Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Healy, George Peter Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Healy, George Peter Alexander, 1813–94, American painter, b. Boston. He began painting portraits at the age of 18 and, disregarding background, concentrated on producing a good likeness. Examples of...

Haig, Alexander Meigs, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Haig, Alexander Meigs, Jr., 1924–2010, American general and public official, U.S. secretary of state (1981–82), b. Philadelphia, grad. West Point, 1947. He served in Korea (1950–51) and held sev...

Galt, Sir Alexander Tilloch

(Encyclopedia)Galt, Sir Alexander Tilloch tĭlˈək gôlt [key], 1817–93, Canadian statesman, b. England; son of John Galt. In 1835 he went to Canada in the service of the British American Land Company. He direct...

Mirrlees, Sir James Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Mirrlees, Sir James Alexander, 1936–2018, Scottish economist, Ph.D. He taught at Cambridge (1963–69, 1995–2003), Oxford (1969–95), and Chinese University of Hong Kong (2002–18). Building on ...

Newlands, John Alexander Reina

(Encyclopedia)Newlands, John Alexander Reina, 1838–98, British chemist. He studied at the Royal College of Chemistry in London and worked as an industrial chemist. Newlands prepared the first periodic table of el...

Macdonald, Sir John Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Macdonald, Sir John Alexander, 1815–91, Canadian statesman, first prime minister of the Dominion of Canada, b. Glasgow. His parents settled in 1820 in Kingston, Ont. Macdonald first practiced law. W...

Werner, Anton Alexander von

(Encyclopedia)Werner, Anton Alexander von änˈtôn älĕksänˈdər fən vĕrˈnər [key], 1843–1915, German historical painter, portraitist, and illustrator. He was director (1875–1915) of the Berlin Academy....

Todd, Sir Alexander Robertus

(Encyclopedia)Todd, Sir Alexander Robertus, 1907–97, Scottish biochemist, Ph.D., Univ. of Frankfurt am Main, 1931; Oxford, 1933. Todd held posts at Edinburgh Univ. (1934–36), the Lister Institute of Preventive ...

Dett, Robert Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Dett, Robert Nathaniel, 1882–1943, American composer and pianist, b. Drummondville, Que. After receiving degrees from Oberlin College and the Eastman School of Music, Dett studied in Paris with Nadi...

Drew, Robert Lincoln

(Encyclopedia)Drew, Robert Lincoln, 1924–2014, American documentary filmmaker, b. Toledo, Ohio. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, he worked for Life as a writer and editor. On a Neima...