Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Chamberlain, John

(Encyclopedia)Chamberlain, John, 1927–2011, American sculptor, b. Rochester, Ind. In the late 1950s, Chamberlain became known for his welded abstract assemblages of smashed automobile parts and colored scrap meta...

Camões, Luís de

(Encyclopedia)Camões or Camoens, Luís de both: lo͞oēshˈ dĭ kəmoiNshˈ [key], 1524?–1580, Portuguese poet, the greatest figure in Portuguese literature. Born of a poor family, Camões gained wide familiarit...

Schleiermacher, Friedrich Daniel Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Schleiermacher, Friedrich Daniel Ernst frēˈdrĭkh däˈnyĕl ĕrnst shlīˈərmäkhˌər [key], 1768–1834, German Protestant theologian, b. Breslau. He broke away from the Moravian Church and stud...

Goldwater, Barry Morris

(Encyclopedia)Goldwater, Barry Morris, 1909–98, U.S. senator (1953–65, 1969–87), b. Phoenix, Ariz. He studied at the Univ. of Arizona, but left in 1929 to enter his family's department-store business. After n...

Catullus

(Encyclopedia)Catullus (Caius Valerius Catullus) kətŭlˈəs [key], 84? b.c.–54? b.c., Roman poet, b. Verona. Of a well-to-do family, he went c.62 b.c. to Rome. He fell deeply in love, probably with Clodia, sist...

Mellon Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Mellon Foundation, officially the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, philanthropic trust formed (1969) through the merger of the Avalon Foundation (est. 1940 by Ailsa Mellon Bruce) and the Old Dominion Foun...

Léger, Fernand

(Encyclopedia)Léger, Fernand fĕrnäNˈ lāzhāˈ [key], 1881–1955, French painter. Léger first studied architecture, then he began to paint, studying briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts. He became known for h...

Antiphon, Athenian orator

(Encyclopedia)Antiphon ănˈtĭfŏn, –fən [key], c.479–411 b.c., Athenian orator. He rarely spoke in public but wrote defenses for others to speak. Of his 15 extant orations 3 were for use in court, the rest p...

Smith, Walter Bedell

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Walter Bedell, 1895–1961, U.S. general, b. Indianapolis, Ind. He enlisted (1910) in the Indiana National Guard, won a commission in the U.S. army (1918), and advanced to the rank of lieutenan...
 

Browse by Subject