Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Montale, Eugenio

(Encyclopedia)Montale, Eugenio āo͞ojĕˈnyō mōntäˈlā [key], 1896–1981, Italian poet, critic, and translator. After working as an editor, Montale became chief librarian of the Gabinetto Vieusseux in Florenc...

Dick, Philip K.

(Encyclopedia)Dick, Philip K. (Philip Kindred Dick), 1928–82, American science-fiction writer, b. Chicago. Dick often wrote of the psychological states of individuals caught in altered realities where the everyda...

butoh

(Encyclopedia)butoh [Jap.,=dance of darkness], avant-garde dance form developed in post–World War II Japan. First performed in 1959 by the dancers Tatsumi Hijikata (1928–86) and Kazuo Ohno (1906–2010), butoh ...

Vidal, Gore

(Encyclopedia)Vidal, Gore (Eugene Luther Gore Vidal, Jr.), 1925–2012, American writer, b. West Point, N.Y. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where a formative influence was his witty and scholarly grandfather, Sena...

gavotte

(Encyclopedia)gavotte gəvŏtˈ [key], originally a peasant dance of the Gavots in upper Dauphiné, France. A type of circle dance characterized by lively, skipping steps, it was introduced at the court of Louis XI...

Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon

(Encyclopedia)Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon yän pēˈtərsōn swāˈlĭngk [key], 1562–1621, Dutch organist and composer, called the “maker of German organists” because the succession of his pupils descended di...

Bache, Jules Semon

(Encyclopedia)Bache, Jules Semon, 1861–1944, American banker and art collector, b. New York City. He made an immense fortune on Wall St., organized the banking firm of J. S. Bache and Company, and was director of...

Tura, Cosmé

(Encyclopedia)Tura, Cosmé or Cosimo kōzmāˈ to͞oˈrä, kôˈzēmō [key], c.1430–1495, Italian Renaissance artist. He was a leading master of the school of Ferrara and court painter to the city's ruling Este ...

Wilson, Colin

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Colin, 1931–2013, English writer, b. Leicester. Born into a working-class family and largely self-educated, Wilson in many of his books exhorts humankind to expand its powers and realize its...

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm nēˈchə [key], 1844–1900, German philosopher, b. Röcken, Prussia. The son of a clergyman, Nietzsche studied Greek and Latin at Bonn and Leipz...
 

Browse by Subject