Dupont de Nemours (du˙-pōn dė nė-mör), Pierre Samuel, French political economist, born at Paris, Dec., 1739; died in America 1817. He early gained a reputation for his writings on commerce, and his exposition of the theories of the physiocrats, and was employed by Turgot and Vergennes in the public service. During the ministry of Calonne he became Councillor of State, and in 1787 was secretary to the Assembly of the Notables. He was twice president of the National Assembly. During the Revolution he opposed the extreme republicans, and narrowly escaped the guillotine at the downfall of Robespierre. From 1798 to 1802 he was in America, and on his return to France he refused all public office. He finally returned to America in 1815. Among his writings are: Philosophie de l'Univers, Vie de Turgot, and a translation of Ariosto.
Düppel (du˙p´l), a fortified village in Schleswig-Holstein, on the coast of the Little Belt. The place is of considerable strategical importance, and has been the scene of some severe struggles between the Danes, to whom it formerly belonged, and the Germans. It was captured by the Prussians in 1864, after a siege and bombardment which lasted nearly two months.
Dupuy, Charles Alexander, French statesman, born at Le Puy, Haute-Loire, in 1851. Educated at the Lycée of Le Puy and the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris, he was professor of philosophy at the colleges of Nantes and Aurillac, and afterwards vice-rector of the Corsican College at Ajaccio. He entered the Chamber of Deputies in 1885, was Minister of Public Instruction in 1889, and succeeded Ribot as Premier in 1893, but resigned and became President of the Chamber of Deputies. He was again Premier from 1894 to 1895, and from 1898 to 1899, and was elected to the Senate in 1900. He was Minister of Labour from 1912 to 1914.
Dupuytren (du˙-pu˙-i-trän), Guillaume, Baron, French surgeon and anatomist, born in 1777, died at Paris 1835. In 1812 he became professor of surgery, and in 1815 first surgeon to the Hôtel Dieu, Paris. In 1823 he was appointed first physician to Louis XVIII, and retained the same situation under Charles X. He was considered the first French surgeon of his day, made important discoveries in morbid anatomy, and invented several useful surgical instruments.
Duquesne (du˙-kān), Abraham, French admiral, born 1610, died 1688. In his seventeenth year he was in the sea-fight off Rochelle, and
distinguished himself during and after the year 1637 in the war against Spain. In 1647 he commanded the expedition against Naples. In the Sicilian War he thrice defeated the combined fleets of Holland and Spain, under the renowned De Ruyter. After he had reduced Algiers and Genoa, Louis XIV conferred upon him the fine estate of Bouchet, and made it a marquisate, with the title of Duquesne. He was a Protestant, and the only person exempted from the banishment of his sect, occasioned by the repeal of the Edict of Nantes.
Dura´men, the name given by botanists to the central wood or heart-wood in a tree trunk. It is harder than the newer wood that surrounds it, and is often dark-coloured from being impregnated with tannin and other antiseptic substances.
Durance (du˙-räns), a river of France, which rises in the Cottian Alps, and, after a course of about 180 miles, joins the Rhone about 4 miles below Avignon. Marseilles is supplied with water from the Durance.
Duran´go, a town in Mexico, capital of the state of Durango, about 500 miles N.W. of Mexico, on an elevation 6845 feet above the sea. It is well built, has a cathedral, a mint, manufactures of cotton and woollen goods and leather. Pop. 34,085.—The state (area, 42,272 sq. miles) is partly mountainous and unproductive, but has valuable gold-, silver-, and iron-mines, and also fertile tracts. Pop. 436,147 (1910); estimated pop. in 1919, 509,585.
Durante (dö-ra˙n´tā), Francesco, Italian musician, born 1684, died 1755. He attained a high degree of eminence in vocal church music, and he trained the most celebrated musical masters of the eighteenth century in Naples—Pergolese, Sacchini, Piccini, Guglielmi, and Jomelli.