Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), d. c.215, Greek theologian. Born in Athens, he traveled widely and was converted to Christianity. He studied and taught at the catechetical school in Ale...

(Encyclopedia) Dante Alighieri dănˈtē, Ital. dänˈtā älēgyĕˈrē [key], 1265–1321, Italian poet, b. Florence. Dante was the author of the Divine Comedy, one of the greatest of literary classics. Dante's ...

(Encyclopedia) feminism, movement for the political, social, and educational equality of women with men; the movement has occurred mainly in Europe and the United States. It has its roots in the humanism of the 18th...

(Encyclopedia) Wagner, Richard vägˈnər [key], 1813–83, German composer, b. Leipzig. Wagner's second wife, Cosima Wagner, 1837–1930, was the daughter of Liszt and the comtesse d'Agoult. From 1857 to 1870 sh...

(Encyclopedia) Whitman, Walt (Walter Whitman), 1819–92, American poet, b. West Hills, N.Y. Considered by many to be the greatest of all American poets, Walt Whitman celebrated the freedom and dignity of the indivi...

(Encyclopedia) Gray, Thomas, 1716–71, English poet. He was educated at Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1739 he began a grand tour of the Continent with Horace Walpole. They quarreled in Italy, and Gray returned...

(Encyclopedia) Westminster Abbey, originally the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery (closed in 1539) in London. One of England's most important Gothic structures, it is also a national shrine. The first church ...

(Encyclopedia) Ixelles ēksĕlˈ [key], Du Elsene, commune, Brussels region, central Belgium. Ixelles is an ...

(Encyclopedia) Camperdown kămˈpərdounˌ [key], Du. Kamperduin [the dune of Kamp], locality near the village of Kamp, North Holland prov., NW Netherlands, on the North Sea. In 1797 the British defeated the Dutch i...

(Encyclopedia) Soignies swänyēˈ [key], Du. Zinnik, commune (1991 pop. 23,793), Hainaut prov., S Belgium. Paper and hollow glass are manufactured, and limestone is quarried nearby. Of note is the Church of St. Vin...