Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Muffat, Georg gāˈôrk mo͝ofˈät [key], 1645–1704, German organist and composer. Muffat studied in Italy with Arcangelo Corelli and Bernardo Pasquini. He also spent six years in Paris studying Je...

(Encyclopedia) La Baie lə bī [key], city (1991 pop. 20,995), S Que., Canada, on Ha! Ha! Bay, an arm of the Saguenay River. Formed by the amalgamation of Bagotville, Port Alfred, and the parishes of Grande-Baie and...

(Encyclopedia) megalopolis mĕgəlŏpˈlĭs [key] [Gr.,=great city], a group of densely populated metropolitan areas that combine to form an urban complex. It was first used in its modern sense by Jean Gottman (1957...

(Encyclopedia) Château-Thierry shätōˈ-tyĕrēˈ [key], town, Aisne dept., N France, on the Marne River. The town was the ...

(Encyclopedia) Amberg ämˈbĕrk [key], city, Bavaria, S central Germany, on the Vils River. The large iron mines have been worked since the Middle Ages. Until 1810, Amberg was capital o...

(Encyclopedia) Basselin, Olivier ōlēvyāˈ bäsəlăNˈ [key], 15th cent., French miller of Vire, Normandy. He was one of the Compagnons du Vau de Vire [companions of the Vire valley], who made drinking songs, lov...

(Encyclopedia) Buffet, Bernard bĕrnärˈ büfāˈ [key], 1928–99, French painter. Buffet's melancholy paintings are characterized by prominent black outlining and grayed, muddied colors. The subjects of his many ...

(Encyclopedia) cinéma vérité, a style of filmmaking that attempts to convey candid realism. Often employing lightweight, hand-held cameras and sound equipment, it shows people in everyday situations and uses auth...

(Encyclopedia) Gerson, John (Jean Charlier de Gerson) gûrˈsən; zhäN shärlyāˈ də zhârsôNˈ [key], 1363–1429, French ecclesiastical statesman and writer. He studied (1377–94) under Pierre d'Ailly at the ...

(Encyclopedia) Robespierre, Maximilien Marie Isidore mäksēmēlyăNˈ märēˈ ēzēdôrˈ rôbĕspyĕrˈ [key], 1758–94, one of the leading figures of the French Revolution. The law of 22 Prairial (June 10) ...