Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gournay, Vincent de

(Encyclopedia)Gournay, Vincent de văNsäNˈ də go͞ornāˈ [key], 1712–59, French economist, precursor of the physiocrats and of Adam Smith. A wealthy merchant, he was in government service as intendant of comm...

Glass, Carter

(Encyclopedia)Glass, Carter, 1858–1946, American politician, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1918–20), U.S. Senator from Virginia (1920–46), b. Lynchburg, Va. He learned the printer's trade and became owner o...

Gentile, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Gentile, Giovanni jōvänˈnē jāntēˈlā [key], 1875–1944, Italian philosopher and educator. He taught philosophy in several Italian universities and for many years contributed to the magazine of...

Emin Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Emin Pasha āmēnˈ päˈshä [key], 1840–92, German explorer, whose original name was Eduard Schnitzer. A physician, he served (1876–78) under Gen. Charles Gordon in Sudan as a district medical o...

Robinson, Sugar Ray

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Sugar Ray, 1920–89, American boxer, b. Detroit as Walker Smith, Jr. He began boxing after three years of high school in New York City. Having won all his amateur fights (about 90), includi...

Babbitt, Natalie

(Encyclopedia)Babbitt, Natalie, 1932–2016, American children's book author and illustrator, b. Dayton, Ohio, as Natalie Zane Moore, grad. Smith College, 1954. She illustrated The Forty-Ninth Magician (1966), writ...

Peacock, Thomas Love

(Encyclopedia)Peacock, Thomas Love, 1785–1866, English novelist and poet. He was employed by the East India Company from 1819 to 1856, serving as its chief examiner the final 20 years. Peacock's novels, comic and...

Tung Ch'i-ch'ang

(Encyclopedia)Tung Ch'i-ch'ang do͞ong chē-chäng [key], 1555–1636, leading painter, calligrapher, connoisseur, and critic of the Ming dynasty. A high official in various public offices, was also regarded as the...

Nicolson, Marjorie Hope

(Encyclopedia)Nicolson, Marjorie Hope, 1894–1981, American educator, b. Yonkers, N.Y., grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.A., 1914; M.A., 1918) and Yale (Ph.D., 1920). She was dean and professor at Smith from 1929 to 194...

Pacific scandal

(Encyclopedia)Pacific scandal, 1873, a major event in Canadian political history. Charges were made in Parliament that the Conservative administration of Sir John A. Macdonald had accepted campaign funds from Sir H...

Browse by Subject