Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Colbert, Jean Baptiste kôlbĕrˈ [key], 1619–83, French statesman. The son of a draper, he was trained in business and was hired by Cardinal Mazarin to look after his financial affairs. On his dea...

(Encyclopedia) Béliveau, Jean Arthur, 1931–2014, Canadian ice hockey player, b. Trois-Rivières, Québec. He joined the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League in 1953, playing for 18 seasons and becomin...

(Encyclopedia) Basquiat, Jean-Michel bäsˌkē-ätˈ [key], 1960–88, American painter, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Born into a middle-class Haitian and Puerto Rican family, he was a 1980s art star whose rise and fall were r...

(Encyclopedia) Watteau, Jean-Antoine wätōˈ, Fr. zhäNˈ-äNtwäNˈ vätōˈ [key], 1684–1721, French painter of Flemish descent, b. Valenciennes. Until 1704 poverty forced him to work in the shops of mediocre a...

(Encyclopedia) Vincennes, Jean Baptiste Bissot, sieur de fräNswäˈ märēˈ [key], 1700–1736, b. Montreal, was called François Margane after his godfather and uncle. He served as a cadet under his father from 1...

(Encyclopedia) Newman, Paul, 1925–2008, American actor, b. Cleveland, Ohio. After performing in a Broadway play (1952–53) and in television dramas, Newman became a versatile film actor and a major Hollywood star...

(Encyclopedia) Greengard, Paul, 1925–2019, American neuroscientist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1953. Greengard was on the staff at Geigy Research Laboratories (1959–67) and a professor at the Albert ...

(Encyclopedia) de Gennes, Pierre-Gilles, 1932–2007, French physicist, Ph.D. Center for Nuclear Studies at Saclay, France, 1958. He was a professor at the Univ. of Paris, Orsay, from 1961 to 1971, when he joined th...

(Encyclopedia) Lacordaire, Jean Baptiste Henri zhäN bätēstˈ äNrēˈ läkôrdĕrˈ [key], 1802–61, French Roman Catholic preacher and liberal. Ordained in 1827, he came under the influence of Lamennais and col...

(Encyclopedia) Vianney, Saint Jean-Baptiste zhäN-bätēstˈ vyänāˈ [key], 1786–1859, French parish priest, popularly known as the Curé d'Ars, b. Dardilly, near Lyons. He came of poor, peasant stock and receiv...