Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Euler, Leonhard lāˈônhärt oiˈlər [key], 1707–83, Swiss mathematician. Born and educated at Basel, where he knew the Bernoullis, he went to St. Petersburg (1727) at the invitation of Catherine ...

(Encyclopedia) Grosz, George grōs [key], 1893–1959, German-American caricaturist, draughtsman, and painter, b. Berlin. Before and during World War I he contributed drawings on proletarian themes to Illustration a...

(Encyclopedia) Gaddi gädˈdē [key], celebrated family of Florentine artists. Gaddo Gaddi, c.1260–c.1333, painter and mosaicist, is said by Vasari to have been associated with Cimabue and Giotto. Among the mosaic...

(Encyclopedia) Humboldt, Alexander, Freiherr von hŭmˈbōlt, Ger. älĕksänˈdər frīˈhĕr fən ho͝omˈbôlt [key], 1769–1859, German naturalist, inventor, explorer, and author, the most eminent scientist of ...

(Encyclopedia) Schoenberg, Arnold ärˈnôlt shönˈbĕrkh [key], 1874–1951, Austrian composer, b. Vienna. Before he became a U.S. citizen in 1941 he spelled his name Schönberg. He revolutionized modern music by ...

(Encyclopedia) Singer, Isaac Bashevis bäshĕvˈĭs [key], 1904–91, American novelist and short-story writer in the Yiddish language, younger brother of I. J. Singer, b. Leoncin, Poland (then in Russia). The son o...

(Encyclopedia) Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, 1834–1903, American painter, etcher, wit, and eccentric, b. Lowell, Mass. Whistler was dismissed from West Point for insufficient knowledge of chemistry and from the ...

(Encyclopedia) musicals, earlier known as musical comedies, plays that incorporate music, song, and dance. These elements move with the plot, heightening and commenting on the action. Mixing the sprightly songs and ...

(Encyclopedia) Leopold II, 1835–1909, king of the Belgians (1865–1909), son and successor of Leopold I. His reign saw great industrial and colonial expansion. In 1876 he organized, with the help of H. M. Stanley...

(Encyclopedia) Libeskind, Daniel, 1946–, American architect, b. Łódź, Poland. He moved to the United States in 1959, becoming a citizen in 1965. He has held a number of teaching posts, notably at the Cranbrook ...