Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Rolfe, Frederick William

(Encyclopedia)Rolfe, Frederick William, 1860–1913, English novelist, also known as Baron Corvo. After a vain attempt to become a priest, Rolfe earned a living painting and teaching before he began to write under ...

Frederick William I

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William I, 1688–1740, king of Prussia (1713–40), son and successor of Frederick I. He continued the administrative reforms and the process of centralization begun by Frederick William, t...

Cornelius, Peter von

(Encyclopedia)Cornelius, Peter von, 1783–1867, German painter. He studied at Düsseldorf and in Rome, where he joined the German Nazarene group and collaborated with other members in the decoration of the Casa Ba...

Peter, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Peter, Saint, d. a.d. 64?, most prominent of the Twelve Apostles, listed first in the Gospels, and traditionally the first bishop of Rome. His original name was Simon, but Jesus gave him the nickname ...

Simon Peter

(Encyclopedia)Simon Peter: see Peter, Saint.

Arno, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Arno, Peter ärˈnō [key], 1904–68, American cartoonist, b. New York City. Arno's satirical cartoons appeared in the New Yorker from 1925 until his death. He achieved a distinctive drawing style fe...

Peter's pence

(Encyclopedia)Peter's pence, in the Roman Catholic Church, the annual voluntary laymen's contribution to the support of the pope. Formerly Peter's pence was a yearly tax of a penny levied by the Holy See on every h...

Douglass, Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Douglass, Frederick dŭgˈləs [key], c.1818–1895, American abolitionist, b. near Easton, Md. as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. The son of a black slave, Harriet Bailey, and a white father, m...

Browse by Subject