Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

115 results found

Niemeyer Soares, Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Niemeyer Soares, Oscar o͝oskärˈ nēˈmīər so͝oäˈrəs [key], 1907–2012, Brazil's foremost 20th-century architect, b. Rio de Janeiro. Influenced by Le Corbusier, Niemeyer developed an architec...

Sonneck, Oscar George Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Sonneck, Oscar George Theodore sŭnˈĕk [key], 1873–1928, American musicologist, b. Jersey City, N.J., educated in Germany. As chief (1902–17) of the music division of the Library of Congress, he...

Carmona, António Oscar de Fragoso

(Encyclopedia)Carmona, António Oscar de Fragoso əntôˈnyō əshkärˈ dĭ frəgôˈso͝o kərmôˈnə [key], 1869–1951, Portuguese general. One of the leaders of the military coup that overthrew the democratic...

Queensberry, John Sholto Douglas, 8th marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Queensberry, John Sholto Douglas, 8th marquess of, 1844–1900, British nobleman, originator of the code of rules that governs modern boxing. He served in the British army and navy and later was a mem...

paradox

(Encyclopedia)paradox, statement that appears self-contradictory but actually has a basis in truth, e.g., Oscar Wilde's “Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone.” Many New Critics mai...

Pindling, Sir Lynden Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Pindling, Sir Lynden Oscar, 1930–2000, prime minister of the Bahamas (1967–92). The son of a policeman, he received a law degree (1952) from London Univ. As leader of the Progressive Liberal party...

Reading, borough, England

(Encyclopedia)Reading rĕdˈĭng [key], borough and unitary authority (1991 pop. 194,727), S central England, on the Kennet River near its influx to the Thames. Reading, which was the seat of the former county of B...

Carson, Edward Henry Carson, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Carson, Edward Henry Carson, Baron, 1854–1935, Irish politician. After a successful legal career in Dublin, he was elected to the British Parliament (1892) and called to the English bar (1893). He s...

Langtry, Lillie

(Encyclopedia)Langtry, Lillie, 1853–1929, English actress, b. Jersey, Channel Islands; known as the Jersey Lily. One of the first English women of elevated social rank to go on the stage, she made her debut at th...

decadents

(Encyclopedia)decadents, in literature, name loosely applied to those 19th-century, fin-de-siècle European authors who sought inspiration, both in their lives and in their writings, in aestheticism and in all the ...