Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat
1689 - 1755

French man of letters and political philosopher; after Voltaire the most important cultural influence in France and in...

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Ovid
43 BCE - 17 or 18 CE

Publius Ovidius Naso was born in Sulmo (present-day Sulmona), which is situated in a valley of the Apennine Mountains near...

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Gao Xingjian
1940 -

Chinese author and artist born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province in eastern China. His father was a bank clerk and his mother an...

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Ritsos, Yiannis
1909 - 1990

Yiannis Ritsos was born in Monemvasia on the east coast of the Peloponnese peninsula. His parents were landowners. His...

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