Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mendelssohn, Moses

(Encyclopedia)Mendelssohn, Moses mĕnˈdəlsən, Ger. mōˈzĕs mĕnˈdəls-zōnˌ [key], 1729–86, German-Jewish philosopher; grandfather of Felix Mendelssohn. He was a leader in the movement for cultural assimil...

Manasseh

(Encyclopedia)Manasseh mənăsˈē [key] [Heb.,=making to forget], in the Bible. 1 First son of Joseph by his Egyptian wife, Asenath, and eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Manasseh received land...

Babylonian captivity

(Encyclopedia)Babylonian captivity, in the history of Israel, the period from the fall of Jerusalem (586 b.c.) to the reconstruction in Palestine of a new Jewish state (after 538 b.c.). After the capture of the cit...

Coughlin, Charles Edward

(Encyclopedia)Coughlin, Charles Edward kŏgˈlĭn [key], 1891–1979, Roman Catholic priest in the United States, b. Ontario, Canada, grad. Univ. of Toronto, 1916. After study at St. Michael's College, Toronto, he ...

Glazer, Nathan

(Encyclopedia)Glazer, Nathan, 1923–2019, American sociologist, b. New York City, grad. City College, 1944. He became an editor at The Contemporary Jewish Record, later Commentary, and contributed to The Lonely Cr...

Dayan, Moshe

(Encyclopedia)Dayan, Moshe mōˈshə dīänˈ, däyänˈ [key], 1915–81, Israeli military leader, b. Palestine. After attending Senior Agricultural School in Nahalal, Dayan fought with the Haganah (Jewish militia...

Desai, Anita

(Encyclopedia)Desai, Anita dĕsīˈ [key], 1937–, Indian fiction writer, b. Mussoorie as Anita Mazumdar, grad. Delhi Univ. (B.A., 1957). A prolific novelist, she often paints a subtly intelligent and darkly evoca...

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

(Encyclopedia)Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, nondenominational, coeducational Christian seminary; opened 1836, chartered 1839. Originally Presbyterian, Union Theological Seminary has been free ...

Paderewski, Ignace Jan

(Encyclopedia)Paderewski, Ignace Jan pădˌərĕfˈskē, Pol. ēnyäsˈ yän pädĕrĕfˈskē [key], 1860–1941, Polish pianist, composer, and statesman; studied at the Warsaw Conservatory and later with Theodor L...

Paley, Grace

(Encyclopedia)Paley, Grace, 1922–2007, American writer and social activist, b. the Bronx, N.Y., as Grace Goodside. In short stories mainly celebrating the lives of women, Paley paints the daily lives of working-c...