Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

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...

Gérôme, Jean Léon

(Encyclopedia)Gérôme, Jean Léon zhäN lāôNˈ zhārōmˈ [key], 1824–1904, French historical and genre painter. He enjoyed a successful career in his day. He studied with Delaroche and adhered to academic tec...

Flandrin, Hippolyte Jean

(Encyclopedia)Flandrin, Hippolyte Jean ēpôlētˈ zhäN fläNdrăNˈ [key] 1809–64, French painter; student and follower of Ingres. Influenced by the primitivism of Giotto, he is best known for his religious pai...

Stafford, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Stafford, Jean, 1915–79, American writer, b. Covina, Calif., grad. Univ. of Colorado, 1936. Her literary reputation rests primarily on her exquisitely wrought short stories. Both these and her novel...

Castillejo, Cristóbal de

(Encyclopedia)Castillejo, Cristóbal de krēstōˈbäl dā kästēlyāˈhō [key], c.1490–1550, Spanish poet of the Renaissance. As secretary to the king of Bohemia, Castillejo visited Vienna and other European c...

La Pérouse Strait

(Encyclopedia)La Pérouse Strait sōˈyä [key], channel, 25 mi (40 km) wide, separating N Hokkaido island, Japan, from S Sakhalin island, Russia, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk...

Castillon-la-Bataille

(Encyclopedia)Castillon-la-Bataille kästēyôNˌ-lä-bätäˈyə [key], town (1993 est. pop. 3,030), Gironde dept., SW France, in Guienne, on the Dordogne River. An ancient port, it has a wine and liqueur trade an...

Vélez de Guevara, Luis

(Encyclopedia)Vélez de Guevara, Luis lo͞oēsˈ vāˈlāth ᵺā gāväˈrä [key], 1579?–1644, Spanish playwright and novelist. He was a follower of Lope de Vega and wrote many popular plays noted for their poe...

Browse by Subject