Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Brauchitsch, Walther von

(Encyclopedia)Brauchitsch, Walther von välˈtər fən brouˈkhĭch [key], 1881–1948, German field marshal. Of a Prussian Junker family, he served in World War I with the general staff and later remained in the m...

Piloty, Karl von

(Encyclopedia)Piloty, Karl von kärl fən pēlōˈtē [key], 1826–86, German historical painter; son of Ferdinand Piloty (1786–1844), a noted German lithographer. Karl first won recognition for his genre painti...

Arnim, Achim von

(Encyclopedia)Arnim, Achim or Joachim von äkhˈĭm, yōäkhˈĭm, fən ärˈnĭm [key], 1781–1831, German writer of the romantic school. He is best remembered for his work with his brother-in-law, Clemens Brenta...

Sachs, Julius von

(Encyclopedia)Sachs, Julius von fə zäks [key], 1832–97, German botanist. A professor at the Univ. of Würzburg from 1868, he was a founder of experimental plant physiology. He demonstrated the importance of tra...

Drygalski, Erich von

(Encyclopedia)Drygalski, Erich von āˈrĭkh fən drēgälˈskē [key], 1865–1949, German polar explorer. A professor of geography at the Univ. of Munich, he led an expedition that wintered (1892–93) in W Green...

Schwanthaler, Ludwig von

(Encyclopedia)Schwanthaler, Ludwig von lo͝otˈvĭkh fən shvänˈtälər [key], 1802–48, German sculptor. Though he was a neoclassicist, his later works were more in the romantic manner and devoted to themes tha...

Bekesy, Georg von

(Encyclopedia)Bekesy, Georg von gāˈôrk fən bĕkˈĭshē [key], 1899–1972, American biophysicist, b. Budapest, Hungary, grad. Univ. of Budapest (Ph.D. 1923). He was (1923–46) a physicist in the research labo...

Hevesy, Georg von

(Encyclopedia)Hevesy, Georg von gāˈôrkh fən hĕˈvĕshē [key], 1885–1966, Hungarian physicist and chemist. He received the 1943 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in stud...

Wissmann, Hermann von

(Encyclopedia)Wissmann, Hermann von hĕrˈmän fən vĭsˈmän [key], 1853–1905, German explorer in Africa. He crossed (1880–82) Africa from Luanda to Zanzibar and, on behalf of Leopold II of Belgium, explored ...

Bennigsen, Rudolf von

(Encyclopedia)Bennigsen, Rudolf von ro͞oˈdôlf fən bĕnˈĭksən [key], 1824–1902, German political leader. A liberal nationalist from Hanover, he favored German unification under a democratic Prussian state. ...

Browse by Subject