Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hamann, Johann Georg

(Encyclopedia)Hamann, Johann Georg yōˈhän gāˈôrk häˈmən [key], 1730–88, German Protestant theologian, b. Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). Although opposed to the rationalism of Kant and the German Enlighte...

André, John

(Encyclopedia)André, John ändrāˈ, ănˈdrē [key], 1751–80, British spy in the American Revolution. He was captured (1775) by Gen. Richard Montgomery in the Quebec campaign but was exchanged and became adjuta...

Gournay, Vincent de

(Encyclopedia)Gournay, Vincent de văNsäNˈ də go͞ornāˈ [key], 1712–59, French economist, precursor of the physiocrats and of Adam Smith. A wealthy merchant, he was in government service as intendant of comm...

Glass, Carter

(Encyclopedia)Glass, Carter, 1858–1946, American politician, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1918–20), U.S. Senator from Virginia (1920–46), b. Lynchburg, Va. He learned the printer's trade and became owner o...

Gentile, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Gentile, Giovanni jōvänˈnē jāntēˈlā [key], 1875–1944, Italian philosopher and educator. He taught philosophy in several Italian universities and for many years contributed to the magazine of...

Nicolson, Marjorie Hope

(Encyclopedia)Nicolson, Marjorie Hope, 1894–1981, American educator, b. Yonkers, N.Y., grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.A., 1914; M.A., 1918) and Yale (Ph.D., 1920). She was dean and professor at Smith from 1929 to 194...

Murray, Gilbert

(Encyclopedia)Murray, Gilbert (George Gilbert Aimé Murray), 1866–1957, British classical scholar, b. Sydney, Australia. In 1908 Murray was appointed regius professor of Greek at Oxford. He is best known as a Gre...

Babbitt, Natalie

(Encyclopedia)Babbitt, Natalie, 1932–2016, American children's book author and illustrator, b. Dayton, Ohio, as Natalie Zane Moore, grad. Smith College, 1954. She illustrated The Forty-Ninth Magician (1966), writ...

Pacific scandal

(Encyclopedia)Pacific scandal, 1873, a major event in Canadian political history. Charges were made in Parliament that the Conservative administration of Sir John A. Macdonald had accepted campaign funds from Sir H...

Peacock, Thomas Love

(Encyclopedia)Peacock, Thomas Love, 1785–1866, English novelist and poet. He was employed by the East India Company from 1819 to 1856, serving as its chief examiner the final 20 years. Peacock's novels, comic and...

Browse by Subject