Doni, a clumsy kind of boat used on the coast
of Coromandel and Ceylon; sometimes decked, and occasionally furnished with an outrigger. The donis are about 70 feet long, 20 feet broad, and 12 feet deep, have one mast and a lug-sail, and are navigated in fine weather only.
Donizet´ti, Gaetano, Italian composer, born in 1797 at Bergamo, died 8th April, 1848. He studied music at Bologna under the distinguished Abbé Mattei. His first opera, Enrico di Borgogna, was represented at Venice in 1818. In 1822 his Zoraïde di Granata gained him the honour of being crowned on the Capitol. In 1830 appeared his Anna Bolena, which first, along with Lucrezia Borgia and Lucia di Lammermoor—the latter his masterpiece—acquired for him a European fame. In 1835 Donizetti was appointed professor of counterpoint at the Royal College of Naples, but removed in 1840 to Paris, bringing with him three new operas, Les Martyrs, La Favorita, and La Fille du Régiment, of which the last two are amongst his most popular productions. Of his other operas none except Linda di Chamounix (1842) and Don Pasquale (1843) achieved any special triumph. He wrote in all as many as seventy operas.
Donjon, the principal tower of a castle, situated in the innermost court or bailey, which the garrison could make the last line of defence. Its lower part was commonly used as a prison.
Don Juan (Sp. pron. hu¨-a˙n´), the hero of a Spanish legend which seems to have had some historical basis in the history of a member of the noble family of Tenorio at Seville. According to the legend, Don Juan was a libertine of the most reckless character. An attempt to seduce the daughter of the Governor of Seville brought the indignant father and the profligate don into deadly conflict, in which the former was slain. Don Juan afterwards, in a spirit of wild mockery, goes to the grave of the murdered man and invites the statue of him erected there to a revel. To the terror of Don Juan the 'stony guest' actually appears at the table to bear him away to the infernal world. The legend has furnished the subject for many dramas and operas. The most famous of the latter is Mozart's Don Giovanni, which has made the story familiar to everybody. Amongst the former are Burlador de Sevilla by Tellez, Don Juan, ou Le Festin de Pierre by Molière (1665), and The Libertine by Shadwell. The Don Juan of Byron bears no relation to the old story but in name and in the libertine character of the hero. Among the modern authors who have made use of the theme are: Prosper Mérimée, in Les âmes du purgatoire; A. Dumas, in Don Juan de Marana; Bernard Shaw, in Man and Superman; and José Zorilla, in Don Juan Tenorio.—Cf. Gendarme de Bévotte, La Légende de Don Juan.
Donkey-engine, a small engine used in various operations where no great power is required. Thus a donkey-engine is often stationed on the deck of a ship to work a crane for loading and unloading.
Donnay, Maurice Charles, French dramatist, born in Paris in 1859. His first work, Phryné, was produced in 1891, and was followed by an adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata. His later works include: Douloureuse (1897), Le Torrent (1898), L'Affranchie (1898), L'Autre Danger (1901), Le Retour de Jérusalem (1903), Le Ménage de Molière (1912). He was elected to the Académie Française in 1907.
Donne, John, a celebrated poet and dean of St. Paul's, was the son of a merchant of London, in which city he was born in 1573. He studied both at Oxford and Cambridge. In his nineteenth year he abjured the Catholic religion, and became secretary to the Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, but finally lost his office by a clandestine marriage with his patron's niece, a daughter of Sir George More. The young couple were in consequence reduced to great distress, till his father-in-law relented so far as to give his daughter a moderate portion. In 1610 he wrote for the king the Pseudo-Martyr, and in 1612 he published a philosophical poem, The Progress of the Soul. By the desire of King James, Donne took orders, and, settling in London, was made preacher of Lincoln's Inn. In 1621 he was appointed Dean of St. Paul's. He was chosen prolocutor to the Convocation from 1623-4. He died in March, 1631, and was interred in St. Paul's. As a poet, Donne stands extremely high, and may be deemed the founder of what Dr. Johnson calls the metaphysical class of poets. Abounding in thought, this school generally neglected versification, and that of Dr. Donne was peculiarly harsh and unmusical. His style is quaint and pedantic; but he displays sound learning, deep thinking, and originality of manner. A collection of his poems appeared in 1633, and they include: The Storm, The Calm, The Blossom, and Upon Parting with his Mistress. He also wrote Letters, Sermons, Essays on Divinity, and other pieces.—Cf. E. Gosse, Life and Letters of John Donne.
Donnybrook, formerly a village, Ireland, now a suburb of Dublin. Its famous fair, instituted under King John in 1204, and which seldom passed off without riot and bloodshed, was abolished in 1855.
Don Republic, a republic in south-eastern Russia, formerly a government of imperial Russia, and known as the Don Cossacks' Territory. The republic was proclaimed in Jan., 1918; its capital is Novo-Tscherkask.