Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

282 results found

Shahn, Ben

(Encyclopedia)Shahn, Ben (Benjamin Shahn), 1898–1969, American painter and graphic artist, b. Lithuania. Shahn emigrated to the United States in 1906. After working in lithography until 1930, his style crystalliz...

National Recovery Administration

(Encyclopedia)National Recovery Administration (NRA), in U.S. history, administrative bureau established under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. In response to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's cong...

Gruening, Ernest Henry

(Encyclopedia)Gruening, Ernest Henry grēnˈĭng [key], 1887–1974, American political leader, governor of Alaska (1939–53), and U.S. Senator (1959–69), b. New York City. He became interested in journalism and...

Gortyna

(Encyclopedia)Gortyna gôrtīˈnə [key], ancient city, S central Crete. Under Rome it was one of the leading cities of the island. Many ancient Greek remains have been discovered on the site. An inscription dating...

Portalis, Jean Étienne Marie

(Encyclopedia)Portalis, Jean Étienne Marie zhäN ātyĕnˈ märēˈ pôrtälēsˈ [key], 1746–1807, French statesman and lawyer. A moderate, he was suspected of royalist sympathies during the French Revolution b...

Zanardelli, Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Zanardelli, Giuseppe jo͞ozĕpˈpā dzänärdĕlˈlē [key], 1826–1903, Italian politician and premier (1901–3). As minister of justice (1881–83, 1887–91) he prepared a new penal code, which w...

statute

(Encyclopedia)statute, in law, a formal, written enactment by the authorized powers of a state. The term is usually not applied to a written constitution but is restricted to the enactments of a legislature. Statut...

Corpus Juris Civilis

(Encyclopedia)Corpus Juris Civilis kôrˈpəs jo͝oˈrĭs sĭvīˈlĭs [key], most comprehensive code of Roman law and the basic document of all modern civil law. Compiled by order of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I,...

Kendall, Amos

(Encyclopedia)Kendall, Amos kĕnˈdəl [key], 1789–1869, American journalist and statesman, b. Dunstable, Middlesex co., Mass. He edited (1816–29) at Frankfort, Ky., the Argus of Western America, one of the mos...

Sloan, John

(Encyclopedia)Sloan, John, 1871–1951, American painter and etcher, b. Lock Haven, Pa. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and worked for 12 years as an illustrator on the Philadelphia Inquirer...

Browse by Subject