Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Azuela, Mariano märyäˈnō äswāˈlä [key], 1873–1952, Mexican novelist. Azuela began his medical practice in 1899, writing short stories and novels in his spare time. In 1915 he joined Francisc...

(Encyclopedia) pantheon päNtāôNˈ [key] in Paris was designed by J. G. Soufflot and was begun in 1764; the dome was completed (1781) after his death. An earlier church on the site was dedicated to St. Geneviève....

(Encyclopedia) Modersohn-Becker, Paula mōˈdərzōnˌ-bĕkˈər [key], 1876–1907, German painter. After studying in London and Berlin, she was greatly influenced by her experience at Worpswede, an artists' colony...

(Encyclopedia) Carlos (Carlos María Isidro de Borbón), 1788–1855, second son of Charles IV of Spain. He was the first Carlist pretender. After his father's abdication (1808) he was, with the rest of his family, ...

(Encyclopedia) Cosa, Juan de la hwän dā lä kōˈsä [key], c.1460–1510, Spanish navigator. He sailed with Columbus in 1492 (as pilot of the flagship Santa María) and again in 1498. After accompanying Alonso de...

(Encyclopedia) Francis II, 1836–94, last king of the Two Sicilies (1859–61), son and successor of Ferdinand II. A weak ruler, he let his ministers follow his father's reactionary policy. Faced with the growing m...

(Encyclopedia) Arad ärädˈ [key], city, W Romania, in the Banat, on the Mureşul River, near the Hungarian border. It is an important railroad junction and a leading regional commercia...

(Encyclopedia) Henrietta of England (Henrietta Anne), 1644–70, duchesse d'Orléans, called Madame; sister-in-law of King Louis XIV of France. The daughter of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria of England, sh...

(Encyclopedia) Walewski, Alexandre Florian Joseph Colonna, Comte älĕksäNˈdrə flôryäNˈ zhôzĕfˈ kôlônäˈ kôNt välĕfskēˈ [key], 1810–68, French diplomat, b. Poland; illegitimate son of Maria Walews...

(Encyclopedia) toy, article designed to be played with, chiefly for children. Archaeological research has revealed numerous playthings from prehistoric civilizations. Early Egyptian, Greek, and Roman dolls, tops, ba...