Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bocskay, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Bocskay, Stephen bôchˈkī [key], 1557–1606, Hungarian noble, voivode [governor] (1604–6) and prince (1605–6) of Transylvania. Seeking to secure the independence of Transylvania, he supported h...

Bayard, Thomas Francis

(Encyclopedia)Bayard, Thomas Francis bīˈərd [key], 1828–98, U.S. statesman, b. Wilmington, Del.; son of James Asheton Bayard (1799–1880). He began his law practice at Wilmington (1851). An active Democrat, B...

Bernard, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Bernard, Sir Francis bûrˈnərd [key], 1712–79, British colonial governor. He was educated at Oxford and was called to the bar in 1737. As colonial governor of New Jersey (1758–60), he did much t...

Vishniac, Roman

(Encyclopedia)Vishniac, Roman vĭshˈnēăk [key], 1897–1990, Russian-American biologist, photographer, linguist, art historian, and philosopher, b. Pavlosk, near St. Petersburg. Vishniac took degrees in medicine...

Granger, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Granger, Francis, 1792–1868, American political leader, b. Suffield, Conn. He practiced law in Canandaigua, N.Y., and served (1826–28, 1830–32) in the New York state legislature. A prominent lea...

Mahony, Francis Sylvester

(Encyclopedia)Mahony, Francis Sylvester prout [key], 1804–66, Irish humorist. He was dismissed from the Jesuit order in 1830 for a minor offense. In 1832 he became a parish priest but lived most of his life as a ...

Francis, Sir Philip

(Encyclopedia)Francis, Sir Philip, 1740–1818, British statesman and pamphleteer. He may have been the author known as Junius. He held several minor posts in government offices before being appointed to the counci...

Clement VII, pope

(Encyclopedia)Clement VII, c.1475–1534, pope (1523–34), a Florentine named Giulio de' Medici; successor of Adrian VI. He was the nephew of Lorenzo de' Medici and was therefore first cousin of Pope Leo X. In 151...

Jakobson, Roman

(Encyclopedia)Jakobson, Roman rəmänˈ yäkˈôbsən [key], 1896–1982, Russian-American linguist and literary critic, b. Moscow. He coined the term structural linguistics and stressed that the aim of historical ...

Philip II, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Philip II, 1527–98, king of Spain (1556–98), king of Naples and Sicily (1554–98), and, as Philip I, king of Portugal (1580–98). Philip was not the bloodthirsty tyrant portrayed by his enemi...

Browse by Subject