Ilya Yefimovich Repin: …November 16, 1581 (1885), and Zaporozhye Cossacks (1880–91), the latter perhaps his best-known work. He also did vigorous portraits of his great Russian contemporaries, such as Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Glinka, and Modest Mussorgsky.

sapote, (Pouteria sapota), plant of the sapodilla family (Sapotaceae) and its edible fruit. Sapote is native to Central America but cultivated as far north as the southeastern United States. The fruit is commonly eaten fresh and is also made into smoothies, ice cream, and preserves. The large

Zapotec, Middle American Indian population living in eastern and southern Oaxaca in southern Mexico. The Zapotec culture varies according to habitat—mountain, valley, or coastal—and according to economy—subsistence, cash crop, or urban; and the language varies from pueblo to pueblo, existing in

Oaxaca: …residents speak indigenous languages, notably Zapotec, Mixtec, Mazatec, Chinantec, and Mixé. Agriculture and mining employ more than half of the workforce. The chief crops are corn (maize), wheat, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, fibres, and tropical fruits. The mountains are veined with gold, silver, uranium, diamonds, and onyx, and mining is

Mesoamerican Indian languages: Mesoamerican writing systems: …other Mesoamerican writing systems are Zapotec (c. 500 bce to 1000 ce), Mixteca (Mixteca-Puebla, 1200 to 1600 ce), and Aztec (c. 1400 to 1600 ce).

Antonín Zápotocký was a political leader, cofounder of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and the native Czech leader who probably contributed most to the successful Communist coup of 1948. Zápotocký was a member of the Social Democratic Party for 20 years before the founding of the Communist

Frank Zappa: …His Own Words (2016) and Zappa (2020).

Frank Zappa was an American composer, guitarist, and satirist of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. Zappa was, in no apparent order, a first-rate cultural gadfly dedicated to upsetting American suburban complacency and puncturing the hypocrisy and pretensions of both the U.S. political establishment and

Frank Zappa was an American composer, guitarist, and satirist of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. Zappa was, in no apparent order, a first-rate cultural gadfly dedicated to upsetting American suburban complacency and puncturing the hypocrisy and pretensions of both the U.S. political establishment and

Lavinia Fontana: …Fontana married the minor painter Gian Paolo Zappi. He was willing to subordinate his career to her own; he also became her agent. After her marriage, Fontana sometimes signed her work with her married name. She enjoyed the patronage of the family of Pope Gregory XIII and painted the likenesses…

Lavinia Fontana was an Italian painter of the Mannerist school and one of the most important portraitists in Bologna during the late 16th century. She was one of the first women to execute large, publicly commissioned figure paintings. Fontana studied with her father, Prospero Fontana (c. 1512–97),

perciform: Annotated classification: Family Zaproridae (prowfish) A single species (Zaprora silenus) like a shorter, deeper-bodied prickleback; pelvic fins absent; size up to 2.8 metres (9 feet); deeper coastal waters to 350 metres (about 1,150 feet), California to Alaska. Family Scytalinidae (graveldivers) Eel-like, with dorsal and anal fins soft-rayed and not

The Zapruder film is a 26-second, 8-mm, silent, color film shot by Abraham Zapruder that shows the assassination of U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. It is the only known film to capture the entirety of the shooting and has been the subject of intense scrutiny since the

Zapruder film: Abraham Zapruder was a Russian-born fabric patternmaker who moved to Dallas in 1941 and went on to found a women’s clothing company located across the street from the Texas School Book Depository, from where Oswald allegedly would fire three shots—from behind the motorcade—to kill Kennedy…

Robert Mugabe: Early life and rise to power: …a breakaway from Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). In 1964 he was arrested for “subversive speech” and spent the next 10 years in prison. During that period he acquired law degrees by correspondence courses. While still in prison he led a coup in 1974 deposing Sithole as ZANU’s…

jumping mouse: The meadow, Pacific, and western jumping mice (Zapus hudsonius, Z. trinotatus, and Z. princeps, respectively) range over much of North America, in grasslands as well as riverine and wet meadow habitats of cool and moist forests. The only species found outside North America is the Sichuan…

jumping mouse: The meadow, Pacific, and western jumping mice (Zapus hudsonius, Z. trinotatus, and Z. princeps, respectively) range over much of North America, in grasslands as well as riverine and wet meadow habitats of cool and moist forests. The only species found outside North America is the Sichuan jumping mouse (Eozapus…

jumping mouse: The meadow, Pacific, and western jumping mice (Zapus hudsonius, Z. trinotatus, and Z. princeps, respectively) range over much of North America, in grasslands as well as riverine and wet meadow habitats of cool and moist forests. The only species found outside North America is the Sichuan jumping…

Al-Zaqāzīq: Zaqāzīq University (founded 1974) is also located in the city. Pop. (2006) 302,840.

