Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Le Nain

(Encyclopedia)Le Nain lə năN [key], family of French painters consisting of three brothers: Antoine Le Nain, 1588?–1648, Louis Le Nain, 1593?–1648, and Mathieu Le Nain, 1607–77. They went to Paris from Laon...

Cateau, Le

(Encyclopedia)Cateau, Le -käNbrāzēˈ [key], town (1993 est. pop. 7,789), Nord dept., N France, in French Flanders. It has textile, metallurgical, and ceramic industries. The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) re...

Philippe, Édouard Charles

(Encyclopedia)Philippe, Édouard Charles, 1970–, French lawyer and political leader, b. Rouen, grad. Paris Institute of Political Studies, 1992, National School of Administration, 1997. He worked as a lawyer for ...

Versailles

(Encyclopedia)Versailles vərsīˈ, Fr. vĕrsīˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 91,029), capital of Yvelines dept., N central France. It was an insignificant rural hamlet when Louis XIII constructed a small retreat there ...

Caffieri

(Encyclopedia)Caffieri Fr. käfyārēˈ, Ital. käf-fyāˈrē [key], French family of artists. Philippe Caffieri, 1634–1716, left Italy to enter the service of Louis XIV at the Gobelin factory. He and a son, Jacq...

Mayo, Charles Horace

(Encyclopedia)Mayo, Charles Horace māˈō [key], 1865–1939, American surgeon, b. Rochester, Minn., M.D. Northwestern Univ., 1888. He specialized in goiter and cataract operations. His brother, William James Mayo...

Calmette, Léon Charles Albert

(Encyclopedia)Calmette, Léon Charles Albert lāôNˈ shärl älbĕrˈ kälmĕtˈ [key], 1863–1933, French physician and bacteriologist. He was founder and director of the Pasteur institutes at Saigon (now Ho Chi...

Institut de France

(Encyclopedia)Institut de France ăNstētüˈ də fräNs [key], cultural institution of the French state. Founded in 1795 by the Directory, it replaced five learned societies that had been suppressed in 1793 by the...

Mansart, Jules Hardouin

(Encyclopedia)Mansart or Mansard, Jules Hardouin mäNsärˈ [key], 1646–1708, French architect. He studied under his great-uncle François Mansart and under Libéral Bruant. Favored by Louis XIV, he was ennobled...

Saint-Saëns, Charles Camille

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Saëns, Charles Camille shärl kämēˈyəˈ săN-säNs [key], 1835–1921, French composer. A child prodigy, he made his debut as a pianist at 10 and entered the Paris Conservatory in 1848. He ...