Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Wren, Sir Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Wren, Sir Christopher, 1632–1723, English architect. A mathematical prodigy, he studied at Oxford. He was professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London, from 1657 to 1661, when he became Savilia...

Coetzee, J. M.

(Encyclopedia)Coetzee, J. M. (John Maxwell Coetzee) köˈtsē [key], 1940–, South African novelist, b. John Michael Coetzee. Educated at the Univ. of Cape Town (M.A. 1963) and the Univ. of Texas (Ph.D. 1969), he ...

Fenneman, Nevin M.

(Encyclopedia)Fenneman, Nevin M. nĕvˈĭn fĕnˈəmən [key], 1865–1945, American geologist, geographer, and teacher, b. Lima, Ohio; B.A. (1883) Heidelberg College, Ohio; M.A. (1900); Ph.D. (1901) Univ. of Chica...

Husain, M. F.

(Encyclopedia)Husain, M. F. (Maqbool Fida Husain), 1915–2011, Indian painter. Often called the Picasso of India, he is known for brightly colored modernist paintings of mythical and religious figures. Although a ...

Forster, E. M.

(Encyclopedia)Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan Forster), 1879–1970, English author, one of the most important British novelists of the 20th cent. After graduating from Cambridge, Forster lived in Italy and Greece. D...

Escher, M. C.

(Encyclopedia)Escher, M. C. (Maurits Cornelis Escher) ĕsˈkhər [key], 1898–1972, Dutch artist. Primarily a graphic artist, Escher composed works notable for their irony, often with impossible perspectives rende...

James, M. R.

(Encyclopedia)James, M. R. (Montague Rhodes James), 1862–1936, English scholar, educator, and writer. He attended Eton and King's College, Cambridge, became (1887) a fellow at King's, and held various offices the...

Jayaratne, D. M.

(Encyclopedia)Jayaratne, D. M. (Disanayayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne), 1931–, Sri Lankan political leader. A cofounder of the Sri Lanka Freedom party (1951), he was a teacher and postmaster until becoming a membe...

Montgomery, L. M.

(Encyclopedia)Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud Montgomery), 1874–1942, Canadian novelist, b. Prince Edward Island. Her first novel, Anne of Green Gables (1908), met with immediate success and has been widely translat...

Pei, I. M.

(Encyclopedia)Pei, I. M. (Ieoh Ming Pei) pā [key], 1917–2019, Chinese-American architect, b. Guangzhou, China. Pei immigrated to the United States in 1935 and studied at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, the Massachuse...