Delcasse \del-ka-'sa\, Theophile (b. March 1, 1852, Pamiers, France—d. Feb. 22, 1923, Nice) French politician. A journalist, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1885 and served in cabinet posts from 1893. As foreign minister in six successive governments (1898— 1905), he reached agreement with the British that led to the Entente Cor- diale. Considered the principal architect of the new system of European alliances formed before World War I, he also paved the way for the Anglo- Russian agreement of 1907. He later served as minister of the marine (1911-13) and again as foreign minister (1914-15).
Deledda \da-'lad-da\, Grazia (b. Sept. 27, 1871, Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy—d. Aug. 15, 1936, Rome) Italian novelist. She wrote her first sto¬ ries, influenced by the verismo (“realism”) school, at age 17. In her approximately 40 novels, including After the Divorce (1902), Elias Por- tolu (1903), and Ashes (1904), the ancient ways of her native Sardinia often conflict with modem mores. Her later novel The Mother (1920) and the posthumously published autobiographical novel Cosima (1937) were widely admired. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926.
Eiffel Tower, an oil painting on canvas by Robert Delaunay from 1910-11, is on display at the Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland. The painting was one of Delaunay's contributions to the art movement called cubism.
DEPOSITED BY EMANUEL HOFFMANN-FOUNDATION IN KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL, SWITZERLAND; PHOTOGRAPH, HANS HINZ
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Deleuze ► Della Robbia family I 529
Deleuze \da-'lcez\/ Gilles (b. Jan. 18, 1925, Paris, France—d. Nov. 4, 1995, Paris) French antirationalist philosopher and literary critic. He began his study of philosophy at the Sorbonne in 1944 and was appointed to the faculty there in 1957; he later taught at the University of Lyons and the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes). His first major publications, David Hume (1952) and Nietzsche and Philosophy (1962), were histori¬ cal studies of thinkers who emphasized the limited powers of human rea¬ son. In Difference and Repetition (1968), he argued against the devaluation of “difference” in Western metaphysics and tried to show that difference inheres in repetition itself. A central theme of his work during this period was the “Eleatic-Platonic bias” of Western metaphysics—i.e., its preference for unity over multiplicity (“the one” over “the many”) and for sameness over difference. According to Deleuze, this bias falsifies the nature of experience, which consists of multiplicities rather than unities. In Anti-Oedipus (1972), the first volume of a two-volume work ( Capital¬ ism and Schizophrenia ), Deleuze and the radical psychoanalyst Felix Guattari (1930-92) attacked traditional psychoanalysis for suppressing human desire in the service of normalization and control. The second vol¬ ume, A Thousand Plateaus (1980), condemned all rationalist metaphys¬ ics as “state philosophy.” Depressed by chronic illness, Deleuze committed suicide.
Delft City (pop., 2001 est.: 96,180), southwestern Netherlands. Founded in 1075 and chartered in 1246, it was a trade centre in the 16th-17th cen¬ turies and was famous for its delftware pottery. It was the birthplace of jurist Hugo Grotius (1583) and painter Jan Vermeer (1632). Landmarks include a Gothic church, a Renaissance-style town hall, and a 17th- century armory. Principal manufactures include ceramics.
delftware or delft Tin-glazed earthenware, with blue-and-white or polychrome decoration, first made in the early 17th century at Delft, Hol¬ land. Dutch potters later introduced the art of tin glazing to England along with the name, which now applies to wares manufactured in the Nether¬ lands and England. It is distinguished from faience (made in France, Ger¬ many, Spain, and Scandinavia) and majolica (made in Italy).
