Columbia Encyclopedia

(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) Whiteman, Paul, 1891–1967, American conductor, b. Denver. Whiteman played viola in the Denver Symphony Orchestra and in 1915 joined the San Francisco Symphony. During World War I he was an army band...

(Encyclopedia) Klee, Paul poul klā [key], 1879–1940, Swiss painter, graphic artist, and art theorist, b. near Bern. Klee's enormous production (more than 10,000 paintings, drawings, and etchings) is unique in tha...

(Encyclopedia) Boyer, Paul Delos, 1918–2018, American biochemist, b. Provo, Utah, Ph.D. Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison, 1943. Boyer taught at the Univ. of Minnesota, first in Saint Paul (1946–56) and then in Minne...

(Encyclopedia) Cambert, Robert rōbĕrˈ käNbĕrˈ [key], c.1628–1677, French composer; pupil of Chambonnières. His Pastorale d'Issy (1659) and other works are among the first real French operas. With the libret...

(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) Saint-Pierre, Charles Irénée Castel, Abbé de shärl ērānāˈ kästĕlˈ äbāˈ də săN-pyĕrˈ [key], 1658–1743, French social philosopher. An advocate of natural religion and toleration, he ...