Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Wilmès, Sophie, 1975–, Belgian political leader. She worked as a financial officer at the European Commission, and was a council member in local government (2007–15). A member of the liberal fran...

(Encyclopedia) satrap sāˈtrăp [key], governor of a province (satrapy) of the ancient Persian Empire. He was nominated by the king and given extensive powers. Darius I reorganized the privileges and duties of his ...

(Encyclopedia) Tennent, William, 1673–1745, American Presbyterian clergyman and educator, b. Ireland, grad. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1695. He was ordained in the Church of Ireland in 1706. He emigrated to America c.171...

(Encyclopedia) Altdorfer, Albrecht älˈbrĕkht ältdôrˈfər [key], 1480–1538, German painter and engraver. He served as city architect of Regensburg, where much of his life was spent. Although influenced by Dü...

(Encyclopedia) Gordium gôrˈdēəm [key], ancient city of Asia Minor, in Phrygia and later Galatia, now in Turkey, 50 mi (80 km) SW of Ankara. It was the capital of Phrygia from c.1000 to 800 b.c. Excavations condu...

(Encyclopedia) Grant, Cary, 1904–86, British movie actor, b. Bristol as Archibald Alexander Leach. He began on stage in 1923 and made his first film in 1932. An almost immediate hit, Grant was a leading star until...

(Encyclopedia) Dean, James (James Byron Dean), 1931–55, American film actor, b. Marion, Ind. After a few stage and television roles, Dean was chosen to play the moody, rebellious son in the film East of Eden (1953...

(Encyclopedia) Armenian literature. The Armenian Church fostered literature, and the principal early works are religious or hagiographical, most of them translations. The first major Armenian literary work is a 5th ...

(Encyclopedia) Demosthenes dĭmŏsˈthənēz [key], 384?–322 b.c., Greek orator, generally considered the greatest of the Greek orators. He was a pupil of Isaeus, and—although the story of his putting pebbles in...

(Encyclopedia) Lombard League, an alliance formed in 1167 among the communes of Lombardy to resist Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I when he attempted to assert his imperial authority in Lombardy. Previously the commun...