Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Smith, Margaret Chase

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Margaret Chase, 1897–1995, U.S. senator from Maine (1949–73), b. Skowhegan, Maine. She taught school briefly and then worked (1919–28) on the Skowhegan weekly newspaper. In 1930 she marri...

Jenkins of Hillhead, Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Jenkins of Hillhead, Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron, 1920–2003, British politician, b. Abersychan, Wales; grad. Oxford. He entered the House of Commons in 1948 as a Labour member and soon became one of t...

Trimble of Lisnagarvey, William David Trimble, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Trimble of Lisnagarvey, William David Trimble, Baron, 1944–, Northern Irish political leader, grad. Queens Univ., Belfast (LL.B.). A Protestant Unionist, he became (1969) a barrister and taught law ...

Papandreou, George, 1952–, Greek political leader

(Encyclopedia)Papandreou, George (Georgios Andreou Papandreou) päˌpəndrāˈo͞o [key], 1952–, Greek political leader, b. Minnesota. The son of Andreas Papandreou and grandson of George Papandreou (1888–1968)...

spoils system

(Encyclopedia)spoils system, in U.S. history, the practice of giving appointive offices to loyal members of the party in power. The name supposedly derived from a speech by Senator William Learned Marcy in which he...

Atambayev, Almazbek Sharshenovich

(Encyclopedia)Atambayev, Almazbek Sharshenovich, 1956–, Kyrgyz political leader, grad. Moscow Institute of Management (1983). An economist and Communist party member, he served (1983–87) on the Supreme Council ...

Mečiar, Vladimír

(Encyclopedia)Mečiar, Vladimír, 1942–, Slovakian political leader. A member of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, Mečiar was ousted in 1970 after having supported party reforms following the Warsaw Pact in...

Orbán, Viktor

(Encyclopedia)Orbán, Viktor vĭkˈôr ôrˈbän [key], 1963–, Hungarian political leader. A lawyer, Orbán was (1988) one of the founders of Fidesz, a liberal democratic youth group that under his leadership (19...

Vishinsky, Andrei Yanuarievich

(Encyclopedia)Vishinsky or Vyshinsky, Andrei Yanuarievich both: əndrāˈ yəno͞oärˈyĭvĭch vĭshēnˈskē [key], 1883–1954, Soviet diplomat and jurist. He studied law at the Univ. of Kiev, early entered the ...

Cardoso, Fernando Henrique

(Encyclopedia)Cardoso, Fernando Henrique fərnäNˈdo͞o ānrēˈkə kärdōˈso͞o [key], 1931–, Brazilian sociologist and politician, president of Brazil (1995–2002), b. Rio de Janeiro. Originally a sociology...