Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Rhys, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Rhys, Jean rēs [key], pseud. of Ella Gwendoline Rees Williams, 1894–1979, English novelist, b. Dominica. Her novels written in the 1930s mercilessly exploit her own emotional life, depicting pretty...

Ribaut, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Ribaut or Ribault, Jean both: zhäN rēbōˈ [key], c.1520–65, French mariner and colonizer in Florida, b. Dieppe. When Gaspard de Coligny decided to plant a French colony as an asylum for Huguenots...

Petitot, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Petitot, Jean lwēˈ [key], 1653–c.1730, was in the service of Charles II of England. Specimens of his work are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum. ...

eau de Cologne

(Encyclopedia)eau de Cologne ō də kəlōnˈ [key], dilute perfume [commonly called cologne in English] introduced c.1709 in Cologne, Germany, by Jean Marie Farina. It was probably a modification of a popular form...

Beauvoir, Simone de

(Encyclopedia)Beauvoir, Simone de sēmônˈ də bōvwärˈ [key], 1908–86, French author. A leading exponent of existentialism, she is closely associated with Jean-Paul Sartre, with whom she had a life-long relat...

Merrick, David

(Encyclopedia)Merrick, David, 1912–2000, American theatrical producer, b. St. Louis, Mo., as David Margulois. Merrick began his remarkably successful series of theatrical productions in 1954 with Fanny, his first...

de Kruif, Paul

(Encyclopedia)de Kruif, Paul də krīf [key], 1890–1971, American author, b. Zeeland, Mich., grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.S., 1912). He was bacteriologist at the university from 1912 to 1917. Among his books are Mi...

Douglas, Paul Howard

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Paul Howard, 1892–1976, U.S. Senator (1949–67), b. Salem, Mass. An economist, he joined the faculty of the Univ. of Chicago in 1920; was active as a government adviser, especially on prob...

Allen, Paul Gardner

(Encyclopedia)Allen, Paul Gardner, 1953–2018, American business executive and philanthropist, b. Seattle. He dropped out of Washington State Univ. (1974) and with his friend Bill Gates co-founded (1975) Microsoft...

Dunbar, Paul Laurence

(Encyclopedia)Dunbar, Paul Laurence dŭnˈbär [key], 1872–1906, American poet and novelist, b. Dayton, Ohio. The son of former slaves, he won recognition with his Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896)—a collection of po...

Browse by Subject