Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Paphos

(Encyclopedia)Paphos pāˈfŏs [key], two ancient cities, SW Cyprus, on the coast. Old Paphos was probably founded in the Mycenaean period by colonists from Greece or Phoenicia. Modern excavations have revealed rui...

Azazel

(Encyclopedia)Azazel əzāˈzəl, ăzˈəzĕl [key], in the Bible, an obscure term found in the ritual of the scapegoat in the Book of Leviticus. Azazel may be the place to which the scapegoat was sent, the scapego...

Krochmal, Nachman

(Encyclopedia)Krochmal, Nachman näkhˈmän krôkhˈmäl [key], 1785–1840, Jewish secular historian and writer, b. Galicia. He was a leader in the movement of the Jewish enlightenment and a pioneer of modern Jewi...

McGinley, Phyllis

(Encyclopedia)McGinley, Phyllis, 1905–78, American poet, b. Ontario, Oreg. Her light verse treats aspects of modern life with humor and underlying seriousness. Among her best-known collections of verse are A Pock...

Mannyng, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Mannyng or Manning, Robert, fl. 1298–1338, English poet, b. Brunne (modern Bourne), Lincolnshire; also called Robert of Brunne. He was a monk in the Gilbertine order. Mannyng is known chiefly for hi...

Lillie, Beatrice

(Encyclopedia)Lillie, Beatrice (Lady Peel), 1898–1989, British comedienne, b. Toronto, Ont. as Constance Munston. Lillie first performed in London in 1914 and in New York in 1924. She won an international reputat...

Lipton, Seymour

(Encyclopedia)Lipton, Seymour, 1903–86, American sculptor, b. New York City. Self-taught as a sculptor, Lipton worked directly in sheet metals and molten alloys, creating organically twisting forms with richly br...

Kufstein

(Encyclopedia)Kufstein ko͝ofˈshtīn [key], city (1991 pop. 13,528), in Tyrol prov., W Austria, on the Inn River, near the German border. It is a summer and winter resort. Manufactures include skis, glass, armatur...

Kolettes, Ioannis

(Encyclopedia)Kolettes, Ioannis yō-äˈnēs kôlĕtˈās [key], 1773–1847, Greek political leader. A major political figure both during and after the Greek War of Independence. His cynical, opportunistic policie...

Pfeffer, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Pfeffer, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm pfĕˈfər [key], 1845–1920, German plant physiologist. He was professor of botany successively at the universities of Bonn, Basel, Tübingen, and Leipzig (from 1887). W...