Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Coetzee, J. M. (John Maxwell Coetzee) köˈtsē [key], 1940–, South African novelist, b. John Michael Coetzee. Educated at the Univ. of Cape Town (M.A. 1963) and the Univ. of Texas (Ph.D. 1969), he ...

(Encyclopedia) Baldwin, James, 1924–87, American author, b. New York City. He spent an impoverished boyhood in Harlem, became a Pentecostal preacher at 14, and left the church three years later. He moved to Paris ...

(Encyclopedia) Lenormand, Henri René äNrēˈ rənāˈ lənôrmäNˈ [key], 1882–1951, French dramatist. His plays, Freudian in tone and theme and often heavily symbolic, include Les Ratés (1918, tr. The Failure...

(Encyclopedia) Ish-bosheth ĭsh-bōˈshĕth, ĭsh-bŏshˈĕth [key], in the Bible, son of Saul, and his would-be successor. An alternate form is Esh-baal. For the relation between the names of this man, see Baal. ...

(Encyclopedia) Aurignac ôrēnyäkˈ [key], village (1993 est. pop. 965), Haute-Garonne dept., S France, at the foot of the Pyrenees. Its caves, excavated in 1860, contain relics of prehistoric man of the Aurignacia...

(Encyclopedia) Opie, John, 1761–1807, English portrait and historical painter. Opie showed a remarkable talent as a young man. He became the protégé of the poet John Wolcot, and enjoyed a brief popularity as a f...

(Encyclopedia) Acontius əkŏnˈshəs [key], in Greek mythology, young man who loved Cydippe. He met her at a festival of Artemis and threw before her an apple inscribed, “I swear by the temple of Artemis to marry...

(Encyclopedia) Antiphilus ăntĭfˈĭləs [key], fl. 4th cent. b.c., Greek painter, of Alexandrian origin. Pliny and Quintilian wrote about his paintings of gryllos, a creature part man, part animal or bird. Pliny f...

(Encyclopedia) Wall, Richard, 1694–1778, Spanish statesman. Born in France of Irish parents, Wall entered the Spanish military service as a young man and later held important diplomatic posts. He helped negotiate ...

(Encyclopedia) Proteus prōˈtēəs, –tyo͞os [key], in Greek mythology, prophetic old man of the sea who tended the seals of Poseidon. He could change himself into any shape he pleased, but if he were nevertheles...