Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Baeyer, Adolf von

(Encyclopedia)Baeyer, Adolf von (Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer) äˈdôlf fən bāˈyər; yōhänˈ frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm [key], 1835–1917, German chemist. He taught at Berlin and Strasbourg and in...

Straus, Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Straus, Oscar ôsˈkär shtrous [key], 1870–1954, Austrian composer; studied in Vienna and with Max Bruch in Berlin. After a brief career as conductor he turned entirely to composition. His operas a...

Tell el Amarna

(Encyclopedia)Tell el Amarna or Tel el Amarna both: tĕl ĕl ämärˈnä [key], ancient locality, Egypt, near the Nile and c.60 mi (100 km) N of Asyut. Ikhnaton's capital, Akhetaton, was in Tell el Amarna. About 40...

Abbado, Claudio

(Encyclopedia)Abbado, Claudio, 1933–2014, Italian conductor, b. Milan. He debuted (1960) in his native city, conducting the orchestra at La Scala, where he subsequently served (1968–86) as musical director. He ...

Schmidt, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Schmidt, Wilhelm, 1868–1954, German linguist and anthropologist, a Roman Catholic priest. Educated at the universities of Berlin and Vienna, he entered the Society of the Divine Word in 1890. Residi...

Seghers, Anna

(Encyclopedia)Seghers, Anna äˈnä sēgərs [key], 1900–1983, German novelist, whose original name was Netty Reiling Rádvanyi. She won fame with her first novel of social protest, The Revolt of the Fishermen, (...

Burgess, John William

(Encyclopedia)Burgess, John William, 1844–1931, American educator and political scientist, b. Tennessee. He served in the Union army in the Civil War and after the war graduated from Amherst (1867). He was admitt...

Watteau, Jean-Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Watteau, Jean-Antoine wätōˈ, Fr. zhäNˈ-äNtwäNˈ vätōˈ [key], 1684–1721, French painter of Flemish descent, b. Valenciennes. Until 1704 poverty forced him to work in the shops of mediocre a...

Spartacus party

(Encyclopedia)Spartacus party or Spartacists, radical group of German Socialists, formed c.Mar., 1916, and led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. The name was derived from the pseudonym Spartacus used by Liebkn...

Dilthey, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Dilthey, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm dĭlˈtī [key], 1833–1911, German philosopher. He taught at the universities of Basel, Kiel, Breslau, and Berlin. He was one of the first to claim the independence of t...

Browse by Subject