Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Young Women's Christian Association

(Encyclopedia)Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), organization whose stated mission is “to empower women and girls and to eliminate racism.” The movement is nondenominational. It grew out of the homes f...

Sibelius, Jean Julius Christian

(Encyclopedia)Sibelius, Jean Julius Christian zhän yo͞oˈlyo͝os krĭsˈtyän sĭbāˈlyo͝os [key], 1865–1957, Finnish composer. Sibelius was a highly personal, romantic composer, yet at the same time he repre...

Stephen, Saint, Christian martyr

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Saint, d. a.d. 36?, first Christian martyr, stoned at Jerusalem. He was one of the seven deacons. Accused of blasphemy, he was brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. His speech defending ...

Hardenberg, Karl August, Fürst von

(Encyclopedia)Hardenberg, Karl August, Fürst von kärl ouˈgo͝ost fürst fən härˈdənbĕrk [key], 1750–1822, Prussian administrator and diplomat, b. Hanover. After service for Hanover and Brunswick, he enter...

Gneisenau, August, Graf Neithardt von

(Encyclopedia)Gneisenau, August, Graf Neithardt von ouˈgo͝ost gräf nītˈhärt fən gənīˈzənou [key], 1760–1831, Prussian field marshal. In the Napoleonic Wars he fought at Jena (1806) and, as a major, won...

Kekulé von Stradonitz, Friedrich August

(Encyclopedia)Kekulé von Stradonitz, Friedrich August frēˈdrĭkh ouˈgo͝ost kāˈko͞olā fən shträˈdōnĭts [key], 1829–96, German organic chemist. He was professor at Ghent (1858–65) and at Bonn from 1...

Varnhagen von Ense, Karl August

(Encyclopedia)Varnhagen von Ense, Karl August kärl ouˈgo͝ost färnˈhägən fən ĕnˈzə [key], 1785–1858, German poet, historian, and journalist. He collaborated with Chamisso and other writers and wrote Bio...

Early Christian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Early Christian art and architecture, works of art exhibiting Christian themes and structures designed for Christian worship created relatively soon after the death of Jesus. Most date from the 4th to...

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

(Encyclopedia)Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), sometimes called Campbellites, a Protestant religious body founded early in the 19th cent. in the United States. Its primary thesis is that the Bible alone shou...

church, aggregation of Christian believers

(Encyclopedia)church [probably Gr.,=divine], aggregation of Christian believers. The traditional belief has the church the community of believers, living and dead, headed by Jesus, who founded it in the apostles. T...