Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Van Der Zee, James, 1886–1983, American photographer, b. Lenox, Mass. The son of Ulysses S. Grant's maid and butler, Van Der Zee opened his first studio in Harlem, New York City, in 1915. For 60 yea...

(Encyclopedia) Rojas, Fernando de fārnänˈdō ᵺā rōˈhäs [key], 1465?–1541?, Spanish writer. Scanty records show him to have practiced law at Salamanca. He wrote La Celestina, published anonymously in 1499....

(Encyclopedia) Ada āˈə [key], city (2020 pop. 16,481), seat of Pontotoc co., S central Okla.; inc. 1904. It is a large cattle market and the center of a rich oil and ranch area. The c...

(Encyclopedia) Severn, Joseph sĕvˈərn [key], 1793–1879, English portrait and landscape painter. He was consul at Rome from 1861 to 1872. He is best known for his devotion to Keats during the poet's last days. H...

(Encyclopedia) living wage, the hourly wage that, at a minimum, supports a standard of living above the poverty level in a given locality. It differs from the minimum wage, which often provides a less than adequate ...

(Encyclopedia) Lowry, Malcolm (Clarence Malcolm Lowry) louˈrē [key], 1909–57, English novelist, b. New Brighton, Wirral. Lowry is widely recognized as an important writer who effectively articulated the spiritua...

(Encyclopedia) Pasolini, Pier Paolo pyĕr päˈōlō päsōlēˈnē [key], 1922–75, Italian writer and film director. A former Roman Catholic and a Marxist, Pasolini brought to his work a combination of religious ...

(Encyclopedia) Maimonides mīˈmən [key], 1135–1204, Jewish scholar, physician, and philosopher, the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, b. Córdoba, Spain, d. Cairo. He is sometimes called Rambam...

(Encyclopedia) Neurath, Otto, 1882–1945, Austrian philosopher, social scientist, and design theorist, b. Vienna. During the 1920s and 30s he was both a Marxist and a member of the Vienna Circle, an exponent of log...

(Encyclopedia) Pentagon Papers, government study of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in June, 1967, the 47-volume, top secret study covered the period from ...