Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bitterfeld

(Encyclopedia)Bitterfeld bĭˈtərfĕlt [key], city, Saxony-Anhalt district, E Germany, on the Mulde River. It is ...

Aertsen, Pieter

(Encyclopedia)Aertsen or Aertszen, Pieter both: pēˈtər ärtˈsən [key], 1503?–1575, Dutch painter, b. Amsterdam. Aertsen painted genre scenes (see genre) that are lighthearted in spirit. He also painted relig...

Barlow, Joel

(Encyclopedia)Barlow, Joel bärˈlō [key], 1754–1812, American writer and diplomat, b. Redding, Conn., grad. Yale, 1778. He was one of the Connecticut Wits and a major contributor to their satirical poem The Ana...

chikungunya

(Encyclopedia)chikungunya chĭkən-go͞onˈyä [key], viral disease transmitted by the bite of an infected female Aedes mosquito. Symptoms appear after an incubation period of four to eight days and include sudden ...

Diaspora

(Encyclopedia)Diaspora dīăsˈpərə [key] [Gr.,=dispersion], term used today to denote the Jewish communities living outside the Holy Land. It was originally used to designate the dispersal of the Jews at the tim...

Catlin, George

(Encyclopedia)Catlin, George, 1796–1872, American traveler and artist, b. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Educated as a lawyer, he practiced in Philadelphia for two years but turned to art study and became a portrait painter i...

serf

(Encyclopedia)serf, under feudalism, peasant laborer who can be generally characterized as hereditarily attached to the manor in a state of semibondage, performing the servile duties of the lord (see also manorial ...

nuncio, apostolic

(Encyclopedia)nuncio, apostolic nŭnˈshēō [key], resident legate of the Holy See at the capital of a temporal government. Nuncios are in most of the countries with which the Holy See has diplomatic relations. In...

Louis I, king of Bavaria

(Encyclopedia)Louis I, 1786–1868, king of Bavaria (1825–48), son and successor of King Maximilian I. He was chiefly responsible for transforming Munich into one of the handsomest capitals of Europe and for maki...

Milstein, Nathan

(Encyclopedia)Milstein, Nathan, 1904–92, Russian violinist, b. Odessa. Milstein attended the music school in Odessa before entering the St. Petersburg conservatory, where he studied under Leopold Auer. He toured ...

Browse by Subject