Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pétion, Alexandre

(Encyclopedia)Pétion, Alexandre älĕksäNˈdrə pātyôNˈ [key], 1770–1818, Haitian revolutionist. After taking part in the expulsion (1798) of the English from Haiti, he joined (1799) André Rigaud against To...

Guevara, Che

(Encyclopedia)Guevara, Che (Ernesto Guevara) chā gāväˈrä, ārnĕsˈtō [key], 1928–67, Cuban revolutionary and political leader, b. Argentina. Trained as a physician at the Univ. of Buenos Aires, he took par...

Rudinì, Antonio Starrabba, marchese di

(Encyclopedia)Rudinì, Antonio Starrabba or Starabba, marchese di äntôˈnyō stäräbˈbä märkāˈzā dē ro͞odēnēˈ [key], 1839–1908, Italian political leader. A Sicilian revolutionist, he was mayor of Pa...

López y Planes, Vicente

(Encyclopedia)López y Planes, Vicente vēsānˈtā lōˈpās ē pläˈnās [key], 1784–1856, Argentine statesman and poet. He served (1806–7) under Jacques de Liniers against the British invaders. After the re...

Masaniello

(Encyclopedia)Masaniello mäzänyĕlˈlō [key], 1620?–1647, Neapolitan revolutionist, whose original name was Tommaso Aniello. A fisherman, he led a revolt of the lower classes, burdened by high taxes, against t...

Ogé, Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Ogé, Vincent văNsäNˈ ōzhāˈ [key], c.1750–1791, Haitian revolutionist and national hero. A free mulatto, well educated and comparatively wealthy, he was sent to plead before the National Assem...

John VII, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)John VII (John Palaeologus) pāˌlēŏlˈəgəs [key], c.1370–1408, Byzantine emperor, grandson of John V. Backed by the sultan Beyazid I, he usurped (1390) the throne from John V but was dethroned ...

Bourbon

(Encyclopedia)Bourbon bo͞orbôNˈ [key], European royal family, originally of France; a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty (see Capetians). One branch of the Bourbons occupies the modern Spanish throne, and othe...

Kirshon, Vladimir Mikhailovich

(Encyclopedia)Kirshon, Vladimir Mikhailovich vlədyēˈmĭr mēkhīˈləvĭch kērshônˈ [key], 1902–38, Russian dramatist. He began his career with Red Dust (1927, tr. 1930), a play showing the degeneration of ...

Hijuelos, Oscar Jerome

(Encyclopedia)Hijuelos, Oscar Jerome ēhwāˈlōs [key], 1951–2013, Cuban-American novelist, b. New York City, grad. City College (B.A., 1975; M.F.A., 1976). The son of Cuban immigrants, he typically wrote about ...

Browse by Subject