Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Dürrenmatt, Friedrich frēˈdrĭkh dürˈənmät [key], 1921–90, Swiss playwright and novelist. Dürrenmatt's writings depict a world both comic and grotesque. As a young German-speaking playwright...

(Encyclopedia) Bonington, Richard Parkes bŏnˈĭngtən [key], 1802–28, English painter. Moving to Calais at the age of 15, his first art study was with Louis Francia, who taught him watercolor and lithography. Bo...

(Encyclopedia) Ah Cheng äˈjûng [key], pseud. of Zhong Acheng, 1949–, Chinese writer and painter. His father, the film critic Zhong Dianfei, was forced by the Communist government to sell his library of Chinese ...

(Encyclopedia) cichlid sĭkˈlĭd [key], common name for members of the family Cichlidae, more that 1,600 species of spiny-finned freshwater fishes of moderate or small size, native to Africa, S Asia, Mexico, and Ce...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Cradle of Humankind, extensive archaeological site, c.180 sq mi (470 sq km), encompassing dolomitic limestone caves containing numerous hominin fossils, Gauteng and North West prov., South Africa, c.3...

(Encyclopedia) Curran, John Philpot kŭrˈən [key], 1750–1817, Irish statesman and orator. He became the best-known trial lawyer in Dublin when he was still very young and entered the Irish Parliament in 1783. He...

(Encyclopedia) Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe fräNswäˈ də sälēnyäkˈ də lä môt fānəlôNˈ [key], 1651–1715, French theologian and writer, a leader of the quietism heresy, archbishop of Cam...

(Encyclopedia) Ford, Whitey (Edward Charles Ford), 1928–2020, American baseball player, b. New York City. A New York Yankee pitcher for his entire career, he signed with them in 1946. The southpaw threw in the min...

(Encyclopedia) Forrest, Edwin, 1806–72, American actor, b. Philadelphia. He was the first national idol of the American theater. He appeared at 14 as Young Norval in John Home's Douglas and gained experience suppo...