DAY
DEFFAND
rieure. He taught history at, in succession,
Perigueux, Saint-Omer, Mont-de-Marsan,
Angers, and Nancy. He was dean of the
faculty of letters, Nancy, 1886-90, then
Inspector - General of Education. Since
1906 he has held a chair of literature at
Paris, and he is an Officer of the Legion
of Honour and member of the Academy.
His L Eglise Catholique et I Etat sous la
troisieme Eepubliquc (2 vols., 1906) is a
valuable Eationalist chronicle of the recent
relations of Church and State.
DAY, Helen Hamilton Gardener,
American writer. B. June 21, 1858. Ed. Cincinnati High and Normal Schools. Daughter of a clergyman, she did post graduate work in medicine and biology, and developed a thorough Eationalism ; see her Men, Women, and Gods, and Facts and Fictions of Life (1895). As Miss Gardener she was well known among the social and ethical workers of New York. She has travelled in thirty countries, lectured much for the University Extension, and been Sociological Lecturer to the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. She married Col. Day in 1901.
DE BOSIS, Adolfo, Italian poet. He was educated in law and practised, then became Director of a large commercial enterprise, but is one of the leading poets and literary men of modern Italy. His first volume of verse was published in 1881. He co-operated with D Annunzio in founding II Convito, and is a Cavalliere of the Crown of Italy. His Agnosticism and ardent humanitarianism are especially expressed in his Amori ac Silentio (1914). He scouts the Christian message, and urges us to turn away from " the double mystery of the where and whence " (in poem " Ai Convalescent! ") Signer De Bosis intensely admires Shelley (" Percy 1 arcangelo "), and shares his passion for humanity.
DEBUSSY, Claude Achille, French
composer. B. Aug. 22, 1862. He entered
the Paris Conservatoire at the age of eleven.
199
Among other prizes he secured the Prix de-
Eome (1884), and went to Italy to complete
his studies. His work was recognized as
of great distinction, and in 1902 his
symphonic poems L apres-midi d un faune
and Pelleas et Melisande were discussed
throughout the whole musical world. He
was now regarded as " one of the greatest
musicians of his generation " and leader
of the native French school, as distinct
from German influence. His themes so
frequently taken from Mallarrne, Verlaine,
Baudelaire, etc. sufficiently indicated his.
entire rejection of creeds, and he had a
secular funeral. D. Mar. 26, 1918.
DE COSTER, Charles, Belgian writer. B. Aug. 20, 1827. Ed. Brussels. De Coster was the son of a high official of the Papal Embassy at Brussels. He was educated in law, and became a distinguished lawyer, but he deserted the bar for letters. For some years he was professor of literature at Ixelles Military Academy. His Legende de Thyl Ulenspiegcl (1868) is a masterly description, in the form of a story, of Flemish life in the days of the Inquisition. It is one of the finest pieces of Belgian literature. A monument was erected to De Coster at Ixelles in 1894. D. May 7, 1879.
DE DOMINICIS, Professor Saverio,
Italian educationist. B. Sep. 22, 1845. Ed. Higher Normal School, Pisa. He was one of the first Italians to adopt Darwinism, which he vigorously defended against the clergy (see, especially, La pedagogia e il Danuinismo, 1877, and La dottrina dell evoluzione, 1878). Professor De Dominicis he is professor of paedagogy at Pavia University is especially interested in education, and has written a large number of works on teaching, as well as a series of manuals of moral instruction for the use of Italian schools. He is a Posi- tivist.
DEFFAND, Marie Anne de Yichy- Chamrond, Marquise du. B. 1697. Ed.. 200