Al-Zaqāzīq, city and capital of Al-Sharqiyyah muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Egypt, on the Nile River delta north-northeast of Cairo. The city dates from the 1820s, when cotton cultivation spread to the eastern delta, and is thought by some to have been named after a local family. The city expanded

zaju, one of the major forms of Chinese drama. The style originated as a short variety play in North China during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), and during the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368) it developed into a mature four-act dramatic form, in which songs alternate with dialogue. The zaju, or

South African Republic (SAR), 19th-century Boer state formed by Voortrekkers (Boer migrants from the British Cape Colony) in what is now northern South Africa. Its internationally recognized existence began with the Sand River Convention in 1852, when the British withdrew from the Southern African

Zadar, picturesque historical town in southwestern Croatia, the former capital of Dalmatia. It is located on the end of a low-lying peninsula that is separated by the Zadar Channel from the islands of Ugljan and Pašman. The inlet between the peninsula and the mainland creates a natural deepwater

Amancio Ortega: Ortega founded the first Zara ready-to-wear clothing store in A Coruña in 1975, and it became not only an internationally famous chain but also the flagship of holding company Inditex, which he founded 10 years later. He remained the majority owner of the holding company, which in 2008 included…

Ethiopia: The Zagwe and Solomonic dynasties: The great emperor Zara Yaqob (Zara Yakob; reigned 1434–68) conceded the latter point in 1450 at the Council of Debre Mitmaq, but he also initiated severe reforms in the church, eliminating abuses by strong measures and executing the leaders of heretical sects. Zara Yaqob also conducted an unsuccessful…

Ethiopia: The Zagwe and Solomonic dynasties: The great emperor Zara Yaqob (Zara Yakob; reigned 1434–68) conceded the latter point in 1450 at the Council of Debre Mitmaq, but he also initiated severe reforms in the church, eliminating abuses by strong measures and executing the leaders of heretical sects. Zara Yaqob also conducted an unsuccessful…

Siege of Zara, (1202), a major episode of the Fourth Crusade; the first attack on a Christian city by a crusading army, it foreshadowed the same army’s assault on Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, in 1203–04. Zara (modern Zadar, Croatia), a vassal city of the Venetian republic, rebelled

Sutlej River, longest of the five tributaries of the Indus River that give the Punjab (meaning “Five Rivers”) region its name. It rises on the north slope of the Himalayas in Lake La’nga in southwestern Tibet, at an elevation above 15,000 feet (4,600 metres). Flowing northwestward and then

Baḥr al-Zarāf, river, an arm of the Nile River in Al-Sudd region of South Sudan. It is formed in the swamps north of Shambe, diverting water from the Baḥr al-Jabal (Mountain Nile), and flows 150 miles (240 km) north, past Fangak, to join the Baḥr al-Jabal, 35 miles (56 km) west of Malakal. It is

Zaragoza, city, capital of Zaragoza provincia (province), in central Aragon comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), northeastern Spain. It lies on the south bank of the Ebro River (there bridged). Toward the end of the 1st century bce, the Celtiberian town of Salduba at the site was taken by the

Zaragoza, provincia (province) in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Aragon, northeastern Spain. Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, it formed the old kingdom of Aragon. It extends north and south of the middle course of the Ebro River; it reaches the foot of the

Cinco de Mayo: …under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated French troops at the Battle of Puebla, southeast of Mexico City; about 1,000 French troops were killed. Although the fighting continued and the French were not driven out for another five years, the victory at Puebla became a symbol of Mexican resistance…

Zaramo, a people who reside in the area surrounding Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, and comprise the major ethnic component in the city. The Zaramo are considered to be part of the cluster of Swahili peoples on the coast of East Africa who have incorporated elements from many diverse ethnic backgrounds

Latin American dance: The Southern Cone: …swaying soft step called a zarandeo (sarandeio in Portuguese), which is considered a flirting gesture. In the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, 22 documented gaucho dances are re-created by more than 1,000 performance groups within gaucho community centres (centros de tradicoes gaúchas). In Argentina the gaucho dances include…

