Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Mandeville, Sir John, 14th-century English author of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Originally written in Norman French, the work became enormously popular and was translated into English, Latin,...

(Encyclopedia) Gresham, Sir Thomas grĕshˈəm [key], 1519?–1579, English merchant and financier. As the royal financial agent in Antwerp after 1551 he proved himself very able, though his methods were frequently ...

(Encyclopedia) Eccles, Sir John Carew kârˈē, ĕkˈəlz [key], 1903–97, Australian neurophysiologist. He was educated at the Univ. of Melbourne and at Magdalene College, Oxford. He was director (1937–44) of th...

(Encyclopedia) Coningham, Sir Arthur kŭnˈĭng-əm [key], 1895–1948, British air marshal, b. Australia. During World War I, he served first in the New Zealand army and then joined (1916) the Royal Flying Corps, a...

(Encyclopedia) Dale, Sir Thomas, d.1619, acting governor (May–Aug., 1611, 1614–16) of the Virginia colony. Sent by the London Company to restore order, he arrived (1611) in Virginia with three ships of settlers ...

(Encyclopedia) Unwin, Sir Raymond ŭnˈwĭn [key], 1863–1940, English architect and town planner. He designed the first English garden city near Letchworth, the New Earwick development in Yorkshire, and Hampstead ...

(Encyclopedia) Rothenstein, Sir William rōˈthənstīn [key], 1872–1945, English painter and writer. He was well known for his portraits of famous people and for his pictures of Jewish subjects, including Jews Mo...

(Encyclopedia) Playfair, Sir Nigel nīˈjəl plāˈfâr [key], 1874–1934, English actor-manager. He made his acting debut in 1902 and later appeared in major London productions of Shaw and Shakespeare. He took on ...

(Encyclopedia) Lyric Opera of Chicago, opera company founded 1954 as the Lyric Theatre of Chicago; it was renamed prior to its 1956 season. The company performs at the ornate Lyric Opera House, formerly the Civic Op...

(Encyclopedia) Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1895, gave its first concert the following year under the direction of Frederic Archer. Victor Herbert was the chief conductor from 1898 to 1904; he was succe...