Brundtland \'brimt-land\, Gro Harlem orig. Gro Harlem (b.
April 20, 1939, Oslo, Nor.) Norwegian politician, first woman prime min¬ ister of Norway (1981, 1986-89, 1990-96). Trained as a physician, she worked with various government health services, then served as minister of the environment (1974-79). She served in the Norwegian parliament (1977-97). As leader of the Labour Party group, she served as premier three times. In 1987 she chaired the UN World Commission on Environ¬ ment and Development, and in 1998 she was elected director-general of the World Health Organization.
Brunei \bru-'n!\ officially State of Brunei, Abode of Peace Inde¬ pendent sultanate, northern Borneo, western Pacific Ocean. The country is divided into two parts, each surrounded by the Malaysian state of
Sarawak; they both have coastlines on the South China Sea and Brunei Bay. Area:
2,226 sq mi (5,765 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 364,000. Capitaclass="underline" Bandar Seri Begawan. Brunei has a mixture of South¬ east Asian ethnic groups: about two-thirds are Malay, one-tenth Chinese, and the remainder indigenous peoples and Indians. Languages: Malay (official), English (widely understood). Religions: Islam (official; pre¬ dominantly Sunni); also traditional beliefs, Buddhism, Christianity. Cur¬ rency: Brunei dollar, ringgit. The narrow northern coastal plain gives way to rugged hills in the south. Brunei’s western enclave consists of the val¬ leys of the Belait, Tutong, and Brunei rivers and is mainly hilly. The east¬ ern enclave contains the Pandaruan and Temburong river basins and the country’s highest point, Pagon Peak (6,070 ft [1,850 m]). Much of Bru¬ nei is covered by dense tropical rainforest; very little land is arable. Its economy is dominated by production from major oil and natural gas fields. It has one of the highest per capita incomes in Asia. Brunei is a monar¬ chy; the head of state and government is the sultan. Brunei traded with China in the 6th century ad. Through allegiance to the Javanese Majap- AHlT kingdom (13th—15th century), it came under Hindu influence. In the early 15th century, with the decline of the Majapahit kingdom, many con¬ verted to Islam, and Brunei became an independent sultanate. When Fer¬ dinand Magellan’s ships visited in 1521, the sultan of Brunei controlled almost all of Borneo and its neighbouring islands. In the late 16th cen¬ tury Brunei lost power because of the Portuguese and Dutch activities in the region; they were soon joined by the British. By the 19th century the sultanate of Brunei included Sarawak (including present-day Brunei) and part of North Borneo (now part of Sabah). In 1841 a revolt took place against the sultan, and a British soldier, James Brooke, helped put it down; he was later proclaimed governor (see Brooke Raj). In 1847 the sultanate entered into a treaty with Great Britain, and by 1906 it had yielded all administration to a British resident. Brunei rejected membership in the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, negotiated a new treaty with Britain in 1979, and achieved independence in 1984, with membership in the Com¬ monwealth. Brunei has pursued ways to diversify the economy, notably by encouraging tourism.
Brunei See Bandar Seri Begawan
Brunei \bru-'nel\, Isambard Kingdom (b. April 9, 1806, Ports¬ mouth, Hampshire, Eng.—d. Sept. 15, 1859, London) British civil and mechanical engineer. He was the son of M arc Brunel. His introduction of the broad-gauge railway, with rails 7 ft (2 m) apart, made possible high
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Brunei ► Brussels I 285
speeds and provided a great stimulus to railroad progress. He was respon¬ sible for building more than 1,000 mi (1,600 km) of railway in Britain and also oversaw construction of railway lines in Italy, Australia, and India. His use of a compressed-air caisson to sink bridge pier foundations helped gain acceptance of compressed-air techniques in underwater and underground construction. Brunei made outstanding contributions to marine engineering with three steamships—the Great Western, the Great Britain, and the Great Eastern —each the largest in the world at date of launching. The Great Western instituted the first regular transatlantic ser¬ vice, and Great Eastern laid the first successful transatlantic cable.
