Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) totem tōˈtəm [key], an object, usually an animal or plant (or all animals or plants of that species), that is revered by members of a particular social group because of a mystical or ritual relatio...

(Encyclopedia) Vendôme, César, duc de sāzärˈ dük də väNdōmˈ [key], 1594–1665, French general and politician; son of King Henry IV and his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées. Legitimized in 1595, he was made d...

(Encyclopedia) Vestris, Lucia Elizabeth (Bartolozzi) bärtōlôtˈsē vĕsˈtrĭs [key], 1797–1856, English actress and manager, the first woman to be a lessee of a theater. The daughter of a music and fencing tea...

(Encyclopedia)  Tyson, Cecily, 1924-2021, American actress, b. East Harlem, N.Y. Of Caribbean heritage, Tyson began working as a model while studying acting in the la...

(Encyclopedia) Beaton or Bethune, David both: bēˈtən [key], 1494–1546, Scottish churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was made cardinal in 1538 and succeeded his uncle, James Beaton, as archbisho...

(Encyclopedia) Granvelle, Antoine Perrenot de äNtwänˈ pĕrənōˈ də gräNvĕlˈ [key], 1517–86, statesman in the service of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and of King Philip II of Spain; cardinal of the Roman C...

(Encyclopedia) Romanov rōˈmənŏf, Rus. rəmäˈnəf [key], ruling dynasty of Russia from 1613 to 1917. The name Romanov was adopted in the 16th cent. by a family of boyars (great nobles) that traced its beginning...

(Encyclopedia) Makeba, Miriam məkāˈbə [key], 1932–2008, South African singer. She became the first black South African to achieve international fame and she played a fundamental role in introducing African mus...

(Encyclopedia) mandamus măndāˈməs [key] [Lat.,=we order], in law, writ directing the performance of ministerial acts. A ministerial act is one that a person or body is obliged by law to perform under given circu...

(Encyclopedia) La Fontaine, Jean de zhäN də [key], 1621–95, French poet, whose celebrated fables place him among the masters of world literature. He was born at Château-Thierry to a bourgeois family. A restless...