Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Carter, Angela

(Encyclopedia)Carter, Angela, 1940–92, English writer. She was a newspaper reporter before studying at the Univ. of Bristol (B.A., 1965), where she explored medieval literature, Freud, surrealism, and feminism, a...

Blakelock, Ralph Albert

(Encyclopedia)Blakelock, Ralph Albert, 1847–1919, American landscape painter, b. New York City. The son of a doctor, he was educated for a medical career but abandoned it for painting, in which he was largely sel...

N. Scott Momaday

(Encyclopedia)N. Scott Momaday (Navarre Scott Momaday), 1934–2024, American writer whose works are reflective of his Kiowa culture, b. Lawton, Okla., B.A. Univ. of ...

lyric

(Encyclopedia)lyric, in ancient Greece, a poem accompanied by a musical instrument, usually a lyre. Although the word is still often used to refer to the songlike quality in poetry, it is more generally used to ref...

Helsinki

(Encyclopedia)Helsinki hĕlˈsĭngkē [key], Swed. Helsingfors, city (2020 pop. 653,835), capital of Finlan...

Herder, Johann Gottfried von

(Encyclopedia)Herder, Johann Gottfried von yōˈhän gôtˈfrēt fən hĕrˈdər [key], 1744–1803, German philosopher, critic, and clergyman, b. East Prussia. Herder was an enormously influential literary critic ...

Foster, Stephen Collins

(Encyclopedia)Foster, Stephen Collins, 1826–64, American songwriter and composer, b. Lawrenceville, Pa. His pioneer family was aware of his talent for music, but not understanding it they provided him with little...

Ives, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Ives, Charles īvz [key], 1874–1954, American composer and organist, b. Danbury, Conn., grad. Yale, 1898; pupil of Dudley Buck and Horatio Parker. He was an organist (1893–1904) in churches in Con...

Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Isaac īˈzək [key] [Heb.,=laughter], according to the patriarchal narratives of the Book of Genesis, Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sara. He married Rebecca, and their sons were Esau and Jaco...

Del Tredici, David

(Encyclopedia)Del Tredici, David dĕl trədēˈchē [key], 1937–, American composer, b. Cloverdale, Calif. Originally a pianist, he made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony at 16, and studied composition wi...

Browse by Subject