Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Ducasse, Isidore ēzēdôrˈ dükäsˈ [key], 1846–70, French poet who wrote under the name Comte de Lautréamont, or simply Lautréamont. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he moved to Paris in 1867, whe...

(Encyclopedia) Morphy, Paul Charles môrˈfē [key], 1837–84, American chess player, b. New Orleans. At 10 he learned the game and at 21 was acknowledged as the greatest player in the world. Not only was Morphy po...

(Encyclopedia) Berg, Paul, 1926–2023, American biologist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Western Reserve Univ., 1952. A professor at Washington Univ. at St. Louis and Stanf...

(Encyclopedia) Hofmann, Joseph, 1876–1957, Polish-American pianist, b. near Cracow; pupil of Anton Rubinstein. He toured Europe as a child prodigy, making his American debut in 1887 at the Metropolitan Opera House...

(Encyclopedia) Black, Joseph, 1728–99, Scottish chemist and physician, b. France. He was professor of chemistry at Glasgow (1756–66) and from 1766 at Edinburgh. He is best known for his theories of latent heat a...

(Encyclopedia) Bellamy, Joseph, 1719–90, New England clergyman, b. Cheshire, Conn. A follower of Jonathan Edwards and a powerful revivalist of the Great Awakening, he preached in Bethlehem, Conn., for 52 years. Be...

(Encyclopedia) Kasavubu, Joseph kăsˌəvo͞oˈbo͞o, käˈsə– [key], 1917?–1969, African political leader, president of the Republic of the Congo (1960–65, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). He studi...

(Encyclopedia) Lyons, Joseph Aloysius līˈənz [key], 1879–1939, Australian statesman, b. Tasmania. He left schoolteaching in 1909 to enter political life, was a Labour member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly u...

(Encyclopedia) Lefebvre, François Joseph fräNswäˈ zhôzĕfˈ ləfĕˈvrə [key], 1755–1820, marshal of France. He rose from the ranks in the French Revolutionary Wars and distinguished himself under Napoleon B...

(Encyclopedia) Cogswell, Joseph Green kŏgzˈwĕl, –wəl [key], 1786–1871, American librarian and bibliographer, b. Ipswich, Mass. After studying abroad, Cogswell taught mineralogy and geology at Harvard and bec...