Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Campbell, Robert, American fur trader and merchant

(Encyclopedia)Campbell, Robert, 1804–79, American fur trader and merchant, one of the mountain men, b. Ireland. He came to the United States c.1824. Having been advised to lead an outdoor life because of a lung a...

Dio Chrysostom

(Encyclopedia)Dio Chrysostom krĭsˈəstəm, krĭsŏsˈ– [key], d. after a.d. 112, Greek Sophist and orator [Chrysostom=golden-mouthed], b. Prusa (modern Bursa) in Bithynia. He lived at Rome under Emperor Domitia...

Slovak literature

(Encyclopedia)Slovak literature. The earliest documents written in the Slovak language date from the 15th cent. Following the Czech Hussite movement, many Czech cultural leaders emigrated to Slovakia (16th cent.); ...

Mori Ogai

(Encyclopedia)Mori Ogai mōˈrē ōˈgäē [key], 1862–1922, Japanese army physician, medical researcher, literary critic, novelist, translator, scholar, and playwright, he is now primarily remembered for his fic...

Fisher, M. F. K.

(Encyclopedia)Fisher, M. F. K. (Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher), 1908–92, American culinary writer, b. Albion, Mich. Raised in California, Fisher lived in France for three years, where she was inspired by Brillat-Sa...

Frothingham, Octavius Brooks

(Encyclopedia)Frothingham, Octavius Brooks frŏᵺˈĭnghəm [key], 1822–95, American clergyman and writer, b. Boston. While a Unitarian minister in Salem (1847–55) he came under the influence of Theodore Parke...

Kochanowski, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Kochanowski, Jan yän kôkhänôfˈskē [key], 1530–84, esteemed as the greatest poet of the Polish Renaissance. Kochanowski assimilated the poetic traditions of Italy and France and created new rhy...

Rittenhouse, David

(Encyclopedia)Rittenhouse, David, 1732–96, American astronomer and instrument maker, b. near Germantown, Pa., self-educated. A clockmaker by trade, he developed great skill in the making of mathematical instrumen...

Yosano, Akiko

(Encyclopedia)Yosano, Akiko äˈkēˈkō yōˈsäˈnō [key], 1878–1942, Japanese poet, activist, and critic. Best known for passionately romantic verse, she infused the classic tanka poetic form with new life an...

Ammons, A. R.

(Encyclopedia)Ammons, A. R. (Archie Randolph Ammons), 1926–2001, American poet, b. Whiteville, N.C., grad. Wake Forest College (1949). He began writing poetry while serving in the Navy during World War II, and, a...