic pasturing, it has served as foundation stock for many sheep breeds and strains.
meristem Vmer-o-.stemN In plants, region of cells capable of division and growth. Meristems are classified by location as apical, or primary (at root and shoot tips), lateral, or sec¬ ondary (in the vascular cambium and cork cambium), or intercalary (at internodes, stem regions between the places at which leaves attach, and at leaf bases, especially in certain monocots, e.g., grasses). Apical mer¬ istems give rise to the primary plant body. Lateral meristems provide increase in stem girth. Injured tissues can convert other cells to new mer¬ istem for wound healing.
Merkabah or Merkava
\,mer-ka-'va\ Throne or chariot of God, as described by Ezekiel. It became an object of visionary con¬ templation for Jewish mystics in Pal¬ estine in the 1st century ad; in the 7th—11th century, Merkabah mysti¬ cism was centered in Babylonia.
Merkabah mystics courted ecstatic visions that involved a dangerous ascent through celestial hierarchies to the throne of God. Hostile angels guarded the gates to the seven “heav¬ enly dwellings,” and a successful journey required magical formulas. The Talmud warns that of four men who engaged in Merkabah, only one had a true vision; of the others, one died, one went mad, and one became an apostate.
Merkel, Angela orig. Angela Dorothea Kasner (b. July 17, 1954, Hamburg, W.Ger.) German politician and prime minister (2005- ). Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, earned a doctorate in physics at the University of Leipzig (1978) and later settled in East Berlin, where she worked as a quantum chemist. In 1990, shortly before Germany’s reunification, she joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Elected as a Bundestag deputy later that year, she became the protege of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who appointed her to several ministerial posi¬ tions. In 1999 a finance scandal hit the CDU, and Merkel drew attention for her criticism of Kohl. The following year she was elected CDU leader. In 2005 the CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union, won the general election but failed to capture a majority. A deal was reached that gave Merkel the chancellorship in a coalition government. She was sworn in on Nov. 22, 2005, becoming the first woman to hold the office.
Merleau-Ponty \mer-lo-p6 n -'te\, Maurice (b. March 14, 1908, Rochefort, France—d. May 4, 1961, Paris) French philosopher. With Jean- Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir he founded the journal Les Temps Modernes in 1945. From 1949 he taught at the Sorbonne. He was the leading exponent of phenomenology in France. Though greatly influenced by Edmund Husserl, he rejected Husserl’s theory of our knowledge of other persons, grounding his own view instead in bodily behaviour and per¬ ception. He defended Soviet communism until the Korean War, when he became disillusioned.
Merlin Magician and wise man in Arthurian legend. In Geoffrey of Mon¬ mouth’s History of the Kings of England, Merlin was an adviser to King Arthur, with magical powers that recalled his Celtic origins. Later narra¬ tives made him a prophet of the grail and gave him credit for the idea of the Round Table. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur he brought Arthur to the throne and served as his mentor throughout his reign. His down¬ fall was linked to his infatuation for an enchantress, who imprisoned him after learning the magic arts from him.
merlin or pigeon hawk Small blue-gray falcon ( Falco columbarius, family Falconidae), with a narrowly white-banded tail, found at high lati¬ tudes in Canada, the western U.S. south to Colorado, the British Isles, Scandinavia, and Iceland. Most migrate to just south of the breeding
range, but some go as far as northern South America. The merlin inhabits wet, open country or conifer and birch woods. It usually lays its eggs on the ground in bushes, but may occupy an old rook or magpie nest in a tree. An aggressive hunter, it was once much used in falconry.
Merman, Ethel orig. Ethel Agnes Zimmerman (b. Jan. 16,
1909, Astoria, N.Y., U.S.—d. Feb.
15, 1984, New York, N.Y.) U.S. singer and actress. Merman, who had never taken voice lessons, worked as a secretary before her first profes¬ sional singing engagement in 1929. She made her stage debut in George and Ira Gershwin’s Girl Crazy (1930) (see George Gershwin; Ira Gersh¬ win). Her brassy, ebullient style and powerful voice made her a favoured performer for Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and others. In the mid-1930s Mer¬ man made her first Hollywood appearance, and she later starred on her own radio show. Her many Broadway successes include Anything Goes (1934), Red, Hot and Blue (1936), Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Call Me Madam (1950), and Gypsy (1959).
Meroe \'mer-o-,we\ City, ancient Kush, northeastern Africa. Situated on the eastern bank of the Nile River, north of modem Kabushiyyah, Sudan, it was the southern administrative centre for the kingdom of Kush, begin¬ ning c. 750 bc. After the sack of Napata (c. 590), it became the capital of the kingdom. It included the region between the Nile and Atbara rivers, where the Meroitic language developed. It survived a Roman invasion but fell to Aksumite armies in the 4th century ad. The ruins of its temples and palaces still exist near Kabushiyyah.
Merovingian X.mer-o-'vin-jonX art Visual arts produced under the Merovingian dynasty of the 5th-8th centuries ad. They consisted mainly of small-scale metalwork, little of which has survived, and several impor¬ tant manuscripts. The style blends Roman Classical style with native Germanic-Frankish traditions, which favoured abstraction and geometric patterning. The human figure was rarely attempted; artists were concerned primarily with surface design. Though modest, Merovingian art was influ¬ ential long after the end of the dynasty.
Merovingian dynasty (476-750) Frankish dynasty considered the first French royal house. It was named for Merovech (fl. c. 450), whose son Childeric I (d. 482?) ruled a tribe of Salian Franks from his capital at Tournai. His son, Clovis I, united nearly all of Gaul in the late 5th cen¬ tury except Burgundy and present-day Provence. On his death the realm was divided among his sons, but by 558 it was united under his last sur¬ viving son, Chlotar I. The pattern of dividing and then reuniting the realm continued for generations. After the reign of Dagobert I (623-639), the authority of the Merovingian kings declined, and real power gradually came to rest in the hands of the mayors of the palace. In 751 the last Merovingian king, Childeric III, was deposed by Pippin III. the first of the Carolingian dynasty. See also Brunhild; Childebert II; Chilperic I; Fredegund; SlGEBERT I.