Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Alencar, José de

(Encyclopedia)Alencar, José de älāNngkârˈ [key], 1829–77, Brazilian jurist and author. Alencar was one of the founders of modern Brazilian literature. His historical novels (O Guarani, 1857; Iracema, 1865, t...

Delitzsch, Franz

(Encyclopedia)Delitzsch, Franz fränts dāˈlĭch [key], 1813–90, German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. He was professor of theology at Rostock from 1846 to 1850, at Erlangen until 1867, and later at Leipzig. ...

Parrington, Vernon Louis

(Encyclopedia)Parrington, Vernon Louis, 1871–1929, American literary historian and scholar, b. Aurora, Ill. His cultural interpretation of American literature was an expression of his belief in democratic idealis...

Izhevsk

(Encyclopedia)Izhevsk ēzhĭfskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 635,000), capital of Udmurt Republic, E European Russia. A major steel-milling, armaments, machinery, motor vehicles, and metallurgical center, Izhevsk has i...

Hand, Wayland Debs

(Encyclopedia)Hand, Wayland Debs, 1907–86, folklorist, b. Auckland, New Zealand. Hand wrote Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from North Carolina (1964), which is ranked among the finest published studies of supe...

Suidas

(Encyclopedia)Suidas syo͞oˈĭdəs [key], title of a Greek lexicon-encyclopedia. The name is also applied to its compiler, who seems to have lived in the 10th cent. a.d. Included in the lexicon are texts from clas...

Sumarokov, Aleksandr Petrovich

(Encyclopedia)Sumarokov, Aleksandr Petrovich əlyĭksänˈdər pētrôˈvĭch so͞omərôˈkəf [key], 1718–77, Russian dramatist and poet. Sumarokov wrote fables, satires, lyrics, and comic odes in the classical...

Syracuse University

(Encyclopedia)Syracuse University, main campus at Syracuse, N.Y.; coeducational; chartered 1870, opened 1871. Syracuse is noted for its research programs in government and industry; facilities include the Center fo...

phoenix, in mythology

(Encyclopedia)phoenix, fabulous bird that periodically regenerated itself, used in literature as a symbol of death and resurrection. According to legend, the phoenix lived in Arabia; when it reached the end of its ...

Berlin, Free University of

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Free University of, at Berlin, Germany; founded in 1948 by students and faculty seceding from Humboldt Univ. in East Berlin. Supported by both the city of Berlin and the German government, it ...