Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Manzoni, Alessandro älās-sänˈdrō mändzôˈnē [key], 1785–1873, Italian novelist and poet. Taken in his youth to Paris by his mother in 1805, Manzoni embraced the deism that he was later to di...

(Encyclopedia) Sills, Beverly, 1929–2007, American coloratura soprano, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Belle Silverman. Her childhood career as a radio singer (when she was first nicknamed “Bubbles”) led to voice studie...

(Encyclopedia) Ronstadt, Linda (Linda Maria Ronstadt), 1946–, American singer, b. Tucson, Ariz. She is known for the clarity and strength of her soprano voice and for the range of song genres in which she performe...

(Encyclopedia) Gela jāˈlä [key], city, S Sicily, Italy, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a port, industria...

(Encyclopedia) Acoma or Ácoma both: ăkˈəmə [key], pueblo, alt. c.7,000 ft (2,130 m), Valencia co., W central N.Mex.; founded c.1100–1250. This “sky city” atop a steep-s...

(Encyclopedia) Málaga mäˈlägä [key], city (1990 pop. 560,495), capital of Málaga prov., S Spain, in Andalusia, on the Guadalmedina River and the Costa del Sol. Picturesquely situated on the Bay of Málaga, it ...

(Encyclopedia) Alegría, Claribel, 1924–2018, Nicaraguan-Salvadoran poet, b. Nicaragua as Clara Isabel Alegría Vides, grad. George Washington Univ. (B.A., 1948). Her family went into exile in El Salvador when she...

(Encyclopedia) FitzRoy, Robert, 1805–65, British naval officer, meteorologist, and hydrologist. Given (1829) temporary command of the HMS Beagle, he completed a survey of the coasts of Patagonia and Tierra del Fue...

(Encyclopedia) Heck, Richard Fred, 1931–2015, American chemist, b. Springfield, Mass., Ph.D. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, 1954. Heck was a researcher at the Hercules Corporation in Wilmington, Del., from 1957...

(Encyclopedia) Quevedo y Villegas, Francisco de fränthēsˈkō gōˈmāth dā kāvāˈᵺō ē vēlyāˈgäs [key], 1580–1645, Spanish satirist, novelist, and wit, b. Madrid. In 1611 he fled to Italy after a duel...