Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Maximin, d. 238, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Maximin (Caius Julius Verus Maximinus) măkˈsĭmĭn [key], d. 238, Roman emperor (235–38). A rough Thracian soldier of great physical strength, he rose in the army, and when the soldiers revolted a...

Kondouriotis, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Kondouriotis, Paul kôndo͞oryôˈtĭs [key], 1857–1935, Greek admiral and statesman. He became a national hero through his victories over the Turkish fleet in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and in t...

Most, Johann Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Most, Johann Joseph mōst [key], 1846–1906, German anarchist. A bookbinder by trade, he served as editor of socialist papers in Germany and Austria. His publications were suppressed, and he was freq...

epitaph

(Encyclopedia)epitaph, strictly, an inscription on a tomb; by extension, a statement, usually in verse, commemorating the dead. The earliest such inscriptions are those found on Egyptian sarcophagi. In England epit...

Diogenes

(Encyclopedia)Diogenes dīŏjˈənēz [key], c.412–323 b.c., Greek Cynic philosopher; pupil of Antisthenes. He was born in Sinope and lived in Athens. He taught that the virtuous life is the simple life, and he d...

Dorion, Sir Antoine Aimé

(Encyclopedia)Dorion, Sir Antoine Aimé äNtwänˈ ĕmāˈ dôryôNˈ [key], 1818–91, Canadian politician and jurist, b. Lower Canada (Quebec). In 1854 he was elected to the Canadian Assembly and held several cab...

Pella

(Encyclopedia)Pella pĕlˈə [key], ancient city of Macedon, about 24 mi (39 km) NW of Thessalonica (now Thessaloníki). It became the capital of the Macedonian kingdom in the 4th cent. b.c. It prospered under Mace...

Rauch, Christian Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Rauch, Christian Daniel krĭsˈtyän däˈnyĕl roukh [key], 1777–1857, German sculptor. After studying in Rome (1804–11 and again later), where his work was influenced by Thorvaldsen, he achieved...

Prus, Bolesław

(Encyclopedia)Prus, Bolesław bôlĕsläfˈ pro͞os [key], 1845?–1912, Polish writer, whose original name was Alexander Głowacki. Prus is considered a founder of the modern Polish novel. His articles and short s...

Neman

(Encyclopedia)Neman nyĕˈmən [key], Ger. Memel, Lithuanian Nemanos, Pol. Niemen, river, c.580 mi (930 km) long, rising in central Belarus, SW of Minsk. It flows generally W to Grodno, then N and W through S Lithu...