Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Wittkower, Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Wittkower, Rudolf wĭtˈkōv-ər, Ger. vĭtˈkōv-ər [key], 1901–71, German-American art historian. After gaining his doctorate in Berlin, Wittkower became a research assistant and later research f...

Africa

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Africa ăfˈrĭkə [key], second largest continent (2015 est. pop. 1,194,370,000), c.11,677,240 sq mi (30,244,050 sq km) including adjacent islands. Broad to the north (c.4,600 mi/7,400 km wide...

African languages

(Encyclopedia)African languages, geographic rather than linguistic classification of languages spoken on the African continent. Historically the term refers to the languages of sub-Saharan Africa, which do not belo...

frontier

(Encyclopedia)frontier, in U.S. history, the border area of settlement of Europeans and their descendants; it was vital in the conquest of the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The importance of the westwa...

Duris of Samos

(Encyclopedia)Duris of Samos do͞oˈrĭs [key], fl. 3d cent. b.c., Greek historian. A descendent of Alcibiades, Duris was tyrant of Samos for a time. He wrote Samian Chronicle—a history of Samos—and a rambling ...

Commons, John Rogers

(Encyclopedia)Commons, John Rogers, 1862–1945, American economist, b. Hollansburg, Ohio, grad. Oberlin, 1888. Influenced by the other social sciences, Commons tried to broaden the scope of economics, especially i...

Haverfield, Francis John

(Encyclopedia)Haverfield, Francis John hăvˈərfēld [key], 1860–1919, English historian and archaeologist. Educated at Oxford, he also worked under Theodor Mommsen. In 1907 he became Camden professor of ancient...

Hale, Sir Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Hale, Sir Matthew, 1609–76, English jurist. He was successively a judge in the Court of Common Pleas (1654), chief baron of the Exchequer (1660), and chief justice of the Court of King's Bench (1671...

Müller, Johannes von

(Encyclopedia)Müller, Johannes von yōhäˈnəs fən mülˈər [key], 1752–1809, Swiss historian. He spent much of his life in Germany, where he held political posts under the elector of Mainz, the king of Pruss...

Makart, Hans

(Encyclopedia)Makart, Hans häns mäˈkärt [key], 1840–84, Austrian history painter, studied with Karl von Piloty. His early success was phenomenal. The emperor of Austria provided him with a studio, and his sho...