Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

172 results found

Marot, Clément

(Encyclopedia)Marot, Clément klāmiNˈ mirōˈ [key], 1496?–1544, French court poet. His graceful rondeaux, ballades and epigrams won him the patronage of Francis I and Margaret of Navarre. Marot was imprisoned ...

Immermann, Karl Leberecht

(Encyclopedia)Immermann, Karl Leberecht kärl lāˈbərekht ĭmˈərmän [key], 1796–1840, German novelist and dramatist. As a Prussian official in Düsseldorf he was active in the local theater, writing and dire...

Patchen, Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Patchen, Kenneth, 1911–72, American poet and novelist, b. Niles, Ohio. His writings, characterized by complete freedom of form, embrace genres as diverse as satire, fantasy, and metaphysical love po...

Trumbull, John , American poet

(Encyclopedia)Trumbull, John, 1750–1831, American poet, b. Westbury (now Watertown), Conn. He passed the entrance examinations to Yale when he was seven, but did not enter until he was thirteen. While tutoring at...

black humor

(Encyclopedia)black humor, in literature, drama, and film, grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters or situations are usu...

Eisenman, Nicole

(Encyclopedia)Eisenman, Nicole, 1965–, American artist, b. Verdun, France (where her father was stationed), M.F.A, Rhode Island School of Design, 1987. Eisenman became widely known after her work appeared in the ...

Nestroy, Johann Nepomuk

(Encyclopedia)Nestroy, Johann Nepomuk yōˈhän nāˈpōmo͝ok nĕsˈtroi [key], 1802–62, Austrian dramatist and actor. A successful performer in comedies and operettas, he later proved himself a brilliant writer...

Töpffer, Rodolphe

(Encyclopedia)Töpffer, Rodolphe rôdôlfˈ töpˈfər [key], 1799–1846, Swiss artist and writer, b. Geneva. Often called the father of the comic strip (or the graphic novel), he wanted to be a painter but found ...

revue

(Encyclopedia)revue, a stage presentation that originated in the early 19th cent. as a light, satirical commentary on current events. It was rapidly developed, particularly in England and the United States, into an...

Szechenyi, Count Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Szechenyi, Count Stephen sāˈchĕnyē [key], Hung. Széchenyi István, 1791–1860, Hungarian politician. Influenced by his studies in England, he championed the modernization of Hungarian economic, ...