Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Touré, Ahmed Sékou

(Encyclopedia)Touré, Ahmed Sékou sāˈko͞o to͞orāˈ [key], 1922–84, Guinean political leader, president (1958–84) of the republic of Guinea. From a poor family, Touré was labor union activist, becoming ge...

Riboud, Marc

(Encyclopedia)Riboud, Marc, 1923–2016, French photojournalist. After fighting in the resistance during World War II, he studied engineering. In 1952 he moved to Paris, where he met Henri Cartier-Bresson, who beca...

Scheel, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Scheel, Walter välˈtər shāl [key], 1919–2016, German political leader, president of West Germany (1974–79). After serving in World War II, Scheel became interested in politics and joined the F...

Semipalatinsk Test Site

(Encyclopedia)Semipalatinsk Test Site, Soviet nuclear testing site, c.6,950 sq mi (18,000 sq km), NE Kazakhstan, near the city of Kurchatov and some 90 mi (150 km) W of Semey (formerly Semipalatinsk). Between 1949 ...

Czech Legion

(Encyclopedia)Czech Legion, military force of about 40,000 to 50,000 men, composed mostly of Czech and Slovak Russian prisoners of war and deserters from the Austro-Hungarian army who enrolled in the Russian army d...

Denikin, Anton Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Denikin, Anton Ivanovich əntônˈ ēväˈnəvĭch dyĭnyēˈkĭn [key], 1872–1947, Russian general. The son of a serf, he rose from the ranks. After the Bolshevik Revolution in Nov., 1917 (Oct., 19...

Dniprohes

(Encyclopedia)Dniprohes dənyĭprōˈhās [key] [Ukr. abbr.,=Dnieper hydroelectric station], Rus. Dneproges, a hydroelectric station, central Ukraine, on the Dnieper River near Zaporizhzhya. The hydroelectric stati...

Fedin, Konstantin Aleksandrovich

(Encyclopedia)Fedin, Konstantin Aleksandrovich kənstəntyēnˈ əlyĭksänˈdrəvĭch fyĕdyēnˈ [key], 1892–1977, Russian novelist. Fedin was interned in Germany during World War I and returned to Russia in 19...

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

(Encyclopedia)European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), international financial institution that invests primarily in the private sector to promote entrepreneurship and foster the development of demo...

Tsvetayeva, Marina Ivanovna

(Encyclopedia)Tsvetayeva or Tsvetaeva, Marina Ivanovna tsvyĭtäˈyəvə [key], 1892–1941, Russian poet. She was a major Russian poet, who survived the civil war, emigrated to Prague and Paris, and returned to Ru...