Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kirov, Sergei Mironovich

(Encyclopedia)Kirov, Sergei Mironovich syĭrgāˈ mērôˈnəvĭch kēˈrəf [key], 1888–1934, Russian Soviet leader. He fought in the civil war of 1918–20 and rose to power as one of Stalin's most trusted aide...

Laffitte, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Laffitte, Jacques zhäk läfētˈ [key], 1767–1844, French banker and politician. He rose from poverty to become one of the wealthiest and most influential men in France. He was director (1809) and ...

Kikwete, Jakaya Mrisho

(Encyclopedia)Kikwete, Jakaya Mrisho jäkäˈyä kĭkwĕˈtā [key], 1950–, Tanzanian political leader, b. Msoga, Tanganyika, grad. Univ. of Dar es Salaam (1978). He joined the defense forces while in college, an...

Karsavina, Tamara

(Encyclopedia)Karsavina, Tamara təmäˈrə Kərsäˈvyĭnə [key], 1885–1978, Russian prima ballerina. Karsavina was trained in the Imperial Theatre School and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, making her...

Karimov, Islam Abduganievich

(Encyclopedia)Karimov, Islam Abduganievich ĭslämˈ kärēˈmôf [key], 1938–2016, Soviet and Uzbekistani political leader, president of Uzbekistan (1991–2016). He joined the Soviet Communist party in 1964, ro...

Villanovan culture

(Encyclopedia)Villanovan culture, the culture of a people of N Italy in the early Iron Age (c.1100–700 b.c.). The term is derived from the town of Villanova, near Bologna, where the first excavations of a Villano...

Sudak

(Encyclopedia)Sudak so͞odäkˈ [key], town, SE Crimea, a resort on the Black Sea. From 1954 part of Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR), it passed to Russian control in 2014 after the occupation and annexation of Cri...

Warner, Glenn Scobey

(Encyclopedia)Warner, Glenn Scobey, 1871–1954, American football coach, commonly known as “Pop” Warner, b. Springville, N.Y., grad. Cornell (LL.B., 1894). He excelled as guard (1892–94) on the Cornell footb...

Benét, Stephen Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Benét, Stephen Vincent bĕnāˈ [key], 1898–1943, American poet and author, b. Bethlehem, Pa., grad. Yale, 1919; brother of William Rose Benét. After graduating from college, Benét published seve...

weather vane

(Encyclopedia)weather vane or wind vane, instrument used to indicate wind direction. It consists of an asymmetrically shaped object, e.g., an arrow or a rooster, mounted at its center of gravity so it can move free...