also isolated and developed several other antibiotics, including neomycin, that have been used in treating many infectious diseases of humans, domestic animals, and plants.
Walachia \wa-'la-ke-9\ Former principality, south-central Europe. It lay between the Danube River and the Transylvanian Alps in what is now Romania. It was founded in 1290 by Radu Negru, a vassal of Hungary, and achieved independence from Hungary in 1330. The capital from the 14th to the 17th century was Targoviste. Walachia was ruled by the Turks in the 15th century, though some princes resisted, notably Vlad II Dracul (1436-47) and Vlad III Tepe§, who are often cited as the historical bases for the Dracula vampire tales. Walachia briefly annexed Moldavia and Transylvania in the late 16th century. Russian influence grew in the 18th century, and in 1774 Walachia came under Russia’s protection, though it continued to recognize Turkish suzerainty. Russia’s protectorate ended after the Crimean War, and in 1859 Walachia united with Moldavia to form Romania.
Walcott Vwol-.katV, Derek (Alton) (b. Jan. 23, 1930, Castries, Saint Lucia) West Indian poet and playwright. Of mixed black, Dutch, and English descent, Walcott was educated in Saint Lucia and Jamaica. After 1958 he lived in Trinidad and the U.S. Most of his works explore the Caribbean cultural experience. He is best known for his poetry; in vol¬ umes such as In a Green Night (1962), The Gulf ( 1969), Another Life (1973), The Star-Apple Kingdom (1979), The Fortunate Traveller (1981), and The Bounty (1997), Walcott’s erudition is submerged in sweeping rhythmic and sensuous sonorities. His epic poem Omeros (1990) is a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey in a 20th-century Caribbean setting. Of his approximately 30 plays, the best known are Dream on Monkey Mountain (produced 1967), Ti-Jean and His Brothers (1958), and Pantomime (1978). In 1992 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Wald, George (b. Nov. 18, 1906, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. April 12, 1997, Cambridge, Mass.) U.S. biochemist. He taught at Harvard Univer¬ sity from 1934-77. His outstanding contributions were on the importance of vitamin A, the mechanisms of the photochemical reactions in the rod cells that enable night vision, and the identification of the colour-sensitive pig¬ ments in the cone cells (see photoreception; retina). He shared the Nobel Prize in 1967 with Haldan Keffer Hartline and Ragnar Arthur Granit. He was a prominent opponent of the Vietnam War.
Waldeck \'val-,dek\ Former state, Germany. It is now a part of Hesse. The capital was Arolsen. A county in the Middle Ages, Waldeck became a principality in 1712 and part of Prussia in 1867. A republic and con¬ stituent state of the Weimar Republic (1918-29), it later formed part of the Prussian Hesse-Nassau province (until 1945).
Waldeck-Rousseau \val-dek-rii-'s6\, (Pierre-Marie-) Rene (b.
Dec. 2, 1846, Nantes, France—d. Aug. 10, 1904, Corbeil) French politi¬ cian. A conservative lawyer, he served in the Chamber of Deputies (1879— 89) and as minister of the interior (1881-82, 1883-85). In 1884 he sponsored the law that legalized French trade unions. After returning to his prosperous law practice, he became a senator in 1894. In the upheaval over the Alfred Dreyfus affair, he was appointed premier (1899-1902) and formed a coalition cabinet that persuaded the president to pardon Drey¬ fus.
Waldenses \w6l-'den-,sez\ French Vaudois \vo-'dwa\ Italian Valdesi \val-'da-ze\ Members of a Christian movement that originated in 12th-century France. Devotees sought to follow the example of Jesus and the Apostles by adopting lives of preaching and poverty. The move¬ ment’s founder, Valdes, was condemned by the archbishop of Lyon for continuing to preach without church permission. Although placed under a ban in 1184 by Pope Lucius III (1181-85), Valdes remained orthodox and hoped for eventual acceptance by the church. His followers, however, gradually departed from Roman Catholicism by rejecting the clergy’s right to administer the sacraments, the notion of purgatory, and the veneration of saints. Rome responded by actively persecuting the Waldenses, and their numbers diminished by the end of the 15th century. In the 16th cen¬ tury they adopted some aspects of Protestant doctrine and the church organization of Genevan Protestantism. Intermittently persecuted in later centuries, they have remained a small movement within Christianity. They survive today in Argentina, Uruguay, and the U.S.
