Dumas \duj-'ma,\ English \d(y)u-'ma, , d(y)u-,ma\ / Alexandre known as Dumas pere (b. July 24, 1802, Villers-Cotterets, Aisne, France—d. Dec. 5, 1870, Puys, near Dieppe) French playwright and novelist.
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Dumfries ► Dundee i 579
Dumas’s first success was as a writer of melodramatic plays, including Napoleon Bonaparte (1831) and Antony (1831). His immensely popular novels, set in colourful historical backgrounds, include The Three Mus¬ keteers (1844), a romance about four swashbuckling heroes in the age of Cardinal Richelieu, and its sequel Twenty Years After (1845); The Count of Monte Cristo (1844^45); and The Black Tulip (1850). His illegitimate son Alexandre Dumas (1824-95), called Dumas fils, is best known for his play La Dame aux camelias (1848), the basis of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Tra- viata and later of several films titled Camille.
Dumfries Xdsm-'fresX Town (pop., 1995 est.: 31,000) and royal burgh, administrative centre of Dumfries and Galloway council area, southwest¬ ern Scotland. In the historic county of Dumfriesshire, the town is situated on the left bank of the River Nith near the border with England. It is the main market centre for an intensive livestock-farming region. The poet Robert Burns lived there from 1791 to 1796 and is buried there; his house is now a museum.
Dummer, Jeremiah (b. 1681, Boston, Mass.—d. May 19, 1739, Plaistow, Essex, Eng.) American lawyer and colonial agent. In England in 1708 he defended Massachusetts’ claim to Martha’s Vineyard. As colo¬ nial agent in England for Massachusetts (1710-21) and for Connecticut (1712-30), he was a diligent advocate for the colonies. In 1715 he wrote a pamphlet defending the charter rights of the New England colonies.
Dummett, Sir Michael A(nthony) E(ardley) (b. June 27, 1925, London, Eng.) British philosopher. Dummett has done influential work in the philosophy of language, metaphysics, logic, and the philosophy of mathematics; he is also one of the foremost expositors of the work of Gott¬ lob Frege. He is known chiefly for his defense of antirealism (see realism) and his attempt to explicate sentence meaning in terms of “assertibility conditions” rather than truth conditions. His major works include Frege: Philosophy of Language (1973), Truth and Other Enigmas (1978), The Logical Basis of Metaphysics (1991), and The Seas of Language (1993).
Dumont d'Urville \dffi-mo n -diEr- , vel\, Jules (-Sebastien-Cesar)
(b. May 23, 1790, Conde-sur-Noireau, France—d. May 8, 1842, near Meudon) French navigator. His exploration of the South Pacific (1826— 29) resulted in extensive revision of charts of South Sea waters and redes¬ ignation of island groups into Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Malaysia. In 1830 he conveyed the exiled king Charles X to England. He set sail for Antarctica in 1837; though unable to penetrate the pack ice, his expedition surveyed the Straits of Magellan, discovered Joinville Island and Louis Philippe Land, and sighted the Adelie coast (named for Dumont’s wife) before returning in 1840.
Dumuzi-Abzu Vdu-mii-ze-'ab-.ziiV In Mesopotamian religion, a Sumer¬ ian fertility goddess. The city goddess of Kinirsha in the southeastern marshland region, she represented the power of new life in the marshes. Her counterpart in the central herding region was Tammuz.
Dumuzi-Amaushumgalana N'du-mu-ze-.a-ma-'u-shum-ga-'la-naX In Mesopotamian religion, a Sumerian god who represented the power of growth and new life in the date palm. He was the young bridegroom of the fertility goddess Inanna or Ishtar. Their marriage was celebrated annually as a harvest festival. He was also identified with the Sumerian god Tammuz.
Dunajec River \dii-'na-yets\ River, southern Poland. Rising in the Tatra Mountains near the Slovakia border, it flows about 156 mi (251 km) northeast into the Vistula River. It was the scene of heavy fighting during World War I in the Austro-German offensive. In 1975 Czechoslovakia and Poland modified their border along the Dunajec to permit Poland to con¬ struct a dam for irrigation in the region southeast of Krakow.
Dunant XdiB-'naA, (Jean-) Henri (b. May 8, 1828, Geneva, Switz.—d. Oct. 30, 1910, Heiden) Swiss humanitarian. An eyewitness to the Battle of Solferino, he organized emergency aid services for the Aus¬ trian and French wounded. In 1862 he proposed the formation of volun¬ tary relief services in all countries and proposed an international agreement covering the war wounded. In 1864 he founded the Red Cross, and the Geneva Convention came into being. He continued to promote interest in the treatment of prisoners of war, the abolition of slavery, inter¬ national arbitration, disarmament, and the establishment of a Jewish homeland. In 1901 he shared with Frederic Passy (1822-1912) the first Nobel Peace Prize.
Dunaway, (Dorothy) Faye (b. Jan. 14, 1941, Bascom, Fla., U.S.) U.S. film actress. She acted in several off-Broadway plays (1962-67)
before making her film debut in The Happening (1967). She became an international star in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). In her best roles, such as those she played in Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown (1974), and Network (1976, Academy Award), she gave textured performances that embodied the spirit of the films. She later starred in notable films such as Mommie Dearest (1981), Barfly (1987), and Arizona Dreams (1993).
Dunbar, Paul Laurence (b. June 27, 1872, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.—d. Feb. 9, 1906, Dayton) U.S. author.
The son of former slaves, Dunbar became the first African American writer to try to live by his writings and one of the first to attain national prominence. He wrote for a largely white readership, using black dialect and depicting the pre-Civil War South in pastoral, idyllic tones. His verse collections include Oak and Ivy (1893), Majors and Minors (1895), and Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896). His poems reached a wide readership, and he gave readings in the U.S. and England. He also pub¬ lished four short-story collections and four novels, including The Sport of the Gods (1902).
Dunbar, William (b. 1460/65,
Scotland—d. before 1530) Scottish -
poet. He was attached to the court of
James IV. Of the more than 100 poems attributed to him, most are short occasional pieces, ranging from gross satire to hymns of religious exal¬ tation. The longer works include the charming dream allegory “The Gol- dyn Targe,” the nuptial song “The Thrissill and the Rois,” and “The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie,” a virtuoso piece of personal abuse directed at a rival. Dunbar was the dominant makar (courtly poet) in the golden age of Scottish poetry.
Duncan I (d. Aug. 1, 1040, near Elgin, Moray, Scot.) King of the Scots (1034-40). The grandson of King Malcolm II, his accession to the throne violated the system in which kingship alternated between two branches of the royal family. He was challenged by Macbeth, mormaer (subking) of Moray, who was the inspiration for the play by William Shakespeare and who may have had a stronger claim to the throne. Macbeth murdered Duncan in 1040, and Duncan’s elder son later killed Macbeth and ruled as Malcolm III Canmore.
Duncan, David Douglas (b. Jan. 23, 1916, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.) U.S. photojournalist. After graduating from college, he became a freelance photographer. In 1946 he joined the staff of Life magazine and covered the Korean War (1950); his photographs depicting the life of the ordinary soldier were published in This Is War! (1951). Resuming his freelance life, in 1956 he met Pablo Picasso, with whom he became fast friends; Duncan later published several photographic essays on Picasso’s works, including The Private World of Pablo Picasso (1958) and Picasso’s Pic¬ assos (1961).