Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sismondi, Jean Charles Léonard Simonde de

(Encyclopedia)Sismondi, Jean Charles Léonard Simonde de zhäN shärl lāônärˈ sēmôNdˈ də sēsmôNdēˈ [key], 1773–1842, Swiss historian, economist, and critic. A member of the circle of Mme de Staël, he...

Ruysbroeck, John

(Encyclopedia)Ruysbroeck, John, Dutch Jan van Ruusbroec yän vän roisˈbro͞ok [key], 1293–1381, Roman Catholic mystic, b. Brabant (now in Belgium and the Netherlands). He was an Augustinian canon. In middle age...

Carrington, Henry Beebee

(Encyclopedia)Carrington, Henry Beebee, 1824–1912, U.S. army officer and historian, b. Wallingford, Conn., grad. Yale, 1845, and afterward studied at Yale Law School. Carrington ably reorganized the Ohio state mi...

Carroll, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Carroll, Charles, 1737–1832, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Annapolis, Md. After completing his education in France and England, he return...

proverb

(Encyclopedia)proverb, short statement of wisdom or advice that has passed into general use. More homely than aphorisms, proverbs generally refer to common experience and are often expressed in metaphor, alliterati...

Gorges, Sir Ferdinando

(Encyclopedia)Gorges, Sir Ferdinando gôrˈjĭz [key], c.1566–1647, English colonizer, proprietor of Maine. He was knighted (1591) for his services to Henry IV of France in the French Wars of Religion and was sub...

Cavour, Camillo Benso, conte di

(Encyclopedia)Cavour, Camillo Benso, conte di kämēlˈlō bānˈsō kônˈtā dē kävo͞orˈ [key], 1810–61, Italian statesman, premier (1852–59, 1860–61) of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The active force behind...

mountain men

(Encyclopedia)mountain men, fur trappers and traders in the Rocky Mts. during the 1820s and 30s. Their activities opened that region of the United States to general knowledge. Since the days of French domination th...

Fassbinder, Rainer Werner

(Encyclopedia)Fassbinder, Rainer Werner rīˈnər vĕrˈnər fäsˈbĭnˌdər [key], 1946–82, German filmmaker, b. Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria. One of the most highly regarded and prolific directors of the post–Wo...

Griffith, D. W.

(Encyclopedia)Griffith, D. W. (David Llewelyn Wark Griffith), 1875–1948, American movie director and producer, b. La Grange, Ky. Griffith was the first major American film director. He began his film career as an...