Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Vélez de Guevara, Luis

(Encyclopedia)Vélez de Guevara, Luis lo͞oēsˈ vāˈlāth ᵺā gāväˈrä [key], 1579?–1644, Spanish playwright and novelist. He was a follower of Lope de Vega and wrote many popular plays noted for their poe...

Rousseau, Jean Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Rousseau, Jean Jacques ro͞osōˈ [key], 1712–78, Swiss-French philosopher, author, political theorist, and composer. Rousseau's influence on posterity has been equaled by only a few, and it is...

Pompidou, Georges Jean Raymond

(Encyclopedia)Pompidou, Georges Jean Raymond zhôrzh pôNpēdo͞oˈ [key], 1911–74. French political leader, president of France (1969–74). Georges Pompidou taught school and then served in World War II until t...

Gobelins, Manufacture nationale des

(Encyclopedia)Gobelins, Manufacture nationale des mänüfäktürˈ näsēônälˈ dā gôblăNˈ [key], state-controlled tapestry manufactory in Paris. It was founded as a dye works in the mid-15th cent. by Jean Go...

Oberlin, Jean Frédéric

(Encyclopedia)Oberlin, Jean Frédéric zhäN frādārēkˈ ôbĕrlăNˈ [key], 1740–1826, Alsatian Lutheran clergyman. He was appointed in 1767 to a pastorate in Ban-de-la-Roche, Bas-Rhin dept., France. Oberlin i...

Balzac, Honoré de

(Encyclopedia)Balzac, Honoré de bălˈzăk, bôl–, Fr. ōnôrāˈ də bälzäkˈ [key], 1799–1850, French novelist, b. Tours. Balzac ranks among the great masters of the novel. Of a bourgeois family, he himsel...

Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de

(Encyclopedia)Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de də bälzäkˈ [key], 1597?–1654, French writer. His Lettres (1624, tr. 1634) and other writings were a great influence in reforming French prose. Their style was marked ...

Lemoyne, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Lemoyne, Jean Baptiste ləmwänˈ [key], 1704–78, French sculptor. Much of his work, including three equestrian statues of Louis XV, was destroyed in the French Revolution. His picturesque portrait...

Machaut, Guillaume de

(Encyclopedia)Machaut, Guillaume de gēyōmˈ də mäshōˈ [key], c.1300–1377, French poet and composer. Variants of his name include Machault, de Machaudio, and de Mascaudio. He studied theology and took holy o...

Browse by Subject