Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

252 results found

Anderson, Dame Judith

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Dame Judith, 1898–1992, British actress, b. Adelaide, S. Australia, originally named Frances Margaret Anderson. She made her debut in Sydney in 1915 and by 1924 had become celebrated for h...

Fonteyn, Dame Margot

(Encyclopedia)Fonteyn, Dame Margot fŏntānˈ [key], 1919–91, English ballerina. Fonteyn was for many years prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet. Her original name was Margaret Hookham. In 1934 she joined...

Murdoch, Dame Iris

(Encyclopedia)Murdoch, Dame Iris (Dame Jean Iris Murdoch) mûrˈdŏk [key], 1919–99, British novelist and philosopher, b. Dublin, Ireland, grad. Oxford (1942). In 1948 she was named lecturer in philosophy at Oxfo...

Notre Dame Bay

(Encyclopedia)Notre Dame Bay, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.40 mi (60 km) long and 50 mi (80 km) wide, NE Newfoundland, N.L., Canada. The Exploits River empties into it. The bay has an irregular shoreline and contai...

Notre Dame Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Notre Dame Mountains, section of the Appalachian system, extending c.500 mi (800 km) from the Green Mts. of Vermont into the Gaspé Peninsula, Canada. Worn low by erosion, the ancient mountains have a...

Macaulay, Dame Rose

(Encyclopedia)Macaulay, Dame Rose məkôˈlē [key], 1889?–1958, English author. Remembered primarily for her novels satirizing middle-class life, she first achieved fame with Potterism (1920). Her subsequent nov...

Mantel, Dame Hilary

(Encyclopedia)Mantel, Dame Hilary, 1952–, English novelist, b. Hilary Mary Thompson. After working as a social worker, she moved to Botswana with her geologist husband and later to Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, where she...

Melba, Dame Nellie

(Encyclopedia)Melba, Dame Nellie, 1861–1931, Australian soprano, whose name originally was Helen Porter Mitchell. After study with Mathilde Marchesi in Paris, she made her operatic debut in Brussels in 1887. Famo...

Marsh, Dame Ngaio

(Encyclopedia)Marsh, Dame Ngaio nīˈō [key], 1899–1982, New Zealand detective story writer. She was an art student, actress, and theatrical producer before her first novel, A Man Lay Dead, was published in 1934...

Lively, Dame Penelope

(Encyclopedia)Lively, Dame Penelope, 1933–, English novelist, b. Cairo, Egypt, moved to London at 12 when her parents divorced, grad. Oxford (1954). Her earliest books were children's novels—the first Astercote...