Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Clootz or Cloots, Anacharsis änäkärsēsˈ klōts [key], 1755–94, French revolutionary, self-styled Orator of the Human Race. Born near Cleves and a member of the lesser German nobility, his given...

(Encyclopedia) Reinhardt, Django (Jean Baptiste Reinhardt), 1910–53, Belgian jazz guitarist of Romani (Gypsy) descent. Reinhardt began playing the guitar professionally at 12. He was severely burned in a fire in 1...

(Encyclopedia) Laffite, Jean zhäN läfētˈ [key], c.1780–1826?, leader of a band of privateers and smugglers. The name is often spelled Lafitte. He and his men began operating (1810) off the Baratarian coast S o...

(Encyclopedia) Bokassa, Jean-Bédel zhäN-bĕdĕlˈ bōkäsˈsä [key], 1921–96, president of Central African Republic (1966–79). He served (1939–61) in the French army, then organized his country's army, beco...

(Encyclopedia) Charcot, Jean Martin zhäN märtăNˈ shärkōˈ [key], 1825–93, French neurologist. At the Salpêtrière in Paris he developed the greatest clinic of his time for diseases of the nervous system. He...

(Encyclopedia) Herskovits, Melville Jean hûrsˈkəvĭts [key], 1895–1963, American anthropologist, b. Bellefontaine, Ohio; educated at the Univ. of Chicago (Ph.B., 1920) and Columbia (Ph.D., 1923). After teaching...

(Encyclopedia) Fabre, Jean Henri zhäN äNrēˈ fäˈbrə [key], 1823–1915, French entomologist and author. He is known for his observations on insects and his study of their behavior. Fabre demonstrated the impor...

(Encyclopedia) Stafford, Jean, 1915–79, American writer, b. Covina, Calif., grad. Univ. of Colorado, 1936. Her literary reputation rests primarily on her exquisitely wrought short stories. Both these and her novel...

(Encyclopedia) Tallien, Jean Lambert zhäN läNbĕrˈ tälyăNˈ [key], 1767–1820, French revolutionary. A law clerk and later a printer, he became known through his Jacobin journal, Ami des citoyens. A leader in ...

(Encyclopedia) Rameau, Jean Philippe zhäN fēlēpˈ rämōˈ [key], 1683–1764, French composer and theorist. He was organist at the cathedral in Clermont and at Notre Dame de Dijon. In the early part of his caree...