Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Parsifal pärˈsĭfäl [key], figure of Arthurian legend also known as Sir Percivale, who is in turn a later form of a hero of Celtic myth. The name originally occurs as Pryderi, an alternative name o...

(Encyclopedia) Wellesley, Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess, 1760–1842, British colonial administrator; brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington. He became earl of Mornington on his father's death ...

(Encyclopedia) spiritism or spiritualism, belief that the human personality continues to exist after death and can communicate with the living through the agency of a medium or psychic. The advocates of spiritism ar...

(Encyclopedia) Gielgud, Sir John (Arthur John Gielgud) gĭlˈgo͝od [key], 1904–2000, English actor, director, and producer. A grandnephew of Ellen Terry, Gielgud made his debut at the Old Vic in 1921. His intelli...

(Encyclopedia) Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck, 1836–1911, English playwright and poet. He won fame as the librettist of numerous popular operettas, written in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. Wh...

(Encyclopedia) Cowell, Henry Dixon kouˈəl [key], 1897–1965, American composer and pianist, b. Menlo Park, Calif., largely self-educated, studied musicology in Berlin (1931–32). Cowell experimented with new mus...

(Encyclopedia) Yellen, Janet Louise yĕlˈən [key], 1946–, U.S. economist and government official, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., B.A. Brown (1967), Ph.D. Yale (1971). Yellen taught economics (1971–76) at Harvard and subse...

(Encyclopedia) Virginia Beach, resort city (1990 pop. 393,069), independent and in no county, SE Va., on the Atlantic coast; inc. 1906. In 1963, Princess Anne co. and the former small town of Virginia Beach were mer...

(Encyclopedia) Linacre or Lynaker, Thomas both: lĭˈnəkər [key], 1460?–1524, English humanist and physician. He took the degree of doctor of medicine at the Univ. of Padua, returned to England c.1492, and becam...

(Encyclopedia) Clurman, Harold klo͝orˈmən [key], 1901–80, American director, manager, critic, and author, b. New York City. In his early years he acted in minor roles, becoming associated with New York's Group ...