Don River \'don\ Tatar Duna Vdu-nsX ancient Tanais. River, south¬ western Russia. Rising south of Moscow in the central Russian uplands, it flows generally south for 1,162 mi (1,870 km) to enter the Gulf of Taganrog in the Sea of Azov. In its middle course it flows into the Tsim- lyansk Reservoir, which dominates the Don’s lower course. Most of its basin is rich farmland and timberland. A major shipping artery, it is navi¬ gable (in the spring) as far as 990 mi (1,584 km) from the Sea of Azov.
Donaldson, Walter (b. Feb. 15, 1893, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—d. July 15, 1947, Santa Monica, Calif.) U.S. songwriter. He began his career as a music publisher’s pianist and later established his own music publish¬ ing company. After his first Broadway success with “My Mammy,” intro¬ duced by Al Jolson in Sinbad (1918), he continued writing for Broadway revues for more than 25 years, producing songs such as “My Buddy,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Carolina in the Morning,” “Yes Sir! That’s My Baby,” and “Makin’ Whoopee.” He also wrote for many films.
donatario Recipient of a capitama (captaincy), which was both a ter¬ ritorial division and a royal land grant in Portugal’s colonies. The system was introduced to Brazil in 1533 by King John III in order to consolidate
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Donatello ► Dong Son I 563
Portuguese power in the colony. Each donatdrio received a portion of land and was charged with recruiting and protecting settlers and promoting agriculture and commerce. At one time Brazil’s viability as a colony depended on the success of the donatarios, but by 1754 all the captain¬ cies had been abolished.
Donatello \,do-na-'tel-lo,\ English \,da-n3-'te-lo\ orig. Donato di Niccolo (b. c. 1386, Florence—d.
Dec. 13, 1466, Florence) Italian sculptor active in Florence. He learned stone carving from the sculp¬ tors of the Florence Cathedral (c.
1400), and in 1404 joined the work¬ shop of Lorenzo Ghiberti. He drew his inspiration from Classical and medi¬ eval sources. With his marble statues of St. Mark (1411-13) and St.
George (c. 1415) for the church of Or San Michele in Florence, he revolu¬ tionized the concept of sculpture; not since antiquity had the human body been rendered with such naturalism and emotional impact. He invented his own style of bas-relief with his marble panel St. George Killing the Dragon (c. 1417). His bronze sculp¬ ture David, conceived independently of any architectural setting, was the first large-scale, freestanding nude statue of the Renaissance. In Florence he worked for the Medici family (1433—43), producing sculptural decoration for the sacristy of San Lorenzo, the Medici family church, and in Padua (1450s) for the church of Sant’Antonio. He was the greatest European sculptor of the 15th cen¬ tury, influencing painters as well as sculptors, and was a founder of the Renaissance style.
Donation of Constantine Document concerning the supposed grant by the emperor Constantine I (the Great) to Pope Sylvester I (314-335) and later popes of temporal power over Rome and the Western Empire. The gift was said to have been motivated by Constantine’s gratitude to Sylvester for miraculously healing his leprosy and converting him to Christianity. Based on legends from the 5th century concerning Sylvester and Constantine, the Donation was probably written at Rome in the mid 8th century and was related to the coronation of Pippin III, the first Caro- lingian king of the Franks. Proved in the 15th century by Lorenzo Valla to be a forgery, the document was already questioned by the emperor Otto III (r. 996-1002) but was often cited in the 11th—15th centuries to support papal claims in the struggle between church and state.
Donation of Pippin (754) Promise made by the Frankish king Pippin III to win for Pope Stephen II Byzantine imperial lands in Italy conquered by the Lombards. The Donation was made in the context of the papal struggle with the Lombards, the collapse of Byzantine support for the papacy, and Pippin’s elevation to the royal throne with papal support. In 756 it was written in a document that became the basis of papal rule over central Italy, which lasted until the 19th century. Pippin won territory from the Lombard king in two military campaigns (754, 756) and gave it to the papacy. The Donation was later confirmed and enlarged by Charlemagne
(774).
Donatism Vdo-no-.ti-zom, 'da-no-.ti-zomX Schismatic Christian move¬ ment in North Africa in the 4th century. It arose out of the debate over the status of church leaders who had cooperated with Roman officials during persecutions of Christians. The movement’s leader, Donatus (died c. ad 355), denied the validity of priestly duties performed by such lead¬ ers, insisting that lapsed Christians were not in a state of grace and thus had no authority to administer the sacraments. The struggle over the Donatist heresy came to a head in 311, when Caecilian was consecrated bishop of Carthage by a lapsed bishop. The Donatists declared the elec¬ tion invalid, but Constantine I decided in favor of Caecilian, prompting the Donatists to break with the Roman church in 312. Despite persecu¬ tion, Donatism survived in North Africa until the advent of Islam (7th century).
Donbas See Donets Basin
Donders Vdon-dorzX, Frans Cornells (b. May 27, 1818, Tilburg, Neth.—d. March 24, 1889, Utrecht) Dutch ophthalmologist. His study of
“muscae volitantes” (spots before the eyes) resulted in Donders’ law, stat¬ ing that the rotation of the eye around the line of sight is involuntary. His research improved diagnosis, operative treatment, and use of eyeglasses for vision problems. He found that in farsightedness the eyeball is short¬ ened, resulting in light rays being focused behind the retina (1858). His finding that astigmatism is caused by uneven corneal and lens surfaces (1862) created the field of scientific clinical refraction. His On the Anoma¬ lies of Accommodation and Refraction (1864) was the first authoritative work in the field.
Donen Vdo-nonX, Stanley (b. April 13, 1924, Columbia, S.C., U.S.) U.S. film director and choreographer. He began his career in the stage chorus of Pal Joey (1940), where he met Gene Kelly. He and Kelly cho¬ reographed Best Foot Forward (1941 ; film, 1943) and other musicals, and the two codirected On the Town (1949) and the acclaimed Singin’ in the Rain (1952). Both films showed off Donen’s skill at intensifying a sense of fantasy and served to reenergize the musical film genre. He later directed and produced films such as The Pajama Game (1957), Funny Face (1957), and Damn Yankees (1958). He also branched into nonmu¬ sical films such as Charade (1963) and Two for the Road (1967).
Donets Basin \do-'nyets,\ English Xdo-'netsX or Donbas X'dan-.basX Large mining and industrial region, southeastern Ukraine and southwest¬ ern Russia. Notable for its coal and iron reserves, the exploited area of the coalfield covers nearly 9,000 sq mi (23,300 sq km) south of the Donets River. First mined in the early 19th century, by 1913 the Donets Basin was producing 87% of Russian coal. The coalfields adjoin the rich ironfield of Krivoi Rog, where an ironworks was set up in 1872 in Donetsk; by 1913 it was making 74% of all Russian pig iron. The area today is the largest single producing area of iron and steel in Ukraine and one of the world’s major heavy-industrial complexes.
Donets River River, southwestern Russia and eastern Ukraine. Rising in the Central Russian Upland, it winds south and east through Russia and Ukraine for some 650 mi (1,050 km) to join the Don River below Konstantinovsk. It flows along the northern Donets Basin industrial region, which uses it for heavy shipping and also causes severe pollution prob¬ lems. A water shortage in the river and industrial area led to the construc¬ tion in the 1970s of a canal connecting the Dnieper to the Donets. Six weirs make navigation possible upstream to the city of Donetsk.