Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Juvarra, Filippo

(Encyclopedia)Juvarra, Filippo fēlēpˈpō yo͞ovärˈrä [key], 1678–1736, Italian architect of the late baroque and early rococo periods. Trained in the studio of Carlo Fontana in Rome, he entered (1714) the s...

John XII, pope

(Encyclopedia)John XII, c.937–964, pope (955–64), a Roman (count of Tusculum) named Octavian; successor of Agapetus II and predecessor of either Leo VIII or Benedict V. His father, Alberic, secured John's elect...

John II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)John II (John the Perfect), 1455–95, king of Portugal (1481–95), son and successor of Alfonso V. He was an astute politician and statesman and a patron of Renaissance art and learning. He reduced ...

Babcock, Stephen Moulton

(Encyclopedia)Babcock, Stephen Moulton mōlˈtən băbˈkŏk [key], 1843–1931, American agricultural chemist, b. Bridgewater, N.Y., grad. Tufts College (B.A., 1866), Univ. of Göttingen, Germany (Ph.D., 1879). He...

perestroika

(Encyclopedia)perestroika pərˈĕstroyˈkə [key], Soviet economic and social policy of the late 1980s. Perestroika [restructuring] was the term attached to the attempts (1985–91) by Mikhail Gorbachev to transfo...

Maginot Line

(Encyclopedia)Maginot Line măzhˈĭnō, Fr. mäzhēnōˈ [key], system of fortifications along the eastern frontier of France, extending from the Swiss border to the Belgian. It was named for André Maginot, who w...

Lyubimov, Yuri Petrovich

(Encyclopedia)Lyubimov, Yuri Petrovich 1917–2014, Russian theater director, b. Yaroslavl, grad. B. V. Shchukin Drama School (1939). After service in World War II, he joined (1946) the Vakhtangov Theater as an act...

Bourbon, Charles, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Bourbon, Charles, duc de bo͞orbôNˈ [key], 1490–1527, constable of France and governor of Milan. He distinguished himself at the battle of Marignano (1515) in the Italian Wars between King Franci...

Sylvester II

(Encyclopedia)Sylvester II, c.945–1003, pope (999–1003), a Frenchman (b. Auvergne) named Gerbert; successor of Gregory V. In his youth he studied at Muslim schools in Spain and became learned in mathematics and...

Belinsky, Vissarion Grigoryevich

(Encyclopedia)Belinsky, Vissarion Grigoryevich vĭsəryônˈ grĭgôrˈyəvĭch byĭlyĭnˈskē [key], 1811–48, Russian writer and critic. He was prominent in the group that believed Russia's hope to lie in follo...

Browse by Subject