Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Linklater, Richard Stuart

(Encyclopedia)Linklater, Richard Stuart, 1960–, American screenwriter, director, and actor, b. Houston. He dropped out of college and worked on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, then moved to Austin (1983), where...

Ha Jin

(Encyclopedia)Ha Jin, pseud. of Jin Xuefei, 1956–, Chinese-American writer, grad. Heilongjiang Univ. (B.A. 1981), Shandong Univ. (M.A., 1984), Brandeis (M.A., Ph.D., 1993). In the early 1980s he came to the Unite...

Schley, Winfield Scott

(Encyclopedia)Schley, Winfield Scott slī [key], 1839–1911, American naval officer, b. Frederick co., Md. After serving with Union naval forces in the Civil War, he held various naval posts. In 1884 he commanded ...

Tromp, Maarten Harpertszoon

(Encyclopedia)Tromp, Maarten Harpertszoon trômp [key], 1597–1653, Dutch admiral. A sailor from childhood, he joined the navy and rose to the rank of lieutenant admiral in 1637. In 1639, by remarkable tactics, h...

Kusama, Yayoi

(Encyclopedia)Kusama, Yayoi, 1929–, Japanese artist. In childhood she began to experience hallucinations, often of repeated dots, visions that have strongly influenced the imagery in her paintings, collages, scul...

Bristol, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Bristol, city and unitary authority (2021 est. pop. 694,000), SW England, at the confluence of the Avon and Frome rivers. Bristol, a leading internation...

Kelley, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Kelley, Mike (Michael Kelley), 1954–2012, American artist, b. Wayne, Mich., studied Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor (B.F.A., 1976), California Institute of the Arts (M.F.A., 1978). At Michigan he was o...

Delaware Prophet

(Encyclopedia)Delaware Prophet dĕlˈəwâr, –wər [key], fl. 18th cent., Native American leader. His real name is not known. He began preaching (c.1762) among the Delaware of the Muskingum valley in Ohio. He spo...

Seferis, George

(Encyclopedia)Seferis, George sĕfĕrˈēs [key] (Giorgos Sefiriades), 1900–1971, Greek poet. Educated at the Univ. of Paris, he returned to Greece, where he had a distinguished career as a diplomat, including se...

Pérez de Ayala, Ramón

(Encyclopedia)Pérez de Ayala, Ramón rämōnˈ pāˈrāth dā äyäˈlä [key], 1880?–1962, Spanish writer. He was educated at Jesuit schools, which he satirized in the novel A.M.D.G. (1910). His early realistic...

Browse by Subject