Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Stamitz, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Stamitz, Johann yōˈhän shtäˈmĭts [key], 1717–57, Bohemian-German composer. Stamitz came to Mannheim (1741) and became (1745) concertmaster of the Mannheim orchestra. He made it the best in Eur...

Qumran

(Encyclopedia)Qumran ko͞omränˈ [key], ancient village on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, in what is now the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It is famous for its caves, in some of which the Dead Sea Scrolls were...

Highgate

(Encyclopedia)Highgate, residential area within Camden, Islington, and Haringey boroughs, London, England. The house where Francis Bacon died is in Highgate, and Herbert Spencer, George Eliot, and Karl Marx are bur...

Novalis

(Encyclopedia)Novalis frēˈdrĭkh fən härˈdənbĕrk [key], 1772–1801, German poet. He studied philosophy under Schiller, Schlegel, and Fichte and was especially influenced by Fichte. He later studied geology....

proletariat

(Encyclopedia)proletariat prōlətârˈēət [key], in Marxian theory, the class of exploited workers and wage earners who depend on the sale of their labor for their means of existence. In ancient Rome, the prolet...

Jordan, Camille

(Encyclopedia)Jordan, Camille kämēˈyə zhôrdäNˈ [key], 1771–1821, French writer and political figure. A moderate supporter of the French Revolution, he fled France during the Reign of Terror and again after...

Vienna, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Vienna, Congress of, Sept., 1814–June, 1815, one of the most important international conferences in European history, called to remake Europe after the downfall of Napoleon I. Although the territo...

Brentano, Clemens

(Encyclopedia)Brentano, Clemens brĕntäˈnō [key], 1778–1842, German poet of the romantic school; brother of Bettina von Arnim (see under Arnim, Achim von). While studying at Halle and Jena he met Wieland, Herd...

Esterházy

(Encyclopedia)Esterházy ĕsˈtĕrhäˌzē [key], princely Hungarian family. Paul, Fürst Esterházy von Galantha, 1635–1713, was elected palatine (regent) of Hungary in 1681 and distinguished himself in the defe...

Browse by Subject