Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Verlaine, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Verlaine, Paul pōl vĕrlĕnˈ [key], 1844–96, French poet. He gained some notice with the Parnassian poetry of Poèmes saturniens (1866) and Fêtes galantes (1869) and became a figure in the bohemi...

Daubenton, Louis Jean Marie

(Encyclopedia)Daubenton, Louis Jean Marie lwē zhäN märēˈ dōbäNtôNˈ [key], 1716–1800, French naturalist. He was a professor at the Collège de France from 1778; his work touched many fields—comparative ...

Conti

(Encyclopedia)Conti kôNtēˈ [key], cadet branch of the French royal house of Bourbon. Although the title of prince of Conti was created in the 16th cent., the founder of the continuous line was Armand de Bourbon,...

Vincennes, Jean Baptiste Bissot, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Vincennes, Jean Baptiste Bissot, sieur de fräNswäˈ märēˈ [key], 1700–1736, b. Montreal, was called François Margane after his godfather and uncle. He served as a cadet under his father from 1...

Le Vau, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Le Vau, Louis lwē lə vō [key], 1612–70, French architect, involved in most of the important building projects for Louis XIV. He settled on the Île Saint-Louis, where he built his own house and t...

Gérard, Jean Ignace Isidore

(Encyclopedia)Gérard, Jean Ignace Isidore zhäN ēnyäsˈ ēzēdôrˈ zhārärˈ [key], 1803–47, French caricaturist, illustrator, and lithographer, better known as Grandville. He is noted for his spirited caric...

Jones, John Paul

(Encyclopedia)Jones, John Paul, 1747–92, American naval hero, b. near Kirkcudbright, Scotland. His name was originally simply John Paul. After the Revolution Jones was sent to Europe to collect the prize mone...

Chilpancingo

(Encyclopedia)Chilpancingo ᵺā lōs bräˈvōs [key], city, capital of Guerrero state, S Mexico. Chilpancingo serves as ...

Rambouillet, Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de

(Encyclopedia)Rambouillet, Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de kätrēnˈ də vēvônˈ märkēzˈ də räNbo͞oyāˈ [key], 1588–1665, famous Frenchwoman, whose salon exercised a profound influence on French liter...

Weiss, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Weiss, Peter pāˈtər vīs [key], 1916–82, German-Swedish dramatist, novelist, film director, and painter. Weiss's early novels Abschied von den Eltern (1961; tr. Leavetaking, 1962) and Fluchtpunkt...

Browse by Subject