Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Degas, Edgar (Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas) ēlĕrˈ zhĕrmăNˈ ĕdgärˈ dəgäˈ [key], 1834–1917, French painter and sculptor, b. Paris; son of a banker. Although prepared for the law, he abandon...

(Encyclopedia) T'ang täng [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907. It was founded by Li Yuan and his son Li Shih-min, with the aid of Turkish allies. The early strength of the T'ang was built directly up...

(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) multimedia, in personal computing, software and applications that combine text, high-quality sound, two- and three-dimensional graphics, animation, photo images, and full-motion video. In order to wor...

(Encyclopedia) Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923–2015, American painter, b. Newburgh, N.Y. He moved to New York City in 1941, studying at Pratt Institute, and later attended the Boston Museum Arts School. In Paris during the...

(Encyclopedia) Mitford, Nancy, 1904–73, English novelist and biographer, b. London. She managed a London bookshop during World War II and moved to Paris in 1945. Mitford and her five celebrated and politically div...

(Encyclopedia) Botero, Fernando, 1932–, Colombian figurative painter and sculptor, b. Medellín, one of the most celebrated contemporary Latin American artists. He attended his native city's university (grad. 1950...

(Encyclopedia) Cardozo, Benjamin Nathan kärdōˈzō [key], 1870–1938, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1932–38), b. New York City. Educated at Columbia Univ., he practiced law until...

(Encyclopedia) charter school, alternative type of American public school that, while paid for by taxes, is independent of the public-school system and relatively free from state and local regulations. A charter sch...

(Encyclopedia) Albee, Edward ălˈbē [key], 1928–2016, American playwright, one of the leading dramatists of his generation, b. Washington, D.C., as Edward Harvey. His most characteristic work constitutes an absu...