Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Couperin, François

(Encyclopedia)Couperin, François fräNswäˈ ko͞opərăNˈ [key], 1668–1733, French harpsichordist and composer, called “le Grand” to distinguish him from the other musicians in his family. His harpsichord ...

Suffolk, Charles Brandon, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Suffolk, Charles Brandon, 1st duke of sŭfˈək [key], d. 1545, English nobleman. A member of the court of Henry VIII, he received many preferments. He was created (1513) Viscount Lisle on his betroth...

St.-John's-wort

(Encyclopedia)St.-John's-wort, any species of the large and widespread herbaceous or shrubby genus Hypericum of the family Hypericaceae (St.-John's-wort family), usually found in moist, open places and often having...

Perse, St.-John

(Encyclopedia)Perse, St.-John, pseud. of Alexis Saint-Léger Léger, 1887–1975, French poet and diplomat, b. West Indies. Léger, an opponent of appeasement of the Nazis, was enormously influential in France's fo...

Milstein, Nathan

(Encyclopedia)Milstein, Nathan, 1904–92, Russian violinist, b. Odessa. Milstein attended the music school in Odessa before entering the St. Petersburg conservatory, where he studied under Leopold Auer. He toured ...

Eger, city, Hungary

(Encyclopedia)Eger ĕˈgĕr [key], Ger. Erlau, city (1991 est. pop. 62,474), NE Hungary, on the Eger River. It is the commercial center of a wine-producing region and has food- and tobacco-processing plants. Eger i...

Adrian I, pope

(Encyclopedia)Adrian I, d. 795, pope (772–95), a Roman; successor of Stephen IV. At Adrian's urging, Charlemagne crossed the Alps and defeated the Lombard king, Desiderius, who had annexed papal territory. That d...

Kingstown, town, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

(Encyclopedia)Kingstown, town (1989 est. pop. 19,300), capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, West Indies. The chief port of St. Vincent, Kingstown is an export center for the island's agricultural industry as ...

Saint Pierre, town, St. Pierre and Miquelon

(Encyclopedia)Saint Pierre săN pyĕr [key], town (2006 pop. 5,509), capital of the French territorial collectivity of St. Pierre and Miquelon, on the E coast of St. Pierre island. St. Pierre is the administrative ...

Browse by Subject