Zárate, city, northeastern Buenos Aires provincia (province), eastern Argentina. It is located on the Paraná de las Palmas River, a channel of the lower Paraná River delta emptying into the Río de la Plata estuary northwest of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1825 as Rincón de Zárate, the settlement was

Zarathushtra was an Iranian religious reformer and prophet, traditionally regarded as the founder of Zoroastrianism. A major figure in the history of world religions, Zarathushtra has been the object of much scholarly attention, in large part because of his apparent monotheism (his concept of one

Zarathushtra was an Iranian religious reformer and prophet, traditionally regarded as the founder of Zoroastrianism. A major figure in the history of world religions, Zarathushtra has been the object of much scholarly attention, in large part because of his apparent monotheism (his concept of one

Marduk: …the consort of Marduk was Zarpanitu.

Francisco Salzillo was a sculptor, a prolific creator of figures for the Holy Week procession. He is considered by some authorities to be the greatest sculptor in 18th-century Spain and by others as merely an excellent folk artist. Growing up in provincial Murcia, he received his training from his

Asif Ali Zardari is the president of Pakistan (2008–13; 2024– ) and is the first to have completed a full term in office. Since the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, his wife and the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), he has been the de facto leader of the PPP. His

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is a dynastic figure in Pakistani politics—the son of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari—and the chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP; 2007– ) who briefly served as Pakistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (2022–23). Bhutto

Spanish literature: Women poets: …who wrote under the name Concha Zardoya, published 25 poetry collections between 1946 and 1987. She was born in Chile of Spanish parents and lived in Spain in the 1930s; she later spent three decades in the United States before returning in 1977 to Spain, where she remained until her…

Spanish literature: Women poets: …who wrote under the name Concha Zardoya, published 25 poetry collections between 1946 and 1987. She was born in Chile of Spanish parents and lived in Spain in the 1930s; she later spent three decades in the United States before returning in 1977 to Spain, where she remained until her…

John Boorman: From Deliverance to Hope and Glory: The science-fiction drama Zardoz (1974), with Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling, was long on stunning visuals but short on logic. The horror thriller Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), a sequel to the blockbuster hit The Exorcist (1973), was widely panned, though it later developed a cult following.

Balāsh: …uprising by his rebel brother Zareh. Later, however, he was abandoned by Zarmihr, and shortly afterward he was deposed and blinded. The crown was given to a son of Fīrūz, Kavadh I.

Zariadres, member of the Armenian Orontid dynasty who was appointed strategos (governor) of the Armenian kingdom of Sophene by the Seleucid king Antiochus III in 200 bce. After Antiochus was defeated by the Romans in the Battle of Magnesia in 190 bce, Zariadres and Artaxias—the strategos of the

mechanics of solids: Viscoelasticity: …made by the applied mathematicians Stanisław Zaremba and Gustav Andreas Johannes Jaumann in the first decade of the 1900s; they showed how to make tensorial definitions of stress rate that were invariant to superposed spin and thus were suitable for use in constitutive relations. But it was only during the…

Zaria, city, Kaduna state, north-central Nigeria, on the Kubanni River (a tributary of the Kaduna). Headquarters of the Zaria Local Government Council and the traditional Zaria emirate, it is served by road and rail and by an airport just to the northwest. Zaria is an old walled town. Probably

Zaria, historic kingdom, traditional emirate, and local government council in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, with its headquarters at Zaria (q.v.) city. The kingdom is traditionally said to date from the 11th century, when King Gunguma founded it as one of the original Hausa Bakwai (Seven True

Zariadres, member of the Armenian Orontid dynasty who was appointed strategos (governor) of the Armenian kingdom of Sophene by the Seleucid king Antiochus III in 200 bce. After Antiochus was defeated by the Romans in the Battle of Magnesia in 190 bce, Zariadres and Artaxias—the strategos of the

Bactria, ancient country lying between the mountains of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) in what is now part of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Bactria was especially important between about 600 bce and about 600 ce, serving for much of that time as a meeting place not

mathematics: Developments in pure mathematics: …work of the American mathematician Oscar Zariski, who had studied with the Italian school of algebraic geometers but came to feel that their method of working was imprecise. He worked out a detailed program whereby every kind of geometric configuration could be redescribed in algebraic terms. His work succeeded in…

playground: German-born Marie Zarkrzewska was one of the earliest female physicians in the United States. While in Berlin, Zarkrzewska had noted the simple piles of sand boarded by wooden planks that provided a safe, enclosed space for several children to engage in sand play. Based on her recommendation,…

