Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Encyclopédie

(Encyclopedia)Encyclopédie äNsēklôpādēˈ [key], the work of the French Encyclopedists, or philosophes. The full title was Encyclopédie; ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts, et des métiers. Thi...

Austen, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Austen, Jane ôˈstən [key], 1775–1817, English novelist. The daughter of a clergyman, she spent the first 25 years of her life at “Steventon,” her father's Hampshire vicarage. Here her first n...

Michelet, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Michelet, Jules zhül mēshəlāˈ [key], 1798–1874, French writer, the greatest historian of the romantic school. Born in Paris of poor parents, he visualized himself throughout his life as a champ...

Massif Central

(Encyclopedia)Massif Central mäsēfˈ säNträlˈ [key] [Fr.,=central highlands], great mountainous plateau, c.33,000 sq mi (85,470 sq km), S central France, covering almost a sixth of the surface of the country. ...

Mayo, Charles Horace

(Encyclopedia)Mayo, Charles Horace māˈō [key], 1865–1939, American surgeon, b. Rochester, Minn., M.D. Northwestern Univ., 1888. He specialized in goiter and cataract operations. His brother, William James Mayo...

Fokine, Michel

(Encyclopedia)Fokine, Michel mēshĕlˈ fōkēnˈ, Rus. fôˈkyĭn [key], 1880–1942, Russian-American choreographer and ballet dancer, b. Russia. He studied at the Imperial Ballet School (1889–98) and danced at...

Jacob, Max

(Encyclopedia)Jacob, Max zhäkôbˈ [key], 1876–1944, French writer and painter, b. Brittany. His dream-inspired verse, plays, novels, and paintings bridged and gave impetus to the symbolist and surrealist schoo...

École des Beaux-Arts

(Encyclopedia)École des Beaux-Arts ākôlˈ dā bōzärˈ [key][Fr.,=school of fine arts], French national school of fine arts, on the Quai Malaquais, Paris, founded in 1648 by Charles Le Brun with the consent of ...

Duhem, Pierre Maurice Marie

(Encyclopedia)Duhem, Pierre Maurice Marie pyĕr mōrēsˈ märēˈ düĕmˈ [key], 1861–1916, French physicist and philosopher and historian of science. After studying at the École Normale Supérieure he taught ...

Claudel, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Claudel, Paul klōdĕlˈ [key], 1868–1955, French dramatist, poet, and diplomat. He was ambassador to Tokyo (1921–27), Washington, D.C. (1927–33), and Brussels (1933–35). Claudel's writings d...