De Stijl See De Stijl
de Valera V.dev-o-'ler-oV, Eamon orig. Edward de Valera (b. Oct.
14, 1882, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d.
Aug. 29, 1975, Dublin, Ire.) Irish politician and patriot. Bom in the U.S. to a Spanish father and an Irish mother, at age two he was sent to live with his mother’s family in Ireland when his father died. In 1913 he joined the Irish Volunteers and in 1916 helped lead the rebels in the Easter Rising. He was elected presi¬ dent of Sinn Fein in 1918. Repudiat¬ ing the treaty that formed the Irish Free State because it provided for the partition of Ireland, he supported the republican resistance in the ensuing civil war. In 1924 he founded Fianna
Fail, which won the 1932 elections. As prime minister (1932-48), he took the Irish Free State out of the British Commonwealth and made his coun¬ try a “sovereign” state, renamed Ireland, or Eire. He proclaimed Ireland neutral in World War II. After twice serving again as prime minister (1951-54, 1957-59), he became president of Ireland (1959-73).
de Valois \d3-val-'wa\, Dame Ninette orig. Edris Stannus (b.
June 6, 1898, Blessington, Co. Wicklow, Ire.—d. March 8, 2001, Lon¬ don, Eng.) Irish-born British dancer, choreographer, and founder of the precursor to the Royal Ballet. She appeared in revues and pantomimes from 1914 before joining the Ballets Russes as a soloist in 1923. She founded the Academy of Choreographic Art in 1926 to teach movement to actors and cofounded the Camargo Society in 1930. In 1931 she founded and directed the Vic-Wells Ballet; this became the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (1946-56) and later the Royal Ballet (1956), which she directed until 1963. She choreographed many ballets in the 1930s and ’40s and remained active with the company until 1971.
De Voto \di -'vo-to\, Bernard (Augustine) (b. Jan. 11, 1897, Ogden, Utah, U.S.—d. Nov. 13, 1955, New York, N.Y.) U.S. journalist, historian, and critic. De Voto taught at Northwestern and Harvard universities, briefly edited The Saturday Review (1936-38), and wrote a column for Harper’s (1935-55). Known for his works on American literature and the history of the western frontier as well as for his vigorous, outspoken style, he was one of the most widely read critics and historians of his day. Among his nonfiction works are Mark Twain’s America (1932), Across the Wide Missouri (1948, Pulitzer Prize), and The Course of Empire
(1952).
de Vries \do-'vres\, Hugo (Marie) (b. Feb. 16, 1848, Haarlem, Neth.—d. May 21, 1935, near Amsterdam) Dutch botanist and geneticist. He taught at the University of Amsterdam (1878-1918), where he intro¬ duced the experimental study of organic evolution. His rediscovery in 1900 (simultaneously with Carl Erich Correns and Erich Tschermak von Seysenegg) of Gregor Mendel’s principles of heredity and his own theory of biological mutation explained concepts about the nature of variation of species that made possible the universal acceptance and active investiga¬ tion of Charles Darwin’s theory of organic evolution. De Vries discovered and named the phenomenon known as mutation, and he also contributed to knowledge of the role of osmosis in plant physiology. See also William Bateson.
de Wolfe, Elsie orig. Ella Anderson de Wolfe (b. Dec. 20, 1865, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. July 12, 1950, Versailles, Fr.) U.S. interior designer. A New York City socialite, she worked as a professional actress (1890-1904) before becoming a designer. Her design principles of sim¬ plicity, airiness, and visual unity helped change the fashion of interior design away from Victorian ornamentation. She was the first female pro¬ fessional interior designer in the U.S. She spent much of her life in France as a noted hostess. During World War I she nursed soldiers; she received the Croix de Guerre for her relief work.