Gioseffo Zarlino was a Venetian composer and writer on music, the most celebrated music theorist of the mid-16th century. Zarlino took deacon’s orders in 1541 and studied music under Adriaan Willaert at St. Mark’s in Venice, where in 1565 he became music director. Although he was esteemed as a

Zarma, a people of westernmost Niger and adjacent areas of Burkina Faso and Nigeria. The Zarma speak a dialect of Songhai, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family, and are considered to be a branch of the Songhai people. The Zarma live in the arid lands of the Sahel. Many live in the Niger

Songhai languages: With two million speakers, Zarma ranks among the major languages of Africa in terms of number of speakers. The other five major Songhai languages together have more than one million speakers: Western Songhai (with Djenne Chiini and Koyra Chiini as main varieties), Central Songhai (with Humburi Senni and Kaado…

Balāsh: Supported by Zarmihr, a feudal chief, Balāsh suppressed an uprising by his rebel brother Zareh. Later, however, he was abandoned by Zarmihr, and shortly afterward he was deposed and blinded. The crown was given to a son of Fīrūz, Kavadh I.

Marduk: …the consort of Marduk was Zarpanitu.

Spain: Science: …simplify the astrolabe, and finally al-Zarqālī (Azarquiel; died 1100) achieved success by inventing the apparatus called the azafea (Arabic: al-ṣafīḥah), which was widely used by navigators until the 16th century. Al-Zarqālī also anticipated Johannes Kepler by suggesting that the orbits of the planets are not circular but ovoid. The Arab…

mathematics: Islamic mathematics to the 15th century: …the Spanish Muslim astronomer al-Zarqallu invented a single plate that worked for all latitudes. Slightly earlier, astronomers in the East had experimented with plane projections of the sphere, and al-Bīrūnī invented such a projection that could be used to produce a map of a hemisphere. The culminating masterpiece was…

al-Qaeda in Iraq: …first appeared in 2004, when Abū Muṣʿab al-Zarqāwī, a Jordanian-born militant already leading insurgent attacks in Iraq, formed an alliance with al-Qaeda, pledging his group’s allegiance to Osama bin Laden in return for bin Laden’s endorsement as the leader of al-Qaeda’s franchise in Iraq. Al-Zarqāwī, who quickly came to be…

Al-Zarqāʾ, one of the largest cities in Jordan, located 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Amman. Once the site of a small Arab fortress, Al-Zarqāʾ marked the defense line east of Al-Ṣadaqah and west of Maʿān. Although in the 1920s Al-Zarqāʾ was a small Circassian village, it expanded rapidly after

Zarathushtra was an Iranian religious reformer and prophet, traditionally regarded as the founder of Zoroastrianism. A major figure in the history of world religions, Zarathushtra has been the object of much scholarly attention, in large part because of his apparent monotheism (his concept of one

Liamine Zeroual was the president of Algeria (1994–99). Zeroual joined the Algerian army at age 16 and fought against France during Algeria’s War of Independence. In 1965 Zeroual went to the Soviet Union for military training, after which he was posted to Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria, to head an

Georg Philipp Telemann: Life: …court orchestra) in Sorau (now Żary, Poland; 1705–08), then as concertmaster (first violinist) and later kapellmeister in Eisenach (1708–12). By playing, conducting, studying, and composing he gained the musical knowledge, practical experience, and facility in composing that were to be vital when he assumed the musical directorship of Frankfurt am…

space station: The International Space Station: …1998, the initial module, called Zarya, was designed to provide attitude control and solar power arrays for the nascent station. Shortly afterward, space shuttle astronauts ferried up and attached the first U.S.-built element, named Unity, a connecting node with multiple docking systems.

ancient Iran: The Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age): …Upper Paleolithic industry called the Zarzian. This tool tradition, probably dating to the period 12,000 to 10,000 bc, marks the end of the Iranian Paleolithic sequence.

