Friml Vfri-molV (Charles) Rudolf (b. Dec. 7, 1879, Prague —d. Nov. 12, 1972, Hollywood, Calif., U.S.) Czech-born U.S. composer. He stud¬ ied under Antonin Dvorak, and he immigrated to the U.S. in 1906. In 1912, replacing Victor Herbert, he composed the highly successful oper¬ etta The Firefly (with Otto Harbach). The next major success of his approximately 30 operettas, Rose Marie (1924; with “Indian Love Call”), was followed by The Vagabond King (1925; with “Song of the Vaga¬ bonds” and “Some Day”) and The Three Musketeers (1928), among the last operettas to enjoy popular success.
fringe benefit Any nonwage payment or benefit granted to employ¬ ees by employers. Examples include pension plans, profit-sharing pro¬ grams, vacation pay, and company-paid life, health, and unemployment insurance. Employers’ payments for fringe benefits are included in employee-compensation costs and therefore are not usually taxed. If the
cost of fringe benefits were paid directly as wages, the worker would pay taxes on this amount and therefore have less to spend when purchasing equivalent benefits independently.
Frisch \'frish\, Karl von (b. Nov. 20, 1886, Vienna, Austria—d. June 12, 1982, Munich, W.Ger.) Zoologist, a pioneer of behavioral physiology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Munich, where he subse¬ quently taught. Best known for his studies of bees, he found that bees communicate the distance and direction of a food supply to other mem¬ bers of the colony by two types of rhythmic movement, or dance. Cir¬ cling indicates that food is within about 250 ft (75 m) of the hive; wagging indicates a greater distance. In 1949 he established that bees, through their perception of polarized light, use the sun as a compass even when it is not visible. He also established that fish can hear and distinguish colours. He shared a 1973 Nobel Prize with Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinber¬ gen.
Frisch, Max (Rudolf) (b. May 15, 1911, Zurich, Switz.—d. April 4, 1991, Zurich) Swiss dramatist and novelist. Originally a journalist, he later worked as an architect, a career he abandoned for writing in 1955. He is noted for his Expressionist depictions of the moral dilemmas of 20th-century life. His early drama Santa Cruz (1947) established the cen¬ tral theme of his subsequent works: the predicament of the complicated, skeptical individual in modem society. Other plays include The Chinese Wall (1947), The Fire Raisers (1958), and Andorra (1961). Among his novels are Fm Not Stiller (1954), Homo Faber (1957), A Wilderness of Mirrors (1964), and Man in the Holocene (1979).
Frisch \'frish\, Ragnar (Anton Kittil) (b. March 1895, Oslo, Nor.—d. Jan. 31, 1973, Oslo) Norwegian economist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oslo and taught there from 1931 to 1965. He was a pioneer of econometrics and one of the founders of the Econo¬ metric Society. He is famous for the development of large-scale econo¬ metric modeling linked to economic planning and national income accounting. In 1969 he shared the first Nobel Prize in Economics with Jan Tinbergen.
Frisian Vfri-zhonX Islands Chain of islands. North Sea. They extend 3 to 20 mi (5 to 32 km) off the northern European mainland, along the Dutch and German coasts and the southern part of Denmark’s Jutland peninsula. Although they form a single physical feature, it is customary to subdivide them into the West Frisian Islands (held by The Netherlands), East Fri¬ sian Islands (Germany), and North Frisian Islands (Germany and Den¬ mark). After the North Sea established a southwestern outlet to the Atlantic about 7,000-5,000 bc, its southeasterly shore probably coincided with the present curve of the Frisians. Periodic subsidence, storms, and flooding have since produced this long chain of islands separated from the mainland by a narrow belt of shallow waters and tidal mud flats. The Dutch and German governments have spent large sums to protect the islands’ seaward coasts and reclaim the land for farming. The beaches and resorts attract many tourists.
Frisian Vfri-zhsnV language West Germanic language most closely related to English. Formerly spoken from the province of North Holland in The Netherlands to the province of Schleswig in northern Germany, Frisian is now spoken only in three small areas, each with its own dia¬ lect. West Frisian is spoken in the province of Friesland in The Nether¬ lands, East Frisian in the Saterland west of Oldenburg, Ger., and North Frisian along the western coast of Schleswig on the Frisian Islands. Writ¬ ten records in Old Frisian date from the end of the 13th century. From the late 16th century to the late 19th century, written Frisian was seldom used. In modern times there has been a revival of West Frisian, and it is considered an official language by the Dutch government.
fritillary \'fri-t 3 l-,er-e\ Any of the approximately 80 species of bulbous, mostly perennial, ornamental herbaceous plants that make up the genus Fritillaria, in the uly family, native primarily to the northern temperate zone. Members have bell-shaped, nodding, usually solitary flowers. In many species the flower has a checkered appearance. The fruit, a capsule, contains many seeds. Snake’s head, or toad lily ( F. meleagris), a species with poisonous bulbs, and crown imperial ( F. imperialis ), a strong¬ smelling plant, are commonly cultivated as garden flowers.
fritillary \'fri-t 3 l-,er-e\ Name applied to butterflies in several genera (fam¬ ily Nymphalidae). Large fritillaries, or silverspots, belong to the genus Speyeria and usually have silver markings on the undersides of their
Great frigate bird (Fregata minor)
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Friuli-Venezia Giulia ► Fronde I 715
wings. Many of the smaller fritillar- ies are members of the genus Bolo- ria. Many fritillary larvae are nocturnal and feed on violet leaves.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia \fre-'ii- le-va-'net-se-a-'jiil-yaV Autonomous region (pop., 2001 prelim.:
1,180,375), northeastern Italy. It covers 3,029 sq mi (7,845 sq km), and it borders Austria, Slovenia, and the Adriatic Sea. Its capital is Trieste.
Known in Roman times as the Julian region, it was divided after the bar¬ barian invasions into a coastal part dominated by the Byzantines and an inland zone ruled by the dukes of Friuli and the counts of Gorizia.
From the 15th century it was con¬ trolled by Austria and Venice, and after 1815 it came under Habsburg rule. Divided after World War II between Yugoslavia and the free territory of Trieste, the region was restored to Italy in 1954. One of Italy’s most seis¬ mic areas, it suffered a severe earthquake in 1976. It is known for its ham and dairy products. Its larger cities, including Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, and Trieste, have all experienced considerable industrial development. Trieste is one of Italy’s most important ports.
Frizzell \fri-'zel\ / Lefty orig. William Orville Frizzell (b. March 31, 1928, Corsicana, Texas, U.S.—d. July 19, 1975, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. singer and songwriter. He was a fan of Jimmie Rodgers from childhood. Also a semiprofessional boxer (the source of his nickname), Frizzell sang in honky-tonks and on radio in the Southwest and had his first hit with “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time” (1950). He had several hits over the next two years, including “Always Late (with Your Kisses),” but his last and biggest hit was “Saginaw, Michigan” (1963).
Froben \'fro-bon\, Johann or Johannes Frobenius (b. c. 1460, Hammelburg, Franconia—d. October 1527, Basel, Switz.) German-born Swiss scholar and printer active in Basel. His first publication was a Latin Bible (1491). By 1515 he and three partners owned four presses, and later seven. His contributions to printing in Basel included popularizing roman type, introducing italic and Greek fonts, experimenting with cheaper and smaller books, and employing talented artists, such as Hans Holbein, the Younger, as illustrators. About 250 of his publications are known.