Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Obadiah, persons in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Obadiah ōˌbədīˈə [key], in the Bible. 1 Prophet, author of the book of Obadiah. 2 Ahab's major-domo. 3 Descendant of David. 4 One of David's mighty men. 5 Prince under Jehoshaphat. 6 Repairer of...

Isabey, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Isabey, Jean Baptiste zhäN bätēstˈ ēzäbāˈ [key], 1767–1855, French portrait painter and miniaturist. He was a pupil of J. L. David and was greatly influenced by Fragonard. His portraits are ...

Chandler, Zachariah

(Encyclopedia)Chandler, Zachariah, 1813–79, U.S. Senator from Michigan (1857–75, 1879) and Secretary of the Interior (1875–77), b. Bedford, N.H. He moved to Detroit in 1833 and through merchandising, land spe...

Fry, Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Fry, Christopher, 1907–2005, English dramatist, b. Bristol as Christopher Fry Harris. Like his friend and mentor, T. S. Eliot, he was one of the few 20th-century dramatists to write successfully in ...

Gamaliel of Jabneh

(Encyclopedia)Gamaliel of Jabneh jăbˈnē [key], fl. a.d. 100, Jewish scholar; grandson of the Gamaliel who, according to tradition, taught St. Paul the law. A Palestinian Tanna, he succeeded Johanan ben Zakkai as...

Miller, Glenn

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Glenn (Alton Glenn Miller), 1904–44, American jazz trombonist, bandleader, and composer, b. Clarinda, Iowa. Playing in Ben Pollack's band by 1927, he was a freelance musician in New York Cit...

Burbage, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Burbage, Richard bûrˈbĭj [key], 1567?–1619, first great English actor. The leading tragedian of the Chamberlain's Men, he originated the title roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and Ri...

Webster, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Webster, Margaret, 1905–72, American actress, producer, and director, b. New York City; daughter of Ben Webster and Dame May Whitty. Webster made her formal acting debut in 1924. After working with ...

Amnon

(Encyclopedia)Amnon. In the Bible, David's eldest son. He raped his half-sister Tamar and was killed for it by her brother Absalom.

elaphure

(Encyclopedia)elaphure: see Père David's deer. ...

Browse by Subject