Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Schindler, Oskar

(Encyclopedia)Schindler, Oskar, 1908–74, German industrialist who saved more than a thousand Jews during the Holocaust. A Catholic and a member of the National Socialist (Nazi) party, Schindler relocated (1939) t...

Mitford, Nancy

(Encyclopedia)Mitford, Nancy, 1904–73, English novelist and biographer, b. London. She managed a London bookshop during World War II and moved to Paris in 1945. Mitford and her five celebrated and politically div...

Margaret of Austria

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Austria, 1480–1530, Hapsburg princess, regent of the Netherlands; daughter of Emperor Maximilian I. She was betrothed (1483) to the dauphin of France, later King Charles VIII, and was tr...

Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, 3d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, 3d earl of rŏtˈslē [key], 1573–1624, English nobleman and patron of letters. He succeeded to his title in 1581, was educated at Cambridge, and gained favor at the ...

Beyoncé

(Encyclopedia)Beyoncé, 1981- , American popular singer, songwriter, and actress, b. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles, Houston, Tx. Beyoncé first gained fame as the lead si...

Bassiouni, M. Cherif

(Encyclopedia)Bassiouni, M. Cherif (Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni), 1937–2017, Egyptian-American international criminal law jurist and human-rights advocate, b. Cairo. Bassiouni fought for Egypt in the Suez conflict (...

Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Switzerland swĭtˈsərlənd [key], Fr. Suisse, Ger. Schweiz, Ital. Svizzera, officially Swiss Confederation, federal republic (2015 est. pop. 8,320,000), 15,941 sq mi (41,287 sq km), central E...

North Macedonia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 North Macedonia măsˌədōˈnēə [key], Macedonian Severna Makedonija, officially Republic of North Macedonia, republic (2015 est. pop. 2,079,000), 9,930 sq mi (25,720 sq km), SE Europe. It i...

Baptists

(Encyclopedia)Baptists, denomination of Protestant Christians holding a distinctive belief with regard to the ordinance of baptism. Since 1644 the name has been applied to those who maintain that baptism should be ...

peace congresses

(Encyclopedia)peace congresses, multinational meetings to achieve or preserve peace and to prevent wars. Although philosophical and religious pacifism is almost as old as war itself, organized efforts to outlaw war...