zarzuela, form of Spanish or Spanish-derived musical theatre in which the dramatic action is carried through an alternating combination of song and speech. Topics of the libretti (texts of the productions) vary widely, ranging from stories derived from Greco-Roman mythology to tales of modern-day

gastronomy: Spanish and Portuguese: Another regional specialty is the zarzuela de mariscos, a Catalan seafood medley, a stew of fish, lobster, shrimp, scallops, clams, ham, almonds, white wine, and saffron. Fish is popular throughout Spain, especially cod, hake, and red snapper. Many people consider the Basque-style

zarzuela: …zarzuelas, which became known as zarzuela grande, disappeared until the early decades of the 20th century, when they made a comeback. Meanwhile, the shorter one- and, occasionally, two-act zarzuelas—including the teatro por horas—were grouped under the term género chico (“little genre”) to differentiate them from their longer counterparts.

zarzuela: … in Spanish, later known as zarzuelas parodias (“parody zarzuelas”), made a brief appearance during the mid-19th century. Typical zarzuelas parodias mocked Italian operas that had been successful in Spain by appropriating the music but introducing a new plot that ridiculed the original story line. The zarzuelas parodias were important because…

Eduardo Torroja: …Madrid: the grandstand at the Zarzuela racecourse and the sports hall. The shell roof of the racecourse cantilevers out some 43 feet (13 metres). Double cylindrical shells characterize the sports hall.

Zaskar Range, group of mountains in the Himalayas, south-central Asia, of northern India and the western Tibet Autonomous Region of China. They extend southeastward for some 400 miles (640 km) from the Karcha (Suru) River to the upper Karnali River. Kamet Peak (25,446 feet [7,756 meters]) is the

Soviet Union: Economic and social reforms: …by such radical scholars as Tatyana Zaslavskaya and Abel Aganbegyan. He accepted Zaslavskaya’s main point that the “command-administrative system” was dragging the country down and would ruin it if not dismantled.

za: …of nobles or of the zasu (head priests) of Shintō shrines or Buddhist temples. More than 80 guilds situated in the Nara region specialized in the manufacture or conveyance of paper, sake, salt, vegetable oil, and malt. Other guilds were organized by dancers, musicians, carpenters, and blacksmiths. The za gradually…

Vera Ivanovna Zasulich was a Russian revolutionary who shot and wounded General Fyodor F. Trepov, the governor of St. Petersburg, and who was acquitted by the jury in a much-publicized trial (1878). The daughter of a nobleman, Zasulich became a revolutionary in 1868, spending many of the succeeding

Gabriela Zapolska: Zaszumi las (1899; “The Forest Will Murmur”) is a roman à clef about Polish revolutionaries in Paris. Sezonowa miłość (1905; “Love in the Season”) is a novel about fashionable middle-class life in the resort town of Zakopane. She also wrote plays, mostly melodramas, that had…

Zatara and Zatanna: …Murphy Anderson introduced Zatara’s daughter, Zatanna, in Hawkman no. 4 (November 1964) with the premise that Zatara had mysteriously disappeared and that Zatanna had embarked on a quest to find him. Like her father, Zatanna was a stage magician who had real magic powers, which she too utilized by speaking…

Zatara and Zatanna: …writer and artist Fred Guardineer, Zatara was clearly inspired by Mandrake the Magician, the star of a long-running newspaper strip drawn by Lee Falk. Like Mandrake, Zatara was a stage magician who wore the traditional costume of top hat and tails. Zatara’s main distinguishing characteristic, however, was his trademark method…

Zatara and Zatanna, father-and-daughter comic strip superheroes who appeared in a variety of DC Comics publications. Both characters were accomplished stage illusionists who also possessed formidable magical powers. As created by writer and artist Fred Guardineer, Zatara was clearly inspired by

Elektrostal, city, Moscow oblast (province), western Russia. It lies 36 miles (58 km) east of Moscow city. The name, meaning “electric steel,” derives from the high-quality-steel industry established there soon after the October Revolution in 1917. During World War II, parts of the

Gulf of Gdańsk, southern inlet of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Poland on the west, south, and southeast and by Kaliningrad oblast (province) of Russia on the east. The gulf extends 40 miles (64 km) from north to south and 60 miles (97 km) from east to west and reaches its maximum depth, more than

Emil Zátopek was a Czech athlete who is considered one of the greatest long-distance runners in the history of the sport. He won the gold medal in the 10,000-metre race at the 1948 Olympics in London and three gold medals at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, in the 5,000- and

Vasily Aksyonov: …novels as Zatovarennaia bochkotara (1968; Surplussed Barrelware) and Ostrov Krym (1981; The Island of Crimea). His independent spirit had incurred the disfavour of the Soviet authorities beginning in the late 1960s. Because of his reputation and his involvement in the attempted publication of Metropol, an uncensored literary journal, in 1980…

The Magic Mountain, novel of ideas by Thomas Mann, originally published in German as Der Zauberberg in 1924. It is considered a towering example of the bildungsroman, a novel recounting the main character’s formative years. The Magic Mountain tells the story of Hans Castorp, a young German

Baltic religion: Religious personages: …persons were called sorcerers (Zauberer) and, according to church records, were treated by the Balts with the same reverence as bishops were treated by Christians.