DEA See Drug Enforcement Administration
Dead Sea Arabic Al-Bahr al-Mayyit Hebrew Yam Ha Melah ancient Lacus Asphaltites Landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan. The lowest body of water on Earth, it averages about 1,312 ft (400 m) below sea level. It is 50 mi (80 km) long and up to 11 mi (18 km) wide. Its eastern shore is Jordanian, while the southern half of its western shore is Israeli; the northern half of the western shore is within the West Bank, occupied by Israel since the Six- Day War (1967). The Dead Sea lies between Judaea to the west and the Transjordanian plateaus to the east; the Jordan River flows in from the north. It has been associated with biblical history since the time of Abraham.
Dead Sea Scrolls Caches of ancient, mostly Hebrew, manuscripts found at several sites on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea (1947- 56). The writings date from between the 3rd century bc and the 2nd cen¬ tury ad and total 800-900 manuscripts in 15,000 fragments. Many scholars believe that those deposited in 11 caves near the ruins of Qum- ran belonged to a sectarian community whom most scholars believe were Essenes, though other scholars suggest Sadducees or Zealots. The commu¬ nity rejected the rest of the Jewish people and saw the world as sharply divided between good and evil. They cultivated a communal life of ritual purity, called the “Union,” led by a messianic “Teacher of Righteousness.” The Dead Sea Scrolls as a whole represent a wider spectrum of Jewish belief and may have been the contents of libraries from Jerusalem hid-
De Valera, c. 1965
COURTESY OF THE IRISH EMBASSY; PHOTOGRAPH, LENSMEN LTD. PRESS PHOTO AGENCY, DUBLIN
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
522 I deafness ► Debre
den during the war of ad 66-73. They also cast new light on the emer¬ gence of Christianity and the relationship of early Christian and Jewish religious traditions. See also Damascus Document.
deafness Partial or total inability to hear. In conduction deafness, the passage of sound vibrations through the ear is interrupted. The obstacle may be earwax, a ruptured eardrum, or stapes fixation, which prevents the stapes bone from transmitting sound vibrations to the inner ear. In senso¬ rineural deafness, a defect in the sensory cells of the inner ear (e.g., injury by excessive noise) or in the vestibulocochlear or eighth cranial nerves prevents the transmission of sound impulses to the auditory centre in the brain. Some deaf people are helped by hearing aids or cochlear implants; others can learn to communicate with sign language and/or lip reading.
Deak \'de-ak\, Ferenc (b. Oct. 17, 1803, Sojtor, Hung., Austrian Empire—d. Jan. 28/29, 1876, Budapest) Hungarian politician. He entered the Hungarian Diet in 1833, becoming a leader of the reform movement for the political emancipation of Hungary. Appointed minister of justice in 1848, he was the principal author of the reforming “April laws.” In the 1860s he put forth Hungary’s conditions for reconciliation with Austria in terms that led to the Compromise of 1867, establishing the dual mon¬ archy of Austria-Hungary, and he helped to complete the legislation deriv¬ ing from the Compromise.
Dean, Dizzy orig. Jay Hanna Dean (b. Jan. 16, 1911, Lucas, Ark., U.S.—d. July 17, 1974, Reno, Nev.) U.S. baseball pitcher. Dean joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1932, and in five seasons with them led the National League four times in complete games and four times in strike¬ outs. In 1937 he teamed with his brother Paul (nicknamed “Daffy”) to pitch the Cardinals to a World Series victory; he won 30 games and lost 7 that year and remains the last 30-game winner in the National League. He developed arm trouble the same year and never fully regained his form. He ended his career with the Chicago Cubs after being traded for the 1938 season. He was known for his colourful personality, which, after his retire¬ ment at age 30, served him well as a broadcaster.
Dean, James (Byron) (b. Feb. 8, 1931, Marion, Ind., U.S.—d. Sept. 30, 1955, near Paso Robles, Calif.)
U.S. film actor. He played bit parts in four films before trying the Broad¬ way stage, where his role in The Immoralist (1954) led to a screen test and a brilliant though brief movie career. His starring role in East of Eden (1955) brought him an Acad¬ emy Award nomination. As a misun¬ derstood teenager in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) he personified the con¬ fused and restless youth of the 1950s. He was featured as a noncon¬ formist ranch hand in his last film.