Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

La Fontaine, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Fontaine, Jean de zhäN də [key], 1621–95, French poet, whose celebrated fables place him among the masters of world literature. He was born at Château-Thierry to a bourgeois family. A restless...

Aristide, Jean-Bertrand

(Encyclopedia)Aristide, Jean-Bertrand zhänˈ bĕrträndˈ äˌrēstēdˈ [key], 1953–, president of Haiti (1991, 1994–96, 2001–4). A radical Catholic priest who defended liberation theology, he worked among ...

Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de pōl fräNswäˈ zhäN nēkōläˈ, vēkôNtˈ də bäräˈ [key], 1755–1829, French revolutionary. Although of a noble family, he joined the Jacobins...

Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de (Cardinal Richelieu) plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1585–1642, French prelate and statesman, chief minister of King Louis XIII, cardinal of the Ro...

Geffrard, Nicholas Fabre

(Encyclopedia)Geffrard, Nicholas Fabre nēkôläˈ fäˈbrə zhĕfrärˈ [key], 1806–79, president of Haiti (1859–67). He took part (1843) in the revolt against Jean Pierre Boyer and led the insurrection that o...

Getty, Jean Paul

(Encyclopedia)Getty, Jean Paul, 1892–1976, American business executive, one of the richest men in the world during his life, b. Minneapolis, Minn. He inherited his father's oil business, George F. Getty, Inc., be...

Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron, 1768–1830, French mathematician and physicist. He was noted for his researches on heat and on numerical equations. He originated Fourier's theorem on vibratory ...

Hämeenlinna

(Encyclopedia)Hämeenlinna hăˈmānlĭnˌnä [key], Swed. Tavastehus, city, capital of Southern Finland pr...

David d'Angers

(Encyclopedia)David d'Angers or Pierre-Jean David dävēdˈ däNzhāˈ; pyĕr-zhäN [key], 1788–1856, French sculptor. His works are numerous and present national figures, often nude, in statues, busts, reliefs, ...

eau de Cologne

(Encyclopedia)eau de Cologne ō də kəlōnˈ [key], dilute perfume [commonly called cologne in English] introduced c.1709 in Cologne, Germany, by Jean Marie Farina. It was probably a modification of a popular form...
 

Browse by Subject