Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kapteyn, Jacobus Cornelius

(Encyclopedia)Kapteyn, Jacobus Cornelius yäkōˈbəs kôrnāˈlēəs käptīnˈ [key], 1851–1922, Dutch astronomer. He was an authority on the Milky Way, of which he made notable statistical studies; he construc...

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...

Cornelius, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Cornelius, Saint kôrnēlˈyəs [key], d. 253, pope (251–253); successor of St. Fabian. His rule was marked by the support of St. Cyprian and the opposition of the antipope Novatian, and by the prob...

Phips, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Phips, Sir William, 1651–95, American colonial governor. Born in what is today Maine, he was a carpenter and shipbuilder in Boston and became interested in sunken treasure. On his second hunt for tr...

Horne, Richard Henry

(Encyclopedia)Horne, Richard Henry, or Richard Hengist Horne, 1802–84, English author. His chief work was the allegorical poem Orion (1843). A New Spirit of the Age (1844), written with Elizabeth Barrett (later E...

Van Druten, John William

(Encyclopedia)Van Druten, John William văn dro͞oˈtən [key], 1901–57, English dramatist. His best-known plays, primarily light comedies, include Old Acquaintance (1940), The Voice of the Turtle (1943), I Remem...

Van Dyck, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Van Dyck or Vandyke, Sir Anthony both: văn dīk [key], 1599–1641, Flemish portrait and religious painter and etcher, b. Antwerp. In 1618 he was received as a master in the artists' guild, but even ...

Cornelius, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Cornelius, Peter pāˈtər kôrnāˈlēo͝os [key], 1824–74, German composer and poet; follower of Liszt and Wagner. He wrote music criticism, songs, and poetry but is best known for his operas Der ...

Nepos, Cornelius

(Encyclopedia)Nepos, Cornelius nēˈpŏs [key], c.100 b.c.–c.25 b.c., Roman historian. He was an intimate friend of Pomponius Atticus, Cicero, and Catullus. His only extant work is a collection of biographies, mo...

Browse by Subject