Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

451 results found

Allingham, Margery

(Encyclopedia)Allingham, Margery ălˈĭng-əm [key], 1904–66, English detective-story writer, b. London. Most of her novels feature Mr. Albert Campion, a scholarly detective of noble birth, bespectacled, mild, a...

Frederick the Fair

(Encyclopedia)Frederick the Fair, c.1286–1330, German antiking (1314–26), duke of Austria, son of Albert I, German king. On the death of Henry VII, Holy Roman emperor and German king, the split between the supp...

Crossfield, Scott

(Encyclopedia)Crossfield, Scott (Albert Scott Crossfield), 1921–2006, American aviator, b. Berkeley, Calif. A fighter pilot and flight instructor in the navy (1942–46) during World War II, he studied aeronautic...

Cooper, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Cooper, Samuel, 1609–72, one of the greatest English miniaturists. A student of Hoskins, he worked in London from c.1642. He painted portraits of numerous celebrated Englishmen. His draftsmanship an...

Widor, Charles Marie

(Encyclopedia)Widor, Charles Marie shärl märēˈ vēdōrˈ [key], 1845–1937, French organist and composer. He was organist at St. Sulpice from 1869 until his retirement in 1934. In 1891 he succeeded César Fran...

Wettin

(Encyclopedia)Wettin vĕtˈĭn [key], German dynasty, which ruled in Saxony, Thuringia, Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, and Bulgaria. It takes its name from a castle on the Saale near Halle. The family gained promi...

Lasker Awards

(Encyclopedia)Lasker Awards, prizes created in 1945 by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation (est. 1942) in recognition of achievement in several areas of medicine. Among the most prestigious honors in the field of...

Gotthelf, Jeremias

(Encyclopedia)Gotthelf, Jeremias yārāmēˈäs gôtˈhĕlf [key], 1797–1854, Swiss writer and clergyman. His real name was Albert Bitzius; his pen name is that of the hero of his autobiographical Bauernspiegel (...

Girtin, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Girtin, Thomas gûrˈtən [key], 1775–1802, English draftsman and watercolorist. He was apprenticed to an engraver but was employed, together with J. M. W. Turner, to make topographical drawings. Gi...

Ernest I

(Encyclopedia)Ernest I, 1784–1844, duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (see under Saxe-Coburg); brother of Leopold I of Belgium, uncle of Queen Victoria of England, and father of Victoria's consort, Prince Albert. He succe...