Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

76 results found

Bourdonnais, Louis de la

(Encyclopedia)Bourdonnais, Louis de la (Louis-Charles Mahé de la Bourdonnais), 1795–1840, French chess player, b. La Réunion. A pupil of Alexandre Deschappelles, he defeated his mentor in 1821 and from then unt...

Beauharnais, Hortense de

(Encyclopedia)Beauharnais, Hortense de də bōärnāˈ [key], 1783–1837, queen of Holland (1806–10), daughter of Alexandre and Josephine de Beauharnais and wife of Louis Bonaparte. She was the mother of Napole...

Rigaud, André

(Encyclopedia)Rigaud, André äNdrāˈ rēgōˈ [key], 1761–1811, Haitian mulatto general in the wars that liberated Haiti. Educated, but vain, he believed in the superiority of mulattoes. He sought (1798–1800)...

Gusmão, Xanana

(Encyclopedia)Gusmão, Xanana), 1946–, East Timorese independence leader, b. Portuguese Timor as José Alexandre Gusmão, later known as Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão. He served in the Portuguese army (1968–71), then...

Beauharnais, Eugène de

(Encyclopedia)Beauharnais, Eugène de də bōärnāˈ [key], 1781–1824, French general; son of Alexandre and Josephine de Beauharnais (Empress Josephine). He served ably in the campaigns of his stepfather, Napol...

reed organ

(Encyclopedia)reed organ, an organ in which air is forced over free reeds by means of bellows, usually worked by pedals. It is played by the use of one or more keyboards. Variations in tone are produced by stops th...

Coquelin, Benoît Constant

(Encyclopedia)Coquelin, Benoît Constant bənwäˈ kôNstäNˈ kôklăNˈ [key], 1841–1909, French actor, known as Coquelin aîné [the elder]. He made his debut at the Comédie française in 1860 and achieved fa...

Loménie de Brienne, Étienne Charles

(Encyclopedia)Loménie de Brienne, Étienne Charles ātyĕnˈ shärl lōmānēˈ də brēĕnˈ [key], 1727–94, French statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was archbishop of Toulouse (1763–88) an...

Belém

(Encyclopedia)Belém pəräˈ [key], city, capital of Pará state, N Brazil, on the Pará River. Belém, th...

Browse by Subject