Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bossuet, Jacques Bénigne zhäk bānēˈnyə bôsüāˈ [key], 1627–1704, French prelate, one of the greatest orators in French history. At an early age he was made a canon at Metz; he became bishop...

(Encyclopedia) Smithson, Robert, 1938–73, American sculptor, b. Passaic, N.J. After first making modular, serial sculpture, Smithson began to design large-scale earthworks (see land art) in the 1960s. Smithson res...

(Encyclopedia) Grillparzer, Franz fränts grĭlˈpärtsər [key], 1791–1872, Austrian dramatist. His work combines German classicism and exuberant lyricism. Considered Austria's greatest playwright, he wrote Der T...

(Encyclopedia) Herbert, George, 1593–1633, one of the English metaphysical poets. Of noble family, he was the brother of Baron Herbert of Cherbury. He was graduated from Cambridge. His early determination to enter...

(Encyclopedia) Sinan sēnän [key], Muslim architect, 1490?–1588?. He is regarded as the greatest of Islamic builders, and his finest achievements lie in his solutions to spatial problems posed by dome-topped stru...

(Encyclopedia) Beckett, Samuel bĕkˈĭt [key], 1906–89, Anglo-French playwright and novelist, b. Dublin. Beckett studied and taught in Paris before settling there permanently in 1937. He wrote primarily in French...

(Encyclopedia) Meléndez, Luis lo͞oēsˈ mālānˈdāth [key], 1716–80, Spanish painter. He assisted his father, artist Francisco Melendez, until 1737, when he began studying with Lewis-Michel Vanloo, the court p...

(Encyclopedia) Iberians, ancient people of Spain. Some scholars have argued that they migrated from Africa in the Neolithic period and again at the end of the Bronze Age, while the archaeological evidence has been i...

(Encyclopedia) Puryear, Martin, 1941–2019, American sculptor, b. Washington, D.C. An African American, he served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, and became interested in African crafts and in the themes of cap...

(Encyclopedia) Gorton, Sir John Grey, 1911–2002, Australian political leader, b. Melbourne. A fighter pilot in World War II, he was elected to the senate as a Liberal in 1949. He held a number of cabinet posts in ...