Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Campan, Jeanne Louise Henriette

(Encyclopedia)Campan, Jeanne Louise Henriette zhän lwēz äNrēĕtˈ käNpäNˈ [key], 1752–1822, French educator and author. She served as a reader to Louis XV's daughters and as lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoin...

Victoria, empress of Germany

(Encyclopedia)Victoria (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa), 1840–1901, empress of Germany, daughter of Victoria of England. In 1858 she married the German crown prince (later Emperor Frederick III). After her husband...

Breshkovsky, Catherine

(Encyclopedia)Breshkovsky, Catherine brĕshkôfˈskē [key], 1844–1934, Russian revolutionary, called “the little grandmother (babushka) of the Russian Revolution.” Of a noble family, she began on her father'...

Vigée-Lebrun, Élisabeth

(Encyclopedia)Vigée-Lebrun, Élisabeth ālēzäbĕtˈ vēzhāˈ-ləbröNˈ [key], 1755–1842, French portrait painter; pupil of her father, the painter Louis Vigée. She was influenced by Greuze. Summoned to Vers...

Barnave, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie

(Encyclopedia)Barnave, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie äNtwänˈ pyĕr zhōzĕfˈ märēˈ bärnävˈ [key], 1761–93, French revolutionary. A member of the States-General of 1789 from Grenoble, he was a brilliant sp...

Poindexter, George

(Encyclopedia)Poindexter, George poinˈdĕkˌstər [key], 1779–1853, American political leader, b. Louisa co., Va. After practicing law in Virginia, he moved (1802) to Mississippi. As attorney general of Mississi...

Fersen, Count Hans Axel

(Encyclopedia)Fersen, Count Hans Axel, 1755–1810, Swedish soldier and diplomat; son of Count Fredrik Axel Fersen. He entered (1779) the French service, was aide-de-camp of comte de Rochambeau in the American Revo...

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway

(Encyclopedia)Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O), former U.S. transportation company with railroad lines in eight states, Washington, D.C., and Ontario, Canada. Founded as the Louisa RR Company in Virginia in ...

Trianon

(Encyclopedia)Trianon trēänôNˈ [key], two small châteaux in the park of Versailles, Seine-et-Oise dept., N France. The Grand Trianon was built by J. H. Mansart in 1687 for Louis XIV; Napoleon I sometimes used ...

Browse by Subject