Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  Reed, Ishmael Scott, 1938- , African-American novelist, poet, and social critic, b. Chattanooga, Tn. When he was a child, Reed’s family moved ...

(Encyclopedia) gaucho gouˈchō [key], cowboy of the Argentine and Uruguayan pampas (grasslands). The typical gaucho, a familiar figure in the 18th and 19th cent., was a daring, skillful horseman and plainsman. As f...

(Encyclopedia) Leopardi, Giacomo jäˈkōmō lāōpärˈdē [key], 1798–1837, Italian poet and scholar, considered Italy's outstanding 19th-century poet. An intellectual prodigy, he taught himself Hebrew and ancie...

(Encyclopedia) López, Francisco Solano lōˈpās [key], 1826?–1870, president of Paraguay (1862–70). He was the son of Carlos Antonio López, who made him a brigadier general at 18. Appointed head of a diploma...

(Encyclopedia) Laredo lərāˈdō [key], city (1990 pop. 122,899), seat of Webb co., S Tex., on the Rio Grande; founded 1755, inc. 1852. It is a port of entry on the U.S.-Mexican border, with a thriving export-impor...

(Encyclopedia) Matta (Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren) rōbĕrˈtō sābästyänˈ äntōnˈyō mätˈtä ĕkhärˈrĕn [key], 1911?–2002, Chilean painter who left his native country for Paris (1935) an...

(Encyclopedia) Pisanello pēzänĕlˈlō [key], c.1395–1455?, Italian medalist, painter, and draftsman of the early Renaissance. He was also called Vittore Pisano, but his real name was Antonio Pisano. His art sho...

(Encyclopedia) James, LeBron Raymone, 1984–, American basketball player, b. Akron, Ohio. The number-one draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers at age 18, “King James” has become one of the National Basketball A...

(Encyclopedia) Johnson, Robert, 1911–38, African-American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter, b. Hazelhurst, Miss. A sharecropper's son, he grew up absorbing the music of Delta bluesmen, learning the harmonic...

(Encyclopedia) Soleri, Paolo, 1919–2013, Italian-American architect. He studied architecture in his native Turin (Ph.D., 1946). Soleri's works have been influenced by both Frank Lloyd Wright, with whom he apprenti...