Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mommsen, Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Mommsen, Theodor tāˈōdōr mômˈsən [key], 1817–1903, German historian. Appointed (1848) professor of civil law at the Univ. of Leipzig, he supported the Revolution of 1848 and lost his chair be...

alexandrine

(Encyclopedia)alexandrine ălˌĭgzănˈdrēnˌ, –drīnˌ [key], in prosody, a line of 12 syllables (or 13 if the last syllable is unstressed). Its name probably derives from the fact that some poems of the 12th ...

Sugihara, Chiune

(Encyclopedia)Sugihara, Chiune, 1900–1986, Japanese diplomat who saved several thousand European Jews during World War II. He served (1920–22) in the army, then joined the Japanese foreign ministry. In 1939 he ...

Pripyat

(Encyclopedia)Pripyat prĭˈpĕt [key], Pol. Prypeć, river, c.440 mi (710 km) long, rising NW of Kovel, NW Ukraine, near the Polish border, and flowing generally E through the Pripyat Marshes, S Belarus, into the ...

Mieszko I

(Encyclopedia)Mieszko I –chĭsläf [key], c.922–992, duke of Poland (962–92), the first important member of the Piast dynasty. The first German invasions of Poland began in 963. To avert this threat, Mieszko ...

Częstochowa

(Encyclopedia)Częstochowa chĕNˌstəkôˈvə [key], city, Śląskie prov., S Poland, on the Warta River. It ...

Duda, Andrzej Sebastian

(Encyclopedia)Duda, Andrzej Sebastian änˈjā sĕbäsˈtyän do͞odä [key], 1972–, Polish political leader, Ph.D. Jagiellonian Univ., Kraków, 2005. A member of the former Freedom Union party, he joined the Law...

Weinreich, Uriel

(Encyclopedia)Weinreich, Uriel, 1926–67, Polish-American linguist, b. Vilnius, Poland (now in Lithuania), Ph.D. Columbia Univ., 1951. Weinreich taught linguistics at Columbia (1951–67) and is noted for his cont...

Weygand, Maxime

(Encyclopedia)Weygand, Maxime mäksēmˈ vāgäNˈ [key], 1867–1965, French general, b. Belgium. A career army officer, he was (1914–23) chief of staff to Marshal Foch, and in 1920 he directed the defense of Wa...

Sallust

(Encyclopedia)Sallust (Caius Sallustius Crispus) sălˈəst [key], 86 b.c.–c.34 b.c., Roman historian. He was tribune of the people (52 b.c.) and praetor (46). He was ejected (50) from the senate ostensibly for a...
 

Browse by Subject