Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Maistre, Joseph de

(Encyclopedia)Maistre, Joseph de zhôzĕfˈ də mĕsˈtrə [key], 1753–1821, French writer and diplomat. Born in Savoy, he was Sardinian ambassador at St. Petersburg from 1803 to 1817. A passionate Roman Catholic...

De Filippo, Eduardo

(Encyclopedia)De Filippo, Eduardo ādwärˈdō dā fēlĭpˈpō [key], 1900–1984, Neapolitan playwright and actor. In his scores of plays he combined pathos and farce. Napoli milionaria (1946) depicts postwar Nap...

Vattel, Emerich de

(Encyclopedia)Vattel, Emerich de āˈmərĭkh də vätĕlˈ [key], 1714–67, Swiss philosopher and jurist. He served (1746–58) as Saxon minister at Bern and later in the cabinet of Augustus III at Dresden. He is...

Wynkyn de Worde

(Encyclopedia)Wynkyn de Worde wĭngˈkĭn də wôrd, wûrd [key], d. 1535, English printer, whose original name was Jan van Wynkyn. He was born at Wörth in Alsace and probably accompanied William Caxton to England...

Castro, Rosalía de

(Encyclopedia)Castro, Rosalía de käsˈtrō [key], 1837–85, Spanish poet and novelist. Castro's book of verse Cantares gallegos (1863) was the first important poetry in Galician since the 13th cent.; it reflect...

Guzmán, Nuño de

(Encyclopedia)Guzmán, Nuño de no͞oˈnyĕth bĕltränˈ [key], d. 1544, Spanish conquistador. After serving as governor of Panuco in NE Mexico, he became president of the first audiencia of New Spain (1528). His ...

Santiago de Cuba

(Encyclopedia)Santiago de Cuba ᵺā ko͞oˈbä [key], city (1994 est. pop. 385,800), capital of Santiago de Cuba prov., SE Cuba. Cuba's second largest city, Santiago is situated on a cliff overlooking a bay. The c...

Beauvoir, Simone de

(Encyclopedia)Beauvoir, Simone de sēmônˈ də bōvwärˈ [key], 1908–86, French author. A leading exponent of existentialism, she is closely associated with Jean-Paul Sartre, with whom she had a life-long relat...

Falla, Manuel de

(Encyclopedia)Falla, Manuel de mänwĕlˈ dā fäˈlyä [key], 1876–1946, Spanish composer; pupil of Felipe Pedrell. In Paris from 1907 to 1914, he met Debussy, Dukas, and Ravel, and was to some extent influenced...

De Smet, Pierre Jean

(Encyclopedia)De Smet, Pierre Jean pyĕr zhäN də smĕtˈ [key], 1801–73, Jesuit missionary in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, b. Belgium. He emigrated to the United States in 1821, served his novitiate in Florissan...

Browse by Subject