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Wrangel, Baron Ferdinand Petrovich von

(Encyclopedia)Wrangel, Wrangell, or Vrangel, Baron Ferdinand Petrovich von all: răngˈgəl, Rus. fyĕrdyēnäntˈ pētrôˈvĭch vôn vränˈgĭl [key], 1796–1870, Russian naval officer, arctic explorer, and gov...

Izvolsky, Aleksandr Petrovich

(Encyclopedia)Izvolsky, Aleksandr Petrovich əlyĭksänˈdər pētrôˈvĭch ēzvôlˈskē [key], 1856–1919, Russian diplomat instrumental in fostering the Triple Entente with France and Great Britain. He rose in...

Orthodox Eastern Church

(Encyclopedia)Orthodox Eastern Church, community of Christian churches whose chief strength is in the Middle East and E Europe. Their members number some 300 million worldwide. The Orthodox agree doctrinally in acc...

sociolinguistics

(Encyclopedia)sociolinguistics, the study of language as it affects and is affected by social relations. Sociolinguistics encompasses a broad range of concerns, including bilingualism, pidgin and creole languages, ...

Tajikistan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Tajikistan təjĭkĭstänˈ [key], officially Republic of Tajikistan, republic (2015 est. pop. 8,192,000), 55,251 sq mi (143,100 sq km), central Asia. It borders on China in the east, Afghanist...

Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich əlyĭksänˈdər sĭrgāˈəvĭch grēbəyĕˈdəf [key], 1795–1829, Russian playwright and diplomat. His fame rests upon his finest play, Wit Works Woe (1825; tr....

Baranov, Aleksandr Andreyevich

(Encyclopedia)Baranov, Aleksandr Andreyevich əlyĭksänˈdər əndrāˈəvyĭch bəräˈnôf [key], 1747–1819, Russian trader, chief figure in the period of Russian control in Alaska. When his Siberian business ...

Afanasyev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Afanasyev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich əlyĭksänˈdər nyĭkəlīˈəvĭch əfənäˈsyəf [key], 1826–71, Russian folklorist. His collections, published from 1866 on, were instrumental in introducing ...

Jespersen, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Jespersen, Otto ŏˈtō yĕsˈpərsən [key], 1860–1943, Danish philologist. Professor of English language and literature at the Univ. of Copenhagen and later rector there, Jespersen first earned a ...

Black, Max

(Encyclopedia)Black, Max, 1909–88, American analytical philosopher, b. Baku, Russia (now Bakı, Azerbaijan), grad. Cambridge, Ph.D. Univ. of London, 1939. He taught at the Univ. of Illinois (1940–46) before goi...