Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

De Voto, Bernard Augustine

(Encyclopedia)De Voto, Bernard Augustine də vōˈtō [key], 1897–1955, American writer and editor, b. Ogden, Utah, grad. Harvard, 1920. He taught at Northwestern Univ. (1922–27) and then at Harvard (1929–36)...

Carducci, Giosuè

(Encyclopedia)Carducci, Giosuè kärdo͞otˈchē [key], 1835–1907, Italian poet and teacher. He was professor of literature at the Univ. of Bologna from 1860 to 1904. He was a scholar, an editor, an orator, a cr...

Book of the Dead

(Encyclopedia)Book of the Dead, term used to describe Egyptian funerary literature. The texts consist of charms, spells, and formulas for use by the deceased in the afterworld and contain many of the basic ideas of...

Avempace

(Encyclopedia)Avempace āˈvəmpās, äˌvĕmpäˈthā [key], Arabic Ibn Bajja, d. 1138, Spanish-Arab philosopher. Little is known of his life, but he was born in Zaragoza and died in Fès, Morocco. Developing the ...

Moret y Prendergast, Segismundo

(Encyclopedia)Moret y Prendergast, Segismundo sāhēsmo͞onˈdō mōrāˈ ē prāndārgästˈ [key], 1838–1913, Spanish statesman. In 1863 he was elected to the Cortes, and as colonial minister in the cabinet of ...

Aub, Max

(Encyclopedia)Aub, Max mäks oup [key], 1903–72, Spanish author, b. Paris. He was educated in Spain where he lived until 1942, when he emigrated to Mexico. His style combines realism with fantasy. He used the Spa...

maroon

(Encyclopedia)maroon, term for a fugitive slave in the 17th and 18th cent. in the West Indies and Guiana, or for a descendant of such slaves. They were called marron by the French and cimarrón by the Spanish. Form...

Alcalá Zamora, Niceto

(Encyclopedia)Alcalá Zamora, Niceto nēthāˈtō älkäläˈ thämōˈrä [key], 1877–1949, Spanish statesman and president of Spain (1931–36). After holding several cabinet posts under the monarchy, he became...

Osuna, Pedro Téllez Girón, duque de

(Encyclopedia)Osuna, Pedro Téllez Girón, duque de pāˈᵺrō tāˈlyāth hērōnˈ do͞oˈkā ᵺā ōso͞oˈnä [key], 1579–1624, Spanish general and administrator. As viceroy of Sicily (1611–16) and of Nap...

Alonso, Dámaso

(Encyclopedia)Alonso, Dámaso däˈmäsō älōnˈsō [key], 1898–1990, Spanish philologist, lyric poet, and literary critic, b. Madrid. He is known for his literary sensitivity and the precision and rigor of his...