Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Witt, Jan de

(Encyclopedia)Witt, Jan de yän [key], 1625–72, Dutch statesman. Like his father, Jacob de Witt, burgomaster of Dort, he became a leading opponent of the house of Orange and played a vital role in the three succe...

Dąbrowski, Jan Henryk

(Encyclopedia)Dąbrowski, Jan Henryk yän hĕnˈrĭk dôNbrôfˈskē [key], 1755–1818, Polish general. He distinguished himself in the insurrection led by Kosciusko in 1794. After its failure he went to France an...

Slovak literature

(Encyclopedia)Slovak literature. The earliest documents written in the Slovak language date from the 15th cent. Following the Czech Hussite movement, many Czech cultural leaders emigrated to Slovakia (16th cent.); ...

Oort, Jan Hendrik

(Encyclopedia)Oort, Jan Hendrik ōrt [key], 1900–1992, Dutch astronomer. He confirmed (1927) Bertil Lindblad's theory of the Milky Way galaxy's rotation. In the 1950s he and his colleagues used radio astronomical...

Wooden, John

(Encyclopedia)Wooden, John, 1910–2010, American basketball coach, b. Martinsville, Ind. He was the first athlete to be honored in the basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach. An All-American guard at Pur...

Balkenende, Jan Peter

(Encyclopedia)Balkenende, Jan Peter yän pāətûr bälˈkənĕndə [key], 1956–, Dutch political leader, prime minister of the Netherlands (2002–10), b. Kapelle. He attended the Free Univ. of Amsterdam, earnin...

Brand, Sir John Henry

(Encyclopedia)Brand, Sir John Henry, or Jan Hendrik Brand yän hĕnˈdrək bränt [key], 1823–88, South African politician, president of the Orange Free State, b. Capetown. He was called to the English bar in 184...

Thorbecke, Jan Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Thorbecke, Jan Rudolf yän ro͞oˈdôlf tôrˈbĕkə [key], 1798–1872, Dutch statesman. An eminent jurist and the leading liberal politician of his day, he was one of the men appointed in 1848 by Ki...

Hilary of Poitiers, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Hilary of Poitiers, Saint poitērzˈ, poiˈtyā [key], c.315–367?, bishop of Poitiers from c.350, Doctor of the Church. A convert from paganism, he distinguished himself as a supporter of Athanasius...

Smuts, Jan Christiaan

(Encyclopedia)Smuts, Jan Christiaan yän krĭsˈtyän smŭts [key], 1870–1950, South African statesman and soldier, b. Cape Colony. Of Boer (Afrikaner) stock but a British subject by birth, he was educated at Vic...
 

Browse by Subject