Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Wilson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Robert, 1941–, dramatist, director, and designer, b. Waco, Tex. He began his arts career as a painter. A leading figure in postmodern theater since 1963, when he arrived in New York City, he...

Aulard, Alphonse

(Encyclopedia)Aulard, Alphonse älfôNsˈ ōlärˈ [key], 1849–1928, French historian. He was the first professional historian of the French Revolution, and he devoted his life to this study. A professor at the U...

La Bourdonnais, Bertrand François, comte Mahé de

(Encyclopedia)La Bourdonnais, Bertrand François, comte Mahé de bĕrträNˈ fräNswäˈ, kôNt mäāˈ də lä bo͝ordônāˈ [key], 1699–1753, French naval officer. He entered the service of the French India Co...

Breton literature

(Encyclopedia)Breton literature brĕtˈən [key], in the Celtic language of Brittany. Although there are numerous allusions in other literatures of the 12th to 14th cent. to the “matter of Brittany,” which incl...

Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte

(Encyclopedia)Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte zhän märēˈ bo͞ovyāˈ də lä môt güēyôNˈ [key], 1648–1717, French mystic and author of writings dealing largely with quietism. Confined by the gove...

Macron, Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric

(Encyclopedia)Macron, Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric, 1977–, French political leader and banker, president of France (2017–), b. Amiens, grad. Univ. of Paris Nanterre (2001), Paris Institute of Political Studi...

Bouguer, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Bouguer, Pierre pyĕr bo͞ogĕrˈ [key], 1698–1758, French mathematician and hydrographer. He made some of the first photometric measurements, calculating the intensity of the light of the sun as co...

Staël, Germaine de

(Encyclopedia)Staël, Germaine de zhĕrmĕnˈ də stäl [key], 1766–1817, French-Swiss woman of letters, whose full name was Anne Louise Germaine Necker, baronne de Staël-Holstein. Born in Paris, the daughter of...

Solís y Rivadeneyra, Antonio de

(Encyclopedia)Solís y Rivadeneyra, Antonio de äntōˈnyō ᵺā sōlēsˈ ē rēˌväᵺānāˈrä [key], 1610–86, Spanish historian and dramatic poet. His intricate comic dramas were popular at court and the b...

Browse by Subject