Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Persad-Bissessar, Kamla

(Encyclopedia)Persad-Bissessar, Kamla, 1952—, Trinidadian political leader. A lawyer of South Asian descent and a member of the United National Congress (UNC), she was appointed to Trinidad and Tobago's senate in...

allegiance

(Encyclopedia)allegiance, in political terms, the tie that binds an individual to another individual or institution. The term usually refers to a person's legal obligation of obedience to a government in return for...

entail

(Encyclopedia)entail, in law, restriction of inheritance to a limited class of descendants for at least several generations. The object of entail is to preserve large estates in land from the disintegration that is...

Frankfurter, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Frankfurter, Felix, 1882–1965, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1939–62), b. Vienna, Austria. He emigrated to the United States as a boy and later received (1906) his ...

Imperial Conference

(Encyclopedia)Imperial Conference, assembly of representatives of the self-governing members of the British Empire, held about every four years until World War II. The meetings prior to 1911—in 1887, 1897, 1902, ...

Fortas, Abe

(Encyclopedia)Fortas, Abe fôrˈtəs [key], 1910–82, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1965–69), b. Memphis, Tenn. After receiving his law degree from Yale in 1933, he taught there (1933–37) and al...

Menelik II

(Encyclopedia)Menelik II mĕnˈəlĭk [key], 1844–1913, emperor of Ethiopia after 1889. He was originally ras (ruler) of Shoa (central Ethiopia). After the death (1868) of Emperor Tewodros II, Menelik, with Itali...

husband and wife

(Encyclopedia)husband and wife, the legal aspects of the married state (for the sociological aspects, see marriage). The former Anglo-American law of marriage was chiefly characterized by the view that husband an...

De Sica, Vittorio

(Encyclopedia)De Sica, Vittorio vēt-tôrˈyō də sēˈkə [key], 1901–74, Italian film director and actor. His Shoeshine (1946), The Bicycle Thief (1948), and Umberto D. (1952) are classics of postwar Italian n...

Alamanni, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Alamanni or Alemanni, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē älämänˈnē, älā– [key], 1495–1556, Italian poet and patriot. He was a friend of Macchiavelli, who may have encouraged his conspiracy (1522) against C...