Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Lifar, Serge

(Encyclopedia)Lifar, Serge sĕrˈgā lēˈfär [key], 1905–86, Russian dancer, choreographer, director, teacher, and dance historian, b. Kiev. Lifar studied briefly with Bronislava Nijinska, but he was primarily ...

Murray, Gilbert

(Encyclopedia)Murray, Gilbert (George Gilbert Aimé Murray), 1866–1957, British classical scholar, b. Sydney, Australia. In 1908 Murray was appointed regius professor of Greek at Oxford. He is best known as a Gre...

Prior, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Prior, Matthew, 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat, b. Wimborne, Dorset. With his appointment as secretary to the embassy at The Hague during the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Ryswick (169...

Atkins, Anna

(Encyclopedia)Atkins, Anna, 1799–1871, English photographer and botanist who specialized in images of botanical specimens. The daughter of scientist John George Children, she married John Pelly Atkins in 1825. Sh...

Hoppner, John

(Encyclopedia)Hoppner, John, 1758–1810, English portrait painter. He was a protégé of George III, whose illegitimate son he was rumored to be. He imitated, without total success, the style of Sir Joshua Reynold...

Johnson, Tom Loftin

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Tom Loftin, 1854–1911, American municipal reformer, mayor of Cleveland (1901–10), b. Georgetown, Ky. He acquired a substantial fortune from streetcar and steel interests, and, deeply infl...

North, Frederick North, 8th Baron

(Encyclopedia)North, Frederick North, 8th Baron, 1732–92, British statesman, best known as Lord North. He entered Parliament in 1754 and became a junior lord of the treasury (1759), privy councilor (1766), and ch...

Newport Jazz Festival

(Encyclopedia)Newport Jazz Festival, annual summer music festival, probably the best known of all such festivals, held at Newport, R.I. Originally sponsored by Newport socialites Mr. and Mrs. Louis Lorillard and ja...

McCloskey, Robert

(Encyclopedia)McCloskey, Robert (John Robert McCloskey) məklŏˈskē [key], 1914–2003, American writer and illustrator of children's books, b. Hamilton, Ohio. He studied at the Vesper George Art School, Boston, ...

Baterson, Mary Catherine

(Encyclopedia)Bateson, Mary Catherine, 1939-2021, American linguist and anthropologist, b. New York City, grad. Radcliffe (BA,1960), Harvard (Ph.D., 1963). The daugh...

Browse by Subject