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games, theory of

(Encyclopedia)games, theory of, group of mathematical theories first developed by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A game consists of a set of rules governing a competitive situation in which from two to n i...

William II, emperor of Germany and king of Prussia

(Encyclopedia)William II, 1859–1941, emperor of Germany and king of Prussia (1888–1918), son and successor of Frederick III and grandson of William I of Germany and of Queen Victoria of England. After the out...

Gabrieli, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Gabrieli, Andrea jōvänˈnē [key], c.1555–1612. Giovanni was for a time a singer in the court choir under Lasso in Munich and became (1585) second organist at St. Mark's, succeeding to first organ...

Kokoschka, Oskar

(Encyclopedia)Kokoschka, Oskar ôsˈkär kōkôshˈkä [key], 1886–1980, Austrian expressionist painter and writer. After teaching at the art academy in Dresden (1920–24), Kokoschka traveled extensively in Euro...

Chimborazo

(Encyclopedia)Chimborazo chēmbōräˈsō [key], inactive volcano, 20,577 ft (6,272 m) high, central Ecuador; the highest in Ecuador. Its summit is always snowcapped. First explored by Alexander von Humboldt in 180...

Herrnhut

(Encyclopedia)Herrnhut hĕrnˈho͞ot [key], town, Saxony, SE Germany. It was founded (1722) by Graf von Zinzendorf as a colony of Moravian Brethren (see Moravian Church), and is today a Moravian center with archive...

Pappenheim, Gottfried Heinrich, Graf zu

(Encyclopedia)Pappenheim, Gottfried Heinrich, Graf zu gôtˈfrēt hīnˈrĭkh gräf tso͞o päˈpənhīm [key], 1594–1632, German military leader, imperial field marshal in the Thirty Years War. A convert to Roma...

Paracelsus, Philippus Aureolus

(Encyclopedia)Paracelsus, Philippus Aureolus fĭlĭpˈəs ôrēōˈləs părəsĕlˈsəs [key], 1493?–1541, Swiss physician and alchemist. His original name Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. He traveled widel...

Wagner, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Wagner, Richard vägˈnər [key], 1813–83, German composer, b. Leipzig. Wagner's second wife, Cosima Wagner, 1837–1930, was the daughter of Liszt and the comtesse d'Agoult. From 1857 to 1870 sh...

Freilicher, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Freilicher, Jane frīˈlĭkər [key] 1924–2014, American painter, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Jane Niederhoffer; studied Hans Hoffmann School (1947), Brooklyn College (B.A. 1947), Columbia (M.A. 1948). Th...