Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Vestris, Gaetan

(Encyclopedia)Vestris, Gaetan gäātäNˈ vĕsˈtrēs [key], 1729–1808, Italian-French classical dancer, b. Florence. Vestris was one of the greatest dancers of the 18th cent. Born of an Italian theatrical family...

Morny, Charles Auguste Louis Joseph, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Morny, Charles Auguste Louis Joseph, duc de shärl ōgüstˈ lwē zhôzĕfˈ dük də môrnēˈ [key], 1811–65, French statesman; illegitimate son of Hortense de Beauharnais and the comte de Flahaut...

Bourmont, Louis Auguste, comte de Ghaisnes de

(Encyclopedia)Bourmont, Louis Auguste, comte de Ghaisnes de lwē ôgüstˈ kôNt də gân də bo͞ormôNˈ [key], 1773–1846, marshal of France. An émigré, he fought against the French Revolution under the princ...

Degas, Edgar

(Encyclopedia)Degas, Edgar (Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas) ēlĕrˈ zhĕrmăNˈ ĕdgärˈ dəgäˈ [key], 1834–1917, French painter and sculptor, b. Paris; son of a banker. Although prepared for the law, he abandon...

Fort Caroline

(Encyclopedia)Fort Caroline, settlement near the mouth of the St. Johns River, NE Fla.; est. 1564 by French Huguenots under René de Laudonnière. A Spanish force led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés attacked the fort...

celesta

(Encyclopedia)celesta sĭlĕˈstə [key], keyboard musical instrument patented in 1886 by Auguste Mustel of Paris. It consists of a set of steel bars fastened over wood resonators and struck by hammers operated fro...

La Bruyère, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Bruyère, Jean de zhäN də lä brüyĕrˈ [key], 1645–96, French writer. He lived (1684–96) as tutor in the house of the prince de Condé. His great work, Les Caractères de Théophraste, trad...

La Ceppède, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Ceppède, Jean de zhäN də lä sĕpĕdˈ [key], 1550–1622, French poet and magistrate. In 1608 he was appointed president of the Court of the Exchequer of Provence. After centuries of oblivion, ...

Browse by Subject