Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

330 results found

Brel, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Brel, Jacques, 1929–1978, Belgian singer and songwriter. His literate and theatrical songs made him one of the 20th cent.'s most influential French-language songwriters and performers. He first sang...

Coppet

(Encyclopedia)Coppet kôpāˈ [key], village, Vaud canton, SW Switzerland, on the Lake of Geneva. It is noted for its château, once the residence of Jacques Necker and his daughter, Mme de Staël. ...

Messmer, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Messmer, Pierre (Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer) pyĕr mĕsmāˈ [key], 1916–, French political leader. In World War II he fought with the Free French forces before joining General de Gaulle's staff....

Doriot, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Doriot, Jacques zhäk dôryōˈ [key], 1888–1945?, French collaborator during the German occupation of France in World War II. For many years he served as the mayor of Saint-Denis, a Paris suburb. H...

Offenbach, Jacques Levy

(Encyclopedia)Offenbach, Jacques Levy ôˈfənbäk, Fr. zhäk lāvēˈ ôfĕnbäkˈ [key], 1819–80, French composer, b. Cologne. The son of a cantor, he went to Paris to study at the conservatory and in 1849 beca...

enragés

(Encyclopedia)enragés äNräzhāˈ [key], term applied to a small group of Parisian radical extremists in the French Revolution. Rising prices and food shortages provoked them in Feb.–Mar., 1793, to pillage the ...

Molay, Jacques de

(Encyclopedia)Molay, Jacques de zhäk də môlāˈ [key], 1243?–1314, last grand master of the Knights Templars. He distinguished himself in defending Palestine against the Saracens. After the Templars were drive...

Bourges

(Encyclopedia)Bourges bo͞orzh [key], city, capital of Cher dept., central France. It is a transportation c...

Faguet, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Faguet, Émile āmēlˈ fägāˈ [key], 1847–1916, French literary critic and historian. His prolific studies stimulated interest in French intellectual history of the 17th, 18th, and 19th cent. His...

Liniers, Jacques de

(Encyclopedia)Liniers, Jacques de, Span. Santiago de Liniers y de Bremond säntēäˈgō ᵺā lēnēārsˈ ē ᵺā brāmōndˈ [key], 1753–1810, French officer in Spanish service, viceroy of Río de la Plata. A...
 

Browse by Subject