Karl Gutzkow: His final well-known work, Der Zauberer von Rom (1858–61; “The Magician of Rome”), is a powerful study of Roman Catholic life in southern Germany.

The Magic Flute, singspiel in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with a German libretto by Austrian actor and theatrical producer Emanuel Schikaneder. The opera, Mozart’s last, premiered at the rustic Theater auf der Wieden near Vienna on September 30, 1791, not long before Mozart’s death on

Switzerland: The postwar period: In 1959 the so-called Zauberformel (“magic formula”) for the Federal Council was established, under which it was composed of two liberals, two conservatives, two Social Democrats, and one member of the peasant-based Swiss People’s Party. This formula, which persisted until 2003, permitted the government to sidestep party rivalries to…

Haile Selassie I: Zauditu, Menilek II’s daughter, thereupon became empress in 1917, and Ras Tafari was named regent and heir apparent to the throne.

John Zoffany was a German-born portrait painter who in late 18th-century England made his reputation with paintings depicting episodes from contemporary theatre and with portraits and conversation pieces (i.e., paintings of groups of people in their customary surroundings). Zoffany, after studying

John Zoffany was a German-born portrait painter who in late 18th-century England made his reputation with paintings depicting episodes from contemporary theatre and with portraits and conversation pieces (i.e., paintings of groups of people in their customary surroundings). Zoffany, after studying

Gaylen Gerber: …words), and Swiss text-based conceptualist Rémy Zaugg (who also explored words and their context and presentation). Gerber’s gray paintings, associated with institutional neutrality, integrated cohesively with the other diverse works. By becoming part of the background or architecture (indeed, these paintings were often titled Backdrop), Gerber’s works subtly foregrounded the…

Futurism: Literature: Their invented zaum—the largely untranslatable name given to their “transrational” language—was intended to take language beyond logical meanings in the direction of a new visionary mysticism. Kruchenykh’s opera Pobeda nad solncem (1913; “Victory over the Sun”) and Khlebnikov’s play Zangezi (1922) are two of the most-important examples…

John Zoffany was a German-born portrait painter who in late 18th-century England made his reputation with paintings depicting episodes from contemporary theatre and with portraits and conversation pieces (i.e., paintings of groups of people in their customary surroundings). Zoffany, after studying

ancient Iranian religion: Cultic practices, worship, and festivals: …early period a priest, the zautar (Vedic hotar), was required to properly carry out the yasna. The zautar might be assisted by a number of other ritual specialists. With the priest or priests acting on behalf of the sacrificer, the god or gods were invoked through the intermediary of Fire.…

Yury Alexandrovich Zavadsky was a Soviet actor, director, and teacher whose eclectic vision ranged from foreign classics to modern heroic drama. Zavadsky made his acting debut while studying with Eugene Vakhtangov, at whose theater he played Anthony in Maurice Maeterlinck’s The Miracle of St.

Cesare Zavattini was an Italian screenwriter, poet, painter, and novelist, known as a leading exponent of Italian Neorealism. Born into a humble family, Zavattini completed a law degree at the University of Parma and began a career in journalism and publishing. He wrote two successful comic

Emir Kusturica: The 21st century: …a Miracle) and Zavet (2007; Promise Me This). The former deals with life in a small Bosnian town as the war approaches, and the latter concerns the vow given by a grandfather to his grandson. Though both films are typically heartwarming, they are generally considered less successful and somewhat repetitive.…

Wenceslas II: …was dominated by the ambitious Zaviš of Falkenstein, his mother’s lover and later her husband. Wenceslas arrested Zaviš in 1289, destroyed the dissident faction, and executed his rival in 1290. Thereafter he governed his kingdom successfully, exploiting its natural resources and increasing its wealth. After annexing most of Upper Silesia,…