Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Erikson, Erik, 1902–94, American psychoanalyst, b. Germany. As a young man he traveled throughout Europe. He became a teacher in a Vienna private school and trained as a psychoanalyst (1927–33) un...

(Encyclopedia) Geertgen tot Sint Jans gārtˈgən tôt sĭnt yäns [key], fl. latter half of 15th cent., Dutch painter. Geertgen is the earliest painter of record in Haarlem. He may have gone to Ghent and had some c...

(Encyclopedia) Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich yōˈhän hīnˈrĭkh pĕsˌtälôtˈsē [key], 1746–1827, Swiss educational reformer, b. Zürich. His theories laid the foundation of modern elementary education. He stu...

(Encyclopedia) Myrdal, Alva älˈvä mĭrˈdäl, Swed. mürˈdäl [key], 1902–86, Swedish sociologist, diplomat, and political leader. As a sociologist in the 1930s, she initiated a national program establishing s...

(Encyclopedia) Lang Lang, 1982–, Chinese virtuoso pianist. A child prodigy, he studied at the Central Music Conservatory, Beijing, and the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia. Noted for the romantic, emotive nature of ...

(Encyclopedia) Aznavour, Charles, 1924–2018, French singer, songwriter, and actor, b. Paris as Shahnourh Varinag Aznavourian. The son of ethnic Armenian refugees, he began performing while a child. Edith Piaf made...

(Encyclopedia) Paganini, Niccolò nēkōlōˈ pägänēˈnē [key], 1782–1840, Italian violinist, whose virtuosity became a legend. He extended the compass of the violin by his use of harmonics, perfected the use ...

(Encyclopedia) Bustamante, Sir Alexander bŭsˌtəmănˈtē [key], 1884–1977, prime minister of Jamaica (1962–67). Born William Alexander Clarke, the son of an Irish father and a Jamaican mother, he was adopted...

(Encyclopedia) Io, in Greek mythology, daughter of Inachus, king ofo Argos. She was loved by Zeus, who, to protect her from Hera's jealousy, changed her into a white heifer. Hera, however, was not deceived; she clai...

(Encyclopedia) Conradin kŏnˈrədĭn [key], 1252–68, duke of Swabia, titular king of Jerusalem and Sicily, the last legitimate Hohenstaufen, son of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad IV. While Conradin was still a child i...