Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Eichler, August Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Eichler, August Wilhelm ouˈgo͝ost vĭlˈhĕlm īkhˈlər [key], 1839–87, German botanist. He worked out the symmetry of the parts of a flower and developed a system of plant classification which, ...

William, crown prince of Germany

(Encyclopedia)William or Frederick William, 1882–1951, crown prince of Germany, son of William II. In World War I he commanded (1914) an army on the Western Front and was nominal commander in the German attack (1...

Nordenskjöld, Nils Otto Gustaf

(Encyclopedia)Nordenskjöld, Nils Otto Gustaf, 1869–1928, Swedish geographer and explorer, nephew of Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskjöld. He headed an expedition to Patagonia (1895–97) and later explored the Klondike...

Gustavus VI

(Encyclopedia)Gustavus VI (Gustaf Adolf), 1882–1973, king of Sweden (1950–73), son and successor of Gustavus V. After the death (1920) of his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught, he married (1923) Lady L...

Confessing Church

(Encyclopedia)Confessing Church, Ger. Bekennende Kirche, German Protestant movement. It was founded in 1933 by Martin Niemoeller as the Pastors' Emergency League and was systematically opposed to the Nazi-sponsored...

Sirk, Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Sirk, Douglas, 1900–87, German-American film director, b. Hamburg as Claus Detlef Sierck. A successful director in German theater and film, he fled the Nazi regime in 1937. Two years later he emigra...

Wiesenthal, Simon

(Encyclopedia)Wiesenthal, Simon vēˈsĕntäl [key], 1908–2005, Austrian-Jewish Nazi hunter, b. Butschatsch, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Buchach, Ukraine). He received (1932) an architectural engineering degree...

Arendt, Hannah

(Encyclopedia)Arendt, Hannah hänˈä ärˈənt [key], 1906–75, German-American political theorist, b. Hanover, Germany, B.A. Königsberg, 1924, Ph.D. Heidelberg, 1928. In 1925 she met Martin Heidegger, who great...

Schacht, Hjalmar Horace Greeley

(Encyclopedia)Schacht, Hjalmar Horace Greeley yälˈmär shäkht [key], 1877–1970, German financier. He held executive positions in several major German banks before becoming (1923) commissioner of currency. Infl...

Drancy

(Encyclopedia)Drancy dräNsēˈ [key], city, Seine–Saint Denis dept., N central France. An industrial sub...

Browse by Subject