Delhi \'de-le\ National capital territory (pop., 2001: 13,850,507), north- central India. Bordered by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, it has an area of 573 sq mi (1,483 sq km) and comprises the cities of Delhi (popularly known as Old Delhi) and New Delhi (India’s capital) and adja¬ cent rural areas. Delhi was the capital of a Muslim dynasty from 1206 until it was laid waste by Timur in 1398. It again was made the capital by the Mughal Babur in 1526. Although the Mughal capital was relocated to Agra, Delhi was beautified by Shah Jahan beginning in 1638. Pillaged by Nadir Shah in 1739, it surrendered to the Marathas in 1771 before being taken by the British in 1803. Delhi was a centre of the Indian Mutiny in 1857. It replaced Calcutta (now Kolkata) as the capital of British India in 1912, at which time construction began on the section of the city that became New Delhi. The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1931, and it became the capital of independent India in 1947. The area’s economy and population centre mainly in Old Delhi, while government is concentrated in New Delhi. The government is the chief employer. The territory is also the transportation hub for north-central India.
Delhi sultanate Principal Muslim sultanate in northern India during the 13th to the 16th centuries. Its creation owed much to the campaigns of Muhammad of Ghur and his lieutenant Qutb al-Dln Aybak between 1175 and 1206. During the reign of Sultan Iltutmish (1211-36), a perma¬ nent capital was established at Delhi and political ties with Ghur were severed. From 1290 to 1320, under the Khaljl dynasty, the sultanate was an imperial power. Its power was shattered by Timur’s invasion (1398— 99), but it somewhat recovered under the Lodi (Afghan) dynasty (1451— 1526). It fell again to Babur (1526), was reestablished briefly, then finally was subsumed into Akbar’s Mughal Empire in 1556.
Delian League Vde-le-onX Confederacy of ancient Greek states led by Athens and based on the island of Delos. Founded in 478 bc to combat Persia, its members included Aegean states and islands; Athens supplied commanders and assessed tributes of ships or money. It achieved a major victory in 467-466 when its fleet drove out Persian garrisons on the southern Anatolian coast. After 454 its leaders moved the treasury to Ath¬ ens for safekeeping, used it to rebuild the city’s temples, and treated the league as the Athenian empire. Most league members sided with Athens in the Peloponnesian War, which diverted the league from its Persian campaign. After defeating Athens in battle in 405, Sparta disbanded the
league in 404. Fear of Sparta helped revive the league in the early 4th century, but it weakened as Sparta declined and was crushed by Philip II at the Battle of Chaeronea (338).
Delibes \do-Teb\, (Clement Philibert) Leo (b. Feb. 21, 1836, Saint- Germain-du-Val, France—d. Jan. 16, 1891, Paris) French composer. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and worked as a church organist and as accompanist and chorus master at the Paris Opera. Though he com¬ posed almost 30 operas, operettas, and ballets, as well as many choral pieces, he is remembered today for three works: the ballets Coppelia (1870) and Sylvia (1876) and the opera Lakme (1883).
DeLillo \de-'lil-o\, Don (b. Nov. 20, 1936, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist. Born to immigrant parents, DeLillo worked in advertising before beginning to write seriously. His postmodernist works portray the unrest and alienation of an America cosseted by material excess and stupefied by empty mass culture and politics. Ratner’s Star (1976) attracted atten¬ tion with its baroque comic sense and verbal facility. His vision later turned darker and his characters more willful in their destructiveness and ignorance, as in Players (1977) and White Noise (1985). Libra (1988) portrays Lee Harvey Oswald, Underworld (1997) portrays 1950s America, and The Body Artist (2001) centres on a woman who has to deal with the fact of her husband’s suicide.
delinquency Criminal behaviour carried out by a juvenile. Young males make up the bulk of the delinquent population (about 80% in the U.S.) in all countries in which the behaviour is reported. Theories regard¬ ing delinquency’s causes focus on the social and economic characteris¬ tics of the offender’s family, the values communicated by the parents, and the nature of youth and criminal subcultures, including gangs. In general, both “push” and “pull” factors are involved. Most delinquents apparently do not continue criminal behaviour into their adult lives but rather adjust to societal standards. The most common punishment for delinquent offenders is probation, whereby the delinquent is given a suspended sen¬ tence and in return must live by a prescribed set of rules under the super¬ vision of a probation officer. See also criminology; penology.