Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ribbentrop, Joachim von

(Encyclopedia)Ribbentrop, Joachim von yōˈaäkhĭm fən rĭbˈəntrôp [key], 1893–1946, German foreign minister (1938–45). After World War I he became a wealthy champagne merchant. He joined the National Soci...

Moltke, Helmuth Karl Bernhard, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Moltke, Helmuth Karl Bernhard, Graf von, 1800–1891, Prussian field marshal. Following his graduation from the Royal Military Academy of Denmark, he entered the Danish service, but resigned his commi...

Schlegel, Friedrich von

(Encyclopedia)Schlegel, Friedrich von fən shlāˈgəl [key], 1772–1829, German philosopher, critic, and writer, most prominent of the founders of German romanticism. Educated in law at Göttingen and Leipzig, h...

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von

(Encyclopedia)Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von yōˈhän vôlfˈgäng fən göˈtə [key], 1749–1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist, and scientist, b. Frankfurt. One of the great masters of world literature, his ge...

Siebold

(Encyclopedia)Siebold tāˈōdōr ĕrnst [key], 1804–85, also a physician, was one of the foremost biologists of his time. He specialized in the comparative anatomy of invertebrates and wrote the first volume (18...

Welsbach, Carl Auer, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Welsbach, Carl Auer, Baron von kärl ouˈər bärōnˈ fən vĕlsˈbäkh [key], 1858–1929, Austrian chemist. He discovered the rare earth elements neodymium and praseodymium (1885) and lutetium (c.1...

Dilthey, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Dilthey, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm dĭlˈtī [key], 1833–1911, German philosopher. He taught at the universities of Basel, Kiel, Breslau, and Berlin. He was one of the first to claim the independence of t...

Cuno, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Cuno, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm ko͞oˈnō [key], 1876–1933, German chancellor (Nov., 1922–Aug., 1923). A businessman, he headed a nonpartisan conservative ministry. His attempt to establish a moratoriu...

Filchner, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Filchner, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm fĭlkhˈnər [key], 1877–1957, German explorer, geophysicist, and travel writer. He led several expeditions to China and Tibet, where he established magnetic stations, ...

Hofmeister, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Hofmeister, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm hōfˈmīˌstər [key], 1824–77, German botanist. Although self-taught, he made such valuable studies of the reproduction and development of plants that he was appoin...