Waldheim \'valt- l hlm\, Kurt (b. Dec. 21, 1918, Sankt Andra-Wordern, Austria) Fourth secretary-general of the United Nations (1972-81). After military service in the German army before and during World War II, he
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2022 I Wales ► Walker Cup
entered the Austrian foreign service and served successively as ambassa¬ dor to Canada (1958-60) and the UN (1964-68, 1970-71) and as foreign minister (1968-70). Elected to suc¬ ceed U Thant as UN secretary- general, he served two terms, during which he oversaw disaster relief in Bangladesh, Nicaragua, and Guate¬ mala and peacekeeping missions in Cyprus, the Middle East, Angola, and Guinea. Denied a third term, he returned to Austria and ran for presi¬ dent in 1986. His candidacy became controversial when it was learned that he had been a member of the Nazi Party and had served in a Ger¬ man army unit that had deported most of the Jewish population of the Greek town of Salonika to Nazi death camps in 1943. Elected nonetheless, he was diplomatically isolated throughout his term (1986-92).
Wales Welsh Cymru Vkom-reV Principality, constituting an integral part of the United Kingdom. It occupies a peninsula on the western side of the island of Great Britain. Area: 8,015 sq mi (20,758 sq km). Population (2001): 2,903,085. Capitaclass="underline" Cardiff. The population is of Celtic, Anglo- Saxon, and Anglo-Norman ancestry. Languages: English, Welsh. Reli¬ gion: Methodism. Wales is almost entirely an upland area the core of which is the Cambrian Mountains. The highest peak in England and Wales, Mount Snowdon, is found in Snowdonia National Park. The Sev¬ ern, Wye, and Dee are the longest rivers. Economic activities include mining coal (though coal mining suffered a sharp decline in the late 20th century), slate, and lead; importing and refining petroleum; and manu¬ facturing consumer electronics. Tourism is an important industry. In pre¬ historic times, tribal divisions of the British Celtic speakers who dominated all of Britain south of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde inhabited the region. The Romans ruled from the 1 st century ad until the 4th-5th century. Welsh Celts fought off incursions from the Anglo- Saxons. A number of kingdoms arose there, but none was successful in uniting the area. The Norman conquerors of England brought all of south¬ ern Wales under their rule in 1093. English King Edward I conquered northern Wales and made it a principality in 1284. Since 1301 the heir to the English throne has carried the title Prince of Wales. Wales was incor¬ porated with England in the reign of Henry VIII. It became a leading inter¬ national coal-mining centre during the 19th century. The Plaid Cymru, or Welsh Nationalist Party, was founded in 1925, but its influence did not gather force until the 1960s, when Welsh nationalist aspirations rose. In 1997 a referendum approved the devolution of power to an elected assem¬ bly, which first convened in 1999.
Wales, Prince of Title of the heir apparent to the British throne. In 1301 Edward I of England granted it to his son Edward after conquering Wales and executing the last native Welsh prince (1283). Since that time most of the eldest sons of English sovereigns have been given the title. The title ceases to exist when a Prince of Wales becomes king, until a monarch bestows it on a son.
Wat^sa \va-'len-s9,\ Polish \va-'we n -s9\, Lech (b. Sept. 29, 1943, Popowo, near Wloclawek, Pol.) Polish labour leader and president of Poland (1990-95). An electrician, he worked in the Lenin Shipyard at Gdansk, Pol. (1967-76), but he was fired for his antigovernment activi¬ ties. In 1980 he joined workers in a strike and soon became leader of the Solidarity trade union. The union was banned in 1981, and he was detained into 1982. In 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace; fearing involuntary exile, he remained in Poland while his wife, Danuta, traveled to Norway to accept the prize on his behalf. He continued to direct the outlawed union until it received legal recognition in 1988. Solidarity won an overwhelming victory in free elections in June 1989, and after Walesa refused to form a coalition government with the communists, the Parlia¬ ment was forced to accept a Solidarity-led government, though Walesa himself refused to serve as premier. In 1990 he won Poland’s first direct presidential election by a landslide, and he helped guide Poland into a free-market economy. His confrontational style eroded his popularity, and he was narrowly defeated in his bid for reelection in 1995.