Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/80

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
54
RIGHT

RIMSKY-KORSAKOFF 54 RINEHART lamo with a picture of that saint by Guer- cino. The ancient castle of the Malatesta is now used as a prison. The little river on which the city stands is spanned by a white marble Roman bridge, 236 feet long, with five arches. Beside one of the gates stands the triumphal arch, 46 feet high, erected in honor of Augustus. The spot where Csesar stood to address his soldiers after crossing the Rubicon (about 10 miles N. W. of Rimini) is marked in one of the squares by a monu- mental pillar. The city manufactures silks and sail cloth. Pop. about 50,000. One of its suburbs, half a mile distant on the seashore, is much visited for sea- bathing. Originally an Umbrian, and then for several centuries an Etruscan city, Rimini (Ariminum) fell into the hands of the Romans in 269 B. c. They made it the N. terminus of the Flamin- ian Way from Rome, and the S. termi- nus of the ./Emilian Way to Piacenza and of the Popilian Way to Venice, and utilized the advantages of its position as a seaport for communicating with the E. side of the Adriatic. After being battled for by Goths and Byzantines, and held by the latter, the Lombards, and the Franks, it became a shuttlecock between the emperor and the Pope. At last, weary of this alternation of mas- ters, neither of whom profited her, Ri- mini put herself under the protection of the House of Malatesta (1237), whose chiefs soon made themselves absolute masters of her fortunes. Among the tragic episodes that marked the family history of these rulers may be mentioned the killing of Francesca da Rimini and her lover by his brother, and the story of Parisina, the subject of Byron's poem. The most famous or rather infamous member of the family was Sigismund© (1417-1468), a brave and skilful soldier, a scholar, a patron of the fine arts, but a man of brutal animal passions and with no sense of right and wrong. The head of the house sold his rights over Rimini to the Venetians in 1503, but the Pope wrested them to himself in 1528 and kept them till 1860. RIMSKY-KORSAKOFF, NICHOLAS ANDREIEVICH, a Russian composer; born at Tikhvin, Government of Novgo- rod, March 18, 1844. In 1856 he entered the Naval College in St. Petersburg, re- maining until 1862, when he was sent on a three years' cruise. Thereafter re- suming his musical studies, he became one of the foremost of Russian compos- ers. Among the most important of his many operas are: "A Night in May" (1878); "The Snow Maiden" (1882); "Mlada" (1893) ; "Christmas Eve" (1895) ; "The Czar's Bride" (1898) ; "The Tale of Czar Saltana" (1900). His operas, which are based on national subjects, are little known outside of Russia. He died at St. Petersburg, June 20, 1908. RIMTJ, a New Zealand tree (Dacry- dium cupressinum) of the yew family. It grows to a height of 80 to 100 feet, and from two to six feet in diameter. Its wood i3 valued for general building purposes. RINDERPEST. See Cattle - PLAGUE. RINEHART, MARY ROBERTS, an American author and playwright; born at Pittsburgh, Pa.; educated to be a trained nurse and married Dr. Stanley Rinehart in 1896. Her literary efforts were first noticed in 1908 when she came before the public with "The Circular MARY ROBERTS RINEHART Staircase." She was recognized at once as an author of great power and her success since then has been unabated. "Bab — a Sub-Deb," and "Dangerous Days" might be cited as representative of her more recent work, and in the dramatic field "Seven Days," produced at the Astor Theater in New York in 1909, and "The Bat" (1920) have ex- emplified her skill and charm, and her