(1954).
Wells, H(erbert) G(eorge) (b. Sept. 21, 1866, Bromley, Kent, Eng.—d. Aug. 13, 1946, London) English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian. While studying science under T.H. Huxley in London, Wells formulated a romantic conception of the subject that would inspire the inventive and influential science-fiction and fantasy novels for which he is best known, including the epochal The Time Machine (1895), The Invis¬ ible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). He simultaneously took on a public role as an agitator for progressive causes, including the League of Nations. He later abandoned science fiction and drew on memo¬ ries of his lower-middle-class early life in works including the novel Tono-Bungay (1908) and the comic The History of Mr. Polly (1910). He had a 10-year affair with the young Rebecca West. World War I shook his faith in human progress, prompting him to promote popular education through nonfiction works including The Outline of History (1920). The Shape of Things to Come (1933) was an antifascist warning. Though a sense of humour reappears in Experiment in Autobiography (1934), most of his late works reveal a pessimistic, even bitter outlook.
Wells, Ida B(ell) or Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (b. July 16, 1862, Holly Springs, Miss., U.S.—d. March 25, 1931, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. jour¬ nalist and antilynching crusader. The daughter of slaves, she was educated at a freedmen’s school in Holly Springs and later at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. She was a teacher until the late 1880s, when she turned to journalism, writing articles for African American-owned newspapers on issues such as the limited education available to African American children. In 1892, after three of her friends were lynched by a mob, Wells began an editorial campaign against lynching that quickly led to the destruction of her newspaper’s office by whites. She continued her anti¬ lynching campaign as a lecturer and founder of antilynching societies and African American women’s clubs throughout the U.S. In 1895 she mar¬ ried Ferdinand Barnett and began writing for his newspaper, the Chicago Conservator. In 1910 she founded the Chicago Negro Fellowship League. She also founded Chicago’s Alpha Suffrage Club, perhaps the first Afri¬ can American woman-suffrage group.
Wells, Kitty orig. Muriel Ellen Deason (b. Aug. 30, 1919, Nash¬ ville, Tenn., U.S.) U.S. country music singer and songwriter. She sang gospel music in church as a child. In the 1930s she made her radio debut and took her name from a Carter family song. She married Johnny Wright in 1937, and they performed together off and on since. Her first major hit was the classic “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” (1952). Her extensive repertory made her the top-ranking female country artist for some 15 years, paving the way for later stars such as Patsy Cune and Loretta Lynn.
Wells Fargo & Co. Leading U.S. banking and financial services com¬ pany formerly involved in express transport. Founded in 1852, Wells, Fargo transported gold between the west and east coasts in the wake of the California gold rush. By 1866 it had gained control of almost all stagecoach business in the West. In 1905 its banking operations were separated from its express operations. The express carrier disappeared by the mid 1920s, its domestic business taken over by the firm later known
as the Railway Express Agency and its foreign express business by Ameri¬ can Express Co. Its security services still exist under the name Wells Fargo Armored Service Corp., a subsidiary of Baker Industries. The Wells Fargo Bank’s holding company, Wells Fargo & Co., was established in 1968. Headquartered in San Francisco, the bank has subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. In 1998 Wells Fargo & Co. merged with Norwest Corp.
Welsh corgi \'kor-ge\ Either of two breeds of cattle dogs. The Cardi¬ gan Welsh corgi was developed from relatives of the dachshund that Celts brought to Wales c. 1200 bc. The Pembroke Welsh corgi is descended from sled-dog stock brought to Wales about 1100 by Flemish weavers. Both have short legs, a foxlike head, and erect ears, and both stand 10-12 in. (25-30 cm) tall and weigh 25-38 lb (11-17 kg). The Cardigan has a long tail and rounded ears; the Pembroke has a short tail and pointed ears. The Cardigan’s coarser coat can be solid-coloured, tricoloured, or mottled; the Pembroke is solid- or bicoloured.
Welsh language Celtic ianguage of Wales. Besieged for centuries by the English language, Welsh continues to be spoken by 18-20% of the population of Wales, or more than half a million people, though estimates of the actual number of first-language speakers vary widely. Welsh is tra¬ ditionally divided into three periods: Old Welsh (c. 800-1150), attested mainly in glosses and short textual passages; Middle Welsh (c. 1150— 1500), with a rich medieval literature including poetic texts originally composed much earlier; and Modem Welsh (from c. 1500). Modern lit¬ erary Welsh was largely fixed by William Salesbury’s Bible translation. Vernacular Welsh, split along dialectal lines, has long been diverging from literary Welsh; many modern speakers cannot write or easily understand the traditional written language. The issue of an acceptable modem stan¬ dard remains unresolved.
Welsh literary renaissance Literary activity in Wales and England in the mid-18th century that attempted to stimulate interest in the Welsh language and in the classical bardic verse forms of Wales. It was centred on the Morris family of Welsh scholars, who preserved ancient texts and encouraged contemporary poets to use the strict metres of the ancient Welsh bards. The movement gave rise to many publications and helped reestablish local eisteddfods and, in the early 19th century, the National Eisteddfod. A second revival began with the establishment of the Uni¬ versity of Wales at the end of the 19th century.
Welly, Eudora (b. April 13, 1909, Jackson, Miss., U.S.—d. July 23, 2001, Jackson) U.S. short-story writer and novelist. Welty focused her work on a small town that resembled her birthplace and the Delta coun¬ try. Her main subject is the intricacies of human relationships. She first gained attention for the story collection A Curtain of Green (1941), con¬ taining the widely admired “Petrified Man” and “Why I Live at the PO.” Other stories appear in The Wide Net (1943), The Golden Apples (1949), and The Bride of the Innisfallen (1955). Her novels include Delta Wed¬ ding (1946), The Ponder Heart (1954), and The Optimist’s Daughter (1972, Pulitzer Prize). Her works combine humour and psychological acuity with a sharp ear for regional speech patterns. She also published books of her photographs, including those she took while working for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression.
Wen Jiabao (b. Sept. 1942, Tianjin, China) Premier of China (from 2003). While studying at the Beijing Institute of Geology, Wen joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In 1985 he was named deputy director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee and the following year became director. While at the General Office, Wen also served as chief of staff to several general secretaries of the CCP, including Zhao Ziyang. The two men faced criticism after visiting Beijing’s Tiananmen Square during a series of pro-democracy demonstrations and being photographed talking with protestors. Although Zhao was placed under house arrest, Wen escaped any lasting political damage. In 1993 he became a full member of the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee and four years later a member of the Political Bureau. In 1998 he was appointed one of China’s four vice-premiers. Aided by his experience in shaping agricul¬ tural policy. Wen succeeded Zhu Rongji as premier in 2003.
Wen Zhengming or Wen Cheng-ming (b. 1470, Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China—d. 1559) Chinese painter, calligrapher, and scholarly figure. Born to an established family, Wen Zhengming was by nature sen¬ sitive and withdrawn, and it was not until age 53 that he emerged from his scholarly isolation, receiving the recognition of the court with his appointment to the Hanlin Academy. He stayed there for only three years and then retired to produce his best-known works. He was expert at the