Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Massillon, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Massillon, Jean Baptiste zhäN bätēstˈ mäsēyôNˈ [key], 1663–1742, French clergyman, bishop of Clermont from 1717. He was celebrated for his preaching, especially at the courts of Louis XIV an...

Le Clerc, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Le Clerc, Jean lə klĕrˈ [key], Latin Johannes Clericus, 1657–1736, Swiss Arminian theologian and biblical scholar. He preached in France and in London, then, drawn to the teachings of the Dutch ...

Charcot, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Charcot, Jean Baptiste zhäN bätēstˈ shärkōˈ [key], 1867–1936, French neurologist and explorer in the antarctic region; son of Jean Martin Charcot. He became (1896) director of clinics at the ...

Mont-Saint-Jean

(Encyclopedia)Mont-Saint-Jean môN-săN-zhäN [key], village, Walloon Brabant prov., central Belgium, on a height S of Waterloo. The British resisted the French onslaught there at the end of the Waterloo campaign (...

Leclair, Jean-Marie

(Encyclopedia)Leclair, Jean-Marie zhäN-märēˈ ləklĕr [key], 1697–1764, French violinist and composer. Leclair studied in Italy, and his music was strongly influenced by Italian models, especially Vivaldi, al...

Rotrou, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)Rotrou, Jean de zhäN də rôtro͞oˈ [key], 1609–50, French dramatist. One of the Cinq auteurs, five playwrights commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu, Rotrou wrote many plays, including the noble and...

Harlow, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Harlow, Jean, 1911–37, American movie star, b. Kansas City, Mo., as Harlean Carpentier. Harlow brought charm and a sexual knowingness to a series of comedies during the 1930s, becoming the model of ...

Laffite, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Laffite, Jean zhäN läfētˈ [key], c.1780–1826?, leader of a band of privateers and smugglers. The name is often spelled Lafitte. He and his men began operating (1810) off the Baratarian coast S o...

Darboux, Jean Gaston

(Encyclopedia)Darboux, Jean Gaston zhäN gästôNˈ därbo͞oˈ [key], 1842–1917, French mathematician. He is known for his work on orthogonal surfaces and for his application of infinitesimal calculus to geometr...

Nollet, Jean Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Nollet, Jean Antoine zhäN äNtwänˈ nôlāˈ [key], 1700–1770, French clergyman, experimental physicist, and leading member of the Paris Academy of Science. He constructed one of the first electro...