Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

August Coup

(Encyclopedia)August Coup, attempted coup (Aug. 18–22, 1991) against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. On the eve of the signing ceremony for a new union treaty for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, memb...

Bebel, August

(Encyclopedia)Bebel, August ouˈgo͝ost bāˈbəl [key], 1840–1913, German Socialist leader. A wood turner by trade, he became a Marxian Socialist under the influence of Wilhelm Liebknecht. At a congress at Eisen...

Wilson, August

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, August, 1945–2005, American playwright and poet, b. Pittsburgh as Frederick August Kittel, Jr. Largely self-educated, Wilson first attracted wide critical attention with his Broadway debut, ...

Bilhah

(Encyclopedia)Bilhah bĭlˈhə [key], in the Bible. 1 Rachel's maid and Jacob's concubine. 2 City of Simeon, of unknown location. It also appears as Baalah and Balah. ...

Maris

(Encyclopedia)Maris mäˈrĭs [key], three Dutch painters, who were brothers. Jacob or Jakob Maris, 1837–99, the most celebrated, painted domestic interiors but is particularly famous for his vigorous landscapes ...

Shawn, Ted

(Encyclopedia)Shawn, Ted (Edwin Myers Shawn), 1891–1972, American modern dancer and choreographer, b. Kansas City, Mo. Introduced to dance as physical therapy, he taught ballroom dancing, then married (1914) the ...

Safra

(Encyclopedia)Safra, family of Brazilian bankers with Sephardic Jewish roots. They began as merchant bankers in Syria and Lebanon, financing caravans throughout the Middle East. The Safras are also noted philanthro...

Genesis

(Encyclopedia)Genesis jĕnˈəsĭs [key], 1st book of the Bible, first of the five books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. Beginning with two accounts of the creation and of human...

Enquist, Per Olov

(Encyclopedia)Enquist, Per Olov or P. O. pâr ōˈläv ĕnˈkvĭst [key], 1934–2020, Swedish novelist and dramatist. He wrote more than 20 novels as well as plays, essays, screenplays, and collections of poems. H...

Neusner, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Neusner, Jacob, 1932–2016, American scholar and historian of Judaism, b. West Hartford, Conn, B.A. Harvard, 1953, M.A. Jewish Theological Seminary, 1960), Ph.D. Columbia, 1960. Regarded as the world...
 

Browse by Subject