Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Whitgift, John

(Encyclopedia)Whitgift, John hwĭtˈgĭft [key], 1530?–1604, archbishop of Canterbury. He was a fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge. As vice chancellor (1573) he had a leading part in revising the university statutes...

Zane, Ebenezer

(Encyclopedia)Zane, Ebenezer, 1747–1811, American pioneer and land speculator, b. near what is now Moorefield, W.Va. (then Virginia). With his brothers Silas and Jonathan, he went west in 1769 and established the...

Simkhovitch, Mary Kingsbury

(Encyclopedia)Simkhovitch, Mary Kingsbury sĭmkōˈvĭch [key], 1867–1951, American social worker, b. Chestnut Hill, Mass., grad. Boston Univ., 1890. After further study at Radcliffe, Columbia, and the Univ. of B...

Greene, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Greene, Robert, 1558?–1592, English author. His short romances, written in the manner of Lyly's Euphues, include Pandosto (1588), from which Shakespeare drew the plot for A Winter's Tale, and Menaph...

Anderson, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Jack (Jackson Northman Anderson), 1922–2005, American newspaper columnist, b. Long Beach, Calif. After serving as a Mormon missionary (1941–44) and a term as a war correspondent during 1...

Ford Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Ford Foundation, philanthropic institution, established (1936) in Michigan by Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, for the general purpose of advancing human welfare. Until 1950 the foundation was involved ...

Lucas van Leyden

(Encyclopedia)Lucas van Leyden lüˈkäs vän līˈdən [key], 1494–1533, Dutch historical and genre painter and engraver. With Lucas, Dutch painting of scenes from daily life may be said to begin. His art is not...

Burnet, David Gouverneur

(Encyclopedia)Burnet, David Gouverneur gŭvˌəno͝orˈ bûrˈnĭt [key], 1788–1870, provisional president of Texas (1836), b. Newark, N.J.; son of William Burnet (1730–91). He went to Texas c.1817, and his leg...

Vianney, Saint Jean-Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Vianney, Saint Jean-Baptiste zhäN-bätēstˈ vyänāˈ [key], 1786–1859, French parish priest, popularly known as the Curé d'Ars, b. Dardilly, near Lyons. He came of poor, peasant stock and receiv...

Versace, Gianni

(Encyclopedia)Versace, Gianni (Giovanni Maria Versace), 1946–97, Italian fashion designer, b. Reggio Calabria. A dressmaker's son, Versace worked for several Italian designers before opening (1978) his own Milan ...