Brunei, Sir Marc (Isambard) (b. April 25, 1769, Hacqueville, France—d. Dec. 12, 1849, London, Eng.) French-born British engineer and inventor. He perfected a method for making ships’ blocks (pulleys) by mechanical means rather than by hand; the system of 43 machines, run by 10 men, produced blocks superior in quality and consistency to those previously handmade by more than 100 men. This installation was an early example of completely mechanized production (see mechanization). In 1818 he patented the tunneling shield, a device that made safe tunnel¬ ing through water-bearing strata possible. In 1825 operations began for building the Brunei-designed tunnel under the River Thames, an unprec¬ edented feat completed in 1842. He was the father of I.K. Brunel.
Brunelleschi V.bru-mT-'es-keV, Filippo (b. 1377, Florence [Italy]—d. April 15, 1446, Florence) Florentine architect and engineer. Trained as a sculptor and goldsmith, he turned his attention to architecture after failing to win a competition for the bronze doors of the Baptistery of Florence, having tied with Lorenzo Ghiberti. He worked out the laws of linear per¬ spective (later codified by Leon Bat¬ tista Alberti). By the early 1420s Brunelleschi was Florence’s most prominent architect. His major work, the octagonal dome of the cathedral (1420-36), was constructed with the aid of machines of his own inven¬ tion. The Medici family commis¬ sioned him to design the (old) sacristy and basilica of San Lorenzo (begun 1421), considered keystones of the early Renaissance; he adhered to the conventional format while adding his own interpretation of antique designs for capitals, friezes, pilasters, and columns. His later monumental works foreshadowed the strong profiles and massive grandeur of the work of Alberti and Donato Bramante.
Brunhild Vbrun-.hildX (b. c. 534—d. 613, Reneve, Burgundy) Queen of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia. Daughter of a king of the Visigoths, she married the Austrasian king Sigebert I in 567. One of the most force¬ ful monarchs of the Merovingians, she urged Sigebert to reclaim her mur¬ dered sister’s lands from Chilperic I. When her husband was assassinated in 575, Brunhild was imprisoned at Rouen. She later took refuge at Metz, where her son Childebert II had been proclaimed king, and she struggled to establish her authority over her son and the reluctant Austrasian mag¬ nates. After Childebert’s death she continued to influence affairs and impose her will on her grandsons. After a long career she fell into the hands of her enemies, including the founders of the Carolingian family; she was tortured and then dragged to death by a horse.
Brunhild or Brunhilda or Brynhild Beautiful Amazon-like heroine of ancient Germanic literature. She is known from Old Norse sources, notably the Edda poems and the Vqlsunga saga, and from the German Nibelungenlied. She also appears in the operas of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle. She vowed to wed only a man of the most outstanding qualities who could surpass her in strength. She was successfully wooed by King Gunther, who defeated her in a contest in which the deeds were actually performed by Siegfried in cloak of invisibility. When she later discovered that she had been deceived, she exacted vengeance, and Siegfried was killed. Siegfried’s widow in turn sought revenge and brought about the destruction of Gunther’s people, the Burgundians. In some Norse sources, Brunhild has supernatural qualities and is described as a Valkyrie.
Bruning Vbrui-niqV Heinrich (b. Nov. 26, 1885, Munster, Ger.—d. March 30, 1970, Norwich, Vt., U.S.) German politician. Elected to the Reichstag in 1924, he became noted as a financial expert. Leader of the Catholic Centre Party from 1929, he became chancellor of Germany in 1930. In response to the Great Depression, he instituted harsh austerity measures that paralyzed the German economy. He ignored the Reichstag and governed by presidential decree, which hastened the drift toward rightist dictatorship and Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. Forced to resign in 1932, he left Germany in 1934 and eventually moved to the U.S., where he taught at Harvard University (1937-52).