Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Nemesis

(Encyclopedia)Nemesis nĕmˈĭsĭs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, personification of the gods' retribution for violation of sacred law; the avenger. Sometimes she was said to be the goddess of good and ill...

Heijermans, Herman

(Encyclopedia)Heijermans, Herman hĕrˈmän hīˈərmäns [key], 1864–1924, Dutch dramatist. Much of his work treated life among the Dutch Jews. His dramas include Op Hoop van Zegen (1900, tr. The Good Hope, 1928...

Gresham, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Gresham, Sir Thomas grĕshˈəm [key], 1519?–1579, English merchant and financier. As the royal financial agent in Antwerp after 1551 he proved himself very able, though his methods were frequently ...

Hou Hsiao-hsien

(Encyclopedia)Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1947–, Taiwanese film director, b. Guangdong, China. His first feature film, Cute Girl (1980), and subsequent ones were generally saccharine romances until the semibiographical A Ti...

Genevieve, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Genevieve, Saint jĕnˈəvēvˌ, Fr. zhənvyĕvˈ [key], c.420–c.500, patron saint of Paris. A nun renowned for good works, she is said to have averted, by fasting and prayer, an expected attack of ...

Charles III, king of Navarre

(Encyclopedia)Charles III (Charles the Good), 1361–1425, king of Navarre (1387–1425), count of Évreux; son and successor of Charles II. He settled (1404) his inherited differences with France and later tried t...

Tigre

(Encyclopedia)Tigre tēˈgrā [key], city (1991 pop. 256,005), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. A railroad terminus and river port with good road connections, Tigre is a market for the fruit grown in the surroundin...

Binchois, Gilles

(Encyclopedia)Binchois, Gilles zhēl băNshwäˈ [key], c.1400–1460, Flemish composer. From about 1430 until his death Binchois served Philip the Good of Burgundy. His secular chansons are considered his best wor...

Marshall, Thomas Riley

(Encyclopedia)Marshall, Thomas Riley, 1854–1925, U.S. Vice President (1913–21), b. North Manchester, Ind. A lawyer in Columbia City, Ind., he was Democratic governor of the state (1909–13) and sponsored much ...

Czolgosz, Leon F.

(Encyclopedia)Czolgosz, Leon F. chŏlˈgŏsh [key], c.1873–1901, American anarchist, b. Detroit, Mich. He shot and killed William McKinley in Buffalo on Sept. 6, 1901, saying that the President was “an enemy of...