Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

402 results found

Murasaki Shikibu

(Encyclopedia)Murasaki Shikibu mo͞oˌräsäˈkē shēˌkēbo͞oˈ [key], c.978–1031?, Japanese novelist, court figure at the height of the Heian period (794–1185). Known also as Lady Murasaki, she is celebrate...

Jooss, Kurt

(Encyclopedia)Jooss, Kurt ko͝ort yōs [key], 1901–79, German dancer, producer, and choreographer. Jooss was a student of Rudolf von Laban and was influenced by Émile Jacques-Dalcroze. The Green Table (1932), hi...

Ekelöf, Gunnar

(Encyclopedia)Ekelöf, Gunnar güˈnär ĕkˈəlöf [key], 1907–68, Swedish poet. Ekelöf's lifelong interest in mysticism was evident in his first book, Late Arrival on Earth (1932, tr. 1967), a collection of su...

De Coster, Charles Théodore Henri

(Encyclopedia)De Coster, Charles Théodore Henri də kŏsˈtər, Fr. shärl tāōdôrˈ äNrēˈ də kôstĕrˈ [key], 1827–79, Belgian author, b. Munich. His collected legends from Flemish folklore (1857), writt...

Po Chü-i

(Encyclopedia)Po Chü-i bô jü-ē [key], 772–846, Chinese poet. He occupied several important government posts, rising to the presidency of the imperial board of war in 841. He wrote over 3,000 poems, brief, top...

Rowson, Susanna Haswell

(Encyclopedia)Rowson, Susanna Haswell rouˈsən [key], 1762–1824, American author and actress, b. England. She was brought to America as a young child, but after the Revolution, the family returned to England. He...

Bécquer, Gustavo Adolfo

(Encyclopedia)Bécquer, Gustavo Adolfo go͞ostäˈvō ädôlˈfō bāˈkĕr [key], 1836–70, Spanish poet and writer of romantic tales. Bécquer's work is considered to be among the best 19th-century lyric poetry....

Beckford, William

(Encyclopedia)Beckford, William, 1760–1844, English author. A wealthy dilettante, Beckford had a great desire to ascend to the nobility. Unfortunately his erratic and strange behavior often worked against his amb...

Wain, John

(Encyclopedia)Wain, John, 1925–94, English novelist and critic, b. Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, grad. Oxford (B.A., 1946; M.A., 1950). Originally lumped with England's angry young men after the publication of H...

Brunhoff, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)Brunhoff, Jean de lôräNˈ [key], 1925–, has continued the Babar series. ...