Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pereira, Aristides Maria

(Encyclopedia)Pereira, Aristides Maria ärĭshˈtēdĭsh märēˈä pərāˈrä [key], 1923–2011, first president of Cape Verde. In the late 1940s he became an activist in the struggle against Portuguese colonial...

Lévesque, René

(Encyclopedia)Lévesque, René lāvĕkˈ [key], 1922–87, Canadian political leader and Quebec separatist. After a career in journalism and television, he served in the Quebec National Assembly (1961–67) as a me...

Sturzo, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Sturzo, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē sto͞orˈtsō [key], 1871–1959, Italian priest and political leader. He taught philosophy and sociology at a seminary in his native Sicily. In 1919 he founded the Popular ...

Tsipras, Alexis

(Encyclopedia)Tsipras, Alexis, 1974–, Greek political leader. A civil engineer by training, he was the head (2008–13) of Snyaspismos, a leftist party that was part of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza);...

Stanfield, Robert Lorne

(Encyclopedia)Stanfield, Robert Lorne, 1914–2003, Canadian political leader. A lawyer, he became (1948) leader of the Progressive Conservative party in Nova Scotia, entered the provincial legislature (1949), and ...

Hall, Charles Francis

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Charles Francis, 1821–71, American arctic explorer, b. Rochester, N.H. He became interested in the many search expeditions for Sir John Franklin's party, and with Eskimo companions he explored...

Gottwald, Klement

(Encyclopedia)Gottwald, Klement klāməntˈ gôtˈvält [key], 1896–1953, Czechoslovak Communist leader, b. Moravia. After World War I he helped found the Czechoslovak Communist party and served on the party's ce...

Nikolić, Tomislav

(Encyclopedia)Nikolić, Tomislav ämˈēsläv nēˈkōlĭch [key], 1952–, Serbian political leader. A construction executive, he entered politics in the 1990s, becoming a member of the ultranationalist Serbian Ra...

Kwaśniewski, Aleksander

(Encyclopedia)Kwaśniewski, Aleksander kwäshnyĕfˈskē [key], 1954–, Polish politician, president of Poland (1995–), b. Bialogard. He studied economics at the Univ. of Gdańsk, joined the Communist party at 2...

Kinnock, Neil Gordon

(Encyclopedia)Kinnock, Neil Gordon kĭnˈək [key], 1942–, British politician, b. Tredegar, Wales. The son of a miner, he studied at University College, Cardiff. In 1970 he was elected to Parliament as a Labour p...